This seems to be the year for cruises. We will be celebrating our 40th anniversary this year and are planning a Panama Canal cruise to celebrate. It's a 16 day cruise with stops in Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, the Canal, Cristobal, Panama and Cartagena, Columbia. We leave from Los Angeles and arrive in Miami.
We had said we would work through the end of September but with Christine getting married Sept. 20 in TN we will probably only work through the middle of the month. Then, we need to be back in So. Cal. for our niece, Marie's wedding on Oct. 4. We will hang around until our cruise leaves on the 17th.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
New Driver
This is a warning for you all to stay away from the Denton County area of Texas for the next six months or so. Deidra will be on the roads trying to earn her driver's license!
I'm back home from an exhausting week of caregiving and handywoman chores. But it was a week given in love. They put a walking cast on Mom's foot last Wednesday and each day she gets steadier and stronger. She told me last night her ankle didn't hurt at all yesterday so that is good news. This is her first broken bone so she was like a teenager at church Sunday having everyone sign her cast!
Mayela, their caregiver, has changed her hours so she can be there to fix and serve the evening meal. She had planned to go to Costa Rica this week for her niece's Quincenera (I'm sure I'm spelling it wrong) but canceled her trip due to Mom. You couldn't ask for a more compassionate caregiver. Thank you all for your prayers.
I'm back home from an exhausting week of caregiving and handywoman chores. But it was a week given in love. They put a walking cast on Mom's foot last Wednesday and each day she gets steadier and stronger. She told me last night her ankle didn't hurt at all yesterday so that is good news. This is her first broken bone so she was like a teenager at church Sunday having everyone sign her cast!
Mayela, their caregiver, has changed her hours so she can be there to fix and serve the evening meal. She had planned to go to Costa Rica this week for her niece's Quincenera (I'm sure I'm spelling it wrong) but canceled her trip due to Mom. You couldn't ask for a more compassionate caregiver. Thank you all for your prayers.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Broken Bone
No. Not Dianna or I, or even one of our kids this time. That is unless you consider our parents our kids now.
After settling in at San Onofre this week, and working the kiosk on Friday, we decided to take the Metrolink from San Juan Capistrano to San Fernando to visit Dianna's parents this weekend. They have been in pretty good health lately so this promised to be a pleasant visit without all the Dr. and hospital stuff. Wrong!
On the train we got a call from Julie telling us that Mom had fallen during the night and sprained her ankle. She was also feeling dizzy, short of breath and nauseous. By the time we arrived in San Fernando an hour and several phone calls later we knew this would not be an uneventful visit.
The train station is only five minutes from Widener's house. Their caretaker picked us up and when we got to their house we called 911. Mother had actually fallen at 4 AM, gone back to bed, gotten up and somehow out to the kitchen by 9 AM where she again got dizzy and fell over backward while sitting on the seat of her walker. She caught herself and managed to hang upside down for about half an hour until the caretaker arrived for the day. I think anyone would be dizzy, nauseous and short of breath after an episode like that. The swelling on her ankle was about the size of an orange.
Almost before Dianna hung up the phone the EMT's arrived and took her to the hospital. Dianna went over to be with her. They checked her out thoroughly and concluded that her dizziness, nausea and shortness of breath were caused by dehydration. Oh, and her ankle was broken.
They put it in a splint for a couple days to wait for the swelling to go down so they can cast it. So, for the next few weeks she will be even less mobile than usual. She cannot get to or from the bed, sofa or bathroom without assistance. Dianna found she was not properly trained as an aide and had a back ache last night.
Dianna and I will drive their car down to San Onofre tomorrow while their caretaker is here so Dianna can pick up some clothes and return to stay with them for a while. At this point we don't know how long, but Dad cannot handle her and the caretaker only works days and six days a week.
I will stay in San Onofre and meet our volunteer commitments. As of now I am scheduled to work the kiosk three days a week. I would much rather be doing that than have to do what Dianna is going to have to do.
