Desert View - Day 51 - The eve of the EVE

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6:21 am - Sunday - December 31st - Grand Canyon - New Year's Eve - 26º F, humidity 28%, wind 1 mph out of the east by northeast...partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 55º F.....BP 145/86....even better than Saturday morning!

You appreciate waking up in your own bed so much more when you wake up in a hospital bed even one time....much, much more!  And that was how I felt Saturday morning.....very appreciative to be in my own bed, in my own home with no wires attached, and no one poking and prodding me relentlessly.....no waking up every 45 minutes to an hour all night long.

Since our boss was so kind as to take us off the Saturday work schedule I had time to re-acclimate to life at Desert View before plunging back into the workaday life.  I had a few minor chores I wished to do, and a few delicious naps to take.  The day began with a light breeze, and ended with winds in the 10-12 mph range.....just enough to make being outside unpleasant, but outside I was.

First up was to organize all my paperwork from my hospital visit, get my pills organized.....I take three in the morning (BP pill, baby aspirin, and for 90 days only a blood thinner), and one in the evening just before I go to bed (statin....to reduce cholesterol.....I'm at 78, which is normal, but since I have had the stroke they recommend getting it down to 70.....I'm not sold on this as my cholesterol has never been an issue.  If I don't see a significant reduction after 30 days I think I will discontinue as I don't like the side effect issues).  Next I moved a few things back out to the trailer including the Christmas tree....had to make room for the blood pressure monitor......very, very important in my life now.

Next I cleaned out the car, and vacuumed it......haven't vacuumed it for at least a month and there were a lot of small pebbles, and large gravel pieces on the floor mats, and everything was dusty....looks a lot better now.

Finally, I had received the hose bibb heated tape to apply to the two connections on either end of the heated hose which is where I suspect the freezing issue has occurred. Right now it is not getting that cold at night (high teens to mid 20's), and freezing is an issue, but good to get ahead of the curve and not wait for it to become an issue.  I hope this additional heat tape does the trick.....only time will tell.  I have no doubt we will see, at some point, temps back in the single digits, and maybe even sub zero weather, and that will be the real test.

There were several college Bowl games on Saturday and I had them playing in the background most of the day.  My USC Trojans played Friday night against Ohio State, and played miserably losing 24-7....in fact there is only one PAC-12 team which has won a bowl game so far....not a good year for the PAC-12.

My last task of the day was to turn on the Sea-B-Que to grill a lean filet TLE had bought a few weeks ago when we were in Flagstaff. When it is breezy it makes it difficult to get the BBQ up to the temperature I prefer, but all I do is add a minute, or two the grill time to get it to the desired medium rare status.

By the end of the day I was feeling pleasantly tired....no doubt some of the tiredness was  the residual of my 30 hour hospital stay.  I was in bed by 9:30 pm and thinking how nice is was to be in MY bed once again!

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Desert View - Day 50 - 1 Million & Testing, testing testing.....

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7:53 am - Saturday - December 30th - Grand Canyon - 17º F, humidity 38%, wind 1 mph out of the east.....partly cloudy.....good not to be in the hospital, and home!  All is well....my symptoms have almost completely disappeared, and my blood pressure is under control.....153/95 this morning before my pill.  Forecast high for today is 61º F!

First of all, let's do a little housekeeping before we get on to the events of Friday......on Friday we passed a big milestone on 'Whatsnewell'.....we passed ONE MILLION page views!  Both TLE and I thank you for your loyalty, and faithfully coming to read each day about our vagabond lives.  As I have always said, it is not much by blogosphere standards.....for some that is 1 day, or 1 week, not just over 5 years as it is in our case.  Again, thank you for reading!

Now, back to regularly scheduled programming.....we'll go back to Wednesday morning, because that is where the story really begins.  

