Sunday, September 13, 2009

RUNNING INTO RAIN IN OREGON

Pretty drive up 101 through the redwoods.Yesterday we moved from Eureka, California to Brookings, Oregon, a short and scenic drive up the Pacific coast.  And I made a big boo-boo.

We have a few loose items around the motorhome that ride on the bed as we travel.  During our departure preparations, I retract the back slide, then move these loose things from the front of the motorhome to the bed in the back, and retract the front slide.

As I moved a small – but heavy – box to the bed, I leaned over the bed too far, reached across the laptop computer, and turned a bit sideways to set the box down.  Yikes!  A jolt of pure pain hit my back - I groaned, and dropped the box.  Ow, ow, ow!  (Those weren’t my exact words.)

In Site 7 at Brookings ElksI hobbled through the rest of the departure preparations, rubbing my back and hip and wondering how I’d feel by afternoon.  The answer?  Old!  Old, stiff, and painful.

We settled into a spacious site in at the Brookings Elks lodge (read our review and see photos here), but walking around was out of the question for me and I had to confess my disability to Odel.  I did nothing the rest of the day other than rub my back with an ointment for aching muscles, take ibuprofen, drink plenty of red wine, and lounge around looking pathetic, asking Odel to hand me this and that.  (He was very understanding.)

Today I felt MUCH better when I awoke – the do-nothing-but-drink-and-drugs treatment really worked.  :)  But Odel had his own health challenge – an annoying, on-again, off-again earache.  Since our day was getting off to a slow start, he sat down at the computer and googled for treatments.  Garlic, or garlic and olive oil, caught his eye.

Trying out the garlic cure for an earache.We are lucky to have on hand the mother of all Garlic, grown by our friend Marlene Dopp in her organic garden and passed along to us this summer.  This stuff could repel any vampire within half a mile.  The heads are gigantic and the cloves downright juicy!  If any garlic would cure an earache, this would.

So far, he has tried two treatments: the standard “half-clove of raw garlic in the ear” and the more exotic garlic-infused olive oil eardrops (we didn’t have a dropper, so just rubbed the oil in with a Q-tip).  It wasn’t an immediate cure; we’ll have to see if things have improved by tomorrow.  It entertained us for most of the morning, though!

Once my back limbered up and Odel removed the garlic from his ear, it was noon.  The fog had cleared to reveal overcast skies, but we had time for a walk at the harbor, a hike at nearby Harris Beach State Park, and a stop at Fred Meyer for dinner ingredients before rain set in.  Now we are cozy at home, sports on TV for my lightly garlic-scented husband, a light rain falling outside, a rotisserie chicken on the counter (to be accompanied by a quinoa/dried cranberry salad and waffle-cut fries for dinner), plenty of wine on hand. 

Brookings beach hike on an overcast day. And now, a quick RAVE: way back in January, when we decided to have the outside of Scoopy restriped, cleaned and polished, we also decided to spring for an electric awning.  It was a difficult decision, a BIG expense that we weren’t sure would pay off. 

Well, 9 months later, I am SO convinced that it was worth the money and effort to switch.  We use the new awning a hundred times – no, 1000 times – more frequently than we ever used the manual awning, all because I can put it out and bring it in by myself.  When it looked like rain today, I deployed the awning and moved Luna’s crate under it to keep the crate dry.  A moment ago, the “rain drain” feature kicked in, lowering the back end of the awning about 6 inches to drain the water that would otherwise pool on top of the awning. It is SO COOL!  So, if you have been considering such a change – go for it!

6 comments:

  1. If you should feel like having a very nice dinner with a short drive, then head up to Gold Beach to Spinners restaurant. The planked salmon has had raves from our friends Jim/Nancy and also us and the salad with the walnuts and cranberries is terrific. There is also a wonderful book store in Gold Beach with new books downstairs and used books upstairs with a rare book room also where there are rare documents under glass that you can peruse, some very interesting old letters by famous people, etc. And there was a farmers mkt at the end of the Brookings Harbor on Sat mornings, it should still be going I would think. Have fun, get well. Sharon and Allan

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  2. ahh, Laurie, condolences for your back and Odel's garlicy ear! best wishes. I have good memories of Brookings. Mo had a condo there and gave it up when we got the MoHo!! we sometimes go back and park at Harris Beach SP for old times sake.

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  3. Sorry to hear about your back issue and Odel's ear. Getting old is hell isn't it? hahaha

    Hope you're both better soon.

    Jo

    P.S. Nice to see you active on Facebook. Enjoying your posts.

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  4. I thought you were preparing a spaghetti sauce, not an ear remedy... Seems a little witchcrafty to me. LOL. You, know, if they pass universal health care, you can walk straight into a doctor and get it looked after, no money needed. Canada style!

    Have fun, keep writing!

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  5. You know, Odel looks very chic with that garlic in his ear...hope your back stays feeling better and Odel's earache goes away soon!

    Hugs, Sharon & Ron

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  6. In the 70's my doctor told me to use equal parts of peroxide, vinegar and mineral oil to cure 'swimmer's ear' which is like an itch and pain deep in your ear. Worked for me. How did the garlic work for Odel? How's your back? Hope to see you soon! J&C

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