We had a very nice visit with the Glaspey’s but as always with us it was time to move on to new adventures. Yesterday, after a great breakfast prepared by Jim we hooked up the CRV and headed up Hwy 58 and then Hwy 97 to Bend, OR and Tumalo State Park where we will be the Yurt Hosts for the next two months.
If memory serves me this will be out fourth time hosting here at Tumalo. Tumalo is not really a destination park but more used by folks passing through the area or visiting the Bend area for a short time. We like it mainly because of the close proximity to the amenities in Bend.
May 6, 2018
We are the Yurt Hosts here at Tumalo so we have seven of those guys we keep cleaned. Cleaning yurts is a piece of cake most of the time, especially when the occupants sweep and take out their own trash. We also are responsible for cleaning the camping sites in C-loop and relieving the other hosts on their days off. Pretty darned good gig.
Yesterday we drove down to La Pine State Park about 22 miles south of here near La Pine, OR to visit Jim & Jeanne, Ron & Tisha Glaspey and Dwayne & Donna Hayes who are spending a few days there. We spent the afternoon just hanging around telling stories and then had a delicious steak dinner.
May 8, 2018
As most of y’all know I am in the process of making a new claim with the Veterans Administration of complications resulting from a broken nose that happened many moons ago. On Thursday the 3rd I had an appointment with a doctor investigating my case.
The VA now contracts Veterans Evaluation Services, a company based in Houston, TX. Their job is to schedule appointments, provide a medical professional to evaluate your case and report their findings to the VA.
When I showed up for the appointment the doctor told me what his role was in my case. He would not be doing an examination but would be looking trough my records to establish a “paper trail” that backs up my claim. He had to search my records using key words to find something since the VA records are so jumbled. After several minutes he found where I had went to the flight surgeon back in 1979 for a sinus block which established the paper trail.
He then asked numerous questions to determine if I have had chronic problems since then. He also asked about any medications I have been taking for my problems.
The doctor took several minutes to explain the claim process moving forward. One of my problems is that I never went to the doctor for sinus issues from 1979 to 2010 which could cause the VA to deny my claim. Back in the day, most military folks didn’t go to the doctor for minor issues. This was especially true for flying personnel for fear of being grounded and not allowed to fly again.
May 11, 2018
Yesterday was overcast and cool but we wanted to get out of the park anyway. I had heard there was a really good burger joint in Monument, OR and since we had never been there, and even with the bad weather we decided to make the drive anyway.
On the way out we made a potty stop at one of the roadside parks on the John Day River. There was a ranger there cleaning the bathrooms and while we waited for him to finish I struct up a conversation with him. He noticed my Air Force retired hat and mentioned he was in the Army. I mentioned that our son is in the Army with the 3rd Special Forces Group and he smiled and said he had been in the 6th Special Forces Group back in the day. He also told us that the burger joint we were headed to try has been closed for a year. Ducky, just ducky.
Since we were almost there anyway we kept going. Just so y’all know, there ain’t much in Monument, OR. They did have a small store so we stopped in and got us a couple of ice creams and a soda. And we thought Oakridge was isolated.
Read more about Grant County here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_County,_Oregon
On the way home we stopped at the Club Pioneer restaurant in Prineville for supper. Not a bad place but a bit pricey.
May 16, 2018
It’s been fairly quiet around Tumalo for the past few days. The park is getting busy, especially on the weekends and very soon we will be booked up completely every night.
One thing we have noticed that is a little annoying for us is the amount of folks that make a reservation and not show up. More and more folks have started making reservations nine months out knowing that they may not be able to use them. This morning I counted six sites that had reservations but no one showed up.
For some reason we are only getting one bar of Verizon cell service here this year. In the past years we have hosted here we usually got up to four bars, sometimes dropping down to two once in a while. Our Jetpack MiFi is getting one as well but we have it connected to a Sleek signal booster which bumps that up to four bars. To make phone calls here in our coach we have to use our wifi which bites into our data usage. We’re now in the process of making decisions about our cell service, particularly our data usage.
May 18, 2018
As part of my new VA claim for Sleep Apnea and other issues caused by the broken nose I suffered at Losing AFB, ME., I wanted to get a second opinion just in case the VA turns me down. So, I started that process a week or so ago,
First, I went to see my family doctor and he then referred me to a ENT and Dr. Brewer, one of the pulmonary function doctors. I saw him last week and he believes I do in fact have sleep apnea but also COPD. So I am now being tested for both of those issues.
Yesterday I went back to BNC and picked up a home sleep test kit. The last time I was tested for sleep apnea in Hemet, CA. I had to go into the clinic and spend the night there. The kit I used last night was much easier to use and I could do the test at home.
Next I am scheduled for a pulmonary function test on the 31st then I will see Dr. Brewer again that afternoon. I sure hope the disease had progressed far enough that I will need supplemental oxygen. This gettin’ old stuff ain’t for the faint of heart thats for sure.
More later.
Barry and Joyce
