SF, Day 2

Some post-exercise fatigue, but no crash after 2 km walk yesterday. In fact my pace was faster than usual in the afternoon on the way to Sunset for the haircut line and I had to consciously slow down to about 94. So, I'm tempted to declare my post-trip struggle over. Except that I'm not really settled in yet. I won't be till November, thanks to the unexpected trip aboard.

SF

The trip is now officially over. Sacramento was supposed to be the end, but it wasn't home. Not yet, anyway. The ding ding sound of F train, the smell of joints on the street and the sight of homeless poop marked the true home coming. And I was back in my element.

I walked 1.3 miles, or about 2 km, from the car garage to the hotel in Mission District. My phone buzzed all the while with the heat warning. It's only 85 in SF, yet they were treating it like a natural disaster. Any case, I must've finally recovered from the 3 day post-trip crash. If I don't crash again tomorrow, I'll declare the post-trip struggle over. 2 km is the normal distance I was walking before the trip, which means my exercise threshold is no worse than before the trip. That will be only a week of post-trip struggle. A promising start to the post-trip phase if that materializes.

I have to go abroad for a month in a few days. It's a long, private family story, so don't ask. I'll have to treat this as part of the "travel treatment" and then observe the after-effect when I return. So the conclusion about this experiment will have to wait for at least for another month.

Post-trip Observation

A week since we settled in Sacramento, and the post-trip struggle continues.  I felt a little better on the 24th after struggling for a few days, so swam 5 laps. That seems to have put me on downward spiral and I've been feeling debilitated since. How is that possible that I could take 16,000 steps and 600 feet elevation gain and still function while traveling, and yet I conk out only with 5 laps slow swim? I haven't taken more than 4000 steps a day either.

The travelling clearly have had an effect on my condition. I had lip sores that I haven't had since I got sick with CFS. That means my exercise threshold went way up that I did not keel over by the physical stress that was enough to trigger lip blisters. And I didn't lie down, not once, while charging the car on the return trip whereas I had to frequently when I started out on the trip. That's an improvement. But that could be because I was in a more stimulated state on the return trip from NYC than when I started out before. NYC was still a new environment when I left.

Now that I settled back in, however, the familiar struggle returned. It will last another month or so if the past is any indication.  The real question is, will this long trip have any lasting effect? I wouldn't know for a few months, but chances are that it won't. The past trips haven't made much difference. They had only temporary lifting effects while travelling, just like Caffeine or Sudafed, only to end up with post-trip struggles.  This one may end up the same. We'll see.

Sacramento, CA, Day 4

It happened again. I pooped out the next day we arrived and it got worse progressively. Yesterday, I was debilitated and vegetated all day. After 9 hour sleep I feel better this morning, though my legs are still achy and and tired. I may be finally coming out of the post-trip fatigue. Will I struggle for another month or two with lowered exertion tolerance? I'll test the threshold in a few days. Meanwhile, I need to rest a bit more just to make sure that I'm out of the post-trip fatigue.

Sacramento, CA

There is no elevation gain, the shuttle driver said. But Misty Trail along Mercer river started to climb shortly after it started and it went up and up. We were going to get to as far as the Vernal Fall Bridge for about a mile. Another two tenth of mile and I would've made it. But it became steeper and I turned around, again. So we only made to the Yosemite fall when we planned to hit all three -- we missed the Bridalveil fall too: the return traffic in the afternoon was too heavy and I didn't want to make a side trip while getting out of the park.

We started out the day by driving to Yosemite Lodge and parking the car there. I originally planned to park at the Vistor's Center, but the lot was under construction and we couldn't park there.  From Yosemite Lodge, we took the shuttle to Half Dome/CurryVillage. We marbled at the granite cliffs there and then circled back to Yosemite Fall, marking the Misty Trail to come back to after Yosemite Fall. In between we went out to El Capitan Crossing and took a shot of rock climbers. They weren't visible in naked eyes, but zoom lens caught them, barely.

