August 30, 2017: Cruising time is over, back to reality and
news. Watching the damage from Harvey, so tragic. Not to make a comparison but
it brings back memories of some of the storms we encountered in our RV. The one
on the Outer Banks might have been the worst/scariest. The wind and rain and
the water from the sound coming up to reach the sea and watching it rise up to
picnic table height. During a lull in the rain and wind we moved to higher
ground with the help of the park manager. We were able to be in shallower water
following his flashlight about 10 at night. The next morning waking up and all
the water had receded. It was like nothing had ever happened. How scary was it,
well, we never went back to the Outer Banks.
Alaska: Beautiful of course. But after 13 days of no sun, we
were quite delighted to dock in Victoria BC and have a sunny day. Weather
aside, it is Alaska after all, we enjoyed our cruise. We had done this cruise
previously and other cruises, this one was different. I think we both had in
the back of our mind why we were taking this cruise now plus David not having
full energy meant no XXXX tours off the boat. For me, it was also brought home
that I am for sure not a full time RVer anymore. My usual response to the very
common question, Where are you From, was always USA-at-Large. That answer
opened up conversations on RVing and how do you get your mail. Not this time.
We had an interesting mix of dinner mates with the open
seating option. Some folks we wanted to
sit with again and some we wanted to run the other way!
The first sea day we met with our cruise critic group. These
are folks we got to know on the web site before the cruise. We’ve made some
friends and gotten good tips on the web site for other cruises. There were
about 60 folks who showed up. Mingled and spoke with most of them, the last
couple we talked with was quite interesting. He was on a 24/7 hour infusion for
his heart. We each complimented the other on living to the fullest, taking
cruises, enjoying life as much as possible. Shared some experiences of medical
difficulties and travel issues. Unfortunately we did not see them again which
is unusual on a ship this size. I hope all is well with them and that we just
missed crossing paths.
Our last breakfast a couple joined us at our table. Somehow
the conversation came up that the wife had the Whipple surgery for her tumor in
the pancreas. Then the conversation got quite animated with David and the wife
sharing experiences. What a coincidence, small world, great to hear her story.
There is a lot more I
could share, maybe later. I’ll end on this note of our return to San Diego only
to spend the next day at the doctors. David had swelling and redness of his
ankles and shins so to be on the safe side went to doctor to check it out. His
primary was unavailable, but on our way out of the doctors here came Dr Zhou,
his primary. He recognized us immediately (even tho hadn’t seen him in over a
year) and stopped to ask how David was doing. He thought David looked great. It
was a brief but positive encounter. I loved this coincidence and felt buoyed up
as we left the facility.
BTW, David does not have DVT and we can’t really interpret
his other blood test results but we think they look ok! Until I next write,
give somebody a hug or at least a smile. Enjoy today.
