Home at Last

We made it home around 6:30 p.m. We got re-routed around the Mississippi River and also hit quite a bit of construction in Chicago, but we got here in the end.

Bridgette thought she had lost her class ring in our hotel room this morning. We turned the place upside down but didn't find it. Fortunately, it had just dropped into one of our bags. Robert found it when we got home.

Some wonderful neighbors of ours had put up a swingset in our lawn. Evidently their kids have outgrown it, so they gave it to Cassandra. She is thrilled. As we came down the road, she was jumping up and down in her seat calling out "Theo!" "Nehi!" to our two horses. We pulled in the driveway, she saw the swingset and she gasped. "OOOoooooo! Toys!" That was it for her for the rest of the evening. There was no getting her off the thing. We have such great neighbors and friends.

Our house and our animals are in excellent shape. Melanie has been gone for the past few days (she flew to Florida to help her sister and her niece move here), so Sheila has been watching things. All is well -- but a bit fusty from being closed up because of yesterday's storms. We opened the windows and got things aired out. Then Cassandra and I went into town to get food and to pick up Robert's pills (he was getting dangerously low). We used the last traveller's check for groceries, so that worked out well.

Tomorrow will be spent trying to work out finances, mowing the lawn and finishing up the laundry. But we're here, thank God. And this closes the final chapter on the Great Brain Drain Train! It's been an interesting journey. Thanks for sharing it with us... But let's not do this again anytime soon, ok?

Shouldn’t We Be Home Now?

We would be home if the whole “I-80 is closed for 100 miles due to snow” incident hadn’t occurred. But it did, and we’re not.

We’re in Iowa City. Iowa, in case you weren’t sure. We drove all day. We’re on the 5th Harry Potter book – “The Order of the Phoenix” has been keeping us awake and alert. We certainly can’t count on the scenery to do that.

We ate lunch in Omaha, and stopped here for supper. Olive Garden. Aaaahhhh! We were going to head on to Davenport. And we briefly considered pushing on and getting home tonight. But we wouldn’t have gotten home until at least 1:00 a.m., if all went perfectly. Then Cassandra would have had her sleep interrupted, which never ends well, and it all just seemed patently Not Worth It.

We’ve been wracking our brains trying to figure out what we’re going to do once we get home and must once again deal with real life. But no clear answers are forthcoming. So we’ll wait one more day to tackle them.

Bridgette is enjoying the hot tub. Cassandra has had her bath. And we’re off to bed – our last hotel night for awhile, barring snow closures and other unexpected delays.

Has Anyone Ever HEARD of North Platte?

Ok: in a nutshell, here is the day:

6:00 a.m. – The moron who stayed in our hotel room before us felt the need to set the alarm as LOUD as possible to go off at 6 a.m. I woke up very peeved with Robert, thinking he had committed the unpardonable sin. But – no. He was just as surprised, and as rudely awakened as the rest of us. Of course, with a 2 year old around, going back to sleep was patently not possible. So we laid around as long as possible, before giving in to the inevitable, getting out of bed and getting going.

9:00 a.m. – Everyone is showered, packed, dressed and grumpy. We picked up breakfast in our hotel lobby, but it wasn’t the greatest. We headed out on I-80, fighting headaches and trying to be civil to each other. Bridgette and Cassandra immediately passed out in the back seat, and the driving was easy, so things really weren’t as bad as they could have been.

11:45 a.m. – Evanston, WY. As we pulled off the road to get gas, and were talking about lunch, I noticed a sign proclaiming that 80 east was closed. No one believed me. And, sadly, I was right. The girl behind the counter at the gas station informed us that it was closed due to snow. Snow! In June! She didn’t seem to think that was at all remarkable. According to those we talked to, the road could be closed for several hours, several days or several weeks. We listened to the AM station that gave updates. I-80 was closed for nearly 100 miles, from Evanston all the way to Cheyenne. Evidently, the road from Laramie to Cheyenne was actually blocked by snowfall. But the road to Laramie was also closed, because Laramie was full to overflowing with all the stranded vehicles.

And so we debated What To Do. We briefly considered getting a hotel room in Evanston, but just couldn’t bring ourselves to check in at noon anywhere – especially when there was no guarantee that we could get back on our way in the morning. We eventually decided to take a “detour.” Which took about 4 1/2 hours. Through God’s left armpit. Honestly. We crossed the Continental Divide 4 times today. Saw enough antelope, elk and beefalo to last anyone a good long while. Crossed the Oregon Trail and Pony Express routes too. Rah. “Oh, look – another sagebrush.”

Actually, it wasn’t so bad. There was a heck of a lot more to look at today than there was yesterday.

