AGING GRACEFULLY

Yesterday, I flew from Sacramento to Memphis to resume my favored lifestyle, being a perpetual tourist and blogging about it.  It helps to have the proper tools for our active lifestyle and that demands  good health and physical fitness.  My whole life is now defined by before the accident and after the accident.  I was taking two prescription drugs, blood pressure medication, and prescription strength ibuprofen  as needed for  osteo arthritis. I could climb mountains, bike up hill, swim, walk all day.  Life was good, and still is. At one point after the accident I was taking 13 more drugs. I studied on-line and took myself off most of them.

I’ve had a set back with some intense pain. I’m not using this venue to complain about the accident, but  I’m as frustrated as everyone else  who has gone through test after test and procedure after procedure, poking,prodding, trying this and trying that.  Before leaving home my doctor shot me up with cortisone, six shots, and they aren’t working. I’ll be seeing an acupuncturist in Memphis,  soon.  The bills from the accident are already at 79,000 plus. Luckily I have good insurance.

Unprecedented for me, I chose “Assistance” for my flight and was grateful that I did. Jim calls it aging gracefully, but that isn’t going to fly with me. I’m going to fight it all the way, even if it is going to be a slow recovery.  All through this process I checked with the latest health news through John Hopkins and other leading medical sites and waded through original studies to assess what my doctor was recommending for me. I believe, we have to be our own doctors. With information on-line, we can.

Here is what I am sending to my doctor this morning and my insurance company.  I hope it is sent by you to your doctor and your  insurance company. Maybe we can put some sanity and intelligence back into our medical care so I don’t have to “age gracefully”, but live life at the age I feel, instead of the age I am. This is IDOCTOR.
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/rock-center/50582822#50582822

Be warned this video is lengthy and has a five second ad in front of it.

And, while you are

watching, I’ll continue to enjoy my pictures of the funky sunset we saw last night: Life is good and it is going to get better.

Harlingen, Texas – Day 15

Mary is arriving here today in Harlingen, Texas after an absence of 199 days. After our May 27, 2012 accident she returned to her home in California for a family reunion and started having to deal with after-effects of the accident. It will be nice having my partner back on the road with me. If you missed the accident Blog entry, you can see it by clicking this link…
http://wp.me/pDCku-4Eh

The motorhome is parked at Tropic Winds RV Resort and is scheduled to be here until January 10th.

Recently I published a Blog entry about the South Texas Music known as Conjunto. Remember, in Spanish, a “j” is pronounced like an “h” and so is pronounced as con-HOON-tow!

You can read about Conjunto by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunto

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

If you missed that entry, you can read it now by clicking this link…
http://wp.me/pDCku-6s6

Last Saturday night I turned on the TV in the motorhome to the local PBS Station which was featuring Conjunto music. Because video gobbles up many megabytes in a hurry, I recorded only this short video which you may view by clicking this link…
http://youtu.be/VLiT-H-xCsY

In Mexico this type of music is called Banda. It is also similar to the Cajun Music we experienced in Southern Louisiana in 2010. We are currently expecting to experience Mardi Gras this year in Lake Charles, Louisiana and remain in Louisiana until about the end of March. Until then we’ll be surrounded by this beautiful music. It’s a lousy job. but someone’s got to do it!!!! 

You can view the South Texas Conjunto Association Music Website and see a number of videos by clicking this link…
http://conjunto.org/

Enjoying beautiful local music is another joy of the full-time RVing lifestyle!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Texas. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Season’s Greetings

Christmas Day finds me with the motorhome at the Tropic Winds RV Resort hiding out from the cold weather in Harlingen, Texas. Are you having a White Christmas? I’m not. Yesterday was 83 degrees…84 forecast for today. It’s the primary reason I’m here.

I do not consider myself a superstitious person, but for many years I’ve considered the number 17 my unlucky number. True or not, year 17 of my full-time RVing lifestyle concluded two days ago. If you are a regular follower of this Blog, you know year 17 was the year  Mary and I were involved in a terrible death fatality accident on May 27th in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona. If you missed that Blog entry you can read it by clicking this link…
http://wp.me/pDCku-4Eh

I was sitting a mere six feet from the unfortunate man who was killed. An experience like that gives a person a whole new perspective of life. Each day becomes so precious. Be sure to tell those of your family and friends how much you care about and love them. They are your most precious possessions.