On the way to Sacramento, the car's navigation took us through Jackson across Route 88 that I took about a million times before going to skiing at Kirkwood. And it was just like returning from skiing too, with the sky turned dark pink and the silhouette of Oak trees dotting the horizon. A scenery I've forgotten for 9 years. Will I be able to return to skiing this winter? I can only dream about it. We got to Sacramento after 8PM.  We had dinner at a Korean restaurant and were home at Rodeway Inn in West Sacramento after 10 PM.

Mamoth Lakes, CA, Day 2

I attempted another 2 mile, 400 feet elevation hike in Tuolumne Grove. And I again aborted after about 1 km. I felt ambitious at the top and then wasn't confident enough when my legs felt shaky. Upshot was that we just wasted 1 hour there and didn't make it back to Mono Lake before the sun went down. And I may not be able to hike tomorrow.

The plan was to do the driving route from Mono Lake to Fish Camp and back today. Then do the Yosemite Valley tomorrow. I figured we'd get to the Fish Camp supercharger around 1 PM and then be back at Mono Lake around 5 PM. In reality, it was well past 7 PM when we made it back. The sun already set and there was no point in walking the access trail. I just took a few shots at the water's edge and then came back.

In retrospect, we should've stayed in Yosemite Lodge after doing the driving route. It was a lot of work coming back to Mammoth Lake and we'll have to drive back tomorrow morning bright and early. Staying in Yosemite Valley would've saved us total 5 hours and 200 miles. Plus not having to worry about parking. That would've been well worth the extra $150.

Mammoth Lakes, CA

The circle is now complete and it sure feels like coming home. We started with Death Valley, Beatty and Las Vegas and we closed the loop by coming back to Las Vegas, Beatty and finally Mammoth Lake via Death Valley. Nothing was forgotten, the memories only slept. And they all came rushing back. The bench across the street from the Stovepipe Well general store that I laid down to get some relief from fatigue was still there. The restroom line in the General Store. I remembered them like yesterday.

I didn't have to lie down and rest this time. I obviously am in a better shape than when I started. I lied down several times while recharging when we started. None on the return trip. So the Tesla Treatment must have worked. And yes, I recovered from the latest crash yesterday afternoon. I gulped down a large coffee and the sick fatigue lifted shortly. Dunno if it was coffee or it was time to recover after 3 days though.

Death Valley was about as hot as it was in April. Only hazier. (I didn't notice it first, but wife said so). Then we got to Mammoth Lakes and it was winter. And it is only about 100 miles away from Death Valley.

West is my home, no doubt. As much as I liked NYC I still felt like an outsider there. As we got closer to the West it felt more and more home. And now in CA, I'm in my own water. If I'm not settling back in SF, maybe I should find a small town in CA, say Lone Pine, and take refugee there. At least till the housing price settled back in the Bay Area.

Mesquite, NV, Day 5

Day 3 of the crash and I'm reduced to taking elevators to and from the room. I took a dip in the pool in the afternoon and then I was unable to take shower. I just collapsed on the bed after lunch. It's night and day. I descended 600 feet and then came back up in Bryce Canyon, and was just fine. Now, just walking up a few flights puts me in the doghouse.

Mesquite, NV, Day 4

It happened again; I settled in and I crashed. The day after we arrived here I took a day off to rest. And I was feeling fine the next day. My pace was over 100 steps/min and I was walking up and down the stairs. The day after, I wallowed in fatigue. Today, I'm feeling even worse and my pace dropped to 90.

The Navajo Loop hike in Bryce Canyon took me 600 feet down and back up. My fitbit even congratulated me for climbing 50 stories. The activities in the second day here was nothing compared to that. Yet it triggered crash. This just about confirms my suspicion that travelling raises the threshold and it collapses back when I settle in.

Does it collapse to a lower level than before the travel started? So far the answer seems to be yes. I struggled for almost 2 months after the Thanksgiving trip to Southern California last year. It wasn't as bad in NYC after the cross-country trip, but I still racked up 2 crashes in June. That's higher than 1 a month that I averaged before the trip.

We'll be back on the road on Sunday, so I won't have enough time in Mesquite to observe the settling effect. But I'm predicting that the threshold will go back up and I'll do just fine in Yosemite.  Then I'll observe the settling effect when I get to Central Valley or Bay Area.

