Our return to Northern California

So we finally arrived in California extremely early on Friday morning. We in fact arrived on schedule, however our leisurely 2 day drive down did not quite pan out as we had planned. Instead of visiting scenic places like Crater Lake, the Oregon Vortex and doing some cheese tasting in Eureka, we were only able to start the journey at 11pm Thursday evening. The reason for the delay was due to our being let down by the moving company, but as I have since discovered this isn’t rare. So unfortunately we have only seen Oregon by night. I don’t drink, but after the hectic two days we had (not to mention the packing) I have to say I was sorely tempted to seek out solace in Nappa Valley. Thankfully, we did have the amazing help of our dear friend Chris, who had traveled up from San Fran to help us with the move and drive down. So even though we didn’t quite have the nice trip we had planned, we did have great company.

We have never done such a mammoth move before, so I was absolutely shocked by the amount of stuff Derek and I have. So it is a good lesson for the next time we have to move homes. Unfortunately we haven’t got a place lined up yet to move into, so our belongings are in public storage, but hopefully it won’t be too long.

Once we got to the Palo Alto area we headed straight to our friend Sally’s home. She is like my American Mother, who I met with my actual Mum when Derek was first an inpatient at the VA Palo Alto. She has been an absolute rock and great friend to us as well as numerous other people at the VA.

I have to say, it feels really good to be back in California. So fingers crossed everything goes well with the new treatment program. Derek just started yesterday, so he had his first day induction and we moved him into his new room. He is going to be residential at the VA for the initial stage of this new rehab program, which will help to build his independence even more. So we will have to limber back up to our Bingo playing night and also find new things to keep us entertained. I am sure there will be lots more ups and downs along the way, but I genuinely feel that it is a little more pain for a great gain in the long term. So we continue to work in hope.

But to end on a light and really positive note, Derek has been promoted to Captain!! He is absolutely delighted and thrilled and I think it is a rather fitting end to his military service. He truly deserves it.