Another Trip and Other things

It is Dad's turn to take a trip. He is helping out his boss, along with several others, to build a deck onto the back of his house. The house is located in Yosemite. This required a drive of over 6 hours to reach. Dad has not done physical labor in a very long time. He will work around the house doing small projects but nothing like he did today. I am not sure how big of a deck he is working on but between the men, they were able to get the flooring finished and a start of the railing. He is one tired "puppy".

He has been working in the heat (about 100 degrees) which can take everything out of you. The guys will be having a barbeque tonight of quail and ribs. Dad was really just wanting a shower and air conditioning.

I have finished my physical therapy. I am doing pretty well with walking, going up and down stairs, balance, and just generally getting around. I have been doing therapy this time for about 2-2 1/2 months and it has paid off. I was given excersises to do at home to help maintain what I have accomplished.

I have been having a lot of swelling in my feet and legs and I went to the doctor about it. He said my blood pressure was up a little but he was not concerned about things. He is running quite a few blood tests (checking my heart, thyroid, kidneys) and I should hear on the results Tuesday, next week. For now, he has given me a diurectic to remove excess fluid and salt from the body and for hypertension. It is a low dose but it should help. He also suggested pressure socks but they would be very hot to wear. I have trouble with my bladder and having to go to the bathroom often, so the diurectic may increase the frequency. I guess I will need to decide what I can live with -- swelling or going to the bathroom. Its not fun getting old!

Trips

Well, I am back from a trip to Colorado. Seeing Noah and Madilynn was a lot of fun but also tiring. They are so full of so much energy. They are doing well and it was so nice to spend some time with them. They are definitely in their terrible two's. Whatever Noah did, Madilynn wanted to do too. There were times that Madilynn just struck out on her own and got into trouble. She didn't like having time out.

Jennifer is busy doing her schooling for her CNA and still being the mother. It can be exhausting for her especially when Noah and Madi decided to get up during the night. Interrupted sleep does not go well when you need to be fresh and clear headed for your studies. Jennifer is still handling everything. Mark also has been a help to her.

Jennifer and I took some time to visit Aunt Bonnie and cousin Tanya. Tany also has MS and is in a wheelchair all the time now. This is a recent development and Tanya is still getting used to the changes.

Mark and Jenn showed me around Colorado. They were impressed with the mountains and we took a trip to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain State Park. The scenery was beautiful and spectacular.

All good things had to come to an end and my trip did. I did take pictures of their house and backyard. They have a lot of room and there is no worry about the noise bothering a downstairs neighbor. They have a beautiful home (rental) and are looking forward to getting their own one day. Until then, the kids are enjoying being able to go outside and play.

HAWAII

We saw the fireworks off the Hilo coastline. We had rain before they started and we were not sure if they would happen. The rain stopped long enough for the display and when it was just about over, sprinkles started again. The ship continued on its way to Kona, the other side of the Big Island.

We stayed onboard while the ship was anchored off of Kona. We were very tired from the adventure on Hilo. That excursion was an all day trip. We only stayed a day at Kona before we left for Maui.

We knew we were moving as the ship moved on us when we walked around the ship. I did fine as this is the way I usually walk - unsteady - but those that don't had a much harder time. Many people were affected by the movement and were seasick but we never had that feeling.

Now, I am not saying that the ship was moving roughly all the time because it didn't. You just usually felt it more on the lower levels of the ship.

On Maui, we only took in one show called "Ulalena". This show gave you the history of the Hawaiian islands and their people from the beginning until now. They spoke in their Hawaiian language which you could not understand but you still got the meaning by their actions on stage. It was beautifully done.

The ship stayed in Maui two days. As we had been to Maui before, we had already seen what we wanted to see. We took to watching trucks moving in and out of the dock onshore from our balconey. It past the time.

It then came time to set sail for O'ahu and the final stop. We made it around the islands. We had a good time but we were glad to be coming back home.

Confession

The tatoo is not real. It was airbrushed on to look like a real tatoo. We thought it looked cool and was trying to pass it off as real but I just couldn't do it anymore. The tatoo is starting to fade on me so it doesn't look as good as it once did. It was fun while it lasted. Could I really do it? I don't think so. I thought about it and so did Dad and I think we both have agreed that we are not that type to carry it off.

Sorry...

TATOO

Well, I did something on our trip that was out of the ordinary. I decided to get a tatoo. What do you think? Is it me? Dad likes it. We even called Jenn to let her know. Are you shocked! You just never know what I or we will do.

ALOHA THE BIG ISLAND

We left Kauai and sailed to the Big Island of Hawaii. The first stop would be Hilo. On the way we saw magnificent cliffs of other islands and dolphin. The dolphin (there was a pod) were too quick to take pictures of but several would jump out of the water. They might have been doing this to move fish around as it was feeding time.


We visited an orchid plantation but the other flowers were just as beautiful.

We went to the Volcano National Park and it looked liked pictures from the moon. In fact, astronauts did train on this terrain for their lunar landings. We were showed how the lava destroyed roads and the scenery when the volocano would send it on its way to the ocean. The island increased by 4 acres the last time it blew.

We were not able to actually go into the volcano but we did walk through a lava tube, which was quite large and gave you an idea of how much lava is moved. The temperature is around 4000 degrees and you can not out run a lava flow.

ALOHA!!

We are back from our cruise around the Hawaiian islands. It was a good week. We did have some problems with the coolness of the cabin but it wasn't too bad at night. During the day we could go to other parts of the ship to stay cool or we would be on an excursion to some place on one of the islands.

The first island we went to was Kauai. We took a trip to see Wailua River to see the Fern Grotto. We stopped first at Opaekaa Falls and then we went to the River. It was a pleasant drive and we were able to see parts of Kauai. What was funny was the driver telling us about a KFC. You see they have wild chickens that roam around and yet none of the chickens want to hang around their KFC. Hmmm, I hope they are not using these chickens! (they aren't) The first picture has a shot of one of the chickens but at the last minute it put it's head down. It now looks like a headless bird. Oh well, I tried. These chickens are all over the island and run free. There was also a place that raised fighting roosters. Thank goodness we didn't have to see them fight or were fighting. The bus driver just stated that this was just the way of the Hawaiians and this should not be stopped because someone didn't like it. Do you think he was trying to get us on his side? More to follow