Back to Santa Rosa to Visit Mom

2/24/05 - Bay Cities Diesel
Yesterday we drove the coach back to Miltpitas, where we had our turbo charger replaced because of the excessive oil that was causing the large blower hose to come off. We camped in their parking lot for a couple of nights.

While we were there we had a meal or two at a shopping center with a great collection of restaurants, markets and other stores that cater to the large Asian community in the San Jose area. We had a very unusal vegetarian curry chicken meal and a cook-it-yourself-at-the-table buffet with many items I didn't recognize. It was quite an experience.

My dear wife is somewhat obsessive about vacuuming the coach because she has asthma and likes to breathe. She had been using a small portable vacuum since we bought the coach and it became very apparent that this tool was not doing the job very well. So we went shopping today and bought an excellent vacuum by Miele. It is reasonably compact and has a good hepa filter to help her breathe easier.

Topolos Winery and Restaurant

2/26/05 - Back to Santa Rosa
Yesterday we drove back up to Santa Rosa to visit my mother, who is still in the hospital, and my sister and her family. We are camping at RiverBend on the Russian River again, mainly because it is very near to my sister's house. Today we went to visit mom and spent an hour or two there. She seemed to be doing OK and was planning on returning to Sunrise Assisted Living center in Santa Rosa soon.

We also stopped briefly at Topolos Winery and Restaurant, where we had our wedding reception in 1994, which is in beautiful Sonoma County, just west of Santa Rosa.

Our chocolate brindled chihuahua has been in heat for the past week or two and we have had a big challenge keeping our little longhaired chihuahua stud away from her. Yesterday was the last day of the period and we only had to be distracted for two minutes for them to get a lock. So it looks like we will be having a litter of puppies in a couple of months, despite our intention to prevent it.

2/28/05 - Mom Returns to Sunrise
There was some debate as to whether my mother would be accepted back at Sunrise, but they ultimately decided that if she had someone to stay with her and make sure she was OK, that would be acceptable. So we hired a very nice personal caregiver by the name of Loni to stay with mom 24 hours a day for at least a week. My sister brought my mom back to her apartment at Sunrise, and we arrived a short while later, about the same time that Loni got there. Mom was very glad to be home, but was very fragile and uncertain about her recent past and future.

There is talk that perhaps mom has developed Altsheimers, but the consensus is that it must be something else. For the moment they are just calling it Dimentia. She has become more and more confused lately about many things, but she continues to be her pleasant, cheerful self for the most part.

Today we had lunch at a french bakery that had a huge chess set out front. Here are some photos I took of a couple of kids playing with the huge chess pieces.

I also took these photos of Mustard growing in the dormant Vineyards along River Road today.

Mustard in Dormant Vineyard