Latest News for the Month of
December 2007
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Here it is, December already and for you Northerners I am sure the snow and cold weather has hit. Shall I tell you how bad I feel for you people who are shoveling snow and shivering ? Naahhhh. I have been living my own tough life down here with this horrible Florida winter. 70 - 80 degrees everyday, a nice cool evening breeze, very little rain, the Gulf of Mexico a couple miles away, palm trees, sandy beaches and tropical plants ............. OK, I will quit now with the weather report and shut up. :)
It's been fairly quiet here on the homestead with little in the way of news. We have the coach all decorated with Christmas lights and even put up our " Coach Christmas Tree ". It's a small 2 ft. fiber optic tree that sits on the steering wheel base but it does put out some really nice lights when turned on. There is little you can do inside a coach that only has 400 sq ft. We do enough bumping into each other in these cramped quarters without adding more to it by decorations. :) But I did string some lights outside on the coach and put up a lighted Christmas reef. The resort is very festive this year as many have decorated their model homes, sites, trailers and coaches. Some have really gone all out this year with elaborate displays. It's fun seeing all of the RV's at night. I am just hoping that we do not end up with a 737 trying to land here since we are right on the approach path for planes going into and out of Tampa International. :)
Ally will begin her march to her Christmas vacation with exams and a lot of test correcting. December for Ally is normally very busy at school and we both will be preparing for a very busy holiday season. My Mom will arrive here on December 19th and together the three of us will load the coach up and head to Tennessee for the Holidays. We plan on spending a little time in Bristol before driving up to Natalia's for Christmas in Richmond. Lindy, Kim and Ella will be heading to Michigan for Christmas so we will miss them this year. I am planning a get together with them at the Great Outdoors Resort in Titusville though in April. I want them to come down and celebrate my 50th birthday with me.
I have a Doctors appointment in Bristol and will be seeing my homeboy Dr. Brockmyre at that time along with all my girlfriends at the office. I am sure they have missed my harassment ( yeah right ). We also need to see a few friends while there and catch up with all of them so it will be a busy time for us. Kim and Dave Arnold have a new baby that we have yet to see, Goose and Rose we need to catch up with and hopefully we can get together with the rest of the Royal family ( Ma, Pa, Kenny, Billy & Ramona ) while there.
on January 19th the schedule stays just as busy with a lot going on. Ally has her big Winter celebration dinner at school ( its a fund raiser for the school ) and we will be attending that. This year the theme is Australia so it will be fun for her. She has been consulting to the event committee and adding her Aussie flavor to the get together. It's normally a very nice event that is semi formal so I will have to get my suit dry cleaned, shine my shoes and press my shirt. The dinner is normally catered by the Outback Steakhouse and last year they brought in two very good singers as entertainment. There will also be music with plenty of dancing. I am looking forward to it as I had a great time last year.
Also in January Ally's big brother and sister in law are flying over from Australia to do some touring. Their itinerary is a very busy one as they are planning on coming over and spending a week or two with us here on the Gulf with some time spent in the Key's first. Their travels this trip will take them to Thailand, Hungary, Germany, Holland and then on to the USA. Con & Debbie have been all over the world and experienced all different types of cultures so I am sure this trip will be awesome for them. Actually, I would love to visit Thailand and Hungary myself. :) It's going to be good to see them both as we miss them terribly. We still are amazed at just how much they travel and some of the great sites they have seen in the world.
Our weekends lately have been filled with a lot of motorcycle riding. I typically attend two bike nights every week and have a ball catching up with fellow riders, BS'ing with them, seeing the classic cars and enjoying the evening away from the coach. It's normally the same old gang there and we typically make a doughnut run afterwards to Dunkin Donuts after the event. :) My motorcycle ( Mojo ) will be coming down for maintenance for a couple weeks after the first of the year so I will be out of the saddle while it sits and gets worked on and a few parts changed out. Its long overdue as I now have 10,000 miles on it and it hasn't had a full service since new in 2002. Besides simple oil changes, it now needs a full greasing and some parts inspected and possibly replaced.
On the health front I do have some good news to report. I am all done with Chemo for the year. My body needed a rest from that stuff and I needed to detoxify my system of that crap. My liver has taken a beating as well as my kidneys, brain and spleen. This has been one of the very worst chemo regimens I have been on as the sickness has been terrible. I needed this break BAD and am going to enjoy a couple months without the injections and sickness. :) I do say I am proud of myself as I have stuck with this treatment cycle and didn't stray off it. It wasn't fun, it was taxing on my body and had to be one of the very worst cycles I have ever had in 8 years, but I made it through and am looking forward to the rest and feeling decent again. :) I will probably start another cycle in March sometime.
I plan on updating this page again in a week or two just before we pack up and leave.
It's hell week as I start preparing for our long trip to Bristol, TN and Lynchburg, VA. So much has to be accomplished before we can hit the road. Its never a fun job to tear down our site, disconnect everything from the bus and then prepare the coach for travel. On top of that I also need to get the car ready to go as we will be towing it back with us. I have a " TO DO " list a mile long before we can hit the road and I do not look forward to it. Thankfully it looks like the weather is going to cooperate with us and we should have a nice easy trip North.
