month long trip

[Mexgal]

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us.

I like the beginning with description of all the meds and supplements.  That is me for sure.  I count out day by day according to breakfast, mid morning, lunch, dinner, bedtime.  And put them all in snack baggies.  It takes me a couple of hours counting them out and walking around the dining room table to put in daily packs.  But it really is convenient that way.

Enjoy
Sallie

[Mishelle]

Too bad you aren't going through Boise I would tell you to stop and say hi 

[ellieas]

Keep enjoying! I am taking a one week trip in August and hope to not have any flares! What breed is Bailey? My beagle, Ariel, is a great travel companion.

[Joe S.]

Bailey is a terrier that came from a shelter.

We are in Reno tonight. This puts us a day ahead of schedule. We have to see if we can arrive a day early at our nephew's in Clovis CA. While driving through Nevada, and parts of Montana and WY, you should bring your own roll of outhouse toilet paper. Some rest stops have no waist bins. And some are just spots to pull off the road.

I did not do well today with driving through NV. The sun and heat triggered a mild flair. Out of the 9 hours of drive time, Jan drove for about an hour. I slept. I should have let her drive the last hour but the flair kept me from understanding that.

we went to bed early last night so we could watch the fireworks. I listen to them and the music but could not get out of bed. Jan slept through everything. She had a very good night sleep. I woke at 3am local time and went back to sleep with the dawn chorus about 5:30. This is a typical pattern with some of my health issues. I do not remember the involved organs this event relates to.

We are heading from here to Clovis, CA. On 8th or 9th to Portland, OR. I am trying to decide about visiting Mount Shasta. Boise was not on this trips route. Sorry.

[quietdynamics]

UGH to the sun..  you are not driving with the AC on even low with re-circulate?

Bailey sounds like a real trooper.

Pit stops.. hand sanitizer too.

Happy to hear from you.

[Joe S.]

We took a side trip today through Yosemite. We did a lot of drive by photo shooting. It is a holiday weekend so both parks were too full to stop any where.

Our drive through Yosemite reminded me of toadies wild ride. A number of trees were dead. I do not know why. Some were burned.

[Joe S.]

We drove from Clovis, CA to Medford, OR last night. The draught is very bad. Some lakes looked to have dropped 100 feet. There was road work on I5 in the mountains. Traffic was reduced to one lane on an inside curve with a steep drop in OR. Signs posted no shoulder. It had  been raining an a semi was stalled. After 1/2 hour, Jan asked me to drive around the guard rail like another car did. Obviosly we made it but the tilt and gravel made it scary.

My days of drive by shooting are over. I did get some good photos but I also got an ear infection.

At the hotel, as we were loading in to rhe room, Bailey ran into the lobby (the way we came in). She wanted to go for a walk. She did not go poddy when she did. She just wanted her walk.A hotel clerk gave her a dog treat.

[Joe S.]

yesterday as we were leaving Salem OR, A tooth Shattered. This one did not have a root canal or crown. Today I got a temp crown and set an appointment for my dentist when I return.

We were driven to Tillimook today and saw the cheese factory there. On the way we stopped at a forest exhibit. Both were interesting stops. I had a roast beef and cheddar grilled cheese sandwich.  They had very good Ice cream also.

[Carolina]

Oh dear, Joe.  You clearly KEPT BREATHING even after your tooth shattered!  You got it taken care of and moved along.  To a delicious meal even.  We are nothing if not resourceful and brave.  We've had to learn this over time.

And this AFTER an ear infection?  Did you travel with antibiotics, too?  Amazing. 

You are serving as a reminder to all of us that our conditions don't have to make us prisoners if we are patient, plan well, and move at our own pace.

I'm having fun thinking of all the places you are visiting.  And of faithful Bailey enjoying the trip with you.

Hugs,  Elaine

[Joe S.]

Yesterday we had our train ride brunch. It was a slow ride on a rough set of track. It put my neckout so when we got back I had a migraine to deal with. The show was one I had seen before. The food was good.

[Joe S.]

In BC we found that there are some businesses that will not take our visa debit from the USA. Apparently, Some one has been making phoney Cards and sticking businesses with the bill. I heard mention of this when we were in CA. This may be part of the push to a chip card or a new currency. A personal check was okay.

$60 got us 1/2 a tank of gas. Today my daughter and I drive to Victoria. I hope to see a pen pal if he still is living. Our grand kids are enjoying the computer that we brought and the movies.

Bailey had sliped her collar a few times this past year and twice on this trip when something scared her, so she now has a harness.

Rain is in the forcast for the weekend. Hmmm, 3 kids and 4 adults in a two bedroom house...the computer games will be on.

[Carolina]

Wow, Joe, your trip is an inspiration!

We are planning to fly to San Francisco in October, and rent a car.  My husband has tons of family in the Northwest:  San Francisco, Portland and Seattle.

So we will drive around in the  San Francisco area and I have planned a side trip to Yosemite, to see the Sequoia Forest......

Then we will fly to Portland, rent a car again and visit family there and in Seattle, and then go to Vancouver.

Drive back to Portland and fly home.   Right now the entire trip is 20 days...but we are flexible and as I look at things to see in various places (on line of course) I can change the time frame.

We haven't booked the airline tickets or the cars yet.  But we're getting near.

BEFORE that trip we are doing a 10 day trip from our home in Cary NC, to my high school's class reunion,, 55 years, in Lawrence Kansas.

We'll do a visit to Nashville, St Louis and on the return trip Louisville.    That trip is scheduled to be 10 days, and it will all be driving:  about 2250 miles round trip.

That first trip is scheduled for September and the second for October.

Joe, I think the dead trees are from 'burns' which are natural forest fires.  There is re-growth, but some of the burned trees remain.

In 2005 we drove through several burned areas in Colorado.  It is part of nature's way, some seeds actually only germinate when there is fire.

Nature is complicated and sometimes brutal.

But we carry on!

Hugs,  Elaine

[Joe S.]

They said the dead trees were from disease.

[Thea]

I'm enjoying your trip!

Just read an article on how important it is to stop the car and get out at least once an hour. Avoids blot clots and other ills. Don't know if that's workable for you, but I thought I'd pass it on. Or you may already be doing that.

[Joe S.]

I stop every 1-2 hours for a bladder break, snack, gas, etc. I wear compression socks to help prevent issues with my legs.

My pen pal in Duncan was looking to see me. A couple of days before we arrived, he stopped responding to emails. On my trip to Victoria yesterday I stopped by his apartment to see him. The manager of the apartment said he did not live there. I stopped by the Moon cafe where he goes for brunch but they had no seen him. He said he was going to clinic for penicillin. He was 78 and took at least one tablet with him every where. My guess is that he passed on or is in a hospital.