Our Barbeque Party

The hi-lite of the week for us was Thursday night when we had everyone over for a barbeque. By everyone, we mean Tom, Donna and Diana, Len and Karen, Gary and Sandy and Roy and Diana. There were eleven of us all crowded into the area beside our fifth-wheel but it worked out just fine. Our "Little Red Campfire" really came in handy as it starts to cool down fast out here in the high desert after the sun goes down.

From Palm Springs - Feb. 5-7

After dinner, we had a little bonus - great entertainment! Len and Karen, who we knew played the guitar and sang, were joined by Roy who really surprised us with his talent! Paulette and I had no idea he played the guitar or was such a great singer. They each took turns singing their favourites as well as joining in together on harmonies and a few tunes they each knew.

For dinner, we barbequed steaks as well as the usual assortment of appetizers, potato salad, bean salad, garden salad, baked beans and fresh garlic bread. For desert, we had strawberry cheescake and coffee.

From Palm Springs - Feb. 5-7

This was Diana's 'going-away' party as she was scheduled to fly home to Victoria on Friday morning - hoping that there would not be any 'snow' awaiting her arrival.

The lo-lite of our week was a visit to the Desert Regional Center Hospital's Emergency Ward in downtown Palm Springs, to get Paulette checked out for a possible Deep Vein Thrombosis problem with her right leg. It had been sore for a few days, began to throb and grow red so given that she had a DVT about three years ago, we decided we had no choice but to get it looked at by a doctor.

After an examination and an ultra-sound, it turned out not to be a DVT even though there were two blood clots. However, they were diagnosed as 'superficial' with no danger of them dislodging and travelling to the heart or lungs and causing major problems. Paulette got a shot of some type of 'stinging' medication intended to break up the clots. By next morning, the pain was gone and whatever it was seemed to be working. We have to go back Saturday morning to the hospital just for a quick follow-up just to make sure everythng is o.k.

By the time we left the Emergency Ward after being there for 3 hours, the waiting room was full and there were a lot of very strange looking characters in there. We couldn't wait to get out and head home.

Fortunately, we had purchased Medical Travel Insurance before leaving home so we will be reimbursed for the full amount of the treatment which came to just over $500. It was actually a little less than I had figured it would be given the ultra-sound treatment and all I'd heard about the cost of medical treatment in the U.S.

Before we left for the hospital, we dropped Mo and Molly off with Sandy and Gary as we really had no idea how long we would be. Looks like they made themselves right at home with Molly right up on her perch on the back of a chair:

From Palm Springs - Feb. 5-7

The rest of this week was taken up with the usual activities here in the park - just relaxing around the pool and campsite.