THE "CROSS-MAS" CHRONICLES
Christmas, 2021 – Vaccinated Edition


Dear Friends and Family,
Hi everyone! With Covid still around, it’s been another crazy year, but we got vaccinated and boosted and had some great adventures – far and wide. We traveled up the east coast to see Richard and his family before they moved cross-country from PA to CA near LA, saw a few more national parks, had an emergency evacuation from a remote one in Alaska, and went to Egypt and Jordan for a month. We also had visits with Rob and his family and Dave and his wife. My mom turned 97 in March, but was in “lock down” for her birthday, so our visits are by “Zoom.” Everyone’s been healthy, which is the best news of all. Hope you’ve been well, too!!!

Spring Trip up the East Coast to see Richard, Family and Friends
In January and February, we got our first and second Pfizer Covid vaccinations. We had no firm travel plans because so many attractions remained closed. When we learned that our oldest son Richard was planning to move to CA, we were shocked, since, from what we heard, most people were trying to leave CA. When we heard about the move, it was a “done deal.” Christiane found a new job and Richard could work remotely from anywhere. So, we thought we better try to see them in PA before the moving chaos hits the fan. In late April, we embarked on our first major road trip since 2019. One the way, we saw Robert and his family in Alpharetta and visited the latest national park – New River Gorge – just north of Beckley, WV. We had a nice visit with Richard, Christiane, grandkids, Andrew and Austin, and many longtime friends that lived nearby. On the way back, we saw many friends up and down the east coast, all the way to Vero Beach, Florida. We also did a little touring in Charleston and Savannah, where we took a belated anniversary dinner cruise on the Savannah River.

Alaska – National Parks and Emergency Evacuation
Since 2019, we had planned to go to Alaska to visit the 5 most-remote national parks. In 2020, Covid put the kibosh on that. So, in 2021, we were pumped. We left in mid-June and flew to Anchorage and, from Fairbanks, we went north of the Arctic Circle to Bettles – by small plane, as no roads go there. We saw "Gates of the Arctic" and "Kobuk Valley" National Parks, which were only accessible by float plane – again no roads. In the 5 days there, we also did some lake canoeing and river rafting. The scenery was absolutely stunning!
Our next national park was “Wrangell-St. Elias,” about 300 miles east of Anchorage. To get there, we chartered a van which took 10 hours - many by pot-holed roads. On our first day, we went river rafting and flight seeing in absolutely gorgeous weather. But the next day, July 3rd, as we were leaving the old Kennecott Copper Mill after a 2-hour tour, all of a sudden I saw little spider webs all around my right eye.  In less than 15 minutes, the eye clouded up so bad I couldn't see anything but light and dark shadows. I was super scared.
Our accommodations were at a lodge out in the middle of “no-where” – no town, no shops, no doctor – just nature. The folks at the lodge offered us the possibility of an EMT in McCarthy (about a half hour away by bumpy, pot-holed road) or possibly an Eskimo tribal doctor some hours away. Neither option sounded good. And, it was the 4th of July holiday weekend, so no way to readily contact Houston or Anchorage. After concluding that our best option was to evacuate, the lodge said that we could get out by bush plane from McCarthy.  We had a few minutes to pack and they would shuttle us to the air strip.  So, at 3:30, we - and all of our 7 pieces of luggage (including 25 lbs of Alaskan rocks) - were on our way to Anchorage in a Cessna 172 with a bush pilot.  (I was in the back seat with a large suit case and John was in the copilot seat.  It was comforting to know John could fly the plane if a pilot emergency happened.)  We saw the beautiful Chugach Mountains on the way.  So instead of the Wrangell and St. Elias Mountains of the national park, we saw the Chugach –- out of my good eye.
  We got to Anchorage Merrill Field at 5:45 pm and caught a taxi to Anchorage's largest hospital - Providence.  At 6 pm I was in line at the ER after a person who stepped on a nail.  In a few minutes, I told them my symptoms and thought I was having a detached retina.  They immediately whisked me and John (and all the luggage) into an ER bay and, I think, "coded" me.  Maybe they thought I was having a stroke or heart attack, because as soon as I got to the bay, they put in an IV port, attached EKG leads and some other leads for things I don't know.  My blood pressure was 205/90 with a pulse of 80.  I was really scared!  The ER doctor came in and out. He looked into my eye with a light and did an ultra sound, but really couldn't determine what was happening.  Then at about 7 pm, he said he arranged for me to see an ophthalmologist at 7:30 pm.  They quickly dilated my eyes and checked me out of ER.  Then, we, and all of our luggage, caught a taxi to the ophthalmologist’s office.  I still can't believe we got "in and out" of ER in just an hour!
  Dr.  Winkle, a pediatric ophthalmologist, examined my eyes and said I had a "sudden posterior vitreous detachment with vitreous hemorrhaging." I asked him what I could have done to prevent this.  He said nothing.  He said if you live long enough, it will happen, but not always like it happened to me.  I guess this happens to most people, but they don't know it.  It can also happen when you're younger if you get a big hit on the head or are very nearsighted.  In my case, because it was sudden, I knew “when” it happened.  And, because it was sudden, it can have more complications - like tears or holes in the retina, which was likely in my case because of the hemorrhaging.  After the eye exam and another ultrasound, he said I need to get back home to Houston ASAP and get it treated there.  He said I didn't want to get it treated in Alaska because if they had to put gas into my eye to work on it, I wouldn't be able to fly home for, possibly, weeks!  Luckily, it was now 8:45 pm and in a few minutes we taxied to the airport and caught the 11 pm direct “red eye” flight to Houston.
Back home, the next challenge was lining up treatment over a holiday weekend.  My eye doctor didn’t come up with anything soon or near, so I made calls. At ~ 9 pm Sat. night, I heard from Retina Consultants of Texas and got an emergency appointment at 9:15 am Monday, July 5.  There, I was examined and found to have a 1 mm (medium size) hole in the retina. Right then and there - I was awake with no general anesthesia – the doctor “laser”-ed around the hole to "tack it down around the edges" and keep the vitreous fluid from getting behind the retina.  Most of it got tacked down, but due to the hemorrhaging, I had to come back a week later to get the rest of it “tacked.” I had to sleep sitting up for a few weeks, but everything has gone well and my eyesight is now back to normal. And, luckily, we were able to reschedule the remaining national parks in Alaska for next year.

