Roadrunner Reflections - Post Surgery Update

Just wanted to send out a quick update.  Surgery went well.  We have a way to go and taking it a day at a time but things are on track.  We saw the doctor yesterday and he was pleased with how things went and how they looked.  Things went smoothly.

The doctors and staff were first rate and top notch.  They were professional, had answers for all our questions and emoted a general sense of confidence, caring and ones that are in the prime of their medical career.  We were immediately put at ease talking with them about the task at hand.

We arrived an hour early early, prepped for surgery for about an hour and a half, had the two hour surgery and a couple of hours in recovery.

The general anethesia took a while to wear off and I wasn't feeling too great but it's all manageable. I have regained my appetite and am adjusting to the head down position that's required for 50 minutes every hour.  Sleeping has been interesting but that too is working out OK.

An eye surgery nurse just called to check up and answer any questions we have.  We've been very well taken care of.

More than that, we appreciate all of you and the people we have heard from.  Your interest and concern, your prayers and words of encouragement mean a lot to us.  Thanks very much!

That's all for now on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Back to 'head down' and moving through recovery.  :)

Roadrunner Reflections - Eye Update

Just wanted to followup with a brief note on my eye.  Over the last week or so, I've had some activity and didn't really know what was going on.  Seems like every few days things change but I had some pain and swelling which was new, so I thought it prudent to move up my two month 'check-in with a retina specialist' to as soon as I could find one.

Retina Northwest in Portland Oregon takes my insurance(Tricare Standard), and they worked with me to get me into a retina specialist.

That occurred on Friday AM the doctor did a very thorough exam and saw previous issues in addition to new problems.  I have a number of retina tears culminating in a Retina Detachment.  Yikes!  Not what we were hoping for... Up to Friday I was diagnosed with Retina Tear and Vitreous Hemorrhage.

This is a serious turn of events.  Glad we went in to see him.  I found him to be very thorough in his notetaking and assessment.  He was very professional and calm with the cold hard facts.  This has to be fixed.

He scheduled me for emergency surgery later this morning in Portland where I will be under general anesthesia where he perform:  vitrectomy with scleral buckle and intravitreal gas.

I thought this YouTube video was a pretty good (and short) explanation of my condition:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lxu3cUguM0

I also was going to show a short YouTube video of an actual surgery but it's a bit much...

We're going to stay in Portland for as long as it takes to get back to 'normal' and take it one day at a time.  It should take a couple of weeks in recovery here at the coach.  We'll find out in our post op appointment on Tuesday if I need to like face down or on mine side or what...

I am not planning on being able to read or sit up for those two weeks.  One friend who has had a number of retina detachment surgeryies (5) said, I am likely to become a 'carpet fiber expert'!  I guess being face down for a couple of weeks will make one very familiar with the floor.

Two things people have asked:

Will you get back to 100% vision?
- The doctor said, 'Maybe, but probably not'.  Not sure what all that means but I'm still planning and working on rehab so I get as close to what it used to be.
And
How do you feel about the surgery?
- I feel great!  I am so thankful we were able to get in to see the doctor and get scheduled ASAP.  Our son's Father-In-Law in a teaching optometrist and has been giving some good insight, recommendations and encouragement.  Plus, I've been able to talk with friends who have successfully been through this.
I am good with the outcome -- however it turns out. Since I am at about 5% vision in my left eye now, anything better is a bonus.  I am hoping for the best and praying that it will happen.
So, I'm in otherwise good health, good spirits and in good shape.

With that, I will close now and take a brief hiatus (probably at least two weeks or less if cleared to do so).

Thanks so much for your interest, support and prayers!  We appreciate it!

Thats all for now - thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Roadrunner Reflections - Eye Update

Just wanted to followup with a brief note on my eye.  Over the last week or so, I've had some activity and didn't really know what was going on.  Seems like every few days things change but I had some pain and swelling which was new, so I thought it prudent to move up my two month 'check-in with a retina specialist' to as soon as I could find one.

