Washington...Finally!!!

   Finally! I'm finally writing about my trip to Washington! It only took me a full week to get around to doing it! Now, don't get to excited I'm only going to write about the first couple of days but at least I'm starting. So, to begin the plan was to leave on the 13th of this month at around six in the morning and go to Klamath Falls, Oregon. We were going to stay the night in Klamath Falls and then get up in the morning and drive to McCleary, Washington were we would set up a sort of home base for the trip from which we venture forth and explore the great state of Washington for a whole entire week. Now, the trouble started on the morning we were going to leave.

   It was around 5:45ish in the morning on the 13th when I awoke with terrible stomach pains that felt quite like cramps but were by far the worst cramps I had ever experienced. I rolled around for a bit trying to console my stomach into feeling better as if mindless motions the rest of my body made could affect it. Finally I decided that if my stomach wouldn't just cut it out and feel better on its own or with just a bit of help from my worm like writhing movements, that I would make it feel better. Dammit I was supposed to be going on vacation! I wearily dragged myself out of bed bleary eyed and dreading what was going to come next I forced myself to 'walk' although it was more of a blind stumble towards the toilet. This is it I told myself. I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet and force myself to throw up and after that I'll feel all better. I honestly couldn't have been more wrong but I feel that my determination deserves at least a bit of noticing. I knelt down on the ground and gave my great porcelain cure a hug letting it's coolness bring me at least a little twinge betterment. I bowed my head over the bowl quite like someone at a guillotine whose resigned themselves to what's about to happen next, and I did it I forced my self to vomit. Now, I'll spare you the details because nobody likes to hear about throwing up and everyone already knows how dreadfully horrible it is. All I will say is that it was just as dreadful and just as horrible as one might expect.

   After this horrible waking up I did feel a little bit better and a little more hopeful that perhaps this vacation wouldn't be so bad after all. Wrong, once again. "Are you throwing up?" Called my mother from her room. "Oh, We're golden!" I replied with more than a hint of sarcasm. I more limped back to bed  than walked but I did make it back to my little sanctuary that cradled my sick body like a cloud sent from heaven. Naturally, after all the disgusting and loud noises I had made Alex came in to check on me and see how I felt. We laid together in bed for a bit while I tried to gather my strength and all the determination I had in my bones. Nothing was going to stop from going on vacation! The problem is that determination in the real world is nothing like the determination that you see in movies or read about in books. The kind where through hard work and determination a person can reach any goal imaginable. No this determination is the kind that makes you sit in a car for hours on end grabbing at your gut and trying to sleep through the pain. This determination makes you pull over on the side of a freeway so you can puke not only out your mouth but out of your nose as well because you're just that determined!

   Once I had gathered all of this stupid determination we finally forced ourselves out of bed yet again. We skulked downstairs and I forced some food into my stomach though I didn't really feel like eating. I took a shower and crammed all of my toiletries into my luggage. I finished all the other last minute packing I had to do. Then finally we set off at around 8 2 hours behind our original schedule - not that I care for schedules much - and tired from my awful night of sleep we made our way out of the driveway. My stomach didn't stayed settled for very long though. About two hours into the trip I was fighting to keep my eyes open and my horrible stomach cramps started coming back. After about another 30 minutes the cramps were getting so bad it was all I could do to concentrated on the road. Defeated, I pulled over and asked Alex if she wouldn't mind driving. With all of her love coming through in her voice like a song she said, "No, I don't mind driving." Ordinary words, but at the time they formed the most glorious sentence I had ever heard. We switched seats and were off once again I curled up with a giant feather pillow that I hugged to try and comfort myself into sleep, while Alex drove on.

   I awoke a while later with cramps that were even worse then the ones I had already experienced. Awesome, I thought this couldn't get any better. Oh, but it did. We were in Redding when it hit. I felt like I was going to have diarrhea. We took an exit and stopped at a gas station were I figured we could get some gas before continuing our journey from hell, and I could evacuate my bowels. Needless to say what occurred in that bathroom was a complete and utter horror and should probably never be talked about again. After this incident we hopped back in the car and continued on down the road. It was my turn to drive but seeing as how wasn't feeling well Alex continued to drive, and I continued to suffer through. I don't have much to say on what occurred between Redding and Weed California because I tried to sleep through most of it. Once we reached Weed I was feeling somewhat better so I decided I would try and drive once again. This didn't last long however because once we had been on the 97 towards Klamath Falls for just a little bit the cramps came back with a vengeance. I pulled over an told Alex I was going to get out and see if I could puke or go to the bathroom somewhere on the side of the road. I made a good effort but to no avail. I stumbled back towards the car extremely frustrated and feeling like death. I opened the back door and haphazardly lay down on all of the stuff we had brought with us utterly exhausted. This peaceful moment only lasted for a minute though. I jumped and leaned outside the car vomited not only out of my mouth but also out my nose. I proceeded to vomit not being able to catch my breath when finally I stopped and Alex handed me a napkin. I collapsed back into the backseat even more exhausted now that I had spent the last of my energy. Alex looked at me with growing concern on her face. "Your face is all red and so is your neck!?" I looked down at my arms and they were starting to turn read as well but didn't acknowledge it acting like it was just my body being exhausted. Then I started to notice how itchy my body was becoming everywhere. My arms became redder along with my face and neck and then I started noticing little bumps popping up every where. Oh God! I thought, this can not be good. We drove on now slightly concerned because it seemed I was having an allergic reaction to something. We called my mother who called my Aunt Linnea who said she would meet us in Klamath Falls and take me to prompt care. That was one hell of a car ride! My body was so itchy I wanted to rip my skin off! Anything would have been better than what I was experiencing! We finally made it to a park in Klamath Falls though where Linnea was waiting already armed with drugs, and liquids. We agreed I shouldn't take any medication until we got to prompt care because they might want to give me something in particular for situation. We once again took off following Linnea through the one way streets of Klamath. We got to prompt care and low and behold I had to fill out paperwork. Now, ordinarily I hate paperwork but on this particular occasion I absolutely despised it! 

