The 300.....

 7:51 am - Wednesday - February 1st - GNHS - 51° F, humidity 42%, wind 5 mph (feels more like 15-20 mph).....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 67° F.  On this date in 2012 the first two of four solar panels were being installed......↴

Monday, January 3oth:

It goes without saying that I have been remiss in posting about Monday by late Tuesday, as originally promised.  Here it is Wednesday morning, and I am just now sitting down to catch up my blog, so here goes.  

I had a 2 pm appointment at the office of Dr. Jou in Poway, CA to have the stage zero melanoma excised, as they say in medical parlance.  In the past we have driven to Poway the day prior to my cardiology and dermatology appointments, but this one was in the afternoon, so we decided to leave GNHS around 8:30 am to make the three hour drive over the mountains, hoping to arrive in Poway around 11:30 am at which time we would have lunch at In-N-Out Burger, then refill the VW fuel tank at the local COSTCO fuel station, then buy a few things COSTCO, and TJ's before heading over to Dr. Jou's office.  Everything we need is within a 2 square block area in Poway....perfect!

Pre-surgery lunch

This was the first long trip in the Beetle since the ignition coil failure a few weeks ago, so I was a tad nervous about the 150 mile one way drive, but the car performed flawlessly going to and  from Poway, so we'll get that out of the way first.

We made one bathroom break in Borrego Springs around 10 am, and arrived at In-N-Out Burger at exactly 11:30 am.....I love it when a plan comes together.  The weather on this day was heavily overcast, and by the time we finished at COSTCO it was raining in Poway.  

We arrived at Dr. Jou's office around 1:15 pm, and I was being called into the little room by 1:45 pm.  The excision went smoothly, and I only lost about an 'acre' of skin....lol....well it seems quite large.  It took 5 internal stitches plus 14 running stitches to close the wound.  I expected, after the local anesthetic wore off, to be in pain, but all I really felt was a little tightness on my left flank.  I did take a couple of Tylenol Extra Strength tablets, and some Tylenol PM when I went to bed, but I felt just fine....I just cannot sleep on my left side for a while.

After the surgery we drove to our hotel on Poway Road, where we have stayed twice previously, checked in, then around 4:30 pm  we drove over to the local CVS to pick up a prescription, then to the local Panda Inn Express for some Chinese food....

....which we took back to our room to consume....I had a double portion of their Orange Chicken with steamed white rice, and TLE their Moo Goo Gai Pan and Tangerine Chicken with Chow Mein.  We, of course, shared our entrées.  It's been a while since we've gotten takeout at a Panda Inn Express, and I'm wondering why now.....it was soo good!

We were in bed by 10 pm, and I slept quite well, thank you!

Tuesday, January 31st:

We slept in until after 7 am, took our time packing our bags, then around 8 am drove over to the local Starbucks to get coffee, and for moi an Everything Bagel.  I needed to get food in my stomach so I could take my antibiotic pill prescribed by Dr. Jou (2 per day for 3 days), then we drove over to Walmart (just across the street) to do a big shopping before heading back to our room to pick up our bags, go to the bathroom one more time, then hit the road a little after 10 am.

The drive from Poway to Borrego Springs took just under 90 minutes. We stopped to get some ice cream and a cup of coffee at our favorite Big Horn Fudge Company, but, alas, they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays....bummer.  Instead we walked a short distance to the Frugal Coyote, one of our favorite junk shops of all time, to see if there was anything without which we could not survive.  We both found a couple of articles of clothing.....we always find something we want at this store!  While we were walking back to the car I spied this beautiful robin egg blue Indian motorcycle in the window of a local art studio.....

.....it was breathtaking, and so unexpected, so I gook a picture....the glare on the window kind of obscures how beautiful it was....truly a work of art.

We left Borrego Springs in our rearview mirror around 12 pm, and were home just before 1:30 pm.....another completely uneventful two way, 300 mile drive over the mountains and back.  When we arrived it was quite windy, and that wind continues as I write.  The Santa Anas are increasing in frequency, and I expect we'll have more of them as we get further into February, then March.....just like last year.

Well, that's it in a nutshell.....thanks for stopping by!