Livingston, TX 1-31-07

Today we traveled twice as far as we did a week ago! We ended up traveling 50 something miles today, 53 I think. I don’t feel like going out to the truck to look it up in my notebook! We are already in “doing nothing” mode. It took us an hour to get here from Conroe. It was cloudy, but didn’t rain on us for break-down or set-up. We are in Livingston, Texas at the Escapees Rainbow Park. We have a lovely site in the trees and will be here for 4 weeks. We will get in some exploration after we have finished vegging. This park is very large and we are looking forward to getting in some good walking, as long as it isn’t to wet. It is pretty cold today, mid-forties and is raining off and on this afternoon.

As this is Escapees Headquarters we plan on taking tours of the headquarters operations and of Care Center which is a long and short term care facility for Escapees members. We have absolutely no plans, other than doing a lot of nothing, which is extremely rare for us! We are close enough that we can visit Darcy a couple times before we start heading back west.

We are encouraging Aunt Gretchen to go home while Darcy is “rehabbing”. She has been out here for 6 weeks, the crisis is over and she needs to pick up her life again too. Darcy would actually do better without Mom coddling her and waiting on her, Darcy needs to get back to doing everything for herself and Mom needs a rest. I told Aunt Gretchen she should detour to a spa for a week before going home! She could really use it! I had hoped to at least give her a massage, but there just never seemed to be time, we were always doing or going! I’ll try and keep you posted on how Darcy is doing, but for now there isn’t going to be much day to day stuff to report.

For about the next 3 weeks if you need to mail something to us, here is where you send it:
Valerie or Larry Moniz, General Delivery, Livingston, TX 77351. These pictures are of our home for the next four weeks. I would sure like to start seeing that sun that Texas always brags about!

Last day in Conroe 1-30-07

Today was our last day here in Conroe. We went over to Darcy’s house to do our laundry and I threw together my Val’s Surprise Pot Roast in the crock-pot so we would have dinner when we got back home.

Darcy wasn’t having a good day today. As I have said before people healing from brain trauma do not like change. Darcy has been at Touchstone a week today. Up until today she had someone with her all day to guide her through her day to make sure that she didn’t do anything to further injure her pelvis. She is coming along well. It has been 6 weeks now since her accident and most of her bones are pretty much healed, average time is 6 to 8 weeks. The pelvis takes longer but is coming along real well too. Darcy was not happy that they took her helper away from her today which caused a lot of stress. Then today was her first assessment meeting. The hard part for brain trauma victims is that they don’t get that anything is wrong with them, even when they are being emotional and hyper-verbal, which is what Darcy is at Touchstone for, to get the right medicine and therapies to help get all that under control. It is a challenge trying to heal someone who doesn’t think they need it. Darcy talks like she can just go home and everything will be fine, yet she can’t even push herself in the wheelchair yet or walk more than 20 feet with her walker. The family is all real happy with the care she is receiving. She didn’t like hearing that it might be at least a year before she could go back to the work she was doing before and that she might be at Touchstone three to four months. That should all change as her brain heals and she makes progress in her therapies. Darcy’s Dad and Sister were part of the meeting via conference call which was nice for them being so far away. We had a lovely dinner with Gretchen after our visit with Darcy.

Today was cloudy and cold again and it rained during the night. Tomorrow we will have just a short ride. We are heading up to Livingston to stay at the Escapees headquarters and it is just a couple hours from here. Now that we are in Texas we figure we might as well check it out some more. Too cold to go anywhere else!

Can't think of another title today! 1-29-07

Today we got up and did our yoga. We went to Border’s. Larry’s foot is hurting him so he stayed in the truck. I didn’t find what I was looking for. I walked around the square and got a latte at Starbucks. Then we drove around looking for Krogers. We eventually found it off of Research Drive. It was one of the big, fancy ones. We got our groceries and then headed home. Got the stuff put away, had a bite to eat and then over to get Gretchen. Then we drove around looking for a Post Office. The one Larry first headed to was closed already, then with the help of ham radio we found the Post Office in Conroe. It was very busy. Gretchen waited in the very long line. I sent mine off via the automated machine in the lobby. Then we headed up to see Darcy. She was laying on the couch in the living room watching T.V.

The Nurse Practitioner came by to scope out a stitch in Darcy’s side that was overlooked at the hospital. Hopefully tomorrow they’ll be able to extract it with a minimum of discomfort. Darcy was able to participate in her program for about two and a half hours. Not bad, because it hurts her to sit for long periods of time.

