A Long Hot Day

Wouldn't you know it, the day we were scheduled to leave, is the day the heat came back! I was up early to drain the tanks and start the process, but by the time we were ready to go, it was 96 degrees. We stopped at the Flying J on the other side of Spokane to get diesel. It's one of the older stations and my card didn't activate the pump. When I went inside, the guys looked at the card and then asked what I was going to pay with? I told him that card (the Flying J/Good Sam card). He looked skeptical, but ran it through his machine and looked pretty surprised at the result, but turned on the pump. At $171 later, I went back inside to get the receipt. The clerk was looking at the slip - which showed the 8 cent per gallon discount - and said, "this is a pretty good card to have!" Evidently, they don't get many RVers there.

Three hours later, we pulled into Sister Sherry's farmstead near Touchet. If you think it was hot when we left Spokane, you wouldn't believe how hot it was while we were setting up. By the time, we got everything hooked up we were exhausted! Sherry was a sweetheart and brought us supper. I think we were in bed before the sun went down!

A Checkup

Today was Forry's six week checkup with his back surgeon. Dr. Powers took another set of x-rays to make sure all of the hardware he had put in was still where it was supposed to be. It's a bit early to see if new bone is forming, but everything seems to be looking like it's supposed to. He started him on a new med that should help with the pain in his legs. We'll need to see him again the first week in September.

We stopped over at Group Health to pick up the new prescription and got some iced coffe at their coffee bar. A stop at the post office to mail some stuff and buy some stamps and then back home once again.

Our monthly rent was due today and since we are leaving tomorrow, we stopped at the office to pay for just tonight. It's been a good place to stay during Forry's surgery and recovery. While Park Lane Motel and RV Park is not in the nicest part of town, we've been comfortable here and haven't had any problems.

Packin' Up

We started the packing up process today. I have been thinking about what things could be left here in the storage unit so that they would be out of the way of the guys who will begin working on the new floors next week. We packed up things like the ice machine, the waffle iron, the clothes drying racks, and some other stuff that we had stashed under the couch - which will be coming out.

We even picked up a card board box at the storage place for Forry to pack up the stuff in his "nest" by his recliner. The boys at Kustom Coach estimated the project will take at least two weeks. We will be going from Junction City where their shop is over to Keizer and stay with Daughter Dawn.

We made our last trip over to Patti's Taco Truck Two for dinner tonight. It's been handy having them parked just two blocks away. Their tacos are so good!

65 Wedded Years!

Today we picked up Son Sean and drove down to Menno for a special day of celebration for Marge and Al who are celebrating both their 65th wedding anniversary and Al's 90th birthday. Their son Bill was Worship Leader and their daughter Sally preached the sermon. Sally is a Methodist Biship from the Chicago area. She gave a thoughtful homily about growing up on a farm and related it to an agrarian Bible. Daughter-in-law Sharla did the Children's story - it definitely was a family affair!

The church was packed with people there from three states. To our  surprise, four of Forry's high school classmates were there. He had a chance to visit with Marva, Dena, and Gary and Ronna.

For the second week in a row, Di's Catering provided a wonderful meal. There was ham, fresh fruit, salads and large shrimp. I think Sean had at least three helpings! As it was cooler today, the fellows put sides on the windward sides of the tent that they had left up after Michelle's wedding last week. I think Diane said they fed over 150 people!

Once again, we didn't stay for the program and the cake - Forry was getting pretty tired as he did the driving today. It was a lovely celebration!

Toad Ii Comes Home

We weren't planning to do much of anything today except go to Costco. But a little after two o'clock we got a call from Custom Body saying that Toad II was ready to come home. We tried to gas the loaner car, but it barely took a gallon of gas, even though we had done a lot of driving around town. We drove over to Enterprise on Division to return the loaner and they in turn took us over to Custom Body on Monroe.

