After chemo we hooked up the Airstream and headed north to Lake Tawakoni (Tah-WAH-kuh-nee). It’s near Point Texas, east of Dallas, about 3.5 hours from our house. Looks like a nice, quiet place to sit for a week. Tim will be working from the trailer, or the nearest Panera Bread, and I will be sipping tea while doing whatever it is that I do. 🤪🤪
The hook-up went much smoother than we expected. We timed it, and from start to finish we were ready to leave the storage unit in less than 45 minutes. That included hosing down the rig and putting air in the tires, which we don’t always do. This storage facility has everything from a dump station to air and water.
One tank of gas made it all the way up, but we didn’t get as good of gas mileage as we had hoped. This truck does tow better than the Ram, though, which is why we traded in the first place.
Luckily, a spot was open right on the lake. It’s idyllic. Big trees will block the heat and separate us from other guests. We have a great view of the sunset. Tim backed into the camping spot like a pro. 🤩🤩 We had to use our levelers for the first time in a while.
Just after sunset.
Unhitching the trailer and setting up camp also went pretty smoothly, with only one tiny hiccup. We were getting a little tired by this point as it was already dinnertime, and we had a long day. He hurt his hand when he was taking off the first sway bar. 😳😳🙄 I think he was trying to hurry the process along as we were getting hungry, and he took it off out of order. His hand got caught between the propane tank cover and the tool, and of course this is the one time he wasn’t wearing his gloves. I had to push the tank cover over to get it unstuck. This resulted in some fairly good scrapes on his hand and on the tank cover, but fortunately nothing is broken. There were a few tense moments that nearly cost us our religion. 😳🤪
We had spaghetti for dinner, which is when we discovered one of the propane tanks is empty. (The stove wouldn’t light.) Hopefully the other tank will last the whole week, but we may need to buy more. Also, I forgot to turn on the fridge before we left 🙄, so the cold food will need to stay in the cooler until morning.
We finished just in time to see the sunset and go for a walk around the park. Regardless of the troubles and trials we face, we are still very much in love and enjoy the time we have together. Thirty-seven years of marriage have taught us a thing or two about learning how to communicate, manage conflict, say “I’m sorry,” and forgive each other. This is the value of putting the Lord first in our marriage.
It’s a great day to be alive!
À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!
I’ve never seen a bear climb a pole before. Have you? Before you get worried that we were in danger, we were watching this unfold from the viewing deck at the North American Bear Center in Ely Minnesota, one of the intentional stops we made along our motorcycle path. Somewhere in the middle of Superior National Forest is a home to some rescued black bears, and some wild ones as well. We saw a squirrel do this just a few minutes earlier, but much faster 😂😂. It’s worth the 23 seconds to watch…
I learned a lot about black bears. For example, they don’t attack humans. They might chuff and stomp and throatily moan, but they do not growl (wolf sound effects are dubbed in for the movies). And they even have a white coat in some parts, unrelated to the polar bear and, no, they are not albinos. Lots of things to read in this place. The bear in the video is Holly. She is the matriarch of the bears at the Center.
Riding to the HOG rally, Duluth MI, our last day.
For the past decade we have looked forward to a big ride every summer. Some years we have gone on more than one trip. At the end of the ride we immediately began planning our next one. Last year we rode two bikes to Colorado, Lake Michigan, and Tennessee on three separate trips.
In December we sold the bikes.
We didn’t experience any remorse when we sold the bikes. We had ridden in all 48 states on two wheels. We’ve experienced rain, heat, hail, perfect days and not-so-perfect days, break-downs and bumps in the road that nearly fling you off your seat. We’ve seen a lot of sites. After our Tennessee trip, we didn’t immediately start planning another trip like we had in the past. 🤷♀️🤷♀️
After two days of riding home in the cold rain (insert claps of thunder sounds), perhaps we were burned out. Or maybe we just felt like we had accomplished our goal. Our bucket list was complete. In all reality, we aren’t really sure why, but we decided to do something different.
We plan to travel more using our Airstream. And, we will rent a Harley in far away places, where we can’t ride to (or don’t want to take the extra days to ride to). We will likely buy one someday in the near future.
Some people might wonder what this has to do with metastatic breast cancer. After all, that’s the purpose of my blog. It’s about livingwith metastatic breast cancer. We decided a long time ago we would not let life pass us by. We will continue to live life to the fullest as long as I have breath and energy to do so. We are taking John 10:10 literally, embracing the abundant life Jesus has given us.
