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Hurricane Damage Oklahoma

Tornado Damage Oklahoma

The Field of Empty Chairs for 168 Bomb victims Oklahoma

Field of Chairs for Oklahoma Bomb Victims

Sign in Oklahoma Diner

Sign in an Oklahoma Diner

Fred in the driving seat with Mick the navigator.
Fred’s Tom Tom, named Karen, is playing up and we have come to the conclusion she is a women scorned by the fact that I have been using the TomTom on my IPad !
First port of call is the National Cowboys Museum in Oklahoma City and this certainly lived up to its reputation as a museum of the highest quality, with a spectacular exhibition of paintings, sculptures and other memorabilia relating to Indian and Cowboy heritage.

Move on to the site of the National Memorial,commemorating the killing of 168 people by Timothy McVeigh when he detonated a truck bomb near the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building.
The Field of Empty Chairs is a very simple but incredibly moving tribute to the victims.

Karen is still sulking, tells us to continue ahead for 110 kms and leads the guys in the front seats of the car a merry dance as they try to find a way out of the city and head off across Oklahoma.
We pass the ghost town of Fort Reno and a roadside World War 2 bomber at speed and continue our search for a coffee shop.
Scenery less than inspiring but we do see evidence of severe damage to houses, trees etc in this tornado-prone area.
Finally get to have a coffee in a small diner in Calumet. $ 3 for a coffee and fruit pie. The sign on the wall in the diner reads as follows: ” we don’t call 911″ and there is a model of a gun underneath the quotation.
Interesting 1933 Pony Bridge over the South Canadian River near to Geary, which comprises 38 small pony trusses. Mick provides us with some entertainment with his efforts to clamber down the riverbank slope to get a better shot with his camera.
Another dreaded u-turn as we lose our way a little at Hinton and by the time we reach Hydro the temperature has risen to 100 degrees.
Call in at CherokeeTrading Post and the guys bought some gifts for family and friends. ( not this old Scrooge who is waiting until we are a bit further down the Route 66.)
At Clinton we also stop to photograph the Trade Winds Motel where Elvis apparently stayed 3 nights in Room 215, two of them after he had died!

Arrive at Days Inn in Elk City at about 5 pm and enjoy a tasty dinner at a local grill. Doug and Mick share Calf’ s Fries ( Calf’s testicles ) for an entree, which prove to be quite edible, if a little chewy.
There is probably a host of jokes in this scenario but in the interests of decorum I will stay well clear of them.
Not the most eventful of days but each day brings new experiences and we are still well up with our timetable as far as the distance travelled.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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I apparently made an error on the last blog by stating that at the start of the day we made our way into Oklahoma City. This should have been Tulsa with Oklahoma City being our final destination for the day.
Apologies. It must have been the shock of the Lions, deservedly annihilating the Wallabies.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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Image 1

The Round Barn – Arcadia                    

Make our way into the city centre of Oklahoma City and make our first stop Lyons Indian store with a fine array of Indian Turquoise jewellery. Informed by the lady in the store that the temperatures are set to soar, along with the humidity. Moreover we are in a tornado belt with many houses in the area possessing tornado-proof shelters.
Joebots Coffee Shop – great coffee for once.

Gilcrease Museum exhibiting mainly Native Indian art is superb.

Doug driving with Fred navigating and I must acknowledge that both have been exemplary so far, with the exception of one shuddering halt at a red light, resulting with Fred in a foetal position in the front! Quite clear that there is a correlation between the excellent performance by Doug and Fred and the kindness, understanding and patience emanating from the two guys in the back seat.

Music by such as Patsy Cline, Kenny Rogers and Jim Reeves with singalong accompaniment from all 4 amigos enables us to while away the time.
Historic brick- paved 1925 bridge passed at 90 kms an hour and , dare I say it, the dreaded u-turn at Bristow.
Between Bristow and Stroud there is apparently an enormous, but invisible , underground cavity for storage of surplus natural gas. This snippet of useless information comes from Drew Knowles, author of the guide book on my Kindle. More on this later.
Supposedly famous Shoe Tree at Depew with many shoes hanging from the branches – nowhere to be found. Mick’ s theory is that someone nicked the shoes when he fell on hard times and sold them off. He is suffering from hallucinations after only one week!

Call in at the famous Rock Cafe , which does exist, for a coffee. The owner, Dawn Welch, was the inspiration for the character Sally the Porsche in the movie ‘ Cars’.
At Chandler we visit the highly informative Route 66 Interpretive Centre drive past the house of Jerry McLanahan, the artist and author of the Route 66 guide book which our navigators are using.

At Arcadia we call into one of the iconic sites on 66, the Round Barn. The storekeeper is virtually illiterate and is happy to admit it on a number of handwritten storyboards dotted around the store.
A giant Coke bottle on the way out of Arcadia ( put up in 2007) is singularly uninspiring.