4:45 p.m. – To make up some time, we decided not to stop and eat supper like normal, civilized people. Instead, we pulled off at a little Pizza Hut in the middle of nowhere, where I geeked them out over using a Traveler’s Check to pay for our meal. We got a pizza and breadsticks to go and were on the road in less than 20 minutes. Cassandra got her “Pee-Pah Hat!” Everyone was happy.

Today we drove through our first precipitation of the trip. We never did see any snow. By the time we got back on 80, we had driven around it. It did rain some on us, however.

9:15 p.m. -- We decided to pull off for the night in North Platte, Nebraska. Bridgette had just gotten off the highway and was stopped at the stop sign off our exit when we heard the tell-tale squeal of brakes behind us. I had time to yell “let up off the brake,” she did, and started to pull off to the side – and then we got rear-ended.

It’s true.

By a bunch of non-English speaking, uninsured Latino guys from Oregon. In a Corolla. Mmm-hmm. They dinged our rear bumper and did little, if any damage to their car.

I took down their license plate number, the make and model of their car and got the driver’s name. Good Lord! The damage was minimal, so I figured (perhaps wrongly – that remains to be seen) that it just wasn’t worth waiting around for the cops to show up. We were tired and wanted to get to bed. As we pulled to a stop at the next turn, a woman followed us, walked up and knocked on our window. She gave us her name and contact information – said she saw the whole thing and would be glad to be a witness if we needed it.

Getting hit was enough for us to call it quits today. I don’t believe we’ll actually make it home tomorrow, what with the whole “your road is snowed shut for 100 miles in June” scenario, but one never knows.

It’s time for bed. I’ve had about all the excitement I can handle for one day.

The Salt Flats

Today we drove across Nevada. That about covers it.

Actually, the state was more beautiful that I thought it would be. I thought it would be flatter, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that you can see mountains across the entire width of it.

Several hundred miles was spent driving across the salt flats, however, and even the beautiful mountains in the distance can’t make up for the amazing monotony of things after awhile.

We saw a coyote and some elk. But for all intents and purposes, the day was uneventful.

We drove around part of the Great Salt Lake, saw alkalai mounds that looked like snow drifts, and saw mountains reflected in the flats as if in water.

We ate dinner at a very nice Chinese restaurant in Salt Lake City. (We were going to eat at Pizza Hut, but they only did carry-out and had no restrooms, so… no. I felt bad for Cassandra. She enjoyed her rice and vegetables, but kept asking for “Pee-Pah Hat!”)

We stopped for the night in Evanston, Wyoming, at a very nice Days Inn. Bridgette is taking advantage of the hot tub. Cassandra has had her bath, and the Hendricksons are turning in early. We hope to set out fairly early tomorrow and should be home at some time on Sunday.

For Purple Mountains’ Majesty

We got up and got packed this morning, cleaned up the house as best we could and filled up with gas. (While at the gas station, another woman waiting in line felt the need to tell me her life’s story; she’s going to be moving to Santa Barbara. It’s very expensive. She can’t go until December because her son is getting his Masters Degree and he had just set their house in Yuba City up for wireless, and it was too complicated to move it all right away. So their house in S.B. is costing them $3100 a month, but they’re not losing too much money because they are renting it out to a very nice family for $2700… See what I mean?)

We got on the road by 10:30. Then, instead of heading straight east (toward home) like any normal people would do, we went… south. Toward Yosemite. Because we’ve never been there, and we’ll never be closer than we are right now.

We had great plans to drive highway 120 through the park itself. But because of the spring runoff, the pass was closed. So we took highway 108 instead. It went through the national forest, but not Yosemite per se. So we didn’t get to see Half Dome. But we certainly got to enjoy most of the day in what is truly God’s Country.

I am quite convinced that in a former life I lived here. ☺ Within an hour of entering the park, I was completely and utterly relaxed. The scenery was beyond spectacular. Enormous pine trees, tamaracks and redwoods stretching up as far as the eye could see. Everywhere you looked, breathtaking vistas.

Oh – and no guardrails.

We’d be driving along on a 26% grade with nothing between us and a 10,000 foot drop except a skinny little white line painted on the roadway.

As we got higher and higher, there was quite a bit of snow still on the ground. At one point, it was at least 8 feet high on either side of the roadway. Bridgette, Cassandra and I made snowballs and threw them at each other – a snowball fight in June! At one point we got out of the Santa Fe and hiked a short ways down to a river that was running alongside the roadway. Bridgette tested the water and pronounced it FREEZING!

We also hiked a short way up the mountain (we were already at 9,000 feet and had slight headaches from the altitude, so we figured we might as well be a little out of breath as well) and took pictures of us standing in front of these huge redwoods. They were squatty, considering how high up we were, but their trunks were quite large and impressive.

