This time of the year, the 21st week, is our annual visit to our timeshare at the Carlsbad Inn, Carlsbad, CA. We only had one day to get ready after our stay in Flagstaff, AZ. We bought this unit in 1998 and have only missed coming here one time the first time my mom fell and broke her left hip the day before we were to leave for Carlsbad. Our friends, Bill and Elaine Cavagnaro, were able to use the week. We park our RV at their house when we are not on the road. For this trip my mom will stay at Todd and Jeannette’s in Long Beach, CA. Our unit is on the 3rd floor at the far end from the elevator.
Sunday May 22
We hadn’t planned an early start. We didn’t want to get to Todd’s too early. His family went camping at Malibu State Park and we didn’t want to get there long before they got home. The drive down was uneventful, with our usual stop at the Costco in Victorville, CA for fuel and PR.
We got to Long Beach around 3:30 PM. After some visiting, we left them planning to have Chinese Food delivered and we went on to Carlsbad. We arrived and were checked in by 6:30. Getting checked in and settled in the room is a lot quicker if you arrive later in the day, no rush for luggage carts. We did notice at least 15 luggage carts, more than any time in the past. 15 carts mean a ratio of one for three rooms. Our unit is in what they call the Elm units and consists of 60 rooms. It’s called Elm because the street that passes that side of the resort used to be Elm, now it is Carlsbad Village Drive. The other units on the Oak Street side check in Saturday, so unless someone is checking in really late from those 60 units, there is no competition for carts from that end.
The weather is typical for this time of year, May Gray.
Tomorrow is our 40th wedding anniversary, so we started celebrating early by having supper at Norte. Norte used to be Fidel’s Del Norte, the name was changed a few years ago. The restaurant is one of our favorites in the area and is on the same property as the Carlsbad Inn.
Some time on the computer rounded out the evening.
Monday May 23
May Gray continues. This turned into pretty much of a down day for us. I ventured out to get a newspaper and grab the closest five geocaches. The North County times is a small paper but has three crossword puzzles (I breezed through all three including the New York Times one) and two pages of comics and the comics are printed large enough to read without squinting. The paper is head and shoulders above the Review Journal for local news and letters to the editors. I don’t know if buying the paper from a machine eliminates getting the four pounds of advertisement that we get with home delivery of the RJ, but it’s nice to get a newspaper sans all ads. They ought to pay us for letting them in our home instead of charging us for the volume of paper that is only fit for the recycling bin. Of course later we get the same volume of basically the same ads in our mail box. It’s nice to have home delivery of mail, but it would be even nicer not to have to sort through the junk to get to it. Some of my fondest memories from childhood are the ¾ mile walks with my grandfather to the local Post Office. Our post office in Riverview, WV was a converted carriage house and was run by the elderly lady who owned the property. Over half the distance and most of the time to walk it was spent visiting neighbors along the way. I don’t advocate going back to the 40s, but all change isn’t improvement.
By late afternoon the sun came out, but it was still cool.
Supper was leftovers from our supper on Saturday with Curtis’ family at the Olive Garden in Las Vegas. I don’t fully understand people who won’t eat leftovers; some food (especially most Italian food) gets better as leftovers. The flavor is soaked in and then you have the memory of the first meal with family or friends
Tuesday May 24
With today’s North County times I found out that that my breezing through the crossword puzzles yesterday was a fluke.
The May Gray ended before noon and it turned into a beautiful day.
Our only plan today is to visit with cousins Bill and Arleen Leedy in Dana point and to have dinner later. After visiting and appetizers, we went to a new to us restaurant, Luciana’s in Dana Point. Great Italian food.
Wednesday May 25
Each day the crossword puzzles get harder. But, the May Gray is gone.
This year we plan to take another extended north and east in the motor home. Next year our plan is to spend a lot of time in southern California, especially along the beach. A friend of ours goes to an RV park in San Diego every year and speaks very highly of the Campland on the Bay on Mission bay. The gate guard let us in to check it out; he also gave us a brochure with prices and information. We also checked out another park on the bay that we had stayed at in the 70’s. At that time it was called De Anza Bay RV Park, it’s now called Mission Bay RV Resort. It was slightly cheaper than Campland, but seemed nicer kept. We also checked out a park in Oceanside which was very nice with a walkway to the beach about 250yards away. This park was $105 a night with full hookups, compared Campland on the Bay at about $80.00 and Mission Bay Resort at about $70.00 a day. The result of our looking around and all things considered we will probably spend our time along the coast at the San Clemente State Beach.
