A December to Remember

The month of December arrived as I continued to recuperate from my sinus infection. The previously scheduled surgery on my foot was postponed until I finished taking the full course of antibiotics. The new date for surgery was the 10th. I convinced myself that I was well enough to proceed with the surgery (I really wasn't) while George told me to reschedule it again.

I had a method to that madness of proceeding with the surgery, because one year ago I had booked a week in Key West at Blue Water Key Resort and I needed a 15-week recuperation window. The week delay was now cutting into my timeline.

The surgery went well. I left the hospital the same day with a plate, two brackets and six screws in my foot, as well a a pin in my second toe that had needed to be broken and reset. I was placed on the same, strong antibiotic that I had taken for the sinus infection, and was given a powerful drug for pain. Now, all I had to do was sit back and let my bones mend. It was one of my more painful surgeries.

Good friends had lent me a wheelchair, but entering the RV was a tremendous challenge. One that caused me to almost re-break the broken toe! Neighbors far and wide heard my scream. Weeks later, a woman came up to me while I was sitting outside and she said, "Oh, you're the poor woman who screamed." I guess stuff like that gets around fast in a small community.

Life was spent in the RV being cared for - expertly - by George. There was very little I could do without his assistance, and he was always patient and caring. I counted my blessings (along with the days we would be swimming in Key West). 

About ten days later, I visited my surgeon who sent me to the ER with a note, indicating I was exhibiting signs of a DVT - deep vein thrombosis, including chest pain and difficulty breathing. The night before, I actually considered calling for an ambulance due to how badly I felt.

My original diagnosis in the ER was a lot of fluid in and around my lungs. I heard doctors saying, "congestive heart failure," "possible heart attack" and "thrombosis." I remember not feeling panic at this point, just a feeling that I wanted to go to sleep and wake up from a bad dream. I was weak, tired and in pain. 

On Christmas Eve, after about a week at Celebration Hospital, I was discharge after having a total cardiac work up. Gratefully, all my tests came back negative. The only explanation for all that fluid was that it probably developed from the original congestion of the sinus infection and made worse by the anesthesia from the surgery. 

Okay, this issue is behind us now and it's time to go home...but, getting released posed a huge problem. Part of my cardiac workup included an angiogram that was performed through my wrist. This prevented me from being able to hoist myself up the stairs into the RV.

Prior to being discharged, my mind raced with options and fortunately, I remembered that our friends owned a house nearby and had a spare room. After a quick call, we found out there was "room at the inn" on Christmas Eve for all of us, including Lucy. As it turned out, we had their whole home to ourselves since they were out of town. To make things even easier, we had a key to their home. 

Throughout the entire medical issue, I hadn't cried once, however, as George wheeled me into their home, tears of gratitude slid down my cheeks. I was overwhelmed by the situation and the bag full of new medications we had just picked up from the pharmacy, but also feeling so blessed to have friends who moved a huge obstacle out of our way.

Someone thought this was a
special chair just for her.

Christmas Day was going to be a relaxing and quiet day.

It wasn't.

I'll skip the unpleasant details, but I ended up heading back to Celebration Hospital by ambulance. This visit was a six day stint consisting of a battery of tests for gastric issues. The cause of this new problem was due to all the antibiotics and additional pain medications that I had been ingesting since the end of November.  It wreaked a bit of havoc on my insides.

We ended 2019 with hope and prayers that 2020 was going to be a terrific year. After all we had been through, how could it get any worse?

Meanwhile, as we were hoping and praying, Wuhan, China was to become a place that would go down in history as the epicenter of "COVID-19." Not until March 11th was it officially labeled "a pandemic" and people started to pay attention. Unfortunately, it would take thousands of deaths before most people started to take  it seriously.

My next blog entry will document, at least for my future reference, what it is like living in 2020 with a compromised immune system during a pandemic.

Deep thought for the day: "Good morning, good morning! It's time to celebrate! Good morning, good morning to you!"

This song's music was composed by Nacio Herb Brown and lyrics written by Arthur Freed, for the 1939 film, Babes in Arms. It was performed by Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney.