As you know, we had planned to go hiking Wednesday morning (you can read about that here......Bright Angel).  I woke up Wednesday feeling kind of 'off'...not sick, but not feeling myself.....I just wrote it off to going to bed late, and getting up too early.  When I began to type my blog I noticed I kept hitting the wrong keys with my right hand.....again I just wrote it off to a 'bad day at the office'.  But when TLE got up and I spoke to her it seemed to me like I was slurring my words a bit....she didn't notice, and I didn't say anything, but I was now a little concerned, but still not sure anything was wrong.

We went on our hike as scheduled, and I felt fine the entire day, and into the night....not 100%, but fine nonetheless.  On the way home from the hike I noticed when I would press the brake pedal to slow down I would push too hard causing us to slow down way more than I planned.....again I was a little concerned.

We got home, I took a long shower, and sat down to relax.....I felt completely normal at this point.....no slurring, and no other symptoms....I thought whatever was going on had resolved itself.  I went to bed, and slept very, very well, and woke up feeling refreshed and normal, but within minutes of getting up I began to feel weird again.....I told Elaine I thought something was wrong with me, and that I thought maybe I had had a stroke the day before.  I related everything to her going back to Wednesday, and then  asked her to look at my mouth....it seemed to me that the right side of my mouth was drooping.....she agreed.  We decided on the spot that she should drive me over to the Grand Canyon Clinic at the South Rim Village. It's about a 45 minute drive, and we arrived sometime after 12 noon.

I walked in to the admittance room, and told the receptionist I thought I had had a stroke....within seconds a doctor and nurse appeared, took me into the back room to begin a stroke assessment.  Then another doctor, the head guy I think, came in, asked me a lot of questions, also assessed me, and concluded very quickly I needed to be transported by ambulance down to the big hospital in Flagstaff (Flagstaff Medical Center) where they have the proper testing equipment and specialists to assess me.

TLE followed the ambulance in the VW, and we all arrived in Flagstaff at the hospital about 2:30 pm.  They knew I was coming, and immediately whisked me into a room and began assessing me again.  From there I met a lot of people who names I will try to remember as we go along.  The first person I met was an ER nurse named Chris (female).....very professional, and attentive.  She was like the quarterback orchestrating all that had to be done and it all got done very quickly.  

First up was  a 'CT' scan (no bleeding was observed....good), then an MRI to see if there had been a stroke.....if you have ever had an MRI done on your head and neck you will know what I mean when I say the SOUND is overwhelming.....the MRI took almost an hour, and I had to stay still for that entire time......needless to say I barely made it to the end without freaking out, and I am not exagerating!

By time the MRI was completed it was after 7:30 pm and I was still in the ER....they advised me early on I would be admitted, but they were quite full due to an influenza outbreak....they were wheeling in one sick person after another.  I had one more test to determine the condition of my heart (all fine), and finally was taken to my room for the night around 10:30 pm....totally exhausted, and very hungry and thirsty. I had last eaten a bowl of  Cheerios about 9 am that morning, and had not had any water to drink since about 11 am....they could not let me have either until they had been able to assess my status.  Finally about midnight I got a cup of ice to suck on, and then an actual meal.....YAY!

I had an IV installed when I got in the ambulance, and now in my room they had me on a saline IV drip, which made me have to go to the bathroom every 45 minutes. I had about 5 wires attached to my upper torso area, a blood pressure cuff (took my BP every hour on the hour the entire time I was there), and my index finger had a device attached that read my pulse.  Every time I had to go to the bathroom I had to have everything unhooked, then hooked back up when I came back.  I slept 45 minutes at a time, and by morning I was ready to be done with it all.

Around 7:30 am Friday morning a new doctor came in to give me an update on my condition (Dr.  Micheal Mortensen)....I had had a small stroke in the back of my brain on the left side.  They had ruled out anything else except for blood clots coming from the heart, and that would be checked via an 'echo cardiogram' later that morning (came out negative).  My prognosis was good, but they wanted the 'echo cardiogram' done, and reviewed, and they wanted a neurologist to review everything and talk with me.  Once that was done I would probably be discharged and sent home later that day......GOOD NEWS!