We ate supper at the time share, spaghetti with sauce that Gerri brought from home.
Thursday May 26
All sunshine today.
Did I say the crossword puzzles were getting more difficult? Today I couldn’t finish the New York Times puzzle even with help from the On Across web site.
Today we went for a showing of the newly remodeled units, very nice. The units in our building will be remodeled before we get back next year.
We walked to a pottery shop across the street to check out wall hangers for our block wall. Nothing struck our fancy.
Later in the evening we walked a block north to try a new to us Mexican restaurant, Las Ollas. It was good food. We did find it odd that they had no ala carte menu.
Friday May 27
A little afternoon our friend Jane Knowles came over for a visit and lunch at Norte. She lives in Escondido. I don’t remember at Norte before, they have lunch specials that are good portions and reasonably priced. Jane had been here at the Carlsbad Inn earlier in the year and won a free one night stay. After lunch we went to the lobby for her to check on limitations. Jane had seen a sign about foreclosures on sale. She found a unit that faces the beach to the south, the same week as ours (week 21) that was reasonably priced. She made an offer on it and should know later if offer is accepted or there is a counter offer.
There was entertainment on the green, so we sat and talked while listening to the music. Much of the green had been changed. There is now concrete area with gas two fire pits in addition to the large lawn.
There was another couple sitting across the fire pit from us about five feet away. After some time the lady there asked Jane if her name was Jane. Turns out she has been a friend of Jane’s daughter for nearly 30 years. What a small world.
Jane left for home at about 6 PM, another great day.
I bought the paper late today. Two of the crossword puzzles were fairly easy. I didn’t even try the New York Times puzzle.
Saturday May 28
It was a little overcast this morning but it was bright out.
Gerri planned to go to a large Verizon store in Vista to see what upgrades were available for her Droid which she has had trouble with, but she woke up with a sore throat.
I went to Fry’s in San Marcos and picked up some things. A new bean bag mount for the Garmin 7200, a slide digitizer and a couple of programs that were on sale.
After I got back to the Carlsbad Inn we had sandwiches and the headed for the Verizon store with the intention of replacing Gerri’s Droid. We ended up with a lot more! I don’t know if all the workers at this store are the same, but we lucked out and were taken in hand by the most helpful, communicative and knowledgeable Verizon retail sales rep we have every experienced. If you are every in the Vista area and need help with a Verizon device contact Nam V. Phan.
I was originally intending to get me a basic new phone with no camera. The one without a camera also didn’t have Blue Tooth capability. Considering the new Nevada nanny state laws, I thought I should have that capability.
We ended up replacing Gerri’s phone, my phone and transferring our home phone to Verizon. Nam transferred all our contacts and pictures to the new phones. He also synced them with the Blue Tooth in Gerri’s car.
Sunday May 29
It was really windy today with whitecaps on the ocean as far as I could see.
Our plan for today is to drive to Todd’s house in Long Beach and spend the night.
Yesterday we made arrangements to check out at noon instead of 11 o’clock. Most places we stay have a 10 AM checkout. The extra two hours made for a leisurely time of packing up and loading the car.
Friday when Jane made an offer on a unit, the salesperson gave us a gift certificate for $25.00 at Norte. We had a nice lunch for $24.09, not counting the tip.
By one o’clock were on the way to Long Beach. We met Todd and family at Stearn’s Championship Park. The congregation of the church they attend was having a picnic.
After getting home we decided to go out to dinner at the California Fish Grill in Cypress. Good food and plenty of it, but you have to order your food at the counter and when ready they deliver it to the table.
After Emma and Wyatt were in bed we visited for awhile before turning in. Todd’s family all go to bed early and get up very early.
Monday May 30
Todd and Jeannette had decided to take advantage of our being there to go for a bike ride together. They usually go separately while the other stays with the kids.
Emma and Wyatt were very considerate in letting us sleep in after they got up.
