Geocaching is something new to me that I only recently learned about. My daughter and son-in-law found one when out hiking an easy trail while out camping near a lake last year.
This week, a friend was talking about her husband and that he likes to hunt for geocaches. He has been involved with this hobby for many years. She expressed a bit of frustration when sharing with me that he is a top geocacher. He has found at least 50,000 geocaches! Fifty thousand! That is a lot of time spent outdoors searching for a small box with or without some tiny trinket or toy, as well as a pen or pencil and paper on which to leave a signature, as proof of his discovery.
The geocacher’s wife, said he walks with arm crutches. He has multiple cancers he is fighting. He has had all of the treatments available for his cancers. Now it’s a matter of time. Agent orange. Like covid, it is a thief.
Our patient worries about him out there searching for these geocaches. Alone. She wishes he would spend more time at home doing things that “matter.” I thought about all of the time effort and money he has spent on doing this hobby of searching for boxes with notepads where he has left his signature over 50 thousand times. My guess is, he has had some interesting moments out there by himself or with a buddy hiking in the outdoors, maybe appreciating God’s creations along the way. Journaling or blogging would have been a great place for him to share his ponderings and experiences.
I wonder if his wife ever went with him. I wonder if he every invited her to go along. They could have shared some wonderful moments of conversation, candid photos, and laughing together. Did I mention he is in his 70’s? I bet he has some great stories to tell.
It has been nearly a year since our stay on beautiful Shelter Island in San Diego, CA. It is not an island, but more like a peninsula with the harbor on one side and the bay between the peninsula and North Island Naval Air Station on the other. Shelter Island is just over a mile long and a few hundred feet wide. There is a walkway from one end of the island to the other, and one road connecting the peninsula to the mainland. Morning and evening walks are peaceful and serene with a beautiful view of the City lights of San Diego in the distance. Until the jets take off from the Naval Air Base. Those are loud! The afterburners are amazingly bright red like hot burners on an old-style electric stove. The sound of the jets taking off after sundown were one of my favorite things to hear, causing my immediate rush from wherever I was in the hotel room to get a glimpse of those red hot afterburners from our bayside balcony in the dark.
I did not research the history of Shelter Island in San Diego while we were there last year. This is what I just found on Wikipedia:
Shelter Island is a neighborhood of Point Loma in San Diego, California, United States. It is actually not an island but is connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land. It was originally a sandbank in San Diego Bay, visible only at low tide. It was built up into dry land using material dredged from the bay in 1934.[1] It was developed in the 1950s[2] and contains hotels, restaurants, marinas, and public parkland.
The “island” is 1.2 miles (1.9 km) long and only a few hundred feet wide. A single street, Shelter Island Drive, runs the length of Shelter Island and also connects it to the mainland via a causeway lined with marine-related businesses.
Walking around the island every day felt surreal and like a place I would like to visit again and again. It is a magical place, especially at night, next to the marina crowded with sailboats floating in the dark, showing off all of that richness in the water next to the reflection of the moon dancing across the small waves splashing under the stars, barely visible next to the brightness of the moon.
We are going back! We reserved the same room as last year on Shelter Island. Then my husband had a surgery about 4 weeks ago, so we canceled our reservations. He is doing so well, however, we decided to go after all. Hopefully, the room is still available.
I can’t wait to go back! The palm trees are so beautiful. The benches along the walkways beckon one to sit down for a minute and take time to enjoy the surrounding beauty of the trees, grass and, of course, the water in the bay moving along, taking every little drop of memory with it, never to be seen the same way again.
People are friendly on the island. There is a sense of safety. Most of the people my husband and I spoke to last year were also visiting California. They were enjoying their walks along the bay. You could see in their eyes how relaxed they were, how present they were, not in a hurry to go anywhere, just taking in the quiet moments and beautiful surroundings, not wanting the time to pass too quickly.
No two trips are the same. Even to the same place. Our last trip to San Diego was life changing in many ways. There was a lot of time to walk, sit, listen, observe, feel and ponder. I suspect this trip will be filled with reminiscings of some of the memories of last year and, importantly, spending time by my husband’s side as he takes me with him on a ride down memory lane, pointing out where he lived, worked, and spent time as a young sailor in the Navy stationed in San Diego. I am looking forward to visualizing his memories as he shares them with me.
My husband likes to coin hunt with his metal detector. Last year, he found, among other things, a couple of rings on the beach. We are looking forward to spending time searching for “buried treasures” along the ocean front, again, this year.
While in San Diego, we went to Sea World and San Diego Zoo. We took a beautiful sunset dolphin and whale watching cruise and a fun little seal cruise on the bus boat. I love to be out on the water. It reminds me of wonderful family time, fishing with my parents, brother and sister when we were younger. That is a blog post for another day.
