With my appointment with my new primary care provider at the Daytona Beach VA Medical Clinic out of the way yesterday, we are good to go on our summer travels. I didn’t expect any problems, but wasn’t sure if she would want to schedule me for any follow-up tests related to my medical issues a while back. Apparently not, since she said she doesn’t need to see me again until sometime in the late fall.
I have to say, I’m really impressed with the way they run things at this facility. I had a 12:30 intake appointment with the nurse, prior to seeing the doctor. We got there about noon and within 15 minutes the nurse came out to get me, and allowed Terry to go back with us. A couple of my VA doctors and nurses have not wanted her to be there in the past, but I like to have her present because she’s very good at remembering things I might forget to ask them.
Once we were done with the nurse we went back out to the waiting room and waited a short time before the doctor called for us. She was very thorough, went over all of my medical history point by point, ordered refills of my prescriptions for the next 90 days, and I can refill them three more times after that, giving me a full year. She also asked if there were any questions or concerns Terry or I had about my health care and answered them fully. All of that and I was finished and out the door by about 1:30.
When I complimented her on how quickly things moved along, she told me that it’s because the snowbirds have all left, and that when we come back in October we can expect some delays just because they have so many vets who winter in this area. That doesn’t surprise me, it was the same way in Tucson when I used the VA Medical Center there.
We drove back home and then our friend Jim Lewis picked us up and we went back to New Smyrna Beach for dinner at the Sea Shack. It’s our favorite seafood restaurant, and every Wednesday and Sunday are Customer Appreciation Days, with many of our favorite menu items at half price. In another testament to how many snowbirds have left the area, all winter long they had lines waiting to get in on Wednesdays and Sundays. This time around there were empty parking spaces right up front and we walked right in and were taken to our table.
After a delicious dinner, we went to the beach and drove the length of it, just enjoying the ocean, the sound of the waves, and the salt air. Even though the thermometer in Jim’s car said it was 93°, with the windows rolled down the breeze coming in off of the water made it feel comfortable.
It was late in the day and a storm was coming in, so the beach wasn’t very crowded, as you can see from this picture. We are going to miss this area while we are traveling this summer, but if all goes as planned we will be spending plenty of time on the beaches of Oregon and Washington.
We have a few chores we have to finish around the house today, and then tomorrow I will move the motorhome out of the storage yard and back to the house so we can get it cleaned up. Then we will start loading it up so we can get on the road. We are looking forward to a fun summer!
It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of my friend Ken Rossignol’s Pirate Trials: Famous Murderous Pirates Book Series: THE LIVES AND ADVENTURES of FAMOUS and SUNDRY PIRATES. To enter, all you have to do is click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.
Thought For The Day – Happiness is nothing more than health and a poor memory – Albert Sweitzer
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Nick Russell
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Timing is everything.
I am betting that there are a great many folks who are beginning to shut down their home base before summmer travels. you have posted many check lists in the past about getting your rig ready to roll … or to store … and it might be interesting to hear the different things folks do to “summerize” or “winterize” their homes before leaving them for a few months. For instance … here in Tucson, we learned to tightly cover the drains in all sinks and showers (I use a bit of plastic wrap, washrag, and a heavy saucer or other weight) to keep the water from evaporating out of the trap and allowing fumes or critters, before we left for the summer. Likewise, after cleaning the commodes, I use a ring of Dawn detergent around the water line and tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap to keep the water in the bowl. The Dawn prevents a mineral ring from forming. There are many other tricks and handy ideas … but thos are ones that these 2 kids from PA had to learn after moving to a desert climate. It would be interesting to hear what others do! We have several friends who have a new home base, after full timing for many years. Just a thought!
Geez. I wish I could go back and edit posts. I am just now seeing all the misspellings and run-on sentences and bad punctuation. It is only 6:45 here …. that is my excuse and I am going with it.