After Todd and Jeannette got home they had breakfast. We got things back into the car and were on the road around 11 AM and were home at about 4:30 PM. Traffic was heavy going the other direction but wasn’t bad going to Las Vegas.
Glenna didn’t seem any worse for wear after being around two very active great grand children.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
FLAGSTAFF, May 2011
Gerri’s mother has two weeks of time share at the Wyndam Resort in Flagstaff, one in the spring and one in the fall. Her week for May this year started on Friday the 13th. We decided to join her on Tuesday the 17thand stay until Friday the 20th. We made arrangements for my mom, Glenna, to stay Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights with our son Curtis and his family. Dana, our daughter-in-law, picked her up after we left on Tuesday and brought her home on Friday
Tuesday May 17
We left Las Vegas at about 9 AM. Our plan was to stop in Kingman, AZ. to visit a friend in the hospital there. The route to Flagstaff is pretty basic, US 95 to Kingman and then I-40 to Flagstaff, a trip of about 260 miles with an estimated travel time of 5 hours. This route used to take us across the Hoover Dam, but no more. The new bridge, the Michael Callahan/Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, now crosses the river a little downstream from the dam. After passing what used to be the Gold Strike Inn, now the Hacienda, you are quickly on the bridge and there is no view of the dam from the travel lanes of the bridge.
What with city traffic it takes a little over two hours to get to Kingman. We went to our friend Joel Barez’s room. No Joel. An inquiry at the nurse’s station revealed he had been taken home for an evaluation in preparation for him going home. We called the house and his wife Sandy said they had just left and should be back at the hospital in about 30 minutes.
Joel and I went to the Clark County Sheriff’s Academy together in 1964. I stayed on after the consolidation of the Sheriff’s Office and the City of Las Vegas Police Department and retired from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in 2000 after a total of 36 years. Shortly before consolidation Joel resigned the CCSO and went to work for the Las Vegas City Attorney’s Office. He later went to work for Don Laughlin at the Riverside Casino in Laughlin working up to International Sales Director, retiring last year. Joel has been a good friend over the years. He was very supportive of Metro in Laughlin and made friends with both Metro officers from many departments that we worked with in Laughlin over the years. Joel has had some heath issues over the last few years. He is in the hospital now being treated for multiple serious injuries suffered in a fall at his home. We should have known Joel would have the therapist go by a restaurant to pick up a non-hospital meal. It was about an hour before he got back to the room. We visited for over an hour, talking about old times, old friends and of course his injuries. Although he seemed in good spirits, the old Joel, he admitted he was a little depressed about his rate of recovery. He had several serious injuries including a broken hip, two broken ribs; injuries to his left knee and broken bones in his ankles. We did our best to cheer him up and assure him he was actually making good progress considering his injuries. He is now home from the hospital since our return from Flagstaff.
After visiting with Joel we continued to Flagstaff, arriving at Gerri’s mother’s time share at about 4:30 PM. After unloading and getting settled in we had a delicious meal with boneless pork chops prepared by Neva, Gerri’s mother. She only makes delicious meals.
We played a couple of games of Quidler before bedtime. This is a word game with cards that our friends, the Cavagnaro’s, introduced to us. We had played it with Neva while in Cabo San Lucas earlier this year.
Wednesday May 18
We woke up to a grey day with fast moving clouds. I went out for a nearby cache and got pelted with little hard pellets of snow being driven by the wind. It was muddy and cold so I gave it up. Back at the condo we watched the weather go by; alternating rain and snow, and being able the see the nearby San Francisco Peaks through the snow. Sometimes we could see the antennas on the top of Mt. Eldon, other time the whole mountain was obscured.
The weather continued that way all day, with the snow increasing in the late afternoon. We made dinner reservations at Black Bart’s. We had passed the sign for years when going east on I-40, but had never stopped. Neva had eaten there a couple of times; she has been coming to Flagstaff twice a year for several years.
We arrived at the restaurant during one of the heavy wet snow episodes. For those of you have never been to Black Bart’s; it basically a steak house, a very good one. In addition to the good food the wait staff sings musical numbers and floor shows during the evening. The wait staff is made up of students from the nearby University of Northern Arizona, mostly very talented music and theater students. We had a great meal. When we got there a large group from a tour bus were already seated, they took up four long tables. After they left and before we finished out meal, another large group came in.