Toad II looks very nice - they did a good job of of painting and blending in the new bumper and fender. They asked if we wanted to keep the odd ball rim the tire shop in Arizona had procured, but we told them to go ahead and send it to their aluminum recycling. The final price on the repairs was about eight hundred dollars higher then the estimate, which fortunately National Insurance will pick up. I had taken along a thousand dollar check to pay our deductible, but the rest of the $3800+ bill belongs to the insurance company. I must admit, the claim was certainly handled expeditiously.

We went directly from the body shop out to Costco. I have been wanting to replenish our meat supply as we were basically down to a package of lamb chops and a few chicken wings. I really think Spokane needs one more Costco warehouse. There are two in town, but they are always extremely crowded, no matter what day of the week you go. But, Forry did get his Polish dog for dinner. He does love those things!

Dinner With Cathi and Dave

Cathi and Dave invited us over for dinner tonight. Cathi, a speech pathologist, was one of my AHEC colleagues. Cathi is a Master Gardener and has one of the most fabulous gardens around. We sat out on her back porch/patio and had a very lovely evening. She has a big bush of bee balm on the far side of her lawn that was constantly being harvested by a pair of hummingbirds.

We nibbled on some crackers and a couple of delicious dips that Cathi had made. One was an eggplant and the other tomato and basil with sun-dried tomatoes - so good! Dave barbecued some marinated chicken breast that we ate with roasted beets and a garbanzo, summer squash and rice salad. We ended up with ice cream and blueberries or homemade coconut chocolate ice cream. What a feast!

Cathi's brother Kent joined us for dinner and we had a lovely visit with the three of them!

Great Grandparents!

We have been on baby watch the past few days. Yesterday morning Daughter Dawn let us know that they were heading for the hospital with Granddaughter Havela and Ben. We kept in touch off and on all day as things progressed and stalled and progressed again. I went to bed with my phone in hand and kept up on proceedings every hour or so throughout the night. Peoria, Illinois is a long way from where we are in Washington State and I was sure wishing I were there!

A little after eight am our time (10 am there), we saw the first pictures of our new Great Granddaughter Kahlin Ashley! She weighed in at 7 lb 13 oz and is 20 and 1/2 inches long.

With the cap one, you can't see the full head of black hair our little miss has -

Daddy Ben and Mommy Havela with their new daughter -

What a wonderful blessing we received today!

Another Day of Errands

I have this running check list of things we need to get done this summer. One of them was to do the paperwork for the Required Minimum Distribution on my IRA at Scottrade. When we set it up way back when, I remember being told that when I reached the ripe old age of 70 1/2 years, I would have to start taking money out of the account for tax reasons. I remember sort of chuckling and forgetting about it. That was so far away!

Well, for the last few years, I've had to pay attention. It's come in handy for various projects. This year it will pay for the new floors in Auntie Violet. Since we have an appointment with Kustom Coachworks in Oregon the first part of August, I needed to get it done.

So this morning we drove downtown to River Park Square where we parked then walked across the street to Scottrade and got the paperwork filled out. Then back over to Sephora to pick up some Bumble and bumble shampoo.

From there we picked up the car and drove back out to Fred Meyer for groceries. I looked for some more Hermiston melons, but they said they had sold out all they had last week....

Toad II Goes To the Shop

When I called Custom Body this morning, they said the parts were all here and we should bring the Suzuki in. We got ourselves organized, took my jacket and the cooler from the car into the RV and drove over to North Monroe. We parked the rig where indicated, gave the fellows the key, and went into the office.

Lee Anne, the office staffer, called Enterprise Rentacar and told them we were there and ready for the rental. Within just a few minutes, the Enterprise fellow was there and we rode with him over to their office on Division. Up to that point, everything had gone like clockwork, but there it fell apart.

Even though they had come over and picked us up, they seemed not to have any record of the authorization from National Insurance, nor any idea how long we were supposed to have the rental. And darn, I hadn't brought the card of the insurance adjuster who had arranged it all.

After a couple of huddles with a supervisor and a couple of phone calls, they seemed to have it figured out. The supervisor kept asking the person from the insurance company on the phone if he was sure we were to have a full size vehicle.? And was he sure there wasn't a cap on the costs?

