Back in Sierra Vista AZ

We got back to Sierra Vista on the 9th, plenty of time before Kelly's spinal surgery.  She was diagnosed with Cervical Stenosis, a condition that is normally seen in much older people. Kelly was experiencing numbness in her left arm and was in constant pain.

Cervical spinal stenosis is the narrowing of the spinal canal in the neck. The spinal canal is the open area in the bones (vertebrae) that make up the spinal column. In cervical spinal stenosis, the spinal canal narrows and can squeeze and compress the nerve roots where they leave the spinal cord, or it may compress or damage the spinal cord itself. 

Her surgery was on Wednesday, April 13th.  Her surgery involved the fusion of 4 cervical vertebrae and inserting a plate.  Things went better than expected and she was discharged on Friday.  She is recovering at home and doing wonderfully. 

T & I will be here until Kelly is able to manage things on her own. Then we head up to Phoenix where we begin moving into our house.  Though we will be living in a "stick house" and not living "on the road", we plan to travel several months a year.

For those of you who have followed us on our travels. I hope you've enjoyed my journal and traveling with "The Rolling Hills."

I don't expect to post anything again until at least July, when we will probably head out to who knows where for a few weeks.

Lawrence & Topeka Kansas

Our trip to Lawrence was all about seeing our son Thomas. We arrived in Lawrence on the 29th of March, a day ahead of Thomas' arrival from England.   We spent nine days in the area.

Lawrence is  the home of the University of Kansas.  Everything there is to see in Lawrence is either at the University or on Massachusetts Street.  It is a pretty area, though once you get out of town there is little to see other than silos and fields.

University of Kansas

Those of you who know us, know that one of the first things we found was a coffee shop.  We met Scott and his daughter, Phoenix at the Java Break, a quirky little coffee shop just off Massachusetts (locally called Mass St.).  Java Break is a 24/7 coffee shop and has great pastries and "cereal bar" for those late night munchies 

Scott & Phoenix

Scott and Thomas are both into music so, Scott arranged a jam session with a few of his friends and Thomas got to join in.  It was fun watching them play.

Scott & Thomas on the right

Thomas & fellows jamming

We drove over to Topeka one day.  Toured the Brown vs Board of Education National Historic Site.  Brown vs Board of Education was the Supreme Court case that changed history.    I'm glad we chose to visit the museum. 

On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment and was therefore unconstitutional.



T & Thomas - Brown vs Board of Education
Topeka, KS

While in Topeka we walked along the path near Lake Shawnee.  






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Spring in Topeka


Most of our time in Kansas was spent just hanging out, wandering along Mass Street and enjoying our time with Thomas.  Of course we scoped out the area for a winery and went wine tasting.  


Thomas
On the day of Thomas' departure we visited Union Depot in Kansas City and enjoyed the Da Vinci exhibit.  After which, we sadly said goodbye to Thomas.