Monday I got up
pretty early to use the recreation center and what a place it was. It had everything and I was able to do 40
minutes of biking and some weights with both my arms for a change. I went back to my room, showered and then
packed the car and headed off to see Mesa Verde. The traffic bothered me and some drivers got
right up my ass, which was a bit scary.
I was driving about 60 and the limit was 65 so I wasn’t slow. The iconic view of the entrance mesa was
impressive and I enjoyed the ride into the park particularly the short hike up
Park Point. It was 8,500 feet and it
made exercising very hard. However, the view was superb. I was going to go to one of the ruins but
the sign said 7 miles down the turnoff road but I found nothing even at 8 so I
turned around and headed back. I
wouldn’t recommend Mesa Verde unless you had seen most of the other more
impressive National Parks. I drove
toward Chama and the ride was okay, not the most scenic and eventually stopped
under a large pine tree for a nap. Then
I stopped at a lake on the Ute reservation where they charged me 10 dollars to
fish. The fellow there told me that the
lake had been stocked with 30,000 trout—and that bass were there and
catfish—but I only got one small fish and I wasn’t sure what it was. I tried at the dock right by the bait
shop—and there were many 6 inch trout swimming there—but I couldn’t get one to
hit even though I rigged up my fly rod and tried a tiny gold ribbed hair’s
ear. It was still fun and I headed off
to Chama passing through Pagosa Springs, which seemed like a very cool
town. I got to Chama and it was clear
that the river was much too low to fish and I didn’t want to get a license. I took a nap, then headed over to the High
Country restaurant for a pretty good meal of a hamburger smothered in red chili
sauce and cheese and a small caesar salad.
I packed my stuff that I am going to mail back to Virginia and watched
some TV.
Tuesday morning
found me doing my knee exercises, then heading off to the Post Office to mail
my package. Then it was time to drive to
Sante Fe and the ride was okay but certainly not that scenic. I almost made it to Sante Fe when it was time
for the World Cup match between Belgium and England so I used my GPS to find a
restaurant and did but luckily I found this combination restaurant and store in
Tesuque and I was able to enjoy the entire game, possibly the best one I have
seen so far. After the game ended I
drove toward downtown Santa Fe and ended up parking at a lot a few blocks from
the historic plaza and it was nice to see the famous cathedral mentioned in
Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop.
I then drove out of town to beat the traffic and got to Las Vegas by 6,
checked into the Comfort Inn, and after a quick nap, rode the stationary bike
for 30 minutes and did one of the machines with both arms. Fthen went to a Chinese buffet (not very
good) for dinner. Then it was back to
the hotel to watch TV. I still had a
little problem breathing since Las Vegas is almost 7,000 feet high, but so far
I have not had to use any of my asthma spray the entire trip.
Wednesday started
with another 30 minutes on the bike and more work on the weight machine, then I
took it easy in the room since there was no point of leaving before check out
time at 11. I then loaded my car, got
some gas and picked up prunes at Walmart before heading to the Amtrak station
at around 11:30. Time passed quickly and
I talked to Lou briefly before getting on the train with a female train attendant
who was very kind and helped me with my bag.
I had a nice lunch, napped for several hours, then had a good walk at
Albuquerque. Dinner was decent salmon,
mixed vegetable and baked potato and I had the fruit and cheese tray instead of
a more sugary dessert. It’s already 8:15
so I will be getting off in less than 12 hours.
Thursday started
off okay. I didn’t sleep much, having to
pee about once an hour, but finally 5 came and it was time to go to
breakfast. That was nice, having a good
conversation with a fellow who had been in the air force. After that I went back to my room and got
everything ready to get off in Fullerton.
At a little before 8 I got off and got over to Track 3 where the train
to Oceanside stopped and in 10 minutes the train came and I was on the final
leg of my journey. It was interesting to
see all the beaches and the hundreds of surfers. At 9:20 I got off and in five minutes, Dave
appeared and our long awaited visit began.
We had a good chat in his apartment and then Dave treated me to lunch at
the Oceanside Broiler. When we got back,
I took a long nap and then we went for a walk on the beach of two miles, which
I felt great about and then we went back to the apartment and showered and
headed to Norte, a Mexican restaurant in neighboring Carlsbad. It was very good and I treated Dave to
dinner. After dinner we watched the
Yankees win against Cleveland then headed to sleep around 11:30.
Friday found me getting up around 7,
doing my knee exercises and working on my finances, then working on my FAR, and
then my blog. I felt pretty productive
and my health seemed to be doing fine right now. However, the afternoon proved the start of my
health problems. I really struggled to
walk the two miles, and had to sit down three times just to get back. I hadn’t
taken my plaquenil and I didn’t take the diltiazem, figuring these drugs were
the only new ones I was on that one or both of them might be causing my
tiredness. When Dave and I tried to go
to dinner I could hardly make it to the elevator so we decided Saturday to
order from a nearby Chinese restaurant.
My shrimp and broccoli were fine and we watched another Yankee game
before heading to bed around 11:30.
Saturday morning
I was pretty tired and didn’t have the energy to even shower. I really just rested and then Dave and I went
out to breakfast but I could tell my energy was very low. It felt almost like the weakness I felt on
Prograf although I wasn’t anxious. I
couldn’t even do a walk and I was really listless. I did watch some TV but I went to be early,
around 11:00
Sunday things
seemed to get a little better. I felt a
lot more energy and I was able to shower.
