On the Way Home
Saturday. To quote a line in a C & W song, (Mac Davis, I think) ‘Happiness is Lubbock, Texas in the rear view mirror.’ The road carried us west across west Texas and the Permian Basin. I think that Permian refers to a geologic era. The basin supplied much of our military’s petroleum needs during WW II. The area is so flat that highway expansion joints are prominent terrain features. The sights consisted of agriculture (cotton and peanuts) and oil fields.
We were on our way to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Guadalupe Peak is the high point of Texas. We (I) wanted to reach the top of another states high point. The highway incidentally also passed Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We stopped and toured the cavern. It was really spectacular. They encouraged us to take pictures, but due to the lack of light we met only marginal success. It’s an odd phenomenon of nature that sunlight seldom penetrates through 750 feet of limestone.
We camped for the night in a Guadalupe NP campground.
Sunday. The hike to the peak was estimated to be 4 hours up and 2 hours down. A weather report was posted predicting high winds beginning around 11:00 am. I awoke early and decided to set out early in hopes of beating the wind. Dianne was not enthusiastic but she would not let me go alone. It did take us about 4 hours to reach the top. The views from the top were spectacular. The trip down, however, took about 3 hours. After 4 hours of strenuous climbing the legs had become very shaky and ceased to work as designed. The wind was quite strong and gusting, but did not prove to be a problem. To say that Dianne enjoyed the hike less than I did would be putting it mildly. I suspect that mountain climbing won't be tops on her list of things to do foor at least a few weeks.
Monday. We set out for home. Yellow flowers carpeted the roadsides and the hillsides. I will post some photos from a rest area in eastern AZ. We stopped for the night at Eloy, AZ. At dinner I began to feel some discomfort and then some fever.
Tuesday. At about 3:00 am Dianne decided that she needed to act. She located a hospital about 5 miles away and we set out for the emergency room. I was their only customer and did not have to wait very long. They ran all sorts of tests. A tentative diagnosis was gall bladder but with an ultrasound diagnostic. It would have to be during normal hours. Since the coach was parked in their lot, which was empty at 3:00 am we decided to forego the test. Dianne drove most of the way home and I slept. We arrived home mid-day.
We were on our way to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Guadalupe Peak is the high point of Texas. We (I) wanted to reach the top of another states high point. The highway incidentally also passed Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We stopped and toured the cavern. It was really spectacular. They encouraged us to take pictures, but due to the lack of light we met only marginal success. It’s an odd phenomenon of nature that sunlight seldom penetrates through 750 feet of limestone.
We camped for the night in a Guadalupe NP campground.
Sunday. The hike to the peak was estimated to be 4 hours up and 2 hours down. A weather report was posted predicting high winds beginning around 11:00 am. I awoke early and decided to set out early in hopes of beating the wind. Dianne was not enthusiastic but she would not let me go alone. It did take us about 4 hours to reach the top. The views from the top were spectacular. The trip down, however, took about 3 hours. After 4 hours of strenuous climbing the legs had become very shaky and ceased to work as designed. The wind was quite strong and gusting, but did not prove to be a problem. To say that Dianne enjoyed the hike less than I did would be putting it mildly. I suspect that mountain climbing won't be tops on her list of things to do foor at least a few weeks.
Monday. We set out for home. Yellow flowers carpeted the roadsides and the hillsides. I will post some photos from a rest area in eastern AZ. We stopped for the night at Eloy, AZ. At dinner I began to feel some discomfort and then some fever.
Tuesday. At about 3:00 am Dianne decided that she needed to act. She located a hospital about 5 miles away and we set out for the emergency room. I was their only customer and did not have to wait very long. They ran all sorts of tests. A tentative diagnosis was gall bladder but with an ultrasound diagnostic. It would have to be during normal hours. Since the coach was parked in their lot, which was empty at 3:00 am we decided to forego the test. Dianne drove most of the way home and I slept. We arrived home mid-day.
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