Darcy had visitors after dinner (other than us). They were customers of hers from The Egg and I where she had waitressed for two weeks before her accident. A lovely family that she had waited on only twice, but they became very fond of her. For Darcy, like many people, it takes an accident to make them stop in their lives long enough to finally take notice of the people they have touched and the things they have accomplished. People are so busy rushing forward through their days that they never really pay attention to the blessings and joy and beauty of their lives. Sadly if we don’t listen to the yield signs, we get the STOP sign! Darcy can’t seem to grasp why these people care enough about her to come and see her. It is sad to me to see her put so little value on herself. I am hoping that during her healing time here that will change for her. We love our Darcy! Larry and I spent quite a bit of time this evening talking with Darcy about the things we've learned about life and sharing with her the "positives".

This was hastily written way past my bedtime so I apologize for any errors! Don't know what I am doing here typing on this thing when I am about to turn into a pumpkin! Good Night!

Relaxing 1-28-07

Yesterday and today were pretty much the same for us. We did our yoga and got going for the day. Called Aunt Gretchen to see what the game plan was and both yesterday and today she got rides up to Touchstone to see Darcy with friends of Darcy’s. Yesterday rained most of the morning and was cloudy most of the day. Today was sunny, but windy and cold.

I grabbed this picture of this Cardinal yesterday. I could hear him singing, but couldn’t find him. Larry saw him eventually. They have such a distinctive song. Larry worked on scanning pictures and I puttered around doing this and that. We’ve done so much driving in the last month that it was nice not going anywhere.

Darcy’s weekends are free and she can have visitors. Aunt Gretchen said Darcy is in quite a lot of pain still, but they have her on very mild medication. With brain trauma there are many medications that have such an adverse affect on the brain that they shouldn’t be used. We’ll see Darcy and Aunt Gretchen tomorrow. We all have errands to do.

Oh, our Son-in-law Darel fulfilled a dream of his last night. He fought his first amateur-level fight in the “sport” of Cage Fighting. He won against his opponent in one minute forty-five seconds. Larry thinks that now he should retire undefeated! We think he is nuts because we worry about his health. Getting the crap beat out of you in a “cage” seems kind of stupid to us. Darel says that only happens if you’re losing. Crazy!

Darcy's Miracle 1-26-07

Yesterday was a long day and we got home late. We started our day with yoga; was painful but good. It had been several days since we had done it. I worked for awhile on cataloguing pictures. This Egret was in the tree next to one of the ponds in our park.

We went over to Darcy’s house to do laundry, help Gretchen with a few things, Larry washed the truck and I threw dinner into a crockpot. We then headed over to Touchstone and Gretchen had a whole big bag of stuff that Darcy had “requested” from home.

She is settling into her new home. No one wants to be in the situation that Darcy has found herself in, but as some of you know, my outlook on life is everything happens for a reason. It has been proven to me over and over again just from the observations in my own life and of those around me. God/the Universe gives us little nudges along our paths and if we don’t pay attention those nudges become shoves and in Darcy’s case, a serious body-slam. She came to Texas for a new beginning, she is getting it, just not the one she thought she wanted. There are so many circumstances, that added up, equal a miracle for Darcy. Her accident involved no one else. A nurse was on the scene immediately and helped control the bleeding from Darcy’s head. The hospital she was transported to gave her 7 pints of blood and then she was airlifted to Houston where there was a top-notch trauma center. She flat-lined, essentially died during transport, and I believe if she was meant to go “home” she wouldn’t have been resuscitated. There are a couple other events that I don’t feel I am at liberty to divulge here. Then, one of the best Neuro-recovery centers in the country and only one of two in Texas is just up the road from where Darcy lived and where her accident occurred. Yes, her injuries were moderate brain trauma; fractured skull, occipital bones, clavicle, scapula, multiple ribs, pelvis and sacrum (tailbone); internal damages and in spite of all this she didn’t break any limbs and she isn’t horribly disfigured. We all know what other really bad things could have happened, but didn’t, like broken neck, back, paralysis, severe brain damage or death.

Darcy is healing well and we feel that she is fortunate to be able to get the specialized care that Touchstone provides. Now, as I have said before, my blog, my views! I believe that Darcy now has the chance to “be” the change that was needed in her life. She has been humbled by the other residents at her temporary home. She has living, breathing examples of how lucky she is and how bad it may have been for her. It has really been a gift for Larry and me to be participants in this part of Darcy’s journey. WE have learned so much and are happy that we have been able to give Darcy and her family our moral support by being here.

