Day 15 - Heading Home

Not a great nights sleep for either of us. Joe ate to much at dinner, I keep thinking about the guy in the car. We got coffee and headed to the airport. As is in Atlanta, the Vegas airport has you running from one end of it to the other. I held the security line up because I brought a can of soda in my bag. Joe was irritated. That has been the word of the trip "irritated." Are you mad honey? No I'm irritated. For all the time we spent side by side, we were only "irritated" with one another a few brief times. I couldn't even tell you now about what. We are great travel companions. I was reminded this trip, just why I love Joe and I think he would say the same about me! We discussed several times the order in which we would rate our favorite parks. It would go something like this: first, Zion, then Bryce, Yosemite, Sequoia, Grand Canyon, Death Valley. But, that is not to say that we didn't like the ones at the end of the list. Really, you cannot rate them in an order. Each park was so amazing. Amazing for their beauty. Or spectacular for their unique landscape and formation. Each park had its' own personality, flavor, and unique features. We rated our favorite meals. Joe picked the Japanese restaurant. I pick the Bellagio buffet. We really didn't focus on eating out. We generally had a large meal midday where ever we happened to be. There is nothing we would have done differently. Our time spent planning the itinerary for this trip was time well spent. We have come back with tons of pictures that we will sort through and put together in a book of sorts. And, this blog was written as much as for our family to follow along on our trip and for us to not look back and try and remember what we did each day! We are already talking about our next vacation. Maybe to the Florida Keys or the Atlantis Hotel for our tenth anniversary next April!

Emergency: Death Valley! The Video!

Emergency: Death Valley!

I was happy Joe got to experience Death Valley. I had been there twice before, but not seen nearly as much of it as Joe and I saw. We headed out towards Vegas, eager to start our trip home as we have missed our home and our animals, and family. Shortly after leaving the park, I told Joe to look behind him. He looked and said what am I looking at? I told him that is your two weeks of vacation coming to an end. He looked again and saw a cop with his lights flashing behind us. We were thinking we just drove 2,250 miles and now we are going to get a ticket? But, the cop flew right by us at about 90 miles an hour. Now, when you are in the desert with nothing around, you know he can only be heading toward a car wreck of some sort! Yet when we drove a few more minutes with no sight of him, I figured he turned off on one of the few roads to no where off the highway we were on. So, I started reading my book again.

Sure enough, after a few more minutes, we came upon the cop car stopped on the side of the road with a small four door car sitting on the desert floor some 8 feet below the road with no visible damage to the car! I had Joe stop and I rolled my window down and asked if he needed help, that I am a nurse. He's like sure come on over! I said what is going on. He's like well got a guy down there not responsive and not breathing! Geeze! I hate when that happens!

I go sliding down the gravelly bank with my flip flops and there were these three people standing around the car. There was an unopened orange medic bag sitting there on the ground. The woman said she was an EMT (who happened upon the accident) but was not legally allowed to touch the guy. Not sure why she would say that. Anyway, I look in the car and there is a large adult male laying across the front seat with his head propped on the passenger side door bent at a bad, bent sideways angle. About a dozen prescription bottles laid on the floor of the passenger front seat of his car. (Heart and diabetes meds to name a few.) Sure enough, he was not breathing. No one there had started any kind of treatment. I was like, well we need to get this guy an airway! I had the "EMT" stabilize the head while the cop and I opened the door. The guy seemed pretty dead to me. I opened his eyes and didn't like the looks of them! He didn't respond to my voice or corneal stimulation. A very bad sign. I said we need to get this guy out of the car and onto the ground so I can work on him. Everyone was like what, how are we going to do that? I'm like just do it! Joe held the car door open, the cop grabs the guy by the belt, and I was at the arms. He must have weighed 250! His legs got caught on the steering wheel, but we kept pulling and pulling. Apparently, he had two prosthetic legs and they got caught! Later I was wondering how do you drive with no legs. Any way, got him to the ground, still no breathing. I had a stethoscope. I did hear a faint heart beat. I had a pocket mask, so I gave him some breaths and he spontaneously started breathing again. I yelled for someone to get a blanket and give us some shade!

Gave him a good sternal rub and another corneal swipe, no response to pain. I just kept assessing him. The medical helicopter was called and was six minutes out. I made sure there were no passengers who might have been thrown from the car. After a bit, I could no longer hear a heartbeat. Couldn't feel a carotid pulse. I hate when that happens too. Now I have to start compressions! CPR at 105 degrees! And, I skipped the short hikes in Death Valley b/c I didn't want to get sweaty! After what seemed like forever, the cop tells us the helicopter will be landing any second. Indeed they did and they landed right next to us. You could only imagine the dirt and rocks that thing spit on us! Certainly the worst conditions I have ever done CPR in before! They got the guy intubated, the heart started and stopped a few times. They couldn't get an IV in him and were going to put one in the bones of his legs till someone told the paramedic there were no legs!

