Update on Mom

I need to get better at blogging for sure and I thank one of my fellow bloggers for asking me about my Mom. 

Since my post “Aging Parents” she has had her surgery and the results were really good! The surgeons say they were able to remove all of her tumor so of course we want to hope that is the case. I’m afraid I don’t have a whole lot of faith in cancer leaving when it is asked to. I hope I’m wrong this time.

Mom was out of surgery and into recover within 5 hours. Unfortunately, her dementia kept her from even remembering what she had been through and with the pain of her incision she still thought they needed to ‘get that thing out’. It was difficult to see her so uncomfortable  for the preceding weeks/months of her surgery and it broke my heart the first time seeing her the day after. I know I was expecting too much. Bill keeps reminding me that she still had us laughing with her drug induced stories even though she didn't really know we were there.

I knew I had to go up again before our trip to Michigan on Monday.

When I went back up to see her with my daughter, Bridgette and grandson, Jake, she was a totally different person. We were thrilled to find her able to carry on a conversation of sorts, even though it was the same thing over and over. She recognized my daughter right away and me after a second go at it. I don't blame her at all for mixing me up with one of my sisters, there are 6 of us after all!

Her tubes, catheter and intravenus have been removed now and she is eating on her own, although very sporadically right now. We hope her appetite improves when she is home so she can gain some energy and weight back again. Hopefully she will be discharged within the next few days. We will have someone in place to stay with her for the time period that her dressings are still in place. She has a habit of removing things like that if she is unattended. 

Once again, thank you all for your words of support regarding my mom and I apologize for dallying on this update.

A Week with a Reservation

Another tradition for Bill and I is to pack up and head to the United States for our week at Silver Creek RV Resort in Silver Lake , MI. This year was no exception although there were some changes.

www.silvercreekrvresort.com

We left home in Durham on Monday, August 1^st at 8 am. All things secured at The Ridge for the week and headed directly to Port Huron. It is a week earlier than our usual trip because we could, being new retirees and also because our friends, Ken and Nancy, wanted us to meet their son Rick and his wife Amy. This was the only week they were able to join us so we obliged.

We crossed the border at 12 noon  

Construction even crossing the bridge!

Not too bad of a lineup

 and had the nicest border crossing guard ever! Bill handed over our passports and opened the truck windows on the driver’s side so he could see us including our 4-legged passenger in the back. With a quick question of where are you headed and for how long he couldn’t take his eyes off Clemson who was making the same eye contact. With a little smirk the guard says “I can see you looking at me!” and within the same breath “you’re on your way, have a good trip”.

Now we're across the border Clemson can relax

We are always careful with what we bring across in the food line especially since losing our eggs and chicken last year. Oh well, it is better to follow the rules than hope you get this lucky each time.

We stopped at Grand Rapids for our yearly donation to Camping World. We always have a list and this one was the shortest yet. We picked up a Grand McNally gps, an attachment for our shower shut off and 2 covered foam inserts for our fantastic fan vents.

I get a kick out of signs, water towers, license plates and transports in our travels and if I'm thinking quickly enough manage to get a few shots with my Canon.

I love the sign on the back of this truck! I hope you can see it.

Portland water tower

With minimal traffic for a Monday, we arrived at Silver Creek RV Resort at 5:29 pm, the first of our group to arrive.

ignore the date on this pix, it was taken 3 yrs. ago.

 The biggest challenge was backing our rig up onto the 80' cement pad only because the paved streets in the park are not very wide and do not allow for a lot of maneuvering with vehicles parked directly across from your site. Bill accepts each challenge and jiggy jags until he gets ‘er in. By the time we got backed up in our spot, Ken and Nancy from Antioch, IL pulled up.

Just getting him into his spot we noticed that their son, Rick pulled up with his Jayco White Hawk travel trailer in tow. Now we are flanked with a Chev 2500HD on one side, a Chev 3500 4 x 4 on the other and our rose of an F350 dually in the middle. We were able to get three sites together because we booked them in 2015 when we left.

Our setup at site 101

Ken and Nancy to our right site #100

Rick and Amy to our left site #102

It has been a great week so far, day trips here and there to Hart, Pentwater and a stop at our favourite winery, Jomagrha, to pick up a few bottles. We are never disappointed. While in Pentwater on Wednesday, we did some tourist type shopping and stopped in a pub/restaurant for a late lunch. My California medley creamed soup and Reuben were to die for. Needless to say, none of us needed a big meal for supper that night!

With a dip in the pool most days we haven’t let the 30C, er sorry, 87F temperatures bother us much. With a walk of about a mile minimum daily and a few little bike rides on our 2 wheeler folding bikes, we are also getting our legs stretched out nicely too.

It is the first time we have really taken advantage of our air conditioners in the Suite. What the heck! We aren’t paying for hydro here; we may as well be comfortable. We don’t like it cold by any means, but sitting at a moderate 74F in both living room and bedroom units, we are just right…….as baby bear says.

The huge pool

It is interesting being in a park after spending our last month at The Ridge with no close neighbours, not to mention no water and sewer hookup. I miss the quiet for sure but at the same time, you meet all kinds of people. Personally I don’t want to hear the lady behind us every time she speaks to her husband and kids so those kind of ‘neighbours’ get on my nerves a bit. I want to say “use your inside voice” but I don’t. It is temporary.

We’ve really enjoyed meeting our friends’ son and his wife this trip. We've enjoyed a trip to the Jomagrha winery again this year and taken in a sunset tour on the dunes.

With this sky, we weren't expecting to see it but.....

there was indeed a beautiful sunset after all!

Rick and Amy were a joy to meet. Amy is such a sweetie and with the most infectious laugh.

Getting some tips here from our own Mr. "CanAm"

It is Saturday and they have pulled out already, having to work tomorrow evening and Monday. We can’t all be retired!!

For now, this is my post and I will update the trip at a later date.

Thank you for reading and all comments are welcome!