Never Enough Fun

The last part of our stay in Switzerland consisted of two trips to the Alps with an R&R day in between.  The first trip was to a town called Kleine Scheidegg (Lauterbrunnen) that was close to one of Ethan’s favorite mountains, the Eiger.  As might be expected, we rode a train about 65 miles southeast to the beginning of mountains, and then we rode a tram up the mountain to Kleine Scheidegg.

It was just as awesome as Ethan claimed it would be. So, we enjoyed the scenery, had lunch, and tried to appreciate.

On our in-between-mountains day, we accompanied Stacie to the recycle center. The Swiss are heavy into recycling. At home, food-related waste is collected to be picked up and taken to a compost facility. Special bags must be purchased for non-recycle garbage (e.g., tissue paper), and that pays for the garbage pick-up each week. All things recyclable are taken to the recycle center and separated into their respective bins (e.g., cardboard, glass, two kinds of plastic, aluminum and non-aluminum cans).

Our second mountain excursion was to a mountain not too far from Luzern. Along with our guide (Ethan), Stacie, Tanner, and Lindsey accompanied us. So, we first road a train to Luzern, then a short trolley ride to a place called Kriens, where we next boarded a gondola for our first leg up the mountain.

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The gondola ride ended at a park/playground with a summer Toboggan run, which the kids rode (with Ethan taking Lindsey).

Following the toboggan ride, Stacie and Lindsey returned home and the remaining four of us rode a cable car to the top, which included a resort with hotel and food services at 7000 ft. There were also many hiking trails.

After lunch and taking in as much scenery as we could hold, we rode the world’s steepest (up to 46% grades) cog-wheel railroad down the mountain to the end of lake Luzern.

At lake Luzern, we got a boat ride back to Luzern where we caught the train back to Zug.

Early next morning, we began the long ride home (Zurich to Paris and Paris to Salt Lake City).

We had a marvelous Switzerland experience, thanks to Ethan and Stacie taking such good care of us, guiding us to interesting places and working so hard to make us comfortable.  Since they live in the German-speaking part of the country, things become quite challenging because of the language.  Interestingly, however, there is a fair amount of English (e.g., announcements on trains and buses and ads in stores).  To make certain we boarded the correct train from the Zurich airport, Ethan met us there and also guided us to the correct bus to their apartment, where we arrived at approximately 9:00 p.m. on Friday.  They live in the town of Zug, approximately 30 miles south of Zurich.

Tanner and Lindsey attend an international school, which was holding a fair our first day there, so we attended it in the morning until lunch.  After lunch, Stacie stayed to help with the fair, while Ethan and we took the children to an animal park/petting zoo.

That evening we had dinner at a restaurant up on a mountain close to town, which required us to ride a cog-wheel train up to the restaurant. The food was excellent, as one might expect.
On Sunday, we attended church in Luzern, about a half hour ride by car. However, because their car wasn’t large enough for all six of us, Ethan took the train. Since the church service was in German, we were able to have some of it translated into English by LDS missionaries.
On Monday we and Stacie first walked to downtown Zug (about 20 minutes) and just looked around.



We had lunch with Ethan by his office, and then for the afternoon, we went back to Luzern to do more “looking around.”
Along with some interesting architecture, we saw a famous and old covered bridge that was decorated with original artwork. Unfortunately, there was a fire on the bridge a few years ago, and some of the art was lost.

Glenbeigh, where our cottage was located, was on the north end of another penninsula, called Iveragh Penninsula.  One of the most popular drives in Ireland is the 110-mile road around the penninsula, called the Ring of Kerry.  Although we ultimately drove the entire Ring, we decided it would be interesting to drive across the penninsula through the Killarney National Park to the town of Killarney.  The road through the park includes the Gap of Dunloe, a very scenic, but narrow road through some of Ireland’s mountains (2000-3000 ft.).  

Our trip through the mountains ended at the town of Killarney, where we visited Muckross House, a Tudor style mansion with 65 rooms, where Queen Victoria once stayed on a trip to Ireland in 1861.

Next day we decided to go further east and south to County Cork and the seaside town of Kinsale where we stayed at a B&B called the Old Bakery

However, we still had a portion of the Ring of Kerry to cover, and as part of that, we found the best ancient fort we had seen. It dates from 1000 B.C., and is constructed with rough stones without mortar. The walls are 13 ft. thick at the base.

After our night in Kinsale at the Old Bakery, it was time to head to Limerick (30 minutes from the Shannon airport) where we spent our last night within easy access to the airport. On the way, we passed through County Tipperary and town of Cashel, where we were able to view a medeival fortress and cathedral called the Rock of Cashel. It dates as far back as the year 360.

We had a great time in Ireland. Fortunately, Jed and Chelsey were able to accompany us so Jed could do all the left-hand driving
and a myriad of other details, which he worked out with Geri. Thus, I could just relax and try to enjoy, especially on the days I wasn’t feeling all that great.

At the recommendation of my cousin Marty Reeder (who spent two years in Ireland), we flew into Shannon and spent our time exploring the West,       Southwest, and South. First, we went to Galway, which is about half way up (north) the west coast.  There we stayed in a bed and breakfast (B&B),   close to Galway Bay.  

After a full Irish breakfast the next morning, we headed south toward County Kerry, where we had rented a cottage in the little town of Glenbeigh as a base of operations for the next three days.  On the way south we explored  the Burren, a remote, desolate looking, moonscape area sprinkled with old rock forts and stone age burial sites.

