Migraine VS Magazine Mountain

Wednesday evening I was exhausted. Went to bed recognizing the first sign of a migraine, but hoping it would not develop.  By 3:00 AM I was sick and by 7:00 was in full migraine status with spasms in my shoulders, upper back and neck, pounding head, sensitivity to light and rolling stomach.  Max always knows when I’m sick and was loving on me.

Thursday was to be the first day of our bike ride into Arkansas to visit Magazine Mountain.  We wanted to make this trip before the holiday weekend crowd hit the highway, so postponing it wasn’t an option.  Chuck Morris and Derrill Wood had made plans and were excited to hit the road. 

Do I stay home and allow this migraine to keep me in bed for three days letting the guys have all the fun….or do I suck it up, take a bunch of pills with me and hit the road hoping for a great trip???  Let’s do this thing!

Many of you are riders.  But how many are passengers on bikes?  Let me give you some perspective from us “back seaters”. 

First, we have no frontal view to see what lies ahead.  If we lean to either side to see around you, we tip the bike/increase wind resistance/lower gas mileage/increase wind bufferage, etc.    We can’t turn around and see behind us (same causations).  We do have peripheral vision and what we can see in the side mirrors.

Second, the sensation as a passenger is like a roller coaster & small boat combined, but with no locked safety bars!  Drivers hold the handle bars and know exactly how the road twists and turns and what path you intend to take.  Passengers are along for the ride, trusting in your driving ability and strength to control it regardless of the terrain with our added weight and wind drag.  We lean when you do (rocking of the small boat) with no idea of upcoming curves, rough roads, hills or valleys (roller coaster), etc.  Are you beginning to get the idea?

Many senses are heightened with a migraine.  Smell is especially keen.  Some migraine sufferers find just the faintest perfume can increase nausea.  On a bike, one is able to easily discern surroundings through smell.  This time of year, so many options are available for enjoyment on a trip like this.  Everything is green and growing…freshly mown hay….just cut grass…fragrant lilacs…sweet honeysuckle…. Pine trees… a saw mill with newly cut logs… feed lots….chicken and turkey houses…. Hog farm… (I will NOT throw up in my helmet!  I can NOT throw up in my helmet!  If I raise my face shield and throw up… NO! it will fly back and hit Chuck!  There is no place to pull over!  Swallow. Swallow… Oh heck!  My ears just popped!  I can hear again!  I did not throw up!) Again, the sweet smell of honeysuckle….

We stopped on the way down about every hour and a half, stretched our legs, took off our helmets and got a snack or drink (I took more pills every 3 hours).  (A helmet gets very heavy on a head and neck with a migraine.) 

The scenery is absolutely breath taking!  We were all three surprised at the scope of the mountains in Arkansas.  We expected more like Southern Missouri.  Not so!  We took Arkansas Highway 7 between Harrison and Russellville and stopped at some turnouts with unbelievable views!  The photos do not do the scenery justice!

Thursday, we left our house at 8:30 AM and checked into the hotel in Russellville, AR about 6:00 PM.  We had supper at Cracker Barrel, came back to the hotel and watched some TV and hit the hay around 10:30 PM. (I fed fish, of course!)  I took extra pills so I could sleep, and hopefully wake a new woman.

A car alarm outside our window woke us before our scheduled wakeup call Friday.  (Migraine Day 2.) We left the hotel at 8:30 AM.  Today’s destination is Mount Magazine, the highest mountain in Arkansas at an elevation of 2,753 feet above sea level.  The sun on our back feels great as the temp was 65 degrees.  We began to climb the mountain on Arkansas 309.  (Refer back to passenger paragraphs.)  The curves and switchbacks were numerous and close together.  Suggested speed limits on the curves ranged from 30 mph down to 10 mph.  After several miles of this, we hit the first of several signs that read “Steep incline and sharp curves next 3 miles”.  REALLY??  What had we been on???  (On a good day I’m very susceptible to motion sickness, and this is far from a good day.)  Again, we stopped at turnouts with unbelievable panoramic views!  Rivers, lakes, farms, as far as the eye could see below us (and we were standing still while we looked).

We stopped at Magazine Mountain visitor’s center with super educational information about the history and local plant and wildlife.  (I took in a few displays, then found a couch that was just too inviting.  Leaned back, closed my eyes and tried to convince my body I felt great!) 

Back on the bikes for the final climb to see the fantastic Lodge and Cabins at the top!  We arrived and walked around enjoying God’s handiwork!  Stepped out to the very edge of “Hang Glider’s Take Off Point” and contemplated what it must feel like to gear up, take a wild run down that hill and jump out into space trusting you would soar like a bird!

The guys decided to hike the ½ mile trail to “Signal Hill”, the highest point on Mount Magazine.  I volunteered to stay with the bikes.  (As soon as they left, I stretched out on a picnic table and prayed for death!  With eyes closed, I sensed changes of dark and light.  Three huge vultures were soaring in a circle above me.  Did they know something I didn’t?)

Heading back down the mountain we enjoyed beautiful scenery and wonderful outdoor smells.  Pine trees were abundant and healthy and filled the air with their scent! We saw horses of every color and size, mules, donkeys, turkeys, chickens, cows, both sheared and full coated sheep, goats, cats, dogs, but the most unusual was a heard of one hump Camels! 

The temperature changes were very noticeable.  The higher elevation and narrow roads completely shaded by trees were quite cool.  Bridges over lakes and streams were open, sunny and warm.  Roads cut through hills were surrounded by rock that had been warmed by the sun and held the heat into the evening.  By the time we hit the Missouri line we put our jackets on and were wishing for more layers.

At our last stop, my right leg felt the pain from my seat and nearly refused to swing over the bike one more time.  We pulled into our driveway after 9:30 PM.  Friday we had been on the road over 13 hours. 

