When I mentioned to Priscilla that I was sorry that Barb and Norm would arrive after the grapes were past their prime, she told me to freeze some of them. I did but couldn't believe they would be very good. They're delicious. Barb and Norm liked them. They left last night, and I'm eating the last of the frozen grapes now.
We had a good though not incident free visit. Things started to go awry about a month before they arrived. I developed weird sensations of taste and feel in my mouth. I finally went to the doctor who was surprised given my generally good health but determined that I must have some kind of candida virus or thrush. She prescribed, and I took for almost three weeks, a month wash medication. It helped but Mo thought I should see a dental surgeon as things were still strange. I finally got an appointment for Sept. 17. Then I started getting a bit of toothache. As I have only gone to the dentist in Puerto Vallarta since 1996, I asked Jane and Miriam who they go to. It was the same one and luckily I got an appointment with him for August 27, the day before Barb was to arrive. He found the source of my pain and calmed my worries about the things I saw and felt in my mouth. I had been doing a few Google searches about mouth disorders. That's a direct root to the worst assumptions. I now have an appointment tomorrow for what will either be merely the replacement of an old mercury amalgam filling or the beginning of a root canal. Consequently, I have cancelled the appointment with the dental surgeon. Unfortunately I have also had to drop out of the bike camp in Yakima, Washington because it begins next weekend and my tooth might not be fixed by then. I'm sorry to be missing the fun with my friends, but I had reservations about going to Trumpland anyway and certainly would not go there with unresolved tooth problems.
So Barb's visit fit perfectly between dental appointments. I picked them up at the airport around noon on Wednesday. We had a leisurely afternoon and went for a swim before dinner at Jade Beach. It was a beautiful evening, but we stayed a bit long so the dinner was overdone by the time we got back to it. But it wasn't as dried out as I had feared. Even I who can only chew on one side managed to eat it.
Our Thursday outing, a wine tour, was not all smooth driving. I heard a bit of clunking somewhere in the front of the car as we left Vernon heading along the scenic lakeshore route for Mission Hill Winery in West Kelowna. I tried to pretend all was fine. It got louder and finally Barb commented. Norm agreed. I asked him to take the wheel. It was getting worse, so he turned us around and we stopped in a repair shop in Lake Country. The mechanic was busy and said we would have to wait at least an hour. BUT...the woman in the office had been listening to our descriptions of the noises. She came out, had a look and returned with a tool to tighten the front driver's side tire. It was so loose it would have rolled off if we hadn't stopped when we did. I was relieved and gave her a big hug and a torrent of compliments. We carried on with the winery tour. The next day began with what was the last catastrophe of the holiday; the coffeemaker sprang a leak. I got out my old French press, we had breakfast and carried on to the Star for a gondola ride and hike. On the way home we stopped at Mike V's to have the tires torqued. We carried on with visits to local sights and events. The days were hot and Barb and I revived ourselves almost every evening with a swim at Jade Beach. Today they are driving to Vancouver Island and I am getting back to normal. I will have a class with Norah after a month off.
Barb at the Brown Derby in Armstrong where we had breakfast and watched the IPE Parade
Barb, Norm, Mo and John ar the Brown Derby
Pipers in the parade
