We See Some Improvement!

Today was a pretty good day for 'the patient'. He got the sewer hose hooked back up again from unhooking it so the RV Doctor could get at the kitchen slide this week and then we dumped the tanks. Then around noon he decided he wanted me to show him where the flowering cactus is in the desert so against my better judgement I took him there. He's also saying he's hungry and all this after only 2 pills of the antifungal drug. Sure hope he keeps improving so we can get going on our drive back home. I've probably rested more today than he has!

This is a photo of Gordon in the desert this morning.


The desert is covered with white wildflowers.

Yesterday morning when I was out walking I saw this Gambel's quail on the back of one of the chairs in the desert.


Yesterday on our way home from Emergency I took a photo of the "A" on the top of "A" Mountain. This is where Sentinel Peak is. We've been up there a couple of times. There is a lovely view of the city and a few trails for hiking.

I did do my morning walk although I didn't have as much enthusiasm as I usually do for it. Whether it's knowing that the desert can make you sick or I was just tired, I'm not sure.

The rest of the day I was on the computer, reading or sleeping. Not a very exciting day except for the improvement in Gordon's health.

Gordon was going to cook some burgers on the barbecue tonight but it was too windy so we went in to Wendy's instead. On our way back we drove through Tucson Mountain Park for a bit looking for critters but all we saw was a roadrunner on our way to Wendy's.

Interesting day, wasn't it?

A Gordon Update - The Good News and the Bad News

This morning we were at St. Mary's Hospital Emergency at 9:00 a.m. We didn't have to sit too long in the waiting room this time. All we wanted was a prescription for a different antibiotic. While we were there the results of his blood test came back and he does indeed have Valley Fever induced pneumonia. So instead of getting a new prescription for an antibiotic he got a prescription for an antifungal medication along with a stomach medication as the antifungal apparently affects the stomach.

The doctor that we saw on Monday night came in at 11:00 a.m. and we were still talking to other doctors and nurses at that time so he got to see Gordon again. He also felt that Gordon should not drive home and recommended that he fly so we have a letter to that effect just in case.

We brought Gordon back to the RV and I went out to Walmart to get the prescriptions filled. When I came back I had to go to the office and pay for another week here at Diamond J RV Park. While I was gone, Joy had stuck a message to the door wondering how Gordon was. She was just leaving to go out when I was coming back from the office so I talked to her and then stopped at Ellie and Jim's and talked to Ellie. Back at the RV I called the travel medical insurance to update them. The lady I spoke to was the same one I talked to last night about the allergic reaction to the prescription. She told me that there is $2000 coverage for the RV to be moved back to our home base if Gordon can't drive so we're going to wait and see how he is in a week or possibly two. We're hoping that he'll be able to drive it himself.

That's our today in a nutshell!

A Low Key Day and a Barbecue

First of all I want to thank all the people on rv-dreams chat for their prayers and good wishes for Gordon's speedy recovery. I especially want to thank Ellie and Jim for being there for us and for offering to be of assistance to us in any way. We appreciate it more than words can say.

Today we spent a quiet day. Jim stopped by this morning to see if we needed anything and Ellie came over around noon to invite me over for a barbecue.

I spent the day reading and making a few bracelets.

Around 4:15 p.m. or so I went over as I saw Jim slaving away at the barbecue and sat outside and talked with them and took this photo of Jasmine and Mr. Bo Jangles. Ellie's sister, her husband and cousin arrived shortly after and we had a wonderful dinner of chicken, broccoli, fruit salad with apple pie and cool whip for desert. It's the best meal I've had in a while as we've only been eating salad since Gordon hasn't felt like eating much. I even got a care package to bring home to Gordon.

Gordon had a pretty good day today but has a definite reaction to the antibiotic that he's taken so he called his daughter who is a pharmacist although staying at home being a Mom right now and she didn't think he should continue taking it so I called the pharmacy who suggested I call the ER Doctor. The doctor who saw Gordon on Monday night wasn't on duty so I was told he would have to come in or else have the pharmacy call them. So I called the pharmacy again and they are to call Emergency and call me back so that's what I'm waiting for right now. Nothing's easy!