Kids!
After settling in at San Onofre this week, and working the kiosk on Friday, we decided to take the Metrolink from San Juan Capistrano to San Fernando to visit Dianna's parents this weekend. They have been in pretty good health lately so this promised to be a pleasant visit without all the Dr. and hospital stuff. Wrong!
On the train we got a call from Julie telling us that Mom had fallen during the night and sprained her ankle. She was also feeling dizzy, short of breath and nauseous. By the time we arrived in San Fernando an hour and several phone calls later we knew this would not be an uneventful visit.
The train station is only five minutes from Widener's house. Their caretaker picked us up and when we got to their house we called 911. Mother had actually fallen at 4 AM, gone back to bed, gotten up and somehow out to the kitchen by 9 AM where she again got dizzy and fell over backward while sitting on the seat of her walker. She caught herself and managed to hang upside down for about half an hour until the caretaker arrived for the day. I think anyone would be dizzy, nauseous and short of breath after an episode like that. The swelling on her ankle was about the size of an orange.
Almost before Dianna hung up the phone the EMT's arrived and took her to the hospital. Dianna went over to be with her. They checked her out thoroughly and concluded that her dizziness, nausea and shortness of breath were caused by dehydration. Oh, and her ankle was broken.
They put it in a splint for a couple days to wait for the swelling to go down so they can cast it. So, for the next few weeks she will be even less mobile than usual. She cannot get to or from the bed, sofa or bathroom without assistance. Dianna found she was not properly trained as an aide and had a back ache last night.
Dianna and I will drive their car down to San Onofre tomorrow while their caretaker is here so Dianna can pick up some clothes and return to stay with them for a while. At this point we don't know how long, but Dad cannot handle her and the caretaker only works days and six days a week.
I will stay in San Onofre and meet our volunteer commitments. As of now I am scheduled to work the kiosk three days a week. I would much rather be doing that than have to do what Dianna is going to have to do.
Kids!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Bloomin' blossoms
What a gorgeous drive we had yesterday from Yuma to San Onofre! I had never seen Ocotillo blossoming before. It is absolutely beautiful. We only saw one plant so decked out and I was lucky enough to have popped my head up from my book just in time to catch it. And then the iceplant and freeway daisies all along the highway from San Diego were so bright it almost hurt our eyes!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Blog Updates
No, not additional posts but rather updates to the way the blog itself works. I always hated reading posts in reverse sequence so I finally found a plugin that let me change the sequence and number of posts of selected items. I have set Categories and Archives to display in chronological order so you can follow the story line without reading from bottom to top. I find it enjoyable to read through our Alaska trip and other places we have been. I have also set both options to show up to 31 posts at a time so it requires much less clicking and more scrolling.
I also added a widgit that condenses the archives by year but still allows expanding to individual months. It is much better than showing all the individual months. It was getting to be a long list.
I also added a widgit that condenses the archives by year but still allows expanding to individual months. It is much better than showing all the individual months. It was getting to be a long list.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Yuma Proving Ground
Yesterday we visited the museum at the Yuma Proving Grounds. It is located on the base about three miles from us. We learned a lot about the history and current mission of YPG and both of us found it interesting.
YPG began in early 1942 when George Patton was tasked with setting up a desert training center. They needed a place to train soldiers to fight in North Africa and other desert locations. There were huge chunks of desert land appropriated for the purpose, most of which was already owned by the government, and several camps were set up. The camp nearest to here was Camp Laguna which is just a couple miles from the current main base.
There were lots of pictures of men during their training. It was one of the most harsh and primitive places used for training during the entire war. Some of the men who trained here have donated photos and letters they wrote while here. Most do not have pleasant memories of the place.
