DEC 31, 21 .. THE ROAD WE ALL WALK CALLED .. THE ROAD OF LIFE ..

As I begin this 'mini saga', I have one small favor to ask of you who may be reading this. As the below story unfolds, please keep in mind that another Road Of Life Story is continuing along, at the same time, as this story.

That Road Of Life Story is the one about our GMC Suburban being stolen from in front of our Motel Room last Friday the 24th of December, aka Christmas Eve 2021 Day.

For those of you who are not familiar with this story, if you like, you can click onto the below link :

http://bobbacaps.blogspot.com/2021/12/dec-29-21-our-stolen-truck-has-been.html

Let me title the two of them as : Life's Double Whammy

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THE ROAD WE ALL WALK CALLED .. 

THE ROAD OF LIFE ..

If there are truer words about The Road Of Life than these, I don't know what they are :

THE ROAD OF LIFE .. None of us, not one single living human being, knows for sure what is coming along The Road Of Life. Oh yes, to some degree, we think that we know, BUT truly, we do not.

The time line of the below 'mini saga' is .. It began on ..

Wednesday evening, December 29th, 2021, and is contining up until this instant, Friday, December 31st, 2021, aka New Year's Eve Day 2021, in the mid-afternoon.

Wednesday evening, December 29th, 2021

As I lay down to go to sleep, I experineced an odd, yes uncomfortable, sensation in my lower left abdomen. It felt like some severe cramping, and it hurt even to breathe. My only thought was, "I need to pass some abdominal gas and attempt a bowel movement." So, to the best of my ability, I got up out of bed and attempted (yes with some success) both and returned to bed.

Thursday, December 30th, 2021

Thursday, early morning (4 o'clock in the morning), December 30th I awoke with the answer : "I am having an attack of Appendicitis."

If one's appendix bursts (peritonitis) one is in imminent danger of serious side effects even death. It is nothing to take lightly.

Immediately I got on Google and searched for Appendicitis.

One fact was : The appendix is located on the lower right side of the abdomen. My challenge was on the lower left side of my abdomen. So I then Googled pain in the lower left abdomen.

Nothing too severe appeared. Certainly nothing of a life threatening nature.

I went back to sleep. Patti and I arose around 8:30am and made plans (keep in mind my lower left abdomen is bothering me) to drive (an hour and a half give or take) North to Laughlin, Nevada, to retrieve our stolen GMC Suburban. Along with Michael, our Lake Havasu friend of decades dating back to when he lived in Alaska, we three headed North around 11am. We got to Laughlin, got our truck (another mini-sage that I'll write about), visited with Detroit Tiger Tom, and drove back to Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

We got back to our motel here in Lake Havasu City in the early evening. We two just sat, and quietly visited about the challenge we had just completed : retrieving our stolen GMC Suburban.

8:45pm, Wednesday, December the 30th, I said to Patti..

"This pain in my lower left abdominal is NOT getting too much better. I think we need to go to the local, Lake Havasu City Hospital Emergency Room."

Thanking me (Patti had been aware all day of this abdominal issue as I kept charging ahead to retrieve our stolen truck) for being welling to go to the local E.R. out and off the two of us went.

9pm, Wednesday, December the 30th, Patti and I arrived at the Havasu Regional Medical Center .. 

In we went. Instantly we were greeted and signed in. I mean instantly. Within a few minutes (if that long) I was interviewed as to why I was visiting the E.R., my vitals were taken, blood was drawn, and an I.V. receiving apparatus was inserted into my right arm inner-elbow area, and back to the E.R. waiting area we returned.

9:15pm until 12:45am Friday December the 31st, three and one half hours give or take, we two waited in the E.R. We were surrounded with extremely polite and gentle patients, most of whom were elderly senior citizens like us. There were no drunks, no down and outers looking for a warm place to vegetate

We waited. Quite a few others, from time to time, went to the E.R. intake counter (we were sitting very close to it) and patiently and gently said words such as.. "I have been waiting nine hours. I can't breathe. What am I to do?"

All were told.. "We understand. We are so very sorry. We are overwhelmed with patients and a severe shortage of staff personnel. We are doing our very best to assist you."