Arrive at Days Inn east of Oklahoma City in late afternoon, $ 80 per room.

Mick had done his usual research and come up with the iconic( that word again ) Cattlemen’s Steakhouse in the Stockyard area of the city.
For once it deserved the above adjective and we enjoyed some fantastic steaks.

Image
Meal also made more memorable when Mick starting coo-cooing at a baby girl being held by the proud mum at the next table. The little girl promptly responded by throwing up over her mum’s shoulder. Mick obviously hasn’t lost his special way with the fairer sex but it was remarkable to see such a level of perception in one so young!
Now a short comment on The two guide book authors, Drew Knowles and Jerry McLanahan.
We have come to the conclusion that Drew is an icon necrophiliac ( Mick’s term ) as he is constantly telling about things that used to exist but have long since died or deteriorated to the point where they are no longer recognisable. Jerry, being of Irish background, pretends that all of the Route 66 icons still do exist, knowing full well that they have gone to meet their maker.
Still it adds some spice to the trip

Finally, Mick, as our resident literary amigo has come up with the word ‘ abstruse’ which apparently means any of the following:
Esoteric, recondite, difficult to understand, requiring special knowledge to understand, all of which really describe Mick himself!
Another wonderful day with some fine driving from Doug and excellent navigation from Fred ( I have been asked to say this as I have apparently been unfair in my previous assessment of their performance )and hopefully many more to come as we head west in Oklahoma and on to Texas.
Cheers
The Obese Ferret.

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doug

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An update on Mr Field.
He has morphed from a Steve McQueen to Ernest Hemingway and we now refer to him as Papa. A photo coming soon as indisputable evidence of this decline.
Mick has just appeared at breakfast and advised us that he is suffering from a bad dose of the runs. We have concluded that it must be the company that is giving him the s..ts.
Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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First have the by now all too familiar Days Inn breakfast and we are able to get away at about 8.30 for the long trip south-west.
I am the driver and Doug the navigator we  immediately see an improved performance on the 2 amigos of the previous day when we surpass their 1 km without getting lost . In fact, through superb teamwork we manage to get to the town of Carthage without a single glitch.
Carthage an attractive town with a small but very educational Civil War Museum focussing on the Battle of Carthage.
At long last we found a coffee shop serving high quality coffee, the Mother Road Cafe. The owner explained that an Australian tourist had previously educated them on what was a ‘ flat white’ and this was now on their coffee menu. For obvious reasons a ‘ long black’ was not on their menu!
Following their advice we next visited the Jasper County Court House, a magnificent building on the town’s main square.
A very pleasant elderly ( well, our age!) lady operating the historic elevator in the courthouse gave a quick teach-in on the courts and the area. She had previously owned a store in the town but in a familiar story the arrival of the large chains had sounded the death knell for them.
She stressed that we should check out the local drive-in on the way out of town, which we did, albeit at a speed of about 90 kms an hour!
On to Joplin, with the primary target being the apparently famous Red Union Cafe. We were unable to judge whether it deserved the ‘famous’ tag as we couldn’t find it. Moreover, we tarnished our reputation as the driver/navigator team par excellence when DOUG missed our turn- off into 7th St and ended up at 25th St. Had to perform the dreaded u-turn and headed off to Galena in Kansas.

Mick had again identified the iconic Eisler’s store as a must-see so after lunch at a cafe in town we drove own to Riverton,the supposed site of Eisler’s, nowhere to be found. Spoke to the owner of a store who told us Eisler’s was on the way into Galena from the north. We backtrack into the nearby Galena and seek advice from another store owner who tells us that Eisler’s is in fact 2 doors away from the store which had given us the previous advice to backtrack. This proved to be true and we duly ended up at Eisler’s which proved to be something of a let-down, although we all managed to buy some Route 66 memorabilia. It would probably help if the Eisler name appeared somewhere on the signs outside the store but no, it’s just marked as a General Store.
As for the old guy who first misled us, he is either scared of competition or a moron.

Riverton is also the scene of another u-turn as we struggle to find the Rainbow Bridge. We finally locate it and wonder why we bothered as it is certainly not one of the World’s Wonders.

After cutting across a corner of Kansas we enter Oklahoma and stop at Miami to check out the historic 1929 Spanish Mission styled Coleman Theatre. This was unfortunately closed but from the photos outside the foyer we were able to gain a fair idea of the splendour of the interior.
Fred stopped to chat to a group of locals who had a real whinge about the theatre. It was, they opined, poorly supported, a drain on the local finances, and should have closed down year’s ago. So much for it being a local icon! One of the locals did inform us that Willie Nelson was due to appear in town that evening but even if tickets had been available such a delay would have upset our timetable.
Our thoughts move to where we will stop for the night and Mick ( who comes up with these gems on regular occasions ) mentioned that we might like to check out the lovingly restored eponymous Chelsea Motel . Sadly , the restoration seems to have come to a grinding halt as we were confronted by a couple of ramshackle buildings which would not double up as a pig sty.
The World’s Largest Totem Pole at Foyil disappeared into the ether although we do manage to catch sight of the Blue Whale at Caloosa as we fly past at speed.

