Sick. But some fun

Me, Joan, Greg and Pam at Kartchner Caverns

This post is long overdue. We’re going to start with the last few days because they can be summed up in one word: Sick. Both of us. Which meant from Tuesday night until Saturday we did almost nothing but hide in our trailer and try to get well.

I’m one of those guys who brags about “never” being sick. Well, not anymore. Whatever I had, and there is a dispute among the two medical professionals that treated Joan and I whether it was the flu or some other respiratory infection, it was completely debilitating. Walking to the shower felt like a ten-mile hike.

Completely frustrating to be sick in a place with perfect weather every day. Sitting inside a trailer, staring out at beautiful skies and not being able to enjoy them is tough.

Kitt Peak sign

We’re not completely sure how we came down with this crud, but it would appear it was a continuation of the sickness caught by our friend Greg while he was here. He was pretty convinced that he contracted the bug during our Thursday night visit to Kitt Peak when a lady kept coughing on him. More on Kitt Peak a little later.

As I write this is it Saturday, March 19, and we are both starting to come out of the fog we’ve been in for three days. Between this week and the two days in the hospital earlier in our visit I’ve lost nearly a week of my Arizona time.

When I woke up this past Wednesday feeling like I had been run over by a truck. I headed to the local Urgent Care about 9 a.m. Despite their name the “urgency” didn’t seem to be there and it took all of three hours to get me seen and diagnosed.

It was a close call because Joan had a 1 p.m. appointment to have a permanent crown put on the tooth she broke the fourth day we were here. To complicate things further Kolb Road, the main drag for us in and out of the park and to major attractions has been restricted to one lane in each direction while road repairs are done.

Sunset on Kitt Peak

But Joan got her tooth fixed and I picked up my Z-Pak from the pharmacy to kill whatever infection I had. It was later on Wednesday that Joan started to feel the more serious effects of the “bug” and she headed to the Voyager clinic Thursday morning where she was diagnosed with the flu. So she is taking Tamiflu and I’m using my Z-Pak. We are both getting better so apparently it doesn’t really matter what we have.

The only time I was out of the trailer between Wednesday and Saturday was for my Thursday morning Men’s Bible Study and then Thursday night’s Experiencing God class. Friday night, while Joan was resting on the couch I headed to the resort’s “End of the Year” party to pick up dinner for both of us. Various groups in the park sell food at the party as a fund raiser and I picked up a couple hamburgers and a couple root beer floats and headed back to the trailer.

Hiking on Gabe Zimmerman trail

We missed the dance and other activities associated with the “End of the Year” party. Here’s some other things we missed because of mean ol’ Mr. Virus: A lecture on Arizona birds (you know Joan is really sick when she misses a lecture on birds). We missed another party for RVers. On Friday Joan passed up the Women’s Bible Study tea because she didn’t want to infect any of the women there.

Unfortunately, I did find time to watch some of the MSU basketball game against Middle Tennessee State, so that didn’t help the healing process much.

So as you can see the last few days have been pretty empty, except for coughing and achiness.

Now let’s get you caught up with what we have done.

On Sunday, March 6, we attended church services at the park and spent a quiet day at the trailer getting things ready for the arrival of our friends Greg and Pam from Michigan.

Eating Fry Bread at San Xavier Mission

So Monday, we picked up Pam and Greg at the airport and headed to Walmart so they could food shop for supplies for the casita they rented. After that we returned to the Voyager and got them checked into their casita which was across the street from our space.

After that we drove downtown and signed them up for Meet Me at Maynard’s and did the walk and then had dinner at “Fired Pie.” They had a long hard day of traveling and once home they headed back to the casita for a little rest and relaxation.

Of all things, rain was in the forecast for Tuesday, the first rain we’ve had in over a month and only the second rainy day we’ve had. Fortunately, I was following the forecast and booked a tour of the Kartchner Caverns for that day figuring a cave tour was the perfect activity for a rainy day.

Greg and Pam joined us for the Tuesday potluck dinner in the ballroom and had a great time meeting some of our friends.

Casa Grande Ruins

Wednesday was a quiet day with Joan and Pam going to the aquacise class in the morning and then we all visited Market Daze in the park. We hung out in the afternoon and then we all went to the “Sonoran Dogs” bluegrass show in the ballroom.

