I first started this blog post  over 2 weeks ago, while on our way to Rendezvous 2010 in Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming.  I had hoped to write some each day up there, then post it all on my return.  That obviously didn’t happen.  It’s amazing how what seems like lazy days of vacation doing “nothing” can become so full of activity.

It is probably good, though, to point out – to myself, if not to anyone else – some of the obvious.   The day after I began writing this, we arrived at our destination.  Rendezvous is not held in, or even near, an organized campground.  For those of us who RV, what we were doing is called boondocking.  There’s no electrical hook up.  There’s no water nearby.  There’s no sewage lines to connect our RVs to.  We run what little we have by battery.  Each morning, I hook up a small (1000 Watt) generator and run it for a few hours for two purposes… to make coffee and to recharge the battery. 

Let’s start with what I initially entitled “Rendezvous – Day Minus Three” – referring to the fact that we were starting early, 3 days prior to the official start of the Rendezvous:

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Once again, August dawns hot and humid in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  And once again it is time for the Hays-Stroms and friends to begin our annual migration to Wyoming, and Rendezvous, Wyoming Equalities annual Pride celebration.

Scott and I, and Raymond Page, one of our good MCC Omaha friends decided this year to beat the rush… actually we just wanted to get away a few days early, so that we could enjoy a little peace and quiet, and also to make sure we got our favorite camp-site.  We succeeded!

We departed Omaha on Friday after I got off work, and were on the roads and out of the city before the worst of the Omaha rush-minute hit.  Picking up Ray in Gretna, NE, we got to Doniphan, NE a little before 7 p.m. and settled for a quiet and early evening.  Saturday, we were on the road again relatively early… at least for pulling a trailer.  The drive was really uneventful.  No rain.  No traffic…. well, almost no traffic.  At about mile marker 326 on Interstate 80 in Wyoming, we hit major traffic.  The road was down to one lane and traffic was stopped.  Ironically, our exit was at mile marker 323.  We got to it about a half hour later!

There’s a rest stop on I80 at mile 323 that sits a little above the freeway, and looks out over the mountains.  At this point on I80, the road takes a sudden downward plunge, at about a 5% grade… later it’ll grow to a nearly 10% grade as I80 enters Laramie, Wyoming.  There’s a huge bust of Abraham Lincoln at this stop.  And, it’s a good place to fill up on water… 50 gallons in the trailer’s tanks, and nearly 30 more in water bottles we bring along.  We’ll go through a lot of water up here, the 3 of us, and the two ladies who will join us in 24 hours.  Hey, we may be roughing it up here in the mountains with no electricity (except that which our generator produces) and no bathrooms (except in the trailer.)  But we guys gotta make sure we look FAaabulous for the couple hundred who attend Rendezvous!

This morning, we all drove back in to Cheyenne, WY, for groceries and more ice.  The propane refrigerator will only hold so much!  We were back by 1, and then I showered (I love showering outside up here! – behind our shower screen, of course!)  It was so hot today!  I think it got to 85! 

But as I write, a storm has moved in.  The temperature has dropped to somewhere in the 60s.  It’s raining!  And it’s fun!

We have a thermometer that we put on our window and it gives us the outside temp.  We put it in a drawer with a bottle of SuperGlue.  We left the bottle there through the winter.  It froze, and leaked, and now our thermometer, 3 plastic knives, a plastic spoon and a couple of other things are forever glued to the bottom of that drawer!

This probably won’t get posted until the end of our stay here.  So there may very well be lots of posts all at once!

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That was on Sunday, August 1.  The next day our friends Juline and Cindy arrived.  Juline and I would both rise very early, and sit around chatting, drinking coffee, until the rest awoke.  This could often be 3 hours later.  It was fun for me.  I enjoyed those early morning talks.  We talked about nearly everything you could think of.  Her life growing up in North Dakota.  Mine in Nebraska.  Our families.  Mom’s last days.  Dad’s situation.  Her Mom & Dad.  I actually went through withdrawal after coming down off our mountain.

Because Omaha is located somewhere around 1000 feet above sea level, and our week-long home in Wyoming is at 8,500 feet above sea level, the disparity in altitude caused us some problems.  We tired out much easier.  We dehydrated MUCH faster.  My lips were dry and chapped the entire time, yet by the time we’d gotten half way home, they were almost back to normal… because it’s so dry up there.  It was hot.  But not in the hellish way it is here in Council Bluffs.  It could get up close to 90, yet, find shade and a little breeze and one could actually feel almost chilled!  There is less atmosphere to dissipate the effect of the sun’s rays.