My neurology nurses were Caleb and Jenn (12 hour shifts), and they were wonderfully attendant to my every need......they made me feel like visiting royalty.  There were many others, and to a one they were all very professional and genuinely concerned about my comfort, and made sure I was kept up to date about the progress of my assessment/treatment.

At any rate I eventually talked with the neurologist (Dr. Zarkou, female)....she gave me a very good prognosis, and remarked that I had almost returned to normal as far as my facial features, and speaking.  

Finally, about 4 pm my nurse, Jenn, came in to advise I was being discharged, and that my medicines would be delivered shortly.  I took my first blood thinner (baby aspirin), and my first blood pressure medication, got dressed and was walking with TLE to the car by 5 pm.  We stopped off at a local CVS Pharmacy to buy a blood pressure monitor machine so I can check my blood pressure daily.

Before I knew it we were on our way north on US-89 and could see the headlights of hundreds of cars headed south from the Grand Canyon.....it was about 5:30 pm.....

In the car headed for home!

.....we were home by 6:50 pm......that was a jam packed 30 hours....it felt more like 5 days.

I feel incredibly blessed that I came through this with such little inconvenience.....I could have been much worse like paralysis, or death.  I got a little wake up call, and if I take my meds, and watch my diet it should not happen again....'God willing, and the river don't rise', as they say.  

Thank you for stopping by every day like you do....it always amazes me that anyone besides my children read my blog!

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Desert View - Day 49 - Oops!

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8:38 am - Friday - December 29th - Flagstaff - Why am I in Flagstaff, AZ?  Well, it's kind of a long story,  but the long and short of it all is I had a minor stroke.  I woke up Thursday morning, poured some coffee,  and began typing my daily missive about our Bright Angel hike,  which you no doubt have read by now.  While I was typing I kept making a lot of typos with my right hand. Then I began to notice I was kind of slurring my words as I talked with Elaine.  I told her something didn't feel right, and maybe I was having a stroke. 

We got dressed and she drove me over to the Grand Canyon clinic at South Rim, where they confirmed my suspicion.  I was placed in an ambulance and transported over to  the hospital in Flagstaff, where I am now. 

I have had a very minor stroke,  by now the symptoms have mostly disappeared.  I was kept overnight for observation,  and hope to be discharged later today.  The stroke was blood pressure related,  so I will be placed on medication for that. 

I'm typing this on my phone and it is very awkward,  so I will sign off for now with the promise to be more thorough tomorrow. 

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Desert View - Day 48 - the Bright Angel

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8:02 am - Thursday - December 28th - Grand Canyon - 16º F, 45% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the south by southeast....sunny skies with a forecast high of 57º F.

TLE and I both had Wednesday off this week so we decided we needed to take another hike.  I contacted our friend Art Young and arranged to meet him at the Bright Angel trailhead (6,850' elevation) at 10 am.  We weren't sure how far down we would hike, but we figured at least 3-5 miles down.  We left earlier than normal (9 am) to be sure we arrived early enough to get a parking spot somewhat close to the trailhead......this is a very popular trail.  We arrived just after 9:30 am, so we both decided to take advantage of the nearby restrooms prior to beginning our hike.  When we emerged we saw that Art had just arrived so we got an early start (9:45 am) on our hike.....

......we decided initially we would hike to the 3 mile rest station and see how we felt and then go on to Indian Garden if we felt up to it......there is a rest station at the 1.5 miles mark, the 3 mile mark, and then at Indian Garden at the 4.5 mile mark.....there is water at the 1.5 mile mark as well as restrooms, restrooms only at the 3 mile mark, and then water, camping, and restrooms at Indian Garden.......

.......it was a beautiful, clear, windless day with a forecast high of 57º F....perfect hiking conditions......