As we continue on in Oklahoma we come across the justifiably famous 9 Foot Road,( 9 feet wide as the name implies ) paved in 1922 and used regularly until 1937 when an improved road was built.
Arrive in Tulsa about 6.30 and find a Days Inn.
Relying  on advice from the receptionist at the hotel we head off to Ramsey’s Take-Out for dinner. Unfortunately it is only a takeaway restaurant , funny that!

Western County Diner a perfectly adequate substitute.
Return to hotel for drinks after a long day ( 373 kms ) and turn in at a respectable hour .
Tulsa and Oklahoma City the main targets for the next day.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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Gateway Arch of St Louis

Gateway Arch St Louis

Another photo of car

our car 2

old bus

our bus 2

World’s Largest Rocker

worlds largest rocker

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My dad has asked me to post a picture of their car.

dodge

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Setting off from the hotel with plans to drive into St Louis for a bit of sightseeing with Fred as driver and Mick as navigator they break all records in getting us lost within 1 km of the hotel.
Doug and I thought that we had ended up in a car wash but then realised that Fred had pulled over to the side of the road to check our location and we were coming under fire from some garden sprinklers!
A bit further on we stopped again outside a shop called ‘Goodwill’ which was a bit ironical as the guys in the fronts seats were by this time running short of that particular commodity.
After many u-turns in what I have to say were quite attractive little car parks we eventually made our way to the highway to downtown St Louis.
We had planned to walk across the Chain of Rocks Pedestrian bridge which crosses the Mississippi but, even though we could admire it from afar we simply could not find a way of getting to it.
Cross that one of the wish list and have more success in driving into the centre to view at fairly close quarters the spectacular Gateway Arch, symbolising the area’s role of gateway to the west.
Quite happy to head out of the city and after some time even manage to locate the much sought- after road to the south.
First small town was to be the aptly named Eureka but we couldn’t find the town or the main attraction, the Black Madonnas Shrine and Grotto. The closest we got to any sort of religious experience was when we once again lost our way and ended up at the entrance to the Sacred Heart Convent.
After another u-turn in a nice little car park we head south and stop for coffee and bourbon/pecan pie.
While here Doug comments that Navigator Mick has no problems finding the loo whenever we stop anywhere but has a unique capacity to get lost everywhere else.
Keeping track of Route 66 is proving to be a real nightmare but we do manage to find a town called Bourbon and stop for lunch at Circle Inn, a typical Route 66 diner with good wholesome food and ambience to match. I have BLT with mushrooms which have been battered to an inch of their existence.
Mick takes over the driving duties with Fred navigating, resulting in the same level of incompetent personnel but in different roles.
Doug and I offer some kind, constructive advice from the back seats but this doesn’t seem to be very well received.
Cuba is a small town with a good selection of Route 66 murals and then we proceed to Fanning/Rosati, site of the World’s Largest Rocker. Leave town with the boot of the car wide open, fortunately not losing any of our bags.
As we head deeper into Missouri the scenery takes a turn for the better after the flat plains of Illinois and we now travel through some beautiful , green undulating hills.
Our plan to stop at Rolla to visit a car museum is thwarted when it too disappears off the map .
By this stage our thoughts turn to finding the next Days Inn. The computer tells us that there is one at Waynesville but this too is nowhere to be found.
We did,however, come across a 1920’s era bridge of a severe bend in the Big Piney River at the aptly named Devil’s Elbow.
By this stage Mick was getting a bit tired after his marathon driving stint and on a couple of occasions decided that driving on the right-hand side of the road was all too boring but a chorus of ” wrong side , Mick!” from his 3 Amigos put him right.
To be fair to Mick it was a long haul and he did a fine job getting eventually to a town called Lebanon and another Days Inn, this one at $53 per room including breakfast.

We find Becky’s Bar attached to the hotel and this proved to be a quintessentially American bar, complete with some fairly rough characters ( not us!) torn seats,and a barmaid called Stacey.
We were invited by a guy who seemed to be the manager to join all the other customers in enjoying the food which had been laid on to celebrate 4 th of July- a highlight of the day.
We returned to our rooms  in a suitably boisterous , alcohol- fuelled mood after a day full of much banter, some road- finding disasters but a day which encompassed all that we had hoped for on this trip.
Tomorrow it’s my turn to have a drive and no doubt suffer the barbs from the 3 Amigos as I too struggle to keep what is a fairly large vehicle on the right side of the road and within the fairly narrow lanes.
Cheers
The Obese Ferret.

