Month: February 2020

Saturday, February 22, 2020

I’m sure most of you have either heard or have a bucket list. When life goes smoothly items on that bucket list get checked off as we experience them. Sometimes things don’t go so smoothly, such as our trials and tribulations here in Casa Grande. A traffic accident here, a broken wrist there, and of course our newly adopted mutzo Ollie. The car was fixed, the broken wrist in on the mend and Ollie is a good boy that likes to play- too hard…… way too hard. Anyhow our lives go on and we are thankful for the opportunity to meet nice folks from all over the U.S. and Canada at the Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort.

Well, we’ve had a lotta healin’ goin’ on. Jil’s first followup visit was on the February 18th. She hoped to have the splint removed from her now surgically repaired right hand. Heck, why wouldn’t the Doc give her a removable splint since she’s got more hardware in that wrist than an Ace hardware store. The X-ray image of her wrist was encouraging as it is healing nicely.

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So, says the tech, what color would you like? I have white, black, blue, red and purple? What? I’ve got white, black……. No, no. I understand the colors….. what do you mean? Well, I’m putting a cast on your arm. What? The PA concurs. Even though that arm has 10 pounds of plates and screws holding the bones together a cast will further immobilize the break and enhance healing. The cast will be back far enough on the hand to allow more movement of the fingers and thumb so Jil can actually use her hand. She chose purple of course! Jil is back to knitting sleeping mats using strips made of plastic grocery bags as yarn, or plarn (plastic yarn). She weaves the mats for the homeless as do many ladies in our community.

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Jil also went to the dentist who specializes in crowns “made while you wait” to replace the one that she lost after surgery. No dice on the new crown as the tooth actually had broken off below the gum line. The tooth was extracted with difficulty as the tooth had a root with a knob or ball on the end. The ball wouldn’t let go for nada. The dentist worked up a sweat pulling that tooth! She will have a bridge made and installed rather than undergo more surgery for a dental implant. An appointment was made for early next month to fill the gap, so to speak.

In between doctor and dentist visits we’ve actually been as active as possible. We still walk a minimum of 5 miles a day. We’ve invited our friends Dick and Ellen who live in the Robson Ranch community to join us for lunch here at the park and then a good chin wag back at our coach. We’ve also met with Connie and Jim down at the local IHOP several times for breakfast where we try to solve world problems. We still have a problem or two to solve so we’ll be meeting with Jim and Connie a few more times before we launch towards home the middle of next month.

The park has activities every day of week. We’ve been to two RV shows, the Welcome Back Palm Park food vendor extravaganza, the monthly craft fair, the spaghetti dinner fundraiser for the Casa Grande Fire Dudes, and a dance featuring the Hillbilly Deluxe band (who were quite good). A quilt show and wood show displayed the skills of the many talented folks here in the park.

Our neighbor had a friendly gathering of fellow RVer’s one evening. The food provided at the pot luck was really good. Folks played Jenga, a game of skill and calm nerves that requires one to remove a block from the middle of a high stack of blocks, then place it on the top of the stack. The blocks are placed 3 wide in layers and at times the stack would be almost so high that one couldn’t reach the top to place a block on top. Even saw a 4′ stack of blocks precariously resting on only one block times 5 as the stack grew higher.

The one thing that we signed up for and were not able to participate in was the members pickleball tourney. Jil and I were partners…………maybe next time. Next month the U.S.A. Pickleball Association is putting on an open tourney called The Duel in the Desert. That will be fun to watch. As you may know pickleball is a game of skill and the more skilled the player the softer and shorter they can hit the ball into the opponents court, the intent being the opponent can’t drive the ball down your throat when the ball is low. Less skilled players just tend to overpower their opponent because the soft, short game hasn’t been perfected. So when Jil was playing with 3 other ladies one gal continually just banged the ball, often hitting an opponent, a play frowned on by most players. Her flowery words would make a sailor cringe. When asked if she could tone it down a little she replied “Hey, I was in Roller Derby for 12 years. I play friggin’ hard”. Humph!

We look forward to the first week of March. Jil has a doctor’s visit and maybe will leave the cast behind in favor of a removable splint. Aaand she has another dentists visit where she will get a filler for that gap in her row of teeth.

And now a little wisdom from an old cowboy:

Words that soak into your ears are whispered……… not yelled.

Sunday, February 9, 2012

Remember this photo because Jil won’t be using her pickleball paddle for a while:

Back on January 30th Jil and three gal friends decided that they were going to put in some afternoon practice for the Palm Creek Pickleball tournament to be held the first week of February. All went well until Jil decided to chase a ball that probably wasn’t returnable. The result is pictured below:

Yep, she broke the radius bone right off of the wrist. A lady was kind enough to transport her back to our RV in her golf car. I saw her sitting in the car as it approached and the light bulb didn’t come on- until I saw her supporting a very deformed looking wrist.

