A Brief Respite
No, we are not asking for sympathy (yet). There are worse things than a month and a half in Europe followed by a couple weeks in the Rockies. But, we WERE getting a little tired with only less than a month between trips. However, no way Jose were we missing Josh and Lizzie's marriage in Winter Park. So, off we went.
The Six, no Seventh, Circle of Hell
What is WRONG with the climate in the U.S.? Oh, I think we know. At least some of us know. When we arrived in San Antonio for a two day reacquaintance tour of our former home town of five years we entered a blast furnace. Charming...but a furnace. It was 110 degrees with no wind and more humidity than one would like. The River Walk was practically steaming and the tourists actually were. All outdoor plans went out the window as we sidled up to air conditioners and sipped iced beverages. That was where the hydrating (you'll see) all took off. We DID do stuff but it was a challenge.
Since one could walk no further than about 200 feet before heat exhaustion ensued, we relied on Lyfts quite a bit. Being outgoing, we chatted up the drivers and were totally horrified by many of the "conversations". For instance, while predictably bemoaning the excruciating temperature we said, "Well, guess global warming has hit." Reply: "Oh no. I had a science teacher (SCIENCE TEACHER) who explained that it is just that the Sun keeps getting closer to the earth." He then opined on how "they" had perfected the climate as a weapon of the Deep State. I would like to say that he was an outlier but, really, almost every driver we had was whacked in one manner or another. What has been going on since we left the country? Maybe it's just San Antonio... In any case we managed to get some shots that are a lot cheerier looking than we felt. And then we headed for the Rockies....thank God. Well, maybe.
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| The house (or a portion of the house) we stayed at in the King William area of San Antonio. |
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| The historic Victorian houses in this area of San Antonio are a big draw. |
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| While not a Victorian, this house is a classic Texan house built by a German immigrant in 1880. |
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| These are the interior shots of another house built by a German immigrant, who started the Pioneer flour mill. The Guenther house is now open to the public and is a restaurant that serves an amazing breakfast. |
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| The Old San Antonio Brewing Assoc. building, aka Pearl Brewery. |
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| Not all of the River Walk is crowded with tourists and shops... |
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| as these paddle boarders have found a quieter section of the river. |
The Pack Convenes
Son Alex was already with us but in Denver we found our other son Justin just in from LA. This was after an extremely vexing rental car pickup. They had no cars. How can a rental car company whose entire business is cars have no cars. Here are their excuses: 1) There has been SO much hail; 2) The summer is SO busy (surprise!) 3) Our system was overwhelmed. Fine. We cooled our jets at Mr. Egg for 2 splendid hours before our chariot arrived. Mr. Egg was a study in gluttony and excess. A simple breakfast there would be capable of feeding a Pakistani family for several weeks. After indulging, Michael was incapable of moving food into his mouth for another 24 hours. We waddled to our rental car, grabbed the other kid and headed to the mountains. Oh, and it was still hot. Not 110 degrees, but hot. Time to hydrate more -- (you'll see).
Meanwhile, I have been feeling punky since San Antonio but particularly so when we ascend an additional 3,000 feet above Denver (which IS the mile-high city) to Empire. So, I figure once I get into the cool mountain air I will feel mucho better. No, nope, not better. So then I look up altitude sickness and, don't you know, I have every symptom -- light headed, short of breath, faint nausea, fatigue. I'm batting a thousand. So, what do you do? You HYDRATE. My loving extended family is handing me bottled water at every turn. Sometimes twice a turn. I comply and down vast amounts of water and -- feel worse.
The International Church of Cannabis and Other Marvels
The next morning I was feeling a tad better (and quite restless) so we set off on an adventure. Adventure #1 was driving to the top of Mt. Evans (14,000+ feet) which, in retrospect, was a really, really big mistake but I thought: "Hey, we're just driving up real quickly and then down. And there are mountain goats and marmots and I haven't seen them before and I'm almost 70 so what the hell". After all, I'm hydrating.
