Monday, March 23, 2015

Best Laid Plans

Just over a week ago my family arrived in Las Vegas to assist me in my drive back to Chicago. However after fifteen minutes in the lobby of my Holiday Inn, they instead drove me to a nearby hospital where I was quickly admitted and spent three days being treated for pneumonia. ...guess I was worse off than I thought.

Eventually we did end up on the road and spent five days driving back to the Chicago area. We passed through Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, and finally Illinois.

The Open Road

Our Little Caravan

We didn't stop for much, but did run across a few interesting things on the road...



Giant Convoy of Military Equipment
...don't mess with Nebraska

So Many Wind Farms!

We stopped overnight in Kearney, Nebraska and stumbled into a festival celebrating the annual migration of 500,000 cranes through the area. We were asked constantly, "Are you here for the cranes?" Eventually I began answering that I was "Here for the pneumonia" ...my patience was short.

I spent the week of our road trip bouncing between two mental states. The majority of the time I spent struggling with the side effects of my many medications. Occasionally, however, I'd force myself back into the original purpose of my road trip - transitioning from my life in Vancouver to my return to life in Chicago. 

Overall I spent 20 consecutive days on the road, but as we finally arrived in the Windy City I felt overwhelmed and under prepared. I was back, but it was incredibly difficult to believe. I've been 'home' three days now, but I'm still confused when I don't wake-up in Vancouver each morning. I feel like I'm going through withdrawal from the life I had created for myself... it seems obvious, but I genuinely didn't expect it to be this challenging. I spend much of my time living vicariously through Facebook and looking through photos from the last six months. 

I'm still under doctors orders to 'take it easy' and 'avoid normal levels of activity' so I'm forced to spend time slowly unpacking and couch-surfing.  I'm unsure if this is helping or hindering my adjustment to life in Chicago...

Either way, I'm here to stay. If only my brain could catch-up.

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