Going Home

Salinas, CA

Things are progressing nicely here in California.

My Mom is getting stronger and we think she

is well enough to be by herself again.

I've made airline reservations to go back to Custer

on Friday August 5th.

We'll finish off the summer working there.

Unfortunately, I'm not finding anything

available in September for us to return to.

We cannot afford to stay in parks in this area

unless we workamp.

I'm looking into us doing gate guarding

again until January or February, 

and then see what we can find in California.

I feel that my Mom will be fine.

She's got a big support system

with my son, and friends from church.

I've had some social time while I've been here.

Last week I drove up to Coyote in Morgan Hill,

and spent some time with our friends Connie & Greg.

They recently sold their condo in Ohio,

and are full time!

They workamp at Coyote now,

so they can be near their daughter's house,

and their two granddaughters.

I sat by the pool in the 100 degree temperature :-(

Unfortunately I didn't have my suit with me!

I've gotten to do lunch with my son,

and yesterday my Mom and I went to

our favorite place, Phil's

with a friend from church.

Mom has a few more doctor appointments this week,

and I'm making sure she's remembering things.

It's been nice taking care of her :-)

However, I'm going to be so happy not to have to sleep on this anymore:

Still in CA

Salinas, CA

I've been in California over a week now.

My Mom is getting stronger,

but still cannot drive,

and gets tired very easily.

VNA comes by twice a week,

as well as a physical therapist

to strengthen her and help with her balance.

 We had to rearrange her furniture a bit

to eliminate tripping hazards.

She's relying on her cane as much as possible.

One night last week I was able to go

out to dinner with Adam and his girlfriend Jennifer.

 

Adam's best friend Kollin came along as well.

This is the first time I've met him!

 

We went to Mom's cardiologist today for a follow-up.

He said her stress test of several weeks ago

showed no signs of heart attack, which we were happy to hear.

The medication she's on now is controlling her heart rate

much better.

He's scheduled another 24-hour heart monitor

to be worn in a couple weeks.

I've contacted Meals on Wheels to begin

delivering frozen heart healthy meals.

It's hard to cook for yourself when there's only one!

It looks like I'll be here longer than I expected.

George is still in Custer working at the campground.

We're hoping that we can get a job here in CA

either at Coyote or another RV park that's closer.

 Summer is going fast!

 

Another family illness

Salinas, CA

Last week, around Thursday or Friday

I hadn't heard from my Mom so I

texted my son, Adam to go by and check on her.

Apparently sometime around Friday morning

she had gone into some sort of 'fog',

and was displaying some symptoms of some sort of issue.

My son's girlfriend's mother, Martha (a good friend!),

and our Pastor's wife,

stopped by to check on her as well.

I found out that she had answered the door in the nude

more than one occasion :-(

Her apartment was a shambles,

with garbage everywhere,

and other signs of neglect.

They called me to ask if they had permission

to take her to the ER,

which I responded YES!

Turns out she has, and has had, A-Fib.

Her heart rate was over 160 bpm,

and on top of that she had

Congestive Heart Failure.

Her oxygen level was such that

her brain wasn't functioning properly!

I think she was ignoring the symptoms

of edema, fogginess, and a racing heart :-(

I caught the earliest plane out on Monday!

While she was in the hospital getting better,

I got her apartment in order,

got it organized better,

and visited her in the hospital.

She came home yesterday on new meds.

I still don't think she should be by herself here,

she seems a little foggy still :-)

I plan on getting hold of Meals on Wheels,

to get her eating better as well.

I'll be helping her to get to doctor visits this week,

and seeing if there's more we're going to have to do.

One plus of being here is seeing my son too :-)

We went to lunch the other day..

Poor George got left behind again to continue working.

He's doing much better, however.

But..

today's his birthday!!

Happy birthday, babe!

Be home soon as I can :-)

A view from the top

Buffalo Ridge Camp Resort
Custer, SD

One of the perks of working in this area

is the ability to do things we would 

not normally get the chance to do.

