Dad is still breathing well, but his swallowing has still not returned.

Dad is still breathing well, but his swallowing has still not returned. He also hasn't had anything to eat for about a week, although he was fed with a feeding tube while he was on the ventilator. His stomach/bowels were not processing the food that was being fed to him. Going to try a tube down his nose and hope his bowels start working soon.

Heading home for Kansas City a couple of weeks early.

Heading home for Kansas City a couple of weeks early. Got an early morning call that my Dad was in the hospital and not doing to well. They were going to have to put him on a ventilator because he was having trouble breathing. He's just not being doing well since he was operated on in January for colon cancer, even though that operation was successful. So on Thursday he went into the hospital by ambulance because he was having trouble swallowing and his bowels were messed up. After a CAT scan they determined that he had another small stroke. So they decided to feed him through a tube. That's when he really had trouble breathing as well, so they put him on the ventilator. This morning they did another MRI on him and determined that one lung was just about collapsed and filling up with fluids. So it turns out that the real culprit is pneumonia!! At his age, about 2 out of 3 survive a bout like this. Dad's always been a fighter, when it comes to his health, and I'm sure he will come out of this as well. After he does he will be very, very weak and need a lot of time and rehabilitation to get his strength back. We were able to pack up and leave Tucson by 10 am this morning with the help of our good friends Bill & Shirley Boyce. We've made it to the Elks Club in Alamogordo, New Mexico, a bit over 340 miles, where we have full hookups. At least another 2 days on the road before we get to KC.

Dagmar was able to score a Trek biking jersey at the thrift store todayso we decided to take a short 14 mile ride...

Dagmar was able to score a Trek biking jersey at the thrift store today so we decided to take a short 14 mile ride to sort of 'break it in'. I may not be a road biker yet but I'm starting to look like one anyway. Dagmar says she sees a road bike in my future - who knows?!

Lenny and I won the Gold Medal in the Voyager RV Park in-housePickleball Tournament in the men's doubles 4.0 skill...

Lenny and I won the Gold Medal in the Voyager RV Park in-house Pickleball Tournament in the men's doubles 4.0 skill level. This was a big deal as Lenny and I played together for about a month before the tournament. Lenny was a brand-new 4.0 skill needing to learn the 'soft game' side of Pickleball. We won the medal by 1 point by winning our last game against the leading team by just 2 points - 15-13. This was after we found ourselves down by a score of 11-3. Needless to say it was a storybook comeback against a great team!!

Dagmar's bike riding friend, Allison, came for a three day visit againthis year.

Dagmar's bike riding friend, Allison, came for a three day visit again this year. We really had to keep her busy as she is not one that enjoys sitting still for long. The first day we did a hike up Picacho Peak which is visible from Tucson about 45 miles south. The next was a trip to the wild west town of Tombstone, Az, site of the famous OK Corral gunfight in which Wyatt Earp reached his fame. The third day they did a 25 mile bike ride with 5 miles of it going up Mt Lemmon, a training site for Olympic riders. The total climb is about 25 miles and ends in Summerhaven. I think they will save that ride for another year!! We ended the ride at the famous Le Buzz, a favorite hangout for cyclists, where they had their famous chicken pot pie.

Chris proposes to Ashley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZTFRtbmtb0&feature=autoshare

Gary and Anita visited with us for 5 days in Tucson.

Gary and Anita visited with us for 5 days in Tucson. We picked them up at 8am in Phoenix, had breakfast at Paradise Bakery & Cafe, the headed for the IKEA store for shopping. That afternoon we did some swimming and hot tubing in the Voyager RV Park pools. Then later we went out for dinner with Bill & Shirley Boyce. Tuesday was a hike day of around 7 miles and 1800 ft elevation gain. Wednesday was a drive up Mt Lemmon for dinner and the a stop at Windy Point Vista to watch the sunset and the lights come on in Tucson. Thursday was a visit to Old Tucson Studios, where the Wild West Comes Alive. Thursday evening we had dinner on Voyager patio an went to western dance. Friday we took them back to Phoenix where they were able to catch a Royals spring training game. Some in between we were able to fit in a round of golf, pickleball, bochi ball, and thrift store shopping. All in all a great week for all of us!!