The leaves on the Aspens at the entrance station have turned quite a bit in one week:
What A Difference A Week Makes!
Arizona
My Turkey Hunt Was A Success!
There are lots of wild turkeys here, but they are hard to find for most of the season. In fall, th0ugh, you may see a whole flock of them in a meadow, taking advantage of all the seeds falling from the grass and wildflowers out there. And while hunting is prohibited at the Grand Canyon National Park, but I went hunting today anyway–with my camera. My quest was a huge success!
(if the video doesn’t show up, click on the link to it. )Turkey Hunt
A Drive Through The Virgin River Gorge
I have been through this gorge several times, on my way to Mesquite, Nevada. The first time we went there, it was a surprize–no one told us about it. It is amazing! I-15 goes through it on the way from Las Vegas, Nevada to Salt Lake City, Utah. It goes through the very northwest corner of Arizona for about 30 miles. I have taken many pictures of it, but they just don’t seem to convey the awesomeness of the place. So, this morning I decided to take a video while we were driving through. Enjoy!
The First Sign of Fall
Yesterday at the entrance station, there were just these few leaves on that aspen over there that had turned yellow. It won’t be long now until the whole roadside is a glowing gold!
Got A New Camera. Not The One I Wanted, but a camera. Caution, don’t look if you are squeamish…..
After studying the different cameras available on the market, and talking to several knowledgeable people, I had decided to buy a Nikon D5000. It is a digital SLR camera with good reviews and a lot of good features. At around $700 for the body and two lenses, and a battery charger and an SD card, it would have been a good camera for me to use while I learned how to use a digital SLR because it would also take pictures in automatic mode. That’s where the camera does all the settings automatically so you don’t have to think about it. But, alas, it was not in the cards for me to get that camera right now.
That is because the night before last, after dinner, I broke my partial plate. For anyone who wears dentures or a dental device like a partial plate, you know how expensive that can be. I got the plate in 2005, when we were still living in south Texas, 8 miles from the Mexican border. I walked across the border, had six teeth extracted, and had the partial plate made, for a total expense of $400. That included an antibiotic and pain meds to take after the extractions. I never thought about the thing breaking. Heck, I didn’t even know it COULD break. And I didn’t know you could only expect a partial plate to last for five to seven years!
After my initial shock, I did what any other sane person would do–I googled the internet for “repairs to partial plate”. The most important thing I learned from that search is that MY partial can not be repaired, because it broke on the metal part. They can only make repairs if it is the plastic part that broke.
My next search was for what it would cost to get a new partial plate made. In the United States, a partial plate like mine would cost me a whopping $1500 to $2000 at a regular dentist’s office! I know dental work is expensive, but this is not even a full set of teeth we are talking about here. At discount denture place I found, I can get a new set of teeth for about $650, but I would still have to drive down to Phoenix, twice. And that would also involve staying in a motel overnight both times, because it is just too far to go there and back in one day. So, we are still trying to decide whether to go to Yuma and walk across to Mexico, go to Phoenix, or wait and go to the outlet they have in Georgia in November. I CAN eat, just not a steak or a pork chop. And it would be sooo much easier to wait and go in Georgia when we get back east.
At any rate, in anticipation of having to spend at least $650 out of pocket, I decided it wouldn’t be prudent to also spend over $700 for a new camera, even though I really really want it. So, when we went to Kanab today, I bought an Olympus SP-600UZ. It is NOT an SLR camera, but it is a pretty good digital camera for under $200. It has lots of good features, including taking pretty good videos. The pictures come out clear and with good color. Which is what I want a camera to do.
It takes pretty decent photos of people:
It does pretty good on close-ups:
Landscapes:
And zoom:
Full sun does not wash out the color of the sky and forest:
And just because I like this photo:
So, even though I didn’t get the camera I wanted, I DID get one, and that is a good thing. Now for those teeth…..
