Anniversary Update

August 10, 2011 is our 43rd anniversary! I put together this video to celebrate. I realized as I was doing it that we don't have any digital photos from the 80s or 90s! That was between slides and the beginning of digital prints. I guess I'll be starting a project to do some photo scanning! So the photos jump from 1979 just after Drew was born to 2000 - when Drew got married!
The song I used for this is "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White T's. It's been called one of the best modern day love songs around. I thought it would make a good background. As you see at the end, Susan is improving and she started Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on August 1st. We are hoping for improved healing of damaged nerves from that therapy. Enjoy the video.

Easter update

A lot has happened since the end of the year when I last posted. Susan contracted shingles January 8. Since it is a nerve virus, it attacks where the nerves are weakest. In her case that is where she had radiation and the initial nerve damage. That set her back physically to the point where she was unable to do any physical therapy. Then of course the insurance company said they could not pay for a rehab facility when she was not doing rehab. So we had to move her to a new facility with literally a day's notice! We were able to get a Medicaid application in and found a nursing home that would accept her with a pending application. She has been there since March 3rd.
Since then she has improved and gained strength enough to start physical therapy again. So at this time, she is making some progress, albeit very slowly. Your continued prayers for her recovery are appreciated.

I found a song that really describes some of how I feel about my lovely wife, so I re-made my anniversary video with the new song. It is called "What are Words" and is sung by Chris Medina - who was on American Idol but gained national attention when his "backstory" came out. His fiance was in a car accident 2 months before they were to be married, and received a brain injury that left her without a lot of capability. He, with the help of her mom, have dedicated themselves to her care and this song was written specifically for him to sing to her.
I've loaded the slide show video to our web site - it takes about 15 seconds to download so be patient.
www.alancavin.com

Enjoy.

Year End Update (more)

I finally had a chance to create a video of our trip to see Drew and Jenny at Thanksgiving. It is loaded in the previous post. We all had a great time at Drew and Jenny's lake home. Brett and Julie joined us for the week and Jenny's mom and husband Robert joined us for a few days - coming off the Appalachian Trial where they had been hiking since February!

Susan did well with all the traveling and we managed the airports with no problems.

As many of you already know, December brought some changes - Susan fell down our stairs trying to get to the bathroom. She broke a tooth, got a compression fracture in the 12th thoracic vertebrae, and had some bruises. A trip to the ER ended in a stay in the hospital. Then the docs and nurses determined that she needed some concentrated therapy and constant care. We were able to get in to the Life Care Center of Colorado Springs where she is getting physical therapy each day as well as some occupational therapy and full time care.

As of the end of the year, she is doing well, gaining strength and balance and getting good reports from her therapists. It is still slow going and she'll probably be there through January, but progress is good.

Since this is supposedly a "camping blog" I should say that we are planning for a fairly normal camping season next summer. We already have reservations at Cheyenne Mtn SP at the beginning of May, a Trailmanor Owners group trip in May, a trip planned to Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills over Memorial Day, and a trip to Mueller SP at the end of June. We have more planned and will be making reservations as they open up.

Year end update

Final camping trips

Well, Susan has been getting around a bit better lately so we decide to take in the last 2 camp outs of the year. We went to Golden Gate Canyon the last weekend of September and had a good time.

To our surprise the aspens were turning a little later than usual and we saw some good color. We also had a nice visit with my cousin's son and family - on their way to Breckenridge. Alas, no pictures of them! :-(

The next weekend we went to Riverview RV Park in Loveland for the final Mile High Trailblazers Rally of the year. A trip to Estes Park and RMNP on Saturday netted some wildlife photo opportunities.

Some bighorn sheep in the Big Thompson Canyon.

A sleepy buck (13 points) lounging on the outskirts of Estes Park.

So, camping season is over but we are already making plans for next year (reservations require 6 months advance planning!) We hope to go to Mt Rushmore and maybe some locations we have not been before.

Grandkid pictures from N. GA and N.C.

No Yellowstone this year! :-(

I had hoped to be writing a trip report for a camping trip to Yellowstone by this time. But Susan's health deteriorated the last couple of months and we had to cancel the trip. She was so weak a few weeks ago that I literally had to help her get out of a chair and walk her to the bathroom. The main culprit was the side effects of 7 weeks of radiation and chemo, and extended use of steroids. All that is behind her now so she is much better now and gaining strength each day. We are hopeful that she'll be ready for a short camping trip to Golden Gate Canyon State Park in a couple of weeks.