I know you all wanted see my mugshot so here it is.

OK below is a little better picture

I am sure it will look better next week !!!!!

Long due update, where to start?  OK my MRSA, I spent a total of 10 days in the hospital, lost 40 pounds in that short time, I know I needed to lose some weight but that is not a reccomended way. I am doing real good now, it was a couple weeks before I really felt back to normal ( whatever that is).

Next setback, all the swelling in my sinus's along with a busted nose when I  was a kid, Jeez that was a couple days ago. Anyway I needed a nose job, I asked if they could make me look like Tom Sellick when he was young, yep that got a laugh. So I was scheduled for surgery again, Now with all this going on Vicki's stepdad passed away. So I put her on a plane to Seattle, she met her sister from Arizona at the airport and they drove over to Sequim. This was last tuesday. Wednesday I went in and had my surgery so here I sit with a remodeled nose full of packing (reads can't breath through my nose). I go in tomorrow to get the packing out and hopefully I can breath like a person is supposed to and my nose will drain like it should.

Weather, oh that is a topic. It has been colder than normal here since we arrived here in southern Oregon. As I am typing this it is snowing out, and supposed to continue all day. I know soon I will be saying turn on the air conditioning, so guess I am hard to please with the weather.

Not sure how long Vicki is going to be in Washington. I am sure she will be there a while taking care of his estate. And to make matters worse one of his sisters  is already whining and causing problems.

That is enough for now, you all take care and God bless.

Time for a quick update, We left Manchester Dec 29th, for Gold Hill, OR. Pulled out about 10:30 with sunshine and clear skies. Forecast for southern OR was for snow and freezing, Good roads and weather to Junction City, there snow hit with a vengeance. Roads to to ICE for 25 miles and Vicki slept through it, “I was smart enough not to wake her” From there roads cleared up until we started hitting all those low passes, we had snow on all of them but they were out in full force with deicer and sand. Stopped at Merlin and fueled up, 18 miles to go and one short hill over grants Pass. Arrived in Gold Hill with a light rain just a little after 6:00. Not a bad travel day of 450 miles in less than 8 hours with 25 miles of travel about 25 mph. Fuel averaged 10.5 mpg.




Went to work in the park the next day. Cleaning restrooms 2 days a week and working in the office 2 days and 1 wild card day to help Ken with projects. Weather was cool with a few freezing nights the 1st couple of weeks, then slowly warming up.



Now for the bad news. Friday the 14th I had sore in my nose and it became infected, Saturday afternoon I asked Vicki to take me to the ER. The right side of my face was swollen bad my right eye was completely swollen shut, So off we went to the ER, they took one look at my face and got me into the ER room right now., that was about 4:00 PM. I was admitted to the hospital and in my room about 11:00 PM, Yesterday I was able to partly open my right eye some. I have been on MEGA doses of Antibiotics since I came in. This infection is so bad I am in Isolation and they suit up with all there gear and gloves to come into my room. What is this horrible Staff infection that can kill you quick if not attended to immediately ? And Oh yes they said if I would have waited another day it would have been touch and go on saving me. So here is the name of the Nasty.

“METHICILLIN-RESISTANCE STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS” (MRSA) pronounced mursa

I would encourage all of you to do a little research on this as it is very prevalent. Side effects, out of control diabetes, and a heart condition called Atrial Fibrilation. Not to mention the just feeling bad bad bad.

OK today is Jan 20th so I have been in here 5 days and sounds like maybe Saturdays I can go homem but the battle is not over I will be on Antibiotics for a couple more weeks, home hospice will come out and admister them. They put in what they call a pipe, It is long term IV basically. So enough of what I am doing right now, this is why a lot of you have not seen me on the Internet the last few days. So for now take care, fod Bless, and later.

From our house to yours we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas

and a great New Years.

This is our Huge Christmas tree

Time do do a short catch up. we are still at Manchester state Park. It has been an interesting stay here. Park staff here are really great and fun to work with. Oh the work part. since we had that terrible wind storm the night of the 22nd we have been doing clean up in the park. 16 trees came down and so far we have had to take down one other tree. we finally got a chipper in here so we have been busy feeding the chipper. this is the tree that blocked the day use road.

