Hey everyone....

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ladave

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.....I'm still out here:) Not spending as much time on the ALS Boards as I was when first got the word. But I still remember all the support I got that helped me adjust.

I'm doing okay, I guess. Hands, arms continue to weaken. Legs still strong, no problems eating or speaking. Fascics eveywhere.

Took my big trip in August. Vancouver for 3 days. Inland waterway cruise to Alaska. Then 3 days in the Denali forest. The weather did not cooperate all that much, but I had fun anyway. Glad I did it while I'm still walking pretty well.

Hope all y'all are coping. Al, I see you're still hanging tough. John, you too. Any recent word from RCharlton?

I'll try to drop in more often:)
 
Good to hear from you Dave. Richard still posts occasionally. The weather can be unpredictable up there in Northern BC and Alaska but the scenery is still beautiful even on a rainy day. Glad you had a good trip. AL.
 
Hey Dave, glad to hear you were able to make your trip. I live in Alaska, and August was one of the rainiest on record! We had more than double the usual amount of rain for the month. But it is a beautiful place to live and to visit. Glad you could make it. Did you see any moose or bears?

Cyndi
 
bratpak said:
Hey Dave, glad to hear you were able to make your trip. I live in Alaska, and August was one of the rainiest on record! We had more than double the usual amount of rain for the month. But it is a beautiful place to live and to visit. Glad you could make it. Did you see any moose or bears?

Cyndi

Yes, on the bus trip through Denali, a herd of moose walked right by the bus, as did a wolf and two caribou. We saw bears in the distance, which is how I prefer it:)

All the locals said the same thing about the rains. The day I was booked to go to Denali from Anchorage, both the railroad and the road were washed out. The Alaska Railroad chartered planes from Air Alaska to fly us to Fairbanks and then bus us down to Denali. Which was, in retrospect, very kewl of them. But it made for a long and grueling travel day.

I got a sense of both the allure of Alaska and why it is so sparsely populated. It is breathtakingly gorgeous, but also harsh and forbidding.

Where do you live? I think of all the places I saw I liked Juneau the most. Rode the Mt. Roberts Tram, saw the Mendenhall glacier, and just walked around the residential neighborhood just north of downtown. Could see myself spending some time there, if I have the time to spend!
 
Hey Dave!

How's it going? I haven't been posting too much either.

Glad to hear you got a chance to travel. The West coast is amazing. I took an Alaska cruise with my family when I was 13. I rarely left my cabin and just sat around reading science fiction books - what a dumb kid I was...

I myself have just come back from my honeymoon. Went to French Polynesia (around Tahiti). Went swimming with Melon Headed Whales and Humpback Whales - really amazing - was dreaming about that trip for a while. On the last island - Raivavae - we were the only tourists.

Glad to hear progression is not too bad for you. My hands and arms are continuing to weaken as well - speech and swallowing giving me the occassional trouble. Legs seem OK - although I've had some twitches and tingling in my right thigh which is causing me concern. Still doing my 47km bike commute a few times a week - and most people still can't tell anything is wrong.

Anybody heard from Upila?

Take care everyone!

Richard
 
rcharlton said:
Hey Dave!

How's it going? I haven't been posting too much either.

Glad to hear you got a chance to travel. The West coast is amazing. I took an Alaska cruise with my family when I was 13. I rarely left my cabin and just sat around reading science fiction books - what a dumb kid I was...

I myself have just come back from my honeymoon. Went to French Polynesia (around Tahiti). Went swimming with Melon Headed Whales and Humpback Whales - really amazing - was dreaming about that trip for a while. On the last island - Raivavae - we were the only tourists.

Glad to hear progression is not too bad for you. My hands and arms are continuing to weaken as well - speech and swallowing giving me the occassional trouble. Legs seem OK - although I've had some twitches and tingling in my right thigh which is causing me concern. Still doing my 47km bike commute a few times a week - and most people still can't tell anything is wrong.

Anybody heard from Upila?

Take care everyone!

Richard

Honeymoon! How kewl is that! Now that's what I call LIVING with ALS:)

I, too, can pretty much fool people into thinking nothing is wrong- unless they see me trying to get dressed or cut a steak. Public restrooms are becoming problematic. But I can still do pretty much anything I used to do, just a lot slower. I've had the twitches in my legs since January, and more recently some tingling in my left thigh, but still am very strong down there- still walking 2 miles a day with my dog.

I would love to hear from Upila. And Meg, too.
 
The honeymoon and wedding was pretty cool - although I cried like a baby (blame it on the ALS).

I asked my wife and the minister if we could delete some of these vows:

to have and to hold
from this day forward;
for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish
for the rest of our lives,

I knew I would have trouble saying them - but they wanted them left in - I knew I would choke leading up to the "in sickness and in health," part - sure enough I did - I could not get the words out - for what seemed like an enternity I struggled to spit out these words - I just could not speak - but finally I mustered up enough energy to say them - it was pretty agonizing - I don't think there was a dry eye in the house at that point.

There was a lot of crying - but there was more laughing and it was a very happy beautiful day...
 
Congratulations from all of us here at the forums Richard. She is a lucky lady and must be very special. May you have many days of sunshine shine on your union. AL.
 
ladave said:
Yes, on the bus trip through Denali, a herd of moose walked right by the bus, as did a wolf and two caribou. We saw bears in the distance, which is how I prefer it:)

All the locals said the same thing about the rains. The day I was booked to go to Denali from Anchorage, both the railroad and the road were washed out. The Alaska Railroad chartered planes from Air Alaska to fly us to Fairbanks and then bus us down to Denali. Which was, in retrospect, very kewl of them. But it made for a long and grueling travel day.

I got a sense of both the allure of Alaska and why it is so sparsely populated. It is breathtakingly gorgeous, but also harsh and forbidding.

Where do you live? I think of all the places I saw I liked Juneau the most. Rode the Mt. Roberts Tram, saw the Mendenhall glacier, and just walked around the residential neighborhood just north of downtown. Could see myself spending some time there, if I have the time to spend!


Hi Dave,
Sounds like you got here just in time to experience all the record rainfall! It doesn't surprise me that the tourist industry went to such lengths to get you folks to Denali. It's obviously a huge tourist draw! I've been in Anchorage my whole life; well except the first three years. I was born in Fairbanks and grew up in Anchorage. I love spending time outside in the summer, camping, fishing, four-wheeling....but winter just isn't for me! I can't take the cold. The temperatures aren't much worse than the winter temps in Montana, Minnesota, New York (in fact they get worse weather in some instances!), but the length of the winter is what gets ya. It's already down to the low 40's at night and only into the high 50's during the day, and we won't see "decent" temps (70 or higher) until next June. but that's life in Alaska. :) I'm really glad to hear you got a chance to enjoy it here. If you get a chance to visit again, try late June or early July....the weather is (usually) nicer! Take care

Cyndi :)
 
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