Hey guys,
So I'm currently in California with my wife Claire, and thought I'd write about the trip. It's been an eye opener for me so far, and hopefully will give some insight into @Rose49 and Prof Davis, life over here, and other random musings. So....
Part 1:
The day started at 6am, an hour unknown to me since my gym days. A couple of klonopin down-in the hope that they would work and reduce the stimuli throughout some of the trip- I made it from my bed to the car. P.s. I should add I am not a junkie, I do have a prescription for klonopin!
The drive to Heathrow was uneventful thankfully. We had asked for disabled assistance and I ofcourse had my wheelchair, and the staff were exceptionally helpful. Maybe it was because I looked disabled with my wheelchair, but at any rate we got to board before anyone else and go to the front of the queue. One perk I guess.
We took off 12:50 UK time. I had flown before since being sick but that was when I was mild, the sensation of taking off and cabin pressure was not pleasant on top of the usual symptoms. Luckily a wonderful, wonderful friend upgraded our seats so I was able to lay flat in a bed. This was an absolute blessing and made the 10 1/2 hr journey as comfortable as could be.
I sneaked a peek out of the plane window for as long as my shaking arms could manage, and I was reminded of the incredible beauty of our planet. We flew over Greenland, and the lower parts of Canada and saw the mountains from 40000ft. Certainly to someone who has not been outside properly since last June, it was breathtaking. For some reason those glimpses lifted my spirits hugely. There is a world out there, an awesome world, and when we are all well again we will see it.
We landed in San Jose Airport at 3:30pm local time. Its a lot smaller than Heathrow! We managed to skip the queue a little and made it through customs okay.
Thats when it hit me. Damn. We have made it. The most insane trip of my life. We are in California!
Truth be told we had made it, but the hardest part of the trip was to come-getting to our car we had rented and navigating to Janet and Ron's house.
The next hour was like something out of a Laurel and Hardy sketch. Claire had packed so many suitcases, 5 in fact, which provided the ammunition for many comedic moments. Why we need 5 cases I am not so sure, but I know better than to question
We made it to the car rental place, and I waited outside in the wheelchair while Claire went inside, surrounded by all 5 suitcases, as if I was trying to make a fort with them, with only my head poking out. It must have looked utterly ridiculous. I was also there for 30 minutes like this, as apparently time was not of the essence at the car rental service desk.
During this time I called Janet. "We're here!" "Really?" She said. She sounded surprised-exactly how I felt. "Really".
Janet asked how I was doing and I mentioned the klonopin and that things had gone smoothly so far, as far as they can for a severe ME patient! We talked briefly about how to get to her, whilst I quietly prayed we had satnav. I must have sounded like a broken record asking about directions, but I can barely remember my own name, and plus, these Americans drive on the wrong side of the road for starters.
Claire finally came out and unravelled me from my fortress of luggage.
We needed to make it up to the 5th floor to get the car. I think the lifts at that place have a sense of humour because each time the button was pressed to call for one, a lift at the polar opposite of our location was made available.
When Claire finally managed to call a lift near us, she promptly dropped the trolley full of luggage and by the time had repacked, the lift door had shut and made it way kindly back down. You couldn't make this stuff up. I had to laugh, even though it was crashing me.
We did get there eventually. After a good 10 minutes or so.
I was secretly hoping for a Dodge Charger, or a Ford Mustang in the hopes they had made a mistake, but alas we ended up with a Hyundai automatic. Its fine. It's red....
Updates to follow.
B
So I'm currently in California with my wife Claire, and thought I'd write about the trip. It's been an eye opener for me so far, and hopefully will give some insight into @Rose49 and Prof Davis, life over here, and other random musings. So....
Part 1:
The day started at 6am, an hour unknown to me since my gym days. A couple of klonopin down-in the hope that they would work and reduce the stimuli throughout some of the trip- I made it from my bed to the car. P.s. I should add I am not a junkie, I do have a prescription for klonopin!
The drive to Heathrow was uneventful thankfully. We had asked for disabled assistance and I ofcourse had my wheelchair, and the staff were exceptionally helpful. Maybe it was because I looked disabled with my wheelchair, but at any rate we got to board before anyone else and go to the front of the queue. One perk I guess.
We took off 12:50 UK time. I had flown before since being sick but that was when I was mild, the sensation of taking off and cabin pressure was not pleasant on top of the usual symptoms. Luckily a wonderful, wonderful friend upgraded our seats so I was able to lay flat in a bed. This was an absolute blessing and made the 10 1/2 hr journey as comfortable as could be.
I sneaked a peek out of the plane window for as long as my shaking arms could manage, and I was reminded of the incredible beauty of our planet. We flew over Greenland, and the lower parts of Canada and saw the mountains from 40000ft. Certainly to someone who has not been outside properly since last June, it was breathtaking. For some reason those glimpses lifted my spirits hugely. There is a world out there, an awesome world, and when we are all well again we will see it.
We landed in San Jose Airport at 3:30pm local time. Its a lot smaller than Heathrow! We managed to skip the queue a little and made it through customs okay.
Thats when it hit me. Damn. We have made it. The most insane trip of my life. We are in California!
Truth be told we had made it, but the hardest part of the trip was to come-getting to our car we had rented and navigating to Janet and Ron's house.
The next hour was like something out of a Laurel and Hardy sketch. Claire had packed so many suitcases, 5 in fact, which provided the ammunition for many comedic moments. Why we need 5 cases I am not so sure, but I know better than to question
We made it to the car rental place, and I waited outside in the wheelchair while Claire went inside, surrounded by all 5 suitcases, as if I was trying to make a fort with them, with only my head poking out. It must have looked utterly ridiculous. I was also there for 30 minutes like this, as apparently time was not of the essence at the car rental service desk.
During this time I called Janet. "We're here!" "Really?" She said. She sounded surprised-exactly how I felt. "Really".
Janet asked how I was doing and I mentioned the klonopin and that things had gone smoothly so far, as far as they can for a severe ME patient! We talked briefly about how to get to her, whilst I quietly prayed we had satnav. I must have sounded like a broken record asking about directions, but I can barely remember my own name, and plus, these Americans drive on the wrong side of the road for starters.
Claire finally came out and unravelled me from my fortress of luggage.
We needed to make it up to the 5th floor to get the car. I think the lifts at that place have a sense of humour because each time the button was pressed to call for one, a lift at the polar opposite of our location was made available.
When Claire finally managed to call a lift near us, she promptly dropped the trolley full of luggage and by the time had repacked, the lift door had shut and made it way kindly back down. You couldn't make this stuff up. I had to laugh, even though it was crashing me.
We did get there eventually. After a good 10 minutes or so.
I was secretly hoping for a Dodge Charger, or a Ford Mustang in the hopes they had made a mistake, but alas we ended up with a Hyundai automatic. Its fine. It's red....
Updates to follow.
B
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