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At last a good nights sleep but awake by 5.00 to finish the previous day’s blog.Fairly basic but acceptable breakfast at 7.30 and set off on the next leg to St Louis by 8.30.
Doug is in the driver’s seat and I am the navigator for the day.
Faith in my ability to navigate somewhat compromised when I quote a roadside sign as reading
Oik enez when in fact it was Qik ‘n’ ez as in Quick ‘n’ easy. Much hilarity at my expense.
Mick was keen for us to drive through a town called Normal so that we could say that it was the closest we would get to normal all day but we couldn’t locate it, a definite sign of things to come during the day.
First real port of call is the small town of Atlanta which is a perfect example of a community which was in the 1940’s devastated by the arrival of the large inter-state highway but in later years has enjoyed a huge resurgence. The Palms Grill Cafe is beautifully appointed and offers great coffee and a wide array of homemade tarts and other pastries at very affordable prices.
Other notable features:
The Bunyon Giant, brother to the Gemini Giant seen a couple of days earlier, but this time with a Giant Hot Dog in his hand.
A 40 foot Clock Tower and a bright yellow water tower with a Giant Smiley Face.
Move on to the town of Lincoln, named after dear old Abe , and after much searching we find the World’s Largest Covered Wagon with the ubiquitous AL holding the reins. Decidedly underwhelming.
In spite of my obviously brilliant navigation we manage to get totally lost and end up heading north rather than south. The planned visits to Broadwell, Elkhart and Williamsville fail to eventuate as we never locate the towns!
After many kms driving through cornfields ( or is it maize? ) we get back on track and head to Springfield, capital of Illinois, and home to Abe Lincoln.
Park the car at the park dedicated to AB and surprised to find that the car park attendant has been to Bunbury with the navy.
A tour of AB’s original is made memorable by the guide from Arkansas who has an accent the like of which none of us has ever heard before.( we thought he was laying it on to start off with but no it seemed to be the real deal.
Before leaving town we visit the rather grandiose memorial and tomb of the great man and then get lost again trying to leave the town.
Keeping track of the Old Route 66 in this area is becoming increasingly difficult but we manage to travel south to Staunton where we come across Henry’s Rabbit Ranch and Route 66 Emporium.
For your information The Volkswagen Golf was called a VW Rabbit in the US, hence the pen in the shop containing two huge bunnies. God only knows how these gift stores all survive along 66.
At Edwardsville we attempt to make a recommended side trip to the Sugar Creek Covered Bridge.
It was obviously very well covered because we never found that either!
Finally enter Missouri over the huge Mississippi River and set off in search of another Days Inn for the night. End up in a totally black neighbourhood which was none too salubrious so decided to drive on to south of the city of St Louis where we came across a more appealing Days Inn.
Lovely dinner at an Irish Grill and Bar where we enjoyed some banter with the delightful young girl serving us. Not really sure what she made of us old larrikins but she entered into the spirit of things.
A long but thoroughly enjoyable day with Doug doing a sterling job driving for at least 7 hours.
Other points of note:
It has taken me 2 days to notice that Mick no longer has a moustache and is looking more youthful by the day.
Doug on the other hand,in his unshaven state is looking like a cross between Willie Nelson and Steve Mcqueen’s character in the film ‘Papillon’ ( obviously without the latter’s blue eyes and good looks ).
Looking forward to the excitement of tomorrow ( 4 th of July ) and more adventures with the 3 Amigos.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Not the best night’s sleep as I woke up at 1.15 and again at 3.45 so decided to use the time watching some of the day’s play at Wimledon.
Finally, got up at 6.30 and went for short walk down the nearby streets- area surprisingly salubrious with some lovely shops and cafes.
Chicago has certainly thrown off its less-than-savoury reputation as the home of the underworld and the site of the Valentine Day’s massacre in 1929 to become a superb city.
I am introduced to our vehicle, a very impressive Dodge Grand Caravan, and after breakfast we make our first call at the sign marking the start of Route 66 for DFI to be photographed( the 3 Amigos have been snapped there the day before)
Chicago’s other claim to fame- zip fastener invented by Whitcomb L Hudson, first pinball machine, and first McDonald’s franchise.
With Fred driving and Mick navigating we head off through the suburbs and small towns such as Cicero, Roseville, the home of the White Fence Farm with its statue of a huge white rooster( sounds better than cock!)
Next stop is the larger town of Joliet where we at last find a good coffee shop ( why is it that the USA, with so much Italian heritage, seems incapable of asking a good cup of coffee ? )after driving down the main Ottawa St at least 5 times.
Fine Route 66 museum well worth the visit with large models of Jake and Elwood of Blues Brothers fame at entrance.
At Wilmington we come across the first of the many ‘ muffler men’ statues which dot 66, this one called Gemini Giant’,20 feet tall and decked out like an astronaut.
Small town of Gardner features two cell jailhouse and vintage streetcar while Dwight has its Ambler-Becker Texaco Museum, on old service station now serving as a visitor centre with numerous antique petrol pumps.
At Odell another Standard Service Station lovingly restored.
Finally on to Pontiac with its Pontiac Car Museum displaying a magnificent array of Pontiac vehicles through the years.
The town is also renowned for its many murals and for two other notable events – Fred driving the wrong way down a one-
way street and Mick actually admitting a mistake on his navigation!
Our destination for the day is Bloomington and we duly arrive late afternoon and check into another Days Inn at $79 a double.
Next stop the local laundromat to catch up on our washing. Noticeable that all of us put our jocks in the wash IN ANTICIPATION of Doug driving the next day. Goodness knows what it will be like after he has driven and I have been the navigating!
Sharing a room with Fred so get to sleep before his snoring kicks in.
All in all a great start to our adventure.