Retina Northwest in Portland Oregon takes my insurance(Tricare Standard), and they worked with me to get me into a retina specialist.

That occurred on Friday AM the doctor did a very thorough exam and saw previous issues in addition to new problems.  I have a number of retina tears culminating in a Retina Detachment.  Yikes!  Not what we were hoping for... Up to Friday I was diagnosed with Retina Tear and Vitreous Hemorrhage.

This is a serious turn of events.  Glad we went in to see him.  I found him to be very thorough in his notetaking and assessment.  He was very professional and calm with the cold hard facts.  This has to be fixed.

He scheduled me for emergency surgery later this morning in Portland where I will be under general anesthesia where he perform:  vitrectomy with scleral buckle and intravitreal gas.

I thought this YouTube video was a pretty good (and short) explanation of my condition:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lxu3cUguM0

I also was going to show a short YouTube video of an actual surgery but it's a bit much...

We're going to stay in Portland for as long as it takes to get back to 'normal' and take it one day at a time.  It should take a couple of weeks in recovery here at the coach.  We'll find out in our post op appointment on Tuesday if I need to like face down or on mine side or what...

I am not planning on being able to read or sit up for those two weeks.  One friend who has had a number of retina detachment surgeryies (5) said, I am likely to become a 'carpet fiber expert'!  I guess being face down for a couple of weeks will make one very familiar with the floor.

Two things people have asked:

Will you get back to 100% vision?
- The doctor said, 'Maybe, but probably not'.  Not sure what all that means but I'm still planning and working on rehab so I get as close to what it used to be.
And
How do you feel about the surgery?
- I feel great!  I am so thankful we were able to get in to see the doctor and get scheduled ASAP.  Our son's Father-In-Law in a teaching optometrist and has been giving some good insight, recommendations and encouragement.  Plus, I've been able to talk with friends who have successfully been through this.
I am good with the outcome -- however it turns out. Since I am at about 5% vision in my left eye now, anything better is a bonus.  I am hoping for the best and praying that it will happen.
So, I'm in otherwise good health, good spirits and in good shape.

With that, I will close now and take a brief hiatus (probably at least two weeks or less if cleared to do so).

Thanks so much for your interest, support and prayers!  We appreciate it!

Thats all for now - thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Along the Oregon Coast - July 2016

One of the beautiful drives in America is along the Oregon Coast!  We had some great weather and were excited to be see the coast again -- this time driving south to north on Highway 101.

It was a little tricky at time going north because we had to cross the highway to pull into observation points along the way.  But the views were terrific!

We stopped near Bandon, OR for a couple of days and went over to Face Rock State Park and checked out the beach.

Later, we drove into Bandon for some lunch and sat outside.

We had our eye on the local museum for a few days and finally made time to visit.

Like many other community museums, we found this to be interesting and very well done.

I enjoyed the Boy Scout display.

Like many other towns in the 1930's - Bandon had a fire that took a large part of their downtown area.

And the controversy over the refurbished lighthouse that had its color changed after some researcher discovered the 'true color'.    The locals were upset!

Not surprising this area was known for fishing, and lumber and cranberries.

Later on, in the Bandon area, we went over to Bullards Beach State Park with access down to the beach.

After a few days we moved on and drove through some more scenic areas.

Summer time is the time for road repairs.

Another lookout and observation point.

And our site at Devil's Lake State Recreation Area near Lincoln City.  This was advertised as a 45 foot site.  But it was all we could do to shoe horn into this site.  And the parking was too tight.

There was no internet and no satellite TV. After a one night stay we moved back toward Newport Oregon at Pacific Shores.  We've never stayed at an all motorcoach resort.  It was worth every penny and we got to see the entire British Open with our DirecTV.  

And -- the beach was right there

The site was very nice

The views from the campground were hard to beat with Yaquina Point in the distance.

