Tuesday, May 31, 2022: WtW Day 0
When I ask retired friends what they are up to, one item seems to be on everyone’s list: caring for aging parents. It’s the same with Sheri and I. Both my parents are alive, but Sheri’s dad has passed on. Both my parents live alone and my Dad had been in the hospital twice in the last year, both after he has fallen and lay on the ground for an extended period of time, once for three days.
This morning I got a text from Liz, my sister-in-law, that my Dad had fallen again, this time in the shower. Thankful his part-time caregiver, Hilda, was there, downstairs waiting for him to come down for breakfast. When she noticed water leaking from the ceiling she went upstairs to investigate. My dad had been laying in the shower, hot water spraying on him. He fell on the drain, so the water overflowed onto the floor and then through it to the kitchen below. He was taken to the hospital where they feared he’d had another stroke, but they have since ruled that out. After his second fall I got him a fall-alert watch that is to be worn 24-hours a day. The watch comes with two sets of batteries, so that you never take it off, just swap the batteries once a day. He wasn’t wearing the watch. If Hilda wasn’t there, he’d have probably died this time. Wearing a watch isn’t a great inconvenience. He loves wearing his other watch. He’s a big boy, though, and will do what he wants.
My mom seems to ageless. Or at least, she doesn’t act her age of 85. She skis, plays tennis, walks 18 holes of golf, and swims in the ocean. Her only concession to age seems to be her water aerobics class.
Sheri’s mom Marilyn recently moved to Oregon, close to her son Mike. She recognized that she was starting to go downhill mentally, so agreed to the move. Since the move things have gone downhill for her. She is now in “memory care” in a nursing home and she recently started using a wheelchair. Recently, she didn’t even want to get out of bed because of such pain, so Mike took her to the emergency room and it turned out she had a broken leg.
We visited with Marilyn this morning. She seemed to be in good spirits and her mind seemed sharp. It looks like she isn’t going downhill mentally, or at least the rate has slowed considerably. Her vitals are good. Her only real problem now is mobility. And by mobility I just mean the ability to get out of bed and into a wheelchair. To get into and out of the bathroom. Those are the only mobility goals that we have for her. She’ll be moving to a rehab center soon to work on those goals.
Sheri’s brother Mike, who we stayed with last night, is taking charge of everything for his mom. He has power of attorney and power to make all health decisions. He visits her every day, all day. His love, care, devotion and endurance are beyond anything I’ve seen before. He’s an inspiration to me and I plan to do better by my parents because of his example. We’ve pushed for him to take some time for himself, but he can’t seem to do it. Sheri has visited specifically to help and be with her mom and these visits will become more frequent moving forwards.
We left the hospital well before noon and headed north, crossing into Washington just north of Portland, headed for Forks, which is just east of La Push. I then found a campground closer to La Push, only six miles away and we camped there. It is the “Twilight” setting. I’ve never watched that show, but I know it is about vampires and that chicks think they are dreamy and not just literally blood-thirsty killers.
After setting up camp, I couldn’t wait until the next morning to start. I talked Sheri into riding down to La Push with me that evening. We’re closer to the longest day of the year and very far north so it stays light here until well past 9 p.m. It was only Sheri’s second ride on her new bike and at first she was nervous to go too fast, but she settled in nicely.
There wasn’t much of a shoulder but we had little traffic and rode through a dense forest until breaking out just before the township of La Push, which seems to be mostly a Native American settlement. There is a small marina with a number of fishing boats. I assume fishing boats. They didn’t look like tourist boats.
We went down to the ocean and I dipped my back tire into the surf. Whatever happens, I at least started from the ocean. Now let’s see how far I get…
Biking back was way easier than biking to the ocean. We gained more vertical on the way out than on the way back? Isn’t that impossible? We definitely fought a headwind going out, especially once we broke out of the trees. On the way back we must have had a nice tailwind because it seemed to pass quickly.
Back at camp, I cooked us dinner on our Coleman stove. I’m guessing that it was below Stefan’s standards because I used a few spices less than what Stefan uses. That is, if Stefan uses a few spices. But we are simple folk with simple tastes and it was hot and had calories of fat, protein, and sugar. Sheri did the dishes and I then wrote this, while wearing my down jacket. It wasn’t that cold, but I’m still in search of warmth.
