Back to Santa Rosa

3/24/05 - Starting Back to California
We left Camp Verde and headed accross Arizona toward Prescott (Map) today. Then we headed north through Las Vegas. I would have enjoyed stopping in Las Vegas to see the lights and take in a show, but my wife Dayadevi is really bothered by the crowds and noise, and we want to be back in Santa Rosa by Easter Sunday, so we pressed on and camped behind a casino in Pahrump (Map) for the night.

Death Valley National Park

3/25/05 - Death Valley National Park, CA
We drove the coach through Death Valley (Map) today. It was a big challenge due to some very narrow and winding roads. It was also difficult to find places to pull over and park. We did have a lovely drive and saw lots of wildflowers and a big lake where there usually is none. The park received above average rainfall this winter and spring and so the flowers and lake were very unusual and beautiful.

After leaving the park we headed accross the southern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, through some great Joshua Tree forests. We spent the night dry camping near Lake Isabella.

3/26/05 - Kern River to Williams, CA
Today we drove another narrow, winding and beautiful road (Hwy 178), following the Kern River to Bakersfield (Map), where we had a great lunch. On our way back to ther coach I noticed this weird sign. Then we drove up US 99 to Sacramento and then over to I5 up to Williams (Map) where we dry camped for the night.

3/27/05 - Ukiah, CA
This morning we drove over Hwy 20 past Clear Lake to Potter Valley, where we spent the afternoon with some good friends, Ivan and Isa. Ivan Browne was the lead singer for the Lemon Pipers who did the song Green Tamboreen back in the sixties. He is quite a character and insisted we look at an old tape of Lemon Piper's performances.

Late in the afternoon we continued on to Ukiah (Map) and got a spot in the RV Park at the Fairgrounds there.

I talked to mom (who is still in the hospital) on the phone today (it is the first time I can ever remember not being with her on Easter Sunday), but she was pretty out of it and the conversation was pretty short. I had a better conversation with my sister though, who said that she had seen something on TV (or maybe it was a magazine) indicating that mom's symptoms could be caused by excess fluid on the brain. She will talk to mom's doctor about this tomorrow.

3/28/05 - Santa Rosa, CA
Today we packed our car full of our dirty laundry and drove down to Santa Rosa (Map). After a great Thai lunch, we went to see mom in the hospital. We briefly met with her doctor who said that, yes, extra fluid on her brain could be responsible for her condition. He said he had successfully treated this many times by putting a shunt into the brain that was attached to a tube that would drain into the abdomen. He also indicated he could probably do the surgery tomorrow. So it was with a mixture of great relief and anticipation that we left the hospital today.

Next we met our good friend Bonnie at one of our favorite restaurants, Mary's Pizza in Rohnert Park. After a good Italian dinner we all went to the local laundromat to do our laundry and continue visiting. Bonnie was a big help but, after an hour and a half drive back to Ukiah, we were pretty late in getting home.

3/29/05 - Brain Surgery
This morning we moved the coach down to Santa Rosa, stopping in Windsor to visit some of Dayadevi's friends who have recently been banned from running their small tole painting business from their home. What a bummer, especially after all the work they went to, turning their garage into a great place to hold painting classes.

When we got to Santa Rosa we went to Creators Foam Shop to pick up our replacement mattress and left the coach there while we drove the toad for the rest of the day.

Next we went to see mom in the hospital and arrived just in time to escort her to the surgical preop room, where we again met with the doctor and were assured by everyone that this was a very good thing to do. We left as she was being wheeled into the operating room to have a shunt inserted in her brain that would automatically drain excess fluids into her abdomen. We were confident she was in good hands at Sutter Medical Center.

Today was also my nephew's 21st birthday, so we went to my sister's for dinner and helped celebrate. Then we went back to Santa Rosa and camped in the Creators Foam Shop parking lot.