Thanksgiving Trip 2010

After the fiasco of the October trip we did a little more planning relative to Ted's lung problem.  Namely we rented an oxygen concentrater for use in the car and at night and had all equipment in the car hooked up pneumatically and electrically.  LOX travel tank checked out.  Garmin GPS unit installed (and partially checked out0.  Webbook checked out.  Ready to roll - we hoped.

We went to the Desert Museum at Tuscon, but it was up in the hills and too spread out for Ted to walk around.  But we ate at a nice resort in the Tuscon hills (lots of winding narrow roads).

 

 

The drive to Dallas was interesting - of sorts.  Pretty strong cross winds but not much dust.  Losts of big wind farms - props turning and electrons running all over the place.  Oil wells, too.  Ted even saw a coati mundi road-kill, a first for him.  (Look it up!)  Peg's son Jay and family (Hope, Caitlin, Jack the dog, obese cat and talkative guinea pig) had moved into a new place in a suburb north of Dallas so we checked that out.  While there we went to the Gaylord Hotel 's Snoopy Ice Show.  This was an ice sculpture show using sculptors brought over from Harbin, China.  Very good - Ted especially liked the clear ice sculptures of the Christmas story.  Was cold in the area but we were bundled up - see picture.

The Google lads did a good job on their search program but they should have worked on Blogger when they bought it.  Maybe it's just me but it's sort of a pain in the  you-know-what  - but it's free. Maybe I'll get better as things go on.

The drive to San Antone was fine - good old Garmin.  Thanks you guys for the present.  I wouldn't be without it now.  Might even try to use it in Europe.  We stayed at the Hilton and had a river view room.  But the place for viewing the river is at water level.  Visit it and walk around.  Our screw-up here was that we assumed (never assume) that the "Parade" would be Thursday night.  We should have known better.  We were lucky to get the same room for another day.  Meant changing reservations down the line but Peg knows an outfit that will change them for you.  We had planned to stay in El Paso and eat at the Dome Restaurant (supposedly an icon) but decided against it from a breathing viewpoint.

We had never seen so many Hispanics - not a racist statement - just a fact.  We had Thanksgiving brunch at the Hilton.  We are spoiled.  It couldn't beat the Brown Palace in Denver, the Cobb Galeria or even the Wigwam in Phoenix.  See pics above.

A cold front came through.  We were not dressed for the cold.  Ted bought a Texas sweatshirt since we were eating out side to see the parade of boats.  Our food left something to be desired - I think they recycled the steaks as shoe soles.  Parade was sort of disappointing.  Maybe if it hadn't been so cold.  It was 28 F in the morning when we left. 

 Drive home uneventful.  Sorry we couldn't (or didn't) eat at the Dome.  But maybe just as well.  Even stronger cross winds going back (while in Texas) and a good bit of dust.  Some negatives on this trip but we're glad we did it.  As Ted's mother used to say "You don't know what the monkey chews until it spits."  How's that for a good ol' Arkansas saying....??? 

Chase's Marriage Trip

October 2010

This was to be a great trip. See our grandson Chase get married, meet our new granddaughter, the bride, see three great grandchildren we had never seen and visit with Janice. See green trees and grass and the trees starting to turn. But was not to be. About an hour outside of Van Horn TX Ted was having problems with his breathing. Could not get saturation level up. Spent the night in Van Horn Hospital. Felt okay the next morning but doctors recommended going back. Problems: Helios had water in sensor tube - should have swapped lines but was too discombobulated to think straight. Didn't have enough composure to use straight from travel tank. Van Horn was higher altitude than we thought and Continental Divide was fairly high. Had driven this route before with no problems but had had a minor setback in lungs earlier in year and had not gotten completely over it. Very poor planning on Ted's part. Made a check list after we got home so we'd be better prepared for future trips. What a disaster!!

May 8 - Our last tour

This was an 8+ hour tour of Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast (and Amalfi). Sorrento was a nice little, typical medium sized European town. Was oriented to tourists to some extent but a pleasant little place. The bus tour along the Amalfi Coast was interesting. From a natural beauty point of view the California Coast Highway is better. The Amalfi drive, with the little villages and the town of Amalfi helped out the interest level. Had some lemoncelli, local equivalent of ouza and grappa, strengthwise. But not all that good, just interesting. There was a wedding while we were there - pictures made on the steps to the Cathedral. Was a nice end to our cruise.

