One Last Float Before The Trip Back To Pop

The day before we headed out for home we took an all day float down the river with our Canadian friends Mark and Colleen.  Our first trip was just the two of us with one kayak slowly losing air and thank goodness only a few hours on the river.  This trip found the kayaks in perfect shape, a gorgeous day, a 6 hour float with a lunch stop at the RoadRunner floating bar.
Looks pretty relaxing right?

So much so that Mark took a bit of a snooze. 

And then the next day we packed up and took off after saying goodbye to new found friends.  We fully intend on taking a trip to Canada this summer...soon.

Our trip back was the first real trip in the motorhome and the first few miles were interesting.  The first curve that we went around the refrigerator door flew open and out came water bottles that rolled all over the floor.  I got out of my comfortable chair to put it all back in and then remembered to lock the fridge.  Around the next corner and all of the pictures slid off of the counter onto the floor, the next corner the dog's water bowl flew across the floor spilling all over...but hey, we didn't hit anyone or get hit by someone!  That particular road is pretty darned bumpy and full of twists and turns...that's my story and I am sticking to it.  The remainder of the three day trek was uneventful and very very comfortable.

On our second night we pulled into the Walmart parking lot in Worthington.  When David went in to make sure that it was alright for us to spend the night he was told that not only was it OK but that two years ago Sandra Bullock and Jessie James stayed there for a night! 
Yep, in this very lot

We got back on Monday, pulled into the Mystic Lake RV park and off to the hospital to see Pop.  It seems his health was declining rapidly which was why we decided to head back early.  He was pretty confused but most of the time we found ourselves talking to the Pop from years ago.  He was cracking jokes and laughing at himself most of the visit.  It felt damned good to have those few hours...damned good.  However.....in one week his lung capacity had gone from an 80% functioning level down to 20%, his lungs were absolutely dieing on him and the docs were totally perplexed.  The closest to an explanation they could come to was a medication that Pop had been prescribed a few years back.  One of the side affects is just what happened to Pop...the lungs fill up with fibroids that slowly kill the lungs.  The doc on duty felt that Pop owed it to  himself to have a biopsy of his lungs done to rule out this medication and see if perhaps anything could help stop the process.  To do that he would be transferred to Abbott.  We decided to give it a try even though we were unsure if Pop really was comprehending what was going to happen.  David and I planned on being at Abbott the next day for support and to help keep him comfortable.
That morning at 2am my  phone rang.  I was not able to get to it in time but it was from dad who left a message.  "Bobbi this is dad, I gotta go I gotta catch my plane" and he hung up.  Then his aide called me just to let me know that he was having a horrible night, pretty agitated, confused etc etc.  At 4am the doc called to say that he was considering sedating him, something they had not done due to the functioning of his lungs, and would I come in to sit with him.  It seems that sedating him would certainly help him be more comfortable but would do nothing for his lung capacity, would in fact be detrimental to lungs that were already dieing.  As I sat there with my dad I did everything I could to keep busy so as not to think about what was really going on...nope I didn't want to think about it.  He was pretty heavily sedated and when the morphine started wearing off he began pulling at his oxygen mask and IV's so they had to just keep him calmly full of morphine.  I think at that point he may have known that I was there although he did not open his eyes the entire time.  I told the doc to forget the transfer, I wasn't going to put dad through that for something that was unlikely to help his situation.  At 11 Lenny, Kelly and David came and with the doc and a palliative care person we made the decision to turn  off all monitors, stop all treatment and just make him comfortable until nature took it's course.  At 3pm, with the palliative care person and the wonderful nurse we did just that.  At 3:45 as Pop took his last breath I looked out the window and there was a prop plane (the kind he would had dealt with in the air force) flying by the window.  He was right, he had a plane to catch and it seems that he caught it.  Damn that was one hard afternoon...damned hard.  It's still a bit surreal to think that he is gone.  This coming Monday we will have a celebration of life in his honor at the Nicollet Funeral Home with a lunch served at Rapid Rick's.  I am sharing some pictures of Dad in his honor here.....

Len and Kel's wedding

 One of the better ever pics of him

 Len's graduation party

 I love this one

 Dad's the young fella on the left at my cousin Pat's wedding.  I guess he sang at that wedding.  I had not a clue that he could sing!

Dad, Uncle Jim, Dad's brother Bill and my Aunt Veronica

 

 Behind the bar at our house by Nicollet

Although the whole plane thing is a strange thing, I choose to see it as a sign that everything was going to be OK for him and it helped me feel much better at that moment.  How strange is it that he leaves me that voice mail and as he goes-a plane flies by the window...a sign I tell ya a sign....

Dad was admitted to St Francis Hospital in Shakope where he received exemplary care as did we, his family.  From the volunteer at the front door up to the docs....they all have a smile, take their time with you, are pleasant ad just heads above any other hospital that I have ever been in contact with, and there have been quite a few.  When I was in Pop's room just he and I (and he was sedated) his nurse, a nurse who was not his nurse, the doc, aides etc...stopped in every 5-10 minutes to not only check on him but to make sure that I was OK, and that level of care and concern continued.  I cannot say enough about St Francis.  They are not in a rush, you are more than a number..they are just absolutely fabulous!  Prior to there he had been in St Gertruds which is a rehab facility connected to the hospital and it too has the same kind of care and concern.  Everyone so be treated so well as we all were! 

A Quick Trip

It was a quick trip back to MN but well worth it.  Not only did we get Pop's apartment cleaned and organized- with belongings ready to get rid of or move (thanks a ton my very good friend Mary for helping me), but we (well Kelly) found him his new digs AND I got to spend some much needed time with my MN girls.

