Spring Came Early

Ralph just finished his 8th treatment - just 4 to go!! His doctor is very pleased with his progress. Of course all chemo takes its toll and his particular drugs raise the liver and kidney enzymes, so they are watching those numbers closely. His platelets were low so they stopped his daily aspirin and those popped right back up even a week after chemo when they should be the lowest! They are giving him a white cell boost shot after each chemo now which means there is no worry about a low white cell count. This shot can give some people very bad aches and severe pain, but he gets nothing so they are more willing to just do it each time. He also had his pacemaker check and they reset it to the final number of 60.

We had a beautiful February until today (rain again)! We went walking several days in sun and high 50's. The flowers are blooming and the mountains are spectacular. They are picking the daffodil fields - they pick a certain amount of buds to sell and the rest are left to bloom for the tourists! We have one field next to the RV park so we watch it daily and it won't be long until it will be in full bloom. These pictures were taken Sunday. Each day more and more are in full bloom and soon it will be a sea of yellow!






We found miles of trails around the regional airport here with some beautiful scenery!



The flowering cherries are in full bloom!





We drove out to a park in nearby Anacortes to enjoy looking at the San Juan Islands across the water.



We had forgotten how beautiful spring is here and it started early and will continue for months. The area is known for its daffodil and tulip bloom each spring with many fields in bloom in all colors. They have a Tulip Festival all of April which is when the daffodils and tulips are most likely to bloom. This festival brings thousands and thousands of tourists and the locals hate all of the traffic! The festival will go on, but may be to late for the blooms. The daffodils should be in full bloom in the next week or so and the tulips are already up about 6 inches, so they will follow soon after!