Monday, April 27, 2015 – Wildwood, Florida

 

I was a good day.

Kevin, the mechanic was out to look at our awning first thing in the morning, as promised.  He pushed the button and the awning worked.  Andy and I stared at each other dumbfounded. I know four or five guys at Key RV who will tell him it does not work.  Andy said the awning will go out, but won’t come back in.  Kevin said he would check it out.

We hopped into the car and headed to Gainesville for Andy’s cancer checkup. It is about an hour north on I-75 from Wildwood. The appointment for the CT scan was for 1100, but we got there at 0930.  Andy announced to the receptionist, “I’m early”. They must not have had any other appointments at that hour because they called him in soon after we sat down. The CT scan only takes a few minutes and we were out of there before 1000. Andy’s plan worked out well as we had plenty of time before the next appointment.

We decided to take a short walk before getting back in the car. Then we drove to Alachua to Conestogas Restaurant for lunch. We took another walk up and down Main Street first. Then we sat down to the best hamburgers I have ever eaten.  They set bowls of roasted peanuts on the tables and I ate half of those before the meals were served.  What with the half-pound hamburger, sweet potato fries, and two glasses of Dr. Pepper, I was stuffed.  But I still kept eating the peanuts.

It’s a good day when you get a Conestogas’ hamburger.

Then, it was back to Gainesville to the Shands Cancer Center for Andy’s checkup with Dr. Mendenhall at 1330.  When Nurse Terry came out to the waiting area to call Andy in, she said she still remembers how awful the treatment was for Andy in 2012. He was walking around like a zombie back then. He looks and feels so good now compared to those dreadful days.

Dr. Mendenhall stuck the tube up Andy’s nose to have a look at the base of his tongue. Poor Andy hates that so much. Despite his best efforts, Dr. Bill could not find any cancer. I did not cry this time when he made the announcement.  I am accustomed to the idea now, after two-and-a-half years. Still, our spirits were up and our step was lighter as we walked from the cancer center to the College of Dentistry.

It’s a good day when you are declared cancer free.

Dr. Cha inspected Andy’s teeth.  He has been very conscientious about brushing, flossing, and  doing the fluoride treatment every night.  She did not find any problems. Dr. Cha is a delight and after hearing our praises, she wrote down the name Conestogas and said she was going to get one of those hamburgers this weekend.

It’s a good day when you are not worrying about your teeth falling out or your jaw bone rotting off due to radiation damage.

The drive back to Wildwood was uneventful.  Our motorhome was still at the service bay.  As we walked over to see how the job was going, someone knocked on the front window of their motorhome as we walked by.  It was Bill and Dawn Laatz, who had been two lots down from us at Key RV in Marathon! We chatted for a bit and they invited us to stop in their place in Oakland, Michigan this summer.  They said they have 33 acres and two motorhome hookups.

It’s a good day when you get an invitation to visit someone with a full RV hookup!

Mechanic Kevin was just finishing when we got to Sao. He said he did end up changing the motor for the awning.  Andy just KNEW there was a problem with the motor. Kevin drove Sao back to our site in the campground.  We will pay our bill in the morning and then be on our way, right on schedule. We should be back in Big Creek on Wednesday.

It’s a good day when all the needed repairs are done in one day.  This is the first time that has happened for us at Alliance. I don’t think we’ve ever been out of here in less than a week in the past.

Yes, it was a good day. And, I didn’t take a single picture.  I didn’t even take the camera with me, but did get four and a half miles on the pedometer.