Home from the north

Good evening,

We have just arrived at a little after 10.  We finally pulled away from Jerry and Donna's about 4 this afternoon.  With one difficult fuel stop at a Pilot station located above Woodland where there were just too many vehicles trying to make purchases the rest of the trip was uneventful.  While traffic was moderate when you spend your time in the slow lane at about 61 mph there is less stress involved.

About our stay.  We drove up on Wednesday and arrived in the evening.  We had a nice dinner with Jerry and Donna and family.  It was fun to just chat with family, enjoy the warmth from their various heat sources including a great wood stove in the kitchen area which puts out great heat.  Both Jerry and Donna know how to built a fire, they are very good at it.  I was encouraging my brother to have the daughters shoot a video for U Tube on the best way to built a fire, he really has a system that works every time and uses several different kinds of wood and sizes as well.  He is a fire master.

On Thursday Donna and Jerry were up early preparing the food for the day and Ruth and Darla helped out a lot as well.  I woke feeling awful and spent the entire day feeling just short of a trip to the ER.  It was so sad to feel so bad when there was so much love and joy in the air, outstanding food and football.  Jerry and Donna have a new Direct TV system with a remote that has been redesigned and works so much better than my remote.  Wow it is a great system and it kept us all entertained the whole time we were there.

We parked the motorhome behind the garage on a nice level space that was near enough to plug in the electrical system.  Using the leveling system we got the motorhome nearly perfect leveled.  The water would even run out of the tub!  The first night as I became more and more ill I was so cold in spite of having the furnace on, it was a lousy night so the next night Jerry provided a little space heater which was a powerhouse, I added a third blanket and I wore sweats, I slept better.  By Friday morning I woke feeling much better and during the day Jerry and I went for a moderate walk along a beautiful stream.  Last night we had dinner at a local café and I finally felt better.

I woke today feeling great and Jerry and I took a longer walk, perhaps 3 miles.  I have to be careful about having shortness of breath and he has to be careful about a bum knee but we had a beautiful day with great views of nearby Mt. Shasta that is only about 2 miles from their home.  We saw evidence of many different animals as we walked, bears, coyotes, deer, little mice, various birds and lots of different kinds of brush and trees.  Once we got back from our long walk Donna whipped out a great breakfast of pancakes and eggs, excellent peaches and Marilyn shared some cookies she had brought.  It was about 1:30 when we ate and we talked some more before preparing the motorhome for the trip back.  It was with great sadness that we drove out the driveway.  I just love visiting these very special people who are so gracious and welcoming, have such a cute well maintained home and do such a great job of welcoming us.

Tomorrow I'll have many photos to share but tonight I'm pretty tired, my right arm is still suffering from its tennis elbow which seems to be getting worse and I'm just tired after driving about 6 hours.

The motorhome did just great, it rode smoothly and handles hills easily, brakes well and is a huge pleasure to drive.  Now I just need to get it out more often and enjoy it.

Sending love to all,

Tim

Friday night in weed, all in well

So here we are sitting in the very comfortable living room of Jerry and Donna. Just back from having dinner at the Hi-Lo cafe in beautiful downtown Weed.
Donna has been a leader in the local AA for years and they meet on Friday nights. We joined her after  
her meeting. There is something about a local place like this, it's so special.
Today I felt so much better than yesterday. I was pretty ill yesterday so to wake up clear headed and anxious to go for a walk today was a great blessing. Donna made a great breakfast and was so good.
Jerry helped me get the motor home ready to travel and we went to town to fill the
propane tank. It took 12 gallons so it was time to fill. I remember a night in the motor home at leoni meadows and a bunch of guys sleeping soundly when the propane tank went dry. We were all so cold as there was snow outside.
Once we arrived back home we backed the motor one up to a faucet and filled the water tank. Then I parked the motor home, did the power leveling system, plugged the power in and I was ready for a new night.
Now it's bedtime, it's about 29 outside as the inside of the coach is cozy.
One thing to mention. Last night's blog did not broadcast so I sent it out tonight.

