We had been looking forward to meeting Joan, Joy, and Jade in Monterey last Sunday, but little Jade came down with hand, foot and mouth illness which she picked up at the day care center. This is a viral infection mainly affecting children under 10 but very contagious. Pete and I ended up visiting the Hakone Gardens and estate in Saratoga, originally built in 1915 by San Francisco philanthropists Oliver and Isabel Stine as a mountainside family retreat on 18 acres. In 1966, the city of Saratoga purchased Hakone and it's currently operated by the Hakone Foundation. Hakone is the oldest Japanese estate garden and Asian Retreat Center in the Western Hemisphere. This hill and pond style garden emphasizes the harmonious placement of plants, stones, and water, with steps and terraces ending with a moon viewing house on top overlooking the garden and koi pond in the middle. Hakone was one of the major film sites for the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha." We ended our visit with a picnic on the lower terrace. Such a serene and tranquil way to spend part of our Sunday.

We had an enjoyable visit to the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco on Tuesday. It was impressive and state of the art, and beautiful. All the exhibits and shows were featured in such a way you can take your time and enjoy them leisurely. We especially enjoyed the planetarium show and going up to the the living roof where the entire roof tops are covered with plants and solar panels, not mentioning the view. Needless to say, Pete had to wheelchair me around most of the time. What an experience!

My sister, cousin, and brother and his family came to visit us on Wednesday on their way to San Fransisco. My niece took all of us old folks to a Chinese dinner and treated us to Peking duck, crispy crabs, whole fish in sweet and sour sauce, etc. We then walked over to the used books store and we all ended up with all kinds of books. My sister-in-law, Doreen, got the best deal - 10 books for $5. Then my cousin Sophia treated us to Cold Stone ice cream on our walk home. My sister bought us all kinds of vegetables from our home garden - tomatoes, corn, green beans, and strawberries. It was a fun time for all!

Thursday, Pete and I took the motor home to Thousand Trails at Yosemite Lake and planned to spend some time at Yosemite area for a couple of days. It was perfect the day we arrived - excellent weather, beautiful campground with all the conveniences, and a stream running on one side of the campground. Unfortunately, there was a fire that was actually a controlled burn that got out of hand and we woke up the next morning to ashes and smoke and they closed down most of Yosemite, so we ended up driving back down to the Thousand Trails campground in Morgan Hill for the weekend. Pete and I managed to dance a few slow and slow-paced swing steps to the music entertainment at the campground on Saturday night.

Today is Sunday. Joan is arriving in San Jose by Greyhound bus this afternoon. She will drive my car home tomorrow since I can't drive yet. I will see my doctor on Monday, my last weekly visit, and hope to head for home on Tuesday. I've had a low grade fever up to 100.5 temperature for three days and nights off and on, along with fatigue and achiness, but now, I'm feeling pretty good again.

We're looking forward to going home even though we have enjoyed ourselves in spite of the ups and downs of post op.

As we wind down phase two of my recovery and prepare for the 3rd phase, we hope to continue our conversations with you through the blog and email. I'm trying to minimize my activities since I'm still in my critical stage of my recovery. I hope to go back to work by the middle of October. Meanwhile, I will continue my visits to Stanford at least two times during my 3rd month. I'm sure Pete and I will be having some catching up to do upon our return to Morro Bay and will ease back into the routines of normal living. We can't wait to see little Jade!

Muchas Gracias for all your support and prayers. We hope all of you have had a wonderful and enjoyable summer. Live well physically, emotionally and spiritually! Be good to yourself and take care!

Adios and sayonara!

Love, Addie