Update:

The pharmacy called back and they couldn't get anyone to authorize another prescription at the hospital, the hospital wants us to go back in.

So I called the insurance and she said to go ahead to the hospital but to let them know if they want to do more tests. She also gave me some walk in clinic information in the area.

I talked to Gordon about it and he had already taken his antihistamine cough syrup and the rash has gone again so we're going to wait till tomorrow to do anything.

Why is this so difficult? All we want is a replacement prescription that won't make him break out in a rash!

A Day in the Life.....

I went on my walk this morning but as I was passing a dead prickly pear I heard some rustling so I think there might be a snake living in there. Either that or some other little animal. Anyway, I made sure I skirted well around it and made lots of noise.

I saw this flowering cactus in the desert this morning. It was the only one!

JoAnn, Doug and Fillmore were leaving this morning so I caught them just as they were about to leave. JoAnn was actually walking down to say goodbye as I was walking up to see them. They are headed to the Bisbee area.

By the way here's the hook that RV Doctor put in the wall to hold the top of the stove up when I'm cooking.


This morning we went to Camping World to see if we could get a part for the stove that we needed as well as the new motor for the bathroom fan but they didn't have the stove part nor did they have the fan. Ours is made by Ventline. We got the stove part at Beaudry RV but still haven't found the fan and since Gordon didn't want to be out too long we came home with a brief stop at Taco Bell so Gordon could get his Southwest Steak Bowl. He said he wanted to do something 'normal' today.

This afternoon both of us had naps. Gordon slept for most of the afternoon. When I got up I went to visit our neighbor, Joy who makes beautiful necklaces. Here are some samples of her work. I watched her make part of a new one and she showed me how she makes each module and also the catch for the necklace. She really needs to sell them. They are so beautiful!

This is Joy wearing one of her necklaces.





Tonight Gordon told me that he hasn't been feeling well since he had his nap this afternoon and his fever is up but he doesn't feel like going to Emergency and sitting forever in the waiting room so if we have to go we'll go after midnight when most people have cleared out. When we left at 4 a.m. there wasn't anyone there.

Another night on the rv-dreams chatroom.

Not What We Signed On For!

One of the things we dread as fulltimers being from out of the country is illness. As you know Gordon hasn't been feeling well for the last couple of weeks and last night his temperature was up and he had chills so we decided to go to Emergency. We spent almost four hours waiting in the waiting room in chairs not designed for people who are ill. He finally got a bed in Emergency about 10:30 p.m. where after blood work, a chest x-ray and a CT scan of the chest he was diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown origin. We arrived home around 4:00 a.m.

When we went to the walk in clinic last week he was given antibiotics which apparently should have cleared up pneumonia but it did not and he kept getting worse. They gave him three heavy doses of an inhaler last night in the hospital and prescribed an inhaler for him as well as another round of antibiotics of a different type. They also did blood work to determine if he might have Valley Fever. This test takes about a week to come back. If he does have Valley Fever, antibiotics will not help and he will have to go on an antifungal drug but they won't give him the antifungal drug until the diagnosis is positive. So here we are in Tucson waiting for the results and for him to recover sufficiently to drive back home.

If he has not recovered sufficiently as determined by the doctor to make the long drive (about 2500 miles) to Ontario, our travel medical insurance will look after returning the RV to our home province. We're cutting our time really short to be able to get back especially if he doesn't recover quickly.

I have been asked why I don't drive the rig. I have a couple of answers to that. One, I'm not that comfortable driving the truck having always been used to driving a Saturn sport coupe and two, I don't need the stress with the health problems that I have personally.

When we began this lifestyle we had decided that if we started having health problems we would discontinue our life on wheels and return to the stix and brix house. Is this the time? At this point we're keeping our options open.