It was hard not to enjoy this place and our time along the Oregon Coast!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Roadrunner Stops Along the Oregon Coast - 2016

After our July 2016 Warner Bros Reunion we made our way to:

• Arnold, CA over to Fairfield, CA 
• Travis AFB FamCamp  
• Willits CA  
• Harris Beach State Park  
• Bandon OR 
• Beverly Beach State Park  
• Devil's Lake State Park  
• (Pacific Shores RV Park  
• Netarts, OR.

A. We had a nice setup in Arnold CA for our 2016 Warner Bros Reunion.

 B. After 8 days at Marty's cabin in Arnold, we drove to Travis AFB Famcamp where we were in Overflow parking for two nites (thought I had a picture...)


C. Next it was on Willits CA and the Golden Rule RV Park

D. After that we had an overnight stay at Harris Beach State Park.  Loved the park even though it was a tight squeeze.

 E. We traveled up the coast and stopped next at Devils Lake State Park in Lincoln City.  This was our last stop at a State Park.  No matter what we hope for after reading the info about the site -- we concluded State Parks are not for us.  Just to hard to get into...

 F. From there we splurged and went to Newport OR and the very very nice Pacific Shores RV resort.  Great site and location.

 G. From there we have landed in Netarts, OR outside of Tillamook for a few days.  One extreme to the other.  The Big Spruce Campground offers $17/night for full hook ups and the internet is pretty good.  Cable can be connected but a bit of a hassle with their cable box with reprogramming the remote for the TV required.  Instead we watched a DVD in the evening which worked out great.

We are thoroughly enjoying our trip up the Oregon Coast.  The views and scenes I will save for another post.  But for the record I wanted to note where we have been staying during our time here.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

A Dinger and Did I Just Do That?- July 2016

Seems as if we have been incorporating a little more things in 'challenging' department lately.  I note these events and some to follow in order to not only share them, but also to remember what happened along the way...  The more we do full time and 'Live the Dream' the harder it becomes at times to remember exactly what happened and when.  But this is one day we will probably remember ;(

Last month while at brother Marty's cabin I was so excited that we got into the parking space in front of his without incident.  Like not a scratch!

I had been wondering for a year whether or not the Roadrunner was going to fit into the parking place in front of his cabin.  He said it would be no problem and was convinced that their was plenty of room.

Two years ago we were there but did not bring the Roadrunner.  We left the motorhome in the campground at Travis AFB and drove the few hours up to Arnold CA in our Honda and visited over a couple of weekends.  We did not think we'd ever bring the coach to his place despite his encouragement to do so.

But this time we did.  We drove to a campground in Angels Camp which is about 20 miles away.  Then we drove over to his place and took a look and decided yes it did look like it would fit and it was level and should be doable.

Then the day came when we drove it over, parked it in the little community center parking lot and did some tree branch trimming.

Pam helped me as I slowly backed into place and it had plenty of room.  Best thing was that we did not have even a scratch.  The trim job on the trees did the job.  

After our time there, we left and took a right out of the driveway.  Big mistake.  I should have returned the same way we took when we drove in.  But I thought we could make the very sharp turn up the hill at the stop sign 200 yards down the road where it met Moran Dr.  Nope.

I thought I had swung wide enough and gone far enough onto the other road before turned hard right.  Trouble.  I high-centered the PS on the edge of the road as I made the turn and dragged bottom in the middle.  Ugh.

That is a most awful sound.  I felt sick.  I drove it about a mile to a larger intersection where I could survey the damage.  It bend the mud flap a bit and and creased the bottom of PS doors two and three.  You can see the slight change in the lines along the bottom of the bay doors.

These are the two pictures I sent Bruce Deaton in Red Bay.  He said he thought he could fix it without getting new doors so that was a plus.  

It was a tough way to spend the day but we weren't through yet.  

This is the route we took for the 225 miles to Travis AFB.

