Melissa heads back to Florida

Saguaro Cactus along I-17

October 15 – We were surprised at the continental breakfast this morning.  There was a variety of sweet rolls and oatmeal so we made our breakfast and Melissa and I sat outside and enjoyed our coffee and breakfast.  We left at 8:30 which was half an hour earlier than planned so that was good.  We stopped to fill up with gas before getting on the interstate.  The drive to Phoenix was boring until we got to the area where all the saguaro cactus are.  The girls were impressed by the size and numbers of them.  There was a lot of picture snapping going on.

 

We had no trouble getting to Doug's house.  Traffic wasn't bad at all.  We unloaded, all but Melissa, and visited until it was time to get Melissa to the airport.  It was sad to say goodbye and I know how much she would have liked to stay for the rest of our western adventure.  Carole's daughter-in-law Shannon wrote down the directions to the airport that she said takes 13 minutes.  Well, she wasn't as explicit as she should have been and we should have just put it in the phone and used it.  We didn't take the exit we should have and we got off and turned around and you couldn't take the exit from the other direction so we went almost back to the beginning and got back on I-10 and started over by using the phone directions.  Carole was following behind all the way so she was having to change lanes back and forth trying to stay behind us.  What an ordeal but we managed to get Melissa to her gate.  We returned the rental car and that airport is one twisty and not well marked place.  Geez. 

 

As I'm trying to return the car I get a text from Bill that he's in the emergency room and for me to call Kerry to explain.  So once I got us on the road to Arizona Mills Mall I called her and Bill had some kind of allergic reaction and his eyes were badly swollen shut and he was having trouble breathing.  I called him and he did answer and said the only thing out of the ordinary was he got a haircut and the lady next to him was getting a perm and that he could smell the solution.  They put him on IV and oxygen.  He sounded terribly congested.  I told him I'd check back on him later. Carole, Jean, Karen and I went to the food court and had lunch and then went back to Penney's Outlet.  They are closing so this was my last time to shop there.  I've always gotten really good bargains.  I did my shopping as did the others and before leaving I checked on Bill again.  They had given him a second dose in his IV and he said his eyes were better and he got a breathing treatment and he was breathing better.  They said after 8 they'd most likely send him home but it would take a couple of days for everything to get back to normal.  He sounded much better.

 

We headed back t Doug's to visit with Shannon and him before meeting my friend Newell for dinner at 6.  Shannon put out a nice spread of snacks and we all sat out around the pool and snacked.  Karen pitched in a block of the fantastic cheddar with chocolate from last night.  Everyone enjoyed it too.

 

Dinner with Newell

We met my friend Newell at Monti's Steakhouse pretty much on time.  The girls enjoyed him and I think he enjoyed us.  We sat at the outside bar for a while and then went inside and had steak dinners.  When dinner was about over my injured finger popped open and there was blood dripping from my hand.  Had to make due with a napkin and a small band aid the waitress got for me.  After saying our goodbyes to Newell we stopped at CVS for band aids and then at the grocery for breakfast items to share with our hosts.

 

We were pretty ready to wind down shortly after.