We didn’t do a lot.  Sitting, talking, cooking, eating, cleaning up, sitting, talking, sleeping… pretty much the pattern of life.  A good life.  One I’d love to continue forever, were it not for knowing work and responsibility are good for one.  Not to mention necessary in order to make such a good life possible.

We had some excitement of course, good and bad…. Bad in a relative sense, though.

For instance, at the half way point of our week away, on Wednesday the first official day of Rendezvous, I noticed our battery was not charging.  I’d turn off the generator, and the battery charge would not have changed.  It drained, and drained, until the alarm on the propane detector sounded.  It’s hard wired to the electrical system of the trailer, and once dead it’ll sound off.  The only way to stop the incessant chirping is to either plug in to a better electrical source, run the generator, recharge the battery, or disconnect everything.  When the generator failed, Cindy, Juline and I dashed off with the battery for Laramie, WY. 

We took it to the Wal-Mart, and asked if it could take a charge.  They assured me it could and to come back in an hour.  An hour later we returned to the Automotive desk and were told that they actually didn’t have the proper charging equipment for a Marine/RV battery.  It was now 6:30 p.m.  They suggested we take it to a car dealership.  Like that was going to happen at 6:30!  So, I decided to buckle down and buy a new battery.  Could they help me pick out the right one?  No.  I got 5 blank stares.  No clue what we needed.  They suggested Advanced Auto Parts or Checkers, supplied us with directions, and we were off.  The sun was setting, and we needed to get back.  Scott was waiting dinner for us.

We ran in to Advanced Auto and plopped the huge, heavy battery on the counter and explained our needs to a young man with a monstrous wad of chewing tobacco stuck between his outer lip and his teeth, spilling out over his mouth.  “I know JUST what you need.”  He disappeared to the back of the store and returned a moment later with a battery only about 3/4 the size of ours.  “This is our best RV battery.”

Now, I’ll tell you, I don’t have a clue about batteries.  I didn’t know what I needed.  But I did know the numbers on his battery were much smaller than those on ours, and it  was itself so much smaller.  Cindy piped up “Why is it so much smaller.”  Staring dumbfoundedly into the distance, the young man rubbed his chin and thought… an interminably long time… “Well… it’s just the casing, that’s all.”  I see.  I think.  “No,” I said, “This isn’t going to work.”  I move to pick up my battery and move off.

“Wait!”, the young man exclaimed, and headed off again, returning with another battery.  “This is an even better battery.”  It’s still smaller, but the numbers are getting closer.  Better than the best… hmmmm.  “I don’t think so, but thank you for your help,” I say smiling and turn for the door.

“Well, I do have one other, better battery.”  He describes something with “gel packs” or some other; near as I can tell it has a built in bathroom, kitchen and large screen television.  But it sounds big and that must be good, so I ask “How much?”  “225 dollars,” he responds.  We left.

Next stop is Checkers.  Only, there’s no Checkers where they described it should be.  But there IS an O’Reilly Auto Parts there.  So, I heave the old battery out of the truck, and step inside.  Another young man is behind the counter.  “Can I help you?” he asks.  Now, before proceeding I think it only fair to state that I DID leave Advanced Auto Parts a little more educated on batteries.  I think I know what I need, now.  So, I explain our story and make a bee-line for the battery display.  The young man swooped down on us, and helps me find a battery.  It’s about the same price as I paid for my old battery.  It’s the same dimensions as my old battery.  The numbers aren’t the same, but they’re close.  Close enough.  I buy it.

Turns out THIS young man is from Kearney.  “I went to college there… back in the day when it was Kearney State College” I say.  “My mom went there too.  Probably about the same time you did.”  Cheeky punk.  But he was nice.  And he actually seemed to KNOW what he was talking about, when it came to batteries… and Kearney.  We paid, and HE carried BOTH batteries back to my truck.  I didn’t trade my old one in… or exchange it or whatever you do with batteries.  The thing is, it’s only 5 months old!  I’m taking it back to where I bought it to see about warranties.

