Annie's Knee Replacement

No pictures of Annie but here is Carla on Annie's patio.

 Annie and I go back a long way!  We met my freshman year of college where we both lived in Rockwell Hall at CSU.  That first year we were not roommates but had many adventures and pledged the same sorority.  We did room together off and on in the sorority house and continued to have great times together with our many friends

Sun bathing on the back patio of Rockwell Hall in the 1950's.

 Annie grew up in Denver and her family all lived there.  I spent Thanksgivings and other breaks with her family.  We were like sisters and still are.  Over the years our lives took different paths but we always stayed in touch

Rockwell Hall as we remember it in the late 1950's.  It is now where the Business Department for CSU is headquartered and looks quite different!

From time to time our paths crossed and we shared wonderful, as well as some sad times.  My children have fond memories of staying with Annie and Hank at Stock Show time and consider her an aunt.  Hank died of lung cancer when Annie and I were still quite young.  We all loved Hank and still miss him when we get together.  Annie persevered and works in the financial world which eventually led her to Phoenix about 20 years ago.  We visited her right after she moved into her new house in northeast Phoenix right on the border of Scottsdale.  I'm sorry to say we never made it back to Phoenix until now.  Annie and her sister Katie visited us and we met in Laughlin annually for our gambling and shows.  Since I retired 6 years ago, we have not seen each other but still stayed in touch.

On Annie's birthday in January  I had written her and told her what our plans for the winter were. They included spending 6 weeks in Florida at my sister's place in Lake Placid even though they would be in France at that time.  Annie wrote back saying she should have let me know sooner that she desperately needed knee replacement surgery and had no one to help her during recovery.  We decided Phoenix would be better than Florida and we would get a good visit as well. So here we are  (see my previous blog for our adventures getting here).

When we got here I realized how desperately she did need surgery on both knees.  Although she still is working, she was practically wheelchair bound due to her bad knees.  The Doctor would only do one at a time but he has assured her she would be walking without a walker when he was done. 

The Cafeteria in Rockwell Hall in the 1950's where Annie and I met the first day we were in Fort Collins.

 Annie's surgery took place in John C. Lincoln Hospital.  It went well and she had a room on the newly renovated third floor-- Big screen TV, roomy private rooms,  great care, and lots of little perks.  The two little ladies who did her physical therapy were a kick in the butt.  They were in their 60's, kind but no nonsense ladies.  Annie's recovery in the hospital passed quickly and 4 days after surgery she was back home.  That is when the " fun" started.

We had to get up at 6 AM just to fit all the activities in her regimen into the schedule.  She had to put in 6 hours a day in 2 hour blocks on the CPM machine with at least 1/2 hour of icing after each block.  This went on for 3 weeks.  In addition to this she had physical therapy for an hour 2 to 3 hours a week plus doing the exercises she had learned and doing some walking!  We managed to fit in meals somewhere too and a couple of follow up visits to the doctors and a couple to the dentist as well.

Annie improved greatly and we even went out to eat one night to have an early birthday celebration for Bob (which, although we didn't know it at the time, was very fortunate).  We also took a little trip to a casino for an afternoon before all hell broke loose!  But that is for another installment in our Phoenix saga!

To complete Annie's story, I drove her to outpatient physical therapy 3 days a week for 4 weeks after home health's 2 weeks.

  Annie was able to drive since it was her left knee that was replaced but they didn't have enough handicapped parking close by so she had to be dropped off and then I had to find a parking spot in the parking garage across the street.  We had to laugh at ourselves because we looked like "Driving Miss Daisy".  It was easier for Annie to sit behind me than in the front seat.

The best part of the physical therapy sessions were that the therapists let me use the gym equipment while I was waiting for Annie to do her therapy.  They had great equipment in a sunny room with great views to the outside.  I got in some good exercise which helped with our very stressful time!

New Years in Fredricksburg, TX with Micah, Kim and the girls.  A beautiful warm, sunny day for the first day of 2012!

By the end of her 6 week recovery time Annie was ready to go back to work and we had decided she needed the other knee replaced as soon as we could all get back together.  That meant early June, so on June 4 we will be headed back to Phoenix with high hopes for Annie and also fervent prayers that we won't have a repeat of Bob's events!  So what were they?  You will have to read the next installment of our Phoenix adventures!

Bob and The Mayo Clinic

The next installment

Old Glory, Elko Style

An inspiring sight.  Notice the Ruby Mountains in the background.

A few weeks ago Kathi posted a picture of the big flag in Scottsbluff at Perkins.  She had some stats on it and you can see and read about it on her blog.
http://countrychickengirl.blogspot.com/2011/04/oh-say-can-you-see.html
This reminded me of the big flag that flies on I-80 in Elko, NV.  JJ, Tuinita and I were driving along to visit a friend and I made Tuinita stop the car so I could take some pictures of this flag. On the way home I made her stop again and I climbed up a steep hill to get a better shot.

Here are some stats about this flag.  It is 30 feet by 50 feet and flies on a pole 100 feet high.  The top of the pole is exactly one mile high (5280 feet up from sea level).  Each flag costs approximately $1600 and has to be replaced or repaired
3-4 times a year.  The Vogue Laundry in Elko repairs the flags for free to help keep costs down.  The flag is funded by private donations to The Flag Foundation and a group of dedicated voluteers work to make sure that the flagpole has never been barren with the exception of a few days when vandals cut the flag's cable and new supplies had to be ordered.  It was raised in the fall of 1976 as part of the bicentennial celebration at the start of the Elko County Fair and has flown 24/7 ever since except as mentioned above.