This is the song I sang to my boys as they grew up and now, I sing it to my husband. All three hate/hated it, or perhaps just my rendition. I'm not sure which, but I do know that I loved and still love singing it, because it's always a "good morning" when we wake up, have a place to live, clothes to wear, food to eat and love to give and receive... So, good morning, good morning to you! ~ vc

Ketchup post. Lots of catch up.

I decided, after the long absence from our New England Adventure, that I needed to document how life has unfolded since then. After a brief check of the photos on my phone, it seems like I neglected to keep the chronicle of my life up to date, which is the only way I can guarantee I don't forget the special "days of our lives."

Savannah with 2 sets of grandparents!

 In mid-September we headed south and made a stop in North Carolina to celebrate Savannah's 11th birthday. We had a great time visiting and got to have a spectacular birthday dinner together. This lucky girl got to spend it, not only with her immediate family, but with both of her grandparents!

Even a rainbow to celebrate a special girl!
Good grief, Charlie Brown, she will be taller
than me before next birthday!

Dessert caused a bit of havoc on my insulin reserves, but it was well worth the sacrifice. I was unable to upload a video of her breaking the pinata, but believe me, it was a sight not worth missing. 

We don't often get to spend birthdays, watch plays or musical or dance performances with them, so anytime we visit is special and was worth the risk of extra insulin and running "high."

My fire cracker getting ready to break
her chocolate pinata!

We only arrived in Florida a couple of weeks before getting on the road again to spend Thanksgiving in St. Pete's Beach, FL. There, we would spend the holiday with three of my grandchildren and their mom, Meily, who would be flying into the area from snowy Colorado to spend the holiday with my ex's family. As usual, we were invited and welcomed with open arms to stay and celebrate the holiday together. As Meily worked in the Tampa office of the company she works for, I was able to take the girls to the pool or beach and spent some quality time as we enjoyed perfect weather. We went out for dinners as a group, got sand in our suits as a group and shared germs as a group!

Love this one with sisters holding hands.

Lola looking happy and beautiful.

Nina enjoying watching the boys stare at her.

Me with three of my five precious girls
on Cousins Aaron's and Karen's boat.

Confident and a cutie, Emma with Uncle Gregg.

A sunset from the balcony of the condo at St. Pete Beach, FL

Boston Market Turkey Dinner

The night before Thanksgiving found me with the start of a sinus infection that required a trip to an urgent care facility and a script to knock it out of my system. George ended up picking up my prescriptions along with two turkey dinners from a Boston Market. We were thankful for many things despite missing celebrating with family.

The next day we headed back to our Florida "home base" where I could recuperate and not infect anyone else. I missed out on "apartment hunting" with Meily, who is seriously considering relocating to the Tampa area to be closer to family!

I ended the month of November sneezing, coughing and miserable, but I had already finished my Christmas shopping on-line, had it all wrapped, boxed up and ready to ship out by December 1st. I tend to always be a step ahead, just in case!

Valentine Card Boxes for Lola and...

Emma. Early, but promised last April.

The extravagant Valentine Card Boxes were part of their Christmas gifts. I made them after seeing the ones they had used the year before. I promised I'd make them real pretty ones for next Valentine's day.

Almost forgot to include my new car!

Decided to buy after leasing two prior to this one.

Geo

As soon as we had arrived in Florida in November, I needed to trade in my Nissan, Sentra. That Sentra had been my second lease and I liked the car so much I decided to go ahead any buy this one.

George and I decided that December would be better. Bunion surgery, that was originally scheduled for the 3rd needed to be rescheduled to the 10th so I could recuperate from the sinus infection. After that I'd be spending the rest of the the year just resting and healing. Poor George would have the honor of being my caretaker. Life (as we knew it) was good.

Lucy, feeling bummed out after realizing
we didn't have apple pie for dessert on Turkey Day!

Deep thought for the day:  "Go ahead an make all your plans you like, but never forget that we are just pawns on the chess board of life." ~ vc

While this was written after the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic, I had too much information to document leading up to this devastating time in history. Once we hit my "surgery" date, the story gets even more complicated before we reach the point of "LIFE AS WE KNEW IT."

Alpine Lake, Corinth, NY

The view from our site.by day.