We were present when the Doctor that will be working with Darcy at Touchstone came in to talk to her and meet all of us. We were very impressed by Dr. Leder. He was relaxed, patient, knowledgeable and caring. He was very honest and up front with Darcy and in turn was very patient in alleviating her and her families concerns. He made us feel like he would have sat there for three hours if that is what it would have taken and as it was he was there for an hour. The staff at Touchstone that is working with Darcy has been very impressive. On a lot a levels that she can’t really appreciate right now, she is exactly where she is supposed to be at this place in her life. There is the potential for her to come out of this “situation” a happier person. She has a lot of challenges ahead of her, but so do all the people in Darcy’s life. She needs this time to heal, reflect and hopefully branch out into a new direction. I hope all the people that love her support her during this time. Darcy’s healing process can’t be pushed, not even by her.

The sun was out yesterday and Darcy “wheeled” around the grounds and got some fresh air and sunshine. My crockpot meal turned out wonderfully and we were glad to have it as we got away from Touchstone so late.

Today Darcy was busy getting started on physical therapy, life skills and learning the lay of the land. Both the Program Director and the Doctor took the time to talk to us again and the Doctor had seen Darcy briefly again today. The staff is always present and available which is nice. Way different than the hospital experience…that will be another story! We left after a short visit with Darcy. Aunt Gretchen had a ride home with Liz, a friend.

We had hoped to catch some sunshine after we got home, but the clouds had started moving in. We had our first ever meal at a Quiznos. We really enjoyed it. As you can tell I came home and decided to write an epic blog entry. Actually it wasn’t a conscious decision; I was just in the “groove”.

Day 17 & last day in Houston! 1-24-07

Rained all night and morning. The jets were on their path right over us today. Glad to be leaving them behind, I am tired of keeping them from falling on me, like I would have any control over it!

This first picture shows what Larry had to deal with on our breakdown this morning. Steady rain, and Texas swamposis. The water does not soak into the clay, we’ve been told the water table is very high here. Wherever there is construction being done it is just sloppy with Texas clay that looks like you could get stuck forever in it.

The truck was serviced on Saturday and for some reason Larry decided to look under it and to his surprise discovered that the truck had NOT been lubed. OOH, he was mad, and high-tailed to the dealership. The first guy he talked to told him our model didn’t require lubing, Larry told him he was wrong, so the guy told him to talk to someone inside. Larry got the guy that worked with him on Saturday and he took the truck back himself, had it lubed and then apologized to Larry for the screw-up. Now how many other trucks had the first yo-yo been working on that didn’t get lubed, but people were charged for it?!

So after he got back he slogged through the standing water and rain and got us all disconnected from everything and then hooked-up. We drove all of 24 miles, but it shaves off 48 miles from visiting Darcy and our new home is not at the end of the Large Airport’s runway!

We were all set back up around one. Then we went foraging for groceries. Found the SuperWalmart not far from us. This picture is of the parking lot patrol. Horses are still used a lot here in Texas. After we put the groceries away we went to Darcy’s house and picked up Aunt Gretchen and then headed up to Touchstone. Takes about 25 minutes, and we found a route where we don’t have to get on the interstate. It is a very pretty drive. Lots of pine trees.

Darcy was glad to get her clothes. She had the rest of her hair cut off and then put on real clothes. She is looking better, but she is pushing it and doesn’t rest enough. She’ll stay still if I am massaging some part of her, but as soon as I finish, instead of snoozing or resting, she jumps up (which she isn’t supposed to be doing) and has to go somewhere. She is supposed to slow down. Long way to go on impulse control! Though there has been progress!

She called me the “good” cousin, which I found hilarious and I'm not sure she meant it nicely. At least she didn’t call me boring! I’ve been able to tease her and make her laugh which has been really nice. She thinks she knows me I’m sure, but when you have hardly seen someone during all their grown up years, I bet I would surprise her. I’ve learned a long time ago that one should try not to make snap judgments about someone else’s life.

Anyway I digress; so we visited a couple hours and then we headed back to Darcy’s house and we had a relaxing dinner with Gretchen and now it is time for bed! This last picture if of our new home, this is out our front door. Maybe tomorrow, I can get a picture with some sunshine in it.

Almost forgot, Touchstone's mailing address for Darcy Willis: Touchstone, PO Box 929, Conroe, Texas, 77305. Touchstone's physical address: 9297 Wahrenberger Road, Conroe, Texas, 77304-2441

Day 16 in Houston 1-23-07

Today was a busy day. Darcy was being discharged from the hospital. We decided not to go down there, but to be up at the rehab center when she got there. Nothing seems to go on time of course, she was picked up later than planned and didn’t get to Touchstone until around 1:30. She was in a lot of pain, but stubbornly pushed on through the admissions process. We finally convinced her to go to her new bed. She is improving a lot quicker than expected which is encouraging, but her bones are not healing fast enough for her! She seems happy with her temporary home and her Mom liked it a lot too. The staff are all very nice, open and supportive; a change after the hospital atmosphere!