http://www.historic66.com/description/map.html

As the song by Bobby Troup goes:

If you ever plan to motor west
Travel my way, the highway that’s the best.
Get your kicks on Route 66!

Cheers

The Obese Ferret
Real problems in finding a reasonable restaurant for dinner but finally decide on Bob Evans family restaurant , acceptable enough.

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Chicago

Monday 1st July continued.
Very comfortable flight from LA to Chicago with American Airlines and apart from the first 30 minutes turbulence-free.
Arrived in Chicago on a beautiful evening with the temperature about 20 degrees.
My taxi driver got me to Days Inn with the minimum of fuss, apparently in sharp contrast to the 3 Amigos on the previous day. With Mick driving they found their way to the hotel blocked by a gay parade all along West Diversey Parkway, the hotel’s location. Moreover, both Mick and Doug were bursting at the seams so to speak, with no loo in sight. It doesn’t take much imagination to know that ‘going bush’ was not really an option in the midst of a gay parade although as Doug pointed out there would have been any number of willing helpers! They eventually found a hospital where they could find relief and also got to the hotel by basically driving round a ‘no entry ‘ barrier set up for the parade.
Apart from all the dramas the guys all seem very well and the next 3 weeks should be memorable in a variety of ways.
Now off to bed for hopefully a good night’s sleep and the start to our adventure at a civilised hour tomorrow.
Cheers
The Obese Ferret

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Saturday 29th June- Before going to bed on the eve of my departure to LA I started to feel a bit off colour and some fairly severe pains across my chest and shoulders, very reminiscent of the peri-carditis which had flared up about 7 weeks after my op.
Decided that I would sleep on it and assess things the next day.
Watched the Wallabies snatch victory against which helped ease the pain.
Sunday 30th June
Woke up feeling the worse for wear but headed off to airport for flight to LA.
Duly checked in and was in Qantas lounge when symptoms became a bit worse. After discussions with very helpful Qantas staff and first aid guys decision taken that I should go to local GP for assessment before proceeding on my travels.
Excellent GP gave me an ECG which was fine and did the usual checks on BP ( a bit elevated – white coat syndrome?) pulse rate etc.
Conclusion- everything seemed to point to possible new flare up of peri- carditis and residual after effects of having my sternum cut in half. GP could not give me an unequivocal green light to travel without an echo cardio gram but thought it would settle down . In short it was my call.
Rebooked into local motel for one more night and decided to take the plunge.
Qantas staff went way beyond the call of duty to rebook me on flight to LA, albeit via Sydney.

Monday 1st July
4.30 am start from motel on a filthy wet, windy day. What the hell happened to “Queensland- beautiful one day, perfect the next!”
After having taken 4 taxi rides, all with Indian drivers who seemed to have sworn an oath to silence, my driver this morning was from Cyprus and bombarded me with so many questions I was starting to suspect him as being some sort of secret agent left over from the Eoka terrorists of years ago!

Very bumpy flight out of Brisbane but arrived in Sydney to clear blue skies and a spectacular view of one of the world’s great harbours.

Flight out of Sydney about one hour late ( is there ever a flight on time out of Sydney these days) but could not have asked for a better crew or seat.I have to confess that I was in Business Class, courtesy of our long-accumulated Frequent Flyer Points.
Over 6 hours sleep was something of a record for me on a flight so arrived in LA reasonably refreshed. LA as always hazy and polluted. What sort of filter must they use to show clear blue skies in the Hollywood movies!

Had anticipated some problems due to my no show on the previous day’s American Airlines flight to Chicago but managed to do a Bill Clinton ( keep it clean, folks ) on an initially uncooperative AA staff member and sweet-talk her into rebooking my flight a day later without any penalty.

