Discharged!

After 12 days and 4.5 hours in UWMed Center Hospital, Ron got his walking papers. Surgery was sucessful however his ear began to leak fluid so to alleviate pressure in his head and allow healing of the brain membrane, he had to be attached via a long thin tube to a reservoir. You can see the attachment place on his lumbar area and his "pole buddy" which he was constantly attached to for over 6 days (reservoir was hung from th3e pole)
Obviously he was excited to be a "free man". Exit only, no more enters.....

Ron Gets Brain Surgery

Ok so there is or was something inside after all!
Ron had a benign tumor removed from his inner ear and here are the pictures to prove it. sorry they didn't let us see the blob........
We are having some complications....CSF in his ear and an infection as well. We are hoping the lumbar drip and antibiotics work. Seven days so far...........WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!!!

Ron scheduled for surgery

Dear friends,
As you may or may not know I have a benign tumor that has hampered my balance and hearing. It is called an acoustic neuroma. I have been going through all the tests and hoops with the VA this summer in order to get a referral to the UW surgical team. That has now been accomplished and........
It looks like I will be having surgery to remove my tumor on Oct 26th. As soon as we got to see the UW surgeons things have been moving rapidly. It was diagnosed as a small tumor and we felt it was not wise or prudent to do the radiation therapy. The doctors were confident now would be the best time to do surgery for the least amount of collateral damage, we opted for surgery.
Ron's excuse for any senior moment since this diagnosis has been,"it must be the tumor," after the operation it will be of course, "It's the operation's fault"

We will continue updates as time progresses,
yours Diane and Ron

The van is almost complete

Creating a camping van out of a box van is quite a challenge. We have been working on our van on and off for a month now. The following pictures are of what we have done so far. They were taken at Lake SamishFarm and Joan and Steve are in some of the pictures.

Creating a camping van

We wanted a camping van so we bought a Chevy Express and tried to camp out of it. It was too small. So we looked for a Sprinter van and found one in Seattle. Now we have two vans---know anyone who needs a very nice cargo van? 19+mpg!!
Anyway we have been staying at the Daniel Schmidt's residence using their combined workshop (Shon Schmidt lives next door and has the workshop) To change a box to a camper. We have made great progress starting with insulation......we will have more pics up when the last install takes place, meanwhile see the beginning stages......Empty van, beginning of the insulation in lower panels, almost all is covered, ceiling, walls and at last the linoleum. Next entry, how we filled it up!!

California Parks and Sailing friends

Our travels from Arizona took us thru Mojave National Monument where there are more Joshua trees than Joshua Tree national Monument, then on to Sequoia National Park where there is a very large lake called Lake Isabella, and the Kern River which at this time of the year is a class IV and V. Lots of Kayakers were running it. The lake had loads of windsurfers and kite surfers sailing back and forth. We tried going up hwy 155 but soon encountered snowy and icy roads and had to turn back. This time of year is too early to traverse many passes above 5000 ft.
After camping in these lovely parks, we found our friends Tom and Ann Carr in their wonderful Skye Ranch which I call a retreat. With beautiful gardens, trees and new bee hive, swimming pool, hot tub, workshops, gives something for everyone. The first picture shows a party of cruisers,Anna and Don who just finished circumnavigating and whom we met in Costa Rica, Nancy and Tom whose boat is in New Zealand and they are home visiting for the summer and Tom and Ann and Gary and Ron. Great BBQ and hors d'ouerves!
The next photo is our van and the other photos are of the Sequoia Park and it's various attractions.

Visiting Friends

Now we are visiting our friends in Tucson, Mimi and Gary who left the cold climate of Steamboat springs Colorado for the warmth of Tucson.
Their lovely back yard, view of the mountains from their yard, Pip their sweet dog and and picture of mim and Gary clowning around.
We are soon to head to California to work on our camping van which we bought in Tucson...........

On the hard in Guaymas!

After 5 months of journeying northwards from Panama, covering 3000 miles and stopping to visit Nicaragua and Guatemala and Ajijic, Melaque and Mazatlan Mexico on the way, we are now on land in our favorite boatyard, MarinaSeca Guaymas.
It has been a long but enjoyable journey. We are looking forward to land travel and seeing our friends and family in the months to come!
Pictures top to bottom:
Bella Via and Paradox , the junks and the catamaran hang together in Melaque,
The main harbor of Mazatlan,
The fog in Mazatlan
View from Marina Seca Guaymas,
Ron guiding the mast as it is pulled from Batwing.

To Barra, Guadalara, Ajjic, Melaque

After finding some wonderful cat owning/loving people to feed Kira, Dave and Marili of Tamara, we left Batwing in the Barra Lagoon while we jumped on a bus to Guadalajara and then onwards to Lake Chapala and Ajijic where we visited our friends Chris and Jane Barratt of UP SPIRITS in their lovely home. Chris and Jane are our friends made during our journey and shakedown cruise around Vancouver Island in 2004. We have kept in touch and visited once before since then. Recently in 2005 they purchased a home in Ajijic and invited us to come visit when we were in the area with Batwing.

We started with a rousting water volleyball game in their community pool, a visit to the weekly Mercado, then a whirlwind tour of the area including a home tour of 4 beautifully decorated homes, one being a million plus dollar house (marked down) with an incredible collection of artifacts, art and collectibles. Later we visited Tonala and Telaquepaque to view and purchase some of the beautiful hand blown glass and jewelry of sculptor Sergio Bustamante.

Not to leave out the wonderful concerts we attended, one a fine jazz group and the other an extraordinary contemporary classic string Quartet. The musicians are all young and outstandingly talented, invited by Vancouverites who live in Ajicjic. The Northern Lights event has been in operation for about 9 years and is very popular.

You could say Ron and Di enjoyed a wonderful opportunity to take in culture available to those who live part time in Lake Chapala area of Mexico. Thank you Chris and Jane!!! We look forward to going back ………..

Pictures of Chris and Jane—Home tour

Ron and Di --Home tour

Bustamante sculptures

Tonala Glass Factory

House tour

Chris and Jane House

pictures to come once we get a good upload signal

On ourway again

Ok we finally got out of Huatulco, Oaxaca after dealing with oil pressure problem---In Zihuateneo for a couple nights then onwards to Manzanillo and Barre for a quick visit.

San Pedro, Santiago Atitlan, San Juan, and Rasta Land (San Marcos)

BAckstrap weaving by the women of San Juan
Young woman Erica's age we met on the launch to San Pedro, views of the lake and Volcanos,the street in San Pedro leading to nowhere, and Rastaland.

View of ChiChicastenango from our hotel and the Market place near the Church