Mary returned home to California June 19th for a July 4th family reunion. Once there, she started having medical problems apparently resulting from the accident. She has been away from me since that time. Right now she’s enjoying the holiday season with her family. She has purchased her airline ticket to rejoin me here in Harlingen on January 3rd.

She recently published her Christmas letter. If you have not seen it, you can read it now…

Today, I begin my Christmas Cards. Since re-cooping from the May 27^th accident has taken over my life, I have very little news to impart.

From January through May, Jim and I did our usual trekking around the country side, being perpetual tourists. Our plan was to spend most of the year in New Mexico, a state he had not visited, in-depth, given his many years on the road.

We visited Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, numerous desert ruins, petroglyphs, desert hikes, saw a lot of cactus, and old mines and mining towns. (Drank some good beer.) We crossed into Mexico at six different border crossings through Arizona and New Mexico. At Columbus, New Mexico we experienced a Cabalgata where the Sheriff of Luna County met the Sheriff across the border and invited a cavalcade of horseback riding caballeros to cross into New Mexico for a fiesta to celebrate their common heritage. It was a wonderful event of great fellowship with our Mexican neighbors.

Traveling about, I learned so much about the prolific Native American tribes throughout the west, Navajo, O’ddham Papago, Zuni, all antecedents of the Anasazi ancient people. Beautiful people, interesting traditions, great jewelry makers, many historical Native sites, native heroes and kids.

Near Albuquerque, a high point was participating in a balloon fest and celebration of our nations veterans. Life on the road is interesting and rewarding no matter where we go and who we meet.

The accident happened in Canyon de Chelly and Jim and I feel lucky to be alive. One man died, and the rest of us were injured, many more seriously than us. The trouble with an accident like this one is you don’t realize the extent of your injuries until the pain medications are all gone and then you find out you can’t do the things you used to. I also had to have surgery that may or may not be related to the accident. Opinion on that varies from one doctor to another.

The benefit of being home for six months has allowed me time to tackle projects put off more years than I care to admit. Some genealogy, transcribing notes from old trips, getting sprinkling systems renewed, my house painted, mature trees pruned and stabilized. Had work done on my trusty truck and a new battery pack for the Prius. I’m back on the road and driving.

We are all grateful for family and friends and all the good things life brings us. We are so very, very fortunate. I’m looking forward to Christmas and flying back to the Motor Home on January 3^rd. It is cold here and Jim is complaining about the heat in Texas. (Hard to keep a weather wimp happy.)

We will start our second (for me) circumnavigation of the United States. Number six for Jim. We’ll start from the remote tip of Texas, at Harlingen. I look forward to exploring the gulf coast. Mardi Gras in February in Galveston, Texas. Visiting Karen and Glen in Virginia, Jim’s family in Connecticut, and his many friends on the East Coast. Then, a different route home than the one we took in 2010.

May your Christmas be perfect. Enjoy the season. Don’t forget to share something with those less fortunate. And, above all, hug tight your loved ones and value the things in life you can’t buy

Cheers, Mary

We hope you enjoy a wonderful holiday season!

Mary and Jim

BRAIN DEAD

Some mornings you wake up and you are brain-dead. I tried to write my Christmas letter and all I could focus on was the accident and the aftermath. A close friend lost her husband Thursday. And, another friend’s grandson was murdered by his own daughter’s murderer, the husband/father. A serial killer on our road? Hard to believe.

Suddenly, I felt like I had no good cheer to offer this morning.  Gotta get a grip! Plus, it vexes me that I don’t have access to pictures I took and stored with my Motor Home computer, and stuff on this computer is not available from the Motor Home unless I carry a heavy computer back and forth. They were uploaded to Picasa, but I can’t figure out how to get them burned to a disk from Picasa.

I pressed a friend to teach me how to put pictures in a Christmas letter, so maybe I’ll hear from him today.  Yesterday, I put up some of the Christmas lights and have a living room full of boxes to decorate for Christmas. Not a card sent. Maybe today will be more productive and spirited. Put on the carols, have some mulled wine…hey, it is time to get into the spirit of Christmas.

Today, I’ll just post a couple of old pictures I like.

I love this one of my brother warming his pizza on an iron. He was demonstrating how he did things in his younger bachelor days.

This painting from the Florence Griswold School intrigues me because it has that I’m taking a picture of you while you are aiming at me, effect.

And, this pen and ink drawing of a woman who seems just a bit suspicious of the viewers  motives.