We are moving tomorrow to a park closer to the center and her home where Gretchen will now be staying.

It is raining again. Yuck, swamposis all around us. It has been a long day, more tomorrow.

Day 15 in Houston 1-22-07

Wow, hard to believe we have been in Houston for two weeks already. Darcy has come a long way just since we have been here. We hadn’t seen her all weekend and we could see improvement today over Friday, so she is healing along. She is noticing all kinds of new pains, but she is moving more each day and after being bed-bound for so long it is understandable.

Tomorrow is an exciting day for us and scary for Darcy. She is being moved to a Neuro-recovery center. She doesn’t know what to expect, but she is a trooper and will get through it. The drive up there won’t be a lot of fun for her, but the doctor’s at both ends are doing all they can to make her as comfortable as possible. I’ve been massaging her a lot and that really relaxes her and she really enjoys it. My fingers still have their magic knowledge of all the sneaky little painful places.

Now that we have figured out the quickest way in and out of Houston, we won’t need it. We jump into the HOV lane (high occupancy vehicles) and zoom along with very little stopping and get dumped out downtown. It is kind of like being on a ride at Disneyland. You fly along in your lane that is flanked by cement walls with traffic crawling past you in both directions. Driving through downtown Houston is actually pretty easy and the city is very pretty.

These oak trees line the street between the museum district and the hospital district. Their skyscrapers are very pretty shapes and shiny. This last picture was of the sunset from our window last night, stunning colors.

We’ll be moving locations on Wednesday as soon as we figure out where we want to be.

Day 13 in Houston 1-20-07

Yesterday we hung at the hospital. I visited and massaged Darcy while Larry and Gretchen worked on paperwork and faxing stuff and wrangling with the insurance company.
Today was a stay at home day for me. Larry took the truck in for servicing and then went to Best Buy for another external hard drive for our photos. We were running out of room on the external we had.
Darcy is very tired of the hospital, but she is healing and that is important. All offices concerned with getting Darcy moved are closed until Monday so Larry will be back at it with them then. Darcy’s body is healing and it is time for her to move on to a residential rehab for Neuro-therapy.
It has started raining again but it isn’t as cold as it was which we are very happy about. Larry rearranged our pantry and cabinets so we could get to the things we needed when the slide-out was in. Needed to be done for a long time.

Day 11 in Houston 1-18-07

Today was rainy all day, but at least it was warmer. Larry and I scoped out a rehab facility for my Cousin and her family. Darcy’s good news for today was that she is clear of infections. She was using her walker more today. She is slowly getting stronger.

Not much else to say for today. Just wanted to leave a quick update.

Day 10 in Houston 1-17-07

Icy morning. The low was 33, but with the windchill being like 25 there were little icicles hanging off of ladders, bumpers, door handles and tree leaves etc. We waited until after 11 a.m. to head downtown. It had quit raining and the wind wasn’t too bad for our walk to the hospital. There were just little ice blobs dropping on our heads from the trees.

Today was about the same with my cousin Darcy. Bones are four weeks into their healing, she hurts and she wants out BAD. We all want the same thing…hopefully we know something tomorrow on when she moves on to the next step in her recovery.

We headed back home at 5, but it wasn’t very bad because a lot of people didn’t go to work today. The icy conditions outside of Houston made people stay home.

That was about it. Hoping for it to warm back up soon though I don’t know which is worse, wet windows from condensation from the cold or wet everything from the humidity. Not liking Houston weather. The people are very nice.

Day 9 in Houston 1-16-07

This morning was very cold, but we were below the line of freezing rain and sleet. It felt freezing but it wasn’t. We crawled along the highway watching two helicopters hovering above ahead of us. Larry found the pilots BS channel on the scanner and some agency was spraying something on the highway. Maybe it is to prevent ice for tonight, who knows. Thank goodness for our winter coats and gloves, our faces about fell off on the walk to the hospital!

My Cuz wasn’t having a good day. She was in quite a bit of pain, but she is eating and drinking a lot better now. They had to take out stitches that should have been taken out weeks ago in the trauma unit. It was painful for Darcy but she was a trooper. She is healing up really well, but the breaks in her pelvis take a long time to knit back together. The healing process for her brain will take months and years really. I’ve learned so much about brain trauma…Helmets everyone!