The whole day was spent looking out… and up… and down… I just can’t get over how astoundingly beautiful it is. At some point, when money is less of an issue, I will come back and spend a month on a writer’s retreat. I know I can get some great work done here. But I may turn into Hermit Mountain Woman and never go back to civilization.

We ate dinner at Applebee’s in Carson City, Nevada and drove as far as Sparks before stopping for the night. We only drove about 360 miles today, but it was worth taking an extra day to get home.

We stayed at a nice hotel in Sparks, but evidently they thought we were handicapped (I swear, I never mentioned “brain surgery” in any way). We got the room with the special handle on the tub, the peephole in the middle of the door, and stainless steel handles EVERYWHERE! Oh well, it was clean and certainly easy to move around in.

Tomorrow – Salt Lake City.

Lights Out

First thing this morning, I called both our Michigan doctors and updated them on our visit to UCSF yesterday. I told them that unless they could come up with a really good reason for us to stay here, we were coming home. No good reasons to stay were forthcoming.

I spent most of the day doing book things. Talked to Martha at Trafalgar Square and updated her on the progress of Geoff’s book, and on yesterday’s discussion with Dr. Warson.

I also spoke at length to Geoff, going over edits and changes he wanted made in the final two chapters. The rest of the day was spent making the changes. I just sent them out for him to review. Here’s hoping they’re what he had in mind.

Robert, Bridgette and Cassandra took the Santa Fe to a car wash and washed the worst of the bug patina from it. It was truly disgusting. Then Robert and I reattached the ubiquitous luggage carrier on top. All the laundry is finished, and most of the packing is done. We’re going to do one more “fun” thing before the long drive home – instead of hitting 80 and heading east, we’re going to dip south and go through Yosemite. I’ve never been there. It’s supposed to be beautiful this year.

Paul called today to check up on Robert. How thoughtful. He and his wife were on their way to the airport for a week in Washington, and he wanted to make sure things were ok with us. That really meant a lot.

And now, I hear our Little One who is steadfastly refusing to go to sleep. So, it’s time for all of us to say “good night!”

Just When We Start To Find Our Way Around...

The drive to the city was interesting, but tension-filled. We were doing fine, time-wise, until we neared Berkley. Then we hit grid-lock. I had to repeatedly visit my “happy place.” (Anywhere but here! Anywhere but here!)

We made it to UCSF, literally, with seconds to spare. I dropped Robert off and then went to park (he and Bridgette had taken the luggage carrier off last night – thinking ahead here, planning for the parking garage). When I got up to the doctor’s office, Robert had just finished with the paperwork.

Remember how Robert's medical records languished for a month in the wrong department? They were mis-directed to Neurology instead of Neurosurgery... Turns out they went to the right place after all. Ah! The irony!

We got in to see the epileptologist, who was absolutely wonderful. He took our concerns seriously, asked a lot of questions, and came up with some suggestions. He agrees that Robert probably won’t be going back to work any time soon, and that there are long-term issues with his speech and memory.

He suggested that we see a neuro-psychologist at home, in Michigan. He said that could help give us an idea of exactly what areas need focusing on, and could also give us a base-line for what functions Robert can and can’t do right now. If we had visited one in the past, for instance, we would be able to compare the two visits and be able to identify what specific areas have lost functionality. It makes sense. He also said that a neuro-psychologist would be a significant step when filing for disability. Ok…

We talked about the whole brain tumor / brain surgery scenario. The doctor said, “If Dr. Berger tells you that you don’t need a brain tumor removed, it’s like your banker telling you that you don’t need to put any more money in your account.” In other words – God Himself makes more mistakes. Everyone we have talked to holds Dr. Berger in the highest regard. That’s fine – If he says Robert doesn’t need surgery, I’m inclined to believe him.

Dr. Warson and I had a good long talk this evening after we got home, discussing plans for his book. (He knows Dr. Berger too, and had nothing but good things to say about him.) We seemed to connect quite well. We threw some different ideas around, and I started to get a feel for what he hopes to do with the project. It should be quite interesting. We have plans to talk more when I get home.

And so, now that we are finally able to navigate the city without desperate calls for map-related guidance, it appears that we will be heading home sooner rather than later. After meeting with the doctor today, we don’t see any reason to stay here.

Robert and Bridgette are going to spend Wednesday packing and getting things ready, while I try to get a day of work in. Then we’ll head out on Thursday. We’re going to swing a bit south and go through Yosemite on our first day. After that, it’s a straight shot east on 80. I, for one, can’t wait!