Art heals, but I let the wood stove fire go out to remove the ashes and now I’m chilled. Gotta get a cup of coffee.

 

 

America The Beautiful

The terrible accident we survived happened five months ago today, May 27th.

About 10 days ago I got to feeling well enough to finally stop wearing my elastic chest bandage, taking ibuprofen and icing my chest twice daily. My right rib cage remains slightly swollen and somewhat tender to the touch. I need to maintain a constant  awareness not to physically over exert myself. I remain with a constant mild burning sensation in my right rib cage area. I’m wondering when, if ever, it will finally leave me.

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues. Some believed to be related to after effects of the accident.

If you missed the Blog entry about the accident, here’s the link. If you want to understand the full scope of the accident you’ll need to read the Blog entries for the following several days…
http://wp.me/pDCku-4Eh

In the meantime, I’m in my second day here at Sumner Lake State Park in New Mexico.

We have a brief cold front moving though the area. Yesterday’s high temperature was only 48 degrees so I stayed inside most of the day playing with the computer and came up with this 1:58 minute video. It was 30 degrees at 5:00 AM this morning.

The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

Enjoying our beautiful country is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Taos, New Mexico – Day 2

The motorhome is currently parked at the Fraternal Order Of Eagles Airee #3849. I expect to be here for several days.

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Here’s the view from my dinette window. It’s not truly spectacular, but the price is right…

My first pre-sunrise was not as spectacular as Lake Heron…

Speaking of Lake Heron…here are the final photos from there…

On September 5th at about 7:00 AM, I was working with my computer and looked out of the dinette window and…THERE IS WAS! I rushed to grab my camera and within 30 seconds it was gone!

Enjoying beautiful sunrise rainbows is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

In other news…

Yesterday was 111 days since the accident and it was my best day since that event. I’m not sure if it is more psychological with being back on the road again and new scenery…but I definitely felt better. I’m still wearing my elastic chest bandage, taking my ibuprofen and icing my chest twice a day. My right rib cage remains slightly swollen and still a little tender to the touch…BUT…the pain is starting to diminish noticeably.  I’m feeling so much better that I’ve decided to remove the recovery status page from the header. Unless I have a strong relapse I’m also going to stop talking about my recovery process as well.

If you have not checked out my new Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Heron Lake State Park, New Mexico – Day 76

The motorhome is still parked at Heron Lake State Park about 20 miles south of Chama, New Mexico.

=======================================================

Finally…some change is in the wind…

Last Wednesday Mary made her flight reservations to rejoin me. On Thursday she found out she needs carotid artery surgery asap. So, cancel reservations…she’ll be delayed rejoining me. We discussed the possibility of me driving the about 1,075 miles to be with her. We decided that I’m in no physical condition at the moment to do that. In addition, the surgery is not complicated and she has lots of family and friends to assist her. Recovery time is about one week. I’m hoping to get her back by mid-October.

Now that the Labor Day weekend has passed. the days are starting to grow shorter, the temperatures are starting to fall and my current allowable three week stay in the state park is nearing…I’m forced to move on. I’m currently at 7,200 elevation and over the next 4-6 weeks will slowly zig-zag the about 150 miles south to Albuquerque at 5,000 foot elevation. I’m planning to depart here this coming Thursday and drive the about 92 miles to Taos, NM at 7,000 foot elevation. I’ll stay there for several days until I continue moving south. 

Between Heron Lake and El Vado Lake State Parks, by time I’ll leave here on Thursday I’ll have been here 87 days. It’s been a beautiful and tranquil place to recover from my injuries. I want to thank the Head Ranger Anthony Marquez and Camp Hosts Rusty and Libby for their considerations and kindness extended to me.

If you missed the Blog entry about the accident, click this link… http://wp.me/pDCku-4Eh

To fully understand this tragic accident, you’ll need to read the several subsequent Blog entries.

=======================================================

Now back to today’s Blog…

I’ve been here for several weeks now and have photographed everything worth seeing within a 30 mile radius. I’m still not feeling that well that I care to drive lots of miles in search of photographs. The doctors told rest should be my #1 function.

Lake Heron has an amazing number of widely varied sunrises, sunsets and cloud formations. I’ve got some really neat photos to share. I’ve already taken them and will portion them out over the next several days.