And, we had no further problems on our trip with batteries… in fact the thing never fell below 100% charged on our battery meter!

But, all in all, it was a great trip!

And I’m glad to be home with my critters and my job.

Well, it’s official.  Today marks my last day consulting for DOT.COMM.  Dare I say it’s bittersweet to be leaving this wonderful job?

Of course not.  You all KNOW that starting tomorrow I will be working FULL time for DOT.COMM.  But it’s been kinda fun joking about how Friday was my last day, yada yada yada.  It’s not at all bittersweet.  What it is is absolutely exciting!  What changes?  Well, nothing much, really.  Except the name on my electronic paycheck will no longer be TEKSystems… it’ll say DOT.COMM.  I’ll get paid every two weeks instead of weekly (I’ll kind of miss that part, actually – though my absolute favorite would be to get paid 1x a month; apparently the average person can’t handle only getting paid once a month.)

What else is new?  I’m really enjoying my walking.  I’m trying to walk at least 3 miles every night after work.  Though, with summer heat finally arriving, I’m not sure how practical that’s going to be.  After work, the heat will be it’s most brutal.  And I know that if I forget my hat, I simply can’t walk.  Period.

Friday night, instead of my 3 mile walk, Scott and I parked in front of the office and walked the 3/4 mile down to Omaha’s Summer Arts Festival.  We enjoyed wandering around the exhibits for an hour or so in the heat.  Ugh… to the heat anyhow.  We found the PERFECT art piece for our bedroom, oh my goodness was it nice.  The colors were spot on for what we’re doing.  Unfortunately, the price tag wasn’t quite so spot on.  At $1100 for HALF of the art work it’s just out of our league.  Always will be!

Yesterday, I went for my first major walk in my training.  I walked from Lewis Central High School which is down by the Iowa School for the Deaf on US275, west around the southern shore of Lake Manawa, then up the western side of the lake, bordering Indian Creek, and eventually ending up at the Western Historic Trails Center and Museum.  That’s a distance of just about 8 1/2 miles!  I started out at 7:15 a.m., expecting to complete the walk in 2 hours 40 minutes, and was only about 15 minutes off.  And that’s only because about a mile shy of my destination, I started chaffing, and that slowed me down.  Well, that doesn’t account for ALL of the 15 minutes.  Some of it was waiting for a light to change crossing 24th St.  There are very few pedestrians in the area, so once you push the button to get a crossing signal, you have to wait for the light to go through a complete cycle before it finally gives you the go ahead.  I timed it… 2 1/2 minutes from the third time I pushed the button (pushing repeatedly is always a good way to get something to work faster, you know!)  And my expectation of 2:40 did not take in to consideration any rest breaks.  I took maybe a total of 7 minutes rest along the route, mainly to dig water out of my little day pack. 

Many of you know I have a bad habit of not taking enough water on these kinds of excursions.  You’ll be happy to know I took MORE than enough water for 8 miles (6 full bottles) but I also took good care to keep hydrated.

But, as I said, I did start to chafe.  That slowed me down the rest of Saturday.  The walk took a bit more out of me than I expected.  Lots of work to do between now and October 1 if I’m going to walk SIXTY miles!

Here’s one of the more interesting stretches of trail.

Just a quick update everyone.

Went to the surgeon at 11:30 this morning.  He said the cyst is too hard to drain… not difficult hard, but rock hard.

So he removed it.  Took about 40 minutes to chisel it all away.  He said it was significantly larger than a golf ball.

Now I have a hole in my neck about 2 inches wide and 2 inches deep… or so he tells me.  Not stitched up.  Scott will have the joy of packing it every night for three weeks.

And now, I am off to bed.  I hurt.  Oh my goodness how this hurts.  I know, I know. I’m a wimp.  Always have been.

Will always be one!

The other day I complained about the golf ball I had discovered hiding in my neck.

I’ve just come from the doctor, and he assures me I have it wrong.  It is NOT the size of a golf ball.  I do apologize.  My bad.

It’s bigger.

So big, in fact, he looked, he pushed, he prodded, he poked, and passed verdict “I’m not touching that one.  We’ll send you to a surgeon.”

So, stay tuned for more on this little odyssey.  I see a surgeon tomorrow morning.

