On Wednesday, I dropped the dogs off at Grand Canyon Railway Kennel. They were going to spend a week there --- while Tom and I headed to Southern California. As Tom was putting his bike on the truck bike rack, he noticed that the pedals were not moving the back tire. While we were driving to Los Angeles, I called a Pasadena bike shop to take Tom's bike in for repair. Tom later googled the bike shop and found that they had a used recumbent bicycle for sale. Tom once had a recumbent bike and loved it. Guess what? Tom bought that recumbent bike several hours later.
Tom and I met at Wendy and Kai's home in Pasadena. They both have been working on John's estate and wanted to go over some things with me. The "going over" part was to ask me to take the leadership in handling the estate. I said that I would. We had a cocktail with Wendy and Kai before heading down to the Jonathan Club.
That evening, Tom and I checked into Suite #921 at the Jonathan Club and walked over to Public School 213 Restaurant for dinner.
The next morning, we had room service for breakfast and drove down to the Venice Beach Fishing Pier. We parked right at the pier and waited for my four siblings to arrive. We were going to celebrate my brother, John. He used to live a few blocks away, and he loved surfing near the pier.
It turned out that there were ten of us. We had shells and ashes to throw into the ocean from the pier.
All of us threw shells off the pier, and some of us gently spread some of John's ashes.
Then, of course, there was a photo opportunity --- once again --- six Shelton siblings.
After spending time on the pier, we walked to a nearby Cuban restaurant for lunch.
After lunch, we went bicycle riding on the beach bike path to Santa Monica.
Tom was very pleased with the performance of his recumbent!
Once we reach the Santa Monica pier, we were so very close to the Jonathan Beach Club. I invited everyone to ride to the club and have a cocktail on the beach!
It was a very civilized way to end the day together! That evening, Tom and I stopped at the downtown Ralphs and got sushi for dinner in our room. It was a suite picnic!
The next day, Tom and I headed east toward Borrego Springs. We were visiting Linda Brockie, who lost her husband Rick a month ago. The GPS route went right by Jojoba Hills Escapees RV Resort in Aguanda. So, I made arrangements to drop by and see Pat and Bill Wheeler. Pam and Walt MacQueston were also there.
It was a fun visit! Pat made a lovely light lunch.
We arrived in Borrego Springs around 4:00 pm. Linda and Rick bought a mobile home in the RoadRunner Club almost a year ago. Tom and I were going to stay in Linda's guest bedroom for two nights. That night, we took Linda out to dinner to the Coyote Steakhouse. The meal was so-so, but it was great to get caught up with Linda.
Throughout the weekend, I shared with Linda some of what I experienced after losing Richard.
The next morning, the three of us played pickleball. Linda's resort has golf, pools, tennis, and pickleball. There were some challenging players, so I was happy.
In the first game, Tom fell and hit his head. No blood, but a sore head. A very nice woman with a medical background attended to Tom for about thirty minutes or so. After some time, Tom got back on the court and played again.
That afternoon, we drove to nearby Gallenta Meadows. It is a large desert area with giant metal sculptures.
We had fun posing with some of them.
And, we just photographed others.
After the sightseeing, Linda showed us her little town of Borrego Springs and we stopped for ice cream.
Linda and Rick had a special ritual of making Easter dinner the night before. So, we wanted to keep that tradition going. We made arrangements in advance. Linda bought a spiral ham in Brawley, and Tom and I contributed green beans and potatoes from Vons in Temecula.
It was fun watching Tom and Linda preparing the ham.
Rick was a very good cook. Tom is a good cook. So, it worked out great!
The next morning, Linda and I went to church to celebrate Easter Sunday. We attended a cute Calvary Chapel service.
After church, it was time for Tom and I to leave Linda's gracious hospitality and drive to Palm Desert.
Originally, we were going to spend two nights in Palm Desert. But, I needed to get some documents notarized for my brother John's estate. This had to be done in Pasadena. We already made plans to have dinner with Salli and Carl Middleton in Rancho Mirage. We checked into our motel, changed our clothes, and on the way to dinner, stopped for a cocktail at the Marriott Desert Springs Resort.
The resort has a beautiful atrium lobby. Cheers!
After our drinks, we took a boat ride on the lagoon.
We met Salli and Carl at Si Bon Restaurant. Every April, the Middletons rent a timeshare unit in Bermuda Dunes. They live in Seattle and are avid golfers. So, this April getaway is always fun for them. This was the first time for Tom to meet them. It was a very nice dinner!
The next morning, Tom and I had breakfast at Carl's Jr. and drove up to Pasadena. We were meeting my sisters at a notary office.
