Rincon Adventure

We headed to PA in mid July to spend some quality time with Marcus's family. We had a really nice time hanging out and relaxing with his parents and sister. The weather was gorgeous - sunny with little humidity.  We watched movies, ate great meals, exercised, slept in, etc. It was really nice to get away because sometimes you need a break from everyday and spending time with family is the perfect remedy. 

We had a scare with Myles (our older dog). One morning in late July we heard him yelp and cry after we let him out around 6:00 am. Marcus ran out and found him in our neighbors driveway with some grease marks and a very limp front left leg. The strange thing was we didn't hear a car go by when it happened. We believe someone hit him with a bike or Moped. We were in shock (as was he) and not sure what to do. Unfortunately, this happened on a Saturday morning on a holiday weekend. We found out fairly quickly that most Vet offices were closed. He didn't seem to be in pain, but had a deep gash on his back left leg. 

We made some calls to try to find a Vet. Since it happened so early in the morning, we ended up waiting around until 9:00 am before we could try to get in touch with someone. Our Vet in Mayaguez was closed - we drove by. Then we headed to Aguadilla to find a Vet there - they were also closed. So, we ended up at a clinic in Isabela. They didn't open until 12:00 so we waited in the parking lot for over an hour. Finally, the Vet was able to see him. Yep, sure enough a broken leg. She gave us an IV to take home with us for the weekend (we were a little surprised to take home an IV) and stitched up his gash.

The IV was a big hassle. The Vet assured us that he wouldn't chew it, but we knew better. This little dog of ours is very tenacious and persistent. So, he did end up chewing some of the tape off and the line got blocked so we had to remove the IV. Oh, what fun that was. Luckily, Marcus's sister is a RN-Midwife and walked us through what to do. Myles was yelping and crying because the tape hurt. We finally were able to pull out the IV and let him have at the tape. Needless to say he had chewed the tape off by the next day. 

We did some research online which is always a little scary, and found out that the best option for him based on his age and injury was to have a metal plate put in his leg. We decided to go to a highly recommended Vet  - Dr. Garcia in Mayaguez. He evaluated him on Tuesday morning since Monday was a holiday. So, now we were going on 3+ days since the accident. He did X-rays and recommended plate surgery. There are only two ortho Vets in PR and we went to Dr. Monhil in San Juan. He made the appointment for us and we headed to San Juan on Wednesday morning. We arrived and were seen fairly quickly by Dr. Monhil - young guy, great bedside manner, very personable and explained everything to us. He said the recovery would be about 6 weeks. We had to ask how much because we kept seeing dollar signs as he was talking. We thought it was reasonable for everything including overnight stays, surgery, plate, etc.. I am sure in the States it would have been double the price we ended up paying. 

So, we left Myles in his care on Wednesday. They had to run test to be sure he was fit for the surgery. We got those results on Thursday morning and the surgery was Thursday afternoon. We were really concerned about having Myles put under, but they use a gas in order to better monitor the vitals and allows dogs to come to almost immediately. So, Thursday we were very nervous, but hopeful.  Dr. Monhil called us late Thursday afternoon and told us that Myles did great. He wanted to monitor him overnight to be sure there weren't any complications and we could pick him up on Friday afternoon.

We headed to San Juan anxiously and excitedly to pick up Mr. Myles. BTW, Dr. Monhil referred to him as 'this old man' - very sweet. We picked up Myles and were aghast at the bruising and trauma to his leg since he was shaved. It was horrific. Purple and red all over his front leg and the incision was also a bit gruesome. We felt terrible for him. He was drugged so he slept the whole way home.  

We were instructed to keep him in a quiet, cool place for the next two weeks so that his leg could heal. It was fairly easy the first week because he didn't really want to move. He didn't put any weight on his leg in the beginning which was good. We had to carry him up and down the stairs and carry him outside to go to the bathroom. After about 10 days he was starting to put weight on it, but his elbow was pretty sensitive. We took him in after two weeks to Dr. Garcia to evaluate him and he thought everything seemed fine. So, we just needed to make it through the next two weeks then the one month evaluation with X-rays which would really tell us how he was healing. We just had our 4 week evaluation and he is doing great! The break has healed and the plate and 11 screws are all intact. He even has started going on his old paths around the property and can get up the spiral staircase. Really amazing recovery. He is as good as new with a strong limp but it is better than the alternative!

