Life goes on…

...pretty much as normal. And that's a pretty amazing thing, when you look at where things were when I rushed back from Big Bend at the end of April. I guess that's a good place to start—Jake is doing really well! He's active and in good spirits, and has been doing PT to work on his balance (a problem before the stroke or whatever it was). He's been working in the garage a lot, trying to get things organized, and goes down to his brother's to play every couple of weeks. He's there now, so I'm living the bachelor life till Sunday. Jake will have an MRI on July 10th, and hopefully we will find that there is nothing going on in his head. I'm pretty sure that all is well, as he's not having any symptoms to indicate otherwise, but it will be good to have the evidence to support that belief.

Huh. I just checked my last post and I haven't written in quite a while. To update that post, the scary needle biopsy was canceled since there was nothing seen in the MRI to be biopsied. (It was described as a "patchy enhancement" in the MRI results.) At the end of May, we saw Jake's oncologist and got some reassurance. I don't remember how much I wrote about this, but the doctors at the hospital (neuro and oncology) just looked at Jake's history and said, "It's the lymphoma." I felt then that they were making too many assumptions. Their evidence was: 1) he's had lymphoma twice, and 2) steroids made the problem go away. (Lymphoma is very sensitive to steroids.). To be fair, it's an Occam's razor situation—the simplest explanation based on that evidence—but I didn't buy it. Of course, my reasoning is just as flawed, because I'm also adding in my emotional response.

Anyway, by the time we saw the oncologist, it had been a month since Jake had received steroids, and the problem had not come back. The doctor answered my most important question—the steroid effect would have worn off lymphoma in 2-3 weeks (at the outside). She does not think he has lymphoma again. It was such a relief hearing that. She wants us to follow up with a neurologist, because there was a bleed causing the problem, and we need to be sure it's not an ongoing problem. So that's also scheduled for July.

I've been relatively lazy for the past week. I had nothing at all on my calendar and it rained all week. There was sun this afternoon, but it's clouding up again. Sigh. I did get out for a rainy walk yesterday. I'm hoping to do a longer hike this weekend. It's funny that I can feel guilty for doing nothing. I am retired and can just do nothing if I want. LOL!

When Jake had recovered in May, I asked him if he's okay with my resuming my travel plans. He said sure, so I'm a go for a bunch of trips! My first is just a local trip, next week. My friend Elizabeth and I decided that we should visit Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay while it's still there. The island has lost over 60% of its land in the last 50 years. We are spending a night in Onley (on the Eastern Shore), then taking the ferry to Tangier. We'll spend one night there, then one night at Chincoteague before heading home. The info letter from the Tangier B&B (https://www.brigaduneinn.com/) says to bring water shoes, as you can have to wade around town, but that's usually just in spring and fall. I guess we'll take water shoes, just in case. Our plans for the trip are to eat seafood and go birdwatching.

Next up, in 40 days, is a return to Iceland with another friend. She hasn't been, and I said, sure, I'd go back! It will be a short trip (arriving at 6 AM on August 3rd, and flying home on August 7th). We've got a campervan reserved, and are planning to spend the time in the Westfjords, an area that I didn't visit last year. Our first stop (after getting the van and visiting Bonus for groceries) will be the https://www.skylagoon.com/ in Reykjavik. We've got tickets for the "Seven Step Ritual."

I'm not too sure about the cold plunge...

From there, we will head north and find a campsite, probably near Hólmavík. The campsite there is right near the local swimming pool. We are not making definitive plans (the joys of a campervan!), but plan to visit the Witchcraft Museum (Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft), the Saltverk factory (source of amazing lava salt), and the bird cliffs at Látrabjarg. We plan to visit as many hot pools as possible. It's going to be a short trip, but I'm sure it will be amazing!

Next up is Nepal and Bhutan in September and October, with Gate 1. It's a small group trip (max of 16), and I'm meeting my friends Ken and Stephen there. I'm particularly excited about spending 2 days at Chitwan National Park! I'm also doing a sightseeing flight around Mount Everest. I wasn't planning to do it, but Ken pointed out that you cannot go to Nepal and not see Mount Everest. I guess he's right. I need to learn more about Bhutan before the trip—I know very little right now. On our last day there, we are climbing to Taktsang Palphug Monastery. It's 700 steps to get up there! I'll make it, but probably won't be able to walk the next day.

I'm flying Qatar Airways to Nepal, so I'm doing a stopover in Doha on the way home. It's just a couple of nights, with a city tour, but they make it so easy (and cheap— it's only US$230 for airport transfers, hotel with breakfast, and the tour).

After that, I'm going to Romania in December and then southeast Asia in February. Romania was a spur-of-the-moment thing. It's just a week in country, and it will be cold, but should be fun. Asia is a long trip, almost a month. I'll be visiting Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.

Beyond that, I'm not sure. I am thinking South Africa in June 2024. I met some birders in Texas who just did a 17 day trip with Gate 1 to South Africa and Botswana, and it looked amazing! Lots of mammals and birds! So, that's a good possibility. Also on my wish list: Australia and New Zealand, China, Indonesia, Madagascar, Egypt, Tunisia, the countries on the Adriatic (especially Croatia), Uzbekistan...plus, I'd like to go back to tropical America (Costa Rica, Peru, and Patagonia, especially). As the blog is titled, there are SO many place...

Speaking of animals, I had an interesting visitor last weekend. He seemed as curious about me as I was about him.

Till next week, when I'll post some about Tangier.