Overdue update, Part II

Now, for our most recent visit:

The Texas baseball Rangers (as opposed to the law enforcement Rangers) have broken so many hearts over the years that most fans have long ago given up on any chances of success in the post-season. We have been so used to failure year in and year out that, unless you are a die-hard fan or a fool, you have not even considered play-off games for years. It is with this in mind that I begin this account of our most recent visit.

The Rangers made the play-offs, a rare feat, so we decided to go to Arlington to watch them play on Saturday against Tampa Bay. (It's only 300 miles out of the way.) Friday night after arriving, we drove down to the Entertainment District, past Six Flags to see the area around the Rangers Ballpark and kind of get an idea about where we might need to try to park the next day. When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but Cowboys Stadium hit me in the face! We stared in amazement at what $1,300,000,000 (that's 1.3 BILLION DOLLARS) looks like. I don't know what else to say, except that I'll bet the big, new Wal-Mart directly across the street from the stadium does pretty good business...

Anyway, the weekend was to be the biggest sports weekend ever in Arlington, with Texas A&M playing Arkansas in Cowboys Stadium and the Ranger game both on Saturday, then the Rangers and the Cowboys both playing on Sunday (not each other, but it might have been interesting!) We had a great time at the game, even though they lost, and in spite of the hour-and -a-half drive to go ten miles to get back to the motel after the game, it was a very nice day.

For those of you who may have missed it, Sunday the 10th was literally a once-in-a-lifetime occurance, unless you happen to be a centenarian born at just the right time. The date was October 10, 2010, or 10-10-10. If you happened to be born on October 10, you are quite a special person. My Helen is such a one. So we wanted to celebrate her special day in a special way. After packing the car and checking out of the motel, we used her I-phone map ap to find First Baptist Church Arlington. We decided the middle service at 9:30 (they have services at 8:00 and 11:00 also) would best fit our schedule, and we arrived with twenty minutes to spare and went inside.

The main reason we wanted to go to FBCA was because we have close friends--a couple--from CTRC who live in Arlington and go there. We were delighted to see one of them as soon as we walked in the front door into the welcome center. To say that she was surprised to see us there out of the blue would be an understatement. And he said I almost scared the pants off of him when he saw me. We were blessed by the worship service and our time with our friends, and, after saying goodbyes, were off to San Antonio.

We opted to avoid the Austin I-35 traffic by taking Highway 281 from Stephenville, a new route for us. Coincidentally, but not really, Hamilton just happens to be on 281, so we made a pit stop to drop by and see Helen's sister Diane and her husband Doug, since we were in the neighborhood. That was an unplanned and unexpected blessing.

Our ultimate plan was to end up at our favorite eating spot, The Gristmill in Gruene, a tiny town just outside of New Braunfels, for our evening meal. The ribs there are the best either of us have ever eaten. Literally (and I am not using that term loosely), they are fall-off-the-bone ribs. The only ribs I have found that can be eaten without having to use your fingers. And the Gruene beans are also the best I have ever had. Finishing off with a huge strawberry shortcake dessert, we arrived at San Antonio Sunday evening after a very enjoyable day.

Our Monday began a new cycle (#18) on my cancer drug. The mid-morning appointment time allowed us the blessing of slow traffic, and my day at CTRC went pretty easy. I made them happy again by stepping on the scales. That's all I will say about that.

A thousand miles this trip, with some nice diversions. We both had a great time with our best friend. We are so blessed to be healthy enough to do so. God is so good to us!

Overdue update, Part I

I have been a baaaaad boy and have failed to update on our previous trip, so now I have two updates to post. Ordinarily I might let one of them slide, but because both were so eventful, I will bore you with details of both. I'll split it up into two separate posts, so perhaps you won't realize it is so lengthy.

First, the previous visit:

Another quick trip, another 650-mile 30-hour turnaround, another mid-cycle medical visit. But something was different this time--we had a special guest along this time. We were delighted to show her off to San Antonio and to show off our San Antonio to her. My mother. It had been at least 30 years since she had been there, not counting the two days she had spent at the hospital with me there in 2003 when the original tumor was removed from my arm.

We wanted her to see the charm of the Paseo del Rio (the Riverwalk), so upon our arrival we drove straight to the downtown area and quickly found a parking garage near Casa Rio, the oldest restaurant on the river. The weather couldn't have been better for enjoying an outdoor meal with an occasional wisp of a breeze blowing across the water. Afterward we walked a short distance along the river to show her some of the beautiful manicured areas adorned with flowers and plants. Then we strolled up to street level to see the shrine for which San Antonio is most known, the Alamo. She really seemed to enjoy it, but by the time we made it back to the car and began the 15-minute ride to Janis' and Don's house, we realized that we had tired her out pretty good.

Our schedule at CTRC began the next morning at 10:30, which allowed us to sleep in a little later than usual. Mom got to meet many of our friends there--patients and caregivers as well. Even though I wasn't scheduled to see Dr. Mita this time, we were hoping that we would have an opportunity to see her so Mom could meet her. She met most of my nurses and my research nurse, Pat, who is really like my own personal nurse. And she met Dr. Mita's husband, the other Dr. Mita, who is actually the Principal Investigator for this clinical trial drug I take. We were excited when our Dr. Monica Mita took time to say hello on her way to see a patient in the adjoining room and Mom did get to meet her.

I gained another couple of pounds--at a cancer treatment center they are always happy when patients gain weight. The appointment was pretty quick and harmless, and we were able to leave early enough to make a couple of stops before heading back home.

We decided to run by La Cantera, an upscale shopping mall just off of I-10 and on the way out of town. Although we don't buy there very often, we enjoy visiting because of the beautiful design and always relaxing atmosphere. We selected brick oven New York style pizza for lunch at Grimaldi's, our favorite pizza restarant and then made our way out of town.

It was such a blessing to have Mom with us on this trip. We all really enjoyed it, and I think she really needed a diversion. But we were all happy to be home again, as always. There's no place like home...there's no place like home...