.......we stopped occasionally to take in the view, and, of course, take a few pictures.....

Still smiling at the 3 mile mark, so we decided to go all the way to Indian Gardens at the 4.5 mile mark

......because the sun is so low on the horizon these days we spent 90% of our hike in the shade, and it felt sort of like hiking in a 'walk in' refrigerator.  We were passed by a mule pack train going down the hill.....

......and one train going uphill with people as the cargo......

......we reached Indian Garden about 12: 15 after 2.5 hours of walking.....I noted my Strava was at 5 miles, not 4.5 miles as the sign had advertised.  As I have written before when hiking in Yellowstone and Bryce, the mileage markers were off on occasion, and it appears that in this case they were also off slightly.......

 Relaxing and eating a snack at Indian Gardens

.....we had descended some 3,131' into the canyon at this point......we began our return hike about 30 minutes later back to the rim, now some 5 miles away via a twisting, winding trail.....as the crow flies, about probably about 2 miles....

 Looking up the trail as we begin our return to the 'rim'.....seems like a long way, huh?

 Water pipeline

  Beginning of the switchbacks

 3 miles to the top

 About a mile from the top.....getting tired, but still smiling!

 At the top looking back down at Indian Garden (see red arrow).....a long, long way down!

......we made it back to the top about 3:15 pm, some 5.5 hours after we began having covered about 10 miles.....I say about because my Strava stopped recording distance with 1.6 miles to go because the location finder on my phone somehow got turned off at that point......

This is where the Strava drew a straight line after the 

location finder turned off

......it kept track of moving time (3 hours, 32 minutes, 42 seconds), and total elevation gain from Indian Gardens at 3,131', but drew a straight line from the 8.4 mile mark to the top, and showed our total mileage at 8.8, so from the 8.4 mile mark to the rim as the crow flies was .4 miles, although we actually walked another 1.6 miles of switchbacks.....we averaged 2.8 mph.

After stowing our Camelbaks in the the hatch of the VW we headed directly to the Yavapai Tavern which has now become our official post hike destination.  Art and I ordered their 'build it yourself' hamburgers, and TLE a hot dog.  We all downed a couple of pints of their Piehole Porter.....a great way to end the hike.  By the time we finished unwinding from the hike it was after 5 pm and time to head for home.  We were home about 5:50, and showering a few minutes later.

At the beginning of our hike we thought we would be hiking about 9 miles at the most if we went all the way to Indian Garden.  Because of the mileage discrepancy we ended up hiking an extra mile, and that last mile really took it out of TLE and I.

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Desert View - Day 47 - 'Smart Man!"

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6:58 am - Wednesday - December 27th - Grand Canyon - 13º F, humidity 61%, wind - CALM - clear skies today with a forecast high of 61º F.....going hiking today!

TLE had the 'open' shift Tuesday, and I didn't have to report for work until 10:30 am so I decided to spent some time trying to fix the Splendide......I didn't mention yesterday, but the spring (see below) which activates the door latch broke the day before.  Unless the latch engages the washer/dryer will NOT WORK!  We depend on the Splendide a lot to make our life easier whenever we are hooked up to utilities.  There is no laundromat at Desert View so washing clothes would become much more difficult, to say the least, without it...... 

You can see the tape holding the spring together for this picture.....the part I taped pushed against the door latch to make it engage, and lock.

......I had Googled our Spendide 2000 and found and 'exploded view' of the washer/dryer and identified the part.......

......it was #40, titled 'SPRING'.  I then called Spendide up in Oregon and order a new one......unfortunately this model is over 35 years old, is obsolete, and they no longer make, or stock this spring. I said to the parts guy, "I guess this means we have to get a new one, because without the spring the washer/dryer is non-operable."......he said "yes, unless you can fabricate one on your own"......hmmmmm.  No one likes a challenge more than I so I went out to the trailer and began to look for something suitable that could be modified for this purpose.  I found a coil spring that was too long, but could be cut down to size.  I measured the gap that I needed to fill, cut the spring, inserted it and it worked!

