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Freedom Shores Newsletter April – September 2009 Volume 1, Issue 5

"All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy." By William Bussear

As most of you already know, Freedom Shores is a work in progress. My wife Thelma, our general manager Graciela and I have a very list of improvements to make Freedom Shores an even more enjoyable Universally Designed vacation destination. My problem is that when I start a project I become so enthused that I forget all about time. I should work four or five hours and then lie down for a couple of hours. I know what happens when I don't follow

that protocol. Decubitus ulcers are the results of not doing what I know I should do! But I keep thinking, just one more hour or two and then I will lie down. It usually doesn't happen and I end up sitting six or seven hours in my wheelchair. When I get in bed I have a red spot on my ishium. I think to myself, "I hope that it's gone in the morning because I just have to finish this project!" When morning comes and the redness is still there, sometimes I get up anyway. The projects are so important to me and I know if I'm not there, it will not be done the way I want it. Sometimes I think, "If I just hurry and finish the project, then I'll lie down for a couple of days until the redness goes away." Now that I'm getting older and nearing the big 70, my skin doesn't seem to be as thick as it used to be. Because of that, there are times that the redness causes the top layer of skin to slough off. Then I have a sore and I have to go to bed for three or four weeks until it heals.

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This spring I had to leave Freedom Shores and come to the Long Beach Veterans Administration Medical Center in Long Beach, California. The sore would not heal. The doctors looked at it and told me that I would have to be hospitalized and stay in bed 24/7. Well, you can imagine how disappointed, depressed, sad, angry I am at myself when this happens. Working on Freedom Shores is like a lovely, fulfilling addiction for me!

I have been here at the VA hospital lying in bed since July 6th! We have two hyperbaric chambers here at the hospital. The spinal cord injured doctors have found that putting SCI veterans in the hyperbaric chambers and taking them down to 40 feet of pressure, results in faster healing. I have gone into the chambers 50 times so far and my sore is almost healed. I expect to be discharged and heading for Isla Aguada sometime during the first week in December.

Freedom Shores Update We opened on March 17, 2007 and every year things have been getting better. This year will be the greatest! We have been dealing with the Mexican government now for almost 2 years trying to get a permit to put in a dock for the boat. It is very frustrating when dealing with the bureaucracy

as large as the Mexican government. Some people tell me, "Just put it in. Most of these other docs here don't have permits." Last year the owner of one of the dock was fined 60,000 pesos and he had to remove the dock. I want to do everything legal and my lawyer told me that I would hear from the government sometime in September or October. If

permission is granted, the dock will be installed shortly thereafter. It will make things so much nicer. Those of us in wheelchairs will be able to wheel down the sidewalk, across the beach on a Mobi-Mat, on to the dock and then directly onto the boat. I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

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This year we also want to buy a 150 KVA transformer and have it installed on our property. That will reduce our electricity bill by about 50%! Electricity here in the Yucatán is extremely expensive. My electricity bill averages about $1000 per month!

Promotion! Promotion! In the north, the leaves are turning and fall has officially arrived. The warm breezes of summer are gone and the cold wind from the north is starting to bite your cheeks and sting your ears! It won't be long before the snow flurries start and getting around in a wheelchair, a walker or a cane becomes difficult and dangerous. It is time to make your reservations for your vacation this winter!

All Inclusive Rates: July 1, 2009 -- July 1, 2010

NOVEMBER 1st - 25th -- SUPER HOT 10% DISCOUNT OFF THE

PRICES LISTED BELOW!

IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE 1st 30 PERSONS MAKING A RESERVATION BEFORE NOV 25th, YOU CAN TAKE AN

ADDITIONAL 5% DISCOUNT!

THAT'S 15% OFF THE PRICES LISTED BELOW!

1 to 30 days $117 per day for 1 person $147 per day for 2 people $177 per day for 3 people $207 per day for 4 people

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31 to 60 days $107 per day for 1 person $137 per day for 2 people $167 per day for 3 people $197 per day for 4 people

61 to 90 $97 per day for 1 person $127 per day for 2 people $157 per day for 3 people $187 per day for 4 people

Children (6 to 11) - $15 per day extra.

Children under six stay free.

Airport pick-up/drop-off in Ciudad del Carmen (CME) - $120 (50 mile

round trip)

*If you need a nursing assistant, simply add $37 per day, per person

needing assistance..

*No more than two (2) wheelchairs per room!

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! If you are a quadriplegic, or have any other disability that requires you use a sling, do not get on that

airplane until you have checked out Mark Felling's COMFORT CARE SLING at: www.gimpgear.us/comfortcarrier.htm. I bought one and it is the answer to getting on and getting off an

aircraft safely.

To make your reservations, please call: 951-218-5364 and speak with Thelma or Bill.

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Stone crabs are delicious!

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This is our guide showing our guests the lagoon.

Here is our beach.

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We have dolphins that are always swimming just off the beach.

This is our beach.

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Come to Freedom Shores and write your name in the sand.

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This is a shot of the city of Campeche. It is designated is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This is one of the gates in the wall the Spaniards built around Campeche to protect themselves against the English, French, Dutch and Portuguese Pirates.

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The cobble-stone streets really weren’t that bad to traverse in the wheelchairs. The people were very courteous and did not mind waiting for us. It is a

beautiful city!

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This mansion was so beautiful! It was built in 1701 inside the city walls by a very rich Spaniard. Campeche had many economic and cultural ties with France

and you can see that influence inside this grand structure.

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This is the cathedral on the Zócalo (main square) in downtown Campeche.

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On another day we traveled into the jungle and visited the Mayan archeological site of Edzna.

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It was very impressive! At its’ grandest, Edzna had a population of nearly 60,000 Mayans.

This little girl scampered up the main pyramid steps (more than 300) without stopping! When she reached the very top, she raised her arms over her head and

jumped up and down just like in the movie “Rocky.”

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She then ran up the steps of the next pyramid! She became very excited when her mother told her that her ancestors built these structures! She asked her

mother, “Did you know them, Mom”

This is the main pyramid from which the priests would address the nobility and, at times, the commoners.