Fever and Daytime TV

It has been a series of lost days.

The day after our anniversary I came down with a bad case of the flu.  The next three days were spent in the coach recovering from fever and and watching daytime TV.  I’m not sure which was worse.  At least Jeanne was able to get out to run some errands.

The illness forced a change to our plans.  We were suppose to be on our way to Colorado Springs by now, but we put off making the trip a few days.  Too bad, we had our minds wrapped around moving on.  But like so many other things we learned on the road, things can quickly change and you have to be flexible.

Despite my illness, there were some things of note.

We frequently talk about our working careers and how we enjoy leaving it all behind.  In an ironic twist, one evening Jeanne returned to the coach with a work assignment for me.  During a conversation with the campground owners, the discussion turned to the map campers receive upon check-in.  For a year and a half, the owners wanted to make changes to the map, but couldn’t find anyone to do the work.  Knowing I could hack with graphics on the computer, Jeanne was quick to volunteer my services.  Truth be known, I did enjoy the challenge and was glad to help the owners.  We were both surprised at how well it turned out.

Tonight, we were having dinner when a stranger knocked on the door.  As it turned out, some guy would be pulling in for the weekend and wanted to ask me about satellite reception.  By some miracle, the signal is able to reach us through a hole in the tree canopy while almost everyone else around us is blacked out.  While my dinner was cooling and flies were charging into the coach (somehow word gets out in the fly community when our door is open) I informed the guy of the situation.  Well, guys love to talk about their rigs and the conversation quickly was redirected to the virtues of his new coach and the the modifications he already made to it.  The guy has a brand new 2004 model year coach and already he has modified the air bag system, bought new shocks, put on a steering dampener and upgraded the exhaust.  In the process, he probably voided every manufacturer warranty.  What possesses guys to mess with their rigs like this?  Most problems in life are self inflicted.

Finally, by this morning, I recovered enough to have morning coffee with my newfound friend, Bob.  Triplog readers may recall Bob and Connie have about a month to go before construction of their new home is completed.  In the meantime they are living in the 5th wheel.  Anyway, solving the world’s problems over a morning cup of coffee is always a satisfying experience.

Hopefully, my recovery will continue and we will be road-ready by Monday.  In the meantime, we plan to use the next few days to visit with friends and prepare to move on.


Contemporary Note:  In retrospect, my illness was probably tick fever.  Lyme disease perhaps.  All the symptoms were there.  I hadn’t been this sick in many years and can understand how this can kill someone.