Stop number two was at beautiful Alpine Lake RV Resort in Corinth, NY. Corinth is conveniently located close to Saratoga, Lake George, Glens Falls, Saratoga Springs and The Great Sacandaga Lake. We met up with several members of an RV group we belong to called the Hudson Islanders. 

The members in attendance were a combination of long-term, full-time and newbie rv'ers making for a fun gathering of food, fires, games and talks.

Unfortunately for me, the traditional nightly "bonfire" was something I could not totally partake of and enjoy as much as the others. Smoke makes my lungs protest and rebel, so I tried to behave by keeping a distance.

We had many fun nights at our lakeside site and were blessed with beautiful weather until our last day, but we had plenty of time to get out, explore and make many memories.

On our first day, George and I drove the perimeter of The Great Sacandaga Lake and were afforded many photo ops along the way. The Sacandaga is 27 miles long, which makes it only two miles shorter than the more popular Lake George, however, the sights were something to behold.

Our first stop was a visit to a vintage 5-10-and 25 Cent Store in Northville. I included a black and white, as well as a color because it just seemed that it should be viewed as an old time picture. 

Entering the store brought George and me back in time to when you could get ANYTHING you needed in one of those stores. They had clothing, fly swatters, hardware, shovels, make up. candy, toys, dish towels and even pink plastic hair rollers and pink foam hair rollers.  Enlarge the photo to see all the items on the shelves.

We next stopped at a roadside park in the hamlet of Hadley, which had an overlook on the  rapids portion of the Sacandaga River where it joins and empties into the Hudson River. It was a beautiful day and the view was incredible. 

Sacandaga River

A quick U-turn had me exploring an old cemetery dating back to the mid 1800's. I was moved and impressed by all the new American Flags that adorned many of the graves. A closer look showed bronze medallions that held up each flag that had been placed years ago by the local American Legion. I plan to contact the Lake Luzerne branch to make a donation to express my thanks for their continued dedication to our past fallen heroes.

The next bend in the road had us crossing a single-lane bridge that spanned the rapids. It was named the "Bow Bridge" after its "parabolic" design. (Bow - pronounced like "bow wow.") It was rather too easy to get up close and personal around this bridge where the slightest misstep could have had me tumbling down into the rapids. There wasn't a warning sign or barrier on either side of the bridge. George was behind me and visions of all the CSI and Forensic File shows I've watched came rushing into the forefront of my consciousness.  LOL

Thanks to a dear friend of mine who asked me to search for old tea cups, we got to explore the "Village View Variety Shoppe," just prior to its closing its doors for good. The entire building and huge antique collection was up for sale for a measly $150,000. We met the owner and operator who was a personable man who was ready to retire and had been unable to sell the building last year when it was priced at $300k. I couldn't believe someone hadn't scooped this place up, it had an entire side view of the Hudson River. It would have made the perfect location for a restaurant. 

I was able to bargain 11 tea cups that ranged in price from $10 up to $20 for only $5 each. Apparently, I can haggle for other people, but not for myself. It helped him deplete his inventory and allowed me to help out a friend.

The next day we met up with our fellow campers at the Up River Cafe in the center of town in Lake Luzerne. It was located right on the Hudson River and served up some tasty fare. It was a bit chilly on the outdoor porch, but the restaurant provided small blankets at most of the chairs that you could wrap around your shoulders. A very cute gesture.

Hummingbird Moth

Right out in front of the flower-filled front yard of the restaurant, I was able to view my first Hummingbird Moth. I had never seen this insect before and was happy to have gotten a few decent photos.  I was totally mesmerized by its swiftness and beauty.

After lunch, we all split up and George and I walked down the street and discovered the site of an old tannery, a museum (it was closed) and the little Chamber of Commerce Building, where you can view the narrowest portion of the Hudson River on its back porch.

Th closed museum, tannery marker and original chimney.

Narrowest section of the mighty Hudson River.

On two nights, George fired up our propane fire pit and had a raging fire that would make the hardiest "fire starter" jealous.

George's night to provide a roaring fire.

Here are a few other random photos of our time at beautiful Alpine Lake RV Resort.

