Not The Hilton

The Alpine Inn:

Well, I called ahead because I wanted a place to stay that was close to the hospital so I could drive myself back and forth.  The helicopter nurse gave me a list of hotels that gave discounts to people who had relatives in the hospital.  Not knowing the area, I called and made a reservation for a week at the Alpine Inn.  Trina and I got there and they thought we were married which was a hoot unto itself.  They fumbled over my room assignment then offered me a suite with a kitchen, bath, king bed etc.  They offered it for the same price as the normal room.  Hmmmmmm.  Then they told me it hadn't been occupied for a long time, Hmmmmmmm.


We got to room 207 and hesitantly opened the door to see a sunken in king sized bed, a beat up television cabinet and a television I think was from 1957, but I had my own technology so THERE!   I was exhausted and wanted to take a shower so I went into the bathroom that looked like a basement, gray tile from floor to ceiling and a toilet that rocked from side to side and scraped against the tile floor as it rocked.  I waited about 20 minutes as the shower water ran to get warm.  Finally it got, kind of warm.  Before I went in for the shower I turned on the heater in the room as it was very cold.  It didn't seem to want to work so I took my shower first and came out a popcicle.  Finally after fiddling witht he heater for a long time it just would not heat so I called the front desk and told them I just got out of the shower and to arrive in ten minutes.  In about 20 minutes a soaking wet man appeared at the door.  I told him that the knobs don't seem to work and I'm freezing.  He knelt next to the unit, reached to the right side of it, showed me the cord and said, "You need to plug it in."  I was embarrassed but yet kind of upset.  I had not sense of humor at this time but I did have my box lunch from the other day so that made me happy.  It was like a Golden Corral meal.  A sandwich, soup, fruit, pudding, cookies and some ohter things.  It was nice to have it in the room.  I tried not to sleep in the sunken in bed so I slept on top of it covered with my winter coat. 

Oh, I forgot to mention, when I looked for a picture of The Alpine Inn on the Internet I could not find one.  Go figure.  It was as bad as you think.  I recall Trina's suggestion, "You're in Rockford, keep the door locked and the drapes shut."  YIKES!

No Beverage Cart

Sorry for the rotten picture of the helicopter that took Steve from Rochelle to St. Anthony's in Rockford but for $13,700 you don't get photos to take home with you

Needless to say, when Steve learned of his impending ride in the helicopter he was not amused however in true hospital style they informed him that they'd drug him for the ride.  Based on his description of the ride it was not fun.  He said they took him onto the roof aimed him at the entrance of the chopper and then swung him around and stuffed his head into the tail of the chopper with an IV hanging in his face.  Obviously not business class but we were thankful for the speedy transportation to Rockford.  It took about 15 minutes.  The wonderful med flight nurse told Steve it would be like riding in her car.  As it bounced around due to the extreme wind Steve told her he really didn't want to ride in her car if this is how it rides.

As I approached St. Anthony's with Shelba the med flight nurse called me in the car from the phone number she wrote down on a pad of note paper attached to her knee.  She said they were there and that the ride was rough but they were taking him immediately into the Cath Lab so when we got there he would be in the middle of the process already.  Wrong!!  Three hours later we learned from his rude doctor that he was out of the Cath Lab and that they could not stop the heart attack because of all the clotting.  He did get a shiny new stint, the largest the doctor had ever put in.  Thank God Cammi, Shelba and Trina were there with me.  It was a long night filled with fear and happiness that he made it through.

The Grand Finale

After a rather unusual winter in Florida, our return home was not without excitement, if you want to call it that.


The return ride was long and boring as usual but seems to get longer as you reach the Wisconsin boarder.  We were about 90 miles from Jefferson and getting tired and needed gas.  We could have gone another 90 miles but Steve took the wrong exit (Thank God) and we wound up in Rochelle Illinois to get fuel.  After Steve filled the car we took off again and headed back to I90 for the last leg of the trip. 


About five minutes from the gas station Steve said he didn't feel well, which for Steve is something he rarely says.  He mentioned feeling light headed and having problems with his vision so we pulled into a strip mall so he could settle down and maybe feel better.  He opened all the windows and turned the AC on.  He was soaked from head to toe.  He put the driver seat back and we just sat for a bit.  He didn't seem to be coming around so I punched the closest ER into the Gamin and low and behold, the hospital was right behind where we gassed up.  After a couple of burps he just didn't feel better to we switched drivers so I could take him to the ER. 