Sending love to all

Tim

A Wonderful Thanksgiving in Weed

I'm writing this evening from the office of Jerry and Donna in Weed.  It has been an incredible day with perfect weather, family here for breakfast and then the spread of Thanksgiving.  Donna is pretty incredible at pulling everything together, all the food was warm at the same time and everything was excellent.

Unfortunately I woke feeling really rough and I've been bad all day long.  I'm not sure what is the problem but I've been really  under the weather.  During the night Marilyn sleeps in the bedroom and we close a door between the front and back of the coach.  The temperature is about 10 degrees hotter than the front where I sleep so I froze all night and she was too warm.  Tonight Jerry has given me a little heater for the front area and tonight I will be warmer.

So I'm not sure what is wrong and when it will pass.  I do notice that I'm suffering from the altitude in that I'm short of breath.  We are about 3,700 feet here at Jerry's home and it is enough for my lungs to know the difference.

Enough with my whining.  Its been a day with family and humor, snacks and football.  One of the daughters, Cynthia, is learning to be a truck driver so is on the road traveling the country.  In the last few days she has been in LA, Sacramento and is now heading back east.  Its a bold adventure but she was wanted to become a driver for years.  Now she is making it happen but that meant she was not here for the day, she was missed.

It felt strange to not be with the kiddos but I know they had very good days with their friends.

I would appreciate your prayers that I can quickly recover and be able to drive home on time.

Sending love to all,

Tim

Good evening from weed

After a challenging morning wrapping up business stuff  I finally left about 11:30. The trip was perfect with nice weather and easy traffic. As weed grew near it sure was nice to have the heater working as we are near mt Shasta.

We have a great evening with jerry and Donna. So much fun to see darla and Ruth too. Their dogs are so sweet. At this house there is a fire going most of the time in their little wood stove.

Tomorrow sounds like a great day of feasting. Our weather is going to be good until sat nite and we r driving home on sat afternoon so I think we can avoid trouble on the road.

I am wishing each of you a great thanksgiving with lots of love for all.

Love

Tim

Kiddos lighten up the day

Good evening,

We are just back from UNO's where we had dinner with Nikki, Kallie and Keanna.  What an interesting time, kiddos are great and have been with me all day.

This morning I rolled out and came down to go right to work.  I built a fire to warm the place up, made a hot drink and started working.  The girls arrived while I was at the bank making a deposit and they played around the house until at 1 Keanna went to a friends house for the afternoon leaving Kallie and Marilyn to co exist.  I left about 2:30 to do a driveby appraisal in Pleasant Hill and then came back after dark.

What fun to see the ideas, the energy, the smiles of the little people God places in our lives.

Tomorrow morning we are leaving in the motorhome for Weed, exactly 300 miles away.  I can only hope and pray that the weather will be good and that our trip will be without an incident.  So in the morning I just need to jump up and write a review, then pack stuff in the motorhome, run to town to take a photo of a street scene and then hit the road.  I will drive about 60 for the trip so I'll be driving for about 6 hours when one factors in stops along the way.  As we have taken stock it looks like we'll be driving back a bit sooner than we expected since Kallie has a dance recital on Sunday, something I had overlooked and something I do not want to miss.

I look forward to the trip and getting to spend time with some very precious people in a beautiful part of the world.

Love to all,

Tim

Some encouraging news, a great visit at Kaiser

Good evening to friends and family,

This has been an interesting day.  This morning the phone range and someone said, this is Sylvia, well it was not the Sylvia I normally talk to so I ventured deeper into the call.  Turns out it a contact from Match.com who I had started to have contact with yesterday through email.  Good thing, she seems like one of the normal ones, bad thing she lives in Fontana, near LA.  Now that makes for a long term relationship for sure.

She here she was on the phone and we had a great chat during which I got an order and I had to call her back afterwards.  She has been alone for 2 years and is starting to reach out and I liked what she had to say.

It was interesting to say the least.

This morning I went to Kaiser to see a pulmonary specialist.  It was a very excellent visit and I felt we made a lot of progress.  All the way from my getting to see my lungs from the recent x ray and my heart to his listening to my very noisy lungs.  Out of our conversation I came home with
Prednisone for 5 days.  A med for acid reflux and a powerful nasal spray to get at the nasal drainage.