So, if you have visited San Diego or live in the area, what are some of the “must dos” we can participate in this year? What are some of your favorite restaurants or other places to eat? Tell me about anything we should not miss while we are there.
Utah’s beauty this time of year is exceptional! Though my husband is in the hospital due to a knee replacement revision, we have both enjoyed nature’s changing weather and colors. Here are a few photos from my husband’s hospital room on the 6th floor:
I woke up late this morning, rolled slowly out of the king-sized bed in my 4th-floor hotel room, and took my time getting ready for the day.
It was a slow stroll down to the restaurant for the breakfast buffet, which I was looking forward to eating before heading over to the hospital to spend the day with my husband. Last time I stayed at this hotel, breakfast was included. This time, after I finished eating, I was handed a bill for $20. Really?! $20 for powdered eggs and burnt French toast? I guess it was because the bacon was so delicious! (It really was.) Anyway, I explained to the server that I thought breakfast was included with the room. He said it would be fine to go talk with the people at the hotel front desk. I said I would do that and return to let him know what they said.
The woman at the front desk was not having any of the explanation about my confusion. She said if I was not given a breakfast voucher, then breakfast was not included. I told her my husband was in the hospital after a surgical procedure and would probably be there for a few days. She looked at the computer and said, “I see you have booked the room for four days.” I affirmed, feeling like she might allow the breakfast after all. Instead, she looked at me and said, while pointing toward the front doors, “There is a bakery down at the end of the road.”
I was shocked! Not at the fact she did not want to give me even one voucher for today’s breakfast, but that she was so cold-hearted about it. Whoa! Steel bars around that heart. 😉 Maybe she was just having a bad day. Now I was, too.
So, I returned to the restaurant and found the server I had spoken to before I went to see “Ms. Steel Heart” at the front desk. I apologized to the server while handing him the bill and my credit card and explained that, apparently, I had misunderstood. Breakfast was not included. He looked at me, smiled, and nodded. Then he handed my card back and said, “I think I have an extra voucher back there.” I told him thank you, but it was ok to run the card. He gently pushed the card back to me, patted my shoulder, and said, “No, this one is on me.” I nearly cried because of his kindness. Maybe he was just having a good day. Now I was, too.
It is a good thing Google Maps took us a shorter way to get to the hotel tonight. It usually directs us to get off at exit 304 and meander our way through town until we finally arrive at the hotel up on the hill around the corner and several blocks away from the hospital.
Tonight, I followed the instructions to exit at 307 and merge onto another highway that avoids all the downtown meandering. I was quite excited about this shorter trip. Until… I missed the final exit and had to drive an extra 3 miles to the next exit to turn around and head back to the correct exit. Then, when we “arrived at your destination on the right” it was not the hotel. Apparently, I put in the wrong address. SMH
We finally arrived at the hotel a few blocks away. All that extra time we made up by taking the new first exit was eaten up with missing the one exit and arriving at the wrong address! Oh well! We are happily resting in the hotel room, now.
My husband needs to arrive at the hospital by 10am tomorrow, so not too early! We can sleep until 7am instead of waking at 5am. Yay!
Wish I had remembered to bring my blanket from home. I always like to bring my own blanket to spread onto the bed and sit on. Oh well. 😉
The bed is a bit “ghosty”. Perfect for Halloween month! 🎃
This link shows a map of the best places to see the annular eclipse on October 14th. It appears the best place for the longest viewing would be Corpus Christi, TX. The closest place for us to view would be around Elko, Nevada. My daughter and son-in-law rented an AirBNB and plan to arrive the night before, then come home after the eclipse is over.
Since my husband’s surgery is this Tuesday, I am not sure that we will make it to see the eclipse this year. I am keeping my fingers crossed that my husband will feel up to the drive. If not, c’est la vie. You can’t always get what you want. (Humming a tune in my head, now.)
An interesting fun fact about Elko, Nevada, is that my parents were married there in 1962. Who gets married in Elko, Nevada? Well, apparently, back in the day, that was the place to get married. I have met several people over the years who were married there. It was inexpensive and easy to do.
My dad’s brother and sister-in-law picked up my dad and mom with their green ’57 Chevy and drove the few hours to Elko where my parents were married by the Justice of the Peace. My mom had enough money to buy my dad a shirt, her dress, and her $11 wedding band. What a crazy way to start a life of 61 years together!
