I did not get a good sleep last night. On top of worrying about Erde's situation and thinking about my options, some inconsiderate people drove into the nearly empty camp at 11:30 and parked across from me, talking loudly and slamming their van door a dozen times until 1:30. After that, with Erde's situation on my mind, i did not get to sleep until 3 and got up at 7, not much sleep for the 200 mile drive ahead of me today on what has to be the most dangerous 200 mile drive in the US.
My options for today were..
1- drive back to Eureka and have the vet do the X-rays and blood work to exclude the possibilities of a stomach blockage or kidney failure so i could get peace of mind, and with it sleep.
2- stop off at another ver down the line at Fort Bragg and discuss the situation with them.
3- drive to San Francisco and find a vet there on Saturday if Erde has not improved from the gastro-meds the vet in Eureka prescribed.
4- continue the journey and deal with any further problem as it arises.
I decided on option 2, and am glad i did. The vet, Dr. Veronica Thomas was superb. Despite no openings, she took us in right away and spent an hour with Erde, taking no xrays or bloodwork. She gave me the assurance i needed to continue the trip, but also gave me the name of a referral vet center near where we will be in San Francisco. I fed Erde for the first time in two days at noon, and was going to watch her until we got to San Francisco. If she could not hold her food down, Dr. Thomas said it was time for more serious treatment.
The ride from where we camped last night to where we are now, with few exceptions, cannot be described in a blog or even through photos. It has to be experienced. The dramatic scenery, which changes before your eyes, is only outdone by the difficulty of the drive, which in many places can only be described as dangerous, especially if you are tired. After the scenery, the quaint little towns beg to be visited, but there was no time or energy for us to do that. But i have to say this, albeit reluctantly, that after driving 1200 miles down the spectacular west coast, i was ready to bring this leg of our trip to a close. Far too much of a good thing, on top of thousands of miles of other good things before that.
Ar 5:30, Erde started to get restless and pant, and i thought that she was about to release her noon meal, but she did not. I even fed her again three hours later and here it is 10pm and still nothing. I hope this means we are out of the woods. If not, i will take her to the vet referral center tomorrow and stay here until her situation is resolved. But right now, despite my worry last night, it appears that i made the right decisions.
As good timing would have it, we pulled into our target camp for the night at 6:15, 15 minutes behind our desired schedule. But as bad luck would have it, for the first time on the trip, the camp was full. (I suspect this is where the Google staff does their weekend nature communing locally.) But they are allowing us to camp in the picnic day use area, which is in a wonderful huge grove of redwoods. No complaints here or from Erde. We had to set up camp in the dark, but i am quite used to that now. We will do some errands tomorrow and visit San Francisco as we stick around here one more day to make sure Erde's situation is resolved, and then head in the direction of home, if i remember where that is. As far as i am concerned, home for me is the road. I have no idea how Erde feels.
Photos..
Another beautiful visitor who stopped by for breakfast, but found none, poor bird
Erde posing on the same beach where she and Leben romped together 13 years ago.
Can you imagine living in this house? There are no guardrails in place. Very brave person.
Erde contemplating the awesome beauty of the coastal shoreline.
The Defender contemplating the beauty, too.
Ed and Erde, On The Road
P.S. Sorry for any errors in this message or posting. The iPad spellcheck is not known for its attention to detail.
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