When we left the restaurant it was snowing heavily, large wet flakes that were sticking to the car. Remember Flagstaff is at an elevation of around 6800’with higher areas around it, so snow isn’t really that uncommon in May. The drive back to the condo was interesting. With heavy snow falling and the car moving into it visibility was down. We were yakking and missed our off ramp. The next ramp, Walnut Canyon, was several miles east. When you exit the interstate here is a little less than a quarter mile to the crossover bridge, it wasn’t visible through the snow. Of course we got back safely and settled in front of the warm fire place.
The plan for tomorrow was a visit from Denise Barnhart and, Kyoto, Denise is a cousin of Gerri’s that lives in Sedona. Neva planned to serve a brisket and started preparing the meal before bedtime. We also played some Quidler before retiring.
Thursday May 19
The weather continued the same as the last two days. Sometimes it cleared and we could see not only nearby Mt. Eldon but the other nearby snow covered peaks. Our guests arrived at about 10 AM. After visiting and looking at photos of past family reunions, we had a delicious meal followed by more visiting.
After company left we had a leisurely afternoon with some more Quidler. The weather had pretty much cleared up by evening with the snow flurries and rain getting further apart.
Since checkout was Friday morning we started making preparations to leave by 10 AM. Neva’s packing is very organized with a place for everything and everything in its place.
We did manage to get a couple more Quidler games in before bedtime. During our visit we played a total of ten games, Gerri and I won four each and Neva won two.
Friday May 20
Departure day: Without rushing we were loaded up and ready to leave at about 9:30 AM. After fueling up it was on the road again. Neva packed snacks and drinks and only planned for a quick stop at the Petro station just east of Kingman. We also had snacks with us, but planned to stop in Williams to check out an RV park for a possible stop when we start out motor home trip in June.
We also wanted to stop at Hoover Dam and get pictures of the new bridge. The road approaching the dam from the east has all been redone and we thought we missed a turn to cross the dam itself instead of the new bridge. We crossed into Nevada via the bridge and followed the signs to the dam. Our first stop was a parking lot for walling onto the bridge. There is a plaza with information on the construction of the bridge there and along the walk up to the bridge. Unlike when driving across the bridge the walk offers spectacular views of the river and the downstream side of the dam. After taking pictures from the bridge we drove across the dam and got great views of the bridge. After crossing the dam we went on the way the road used to go. After topping the first hill we realized that we hadn’t missed a turn on the Arizona side. The road is closed and we had to go back across into Nevada to access US-93 on into Las Vegas.
Dana brought Glenna home during the afternoon so she was there when we got home
All in all a great trip, we visited family, saw new sights and had some interesting weather.
Now we have only one day to prepare for our annual trip to Carlsbad, CA. As usual Gerri has posted pictures of this trip on her Face Book page.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1902067004180.107876.1616875321
Tuesday May 17
We left Las Vegas at about 9 AM. Our plan was to stop in Kingman, AZ. to visit a friend in the hospital there. The route to Flagstaff is pretty basic, US 95 to Kingman and then I-40 to Flagstaff, a trip of about 260 miles with an estimated travel time of 5 hours. This route used to take us across the Hoover Dam, but no more. The new bridge, the Michael Callahan/Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, now crosses the river a little downstream from the dam. After passing what used to be the Gold Strike Inn, now the Hacienda, you are quickly on the bridge and there is no view of the dam from the travel lanes of the bridge.
What with city traffic it takes a little over two hours to get to Kingman. We went to our friend Joel Barez’s room. No Joel. An inquiry at the nurse’s station revealed he had been taken home for an evaluation in preparation for him going home. We called the house and his wife Sandy said they had just left and should be back at the hospital in about 30 minutes.