We had a wonderful thanksgiving with Gene and Cindy. Turkey galore with all the trimmings and even oyster casserole.

We will be here until the end of the month, somewhere after Christmas and no later than new years we will head to southern Oregon. I will be working at the Gold Hill KOA. Our plan is to stay there all next year and into the spring of 2012. Plans have a way of being changed so these plans are set in Jello. Until later you all take care and God Bless.

we actually had about 6 campers last night, the most since we have been here. We are enjoying our stay here at manchester state park. The day use area is very popular with lots of walking paths and views of seattle accross the bay. I have been using a blower to remove leaves from roads and campsites, tons of leaves here and still more to come down.
we are also close to my brother Gene and have enjoyed visiting with him and his family. Looking forward to thanksgiving with them.
this is a short update but wanted to let you all know we are still alive and kicking.

I am adding a picture of our campsite here at Manchester State park. Seen 2 deer in the park today. Fun to watch the wildlife.

Getting close to the end of the month and time to move to a new park. We have now volunteered at 3 Washington State Parks and by far Dosewallips is our favorite. I think one of the reason is the park staff here, they work together as a team and promote the park in a positive manner. We will certainly miss everyone here as we move on to a new adventure. We will be at Manchester State Park Nov & Dec. We will be close to my brother Gene and his family, and will be able to visit some. I will let you all know how Manchester is after we get over there. Until then here is some pictures of staff and fall colors at Dosewallips.



 

more for your enjoyment, again not mine. first pic is Mt Rainier, next is Hood Canal

Again these are not my pictures, but to nice to not share.

I wish I could take credit for some pictures I am going to put on here, but I can't. a local person here in Brinnon is the person behind the camera. I don't even know his name, but I thank him for sharing. I will post one or two pictures as I can. Hope you enjoy these as much as I have.

Miss Dosewallips, a cantankerous old cow Elk with a reputation for not liking campers made an appearance in the park today, she meandered her way through the park and left without an incident. the herd was across the highway in the day use park.

thought I would share this picture, for some reason I like it, hope you all enjoy it. This was taken at Fort Flagler State Park.

A new month and a new adventure, we are back at Dosewallips State Park. We left Fort Flagler at crack of noon today, pulled into Dosewallips just before 1:00 pm. Long trip of 38 miles. It felt almost like coming home when we pulled into the park. We will be here for the month. then onto a new park, Manchester State Park. It is close to Port Orchard and Bremerton, so we will be close to my brother there.
We did enjoy our stay at Fort Flagler, I used up a 5 gal bucket of primer using a 3" brush on some cedar siding. So don't care if I see a paint brush for awhile. Vicki worked in the museum and she enjoyed doing that. We really enjoyed the deer in the park, they were always entertaining to watch. They really liked it when the apples started falling from the trees. We also enjoyed watching all the ship traffic on Admiralty Straight. Just about any type of boat or ship you can imagine sailed up and down the Straight. A real treat was to see a couple of submarines leaving and returning.
I will leave you with a couple of pictures.

Until later God bless you all and take care.

I know I said a few days, well as usual it is a few more than a few. we are still at
Fort Flagler State Park, it is a very nice park with lots of history. The deer roam the park from dawn till dawn, Ha! you thought I was going to say dusk didn't you. they are very entertaining to watch and we enjoy them a lot. We are not in the campground here and we are still missing the campers. There are lots of volunteers here in the park, There are 3 campground hosts plus 6 or 7 other volunteer couples here. There is also a local group called friends of Fort Flagler that are very involved in the preservation of the Park.
we do like it here but Vicki is working in the museum and has to do several stairs and it is really bothering her legs and knees, so doubt if we will return here unless we are in the campground.
Rick came over one day and visited, we had a great time and enjoyed catching up on whats been going on in our lives. Then a week later Gene and Cindy came up and spent the day with us, again we really enjoyed the visit. We also made plans to have thanksgiving together. so we are looking forward to that event even though it is still a ways off.
We are returning to Dosewallips State park next month and we are looking forward to returning there.
I will leave you with a couple more pics from the park here.