We had booked an appointment with the RV Doctor (mobile RV repair) to come today as our kitchen slide has been very noisy when going in and out for the last few months. He fixed that in short order and also showed us how to raise the top of the stove. It's so easy when you know how! I've also had a problem with the stove top cover not sitting back far enough so that when you have pots on the back burners they get pushed ahead which makes for ineffective cooking so he hooked up a little hook thing to keep the top in the upright position. Again so easy! He also looked at our bathroom fan motor and said that if we go and buy it, he'll come and install it and make the necessary adaptations so it will fit so it's another trip to Camping World tomorrow!

Other than feeling exhausted today from getting about 4 hours of sleep, we're relieved first of all to have a diagnosis for Gordon and second of all to have the RV problems fixed.


Thanks to all of you who have expressed concern and inquired about Gordon's health. We really appreciate it!

Walking and Visiting

It was already 50F (10C) at 7:40 a.m. when I started out on my walk. There was quite a strong breeze blowing enough so that my hat didn't want to stay on my head! I had another beautiful walk taking lots of photos so at least I have memories in photos for when we leave here.


After breakfast I went into Tucson. I had a strange purchase considering today was to be 85F (29C). I decided to buy a warming throw as I had seen them at Walgreens. It may be warm here but our return through the mid-west and into Ontario will be very cold for at least a month and possibly more before it starts to warm up again. I'm really not looking forward to it. I also stopped at Walmart and got some groceries.

I got back to the RV shortly after lunch and was unpacking groceries when JoAnn came to the door and told me that a 'leftover lunch' was being put together at Ellie's as they had gone into Tucson and picked up Froggi Donna and brought her back to Ellie & Jim's. Froggi Donna is a solo RVer whose blog is called 'From the Lilypad' the Lilypad being her 26 ft Class C. I have been reading Donna's blog for quite a while now so I was glad to finally meet her. There were a lot of people there as Ellie's sister and her husband and her cousin were there as well as JoAnn and Doug. Gordon still isn't up to par so I didn't stay long.

I'm afraid I didn't get very good photos today. This one is of Donna, Ellie's cousin, Berta and JoAnn with her back to the camera.


The rest of the afternoon was spent sorting out the beads that I've bought over the past few weeks and then continuing reading my book.

Easter Sunday and Other Stuff

Happy Easter everyone!

Today was another beautiful sunny hot day with a nice little breeze. Thank goodness for the breeze or it would have been really hot at 85F (29C).

I had another beautiful desert walk this morning. I was walking along enjoying communing with nature and missed my trail so had to backtrack and there was no Easter bunny on the trail this morning handing out Easter eggs! Bummer!

More wildflowers



This morning I got my hair colored. I was beginning to feel like the old joke - she had such pretty blonde hair, too bad she dyed the roots black! It's darker again almost like it was when we first arrived in the U.S. in November last year. It's called medium ash blonde but always turns out dark on me for the first couple of weeks till some of it gets washed out. I like it darker for a change.

I sat outside and read the book that JoAnn brought to me the other day. It was a bit hard to get into but quite enjoyable after the first couple of chapters. It's basically the story of a middle-aged woman and the ins and outs of her life when her husband leaves her for a younger woman.It's called 'Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman' by Elizabeth Buchan who is a British writer.

Golden Gate Mountain framed by two palo verde trees.


This afternoon I changed the bed and put on those wonderful hand-me down sheets that I got this week from Ellie so I'm looking forward to sleeping on Egyptian cotton sheets tonight! Then since I decided no one but me would be silly enough to do laundry on Easter Sunday headed over to the laundry which was indeed, empty. Another lady came in later. While I was doing laundry I was sitting on the front verandah of the office reading my book when Ellie, her sister and her cousin stopped by so I got to meet them. They had been walking in the desert with Jasmine and Mr. Bo Jangles, Ellie's two miniature schnauzers.

