The Road Back to Georgia

You may be wondering why you haven't seen pictures in my blog, as I love to take the pictures and post them for others to enjoy. There is a reason for this.

The good news is that I download my photos to the computer quite often, and I had done that for all the pictures I took prior to the arrival of my friend, Delores. So the only pictures on on my camera were for the Hiawatha Bike Ride, the day at Kootenai Falls and the Cedar Forest, and of course, the rodeo (even took some video of some bull rides).

I had changed some settings on the camera and it was doing some strange things. We love these little cameras that can do anything, but sometimes they have so many settings and get so complex that they are difficult to use. So after I got ready for bed, I started playing with the camera (really shouldn't do this when you are tired). As I said above, Jane showed me how to take video with the camera (which turned out really well), and I knew video took up a lot of room on the memory card. So I wanted to see how much room I still had left on my 2GB card (until this trip didn't know they made 2GB memory cards at a reasonable price -- I was still in the MB era). There was a menu listing called "format" and it showed that I had used a little over 800MB on the card. What I didn't realize is that unless I actually hit the "cancel" button, I was about to reformat the card. AND I LOST ALL MY PICTURES!!!!

So I've asked Delores and Jane to get me a CD of their pictures for those days we were all together. Hopefully they will send those to me and I can publish some pictures for our activities at a later date. Couldn't believe I could do something so DUMB -- but I did. Lesson learned.

OKAY.....it is Monday morning and at 7AM we took off for Georgia. We are headed to Jackson, WY on the first night, Denver, CO the second night, and to Santa Fe the third night. Then 2 more days back to Georgia.

On Sunday (June 28), I started to get a toothache. And I had just gone to the dentist before I left, had a full set of x-rays done, and she didn't find any cavities, so I'm not sure what this is. But we needed to leave, and I was sure it wouldn't get any worse. I was only in a little pain on the way to Jackson. We went through Yellowstone, and the biggest "pain" was all the construction on the way out of the south entrance to the park. We must have sat (motor off) about 1 1/2 hours between 4 different places. And the worst were the mosquitoes. We couldn't open the windows even a crack, as they were swarming the truck. It was like they knew there was fresh blood in the truck -- they just couldn't figure out how to get in. It was at this time I really felt sorry for the bikers -- they were just swatting and swatting.

So the next morning, we wanted to go shopping until n0on and then take off for Denver. Had a great time, spent a lot of money, and Delores did her best to get me to buy something more fashionable than a polo shirt. For those who know me, a polo shirt and jeans is my normal outfit. I am a potential candidate for the "What not to Wear" show. So I've got some new shirts (to go over my jeans) which really do look nice.

Now we are on to Denver -- and we took the wrong turn and added at least 2 hours to our 8 1/2 hour drive. But it was beautiful. I figured I didn't need the GPS system, since I drove to Jackson this way on my way to Montana -- WRONG!! As we left Jackson, I knew we needed to be on Hwy. 89, and I thought we followed 89 southeast down to I-90. What was listed on the Google directions I printed -- IN SMALL PRINT -- was that we had to take the turn onto Hwy 191. We came to that "Y" in the road, and I said we needed to follow 89, although I thought we were turning southwest but I figured the road would turn back.

We went through sections of the Teton National Park, and it was beautiful. But I'm thinking that I don't remember all these beautiful mountains and rivers on the trip to Montana. That was 6 weeks ago, and maybe I just forgot. I should have listened to myself, as we are now headed to Idaho.

I drove for a bit, but now my mouth is really throbbing, and I feel like I just need to close my eyes. So Delores took over driving, and she is following my directions. I did get a little sleep and felt better, but when I woke up, we were passing the sign that said "Welcome to Idaho". Now I KNOW we have gone the wrong way. We got out the map (and the GPS) to find our way back east to I-90. It was easy to get there but added another 80 miles to the miles we had already gone the wrong way. I kept hitting my head saying, "Stupid, Stupid.....STUPID!!" During the rest of the trip we yelled at the GPS many times as it tried to take us off the freeway to take back roads, but if I had turned it on when I left Jackson, the lady in the GPS would have yelled at me to "turn right and then immediately right" and told me I was making the wrong turn. Would have saved much time.