Many, most, quietly and sorrowfully left the E.R. Some in wheel chairs had to have a taxi called to get them home.

At 12:30am I said to Patti, "My Dear One, I am not willing to sit here for nine hours or even for eight or seven hours. We've had an extremely challenging day getting our stolen truck back. What to do?"

I thank God for Patti's undying and faithful support.. "Cap, IF we leave, we will lose your tests and interview and we will have to just start over tomorrow. Let's stay a little longer."

12:45am Friday December 31st. A mere 15 minutes later I was called back. 

We were positioned in a room. We waited. We waited some more. And we waited still some more. We waited two hours give or take.

2:45am we saw a doctor that I greeted as follows .. "How on earth do you keep up this horrific pace Doctor? We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your service."

My Doctor, a lady, interviewed me, did a little hands on exploration, and then ordered a CT Scan. A Computed Tomography (CT) scan is a useful diagnostic tool for detecting diseases and injuries. It uses a series of X-rays and a computer to produce a 3D image of soft tissues and bones. A CT is a painless, noninvasive way for a healthcare provider to diagnose conditions of my lower abdomenal area.

We waited. We waited some more. Say an hour.

At 3:45am Rick, another very nice man, himself a mature man, came and rolled me into the room and I underwent a CT Scan.

Back to my little home-away-from-home I was wheeled.

And. We waited. And we waited.

"Captain, what do you DO while you are waiting?"

Patti and I visit. And I watch the clock for magic numbers.

Do any of you know (from experience) how tricky it is to get a photo such as the above photo. You have precisely one second to get it. It is there and it is gone in one instant. Centered and all.

5am my Doctor reappeared.

She said, looking directly at Patti, who by the way had already diagnosed my condition .. "You were absolutely correct."

One of her brothers has it, and has dealt with it for some years.

I have Acute Diverticulitis.

My Doctor said.. "I am going to prescribe some oral anti-biotics but also immediately begin an anti-biotic I.V. drip. It will take an hour. Then we will do a second anti-biotic I.V. drip that will take two hours."

I said, I ordered Patti to go home to our motel room, lie down, get some rest saying to Patti you can't just sit here while I get three hours of I.V. drips. Patti agreed.

Below are several photos of My Beloved Home Away From Home. Notice Patti's Chair beside my bed. What a comfort it is to have one's loved one by one's side.

Oh Captain Our Captain, will you please make the bed and make things look neater? Will you please remove the blankets from your bed Captain!

Much Better Captain! 

6am .. My nurse came in and told me I was finished because the second I.V. was not available.

I was given discharge papers and directions on what NOT to eat. NO nuts. NO popcorn, etc et al.

I went to the lobby and I tried and I tried and I tried a third time to get a taxi back to our motel so I would NOT have to awaken Patti to come and get me. I had absolutely positively NO LUCK. Taxi don't run at 6am in Lake Havasu City. (Patti told me later she was NOT sleeping, still concerned about me, and was just waiting, resting awhile, looking forward to picking me up.)

I then (reluctantly but I had to get home to lie down and rest) called Patti who came and picked me up.

Good Bye to you E.R.

7am home to our motel.

Patti was told "NO nuts. NO seeds. NO popcorn." Once back in our motel room, I wanted to eat a piece of our Walmart Pecan Pie and have a few bowls of popcorn!

I did. And I have survived.

It is now 4pm in the late afternoon of New Year's Eve Day and now you have the Rest Of The Story that I texted many of you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE TO ONE AND TO ALL !!

Love and Hugs from Patti and myself !

DEC 29, 21 .. OUR STOLEN TRUCK HAS BEEN RECOVERED ..

We fully realize that many of you who follow us here on (what we call) our blogspot website do not also follow us on our other primary website that we call dotnet. 

Last Friday, December 24th (Yes! Christmas Eve day) from in front of our motel room here in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, our 1998, GMC Suburban was stolen. We first noticed that he was missing at 1:10am in the dark of an Arizona night.

Our GMC wasn't merely transportation, he was family.