I talked to my older sister this morning and the weather is cold but sunny in Toronto. I called my younger sister in Ottawa this afternoon and the weather there was also cold and sunny and the snow isn't melting due to it still being so cold. They're also expecting more snow on Tuesday. She says they still have eight foot snowbanks. Sure hope the campground in Kingston will be open and able to accommodate us! Margie & John have volunteered to let us park in their driveway but I'm not sure we'll fit especially with all the snow! I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!

That about encompasses my day. Gordon is still not feeling the best so he rested most of the day.

I Saw the Easter Bunny!

I've had a request for the recipe for Linda's Taco soup so instead I'll give you the link to Linda's recipes. For those of you that don't know rv-dreams.com, this site is a wealth of information. It has a forum and also a chat room.

Here's the link for recipes: http://www.rv-dreams.com/recipes.html .
The recipe for Taco Soup is under Main Dish Recipes.

Here's the link for rv-dreams website: http://www.rv-dreams.typepad.com/

The link to the forum: http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=91511&p=1

And the link to the chatroom: http://www.rv-dreams.com/chatroom.html

For the chatroom just wait until the Java box shows a box to enter your name or any name and press Connect and you're in!




On to today - I had a great walk this morning and finally saw a roadrunner (photo on right) in the wild. I was so excited!









Walking up on the ridge in Tucson Mountain Park.


More wildflowers






I continued on into Tucson Mountain Park, came around a corner in the trail and there was the Easter bunny and his associate (photo below on left) just sitting there on the path. They let me get one photo before hopping away. Don't they look like the chocolate bunnies that you see in the stores?

On my way back I also saw a little cottontail but he didn't stick around long.





After breakfast, I asked Gordon if he was up to go to the Tohono O'Odham Swapmeet and he thought he was so away we went. The people were much more interesting than the swapmeet itself but we walked around it all. There wasn't much of interest to us though.


From there we drove into Tucson Mountain Park and walked a bit on the Brown Mountain Trail but only where it connects with Cougar Trail. By that time it was 80F (27C) and I didn't have much water with me so we came back to the truck after finding out that Cougar Trail isn't that far.

Brown Mountain with lots of wildflowers among the saguaros.


Not much was accomplished this afternoon however. I did start looking at the map again to see what direction we might take to head home. The consensus is to stay south as long as possible at this point.

Happy Easter Weekend Everyone!

We were supposed to be packing up to leave Tucson today instead I found myself out wandering the desert trails at 7:30 this morning. On my way back Doug and JoAnn were just leaving to go over to La Mesa to help Ellie and Jim move into their new digs - a brand new Phaeton motorhome so I stopped to chat with them and let them know I'd be over to help as soon as the office opened so I could pay for another week.

I went over to the office and Doc was there so we got our weekly rent paid then I was off to La Mesa. By the time I got there they had the Bounder mostly cleaned out and were about to have lunch which JoAnn had so kindly provided. She had made Linda Payne's Taco Soup which was delicious, there was fresh fruit and her chocolate pie for desert. I'm never one to turn down chocolate pie! JoAnn is a wonderful cook. I sure wish I enjoyed it as much as she does!

After lunch I started to clean out the refrigerator and freezer in the Bounder with Ellie's help as that was the last thing to do. When the food had been transferred, I got their bed cleaned off and stuff put into the cupboards. Good luck finding stuff guys! When I left they were waiting for someone to come and fix something on one of the outside compartments and then they were ready to return to Justin's Diamond J.

I didn't take any photos of the new Phaeton as I thought Ellie should be the one to post the first photos of their new home. I actually took very few photos today so this will be a posting with no photos - a rarity lately.

I stopped on my way home to pick up some eggs and a couple of other things and they actually beat me back. The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to solve this month's Where Are You contest. Even though they tell you its in Shanghai, I still haven't been able to come up with the answer. My sister called today wondering if I had been able to solve it. NO!!

After that, a nap was in order. Another day in the life of a fulltime rver!

Desert Museum, Doctor and A Change of Plans AGAIN!

