~Yippie its Wednesday!
Category Archives: On The Road
Traveling in our Coach
~Lost Dutchman State Park
Lost Dutchman State Park
We pulled into Lost Dutchman State Park last Sunday. Our first experience wasn’t a good one. I was helping Howard back-in our site and got Cholla cactus needles stuck in my heel. Of course, I was wearing sandals. What else does one wear in warm weather while traveling? 🙂 Howard, while connecting the electricity and water, got needles stuck in his hand.
Our site, number 82 has a Saguaro Cactus on each side of the paved pad. I was wondering to myself just how much it would cost us if we hit one of them. Thankfully that didn’t happen.
In the days since we arrived, we have had a few more run-ins with cactus needles. A needle went through my tennis shoe and poked me in the foot. I couldn’t pull it out by hand. I can’t believe how hard the needle is. Today, Riley Ann got a Cholla cluster stuck near her mouth. Being the puppy that she is she bites on everything even cactus. 😦
Last week as we walked the other loops in the park we noticed the sites in the “back” loops are much nicer. Plus they aren’t as closely spaced as the first loop that we are in. I tried to see if we could move, but the park has been full.
We are in the loop labeled 75-104. The main campground with the better sites is labeled 1-135. If you want to camp at Lost Dutchman I would recommend one of the sites in the Main Campground. However, be aware a few don’t have electricity.
The scenery here at Lost Dutchman is beautiful. When the evening sun hits the flatirons it is gorgeous. As we sit drinking coffee looking out the window facing west and as the sun rises over the flatirons in the east we can watch the sun line gradually making its way toward us. 
The weather has finally warmed up into the ’70s with cool nights, but most days there is a strong breeze. One that blows those cactus needles around.
The park offers a lot of nice features like this Coyote Sun Dial. There are rock gardens, picnic areas, a dog park, plaques describing the park’s history and its inhabitants, and more.
More later……
~What fun a little bit of water in the desert can bring.
~Curve-billed Thrasher
~Cave Creek Regional Park
~Scenes from our site (#36) at Cave Creek
~Moon over cave creek and eye surgery.
November 28, 2020
I wanted to share this photo of the moon rising over the hills at Cave Creek Regional Park. It was almost full.
I also wanted to share an experience I had a few days leading up to our arrival at Cave Creek and the days that followed. I am sharing this because it might be of help to you one day. (Hopefull, you won’t ever have this experience,)
We arrived at Cave Creek on Sunday, November 15th. On Saturday the 14th I woke up with my right eye aching, I was seeing lots of floaters, flashes of light in the lower corner, and sometimes a circle of either light or dark in the same area. When arriving at Cave Creek on Sunday I knew things were not right, and that these symptoms weren’t going away and I needed to see someone.
We drove to the Mayo Clinic Emergency Room in Scottsdale. They looked at my eye and said I needed to see an ophthalmologist. Why I didn’t see one there?? The next day I went to another Mayo Clinic and was examined by an ophthalmologist. I was told that I had a detached retina. It is called macular on retina detachment because it wasn’t fully detached.
This was good news because macular off is fully detached and much worse. They referred me to a retina specialist that same day and surgery was scheduled the following day. After surgery, I had to sit, stand, and sleep with my head down for seven days! No exceptions. This was extremely hard. The reason for this is, they put gas in the eye to help hold the retina in place. The gas needs to push against the retina.
I survived the seven days and in a few weeks the gas bubble will dissipate. It does take months for the eye to fully heal. I am thankful we went to the doctor right away and that my vision is okay.
We left Cave Creek Regional Park and are currently at Lost Dutchman State park and will be here for two weeks. I have to be very careful about going to higher elevations because of the gas bubble. So no sightseeing in the mountains. 😦 We are currenly sitting at 2,065 feet. I go back to see the surgeon in December from Catalina State Park, whick is at 2,700.
If you are interested there is plenty of information on the web. I am sharing this so that if you ever have any of these symptoms please go see a doctor right away!
Overview
Retinal detachmentOpen pop-up dialog box
Retinal detachmentRetinal detachment describes an emergency situation in which a thin layer of tissue (the retina) at the back of the eye pulls away from its normal position.
Retinal detachment separates the retinal cells from the layer of blood vessels that provides oxygen and nourishment. The longer retinal detachment goes untreated, the greater your risk of permanent vision loss in the affected eye.
Warning signs of retinal detachment may include one or all of the following: the sudden appearance of floaters and flashes and reduced vision. Contacting an eye specialist (ophthalmologist) right away can help save your vision.
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