Neurology Appointment

The kids stayed home and worked on some school. Michael and I headed in to Portland. Our 25 min drive took 40 min on the way in and 1.5 hours on the way home.  We were blessing Uncle Olie (Walt)  as we parked the beast. We also reconfirmed our desire NOT to live in a big city.

Michael did an internship here 26 years ago. Life came full-circle as we entered an out-building for his neurology consult. The bottom line is Michael still has Parkinson's Disease.  HOWEVER, the two we saw yesterday were great. Dr. C is going to fight for Michael to get the drugs he currently takes. His mother has PD and he told us he is invested in making sure his patients get current and thorough care. He added another drug to the daily mix. He also gave Michael referrals to physical and speech therapy. He encouraged early intervention to teach skills which will help Michael be steady on his feet and improve his voice volume.  They are also checking some swallowing issues. We aren't sure how the referrals will work with our traveling, but we'll get on it while we are  in C City helping Mom G. 

By the time we got back to the Caboose the kids had already had dinner. We headed out to REGAL 9....yes. The kids had Regal cards and we've not been where there are Regal theaters. We watched Secret Lives of Pets. 

This little break was nice. We were doing what we envisioned doing when we moved into the Caboose. We explored a new area, played games, watched movies, sat in  hot tubs.....this is not a complaint - just a reality  - we're usually too tired to do much family connecting lately. LOL 

Our next appointment with the neurologist is in February.  We are sad to leave Dr. Duffy, but feel like this doctor is as close as we could come in the VA system.  He's an answer to prayer. 

OMSI - Oregon Museum of Science and Industry

We purchased a zoo membership which included membership in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. This means we can go to many zoos and aquariums for free or 50% off. We headed for the Oregon Zoo. It turns out the 2nd Tuesday of the month is $4 day at the zoo and all the lots were full, the crowds were crazy. 

We opted for plan B. We also have a membership from the Seattle Air Museum which gives us reciprocal membership to centers belonging to the Association of Science-Technology Centers. Both are great money savers for Fulltime RV/Traveling families.   We've made our money back, we've not  used either as much as we'd like as we've been fairly stationary. Today, we headed to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland, OR.  We highly recommend a visit to OMSI.  Entrance was free for our family of 5, we did have to pay $5 for parking. 

These were surprisingly hard to do. LOL 

We enjoyed the space exhibit. It even had a Destiny Lab/International Space Station Simulator. 

I never could see this one. You were supposed to "float." 

Wearing a space suit glove and moving items in different atmospheric conditions. 

We aren't great at balancing. LOL 

We enjoyed the Planetarium show - we paid for this. 

We counted this as our first day of school for the year. After OMSI, we stopped by Michael's alma matter - Western Seminary. Here he is at Johnson Chapel, 26 years later.

A few of us headed to the hot tub/pool. 

For your viewing pleasure

Visiting Veteran & Solved Mysteries

In addition to their two shelves in the closet, each of our kids has one tub for their personal things. I don't police what they choose to keep with them. These sit on their beds. It seemed essential when we were first ditching suburbia.  They are stored on their bunks. Moving them each evening and morning seemed like a small price to pay. BUT they are HEAVY.....when they aren't on the bunks, they block plastic shelving units we are using on the unused 4th bunk.  When we travel, Stacia and I pull them to the middle or front of the Caboose. Today, I picked the first one up with EASE and then each of the others. 

I was especially impressed with the difference in weight in Alex's tub. We had all been trying to figure out why HIS tub was SO heavy. He had said he suspected  legos weighed a lot. Well - he DID have a lot of legos.....but I'd not seen him take much out of the tub for Mom's attic. Further questioning produced the info  the box he'd stored in the attic was his ROCK COLLECTION! Yep, that would make a difference. ::snort::

We drove on up to Wilsonville this afternoon. We have reservations at Pheasant Ridge RV Resort for three nights. We are told it will be 35 - 45 minutes to the zoo and 25 min to the VA hospital. We are setting up for our trip to the Neurologist/Movement Disorder Specialist. We had JUST finished setting up when there was a knock on the Caboose. Uncle Olie had found us! Go figure! He didn't know which park we were at, what space we were in - but he found us.  I lvoe that. Walt is Dad's childhood friend. He was the first Veteran I knew...and I liked him so well I went and married one. ::wink::

Walt's advice ended up saving us a lot of heartache when we had to park the beast at the VA hospital....