   I could hardly focus with how itchy my skin was becoming. I had to try and fill out as much paperwork as possible in between stints of scratching my skin raw. I took the papers up to the front desk and it wasn't quite good enough the first time so they told me what I needed to fix and sent me back to my seat. The second time I had still done a pretty terrible job but they accepted my feeble attempts, I think it's because they could hear the growing distress in my voice. I slumped back into my seat scratching wildly. I got up and went to the bathroom to scratch some of the more hard to reach places in privacy and finally came back out a few minutes later and just as itchy as ever. "Dallas Rhinehart?" I heard a nurse call as she opened the door. Finally! I was going to get something done about my body's mental breakdown. She led me to the back her long hair curling over her pink scrubs like a golden sea. She didn't take very long to decide that I was breaking out in full blown hives. I explained that I figured I was having an allergic reaction but that it was strange because I had also been having stomach problems all day long. She acknowledged that this was strange but then left saying the doctor would be in in a bit. I laid back on the bed figuring I might as well attempt to make myself comfortable while I waited. I stared at the ceiling wondering in the world could possibly make my body act like this and trying to scratch myself senseless. Finally the doctor came in he was an older gentleman bald with a sort of goatee and glasses hanging from his neck bouncing off his blue scrubs like one of those paddle ball games. He asked me all the same questions the nurse had asked me about if I'd been hiking around or exploring anywhere. I told I hadn't and that I had literally just been sitting in the car all day long, as well as telling him about the stomach troubles that had accompanied me on my travels. 

   Now, this doctor told me in a quite confident voice that I was having an allergic reaction and said he would give me some Benadryl to get rid of my hives. On the subject of my stomach trouble he said that it could be from the ulcers I had once. Mind you I had these ulcers in the year of 2010 and I haven't had sort of issues since but he stuck firm by his diagnoses and said he would write me a prescription for some drug that I don't remember and bowed out to get the Benadryl. Suffice it to say that I was a little frustrated with this diagnoses partly because my aunt already had Benadryl, and partly because I knew my stomach troubles weren't related to my ulcers. Also, I had to pay 123 dollars to be told something I already knew. I couldn't just pay my copay because it was my first time at this prompt care and because I was from out of state. The doctor returned a little while later gave me my Benadryl and sent me on my way. 

  We all decided we would stop at the grocery store to get some food and some Zantac because said that it might help with my stomach as well as my rash.We all meandered around the grocery store for a bit getting the Zantac and my aunt kept asking me if there was anything at all that I would like to get because she was making roast for dinner and she thought it might upset my stomach. She kept apologizing but I insisted that I thought it would be delicious. We left the store and headed for Bonanza which is about 30 minutes outside of Klamath Falls and also where my uncle and my aunt own about 5000 acres of land that they farm and raise cattle on. I'm not really for the agricultural revolution or mass farming but I do have to admit that Bonanza Oregon is one of the prettiest places I have ever been. We sped towards Bonanza as I tried to recognize some of the familiar landmarks from the summer I had spent working up with my uncle on his ranch. As we got closer and closer I started to recognize more I was able to predict which turns we would take on what roads, and point out the upcoming dairy farm. We finally started passing by some of my families property and I was able to point out a mile long field that I had to disc multiple times, and then finally we took a left turn onto a dirt driveway that led to the house we would be staying in we had made it! We parked in the driveway and walked into the house with a feeling of ecstasy crawling over our bodies. We had finally made it! We walked through the front door and I saw a giant couch that looked more comfortable than any other couch I've ever seen. I collapsed into it with the biggest stupidest grin on my face. 

   I spent the rest of the evening in a daze finding it impossible to focus or even think clear thoughts partly due to exhaustion. We visited with my aunt and Alex got to meet my Uncle Randy, as well as my Cousin Lacy. Then at around 9 o'clock I actually put some real food into my stomach and eventually I was able to change into pajamas and collapse into bed and quite possibly the best sleep I have ever had. Until early the next morning...