On Thursday, I went to my Men’s Bible study and then about 11 a.m. we headed to the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum to see the afternoon raptor free flight show and then about 3 p.m. we headed to Kitt Peak National Observatory for our Night Observation Program.

Kitt Peak is about 7,000-feet high and much cooler than the valley floor. Joan and I have never done this program before so we had high expectations, all of which were met.  We arrived at the peak about 4 p.m. and spent some time touring the visitor’s center until the start of the program about 5:20 p.m. All the cars were lined up as we arrived as you have to drive down the mountain without headlights for a mile after the program so as not to disturb the ongoing research being down on the mountain.

Hutch's Pool hike rest stop

The program included a turkey sandwich dinner and then the group of 40 people was split so that the groups could take turns looking through one of the telescopes on the mountain. While one group was viewing the telescope the rest of us were using binoculars and a star chart to locate constellations and major stars in the sky.

We were extremely fortunate that the sky was 100 percent clear that night and the viewing on the mountain is spectacular. In a light free environment like the mountain it is hard to describe the blanket of stars in the night sky. With just the high powered binoculars we were able to see incredible stars and planets.

It had been since my Navy days since I used a star locator and it brought back a lot of memories.

Then it was our turn at the telescope and 10 of us headed up the hill to a telescope where we spent a little over an hour viewing galaxies, stars and Jupiter through the lens. You could clearly see the moons of Jupiter. The vast expanse of space always fascinates me and seeing it like this just leaves me awe struck.

Hutch's Pools lunch stop

Following our tour of the telescope we headed to our cars and followed the dark convoy down the mountain for a mile. At that point we were allowed to have our headlights back on for the 11-mile windy trip down the mountain.

Once down off the mountain we traveled through the Border Patrol checkpoint. I think the agent was used to the nightly convoy coming through, but indicated he would have been happier if it was ten minutes later when his relief would have been on duty.

We all agreed of all the things we did together during the week, this was the best.

Friday was another quiet day around the park with Pam and Greg enjoying some pool time and later Greg and I visited the billiards room and played several games of 8-ball, all dominated by Greg, who I now call “Lapeer Fats.”

It was about this time that Greg began to realize that the woman who was coughing on him on Kitt Peak may have given him a bug. Through his brother Greg got a Z-Pak right away.

Small waterfall at Hutch's Pools

On Saturday, despite not being 100 percent Greg, Pam, Joan and I headed to the Gabe Zimmerman trail (named for the aid of Gabby Giffords, who was killed in a mass shooting a few years ago) and we did about a 3-mile segment. This is also part of the Arizona Trail. Pam and I did a little longer segment while the ailing Greg and Joan stayed behind.

The day was perfect for hiking.

Sunday, Joan and I went to chapel and Greg and Pam enjoyed a quiet day at the pool and later watching the Spartans win the Big Ten basketball championship. Greg worked on getting better as well.

During the weekend we were entertained by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds who were in town for the air show at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. We could see much of the show right from our front porch so we missed the traffic and crowds but still saw much of the show.

Sunday night we grilled steaks and had a quiet night at home.

Our picnic table at Hutch's pools

Too quickly Monday came and it was time to say good-bye to Pam and Greg. First though, we headed to San Xavier Mission Church where we had a tour and some fry bread.  I never miss an opportunity to have fry bread.

After leaving there we went to Casa Grande ruins on the way to meeting up with Greg’s daughter, Chelsea at a great Mexican restaurant in Chandler, Arizona.

Dinner was fun, but over too quickly and Joan and I transferred Greg and Pam’s luggage to Chelsea’s vehicle and bid adieu to our friends.

It was later that I started realizing that I may be coming down with something, but held with my plans to hike on Tuesday. Tuesday’s hike was to Hutch’s Pools in the Catalina Mountains. This is a strenuous 10-mile round trip hike which I did with flying colors, but after attending the Tuesday night potluck I realized that I was well on my way to a major illness.

That brings us back to where we began this saga. I apologize for the disjointed nature of this post, but I am still suffering the effects of my illness. We skipped church this Sunday because we are both still pretty weak from our illness.