A photo interlude

Not much to say today so here are some pictures.

Stormy Night At the Spit

The first night in the new tent was a true adventure. Set up camp about 4:30 and got inside before the storm broke. Wind and rain howled most of the night and I only had to add stakes once. Stayed dry although it was pretty cool outside the sleeping bag. The Coleman heater warmed things up for getting in and out of the bag and getting dressed but I don’t run it when I am asleep per the instructions. The ride up made for a tough day. Up at 7 moving the last of my stuff to storage before loading the car and doing a final cleaning.

I held it together pretty well until was turning in the keys to the place. When they asked about Don and I gave some details I broke down and for the whole drive my emotions were raw and as I headed north the tears flow on occasion.

Stopped along the way to take a few pictures and Anoria kept running through my mind. Escaping to the realm of fantasy has healed me in the past. When I returned from caring for the old man I almost didn’t make it. Went a little crazy in the desert with heat when the transmission died in Texas. By the time I made it back to the north I had some form of respiratory infection that gave me a Pink Floyd fever. When the fever broke I wrote and wrote and that brought me back to sanity. I hope for that same type of healing this trip. Even though the move to the valley was expensive and ruptured a disc I am still glad we did it. The lost coast still is free of the taint of sadness that pervades so many other places.

The Next day has been dry and mild. I was out on the bike in the early sun and rode for an hour covering just less than 10 miles. My fitness is abysmal and the idea that I could ride back in to shape in a week was delusional to the max. I am riding another split in the afternoon and doing a lot of walking on the beach but a month is more realistic. The Samoa spit is a quiet little camp space to operate from. With the exception of the first nights windstorm it has been raining off and on but scattered showers are not that big a deal when the wind isn’t blowing fifty miles an hour.

The county park system has gone down hill over the last year I am sorry to have to report. The showers are out for the weekend. The people have forgotten how to flush a toilet it would seem. This is mostly the day users but not cool at all. Prices are moderate, $20 a night for a vehicle, $8 for bike in with a discount for veterans the disabled and seniors over 62.

Too Many Cooks ....

We have a treatment plan now, finally. In terms of final outcome the month spent fucking around with the diagnosis means nothing but it would have been nice to start the palliative care sooner. Enough bitching about the unchangeable let us move on to the next move. A 21 day course of chemo with 7 days off. He will get the Gemcitabine. On day 1,8 and 16 then sees the doctor on day 21. The next week is the off week so it is then that We will get Don moved back east.
In the interim I am calling to make the arrangements and gathering the records he will need. We will need to go to the SFVA one more time to pick up a disc of his films and I have one more contact to make on Monday.
I am also continuing with the move and that is part of the problem. The Doctor does not want him to travel in the middle of the treatment. That means leaving here the 14 of January after his last appointment and starting the 2nd course in Jackson a week later. Unfortunately because we got pushed into trying to move before Christmas we will be homeless on the 12th. Now I have to clean and move everything in two days instead of two weeks and I am somewhat pissed about it. Then the shit I busted ass to get ready for B&M to ship didn’t get shipped so I had to drag it back home and now will be doing that too. Lots of people making decisions and nobody else actually following up on anything leaving it not just undone but fucked up.
On A positive note I found a nice Coleman tent at a great price at the Sports Authority. I have been researching tent heaters and have chosen this one that I can get at the local Sport Chalet but I am going to wait and see if they have an after Xmas sale.
Thanks for reading the rants, good to have an outlet to scream at.