Week 579-582 - On the Road Again - 10-08-2017

On the Road Again

After six months at home with the MotherShip collecting frogs and spiders, we are "On the Road Again, we just can't wait to get on the road again" (sing it Willy!).

We'll finish out the year hanging out on the West Coast. Ellen had a total knee replacement in December 2015. Something went wrong and she suffered pain for 14 months. Then we found a famous "knee fixer" in Phoenix. This doctor is known for being willing to correct surgeries of other doctors. Many won't touch it. But, again, a failure to relieve the pain. So in November of this year we will head to Stanford University Orthopedic center for what we hope will be a cure for Ellen's pain. We would appreciate prayers on November 7th for wisdom for the doctors.

From day one Pete told Ellen it would take Hell freezing over before we got a dog. Hell froze in September 2011. At home we not only had Mandy but much of the time had her protege Sam and now Butu the black kitty. Sam and Butu are both every social with people and obviously with each other. Mandy likes to hang around as you can see below the chair.

1) Speaking of hanging around, the First Annual Mattson Oh Hell Extravaganza brought out our friends of over 35 years. We enjoyed a great night of playing the card game Oh Hell. 2) Our daughter Emily, seeing this photo from July, told us that when she and Chad came for a second visit, she wanted to see the old gang. Old gang? Hers from high school or our old gang? Ours she said. Is that not cute that she wanted to be a part of our gang who we met before she was born? So we had the Second Annual Mattson Oh Hell Extravaganza party with even more than the first. A good time was had by all and prizes were awarded.

Being home for six months, we took advantage of our local doctors. Pete got an MRI on his right shoulder and basically, it is history. Two of the tendons are so deteriorated that Dr. Mooney said he should not even be able to raise his arm over this head. Which he can do, praise the Lord! Pete has been shifting all activities to his left hand: shaving, brushing his teeth, playing pickleball, everything. However Pete has dupuytrens (look it up). A year and a half ago he woke up with this "trigger finger". This little finger is as straight as it can be. You can't wash a window with a bent finger as the cloth never touches the window. But, thanks to Dr. Mooney, it has been straightened to become useful again.

And use it we did as we laid another 300 square feet of laminate flooring in our AirBnB bedrooms and hallways. We tried to finish the day before we started our travels, but we ran out of time. On travel day, we finished installing 44 pieces of wall trim at 3:00pm. We left home at 3:01.

Our first trip was to the Pomona Fairplex in L.A. County for the 65th Annual California RV Show. We joined our good RV friends Tim and Vikki to scour the 1400 RVs and accessories. It appears the RV market is gaining traction. Our route took us on Hwy 166 from Santa Maria, California to Wheeler Ridge on Hwy 5. This is a look at the Alamo Fire which in July burned 28,867 acres.

At Wheeler Ridge we stopped to spruce up the MotherShip with an RV wash. For those RVers who don't know, for $39.50 and five minutes you have your motorhome looking like new. That beats spending all day washing your beast. This Vietnam era Huey Helicopter was on its way to Hollywood to be in a movie.

We spent two great days with Tim and Vikki. They also had stopped by our house in May to help with our projects. Nice folks!

You may notice the microscopic smile on Mandy's face as she loves to be alone with just the folks.

We're pretty excited to travel again. Coming up is the Huntsman Senior Games in St George, Utah, SmashBurger, Death Valley, a trip to Napa Valley to visit Emily and baby Hannie, the Stanford appointment and then, freedom to choose our next move. Come along, it will be fun!

With love, Pete, Ellen and Mandy

Photos from Oct 2017