It has been a week. Highs, lows, and all in between. Bruce had his eye removed last Wednesday. His surgery went well, he is adapting and recovering well, and today we found out that the tumor in the eye was not cancerous. That is a win! Now we just have to maintain the glaucoma in his left eye with drops, and hopefully he has a few years left with us. Picking him up Wednesday was a bit emotional for all of us. He was still feeling the effects of the anesthesia, so we had to carry him into the house, and carry him out to go to the bathroom. Thursday when he woke up, he was not much better. He was lacking energy, didn't want to move, wasn't really eating, but we made him move around and eat. We left Thursday afternoon for Wyoming; Bruce obviously came with us. He did well in the car ride, and you could tell he was seeing things better out of his left eye, but his depth perception is definitely a challenge.
Our drive to Wyoming was an interesting one. We had to take the I-80 which is wide open plains with high wind warnings all the way. The wind warnings were 75+ miles per hour. I drove for about four hours through the winds, my hands cramping the entire time I was gripping so tightly. There were three tractor trailers that were on their side from being blown over.The entire time I was thinking "thank god we are not towing". We would have had to have pulled off somewhere and waited it out, if that is possible. Come to find out, the I-80 is the route we will need to take to get to Utah next month. I have an entire month to overthink and worry. Yay!
We got to our destination in Wyoming in really good time despite the winds against us. Bruce went into the house, bumping into things left and right (mostly right), but adapted for the most part. We were greeted with adorable signs on our room doors, and food. Really, really good food.
Friday, the girls went into Pinedale to this great coffee shop where I got my second (and third) ever design on my latte! We also went to a donut shop that made fresh donuts and you pick your toppings. We tried four different flavors, but our favorite was the London Fog. Super yummy. While we had our coffee/tea and donuts we played a few hands of scat. I don't remember who won, but it was fun. After we had our sustenance, we went to the local thrift store. Alanna and I found super cool ski jackets, and two men's button up shirts. Guess how much. Go ahead, guess. You're wrong. The jackets were five dollars each, and the shirts were two dollars and fifty cents each! Yes, I made you read those numbers. We went back, picked up the men, and we went into Jackson. We heard the night before how beautiful the mountains are, and how the drive into Jackson is breathtaking, and so is the drive back out of it. We have to take their word for it, because it was cloudy, and we didn't see any mountains. We may or may not have called Mimi and Bill liars. Either way, Jackson was a cute place, and we had a good time grabbing some drinks and going to shops. On the drive back we saw some deer and more Elk herds, but NO MOOSE. We have heard stories and been sent pictures of all the Moose in Pinedale, yet to see one though.
The men went skiing Saturday. It was opening day at the local ski resort which was 10 miles from their house. The women stayed back and got haircuts, ran some errands, went to the highest point in Pinedale, the garbage dump, and then met the men at the ski hill.
Before we left the house, I took Bruce out to go to the bathroom, then on his way back up the stairs his eyesight failed him, and he fell over the stairs. He did not get hurt, but I was pretty shaken up. We are all on a learning curve with this, so we have to be extra cautious. Bruce was just doing so good that I didn't think he would have an issue with the stairway. We barricaded the stairs when we left so he wouldn't be able to go up and down without someone being there. We left the ski resort and ran into town to get some more donuts because Brandon didn't get a chance to have any the day before, then headed home to await the men coming home. Mimi made my great grandmas ravioli for dinner, with homemade sauce, and black truffle focaccia. I don't know how I didn't come home 15 pounds heavier, but I'm glad I didn't. After dinner we went to a local boutique that was having a sip and shop. Adorable place, with really cute items. Alanna got a kit to make a gingerbread house and enter it into a contest. She did a really great job on it!
Our drive home was much nicer than our drive to Wyoming with winds only around 60 miles per hour. We made great time, and we were home before 4pm! Monday came and went. Bruce continues to improve every day, but he did get excited when we came home and missed the steps out of the RV. Just another thing we have to watch out for with his lack of depth perception on top of the fact that it was dark out.
Tuesday started like any other day. Working, then running an errand, then going to the gym, then getting back into the truck to have our Tuesday go down the drain. Our truck had an emissions code on the dashboard that also said we had 175 miles until our speed was maxed at 65mph. We weren't sure what this meant, so we went to O'Reilly to use their machine to read the code. It didn't tell us much, so Brandon brought Shakira to a dealership. Long story short, there are valves that need to be replaced and they are not covered by the extended warranty. This is an expensive one. So, if we aren't doing anything adventurous it's because we need to tighten up the budget for a bit to cover this cost. Send good vibes (and Venmo). We were supposed to be going skiing tomorrow, but we will not have Shakira back until Friday or Saturday. So, for now we are the stationary Blackshire's.
Things we learned:
- There aren't great mountain views in Wyoming. Just kidding, there are.
- The wind on the I-80 is terrible
- The tumor in Bruce's eye is not cancer
- Brandon has a potential job lined up in Utah!
- Extended warranties are a scam, but also could be useful, just not in this case
- Shakira's issue is a common one with anything newer than 2008 because that's when the emissions stuff was put into place
- Life will go on
Much Love and Happy Times,
The Blackshire's
Our drive to Wyoming was an interesting one. We had to take the I-80 which is wide open plains with high wind warnings all the way. The wind warnings were 75+ miles per hour. I drove for about four hours through the winds, my hands cramping the entire time I was gripping so tightly. There were three tractor trailers that were on their side from being blown over.The entire time I was thinking "thank god we are not towing". We would have had to have pulled off somewhere and waited it out, if that is possible. Come to find out, the I-80 is the route we will need to take to get to Utah next month. I have an entire month to overthink and worry. Yay!
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