Anyway, in 2017, a full lunar eclipse passed directly over our town. People came from all over the United States, filling up the AirBNB’s, hotels, KOA’s and any open area they could find to camp. My husband and I, with our eclipse glasses in hand and camp chairs in the trunk of the car, drove over to my childhood home, where my parents still live, and readied my parents, our daughter, her husband, their 4-mo-old baby boy, and ourselves on the front lawn for the perfect view of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I remember, as the moon fully eclipsed the sun’s light, feeling a bit of a surreal, sort of spiritual, deeply moving unexplainable experience. I understand why hundreds of people came from all over the nation to experience that one brief moment. I remember, after that moment, hearing clapping and cheering up and down the block in our neighborhood. It was almost as if there needed to be a release of all the incredibleness everyone was feeling from that amazing experience. I still get goosebumps thinking about it. 😊
I am not sure if this eclipse event next weekend will have the same effect since it is not a total eclipse, but it would be fun to compare!
Road Trippin’
The night before a road trip is usually spent finishing up the last bit of laundry, then packing the suitcase. It is a night I should go to bed early to get the best night’s sleep possible. Instead, I find it difficult to fall asleep. Probably, because I am too busy thinking that I need to fall asleep so I can feel rested for driving the next day. Ha. Ha.
Tomorrow, I need to wake up at my regular early time, get ready for the day, and head to work. After I am off work, around 3pm, we are headed to U of U. Our daughter will keep an eye on the house for us this week.
Even though this is a relatively short three and a half hour “road trip” and we have been there several times before, I am not looking forward to leaving after work. It will make for a long day, plus we will arrive around rush hour. I suppose that will make for a good night’s sleep, however, before my husband’s surgery the next day.
We hope he only needs to stay in the hospital a day or two, but I made the reservation for a few nights, just in case the surgery is more complicated than expected. My husband and I are very hopeful for a positive outcome that will mean less pain and better movement in his knee once the patella debris is removed and the healing begins. Fingers crossed and lots of prayers!
There are times when my husband needs a little assistance while walking. Yesterday, we were driving to an appointment 3 hours from our home. On the way, we made a stop at a gas station to buy a drink and use the restroom. (We must make a purchase if we stop and use the restroom at a gas station or it just feels weird.)
Upon arriving in the parking lot, I pulled slowly into the handicap ♿️ parking space, turned the engine off, got out of the driver’s side of the pickup, and walked around to where my husband was already walking toward the entrance into the mini market of the gas station. I slipped my right arm into his left arm to walk with him and give him support as he walked, since he decided not to use his walker for assistance.
My husband used to stand two inches taller than my six-foot height. He now walks with his back bent over and his knees bent, so he appears much shorter than I. It is with some difficulty that I hold his arm in mine while we walk together due to that awkward height difference.
A kind, thoughtful person opened the glass door for my husband and me to easily enter the gas station “snack box” as we refer to it. We smiled gratefully and thanked them for their kindness. Moving past the check-out counter with my husband, I noticed there were fountain drinks in the back corner and thought my husband would like one of those on our way back to the pickup.
As we reached the long wide hallway leading to the bathrooms, I noted the women’s restroom on the right and saw that the men’s restroom was at the end of the hallway on the left. As we passed the women’s restroom, I could feel my husband start to pick up speed. Then I realized he was leaning forward as he picked up speed. My grip on his arm tightened as I leaned farther forward. Suddenly, I left my body. (OK, not really, but I had a moment where I lost control of my body and it felt like it was moving without me controlling the movements.) The next thing I knew I was racing forward and becoming more bent over myself. Then SPLAT! Our phones and glasses went sliding way out in front of us. I could not believe HOW HARD the landing was! I just lay there for what seemed like a quarter of a second, then turned to see if my husband was ok.
Now, keep in mind that he is turning 65 next month, and I am in my late 50’s. And, here we are, sprawled out on the ground like a couple of kids who were running too fast and fell down on purpose. Only, we had further to fall, and it was definitely not part of our plan!
Did I mention I am tall? And overweight? My husband is a “C” shape when he walks. On the floor, though, he and I were both more of an “S” or a “Z” shape scrambling to get up as fast as our newly bruised and pained bodies would get up. Luckily (?) no one was there to see us. Or help us. Or cry out in sympathy for the two old people who had just fallen HARD to the ground on their already painfully aging knees. I got up fairly quickly and walked over to pick up the phones and glasses. Then I helped my husband stand up and limp to the restroom holding the wall as he walked.
As I turned back and headed to the women’s restroom, the thought kept coming to my mind, “It’s true, you know. The taller they are, the harder they fall!” It seemed that every muscle in my body was quivering from tensing up during the fall. The bruises were already showing up on my left knee. I decided then and there that I would not be able to be my husband’s walking assistant. He would need to rely on his walker or his wheelchair.
His response was, “Well, if you are ever helping me again, and I start to fall, just let me fall. I am used to it, and I’m getting really good at it.”
Excuse me while I go get the ice pack for my left knee….
ChatterLei 