After checking in went through a security check the like of which I have never experienced before. After telling the security girl that I had an artificial knee I was taken on one side by a small African American guy ( is that still the politically correct term?) who explained that he needed to give me a manual body scan. Donning rubber gloves he proceeded to give me the most intimate frisking I have had in years, certainly outside of our marital bedroom. Anyway, he found nothing so after exchanging telephone numbers we went on our merry way!

Now sitting in the AA lounge( no, not Alcoholics Anonymous ) awaiting my flight to Chicago and reunion with my fellow travellers on Route 66, Doug, Mick and Fred.
Hopefully I have put Peri Carditis behind me and can now listen to Perry Como instead as we do the Easy Rider bit across the Us.
Cheers for now

The Obese Ferret

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To follow on from yesterday’s long- overdue blog I can say a bit more about the state of play, just over 4 months after my arteries were converted from something resembling the Irrawaddy Delta to a blood flow more akin to Niagara Falls!
All the vital signs in this old codger’s body are seemingly reverting to normal and as weeks goes by I am able to tick off the normality boxes, including walks in the range of 8-12 kms, golf twice or even 3 times a week, regular ironing and dish washing , very light garden work and operating the tv remote control with no apparent ill-effects.
Gail and I have made one visit to the gym and that was a real reality check, especially for me. I had accepted that I couldn’t go straight back into the routine pre-op but even a very much watered-down programme brought home to me that the recovery is still a long road. However, the local doc and others have told me that I am we’ll ahead of the usual timetable and will remain so if I obey the rehab rules. I have no intention of doing otherwise as a return to the cardiac table is NOT on my agenda.
Moving on to more important matters the medics have given me the all-clear to fly from Brisbane to LA tomorrow and then on to Chicago. There I will meet up with friends,Mick, Doug and Fred to drive across the USA on the original Route 66.
Prior to the flight from Perth to Brisbane today I thought it would be a great idea for Gail, Craig, Gail’s sister Lyn and husband Bert to have dinner together, mainly to bring yours truly up to speed on all matters technological.
By way of explanation Craig is the family tech guru and Gail is not far behind. I don’t read from the same page on this and in fact I am still trying to locate the book! Although I had had experience travelling overseas on my own with my work that was in the pre-tech era when one had to go to a local post office overseas and be called to a little booth when the phone hook-up was ready. I Pads were what I wore when I was batting and a mouse was what had my Mum jumping up onto the kitchen table.
Imagine the situation, therefore, when Craig was confronted with the Herculean task of giving his old Dad a quick teach-in to make me reasonably self- sufficient on my trip without Gail to look after such duties.
I thought he might relish the prospect of working with an uncut gem but it quickly became obvious that he was dealing with someone who made Paul Keating’s famous “feral abacus” to describe John Hewson look positively hi-tech.
After long discussions and forlorn attempts to get past the mystified looks on Dad’ s face he decided, very sensibly, to resort to writing things in my notebook which I could present to a salesman in a Telco shop in the USA to obtain a local SIM card.
The note reads as follows verbatim:
” I have an unlocked I Phone 5 bought from Apple ( GSM version). 1 Gb data, 1 hour talk time ( optional ) 3 weeks pre- paid.
AT & T, T Mobile. ( not Verizon or Sprint )”
At first this reminded me of a suicide bomber who is showing his possible victims that he is indeed carrying enough bombs to blow the whole area to smithereens but ,in fact , I was about to be reduced a deaf mute who wants help to cross a busy road!
Just to show that cruelty runs in the family Mrs I wrote in my book:
” Get them to put card in ( may need paper clip to release ) ( Your phone should be unblocked )”
Ideally all of this should be written in block capitals and well- spaced out to avoid any misunderstanding on what is required.
I am now lying on a bed in my Brisbane motel room and for the rest of the day will spend time trying to rebuild my shattered self-esteem before I fly off to LA in the morning.
I won’t bore you with similar details on the huge difficulties which I will apparently encounter with TomTom , sending emails etc, etc.
The good news is that Craig has seemingly fixed the problems with my blog and you should be able to enjoy the musings of this writer who has survived both Dr Sharma and some drawn-out and brutal psychological warfare over the family dining table yesterday evening.
Next stop USA.

Cheers
The Obese Ferret

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Cardiac closure

Prior to commencing a trip to the USA to drive Route 66 I thought that I should sign off my cardiac journey with a difference and let everyone know that this old codger is making good progress in his rehab and life is getting back to something approaching normality. However, as I have been having some problems in using the blog and Craig has come along to help his technologically/-challenged old man this short blog entry is something of a test. If this works as expected I will make a concerted effort to awaken my muse and get back into the swing of things. More to follow shortly
Cheers
The Obese Ferret

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14th March 2013

Lyn, Gail’s sister, duly arrived in Perth on the evening of Monday 11th March,looking remarkably well after the epic return journey from South America and the Antarctic. Lyn’s return flights took her from Iguazu Falls, via Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo and Dohar and finally to Perth.

