. . . the rest of the story

Ok . . . so we've been back home for a little over a week and I'm just now getting to telling about the rest of the trip!

We spent  Sunday [the day after Jim & I got back from Sedona with my bike], hanging out in Durango Colorado.  Jamie, Cole, Ginny-Laine & John went rafting that morning.  Later we visited a few shops and went to dinner at a Mexican Restaurant that we have eaten at before on a previous trip to Durango.  I used my crutches throughout the day so that I didn't put too much stress & strain on "the leg".  We planned to all go up to Silverton on the Narrow Gauge Railroad that runs between Silverton & Durango the following day but when Jim went for tickets he could only get six.  It was decided that "the lucky ones" [Dad, Raymond, Ginny-Laine, John, Jamie & Cole - and of course Sarah who didn't need a ticket], would ride up on the train and Jim, Scott & I would make the ride up on our bikes.  It's a fun road, so we were sure we would enjoy the ride . . . but I was disappointed that we would not make the trip all together.  The next morning the train riders boarded the train and we started our ride up the mountain a little while later.  Jim talked to Jamie before we got on our bikes and found out that they would be delayed a bit because of a rock slide along the train tracks.  It was a beautiful ride for us but we encountered road work, causing us to have to sit and wait a couple of times on the way up and back.  Once we got to Silverton, we didn't see a train.  When we asked someone, we were told that the trains couldn't get through because of damage to the track from "the mud slide.  The train riding group ["the lucky ones"] never made it to Silverton, but even worse they sat on the train the rest of the afternoon while the railroad folks maneuvered the two trains back that left after them, before the train they were on could travel back to the station.    First to leave . . . last to get back. . . not a fun day and Sarah-Bearah was just about at her coping limit by the time they got back!  We took the tired crew out to dinner as soon as they arrived and then back to their rooms for rest.

On Tuesday Jim, Scott, Raymond and I left on our bikes heading towards home, while the rest of the group were loading the rental van preparing to head to Albuquerque, New Mexico where they would catch a flight the next day.  We rode through Pagosa Springs, Colorado, the San Juan Mountains and Taos, New Mexico.  Just outside of Taos, as we were riding along . . . we started seeing some unusual "earthy" homes, many of which were built into the ground.  There were a lot of them, which made it pretty interesting [at least to me].  Some were pretty strange looking.  As we passed by one that was near the road we saw that it was a "visitors center", open for viewing.  We turned around and walked through to check it out.  These homes are 100% fully contained and self-sustainable in every way.  The concept is called an "Earth Ship" and was pretty cool . . . I really enjoyed seeing it.  After our little break, we got back on the road and just a short while later got on a twisty, curvy road that was lots of fun.  I tried to get the guys to go back and do that ride again . . . but, they wouldn't.

On Wednesday we  got on I-40 and had a fairly boring day of riding on the interstate.  Thursday we rode through the Ouachita National Forest and spent the night in Mena, Arkansas.  Friday we rode all the way home . . . traveling through Hot Springs & Little Rock Arkansas, back onto I-40 over to Memphis where we got on US - 78 back to Birmingham.  Home Sweet Home . . . arriving at 9:00 at night [and no, I don't like night riding while on my bike].

Since getting home I have been taking care of "the leg".  It has amazed me that after four weeks, I am still having trouble with it, but it is getting better everyday.  I've had some therapies sessions and have started swimming a bit . . . my best advice though is . . . stay away from the deer on the roadway!

There are things along this journey in life that change our plans a bit . . . sometimes we encounter things that are painful and frustrating . . .  and unfortunately, things don't always improve as quickly as we would like . . .  Because "adjusting" is not always my strong suit,  maybe God is giving me the opportunity to get better at it!    [Romans 8:28]

A few pictures from the trip :)

Hiking in Sedona

Beautiful Red Rocks in Sedona

View while hiking in Sedona

Grand Canyon

Sarah, Jamie, and Jim at the Grand Canyon

Painted Desert

Cole and Sarah at the Painted Desert 

Sarah in the Petrified Forest - she loved the "rocks"

It is my fault pictures are just now making it to the blog - SORRY!!!
There are more to come - should post them this weekend
My mom has shared the stories that go along with the pics in previous posts... so check them out! :)


- Jamie

Got my bike back . . .