Anyway, finally we went outside. The fellow said he could get us a sedan or if we'd rather for $3 a day more we could have an SUV. I told him the sedan was fine, but he led us over to the SUV anyway, saying the sedan needed an oil change and he'd give us the SUV for the same price...

Recovery Day

Today was definitely a rest day! I think we were both in bed and asleep by 9:30 last night. We slept in this morning and have spent a quiet day at home.

I boiled some orzo pasta this afternoon; then added green onions, cucumbers, tomatoes and avocados. Mixed up some dressing with lime juice, lime olive oil and grapefruit balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. It made for a good supper salad on a very hot day.

Wedding

We drove two hours down and two hours back. In between we watched the daughter of one of our dearest friends get married. We talked with lots of friends and we ate one of Di's Catering's fabulous spreads. We enjoyed a lovely afternoon under the shade of the big tent and the big maple trees,

It was Forry's longest excursion since his surgery. He did really well, but was ready to leave by 4;30 (the wedding was at two) even though the cake hadn't been cut.

It was a lovely day for a lovely wedding.

Dinner With Part of My Faverite Brother's Family

Brother Pat and Cindy came up to Spokane this evening in time to join Nephew Jared, Becky, Ellie and Ryan, Forry and I for dinner at PF Chang's. We haven't been there for a year or more and I had forgotten how good the food is,

Jared arrived first with the kids, then Becky joined us from work. And a little later, Pat & Cindy arrived from Moses Lake. There were lots of children at the restaurant and they have a nice children's menu. We certainly enjoyed spending time enjoying everyone's company.

Laundry

Life goes on and laundry continues to accumulate. I did a couple of loads today and at least emptied out the laundry hamper. One thing about these warm days, the clothes dry quickly.

It's supposed to be in the high eighties the rest of the week, but hot, hot weather is supposed to be back this weekend. It's been nice not having to run the A/C, just the fans have been enough.

We did go for a walk this afternoon, maybe twice as far as we walked the first day. It would be so easy not to do it, but we are bound and determined to increase our stamina!

A Drive

The cardiologist who saw Forry when he was in the hospital started him on a beta-blocker. The supply we got on the way home from the hospital was gone, so I had ordered a new supply from the Group Health pharmacy. Knowing that it would be a short trip without a bunch of errands, I asked Forry if he felt up to driving today. He thought about it for only a second before he said he'd like to try.

And so he did! I was a bit nervous as he moved into the driver's seat, but all was well. He walked into the Group Health building with me, so got some walking in as well. I asked if he wanted me to drive home, but oh, no, he was happy to be driving. We even stopped at Starbucks for Frappacinos on the way home.

Another step on the road to recovery...

A Walk

Now that it has gotten a wee bit cooler (not by a whole lot, but high eighties is much better than high nineties), we were able to get out and take a short walk today. Forry went without a cane and we walked to the far back side of the RV park. There are a couple of picnic tables there on a cement slab.

We walked out there, sat and rested a bit, then walked back. Not a long walk, but the first walk he's taken since his surgery last month. Each day we make a little more progress...

Grocery Day

i'm not real sure why I put off getting groceries for so long. I just couldn't get the energy to do it when it was so terribly hot. That and it was the end of the month and there were more days than dollars?

Anyway, we had pretty well cleaned out both the freezer and the refrigerator, so I finally bit the bullet and we went over to Fred Meyer. Forry got an electric cart and we were on our way. One thing I really like about FM is that it is as much a department store as a grocer. We've been using one of my sofa pillows to add heighth to Forry's recliner, so I went shopping for some new pillows today. I found a couple of nice ones, unfortunately they're not washable...

With Forry's additions, I really filled my grocery cart. I even got a luscious looking Hermiston cantaloupe. It's one thing to get it all paid for and then loaded into the car, but another to get home and haul it all inside - and then put it all away! I was absolutely exhausted by this point. It took several breaks and a bottle of water and some Skittles to get the job done. I miss my partner! I'll be so glad when he can lift again!

It's Cooler!

It was a great deal cooler today. I think the hottest I saw on the thermometer was 86 degrees. We did not even turn on the A/C. It's still not real comfortable, but it's a whole lot nicer than it's been the last couple of weeks.