Joel and I went to the Clark County Sheriff’s Academy together in 1964. I stayed on after the consolidation of the Sheriff’s Office and the City of Las Vegas Police Department and retired from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in 2000 after a total of 36 years. Shortly before consolidation Joel resigned the CCSO and went to work for the Las Vegas City Attorney’s Office. He later went to work for Don Laughlin at the Riverside Casino in Laughlin working up to International Sales Director, retiring last year. Joel has been a good friend over the years. He was very supportive of Metro in Laughlin and made friends with both Metro officers from many departments that we worked with in Laughlin over the years. Joel has had some heath issues over the last few years. He is in the hospital now being treated for multiple serious injuries suffered in a fall at his home. We should have known Joel would have the therapist go by a restaurant to pick up a non-hospital meal. It was about an hour before he got back to the room. We visited for over an hour, talking about old times, old friends and of course his injuries. Although he seemed in good spirits, the old Joel, he admitted he was a little depressed about his rate of recovery. He had several serious injuries including a broken hip, two broken ribs; injuries to his left knee and broken bones in his ankles. We did our best to cheer him up and assure him he was actually making good progress considering his injuries. He is now home from the hospital since our return from Flagstaff.
After visiting with Joel we continued to Flagstaff, arriving at Gerri’s mother’s time share at about 4:30 PM. After unloading and getting settled in we had a delicious meal with boneless pork chops prepared by Neva, Gerri’s mother. She only makes delicious meals.
We played a couple of games of Quidler before bedtime. This is a word game with cards that our friends, the Cavagnaro’s, introduced to us. We had played it with Neva while in Cabo San Lucas earlier this year.
Wednesday May 18
We woke up to a grey day with fast moving clouds. I went out for a nearby cache and got pelted with little hard pellets of snow being driven by the wind. It was muddy and cold so I gave it up. Back at the condo we watched the weather go by; alternating rain and snow, and being able the see the nearby San Francisco Peaks through the snow. Sometimes we could see the antennas on the top of Mt. Eldon, other time the whole mountain was obscured.
The weather continued that way all day, with the snow increasing in the late afternoon. We made dinner reservations at Black Bart’s. We had passed the sign for years when going east on I-40, but had never stopped. Neva had eaten there a couple of times; she has been coming to Flagstaff twice a year for several years.
We arrived at the restaurant during one of the heavy wet snow episodes. For those of you have never been to Black Bart’s; it basically a steak house, a very good one. In addition to the good food the wait staff sings musical numbers and floor shows during the evening. The wait staff is made up of students from the nearby University of Northern Arizona, mostly very talented music and theater students. We had a great meal. When we got there a large group from a tour bus were already seated, they took up four long tables. After they left and before we finished out meal, another large group came in.
When we left the restaurant it was snowing heavily, large wet flakes that were sticking to the car. Remember Flagstaff is at an elevation of around 6800’with higher areas around it, so snow isn’t really that uncommon in May. The drive back to the condo was interesting. With heavy snow falling and the car moving into it visibility was down. We were yakking and missed our off ramp. The next ramp, Walnut Canyon, was several miles east. When you exit the interstate here is a little less than a quarter mile to the crossover bridge, it wasn’t visible through the snow. Of course we got back safely and settled in front of the warm fire place.
The plan for tomorrow was a visit from Denise Barnhart and, Kyoto, Denise is a cousin of Gerri’s that lives in Sedona. Neva planned to serve a brisket and started preparing the meal before bedtime. We also played some Quidler before retiring.
Thursday May 19
The weather continued the same as the last two days. Sometimes it cleared and we could see not only nearby Mt. Eldon but the other nearby snow covered peaks. Our guests arrived at about 10 AM. After visiting and looking at photos of past family reunions, we had a delicious meal followed by more visiting.
After company left we had a leisurely afternoon with some more Quidler. The weather had pretty much cleared up by evening with the snow flurries and rain getting further apart.
Since checkout was Friday morning we started making preparations to leave by 10 AM. Neva’s packing is very organized with a place for everything and everything in its place.
We did manage to get a couple more Quidler games in before bedtime. During our visit we played a total of ten games, Gerri and I won four each and Neva won two.
Friday May 20
Departure day: Without rushing we were loaded up and ready to leave at about 9:30 AM. After fueling up it was on the road again. Neva packed snacks and drinks and only planned for a quick stop at the Petro station just east of Kingman. We also had snacks with us, but planned to stop in Williams to check out an RV park for a possible stop when we start out motor home trip in June.