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| Several female bighorn sheep were hanging around the parking lot by Summit Lake. |
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| The bighorn sheep were still in the process of shedding their winter coats, creating a very scruffy appearance. |
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| The views from the top of Mount Evans were spectacular since the weather was so clear. |
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| These mountain goats at the top of Mt. Evans are an introduced species to Colorado. |
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| However this marmot is a native. And super cute... |
I survived that and we moved on to downtown Denver to visit the International Church of Cannabis because, how could you visit Denver and NOT visit it. By the way, the entire state must be perpetually high based on the number of smoke shops on every block. We were greeted at the church by an incredibly friendly young man who did not SEEM stoned and his noble dog pet Munchie. We were not prepared for the artistic treatment of the church. It was really splendid. I almost bought a T-shirt but felt it unseemly for a woman of my age.
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| The exterior of The International Church of Cannabis. |
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| The interior of the Church, as can be seen from these photos, was quite spectacular. |
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| The downstairs of the Church had some amusing objects as well. |
Why Won't This Illness Abate?
I'm being good. I'm drinking the equivalent of a swimming pool of water a day. I'm barely drinking wine. And yet..... I feel worse. So much worse that I miss: 1) welcoming dinner; 2) wedding; 3) reception. This is a reasonable thing to do since Winter Park, where the wedding takes place, is several thousands of feet even higher and with my (what we think is) altitude sickness I would only worsen. But Michael has some great pictures of everything I missed so here goes....
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| Some pictures of the wedding ceremony. Fortunately the weather cooperated so that the ceremony could be held outdoors, even if the wind was a bit gusty at times. |
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| My cousin Dan and his wife Sandy escort Lizzy down the aisle. |
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| My brother-in-law Mike Couture officiated at the ceremony as first Josh... |
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| then Lizzy read their vows. |
All Good Things Must....
Come Monday many of the young and gainfully employed had to retreat to civilization and labor. I still felt crummy, even worse, but steadfastly continued to ply myself with water, water and more water. Silly moi! That evening I had a glass of wine (yes, ONE) and walked upstairs to visit with the family and promptly passed out (I was assured gracefully) at the head of the stairs. That got their attention! So, off Michael and I went to St. Anthony's Hospital in Denver. I walked right in, sat right down (no waiting at St.Anthony's!) and had a SAT (oxygen saturation rate) of 74. "So, that's not great, huh?" I asked. The woman stared at me. "Let's just say it's not compatible with life". She let me chew on that one for a while as they strapped oxygen on me and wheeled me away. Long story short I was incarcerated for several days. It turns out that I was doing absolutely the WRONG thing by hydrating like a loon. They are still not sure exactly what was/is wrong with me but I'm OK. It's something about the right ventricle ("but your heart is VERY strong" -- I guess 75% of it is) and the lung and why it's hard for it to force blood into the lung to oxygenate it but I am on my way to numerous cardiologists and pulmonologists so I'm sure they will figure it out. Or not. Hospitalization did have it's moments. Some things have changed in the 30+ years since I have stayed in one but they still woke me up at 11 PM, 2AM, 4 AM and 6 AM and whenever they were feeling particularly evil. On day one, a doctor who looks exactly like William H.Macy on Shameless (this is not a good thing) leans in the doorway and says "Hey, I think I have the wrong room". I'm thinking "God I hope so". "Are you from Mexico?," he asks. I guess he thought we didn't look like REAL Mexicans. He only came once. I also had a nurse from the Philippines. I mentioned that it was a shame that her country was in the grips of Duterte -- that despot and murderer. Her response: "Oh, we all love him. He is cleaning up the country. We say kill them all." Hmmm. I decided against a rousing defense of democracy. She was scary and had needles and I didn't want to annoy her. Other than those two everyone was a combination of mid-west nice and Colorado Rocky Mountain High Hip so I had a pretty pleasant time.