She told me what happened. Of course ya just don’t break your wrist on a fall like that- she hurt her hip, her side, her shoulder as well as hitting her head on that fall. We decided to go to Banner Urgent Care located less than a mile from the park. We were there maybe an hour. X-rays were taken and Jil’s wrist was placed in a splint, her arm in a sling. We were told to contact the Orthopedic docs at the Banner Hospital complex in the morning.

Pickleball Injuries are similar to all active sport injuries. Even tennis pro Raphael Nadal can take a spill now and then.

Morning comes, the call was made- the Docs had access to the images of her wrist taken the evening before. Nope, we can’t fix it says the Ortho Doc. What? Understand that this group of Ortho Docs are the only game in town. Well, who then? Call Doc Myo in Chandler. He specializes in hands, wrists, etc.

We called Doc Myo’s office on Friday. Can’t see you until Monday, dear! Is your hand in a splint? Yes…… Do you have a sling? Yes……. OK, see you Monday! Sheesh! What about pain control? Orthopedic Docs usually say “It’s gonna hurt- suck it up Buttercup”. No pain control prescribed by any of the three Docs consulted.

OK, Jil is in a lot of pain. The urgent care Doc didn’t want to give her pain pills but would prescribe high strength Motrin. She has Motrin so why purchase more? Motrin helps calm the pain but it doesn’t help enough. Aha! Call a friend! Friend has had her share of injuries, maybe she has a few extra pain pills laying around. She has a few- but there are for her German Shorthair Pointer. We’ll take ‘um! Same med as for humans……. I make the round trip in short order and Jil has pain meds enough to last until her Monday doctor’s appointment. She has taken a couple of pills now- and no, she didn’t start barking……….nice try though……..

Monday’s appointment was in Chandler, a distance of 35 miles. Half of that is on I-10, the rest on rural country roads until we come into town. Then maybe eight miles through nice neighborhoods on a nice wide road. Once in the office we fill out 9, count ‘um, nine pages of paperwork. Jil’s writing hand is in a sling- guess who gets to fill out all those forms?

The bottom line from Doc Myo- you can elect not to have surgery but the function of the wrist will never be normal and it will deformed forever OR elect to have surgery, no more deformation and regain 90-95% of the function of the wrist. What do you want to do? Duhhh- lemmi think……… Surgery is scheduled for the next afternoon at the Gilbert SurgCenter just 4 miles from Doc Myo’s office. AND, he prescribed her pain meds.

When one travels with dogs a lot of concessions are made as to where, what and when we can visit and air temperature must be considered. We tried leaving Megan, our neurotic Lab with Jim and Connie on Monday with limited results, electing to bring our rambunctious Boxer put with us. She was not a happy camper nor were the Gales. Even so Jim was kind in offering help in the future if needed but we didn’t want to put him or Megan through another stressful day.

Tuesday we head to Gilbert taking both dogs. The weather is in the 50’s, there’s a park nearby where we can get some exercise while Jil undergoes surgery. Everything worked out as planned. The dogs got some exercise, the car never got too warm and I was able split my time with them and spending time with Jil in the recovery room.

The outcome- Jil’s surgery went well. We were back home at the RV five hours after we left. Jil is comfortable because she received a nerve block that numbed her entire right arm. Numbing the arm sounds great when intense pain is involved but that too has it’s hazards. If ya can’t feel it ya don’t know where it is! Her arm flopped out of bed and scrared her to death because she didn’t know what it was!

She is now in her fifth day of recovery. Her wrist is in a splint and wrapped heavily with an elastic bandage. The only things peaking out are her finger tips. She’s taken her arm out of the sling quite a few times in order to exercise her shoulder and elbow. She’s wiggling her fingers and thumb to keep the swelling down. She’s even taken doggie walks several times each day. Relearning how to open jars, remove bottle caps and just basic things one normally does (like dye one’s hair) with two hands is coming along. The good thing is she is managing the pain with only occasional doses of Motrin/pain killers.

If you know Jil she’s always doing too much too soon when in recovery and pays the price. Right now she’s spending more healing time relaxing and sleeping. Yay! And then she puts in 10,000 steps the next. Phooey. She mentioned to me when she starts to feel the least bit sorry for herself she recalls the ad on TV that shows our soldiers with missing limbs- blown off by IED’s in Iraq, all with positive attitudes-and she experiences an instant attitude adjustment. That ad should sober anyone……

By the way her wrist, her side, shoulder and head were not the only casualty. As has happened in the past when she receives anesthesia one of her crowns came off- never to be found again. We really don’t understand the dynamics of losing a crown because she was sent to LaLa Land, do you? So Monday we have an appointment with a dentist. Sigh…………….at 0700 hours…….. it’s still dark at 0700 hours here in Arid-zona………

COWBOY WISDOM: Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

Thursday February 6, 2020

Some of you are probably wondering about Arid-Zona’s weather this time of year. When we first arrived earlier this month we had ice on the car’s windshield in the morning. High temperatures were in the 50’s. That’s pretty much changed as the temps have gone up at night to near 40 degrees and highs approaching 70 degrees. We’ve had a good rain and a couple of showers. The weather is by in large pleasant but the wind can be chilling.

