Life is not always profound but still an adventure !

I think often lately about "blogging" but had gotten into such a "high" with the profound nature of our Vietnam experiences that everything now I consider sharing here seems just plain "boring"!

That being said, now I am embarrassed as I start to think of update items that I should share with anyone lurking out there and following our tracks.

We sold our Nordic Tug and the sale finally closed last week. This represents the closure on a fond time in our lives with all the many weeks and miles we spend on it especially last summer in SE Alaska. We will always have warm memories of the places we visited and the people we met but it was time to close that chapter in our lives. We had known we would reach a point in our lives when Gary's health could not cope with cruising life on the open waters. We just had not known it would come as soon as it did.

Over the past winter in anticipation of parting with the tug we remembered all our good times on previous Honda motorcycles with side cars. Yes, we purchased one with the intent of again cruising the highways and byways of the states with the wind blowing in our faces and the spray of an occasional rain shower driving us into a warm motel room when we had had too much. Well, Gary's inability to heal up his back injury that occurred in October, really put a crimp into that mode of adventure. He can get onto the bike and is not in a great deal of pain when he rides short distances but those long days of 500 miles at a shot are a thing of the past and actually not realistic at this stage in our lives.

We are very determined to get out on the roads to experience all the adventure that awaits us there. Next thought pattern was to consider purchase of a 5th wheel "toy hauler" to pull behind Gary's Chevy dually duramax. It would haul the motorcycle and provide us with acceptable accommodations along the way. We waited weeks for the dealership to get in the newest model that would accommodate our needs but in the meantime kept going back and "kicking the tires" of the big motor homes. No way, motor homes are for old people !...I had always thought.

Once they called to tell us to come see the new 5th wheel, we had discussed the motor home so much that I asked "just for kicks" if we could take a "test drive". Now I know why those "old people" like them so much...once we were up inside it, we were on just one level for Gary to maneuver (as opposed to the multi-level, up and down of a 5th wheel, or our Nordic Tug). Wow, the queen size bed is so comfortable and a big shower for Gary to enjoy. But Gary would never part with his Diesel Duramax, would he????

Well, you guessed it, we purchased a Fleetwood Bounder 34' diesel "pusher" with three slideouts. We have already been out for a couple weeks in it and love it so much...you can even call us "old people" now and I will just smile, I'm having a ball. Next week we are going to Eastern Oregon...Bend...and meet up with an instructor who will spend two days with us teaching BOTH of us the safe handling and operation of the motor coach or "bus" as some call it.

Oh yeah, we still will get to play with the motorcycle. Some people tow a car along behind their motor home, we will be towing an enclosed trailer with our motorcycle and sidecar inside. Quite a sight when the ramp lowers down and we back that baby down...but it will save lots on the running around and put some extra fun in our local exploring once we arrive in a new area with our motor coach.

So what's up with Gary's back? A couple weeks ago the physical rehab specialist told him she could not see any specific areas in his back (from the recent bone scan) that she could target for additional injections of steroids to give him pain relief. What a bummer to have a doctor tell you they can't figure out what to do for you. She did refer him to one of her colleagues for a second opinion but we are not holding our breathe for them to come up with something new. Instead we are being proactive and resorting to what Gary calls "Voodoo, Witch Doctors"...based on one short acupuncture experience Gary had in November we are pursuing a number of sessions with a local acupuncture doctor and it seems to be making some small differences after just two sessions. Either that or Gary's stubborn determination is taking over. We will wait and see.

We had some special fun today participating with our local Veteran's motorcycle group in the Newport Loyalty Days parade. Good turn out for parade participants as well as spectators in spite of the on again off again rain we had. At least it dried up for the actual parade and a good time was had by all. Too many noisy Harleys for me but they were having a great time and the crowd loved us all. Nothing like a small town parade!

We are busy planning out adventures to come this summer so stay tuned and I will try to update more often and not wait so long for something "profound" to happen.

Life continues to be an adventure,
Linda

Still on Vietnam Time !

We had been told that it would take 3 or 4 weeks to acclimate again to local time and thoroughly "process" the impact of our experiences in Vietnam. I did not believe them at the time but now I do.

We have been both battling the 18 hour time change, staying up later than normal, waking in the middle of the night and then wanting to "sleep in". Some might ask us...isn't that what you retired to be able to do. Well yeah, but not this way...this is different and it really interferes with my "social schedule". The other day when Gary was reminding me that I was due at water aerobics, I pulled my blanket over my head and said "I just called in sick".

We are also back into the trips to McMinnville with test after test to try and get Gary's back pain to heal up. On Monday they are doing a "bone scan" which will help the physical rehabilitation doctor to better target the next injection she is planning on doing into his lumbar region. She thinks if she can hit right at the source that she can improve his pain level considerably...hope she means decrease it! He has really been a "trooper" in dealing with this all.

Ever since the trip I have had "issues" with my ability to pass any solid food (and some times even water) through the small "stoma" created by my "adjustable" gastric band. They are supposed to be restrictive, but not this much. I have pinpointed the cause to be inflammation of my esophagus and throat by the nasty meds I had to take...and still am supposed to continue for a full month after our visit in Vietnam. It is Doxycycline and it prevents Malaria...now my choice is being able to drink fluids or the remote possibility of Malaria. My weight is again dropping nicely but it is still a bit scary.

Just when I start to feel "sorry" for myself and anything going on here...my recent memory takes me back to Vietnam.

• I can see the people, proud but very disadvantaged, living a very meager life.
• I see the man with leprosy who posed for me in the alley and cannot even imagine his pain and the conditions under which he lives.
• I picture the two small boys with spina bifida...a birth defect resulting from Agent Orange...they were born without a spine.
• I remember the tattered street kids as they shoveled in the simple plate of rice we placed before them. I can almost feel the surge of their excitement as we attempted to hold them back in line waiting to accept the meager gift bags we had prepared for them.
• I picture the smile on the face of the small child, naked from the waist down, sitting on the floor of a roughly constructed shack up on stilts...wearing a ball cap I had just put on his head.
• I try to imagine the weight of the loads the women carry to market (balanced on opposite ends of a bamboo pole) in an attempt to help support their families.

These people deal with the bugs, rodents, malaria, dysentery, etc, etc. all the time. I just did it for two weeks...two precious weeks that have truly changed my outlook on life.

I don't mean to sound like I am on a "soap box" or walking around like I have been struck by lightening but I just know I am different. My focus is much more outward. Even as we make plans to do some traveling around the United States, I am continually searching for ways to help others as we do it. I hope the new HIPPA laws do not prevent me from visiting veterans homes for the elderly. I want to see if there is a niche there for my big heart.

All of life is an adventure,

Embrace it, Enjoy it, Appreciate it and Share the Love

Linda