Finally!

About 5:30 tonight it was decided that Gary could go home to Mom's.  We finally got here about 7:30. Just as he was slowly walking in, my brother and nephew, Alex, showed up.  Alex helped me get Gary's things out of the RV and then went with me to get Gary's pain meds.  Mom (age less than a week from 100) made Gary dinner.  I am so blessed!

Today was a rougher day.  He really has problems getting up--easier from a chair, impossible from a bed.  Tonight he is sleeping in the recliner and I'll be on the davenport (sofa--Gary keeps correcting me) in case he needs me.  The dogs are happy he is home--both have hovered near him all evening.  He is still in a lot of pain,but slowly making progress.  He is determined to go to the party, but it will be a challenge for everyone who is helping him.  Time will tell.  We will be staying at least two weeks instead of leaving on Tuesday, as originally planned.

One more night of bedtime at midnight or later.  Dinner for me has been between 10:30 and 11:30.  I'm pooped!

A Day of Nice Surprises

We have such great friends.  So far multiple offers of RV driving help have come by email.  We may need to accept some help, but will be waiting until at least two weeks pass to make any decisions.  This afternoon Gary told me his pain level had decreased by half. He went on three walks all the way around his floor today.  He looks good.  It just is really painful when he needs to get out of the bed. And he won't be sleeping lying down for a few weeks.  He has a really nice roommate, so that makes it almost fun, if not for the pain.

His sense of humor is still intact.  It was his idea to take this photo of him in his mini-nightshirt and post it.

As I was shopping for Mom's party at the Dollar Store I was talking with my sister on the phone.  A young woman came up to me and wanted to talk with me.  As I hung up my call, she asked if I was the one who needed the paramedics yesterday.  At that point I realized I did recognize her face--no uniform today made it a little hard to place her.   I said, "You were the one on the roof with my husband yesterday!"  She nodded and smiled and I held up 5 fingers and said "5 broken ribs".  She cringed and said she'd been thinking about him and wondering how extensive his injuries were and was so pleased to see me so she could ask.  It made me feel so good to see what a caring person she was. Her mother was there, beaming and listening to every word.  She was amazed at how tough Gary was to have her probing his ribs without hollering and to be able to climb down the ladder on his own steam with 5 broken ribs.  She was pretty sure he had one, but was shocked at 5.

They kept him in the hospital one more night for observation.  They are concerned about that one nasty broken rib that is sticking out in several angles. The don't want it poking his lung or the sac surrounding the lungs. He might get to go home Friday if all goes well.

I left him to watch football with his roommate this evening so I could work on the favors for Mom's party.  They are mugs that say "A Hundred Years of Helen" filled with caramel corn made by her helper, Kim the Wonder Woman.  Mom calls Kim "her assistant and her accomplice".  We put the bags in the mugs, filled them with caramel corn, then tied bows on 132 of them.  We finished up at 11:30 p.m..

 I felt bad that Mom had to help with her own party favors, but she loves them and enjoyed seeing our progress and I needed the help.  We had a little scare when the lights went out as we began the bow tying.  Luckily, they came back on by the time I found the flashlights and candles.  Phew!

The dogs gave up waiting for me to go to bed in the motor home.  Elsie squeezed herself into Rosie's tiny bed because she "needs" a bed, can't sleep on the bare floor or rug.  Now I'll hit the sack and get some good sleep.  Hopefully, Gary will get to come home to Mom's Friday.

The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall

What a day.  Gary decided to help Mom out by checking where her flat roof was leaking.  As soon as he got on the roof I heard a loud "THUD" followed by a lot of mumbling I couldn't understand.  I climbed up the ladder to see what had happened.  The roof was covered with moss and about an inch of water.  His feet went out from under him and he landed on a 6" pipe that was almost level with the roof, but not quite.  He could not get up.  I called 911 and we had police, a fire truck and an ambulance here in no time.

They got up on the roof and checked him out, got him up and he was able to get down the ladder on his own.

They gave him the choice of them transporting him or allowing him to get out of the wet clothes (from lying in the water on the roof for about 15 minutes) and into dry things and me driving him.  He elected to take a shower then have me take him to the emergency room.  Several hours later he has been admitted to Swedish Hospital (appropriate place for the big Swede) in Edmonds with 5 broken ribs.  We were lucky--his lungs were not punctured, but they want to watch him overnight to help out with pain meds and do another x-ray tomorrow.  4 of the ribs are fairly clean fractures. Only one is a jagged, messy looking break.

It looks like we won't be heading home quite as soon as originally planned.

A Day of Catching Up

After a rousing game of cribbage last night (Gary won), we endured lots of wind--felt like we were rocking and rolling.  This was followed by lots of rain. Then when I opened the door to take the dogs for a walk, the thunder and lightning started.  Poor Elsie just doesn't like noise, but she endured it.

On our way from Salem north, we stopped in Vancouver, WA for gas.  Check out the wonderful gas price here!  Add that to rain and we are very happy here.

Today we met our old friends Norm and Barb for lunch at IKEA in Renton.  Had to get meatballs for Mom's party after the party.  We had a wonderful  time catching up.  Forgot to take a photo.

Elsie got so excited as we approached Mom's property, she made Rosie excited.  Rosie has never been here, so she didn't know why she was supposed to be excited, but she decided if Elsie was excited, she should be, too.  She loved meeting the goats.

