It’s night in Coos Bay, Oregon, and the weather is cloudy and chilly – enough that we are planning to move away from the coast as soon as possible. We’ve been here four nights counting tonight, and we’ve enjoyed a nice seafood dinner at a local restaurant, two trips to the Super WalMart for supplies, lots of saltwater taffy, and shopping in the tourist gift shops. Tomorrow we head for the National Redwood Forest in Northern California, and begin our trek back to Tucson, going through Oregon, northeastern California, and Nevada.
We have both sustained crippling injuries that the weather seems to affect negatively. The real highlight of the last several days was driving an electric cart in WalMart because I’m having difficulty walking. They really are nice to ride on!!! I found people wanting to help me reach things so I didn’t have to get out of the cart. Whatever I did to my back, I have some numbness and tingling now in my right thigh, and I’m finding it more difficult to walk because of pain down the back of my legs as well. As long as I’m sitting or lying down I am comfortable.
When I was in Seattle my brother-in-law Keith, who is a chiropractor, took X-rays. I learned a lot about my structure that I’d never known before. No one had ever taken an X-ray of my spine. I found out that I have scoliosis, and that my hips are rotated as well. No wonder I move the way I do! I also have some degeneration especially in the area of the scoliosis, which is between the middle of my back and my lower back – technically, T-9 to L2-3. As I don’t have insurance, and as I am traveling right now, I will seek medical attention once I get to New Mexico in mid-October. The chiropractor in John Day gave me a referral for a chiropractor there.
I have attached a couple of photos now that I’ve learned how. One of them is Strawberry Peak in Grant County, Oregon (where John Day is). Another is from the Malheur Headwaters archaeological dig area on the first day, when the smoke from the California fires was drifting over Logan Valley in the Malheur National Forest. The flowers are Indian Paintbrush.
Oh, another thing about managing the trailer. When we arrived in Coos Bay we had a full tank of waste, and the plan was to dump it at our site that has a full hookup, with sewer. Well, it wouldn’t come out of the tank. I ended up calling Rotor Rooter who came out to pump the tank out. Even though I left water and chemical in the tank while it was stored, apparently it evaporated, allowing the waste to dry out somewhat. Luckily my situation was easy to fix, and not terribly expensive this time – only $51.50.
So tomorrow we are heading for the redwoods and then some sunshine and warmer temperatures so we can wear our shorts again! The park we’ve been staying in is very nice – Midway RV Park on Arago Bay Highway. With my Passport America and Good Sam discounts we’ve spent $22 a night for full hookup and free wifi. It’s a very nice park, and I would recommend it to anyone who is RVing in this area.
The Traveling Alchemist 