February 2011 to Palm Springs, Phoenix

DESERT HOT SPRINGS (California)
The timing was good to meet up with several friends down south. We first spent a week in Desert Hot Springs (half price as we had visited in October), and saw a bit more of the area including driving the Palms to Pines highway up to 6,000 ft at I? Cool weather and power cuts limited our activities. The good news was we got a refund for 3 more days.
I was really glad to be able to meet up with ex work colleague Joscelyn and Rick LeBlanc and learn about living down here, now that they have bought an apartment in Bermuda Dunes. They also bought 4 acres in Nova Scotia where they parked their RV and spend the summers there. What a perfect combination!
Meantime, we went to San Diego where I visited the great CircAid lymphedema specialists. They measured me for a support sleeve and made two that afternoon. Meantime, Ted and I enjoyed some retail therapy at a lovely mall nearby. Returning to Palm Springs, a windstorm blew in so we holed up for the night at a hotel, hit the outlet stores for an hour or so next morning (great Columbia hiking gear), and headed north to Joshua Tree National Park (left).
What a gorgeous park this is. Due to the freezing temperatures overnight, we passed on dry camping in the park and found a nice RV resort in 29 Palms. The hiking was spectacular but we were both out of shape but gradually warmed to is after 3 days. There are several stands of original California palms in oases in this area (photo left), lovely walks and well preserved either as state or national areas.
PHOENIX (Arizona)
On the way east to Phoenix, we followed the old highway 80, and saw some of the old sights from that bygone era. We headed south past the Salton Sea, the largest inland sea in N. America, but set in a windswept, high desert area where it seems nothing grows but mining plants! (left hike overlooking Salton Sea.)
Into Phoenix we first spent 3 days with Mark & Mary in Scottsdale. Unfortunately, Mark had to have emergency gall bladder surgery so their month south was cut in half. We had a great time together, walking, hiking, again some retail therapy at the high end Scottsdale emporium. One evening when Mark had a conference call, the 3 of us went to see "The Kings Speech" which later proved a big winner at the Oscars, a fine movie.
Moving on we headed to N.Phoenix and our friends Gail & Dan who have been coming here for 20 years and owned their home here for 17. We were given a warm welcome, always enjoy getting all the local news and gossip. Can't believe Dan will turn 80 this year, his golf and activities keep him in incredible shape.
Meantime, I found a very good lymphedema therapist in Scottsdale who tuned me up, and introduced me to the pneumatic massage (mini me as she described it) with a sleeve that bloows up and pressures the arm. I am seeing an improvement with the new sleeve (which I wear every night so far) and my normal pressure sleeves. But they are SOOOOOO hot here.
Heading south, we called in to see wine club buddies Bob & Barb, who insisted we stay for dinner and spend the night at their gorgeous house on the golf course in Mesa, really a suburb of Phoenix. Again, we got lots of good info on the local area, which may prove very useful if we spend more time here in future winters. It's hit and miss finding places to rent on the internet, some underplay their allure and others take it to complete new levels of lying!
Once out of Mesa, it was deserted high desert all around, and isolated huge towns of RVs. People come from all over the US and Canada to winter here. Some of these resorts are spectacular, $55 a night for us one-nighters! Others look dreary to the nth degree. Shopping in the large towns is good and you can see how much cheaper you can live in this environment if you stay a while and shop at Costco and Walmart!
On the way we stopped off at historic old Florence (left), now fading into ghost town status. There were some nice old buildings but most seem to be for sale now. We than called in on Casa Grande National Historic site. We have visited before but it's always interesting to catch the ranger talks at these sites. Mysterious as to their origins, many of these native sites have lost their history but still draw people to them. I am now practising on the native flute I bought there, it sounds eerie and somehow perfectly apt in these desert surroundings. (Oh I checked and it was not made by the US natives, it was made in China!)
Talking of China, there are vast long rail trains passing through this area. Most have double containers. Sometimes trains have to wait for their turn to pass. It is an enormous amount of trade coming from overseas to what used to be a very self-sufficient nation. California, Arizona and Florida at least are bankrupt. It is interesting watching TV here, listening to the various opinions on how they can get themselves out of this financial morass. I don't think it is possible. But John opined, when we met in Palm Springs, that in 10 years this economy will bounce back. We shall see. Meanwhile, you pass through certain parts of towns where the for sale notices on homes are everywhere. Good news for speculators, not for those living on the edge of survival level. Certainly many snowbirds are taking advantage of repossessions and cheap real estate in this region of the US.
CASA GRANDE RUINS (left)
Arriving in Casa Grande town itself, we found a burgeoning winter resort for many snowbirds, alongside a historic old town and great little mama-run Mexican restaurants. We holed up for a couple of days there before heading into the serious desert north of Tucson.