The Long Ride, Part Two
So, I left you all at the end of the day on which I took the long ride down the Kaibab Plateau in the back of an ambulance. The nice Dr. Nelson suggested that I get checked out by a cardiologist “just to be sure” there was nothing wrong. So, I spent Monday on the phone setting up an appointment for me with Dr. Wani in Flagstaff. He is affiliated with the Flagstaff Medical Center Heart Center.
Going to Flagstaff involves getting a motel room–it is a little over 200 miles away from where I live and work. Flagstaff is a tourist town in summer, so it is difficult to get a room. The Marriott, however, does have a medical rate, which is quite a bit lower than getting a room for touristy stuff. I like that in a motel. I almost seems like they keep a room or two held back for medical customers, or at least I got that feeling from them. They also happen to have very nice rooms and free wi-fi that actually works, so that made our stay in Flagstaff a little better.
We also had to go down to Prescott, Arizona, to the VA Medical Center there for FabGrandpa to get his regular bloodwork done and to follow up on his cataract surgery he had in March. So, we left the Kaibab Plateau early on Tuesday morning, as the sun was coming up. The drive to Prescott is 302 miles, so we had a room reserved there for Tuesday night. We went to the VA, got all the stuff done, then went to the room and checked in. The wi-fi there at the Motel 6 did not work, and it was not free. The bed was too small, and was pushed up against the wall on one side, so that FabGrandpa said he felt like he was sleeping in a crib. During the night, the people upstairs from us started fighting–the police finally came and hauled them off to jail around 2:30 in the morning. We won’t be staying a Motel 6 again any time soon.
We got up around 4:30 a.m. and left that crap hole of a motel–no reason to stick around any longer than necessary. We made it to Flagstaff around 9:30 in the morning, after stopping for breakfast at the Cliffs Casino in Verde Valley. The people at the Mariott let us check in right away. My appointment wasn’t until Thursday, so we spent Wednesday shopping for things we needed–all the non-perishable groceries at Wal-Mart, some insoles for our boots, (seems SOMEONE threw away the ones we bought in Alabama when we bought the boots. Don’t know WHO could have done that, but they were no where to be found), some new bras for me. And you know how I hate to shop for bras!
Thursday, I went to see Dr. Wani. He seemed like a very good doctor. He asked me lots of questions about why I was there, what happened the other day, my medical history, etc., etc., etc. After looking at my records that had been faxed to him from Kane County Hospital from last Saturday, he decided I needed to have a Cardiac CT Angiogram. I thought I was going to have a stress test, but this is something different. Dr. Wani said it would show him a complete picture of my heart and arteries and would show him whether or not I have a blockage or anything else wrong. Lucklily for me, he was able to schedule this for the next day at 4:oo pm.
On Friday, I went over the the hospital at 7:30 a.m. to get blood drawn so they could check for cholesterol levels and some other stuff. This blood test had to be done while fasting, so I had to get over there early so I could go eat. For my entire life, people have always had trouble finding my veins. It’s like they are non-existent, or too small, or whatever. This day was no different. The first lady stuck me and started digging around to try to get the vein, so I very politely asked her to get someone else to try it. The next one tied the tourniquet so tight it felt like my arm would fall off, but she did get the vein on the first try. I always hate getting blood drawn because of that.
Later, at 2:00, I went back over to the hospital to check in for the CT Angiogram. They took me in and gave me one of those hospital gowns to put on, then sat me in a chair. They hooked me up to an ECG machine and took my vital signs. My heart rate was 53, blood pressure 123/61, and the ECG was a normal blip line on the screen. About that time I was wondering why I was there. Anyway, the RN who was doing this part of preparation said that I would not need to have the medication they normally use to slow down the heart rate because my heart rate was just fine.