I took the liberty of copying the blurb below from Palm Creek Golf & RV Resort’s web page. The amenities here are impressive. Unlike many self proclaimed RV “resorts” this park truly is. With so many far ranging amenities one can stay busy what seems like forever. Like many have said “If you are bored it’s your fault”.

1. PALM CREEK GOLF & RESORT
2. AMENITIES

OUR AMENITIES

Resort living means golf and so much more at Palm Creek. There is a vast array of wonderful amenities to tempt you. Centrally located in the heart of the community is Guest Services, the Activities Center, the Ballroom, the Billiards Room, Fitness Center, the Arts and Crafts Building, the main Swimming Pool with a jumbo-sized Jacuzzi, The Bistro, Pro Shop, Fireside Patio and Laundry.

A new Sports Complex complete with a beautifully manicured softball field, sports pool, Jacuzzi, pickleball courts, and Sport Grill await your use in the east end of the resort.

Our onsite Activities Manager is available daily to help you join in the fun. You’ll find shuffleboard, billiards, horseshoes, water volleyball, softball, tennis and a putting green as well as water exercise, weight room, Yoga and Pilates.

Craft classes include pottery, sewing, quilting, oil and watercolor painting, woodshop and carving, lapidary, silversmith, stained glass, computer, crafts, monthly craft fairs featuring vendors from around the state. Palm Creek sponsors all kinds of dancing from Saturday night variety dancing to line dancing and pattern dancing.
Special parties, BBQ’s, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter dinners, New Year’s Eve party, special entertainment and the Palm Creek Chorus and Drama Club will entertain you and spice up your social life!

If you like to play games, we have bridge, pinochle, cribbage, poker, euchre, dominoes, hand and foot, and, of course, Monday night Bingo, just to name a few.

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We’ve taken advantage of some of the amenities, namely joining the pickleball club and participating in round robins. One signs up online to play. Sometimes the courts are so busy the club managers ask that a person only sign up for one round robin a day which means that all 32 courts are booked all day long. The 1001 club members are grouped by skill level with 2.0 being beginners and 5.0 highly skilled. Here’s a Youtube video that explains the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqLRRNOpe8U

Jil has taken advantage of the exercise room. We walk the dogs a minimum of 5 miles a day. It’s easy walking- it’s flat as a billiard table here. During those walks we will visit one or two small fenced dog parks and let the dogs romp. We attended a spaghetti dinner put on by the resort- a fund raiser for the Casa Grande Fire Department. The dinner was very good, we met new friends and was serenaded by a bagpiper- all for a good cause. Attendance= 400 folks.

Speaking of dogs, Megan our Lab and Ollie our adopted Boxer are getting along swimmingly. They sleep together, walk together and play roughly together. Mr. Ollie is a terror. The longer we have him the more rough he plays. I guess it’s a young Boxer thing. We have to intercede occasionally to prevent an accidental injury.

We’ve met a lot of nice people. Most are from the colder climes of the midwest or northwest, some from Canada and a few are from the east or Kali-fornia. Some midwestern state’s folk have distinctive speech mannerisms. It’s a hoot when speaking with a neighbor and guessing correctly that they are from say Wisconsin or Minnesota. No matter where folks are from everyone we’ve met are very nice. Heck, who wouldn’t be especially if one were a Minnesotan spending the winter in a relatively warm climate as compared to their home that has 3 feet of snow on the ground and minus 40 degree temps?

The golf course is central to this huge park. The older section has more amenities, i.e. wood shop, car wash, dog wash, tennis courts, etc. but the RV sites are narrower- sort of cozy. Over the years manufactured homes have taken the place of RV sites and most are of the single wide smaller variety that fit the narrow lots. It makes that part of the park feel a little cramped compared to the newer side of the park.

The newer side of the park where our site is located has 40′-50′ wide sites so it feels very roomy. That’s where we are located. Almost every site has a cement patio surrounded by crushed rock. The amenities over here are more sports related than the older side and the flora is not as well developed. We only have two smaller swimming pools, (only he says) with spas, a regulation sized softball field, 32 pickleball courts, a small meeting room with a laundromat incorporated in the same building- smile!!!

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There are many permanent manufactured homes on our side of the park with more to come. All of them at least double the size of those in the older portion. There are a few new ones for sale and they are not cheap considering one does not own the land that they sit on. Expenses include paying a hefty association assessment and property taxes. Considering all of that they still are selling pretty well and those folks that own them are very satisfied.

We’ve had thoughts of purchasing either a home or an RV site in the sunbelt. Those thoughts quickly vanish. We don’t want to feel obligated to go anyplace that isn’t home because we have money invested. We’d rather stay loose and fancy free, travel when we want and where we want.

I’ll be updating the blog fairly soon. Lots going on here with a few surprises…….