We also wanted to stop at Hoover Dam and get pictures of the new bridge. The road approaching the dam from the east has all been redone and we thought we missed a turn to cross the dam itself instead of the new bridge. We crossed into Nevada via the bridge and followed the signs to the dam. Our first stop was a parking lot for walling onto the bridge. There is a plaza with information on the construction of the bridge there and along the walk up to the bridge. Unlike when driving across the bridge the walk offers spectacular views of the river and the downstream side of the dam. After taking pictures from the bridge we drove across the dam and got great views of the bridge. After crossing the dam we went on the way the road used to go. After topping the first hill we realized that we hadn’t missed a turn on the Arizona side. The road is closed and we had to go back across into Nevada to access US-93 on into Las Vegas.
Dana brought Glenna home during the afternoon so she was there when we got home
All in all a great trip, we visited family, saw new sights and had some interesting weather.
Now we have only one day to prepare for our annual trip to Carlsbad, CA. As usual Gerri has posted pictures of this trip on her Face Book page.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1902067004180.107876.1616875321
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
SEAN VISIT, April 2011
I am over amonth late in posting informationon this trip.
Thursday 4/28/2011
We saw Sean in September when we visited in Reno. We had not seen him since he was accepted in a treatment center in West Jordan, Utah. We planned and did drive to the Salt Lake City area on one day. Our route was from Las Vegas to Sandy, Utah on I-15, about 420 miles or seven hours driving.
We arrived in Sandy during the mid-afternoon and got checked into the Comfort Inn. We had not been north on I-15 past the Hurricane turnoff for several years and were surprised at the growth in the communities along the Interstate. After checking in to the motel I did a nearby cache, it was less than 400’ away. For supper we went to a Mexican restaurant that was recommended by the desk clerk. La Frontera was an ok restaurant but nothing to write home about.
Friday 4/29/2011
We had arraigned ahead of time to visit Sean on what would have normally been a school day. Sean had asked for Star Wars Lego sets. Beside the set of Lego we bought we had a set from Sean’s Aunt Kim to give him. I had also had bought a Dungeons and Dragons starter set that Sean had asked for and a starter set of Dungeons and Dragons type trading cards.
When we got up and started we had snow flurries and considerable snowfall on the way to the Copper Hills facility. Copper Hills is in West Jordan, Utah on the way to mountains on the west, so the elevation was higher than Sandy.
Visiting hours were 10 AM to 8 PM. We arrived before 10 and signed in and ready for our visit. Sean arrived with a staff member and a plastic bin of Lego’s. I hadn’t seen this many Lego’s since Curtis was Sean’s age. One disappointment was that on the way to Utah, I realized I had forgotten to bring the hard drive that runs my World of War Craft game. Sean doesn’t have internet access and hasn’t played WoW since coming to Utah, so he was disappointed.
Sean and I put together Lego’s and played some games he made up while Gerri checked out her FaceBook games. We had lunch with Sean in the dining room, pretty good food and good portions. Sean and I checked out the Dungeons and Dragons game. The board game was the genesis of on line games like World of War Craft, but much harder to play.
In mid afternoon Sean was scheduled for a family therapy session with his father, we were invited to sit in. The session started ok but when the therapist wanted Sean to tell his dad about disciplinary matters during the previous week, the session started to fall apart. Sean didn’t want to talk about it and said he just wanted to visit with us. The session was scheduled for an hour. We went back to the visitation area and Paul the therapist accompanied us to complete the time. Sean insisted that Paul leave and let him visit with us.
Sean and I tried to figure out the Dungeons and Dragons game. After some success we had some disagreement on the meaning of the instructions and he became quite irate.
At about 5PM we decided we all needed a break and declined to go to supper with Sean. We went to a nearby Joe’s Crab shack and had supper. After the disagreement over Dungeons and Dragons we went back to the Lego set for the rest of our visit. We left for the motel at about 8 PM. We had to take the trading card game with us. The facility wouldn’t allow trading games, we assumed because of possible disagreement on the value of trades. Sean also requested that we bring him some of his favorite candies.
After getting back to the Comfort Inn, I realized I was coming down with one of my notorious colds. I took what medications I had and hoped for the best.