California Trip: October 2010

Just as the trees started to turn and remind us of winter's creeping proximity, we again headed south after Ted returned from a wonderful trip to Japan and China. He spent 3 weeks in Asia, 10 days in Japan and 10 in China. In China, he and friend Tony Lamb had a great time together attending the FCCFA Friendship conference in Shanghai and Jiangxi province.
He had two weeks to get over jet lag before we headed out in the RV to what we thought would be the sunny south. We visited some new places in Idaho, went down along the famed Snake River but ran into some minor RV problems and cool, wet weather the whole trip. We enjoyed the drive through S.Idaho and Nevada, over the Sierra, which is really a part of the Rocky Mountain chain. Camping that time of year is easy as the kids were back in school and the snow birds had generally not yet left.
We returned to S. California and beautiful old missions at San Luis Obispo and San Luis Rey. The coast was breezy but full of great seafood. Windows On the water had oysters at 65cents on Tuesdays so we followed the Cosandiers' instructions and went then. After that we headed north to meet Ushi & Dieter in Stockton, just east of California capital Sacramento. What started as a couple of days together turned into 6 nice days. When we saw the weather north and snow already in the passes, and the weather in Palm Springs (which is where they were headed for the winter) it was not a difficult choice. We headed south!
Just in time to catch a night with Dorothy & John in Palm Desert. We enjoyed a week in the desert, only 2 hours drive from San Diego or LA. However, it was 100 every day so we were not inclined to do a lot of anything, except visit the pool and mineral hot pools. The 55+ Caliente Resort is home to several friends this winter so we enjoyed some downtime there before taking off on our big trip. (see photo)
We found good, safe storage for Lupita (our RV registration is LUP111), found good seat sale prices on air fares, so booked to return home Nov 2 and return Feb 2 for the rest of winter.

NW USA Trip: June 2010

Where does the time go? Life is good and we are back on the road in our RV Lupita.
We spent a month in June traveling in Idaho, Washington and Oregon, with the intention of visiting the Olympic mountains. It was cool, rainy and suffice to say we are still waiting to see the Olympic Mountains.
We visited the scenic Snake River canyon area and Boise, Idaho's historic capital. We did find some nice wine areas in Lake Chelan, where we spent my birthday and found a Karma champagne to celebrate with! Then to Yakima valley, a beautiful scenic area in southern Washington, which has expanded to many more and better wineries than when we first visited a few years back.
After waiting two weeks for the weather to improve, we bit the bullet and traveled to the coast via the Oregon Willamette wine area, where we found many old and new good wines. We headed inland to Washington's capital Olympia, a neat small town with excellent oysters and crabs. We had one glorious day on the Oregon coast then rain set in again. Heading back through Widbey Island in the Puget Sound, we came back to N. Washington, crossed the Cascade Mountains in, yes, cascdes of rain, and snow at the summit! This in June no less.
It was nice to see some different parts of the NW States but good to be back to Calgary for some serious sun, although summer was a bit disappointing there too.

Wine Country and Basque food...

Southern California has a very successful wine industry. AS we found in Oregon and Washington in July, many of the wineries survive now on wine clubs. The drop in rate for many of the wines is ridiculous so we have to be mighty impressed to consider $30 a bottle. Some of the Bordeaux look-alikes sell for $50 but they don't seem to be getting many takers. Some previously good wineries have hit hard times, e.g. Rabbit Ridge from Healdsburg in N. Sonoma, which moved down here with a $1.5 million debt for selling out of bond, apparently. They ahve a huge inventory so you can go to the winery and buy really good reds for $8 a bottle. Of course, at the supermarkets, you can get really good wines for that or less too. Even at Trader Joe's famous for its "two buck Chuck" wines a few years back. They are now $5-6! Talking of Trader Joe's we finally found one in Sacramento and stocked up on all manner of chocolate goodies, the best choc madeleine cookies imaginable!
Last night we went to the local Basque Cafe. You eat at long tables with people you've never met. The chef comes out, bangs a pot lid and tells you what she cooked this evening, that's the menu!
Last night we met a great extended family of Jean and Warren. They had invited guests who just moved back from 25 years in Alaska. These people had had lunch with a guy from Calgary yesterday. When they told me his name, I know him! It's John Katz, the cello teacher on the faculty at Mount Royal University Conservatory of Music! Small world.
Dinner was a 9 course affair with 5 tapas, pumpkin soup to die for, a wonderful fresh salad of local greens and things, and a paella, then dessert. Chef insisted we all take leftover paella home for breakfast or to stuff in peppers. We are not hungry yet - it's 11:30am! Maybe avocado stuffed with shrimp for lunch?
It is the big wine harvest time this weekend so we visited a number of wineries and had some really interesting chats with winemakers, etc. yesterday. Today we will tour some more. Then head to the coast to find fresh seafood again. We've had some good steaks, lamb and pork on the way down, it's time for fish and seafood now.
The little birds are chirping outside my window in our tree so I think I should go see what today brings. It's great to have email connection again but it sure uses up your time!