Today I got up early as we had planned to go to the Desert Museum on our last day here in Tucson. I did a short walk in the desert then came back to have breakfast and get ready to head out. We got there before they opened and spent a couple of hours there. I finally got to see a roadrunner! I've seen them before but from a distance. We did see some at Big Bend NP in Texas three years ago but none really close up since then. Since this was spring break we wanted to get there early and I'm glad we did. There were lots of people coming in as we were leaving!

The Roadrunner


Flowers and Cactus
More pretty wildflowers


A California Ground Squirrel (we think)

A couple of flowering cactus

As I've mentioned before, Gordon hasn't been feeling well for about a week. He's been kind of feverish and coughing a lot. Today he was feeling worse after we got back from the Desert Museum so we decided he should go to the doctor. I knew there was an Urgent Care Clinic on Ajo Way not too far into Tucson so we went there. We didn't wait all that long and the doctor gave a diagnosis of bronchitis. She asked if he wanted an antibiotic shot so we decided that would be a good idea and might clear it up faster. She also gave him a prescription for cough medicine and an antibiotic. We got that filled at the Walmart Neighborhood Store on the way back to the RV.

So we've decided to stay probably another week and forego our trip to Louisiana. We want to be sure the antibiotics work and he doesn't really feel like driving this rig the way he's feeling right now. Doesn't bother me to stay another week! We'll get to see Jim & Ellie's new Phaeton and meet Ellie's sister!

We Took a Hike (or Two)

Gordon still wasn't feeling the best today so we didn't do much. He rested most of the day.

I went for my long walk this morning over into Tucson Mountain Park and took a trail to the west that I hadn't taken yet.

Hmmmm....which way do I go? (I went left.)

This little purple flower is so cute. It's a tiny tall flower. I thought it was a larkspur but I think Ellie was right and it's a lupin.

Other than that I read my book. It was a beautiful day to sit outside but this morning our neighbors were cooking bacon outside and it just made me hungry!

This afternoon Ellie, Jim, Gordon and I went for a hike on the trails in Pima and Tucson Mountain Park. Gordon had rallied a bit from how he felt this morning. Here's proof that we actually did go on a hike!


Pretty purple flowers

We saw this pyrrhuloxia on our desert hike.


Ellie & Jim pick up their new Phaeton motorhome tomorrow. The new unit has a kingsize bed. Their present motorhome has a queen size bed. Consequently we have become the proud owners of their 650 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets. Thanks guys!

Shopping and Looking

Gordon kept his appointment with the chiropractor this morning. The chiropractor checked him over and said he didn't need manipulation today and that it would probably just make him sore so since he was pain free and could breathe it was best to leave well enough alone. How many chiropractors would do that?

While he was gone I went on my desert walk. There's not much time left for trail walking here in the desert! After breakfast I went to Walmart to pick up some things for our eastward trek. I was home shortly after lunch so we decided to go out and do something.

We wound up going to check out GPS models as I had seen one at Walmart, the Nuvi 200 and we wanted to look at some others. Most of the Garmin models don't have maps for Canada uploaded so we looked at a Tomtom but he decided we didn't know enough about them and we should come home and do some research before purchasing one. While we were out we stopped and had lunner (lunch and dinner) at Taco Bell. Gordon had had a Taco Bell craving for weeks but we're too far out of the city just to run in and get Taco Bell.

We saw this rather explicit T-shirt in downtown Tucson.

Pretty palm trees in the city, I love palm trees!


The mountain rises behind the mall

Pretty orange bushes at Taco Bell



We went into Tucson and came back via Gates Pass Road which takes you through the Tucson Mountains and Tucson Mountain Park. It's a very pretty drive but the road is narrow especially with cyclists taking up part of the lane. It's also twisty and goes through the mountain so for about a mile or so it's a bit nerve wracking. Sure glad I'm not driving. It wouldn't be bad in a car but in a one ton truck I find it unnerving.

Yellow wildflowers on the mountain side.


