November 26th, 2009

We are counting the days....and getting very excited about the trip. Gord has been asking me a million questions about logistics and I just keep telling him it will all work out. I just have this feeling that because I have prepared so carefully for this new type of travelling with cane and wheelchair etc. that we will both be so surprised at how helpful everyone will be and how smoothly our trip will go.

I am showing you why Maui is so enticing at this time of year. The pictures were taken about a week ago when we woke up one morning to bright sunshine and big white globs of ice on the lake. They only seemed to be right in front of our cabin. They hung around for a few days and then the wind came up and we could hear the tinkling of the ice crystals breaking up. It was amazing and a lot like Spring when the lake is thawing. As of today, the lake is open and I do not believe there is any ice floating around. I could be wrong. The temperature has been from -2 to plus 7 lately.

Well, we are just about to take a walk through in the cabin so that I can quiz Gord on the process he would normally go through to shut the cabin down for the Winter. I want to know even though his brothers Gary and Richard are going to come after we leave and complete the process for us. I hope in the future to be able to do this myself. I have learned so much in the last 11 months . I have learned things I never had to deal with in the past. Kind of a blessing in a way to be pushed into experiences I was not expecting.

Gord is doing well. So far we have not had any colds or flu and we have been feeling great. Could be the adrenalin and anticipation building for the BIG trip.

Once again, I invite anyone who needs a Winter get away to give us a call or email to see if our Unit 607 is available. So far it is open except for a couple of weeks in Feb.

email at sheilabosch@hotmail.com

Take care

Love

Sheila

November 4th ,2009

Well finally I can report some positive news about our pending trip to Palm Desert and Maui. I have searched and searched and found travel insurance for Gord with his pre existing condition. The only people that will cover him at this point is RBC and the coverage is only good for anything that happens over the 6 months of being away that is NOT connected to his stroke. That's fine with me because I just wanted coverage for a slip and fall and broken bones or pneumonia or whatever.....I also found AirMed which is an air ambulance that will transport us door to door if we need to get Gord home quickly and he cannot fly commercial. They take pre-existing conditions - and to cover Gord for 1 year, 180 days away the cost is $325 USD. That's it. 2 trips in one year allowed and you just have to be more than 150 miles away from home.
I just thought you might be interested in this information since some of you out there may need some options some day.
We are leaving the "cold country" November 25th for Palm Desert and then to Maui Dec. 1st. We will travel all morning and arrive around 1pm. Perfect!
Gord is doing well - he seems healthy and happy. We have great days just bumming around together. He likes to come with me when I go for groceries. I even got him to come into Walmart and Costco the other day. He walks for a while and then I give him the keys for the car and he heads back when he is ready. He is getting very independent which is a blessing.
I tried to get him to talk on camera this morning and after about 10 trys I got a sentence.I then tried to upload to the blog and it would not go. Sorry, I tried. He really does have a hard time getting words and thoughts out. The frustrating thing is that he understands everything! Anyway, it is part of the process of healing that we need to go through and having our goal of this Winter away keeps us going day to day.
We love hearing from you all so keep watching. I will not be posting as often as before but when we get to Maui I will send pictures again.
Take care and thank you again from the bottom of our hearts for all your love and support over the past 11 months!!!
xoxo
Sheila