On the road again, October 2010

It's been a while since I blogged. So here is an update.
WE are on the road again our RV in southern California. Still searching for sun and heat that lasts more than an afternoon. WE wended down through Idaho, visited capital Boise for the first time, through Nevada, into California, around scenic Lake Tahoe (not visited for about 20 years) and into S. California. WE are half way between LA and San Francisco, a notable wine area. Down through the central valley, a vast agricultural area, is flat and dry, but everywhere irrigation hits, crops and fruits grow. Important for peaches, apricots, nuts and also ground crops like strawberries, replaced the wheat and potatoes of S.Idaho.
Staying at RV parks, we notice a lot of people living here now, going to work, kids going to school, obviously they don't have homes any more. In S.Idaho the rate for people who have lost their homes is 10%, a huge number. I don't think Us citizens recognize a way of life has gone for many of them and is not coming back, certainly while unemployment is so high, also 10% in places.
But there are a lot of retired folks on the move, in fancy big million-dollar motor homes, pulling Cadillacs behind them. One place quoted us $47 for the night for a parking spot. Mostly they are around $30 with very good facilities, power, TV and wifi.
Meantime, since I blogged in May, I went in August for more follow-up surgery from my reconstruction. I now have a cute nipple and it will be tattooed in December to look like one. Very simple and painless procedure.

Lymphedema - chronic result of BC

One of the insidious results of lymph node removal in BC treatment is lymphedema. It can be managed but not cured. It results (not well understood) from overload of the system when axillary lymph nodes are removed. In my case 12 nodes, all riddled with cancer. Fortunately I was early diagnosed and had treatment at the free standing private clinic, with 10 (can be extended) treatment costs covered by Alberta Cancer Board. Later Alberta established its own clinic, devoted to secondary lymphedema as a result of breast cancer. We have two very accomplished therapists (mine is Hahn) who can evaluate, prescribe pressure garments and perform lymphatic massage. It's still expensive, each 30-40lb pressure armband is about $90, half paid for by Alberta Aids to Daily Living (AADL). Night sleeve cost about $300 but wasn't covered then. I get a prescription for two years, three sleeves a year, which is more than adequate. One-stop shopping eliminates the need to get AADL sign off. We have achieved a reduction from 16% down to 5% differential between the left (normal) and right arm in one year. I should wear the sleeve for a few hours each day, and especially when exercising. I also have a pressure bra to work on the lymph system during exercise - $100 with no funding.
Alberta does not currrently fund all lymphedema treatment, which is ridiculous. A prominent Mayo Clininc doc was in Calgary this Monday to present a seminar on lymphedema. Some really interesting data. Sufferers have a 37% higher risk of cellulitis, an inflammation and often infection of soft tissue, which can lead in extreme to amputation of arm or leg. So we have to be vigilant, no blood pressure taken, no pinpricks, no injuries, cuts or fungi on the affected limb.

May 14/2010 - Oncology update

My six-month checkup was reduced to two, as my oncologist checked out her hunch about my left eye. Apparently malfunction of neck lymph nodes can affect the eye, with swelling around the eyelid, dilated pupils. Being super-cautious, Dr. Lisa Pickering took another look. I had the eye checked by my eye doc two months ago and my vision is really good for somebody with eyeballs shaped like eggs instead of spheres! Dr. P confirms all my blood(y) tests indicate my bone marrow has fuly recovered from the onslaughts of chemo, my VitD good (deficiency being something being associated with many cancers) and generally I am in really good shape. Yeah. I am now back on a 6 month recall.
Some good news. The Johns Hopkins hospital, a leader in health care and esp. breast cancer treatment, confirms that women who received Herceptin combined with chemo have a 25% better survival than those who had it sequentially. Good to know my docs ae on the leading edge of treatment for this horrible disease.