Yesterday was the first opportunity I had had to view the over 1300 photos that Lyn had taken and quite clearly the trip had certainly come up to expectations. This has merely made us even more determined to follow in her footsteps with a similar trip in the not too distant future.

At the same time it occurred to me while sitting on the sofa, with Lyn regaling us with so many fascinating tales from the adventure, that I was really experiencing the ultimate budget travel experience. This realisation could not only revolutionalize the travel industry but also do wonders for the Irelands’ finances in the future.

It’s quite simple really. All you need to do is plan a trip with friends and/or family members to the most exotic locations imaginable and then at the last minute come down with an illness/injury serious enough for you and your partner to have to abort the mission. You then claim all costs back on your travel insurance. NB. for this strategy to work at least one member of the travelling party has to be in a position where they do not have a legitimate reason to claim on insurance and have to go through with the trip. Moreover, this person should be resourceful, adventure-loving and good with a camera!

Consider the advantages, quite apart from the financial savings. Suffer from sea sickness? The Drake Passage and Cape Horn will hold no fears for you at all from the comfort of your lounge room. Vertigo? Only if you decide to view the photos from a high step ladder. Delhi Belly or Montezuma’s Revenge? Don’t give it a moment’s thought as your local takeaway will be just around the corner.

With the benefit of hindsight I would probably make a slight change to the strategy which we have recently applied. It is not compulsory to select a quadruple bypass operation as the preferred illness! Something rather less drastic would have served us just as well but being novices in such matters we thought that we would go for the doctor, so to speak.

Just in case you are wondering if The Obese Ferret has completely lost it I will have you know that writing the above drivel has been prescribed by my doctor and will apparently aid my recovery. You will, therefore have to expect more of the same until my rehab is complete  ( end of June! ).

Back to reality, things are going along much as planned and I will be able to go back home to Busselton this weekend.

For those of you with an eye for detail the following guideline for resumption of activities from the hospital may be of interest:

2 weeks: cooking light meals, sewing,washing dishes

3 weeks: exercise bike,short shopping excursions ( no more than 5 kgs )

4 weeks: ironing,making the bed,office work

6 weeks: light digging in garden,hanging washing on line,driving, lawn bowls

6-8 weeks: housework

10-12 weeks:lawn mowing,car washing

12 weeks: swimming,heavy lifting,wood chopping,golf full s

wing,fishing from a boat,jogging,

squash and tennis only under medical advice.

Sexual activity: 5 years or earlier if so desired!

All of the above are genuine except that the last mentioned is in fact grouped with cooking, sewing and dishwashing. Who said romance is dead!

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Sunday 10th March

After my last blog entry on 1st March I decided that I would take a few days off rather than regale blog followers with mundane tales on my gradual recovery from open heart surgery.

What I had not expected was that my temporary silence would set off alarm bells with some readers who had begun to wonder whether the Obese Ferret had disappeared down his last rabbit hole!

Well, I am pleased to report that my recovery is progressing as expected, made all the easier by the continued support and interest from so many family members and friends. 

I now have to follow a very strict Home Exercise Programme which includes such gems as Neck Side Bending, Neck Rotation, Shoulder Circles,Shoulder Rotation,Trunk Rotation and last but not least Neck Flexion and Extension. I am hoping that the last-mentioned will enable me to reach the height of 6 feet to which I have always aspired!

These exercises are coupled with increased use of the  3 Triglow balls which I have to suck up gravity feed channels and hold them aloft for 3 seconds. ( a bit like the Tatts Lotto draw on TV )This has to be repeated 5 times every hour and Craig has set up an alarm on my I phone as a reminder. Fortunately, I managed to persuade him that it only needed to apply from 9 am to 9 pm and that I was allowed to take a break during the night. All jokes aside this exercise is critical as I left hospital with some fluid still on my lungs and this gadget is designed to improve lung capacity.

I am now coming to the end of Week 1 of the Home Walking Programme and as from tomorrow I have to walk about 500 metres on level or gently sloping ground twice each day. This distance will gradually increase over the coming weeks.

After working your way through that load of useless info  you are probably starting to say to yourselves ” we should have let sleeping obese ferrets lie!”

One thing I have learned is that patience during this recovery is an absolute virtue and one can never afford to be complacent with cardiac issues. A good day is invariably followed by one which can make you feel a bit down, both physically and emotionally, but what is undeniably true is that, even with this roller coaster, I am making some real progress.

During the past week Gail has been able to take me out in the car to view different parts of Perth and to call on some good friends, Ben and Tric Neale. This has provided a welcome change of scenery and as Ben has undergone one hip and two knee replacements over the past 12 months it has been good to discuss the relevant merits of the two surgeons!

It has also been great having Craig close at hand and he now realises what a considerate old dad I am to have my arteries clog up while he is in WA rather than USA or UK.