Twenty two years ago, while I was living in El Sobrante, California, I had a fibrous cyst removed from my back, up by my neck.  I remember it probably a bit better than I remember anything else from that time frame because of the complications that arose from that surgery.  Nothing really serious, but enough to stay in my memory.

Some time abut 12 years later, I noticed a bump in that same region.  Remembering that the first bump was a fibrous cyst, I didn’t take any great concern at it’s return.  Some time in the next couple of years, while at the doctor’s office, I mentioned it to him in an “oh, yeah, I’ve got this bump thing.”  He looked at it, and declared that it was probably a fibrous cyst, and that there was no rush to move to remove it.  We measured it, as best we could, at about the size of a pea.

Last summer, I went to see my doctor about something.  We had a look at all the “systems”.  I knew my medical insurance was running out, so we did a bit of a brief physical.  We measured the cyst again, and it really hadn’t grown much.  It was the size of an almond… a shelled almond.  “Nothing to be concerned about, unless you WANT me to take it out.”  His body language said “Please say no”, so I said no.

Somewhere around early March, I found my hand moving to touch the area rather frequently… and I noticed something… the cyst was exuding some kind of odor… I can’t put my finger on it.  It doesn’t do that all the time, and it isn’t doing so now.  But it’s an unpleasant odor.

As you all know, I’ve been doing a lot of walking.  My back has been a bit sore during this walking.  I knew that was coming, I anticipated it.  I do have arthritis in my spine.  Yesterday my back was hurting, and it had migrated up in to my neck.  As the day wore on, the pain became worse.  Last night at dinner, we entertained some very good friends.  While at dinner, my hand, unbeknownst to me, crept up to the cyst.

“OH MY GOSH, Scott!  There’s a golf ball lodged in my neck!” I exclaimed.  I kid you not.  Some time over the past 3 months, I don’t know when.  It might have been gradual, it might have occurred literally overnight, but at some point, this little almond sized, smelly cyst has become a friggin’ golf ball… maybe larger!  And it HURTS HURTS HURTS!  And I am now aware that the pain in my back seems to be radiating OUT from the cyst.

I slept very badly last night.  Any pressure on my neck is excruciating, and would wake me up.  On top of that, our bedroom is very cold, for some reason, but last night I perspired heavily through the night, sticking to the sheets.  That tells me there’s a fever.

Well, it’s time to call the doctor.  I’ll do that tomorrow and get this removed.

Ugh.

Okay, today’s post is short.  Just like my walk today!

There is, it seems, a limit to the joys of walking!  Tonight, my shins are killing me.  And my legs feel like I’ve walked a hundred miles.  Perhaps next week, I should be a little more careful, walk a little less.  Take better care and build up to what I’ve been doing!

On my walks, I’ve encountered some interesting buildings… buildings I never knew existed in Omaha.  For instance, here’s an interesting one:

This is the Omaha National Bank building… Omaha’s first “skyscraper” build in 1888!  It’s rather interesting architecture.  Here’s a closeup of the statue above the door:

These photos really aren’t all that good, I’m afraid.  They’re taken with my Blackberry.  Yes, Kate, I know.  I should get one of them new-fangled iPhone thingy’s so I can take better pictures… AND use Yelp!  I’m waiting for the check.

It’s been an awful long time since I last posted an entry on our blog.  I’m sorry to you all for that.  As you are probably all aware, I started a new job the day after Scott and I got home from our trip to California and New Mexico.  Because of that, time has been a little shorter for me than it has been in the past.  And, to be quite honest (and admittedly more than a little silly) I’ve been afraid to write much about my new job for fear of jinxing it!  Even though I don’t really believe in jinxing.

My job is in Downtown Omaha, near the corner of 18^th and Harney.  There’s something downtown Omaha has that my previous office in west Omaha did not.  And that, quite simply put, is “Something Fun To Do”.  It has character.  There are sidewalks and places to see!  It’s fun down here!

Scott and I have gotten into a routine.  We leave home about 7:25ish, and head west.  I won’t go in to the details of that, though right now that isn’t as straight forward as it might seem.  Ah, what the heck, I’ll tell all.  The 16^th St. Viaduct in Council Bluffs is being renovated starting this past Monday.  This means that the viaduct EAST bound lanes are being torn out, concrete, girders and all.  West bound traffic has been diverted to Avenue G and the new viaduct up there, while east bound is now using the west bound lanes on the old viaduct.  Anyhow.  Scott and I leave at 7:25 a.m.