As you can see, the cut down coil spring pushes against the latch perfectly, and enables it to engage and lock the door, and now the Splendide works again.  Needless to say, I texted TLE about my success, and she texted back "SMART MAN".....👍

I was at work about 10:20 am, took my time getting ready for work (I had 10 minutes), and then clocked in just before 10:30.  It had not yet gotten busy, but I saw the parking lot on my walk over to the store, and it was packed, so I expected we would get busy eventually, and we did.....

.......if you enlarge the above picture you can see people all over the store, and in the Deli.....TLE stayed on until after 2 pm helping out, and then left me on my own for the rest of the afternoon.  Time went by quickly as it often does when we are busy....I ended up depositing just shy of $500 cash for my shift (does not include credit card receipts which are almost always larger)....I think my total sales were over $1,700 for my shift.

I had TLE come to pick me up from work this day as we got a large Amazon box delivered and I did not want to carry it home, and I couldn't wait until Wednesday to take it home as we are both off Wednesday.

We both spent the evening reading.....I had a college football bowl game, or two playing in the background....and were in bed by 10:30 dreaming about taking a hike on the Bright Angel trail Wednesday.

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Desert View - Day 46 - Christmas Day

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6:32 am - Tuesday - December 26th - Grand Canyon - 25º F, 47% humidity, wind - 2 mph out of the southeast, forecast is for a high of 53º F with partly cloudy skies.

We had no idea how busy, or un-busy Christmas day would be in the General Store.....the prior 7 days had been very un-busy, and one might think that most people would be home opening Christmas presents on Christmas day, but one would be wrong.  I had the 'open' shift Christmas day.  My 'open' shift started just as the prior 7 days leading up to Christmas day had started......very slow....so slow I had time to damp mop the entire grocery and retail area of the General Store before I had my first non-employee customer.  But, then things changed......we began to get a steady stream of customers about 9:15, and the foot traffic remained steady until I left for home about 2 pm....there was enough to keep both TLE and I busy at the registers.....something which has not occurred in the prior 45 days here at Desert View.  Who knew?  TLE reported that things stayed just as busy the last 3 hours.

Around 11:30 am our kids posted the following picture in Instagram for our benefit, since we could not be there for our usual annual Christmas family picture.......

The kiddos at my oldest son's (Chris) home Christmas morning.....right to left: Meredith, Nick, Jolene, Kate, Cynthia, Daniel Jr., Daniel, Christopher, Sharon, Rod, Laila, Brayden, Tim, Rochelle and Chris (TLE, moi, Elijah, and Charlise are absent from the picture)

........and we reciprocated with one of our own on Instagram......

......I stayed on until 2 pm, but before I headed home I walked down to the Watchtower to take in the view, and see how crowded it was.....there were people everywhere at the vista point, and inside the Watchtower it was shoulder to shoulder.....

.......the view changes hour by hour depending on cloud cover, time of day, etc....I never get tired of taking it in.  As I made my way home I noted that the visitors parking lot was full.

Our assistant manager, Wayne, had organized a Christmas potluck dinner for 5:30 pm (after closing), so I returned to the store  at that time to find a table already replete with Christmas delicacies.....

.......we enjoyed a very nice Christmas dinner, as well as great conversations, and were on our way home before 7 pm.

As I have written on numerous occasions, there are trade-off's when you choose the nomadic lifestyle.....the first two years on the road we missed one Christmas day with our kids and their families, and now we have missed a second.  It is the nature of the lifestyle that we will miss being with our kids and their families on special holidays, but we try to be there as often as we can for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and various milestones in their lives (birthdays, graduations, engagements, weddings, births, etc.).  Thanks to social media we are able to keep up with some of what we are missing 'virtually', but it is not quite the same as being there in person, right?

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Desert View - Day 45 - The 'Eve' (MERRY CHRISTMAS!)

