A Wayward Journey

We’re ready - ready to hit the road again.  Davy’s toe is doing well - still hurts when it isn’t bandaged, but doesn’t bother him at all as long as I keep it wrapped up.  So - we’ll head out first thing tomorrow morning.

It’ll be a short-lived spurt of activity though.  Carnival is on now and will get wild by the weekend.  We’ve been warned repeatedly about the drunk drivers that will abound - and we would rather not meet one on the road.  So - come Friday or Saturday, we’ll be off the road again.

The plan is to get over the pass (the highest paved road in Ecuador) and down onto the coastal side of the country before the weekend comes.  That way, we’ll be poised for a quick and easy jaunt to Peru to get out of this country before our visas expire.

We’re dreaming of the day we can just go!  We’re tired of this bike 2 days, take 5 off stuff…

I was looking for something in my blog today and found this post I wrote shortly before I left on this trip. I can certainly say I’ve done exactly that!

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “WOO HOO! What a ride!”

That’s exactly how I want to live my life. Someday I’ll pedal away to that great sunset in the sky with a smile on my face and the knowledge that I’ve lived life.

I mean – I’ll look back on my life and say, “I’ve LIVED!” Yes, there’s no doubt that I’ll look back on it and realize that I made mistakes – in fact there have been times when I’ve downright screwed up. But mostly – I can honestly say I’ve grabbed life by the horns and taken advantage of every day God has given me.

I don’t want that final day to arrive and I look back on my life and say, “I wish I woulda…” I talk to so many people who say, “Someday I’d like to…yadda, yadda, yadda…” I don’t want to be that person.

So I’m heading out – out for the ride of a lifetime.

I just now realized that I never posted the links to a couple of podcasts I’ve done in the past couple of months!  What was I thinking?!?  I hope you enjoy them!

Travelling Two

Amateur Traveler

I got my toe done again about 3 days ago and we are waiting for it to recover. The docter changed the bandage yesterday and he put it on differently so that it hurts a bit more, but I’m fine. From now on Mom can rebandage my toe. I don’t like the way the doctr does it.  He gets  a cloth soaked in something to keep it from sticking to my toe but it still sticks a little and it hurts when they took it off. Mom uses a cream and that doesn’t stick.

“Mom!” Davy called out from behind me as we ground up the hill.  “My toe hurts!”

My heart took a nosedive and landed somewhere down near my feet going around in endless circles below me.  I wanted to scream and shout and stamp my feet and curse the toe gods.  But no matter how big a temper tantrum I threw, it wouldn’t change the fact that Davy’s toenail was ingrown.  Again.

John and I were in complete agreement -we had to get it taken out, and we had to do it now.  We’ve been there all too many times - if we wait, it gets infected and then Davy needs to take antibiotics before they can even operate and then we wait around forever. It still looked clean - it was time to have it done.

“What’s the doctor going to do, Mom?” Davy asked as we headed out the door for the hospital.  “I don’t want that shot again.  Please.”

We arrived at the emergency room and headed back in.  “Mom, I don’t want a shot,” Davy pleaded.

“I don’t want the shot,” he said as he took off his shoes.

But, of course, he needed the shot.  He needed to have his toe deadened when they ripped out his toenail.

“I hate the shot!” he wailed.  My heart broke as I clung to him, wishing more than anything we could solve this problem once and for all.

We had been so optimistic when we pedaled away from Pimampiro - the curse had been lifted and Davy’s toes would be fine.  For three months we’ve had a reprieve from the pain of ingrown toenails.  But now, we’re back to square one - and we have no idea where to go from here.

Kilometers today:  44

Kilometers to date:  17094