Trippin'

I just got back from a little Spring Break journey.
I will be paying for the journey until school gets out, I think.
Wasn't cheap.

My mom was moved to assisted living in January. 
It's an 8 hour drive from where I live to where she lives. 
I didn't want to go see her, really. 
I know I talked about it here.

What changed?  

I can't even really say. 
But Eric encouraged me to go and felt that I might be sorry later on if I didn't. I still say I'd have been okay with not seeing her, but I'm not sorry I went.

My physical stuff keeps me from being able to sit in a car for eight hours without a lot of discomfort, so I decided to fly. 

Eric insisted I fly first class for the extra leg space because of the issues with my knees and the amount of physical pain I'm in. 

I didn't actually argue about it. I had never flown first class. Because of the problems with my knees and never knowing if I'm going to be having a good day or not so good pain-wise, I also requested wheelchair service to the gate.

I never expected to have to use something like that, but I was glad I did. It was a long haul to my gate. Haha, I'd probably still be limping along to get there if I hadn't asked for assistance. 

Something I had not considered is that wheelchairs are allowed to jump the line. People with disabilities are just zipped right along.
That was nice, I did not have to stand for a long period of time. The lines weren't bad, though. And no ICE agents in the airport, either.

I flew to Boise, rented a car and immediately drove back to Oregon.
Sounds weird, but Mom is in a care home close to the border, so it made sense to do it that way.

The speed limit on I 84 from Boise to Ontario is 80MPH.
Yes, you read that right. And you know how the speed limit is 55 and people drive 70? Do the math. I was careful to keep it at 80 or a little below, and people were passing me constantly. Semi trucks are supposed to be going 70. Do they? Guess.
The facility where Mom is living is a lovely place, the people have been 'wonderful' to her, she says. I think people who do that work are angels, at least in this place.

Mom is mostly coherent, she does have some dementia, but the routine and the new friends she has made are helpful for her. She was not getting any kind of mental stimulation at home and was getting more and more confused every time we talked. Since the move she sounds better every time we speak. 

I am splitting the cost of a Memoryboard with my son. My brother will install it when he visits her again, supposedly it's easy to install, at least according to the website. The website exists to sell a product, though, so ::shrug::. I learned about the product from a person I work with. Her grandfather is in assisted living. She said that everyone in the family sends him photos and messages every day and that he just loves it.

Mom showed me a bunch of photos on her phone while I was visiting, and my brother got all her favorite framed photos and hung them in her room when they were moving her in. She loves to show them to people and talk about what was going on when the pictures were taken. I think she'll enjoy the memory board, a person can use the app and send pictures and words from anywhere.

The person who was caring for her while she was still at home kept her fed and clean, but had no idea how to deal with dementia. So she'd crassly say, "You already told that story five times today," or "No one wants to hear that one again!" 

Here's a link to some of what I had to say about Shiplap. Haha.
Guess she still doesn't approve of me, Mom called her to ask her to come visit so she could meet me, but she had to clip her toenails or wash her hair or some damn lame excuse I can't remember. 
Suits me fine, why the hell would I want to meet her?

Although Matt said after he met her back in December that he couldn't hate her, that she was just ignorant and seemed to really care about his Grandma.

So I wasn't completely alone, at least after I landed in Boise and drove to Ontario.
Matt and Amy made the drive and I stayed next door to them at the motel for the first two nights. We spent the day with Mom on Wednesday, and they left on Thursday. I spent the day with Mom again and drove back to Boise on Friday.

A few interesting things.

It was raining when I drove to the airport on Tuesday. The economy parking lot was packed, and they had people out there directing traffic. A person grabbed my little suitcase and put it on the shuttle bus for me. As I got into also-packed bus, a guy jumped up to give me his seat. I was ready to stand up, there are things to hold on to. I told him I'd be fine, he said, "No, I insist."

When it was time to get off the bus at the terminal, another man who was traveling with his wife insisted on lifting my suitcase down to the sidewalk, then offered his assistance to help me get down the steps. 

The person pushing the wheelchair was a very nice tiny little lady. 
She pushed my chair so fast I could feel a breeze.

The flight attendants to and from were great as well, one of them stowed my bag in the overhead bin (they're not supposed to be lifting bags, a thing I didn't know until later) and brought me some water to swallow my Excedrin with.

Not a fan of the tiny little airplane bathroom. I'm not exactly a small person. I mean, when you gotta go, you gotta go. But I'd prefer not to use airplane restrooms.

There were a few notable events. I almost took a nosedive down an escalator in Boise, I really don't know what happened but my suitcase and my feet missed one step and I frantically reached out my right hand to grab the handrail. Nearly missed it. That would have been a real treat, huh?

The event that stands out the most happened when I was waiting to go home.
You know how the PA system at the airport has a bunch of automated and live messages? 'Don't leave your suitcase unattended, flight 225 to Pullman now boarding at gate 23, arriving passenger Smith please meet your party at baggage claim 2'

Just messages. They're loud enough that if they apply to you, you'll hear them, but low enough that you can ignore them if you don't need to hear them.

I was sitting at the gate, waiting to board when this announcement came over the PA system. This is as close to word for word as I can remember it.

A (loud!!) deep male voice that sounded pissed as hell said, "Will the family with the blue flags on their suitcases please get your children off the escalator! I can't believe I have to say this, but the escalator is not a toy!"

At least a quarter of the people in the airport started laughing. 
I wished I was still in that half of the terminal so I could have seen what happened with the escalators.

Took a few pics.   

Enlarge this one and read the plaque.
Then ask yourself, "WHO IS THIS MESSAGE INTENDED FOR???"
I mean, usually signs like these happen because someone already did the thing.
Ugh.

This was the view as we circled around Mt. Hood.

This is Malheur Butte, an extinct little volcano in Eastern Oregon.
It's 500 feet tall.
My memory placed it on the opposite side of the highway.
I was surprised when I passed it.
We left that area in 1969.
Been awhile.

Mom's living room. 
I sat on that chair for two days.

My rental car had 426 miles on the odometer when I picked it up.
Practically new.
Nice to connect my phone via Bluetooth and have the car tell me where to drive. Car rental process is streamlined and professional. Made the reservations online, walked up to the counter, got my keys and was on my way in just a couple minutes.
Car return was really cool. Drive in, put the vehicle in the line, say hi to the attendant who gives you your total and drop the keys in the cup holder. 
15 seconds to turn it in.

This sprinkler was a couple inches below the 8 foot ceiling in my motel room.
Here's another one of those signs.
Again... when they have to make a warning sign, 
that means someone has already done the thing.

I'm glad to be home. I missed my husband, my shower, my bed, my little no-frills car.
A regular schedule, too. I was exhausted when I got home, didn't sleep well while I was gone.

But I went, saw my mom and got home safely.

Spring Break went awfully fast since I wasn't, you know, taking a break!