A Busy Afternoon

We slept well at the Residence Inn on Thursday night, and Friday morning was spent posting the blog to Facebook and other sites and answering emails. Then, a little after 11 o’clock we headed out for a very busy afternoon.

Terry was driving and she took the 202 Loop to the 101 Loop across the northern side of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Traffic wasn’t bad, and she zipped right along with no problems. Our first stop was at Dillon Precision in Scottsdale to pick up a couple of items for one of our ammunition reloading presses. Of course, I can’t go in there without finding something I just have to have, including two extra magazines for my new Colt 10mm semi-automatic pistol.

From there, it was a short drive to Mayo Hospital. Though the parking lot was crowded, we found an empty space very close to the building we needed to go to. Terry was supposed to be there at 1:45 for a 2 o’clock appointment, but we actually got there almost an hour early. That wasn’t a problem because she got checked in, and we sat in the waiting room for a few minutes scrolling through our phones before someone came to get her.

Whether an appointment is for me or her, we always go in together because sometimes we both get a little forgetful and we can help remind each other of things we wanted to ask the doctor. A third-year medical student came in to talk to Terry first. She was a little surprised to see a man at a GYN appointment, saying most husbands or partners stayed out in the waiting room. But since Terry didn’t have a problem with me there, neither did they.

Terry’s appointment went well. They talked about her medical issues from all the radiation from her cancer 25 years ago and came up with a plan of action to try to address those issues. We have always been very comfortable with the Mayo in Jacksonville, Florida, and we are just as comfortable with the one here in Phoenix.

We were done about 3:20, and Terry retraced our 40 mile route back across town. This time traffic was much heavier, especially when we got close to the 101 to 202 interchange, where it was almost at a dead stop. Eventually we got through all of that and headed over towards her parents’ house. But first we stopped at JM Chinese restaurant to pick up an order to take to their place for dinner.

We had a nice visit with her folks as we ate and then hung around for another hour or two. By then we were both getting pretty tired and we didn’t want to wear her mother out either, so we came back to the hotel. After researching a couple of things online for a while, we were about ready for bed. First, I had to soak my foot in Epsom salt and Betadine, which I have to do for a week after the procedure I had on Tuesday at the podiatrist.

We’re going to spend some time with Terry’s mom and dad again this morning before we head back to Show Low. We want to leave early enough that we can get there before dark because there are lots of elk and other critters out on the highway at night.

Speaking of elk, we were out running errands a couple of days ago, and when we turned onto our street just after dark on the way back home, two of the beautiful creatures were walking out of our yard and into the neighbor’s yard across the street. We love seeing them and we love living in the White Mountains again.

Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an autographed copy of RV Chuckles and Chuckholes – The Confessions of Happy Campers, by Darlene Miller. It’s a fun book full of amusing anecdotes, jokes, adventures and pot-hole experiences while traveling in an RV throughout the USA and Canada. It includes stories about sleeping in a real bed when visiting relatives, how to get rid of your husband (for a little while), and special RVers such as the gentleman who had a complete heart transplant 19 years previously. Darlene shares RVing tips and RVers’ secrets and advice and off-the-road experiences. Witty, poignant and insightful, this book gives you a delightful view of life on the roam.

To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) 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 this evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – A great man is hard on himself; a small man is hard on others.