Self-Care Overdue!
~Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021~
Day 536
While driving “up valley” this morning, it made us reflect and wonder….”did we fully appreciate Napa all those years?” What a special place it was and still is, and we are just so happy to be back in our hometown. As we drove up to Calistoga for our overdue annual dental check ups/cleanings, we took in all the views that make Napa Valley so special. Acres and acres of spent grapevines in their post Fall season state, waiting to drop their leaves with the gorgeous green mountains as their backdrop, against a clear, sunny blue sky day. Along the way, we also saw some of our favorite wineries, still in their familiar state like Cakebread Cellars, BV, Robert Mondavi and my former employer Franciscan Estates. There’s something so comforting and familiar about being back “home”. We feel blessed that we were able to raise our family here, which we know they value as well. Though we’d exhausted all there was to do here, we will always think of this area as our “home”. Jeff and I were just ready for new experiences. It wasn’t the attitude of “the grass is greener” by any means. We just felt that change would be good for us; stepping out of the comfort zone into the great unknown, and that we have.
Arriving at our dental appointments, it felt like visiting family again, seeing our hygienist Chelsea and receptionist Micaela. Dr. Gina has since retired, but Dr. Martinoni was terrific! Feels so good having clean teeth again and getting an A+ report card on our pearlies. We were told to just keep doin’ what we’re doin’. 👏👏
After the dentist, we made a stop at a Starbucks for a bite and a few coffees, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather at their outside tables. We were also productive in deciding which photos we wanted to use for our online Christmas cards this year, which should be in your inboxes very soon.
With 7 minutes to spare, Jeff dropped me off at Kaiser for my doctor's appointment, while he went back to Napa Tire to pick up the ordered rim and settle up our 4-tire purchase. I met with my amazing GP doctor, Dr. Besana….a no-nonsense, sweet, personable doctor with a great sense of humor. I love the fact that she doesn’t take herself too seriously. Since I hadn’t been seen in over 8 years, nor had a blood test in 12, she thought it time to get some overdue blood work done and a catch up on vaccines. But the main reason for my visit today was to follow up on my Perioral Dermatitis which we had treated for 2 months with antibiotics. It helped tremendously, but the unfortunate thing is there is very little information about the how’s and why’s of this aggressive, annoying skin issue. She’s been consulting with the dermatologist as well and both agreed the best thing is to have a backup of the antibiotic on hand, in case I get a flare up on our travels. Though most of it has cleared up, there is this persistent light redness around my mouth that could be scarring from having had the issue so long. So she’s also prescribing an antibiotic lotion to have on hand as well.
The other issue I was being seen for was my right heel. I’ve been having pain particularly on long hikes, not so much during, but after resting it. She thought it might be plantar fasciitis, but wasn’t fully committed to that diagnosis until we had it x-rayed. She definitely could feel granular-like tissue in the heel, so hoping the x-ray will give us some answers as to why? The pain could be caused by changes in my arch, maybe flattening it out too much, putting more pressure on the heel. Orthotic inserts might be a consideration. First things first. We’ll just start with the x-ray and go from there.
It was definitely a self-care day between dental and doctors appointments but good to get it all done while we’re close to everything. After I left Dr. Besana’s office, I headed over to the injection clinic to get my DTAP and Shingles vaccines. I appreciated the technician’s honesty when she asked if I was sure I wanted both the Shingles and Tetanus shot on the same day. Tetanus and Shingles vaccines cause a lot of arm tenderness at the injection site, but the Shingles also has flu-like side effects. I certainly wasn’t up for that while I’m trying to enjoy my visit. So I decided on the DTAP only and will get the Shingles shot before we leave California. Next, a stop at the blood lab. Gosh, I’d never seen so many vials for a blood draw before; I felt like I was donating blood, not getting tested. And the last stop…..Radiology. I must be glowing between my teeth and foot x-rays. One thing was interesting during the foot x-ray. Before she took the picture, leave it to me to ask where my lead apron was. Evidently there’s a number of radiology organizations that are trying to end the decades-old practice of shielding patients from radiation with lead aprons since the technology for x-rays and such has greatly improved. Modern equipment is designed to concentrate the x-rays far more effectively than older equipment, which means the scope of scatter is significantly reduced. Anyway, I’ll keep you posted on my results.
And then a brilliant idea struck us…….let’s go see a movie. We hadn’t seen a movie since COVID and we were dying to see the latest James Bond flick. I even had some leftover movie ticket coupons from when we lived here, begging to be used. Shane was up for joining us too. We all agreed that “Casino Royale” is still our favorite 007 movie and that Roger Craig is our favorite James Bond. The acting in “No Time to Die” was excellent but the storyline was a bit lackluster and underdeveloped, but definitely worth watching.
Finally getting to see my bestie tomorrow with a dog walk at Alston Park (Sadie’s Disneyland), or so we thought until we got a Nixle alert the park had an afternoon incident that was under police investigation and would be closed until further notice. I did my own investigating and found out later in the day that it was a gang-related shooting in the parking lot (you rarely hear of gang violence in Napa) and that the 2 suspects were still at large. The victim has non life-threatening injuries, so that’s good to hear. So scary. You can just be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, anywhere and just never know.
When we arrived back at Skyline after our busy day, we grabbed a quick bite, walked Sadie and met our new neighbors from Rohnert Park. The owners of the 4 rigs parked next to us all know each other and have quite the “compound” setup. Beth was intrigued with our trailer, and our story, but more than anything, our trailer map. I think we’ll be giving the royal tour before our departure. It’s so fun hearing their fun!!
After our movie, we were heading back to our park, noticing some very bright lights up ahead. Right before the turn into our gate, there were several police cars, PG&E trucks and what appeared to be a white Mercedes upright with a crushed roof. Jeff and Sadie went to investigate and talked to a few witnesses about what happened. Evidently, the driver and passenger were o.k. But their car, not so much. They were going 60 mph on a 25 mph turn, hit a boulder, became airborne and split a power pole in 2. My goodness, they’re lucky to be alive. Since the power pole is now in two, it looks like we’re in for a cold night in the trailer since we’ve been reliant on the electric fireplace and portable heater to keep us warm. The propane heater is not working at the moment. Hopefully we regain power before morning.
Exciting times in Napa Valley.