From L to R: Vicki, Kathy, Chris,Doreen, Dawn and Roberta

From R to L: George, Ray, Mike, Tony and John

Not quite full, but my capture of the view from our campsite by moonlight.

George's view, with the moon reflecting on the lake.

Today marks the end of our Alpine Lake "unofficial" Hudson Islanders Rally. It was great to see the regulars, missed many of the other members, but it's always nice to meet new people, aka Dawn and John.

Over the last three days, one by one, the RV's pulled out leaving just Doreen, Tony and us. We are all packing up and battening down our hatches.  Another adventure blogged about so I can remember all the wonderful things we did, saw and ate. Life is good.

Deep (long) thought for the day:  Our neighbors in front of us were a unique and wonderful family. Hubby cooked almost every meal, kids were totally respectful and dogs well-behaved. I enjoyed watching their youngest son who reminded me of a Huck Finn type of kid. That rare type, who flourishes with a fishing pole, who took pleasure in explaining all the parts of the rod, reel, lures and hooks and the rules where if you catch a fish, you must throw it back. I never saw an electronic device in his hands the entire week, I never heard the parents discipline any of the three kids. The two large dogs lolled in the shade and seemed to be enjoying the entire scene, as did I. It was refreshing for me to listen to and watch. At 9 am, the pole is in the water and young son just pulled his second sunnie out of the water! He showed it off to someone passing by on the lake and he announced that it wasn't as big as the one his dad had caught earlier.  Life is good.  Many times, less is more. ~ vc

Quechee, VT

If you look closely at the photo left, you will see that, indeed, we WERE here...tucked into the tall pine trees on a steep hillside at Quechee/Pine Valley KOA and enjoying not having to follow any schedule.

No WiFi and poor cell service kept the world from us for most of the time. When sightseeing, we were able to check texts and make calls, but even that was limited. We survived and I flourished.

Vermont is known as the "Green Mountain State," thus, Green Mountain Coffee, and even more well known for its delicious cheddar cheese, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, and a huge granite quarry. We searched for the quarry, but to no avail, see below for a link to the amazing site.

We visited the Cabot Cheese Center and I was able to taste many flavors that are not offered in any grocery store that I've been.  My favorite was their Cheddar Reserve, which is wrapped in a heavy plastic coating.

We visited the Quechee Gorge, which was quite deep, but had very little water in the river. Unfortunately, every view worth photographing was obscured by chain link fencing. The photo I included here is not mine, as there was no way I was prepared to climb down and follow the trail, but thought it was worth showing.

We observed many kayaks atop cars, but couldn't figure out where they could "put in" until we discovered the Connecticut River that separates VT and NH and was deep enough and smooth as glass.

Vermont is a very pollution-conscience State. We were only offered paper straws in restaurants (don't know why people complain about them - that's all there was back in MY day).  At supermarkets there were signs that said, "Did you remember your reusable bag?" and when we checked out, I was embarrassed that we were one of the only customers using the disposable store bags.

Many eating establishments did not accept "plastic" - as in credit cards.  Good thing George is always "carrying," but had he not been with me, I would probably still be washing dishes or sweeping floors.

Here are a few photos of our time in the cities of Woodstock, Essex Junction, Pine Valley, Taftsville and White River Junction in VT and a quick ride across the border to West Lebanon NH.

Fabulous collection of toys at a huge Antique Mall.
Star Wars photos were specially taken for son, Glenn. Of course, George and I drooled over the spectacular train display.  

A newer covered bridge in Taftsville, VT, but still fun to drive through.

Great food and atmosphere at an authentic diner in Quechee, VT
I don't think I've ever seen one with as many original features, including stained glass windows.

Walking throughout pretty Woodstock, VT

Dog Friendly Ice Cream in West Lebanon, NH
Here's a little German Shepherd waiting for his Bogey Biscuit!

McGillicudy's in Essex Junction, VT

So very sorry to have missed Rock of Ages Granite Quarry in Barre, VT. If I ever return to Vermont, this will be at the top of my list of things to do. Click on that link above in blue to see more amazing pictures and information about the quarry,

Deep thought for the day:  Although it was a tiny sticker that we added to our map, The sights and atmosphere were hugely enjoyed. Don't overlook the tiny signs of beauty in your life. ~vc