Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Day Two - Where's the Ark?

Day two began with Loree confirming that I was delusional.  I know that many of you are asking yourselves why she needed a confirmation….you have known that for years!  I did not sleep well in the tent…or so I thought.  When Loree woke up, I tiredly informed her that I did not sleep at all…It was pouring allllllll night long!  It was horrible…the rain was coming down and I’m surprised that we didn’t blow away!  It may have been the worst storm of all time….except that….as we exited the tent…the ground was dry!  Our little door matt was equally dry leading her to comment…”maybe you slept better than you think you did!”. Hmmmm…..maybe!

Now one of the things that I forgot to tell my team is that I have a little impatience problem.  As everyone was gathering their supplies for the day, my head started to bob.  Then my whole body….can we go now? How about now?  Can we go now?  I decided at that point that this was a character building adventure for me and that God was going to teach me patience if it killed me.  Better to just go along with it!  I';ve tried avoiding lessons like this before....the end result is never pleasant!

We received bad news for Loree – the medical tent advised her (not actually the tent advised her but the medical professionals inside the tent…) to keep her foot dry.  She had some very serious blisters that were tunneling towards her bone.  She decided to start out with a plan to take the Sweep van if needed.  We bundled up and headed out of camp….and the rain began. ..with a vengeance.  Loree made the wise decision to grab the Sweep – there was going to be no way to keep anything dry from the looks of things.  Before she left us however, she made a phone call to her son.  Her son that works for a hotel….her son that could save us from a rain filled night in a tent…and not just the rain from my delusions!

We armed ourselves with our little plastic rain cover and headed out.  I’m not even sure if I can tell you where all we went.  I can only tell you that I felt like I was in a hurricane.  But there again….at every turn….were the Walker Stalkers.  Like dear old friends, they toughed out the rain with us.

Now, this day was particularly bad for me aside from the rain….I had made the mistake of putting on cotton socks over my wicking socks so my feet felt like they were submerged in two little lakes and I was wearing a pair of Capri’s that became low-riders every time I stretched.   Argh!   Why….would I do that to myself, you ask? I guess things just weren’t quite bad enough with just the rain!  So at every opportunity to stretch, I was the one trying to keep one hand on my shorts.   I didn’t want to ruin anyone else’s day by having them yell….My eyes! My eyes! as I flashed them!

Lunch was 13.4 miles in….Komen arranged for us to eat in buses and have a dry place to check our feet and change our socks.  My left foot had a spot running between my toes and a blister on my small toe.  We kept reminding ourselves that this was still nothing like having chemo and charged back into the rain and wind.  At least there was only five miles to go until we got back to the camp.  I phoned my husband, who agreed to pick us up and take us to the hotel.  I don’t think I have ever loved him more!
I was doing great up until the last two miles…then Cyndi saw my dark side.  She cheerfully kept trying to involve me in conversation as I just focused on putting one foot in front of the other.  At one point, she looked over at a young surfer holding a huge kite on the sand.  She looked at me…”what do you think he’s doing?” I answered honestly. “I don’t care.”  I still need to give her a hug and an apology for that one!

We arrived at camp and gathered our bags.  Loree informed us that our tents had blown about ten feet and that many campers were heading out to hotels.  We started hefting bags up to Eric’s car and were immediately surrounded by Camp workers who started grabbing bags to help.  I love them.  They were another highlight to the week – always willing to serve and out in the rain with us.  When we got everything settled, off to the hotel we went. Ahhhhhhhh…..

We drove up to realize that it’s not the walking that causes muscle pain….it’s the stopping!  We all emerged from the car like 90 year old women.  I’m sure people were wondering where we had left our walkers!  Eric asked as he handed us our bags…”how are you getting back to camp tomorrow…?”  “Hmmmm”….I responded…..”about that…… can you be back here at 5:45am tomorrow?”  He didn’t even blink an eye….he’s a saint.

After getting our bags upstairs and realizing that we would each have our own bed, the celebration began.  We headed to the managers reception for a few drinks and hit up PF Changs for dinner.  Thank you Loree for making the walk over there….I think I would have just grabbed the pretzels from my pack if I had to go! During dinner, one of us spilled a drink and I ‘jumped up’ to get a towel.  Several minutes later, as I was still slowly trying to make my way back to the table from the bathroom, Loree called out… “I think it’s dry!”  I can only tell you that I was out when my head hit the pillow.  No delusions…no dreams….just sweet, dry sleep!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Sheri, I didn't realize this was a 3-part experience. THIS one--the capris that kept falling, the rain and confusion--I would have cried to go home. You are an inspiration! Way to go!

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