While my preparation for the test was going on, they brought in an emergency trauma case who needed a test using the CT Scanner. So, I waited. And I waited. And I waited some more. While I was waiting, the RN said we needed to start an IV line so they could put the contrast dye into my veins while I was in the machine. I told her that I do not have good veins and how people always have trouble finding my veins, so she called and asked for someone with a portable ultrasound machine to come and find my veins that way!!! I was so happy (even though this added goodness will proably add hundreds to my bill, I was thrilled!). The squirted the gel goo on my arm and glided the little wand around until they knew exactly where to stick me. One stick, they’re in!!!
Finally, around 4:30, it was time to go to the CT room. They had me lay down on a table, put pillows under my head and legs, and told me to expect the contrast dye to feel warm, and to feel like I had peed on myself. And it really did feel that way. The table moved in and out of the donut shaped machine, stopping every now and then. A machine voice told me to breathe in, then out, then to hold my breath, while hundreds of pictures of my heart were taken. The whole thing was over in 10 minutes, and the only thing that hurt was when they stuck me to insert the IV.
So now we wait for the results of the test, and the bill. Whooo whee, that is gonna be a whopper! (Oh, and sorry I don’t have any photos of the procedure. I couldn’t take them myself, and FabGrandpa was in the waiting room. I hope you like the scenery, though.)
Just Some Nice Pictures
Tuesday morning we had to go to Prescott, so we got up early and left about 5:30 a.m. The sky outside was filled with storm clouds. Across the canyon, it was raining and lightening.
Out in the meadows 12 miles away, we saw a herd of buffalo standing in the road.They took their time crossing to the other side.
The sky still looked stormy, and the ground was wet, but we never got into the rain.
There was a huge rainbow, so big I had to take two pictures to get all of it. I have never seen a rainbow quite like that one before.
Further down the road,out in the desert, we passed by the Vermillion Cliffs
We passed by the area burned in the Shultz fire in June in the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff. That fire was caused by a careless camper leaving a campfire burning.
Our trip took us down I-17 south of Flagstaff and through the Verde Valley.
We had slow going due to road construction along the way.
We finally made it to Prescott. We spent the night there, then went back up to Flagstaff for a couple of nights. This sunset in Prescott was fabulous!
Not Much Going On
Another week gone by, and I have nothing much going on. I still have stuff to upload to the Etsy store, but haven’t had time to get it done. No sewing accomplished this week, either. I worked the late shift, so by the time I got home every evening this week, I was just plain pooped. All I wanted to do was eat my dinner and take a shower, then put my feet up.
Today we were off, and FabGrandpa suggested that we go to breakfast at the lodge. He didn’t have to ask me twice. The lodge was built in 1928. It has massive beams in the ceiling, and lots of windows that provide great views of the canyon. We didn’t get there until 9:00 a.m, so it wasn’t very crowded. We got a seat by a window, so I was able to get some good pictures.
My breakfast was two eggs over medium, hashbrowns, and bacon. Lots of coffee, too. I could have ordered a fruit plate, or huevos rancheros, or even gluten free pancakes. What I got looked and tasted pretty good.
After we ate, we went out on the patio to take some pictures. Yes, I already have tons of photos of the canyon, but it looks different every day, in different light.
Fabgrandpa took my picture. Yes, I was posing.
Then I took his picture, too.
While we were out there, we saw my co-worker out roving. They gave us all pedometers this week–it’s a health and safety “initiative”, designed to get us moving and walking more. So, Richard was out walking the Transept Trail.
We went back home, and did all the grunt work–changed the sheets on the bed, turned the mattress, swept all the floors, shook out all the rugs. Then I cleaned out all the kitchen cabinets and straightened them up, cleaned out the refrigerator, and took out the trash. Yes, everyday life, only at the edge of the Grand Canyon.
We decided to cook out on the new barbecue grill for dinner. I had a whole chicken that needed cooking, so I cut it in half, put on the seasonings, and threw it on the grill. An hour later, it was delicious. I made some oven roasted potatoes with garlic to go with, and our friend, Terry, brought a three bean salad.
Yum, a great dinner, then a beautiful sunset. We sat out there at the picnic table until the stars came out.
Life is truly grand!