Having not driven the car the entire time we were in Florida and I just had on a pair of sandals so when I got into the drivers seat and put it in reverse we went backward very "swiftly".  Steve said, "Brian, you can't drive like that."  I blamed it on my sandals and the sores they caused to my feet.  We got the the ER and stupid me, I had him walk into the ER.  They took him back to the room and I completed the paperwork.  By the time I got done with the papers and got back to the room he was surrounded by doctors, nurses, machines and I was terrified.  They ran the EKG and the other tests and came back and said, and I quote "Sir, you're having a heart attack and we're not sure if it's from blood clotting or just a blockage."  They spoke to someone on the phone who told them to start a strong anti-clotting medication but they went through 19 risk factors with us including bleeding out.  I asked what our choices were and they said it's this or........... 


As things went on they mentioned transporting him to another hospital so I thought, great, another hospital in Rochelle.  As the conversation went on there was mention of a flight.  I perked up and asked, "You're going to fly him someplace?"  They said yes, to Rockford and they were on the way.  I burst into tears because I now knew how serious this was and was worried I could not find my way to Rockford from Rochelle so I called Steve's sister who came flying down to get me. 


As we waited for them to arrive they put so much medication into Steve I was shocked he could stay awake.  They were to do a continuous feed EKG but the nurses didn't know how to do it so they pulled out the owners manual.  Steve sat up on the bed and said, "You're looking through the owners manual?!"  The girls just kept hitting the button to run the EKG.  All of a sudden I heard the sound of something coming in for a landing.  Shortly thereafter the med flight team came down and began the process of preparing him for the flight.  By the time they got done with him he looked like a large blue Taco.  As I sat in the chair crying, that typical Steve came out and pointed to me and told the nurses, "He's got heart problems too, watch him."  Leave it to Steve.   They finished preparing the Taco for flight and took him away.


Not thinking clearly I went outside and stood in the middle of the road so I could see the chopper on the roof of the ER.  The blades  wound up a little and a little more and then took off as I stood in the road sobbing.  Finally an ER nurse came outside and took me into the ER where we spoke and she gave me a box lunch because she knew it would be a long night for me.  I told her we were coming back from our winter in Florida so she asked how it was.  I started to cry and said, "We lost our little boy too."  (Max)  Her response was, "I guess it wasn't such a good year for you."  I guess not.  Shortly after that Shelba and Trina arrived to take me to Rockford where the helicopter landed with Cammi waiting for her uncle's arrival.  Seems we had everything covered.

Walt Disney World!

Thursday we made the trek over to the House of the Mouse.  Toner had not been to Disney since he was 13 and Jodi wanted to show him EPCOT!

Aside from always enjoying spending time with Jodi and Toner, Brian and I had not been to EPCOT - or Disney for that matter - in quite a while.  The weather was great and all in all we had a really enjoyable day.  It was also the EPCOT Garden and Flower Expo while we were there.  Lots of really cool displays of flowers everywhere and also several really beautiful topiary displays......

This one outside of the Italy Pavilion in World Showcase is of Lady and The Tramp.  There was another picture of this same scene with yours truly (Steve) in it but since Jodi made me adhere to the "Picture Approval" rule that her and Jill subscribe to, I decided the world did not need to see that horrible picture...  and the world breathes a collective sigh of relief!  There were several more pictures of that day that Jodi took and of course I forgot to get them from her before they left.

After a trip around "The World Showcase" we headed on over to The Shopping Village at Downtown Disney.  A quick dash through there and we were off to dinner.  Time goes by so fast in the Land of the Mouse!  Not sure what it is about Florida, but almost every restaurant closes at 9:00 PM!  Since it was almost 10:00 PM we finally found that Buffalo Wild Wings was still open and we had an enjoyable dinner there before heading home.

