We Made It Today...Sunny Bonita Springs Florida!

Regenocyte Clinic-Bonita Springs, Florida

May 23, 2010

Greetings everyone...First off...I have to give my love and gratitude to one incredible man and dad, Max drove like a mad man to get his baby safely to Florida for her blood draw, and with a day to spare!  He drove the entire 3,900 miles...oops, make that a cool 4,400 miles for the backtracking we had to do in Texas.  Yep...he is a keeper in my book.

Mailia made the trip well...she ate, rested, watched movies, played on the computer, played games, wrote in her journal, talked to friends and family...and all her fur kids while in the comfort of her Mailia's Mobile.

After leaving Casa Grande...in our last post, we wound up spending the night in Benson, AZ. at a nice motel there.  The following morning we headed out with the intention of making it in to Ozona, Tx.  When we crossed into Texas...after getting through the heavy traffic in El Paso, we went through another time change and also saw the speed limit increased to 80 mph!  Sort of made up for the lost hour...you would think.

We got into Ozona, Tx. about 11:00 p.m. last Wednesday evening...very tired and ready to rest.  Normally, I would not wait until we just showed up at a motel...I would wait until 3 p.m. to guestimate our ETA at our resting stop for the night and call ahead for a reservation.  That said...we were out the door pretty early, headed east and having breakfast at a Crackerbarrel when I get a call from the hotel we had just stayed at telling me the office clerk forgot to give me back my credit card...so 5 hours and 400 miles later...here we go, back to fetch it.  Poor Mailia...we arrived in Texas...with the sun setting on our butts, we barely got to Houston that evening...with the sun still setting on our butts!  I started to have reservations about ever making it out of that state...but we did.

We needed to refill Mailia's oxygen tanks again...so we called ahead and found a Lincare in Lake Charles, LA and the folks there were so helpful and wonderful....even holding their doors open at closing time to accomodate us finding them...everything falling into place as planned.  I often wondered about the events of this trip...and how things unfolded after our little snafu in Ozona...and realize now...it was all perfect.

Lafayette, Louisiana was our resting spot the following Friday evening and oh my gosh...how these folks like to drive FAST!  Rajun Cajuns for sure!  The brakes don't work too good on the passenger side of our rig though.  We made it a point to take Mailia in to Prejean's for dinner, a local favorite.  She ate a wonderful shrimp gumbo and had another shrimp feast similar to the one in S.F.  She could not believe the live cajun music the restaurant offered and the photo op with a nice large stuffed gator was hard to resist. 

After leaving Lafayette, we really made progress getting through and to...4 states.  The rest of Louisiana, a little bit of Mississippi and Alabama, then ending up in Tallahassee Florida this past Saturday night.  We stayed at a hotel way off the interstate that was so green and beautiful but oh...the heat and humidity has been something else. We ordered a Pizza and wings for dinner and dined in our room, so thrilled we had gotten so far.  The Mailia's Mobile...my trusty Excursion...just turned 100,000 miles and I am so grateful Mailia has had this charriot at her beckon call all these years...and I pray, it will continue to take care of her and meet all her needs.

All along our trip, folks have been friendly, kind and compasionate.  It has given us a glimpse into what so many have and are enduring with our coutries challenges...it is humbling and consider ourselves so very blessed and grateful for what we have.

Arriving her today...was so emotional and words cannot explain really...the gratitude and happiness we are experiencing right now, in hopes that Mailia will soon...have her miracle.

After dinner, we ventured over to the Regenocyte clinic to one, locate it and two...to take some photos, being Sunday...not being an intrusion on anyone.  It was glorious!  Then we drove 3 miles from the clinic and found a beautiful beach here in Bonita Springs.  We allowed Mailia to walk onto the sand...to the waters edge and feel the southern gulf...on her feet.  She was in heaven! 

So we are here for a while...we will meet Dr. Grekos and his team this Tuesday for Mailia's blood draw and we ask that you keep her in your thoughts and prayers...that it will all go well.  We will then try to work on the rest of the logistics of getting her to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, so will know more later this week and will share this...shortly.

I leave you all with this photo of Mailia...as the sun sets this evening here in Florida, she is at a place in her life where she is confident and strong...scared and concerned, yes...but ultimately she knows in her heart she is loved so very much and that life has so much to offer her.  Thank you eveyone...we love you all very much!

Good night...