I will try to keep everyone posted on any new developments eg. if I suddenly become incapable of keeping my balls aloft for 3 seconds!

Cheers

The Obese Ferret ( BTW I have put on 1 kg and am up to 65.5kgs. Apparently almost all patients put on weight while undergoing heart surgery but obviously not yours truly.)

 

 

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Friday 1st March

I have recently read an article by Greg Sheridan in last week’s Weekend Australian in which he describes in some detail his experiences both pre and post a quadruple bypass operation. Much of what he has written certainly resonates with me but on this day in particular his comment that the recovery process is often two steps forward, one step back certainly rings true.

Waking up after an adequate night’s sleep I decided to walk round the verandah of the house and followed that with a series of stretching exercises, all in line with the laid down exercise program.

Not long afterwards I started to feel somewhat the worse for wear which came as something of a surprise as I had followed a similar program in the hospital.

It was a salutary reminder that the recovery process is an emotional and physical roller coaster and that nothing can be taken for granted.

In the event I did the sensible thing and went back to bed for a couple of hours, waking up feeling in much better shape.

Today’s good news is that my cell-mate Sean has also been cleared to go home .

The remainder of the day is spent being ferried about in the car by Gail on another scorching day and popping the numerous pills that have become a regular part of every day.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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28th February

What could be better than to be woken up first thing in the morning by a charming little nurse called Cherry Yip, originally from HongKong. Cherry goes about her work with quiet efficiency and her ready smile makes both Sean and myself  feel better about what the day has in store for us.

Fortunately, we have both had a good night’s sleep and can possibly look forward to discharge from hospital if we receive the right results from tests due to be carried out during the day.

As Gail will testify I am something of a hoarder but she probably never thought that it would stretch to small plastic pill containers. When the nurse came to provide me with my pills she found 17 neatly stacked containers. I may be a hoarder but at least I’m tidy-minded! 

My surgeon Dr Sharma arrives to tell me that he can give me the green light to go home today.

Seemingly the Atrial Fibrillation apparent the previous day is settling down and in any event AF is often the post-op side effect of such operations. Dr Sharma  motioned with his hands to indicate it resulted from his having to manually touch my heart. When I interpreted his hand motions as ‘manhandling’ my heart he showed mock indignation that anyone would categorise his delicate surgical work as ‘manhandling’!

Sadly Sean did not receive the green light as his INR ( blood coagulation rating ) is stubbornly refusing to rise to the required level of 2.00 so he has to stay until tomorrow. We will keep our fingers crossed for him. Sean has been a great cell-mate and our sharing has i think been mutually beneficial. We certainly undertake to stay in touch further down the track.

Check out of hospital mid-afternoon and arrive back at Lyn and Bert’s house about 5 pm.

Finish off the day viewing the photos Craig had taken of me while I was still under and looking very much like someone on life support, which of course I was. Probably not conducive to a good night’s sleep but I am going to do my best.

Good night and cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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All my fears about the previous night were sadly justified and I toss and turn for hours until about 2.30 when I start to feel that I can’t breathe. I call the nurse who does a few tests and reassures me that all is well. I appear to have had another of those strange ‘LSD’ happenings not uncommon after such ops.

However I wake up feeling fine and as breakfast is not before 8.30, Sean and I are taken off by the physio, Deanne to confront the Flight Test. Any patient, to receive release from the hospital must be able to climb up two flights of stairs without undue distress.

We both pass but there has emerged a slight indication of AF ( atrial fibrillation) affecting my heart. This will need to be addressed before I can go home tomorrow. I am attached again to a heart monitor which is a pain but it has to be done.

Weight now 66.4! ( my situation not helped by the fact that the previous evening my cell-mate had eaten half of my desert before realising that he had been given my food)

Another surprise is the discovery that Sean’s father is a relative of the Yelvertons. The Yelvies truly are ubiquitous!

This has been an action-packed day as have also met Philippe who for many years was the Maitre d’ of the hotel on which the hospital is now located. He is now in charge of the supply of all meals at The Mount and regularly appears in the wards looking like an extra in an Agatha Christie film, complete with bow tie and wonderful French accent. He doesn’t  just look the part, he provides a catering service which would not be out of place in many restaurants.

As I MAY be going home tomorrow this is perhaps an opportune moment to laud the wonderful work of the medical staff in all of the various units. With their many nationalities and idiosyncrasies they provide us with so many positives and brighten up what could be a very difficult stay in hospital.

Faced with wards full of most likely grumpy and demanding old men and women they perform miracles.

It is a veritable United Nations in here but we did finally find a fair dinkum Aussie this morning in Kristy who told my ward-mate Sean that he would be fine if he just ‘shoved the last two pills into his gob’. Pure Aussie Vernacular Gold!

So it’s good night from her and good night from us.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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