An interesting idea was floated about my house, could it be filled with mold?  That came from my observation that when I have traveled to Costa Rica and Hawaii I stop coughing, is it because I'm relaxed, is it due to the warm moist air or is it because I'm escaping my house?

So in light of that question I'm going to be keeping a very careful eye on how I do when I board the motorhome on Wednesday for Weed and stay in the motorhome and their home until I come back on Sunday evening.  Will the coughing decrease?

The doctor wants me to keep him informed with frequent emails.  He also had me email him the details about my CPAP mask so he could order a new one along with tubing since they need to be replaced every 6 months.  That was a huge deal since I've been buying my own supplies for awhile from the web without any support from Kaiser.

So it was a big deal for me today, to be heard, to be cared about and to have some possible answers to something that haunts me everywhere I go and all the time.  To think of a world where I don't have these awful bouts of coughing is like a dream.

Marilyn came home this afternoon and now the cat and dog are right beside here competing for her attention.  They will have withdrawal pains when she leaves for Rhode Island.

Tomorrow is a big day in that I'm writing reports, loading the motorhome and will have both Kallie and Keanna here for the day.  Nikki is working and Steve had two properties to see.  This whole thing with Steve getting orders all the time is a total answer to prayer, it is just great.  He has been very busy loading his house with exterior lights and it looks great.  What a guy.

Well I'm heading to bed and sending love to all,

Tim

Good Sunday

So I'm taking a few minutes before retiring for the evening to speak to you.

This morning I was on the treadmill minutes after rising and it was work.  I'm not sure what is going on right now but the lung and coughing thing is getting much worse.  In fact there is little coughing now and it is a loose cough with lots of stuff coming up but the cough is deeper when it happens.  What is concerning is this, I find myself out of breath at strange time.  There were times today when I had to push myself to keep going.  I've noticed that they have my heart meds so high that I really have to work to get the heart rate up to even 100 on the treadmill, it hangs around 65, then 70 for most of the time, not because I'm in such great shape but because the Coreg is artificially keeping my heart from catching up the need. 

In the morning at 8:30 I see a pulmonary guy and I hope to get some answers. 

Today I wrote on an appraisal for Discovery Bay, they just bought the house but the values have gone up so much that they can get rid of PMI, a waste of money anyway so I'm glad that in fact the prices have risen quite a bit over the past year, enough to help them save money.

I left at noon for a 1 pm appointment in Danville, when I arrived the lady was startled and said she would need to call her husband, he had totally forgotten but was home in a flash and the appraisal proceeded just fine.  Perfect property, about 1600 sf and worth nearly a million dollars because of where its located.

Once I left that plush neighborhood I needed diesel and had just enough time to get to the next appointment in Oakland, I quickly found diesel with the gas buddy on my phone, pumped in three gallons, that will give me 120 miles.  When I arrived at the condo in Oakland much to my delight it was the same model I had measured 3 months ago, it was not easy to measure then and I'm sure glad I didn't have to do it again.  So I made conversation, shot photos, took notes and was on my way.  Even the comps were still the best available.

By that time I was hungry and feeling short of breath often.  Not a great feeling.  So as I drove home and passed through Concord I veered toward Spaghetti Factory and had an incredibly nice meal sitting in the bar area by the window.  I had the senior citizen portion (smaller, cheaper) of whole wheat pasta with Mazithra Cheese and Mushroom Sauce.  Their bread is great and the entire experience cost $10 bucks.  I felt much better as I drove home and this time I remembered to give myself an insulin shot.

This evening I've built a fire, the furnace won't blow warm again, same as last year.  Then I worked on finishing up the report and I just shipped it out.  So thankful for life.

Keanna just sent me a photo so I've included it here.  The little brown rabbit is Jackey and they all love him.

Love to all,

Tim

PS after taking out 6 or 7 boards in my side fence as I tried to back the boat in with the motorhome last night after dark I ask Steve if he would help today and sure enough, when I got home the boat was parked right where it needs to be.  Thanks Steve