We had traveled 612 miles in two days conquering some of the most winding roads with more extreme switchbacks than I had ever seen.  It was a great trip, with fantastic scenery shared with my wonderful husband and his best friend.  I can’t wait for the next trip. (Well maybe I can wait at least a day or so!)

Do NOT Drink the Bleach!

How many times have you heard a comedian do a piece on “Do Not Drink” warning on bleach or some other obvious substance?  As if anyone would grab a jug of bleach and say, “Wow! I think I’ll drink this!”

I use bleach a lot!  As a licensed daycare provider I was taught early on that a solution of bleach and warm water can be used to clean and sanitize anything from counters, toys, bathroom surfaces to flooring.  I love bleach!  It removes stains and leaves everything “feeling” and smelling clean.  We drink a lot of iced tea.  Tea stains pitchers, glasses and spoons and bleach makes them look like new.  I soak my spoons on a regular basis in bleach, usually in a Tupperware tumbler sitting on the back of my kitchen sink.

A few years ago, I was cleaning and Derrill was working in the attic building shelves for additional storage.  It was about 110 degrees and dusty up there.  I went into my office to take a break as he was coming down to cool off.

He poked his head into my office and said, “Do you think it would hurt me to drink bleach?”

I tried to determine if he was joking, when it hit me.  “Did you drink the glass  sitting on the back of the sink?”

“Yep!”

“How much?”

“All of it.”

“What?  Couldn’t you taste or smell it???”

“I was hot and thirsty, thought it looked like a glass of tea when the ice has melted, so I chugged it.”

I looked on the bottle of bleach for emergency instructions.  Call Poison Control.

Poison Control Nurse:  “What is the nature of your emergency?”

Me:  “My husband just drank a glass of bleach.”

PCN:  “Is he breathing? Is he awake?”

Me:  “Yes.”

PCN: “How old is he?”

Me:  “62”

PCN:  “Is he lucid?”

Me:  “Before or after he drank the bleach?”

PCN:  “Both!”

Me:  “Yes.”

PCN:  “Can you get the phone to him?  Can he talk?”

Me:  “Sure, here he is.”

Derrill:  “Hello?”

PCN:  “Did someone force you to drink the bleach?”

Derrill:  “No!”

PCN:   “Did someone hand you the bleach saying it was something else?”

Derrill:  “No!  I was working in the hot attic, came down thirsty and just grabbed it and chugged it.  My wife had been cleaning some tea stained silverware.  It isn’t her fault.”

PCN:  “Couldn’t you smell or taste it?”

Derrill:  “Not until I drank it.  It left a funny taste in my mouth and I could smell it on my breath.”

PCN:  “Is your throat or stomach burning or are you in pain?”

Derrill:  “No.  Honestly I can’t tell anything is different.  It was diluted about ½ bleach and ½ water I guess.”

PCN:  “Ok. Dilute it by drinking several glasses of plain water.  Don’t take anything to induce vomiting. If you start having pain in your throat or stomach or have trouble breathing, get to the emergency room.  Otherwise, I’ll check back with you in a few hours.”

Derrill drank the water as he was told and never had any reaction.  The nurse called back about three hours later and Derrill again assured her he was fine.

Now a running joke, when I am using bleach in any way, I make sure Derrill KNOWS I am using bleach and what container in which the bleach is sitting.  Then for extra measure, I always say:

“DO NOT DRINK THE BLEACH!”

Riding the Back Roads

Today we rode our Honda Goldwing about 100 miles on back roads around the lake. The weather was beautiful!  We crossed the water many times and marveled at the lack of boats on the lake. But it is a week day.

Having lived in Johnson County, Kansas over 30 years, I'm used to strict restrictions regarding home size, roofing material, siding colors, fences, storage buildings, even what can be parked in your own driveway.  With little or no building restrictions or Home Owner Association regulations, diversity and individualism comes through loud and strong in our area.

I saw a vintage 10' x 50' aqua and white trailer just down the road from an all brick 5 or 6 bedroom home with 4 car garage.  Their out buildings were larger than our entire home.  

Some of the smallest homes sported the most cultivated and manicured yards that had taken years of planting, pruning and love to develop. Tulips, irises, peonies, lilacs, roses and annuals surrounding porches, bird baths, mail boxes and beautiful mature trees. Others were completely overgrown filled with rusted vehicles, tractors, trash, and weeds.

Pride of home ownership was so obvious in some areas where acres were  mowed right up to the blacktop, while others barely had a clear path to the driveway.

We stopped at a little "General Store" in a wide place in the road for a cold drink and to stretch our legs.  The public restrooms were across the road on the outside of the laundry-mat (ran by the store owners).  The store stocked the basics with groceries, snacks, T-Shirts, caps, carved black bear items, small yard statuaries, etc. but the surprise was in the quality and quantity of some additional items.  Beautifully detailed sterling silver charms of every type displayed in vintage glass counters, Native American feathers, bead work, dolls, and dream catchers AND beads!  With no Hobby Lobby type store within 100 miles, this little general store had found a niche carrying beads, needles, cording, jewelry fasteners, etc.  

The private home beside the General Store had a "Hummingbird Crossing" sign attached to her front porch.  Flocking around a dozen or more feeders were the most hummingbirds we had ever seen gathered in one location!  Beautiful, multi-colored little flyers speeding from one feeder to the next.  

Lastly we stopped for lunch at "Maxine's". Mom and Pop owned little local diner serving a country buffet of home cooked fried chicken, mashed potatoes, white gravy, green beans, corn, hot rolls and full salad bar for $4.95 a person!

Love being retired and having the freedom to enjoy such a great day with my Hubby.