The Ride. When they announced the national HOG touring rally was going around Lake Superior, we signed up as soon as registration opened. It’s a follow-up to the Lake Michigan tour we went on last year. It’s fun meeting up with other HOG enthusiasts as well as some executives who keep Harley-Davidson in check. We mapped out our route, and found the nearest dealership to rent a bike. We joined Eagle Rider to save on the rental cost.
Coop, meet our ride for the week! I promise she isn’t snubbing you, she’s just sad she can’t go along for the ride. 🤪😂
We rented the gunmetal gray Road Glide Limited pictured above from Harley-Davidson of Madison (Wisconsin). That’s a wonderful dealership. They stored our car for us as well. They are super nice and helpful people there. Alissa helped us with the rental, and another worker also helped connect Tim’s phone to bluetooth.
A sales guy tried real hard to sell Tim the CVO when we came back through. Tempting!! 😁
Because we were renting, we could not take the bike into Canada. That was a bummer, as it was part of the reason we chose this rally. I suppose we could have just tried it, but Eagle Rider wouldn’t cover any costs if there was an accident. Better not to risk it. We met the rally in Marquette Michigan, then went on an adventure of our own. They headed east to circle the lake counter-clockwise. We headed west and planned to meet them in Duluth.
The weather was beautiful from Madison to Marquette. The next day we rode west. Saw another Wisconsin sign, through Duluth, and on to International Falls through the national forest. Got rained on that day, but we did make it all the way to Duluth without getting wet.
Sad News. On the way to International Falls we got a call from Tim’s brother and sister. We were on a back road and had to find a place to pull over. His mom fell asleep with a cigarette in her mouth, while hooked up to her oxygen. She burned her face and tongue pretty badly. We stayed on course as they said Hospice was taking care of her. (She was already on home Hospice and was not given long to live.) We had planned to stop by on the way back through, and they thought she would be okay in a few days.
The next day we were on our way to Grand Portage Minnesota (by the Canadian border) when we got the call that his mom had passed away. I think this was just about the time we stopped at the Bear Center. Apparently, Hospice transported her to a Hospice House where they planned to care for her a few days. They gave her some morphine, and less than an hour later she was gone. It was July 27, 2022. She was 77 years old.
We have since learned the smoke inhalation (combined with her COPD and heart problems) lead to her death. They ruled it an accident. It’s a sad and traumatic way to die. She may have lived a few weeks longer had she not had the accident, but we are comforted by the fact that she was ready to go. She has been ready for a while now.
We were also happy we got to see her and spend some time with her on the way up. We played Yahtzee, had lunch together (she ate a whole meal with dessert), and chatted on the front porch. She talked about meeting Bill in heaven soon. Our last memories of her were positive, and we felt encouraged. She was a wonderful mother-in-law, and I will miss her.
Of course, this news put a bit of a damper on our motorcycle trip. We decided to cancel the last leg and head to his mom’s house from Duluth so Tim could meet with the family regarding arrangements. Canada is a long way up there! We had to return the motorcycle, so it wasn’t exactly a straight path. It would take us three days from the time we left Grand Portage.
We met with his siblings on Ruth Ann’s porch Sunday afternoon (yesterday), and went over the memorial and burial arrangements. It’s always interesting when family gets together 🙄.
Left to Right: Rick, Deidre, Deborah, Tim
Ruth Ann wanted to be cremated, which is probably a good thing given her condition at death. The coroner held her body to do their investigation, and finally released the death certificate this morning. On our way out of town, we met with the probate office, the funeral home, went by the cemetery, and stopped by the house to pick up some paperwork. We said our final good-byes (see you in a couple of weeks) to his siblings, then we headed home. We drove straight through.
Her memorial (celebration of life) will be in two weeks. Peachtree Village in Farmington Arkansas has graciously offered their facility, and they will provide food as well. Ruth Ann worked there for a while, and they loved her. Everyone did! Her memorial will be held on Sunday, August 14 2022 at 2:00 PM. After that we will move to Lincoln Cemetery for the internment of her ashes.
You never know how someone is going to die. I was told 6-9 months when I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2016, and I’m still here. One of my breast friends was deemed cancer free and she died in an accident. Tim’s mom was told 6 months, then she died from an accident. Tim’s dad also died from unexpected, strange circumstances back in 2003. You never know. We just live this little mist called life to the fullest every day, trusting God for the outcome–whatever that may be.
What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears.
James 4:14 (CEV)
Memories. It seems a bit odd to be posting a blog about fun and sadness all at the same time. But that’s the way life is sometimes. It’s filled with ups and downs. The line from Forrest Gump is so true…Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.