The next day we left for Moab.  The first hundred miles or so were expected to be really nice motorcycle roads, so I decided to ride on with Jim.  We started hearing a funny noise from Jim's bike and "the guys" checked it out when we stopped at our first scenic overlook.  A bracket had broken and was allowing the weight of the trailer to sit down on the back tire.  They worked for a bit and with duct tape and a ratchet tie-down they got it ride-able until we could get a new bracket [three guys can fix just about anything with duct tape and a ratchet tie down . . . right??].  Because of the bracket problem it was decided that I didn't need to ride on with Jim so I invited myself to ride with Scott on his bike.  The ride was beautiful and we had some fun roads along the way.  It was really nice since I had not had a lot of motorcycle time up to that point in the trip.  By the time we made it to Moab though, my leg was pretty swollen.  I didn't have any more of the minerals to soak my leg in so we got some Epsom salts.  I soaked my leg that night and again the next morning.  After sitting in the bath for about 30 minutes that morning, I began doing some myofascial release and the tissue began to release and soften in several areas around my ankle and lower leg.  I had used crutches to make it to the bath but was able to walk un-assisted when I got out [ok . . . so it wasn't pretty, but I technically COULD walk on my own]. 

I decided I wanted to head back to Sedona to get my bike.  Let's just say that no one but me liked the idea of me getting back on my bike so soon.  My reasoning made so much sense . . . we would save 200 miles of drive time by going straight from Moab to Sedona and then meeting the group back at our next stop . . . Durango, Colorado . . .  rather than going from Moab to Durango back to Sedona and then back to Durango.  Besides that, I knew that I could ride and it would save us half a day or more.  So . . . Jim & I left Moab early.  We drove through the Arches National Park on our way out [which was amazing and is definitely on our "see again" list].  Then we had a long days drive.  We started late so we didn't have the luxury of taking our time and making too many stops along the way.  We skirted around rain all day but never got more than a sprinkle or two.  Announcement: sitting on the back on Jim's bike is no longer comfortable.  He changed his set up [new bags and trunk etc. and a new seat] and let's just say that the passenger seat is not for long distance travel!  My leg was swollen when we got there, but my back side was much more sore than my leg.  My Sedona therapist [Lori] was available for a late appointment that evening so I had one last session.  When I got to the room I soaked my leg in an Epsom salt bath and propped it up for the night.  The next morning the swelling was back down and I was ready to ride.  After leaving Sedona we ran into some stand-still, stop and go traffic in Flagstaff.  This was the moment of truth . . . I had to stop over and over again, holding the bike up with each stop . . . and "for real", I could ride!  The only time I put pressure on my lower left leg was when I shifted and because of the set up on my bike I could use my toe to up shift as well as downshift.  It worked great and we made it to Durango that evening.  Another epsom soak that night and the next morning.  Decided to take a break from riding the following day . . . but some great rides were still ahead of us . . . BUT, I'll have to tell you more about that in my next post!

FINALLY . . . an update!

I fell off of the blogger wagon while I was recovering in Sedona.  I didn't have much to update as I spent the week going to therapy sessions and sitting with my leg/foot propped up.  The rest of the group enjoyed the time in Sedona going on hikes and swims and even going to the Grand Canyon one day and the Petrified Forest, Painted Desert and the meteor crater on another day.  Jim, Scott and Raymond went on a motorcycle ride one afternoon.  They missed a turn along the way and wound up in Winslow, Arizona! 

I had high hopes of being much better by the time we were scheduled to leave the Sedona area.  Our next stop along the way was Zion National Park.  I actually felt pretty good first thing that morning as we prepared to leave.  My leg was still a bit painful, and I was still on crutches, but I felt better than I had been feeling previously.  So we got things packed up and headed out.  We left my bike at a friends house and got on the road.  I rode with my Dad in his little RV.  Within a short period of time I started feeling much worse.  I began feeling weak, dizzy and nauseous . . . overall just plain yuck!  We made it to Zion National Park and the group went to dinner and I stayed in the room and rested.  The next day we toured Zion on a bus that runs through the park.  It worked great for me because I could see a lot without having to walk!  Ginny Laine, John, Sarah, Raymond and Scott got off on one of the stops and went for a hike.  By that afternoon I "went downhill" again and began feeling even worse.  That day my coping abilities dropped to near zero and I started to think about trying to fly home [and would have but couldn't figure out how to get back on my own].  The pain was bad but the way that I was feeling  in general [weak, dizzy, nauseous . . . ] was really what was getting me down .  I had been applying cold to the leg periodically because of the swelling but up to that point had not applied any heat.  The following morning I decided to take a warm mineral bath [had purchased some at the Sedona HFS] and it worked wonders.  It seemed to reduce the swelling and definitely reduced the pain.  I felt better overall than I had in days as we traveled to Bryce National Park.  We drove through the park and it was beautiful [pictures to follow . . . I hope].  I mostly stayed in the RV but did get off at one of the stops where I didn't have to walk very far.  We made our way to a state park near Bryce where we had booked some cabins to stay for the night.  It was a longer drive than we had anticipated to get to where we were staying, but the drive was amazing.  There were some beautiful rock formations all around us as we drove in and even surrounding the cabins where we stayed.  Very impressive . . . it is truly unbelievable the diversity in scenery that we had viewed up to this point on our trip [the reason that we love traveling out west].  It never gets tiresome . . . that is for sure!   And there was so much still to come . . . but I'll have to save that for my next post!

