Free At Last, I'm Free At Last

Saw the Dr. today and he says all is well and we can go home. We’ll be out of here tomorrow morning.

Sharon

-------------------------------------------------------------

What she meant to say was that we had her appointment early this afternoon and then things began to get really, really busy! We had begun to get things prepped to pack into the View and then the reality of getting it all finalized and loaded reared its ugly head! Candi Lind (MoosieGirl) came up for a last visit before we left and really was a great help in getting the rest organized and helped me load a lot of it. She went inside with Sharon and helped her organize and store all the kitchen things that we could not take out before now – actually those things we’ve been using everyday! Anyway, with Candi’s wonderful help, we have just a little of the last minute things to take care of before we leave in the AM. Thank you, Candi!!

Our plans for the trip are a circuitous route home. We will probably take the back roads most of the way. We have identified several caches along the way we want to grab between Dallas and Shreveport, LA. That will set us up to enjoy the “back way” up to Texarkana. The next stage after a night in each of those places is for us to go up into Arkansas to find an earthcache at a diamond mine just west of Hot Springs! That will likely eat up a day in itself! After that, the game plan is “take it as it comes!” These first days are programmed to have short drives to see how Sharon is going to weather the ride! We’ll likely stretch our legs a little after those first three days. At some point, I fully expect the “gotta get home” bug to hit and cause a greater increase in velocity of the View! Of course, the View has not had a taste of the hay in its new home stable, so it may not know where to go when that urge hits! [:D]

We will, in some ways, miss being in Texas! It still feels a little like home to us because we lived down here for so long! We’ve been out in the surrounds enough to let us enjoy it here, though. If I were to choose to live here again, it definitely wouldn’t be in the immediate Dallas area but just about anywhere down in the Texas Hill Country would be great! Unfortunately, much of that area has been “discovered” and will soon be overrun with more people than deer! Pretty soon, the deer will probably have to take out “people licenses!” Hmmm! Come to think of that, they’ve been doing the kamakazi act on people for a very long time!! You can see the results along the roadsides down there!!

I digress! Dr Emerson was very pleased with Sharon’s progress at this point! He even gave her the “crutch license” today for improved mobility! Even said she could use only one crutch if she’s moving around the kitchen or in close places! She’s to be on them until we come back through in May on the way to GeoWoodstock VI. We will have xrays made in January for him to check the melding of the bone/prosthesis connection. All in all, it was a great report from him at this stage. It would be easy to make a comparison with someone who has had a “normal” hip replacement and think that Sharon’s progress is awfully slow. On the surface that is true, however, the work done and the type prosthesis required for her make this a whole different ballgame. The strength of her hip depends now on that bonding that must occur. Without that, the work done would be for naught! Yep! We both think we can live with SLOW! “Patience, young grasshopper!”

This may be the last post until we make it home. If we have a connection, we’ll write a note when we can hit the net! Thanks to all who have been faithful with your support both will e-mail and with phone calls. You have meant more to us than you can imagine!

Cheers

JoeT