Christmas in the Park

Casa Grande, AZ                   (Please select pics to enlarge)

It's been awhile since our last post (2 weeks).  Actually, there hasn't been a lot of "blog worthy" things to talk about.  Steve is continuing his physical therapy for the calf muscle tear and is progressing nicely. It was exactly 3 weeks yesterday since the injury occurred and I can get around pretty well already.  Now, it's just a matter of re-strengthening the muscles in the lower leg.  Pickleball here we come!

Karen has gotten a chance to play Pickleball many times now without Steve.  Something she enjoys, I suspect.  She also began a drawing with colored pencils class a few weeks ago.  For a first timer, I will admit that she's doing a pretty nice job.

Since I'm still limited in the amount of walking I can do, we decided to drive around the Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort the other night and view some of the Christmas decorations.  Since this is our first Christmas away from the traditional sticks and bricks house, coupled with a totally new geographical area (Virginia vs. Arizona), Christmas will "look" very different for us this year.

Here's a "daylight" view of some of the decorations cropping up around the park.

It seems that everyone, including the Resort, likes to wrap the palm trees in lights. This is the area near the Activities Center, and  the patio leading to the swimming pool.

 

Folks decorate everything.  Palm trees, sheds, houses.

 

 

 



 There's also conventional decorating around the houses.

 

Here's a look at the decorations in front of the same house, just different times of the day.

 

 



 Casa Grande's temperature today is supposed to reach 77 degrees with clear and bright skies.  I'll apologize to all of my family and friends back East, but we really don't miss all of that ice, snow, and freezing rain that I used to have to work in only one short year ago. This really is what the fulltime lifestyle should be all about.

 

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

 



 

Trip to the Orthopedist

Casa Grande, AZ

Well, it's been 8 days since my injury and I was finally able to get in and see the Orthopedic Doctor today.  Of course, you don't really get to see the "Doctor", but rather the Physician's Assistant (PA)
instead.

After a brief discussion of the cause of the injury, and what I would call a cursory physical exam at best, he concluded that I most likely have a minor tear in the calf muscle.  (No mention of scheduling an MRI, btw.)

He gave me a list of Physical Therapists to select from and indicated that I'd probably be "out of pickleball" for at least 6 weeks.  I intend to do a bit of verbal research with my fellow pickleballers here at the resort to get a consensus on which physical therapists they've used, but more importantly, which ones they have had success with.

At this point I'm still using crutches to walk around with, but just elevating the leg at night (without compression), and taking some over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs throughout the day.

In conclusion, not a whole lot learned, but at least it doesn't appear to be a major tear (which would entail a surgical repair).

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!