Day 14 | Discouragement & Hope

March 23, 2017

Well… It’s pretty obvious by now that life with severe mold reactivity hasn’t been any more sustainable outside of Death Valley than it was inside of Death Valley. We’ve been driving around just as much, only now we’re living out of our car instead of staying in one place. Brett’s not getting any more work done and I’m not getting to spend any more time in pristine air.

Elko would have worked beautifully if it hadn’t been so cold and rainy, or if we had a camper of some sort that I could tolerate. The town felt fine to me and the camping areas near the Ruby Mountains felt amazing. I’m guessing we’ll end up going back there once the weather warms up a bit.

We couldn’t stay in the St. George area either because it was going to rain today and we really needed to do laundry. I’ve been decontaminating so frequently that I’m already out of clean shirts. So, this afternoon we ended up back in the Las Vegas area.

We were hoping to find a place to primitive camp on the public lands outside the city. Tragically, the place we were looking at ended up being awful. I got a bad headache, joint pain, back pain, heavy eyelids, throat tightness and malaise. We tried to get out quickly but that whole area turned out to be just as terrible. I felt so sick! It took us almost two hours of driving just to get out of that dreadful place to somewhere I could decontaminate safely and change into one of Brett’s t-shirts.

There have been times in the last two weeks where we could almost imagine our daily challenges were just a fun adventure. Not today. Today we just felt frustrated, overwhelmed, and exhausted. Why does this have to be so hard?

Next we tried another area outside of Vegas but my throat started closing off again and this time it was more severe. I was so afraid that it would continue swelling until it cut off my breathing! I took a Benadryl and we got out of there as fast as we could. Thankfully, once the Benadryl kicked in the swelling subsided.

Discouraged and out of options, we decided to head back towards Death Valley. At least we knew of a safe place there even if it didn’t solve our problems of needing better access to food, water and internet.

I sent out an update asking for prayer for God to intervene in our situation. To be completely honest, though, I didn’t have much faith that He actually would. But on the long road to Death Valley, God surprised me!

Almost miraculously, we happened upon a dirt road that led to a perfect spot for us to primitive camp on public land. I feel really good here, almost as good as I felt in the Ruby Mountains. The spot is only 13 minutes away from a water source and 23 minutes away from a town where we can buy food! We even have cell reception here so Brett can send out work emails!

We could not believe it. We were so relieved that we couldn’t help smiling. I’ve never been so thankful to be sleeping in a tent! 😊

I send out a weekly digest with updates about our adventures. To receive these updates click here.

Previous Post Next Post

You may also like

5 Comments

  • Marita Wilson

    I’m so glad that God led you to a safe place! Thank you, God!!

    March 24, 2017 at 4:36 pm Reply
  • Tor Nielsen

    Good news!

    March 24, 2017 at 6:16 pm Reply
  • Sharon Cleek

    He is good! And so happy to hear how He is looking out for you. Love the blog.

    March 24, 2017 at 6:50 pm Reply
  • Natalie Marie Julson

    Praying for you guys, and I’m glad that you got somewhere where you can hopefully breathe easier Ana.

    March 24, 2017 at 6:57 pm Reply
  • Erin

    I’m so sorry for you both! That is terrible! 🙁 I’m so glad God provided a good, safe place for you at the end though!!!! 🙂 Remember that in this life are many trials and tribulations. I’m actually memorizing a Bible verse relating to that: Phillipians 3:7-11 “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”

    March 24, 2017 at 6:58 pm Reply
  • Leave a Reply to Erin