Family Farkle

Have you ever played Farkle? Lorri, my cousin, introduced the game to us and we've been enjoying it. I do like games - I just don't like ones that take 3 weeks to complete. ::wink::

It's become tradition, when we visit, for Lorri to pull out the Farkle. Mom and Dad enjoy playing with us now too.  Farkle was a great way to bring Sunday to a close.

Dad won.

Mom was a close second.

Seasons are Changing

Today was our one full day to get things done while in Eugene. We had determined we'd go through the school books in Mom and Dad's garage and pull out what we need for our upcoming school year. We have a  big tub of books for each school year.  During this year of storage, they stacked on each other and several have broken down.  Michael bought some monster shelves and they are nicely organized now.

The kids took the opportunity to go through their things in the trailer and leave anything they may want to keep, but not have with them. We are constantly going through things to donate or store - one thing I love about living in a small space.  A year ago, Stacia had just turned 10 and these HAD to move into the Caboose....now....they are happily waiting in Mom's attic for Stacia to  collect them at a later date. The season is changing, Stacia turns 11 in ten days. Our baby is growing up!

These too....

We also fit in time for a visit with Sherri, games and visiting with my folks....a good day. 

Bella's New Tricks

Michael and Alex went over to Mom G's this morning. Alex is doing some watering and weeding for a neighbor and wanted to be sure to do it at the last moment before we left. Michael visited with Mom G  and put away a few things because - we are traveling today. Nolan, Stacia and I got the trailer totally ready for travel - inside and out. 

We are on our way to a VA appointment with a Neurologist/Movement Disorder Specialist.  

We were blessed by the generous hospitality of Mom and Dad's neighbor, Dennis and Suzie. We were able to boondock in their driveway. This allowed us to make the most of our limited time for visiting. We hopped over to the church to catch up with Bre and Bella. Bre and Izaak have papers due Sunday night so this was our one window to catch up....at the final night of VBS. 

Bella has learned all sorts of new tricks since we saw here a couple of weeks ago. She has audited Graduate classes with her Mom and Dad. She doesn't seem totally impressed with the subject material, though I'm sure she loves the professors from New Hope Christian College.

She was a huge help to Mommy during VBS. 

And most recently, she's learned to roll over!

Go, Bella! We take great joy in each new accomplishment....soon you'll be able to take out and put in your pacifier at will.  Bella will be 4 months old on the 12th of August.

Del Norte County Fair

A couple of months ago, local churches began selling tickets to a Jordan Feliz concert. The concert is a benefit for the local CASA program and the tickets also get one entrance to the Del Norte County Fair on 4 August.  

We bought our tickets about 6 weeks ago. Today, we are happy we did. We needed a break to play....we did a few quick things for Mom G in the morning and headed to the fair this afternoon! 

Always ONE.....

I'm not sure Stacia realized this would go UP - high. 

After the drop

 When asked what she thought about the ride, she said she'd left her stomach at the top. Understandable!

Michael won me a "moose" pillow pet - which we all agree looks more like a dog. ::snort::  The kids went on several rides.  Michael was having a hard day with both pain, from the Gulf War Syndrome, and balance issues, from the Parkinsons.  He's a champ. He found a bench nearby and sat as needed...I love how he simply keeps going. He gives much for all of us. We try to be sensitive to his needs as well.

My thought was  the kids could learn to drive our future Class A after I conquer the trick...as they reach the appropriate driving ages...but after THIS event....I am not sure I'd trust any of them behind the wheels of an RV.

I thought this  looked like fun....once you're buckled in, the arms go out and up and you fly along looking at the ground....Nolan found flip flops are not ideal for this ride.

Dinner time at the fair. We were looking forward to fair food...but what's a vegan to do? I didn't even TRY for nutritarian. I went to each booth and there really were NO veggies other than fries. No salads. No fruits. I opted for caramel popcorn and a funnel cake....obviously NOT nutritarian, but vegan. In my defense I did NOT eat this alone....and I have begun a fast until November.  I have GOT to remember to carry a bit of food with me as I did in Japan.

We moved over to the concert field after dinner. We made a few tactical errors. We didn't know the concert would be outside. We didn't know coastal fog often rolls in at night and makes a warm day suddenly freezing! We should have brought warmer coats....we were chilled hours later and still trying to get rid of the pins and needle feelings.  It was worth it.

We stopped and picked up some groceries for Mom G before heading back to the woods.  It was a great afternoon. I can't remember the last time we went to a county fair and this year we've hit two! This is what retirement looks like. LOL

If you'd like to "watch" some of the fun, click below.