Road Trip Redeaux Redone

I know, I know…I’ve already done the “then & now” travel edition (http://uncanneryrow.blogspot.com/2010/03/then-now-road-trips.html).  But this is the post-stroke “and now” edition, so you can either bear with me or go do your dishes.

This is what I'll be doing if I ever actually get on the road.

Ray and I decided not to take any big long vacations this summer. I’ll concentrate on continued recovery, and we’ll take occasional short trips instead. The need to stay closer to home came clear to me after last Saturday’s daytrip to Omaha. I was a total dynamo! Mom and Ray could barely keep up! My physical therapist had relieved my heel pain with ultrasound, laser, and iontophoresis, so I didn’t have to limp…drag…limp…drag all day. Why, I was unstoppable!

Alas, pride does goeth before the fall. I’m now paying the price for my haughtiness. I’ve spent the last two days soaking my heel and napping. Okay. Good reminder. Go slow. Pace yourself. You’re not there yet…

Listmaking: Pre-draft one, sketching out ideas.

Now Ray and I are getting ready for our first real road trip of the summer. We’re heading to Kansas for my nephew’s graduation party, and we’ll be gone three days. Getting ready to go is a whole new study in preparedness, because in addition to motor deficits and fatigue, some of the most annoying (and also the most bizarrely fascinating) after-effects of my brainsplosion are a sketchy short-term memory and occasional scattered thinking—thoughts that jump randomly from one incomplete idea to metric conversion tables to a recipe for maple cheesecake.

(Side note: Merhaba! to my regular reader in Cypress, Ciao! to my reader in Rome, Hello! to the rest of you too. Do leave comments when you can…I’d love to hear your voices, too!)

Here’s what I did in my hippie youth to get ready for a short road trip: Throw an extra broomstick skirt and halter top in a backpack (it’s three days…you don’t need those material possessions that only tie you to the bourgeois Establishment, like underwear or a toothbrush). Throw in sunflower seeds and a bottle of Boone’s Farm wine. Go.

Here’s what I’m doing now to get ready: Make the following lists:

List ONE: Things to Pack (include everything you’ll need…if you don’t write it down, you’ll forget it)—Clothes, underwear, walking shoes, iPad, iPod, chargers, pillows, meds, CPAPs, hummus, leftover venison meatloaf (so it won’t go to waste), kombucha, nuts, smoothie stuff, sunscreen, toothbrush & toiletries, filtered water, graduation card & present.

List TWO: Things to Do (organized by day)—Clean bird cages, water plants, make handouts for pet/housesitter (pet feeding, supplements for old dog, treats for parrots, note about ticks/Frontline, using the Mifi, working the TV remote/DVR, thermostat, asparagus picking), dust, vacuum, change bedsheets, clean bathrooms, do laundry, make hummus, pack (see list ONE).

List THREE: Reminders—remember to look at lists one & two. Check things off as you go.

You can see why taking even a teensie road trip is a monumental undertaking these days. That’s why, as soon as I’ve finished compiling, typing, alphabetizing, appropriately highlighting, and printing out the lists, I’ll take a long nap. Bon Voyage!