Egypt and Jordan – Amazing, Beyond Expectations!
Travel-wise, we are trying to keep up with our kids – especially Dave, our youngest son, and his wife Kristie. A couple years ago, they went to Kauai and gave us tips for our visit there. Then in 2019, they went to Egypt and Petra – so, we had to go! We have been excited to go to Egypt since 2011, but that was a no-go due to the Arab Spring. Then in 2020, we had a trip on the books, but another abort due to Covid. This year, in spite of all the Covid ups and downs, we actually got the trip of a lifetime! It was a month-long trip through the Houston Museum of Natural Science – and absolutely amazing! The trip was organized by an Egyptian archaeologist, Fadel Gad, with ties to the heads of antiquities throughout Egypt. He got us places beyond most tours – like the Siwa Oasis in the western desert, Amarna, Abydos and Fayoum. We saw the best of the best – Luxor, Abu Simbel, Karnak, the Aswan High Dam, Elephantine Island, Philae, Kom Ombo, Edfu, and the Giza Plateau where we had a special lecture by the former head of antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass, between the paws of the Sphinx where, ordinarily, tourists are not allowed. At Dashur, we got a special lecture by the current head of antiquities, Dr. Mostafa Waziri, at his current dig site. Also, really special was a balloon ride at sunrise over Luxor and the Valleys of the Kings and Queens. We also visited some amazing tombs – like that of Nefertari, favorite wife of Ramses, the Great. The trip also included 3 fabulous days sailing down the Nile. We didn’t expect flying around Egypt by private jet, but that, and the fabulous hotels and resorts, are perks we could get used to.
In Jordan, another “bucket list” item was Petra (after Dave and Kristie visited). We hiked over 8 miles to see both the rock-carved Treasury and Monastery in Petra. We also saw where Jesus was baptized in the Jordan and Mt. Nebo where Moses saw the Promised Land. And, a float in the super-salty Dead Sea was great fun.

Richard and Christiane, Andrew and Austin move to California
Richard (40) and Christiane with 7-year-old, 1st-grade twin sons, Andrew and Austin, moved from PA to Oak Park, CA north of LA. The mid-summer move was prompted by Christiane’s new job as an upstream market developer involved with continuous glucose monitoring at Medtronic in Northridge, CA. Richard still heads Quantitative Research at Moody’s Analytics. They all seem to like the warm CA weather and the many hiking opportunities. Richard is the Cub Scout den leader for Andrew and Austin, who also love baseball and airplanes.

Rob and Laura, Peyton and Kensie in Alpharetta, GA
Robert and Laura are in Alpharetta, GA, where Rob (38) is the Director of Product Management at Promethean and Laura changed jobs to be the Sr. Director of Product Marketing at Aptean, a business solutions software company in Alpharetta. Their children go to King’s Ridge Christian School where Peyton (9) is in 4th grade and Kensie (6) is in 1st grade. After school, Peyton loves baseball and Kensie loves cheerleading.

Dave and Kristie Honeymoon in the Maldives and Visit Turks and Caicos
Married last year, Dave (35) and Kristie honeymooned in March in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. The crystal-clear turquoise waters were breathtaking and filled with colorful fish. Mid-summer, they went to Turks and Caicos in the Bahamas. In August, they – and their house – luckily survived the Cat. 4 hurricane, “Ida.” Dave is with Shell as a Completions and Well Interventions Engineer in natural gas fracking. Kristie is the director of customer experience at SunPro Solar Energy Specialists. They live in Covington, LA with dogs Brody and Mako.

Well, that's what we're up to.  Would love to hear how/what you're doing.  And, hopefully, sometime soon, get together again. 
 
All the best for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! 

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