Vacation Recap

Well, my vacation went well, though it was not without its hiccups...

For starters, I ran out of gas between Bridgeport and Walker. This was the first time anything of the sort had EVER happened to me in my ENTIRE LIFE! I was a bit distressed, and even more distressed when the numerous fisherman at the bridge where my car died were unwilling to help. Luckily, I was picked up by a nice couple from Las Vegas, Elizabeth and Lucas (I think), who drove me the 9 miles to town for gas, and then back to my car and made sure that it got started again before they continued on their way. Yay for good Samaritans!

That only added an hour or so to my travel time (enough to see the full moon coming up over the clouds on my drive over Monitor Pass), and I was finally able to arrive at Barb and Paul's by about 12:30. Of course, it might have been a bit sooner if I hadn't gotten lost along the way. I took the exit for 116, but all the signs for it seemed to disappear as soon as I got on the road. I ended up in Valley Ford, the next time I was able to figure out my location, and was able, through my decent sense of direction (I can always tell where the big body of water is) and the help of a few sparse signs, to find my way to Sebastopol, get back on 116, and find my way to Camp Meeker. Sure, I took a bit of a round-about way, but I got there eventually. Uncle Paul said he was surprised it didn't take me longer than it did!

Spending time with my family this weekend was GREAT. I got to meet Lyric's two little girls: Zoe and Charlotte, both of whom are great kids, if not suffering throughout the course of the day from the dramatics of their age-group. I chilled with them, Barb and Paul, and Nolan and his girlfriend Jaz (who's pretty darn cool). We had lots of fun, and did all sorts of things, from swimming to hiking, from watching the movie 'Brave" in theaters to cooking big breakfasts and big dinners almost every day. Uncle Paul and I even took the Lion out for a sail one afternoon! Of course, plenty of music was played, and we might have gotten around to making a videosong if I had had my laptop at the ready to put it all together and record the audio and whatnot. Maybe next time. Anyhow, Lyric and I make a good singing combination, we've got very similar voices. I played the bariton uke, the tenor uke, the soprano uke, and the banjo uke, as well as the piano this weekend. And may have even run the bow over their fiddle for a few minutes or so. All-in-all, it was a great time. Until I had to leave.

I had an interview-type thing scheduled for between 3pm and 5pm on Monday, but I left the house late (because our hiking and breakfast-making took a bit longer than anticipated), and then traffic, coupled with shopping in a grocery store with an odd smell, and running out of gas (though again, I was helped by good Samaritans, and this time quite quickly!) produced enough anxiety to upset my stomach rather severely. I made until just after my interview got done, and proceeded to empty my digestive system clear out. No bueno. This made for a long drive home, as I found myself without energy, and without anything that I could eat on such a soft stomach. I had to stop every 20 minutes or so to take a catnap (luckily there are lots of pull-outs on mountain passes), and by the time I got home it was 12:30am. (Sound familiar?)

So I didn't work yesterday, and I probably won't work today, unless I decide to put in a half-day after lunch or something (I'm Kiosk Back-up, so I could just work on projects and not do much moving around or anything).  They brought me to the hospital to make sure I didn't have hanta virus at all, so I got pumped full of two bags of iv saline stuff and they gave me a shot for the aches, and I felt significantly better! Still, eating is coming a bit slow to me right now, and I've got a mild headache. I'm drinking coconut water as my natural electrolyte replacer, but I've decided I'm not too fond of the taste. C'est la vie. Anyhow, I'm definitely on the mend (if not a bit noisy in the intestinal area), and I think I should for sure be back to work full-duty tomorrow.

But other than getting incredibly ill, I had a great weekend, and I hope to be able to visit again sometime. Perhaps with a bit more time, but we'll see. Four days wasn't actually all that bad.