Other then take out the recyclabels earlier this morning, I don't think we've been outside all day. Clouds have been gradually appearing all afternoon, but so far, they haven't amounted to anything.

We are using up the contents of the freezer and refrigerator so that we can go grocery shopping early this week. I really am not looking forward to it.

I Leave...

For the first time since his surgery, I took off today and left Forry for several hours while I went to a wedding shower..

One of the young women from our church is getting married next Saturday, so the ladies held a shower for her today. It was held at Intimate Gardens outside of Moses Lake. It's a good two and one half hour drive there from where we are staying. It was raining pretty hard when I left Spokane, but by the time I reached Cheney, it had stopped.

It was good to visit with several of the ladies - I really needed an estrogen fix! And Forry did just fine without me!

The Weatherman Lied

It was supposed to be cooler today. The weatherman said so! The newspaper said so! They just plain lied! I thought for a while they might have known what they were talking about. It was sorta overcast this morning. Then it cleared off and the heat was back with a vengeance!

I did a bit of laundry today, but that's about the extent of my activities. Oh, I guess I did empty the grey water tank and take out the garbage and the recyclables. And cook dinner and do the dishes.

The people next to us left this morning, but by this evening there was an old Allegra Bus in the site. I actually like having a neighbor on the west side. They block some of the direct rays of the afternoon sun. Compared to the last people who were there, these people are very quiet. You wouldn't know they were there unless you looked out the window.

Quick Trip to Town

We made a very quick trip into town to day to return the Holter Monitor to the cardiologist's office. We hadn't thought to ask how they planned to let us know the results. I assume we'll either get an email or a telephone call?

Knowing that all we had to do was return the device to the front desk, I parked in the Loading Zone, left the car running with Forry inside and very quickly took it inside and up to the third floor; got a receipt and ran back down. Sure beat the serpentine trail to exit the parking garage, which takes you around the garage in circles eight times before it dumps you out a block lower then where you entered.

Due to my passenger's whining, we did make a Starbucks stop on the way back home. It was a good day for iced tea and Frappacinos.

Another Quiet Day

It was another very hot day and after yesterday's busyness, we laid low today. Forry's monitor shut itself off at the twenty-four hour mark. He has seven days to return it to the cardiologist's office, so we'll make that tomorrow's project.

I used some of Leslie's grapefruit balsamic vinegar to fix scallops for dinner along with some beets. Truly a quiet day of recovery.

A Very Busy Day

Forry had an appointment this noon to have a Holter Monitor put on that he's supposed to wear for 24 hours. He had a few bursts of tachycardia (fast heart rate, not a fib) while he was in the hospital - enough to startle the PT lady who was having him climb stairs. The cardiologist came in and did a pretty though work up and seemed to think it was temporary irritation due to his surgery and long time under anesthesia. But, he wanted to be cautious and ordered the monitor after Forry had some healing time.

From there we went to the bank to deposit some checks, then over to Custom Body so that they could eye-ball Toad II instead of just relying on what the insurance adjuster aw yesterday. As I suspected, Suzuki parts aren't the easiest to come by and it will be at least the 20th before they are able to start on it.

Next stop was at Bed, Bath & Beyond to pick up a shower gift for next weekend. They have a neat wrapping center equipped with tissue, paper, boxes, tape, ribbon, scissors, etc., everything you need to wrap your gift. Nice!

By that time we were ready for a break, so stopped at Shari's for blackberry and lemon meringue pie and iced tea before we went on to the post office.

Gordy's Szechuan was closed over the Fourth of July while Leslie and Bill were here. We talked about it so much that Forry and I had to go tonight. They had some great apple cider tonight that I really liked, but darn, I've already forgotten the name of it!

Insurance Adjuster

It was way last May when we had the blown tire on Toad II. It did some damage to the Suzuki, tearing up the left bumper, fender and various other parts including the lines to the window washer. Because we were concentrating on getting everything done so that Forry could have his back surgery, we didn't worry about getting the car fixed. We got new tires and a new rim and wired the bumper and fender back up and went with it.