If you’re my FaceBook friend, you can see a bunch of photos from our motorcycle ride. It’s hard to pick just a few, as there are so many photos and videos to choose from. Here are some of my favorite moments from our trip.
Paris…Texas that is!
We’ve decided to start visiting all the Airstream Dealers. Most of them have no inventory right now.Finally got to go there. See Tim disappearing into the cornfields?!Loved laying on the soft, northern grass beneath the large shade trees.That was a beautiful day for a ride! Welcome to the Rally. Here’s your swag.No rain to Duluth, then it hit! 😫😭 We stayed in Ranier, which is a quaint port town with an award-winning hotel just outside of International Falls. Another beautiful day for a ride! We did get spit on a few times, but missed the deluge.Six miles from Canada! We took a walk and it was much longer than we anticipated!Windy! See the flags? Enjoy the ride!!We could have gotten a challenge coin here! Totally missed it. 😫This was a beautiful stop. Two lighthouses at one location!
À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!
This time it was Tim. He was away from me for several days, so we don’t think he caught it from me. I was no longer having symptoms.
We had our last day of worship at Parkgate Community Church on July 10th, and they gave us a nice reception to say thanks for the work we’ve done over the past nine and a half months. Tim was their Interim Pastor; I helped with worship and kiddos, as well as revising the bylaws. Their new pastor starts next week.
We packed up our Airstream on Monday July 11th and put her in storage. We’ve been living there half-weeks while Tim was Interim pastoring in Pasadena. Everything seemed to be going well until Tim started feeling a little under the weather later that night. He tested positive for Covid the following day. I tested negative.
No RV to quarantine to this time and I really didn’t want to go to a hotel. So we set up a barrier between us and steered clear of each other until he got better. He had congestion, cough, and fatigue for about a week. Then he had fever blisters that lasted another week. No kissing! 🤪😳😂😭
We were supposed to leave on our big trip Wednesday, so we had to make some last minute cancellations. Our original plan was to stop over and see his mom in Arkansas, then drive northeast to Villanova for our research residency, head west to Wisconsin and ride a rental bike in the Lake Superior Touring Rally, then head home. That all changed.
We postponed the visit with his mom and ended up doing our residency by Zoom (three days of listening to research projects). We weren’t the only ones who were recovering from Covid, or feared being in person, or for whatever reason didn’t want to make the trip. They opened up the option to everyone, which was super kind of them. About half the cohort was on Zoom.
Tim was feeling much better by the time his quarantine had ended, just in time for us to make the second half of the trip. The bike rental was non-refundable, so we really didn’t want to cancel that one if at all possible. We drove the Mini Cooper (“Coop”) to Arkansas where we visited with his mom, then on up to Madison Wisconsin where we picked up the bike and rode to Marquette Michigan for the start of the rally. The next day we rode to Minnesota where we stayed overnight in International Falls and then on to Grand Portage. Back to Duluth to catch up with the rally. We cut the trip short when we heard about Tim’s mom passing. More on that in the next blog.
Not everyone who has cancer is as fortunate as me. My treatment is keeping the breast cancer at bay. While I still have problems with neuropathy, brain fog, and fatigue (to name a few), living with metastatic breast cancer doesn’t mean I have to sit on the couch and watch television all day. Although it is tempting at times! It is tempting to use cancer as my excuse for doing nothing. Sometimes I do rest, purposefully.
I recently joined a class “Active Living After Cancer,” as a boost to my motivation to stay active. It was really hard right after surgery, and during Covid, but now I’m ready to get back into it. I am reminded of Paul’s words in his second letter to the Corinthians; these are “light and momentary trials.” We are still living life to the fullest.
On our motorcycle trip we looked for famous landmarks, took long walks in the evenings, and ate the local cuisine. In the daytime I used my muscles to stay on the bike. (Check out my next blog for more pictures from our motorcycle trip.) We fought the rain and cold, looked for healthy food options (always followed up by an ice cream of some sort 🤪), and enjoyed hot showers after every day’s ride.
Traveling or not, we often find ourselves sitting in a Panera Bread while working on ideas for future books, professional efforts, writing children’s books, or whatever job Tim has going at the time. I’d say we are pretty active! Nope..we won’t let this darn pandemic get the best of us.
À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!
Whew! Another year is gone, and a New Year has come. 2021 seemed to fly by like a bullet train, especially after the snail’s pace with which we met 2020. We all thought it would be a better year. We had high hopes for 2021. Somehow we thought it would rush in like Superman and save the day.