We like to have a full tank before we find our campsite.  We found a large convenience store with diesel. It had large trucks in there so we knew we could get in and out without a problem.

Speaking of problems...it began when Pam alerted me that I was putting gasoline into our diesel tanks.  No---!!!  Yes.  Even though I had only put in 15 gallons that was enough for some big trouble.  I was stunned.  Shocked.  How could I do that??  

Oh man - this day just got a little harder.  We found a diesel service facility three miles away but I did not want to turn on the engine and get the gas all through the system.  We called CoachNet and they had a big unit come and tow us.

 Even though they were really busy, they put a technician on it and he drained our tanks.

A couple of hours later, we had 15 gallons of diesel and continued on our way to the base where we filled up.

 It was a tough day but the way I figure it.  Its all part of the adventure.  I would not wish dents or gas problems on anyone, but it happens and we just have to deal with it.  The towing did not cost us anything but we had to talk it over at length with CoachNet.

I was explicit from the first phone call explaining what I did, but they said they did not cover 'accidents'.  They relented after a few phone calls back and forth and said because they did not mention it during any one of our 5 previous conversations, they would pay it this time.  That was $800 worth of good news.

Emptying the tanks cost us 95 gallons of fuel plus $1200 and about 6 hours before it was all said and done.  Lot of lessons learned that day...

Thanks for joining us today.  More adventures and tales to come on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

2016 Warner Bros Reunion - Friday and Saturday

Friday morning was golf for the four Bros while the ladies hung out at the cabin.  We went over to Sequoia Woods to practice the night before and then played 18 holes at Forest Meadows in Arnold.

Somehow I missed taking photos of our golf Friday morning.  I was fun.  Reid was the surprise of the day.  He plays once every couple of years and was 1 over par after 4 holes.  If was fun to watch him do well.

After we returned to the cabin and had lunch, the rest of the group went to Angels Camp to tour around and over to Ironside Winery to see the museum and grounds.  Pam and I were recently at Angels Camp and had seen the Winery and museum a couple of years ago, so we didn't join them.

Before everyone scattered, we got some photos:

While they were in Angels Camp, Pam and I packed up and headed to Sacramento.  She had a early morning flight to Virginia Beach on Saturday morning so we spent the night at a hotel near the airport.
The mother of one of Adam's best friends (and a friend of Pam's) recently passed away unexpectedly and we felt it was important for her to be there despite the reunion.  The service was scheduled for Tuesday in Virginia Beach.

Pam flew out at 6 AM on Saturday morning, returning on Wednesday about noon.

After I drove her to the airport, I went by McDonald's for an egg McMuffin and to Starbuck for a large coffee, I drove back from Sacramento in time to meet up with the group downtown at Arnold in time for the Lions Club Pancake breakfast.  The Lions have 41 members, do a Pancake Breakfast three times a year and raise about $35,000 for scholarships, eye and hearing charities.

 I texted a picture of everyone to Pam while she was at Chicago Midway airport for a short layover.

The first event down the parade route was the annual 5k run.  That was followed by a steady stream of fire engines and US Forest Service trucks and vintage cars. If was pretty great and I'll bet that scene was duplicated in hundreds and hundreds of towns across the USA!

After the parade we wandered through the Arts and Crafts Fair looking for something we couldn't do without. Marty and Elena picked up a couple of black and white photographs and Brad and Sue got a little ceramic sign.

 When we got back to the cabin later in the afternoon, we somehow ended up in the Roadrunner for awhile.  I think I wanted to show them my table and favorite invention.  It sits over the coffee holders in between the two front seats above the center drawers in the front.

 Next, it was dinner on the back porch again.  I think we had salmon that Marty caught last year in Alaska which was pretty terrific.  Elena rustled up a tossed salad.

The deck on Marty's back porch was built just for get-togethers and is large enough for chairs and tables and the barbeque. After we cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher, we had dessert and coffee and talked long into the night again.  It was another special time and a lot of fun.