Painful riding . . .

After my little deer friend ran into me, we rode for about 30 miles and stopped for the night.  I wanted to ride further, but started feeling queasy so we thought it best to stop and let me rest.  My leg was swollen and painful.   Although nothing appeared to be broken, I started to think about the small fibula bone in the lower leg.  The area that was most swollen and painful was right over where this bone is, so I became concerned that it might have gotten fractured.  The deer bent the metal engine guard on my bike as it whipped around and hit my leg.  With that much force and with all the swelling I was having, I thought it might be possible.  We took time the next morning to have it x-rayed and thankfully, nothing was broken.  I guess my non-dairy veggie bones are pretty strong after all! 

I was still in pain and could barely walk on my leg.   I had some options.  We could rent a car and a trailer to haul the motorcycle . . .  we could leave the bike in Le Messa, the small town we had stopped in the night before, and come back later and get it . . . or I could ride it to Sedona, where I would have time to rest my leg and let it heal.  I didn't really want to leave my bike behind and the town we were in was pretty small and finding what we would need to rent to haul it seemed like it might be difficult.  Once I knew that nothing was broken, I decided that I would go for it.  I wish I had a video of the stops we made over the last couple of days [and the looks we got from people].  When I stopped the bike, Jim would come over . . .  put my kickstand down [I wasn't able to twist my leg in such a way to do that myself] and lean the bike over on the stand for me.  I would carefully get off the  bike and then . . . if I needed a bathroom break . . . I would hobble into the station to the bathroom and back.  When it was time to get started again, Jim would set the bike  back up, kick up the kick stand and get me ready to go.   I could barely walk . . . but if you prop me up just right . . . I could ride!  :) 

Shifting gears was painful so we headed for the interstate [a bit ironic since I really don't like interstate riding].  Going over bumps was also very painful so I avoided as many as possible and lifted my leg up to suspend it and reduce the impact when there was a dip, bump or rough spot in the road that I could not avoid.  As the day went along I had a little system that seemed to work pretty well.  As the heat of the day came on though, the swelling in my leg increased . . . along with the pain.    Late Sunday afternoon the pain became excruciating.  Every time I had to shift gears, a pain shot deep into my leg.  It was really rough and there was no where to stop for the night so we had to ride on.  We finally found a place in El Paso.  I got to ride up to the room on a luggage cart [makes a great substitute wheel chair, in a pinch].  Once in the room, I propped my leg up and kept it on ice the rest of the night.  We thought that we only had a 350 mile drive the following day to make it to Sedona.  After dinner Jim came in and broke the news to me that we still had 550 miles to go. I was quite distraught because I could see no way for me to make it that far.  I was having a very hard time walking and just didn't know if I could do it.     The next morning the swelling and pain had reduced but it was still very difficult to walk.  I had brought one of my therapeutic cups with me and did some light cupping over the leg [with a myofascial flair] which brought enough relief that I could make it down to the bike.  The early part of Monday was not too bad but by late afternoon it got hot . . . I mean REALLY hot . . . and the leg started to swell again [maybe the advice given at the emergency room for me to keep the leg propped up and stay off of it for the next couple of days was a smarter route to take . . . ya think?? ].  Between the pain, the leg swelling, the heat and the major traffic through Phoenix [interstate riding . . . I just love riding next to those big 18 wheelers . . . and all those "4 wheelers" that may not be looking out for us 2 wheelers] . . . the last few hours were the most difficult riding I have ever experienced. 

