The Arnold's are Searching for Serendipity: Homer, AK to Manchester, CT is almost 5,000 Miles 2013

5,000 miles is a long way when you find out a loved family member is in an I.C.U bed. We found out that our Son-in-Law, Wayne Rettburg had been hospitalized on Tuesday morning via an e-mail message. We were frustrated by poor communications and the 4 hour time difference. Jim Ratcliffe sent this photo after he made a visit. This morning we found out that Wayne is out of I.C.U. and will be kept a few days more to stabilize his heart function.

There is apparently nothing they can do to stop the heartache of his expanding scalp. Maybe we can have an old fashion telethon for these fellows!

Get better Wayne!

During the last 5 days we have moved about 500 miles to the Pacific Coast of Alaska. Factoid: If Alaska’s coastline was straightened out, it would circumambulate the world with about 3,000 miles left over.

During our last full day at Denali, we had a fierce wind storm during the early morning hours. Several folks has damage of relatively minor degree, we did not. Our Friends the Dave & Diane Trumble lost the brackets which hold their topper on the main slide. Rivets were torn out and the slide could not be closed. Going up on the i-net, I found that the manufacturer strongly suggested not attempting repairs due to the danger of working with the ‘cocked’ spring. We were about 400 miles from an RV repair shop, time to put our Big Man Pants on and fix it! It took 4 fellows about 4 hours as we figured out how to remove, repair and reinstall this beast. Our Tail Gunner Stu tore his topper and had to make a duct tape repair. I’m glad we do not have ‘toppers’ on our rig, just another trim item that can ruin your day.

We drove about 200 miles to Anchorage, a good size city. We went to several dinners and shows, the theme of which repeats with family style Salmon (we don’t eat} and BBQ ribs. This is followed by a musical/comedy show of varying quality. The Alaska Heritage Museum was an interesting stop, we spent a few hours there, Anne-Marie found a lovely Ivory Heart Necklace there.

There was a presentation of ‘Indian Games’. The young lady in the photo sat on the floor, launched herself into the air and kicked a ball suspended over her head! The fellow who is seated is 6’1” tall. He kicked a ball that was 7+ feet off the floor. To do that, he squatted on the floor, jumped into a 1 arm handstand and kicked it.

Homer, Alaska prides itself on being a small drinking village with a fishing problem. Our 200 mile trip there went past several prime fly-fishing locations. The drizzle we had didn’t stop these fellows, made me think of how much Jay and Charlie would enjoy this.