At any rate, I continued to hang around and lending a hand to the ambulance crew and the ambulance crew setting up the head blocks, switching O2 tanks, etc. just like the old days. They were on the ground with him for what seemed like forever. Because he was so big, it took six people to carry him up the steep, rocky bank to the waiting chopper. I deferred from lifting for several reasons. Joe was at the head (he was great through all of this.) The guy at the end says to me, can you come to the end and watch his legs don't fall off. Now you should know that when it was discussed that the guy had two fake legs, I was busy with other things, so I missed that part! So, I thinking, ok, this is weird, where does he think the legs will go? The guy is strapped to a backboard. Whatever, so with six guys ahead of me spitting rocks out from there shoes I trudge behind with my flip flops on hanging on to the guys to feet. I noticed his sneakers looked rather small and his legs were at a weird position. And, when I grabbed him around the ankles, I notice they are all stiff, and I'm thinking rigors! What is up with that. How could it be rigors?? When Joe told me after about the fake legs I just had to laugh! I said to Joe, how can some one drive with no legs, well maybe not so good after all. Joe made a bad joke about the guy didn't have a leg to stand on!

So, he was loaded onto the helicopter, and Joe got cool video of the chopper taking off and a few moment of me in it which he will post to this blog later!

This man had no obvious injuries other than a scrape on his left elbow. Given all the meds, I feel he had a medical episode while driving before he left the road. The sheriff called me later in the day to update me on his condition. His mother said he had been depressed and his new bottle of xanax was empty. Likely a suicide attempt. He had an arrest record that we saw online. As of last night he was in a coma and had brain damage. He also wanted to tell me the flight crew wanted to thank me for my help. It was a good feeling, I'll say that much. Joe was a great help!

Strangely, just a few minutes before we saw the cop fly by us, I was daydreaming about going back to school for my paramedic license!

Day 14

Death Valley. But it's such a dry heat! After quick showers, we hit the road to explore Death Valley. Our first trip was a nine mile loop around Artist Point. There we got to see Rock Formations colored green, pink, and purple. Very pretty. The thing about Death Valley is that the types of rocks change to different colors, textures, heights, and directions, very quickly as you are driving. We went to the Badlands of Death Valley. The lowest point in all of North America. 282 feet below sea level. It was very hot, like 105 or something early in the morning. There were puddles of water left over from the winter with crusts of salt scattered throughout. Our next stop was a trail to take where you could see a natural stone bridge. Joe went w/o me as I opted for the cool comfort of the AC in the car. He took pictures that were pretty cool. We saw the Devil's Golf Course where there is a field of salt formations covering the ground. No golf happens there, however. The neatest thing we saw was Zapraski Point. The most vibrant colors anywhere in Death Valley, and the neatest formations of rock overlooking the salt floors below. The land scape here is like nowhere else on earth. It is hard to describe and like so many of the sights we have experience the past two weeks, pictures do not do many scenes justice.

Day 13

Last night we had a yummy dinner at a Japanese restaurant just next to the hotel. We stayed at the Best Western in Bishop CA. It was very nice. Beautiful green, flowered grounds with a creek running through it. The walls of the creek had been turned into walls of round rocks cemented together. Tons of large, yellow and orange marigolds, and shrubbery made it a beautiful sight. There was a pool and jacuzzi that we did not try out. Dinner kept us out until after 9:00 or so. We slept great, and woke up around 6:00. There was a nice breakfast in the lobby. Got some laundry done, and enjoyed sitting outside our room that overlooked the creek. A hummingbird was busy making a nest in the tree right outside our door. She was not happy that we sat so close to her "project". I wish we could have seen the nest completed with babies in it. We also had two male and one female ducks right next to our sitting area. Remembering the goose that "goosed" me on the back of my head, I was a bit leary. They to didn't like us sitting in their area, and quickly, but not quietly, left for better digs.

We are so ready to get home! Pretty homesick both of us! We even tried to get a flight a day earlier, but found it to be to costly. We will make the most out of our final days out west, and look forward to the unique terrain that makes up Death Valley! As soon as our laundry is done!

After stopping for a chai latte to go, we left Bishop CA. With stops it took us 5 hours or so to get to our hotel at Death Valley. We stopped to use the bathroom at the first thing that came along. There isn't much commerce in this hot desert. The burgers were surprisingly good. We sat next to four Japanese people who kept eyeing our food. Finally, they turned to us and wanted us to point to what we were eating on the menu because they do not speak English and couldn't tell the waitress. They were excited that we could help them. They really wanted burgers! They were confused when they kept ordering Coke and the waitress kept saying Pepsi. The restaurant had a book for visitors to sign in. Most visitors were from overseas. I was surprised that they would visit Death Valley, though there is a beautiful resort here. (Not the one we are in, unfortunately.)