Tomorrow we go to Mom's apt building and start party readiness.  Busy time. Not sure if the blog will happen tomorrow night or not.

Rosie's First Long Trip

I guess I should preface this post with the sad news that we lost our dear yellow lab, Tule, to a stroke this summer. Rosie is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who has come to live with us and enliven our days.

The first day out, Rosie was really antsy--couldn't quit moving--up in my lap, down to the bedroom, back to the kitchen, again on my lap.  She was so excited.  And the smells!  Both dogs have a ball sniffing the world every time I walk them.

As we drove along, Elsie was in her usual spot mostly under my legs.  Rosie was everywhere, but this photo shows how much she was enjoying the trip.

Mt. Shasta had SNOW!  We were so happy to see that after the empty Lake Shasta.  I missed the lake photo time.  The mountain blended in with the clouds so no photo of that, either.

We made it to Medford the first night, where we discovered our tiny old electric heater (purchased at a yard sale for $2.50 7 years ago) finally gave up the ghost. I guess we got our money's worth out of it.  It was so small, it fit perfectly in here and gave off LOTS of heat.  Elsie will really miss it.

As we drove along we spotted a rainbow!  It was so nice having a bit of rain now and then.  Oregon is so beautifully green.  And yes, those are bug splats in the photo. Sigh.

Note the yarn on the hoof.  There are lots of sheep along I-5 going up the freeway.  And note the nice green grass in the photo.  Sure wish we had some of that in California.

The fall colors are gorgeous along the freeway.

This morning was quite cold, so the dogs decided beds were necessary.  Rosie rushed in to get the big bed, so Elsie was stuck trying to squeeze into Rosie's little bed.  What a hoot!

We spotted this wonderful old Ford truck zooming along the freeway.  Old vehicles are such fun.

Gary remembered we were going right past a Cabela's store, so a stop was in order.  He found a bargain set of ear muffs to muffle the shotgun sounds so he was happy.  I've gotten some knitting done now that Rosie has decided it is nice to sleep in a bed on the floor as we drive.

I'm not sure when I'll get to blog again.  Life will get very busy when we get to Mom's.  Her 100th birthday party is Sunday.  I'll make sure some photos of that get up eventually.

Destination: Bend

We haven't been using the RV this year because our old dog, Tule, can't get into it anymore, even with help.  But this weekend was our nephew's HS graduation and we just had to go.  So we hired a doggy-sitter and headed out with just Elsie accompanying us.  Our new dog, Rosie, couldn't come, either, but that is a long story that will wait for another time.

We headed out I-5 until we got to Weed where we joined Hwy 97.  We spent the night in Klamath Falls and had a lot of time to kill before we needed to be at my brother's.  We spotted the largest logging museum in the USA and spent an enjoyable hour or so touring it.

We got to Monte and Brenda's  in plenty of time to visit with the boys and their folks before my Mom and oldest nephew showed up.  Here's the whole Clouston group (except me, I'm taking the photo):

Saturday was graduation day.  Bend sure does know how to treat its graduates!  What a difference from our kids' experiences as well as ours.  We got to the community center in time to see the caravan of 7 school buses arrive carrying the whole class, horns blowing, accompanied by 7 police cars, lights flashing,sirens blasting.  Josh told me they drove the whole 11 miles that way, stopping traffic thru town for the graduates, zig-zagging down the streets, as noisy as they could be.  That scene really choked me up--it was soooo cool!  And I completely forgot to take a photo.  Here's Josh the graduate.

The ceremony was very nice. The principal's speech acknowledged everybody in this amazing group.  They had severals sports where they went on to Championships.  They have 87 % going on to higher education.  She even acknowledged the kids who struggled just to graduate.  And on and on  and on. The music was incredible, done by the students.  And they all were so well-behaved.  One thing that struck me was the fact that this class had not one handicapped student, not even one on crutches from a broken leg!

The view from their house is fantastic.

But as we left for the ceremony we couldn't help but notice a fire had started across the valley.  By the time we got home it looked like this:

A few of Josh's friends had to evacuate their homes.  The horses that lived near the fire were being brought to the fairgrounds and a rescue shelter.  By this morning the fire was still 0% controlled. It covered 10 miles (6200 acres) by the time we left.  The wind was blowing away from my brother's place, but the smoke was very thick.  We're praying they'll be able to contain it soon.

Now we're in Redding, on our way home, back to the nasty heat.  The cool weather was nice while it lasted.

Running Between the Raindrops

Our day started with sunshine as I took the dogs for their morning walk.  Then it was off and on rain, but never as hard as yesterday.

The scenery as we drove thru Oregon down I-5 is gorgeous as long as you like trees.

It was pretty funny that as soon as we hit the California border, the rain stopped.  The sun seemed like an intrusion on a peaceful, easy-on-the-eyes day.

Then we arrived in Yreka and let the dogs out for their walk.  Within minutes the rain had begun again and with it came wind.  Brrrrr.  I finally got some use out of the scarf I brought along.

Our neighborhood had some problems last weekend--two cars were stolen, one from inside the garage, and one other suffered a break-in where everything in it was stolen.  We're anxious to get home and make sure everything at our house is intact.