 While they are similar because of the momentary setting…they are all very different and unique. I hope you will open each one and enjoy their uniqueness. I particularly like to enjoy the colors and the shapes. Just like staring at a fire from moment to moment…you never see quite the same thing…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Enjoying beautiful cloud formations is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

If you have not checked out my new Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

CANYON DE CHELLY STORY

At a recent meeting with friends, John and Wanda Hofstetter, John mentioned he had seen the pictures of our accident in the Canyon De Chelly on May 27th. He wanted details of our injuries and so on. Then he looked at his wife and said, “Wow! I guess that beats our Canyon De Chelly story. We thought we had the ultimate vacation nightmare at Canyon Du Chelly.”

Of course, I asked for an explanation and here is what they told me:

“We went on a tour, like you, inside the canyon and got caught by a flash flood,” said John.  ” The water swept through the canyon and caught us where we couldn’t go forward nor back. Our tour driver drove up onto a high spot near the canyon wall as the water rose higher and higher. We had no cell phones,  nor way to communicate. We voted among ourselves whether to stay in the van or to climb out of the canyon.”

John, who is in a wheelchair, and Wanda,  decided to stay as did a couple of others, while the rest of the group opted to climb out of the canyon before it got dark.

“We made them give us everything they had to eat,” said Wanda.  So, for our dinner that night, we had candy bars, some fruit, and some chips,” she laughed. “We eventually felt comfortable enough to fall asleep, but the people on top of the ridge were so worried about us, they kept calling down to see if we were okay and kept us awake.”

They spent the whole night in the canyon. Now, that has to be a scary experience. I marveled that they could sleep at all.

Travel agents will tell you that  memorable vacations are those where something went wrong for better or worse.   Hopefully not as serious as our accident, but it was definitely memorable.

Heron Lake State Park, New Mexico – Day 23

The motorhome is still parked at Heron Lake State Park, here in New Mexico.

I still need more rest and recuperation from my May 27th accident. My right ribcage area remains slightly swollen and tender to the touch. I’m still experiencing the occasional popping in my chest with the associated mild burning pain. I remain taking Ibuprofen, icing my ribcage area 2-3 times a day and wearing an elastic bandage abound my chest. The doctors told me to expect 6-12 weeks for recovery. The accident occurred six weeks and four days ago. Can you tell I’m ready for the recovery to be finalized?

In Yesterday’s Blog entry I showed a photo of an Osprey nest…where the chick was hiding because of the noise I made during my approach. I had occasion to go by that nest again yesterday and got some pics of Momma Osprey with baby chick. The rangers tell me that the chick is nearly old enough as to be ready for flight soon. This time I approached the nest in the Bronco and stopped about 100 yards away. Rather than using my tripod…these photos were taken by hand-holding the camera while sitting in the driver’s seat of the Bronco…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Yesterday I started out to circle El Vado Lake but had to turn back because of a soft and slippery muddy road. I did get this one photo that shows how low the water level is down because of a several year drought…

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Heron Lake State Park, New Mexico – Day 21

As a holder of the New Mexico Annual Camping Permit (non-resident $225), I can stay up to three weeks in a park, which I have been doing here at Heron Lake. My three weeks are up today, so I’m obligated to move. There are two major factors which I need to consider regarding the move. I need to stay at higher elevations in order to stay in decent weather temperatures. In addition, I need to minimize my physical movements to aid in my accident recovery. My best maneuver at this time is to move to El Vado Lake State Park. The way the crow flies it’s less than ten miles, but driving will require about 30 miles. I’ll move there today.

I still need more rest and recuperation from my May 27th accident. My right ribcage area remains slightly swollen and tender to the touch. I’m still experiencing the occasional popping in my chest with the associated mild burning pain. I remain taking Ibuprofen, icing my ribcage area 2-3 times a day and wearing an elastic bandage abound my chest. The doctors told me to expect 6-12 weeks for recovery. The accident occurred six weeks and two days ago.

I’ve been here almost three weeks and have pretty much visited all areas of Heron Lake for photography purposes. So I moved over to adjacent El Vado Lake. Here’s a Google image the show the relative locations. The pin shows my campsite location at Heron Lake. El Vado Lake is to the lower left.

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Yesterday I showed some photos of the El Vado Lake Peninsula…the three mile-long finger of land starting from the top of the lake. The peninsula gives the lake a “V” shape. I took enough photos to call today’s blog entry…El Vado Lake Peninsula – Day 2. Once again…take notice how drastically low the lake is due to a several year-long drought…

Enjoying nature is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust