On the way home

In a nut shell, we have traveled 11,000+ miles, through 30 states, both east & west coasts, got tossed out of a foreign country, had blown tires, failed air conditioning, paid over $5.15 for fuel, water leaks and busted windows, all of which have been endured. Old and new friends have been endeared. Some doc's brought over, support groups enlightened, and hopefully lives made easier and healthier because we had a few minutes to share our story.

The last leg of every VitaTour is the hardest. We really love being out and being with you all. As we return to Washington, we are back among the familiar. Tall evergreens, high snowcapped mountains are everywhere we look as we cross White Pass into Western Washington. We leave behind big farms, deserts, fields of crops and animals, landscape that where once only in pictures are now memories, and new friends. It truly is hard to come home and have to go back to "work".

We know we are home when we see Mount Rainier for the first time in 9 weeks. Still using secondary roads, our navagation system seems to be giving us the slow but majestic tour to get us back to Puyallup. We call ahead and let the Vitacrew know the return festivities will have to wait until the next day as we won't be pulling in until after 10:00. We pull in and are welcomed by Sheri, Riley and Barney as they are still up and waiting as we arrive on Monday night, tired and ready to leave again, but.... As usual the cats remained aloof and scolded us for leaving them for so long.

The VitaCrew prepared lunch the next day to welcome us home and hugs and smiles abound. We have a great staff, as you all know, and they took good care of things while we were gone.

For the past several years, at the end of our trips we have opened our home for "Grad Weekend". A group of folks that have met on the OSSG Graduate Group, gather and have a "slumber party". Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, Texas, Oregon , Nevada, Idaho, California and, of course, Washington are represented, and the party begins Thursday and I think it will continue until Wednesday, when the last gal is scheduled to head home.

We start with dinner at Famous Dave's BBQ, Friday, a pot luck here on Saturday and left overs the rest of the week. Time for laughter, friendships to be formed, stories to be told, experiences to share and love, lotsa love the entire weekend. The twelve of us at Dave's are Sue S from CA, Laureen from TX, Tiffany from CA, Eleanor from CA, Gina from GA, Sharon from CA, Lisa in cajun countru (LA), Sherri from WA, Cheyenne from ID, Sue B from NV, Sheri J (in sunny FL), Alice from CA (bettytheloon), Michelle and me (behind the camera of course). Great food, a mess of to go boxes and "Do you have room for dessert?"

Sue B & Michelle ---------------------------------------------------Tiffany & Eleanor

Sherri R & Cheyenne------------------------------------------------- Gina & Sharon

Sharon & Lisa------------------------------------------------------------ Sue S & Laureen

We had 25+ come and visit at the potluck on Saturday. Humm, another gathering around food. There seems to be a theme here. Which one of us is the faster shooter girl? Let's see who is here:

Sue S & Lisa------------------------------------------------------ Rachel (Sharon above)

Lisa -----------------------------------------------------------------------Sherrie & Jamie G

Sherrie & Amy E -----------------------------------------------Jamie M & Laureen

Amy E ---------------------------------------------------------- Patti (works here) & Sheri J

Alice and her bottomless tea cup ---------------------------- Jamie G & Lisa & Jamie M

Sue B ---------------------------------------------------------------------Tiffany

David (Mr. Eleanor) & Gene (Hugs- Mr. Rachel)----------Terry (in WA) & Timothy (Mr. Lane)

Gina from GA-------------------------------------------------------------------- Eleanor

Sharon-------------------------------------------------------- Lane & Gene

Michelle & Lisa-------------------------------------------------------- Cheyenne & Barney

Sunday evening some of the gals mixed together left overs for soup and stir-fry. We all enjoyed our last meal together (except some of us rather play with our carrots). Some were leaving in the morning, others later in the day, but all do have to leave, head home, with memories, recipes, encouragement, and lotsa hugs. We hate seeing you all go, as having you come is such a ball for us. We are already planning next years trip to the Dallas ASMBS Conference and hope to meet new faces and see more friends.

We want to thank every one who came out to visit with us and each local contact to help make this trip a success. Each person we met is an inspiration and a voice of encouragement to use. Vitalady wouldn't exist and the Vita couple's life wouldn't be so blessed without your support and love.

VitaTour 2008 is complete, 2009 is coming sooner than you know. If you are west of the Mississippi River and want us to stop by, let us know. Until then, I get Vitalady all to myself so we can "go get a room".