Since our friends Joan & Steve work at Crazy Horse,

we were invited to tag along on a tour up to the top!

Along with the four of us were JC & Beverly,

and Pam and John.

Our guide, Tom, had a lot of interesting facts about

the monument.

It took 50 years to finish Crazy Horse's head.

It was unveiled in 1998.

 We walked out onto what will eventually be his hand.

Turning around, what a view!

I can't remember all the facts and figures,

but you can read about it here.

What a great way to see the monument!

This afternoon I got a call from California.

Seems my Mom has been admitted to the hospital.

She has terrible A-Fib,

and she's been very confused lately,

so they're running some tests.

I'm flying there tomorrow to see what's going on,

while George stays behind to keep working.

Hopefully everything will be fine,

and I'll be back soon!

Seeing the guys on the mountain..

Buffalo Ridge Camp Resort
Custer, SD

On our last day off, we took a ride to Mt. Rushmore.

We did see it 6 years ago, but wanted to spend more time there.

It was crowded, but not annoyingly so :-)

For those of you who have not been there,

it is free to get into the National Memorial,

but it does cost $11 to park.

The senior pass doesn't absolve you of parking fees.

Mt. Rushmore is pretty breathtaking.

As soon as you walk up from the parking lots,

this is what you see..

When you first arrive, there is the Avenue of Flags,

which presents all 50 US States, territories, commonwealths,

and one district.

As you make your way to the amphitheater,

you get a perfect view of all 4 presidents.

The grounds are lovely as well,

with a wonderful Presidential trail that winds around 

to the bottom of the mountain.

The trail is a boardwalk of .6 miles, and 422 steps!

It's not so bad going down, but you have to come back up :-)

From there you can get different views of the monument

and different perspectives of each president's face.

We saw the where the holes were drilled 'honeycombing'

and then the rest would be carved by hand.

One of the neat things about Roosevelt,

is the optical illusion of having glass in his spectacles.

The workers carved the nose piece of the glasses,

and then part of the frame. 

The rest is filled in by your imagination!

There is a great gift shop on the property,

as well as a visitor's center,

sculptor's studio,

and a good 12 minute film with footage of the carving.

While we were there we got our National Park passport stamped,

and I bought a 2016 centennial shirt,

and we both got a free pin with our VIP cards.

On our way home we took the famous Iron Mountain Road.

There are tunnels to go through,

and cool 'pigtail' roads..

It was certainly an enjoyable day,

and we ended it by having an ice cream in town.

Sunday we get to go up to the top of Crazy Horse

with Steve, Joan, Phil, Rudee, JC, and Bev, and a few others.

We're excited!!

A fun Independence Day

Buffalo Ridge Camp Resort
Custer, SD

We hope everyone had a fun 4th!

George and I certainly did!

We started out having breakfast with some fellow RVers..

Jim, JC, me, Steve, Phil, Rudee, Joan, and George. Bev took the picture!

Afterwards, we went outside to watch the parade.
It definitely had that small town feel,
no floats,
but it was to celebrate our independence.
The parade was started with a flyover by a B-1 bomber.
It was loud!
Then the Veteran's marched with the flags..

This guy carried a cool Custer flag..

Even Uncle Sam was there!

There were some great old cars..

The parade ended with fire engines, sheriff cars,

and lots of sirens!

We said our goodbyes to our friends,

then walked around some of the vendor booths.

Last night we were invited over to Marlene & Danny's

for a barbecue.

Everyone there shared something,

a salad, bread, desserts.

Marlene provided the ribs and corn on the cob.

It was all delicious!

We had a brief rain shower which provided a

beautiful rainbow!

There was great socializing,

and soon it was time for the fireworks.

Custer puts on a great show,

and we were blessed to be able to see it

from the campground.

It was a terrific day!

Today we're heading to Mt. Rushmore to see the sights :-)