And off we embarked on a very stressful and upsetting journey. Police reports and investigations. Notifying our insurance company. Getting a rental car. And on and on and on. 

I feared that I had left a check book (or possibly several) in a piece of luggage that was being stored in the truck and had to put my several banks on notice for fraudulent activity. It became just like an identity theft issue because, complete with my full name and legal address, the registration and insurance papers were in the glove box.

TODAY, WEDNESDAY THE 29th of DECEMBER 2021, we were advised by the Lake Havasu Police Department that our truck had been recovered approximately 135 miles to the North, in Cottonwood Cove, a resort area near Searchlight, Nevada. 

If (yes the BIG IF) you would like a little bit more information please click onto the below link that will take you to our dot.net website.

http://babakaps.net/?p=44507

Sign us .. Cap and Patti

DEC 25, 21 .. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND TO YOUR SPECIAL ONES

After the long buildup to Christmas, that begins in the weeks before Thanksgiving, we have arrived at Christmas Day 2021.

For all of the activities that we get involved with, it seems that we need to remember that..

JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON

The emphasis on getting things (gifts, gifts and more gifts) seems to overshadow the reason we have Christmas, to celebrate the birth of JESUS.

With that we raise our voices and wish a..

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS

Our beautiful virtual Christmas tree comes to us from Irkutsk, Russian Siberia, courtesy of our friend Sergey.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Cap and Patti

DEC 24, 21 .. 'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS ..

We know, this is just a bit on the sentimental side, but after all, it IS the day and the night before Christmas.

Below will be our virtual Christmas Trees for this year.

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

A Visit from St. Nicholas

BY CLEMENT CLARKE MOORE

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds;

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,

Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,

When what to my wondering eyes did appear,

But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,

With a little old driver so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;

So up to the housetop the coursers they flew

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too—

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.

His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly

That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—

“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

We wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas Eve Day and Evening and

we hope you enjoyed re-reading perhaps the most famous Christmas Story.

Cap and Patti  

DEC 23, 21 .. WHAT IS THIS ? IN LAKE HAVASU CITY, ARIZONA ! UNBELIEVABLE !

Just in case someone following along here doesn't realize this, our (perhaps) most favorite meal anywhere, anyplace, when we can find it here in the United States, is Singapore Rice Noodles.

We asked our friend Michael, who has been here in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, for nine years, if he knew of any restaurant that serves it. Michael is well aware of how fond we are of it because of knowing us for years. He said that (on one of our previous visits) he asked a lady about it who is a professional cook and who actually owned a chinese restaurant. She (knowing the dish) assurred him that no chinese or asian restaurant here in Lake Havasu City serves it.

So, in spite of the above advice, guess who jumped into action in our search for Singapore Rice Noodles here in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

Yes! Taa Daa! Our one, and our only, Patti!

Onto her Samsung Galaxy A10e smartphone and straight to Google she went. She entered Singapore Rice Noodles in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

Voila! 

Good news. Patti's Google Search found one restaurant listed.

Not such good news. Their online menu did NOT show Singapore Rice Noodles. 

So Patti telephoned the restaurant and they told Patti ..

"YES! we serve it!"

So out and off the two of us went.

When we arrived at the restaurant I went in and asked them if they served this dish. I was shown a menu that clearly showed it.

We now have eaten at The Golden Phoenix two times. Saturday and Monday. They are closed on Sunday.

Our Saturday night visit was to test it out. To determine IF it was the real deal.

Yes! Oh Yes Indeed! The Golden Phoenix cooks definately know how to cook Singapore Rice Noodles.

Our Monday evening visit was with our long time friend Michael who had never eaten this dish.

So the below photos reflect two visits (so far!).

THE GOLDEN PHOENIX, LAKE HAVASU CITY, ARIZONA

Saturday night.

Monday evening. Panning left to right.

Inside we go.

Really great, totally authentic, Singapore Rice Noodles as good (well almost) as in Hong Kong.

Our Saturday visit.

Back for more with Michael on Monday evening. The place was jumping as compared with late Saturday night.

Absolutely top notch with no qualifications whatsoever!

