We left the rally grounds early Sunday, but not without catching the “bug” that was going around. I became very sick about 9:00 PM. I won’t go into the details, but it was much like what we called the “24 hour flu” when I was a kid! Maybe I don’t have the resilience that I had back then, but this sure took me down. I was over the worst of it by morning, but rode lying down on the couch to our appointment at Alfateers so they could service our generator and install the new fuel filter that we ordered last week.
By Monday morning I was again able to eat and except for being weak and sore I was O.K. The secretary at Alfateers said that at least 100 people had fallen ill at the rally. I bet that was just the number reported into the first aid station, and that there were at least 100 more like me that did not. She also told me that a few weeks ago she was at a family gathering in the area and 10 of the 60 people got sick. One went to the hospital and was told there is a new strain of flu going around, and her doctor called it the Riverside County Flu. So maybe it wasn’t “food born.” The good thing was that it ran its worst course in about 12 hours. Plus a couple of days of mild discomfort.
What I learned:
1. Getting sick in an RV is no worse than getting sick at home. Sick is sick.
2. The bathroom is closer in an RV than in any house!
3. In a class A, the couch is also a bed.
4. An air freshener would have been good to have, but running all fans full force for awhile can make the sick room smell better. In general Craig and I both dislike artificial sprays or deodorants. But it might be a good idea to try a few to find one that is tolerable for this type of emergency.
5. Carry a small bottle of bleach for clean up.
6. Use the sanitizing hand wipes! Just having them is not enough.
7. Pepto-bismol does nothing other than make things more colorful.
And last:
All members of the team should be comfortable driving.
When we left Alfateers Service center on Monday morning Craig was just starting to feel a bit queasy. Since we had dry camped for six nights we were out of water and needed to dump. We had to get to our next full hook up location, two hours away, as quickly as possible.
Craig started to drive because although I was better, I still felt weak and tired. After about an hour he had to pull off at an exit, set the brake, put it in park, and leave the driver's seat for a dash to the back. Because I had been taking turns as the driver, I was able to take over and maneuver through an unknown, semi-busy city area and get us safely back onto the freeway, and on to Santa Barbara.
I would not have wanted this to have been my first time driving! If I hadn't been able to take the wheel, we would have been stranded on a busy exit of the L.A. freeway system! Not good.
So my message to all of you "partners" is share the driving. Make a point of driving part of every trip. You don't have to start with backing up or winding country roads, but you should be comfortable with all of those different controls, especially on the diesels. Because I drove into the park for the pre-rally, the subject of women driving came up. Several women told me that either they were afraid to drive, or that their husbands wouldn't let them drive.
Ladies, most of us have had babies!
We CAN drive large RVs.
Besides it's fun...
