This Weekend's Pics

Looks like fall.  You know, I love fall, but I hate winter so I am not looking so forward to fall this year because it just means winter is getting closer.

Taking a break.  Because hunting up deer bones is hard work.  Yes, he found a deer leg bone today in the woods.

Medication Change

I saw my rheumatologist yesterday and together we agreed to increase my dose of gabapentin.  It was something I'd been thinking about for a good month, considering the potential benefits and the risk of increased side effects.  When I started taking this medication, I was on a very low dose.  We increased it two other times, and both times, I felt tired and nauseous and just icky for about a week.  I figured that would probably happen this time, too.

So yesterday I took the higher dose and felt fine.  I felt fine until this afternoon, when I suddenly crashed.  I am not nauseous, although I don't have much appetite, but I am tired.  Like, exhausted.

I hate dealing with this. I hate that I have to.  I hate having to weigh the risks and benefits of meds and I hate having to decide to deal with the side effects because I need the benefits.

And I hate know I'll feel lousy for a week or so, especially because I have stuff I need to do and also stuff I want to do.  Like, I am supposed to get together with an old friend Tuesday and I am really hoping I have the energy to do it.

Just a Few More Camping Pics

Yes, I Can Hear You

Today at my rheumatologist's office, someone in the waiting area asked if Isaac was a hearing dog. Think about that a minute. If I had a service dog because I couldn't hear, why are you talking to me?

A Morning Drink

from a lake

Camping at Night

Both nights that Isaac and I camped, I initially thought we were going to have the whole campground to ourselves.  Each night, someone else pulled in around dinner time or a little after.  I realized I liked the idea of having the whole campground to ourselves and I felt a little nervous with just one other site occupied.   

The first night, it was a couple, a man and a woman, with a dog.  The second night, it was two men.  Maybe they were a couple as well, I don’t know.  But I felt especially nervous when I saw there were two men.

I actually thought of saying hi to them and saying something like, “My husband Mack went fishin’ but he’ll be back soon.”   

Well, I briefly considered saying something like my husband went hunting with a really big gun and he’d be back soon with his really big gun – but hunting is not permitted in the National Forest and neither are guns, so I thought that might sound improbable.  

It surprised me that I thought of lying about a non-existent husband.  But I didn’t want them to know I was alone.

I didn’t say anything about a husband.  But I thought maybe they’d see me walking Isaac and think I had a big dog to protect me.  Only then they said hello and wanted to say hello to Isaac, who of course wanted to say hello to them.  So I’m not sure Isaac looked very protective then.  And of course he’s not. But people tend to think all dogs will be protective, so I don’t know what they thought.

Maybe it would have felt safer if there had been many other campsites occupied.  Like, then there would have been someone to hear me if I screamed for help.  Although people often ignored screams for help, so who knows if anyone would actually help.  But I think I would have felt safer.

Before going camping alone, I’d wondered if I would get scared alone at night.  I had thought I might.  But what I found out was, I was more afraid of people than anything else.  I was not afraid of wild animals or the dark or big foot or ghosts or things that go bump in the night.  I was just scared of people.

And I didn't have nightmares either night.  I woke up a lot, but I usually do that at home, too.  And Isaac and I went to bed early both nights, so it's not surprising that I was awake by 3:00 am and had trouble going back to sleep - if I'd been at home, I would have gotten up.  I'd already had six hours of sleep which is more than I usually sleep in a row.  But there was nothing to do there if I did get up and it was chilly out and it seemed like a better idea to just try to get back to sleep.  

Although once I had to get up long enough to pee. Isaac did not get up with me.  He was tired and he said he did not have to pee. I was not walking all the way to the toilet in the cold and dark, so I peed behind the tent in the woods.

Anyway.  Other than being afraid of other people, I liked being outdoors at night.  I liked sitting around the campfire and I liked looking at the moon and hearing the insects and owls and things.

Camping Trip

Isaac and I just returned home from a three day/two night camping trip in the Wayne National Forest.  We had a great time. And the campground we stayed at was fabulous.  It’s a small campground, only 19 campsites, and rather primitive.  There are bathrooms, but without running water or flush toilets.  Just pit toilets.  There is drinking water available at several different faucets located throughout the campground.  There is no office or ranger station or anything like that.  It’s a self-serve campground.  You take an envelope, fill out some info like your license plate number and whatever campsite you want to stay out, stick your money in it, and put the envelope in a locked box.   The fee is $10 a night - $5 if you have the America the Beautiful Access Pass, which I do.  It’s a free pass available to people with disabilities.

Look at this view.

Both nights there was only one other campsite occupied.  Isaac and I practically had the place to ourselves.  In fact, no one else was there when we arrived, so we got to choose from all 19 campsites.  So we took what I thought was the best one, although Isaac was quite fond of one a little ways down the road.  Every time we took a walk in that direction, he wanted to go sniff around that picnic table and fire ring.

We did some hiking, 

Isaac got to swim in a lake, Isaac got to roll in… stuff, and he also dug a big hole.   

I dunno why he decided he needed to dig a hole, but he did, and since it was in the woods behind our campsite and not on a trail or anything, I let him.  He dug a big hole, and a couple times there were some small roots in the way, and he grabbed those with his teeth and pulled them out.  He was quite determined about that hole!

I have to say, I am pretty impressed with myself.  I put up the tent all by myself 

and I built a great campfire 

and I cooked an awesome dinner.  By the way, the best way EVER to eat an apple is to slice it, sprinkle it with cinnamon and nutmeg, wrap it in foil and roast it over an open fire.

I also discovered that building a fire to heat water for your morning tea is the best thing ever.  I mean, I’m sure the tea tastes the same as when I heat the water in the microwave at home, but sipping it next to an open fire is delightful.  When I crawled out of my cozy sleeping bag in the chilly morning air, I wouldn’t have believed that building a fire to make tea was going to be the best thing ever… but it turned out that it was.