The road through Tucson Mountain Park as seen from the top of Gates Pass Road. It looks like a river winding its way through but it's the road!


When we got back I dropped over to see one of the ladies (Joy) that I met at the potluck on Sunday night. She has a new Alfa Gold fifth wheel with the front nose that pops up and has a window under it so I got to see what it looks like from the inside. It's great as you get to have views from the front and the back. She also gave me a couple of books. She's an avid reader as well.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I don't claim any Irish heritage but my brother-in-law, Garth does. I didn't even wear green today except, of course, for my baseball hat. I look more like Hallowe'en today than St. Patrick's Day as I'm wearing black and orange!

It was cloudy when I woke up this morning but it was 40F (4C). I felt a few drops of rain here and there on my walk. I did go through Pima County Park this morning and onto the North Trail in Tucson Mountain Park. I took the first trail to the west which is the same one Ellie and I took to find the first geocache and walked a ways on that. I lost track of time again as I so often do when out on the trails.

We had both cloud and sun today with a few sprinkles every now and then and our high was only about 52F (11C).

This afternoon it was time to do laundry again. Seems like I just did it but it was nearly two weeks ago! I chatted a bit with the owner's wife, Christine while I was at the laundry room. She's such a nice person. She's always trying to give me food!

The photo (above right) is one I took of Golden Gate Mountain this afternoon.

I took this photo this morning of a group of

This ocotillo looks like it recently 'bit the dust'.

Ellie dropped over briefly when I got back. Other than that it's been a quiet day!

The Campground Potluck

Today was a pretty low key day for the first part of it anyway. I woke up to sunshine but the skies in the north were pretty dark. I cut my walk short as it looked like rain. When I arrived back at the RV the sun was gone but it wasn't raining yet so I did a run/walk around the loop.

This morning's dark sky


It sprinkled a bit here and there and rained now and then with sun at times so we had a mixed bag of weather. It wasn't too warm but that had been forecast so we just put up with it for a couple of days till we get our nice warm, sunny weather back.

The rest of this morning I spent reading. After lunch I started preparing my Baked Spaghetti to take to the potluck. Then got the dishes done and had a nice hot shower. In between times I spent doing jigsaw puzzles on jigzone.com and reading. Just as we got to the campground rec hall, Gordon decided he shouldn't be going as he wasn't feeling well and as we're scheduled to leave on Friday he doesn't want to get sick so he elected to stay home.

We had a pretty good turnout for the potluck. I didn't count the people but I figure about 30 or so. Lots of good food and the people really seemed to have a good time as well.

Our table at the potluck


Doc entertained a few of us with some details of his Africa Safari Trip which he's putting together for February 2009. He is taking about 30 people to Kenya and Tanzania on a safari. If we only had the $4000 per person, I'd love to go!

Campground owners, Doc and Christine Justin



I brought Gordon some of my Baked Spaghetti after we finished eating and then went back to help clean up. It was an enjoyable evening!

Desert Hikes and Desert Flowers

Today was much cooler with a breeze and not a lot of sun. I guess it's getting us prepared for our two day stint of cold weather.

I had another nice walk this morning and since it was cooler, I had another hike this afternoon. I took lots of photos of desert flowers and the sky. On my way back this afternoon I met Ellie and Jim with Jasmine and Mr Bo Jangles.


Desert trails



One of the 'intersections'
A little ground squirrel


I wonder if this staghorn cholla is starting to bloom?

Desert Flowers - the little white ones are called 'desert dandelions'.


All those little white dots are flowers.

And here are white, yellow and purple ones.


In between times, I sat outside and read, finished one book and went to the office and got another one. I talked to my sister in Toronto and the weather was warmer today and snow was melting. We discussed the Conde Nast Where Are You contest that we try to solve every month. If anyone knows the answer, let me know!

And late this afternoon, a long nap.

I talked to a few people to see what they're bringing tomorrow for the potluck.

That's about it for today except for another pretty sunset tonight!