Further down (south) the coast are some well-known sheer cliffs known as the Cliffs of Mohr.  These cliffs are 600-700 feet above the Atlantic.  Because there have been a number of people who have died by venturing too close to the edge in high winds, the government has installed fences to prevent folks from doing so.

We arrived at our cottage rather late in the evening, and since we were all suffering from jet lag, we didn’t get out until after noon the next day on which we decided to explore the Dingle Penninsula, which was just north of us. Some interesting things there were ring stone forts consisting of a circular stone wall enclosing a group of beehive huts, essentially stone igloos, which provided shelter for small families from 1,000 B.C. to as late as 1200 A.D.

An interesting thing about these stone structures and many remaining fences is that the stones were used for structures and fences without the aid of mortar, and they are still standing today. Today the fences are covered with plants so it is not obvious from a distance that they are built of stone. But the hillsides are divided into fairly small fields bordered by these stone fences.

Sadly, we were now halfway through our Ireland Adventure.

First, I’d have to say I (we)’ve been overwhelmed with the response from everyone.  I’ve been home from the hospital for 10 days, and things seem to be going pretty well.  I almost feel like me, although I continue to be surprised by by lack of strength.  Caregivers continue to remind me that I laid in a hospital for  at least a month, “so what do I expect, anyway?.”  I try to be patient, accept that, and just be grateful that things aren’t a whole lot worse.  For those of you who know me well, let me point out that the operative term here is “try.”

Thanks again for all your support, and here’s hoping that I can get back to being a more productive citizen all the way round.

- Larry (more grateful and hopefully more patient).

Just a quick — and probably my last — second-hand update. Larry has been home for a couple days now. In general, he’s happy to have visitors, but please call first to make sure; his headaches and fatigue can get really bad.

The in-home physical therapy doesn’t begin for another week, so in the meantime he’s been putting what energy he can muster towards climbing (and vacuuming) the stairs. Once the headaches subside enough that he can sit in his favorite red leather recliner, he’s got a whole lot of Wimbledon to catch up on…

Sorry for the lack of updates this week. Larry has made significant progress since the last entry. Geri had been giving us the reports each day, and I spent a few hours there on Thursday myself. It was a completely different experience than the last time I was there. We chatted about all kinds of things, and even laughed as I described to him the conversations we had previously.

Physically things are going better as well, thanks to the fact that he finally received a Cortisone injection which has relieved the intense pain in his legs. He’s frustrated at how quickly he tires during physical therapy, but we’re all grateful that he can do as much as he does.

Finally, extending a patient’s stay because they’re doing well might seem counter-intuitive, but he’s been responding to the inpatient therapies so well that they decided to keep him in the hospital an extra 5 days. Unless they change it again, he’ll come home on Wednesday July 23 and begin his home health care routine.

My family and I (Jed, Chelsey, and Zoe) will be heading back to Minneapolis tomorrow, but we’re relieved to see how many people in the church ward here have offered to help. Also, my brothers Travis and Ryan and their families live here in Utah Valley and I know they’ll continue to help however they can.

No major events to report since the last update. Larry continues to make gradual progress. He’s walking almost unassisted now, but continues to have pain in his legs. His speech is improving, and his massive bruises have (incredibly) all but disappeared.

He is still scheduled for release on the 18th; this coming Friday. We’re anxious to have him home, though it’s going to be a lot of work for both he and Geri. The hospital has had a full-time aide assigned to him during his entire stay, and we obviously won’t have that luxury here at home. We’ve opted for in-home rehab (rather than taking him to the hospital every day) via a small company that’s owned by some folks that Larry and Geri know, so we know he’ll be in good hands.

We’re hoping that his red recliner, hours of recorded Wimbledon, Twizzlers, cold Fresca, and the ability to check his email will help him jump back into his old self in no time!

They’ve put Larry on a drug called Neurontin which seems to help quite a bit with the worst of his pain (which is in the back of his legs, and seems to be originating from some nerves his back). This has allowed him to get back into more physical therapy. A combination of the increased activity and side effects from the Neurontin made him one sleepy guy yesterday. It’s about time!

Geri had several coherent conversations with him yesterday, with only an occasional confusing comment from Larry. We’re encouraged by that, but more cautiously optimistic now that we’ve seen how quickly things can go up and down.

Finally, they’ve set a tentative date of July 18 for Larry’s release. He’ll be staying here at home, but doing outpatient rehab at the nearby hospital.

As the Wood Family Reunion wound down this week, Larry received a lot of visits from his sons, daughters-in-law, and grandkids, in addition to the constant attention from Geri. His mental state overall has never quite returned to the clarity he had on Day 5; some days are better, some are worse.

Today, the pain in his legs seems to be bothering him a little less and he took a short walk with help (which he hasn’t done for a couple days). However, he had almost no sleep whatsoever last night, which has set him another step back with his memory and disorientation. Everyone is trying find the magic balance of pain medication, sleep, and physical therapy that will give both his mind and body the best chance to recover. The pain makes it hard for him to sleep, but pain medication makes it difficult to assess his mental progress. He needs the physical therapy to keep is body from withering away, but it doesn’t take much for him to be exhausted. Here’s hoping it’ll come together this week.

Chelsey, Zoe, and I attended Larry’s church ward today. We’re so grateful for the prayers and fasting offered by the ward members, and all of Larry’s friends and family. Thank you all.