Pop is currently in a rehabilitation facility in Shokope working on getting some strength back so that he can move into his new aparmtnet.  It seems that pop had not been sleeping for a few days/nights and finally went into the hospital.  Their assessment was that he was filling up with fluid (congestive heart failure) and that he should probably not go back to non assisted apartment living.  Len and Kelly transfered him to St Agusta in Shakope where he is currently.  He is having some short term memory problems and they are having trouble keeping his O2 levels up-hence he is now on oxygen all of the time.  His new digs is a brand new assisted living facility in Jordan.  His apartment is a studio with a kitchenette (no stove or oven), lots of storage and a very nice accesable bathroom.  He was very pleased (as were we all) when we visited.  Included are three meals a day as well as any other assistance that he will need when he is well enough to move.

The weather was almost as nice in MN when I was there as it was for David back in AZ.  The girls and I spent time outdoors, I of course with my camera.  At one point Julia looked at me and said, "You took a lot of pictures Grandma".  Yeah I guess I did and so indulge me.....

Lots of time spent on the swing set and it was nice to get the entire family in one picture.  Julia kept saying, "Grandma we are all down here, my whole family".  

The sky was perfect for this shot.  Grandma on the ground shooting up as Julia swings overhead.

The girls playing cooperatively.  Shelby enjoying

As Julia happily pumps away

My little Shelby Marie

Julia our gymnast posing after a successful climb up the rocks

Two sisters

Sharing a spring day...and with that look on Shelby's face how long do you think it will be before she takes over at the wheel?

When you have two girls and a mommy who is busy cleaning up the kitchen, daddy was in charge of pre-bed duties including blow drying Julia's hair...I never thought I would see the day.

And then it was time for grandma to fly back to grandpa and the boys with a promise to Julia for a sleepover in our new camper.

So Maki's, as I said...beware as we will be joining you on a river float one day.  Yep we ordered a pair of inflatable kayaks and had to try them for a short float to make sure our vessels were sound.

This was taken before David had to pull over to add air to his kayak...yep it had a leak in it.  Is anyone surprised?  Nah I thought not.

Even with the leaks it was a nice float, relaxing with some great views

A parasail-er overhead

With time to stop for an Odules

We are sending our faulty boat back and have ordered a replacement.  Hoping it gets here in time for a day long trip down the river with the Maki's and a picnic lunch :)

Happy spring my Minnesota friends.

Settling In

We really are settling in and are finding some time to relax into our 'new normal' lifestyle.  David has actually organized and reorganized the basement storage.  He was kind of amazed at how much more room you have when you put all of the little items in a storage bin.  How many years have I been trying to explain that to him...ah well I just hope this organizing bug keeps biting him.

I have not yet had my sewing machine out to work on any of the projects that I hauled along, but it will come.  How oh how can I take up time sewing when there is so much else to do.....like......

Taking a trip to a mining ghost town. 
 In its heyday, Swansea was self-sufficient. It had a general store, a hospital and a post office until the 1920s, an auto dealer, a tennis court, a dairy (hay came from Chandler), a barber, and electricity and indoor plumbing.  This however is pretty much all that is left.

This is a pretty interesting tidbit-In the 1930s, when Swansea fell one short of the number of children (10) needed to form a school, a 5-year-old was admitted to the first grade to reach the goal. The town built a wooden schoolhouse and hired a teacher.

This is one of the buildings left partially standing.  I have no clue what it was but the windows are interesting.

  Over the lifetime of the mine, it produced $2 million to $4 million worth of copper, its fortunes rising and falling with the price of copper and the market crash of 1929.

David finds the need to stick his nose in every hole in the rocks that we find.  This appeared to be the start of a mine that just didn't go very far

 There are quite a few of the 'real' mines around and all are covered.

It's a great hiking spot as well, miles and miles of roads and paths to choose from.  We had the dogs and it was hot so we didn't hike far but I did start to walk down the path between these two piles of pilings until I heard the familiar sounding rattle.  I decided to take the cue, turned around and hurried back to David and the dogs.  I guess warm dark colored rocks are not the place to be at this time of year.  It makes me want to put my feet up on the couch just thinking about it!

 There may not have been much let of the town but the scenery was great.

And who can be on a sewing machine when you have jack asses running through your neighbor's yards! 

They really are as cute as can be but when they get this close to your motorhome you just hope that one doesn't get pissed at another and they start kicking.  Those hooves could do some damage to a coach or vehicle

And because they are so cute it isn't easy to resist feeding them, like this fella just did

But then you run the risk of them not only depending on humans but becoming a nuisance and raiding planters....

They are fun to watch and photograph.

And then new friends of ours from Canada (where else do people come from but Canada and Minnesota...HA) asked us to take them to a drop off point so that they could float down the river in their kayaks.

Mark and Collen ready to go

And floatin down the river

They said that it was absolutely beautiful and will be going again soon.  Don't be surprised Mark and Collen if we don't just tag along with you.

Tomorrow I head back to MN for a few days to find my Pop some new digs.  He has decided that it is time for him to live in a place where he can receive assistance on a daily basis.  Len and Kelly are looking for places that will be near them and think they have found a good one.  It will be nice for all of us to know that he is in a safe environment.  AND I get to spend some time with my MN girls.  A while back when talking to Lenny on the phone I asked if Julia wanted to say hi....nope she did not.  It seems she is not happy with her grandpa and I for being gone so long, she was in fact mad at us.  Nice to know that they love you but what a heart breaker!  And when her dad told her I was coming tomorrow the first thing she asked was, "and Grandpa too"!  Nope not gramps and not the puppies but gramma all by herself!  Gotta love those grands.