God Bless you all. Love,
Michelle and Don (Mom & Dad)

Almost over, dang

We left Montana on 7/16 and moved on into Idaho. As we meandered the last few miles across Montana we enjoyed the beginnings of familiar terrain, rivers, mountains and farms. Yes, Montana is a large but very warm state. People’s hearts are as big as the sky here. And fuel is cheap. Fuel was a low as $4.54 compared to a high of $5.15 in New York. Michelle got all excited when she saw a semi in the Costco fuel station. “GOT DIESEL? CHEAP DIESEL?” Not a chance, he was delivering, dang.

Every time we stopped, Lucy jumped up on her perch between our seats to look and see where we are. “Hey, are we there yet, people?” When she see her they usually ask what kinda dog she is. I get the funniest looks, when I tell them she’s a “bird” dog. Most of the time I had to explain what I meant. “Perch”, “Bird Dog” Get it? OK, I’m starting to get rummy. What do you expect, after 60 days on the road?

As we cross into Idaho, the mountains create deep valleys and forests with real trees. The rivers still follow the roads and make lakes. I want to take a dip, but was assured our shower would be much warmer. Coeur d' Alene is a town we fell in love with a few years ago. With the beautiful lake and lush green, and a lot of open space, it would be the 2nd choice for a new Vitalady home base. (Seaside, OR of course, gets first dibs.)

We have lunch with Cheyenne at the river and loved catching up with her. Michelle even had “FISH” for lunch, naturally salmon, and seemed to enjoy it. The food and view were wonderful. She invited us over to her home to meet her hubby, Steve, and Cody. Cody seemed to take a liking to Lucy. Unfortunately, Lucy doesn’t play Mrs. Robinson very well and informs Cody “Ya bother me, kid. Go pick on someone your own size”. Which of course, was difficult (OK impossible) for poor Cody.

We did have to push on to our night time destination, in Othello, WA. It is amazing how the type of farms change across the country. From small family owned plots of a few acres, to large “plantations”, to large vineyards, to major industrial complexes, to huge ranches, back to smaller family spreads and now to vast open fields. The method of gathering, irrigating and raising crops and herds was so different in each region. It creates beauty and now memories for us.













Today, here in Othello we are catching up and doing some house cleaning before we head home. We were just informed we could not go home tomorrow (Sunday), but had to stay another day. Hmmm, me thinks the VitaCrew is up to something. We could always head for Seaside and spend a week there if they don’t want us home. I am not going to mind spending another day here. It is quiet with lots of trees and grass, and fairly good internet. What more could a guy want? So if you are looking for us on Sunday night, we got delayed until Monday. I can’t wait to see what these gals have cooked up. SO until Monday night, don’t look for us. I think we are taking a day of vacation. So, see ya on Monday…..

Montana, Big Sky Country

As we are leaving North Dakota the winds were strong and pushing the 5th wheel all over the highway. I don’t care what any one says; this box does not behave well in the wind. However I don’t think that a wind that makes white caps on a lake would be anything worth messing with. Here at Sweetbriar Lake, ND you can see what we battled. We had a piece of trim on the trailer get loose and I had to remove it, before it flew into someone’s windshield. Oh well, something else to fix on the “trailer”. Our mileage has dropped to under 6 miles per gallon of Gold. (New York has been the highest at $5.15/gallon of diesel.) We have been averaging 9+/- most of the trip. Not as good as we hoped.

We continue west and Michelle says there is the world’s largest “scrap metal” sculpture up ahead. All I see is a giant eye ball watching down on the road. With something flying in front of it? I wonder what some artists are thinking. There is a dirt road up to the sculpture with 18-24” “Black Swans” lining the drive way. This thing is huge, and yes, a piece of “art”, but interesting in its own way.

As we get ready to leave North Dakota, the landscape gets more rugged and the farms return to being family owned ranches. A lot of dairy and horse spreads. Michelle is still looking for a “real” cowboy, riding the fence line or herding. A lot of trucks with cowboy hats in the driver seat, but not a mounted one yet.

There are mountains in the background and getting closer as we pull into the Painted Canyon area in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It is nearly as dramatic as Red Canyon in Utah, but with its own character and pallet of color.

Moving on down the road into Montana, we come across horses and Wind Power Generating facilities. We have seen a lot of horses, one or two turbines this trip but this is by far the biggest facility thus far. I would guess at least 50 turbines. This second picture depicts three forms of energy generation. Wind, Electrical and more wind (LOL). They still need to plug into us distal patients for better and more methane.

