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Fall 2023

October - November 2023
This will be a relatively short but very busy trip. Nevada, Austin, Florida, back to Austin and then HOME to Seattle in under 2 months..... Read more
  • 30footprints
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  • 56days
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  • TravelerFall 2023
    Day 14

    The Week From Hell

    October 19, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    Can 2023 have any more surprises for me?? Arrived in Austin on Monday. Went to hospital on Tuesday to be with Wendy for her ❤️ Heart Cath. Expected to be there for just a couple of hours. After waiting for at least 4 hours, found out that they had admitted her to ICU. She was being started on IV Lasix and vasodilator for her uncontrolled PAH and fluid overload.

    The rest of the week was a bit of a whirlwind between daily trips to both my storage unit to try to sort through my stuff, Goodwill to drop off crap, and hanging out at the hospital; I'm exhausted. Thursday, Dr. H called Dallas and got them to expedite the transplant process. So I went back to her house to pack a suitcase for her; took it back to the hospital and then stayed with her until AirFlight took her to Dallas about 10pm.

    Today, Friday, I caught a plane to Florida and will be here for a couple of weeks to take care of my dad.

    What's next 2023 ????    Read more

  • TravelerFall 2023
    Day 19

    Care Giving in Florida

    October 24, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    Made it to Jim & Mary Lou's Friday afternoon. They left for Chicago Saturday morning. I took dad out Sunday night to meet Steve for dinner. I've yet to have a really good meal at a restaurant in Florida.

    Monday I took dad to the dentist for a final fitting of his new dentures. They looked really good and his speech is much clearer with them. We will pick them up later this week or next week.

    Today. Tuesday I managed to give him a shower. And I was able to go grocery shopping while the aide was here. So now I at least have some food I like in the house. I made stir fried rice with shrimp and some mini egg rolls. We both liked it. Yay! I bet Odin would eat it too!    Read more

  • TravelerFall 2023
    Day 21

    BIG Decision to be made...

    October 26, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    Today I drove a SOLIS POCKET. Now I need to decide....I really liked it. It has so many features that would be wonderful on the road. And it drives really well, easy to handle, quiet, all the latest safety features. And under $100,000. It is bigger so would not fit in a garage. But it would be fine in any parking spot. There is a Peace Van on sale for 105,000 with 23000 miles. A good deal if I was not comfortable driving the Solis. But it doesn't have A/C or a vent fan, or the extra room & storage. And it costs more.

    I would have to get it to Austin, and sell Vanette. But it would give me lots of room for bringing stuff to Seattle.

    Decisions Decisions Decisions.........    Read more

  • TravelerFall 2023
    Day 22

    It's Happening!

    October 27, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    Well, I made a decision. I placed a deposit on the van. Haven't quite decided how or who.will drive it back to Austin but it's going to be mine!!! Of course I immediately started second guessing myself. And I'm having to take an H2 blocker for a sudden up surge in reflux. I have.to go in Monday to sign papers. And I told Bev we need to.start planning the Utah trip. Cause I need to start making road trips to validate my decision to buy a.larger camper van.

    I also committed to having a moving company move my stuff from Austin to Seattle. For.just a couple of hundred more than PODS, I'll have.full service movers that will pack everything and unload it all.

    I also managed to get.a pedicure today while Angel was.here with Dad. She really does a good job.    Read more

  • TravelerFall 2023
    Day 24

    VJ De Palo, Thanks For Dinner Dad

    October 29, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 84 °F

    Steve and I took Dad to dinner at Beef O'Bradys. I'm so glad I've been able to spend this time with both my dad and my kid brother.

    Everywhere we go people, especially males, come up and thank my dad for his.service. He always wears his military cap. When we were done eating, the waitress told us the bill had already been taken care of for all 3 of us. She had no idea who had paid.Read more

  • TravelerFall 2023
    Day 25

    My New Ride

    October 30, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 72 °F

    It's official. I signed the papers and I am now the proud owner of a 2023 Winnebago Solis Pocket.

    It's still at the dealership for now. I need to schedule my 2 hour orientation/training. Plan on doing that when Steve is back in town Friday or Monday.

    Then Cliff is going to drive it to Austin for me.

    So now I need to find a buyer for Vanette.

    AND PLAN AN AWESOME.ROAD TRIP    Read more

  • TravelerFall 2023
    Day 27

    New Teeth, New Smile

    November 1, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    Dad broke a tooth a.few.weeks.ago. His dentures were over 50 years old. Tuesday we went to the dentist to pick up his new dentures. Quite a difference.