May 7 Trapani, Sicily (Italy)

All of the tours out of Trapani were listed as fairly strenuous (except a visit to the beach) and the one tomorrow was going to be pretty long. So we decided to take it easy on the boat (looking off the balcony and reading in the Explorer Lounge), charge up all the batteries in preparation for tomorrow and eat at the new, Asian style restaurant on the ship.

Thursday, May 6 La Goulette, (Tunis, Tunisia)

We had a pretty good guide here. Didn't get to go to the Bardo Museum because of hills and stairs but had a pretty good tour. The initial greeting off the ship - camels and dancer - sort of indicated that Tunisia was trying to establish themselves as a tourist attraction. And it would rate high, with me at least. The tour director had warned people about the camel rides - "Be sure you pay for getting off as well as getting on and riding." Seems like the locals had a thing going. On our tour we didn't see quite as much of the blue and white buildings as I thought we would. The city hall and memorial appeared very new and clean. As we were getting on our bus to leave I spotted a couple getting off another bus. Small, wrinkled, wizened and dressed to the hilt in beautiful "desert clothes". I would like to have gotten a picture but in retrospect I suspect they were dressed that way for a pay photo op. But it was an interesting place and I wouldn't mind going back - but not with a tour. We also stopped briefly at a Memorial and burying gound for WWII Americans killed over there.

Wednesday, May 5 Sea Day

On the way to Tunisia.

Tuesday, May 4 Palma de Mallorca, Spain

A lively resort town, I understand. We drove around the island, pretty pastoral. Drove to a winery up in the mountains - a big bus on a road designed for small cars. Our bus forced one car off the road. Didn't get a lot of pictures. But the wine was pretty good.

Monday, May 3 Valencia, Spain

Of all the cities on the cruise, Valencia was the one Ted was looking forward to the most. Why ? - Valencia's City of the Arts and Sciences. And it rained all day. What with Ted's lung disease and the battery powered POC we stayed on the bus most of the time. We rode around the city - Valencia is a very pretty town - most of the people got out and walked with umbrellas. They also went into the Oceanographic (the aquarium part of the "City" and the largest aquarium in Europe.) It is finished - I'm not sure all of the other buildings are completely finished.

Sunday, May 2 Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona is a fabulous place to visit. But since we had visited here only a few years ago we decided not to visit. It was Sunday so some places might not be open. But Barcelona is definitely one of those "1000 Places to See Before You Die". One of the things we enjoyed at most prts was watching the cargo ships load and unload. Barcelona was no exception.

Saturday, May 1 Monte Carlo, Monaco

'Twas the day of the Monaco Grand Prixe for Antique Autos. You couldn't hear yourself talk in some places. And we couldn't go the "standard" route the tour buses usually go. So we got to see some places tourists don't usually see. Like partially completed underpasses, back sides of buildings, etc. But we had a nice little jaunt around Monte Carlo and environs. Did not go down the famous seashore drive out from Monte Carlo, did not go in the Casino. We had both done that years ago so no big deal. The most amazing (?) thing in Monte Carlo is the larger than life statue (in t he harbor) of the pregnant lady with the skin peeled back on one side so you can see muscles and, of course, the baby. You don't see this just everywhere.

Friday, April 30 Livorno, Italy

Livorno is the port used for Florence, Pisa and Lucca. We chose to visit the latter two. Just to make sure the tower hadn't fallen over. In the primary area of Pisa were the Baptistry, the Church and the Bell Tower (the leaning tower). And lots of people!



The shot of me is with my oxygen unit - the Inogen One. It's called a personal oxygen concentrator. Takes in ambient air, pressurizes it and pumps it through a filter-of-sorts where the nitrogen stays in the machine (to be released later) and releases oxygen (and also polluting gases) to the breather (me) when I inhale. But it works and is portable - it's on small (4 inch) plastic wheels-it prefers a smooth surface. Which it doesn't always get. It runs off batteries - depending on how much huffing and puffng -1 1/2 to 2+ hours per battery - so I have to make sure I have enough batteries. With the spare batteries it weighs about 25 pounds - a one arm carry up and down steps isn't a lot of fun. I get lots of looks and sometimes questions from people who have a parent that needs oxygen.