Almost Untethered
I can't believe it's been a month already since my last post. The time has gone fast, with lots going on to keep us (or maybe just me) busy. Here are the highlights.
This week I returned from a 4-day trip to Iowa City for two different doctor visits, one being a follow up on my heart PVC's. This is something that has been going on since our Colorado trip in 2023, and probably much longer. PVC is an acronym for "premature ventricular contraction," and describes a situation where the sequencing of the heart contractions occasionally gets mixed up. Instead of the heart going "BA-bump BA-bump" it goes "BA-bump BUMP-pa-bump BA-bump". This is actually something that happens to everyone - when your heart "skips a beat," you're having a PVC. When they're infrequent, as they are for most people, they're not a problem. I, however, am having them more frequently than normal (the chart above is from my heart!), enough that without treatment it will eventually cause life-threatening problems. So, as an outcome of this visit, I am being scheduled for surgery in a couple months. This will be an outpatient surgery, with only local anasthesia, followed by a few days of recovery. The expected outcome is that my PVC's will be completely eliminated, with no expected long-term side effects. I am feeling good about this, and will certainly have more to say about it going forward.
I have mentioned before that I was studying to obtain a ham radio license. I am happy to report that I have tested and passed all three levels - Technician, General and Extra - and I am now a licensed ham radio operator, call sign AF0BN - Alpha Foxtrot Zero Bravo November! Testing was administered by the South Canadian Amateur Radio Society in Norman, OK (I have no idea why it is "South Canadian"). It was an interesting experience, and I will admit that I felt a bit smug as I blasted through all three tests in about 30 minutes, including the time that I waited for them to be graded, completing them before many of the others in the group finished their first test. The members of the test team were shaking their heads and grinning as they realized what I was up to, and congratulated me heartily afterwards. It was fun!
I purchased this nice Xeigu G90 radio, but I'm not on the air yet as I need a power supply and antenna. I'm working on this, and I think I'll be there before the end of the year.
During our two weeks in Oklahoma City, we stayed at the Roadrunner RV Park. Although the park is very nice with level RV pads, paved roads, and great bathroom and shower facilities, it is located in a rather crappy part of town, so walking around was limited mostly to the park and the nearby "neighborhood". The park is also located right next to an operating oil well, which I found quite interesting to observe up close.
We made several outings from the RV park, starting with a trip to Whole Foods to get supplies for our low-key Thanksgiving dinner, which included turkey, cranberries, sweet potatoes and a yummy charcuterie tray that Kristin put together.
We spent an afternoon visiting the Oklahoma City Farmers Public Market, going to a large antique mall, and strolling along the Bricktown Canal.
On another day we visited the Oklahoma State Capitol building. Inside the entrance is a granite monument engraved with the following quote, a remarkable statement that I think highlights the sorry state of our political system and leadership today:
"THIS IMPOSING PILE OF STONE, AND BRICK, AND MORTAR, IS MUCH MORE THAN A CAPITOL; IT IS A MONUMENT TO LAW AND ORDER; IT IS A GUARANTEE THAT THE RIGHTS VOUCHSAFED TO THE CITIZEN BY ITS CONSTITUTION SHALL BE PERFECTED AND ALWAYS HELD INVIOLATE; IT IS AN ADAMANTINE VOW THAT GOVERNMENT FOR THE PEOPLE, OF THE PEOPLE, AND BY THE PEOPLE SHALL NEVER PERISH FROM THE EARTH."
- CHIEF JUSTICE M.J. KANE, NOVEMBER 16, 1915
Other places we visited in downtown OKC were the Myriad Botanical Gardens and the visually striking Devon Energy Center (which we didn't actually go into - though it would have been fun!). We went to Scissortail Park for the ‘Tis the Season Holiday Market: A Country Christmas, and had Ethiopian food from one of the street vendors lined up at the park.
One of our Friday burger-and-beer destinations was The Garage, which we found to be far less like a bar and much more like a fast food restaurant serving alcohol. A different experience for sure, but the food was good and the staff was friendly.
After OKC we headed to the Brush Creek Public Use Area, where we found a really charming little RV park at the base of the Keystone Lake dam. This is about seven miles from Sand Springs and about seventeen miles from downtown Tulsa. Our stay here has been peaceful (except for the occasional horn that sounds when the dam opens to release water) and relaxing, with mostly perfect but cool weather.
Because of my trip to Iowa City, we didn't make a lot of recreational outings while at Brush Creek. But one standout activity was a trip to Greenwood Rising in the Greenwood District of Tulsa. This is a heartwrenching interactive presentation of the Tulsa race massacre that happened in 1921. Neither Kristin nor I took any pictures; we did not feel it was appropriate or possible to effectively capture the experience in pictures - it's an immersive historical presentation and memorial that really must be experienced firthand. I highly recommend it.
The rest of my pictures are from the RV park, the dam, and a nearby hiking trail we explored after I got back from Iowa City. It's a really lovely place!
Our next steps after Brush Creek are to continue south to Texas and eventually make our way west. We had not planned for me to be making another medical visit to Iowa City in a couple months, but that is what I must do. I think we will be able to make only minor adjustments to our itinerary so that I can fly back there for the surgery. Exactly how we'll do this isn't determined yet as the date of the surgery isn't set, but I don't expect that this wrinkle in our plans will be too disruptive. We shall see...