    And today he.got.out his 🎷 to see if he could play. And I'd say he sounds about as good as he has in awhile. I think he's quite happy to.be.able.to.blow.a.few notes.Read more

  • TravelerFall 2023
    Day 32

    LPR - laryngopharyngeal reflux

    November 6, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    One afternoon I was in a panic thinking I had Esophageal CA! My symptoms' were increasing and nothing seemed to help. A few days later they were some what better and I happened to see an article on 'Silent Reflux' and a light bulb went on.

    Symptoms of Silent Reflux
    - LPR usually does not cause chest-burning symptoms, but if symptoms do appear, they include:

     - Asthma
    - Bitter taste in the throat
    - Chronic cough or excessive throat clearing
    - Difficulty swallowing
    - Hoarseness
    - Postnasal drip
    - Sensation of a lump in the throat
    - Sore or burning sensation in the throat

    I'd started taking a PPI but was still having issues and hence I decided it was CA. But I had run out of Prilosec and was trying a different PPI. I hate taking them long term cause I believe one needs some acid to digest one's food properly. But this article mentioned Alginate therapy. Even with all my years as a GI nurse, I'd never heard of it. But it sounds like just what I need!

    Also I am so relieved to not have Esophageal CA as I was already contemplating treatment options and.....etc....

    Alginate Therapy is also called a Reflux Raft. Alginates are medications that work through an alternative mechanism by displacing the postprandial gastric acid pocket. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC60…

    Although Gaviscon contains and alginate, there is a newer interesting compound that comes from seaweed. "The three active ingredients of the most effective products are sodium (Na) alginate (Laminaria hyperborea stem), Na bicarbonate (HCO3) and calcium (Ca) carbonate (CO3). These substances interact to form a strong, coherent, voluminous, buoyant alginate raft when they are introduced to the acidic gastric environment. The raft is responsible for suppressing reflux and relieving the symptoms of heartburn and GERD." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC68…

    So.....I have ordered a product from Amazon and eagerly await it's arrival!    Read more

  • TravelerFall 2023
    Day 38

    Last Day in Florida

    November 12, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F

    Tomorrow will be my last day in Florida. I will be heading to Austin on Tuesday. It's hard to believe I've been here a month. I feel like I've been in limbo or a sort of suspended animation. I've never watched so much TV ever. I did manage to see a few good shows that I had heard of:
    The Light You Cannot See was Excellent. About a blind girl in France who helped the allies by broadcasting a radio program. My dad seems to enjoy watching WW II movies. We also watched a documentary on the German Officer Rommel that was interesting.
    But I will be happy to not watch anything for awhile.

    We almost made it through the whole time without him falling....almost. Yesterday he fell in the shower. He was sitting on his shower chair and dropped something while I went to grab the towels out of the dryer. Of course he leaned over to try to pick it up and tipped the chair over and ended up lying on the floor of the shower. I couldn't possibly get him up by myself and of course couldn't locate the paper with Jim's friends #'s. And the local emergency numbers on the magnet didn't have the area codes. I'd looked at it before but didn't notice the missing numbers and of course I have no idea what the local area code is. I ended up calling Jim and luckily they were not on the plane yet. They were able to text me all the numbers. I got a hold of Jim's friend Roland who came over quickly and we were able to get him up to the wheelchair.

    I was pretty upset. Had he just waited another 6 hours I could have said "he never fell while I was taking care of him!"    Read more

  • TravelerFall 2023
    Day 40

    Today Was Longer than 24 Hrs...

    November 14, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    Today seems like several days rolled into 1. I started the day at 5 am. Made it to the airport a little early as we left Early enough to avoid all the traffic. Was in the air by 7:30. Lay over in St. Louis, don't think I've ever been through there before. Cant believe I had the very best BLT in my whole life at an airport!

    Landed in Ausrin at about 1pm. Took a Taxi to David's; way more expensive that it should have been. Hopped in my new van, which I decided to name DeVan, and drove to my storage unit. (More on DeVan later)

    Then I spent at least 4 hrs going through stuff, un packing & repacking stuff. Had to discard a few broken things. I have a pretty big pile for goodwill and a big bag of trash.

    But the day wasn't over yet. After talking to Wendy I headed to the grocery store to pick up her order for her, and realized my watch was still on east coast time. So I had an hour to kill and was so famished. So had some dinner at Jason's Deli. Then had a little time to look through some of the stuff in DeVan. It's going to take some time to get organized!

    Then....picked up & delivered Wendy's groceries. Spent an hour or so hanging out with her and catching up.

    Then...went to David's. He was so sweet, he'd even set up the air mattress for me.

    And now it's 11:30 pm and I'm so tired but still awake. Maybe a little over tired.    Read more

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