Tuesday, June 1, 2010

June 1, 2010 – “Feeling High” at Sugar Barge Resort!

We survived 2010 opening weekend on the Delta!  Sugar Barge RV Resort was filled with happy campers and boaters celebrating the Memorial Day Weekend!  For us retired RVers, holiday weekends are more a pain than pleasure.  State, National, and private campgrounds are usually filled with holiday revelers, forcing us to plan ahead.  We prefer the freedom to just stop where our fancy takes us.

However, some times, we just have to plan ahead!

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Scenic Sugar Barge, located next to and on top of a Bethel Island, CA delta levee, is a premier RV resort combining camping with boating.  The resort also offers year-round storage for boats and RVs.   The “rally room” is available for rally groups for meeting and meals, and it seems to get a lot of use.The large pool attracts families with kids who enjoy the safe swimming area and sunbathers who enjoy the sun’s warm rays.

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Bethel Island, CA 2010 005 

In April, when I realized we needed to be in Antioch over a holiday weekend, I made reservations here at Sugar Barge because the Antioch Fairground campground is closed for the County Fair.

A 9-day stay is allowing us time for Larry’s lab tests, keep a follow-up visit with his kidney doctor on Wednesday and a medical test on Thursday.  We laughingly refer to this as our medical campground, because medical issues caused us to settle in here for two months in 2008 and another month in 2009.

Bethel Island, CA 2010 008

We are feeling “high” at Sugar Barge.  Larry’s latest blood work showed that his kidney function is holding steady.  In fact, things looked just a tad bit better than the past several months!  Yippee!

Holding on to our strict diet appears to be working for now.  We monitor sodium intake--keeping it close to 2000 mg. per day, potassium and phosphorus—balancing his meat, vegetable and baked goods intake as well as consistent level of  “greens” for the PT INR from the Coumadin.

We also have to insure adequate iron in his diet to fight the anemia caused by the lack of hormones produced in the kidneys—along with monthly Procrit shots.

We know we are a thread’s distance from having to start preparations for kidney dialysis—which is an excellent behavior modification therapy.  I eat what he can eat as we are a team, working together to prolong his kidney function.

In a later post,  I will show you how we are able to restrict his sodium intake to keep his body from accumulating extra fluid. Life is a balancing act! 

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I enjoy the park because I can walk in the evenings.  There is only one hill—to get up on top of the levee to enjoy the water view. Here are two views of the slough and behind the reeds, the area knows as Frank’s Tract.

Bethel Island, CA 2010 011 Are you ready to pack up and head for Sugar Barge Resort?

We will be back on the road on Saturday.  I think we are going to Redding, CA, or, maybe Reno, NV?? 

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