Even during the war the area started being used for testing military equipment. Strangely, one of the many things developed and tested here during the war was river fording equipment. We saw pictures of the temporary bridges built on rubber rafts that were used to cross rivers in Europe during the war. The ability to control the amount of water in the river by using Imperial Dam gave them a tool to test different flow rates and develop a system that worked. During the testing several tanks were dropped to the bottom of the Colorado.
Starting after the war in 1950 the current Yuma Proving Grounds developed. They have tested every piece of equipment used by the US Army here and in the other two test areas that are managed from here. This is the desert test facility but they also manage the polar test facility located in Alaska, and the tropical test centers located in Panama, Honduras and other locations.
They told us that there are currently about 1,000 different items being tested, including devices used in Iraq. They actually constructed an Iraqi city to look like Bagdad where they could find ways to locate and destroy IED's. That program is still under way and even included testing to see if bees could be used to find the devices since they are drawn to some of the chemicals found in explosives.
When driving by or visiting the housing section of the base where we were, the impression you have is that not much is going on here. In fact there are about 3,000 employees working here every day, of which only about 100 are military. The rest are civilian contractors. It is a very busy place.
One additional thing we learned is that this is the training facility for HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) teams. About 1,000 paratroopers go through the school here every year. They learn to parachute from very high altitudes and free fall to an area that may be miles from where they jump before they open their parachutes at low altitude. It it a technique used mostly by special forces. The Golden Knights, the Army parachute demonstration team, also trains here from the middle of January to the middle of March each year. We have seen them at air shows several times.
A few years ago I remember hearing about George Bush senior sky diving on his 72nd birthday. The first time he had parachuted was bailing out of his airplane when he was shot down during WW II. That birthday parachute jump was done here at YPG, the only time a president or past president has ever visited the facility. By the way, he has since made additional jumps, the most recent was just last year at the age of 83. He parachuted in to the reopening of his presidential library in College Station, Texas.
Earlier in the week I toured an outdoor exhibit where some of the vehicles tested here were displayed. One was the 175 MM Self Propelled Gun I worked on in VietNam. In fact, I fired one once while at Fire Base Bastogne into the Ah Shaw Valley where some serious fighting was going on near Hamburger Hill.
We enjoyed ourselves and found all this interesting. If you are interested in learning more you can visit their web site. Yuma Proving Grounds
We will only be here a few more days and then we are off to San Onofre.
YPG began in early 1942 when George Patton was tasked with setting up a desert training center. They needed a place to train soldiers to fight in North Africa and other desert locations. There were huge chunks of desert land appropriated for the purpose, most of which was already owned by the government, and several camps were set up. The camp nearest to here was Camp Laguna which is just a couple miles from the current main base.
There were lots of pictures of men during their training. It was one of the most harsh and primitive places used for training during the entire war. Some of the men who trained here have donated photos and letters they wrote while here. Most do not have pleasant memories of the place.
Even during the war the area started being used for testing military equipment. Strangely, one of the many things developed and tested here during the war was river fording equipment. We saw pictures of the temporary bridges built on rubber rafts that were used to cross rivers in Europe during the war. The ability to control the amount of water in the river by using Imperial Dam gave them a tool to test different flow rates and develop a system that worked. During the testing several tanks were dropped to the bottom of the Colorado.
Starting after the war in 1950 the current Yuma Proving Grounds developed. They have tested every piece of equipment used by the US Army here and in the other two test areas that are managed from here. This is the desert test facility but they also manage the polar test facility located in Alaska, and the tropical test centers located in Panama, Honduras and other locations.
They told us that there are currently about 1,000 different items being tested, including devices used in Iraq. They actually constructed an Iraqi city to look like Bagdad where they could find ways to locate and destroy IED's. That program is still under way and even included testing to see if bees could be used to find the devices since they are drawn to some of the chemicals found in explosives.
When driving by or visiting the housing section of the base where we were, the impression you have is that not much is going on here. In fact there are about 3,000 employees working here every day, of which only about 100 are military. The rest are civilian contractors. It is a very busy place.
