Florida Nov 2019 to June 2020

 

Well, here it is, two years since my last post.   I'm thinking about how life has changed so dramatically and what I plan to do for the future.  First, I'll catch you up to date. 

If you remember, I was in Spain when I accepted the time had come to have my knee replaced. My mother and brother live in Florida, so I decided to stay with my mom while I recuperated. She lives in Cocoa while my brother Larry lives on nearby Merritt Island. I actually grew up near West Palm Beach and I always said I would never want to live in the state permanently for multiple reasons. It's miserably hot in the summer, the overall landscaping is completely flat, with an over-abundance of scrubby pines and palm trees. I much prefer lush green terrain with mountains and lakes. Florida does have plenty of lakes, but you have to contend with the ever-present alligators and brain-eating amoebas. What I will say, however, it is a great place to be in the winter for two reasons: the weather and the birds. A lot of birds migrate here for the warmer weather and the variety is spectacular.

I arrived back in the US in late November of 2019. Both my brother and I are retired Air Force and he told me how impressed he was with the Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in Orlando, so I went to check it out. I had to first establish myself with a primary care physician and the first meeting did not go well, at all! I told her my only reason for being there, both at the hospital and even in the US, was to have my knee replaced. I went over the long history of injury, pain, and instability. I mentioned several times that the last 3 or 4 orthopedists I had seen all told me a knee replacement was inevitable and fast approaching. I brought x-rays and MRIs. Her response? She was giving me a referral to the diet clinic. She decided, with no physical exam or even a current x-ray, that I was simply fat. If, after losing 50 lbs, my knee still hurt, she would give me a referral. Now don't get me wrong, I freely admit I'm overweight. Losing 50 lbs would undoubtedly relieve some of the pain. It would, however, do nothing for the instability, nor would it grow back the missing cartilage or meniscus. And, HELLO! If I could lose 50 lbs, I would have done so long ago!! In fact, in the last year, I had managed to lose close to 25 lbs, and by the way, also in the last year, my knee has gone from bad to much worse! It was now locking up and giving out, causing me at one point to fall down a flight of stairs. And no, that 25lbs didn't count toward the 50lbs. She did agree to send me for a new x-ray. I figured after she saw that she would give me the referral. Nope, she said it only showed mild to moderate arthritis, no orthopedist needed. Hello patient advocate..... Well, that changed her tune immensely! She emailed me the next day with a profuse apology, saying she thought her intern did a physical exam, blah, blah, blah; she issued the referral immediately. The orthopedist took one look at the same x-ray and scheduled me for surgery. She said the other one can wait, but it’s coming too. Because they were so backed up, my surgery wasn't scheduled until 26 Feb 2020.

                

While waiting for my knee replacement surgery, I joined a few Meetup groups; hiking, birding, and some just social. I met several really cool people and passed the winter doing some easy hiking, lots of bird watching, and more than a few dinners out, as that was my mom’s favorite pastime.  She and I got along much better than anticipated and we had a lot of fun living together.

                 
It was also nice being close to my brother and getting to know my niece Jasmine and nephew Jack. My nephew was very quiet and seemed to have no interest in going on adventures with me, but Jasmine and I went on several outings.  She was a bit shy at first but eventually opened up and we had some really great conversations.  It was very interesting to hear her 17-year-old take on many of the current events.  She expressed an interest in travel and we made a few tentative plans for future trips when she graduates from high school this year and maybe some summer trips once she starts college. 

             
We had regular Sunday family dinners that were fun for all of us, I think.  I turned my mom onto Thai food several years ago, or at least to Pad Thai.  Although my brother was married to a Filipina and liked her cooking and Asian food in general, for some reason he had never tried Thai.  I ordered enough food from a local restaurant to feed an army, I wanted everyone to try several different dishes. The bad news was that everyone just tried one dish each.  The good news, I mostly got food I liked, so I had the rest all to myself and didn’t have to cook for several days.  Larry recently told me that he has developed quite a liking to whatever dish he tried, so I guess it wasn’t a total failure.  

              
So, I figured it was 3 months till the surgery, maybe 3-4 months after for rehab. That meant I could leave in May or June.  I decided to get an RV and spend the summer traveling around Canada. I hoped to make it to Alaska in the fall, then work my way back down the west coast as cold weather chased me south. After that, I would head to Panama, the Galapagos, then tour South America.  I had spent the past few years traveling the world but had only visited Canada 2 or 3 times and never South America.  

If you have read my early blog posts, you will know that I spent 3 or 4 years traveling the country in a 34 ft 5th wheel and building houses for Habitat for Humanity. This time, I planned on exploring the wilder areas of North America, so I needed something a bit smaller. I decided on a 27 ft camper, a Tracer Air. Big enough to live in, but small enough for smaller backcountry sites. 

               
February finally rolls around, and the surgery went very well; so well, in fact, they released me less than 24 hours later. I had no issue and was up and around and already started light knee exercises. The following week I had two physical therapy appointments where they expanded my workouts.

                       
And then COVID-19 hit...

 

Obviously, we had been watching the news and knew a lockdown was coming. I wouldn't exactly say hoarding or doomsday prepping, but we definitely wanted to stock up on enough food that we wouldn't have to be out and about. We found a great meat supplier and filled my mom’s extra freezer as well as my brother's. We also filled up both pantries to overflowing. It turns out purchasing all that meat was a great idea, the prices soon skyrocketed, at least in our area. 

I thought traveling the world would be off the table for the next year or two, but I figured I could still move around in my camper, as living in it would be the same as isolating at home, just that my home could be in different places. I found a small RV park 5 minutes from my mom and moved in as soon as I could walk unaided and navigate the steps. It was really nice to have my own place again, although it was pretty small. During the lockdown, I did check on my mom every few days. She's older, but not in terrible health. But still, it was nice for both of us to have a bit of company. Plus of course, she had all my food, it’s not like I could store much in my tiny freezer. I do have one funny story. Florida never implemented a strict stay-at-home order, but we only went to the grocery store for needed fresh items. My mom discovered a local store that had special times for the elderly and took advantage when she needed milk, bread, etc. In reality, I think she just wanted to get out. Remember there was a toilet paper shortage... She went in one morning and there was a lone 8 pack of toilet paper, so she grabbed it. She noticed someone had written 'do not take' in black sharpie. She thought she would just see what happened at the checkout. They rang it up and never said a word. She gleefully texted my brother and me about her great score. When I went over to her house the next time, there it was, among the 8 or 10 packs she already had. OK, maybe she was hoarding toilet paper. Anyway, that package was COVERED in black sharpie 'DO NOT TAKE' 'SAVE FOR ASH' 'NOT FOR SALE'. Yup, my mom stole Ash's toilet paper. 

June rolled around and I thought it was OK to travel again, a least on a limited basis. I was in several RV Facebook groups so it was possible to keep up with which states were open, and which campgrounds allowed campers. The Canadian border was still closed, so I decided to head north, take my time, and hope it would open eventually. I thought at least I'll get to explore more of the New England states.  Since I was more interested in exploring the landscapes than tourist attractions, I figured it would be easy enough to avoid other people.   The 2-week mandatory quarantine in several states along the way wouldn't be a problem since I was completely self-contained. I said goodbye to my family and packed up. I was excited to be back on the road.