 

But, the time has come to get things repaired, so I started the process last Thursday by filing a claim with our insurance company, National  General Insurance Company. I thought they might give us some flack about waiting so long to report the claim, but they were very understanding about dealing with the surgery first. Today the adjuster, David Beveridge came to the RV park to look at the car (he was actually apologetic about not coming on the 4th of July...).

He seemed to be very through, climbing under the car even. By the time he left, he had set things up with an outfit called Custom Body over on North Monroe. Sounds like they will be able to take Toad II next week and will need 4-5 days. Our policy allows for a rental car, so Enterprise will be meeting us at the body shop.

We will be here until the 30th of July, so that gives us a few days for whatever will go wrong. I'm betting it will be more like a two week process than a 4-5 day one...

The Fifth of July

Funny how the fourth of July just rolls off your tongue, but the fifth of July just doesn't sound quite right. We get so used to certain phrases, that we don't even think about them or what they mean. Just change a word and it changes the whole idea.

Our good friends Leslie and Bill arrived bearing dinner on the third of July and spent the weekend here. It was a delightful visit. Since they stayed in the motel connected with the RV Park, we also got a chance to check out what the rooms were like. They are much nicer than I would have expected and you can certainly see that they've been well kept up.

We went a couple blocks up the street to the Garden Dragon for Chinese food last night. The portions were so generous, we ended up taken two cartons of soup and two take-out boxes of leftovers to Son Sean's house after dinner. He said there was enough there for him to have both lunch and dinner today!

Bill and Leslie left around noon for their journey back to their RV Park near Bothell. It was so nice having them here for a couple of days. We really didn't do anything special since it is so hot, bet we sure had a good visit.

Happy 4th of July!

Company!

We got a call yesterday from our friends Leslie and Bill, wondering if we might be up for company over the weekend? We told them we would be delighted and we are! They came bearing gifts. Leslie had brought a batch of wonderful smoked baby back ribs's (she's got the smoking down to a science.); they had stopped at the Pike Street Market and brought fresh peaches; they had belated birthday gifts of lime olive oil and some balsamic vinegars. We made out like bandits!

I had made a fresh fruit salad with cantaloupe, watermelon, grapes, blueberries and sweet cherries. Leslie had brought strawberries, so I added those too. I had made a honey, lime, poppy seed dressing for it that was just delightful. It definitely is summer when you have spare ribs, corn on the cob and fresh fruit for dinner. We finished off dinner with fresh peaches sliced over vanilla ice cream - scrumptious!

The best thing about their visit is that they have checked into the motel that is part of the RV park, so we'll be able to enjoy their company for another couple of days!

Out to Dinner

Forry and I had our first dinner out since his surgery tonight. My dear friend Helen, a former AHEC colleague, and her husband Jerry invited us over for dinner. Jerry put some marinated tri-tip steaks on the grill that were really delicious. I had brought a Caesar salad and Helen added a three bean salad and some toasted bread. Everything was oh-so-good and the company was even better! Then we had some of Jerry's home-grown raspberries and ice cream for dessert! Awesome taste of summer.

Forry was extremely tired when we got back home a little after ten. I'll admit I was too, as I am not used to driving after dark.

The Physical Therapist was here earlier this afternoon and after reviewing Forry's progress, she decided it was time to discharge him. There will be no more in-person visits, but he did promise her he would continue with his exercises.

It was another very good day.

One More Day

Things keep putzing along. We seem to have to turn on the A/C a little earlier every morning as it just doesn't cool off at night. It got up to 100 degrees again today in spite of the weatherman saying it was going to be a bit cooler.

We've had a couple of contacts today from the insurance company about the damages to the Suzuki from our blown tire in April. The first was a claims agent who asked a whole lot of questions. She also wanted a copy of an invoice with our Washington address since the accident occurred in Arizona. I scanned the Verizon bill and emailed a copy to her.

Then later this afternoon the actual adjuster called to say that he would be gone over the weekend and would not be able to come look at the car until next Monday. So that's where it stands...