Hey, we're in Florida and the cold front is chasing us! We are just east of Tallahassee at a dumpy overnight park. The temps are supposed to drop to the low 40s. then the high in Jacksonville may only be 61 or 62 on Tues-Wed. Acouple of chilly days, and then it is supposed to be in the mid 70s for awhile. We'll take it!
We just spent three quiet days at the Styx River RV Resort east of Mobile, AL. A very nice park, great weather, but unfortunately there is a shooting range just up the road, so throughout the weekend there was a constant cracking of gunfire. This is what the 2nd amendment is about...nobody had an AK-47. By Sunday we were kind of used to it.
I have my consultation at the Proton Therapy Institute on Wednesday...it'll be an all day affair, with blood tests, Dr. consult, and a CT scan to boot. Then on Thursday, I go under the Mayo clinic's scrutiny. By the end of the day on Thursday, we should have some definitive idea about what is in store for me in this deal...we are hoping to be able to do the proton therapy, but we don't know if that is a possibility. We really appreciate all the nice calls and emails from all our friends and family! Thank you all for your expressions of concern and positive wishes. We love you all!!!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
We're jacked up
Well, here we are on the outskirts of Duncan, OK...darned near in Texas! Plans changed yesterday morning when we packed up in Oklahoma City. Our front jack once again refused to stay up when retracted...hence, you cannot go anywhere with one foot down. This was supposed to have been fixed last week when we were in Smith Center KS, at the Excel factory. We retracted the uncooperative jack and tied it up with rope so we could travel.
We are at Doug's RV, with really nice people. We've visited with Doug a couple of times already, as nice a guy as you'd ever meet. Hopefully they can get on this issue this morning so can continue on towards Jacksonville.
today's thought: Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
We are at Doug's RV, with really nice people. We've visited with Doug a couple of times already, as nice a guy as you'd ever meet. Hopefully they can get on this issue this morning so can continue on towards Jacksonville.
today's thought: Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
OKlahoma City is more than OK
The Oklahoma Bombing Memorial, Oklahoma CityWe are in Oklahoma City, enjoying temps in the upper 70s...We did get downtown and saw the Bombing Memorial...the Federal Building that whack-job McVeigh destroyed along with the lives of over 160 innocent people.
The design of the memorial is extremely poignant, with a glass, stone and metal chair representing each person who lost their life. The chairs are organized according to the floor where that person was. The whole area is sobering, with a huge reflecting pool and vertical wall structures with 'doors' before and after the time of the explosion...9:01 and 9:03. We were there in the late afternoon, but as told, 'had to return at night'.
We were very glad we did....
The base of each chair is lit, and glows through the lucite base...it is awesome with the light of the chairs against the dark of the night. The Memorial is open 24/7.
We also used the water taxi on the canal built through Bricktown, the warehouse district of the city. The city fathers have done a great job reclaiming a mess of deterioration, crime and homelessness.
There are several public art projects, most done by area college art students. At the south end of the manmade canal is a group of sculptures depicting the Land Rush of the late 1800's The statues are one and a half times life size, and are stunning! There also is a huge mosiac with a fountain, and some great murals showing the history of the city. I had no idea Oklahoma City could be so fun.
We are heading out tomorrow morning, hoping to get close to Little Rock.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Getting old is better than the alternative, but....
GETTING OLD
Getting old is much better than the alternative, but it does take you down some paths that aren't so much fun.
I have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and since last Wednesday when we found out, Ellen and I have been bouncing all over the place, calling this hospital and that, doing internet activity on therapies, with their benefits and drawbacks, talking to family and friends, and wondering just what it is that we will do, and where we will go.
Thankfully, prostate cancer is a most treatable disease and one that can be taken care of...and we are hoping for the best. We are traveling to Jacksonville Florida, as at the U of Florida, there is a 'Proton Beam Therapy Institute'. This treatment, which uses a cyclotron, seems to have treatment that is not invasive, and has less negative side effects with better results. The proton is whipped through this cyclotron then sent along a path and into the treatment rooms, and stopped right where the cancer is!
We have initiated the process of acceptance as a patient, but there is some uncertainty about insurance coverage. So we also have an appointment Oct. 30 at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. They have a modified radiation therapy that is also highly rated. We shall keep our fingers crossed and our options open.
So, to put it simply, we are not going to be able to do our Arizona plans...so no reunion with our friends in that area, and no ATVing...and maybe more. But Florida does sound better than the upper midwest....climatically speaking.
RV WORK
In the meantime, we are at Smith Center Kansas, getting our 5th wheel looked at, as we had some incident with the hydraulics not working properly, plus a small list of other stuff. As it looks right now, it may just be a battery problem. That would be fine with us.