After signing all of the paperwork, Tom and I had lunch with my sister-in-law Terry at a local restaurant. Terry's real estate office is in the same building as the notary. We dined at Urth Caffe.
After lunch, Tom and I decided to begin our trek back to Williams. We took a scenic route up by Mt. Wilson on the Angeles Crest Highway. We stopped in Barstow for the night. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant that we dined at one time before.
We arrived home the next day. It was nice to be home again.
The next morning, I picked up the puppies at the Grand Canyon Railway Kennel. This was the first time that I boarded them there for an entire week. The manager, Debbie, said that they did much better this stay and are getting used to the place. All three were happy to get into the truck!
The Rodeo Barn is not available for pickleball for several weeks. So, a group of us met up at the tennis courts by the high school. The court surface is not ideal, but we put down tape for the pickleball lines.
We played several games, but the wind made it challenging.
While Tom and I were in Southern California, Jon was making plans to buy a small boat for fishing in the lakes. He took Tom's truck to Prescott and picked up an eight footer.
On Wednesday, Tom and Jon took the boat to Kaibab Lake and went fishing. They scored something big! They brought home 52 crappies!
That evening, they beheaded and scaled the fish. The next evening, we had a fish fry. Fortunately, the outdoor burner, part of the barbecue, worked perfectly!
Jon prepared fried potatoes and hush puppies.
And look, a plate full of good food.
On Friday, I took Libby and Kelsey on a neighborhood walk. Ramsey rested at home. It was a beautiful day.
The girls enjoyed posing by the golf course sign. They know that they always get treats after a photograph.
During the week, I began working on John's estate. I contacted several financial institutions and a number of creditors. Wendy and Kai had given me a white notebook with papers and information that they had collected over the months. All of the mail was being forwarded to their Pasadena home.
On Saturday, our neighbor Jay went turkey hunting. He got one nice big Tom Turkey.
Jay and Connie set up a table in their driveway and carved out the turkey breast.
That night, the deer came through the neighborhood. We had not seen them for some time.
On the last walk of the day, I took the dogs over to the KC Hilite building. I had been told that a Chinese company purchased them several years ago. The operation is now being moved to Los Angeles. The building was repainted grey and the KC signs are down. The only logo remained on the entrance doors.
Sunday morning, I got up to take the dogs out for a walk. Ramsey would not leave the garage. I started to take the girls down the block, and he just watched us. We turned around, and I attached the leash to him. He reluctantly started to walk with us, but then he collapsed. I took the girls back to the house and I asked Tom to help me with Ramsey. He would not get up, so Tom picked him up and put him in the truck. I knew that he was very sick and we needed to take him to Canyon Pet Hospital. I fed the dogs and then Tom and I drove to Flagstaff.
Since we did not have an appointment, we were wait-listed. The receptionist said that it would be a while.
Canyon Pet has a phone application that shows where you are on waiting to see a doctor. We took Ramsey back to the truck and went to breakfast. We then went back to the hospital. We waited several more hours before seeing Dr. Folkers. Dr. Folkers listened to Ramsey's chest and took chest x-rays. The doctor confirmed that Ramsey had lots of fluid in his lungs and that he would need to be hospitalized for several days.
In the next two days, I had several conversations with Canyon Pet Hospital. Ramsey's primary doctor, Dr. Sullivan, was assigned to his case. On Tuesday, after pickleball, Tom and I headed to Flagstaff to see Ramsey. Dr. Sullivan called us. Ramsey was not responding to all of the treatments. She thought it might be cancer. I knew in my heart that it was time to make the hard decision. The hospital texted me a photo of him asleep and resting.
Ramsey was tired and ready to make his maker. When we arrived at the hospital, they took us to the Comfort Room. Ramsey was there on a blanket. He was so very weak looking. He could hardly hold up his head. I confirmed with the nurse that it was time to put Ramsey asleep. I signed several papers and they let Tom and I spend some private time with Ramsey. Dr. Sullivan came in.
She administered the sedative and then the other drugs. We watched as Ramsey stopped breathing. So many tears. My Mr. Man, my Ramsey, crossed over Rainbow Bridge.
Dr. Sullivan left the room. Tom and I petted Ramsey. I kissed his head. He was at peace. We drove back to Williams. I took Libby and Kelsey on a walk. Then, I went to my office and selected a photo of Ramsey that was taken last June. I posted the photo on Instagram and Facebook.
My caption was "My dear Ramsey passed away this afternoon. He was 13 years old. He will be missed tremendously."