I don’t think it got over about 40 today and with the wind…brrrr. Houston doesn’t get this cold very often. They are also having problems with flooding with all the rain they have had this month. One lady in the hospital thought it was great weather so she could where her winter hat and gloves and pretty sweater! Crazy, I say!

So, that was our day, now we are just working on staying warm.

Day 8 in Houston 1-15-07

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday we had the A/C on to help with the humidity and today it was heaters. The low this morning was 41, the high was 52 and right now at 8 p.m. it is 36. The low since we have been here was around 67. We have been here a week today.

It rained most all night and this morning. Our area looks like a swamp. We got downtown to Gretchen’s little apartment. It was 39, windy and raining. Like fools we figured it wouldn’t be too bad walking the 8 blocks to the hospital (about .5 mile). By the time we got into the hospital we realized it wasn’t our best decision. The wind was cutting and the rain was no fun at all. Waiting at the traffic lights was the worst part. But we survived and in a couple hours our stuff was dry.

Darcy was a little better today. We had to wait all day to talk to her doctor, but he was very patient with us and answered all of our questions. She is drinking fluids and eating better.

Sitting in the visitor’s waiting room between our visits with Darcy is really hard. There are so many grieving families dealing with horrible tragedies. Today one family was dealing with the “unplugging” of their loved one. We are very grateful for the recovery of our loved one! No matter how long it takes, Darcy is recovering.

We headed “home” around 5. Today being a holiday the traffic wasn’t very bad. It is way too cold though. Hope this doesn’t last long! Later this week we hope to take a tour of the Neurorecovery Center that Darcy may be going to. In addition to the staff and program the grounds sound wonderfully healing. It is on 26 acres of beautiful grounds, not a hospital building in a city.

Happy Birthday to Larry's Mom! Carol is __ today.

Day 7 in Houston 1-14-07

Yesterday we had company. My cousin Debbie (Darcy’s sister), her Mom (my Aunt Gretchen) and Debbie’s husband Eric came to see our lovely home. Then we all drove up to the restaurant where Darcy had been working and had a wonderful breakfast. We met a few of the people who worked with her. Then we all went over to Darcy’s house, we met her cats, and visited while Gretchen did a few things. Then they all headed back to Houston and we checked out a couple of RV parks nearer Darcy’s town for when she is discharged. It was really warm and humid when we had gotten home and weirdly we had to run the air conditioner.

Larry went over to check out the status of the laundry room so I could put a load in and some ladies vicious Dachshund bit him (and the dog died….just kidding). The lady didn’t have her dog leashed and the dog was barking at Larry and he just walked on past it and the next thing he felt was a sharp sting in his calf through his jeans. She had a current tag for it and he is current on his tetanus so he’ll be fine.

Debbie and Eric had a good visit with Darcy. Gretchen took a day off from the hospital for the first time. She really needed to take a break and with Debbie there it was a little bit easier for her to do. As we discover that Darcy can still do the things that we all take for granted we are able to stay optimistic about her recovery from the brain trauma. She was able to read out loud to her sister a letter that her daughter had sent. The doctor had taken an x-ray of her pelvis, but as of yesterday her status hadn’t changed in regards to getting up and walking yet.

Today we took a day of rest. Gretchen had her family with her so she didn’t need us cluttering up the place. We needed to have a down day, can’t remember the last time with the holidays, visiting the kids and traveling. Lots of T.V., crocheting and for Larry scanning photos. It was cloudy, humid and rainy. We were about 20 degrees cooler today, but we were in the 50’s, so warmer than a lot of people we know.

This last picture is of one of my African Violets.

Day 5 in Houston 1-12-07

Last night didn’t get below 67 degrees! Seeing the weather in Chimacum, are we happy to be down here! The high today was 80, it was overcast and humid. We went down town again. Larry helped Gretchen with a couple of things and then we walked to the hospital. Darcy wasn’t as agitated today and ate and drank more today. We left early to beat the bad traffic, but we were just on the edge heading out around 3. We talked to Aunt Gretchen tonight and Darcy had an x-ray of her pelvis to see how the fracture is healing. Darcy’s sister and brother-in-law arrived today from California; Debbie and Eric. They had a good visit and Debbie was able to get some food in her. We’ll see them all tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll be able to do a longer entry tomorrow.

I just want to say here, as I learn more and more about brain trauma, that if ANY of you out there get on a bicycle for even 2 minutes without a helmet are setting themselves and their loved ones for a LOT of pain. It is the number one cause of brain trauma and they are called “accidents” for a reason. Nobody sets out to fall on their head, but it happens and brain trauma ultimately changes who you are! Please, Please wear helmets!

