Comfort Food

When I was a boy and became ill my mother would fix me milktoast and poached egg. I suppose that the theory was that it was bland and easy to digest. It consisted of warm milk poured over of two slices of buttered toast arranged on a plate each topped with a poached egg. It ultimately became, and still is, my comfort food for whenever I am not feeling well. I suppose it’s my version of chicken soup. I can still remember the little “oil slicks” floating on the milk from the butter.
At any rate, I have been under the weather for the past few days with a massive head cold consisting of a stuffed up head, lung congestion and a hacking chough and this morning, per my request, Teddy fixed me milktoast and egg shown here.
I already feel better.
It got me thinking, though, that many of us probably have some sort of security blanket and/or comfort food for when they are feeling blue or under the weather.
So my proposal is this: If any readers of this blog should feel inclined to send me their own version of a comfort food, etc. I will list them in a subsequent blog. If you wish to be anonymous please indicate so and I will not include your name otherwise I will give credit where credit is due using first names only.
I think it will be fun.
Hope to hear from you.
Send to: comfortfood@larryandteddy.com

MASA

Since we are full-time RVers we are faced with the question of what to do if one or both of us should become incapacitated through accident or illness. In view of this we recently opted to take out a lifetime membership in MASA's Air & Ground Ambulance Service.
Over the past 29 years Medical Air Services Association has been dedicated to providing life-saving emergency assistance from home, while traveling, on or off the job. The coverage is designed to protect members against catastrophic financial loss when emergencies arise.
The Platinum Membership offers the following 13 services: Emergency Air Transportation • Helicopter Transportation • Ground Ambulance Transportation • Organ Retrieval • Organ Recipient Transportation • Recuperation/Repatriation • Return Transportation • Escort Transportation • Non-Injury Transportation • Minor Children/Grandchildren Return • Mortal Remains • Vehicle Return • World Wide Coverage
Should either Teddy or I suffer a serious illness or injury requiring medical treatment not available locally, MASA will fly us to the nearest medical facility capable of providing the specialized treatment required, providing that it is more than 100 miles from the point of departure. Following hospitalization MASA will then return us to the airport nearest our permanent residence, either by air ambulance transport or commercial, depending upon our particular circumstances. Our permanent residence can be either Appleton or Traverse City or whatever we decide on at the time. In addition, if one of us were hospitalized away from home for more than seven days, MASA will fly a family member or friend, via round trip airfare, to visit us and will also provide a bonded driver to return our RV to our permanent residence and will pay for the gas and oil to do so. 
MASA provides this service to absolutely free, with no deductibles, no out-of-pocket expenses. Additionally, since we are Lifetime Platinum Members, helicopter services are also provided from the site of an accident or illness to the nearest medical facility capable of rendering treatment.
The average cost of a retail air ambulance transport is $6,000, but can be as high as $25,000 or even more. As a MASA member, this service is provided free of charge. MASA's aircraft are strategically placed throughout various regions in the western hemisphere. All MASA aircraft are medically equipped and depending upon the medical requirements of the individual member/patient, appropriate medial personnel may accompany the member on the flight free of charge. 
If one or both of us should die MASA will arrange and pay for the return of our remains to the airport nearest our permanent residence. MASA's services are provided in the continental United States of America, Alaska and Hawaii, as well as Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, the Bahamas and Bermuda.
It was expensive but in the long run we feel that it was worth it

Z-Coil

One of the other winter campers here at Havasu Falls was wearing Z-Coil shoes which peaked my natural curiosity. He claimed that they had helped his back pain tremendously. So a couple of weeks ago, Teddy and I drove up to Bullhead City to the nearest Z-Coil shoe store to try them out. I felt that they might make a difference in my knee and Achilles tendon pain. We tried them in the store and finally decided to purchase a pair for each of us. Teddy adapted to hers immediately and says that they make a world of difference on her daily five-mile walk. For me, however it took about a week to adapt to them. My Achilles tendon pain in my right ankle went away immediately but they caused some shin pain which went away after about a week. I was told to expect this, however.
I don’t know if it is my imagination or not but my knees seem better as well.
Only time will tell.

The Grand Canyon

On Thursday 3/27 Teddy & I with two other couples drove to the only spot in the Grand Canyon National Park where it is possible to drive a vehicle down to the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon. The track down to the Colorado starts from the end of a residential street at the northeast edge of the town of Peach Springs, AZ and is owned by the Hualapai (wall-uh-pie) Indian tribe. A permit is required and it cost us $12.50 for each person in the truck. for the first few miles, the road passes along a dry, dusty stream bed in a small canyon, past clumps of trees and bushes, and then crosses more open land with scattered cacti - close to the springs after which canyon and town are named. The canyon proper starts 6 miles from town - the road is a bumpy, unpaved track (Indian Reservation Route 6). The stone & gravel surface was fine for my truck although it got progressively worse near the bottom. As the canyon deepens, the types of cacti and other plants changed noticeably, especially now in early summer when they are in flower. The surrounding cliffs became steadily higher and more impressive, and several side canyons joined from both sides, including the ominous-sounding Hells Canyon. The last branch was Diamond Creek Canyon, which has water flowing through all year round. The road then crosses the creek about 6 times, and for a short distance ran in the streambed. The water was at most 4 inches deep, but might of course be much deeper at other times. There is a car park and camping area just before the first stream crossing. 1.5 miles after the creek is first encountered, the road emerges onto a wide, sandy beach beside the Colorado river,
a total journey time of almost 2 hours to traverse the 21 miles. The road is mostly used to take rafting parties in and out of the river.






On the way back we decided to take old route 66 instead of route 40. The section between Kingman and Oatman crosses a mountain range and is a narrow two track highway hacked out of the sides of cliffs with many hairpin switchbacks. I'm sure that it is the road where they filmed Desi & Lucy in the movie "The Long Long Trailer".