When Joanie came out to Washington, awhile ago, she gave us a refrigerator magnet with a “Big Sky Country” picture. The sky is so big, deep blue and expansive. And in reality, it is every bit what the picture portrays.

The farms in Montana are again more family run with well cared for equipment and properties. I found that even the way the fields are cut they leave a feel of an artist creating across the rolling hills.

We have been using more back roads again and less freeway, exposing us to wonders we would have missed. Pulling into Great Falls is like a trip into small town USA, but it isn’t small or backward. We meet up with Joanie and her friend Marilyn. There is a lot of talk, encouraging Marilyn not to give up. She is pretty discouraged, but we have some ideas for her. They join us back at the trailer and sampled some new proteins and bars (Rock-N-Roll & Supreme). I think she died and went on to Heaven. Of course Lucy was there adding to the mix and adding her two cents worth.

Today, Michelle and Joanie are out doing girlie things and leaving me to do manly stuff. My “fix this and fix that Honey Do List” was there for me to check off my manly chores. Well, this blog is one of them and I can now check it off the list. Tomorrow we move onto Helena, MT and have the truck serviced. Not to worry, just standard servicing, and they better remember to put the oil drain plug back in. I don’t need any more problems. As the sun sets here in Big Sky, Montana, let me just say we’ll see ya in Helena as we continue through this incredible state.

Land of 1,000 Lakes

I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the state slogan for Minnesota (Land of 1,000 Lakes) was right. As we travel west on I-94, I lost count. But I can tell you, there are very likely a thousand lakes here. All sizes, shapes and color. As we rise and fall over the hills here, the lakes are everywhere, peeking out of the trees and meadows. It is really beautiful here in western MN, USA.

We cross the border into North Dakota and everything changes. Rolling hills have flattened, farms give way to industry and the suburbs. We find our campsite and it sure isn’t like they portray it on the internet. Oh well, it’s just one night. We can wash the mud off the shoes and move on tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing more of this state.

On the way into Fargo (Casselton), Michelle suggests we stop at an RV store and pick up some roof repair supplies. I need to fix a tear we received going under some low hung tree limbs. Once parked and set up, I got up topside and did the repair, while the sky starts to darken. Oh yeah, I sure am glad I got this done, quickly. We got hit with a storm that shook the heck out of us. WOW. The sunset and then the lightening show were incredible. Rainbow, too. I checked the patch job after things died down a bit. Dry as a duck's back.

Lucy came out with me, but couldn’t wait to get back under Michelle’s desk to be protected from the storm. Poor baby.

Tomorrow we cross North Dakota, to Bismarck, investigating a new state for us. So I guess, we’ll see you there.

What time zone are we in

I think the hardest thing to keep up with, while traveling across the country is the time zones. We have cell phone clocks, wall clocks, navigation clocks, clocks in the truck and more. We keep wondering what the local time is. When we were getting ready to meet the group in Minneapolis, were we an hour early, an hour late or believe it or not, right on time. BELIEVE IT. “On time” OK, five minutes late, but… it’s Michelle time.

We were leaving the Wisconsin dairy country and heading into Minnesota. Hey, I forgot to get my WI Cheese fix. Dang… OK over Lake Wissota and the “Land of a Thousand Lakes”. The lakes look so clear and inviting, but cold. So no swimming for us for now.

We got into our camp site at Maple Grove (outside of Minneapolis) and dropped the trailer and Lucy. Yes, she is still with us. Such a sweetie, she is. This is a dog’s life, right? “Well, if you have to go, I’ll just wait here for ya!” "Hey, Michelle, how do I get a job like this?"

We met up with Jazzi (Michelle) at Perkins in Maple Grove and a group, much larger than she anticipated. She always said she felt like she was all alone, here in Minneapolis. Then 4 folks contacted her earlier and then even more made contact this morning. As always with these groups, folks felt the sense of “community” when we all got together.

Michelle looks stumped (a sight I rarely see), reviewing labs and Trey was providing the comic relief.

Seasoned post-ops and brand spanky new pre-ops. Revisions, VBG’s, DSers and RNY’, all gathering with a common goal. With this group, the common goal was weight loss. 1037# lost. Over a half ton lost. What an accomplishment, we are proud of ya.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it, but today is Michelle’s and my anniversary. We have been married for 20 years today. We have celebrated it the last few years on the road and sharing it with you all. What a wonderful anniversary present you’ve given us. Friendship, love, and encouragement by your success. Thank you for this precious gift. And with that, I am going to close and we are going to “Get a Room”.