We checked into the hotel late (about 11 PM), and my mouth is hurting. I had bought some Anbesol which it says you should use no more than 4 times a day. That night I was awake in extreme pain all night, taking Tylenol and using the Anbesol. When I woke in the morning, I immediately called my Dentist in Ellijay to see when I could get an appointment. It didn't help that it is the holiday weekend coming up and they are closed for several additional days. But I have an appointment on Tuesday morning. The good thing is that they called in prescriptions for an antibiotic and a pain pill.

At this point, Delores made a wise decision and said we should skip Santa Fe and just drive home. I hated to do this to her, but I really wanted to get out of that truck and into my house. Actually during the day, I would have several hours of no pain. But the nights were the worse. When we finally stopped in Missouri for the day, I immediately took a pain pill. I think the pain was so bad at that point, that I'm not sure the pill could catch up with the pain. And about 3 hours later, I took another one. It really didn't do anything, and it didn't put me to sleep. I was putting on Anbesol every 20 minutes all night long (and the tube says only use 4 times a day).

In the morning, I am groggy, dizzy, and nauseaus. So Delores will have to drive for the day, as I could hardly stay awake. When we left, we were driving into the sun, and even with my eyes closed, I felt like it was searing me. So.....NO MORE PAIN PILLS. Now I'm just on Ibuprofen and Anbesol and antibiotics. And by the time we reach Ellijay, I'm finally coming out of the groggy state, and the pain pills are wearing off.

So now I'm just waiting for Tuesday. It is Sunday night as I write this, and I sooooo wish this wasn't a holiday weekend and the dentist was open tomorrow. But I have to get through another 2 nights. I can't believe that I cannot wait to go to the dentist office -- first time I've ever said that. As a kid, I used to take pills that would start to put me to sleep to go to the dentist. In my home town of Milan, the dentist was by the local "Wonder Bar", and my mother would tell me not to weave in front of the bar or everything would think she had taken me drinking.

I need to get rid of this pain so I can go see my horse, Ludo. I've been told he is doing very well and I can't wait to get back on his back, although he might be very happy without me around. Anke does ride him better, but I am "CARROT LADY", and he knows he gets carrots after our rides. I'm sure he at least misses that part of our relationship.

So Montana is done for now. My property in Nye is up for sale, and the broker said he has shown it several times and feels good about being about to sell it. If so, there will be a serious trip to Montana to find a place to buy. I still don't know if I want to live there full time, or just go for the summers. It is such a big decision to leave my home in Georgia and all my friends to move to Montana. This is when I envy friends who have husbands and families, as they move their support structure with them, and also have several other opinions to help make the decision. I really love my property and home in Ellijay, and I'm afraid I won't find this in Montana for the same price. If you are anywhere in Montana where there is civilization, it does tend to be more expensive than Georgia.

I also think "fate" has to play a part in this decision. I know I will love being in Montana -- even the winters. So it isn't that I'm going to a bad place. It's that I would be leaving a beautiful place with some great friends. So "fate" will intervene if my home in Ellijay sells and when -- and also the Nye property selling and when. If Nye and/or Ellijay has not sold by next spring, I believe I will see how I could build something small for the summer in Nye, and keep my home in Ellijay. If either or both sell, then I'm buying something to live in Montana which could be part time or full time.

Either way.....I'll be back in Montana next summer (at a minimum). Maybe I'll be "jammer" with the "Red Bus" in Glacier (drivers are called Jammers because the original buses were manual and the drivers had to "jam" the gears), or a ranger manning one of the toll booths, or giving tours or hikes of the park. Or I could be in Yellowstone. Or maybe I'll rent a house for 6 months, and just go spend the time I can. And I want everyone to come visit.

So.....to be continued in 2010.