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05/30/2003 Entry: "Ashtabula, Ohio, part deux"
So I haven't seen all that much of the group this past week. I'd like to update everyone on my illness. On July 29, in Lafayette my kind girlfriend Amy was going to come and visit. My achilles tendon had been bothering me so I decided it would be better if she picked me up in Lafayette rather than meet us in Hartford City the end town, so that I could rest it more. The next morning I woke up around 6am with a bad fever all over my entire body. I didn't feel bad yet, other than the fever. After going back to sleep when I got up again later that morning I was achey all over my entire body and it took a lot of effort just to move around. After Amy did most of the packing we moved on.
We drove to Ottoville that day, stopping at Grand Lake St. Mary's State Park. Not a very entertaining state park if you don't have a boat. I was back to feeling fine by this point after some advil and some food and a little more rest in the car. Little did I know the fever would strike back. We got to Ottoville and waited at the park for the rest of the guys to show up. After a little while there I started to feel achey again, and by the time the guys showed up a few hours later I had been planted on the ground on my sleeping pad for quite awhile not feeling like moving much. I won't get into the details of all of my symptoms, but life wasn't too pleasant at that moment. There were times when the ibuprofen would fight off the aches and bring down or sometimes break the fever, but those weren't that often. The next morning I felt like I was going to pass out when I stood up, so Amy had to clean up all the camping stuff. While doing this she met a really nice lady whose name I can't remember right now, but she offered us showers at her house since I wasn't feeling well. We went out to breakfast and all I was able to eat was half a pancake, then got a shower. That helped me feel better. Thank you nice teacher lady. We pulled into Fremont ahead of the guys again, but it turns out they found a better place at the Moose Lodge. So we headed over there. I was feeling better than I had been, hoping this thing was on its way out. We slept under the big shelter there. It's a good thing it was big as we got pounded by a storm around midnight, so it was a late night for most of us. I went with Amy to use the bathroom inside around 10:30 and talked to some of the Moose members in there. It was nice and they donated some money, so thanks to those people. The next morning I was feeling okay. The symptoms had mostly cleared except I was still having cramps. We headed to Cedar Point and had a great time. I felt better for most of the day. Amy and I took off early so that we could check into our room for the night down the road in Huron. Man, it was nice to sleep on a bed and we had our own little cottage. Better than your average motel. On Sunday morning it was raining. The guys had decided to travel to Avon Lake which was only about 20 miles from Huron, so Amy offered to drive me since it was raining. I probably could have ridden it. By this point I was feeling better although still taking some drugs, ibuprofen and such, just in case. The ride Monday was hard. I got up late and didn't get out until about 10am, an hour after the last of the others. I was still having some problems with cramping and such and so I had to stop a lot and wasn't going to fast. But other than that I felt fine. No fever, no aches. But by the time I got to Painesville, about 15 miles from the cabin they were staying it was getting dark and I was exhausted. I stopped at the police station and the nice officer there whose name starts with an L. called the county Sheriff's dept. and arranged for someone to take me. As I was waiting for the deputy to show up I talked to some really nice fireman. Then Deputy Allen showed up and gave me a ride. It was exciting being in a police van. He said he likes driving the van because people often don't realize it's a cop van and so aren't on their "cop" behavior. The cabin was wonderful. I got to cook dinner. I finally felt like eating and we watched the Simpsons on some Canadian channel (the cabin was right on Lake Erie, so half the channels we got were Canadian). Today I've been feeling pretty well. More energy than yesterday, so that is good. And my appetite is starting to come back. Which is also good. Oh yes, I'm riding into Ashtabula and I see a Honda CRV drive by and honk at me and all these hands start waving out the windows at me. Hmmm...that doesn't happen everyday. Turns out it was Seager, Mark, and Mike. They were with Chuck, who is Jesse's girlfriend Corrie's great uncle. Chuck and his wife Lee were going to feed us lunch. So I turned around and followed them to this beautiful house right on the lake and three spunky little dogs. They had more fine china (like the kind you eat from) than I've ever seen! They gave us great food and topped it off with some Strawberry-Rhubarb pie which we're sure all the other guys will be very envious of. I should get going if I'm going to make it before dark, but I'm feeling well and hopefully getting back into the groove of things!
Replies: Leave us a note! (1)
Sherri was the nice woman in Ottoville who allowed us into her home to shower and rest and play with her dogs and kids.
Thanks again to her!
Posted by Amy @ 08/05/2003 04:05 PM CST
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