Well, the pandemic stuck around and even brought some nasty variants. It did seem to have some rough patches, but as I looked back through the year I discovered 21 milestones/achievements/new experiences. Some of it is personal, and some of it we did as a team. Here is my 2021 year in review…
Read the whole Bible using a Bible Plan on YouVersion. At times I fell behind, but I managed to catch up and I DID IT!
Lost some weight–about eleven pounds this year.
Finished in the top tier on Duolingo, and completed a 602 day streak (learning French).
Walked 203 miles (that we counted).
Spent about 40+ nights in the Airstream: north Texas (Grapevine) at the AS workshop, Bridgeport, Lake Whitney, west Texas (Odessa), south Texas (Donna), and the Jetstream RV Resort at NASA, (south Houston).
Took three long trips on my motorcycle, and a fourth on the back of Tim’s. Earned my 100,000 mile patch. Rode over 10,000 miles through 23 states this year alone. We have accomplished our domestic motorcycle bucket list. Time to do some fly and rides!
Served as a CNS officer (editor).
Painted feature walls and upgraded our shower. Turned our guest room into a playroom for the grandchildren. Sold our bikes and reclaimed our garage.
Awarded a research fellowship and attended our first residency at Villanova University.
Bought a Mini Cooper, then traded and upsized to the Countryman.
Our fifth grand baby Mikayla was born! We also learned we are expecting #6! Spent a lot of precious time with the grandkids last year.
Tested positive for Covid-19, Omicron variant. Yucky stuff!
Sat in a DeLorean time machine!
Fostered and rescued a dog.
Tim started a new job, and ended his work with TXM.
Published my first children’s book. We published a second book for sermon notes as well.
Wrote a few songs.
Cooked some new meals.
Watched a Carolina Wren raise her babies.
Completed our first Escape Room.
Big SNOW in Conroe that lasted a whole week in February.
I suppose I could add one more…stayed alive. I have made it to the five year mark since my metastatic breast cancer diagnosis, a day many professionals didn’t think we would see. I’ve already blogged about that, but it is certainly a milestone!
Our theme word for 2022 is “simplify.” We have already begun looking at the calendar and making plans for the new year. I am hopeful this year will be better than the last two. However, looking back on all we have experienced in 2021, I can’t complain.
Forget what happened before…I’m making a new thing.
No, I’m not talking about the current cancel culture, although that would be a lively blog I’m sure. I’m writing about my infusion, which was supposed to take place today.
We had some wicked snow storms in Texas last week. It is the worse I’ve ever seen it. We got several inches and built a snowman! The snow stayed on the ground all week. MD Anderson was closed the entire week.
I can only assume they have been a bit behind on paperwork. I was caught in the cracks as my yearly pre-authorization was up and needed to be renewed. They tried to get the pre-authorization from my insurance company, but could not get it in time for treatment. We are leaving on a trip, so we won’t be able to get it until March. Then we have to reload…
It is what it is. It will be six weeks between treatments, but I feel fine. So I am not worried.
We did it! We purchased a new recreational vehicle/RV. It’s a 2021 Airstream International 30RB-Twin to be exact. We are moving toward a new ministry adventure and it will be exactly that. I can’t wait to share the details of the ministry in a later blog, but for now I’ll share some details of the Airstream. Isn’t she a beaut?!
We pulled it home from DFW Airstream in Ft. Worth today, after signing the papers and doing the walk through. It’s intense folks! Lots of learning to do. A diesel would have pulled a bit smoother, but our RAM 1500 did just fine.
We were full-timers in a fifth wheel with our daughter and little dog back in 2012, just before I was diagnosed with breast cancer the first time (that’s the reason we came off the road). We have a working knowledge of the RV set-up, but it’s amazing how much you forget after eight years. Plus the Airstream has just a few differences compared to what we had before.
We knew we didn’t want another fifth wheel, so we were debating between a diesel pusher and a travel trailer. Lots and lots of reasons why we decided to go with an Airstream related to health, overall value, and what is available in the market right now. The RV industry is craaazzzzyyy! We had a hard time finding a rig, and when we did it was sold before we could get to Dallas. They had another one en route and since we had seen the inside of the other one we snatched it up. If we hadn’t, it would have been February before we could get one.
It’s hard to get Tim to do a video, but we made this brief video of us taking it home. Tensions were high as we had just pulled away from the dealership and it was a challenge getting out of there!
And here’s a silly video of the inside tour. I’m so glad we are going to be able to take trips together and do ministry together. More on that to come!