One additional thing we learned is that this is the training facility for HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) teams. About 1,000 paratroopers go through the school here every year. They learn to parachute from very high altitudes and free fall to an area that may be miles from where they jump before they open their parachutes at low altitude. It it a technique used mostly by special forces. The Golden Knights, the Army parachute demonstration team, also trains here from the middle of January to the middle of March each year. We have seen them at air shows several times.
A few years ago I remember hearing about George Bush senior sky diving on his 72nd birthday. The first time he had parachuted was bailing out of his airplane when he was shot down during WW II. That birthday parachute jump was done here at YPG, the only time a president or past president has ever visited the facility. By the way, he has since made additional jumps, the most recent was just last year at the age of 83. He parachuted in to the reopening of his presidential library in College Station, Texas.
Earlier in the week I toured an outdoor exhibit where some of the vehicles tested here were displayed. One was the 175 MM Self Propelled Gun I worked on in VietNam. In fact, I fired one once while at Fire Base Bastogne into the Ah Shaw Valley where some serious fighting was going on near Hamburger Hill.
We enjoyed ourselves and found all this interesting. If you are interested in learning more you can visit their web site. Yuma Proving Grounds
We will only be here a few more days and then we are off to San Onofre.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Imperial Dam
We moved from Quartzsite to Imperial Dam today. We are about 20 miles north of Yuma along the Colorado River. There is another Long Term Visitor Area here where we have all the same services we had in Quartzsite, and our pass from there is good here also.
I remember when Mom and Dad spent some time here. We visited them where they were parked along the river. That is no longer possible unless you want to pay $15 per day. The area we can stay in is located up on a mesa on the California side of the river. It is very different from Quartzsite which is level ground with a few dry creek beds running through the desert. Here the land is mostly hilly since the river has cut down through here sometime in the distant past. It is also 3 to 5 degrees hotter here than in Quartzsite because it is lower in elevation. It got up to 89 today, which is hotter than we enjoy.
After arriving this afternoon we rode into Yuma to do some shopping. The road runs along the river for a few miles and then through fields of produce. It is actually quite pretty and the green fields are much cooler.
When we returned home I set up the satellite and TV dishes while cooking a turkey breast on the grill. It came out very good.
While in Quartzsite we didn't do a whole lot. We rode down to Yuma once and to Blythe once for shopping. We also took a trip south of Quartzsite to Palm Canyon on the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge. The only palm trees native to Arizona live there in a very narrow canyon. Other than that we just did the normal stuff; hauling water once or twice a week, grocery runs to town and taking walks in the evening.
We plan to be here until we move to San Onofre where we will spend the summer. That move should happen on April 1. Until then we are just going to try to keep as cool as possible.
I remember when Mom and Dad spent some time here. We visited them where they were parked along the river. That is no longer possible unless you want to pay $15 per day. The area we can stay in is located up on a mesa on the California side of the river. It is very different from Quartzsite which is level ground with a few dry creek beds running through the desert. Here the land is mostly hilly since the river has cut down through here sometime in the distant past. It is also 3 to 5 degrees hotter here than in Quartzsite because it is lower in elevation. It got up to 89 today, which is hotter than we enjoy.
After arriving this afternoon we rode into Yuma to do some shopping. The road runs along the river for a few miles and then through fields of produce. It is actually quite pretty and the green fields are much cooler.
When we returned home I set up the satellite and TV dishes while cooking a turkey breast on the grill. It came out very good.
While in Quartzsite we didn't do a whole lot. We rode down to Yuma once and to Blythe once for shopping. We also took a trip south of Quartzsite to Palm Canyon on the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge. The only palm trees native to Arizona live there in a very narrow canyon. Other than that we just did the normal stuff; hauling water once or twice a week, grocery runs to town and taking walks in the evening.
We plan to be here until we move to San Onofre where we will spend the summer. That move should happen on April 1. Until then we are just going to try to keep as cool as possible.
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