6 miles down. 4027 miles to go. :-)
Wednesday, June 1, 2022: WtW Day 1
I’ve heard (or read?) that the Eskimos Aleuts have forty different words for “snow” because of the various subtleties of their frosty environment. In Washington, they have forty different words for “green”, including “color”, since it the only color present in their foliage. Just different shades of green up here. Well, and blue for the sky, white for the clouds, and brown for the dirt and bark. All other colors are manmade.
I slept in until 5:50. It only seemed decadent because it was so light out. The temperatures were in the low 50s and overcast, but very still at our campsite. After some coffee and a bit of breakfast, Sheri and I did a short walk. She was warming up for her exercises and I was waiting for the day to get a touch warmer. I had a second breakfast, packed up some stuff, and suited up. I was off a bit before 8 a.m,.
I wanted to ride the Olympic Discovery Trail, which I was supposed to pick up in Forks, nine miles away. I didn’t see it though and then wasn’t sure where it started. I just rode along highway 101 (two lanes) and it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible. There wasn’t much traffic and there was mostly a good shoulder (except for bridges), but every once in a while a logging truck would come flying by.
Sheri caught me after I’d ridden 21 miles and I took a short break to eat and talk with her. I wasn’t drinking much and wouldn’t for the rest of the day. The cool temperatures and overcast skies and relaxed pace all worked to diminish my thirst. I will try to do better tomorrow.
During this stop, I got more information about my Dad from my brother Chris and his daughter Schuyler. It wasn't good news. He is in trouble and is now on a respirator with some organ failure. He's currently heavily sedated for comfort, due to the tube down his throat. They are going to try and take him off this early tomorrow morning. I feel bad about not being there, though there is nothing I could do. I am thankful for my brother being there and my younger sister will be arriving on Friday for a previously scheduled trip. I thought about my dad for the rest of the day. Probably will for the rest of week. The last update had a tiny bit of improvement in his condition, so I'm hopeful.
I then found the trail, after riding up a dirt road on the wrong side of the highway, I found a sign telling me it was on the other side. Just as I got to the bike path, which parallels the highway but far enough away where you can’t hear or see the traffic, a father-son team of cyclists came by. I was peeing at the time, but I caught up soon and chatted with them. The dad, Jim, an English teacher from Provo was at least my age meaning he definitely looked a lot older. He said he’s had both knees and shoulders replaced. He’s basically a cyborg. Still, he couldn’t keep up with his son James. James lives in Seattle and does something with art-house movies. Apparently, everyone in Seattle doesn’t work for either Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing, or Starbucks.
ODT crossed over to the other side of the highway and I kept riding with Jim and James. We were going along the north side of Crescent Lake, which is large and beautiful, but I couldn't see it at all as the forest is so dense and we were a ways above it. But we came down right next to the lake for the second half and the views and riding were outstanding. What a fun path to ride: paved, smooth, in the wilderness, and a long ways from any roads. Sheri was on the other side of the lake and I thought she was hiking to a waterfall when I got a text from her saying that she can see me! She was done with her hike on the far shore and could locate me. From at least a mile away, I couldn’t quite find her, though.
Sheri and I met at what was supposed to be a campsite, but nothing was there. We searched in our phones and found another one three miles away. It cost us $38 for a patch of ground, but it had a clubhouse with chairs and power and a kitchen and it swayed me. After a hot shower (that helped too), I’m sitting in the clubhouse typing this and charging up my phone, watch, headphones, and laptop. And eating some delicious ginger cookies.
Just as we were checking in, I was pedaling my bike over there, but not clipped in. I got off balance. I then tried to push on my pedal just as I was tipping over and got clipped in by mistake! I couldn’t get my foot out in the split second it took for me to crash into the gravel. Ouch. And embarrassing, as I was hardly moving. On the bright side, my first crash is out of the way and only a few abrasions. I doubt it will be my last, but I hope the next one isn’t much worse.
It rained as we set up the tent and made me feel better about stopping so early. I was wavering about going on when Sheri encouraged me to take it easy at the start of this trip. That makes sense. I really need to get myself into biking shape. Tomorrow I’ll ride the road bike and maybe move a little faster.
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