First off I would like to thank everyone for their patience of me posting the Great Loop series. I wanted to preserve my original posts from the 1999/2000 trip and felt that this was the right venue. So thanks and know that I appreciate all the wonderful comments, and it has also been great fun for me to relive that trip, it was really a once in a lifetime adventure.

Here I will try to fill in the gaps of the last several months. We have not been traveling, and the reason for that is me. You see, my arthritis had gotten much worse, especially in my right hip. By late October of '21 it was getting very bad and I set up appointments with docs..several docs. By January I was sitting in the office of the 'best surgeon in Rhode Island'. I know this is true, as he told me he was.

He said I needed the largest implant made!!!

On January 6th he said 'we need to operate immediately. The receptionist will set up the date." The date was April 11th. Obviously a different version of immediately. In the ensuing 4 months I continued to deteriorate..and I never complained. Just don't as Carol about that as she may have another version. Our winter hikes kept decreasing in milage, from 5 to 3, to 2 and down to a mile or less by the time surgery came around. An interesting process, hip surgery. I checked in at 5 am on a Monday morning, April 11, 2022. I checked in with several clerical folks, some nursing folks, some doctors with training wheels, and the guy who was gonna do the anesthetic. Ultimately I did meet with my doctor. By this time I was laying down with that Johnny which was 'open in the back' My doc was reassuring and very professional, being the finest surgeon in Rhode Island and all. Then the gorilla came in and said "I am going to roll you down to the operation room," and then, one-second later he said "You are all done, everything went well" -- I am guessing some sort of time travel.

Within a few minutes (at least it seemed that way to me) I was being wheeled into my room and a few minutes later, after a bland lunch, I was up and walking. Well, they called it walking, but I am sure it didn't qualify, really. Carol came to visit and I had supper and by mid morning the next day I was walking up and down the hall and even did a few stairs. The I was released into the wild. Carol turned out an excellent nurse because she already knew what I can and can't do. Years of experience.

So it was a week or so with a walker and then a couple of weeks with a cane, and a lot of PT but I’ll be darned if it didn't heal up quickly and without pain. What do you know, he is the best surgeon in Rhode Island?

Now leading up to the surgery there was a lot going on. Our 52nd wedding anniversary happened in February, we celebrated in style. I couldn't find a 52nd Anniversary card so I made one. It has been the best 52 years of my life.

Our grand-daughter Grace won first place in the science fair at Saint Margrets School - everyone is so proud. Pappa may have had a helping hand in there somewhere.

We made a trip to Maine to hike and maybe there was some outlet shopping involved as well.

Another time we made it out to the outer beaches of Cape Cod where Harper just ran and ran.

Harper just loves to run on the beach, and find rotting things to taste. . .

Ben and I went to a lecture by Jordan Peterson, what a treat it was to hear him talk. Ben loves this guy, he seems to be overflowing with common sense, and a lot of facts.

I kept busy by building model ships. A hobby I haven't been active in for many years. My first attempt was a 30 year old resin model canal tug I had ordered from Germany back before the internet when we still lived in Rehoboth. I had been saving it all these years.

Then my friend Bob Kelly, an avid model guy, gave me several plastic ship kits. I made a Navy Oiler. I worked with many of these back in my Navy days, refueling at sea while underway at 15 knots. Always exciting.

And then I made a wooden model of the keelboat used by Lewis and Clark on their great exploration of the West. It was started from a kit but I soon abandoned the kit and literally scratch built every part. My two knucklehead brothers bought the kit for me back in 2010, and it had been living on a shelf since. This was genuinely a fun project and I likely have 80 to 100 hours in it, mostly because I didn’t know what I was doing. It was a learning process. Once I declared it finished, I gave it to Bob as a 70th birthday present.

My interpretation of the Lewis and Clark keelboat

I also kept busy making bread, all kinds, from bagels, to crumpets and sourdough and white bread. I just had a ball making the bread but the real pleasure is eating it. Carol was busy making cakes and brownies and such..we kept the oven busy.

I also made Carol a bench inspired by our travels last summer in the Southwest…the chili bench.

After the surgery and as I was recovering we were able to get out into the woods a bit more. It was so good to watch things green up. Our hikes began to get back to their normal lengths and the frequency increased.

Grace graduated from 8th grade and will be starting high school in the fall.

Grace and her friend SJ with Megan at graduation.

Our friends Van and Andi bought an RV and we have been camping a bit with them this spring and summer.

Van and Andi’s new camper, leaving the rally

We attended the spring rally with the New England chapter of Leisure travel van owners. We all had a great time. You always have such a good time at events like this.

We will continue our walks, always seeking out new places in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and points further west as our travels resume..

So that's about it for now, stay tuned as we are starting a new adventure as you are reading this.

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