The desert drive was, of course, very hot. 109 most of the way in. Lots of hill and valleys. We went from about 5,000 ft. to below sea level. We stopped to see Salt Creek. It was a 0.5 mi. hike. We took it! The creek is now mostly a puddle here and there, but we can say we took a hike in 109 degree heat! Pretty brutal. I was glad to get back to the car. We stopped at an old borax mine site. I let Joe take that short hike himself, and he said it was quite interesting how they used to mine and ship the borax. Some Europeans were asking him what borax was.

Our hotel is a 2.5 star I'd say. The pool, which gets it's water from a spring, was too warm to make us get in it. So, after arriving here about 4:00 or so, we did some shopping, and spent the rest of the night in our room to keep cool. Tomorrow, we hope to get an early start. We will have some great, unique sites on our was along the Death Valley on our way to Vegas. There really is no place like this in the world. I'm glad Joe has the opportunity to see it. I have been here twice before, but tomorrow will see things new to me.

Day 12 (Part 2)

We drove a few thousand feet down to the valley into Yosemite Village. Very extremely beautiful road that ran along the river! By that time, it had become more crowed with tourists (like us.) Actually, the most tourist we have seen on our trip. We saw a good size bat flying around. It seemed disoriented and unsure how to get out from under an over hanging roof. Must have been sick or rabid. We had salmon burgers for lunch in a nice wooded area with tables outdoors. We ended up driving through the valley, making many stops at turn outs along the way. Lots of waterfalls, rivers, mountainous rock formations. Just amazing! We continued out of the valley, heading to our next stop, Bishop, CA where we will spend the night. The road was treacherous for many miles. Narrow, twisty, no guard rails between our tires and steep cliffs. Amazingly, people speed dangerously on these roads, ignoring the signs that say speed kills bears! Much to our amazement, there was still snow on the ground for much of the way. At one point, Joe stopped and made a snowball. I touched it. We stopped several times more for photos, and to enjoy the scenery. The most magnificent spot was Olmstead Point. Walls and walls of white rock. The cracks that ran through them made them look like a patchwork quilt. Out of no where a tree would grow where it seemed there was no soil. Truly spectacular. We took a 0.2 mi. hike down and were able to walk all over these rocky slopes. It was sooooo cold! Especially for Joe who insisted I wear his jacket. Shortly after this, our camera battery died. We missed some great photo ops, but we won't soon forget the remaining waterfalls, lakes, and snow covered peaks.

The Great Encounter

Day 12 is interrupted in order to give proper time to the biggest thrill of the trip. Here is what happened: While still up on the top of Yosemite, we stopped at a trail head called Mono Meadow Trail. We saw a Ranger there who was preparing to hike the trail himself. We spoke to him briefly with a few questions about the trail. He was very nice. At the trail head, there was a sign stating that if you were camping on the trail, you needed a permit, and FYI this was bear territory! Bravely, we set out for this 0.6 mile steep descent. It was the least marked trail we had been on so far, but it was easy enough to follow. We saw lots of deer tracks. We also saw lots of fallen, decaying trees that had been torn to shreds by hungry bears looking for insects to snack on. Feeling pretty brave, we continued on. Every so often we stopped to look at flowers, birds, or the scenery around us. We (at least I was) on heightened alert for any bear that might be around the next turn. Some where near the bottom of the trail and not to far from Mono Meadow, I lost my nerve. I kept thinking, if Liz knew we were hiking in bear territory, with the intent to see a bear, she would think we were crazy. Then I thought, David would think the same thing! What was I thinking. At that point, the woods suddenly became thicker, darker, more sinister, closing in on me, my PTSD kicking in. Joe sensing my increasing unease, asked me if I wanted to turn around and go back. I did not hesitate! When I turned around, I saw it! Yes, the handsome Ranger we met at the top of the trail! Surely he would protect us if we ventured into the meadow and came up on a bear! Yes, he said! Follow me! (He had a shovel, but no gun!) We had to cross a fallen log over a creek. The meadow in sight. In the mud at the edge of the creek, a bear paw print! Joe snapped some photos. As we looked over the meadow, no bear in sight. Yesterday, some folks told us that they had come to this spot and seen a momma and her two little ones, their heads peeking out of the tall grass. Joe was disappointed. (Secretly, he has held out belief that he will see Sasquach on this trip.) Still he was proud of my bravery for putting my fears aside and making it to the end of the trail. He was never more in love with me than at that moment. Sadly, we turned to head back up. Then, at that same moment, there it was! A bear. I saw it first and said to Joe, something like, OMG! Shit! Look there's a bear. What should we do! The bear was maybe 100 lbs. and 40 feet in front of us. I quickly assessed the seriousness of the situation, and determined that there were a whole heck of a lot of fallen trees between him and us. Not likely that he could come after us. Still primal fear set in and I began to high tail it out of there. Joe, however, continued to linger about, snapping photos of the beast! I keep saying lets go. There might be others nearby! Joe must have been scared to because he grabbed a big heavy stick and started pounding it, beating the path as we hiked the heck out of there! For Joe, his trip was made by this wildlife encounter! For me..........