Those two days of riding were pretty tough . . . but we made it to Sedona where I am resting, having MFR treatments, keeping my leg propped up and icing it through out the day. I feel sure that a couple of days of rest here in beautiful Sedona will get things back on track.  I am still thankful that things were not worse,  Had I gone down on the bike going 75 miles an hour . . . it wouldn't have been good.  Also, even though my leg is in pain, "somehow" there is no damage to my ankle or my knee.  My foot is bruised, the side and back of my leg is swollen and bruised and I have a significant bruise above my knee . Every time I look at it I am amazed that the ankle and the knee were not impacted, even though everything around it was.  An ankle and/or a knee injury would have taken longer to heal . . . and I don't think that any level of determination would have allowed me to keep going had either [or both] been injured.  So . . . . today I am thankful . . . thankful to be alive, thankful that the injury was not worse, thankful that I am in such a wonderful, beautiful place, thankful that I have Jim and "the guys" here helping me . . . and thankful to have an awesome MFR therapist here to help spur the healing process along . . . and thankful to God . . . my God . . . that He was and is watching over us  . . . giving us the things that we need at just the right moment.  The Bible says that He will turn all things together for good [Romans 8:28] and I truly believe that He is . . and does! . . . AND  . . . as a friend once told me . . . "a bad day on a bike is still better than a good day in the car!"   . . . continuing THE JOURNEY . . .

o deer

Raymond made it to the hotel we were staying at last night around 10:45.  We were glad to have him with us, safe and sound.  He drove 680 miles in one day to catch up with us.  We left in the rain this morning and suited up in our rain gear.  We rode a short distance on I-20 and then got off on 180-west at Weatherford, Texas.  As we drove into Weatherford we found that the big one-day Peach Festival was in full swing.  We stopped by a farmers market and bought a couple of watermelons, some cherries & blueberries and then got back on the road.  180-West was detoured because of the Peach Festival and can we just say that they didn't mark the detour very well.  In any case we made it back on the road after driving around Weatherford for a bit.  We rode in the rain for part of the day but the weather began to clear.  We stopped at a road side park and ate one of our watermelon for lunch.  I was thrilled to be off of the interstate and we enjoyed some fun & relaxing riding.  Our plan was to make it to Carlsbad National Park to watch the bats fly out of the cave this evening.  As we were riding along a small deer jumped out at us . . . Jim didn't want to deal with the little thing so he passed her off to me (just kidding of course . . . he would have gladly taken the hit instead of having me deal with it :) . . . the baby deer hit my left front engine guard, my left side board and gear shifter . . . and slammed into my left leg . . . OUCH!  Thankfully, I kept my eyes looking ahead and continued to move forward . . . and I didn't lose it.  The guys worked on my bike for a while as I sat hoping my leg was not hurt too badly.  They bent the engine guard forward and worked on the gear shifter until they fixed it enough that I could ride it.  We rode about 30 miles and reluctantly I decided I needed to stop for the night.  My leg is pretty swollen . . . and painful . . . hoping it will be much better tomorrow after a good nights sleep.  Jim reminded me that he's pretty sure we wouldn't have seen a deer on the interstate . . . . for those of you that are praying for us on our trip .  . . thanks!

2010 . . . day two!

Another day under our belt.  We rode 400 miles today along I-20 and made it to just outside Dallas Texas.  The last 15 - 20 minutes of our ride was in rain.  We were in the midst of Dallas traffic without a place to stop and put our rain suits on . . . so, we got drenched all the way down to our socks!  We made it to our hotel which is right next to a Sweet Tomato Restaurant [40 feet of vegetables, awesome!].  We dried off and went for dinner, starting with the most amazing salad you can imagine.  Veggie soups and sweet potatoes and we are now happy campers with full bellies.  We heard from Raymond a little while ago . . . he was about 200 miles from us.  He will be driving in and meeting up with us soon.  I'm voting for an early start tomorrow morning.  It's nice to have a few hours of cooler temperatures before it gets really heated up. 

Here we go again . . . follow us on our 2010 motorcycle trip

Well, we've headed out again . . . we're on our sixth annual motorcycle trip.  This year's planned destinations include Carlsbad Caverns, Sedona Arizona, The Grand Canyon, Bryce & Zion National Parks &  Durango, Colorado.   Scott [Jim's brother], Jim and I started the journey yesterday after lunch.  Being the smart motorcycle riders we are, we waited until the hottest part of the day to get started!  Our friend Raymond will be meeting up with us hopefully later today.  My Dad left in his "baby bus" for Galveston, Texas. yesterday to take my sister home and will be meeting us around the Sedona, Arizona area.  Ginny Laine, John, baby Sarah, Jamie and our oldest grandson Cole will all be flying in, renting a car and meeting us in Sedona next week also.  Lots planned and we are looking forward to a great trip.  Yesterday we drove a short distance . . . 250 miles to Jackson, Mississippi.  It was hot, but were thankful that we ran into a few light showers along the way to help cool us off.  We are riding I-20 for a couple of days to make good time [and we all know how much I LOVE interstate riding!].