Smith Center is a small and slow farm town of 1600 that happens to have a major RV manufactureron the edge of town. Excel (Peterson Idustries) really does treat the customer well, and we hope to have everything taken care of by tomorrow.
In the meantime we are parked in the Excel parking lot, right next to a most talkative, and at times irritating customer who watches the Excel techs as they try to fix his coach. I am sure they appreciate his watching. We do, because then he is not talking to us.
Getting old is much better than the alternative, but it does take you down some paths that aren't so much fun.
I have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and since last Wednesday when we found out, Ellen and I have been bouncing all over the place, calling this hospital and that, doing internet activity on therapies, with their benefits and drawbacks, talking to family and friends, and wondering just what it is that we will do, and where we will go.
Thankfully, prostate cancer is a most treatable disease and one that can be taken care of...and we are hoping for the best. We are traveling to Jacksonville Florida, as at the U of Florida, there is a 'Proton Beam Therapy Institute'. This treatment, which uses a cyclotron, seems to have treatment that is not invasive, and has less negative side effects with better results. The proton is whipped through this cyclotron then sent along a path and into the treatment rooms, and stopped right where the cancer is!
We have initiated the process of acceptance as a patient, but there is some uncertainty about insurance coverage. So we also have an appointment Oct. 30 at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. They have a modified radiation therapy that is also highly rated. We shall keep our fingers crossed and our options open.
So, to put it simply, we are not going to be able to do our Arizona plans...so no reunion with our friends in that area, and no ATVing...and maybe more. But Florida does sound better than the upper midwest....climatically speaking.
RV WORK
In the meantime, we are at Smith Center Kansas, getting our 5th wheel looked at, as we had some incident with the hydraulics not working properly, plus a small list of other stuff. As it looks right now, it may just be a battery problem. That would be fine with us.
Smith Center is a small and slow farm town of 1600 that happens to have a major RV manufactureron the edge of town. Excel (Peterson Idustries) really does treat the customer well, and we hope to have everything taken care of by tomorrow.
In the meantime we are parked in the Excel parking lot, right next to a most talkative, and at times irritating customer who watches the Excel techs as they try to fix his coach. I am sure they appreciate his watching. We do, because then he is not talking to us.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Get together in Paton, Iowa
Believe it or not, this was the best photo I got of all 6 grandchildren at the get together Saturday 10/4 at Erin and Jeff's home in Paton, Iowa. You should see some of the other ones!!!
Left to right are: Nayra Lujano, Ethan Ackerson, Jaiden Ackerson, Mica Pedersen, Ellen's daughter Jenn, Mason Ackerson, and Rio Lujano.
I can't remember the last time all 6 were together. It was FUN to have them all there and watch them play together. Hopefully we can do something like this again soon. The weather was nice and we were able to go to the city park with Mica, Mason Jaiden and Ethan. That was fun on the play equipment. Rio and Nayra weren't able to get there til 4:30 or so. We really appreciated Heather/Pedro's and Jenn' effort to drive a lot of miles to get to little Paton!
I think all had a great time. Jeff grilled steak, brats and hot dogs. Nobody left the table hungry!
DISH Network today!!!
3 days without satellite is too long! DirecTV toyed around with us at our anniversary date...offering a whopping $5 off as incentive to continue. Our enticing sign up benefits were lapsing, so our bill was going to go up 40%. When we later called up to disconnect, all of a sudden they were able to reduced the bill to an amount LOWER than we were paying!!! Too bad, so sad. Dish is still $5 less than that. Kind of a stupid way to run a business. We are hoping Dish isn't that whacky.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Medical Stuff
Our friends L-R: Elvie, Connie, Wanda, Jim D., Wayne, Janet, Jim I., Judie
What a nice looking crew. Again we had a great weekend at the reunion! Thanks Wayne and Janet!
I realize it is Wednesday already, (guilt sets in when I don't transfer my digitals to the computer in a timely manner) but we have had a wild time getting here to Fort Dodge. Plus on Monday I was getting ready for this morning's needle biopsy on my prostate...a high PSA led me to this new and different experience. So today is a day of rest, doctor's orders. He said it all looked ok, but the samples' results will be back next week.
We are parked at Alec and Charlton Pendry's in Fort Dodge. This summer Alec put in a 30 amp service for us, so we are free campin'!!! Thanks Alec! Last night Ellen had her last book club night of the season, and she totally enjoyed that. We will be catching up with other friends, plus playing some bridge and Settlers of Catan with the Pendry's.
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