Home
Apologies to the vast number of friends and family who have been following our trip and have been wondering if we have fallen off of the map in the “There be dragons” region. We had to cut it short due to medical issues, and are now home safe. Here is the story of the past few days.
Monday
Carrie was having a rough night - similar symptoms to the high-altitude cabin, but she didnt get any sleep. She woke me up a few times to go outside and walk to calm things down, but no help. By around 5am, she knew we had to head home and get to a normal elevation, and follow up with her doctor.
We got up and packed as quickly as possible. Our plan was to deadhead all the way back to Anderson in one fell swoop. I did insist on a shower to help fully wake up, as I was anticipating a 14 hour drive.
The sun was just coming up in West Yellowstone, and people were just beginning to stir in town. We headed west to go through Boise, then our usual path from there home. By the time we entered Idaho, she could tell her blood pressure was super high, so we found an appropriate hospital in Idaho Falls and went to the ER. Again, we were seen immediately, contrary to our experience in California. We had a great care team who ran lots of tests, and were very accommodating to this tired, traveling group.
They were able to get her pressure down (it was over 200, probably for many hours), and she started to feel much better. They agreed that it would be good to get to a lower elevation, and gave us good records to share with her doctor of all the tests and results.
While we were in the ER, Pat was sitting in the car calling up the Horton tribe to arrange a stopover in the Nampa area. Walt and Rosanna (Pat’s sister), graciously answered the call and opened their home to us. It was about a 4 hour drive, so we could go there after being discharged, and get a night of rest before driving the final push home.
I was clearly instructed not to leave a review of the Jacoby Bed & Breakfast, but I will say they were amazing hosts who made us feel right at home. Carrie even headed straight to bed, as she had not gotten any sleep at all. I wasn’t too far behind her. We both slept straight through the night - we needed it.
Tuesday
We didnt get up super early, but planned on leaving around 8am. That would still get us home before 5, which isn’t too shabby. We said goodby to family, and got on the road. We’d made it this entire way without leaving something important (except the jar of jalapeño raspberry jelly that somehow didnt make it in our last few loadings). Luckily, if we had to forget something somewhere, it was at the Jacoby’s. They called us right before we left Idaho to let us know, and were graciously willing to ship it to us. I blame my brain injury.
We continued down the road, and made our first stop in Vale to fuel up and fill my travel mug with ice. A hearty recommendation for the Bubba travel mug. It literally still has ice after being used and refilled all day while driving - even in hot climates. Pat and I both enjoyed ours.
Next stop was in Burns, Or. We decided to stop at Mickey D’s for the clean restroom and a burger for lunch. We arrived at 10:20am (though we weren’t sure what time it really was - did the time change yet, did our phones automatically switch? Ahh the perils of travel), and figured we’d have to wait a few minutes for lunch to switch over. The cashier told us lunch started at 11am. Not wanting to wait, we ordered breakfast (me, grudgingly, as I really didnt want breakfast). On receiving our order, we realized the cashier had made a mistake on it. While I was waiting at the counter to get some assistance with the order, the universe slapped me in the face with the menu screens switching over to the lunch menu at 10:30.
The supervisor took care of the messed up order, and I decided that I really wanted a burger, so I was going to order one. Promptly at 10:30, half the population of Burns got in line, so I used the self-order kiosk to get my order in before theirs. Carrie and Pat went to wait in the car, shaking their heads at my temporary insanity. The order number was called out - 6.6.6. You don’t know how bad I wanted to growl in my best Exorcist impression - “Give that to me NOW, petty mortals”. I restrained myself, as I didnt think everyone would share my sense of humor. The ladies in the car cracked up, though.
We made great time, and still got to enjoy the beautiful drive home. We did notice the temperature continued to rise the entire way home. Once we arrived(oven set to broil), we got everything unloaded, and Pat headed home. Carrie and I enjoyed the quiet, and watched a few shows before heading to bed. Here endeth the trip.
Thanks everyone for joining with us on the trip. I hope you enjoyed the beautiful pictures, and weren’t too put-off by my semi-coherent ramblings. Much love from us!
Coda
We followed the hospitals’ instructions and went to see our primary care physician. When the topic of anxiety came up, she asked Carrie “what do you have to be anxious about? You have a great family, a good job, grandkids…etc?” That’s when I knew things were going downhill. Not being able to differentiate between anxious - the emotion, and Anxiety - the condition, does not bode well for being a good caregiver. She actually spent more time talking about herself than Carrie - “When i was a single parent of 3 in medical school, I wasn’t anxious. You just need to do one thing at a time”. While that is good advice, it is not helpful in a therapeutic setting. Carrie felt so dismissed and unheard. It was very frustrating, and I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. We did end up getting a specialist appointment that Carrie found herself, so I think she will get the support she needs. Altitude Sickness + Anxiety = No Bueno. (I think that’s the technical term).
