Wednesday morning we left for Williams before 8:30 for the 287-mile trek. Since we will gain an hour when we cross into Arizona, we expect to arrive by 1:00. We were surprised to learn that three GPS sources said the shortest way to Williams was via Jacob Lake and Arizona 89A instead of back through Las Vegas.
The trip was uneventful and we enjoyed re-viewing the wonderful scenery along the way. With pit stops and a quick lunch at the huge Indian "Trading Post" at Cameron, we arrived at Williams at 1:30. It was great fun to start the process of having an extended stay at our house. Because the water is not scheduled to be turned on until Thursday, we spent Wednesday night in the rig. This time, we were able to park the rig so the satellite dish would "see" around the pine trees, and we thus maintained our usual viewing pattern.
One thing we had not anticipated was the presence of so many deer. Near sundown, more than 20 passed by through the lot next door to us on their way to the golf course. Just a lovely sight.
We had earlier heard from Roy Henderson, a former boss of Becky's, that he and his wife, Mel, would be coming through Williams on their way down from the canyon, and we made tentative dinner plans. It turned out that they inexplicably went off the grid and we never caught up with them. We had dinner by ourselves at Kicks on Route 66, a newish restaurant in Williams that turned out to be very good. We had an interesting chat with our server, Chris, who works as an IT guy at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff by day and a server at Kicks by night.
Thursday involved a trip by me to Flagstaff to pick up a few items and to consult with my radiation oncologist, Dr. Andrew David, who did my two-month radiation treatment in 2013. He confirmed that the thing on my scalp was a malignant melanoma that required surgery---and soon! He arranged for an appointment Friday morning with a Dr. Adam Boettcher, a plastic surgeon. Thursday night we had a delicious pizza (from the Pizza Factory) for dinner.
The next morning, Dr. Boettcher confirmed everything we had heard, explained the upcoming procedure, and scheduled the surgery---for next Tuesday!
We had lunch at Hiro's Sushi, a favorite of ours in Flagstaff, so dinner was just snacks.
Since our arrival on Wednesday, we have been on a tear to get everything that is not necessary out of the rig and into our house. We have so much stuff, it's amazing. When Becky is not walking the dogs, all we do is move stuff. I also perform a few maintenance chores. It's exhausting, but rewarding. The next time we go on a trip, the trailer will be lean and mean. And the house is now developing our personality. We hung Becky's great grandmother's handmade quilt in the hallway.
Saturday night, Becky made chili for dinner---to help ward off the cold and windy weather these past few days. It was excellent, and did the job. We had been alerted that there might be snow in the forecast for Saturday night, and it did just that. We woke up Sunday to a beautiful two-inch blanket on the ground. How exciting. But, what happened to spring?
Sunday and Monday were largely repeats of the previous days, with more projects and more emptying of the rig. But on Monday we were finally ready to make the big move to get the rig into the RV barn. We've never been certain it would fit due to its height, and every time we measured, we got an inconclusive answer. The final accommodation was to lower the hitch three inches. That was not as easy as I thought it would be. We finally took the plunge and---Ta Ta Ta Da!---we made it.
The ground was a little soft from the Sunday snowfall, and we spun the wheels a lot in the gravel backing up the grade, but it worked. We were so thrilled we killed a $50 bottle of Justin Isosceles with our Cioppino (which I made) for dinner. What a great way to enter the next phase---my surgery on Tuesday.
Monday night had neither of us getting much sleep, probably due to subconscious (certainly unspoken) concern over the pending surgery. We left at 8:00 the next morning for our 8:45 appointment at the Surgery Services Registration desk at the Flagstaff Medical Center. While waiting for the next step---to be taken to Pre-Op---I recognized Michael Hyatt, a former co-worker at The Grand Hotel at the South Rim, who was also waiting. His wife also stopped by, and we all had a nice chat. Pre-Op took quite a while because, in part, there was a necessary two-hour medicine IV drip as a part of the procedure.
In the down time, I read, chatted with the nurses, had a consultation with Dr. Boettcher, and just observed the very active business in the area. It was a busy day in the operating rooms, as well, and the one they had assigned for my surgery was not available until nearly an hour after the assigned time.
When I was finally reeled into the OR, a bunch of green-clad people suddenly emerged and I knew the party was going to start in earnest. The anesthetist did her work and I was asleep in seconds. I woke up 2 1/2 hours later in the Recovery Room, a little dis-oriented and very thirsty, but in no pain. I had a large bandage wrapped around my head and another on my left thigh (the source of a skin graft for my scalp). Becky met with Dr. Boettcher, who told her everything went fine. We'll know more next week when the lymph nodes that were taken out of my neck have been analyzed.
It took a while for the anesthesia to wear off enough for me to go home, then, after my release, we stopped at Walgreens to fill a prescription for some pain medicine, and we finally arrived home at 8:30. Becky and I, and the dogs---who had spent the day in the truck when Becky wasn't walking them---were totally exhausted. I was also quite hungry but my mouth was so dry that the appropriate food stuck to it instead of easily passing through, and I gave up after a few tries. Even though I was not in any pain, I took one of the designated pills at the designated time, just to be on the safe side. In total, the entire day's experience was easier then I had expected.
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