Dave and I went to breakfast at the Petite Madeline again it was quite
good, and then we went for a long walk along the harbor. I felt fine and I thought I could walk
another half mile. Later Dave took me
over to the train station and he waited until the train came around 4. It was a good visit that would have been much
better if I had had some energy the whole time. I got into Fullerton around 7 and then had
dinner before heading to my room and relaxing until it was time for bed.
Monday morning
found me somewhat lightheaded but I went and had breakfast and then took it
pretty easy until dinner was approaching but since we were almost an hour late,
I asked if I could get my dinner since we were very late and they decided I
should and I did. Then it was time to
take the cab to the Quality Inn in Trinadad and it was kind of run down, thus
the price of 100 dollars. It had been
impressive how much the motels cost this trip, with the average over 140
dollars. I certainly spent more than a thousand dollars
for 7 nights lodging.
Tuesday morning
found me ready to be picked up at 8:30 and Sharon was right there on time and
though it took them almost an hour to get everything together, I was on my way
to Colorado Springs by 9:30. I had time
to take a quick but needed nap and I would have arrived at Patty’s on time but
there was an auto on fire and that slowed things by at least 15 minutes. The girls were delighted to see me, and we
went out to a Noodles and Company and I had a fine Pad Thai. We went back to Patty’s and I played with the
kids for several hours and got an hour’s crucial nap. The Josh came and we hustled and arrived at
the Bonefish Grill a few minutes late.
The meal was first rate, with me having arctic cod and Gianna having a
lobster tail, which she really wanted.
Then I drove to my hotel room and tried the exercise bike but could only
ride it for 10 minute and do 4 rounds of weights. I got to the room and showered and then
watched an Alex Cross movie and went to bed around 11:30.
Wednesday was a
good morning. I was able to ride the
bike for 15 minutes and do 4 rounds of weights.
I got everything packed and I was on the way to Patty’s by 8:45 and
though I was light headed, we played in the house for an hour then went outside
and played on the gym, got in the treehouse, slid down the slide, and had a
very good time. Then it was time for
lunch at Panera, which was very good, and our goodbyes. Both of the girls wished I lived closer and I
wished the same. The kept hugging me and
I told them I would try to visit at Christmas.
Then I had a fairly difficult drive back to Trinidad and I had to stop
several times to rest. Finally I got
there around 3:45, checked in the car and got a ride to the Amtrak station
around 4:15 though the train was delayed until 6:52 so I went to a nearby
Mexican restaurant and had a Chicken and Cheese Burrito and worked on my blog,
which is now up to date. The train was over an hour and 15 minutes late and I
ended up sitting on a curb with my back propped up on my bag for almost an
hour. Then the train came and I was on
my way home. It was a decent trip
although I struggled with the meds and the altitude at points, but I
accomplished what I wanted, 5 days in Colorado, including the guided fishing
trip on the Gunnison, seeing the Gunnison canyon again, seeing Mesa Verde for
the first time, then visiting Dave for 4 days, then visiting Patty, Josh,
Gianna and Grace for two days. I am
still struggling with my energy level so I am not sure what factors were at
play. I know at Dave’s stopping the
Diltiazen and the Plaquenil helped a great deal but I was hoping that it was
the altitude that was causing me problems after leaving Dave’s but now two days
in the lowlands I am still struggling. I
got to Chicago at almost 5 so I had only 15 minutes to walk around, but that
helped. Then I napped a bit and went to
dinner where I met a fascinating couple who collecting antique cars and they
were such fun to chat with. Debi sent me
her article (which needed a lot of detail to be published) and I edited for
her.
I got up Thursday
for breakfast then napped a bit then had lunch and got off about an hour late
in Clifton Forge. I was a bit worried
about walking to the police station but I made it with one stop to rest and
then I headed home getting back around 4 and then taking a nap before riding my
bike for 40 minutes at Tech and doing my knee excercises.
Friday was a day
to get thing back in order in my apartment and I spent a lot of the day doing
that. I did my knee exercises, and later
did my 40 minute bike ride. My mail
brought only one real surprise. The Social
Security Administration is going to penalize me 1800 dollars for July and the
explanation they gave me in the letter was incomprehensible. I am going to see if I get any money on the
26th and then I may call them to dispute the ruling. Luckily, my monthly SS payment will go up 50
a month, I still haven’t sold the kayak and pack, I got a check from Farhi for
184, I will have around 400 dollars in credit card rewards, and I am going to
reduce my spending to 1500 a month again until I make up the loss. In January I should get a SS cola increase so
I should be fine then.
Saturday was a
very good day. I did my knee exercises,
watched Tiger in The Open (at one point he was tied for the lead, went over to
St. Jude’s for confession (I really liked the priest there), then went to play
golf, giving myself a goal of 52 since I hadn’t played in 3 weeks, and shot a
44, which really surprised me, then went fishing out on Sinking Creek and
caught 3 fish, one of them a large bass, then headed to Tech and after a long
talk with Roberta, rode for 40 minutes before heading home for a late dinner.
Sunday I did my
knee exercises, then got ready for mass and felt very good. Mike’s sermon which talked about hell being
an eternal breaking of the relationship with God was profound and elegant, and
I told him so. He really is good at his
sermons. Then I came home to watch
Tiger end up two shots behind in The Open and take a long nap, from which I
woke up dizzy even though my blood pressure was 138.
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