Day 4 in Houston 1-11-07

Today we were up and out. We had to get downtown by 10:30 for a meeting at the hospital. Not knowing how bad the commuter traffic would be we headed out at 8:30. We jumped on the Hardy Toll road; the section we were on was only $1.00. We zipped on down to down town but then we crawled around the skyscrapers in all the traffic. We were parked in front of Gretchen’s little apartment at 9:15 so it only took us an extra 15 minutes.

We were at the hospital in time for the meeting, but of course the person we were to meet had to be tracked down. In the interim we talked to Darcy’s Doctor and were informed of a setback in Darcy’s recovery. She has a urinary infection and a blood infection. We won’t know until the cultures come back exactly what kind of infection, but she will have to be on 14 days of antibiotics and this could delay her release from the hospital.

Today was another hard day. Adjusting to brain trauma will be very hard for the people around Darcy. She is very agitated, and confused and from all we have learned that may be her state for awhile. The rehabilitation I talk about is for her brain trauma. We won’t know for awhile yet how extensive her retraining will need to be, but there is absolutely no doubt that it will be happening.

We left for our place at 2 to beat the traffic and hopefully get in some relaxation time. We fueled up the truck and stopped for some groceries. Cities are noisy and smelly, but at least Houston is slower paced as far as cities go. Their signage is pretty good, so with our map and me watching signs, while Larry watches the traffic we have cruised right along. We have to get on 3 different freeways to get to the Med Center. Today it was cloudy and in the 70’s.

Day 3 in Houston 1-10-07

Today was a long day. We can’t believe how tired we are still. This morning the truck got a bath. We spent the day at the hospital with my Aunt and Cousin. Today we were able to talk to Darcy’s Doctor and different therapists. She is healing really well. We just hope her brain’s healing goes as fast, though everyone told us today that it takes the brain longer to heal than the body. We of course want Darcy to prove them all wrong. She took a few spins around the corridors in a wheel chair. No walking until her pelvis heals. She ate a bit today too. She was pretty busy today so she even got in a nap.

The low today was 40 and the high was 71. Being inside a city building we don’t get to appreciate the great weather down here. I guess it is going to cool off and we may even get some rain…drat. Houston’s freeways and surface streets remind us a lot of the Los Angeles area. It is cleaner and people aren’t barreling down the freeway doing 70+ like they do in L.A. People seem more relaxed here overall, but I still wouldn’t want to live here.

Seeing my Aunt & Cousin 1-9-07

Today was a lovely sunny day. The low was 40. Our new home is close to the airport and during certain times of the day very big planes fly over, but for the most part it is pretty quiet. At 5:30 this morning somewhere near here started their construction work, we managed to ignore it.

This morning the trailer got a bath. It was very badly needed. Tomorrow is the truck’s turn. We were looking very pigpenny. The trucks engine light went off, so the bad fuel has worked its way through. It is still getting new filters.

We left for downtown around 11. Have to give the traffic time to die down. It took us about 30 minutes and with our trusty map we had no problem finding where my Aunt Gretchen is staying. It was good to see her and she was very glad to see us.

What a huge medical conglomeration Houston has. From the Texas Med Center to the Shriner’s Hospital and every other kind of specialized hospital all in this several block area. We walked to the hospital Darcy is in. She was moved to the Rehab floor. Because she has brain trauma it will be awhile before she can go home. Her brains neurons have been stretched and some have died completely during the accident and the brain needs retraining. She will be on this floor a minimum of 7 days and a maximum of 14 days. Then it will depend on her progress what happens then. It isn’t uncommon though for someone with her level of trauma for the brain to take 3 months to heal(she won’t be in the hospital that long) and get retrained. They have just started all the therapy’s so it’ll be several days before we know how she is progressing. Her hair is growing back and the nasty gash on her head is almost completely healed. She was happy to see us, but she is like a broken record with wanting anyone who visits to get her out of there, to the point of cranky meanness but that is normal we were told. The frontal lobe is the emotional control center and when that has trauma the emotions just flow with no control so she acts like a 2 year old does because she can’t control her emotions. It takes getting used to and is hard on her mother who gets the brunt of it all. Her friend Liz was there for awhile also and got her to eat a bite of her dinner. She isn’t eating, but that may be due to the meds she is on.

We stayed until almost 5 and then walked back to Gretchen’s, visited awhile waiting for the traffic to ease up. We headed out at 6:45 and cruised along until we were about 10 miles from our turn and crawled along in the traffic, but it only took us about 15 minutes longer.