Goodnight all see you in North Dakota tomorrow

The Windy City-Chicago

We made it to Chicago (Roselle) without any problems. Getting here reminded me of driving in Washington, except no mountains. It is beautiful. Green everywhere and they are still scratching the ground, planting, raising herds of cattle and feeding America from here. It seems, Carol got them to fix the potholes this year and the construction situation was much better than the last time we were here.

We planned several days at Carol & Frank’s home. And a wonderful park like setting they have. Once we maneuvered the trailer, we did spot a window that got smashed out from a basket ball hoop. I always seem to hit them. I did it in Hanford at Alice’s, too, a while ago. Gotta watch my overhangs. Frank and I (mostly Frank) created a new window from Plexiglas to get us home. He did a great job, thank you Frank. (M: and Green Bay really tested the waterproof aspects!)

Their house sits back from the road and has a wonderful yard. It was like camping at the best camp site. Trees, grass and what is that down by the road? A doe and her fawn? Apparently there are a number of deer on the property. Carol said they come up to the house and peek in the windows.

Carol and Frank hosted a BBQ potluck for us. There were 12+ WLS patients that gathered to meet us, including one that spent time at our home when she came to see Dr. Oh. Charmaine came out to Washington 3 years ago. She is still wanting to get a revision and we spent time talking about options.

A lot of one on one time with us was had. There were labs to look at, stories to be told, and encouragement to be had. BUT most importantly, new friendships to be built.

As we get ready to leave, Michelle and Carol, scoop up her “blues” for some kitty fix time. Lucy is ready to roll and wants to know if she can ride in the back on her perch? “But Daddy, I wanna ride back here.” (No, she didn’t).

We head toward Milwaukee and again the nav, puts us on the side roads and through towns. These homes in an older section of Milwaukee are still celebrating the 4th. We ran into a thunder shower and were VERY pleased the new window sealed out a pretty hard storm. Still dry and in place.

We arrived in De Pere, WI late, found our spot and crashed into bed. When we got up in the morning, we were able to appreciate the campgrounds, pond, fountain and all. This was just outside of our trailer. I kind of remember seeing it last night under a red light, maybe. Or was that the vision through blood shot eyes?

Today we moved on to Chippewa Falls, WI. But first we meet Heather and her son Brant for lunch in Green Bay at the “Not By Bread Alone” cafe. We had a wonderful lunch and found yet another very successful WLS’er. I was impressed at how much of a gentleman Heather’s son is. Is there hope for this generation?

We see more silos here than any where else in our travels. Farm after farm, small and large are everywhere. It’s all so very pretty and typical for Wisconsin.

Tomorrow, we hit Minneapolis and meet up with Jazzi, and maybe some others, too. She is always fun to visit. We are looking forward to seeing her again. See ya there….

Meeting in Traverse City

We just got back from our meeting in Traverse City, MI. Unfortunately, Sue W. had a family emergency and was not able to join us. We were met by Marty and introduced to the group. First off, we want to thank you all for your love and gifts. The flowers look beautiful in the RV. Sue, we sure missed seeing you. Marty, thank you for stepping in.

We started by going around the room, introducing ourselves and sharing a bit of our journey. There were pre and post ops including some long timers.












Michelle spent time sharing information on the ASMBS Conference and responding to a lot of nutritional questions. There were a bunch of eager gals looking for answers, and we hope we were able to satisfy their interest. We had RNY’s and Bandsters there, so a good mix. We always find it amazing how, patients with different procedures, are really so much alike.


After 8:00 we shifted to one on one with Michelle. I offered protein samples to try, doing my best Jerry Mcuire immitation at the Protein Bar. Some found a new shake they enjoyed and we explored the ideas for mixing up something special. For those keeping track, Pure Whey Stack was favored 3 to 1 over ProScore. ( M: this is a miscalculation! ) But the mixture of IDS Vanilla Cinnamon and Stack Chocolate was the big hit.



Tomorrow, we return to Allendale and get ready for Chicago and the 4th. Hey Carol, we are almost there. Get those kitties ready to be spoiled by the pros. As we travel, I do want to wish for each of you a safe celebration of our country’s anniversary. May you enjoy family and friends and appreciate the freedom our country enjoys.

See ya in Chicago.