In the meantime, about 10 days after his accident we had planned to go to Florida to see my sister and check out the Gulf Coast area as a potential place to live. However, since Myles was still recovering Marcus stayed with him and I went alone. I was excited about the trip and I was going to see my sister and her family who I haven't seen in a few years. I landed in Tampa and headed to Sarasota to meet with a realtor to show me around. I was focusing on Sarasota - Siesta Key, Anna Maria Island, and Captiva, Sanibel, etc. down the coast to Naples. In a nutshell I didn't really like it much. It wasn't what I expected. I felt like most of the areas were crowded with condo's and high rises that blocked the beach and most of these areas were only a few blocks away from a strip mall type road. Nice but not what I had in mind. We really wanted a sleepy, eclectic, coastal town near a larger city. But just didn't really find that. Also, the prices were still pretty high for anything near the water. One area I did really like was Tampa - my brother in-law encouraged me to drive up there while I was visiting them in Naples to check it out. I loved the Hyde Park area and the downtown was very nice.  So, it was something I wanted to talk to Marcus about as a potential place.

I had a great time in Naples visiting my sister. We watched the Olympics and hung out with the kids. They showed me around town and we drove around the multi-million dollar homes - absolutely amazing. I couldn't believe some of the houses. Unbelievable in size and opulence. Naples has a really nice downtown area - a high-end tourist area with nice boutiques and restaurants. We went out to dinner one night at a restaurant on the pier - excellent food.  So, all in all a very nice time. 

So, I really liked the Tampa area and the good thing about it was there are plenty of jobs in downtown Tampa and reasonable housing prices. There isn't a beach, but many close by. So, it fit a lot of things on our list. Marcus wasn't sold. He never envisioned himself living in Florida. It just wasn't a place he wanted to live. Nothing against Florida. He wanted to be excited about the place we were going to move and also wanted plenty of space - not a lot of neighbors, but wonderful views. I looked extensively online on message boards city-data.com to find some neat towns that might be a good fit for us. I looked at the San Diego area - too expensive and too crowded. Commute times could be awful. I looked in the Phoenix area, better housing prices, but too crowded. Not enough mountain property with nice views in our price range. I looked at the coastal areas of Boston and Maine even North Carolina and Georgia. Nothing really seemed to fit.

We had trip planned to visit family out in Colorado. My niece just had a baby and my cousin had a 10 month old baby. So, my Mom, brother, Aunt and Uncle all went to CO  to visit over the holiday weekend.  Marcus planned a work trip to CO to coincide so we could all be together. This was the first time I had been to CO since we left last November. It was love at first sight. I knew the minute I got there that this really is the place for us. I never thought I would say it, but after all the research and visiting this was the place that just felt right. Granted we have lived in CO on and off for 7 years, but it just had that special something that no other place offered. I had a wonderful, relaxing, and fun time visiting family and friends. I immediately contacted our realtor and we started to look in some different areas from where we lived before. We settled on Nederland. Small mountain community, eclectic, has all the conveniences, but still close to Boulder for jobs, shopping, restaurants, etc. We had looked in Nederland previously but decided the winters were a little too harsh at 10,000 ft. However, we decided that the plan was to live in CO 8 months out of the year and PR the remaining time. Seems like the perfect compromise. What a relief to have this decision made and we both feel really good about it. We are both excited and eager to find a great mountain home with a couple of acres and spectacular views and also be here in PR to get our fix of warm, sun, beach, great friends and ocean during those harsh winter months. Onward to we go.

We have done a few new things in between all the traveling. We have been paddleboarding - which is basically stand-up canoeing on a board similar to a surf board. This is great upper body exercise, but also peaceful and relaxing. We saw huge pink and purple jelly fish as well as turtles. We get in the water at Steps and then just head down the coast and back. Lots of fun. We also went to a bowling party for the 12 year old daughter of our good friends. First time bowling in PR. We had a nice time drinking and bowling with the adults. We also tried a new Mexican restaurant downtown - pretty good food, nice environment. It is in the town center of Rincon.  Many restaurants are closed right now due to the low season, but will open up again in October.  I am off to Hawaii in two weeks to celebrate my Mom's 78th birthday, just the two of us. Should be lots of fun!