We spent our last day with the Guttmans with a lunch at the Mexican restaurant in Spanish Springs (can't remember it's name) and then tooling around The Villages in the golf carts.  Then Jodi and Toner headed up to the town square and Brian and I headed up a couple of hours later.  We found them at the bar at Urban Flats where Jodi - surprise, surprise - made some more friends!  There was also an antique car show at the square and even though I was the only one really interested in them, Jodi was a sport and walked around with me while I let my inner car-geek out for a run.

We were really enjoying the music and chatting and the weather was beautiful but as is the law in Central Florida.....  9:00 PM is it!  Everyone home!  Back at the house we had some pizza and then it was time for Jodi and Toner to pack up and get ready for the trip home.

We certainly had a good time with the Guttmans and hope they will return to Three Palms again!

Way to go Shelba!

This Friday, Alpine Bank is having a day to honor Shelba for 30 years of service!  Way to go Shelba!

We are really happy for her, but knowing her like I do, I know that she is not going to like all the attention.  That is just not her style!  She will be appreciative for sure, but she doesn't like to draw attention to herself.

I say Congratulations and enjoy the day!

Jodi and Toner Hit The Villages - Day Two

Today was a bit more quiet here at Three Palms.  It was a beautiful day here but I think - although no one wants to admit it - we might have partied a little harder yesterday than we first thought!

A lazy morning followed by a leisurely ride on the carts to re-supply; soda, snacks, etc., and then lunch at IHOP.  After a little sun time we headed back up to the Town Square to find that there was some sort of Scottish Heritage thing going on.....

Not to offend anyone of Scottish decent, but bag-pipe music.....  well, I think it sounds a lot like someone strangling a small animal.  Luckily the bag-pipe music was only for the first hour and we only got there at the tail end of it.  Then another group took the stage, whose specialty was Celtic music.  Well....  I usually don't mind Celtic music, but these guys.....  okay, let's just say it.  They were not very good.

So....  after a trip to Starbucks to reload with some caffeine, we headed over to Red Sauce for a couple more drinks then headed home to rest up.  Tomorrow it's off to Disney!

Jodi and Toner Hit The Villages!

First day of their visit was a full one!  After sleeping in, while Jodi, Brian and I sat and chatted over a breakfast of Rice Krispy Treats, Toner went for a run around the neighborhood.  Way too healthy for me!  I did think of following him in the golf cart, but even that sounded like too much work.  You go Toner!

Then it was off to Too Jays for lunch and a stroll around Lake Sumter Landing.  GarVinos caught our eye and we stopped in for a glass of wine and beer.  We passed on the cigars, but there were several gentlemen enjoying big fat cigars in the enclosed 'smoking room'.  Refreshed from the golf cart ride to town and getting our taste buds set for more libations, it was off to the Town Square for music and dancing.

We found some prime seats and settled in to listen to the music and enjoy the evening.  Jodi and I hit the Drink Shack since Happy Hour was from 5:00 - 6:00 and it was already ten after five!  Margarita's for Jodi and Brian, beers for me and Toner.  Then we settled in to listen to the night's band, Impulse.  They were actually very good and everyone was having a good time.

It was also "Market Night" so Jodi and I took a stroll around and got Jodi a couple of bargains.  And Jodi being Jodi, she managed to strike up conversations with several people on our little trip.  I also bought Brian a new hat!  With built in Hair!  

Several more trips to the Drink Shack and we found ourselves in a dancing mood.  Well, most of us anyway.  No matter how many Margarita's we poured into Brian he refused to dance!  Jodi and I took a stab at line dancing and I don't know if it was the beer or maybe the extra pounds I'm packing, but I didn't do well.  Thankfully the lady next to me in line was a forgiving soul, since I never could seem to turn in the right direction.  Jodi didn't do much better because she kept getting distracted by singing along with the band!

And after a few more beers and a few trips to the the john, even Toner was in a dancing mood and he hit the dance floor with Jodi.....

Gotta apologize for the quality of the video.  I shot it with my phone and it was getting dark by this time, but I think you can still see that Toner is packing some moves!  And again, Jodi, being Jodi, she met a couple of ladies from Nova Scotia while dancing!  She ended up dancing with them again a bit later!  You can see one of them, in the blue sweater, talking to Jodi while they danced.

