5/3-6: A New Beginning!

This is my first time writing a blog post since the end of last September when Steven and I were just beginning what we'd hoped would be a seven-week tour of Central America. Unfortunately, on day 4 I slipped on some mud in Tikal National Park in northern Guatemala and broke my left femur. We were fantastically lucky that our guide (whom we didn't think we had when we booked transportation to and from the park) suggested I be taken to a private instead of a public hospital about two hours away. 

We don't think it's much of an exaggeration to say I'm alive today because of the guide's recommendation I go to the private hospital where I had surgery that night. I am sincerely thankful for the care provided by the hospital's top doctor and other staff. Though it wasn't what I would have received in the US, we haven't focused on that. 

If anyone ever questions the wisdom of buying medical evacuation insurance prior to going on an out-of-country trip, please, please consider buying it every time without fail. It's a minimal cost compared to your overall trip costs. It saved our hide when I was medically evacuated by jet from the hospital room in Guatemala to a hospital room here in Denver. Steven and I joke that was the only time we've been on a jet! Fast forward to eight-plus months later: I continue to have many complications and must use a cane or walker all the time. Wow, am I so blessed that Steven and our youngest, Zachary, have been an absolute rock throughout this hellacious journey.

However, the complications haven't stopped our domestic travel with short trips to see family in San Francisco over Christmas, our new granddaughter in Chicago in March, and then three weeks in San Antonio, Texas in March/April. After receiving the go-ahead from an orthopedic physician assistant in early February, we booked a week-long cruise in early May from Vancouver to Anchorage and then a two-week driving trip to explore Alaska's interior. Even though a float and bloat, i.e. a cruise, hasn't been our style, Steven and I were beyond excited to get out on the road again especially since Alaska was our 50th and final state to see!

With the cruise beginning in Vancouver, indisputably one of Canada's most beautiful cities, we were so happy that my dear childhood friend from my hometown of Ottawa, Angela, and her husband, Terry, invited us to stay in their gorgeous home in West Vancouver for a few days. 

Terry and Angela were the first people who inspired us with their thrilling adventures on every continent well before we started traveling internationally. In more recent years, they have enjoyed extensive bike trips to all sorts of exotic places. When Terry suggested he and Steven go on a pretty grueling bike ride through the streets and across the bridges of Vancouver, Steven was more than a little hesitant to say yes! Here are Steven's photos of the city's famous Stanley Park and its totem poles.

I could see why Angela and Terry love spending hours on their deck overlooking the Strait of Vancouver with binoculars at the ready gazing at rows of cruise ships and oil tankers passing. We knew that they'd also be there a few days later waving at us as our ship passed their home.

Angela took us on a short drive to Cypress Mountain where the Olympic Winter Games were held in 2010.

Angela and Terry in just part of what should be their award-winning garden!

A few shots of some of the more exciting architecture in downtown Vancouver on the way to the cruise ship terminal:

The fun begins: a week aboard the Grand Princess to Anchorage, before bopping around the state in a rental car!

We were fortunate to get a much larger cabin for the same price as much smaller cabins that were the norm. We didn't realize initially that it was an ADA cabin although the extra size came in handy with my walker.

Somewhere out there Angela and Terry were waving at us as we were doing to them and all hoping not such a long a time would pass before we meet again. Hopefully, that will be in Denver!

My sincerest thanks to family and friends near and far who have supported us on this medical journey from the end of September in Guatemala to now. You have been a blessing beyond words.

Next post: Our first shore excursion in Ketichan, Alaska, aka The Last Frontier.

Posted on June 7th, 2023, from very rainy Denver.