Road Trippin' With Dena

Good morning from Covington LA.  Refreshed from a good night’s sleep. Dena and I started out yesterday morning for the journey back to the mountains. Since she has moved to a foreign land it is not as easy as it used to be when she lived in Rancho de Five. An hour later we loaded her things in and took off for points east. First stop Buc-ees. Then a quick stop by her mother’s and we were off on our road trip about 10:30. A stop in Sulfur for a potty break at CB and then a stop at the gas station to fill up before we made our trek across the swamps and bayous and the big crossing over the Mississippi River. We had a little traffic and a few stoppages but nothing major like you can experience on this most boring route of I 10 from Texas through Louisiana. I was focused to get us through Baton Rouge in a timely manner and I had told Dena once we had done that, I would be lots more fun. And yes, just around Denham Springs, we had a dance party in the car. A miracle transpired in those fun moments, Dena finally danced in the car! She never dances even with the encouragement from Lisa P and me. We had a blast and it made the time go by quickly for our first stop in Hammond. We had a late lunch at East of Italy which was delicious and we did a little shopping. Next we moseyed down the road to our stop we were most looking forward to, Cafe DuMond. Yum! Yum! Yum! 

By the time we had eaten and with an early morning start and hard rain and traffic this girl was done. I had hit the wall, no more energy…done, stick a fork in me. I had just enough energy to check in and go to the room. OK, I mustered enough energy to go get ice and a Diet Coke, then in for the night. By 8:30 jammies on and pillow over my head. I haven’t a clue when Dena closed down her side of the room but I slept really well and she has reported the same results, a good nights sleep. 

I left my compression socks in Katy. They help my heart not have to work so hard when I am in the heat and then sitting for periods of time in the truck driving. When I was doing all the Dr appointments this past week, the decision was made for me to have bilateral knee replacement. If you are like me I needed some ‘splaining on this one…this means they are going to replace both of my knees at the same time. Dr Smith, after looking at my X-rays returned with a somber look. I thought he is going to tell me I have cancer of the knee, but no, it was to tell me he thought the best way to handle this is to do it all at one time because….no pun intended…I didn’t have a good leg to stand on while recovering. This means about five hours in surgery and a longer rehab time, which means a harder rehab process. I told Roy after reading several blogs and articles, we will probably need to hire someone to help with me for the first two weeks. I’m encouraged by what I have read but know it will be painful and lots of hard work but the end result is worth it not having the constant pain and aggravation. So, we have scheduled surgery. I will also have to attend joint camp and meet all those who will be with me pre, present and post surgery. Then you do all your labs. I will also need to get my cardiologist to sign off on being under anesthesia for so long and to make sure my heart can stand the time. 

We began in Covington and now we are in Chattanooga. On eastern time zone and we had dinner at Abuelo's.  So delicious! Since it is Sunday all the stores closed at 6:00, but it is thundering anyway, so we came back to the hotel. We are on the top floor and have a lovely view of the Waffle House. 

We made it home and due to the fact I will keep adding to this and never get it posted, I am posting now. Stay tuned, we might have a guest blogger in the next few days.