There is even a school named after it!  The old Elko Junior High was converted to a 5th and 6th grade middle school about 4 years ago and is now called Flagview because it is located near the spot where the flag flies.

The flag is so big it cannot fly at half mast or it will drag on the ground.  Notice the car at the bottom of the pole as a comparison to size with the flag.  Click on the picture to make it bigger and hit the back button to get back to the blog.

For more information on this flag and how the community is pulling together to help support this project check out this websight:

http://elkodaily.com/news/local/article_6616f174-3bfa-11e0-829f-001cc4c002e0.html

An Afternoon at the Museum

Click the pictures to make them bigger and hit the back button to get back to the blog.

Not very impressive from the outside but let's go in and be surprised!

I love going to museums.  I am one of those who will go to any kind of museum even if it sounds dull.  I love to read all the info at each display and I have learned a lot from doing that, but it takes a long time for me to see all I want to see and I never get through a whole museum the way I want to!
 
A few years ago we went to the Smithsonion Institute with Micah's family.  Samara was just a baby but it was one of those things where you take advantage of an opportunity no matter what the circumstances.  Anyway, the first building (it looked like a castle) we went in we got got kicked out of!  Sammi was not happy and was screaming the whole time we were in there and a guide politely asked us to leave.  It was an interesting display but very formal and library like so I guess they wanted quiet.

The next building was better.  It was the Space and Aeronautics building and was filled with school groups and children on vacation.  Three or four year old Alyssa loved it and we saw lots of interesting things.  Sammi even got calmed down and looked at all the old airplanes.

The Smithsonian is a place you can visit time after time and never see the same thing if you want it that way, but of course I like to go back and read more on some of the same things!

Last Saturday Jim decided we needed to get out and see some things Casper, Wyoming, had to offer besides cold, snow and wind.  He had been wanting to go check out the Wyoming Veteran's Museum for awhile so he, Bob and I went up to the airport where it is located.  We drove around a little before we went in the building because, unbeknownst to me, Casper had a huge Army airbase during World War II.  As we drove around it reminded me very much of Wendover, only it was much better kept up than Wendover's is!

The old parade grounds with antelope grazing peacefully!

We went inside the museum which is the renovated Servicemen's Club for enlisted men building.  What a surprise for me!  The outside of the building was unimpessive---typical WWII base construction, but inside it was great!  All the walls of the big gathering room are covered with murals of Wyoming history.  They were painted by 4 enlisted men during their stay at the base.  Three of the four men had no formal art training and it is amazing to see what they did!  They did most of the work in chalk but one man was allergic to chalk dust so he did his in oils.  According to the brochure, " Because there was no paint available, the men made their own from combining materials such as red soil with a fixative."  None of the men were natives of Wyoming and did a lot of research before beginning to paint the murals.  I have pictures so you can see.

My favorite mural depicting an unexpected early blizzard at Martin's Cove near Devil's Gate and Independence Rock.   That is another place that is great to visit. The fort and handcart museum there are soooo interesting!

  We were the only ones at the museum so the curator, John Goss, took it upon himself to give us the grand tour.  He is great!  He is an archeologist and a veteran of the Iraq war (I think the first one) and is great at telling the stories behind all the exhibits.  He told us that one of the young men who painted the murals had come back from the war and been put in the mental ward with a Section 4. The doctors thought painting might be good for him so they got him in to help the others.  It cured him and he went on to be a famous painter in New York City!  His son also became a painter and came back to Casper and did some repair work on the murals just recently.

Bob and I with our excellent "guide", John Goss.

Bob is showing Jim, John and I the M1 rifle he used in the service. He is explaining that it's a semiautomatic gas operated weapon.

John told us that every display had a story behind it and he knew them all!  We were entertained for a couple hours up there with all kinds of stories of heroism from WWII up to Afghanistan.  Only the Korean War is missing but they are working on it now.  We loved it!  He invited us to return for more stories again and I sure will take him up on it.  We had a great time!


Thanks, Jim and John for showing us a different side to Casper!  The murals go around the room from the early days in Wyoming history to the 1940s when they were painted.  Here's some of what is in there!

The first picture in the mural starting at early times of Indians and buffalo hunting.

Moving on around the room, this is one of my favorite places to see on our drives from Walden to Casper.  It is Independence Rock.  Darcy and I climbed it when I was in my 60s to read the names and dates carved all over on top! Note: don't wear flip-flops to do this climb!

Preaching to the Indians.

Scouting and then my favorite part about the blizzard!

There are plaques at each picture telling the history but I didn't have time to read them.  I'm curious to know about that gazebo on the right!

Holding up a stagecoach?

This is for Chris,  Telegraph operator and a lineman!

A famous Indian war fought in Wyoming territory, I suppose.

Workin' on the railroad.

Cowboys are branding.

Ranching and sheep herding were/are important industries in Wyoming.

These type of sheep camps are still often seen all over Wyoming.  A couple of roughnecks at the oil well sight.

Of course oil was big even in the 40s!  Now we are back around to the end.  Our fighting men of  WWII.

Check out the old radio!  Yes that is Bing Crosby on top--they had many big name entertainers come to the base.  This is the final mural in the room.

 These murals are painted on Cellotex and have survived for well over 50 years!  The dry climate of Wyoming has helped to preserve them.