We are really tired again today. We did our yoga for the first time this year and got in some fresh air with the walks to and from the hospital, but we are still playing catch up.

Arrived in Houston 1-8-07

Yesterday was long, but not much to talk about. We left Deming at 8:30, it was 29 degrees. Las Cruces, NM had snow on the ground as we dropped down into it. It seems like a nice city; this hot air balloon was coming in for a landing. We just drove. We stopped at rest areas to eat and use the bathroom and we stopped for fuel twice. We lost another hour in Texas east of El Paso. We are in the central time zone now.

I drove a couple times; I need the practice. I am becoming accustomed to the weight, but have to get better at stopping. I almost overshot the Trooper at the border patrol checkpoint in Texas. That probably wouldn’t have been good, I was pacing myself with the stop sign and didn’t see him right away; practice, practice. I am still too scared to drive it through the cities. The third and fourth pictures are of west Texas. There were some flat places, but there were lots of hills, and mesas too.

We found a nice place to spend the night at a rest stop. We were on the end so we could put out the bed slide. We just went to bed. We stopped at 9:00; we had traveled 602 miles; a one day record for us.

Geez, today we overslept, we kept waking up all night. Our bodies haven’t adjusted to the time changes, the lack of activity and the weird hours we are keeping. It wasn’t as noisy as some RV parks we have been in. The highways get quiet during the wee hours of the night. Anyway our eyes popped open at 7:54 and we were on the road at 8:18. It was 34 degrees at our home at milepost marker #514, I-10 Texas this morning.

San Antonio was big. Their downtown freeway system had 4 decks! Roads crisscrossing in the air all over the place! A semi-truck to the left of us just disappeared as he swooped down below us! It was weird looking. Felt like we were at Disneyland.

After we got through San Antonio we stopped at a rest area for breakfast and made more phone calls. We have been working all weekend on figuring out where to stay. There are RV parks in and around Houston’s big Medical Center, but the ones closest are really expensive. The one that was the most convenient was the most expensive even with the “medical discount” and they were pretty much full up. They sounded like they could stuff us in somewhere, but we would have to keep moving around. Anyway, we found one north of the Med Center and south of where Darcy’s house is. We will be closest to the hospital for now and may move to another one closer to her home, when she gets home, but we don’t know when any of that will be happening yet of course.

So we just kept on truckin’. The truck was doing much better today, the bad fuel is working its way out, but we still need to find a fuel filter. Nothing was open over the weekend.

From about 30 miles north of San Antonio to Houston was hilly and had oak trees and juniper trees. It was pretty. We have always heard how flat, ugly and boring the Texas terrain is, but this part doesn’t seem to be. Houston is huge and busy. They are working on improving the west side freeway system along I-10 so a lot of little curves, bends and narrow lanes. It took us an hour to get from the west to the north of Houston.

We landed at the Red Dot RV Park at 2:00. We traveled 270 miles today. Now that the push is over, we are pooped. For anyone who wants to know, it is 2,176 miles from Ukiah in northern California to the north side of Houston, Texas. It took us 5 days.

It was wonderfully sunny and warm here. Opened all the windows and cleaned the trailer. Felt good to move around. The sun set around 5:30. Stays light longer down here. We’ll see my Aunt Gretchen and cousin Darcy tomorrow. Early dinner, showers and bed for us tonight!

Direction change! 1-6-7

What a difference a day makes. This is a long entry but encompasses the last 3 days; I thought it would be easier to follow this way. We haven’t been setting the satellite dish up. Read on!

January 4, 2007
Happy New Year! I have fallen down on the blog! We were very busy visiting family and friends and playing with the Grandson’s. We had Ian over for a day, spent a day in Martinez visiting family on the 1st, and spent an entire day pulling 3,000 slides out of the carousels, numbering them and putting them in groups of 10 in case we have to send them out to be scanned. They are boxed, as are all our photos and are now with us waiting to be scanned into the computer. I think we may now be overweight, well, we are after the holidays, but the trailer may be now too!

Today we left Ukiah and instead of heading north as we had planned we are heading south and then east to Houston, Texas. My cousin Darcy, who is just a few years younger than me, had a bad car accident on Dec. 19th. We heard about it just a couple days ago. She is improving, but is still critical; that she is with us at all is a miracle. She was thrown 100 feet from her car and from a cracked open skull, fractured bones from head to toe and ruptured spleen and punctured liver she has managed to survive. She had moved to the Houston area several months ago and has no family there. Her Mom and sister and children flew out from California as soon as they heard, but couldn’t stay as long as they would like. My Aunt is still with her and is alone there so we decided to go be her moral support.

