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.