All in all a very fun evening!  The music ends at 9:00 and shortly before that, our friend Frank stopped over to meet Jodi and Toner.  Since the music was over and to be honest, me and Brian had hit our booze limit about an hour earlier, we all headed back to the house for snacks and gossip.

Jodi also got to drive our golf cart, Water Lily, with Brian giving directions to the house.  Toner was concerned about her driving the cart in the dark, but let's face it, Brian was in no shape to do it!

Toner and I followed in the rental cart - which we will now refer to as 'the dog' - and in no time Jodi and Brian lost us.  But we all made it back to the house safe and sound.  Lots more laughing and okay, a few more drinks and it is time for bed.  We have another day of exploring tomorrow and then on Thursday we are off to Disney.  I hope an old fart like me can keep up!

And the Winner is.......!

The Honda Element!

This is not the car we thought we would have ended up with.  It wasn't even on our list of possibilities.  While we were in the Honda dealership looking at the CR-V, this little beauty was on the showroom floor.  While Brian was talking with our salesman, Nigel Diggins (I love that name!  Sounds like something out of Charles Dickens!) I was looking at this, mostly out of curiosity.  I was surprised at how much room there was inside and again, liked that 'bull dog' look.  I never really considered it since I thought that Brian would not like it.  Actually, when we would see one on the road, he would remark on how ugly it was.  

So, how surprised was I when Brian came over and took a look at it and started to warm up to it.  The last couple of model years, they have taken off a lot of the plastic cladding that was on the original and he was as surprised as I was at the room and versatility inside this thing.  There is so much more passenger room in this than in any of the others we looked at.  The rear seats don't fold like in most SUVs, but rather, lay flat then "flip" up to the sides, leaving a huge hole in the car.  You can cram a lot of stuff in there!  It also has "suicide doors"!  Just like an old Lincoln Continental.  It just has this feeling of no-nonsense, go anywhere, do anything, tough little car.  Spunky.  Quirky.

When Nigel saw us looking at it and taking an interest, he came over and started to tell us more about it.  The more we looked the more we liked it and what really sealed the deal was the price.  It was a couple of thousand less than the Kia Soul and so much more "car" than the similarly priced Toyotas.

So, we welcome Ely Mae to the fold here at Three Palms.  We picked it up today just in time to take her to the airport to pick up Jodi and Toner for their Spring Break visit.  I'm sure that is just the start of the adventures she will take us on.

Element-ary

There is a new resident at Three Palms.  We had been talking of getting a vehicle to leave here in Florida so that in the future we can just fly down to Three Palms and avoid that grueling 19 hour + drive!

Easier said than done!  After a lot of discussing, we headed out this weekend to actually kick some tires.  What we were looking for was a smaller, economical car.  Since it won't be driven as much as our regular cars and of course we have Water Lilly, the golf cart, to get around in, we didn't need a fancy set of wheels.  As anyone in this area knows and has spent even a few minutes watching TV here, every car dealer you can imagine is "Right Across From The Leesburg Airport!"  We started the hunt there......

Chevrolet HHR

Nice little car, SUV, trucklet..... whatever.  Not a bad price either but has a huge "frump factor".

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Toyota Matrix

Nice looking and the car the Pontiac Vibe is based on.  Practical, yet sporty looking.  A little pricey for what you get though.  

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Scion xD

Funky looking little wagon.  Good price, a bit small.  I liked it but Brian thought it just a bit too....  well a bit too far out I guess.

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Nissan Cube

We both liked this boxy little bull dog of a car.  There is an amazing amount of room inside.  It was a bit more expensive than similar cars, but has style to spare.

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Kia Soul

This is another of those style heavy little wagons.  Has the same bull dog attitude as the Cube.  This was the car we both thought we would end up with but were surprised that maybe because of the current gas prices or that they have become quite popular, the prices have jumped from what we saw on them up in Wisconsin.  Add to the fact that Eddie, the 12 year old car salesman was a bit on the pushy side, we moved onto the Honda dealer.

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Honda CR-V

Brian immediately liked this one.  A bit bigger, but not huge, lots of nice features, but the interior was a bit cramped.  The dealer had a boat load of these and most were heavily optioned and the price, while good for what you got, a bit more than we wanted to spend.

So, which one did we choose?  Stay Tuned!!