July 21-26, 2014

Little Manatee River SP

Wimauma, FL

Monday-

Monte worked on repairing the tractor while I had a very depressing day.  I had gone to the dentist on Friday for an adjustment on my partial because it wasn’t fitting properly and I was experiencing some discomfort.  Over the course of the weekend, the discomfort I had been feeling turned into pain as I developed a blister from where the partial is rubbing against my gums as I chew.  Not wanting to be in pain I didn’t eat much-vicious cycle.

First thing this morning I called the dentist office and was “reminded” that the partial is only temporary and that my permanent partial (that I won’t get until January) will fit much better.  When I insisted I couldn’t take this pain for another 5 months I was given the next available appointment-a week from Wednesday!

Tuesday-

I spent another miserable day with sore gums—the only ray of sunshine was that I was given an appointment for this Wednesday.  I didn’t know it but yesterday, when Monte went out to get a part for a park vehicle he was working on, he had stopped in at the dentist and “convinced” them that I should have a sooner appointment than a week from Wednesday.  My hero.

Today Monte continued working on trying to fill in and smooth out the canoe launch area. 

 

 

 

Wednesday-

We arrived a few minutes early for my scheduled dentist appointment at 11AM.   It was explained to me that the reason I am experiencing so much pain is due to bone spurs that are just under the surface. 

I was told that once they surface, the dentist could pull them out.  BUT we won’t be in the area by the time they start to break through the gums.  I was reminded that there are Aspen Dental facilities all over the country.   I was also told that I could try to remove the spurs myself or just let them work their way out to the point that they would just fall out.  GREAT!

BUT in the meantime I was given new soft liners.  It made a tremendous difference –no more pain! 

And I actually was able to eat a “normal” dinner for the first time in weeks without feeling pain with each bite.

After the dentist office we stopped at AAA to pick up maps.

 

 

Thursday-

 Good friends of my parents, Angelo and Giesla, hosted a birthday dinner for my mom.  

 

 

 

The menu included salad, spaghetti, eggplant parmesan, sausage and peppers and Italian bread.  Everything was delicious.

Angelo opened a bottle of Champaign so we could toast my mom.

Rounding out the dinner party were Helen and Wolfie, who made the birthday cake.

Happy Birthday Mom

Friday-
Monte had a long list of chores on our departure list he wanted to tackle.  BUT between his feeling lazy and the unexpected rain storm he didn’t do much of anything all day—neither did I. 
 Saturday-
I wanted to do some shopping but Monte wanted to tackle that long list of pre-departure chores.  The decision about what to do was made for us when it began raining.  SHOPPING.
I had purchased a collapsible salad spinner just prior to our going on the road.  We have salad several times a week so the spinner got a lot of use.  I recently noticed that the vinyl was detached from the plastic in a couple of areas and it was only a matter of time before the entire thing separates. 
When Monte called Food Network he was informed that the item was out of warranty.  We had purchased the spinner at Kohl’s and had scanned the receipt into our Neat so I was able to print a copy. 

We were quite pleased that Kohl’s exchanged the spinner with no questions asked, a savings of $39.99. 

Some of the other stops we made included Best Buy, Sam’s Club and of course Walmart.

 Although we appreciate having found a "home" here at Little Manatee River State Park we are really looking forward to getting back on the road beginning August 4th.