All Thanks To Patti.

And?

Prior to coming I had told Michael that it is 'spicy'. Michael said .. "I love spicy!"

It was and Michael loved it.

Smiles .. Cap and Patti

DEC 22, 21 .. THE WINDSOR INN, LAKE HAVASU CITY, ARIZONA

What has brought us to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, a town in the Arizona Desert, far, FAR, off the normal travel path along Interstate 40 to the North?

Simple, to visit Michael, a very close friend who re-located here from Alaska some nine or so years ago, and with whom we have remained in close (if physically distant) touch.

This is our fourth visit to Lake Havasu City to see Michael and our third stay at the Windsor Inn. Because we have really enjoyed staying here during our previous visits, I called ahead from Laughlin, Nevada (where we stayed at The Edgewater Hotel and Casino) and booked our room well in advance. 

We paid for one week and settled in. 

And? We so enjoy our room and the motel staff and all of the amenities that came with our room. We especially enjoy our mini refrigerator and excellent WiFi for all of our devices! Some venues actually limit you to two devices only! As a result, we extended our stay to a full month. 

And? 

We now plan to stay for an additional few weeks following the completion of our first month. Then we have to head South to Phoenix, Arizona, to visit the Mayo Clinic and address some health measures that go with being in our 80s. 

And? Who knows, we may return here after our Mayo Clinic appointments have been completed. We are in no rush to return home to the winter in Alaska.

THE WINDSOR INN, LAKE HAVASU CITY, ARIZONA.

The road you see in the first two photos below is The London Bridge Road. 

Yes! Yes indeed! Can you believe that, are you ready? 

Lake Havasu City, Arizona, is the home to one of the original Bridges from London, England! The London Bridge, here in Lake Havasu City, was originally built in the 1830s and formerly spanned the River Thames in London, England.

Read all about the Lake Havasu City London Bridge in the below Wikipedia link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge_(Lake_Havasu_City)

The Windsor Inn, looking North up London Bridge Road in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

As you peruse the photos, please notice the winter down here in the Arizona Desert.

In the lower left of the above photo, you can see the roof of the very pleasant little gazebo shown below.

Our GMC Suburban is the distant black truck in the above and below photos.

In the above and below photos, just in front of the black truck parked beside the two trees by the reception office, is a very attractive fountain shown after the next photo.

Looking at the Windsor Inn front desk reception area.

Back outside we walk. Looking at the Windsor Inn from the far end.

The above photos show the South Side of the motel. The below photo shows the North side of the motel.

As you will see in our room photos, we have a small refrigerator in our room. However it is extremely convenient to also have the use of an excellent ice machine.

Lest we forget the blessing it is to be here in the Arizona Desert, will you just look at the Winter back home in Alaska!

Thanks Jason for the below photo from your home.

Yes, Oh My Yes, it IS beautiful..

Beautiful as it truly is, at this stage in our lives, the Arizona Desert sure is pleasant.

Trust me (have we ever lied to your before), right now, up in Alaksa there are no outdoor active swimming pools! BUT in the Arizona Desert there are!

Before we go inside and look at our room, the next two photos below show you the enormous difference between a motel and a hotel.

In general, if you are fortunate, at a motel you can park right outside of your room.

The time, and the physical effort, to carry luggage a few feet from one's vehicle into one's room at a motel, is vastly easier than having to traverse (often) very large parking lots quite far from a hotel entrance and then have to use an elevator (sometimes crowded and sometimes slow) to get to one's room.

Now for a look at our room along with a photo of a room with two beds.

 

Our room is a one bed, extra large King size bed.

The Windsor Inn also has rooms with two beds.

In the above and below photos, you can see our flat screen televison along with our small refrigerator.

We are really pleased to have the refrigerator. As you can see below, Patti can freeze her grapes in the freezer at the top.

The wash basin and restroom area located through the door to the right.

A suggestion. IF you go up to the second floor and look out to the West, you can see a very nice view of Lake Havasu.

Panning from the left to the right.

The time has come to say goodnight from the Windsor Inn in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

Smiles from Cap and Patti