Health Care on the Road…

Health care seems to be the largest concerns keeping early retiree dreamers from pursuing their wanderlust to travel in RV’s. It would be great if one could simply walk into any medical facility and have all their medical needs taken care of while knowing they are receiving quality medical care. We are a long way from that in the United States so each of us must figure out the best medical insurance plan for our needs.

For those of us retirees fortunate enough to receive affordable insurance that is accepted at most medical care facilities, it is still a challenge finding quality medical care. The high cost of medical insurance does not necessarily guarantee that you will be able to receive the best standard of care while traveling on the road. We were very comfortable with the doctors and specialists at home in College Station so we needed to figure out how or where we'd receive care once we were traveling across the USA in our RV.

When we were due for our first yearly physical it happened we were in Florida. When I discovered there was a Mayo clinic in Jacksonville, I thought what a great place to try given their stellar reputation.  We called to inquire about appointments and discovered that luckily our Blue Cross Insurance was more than welcome there. The big key in insurance coverage is whether the facility is an In Network Provider or an Out of Network Provider. In Network means you will spend a ton less money. The Mayo is In Network for us so all we pay is our 45 buck co-pay.

Out of Network is bad…for example while we were in Oregon we experienced some out of network charges for Sharon’s surgery for her broken wrist. Instead of a small co-pay plus our larger deductible, it cost us over $4,000 dollars out of pocket after insurance… a lot of money for people who are retired and don’t make any money…

We came to the Scottsdale area this week mostly because there is also a Mayo Clinic nearby and we were due again for our annual physicals. We continue to be impressed at how the Mayo efficiently performs way more tests than a typical physical. For example in one day I had 3 shots, blood work, urinalysis, a chest X-ray, an EEG and a stress test all sandwiched between appointments with the Doctor I was assigned to. It did take all day but by the end of the day the results were summarized to me by my doctor who also provided me with printed copies of results and clinical notes for me to keep. All that would never happen that quickly where we use to go back home in Texas…

The appointments we were scheduled allowed adequate time for lunch and we found that they have a fantastic interpretive nature trail on the clinic’s campus. This small loop trail may be one of the best interpretive trails I have hiked on and the pictures from todays blog are from that trail.

So for the last two days we each had our normal major medical checkups and once again we passed all the tests… Woooohoooo! Looks like we are good for another year of traveling around the great USA. There is yet another Mayo in Rochester Minnesota that we may need to visit for our next physicals….

Last day in Yuma and on to Mesa, AZ…

We got a lot done our last day in Yuma. We washed the motorhome and the CRV for the first time in a long long time since the Palms RV Resort in Yuma allows washing  of vehicles on Tuesdays. We also were able to get all our laundry done at their excellent laundry room. Those tasks took up most of the day so when we finally finished up the chores we spent the remaining daylight hours in The Palm’s excellent pool and hot tub.

Our last night in Yuma we decided to eat out at a little mom and pop shop I found while perusuing foodie blogs about places in Yuma, AZ. Although the blog was fairly old, after reading through Urbanspoon.com and Yelp everyone seemed to verify that this one particular spot stood out as one we should check out. So we drove over to Yuma and ended up in a rather non scenic part of town but soon we found the converted house to restaurant named Los Manjares.

Once seated we were promptly waited upon and brought chips and salsa. The salsa was runnier than we prefer but the taste was excellent with the right amount of heat for us (spicy) and it didn’t take long before we ate all the chips and sauce. We ordered the Pepe's Special - pork in tomatillo sauce and a Carne El Pastor taco. The Pepe’s Special was unlike any tomatillo sauce we have ever encountered but it was absolutely delicious and spicy.  The Carne El Pastor was out of this world. I almost ordered some to go to eat later…

Both with a full and happy belly we did our last minute packing at our motorhome and the next morning we dearted Yuma around 10:30 for the 220 or so mile drive over to Mesa, AZ. We pulled into the Apache Wells RV Park around 2:30 and pulled into a site not only wide enough for our RV but also room for the car beside it. Nice park with nice amenities for the Passport America rate of $25.15 (taxes included). This was the closest inexpensive park we could find near the Mayo Clinic.

That evening we used a Groupon Deal we bought for $6.00 to go over to Nimbus American Bistro and Brewery. The deal was only six bucks since Groupon sent me an email for $10.00 off any Groupon. As a result we enjoyed some finely crafted beers and an order of Hot Wings all for $6.00. While the wings were only average the beers were excellent and for only six bucks we had a great evening out enjoying not having to cook at home. So now we are ready to get Sharon for her appointment at the Mayo on Thursday and hoping they'll have a change in schedule so I can be seen too…