P.S. - There is a quiz at the end if you read the whole thing.  

P.P.S. - This is more about me than Sally.  You decide if you want to spend the time.   I won’t know.  

It’s elevation 9250, so it got down to 28 degrees F last night.  My electric mattress heating pad worked great with the new lithium batteries.  Of course, the bedspread and down quilt helped also.  And Hebrew National All Beef Hot Dogs on the propane grill tonight in her honor.  She liked them better than most steaks and preferred the propane grill to charcoal.  Querky.  And steak and one S’more tomorrow night. Crazy to buy a bag of marshmallows for one S’more, but you do what you got to do….

So, back up.  Have I mentioned Liz yet?  She has been a Godsend.   Truly, I don’t think I would have made it without her.  She was Sally’s right hand through the last weeks and mine afterward.  She’s worked on the house, my finances, cooking, thank you notes, I can’t express how much I appreciate her and what she’s done for me. Erik was in there also, but not able to stay as long as Liz.  Liz came in July and was going to spend four days here.  She stayed through mid September.   She wanted to get back on September 28 because she needed some time to settle out her (and Nick’s) life some before going back to work.  

(Long aside that won’t make much sense until the very end.  In September, 2015, Sally and I started a long motorhome trip on a route called the Park to Park Highway.  This was the post-retirement trip with two teachers leaving in September.  The route was defined in 1918 by Mather of the National Park Service and by the president of the California chapter of the AAA.  It was a road trip that linked all of the 13 existing National Parks in a 6500 mile loop, starting and ending at Rocky Mountain NP. We decided that we would try to do the whole trip on the roads that they outlined back then.  Only several hundred miles were paved at that time.  From Casper, WY to the mountain pass in Washington, we only drove 0.5 miles on Interstate.  After Mt. Rainer, we ended in Portland at Liz’s and came home.  We would finish the rest of the loop later.  We’ll, I decided that this would be a good time to finish the trip.)

Back to Liz.  She suggested that if I was uncomfortable driving out to Portland in November, which was the original plan, why don’t we drive back to Portland together in the motorhome?  Great idea.  I rushed to get the new batteries and basic electrical work done and we started out on Sept 26 and were going to spend three days driving out.   We got to Evanston, WY that first night, had a nice Mexican dinner and evening driving around town.  

As I was working on the computer after Liz went to bed, it hit me that I was biting off way more than I could chew, way more ( after I was telling a friend not to do too much after a surgery). The next morning, I told Liz that I was going to stay in Evanston for a few days and we could fly her back to Portland from Salt Lake.  I would do the big trip later in the year when snow would not be an issue.  And I could do some local camping in the spring.  She thought that was a really good (and wise) idea.  We went to the Roundhouse Museum that morning (a great tour to anyone who likes trains at all) and walked their River Walk that afternoon.  We drove to SLC that next morning, did the Tabernacle tour and got her on the plane to PDX.  I spent two days driving home and toured the Frontier Prison in Rawlins on the way.   The moral?  Like EVERYONE says, keep your expectations low and achievable.  Don’t try to do too much at once.   (I know, advice I can give freely, I just have to listen to it myself.)

Oh, and I’m flying out to Boston on the 14th for a few weeks to help Erik with some remodeling. I expect he and Eliza will look out for me and keep me sane.  Then back to Laradice for a week or so of doctors appts and then to Portland for T-day and some more RnR. Then back, teach my short course and… like I said, keeping it simple.   

Ok, bottom line.  I’m OK. I’m trying to stay active and involved though I still don’t like being in big groups.   I’m learning to be by myself, which is a big learning experience.  I’m trying to get back together with the old Covid bubble gang.  We’re having ribs on Sunday.  

Life is OK.  Tears come at the strangest times.  I heard Alan Jackson’s song “Remember When” and started bawling. Liz and I watched one of my favorite movies, Cars, and that got me also, but it does every time I watch it.  But that’s good too.  An introvert doesn’t release easily, but it’s happening.   

Now, the quiz.  Do you pair beef hot dogs with a Merlot or a Pino Grigio? I just don’t know.    (Maybe both and make it a Rose!)