The Recovery
Once I was sprung from the hospital we retreated to Michael's brothers lovely home in Englewood. Brian and Dian had headed for the Eastern Shore of Maryland so we were lord and lady of the manor. More extended family spoiled me with home cooked dinners and dinners out and being an invalid was not as bad as it is cracked up to be-- although it could get old real fast I think. We'd planned on visiting my niece Shannon and family in Carbondale but it was, of course, too high so fortuitously she was able to sneak in a visit while on a business trip to Denver. Once I was feeling better we decided to head out once more to adventure -- but not too high. We went to Colorado Springs to see Garden of the Gods which was spectacular. We had planned on Pikes Peak but clearly that was not in the cards for cripple girl. I saw it though (sigh). We also did the Denver Botanical Gardens which are better covered in photos than prose.
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| Just a few of the spectacular flowers at the Denver Botanic Garden. |
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| This rabbit seemed totally non-plussed as we walked by... |
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| admiring the beautiful gardens... |
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| as did its friend on the other side. |
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| The reflecting pond in the Japanese garden... |
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| and the lily pond were two of our favorites as we strolled the gardens. |
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| The unusual way these rocks were arranged caught out eye. |
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| The next day we were on to the Garden of the Gods, where the photos say it all. |
One More Outing
I was feeling more like the old Deirdre (i.e. defiant and self-destructive) so we went on another short jaunt on our last day in Denver. We saw the #1 tourist site in Denver which is Union Station. I'm glad they saved it and it is a beautiful building but when we return to America it is just amazing how many stores and restaurants there are. Everywhere. So, you go, you look and unless you eat or buy you are done. I guess that's just cranky. The Molly Brown House was MUCH more interesting. You may (if you are of a certain age) remember the show "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". Well, it was complete hogwash. She was not a naif, country bumpkin girl who amazingly survived the Titanic. She was a millionairess, spoke 5 languages, ran for public office 5 times, advocated women's and animal's rights and was forced off the Titanic after taking over the organization of the life boats that had been bungled by the crew. As we waited for our tour to start on the porch they came out and distributed fans. Then they said: "Look, it is REALLY hot in there. Use the fans. We have stools to sit on if you feel like you are overcome by heat. Definitely DON'T go to the third floor." Well, by now I was hooked on Miss Molly (here's a tad of the self-destructive part) so I just ambled on into the inferno and took the tour. No problems. A breeze after San Antonio.
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| As we visited another Union Station, I wondered why so many stations were named Union Station. It seems a union station was where two or more separate railway companies shared tracks and facilities to allow passengers to connect conveniently between them. |
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| The exterior of Molly Brown's house in Denver. |
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| The carriage house. |
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| A sphinx with Molly's face at the entrance to the house. |
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| The interior of the house, while not overly large, was certainly opulent. |
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| The wallpaper in the son's bedroom. I want that wallpaper says Deirdre. |
The Fantastic World of Insurance
Who the hell knows? We have Medicare Part A but not Part B. We have private insurance ($3.5K deductible) for about $1350/pp/per year (yeah Mexico!) I had a private room (mountain view), CT scan, Nuclear Stress Test, Echo Cardiogram, Regular Cardiograms (many) and they drew almost every once of blood to run every known test on me. So, I figure the bill is about a zillion dollars -- or a little more. Now, in Mexico here is how it works. Before they let you out of the hospital, you pay the bill. The WHOLE bill. Or you don't get out. I don't know what they do with you if you don't pay up but we never wanted to find out. In the U.S. it is a very different attitude. Michael said to our nurse: "So where do I find the billing department so I can get our bill." Her response: "Oh, don't worry. They'll send it to you in 30-60 days." And we live in MEXICO! We're effectively fleeing the country! I'm sure it will all work out. We'll keep you updated.
So, this has been a rather grisly blog except for the joy of Lizzie and Josh's wedding. We've got a trip planned for Canada in September/October and after that we are dedicating ourselves to refashioning our bodies on earlier models. New knees for Michael and new "to be determined" for Deirdre. In the interim, enjoy what is left of summer and look forward to those lovely crisp days of Autumn. And let us know what you are up to OK?