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5:42 am - Monday - December 25th - Christmas Morning- Grand Canyon - 36º F, 20% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the southwest......forecast high for Christmas is 54º F, and partly cloudy.......MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  TLE and I hope that wherever you may find yourselves on this Christmas morning we pray that you are in good health, and and surrounded by those who value and love you!

Hard to believe we have been here at the Grand Canyon (Desert View Watchtower) for over 45 days now, and that Sunday was also Christmas Eve.  I had the 'open' shift.....I didn't make my first register sale until after 9 am, and my second wasn't until after 9:30......a slow morning.  I did some re-stocking of various products, moved some t-shirts from one place to another, and then focused on straightening up all the t-shirt displays, which took me until after 10:30.  TLE reported for work at 11 am and we worked side by side for about 30 minutes before I headed home.....just not busy enough for two cashiers on Christmas Eve.  Nonetheless, as has been the case this past week, TLE deposited just shy of $500 cash at the end of her shift with most of that coming in after 2 pm.

I really don't have much else to report about the rest of Christmas Eve.....I watched a few Christmas movies (Christmas in Connecticut, John Doe, Miracle on 34th Street, etc.), and took a long nap.  I spent some time, once again, standing outside enjoying the sunny, windless day....there is about a two hour window each afternoon lately when one can stand outside in shorts and flip flops if the conditions are right, and that is how I was dressed on Christmas Eve.

TLE was home from work just after 5:30......just after I had stepped outside to capture the latest Desert View sunset, which was one of the more spectacular ones we have had recently.....

......just after she arrived home we began watching Bishop's Wife, and then for the evening finale 'A Christmas Story'.  Other than 'A Christmas Story' all my favorite Christmas movies are black and white.  I've probably seen 'The Bishop's Wife' a few dozen times over the years, but it always seems new and fresh to me....the same with 'Christmas in Connecticut'.  Since I once again have the 'open' shift on Monday I was in bed just after 9:30 am.

We plan to do a 'Face Time' chat with our kids and grandkids around 11 am on Christmas since we will not be home for the first time in a few years to celebrate with them.....thanks for stopping by!

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Desert View - Day 44 - 'Oh brother, where art thou?'

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5:48 am - Sunday - December 24th - Christmas Eve - Grand Canyon - 27º F, 37% humidity, wind - CALM......cloudy today with a forecast high of 53º F, and now we have about 9 days in a row, according to the forecast, of 50's temperatures pushing old man winter off a few more days into the future.

So, on Saturday, TLE and I switched roles......she had a day off, and I had the 'close' shift.  The forecast had been for sunny skies, but as I walked to work I could not help but notice it was cloudy, and cloudy it remained all the day long.  The snow continues to melt, but if snow happens to lie in an area which gets no sun it is not melting that fast.

I arrived at the General Store just before 11 am to a quiet store, which continues the trend this week before Christmas.  Management had expected many more tourists this week, and set the work schedule accordingly, but the numbers anticipated have just not materialized.  Each day has gone pretty much the same.....very quiet until about 2 pm, then traffic picks up for the last three hours of the shift.  The lack of tourists has enabled management to make some long planned changes to the layout of the general merchandise part of the store, and it does not look the same as it did 5 days prior.  I'll have to post some 'before' and 'after' pictures tomorrow.

Over the last three hours of my shift I did over $300 in cash sales, and the Deli was in a similar situation.   I counted down my drawer and was out the door by 5:35 pm, and home about 8 minutes later.  I managed to capture a few sunset shots on the way home......

.....nothing like frigid temperatures to speed up your walking pace!  I arrived home to find all the snow had finally melted off the artificial turf.....in fact our site is now relatively free of the white stuff.  No doubt this scenario will repeat itself many times this winter, but for now it is good to be mostly free of snow and looking forward to a number of consecutive days of temps in the 50's......50 has become the new '70' for us......lol!

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