Good Lord, which one of you Northerners made Mother Nature mad ? Ya'll have gotten socked big time with ice and snow storms. It is a friendly reminder to me of what I am missing I guess, but I do not need any reminders. My memory is fresh with the miserable winter conditions of 42 years of life in Michigan. I prefer the warmer climates in my " old age ". :)
Health wise, things look decent. My body seems to be settling in after the initial shock of going off chemo. It was real rough the last couple weeks but I managed through it and seem to be coming out the other side and I can see some daylight at the end of the tunnel.
I did my annual ride ritual and scheduled a Christmas ride with the bikers that live in the resort. We ended up having a great turnout of bikes and had a group of 9 bikes and 11 people in our ride. Several bikers did not show up due to strong winds, but 9 of us braved it out and made the hike. I selected a scenic route for our ride which took us through Aripeka and we were able to get glimpses of the Gulf of Mexico off in the distance. We had a nice lunch at the Bayport Inn which is a restaurant that caters to bikers. We then headed out to Pine Island for a direct view of the Gulf and then headed back to the resort. No close calls on this ride, smooth sailing but extremely windy with some major gusts.
My Mom flies in on Wednesday and we are looking forward to seeing her. Its been a long time so it will be fun to have us all together for Christmas. We plan on having a great Christmas this year, despite Lindy, Kim and Ella being in Michigan. We will miss them this year but understand that Kim hasn't had a Christmas with her family in a long time. I am happy she is going to get this chance.
It wont be long and the two Aussies will be landing, Con ( Ally's big brother ) and his wife Debbie. They plan on arriving here in the Tampa area on January 13th. I will give more details about their trip in my next update as they have an awesome trip planned. Trust me, these people travel and see a lot of sites.
I just
wanted to give this quick update. I was informed yesterday ( December 19th )
that our very close and very dear friend Paul " Goose " Mc Avoy passed away.
He was in bad shape all year from a liver disease that he has had since
childhood but fought till the bitter end like a true Marine.
Goose was an awesome friend on all accounts. Trustworthy, loyal, supportive
and always there for us best describes him. He has been more like a brother
to us rather then a friend and soon became a member of our family. We spent
several holidays together and him and I spent hours reliving our Marine
Corps days, laughing and joking. We trusted Goose so much that when we
decided to start traveling, we gave him power of attorney over our house in
Bristol while we have been away. That's the kind of guy he is - extremely
trustworthy. Whenever we left town, I handed Goose the keys to our place and
never worried about the house. He has looked after our home as if it was his
and he has looked after me like I was his brother. He was just an amazing
person who you couldn;t help but love and want to spend time with. He loved
my kids and Ally dearly and looked after my Mom whenever we were out of
town. Goose, by the way was the guy, who pinned the name " Matilda " on my
wife Ingrid. It stuck and he called her Matilda until the end.
Goose has been in pretty bad shape for sometime. I wished I could say this
is a complete shock, but it isn't. I have watched him suffer with health
problems for years now. He gets knocked down and always got back up. But
this summer, I barely knew him as he was so sick and lost so much weight. I
threatened him a month ago that if he didn't get his ass to the Doctor I
would drive up there and take him myself, right after kicking him in his
butt. He laughed and said " I promise Hoss that I will and he did. But
it was a little to late for him as there was little the Doctors could do.
A Marine Corp Warrant officer he flew with several helicopter squadrons in
the Corps. He was shot down once over Laos, shot down again in Nam and
crashed into the China sea and nearly drowned. He was again involved in a
crash which resulted in an auto gyration to the ground for a hard landing
during a training mission in the States. He flew recon missions over South
America and many other countries, led a helicopter crew into the ill fated
Iran hostage crisis ( I believe his chopper landed in the desert with
mechanical problems ). He had 19 years on the Huey's and performed his
duties with the Corps with honor, commitment and distinction. But these
crashes all took a toll on his body. His stomach was a mess and most of it
was removed. His liver and pancreas also took a beating from his disease and
his health has been on a steady decline since leaving the Corps.
Last week he was in the hospital and unresponsive but soon recovered and we
were able to once again talk. The first words out of his mouth were "
How are you doing ". Thats the kind of man he was, he put everyone before
himself. He then slipped into a coma this week and passed away today. This
is one of the greatest men I have ever met and one of the greatest friends a
man could ever ask for. I am hoping this old Marine will find a new gleaming
huey helicopter and begin a new flight in heaven.
I ask for your prayers for Goose, an amazing friend and Marine Corp Veteran
and his family. May all your flights from here on Goose have blue skies and
tail winds. We love you and will miss you.
Chris ( Hoss ).
P.S. I am attaching a photo of Goose taken while flying over some remote
jungle in Nam. This same exact photo appeared on the cover of Time magazine
in the 60's.
( Click Here for the photo )
This is my last update till after the New Year. I will not have any internet connection while on the road so will not be able to provide updates or answer e-mails. Please have a great Holiday season, make it happy, filled with fun and joy and make sure you stay healthy and happy.
May the spirit of Christmas be with all of you and may God bless each of you with happiness and good health.
Chris
Keep up to date on the latest photos ( by clicking here )