Saturday 4/30/2011
My cold was worse when we got up and there were about 4” of snow on the car. We had planned to visit with Sean for about four hours, but had to settle for an hour or so including photos in the lobby of Copper Hills. We had stopped on the way to Copper Hils to fill his candy requests and he was excited to get the gummy worms and other candy.
I slept for most of the way back to Las Vegas and spent 4 more days in bed.
All in all we had a good visit with Sean, but realize there is a lot of hard work ahead for him. We are praying for progress backed up by more progress.
There are some photos of our visit in Gerri’s Face Book albums.
Thursday 4/28/2011
We saw Sean in September when we visited in Reno. We had not seen him since he was accepted in a treatment center in West Jordan, Utah. We planned and did drive to the Salt Lake City area on one day. Our route was from Las Vegas to Sandy, Utah on I-15, about 420 miles or seven hours driving.
We arrived in Sandy during the mid-afternoon and got checked into the Comfort Inn. We had not been north on I-15 past the Hurricane turnoff for several years and were surprised at the growth in the communities along the Interstate. After checking in to the motel I did a nearby cache, it was less than 400’ away. For supper we went to a Mexican restaurant that was recommended by the desk clerk. La Frontera was an ok restaurant but nothing to write home about.
Friday 4/29/2011
We had arraigned ahead of time to visit Sean on what would have normally been a school day. Sean had asked for Star Wars Lego sets. Beside the set of Lego we bought we had a set from Sean’s Aunt Kim to give him. I had also had bought a Dungeons and Dragons starter set that Sean had asked for and a starter set of Dungeons and Dragons type trading cards.
When we got up and started we had snow flurries and considerable snowfall on the way to the Copper Hills facility. Copper Hills is in West Jordan, Utah on the way to mountains on the west, so the elevation was higher than Sandy.
Visiting hours were 10 AM to 8 PM. We arrived before 10 and signed in and ready for our visit. Sean arrived with a staff member and a plastic bin of Lego’s. I hadn’t seen this many Lego’s since Curtis was Sean’s age. One disappointment was that on the way to Utah, I realized I had forgotten to bring the hard drive that runs my World of War Craft game. Sean doesn’t have internet access and hasn’t played WoW since coming to Utah, so he was disappointed.
Sean and I put together Lego’s and played some games he made up while Gerri checked out her FaceBook games. We had lunch with Sean in the dining room, pretty good food and good portions. Sean and I checked out the Dungeons and Dragons game. The board game was the genesis of on line games like World of War Craft, but much harder to play.
In mid afternoon Sean was scheduled for a family therapy session with his father, we were invited to sit in. The session started ok but when the therapist wanted Sean to tell his dad about disciplinary matters during the previous week, the session started to fall apart. Sean didn’t want to talk about it and said he just wanted to visit with us. The session was scheduled for an hour. We went back to the visitation area and Paul the therapist accompanied us to complete the time. Sean insisted that Paul leave and let him visit with us.
Sean and I tried to figure out the Dungeons and Dragons game. After some success we had some disagreement on the meaning of the instructions and he became quite irate.
At about 5PM we decided we all needed a break and declined to go to supper with Sean. We went to a nearby Joe’s Crab shack and had supper. After the disagreement over Dungeons and Dragons we went back to the Lego set for the rest of our visit. We left for the motel at about 8 PM. We had to take the trading card game with us. The facility wouldn’t allow trading games, we assumed because of possible disagreement on the value of trades. Sean also requested that we bring him some of his favorite candies.
After getting back to the Comfort Inn, I realized I was coming down with one of my notorious colds. I took what medications I had and hoped for the best.
Saturday 4/30/2011
My cold was worse when we got up and there were about 4” of snow on the car. We had planned to visit with Sean for about four hours, but had to settle for an hour or so including photos in the lobby of Copper Hills. We had stopped on the way to Copper Hils to fill his candy requests and he was excited to get the gummy worms and other candy.
I slept for most of the way back to Las Vegas and spent 4 more days in bed.
All in all we had a good visit with Sean, but realize there is a lot of hard work ahead for him. We are praying for progress backed up by more progress.
There are some photos of our visit in Gerri’s Face Book albums.
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