So we hit I5 south and then took 99 from Sacramento. We haven’t been on 99 in a lot of years so it was a nice change from the monotony of 5. We seemed to be just behind all the bad rain. The roads were very wet and parking lots looked like lakes but we just sailed on through. As we neared Bakersfield we decided to listen to the weather channel and they were talking about 75 mile an hour winds over the Tehachapi pass which we were heading for. We talked to a trucker on the ham radio who had just been over there and they were bad, not close the road bad, but we decided to wait until morning. We didn’t want to get over to Mojave and have the winds rock us all night. So we have planted ourselves at 8p.m. across the road from the flying J where all the truckers are parked. We tucked ourselves in between two and will sleep here for the night to the lovely rumble of BIG engines. We had traveled 414 miles today and it was showers and bed for us!


January 5, 2007
We slept surprisingly well with the rumble of engines to drown out noises and we were tucked between two trucks which were good noise blockers also. We thought about getting out early but decided to wait a bit. Traffic and ice over the passes were a concern.

We pulled out at 8:05 and didn’t hit bad traffic through Bakersfield. It was 29 degrees at the top of the Tehachapi’s and there was some ice so we were glad that we had waited. Once we got over the mountains and down into the Mojave valley, BIG wind, all the way to Highway 85 in Arizona. It is the Phoenix bypass and somewhere along there the wind let up. We went through big dust clouds and when we stopped for breaks the trailer was rocking like we were traveling down a bumping, winding road. I drove for over an hour to give Larry a break. We lost an hour in Arizona…hate that. We landed in Gila Bend, AZ at 9 p.m. We traveled 544 miles in 12 hours time. Glad to see that diesel has come down some!

Our route today was highway 58 from Bakersfield to Barstow, then 40 to Needles, then 95 to Blythe and then 10 to 85 which heads south out of Buckeye (west of Phoenix) to Gila Bend on 8. Tonight we are sleeping over behind the Shell station in Gila Bend with all the big boys again. It seems quieter so far, yet as I am typing this I can hear a train horn off in the distance…hmmmm.


January 6, 2007
When we got up this morning in Gila Bend, AZ it was 38 degrees. It was 4 at the Grand Canyon! We thought they left out a number! Glad we stayed south.

We picked a good place to sleep last night. It was really pretty quiet. It wasn’t nearly as windy today which was nice. Yesterday the wind kept blowing the steps on our trailer out. Fortunately they hang up so they couldn’t drop all the way open, a bungee cord stopped that from happening any more.

It was a beautiful day today. Cool but sunny. It was nice to see the Saguaros, we hadn’t planned on seeing them again for quite awhile! We stopped in Benson a little before noon to check out their new Super Walmart. It was the teeniest one we have ever seen! It was very busy, but the aisles and the space in front of the check stands was tight. Not a comfortable place to shop.

Today we decided to only go as far as Deming, NM. We needed to get on the internet and do some research, I needed to blog and we needed to reorganize our home. When we left we had the intention of taking care of things when we got to Washington. We had some rearranging to do for a long road trip. So we landed today at 3:40. We got laundry done, some maintenance done and our computer work done. We traveled 346 miles today. We have traveled 1,304 miles since leaving Ukiah day before yesterday and Larry estimates we have another 860 to go. We were on highway 8 east until we ran back into 10. We’ll be taking that all the way to Houston. We paid $2.42 for diesel today in Deming. This last pic is where we are tonight, Dreamcatchers, an Escapee park. We wanted full hook-ups.

We have to have the truck looked at. When we left Bakersfield yesterday the engine light came on and it started acting funny. The book says it is an emissions problem and that the gas cap wasn’t closed properly and or we got bad fuel. We had just fueled up the night before we left Bakersfield and that is what Larry suspects, but doing what the book suggests hasn’t really changed much. The truck isn’t acting as weird, but it has lost some power and the light is still on, so we’ll have to find a dealership on Monday.

So that is about all for now. My cousin is off the critical list but she is still in the trauma unit and we haven’t heard when and where they plan on moving her. The scans show no brain damage, but coming back from major brain trauma is a long road. She still hasn’t comprehended what has happened and why she is in the hospital. I can’t wait to give my Aunt Gretchen a big hug. This has been hard for her. My Uncle Dan can’t be there with her because he is having his own health issues.

P.S. Just talked to my Aunt and they have started sitting Darcy up a bit and that is exhausting for her. Her confusion is starting to dissipate too, so every day there are slight improvements.