An Airplane Tale.....Post Views...31, 441

Al wishing mom a safe trip home from RHI to PDX on Tuesday afternoon.....

But first....the Rest of the Story......



Sunday morning...

fighting the traffic on the way to church....
wonderful service and happy visit with friends

Afternoon hospital visit with Lou

And late afternoon visit at Park Manor with Betty...

Then "home" to view 
Passengers and devour a McD's Southwest salad.  
(I've enjoyed several movies on the computer while roughing it without TV and WIFI.)

My home away from home compliments of Betty and family




Inside glance of Gram G's wheels to drive around Park Falls. 

Monday it was time to clean up my guest house, do laundry and spend the afternoon with several health conferences concerning Lou.

St. Anthony's school where I attended for 5 years.  Lou attended here as did our 7 children. 



Saying goodbye to the Flambeau River Bridge.....It is being torn down and replaced starting early May.

"My bridge" and I go back 61 years.  The connection between where I lived as a child and again through 45 years of adulthood and "downtown"; walked and drove over it hundreds of times.  Even have had dreams about it in recent years; often it was gone except for the left sidewalk.  People would be swimming in the river below. I would be carefully walking so not to fall in.    

Glad I won't be around now through late fall.  Drivers will have to detour 5 miles from east side to west side of town. 
  
Subway lunch with Al and caregiver Lisa before heading to airport on Tuesday.

I've passed this eagle's nest on a rural road many times over the years.  This time it is housing a mother eagle (I presume).  

On the 75 mile drive to Rhinelander airport.





 And NOW an Airplane Tale....departing from Rhinelander,WI airport at 3:40 for Minneapolis and on to PDX, Portland, Oregon. Well, we taxied out to the tarmac. The pilot announced we needed to sit there for 30 minutes due to heavy traffic in MSP.  There goes my one hour layover time.   

busy airstrip

leaving the land of lakes, trees and farms...



So as we are approaching MSP I check my boarding pass to PDX to see what gate it leaves from....
 my pass says PHOENIX!  We arrive at 5 PM and the PORTLAND flight leaves at 6.
I don't have a boarding pass.....
It takes me about 15 minutes to walk the moving walkways from the incoming flight to the shuttle to take me across the airport. Once there, fortunately, a motor cart is parked nearby.  I tell him my predicament and what gate I need.  He tells me to jump on and hold tight.  The service desk is on our 1 mile plus ride.  He'll stop and I can explain my problem. Off we go, the kind driver all the while emphatically exclaiming we just can't trust anyone these days, on and on.  As we arrive at the service desk  Burt calls and is telling me to proceed to the gate, that he got the ticket exchanged.  While I am listening to him with my right ear, the ladies at the desk are declaring I will NOT get on this flight, etc; that I have to do this and this and this.  I quickly wave goodbye to them and jump back on the cart.  As we hurry on my trusty driver tells me to go right away to the person in the red jacket, that he will be able to help me the quickest. He gets me near the gate before he needs to turn around and go back.  At the gate, the attendants were already boarding passengers.  I showed one my PHX pass and explained I was just re-issued a pass to PDX via computer.  They were able to see the new one and printed it out.  They said my luggage had made this plane.  In a few minutes I also was boarding my homeward flight.  All this actually passed quite orderly and quickly, considering the huge dilemma it was.
Here is the family text story when I contacted Burt for help as the RHI plane was taxing to the gate in MSP.....
(We already had a group message going for Lou updates.)   

We had played Balderdash over Easter weekend and Burt kept voting for my made up answers...
















 It was a beautiful plane, roomy.  At least for me and the lady in the window seat. We had an empty seat between us.    


Free movies.  I watched
 Hacksaw Ridge.
It is a violent movie, but a wonderful true story of Desmond Doss, a medic conscientious objector during WWII, who saved 75 wounded soldiers. 

Once arriving in Portland, I made my way to baggage claim and watched as all the other passengers retrieved their luggage. No suitcase for me.  At their service desk they were able to confirm it had gone to Phoenix, but assured me it would be delivered to my home by later in the next day.  Sure enough about 6:45 PM the next day I received it.  

And now time to reconnect with my PNW life!

This has been a good 4 "airplane tale" days in the life of Grandma G.

"Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,your faithfulness to the skies.  Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals."  (Psalm 36: 5 & 6)

Hospital Visit....Post Views..31,357

     I'm sitting in Lou's hospital room on Saturday evening, April 22.  I was scheduled to fly home last Tuesday, but Lou was taken to the hospital on that day.  He was released on Thursday because he was looking good and seeming to respond to the medicine.  On Thursday he was "flying high"....talkative, wanting to get out of bed, wanting to eat and did eat.  But he didn't sleep for 2 days.  Sat. morning he accidentally pulled out his feeding tube and back to the hospital he went.  We tried to explain his weird behavior, but they kept finding excuses.  Finally a doctor mentioned they had given him steroids during his first visit.  No one had told us. Duh.... Suddenly it all made sense, but he was still sick and needed to stay.  

     I had rescheduled to fly out this morning but was able to get an exchange flight a few days from now.  Hopefully I'll be heading home soon.  

 Looking hopeful on his first visit.    

Back home "flying high"






Getting some rest on his second hospital stay



How to look like an 
Easter egg...
just a precaution 
while visiting Lou

Watching a movie about 
Stephen Hawking while hanging out at the hospital.

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A bit of home history.....remember records?
    They are making a comeback....well record players are....




"The kids room"
Hand prints of family members
all over the walls....



Sorting through picture boxes
Figuring what to send out to
Vancouver
Gram G about 12 years 
My favorite dress....

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A sunny Friday afternoon to buzz around in my red truck to go visit a favorite friend of mine.  

The first store I shopped in when coming to Wisconsin 61 years ago.  We kids rode 5 miles into town standing on the side of Uncle Mike's tractor...





Driving down the road to Diego's house.




Diego was my piano and guitar student when he was young and not advanced in his disease. He was born with a condition that causes tumors to grow in his soft tissue. He is almost 20 years old and has a brilliant mind.
A chair lift so he can be upright.


View from his living room.

He went on a hunting trip and shot his own game.

Diego and family have visited the PNW a number of years of go. They hope to drive out this summer to visit again.  I eagerly look forward to that!

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A Saturday afternoon Captain Nemo  and deepfry with son, Al!!

Messy and yummy sub!  So yummy it brought on a 3 hour nap!!

This has been a good 6 "hospital visit" days in the life of Grandma G.

"Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."  (Psalm 37: 3 & 4)