We reach 19^th and Dodge in Omaha at about 7:45 a.m.  There, I am dropped off, and walk the 4 blocks south to my office.  I stop in the Civic Center for coffee en route.

I’m discovering all sorts of new restaurants that I never knew existed down in the heart of Omaha.  Indian and Thai and Bob’s Grill… there are different food vendors in the Civic Center every day… and I haven’t even scratched the surface of what’s available yet!

Paul & Deb will appreciate that I even have stopped in at the Jazz and actually enjoyed it!  The 4 of us ate there and hated it back in September 2007.  At lunch it’s fun!

As a contractor, I’m not allowed to work any over-time for DOT.COMM.  So, I’m out of the office most days at 4:30.  What to do, what to do?  Walk!

I’m having the time of my life walking!  Since I started counting 2 weeks ago today, I’ve logged over 40 miles!

So, that brings us to the end of today’s post.  I’ll have more to post in the next few days.

Well, our whirlwind tour is complete.  We are home.

Today was by far the hardest of days.  In the days before leaving Alamogordo for home, we were aware of a pending winter storm along our route.  However, reports we were watching implied that we’d probably encounter very little problem.  Ugh.  So much for reports and implications.

We arrived in Elk City on time as reported last night.  But as we watched the news after posting my last entry, it became clear bad weather was ahead of us.  We made the decision to take a short rest, then leave at midnight.

Midnight came, and sure enough the wind had died down, so we pulled out of the campground and headed east.  It was shortly after getting on the interstate that we remembered we didn’t have running lights OR taillights!  A passing semi alerted us to the fact.  We were determined, however, to proceed, so we turned on our emergency flashers and drove on. 

As we approached Oklahoma City, the sleet started, and the wind picked up again.  In Yukon, 102 miles down the road, we stopped for gas and realized we’d probably made a mistake, so we found a Target parking lot, and crawled back in to the camper and tried to sleep.  By now it was 3 a.m.

The wind rocked the camper and at times, I was sure we’d roll over!  But after an hour, at last I fell asleep.  We awoke at 6:00 a.m. and again hit the road.

Over the next 3 hours, we drove 80 miles to Perry, OK.  We stopped for breakfast, but then decided to keep on “truckin’”!  This far, our journey had been ice and snow, and very stressful.  I was actually feeling a little scared to get back on the road… but we did.  I’m glad!

Shortly after crossing in to Kansas, the weather and the road began to clear.  And, eventually, after 13 and half hours of driving, we arrived home!

As I sit here on my sofa, I still am feeling the motion of the road!  And I am SO ready for bed!

It is with a little disappointment that we left Alamogordo this morning at 9 a.m. (CDT)  Scott and I both really like spending time with Scott’s family.  His parents are fantastic people to just hang around with.  Terry and her two girls are a blast!  Eleanor is just about the cutest little bug you can imagine, and Bethany is such a bright girl… her intelligence is really a bit daunting.  I mean, come on!  An 11 year old girl whose favorite class is LATIN!!!!!

The day started off good.  We left Alamogordo at 8 a.m. (Mountain time) drove north to Tularosa, then cut over on US60 through Ruidoso, Roswell, and Clovis to Hereford, then north to Amarillo and finally to Elk City.

The first leg of the journey went fantastic, no wind, we made good time and just over 9 miles to the gallon!  That is fantastic!

However, from then on, the wind picked up and we made much less progress, averaging around 5.5 mpg.

We got to our little home-away-from-home about 6 p.m.  It’s quite a bit chillier here than it was in Alamogordo. 

We’re worried a bit about the storm screaming down through the Rockies, and on to the lower plains.  Omaha, I guess, isn’t supposed to get hit too bad, but it looks like we might be!

We’ll just have to see.  I really need to be home relatively early on Sunday, to prepare for this big week ahead!

Hey friends & family,

I’ve just learned, after a 4 day silence during which I had come to believe that the worst may have happened, that the young man, Tyler, whom I asked you all to pray for back on Tuesday, was brought out of his coma today.  His condition is still guarded.  He is still unable to talk, but is interacting with his family.  They are still requesting prayer.

So, to all you who prayed, thank you!

Eric