The Great American Journey

GAP WALK JOURNALS - VI

Saturday - August 2,  2008    Day 150   0.0 miles

Total Maine miles - 190.5     Walking Days - 71

Washington D.C. miles - 4.6   Cumulative miles 1195.9

Today was another no-walk day as I woke up feeling that
dreaded feeling in the pit of my stomach yet again. Actually I
had been awake in the night a fair amount with nausea also.
When Connee got up she looked in the phone book for an
Urgent Care Clinic.  Not finding one she went to the motel
office and asked them. They said the best thing would just be to
go to the Emergency Room at the hospital. So soon after that the
three of us headed for the Redington Fairview General Hospital.

A little later I was settled into a room in the ER section where I
would spend the rest of the morning. They drew blood and did a
few tests, hooked me up to an IV, and spent time popping in to
check on me. Laurie was my nurse, and was a delight. She
had pulled up my website to check it out, and ended up printing
out several days’ journals to read. Periodically she came in to
ask questions about the walk. (By the way, Laurie, if you read
this why don’t you e-mail me the article about the bears. My e-
mail address is on my card.)

The doctor (and I apologize for not remembering his name) was
excellent, and he also checked in on me regularly. During my
stay in the room I became aware of happenings in other nearby
rooms that gave me reason to pray for the doctor, nurses, and
local police. Hearing some of the things that go on in ER rooms
firsthand, I realized I needed to add this hospital to my prayer
list. I was very impressed with the way they handled the
problems.

At one time during the morning I also overheard a darling little
girl singing her ABC’s and saying her numbers in the next
room. At one point I got to see this little girl, and was surprised
at how well she did these things at such a young age. So I saw
that not only do the ER’s have to deal with tough situations,
they also have some pretty joyful situations.

Finally I was discharged to go back to the motel to rest, and stay
on liquids for today, with Imodium as needed. Russ and Connee
had gone back to the room to take care of business there. Soon
they came to pick me up and we stopped by Wal-Mart to get
some Beef and Chicken Bouillon and other things to get me
through the day. By this time I was starting to feel hungry and
food was actually sounding good for the first time in several
days. The Bouillon really tasted good to me, though it didn’t
taste nearly as good as Russ and Connee’s meal from KFC and
Taco Bell looked. Oh well, I’ll get that another time soon.

While I was at the hospital Connee had gotten Lady Mag
washed. Our van had gotten incredibly dirty with the rain we’ve
had so much of, and the dirt roads we’ve walked and driven.
Norma Teel arrives tomorrow to be my next driver, so at least
the van will be clean when she arrives. It may not stay that way
(we still have rainy days and dirt roads to travel), but that’s the
way it goes.

Through the rest of today Russ printed out the rest of the maps
with my route marked on it for the remainder of this GAP Walk.
He has been working diligently at choosing the most scenic and
safest routes for me. Today was the finalizing of that. Connee
punched the holes in each page, and inserted them into the
binder.

Finally Russ and Connee celebrated by going to dinner and to
get Russ’ favorite dessert at the Heritage House Restaurant here
in Skowhegan. I will miss having the two cousins here with me.
It has been a great opportunity for them to get to know each
other better. These two have always lived two states apart (on
the west coast two states is a long way, unlike on the east coast)
so never really got to know each other well. I stayed to do this
journal and drink yet another bouillon drink.

FOX News filled us in on the happenings of the week through
the day. One story they covered was about a woman in
California who was attacked by a black bear. Her face and scalp
were badly damaged, but her two dogs chased the bear away,
and she was able to drive herself to a nearby fire station. From
there she was airlifted to a hospital and underwent six hours of
surgery. That really confirmed for the three of us that we had
done the right thing the other day when I saw the bear. While
generally the black bears are pretty harmless, it only takes one
time to do some bad damage.

Russ and Connee are back with plans for Sunday lunch
tomorrow. After church we’ll drive to Portland (where we have
to go to pick up Norma) and have a lobster lunch. A Maine
lobster has been high on Russ’ “must do” list since we’ve been
here, and people at Heritage House recommended just the place
in Portland, ME. Unfortunately I don’t like lobster (is that ok to
say here in Maine?), but I’m sure I will find something I like.:-)

One more thing I must get in here. Thursday, when I was not
feeling so great and we spent the day here in the room, there was
a knock on our door. Connee opened it to see a lady holding a
vase of flowers for “Lyn.”  Yes, it was from Dave, and yes, it
did have the usual Milky Way Bars with it (Dave’s traditional
accompaniment when he sends me flowers on these walks). The
flowers this time are specifically to help me feel better.

And by the way, Connee did get a picture of me at the hospital.

Well, time to get to bed.