When I woke up this morning I had no idea where I was. I’m practically blind without my glasses and wasn’t sure where they were. I knew we had slept in the car though, and vaguely remembered driving somewhere while I was half asleep. I figured maybe Brett needed to get some work done this morning and had driven to the closest spot with cell reception. I called for him but didn’t receive an answer.
I fumbled around to find my glasses. When I finally found them, I saw that Brett was just a few yards down the road playing with an energetic bloodhound. A DOG! I realized we were at our neighbor Maria’s campsite. It turns out, Brett had seen two cars pull into her spot and wanted to make sure she was safe. What a good guy!
I got out of the car, greeted Maria and started playing with the dog. Then I saw three more dogs approaching! Two little chihuahuas and a beautiful Siberian husky. Wow! Doggy heaven! I was so happy! 😍
They definitely made my day… but not without making me miss our own dog even more. I know she is safe and happy with my family but I just can’t wait to be reunited with her!
Ramona, our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
After a few minutes of chatting, we said goodbye to Maria and her dogs. It was time to have breakfast and start packing. I put away all the clean laundry while Brett cooked. Then, I cleaned the car (as best I could without a vacuum) and Brett packed up our stuff. I started to feel pretty bad while I was cleaning and had to rest while Brett finished packing up the car. The whole process took longer than we expected. It was past 4:00pm when we finally pulled out of our spot! We had run out of drinking water and were both super thirsty!
So, we drove to Pahrump to get more water and then went to explore the surrounding area. We were hoping we might find another good primitive camping site nearby. Unfortunately, I reacted badly to the first area we tried. The second area didn’t feel bad but there were fences all along the road. It must have been privately owned land.
After that, we decided we should probably get on the road to Albuquerque since we weren’t finding anything in the area. Besides, we needed to stop in Las Vegas anyway to get groceries and return some items we bought at REI. Thankfully, I did okay in the Whole Foods parking lot this evening. I didn’t have any serious reactions. The REI parking lot was a different story however, and I had to decontaminate after we left the city.
Next, we drove into Arizona to look for a place to sleep. We found a little pull-out spot that looked like it would work. Unfortunately, I had a bad reaction while Brett was taking our stuff out of the car so that we could lean our seats back.
I got chest pain and tightness, sudden anxiety, and started feeling like my brain was being squeezed. I also experienced one of my old neuropsychiatric symptoms– feeling like I am no longer inside my body. I hadn’t had that one in a really long time! It’s hard to explain but basically I would look down, see my hand and feel like it wasn’t really *my* hand. Very disconcerting!
Needless to say, Brett packed the car back up and we left immediately. I was really discouraged, but it turns out that I didn’t have to be. We found a great spot just a few miles down the road! What a relief!
