On the Road Again

Well the boys and I are off on another RV summer adventure!  

We started the trip with a week at a libertarian festival, PorcFest, in NH sponsored by the Free State Project. It was great and we got to attend many interesting talks, including a couple of really good ones by David Friedman. In truth most of the lectures and attendees tended more toward anarcho-capitalism than the "lazier" libertarianism, but really it's splitting hairs. 

We then drove across the county from New Hampshire to Utah over four days. That was not the most pleasant of trips. A bit more continuous driving than was really healthy I think, but the boys handled it pretty well.  We arrived late last night in Moab and plan on seeing some great stuff at Arches and Canyonland National Parks. Even the campground views are gorgeous! 

RV Hiatus

You may have noticed that I haven't posted for a while. I last reported we were in Yosemite waiting for auto parts, and that part went off without a hitch last Thursday. The Blackburns at Mountain Automotive took great care of us and got the RV ship shape.

I started out the day with a stomach ache that never went away. By 10:30 Thursday night I realized there was something seriously wrong and needed to go to the hospital, so Doron called 911 and I went the the ER. It took them much of the night, lots of blood work, an X-ray, and a CT scan to determine that I had acute pancreatitis caused by extremely high triglycerides. The small hospital in Yosemite couldn't really handle further diagnosis/treatment so they transferred me in the morning to Stanford University Hospital and Steve flew out ASAP to get the boys and bring the RV up to Stanford.

The treatment involves fasting, taking all strain off my pancreas, and LOTS of pain meds. I was discharged yesterday because my triglycerides were finally down to acceptable levels. I am still in considerable pain and it will be a while before I'm back to normal, but I'm happy to be out of the hospital. We are gonna stick close to the hospital at a hotel until Sunday to make sure that I don't relapse.

Not a great finish to the trip for us, but at least the RV will continue on. My mom and my Aunt flew in today and will be driving the RV back home while they enjoy their own cross country trip!

No Yosemite Sam Sightings

The arrival in CA and Yosemite has been a mixed bag.  While it was great to leave the desert and get to the mountains, yesterday was not a good day for the RV, though at least it made it through Death Valley!  I have an appointment in the morning at the local RV shop.   I am hoping it will be a quick fix of the electrical and I'll be good to go.  I really don't want to deal with trying to find a hotel around a national park the day before the 4th of July holiday.  Ugh.  

Done with the Desert

I am so over the desert. We are at Lake Mead where I mistakenly believed we'd get some relief (seeing Hoover Dam was cool), but even the water in the hookup is hot. We are leaving in the am for Yosemite and we are all so happy about that! I am sorry for everyone at home stuck in the heat with no electricity. That's worse than the desert in an RV.

The Road to Zion

We kicked off the Zion experience with a trip to the Visitor Center so i could stamp my National Parks Passport and get the Zion viewmaster slide pack (I've started a collection!) and then tubing in the Virgin river. There's river access right from the RV park so we had easy on/off. The Narrows hike on day 2 was the best hike ever!! That was both one of the most tiring and most thrilling day trips I've ever had. It was a fantastic way to beat the Utah heat and was an incredible experience for the kids. Dov was a trooper and actually scared the crap out of me by climbing out onto a high rock and jumping off into a pool. WTH?? He and Doron enjoyed the deep pools where they had to swim. I must say, I did not mind being in the water at all and the scenery was absolutely stunning.  Unfortunately, the neoprene socks we wore ended up squishing Doron and my toes, so we were in a lot of pain by the end of the 7 mile hike and the toenail I had almost lost when running is almost off again. Yuck. But it was worth it! As the runner's bumper sticker says: Toenails are for pussys!  If you ever get the chance to do this hike, do it.

The Wild West

Driving from Bryce is the ultimate wild west landscape Doron has decided he wants to live out west! He wants a ranch and horses. I must admit the views on this drive makes it super appealing.

Bryce is so Nice

Bryce canyon is absolutely amazing and beautiful and best of all, the weather is not immediately death-inducing.  We had a really great hike into the canyon with a wicked climb out on a "moderate" rating trail.  I can't imagine what it would take to get a "strenuous" rating!  Dov climbed like a champ though.  Stunning scenery and really nice people at the RV park (lots of Germans here - don't know why) have made this an especially enjoyable part of the trip (laundry duty notwithstanding).  We even got to take a horseback ride in once of the same Red Canyon trails that Butch Cassidy used during his escapades.  It was Dov's first time on a horse and while he enjoyed the ride, and the guide calling him Cowboy, his tush really started to hurt this evening and he is now dead set against ever getting on a horse again.  Doron, on the other hand, had a fantastic time and is no worse for wear.  He wishes he could ride more regularly. For my part, my butt is only mildly sore. :)