YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT - RECOMMENDED - THEN GO BACK TO THE BLOG OR GO THROUGH THE 34 PHOTOS - CLICK ON NEXT OR PREVIOUS IN THAT ENLARGED FORMAT. I PUT LOTS OF INFORMATION IN THE PHOTO CAPTIONS SO YOU CAN SKIP THE NARRATIVE, JUST LOOK AT THE ENLARGED PHOTOS AND CAPTIONS AND YOULL STILL GET MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU EVER WANTED. TO RETURN TO THE BLOG ENTRY, CLICK YOUR BACK BUTTON OR ON THE NAME OF THE BLOG - BELOW THE NUMBERS ON THE LEFT.
As you have probably figured out, these travel blogs are a way for Bernard and me to keep track of our adventures. I cant tell you how many times weve referred to one of our over 70 travel blogs looking for various details, maps, dates, etc. That said, feel free to enjoy the photos and just skim or ignore the text.
Happy Holidays Everyone!! I know this is early, but on November 28th were leaving for a month and didnt want to miss the opportunity to wish all of our friends and family Merry
Daughter JJ with boyfriend Bill came to AZ so naturally we did a side trip to MX. My sister and her husband, MaryJean and Buzz, were supposed to join us, but had to changed plans. We then invited good friend Susan.
May the New Year bring you happiness, peace and prosperity. Wishing you a joyous and happy 2022! We hope all your endeavors in 2022 are successful.
December. Since we were stuck at home anyway, I decided to have a small procedure done on my big toe (fix the hallux rigidus). Knowing I had at least 3 weeks of staying off my foot, I scheduled the surgery for December 4. I knew we wouldnt be traveling or having visitors over Christmas; we follow the science and the health professionals were predicting an even bigger COVID surge over Christmas because so many people had NOT followed their advice over Thanksgiving . . . dont get me started. Anyway, all is well and Im getting around the house with my knee scooter.
As it turned out, all was NOT well. Using that darn knee scooter threw my back out and caused an extreme bout of sciatica. Truly, the toe never hurt and healed quickly and easily, but I was in so much pain from the sciatica that I slept in our guest room for about 3 weeks. And it went downhill from there . . . .
As many of you might remember, in 2009 while living in Berlin I had a **lung collapse. I was in the hospital for four days, but since that time I hadnt had any issues. Then on February 8 while bike riding I felt a shortness of breath. Rode home, called my doc, she sent me for a CT scan, went home, doc called and said to get to the hospital asap.
**A collapsed lung occurs when air gets inside the chest cavity (outside the lung) and creates pressure against the lung collapsing it. Also known as pneumothorax. More typically a pneumothorax is caused by
A misty, cool day in the Mexican wine country, so a tasting at another beautiful vineyard was just what the doctor ordered
trauma, like a rib puncturing the air sac. As for me, they dont know why my lung collapsed. Could be that because of a growth spurt I had between 7th and 8th grades inches in one summer) my lungs were stretched and that caused blebs - like cysts, but filled with air instead of water. A bleb (or two) could have erupted causing the collapse. This is much more typical in boys as they are more prone to growth spurts.
Of course this is crises, so I wasnt just admitted to the hospital, but had to go through triage in the emergency room, get evaluated, take a COVID test and wait for the result before being admitted. I got to the hospital about 7:00 p.m. and didnt get admitted until around 2:00 a.m. Bernie wasnt even allowed through the hospital doors. In the ER they put a tube into my chest (left side; to suck out the air) to start the collapse reversal. Long story short, spent four days in a claustrophobic room with the roommate from hell. Was never so happy to leave a place as I was that hospital.
