(written on the 27th from notes taken previously)
Wow, the cankers were bad this morning, so bad I was actually worried. What’s going on?!?!
I took some pictures.
At least 5 big sores. Why?!?! I looked up different mouth sore issues. Doesn’t look like oral thrush. Doesn’t match a viral outbreak of some kind. They just look like canker sores, but from what?!?!
It’s gotta be that I damaged my cheeks when I went a little overboard “brushing” the other day.
I’m at a loss.
Except! I was grateful! 😁 I was cheerful.
🥳
I sent some pictures to my mom, the nurse, and I decided that, despite it being Sunday and generally preferring not to spend money on Sundays where reasonable), I figured I had better get some oral antiseptic.
I figured I’d stop off at the grocery store right before going to church and Hot springs, so my first destination was to head over to Cascade Falls to take a bath. 🙃
I plugged in the location to Google maps, and headed out on my way.
Perhaps I should have realized that something might be wrong when the first Street Google maps took me down went through a farmer’s field?
😅
But then it went right back onto a decent Road, and then on to a decent gravel Road. It was raining, and there were puddles, and some of the gravel road was actually more mud than gravel, but I was good. 🙂
But after driving on that route for probably 25 minutes, I came to a road closed sign.
Ugh.
The sign looked really old, so I wondered if it were from long ago and no longer applicable, so I kept on and on until, rounding a bend, I found that the road crossed what probably normally was either a very very shallow creek, or a dry Creek bed, but because of all the rain, it was swollen to the point that I didn’t want to risk my van getting stuck in the middle of it, as the other side was a pretty hefty quick rise up onto an uneven slab of Rock.
Ugh.
All the way back. 🙄
I was tempted for a little while to be annoyed and frustrated, I think I felt that we’re just a brief little time, before I was like, I don’t want to feel like this, chose to be happy, and I was right back being happy.
😊
I had skipped going to the Dollar General in the little town there because it wasn’t open, being too early in the morning, but now having lost about an hour going on a route that Google said was a good route but that actually wasn’t, the Dollar General was now open.
So I headed to the dollar general, gratefully bought their very large house brand mouthwash, that had all the same ingredients as the name brand that was double the price, gave myself my first little swig, switched around, felt the sting of all the canker sores, spit it out, and began my journey, again, toward Cascade Falls–this time going this slightly, and only very slightly, longer route. 🙃
The day was going to be cold and wet all day, the high somewhere around 48, I think, and it was in the mid-40s and rainy when I got to Cascade Falls.
But this is mountain West cold, so mid-40s and rainy actually feels pretty nice. If it were arkansas, I’d be chilled pretty good. 😅
I figured that I would just jump right in with my clothes on because I’ve been wearing the same clothes for, gosh, a week or two? 😆
Might as well rinse them off. 😅
So after putting soap in my hair and lathering it all up, as well as some other choice places that were easier to get to while my feet could actually touch the bottom, I leaped into the main pool below the falls.
Cascade Falls I believe originates from a very slightly warmed up geothermal spring? So I think the water is probably maybe in the 60s or something?
Definitely not warm, but also a temperature that within a little while, your body gets totally used to, and then it’s not really cold anymore.
I jumped in, rinsed off all my biodegradable soap, decided to tread water for a little while, hoping that maybe it could loosen up my spine a bit, got out to put my soap over by my hat and keys and phone, my hat covering up the keys and phone from the rain that was coming down.
Then I jumped in again. 🙃
I absolutely love water. Waterfalls are my favorite, followed by streams and rivers, and then probably oceans, and then lakes?
Something like that. I love them all.
The ocean definitely got bumped up on this trip, so maybe it’s higher than that. 😊
Given that it was cold and rainy, there wasn’t anyone else hanging out in the park, unsurprisingly. Although, when I finally got out and walked back to my car and started taking my clothes off to ring out and put on my dashboard to dry out with the heater as I drove, a family pulled up, I think one of their kids needing to use the bathroom. So it was a little awkward. I was shirtless standing on one side of my van, but I also wanted to be pantless. 🙃
But I didn’t want the tween looking girl coming out of the restroom with this guy taking his pants off by his van. 😆
But you didn’t come out… And didn’t come out… And good gravy, didn’t come out.
😶
Eventually, not only did she not come out, but I think pretty much every single member of her family got out of their car and all went over to the bathroom.
At which point I gave up, climbed inside my van, taking off my pants inside my van, and then driving away to a place where I could safely open my door, ring out my pants, and throw them on my dash without getting cited for indecent exposure. Of course, I still had my garment bottom on.
Drove that way to church. 😆
And then I climbed in the back of rover, put up my little privacy curtain, and changed into my church clothes, hoping to surprised my sister and brother-in-law.
But it was no dice. I looked in through the front chapel door, and then tried to look into the back chapel door, but it was the gym, so small was the little branch building. Eventually, I went ahead and just went in and sat down. I wondered if I had the wrong congregation? I did recognize at least one person there, so I figured I had the right one.
Turned out to be there fast sunday, they having Stake Conference next week, and it was just a little tiny branch, a large chunk of the branch away on vacation for the holiday weekend, and a few who are actually in town for the holiday weekend, several of whom got up to share their testimonies.
Good stuff.
After that, I headed over to my sister and brother-in-law’s place where I was able to greet and give hugs to them, including my not so surprised sister who wondered if I might be on my way there because I hadn’t been posting my journal entries.
Well, that was indeed the case, although not posting journal entries actually didn’t really have anything to do with my coming. I was just so tired each night from long long days of driving without much sleep between.
Anyway, we all chatted for a while about all sorts of stuff. Chatted about the house they’re building, ideas that I had for them, and we noticed that there were several leaks in the roof. Supposedly, it had been dried in, but gosh, there were a lot of leaks. 😬
So Hans grabbed a can of spray paint, and we both went around marking where all the different places were that it was leaking.
That took a good little while. I think we found somewhere around maybe 15 leaking spots?
Talk more about house ideas. I think we ate dinner, though I don’t think I ate much? With the canker sores, and not knowing what’s causing them, I’m a little gun shy to do anything other than just drink water. I do think I ate a little bit, but I just don’t remember anymore.
Gratitude:
- I’m grateful that despite the ever worsening canker sore issues, I was able to be happy, cheerful, and upbeat about it. 😊
- I’m grateful for Cascade falls. I’ve come to enjoy that little place very much. I have gone there every single time I’ve done this Great Western Road trip.
- I’m grateful that I was able to pick up some antiseptic mouthwash. Hopefully, that will help resolve whatever this issue is that cause these canker sores to go nuts in my mouth.
- Grateful for the opportunity to spend some time and hang out with my sister and brother-in-law.
- Grateful to be doing well spiritually into continue to receive the gift of sobriety in several areas of addiction that tends to take me away from my happy place
Success:
- Choosing cheerfulness after waking up with an ever worsening health issue, was really great. My nerve issues in my feet have also gotten worse steadily, and they were worse that, but I was upbeat and happy. 😊
Improvement:
- I did find myself annoyed for just a little while when I got to place where the road was a river.
Mmmmm… tired. Still not getting much sleep. Definitely sleep deprived. 😅
Loves. 🥰
Lift the world.
Bring it on.
~ stephen
Lift the World 