Mesquite, NV

It must've been about 25 years since I've been to Zion national park and it has changed. The Scenic Drive used to run right through the Great Arch that formed semi-tunnel over the road. Now the road is way below it. Though it could be my memory that is faulty.  But I'm pretty sure the Virgin River was clear and I have a photo somewhere to prove it. Now it is cloudy.

Actually, I may have thrown away the photo album. I just couldn't handle packing when I was moving to Korea in 2010, and I left most of my belongings in a pile and just left. The apartment cleaned them up and charged me $50.

The lots were all full when we got to the Vistor's Center. But they had EV charging stations and I took advantage even though I had enough to get to St. George. I paid $5 and parked the car there all day. And I didn't have to stop at St. George to charge either.

We first went all the way to Temple Sinawava and hiked The Narrows. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel, so we had to do the important ones first. We  didn't go all the way up, but we did manage to go quite a bit up before turning around. I figure it was almost 2 miles round trip. After it, I was done. We took shuttle back to the Vistor's Center skipping the Emerald Pool and Zion Lodge.

So, that was hiking 2 days in a row. And I'm up writing the blog the next day. How is that even possible?

Panguitch, UT

Another moron pulled into 2B when my car was charging in 2A. A and B share the circuit and the charging power gets halved when both are in use. You'd think all Tesla driver know that. Yet I ran into these morons 2 days in a row. He moved his car when I pointed that out and he started chatting. He's apparently a Trump voter from Southern California. He railed all over about North Korea and China when he learned that I was originally from Korea.  Giving him a lesson about geopolitics  and the mainstream view was of no use -- he got more agitated. His Taiwanese wife probably doesn't care about politics or disrespect; just happy that she has made it to the West, like many Asian brides. The West is a status symbol to them.

Bryce Canyon is about 2 hours drive from Richfield and we got there around noon. I plugged the car in at Ruby's campground and we took shuttle to various points in Bryce Canyon. We got back after 6 PM, had buffet dinner at Best Western Ruby's Inn, and the car was good to go.

We did hike down Navajo trail as I planned. It's yet another sign of improvement that I'm less apprehensive about taking chance than when I started this trip. The loop was less than 2 miles, and we made it shorter by turning around at near the bottom. My legs were wobbly and I wasn't confident I could make the loop. It was my first hiking in 9 years. Nothing like 10 miles and 3000 feet elevation like I used to, but it did drop 600 feet. That's way more than a CFS patient should be able to handle.

The resting day in Salinas was a struggle. It's the same pattern: I travel, and the activity level goes up and yet I don't crash; I stop, and I pay the price. It's as if the stimulation of travelling temporarily lifts exertion threshold and then returns to normal when the stimulation is gone. The crash in Fancy Gap was probably the same thing. I thought it was caused by romping up and down the creek, but that  shouldn't have been enough to cause a crash. The crash probably happened even if I rested as soon as I arrived there, just like I now struggle when I rest from the trip.

Salina, UT

It must've been the late 1980s. The company I worked for was acquired by Novell, and I visited Provo for business shortly after. The big grey mountains made an impression on me then. And the children running around the company cafeteria; this is a Mormon country.  It must've been in the winter time too. I remember skiing on one of the many skiing resorts here. I think it was Snowbird or Alta, I'm not sure. It was a long time ago.

The plan was to drive straight to Salt Lake City from Logan after refueling the car at Tremonton supercharger and make it a easy day. Then I looked at the map and found that Antelope State Park is on the way and that it crossed the Salt Lake. I had to make a stop. And I'm glad I did. Not only did it provide the view of the vast Salt Lake, but it was also the home of 600 free-ranging buffalo. A great photo opportunity.  After that, a brief stop at Utah State Capitol and Temple Square.

Then the rear passenger tire leaked again after refueling at Tesla Center in Salt Lake City. I had to turn around and come back to the Tesla Center. Fortunately, the Discount Tire store was right across and the good folks there patched it up for free. A nail got in, probably while driving through that nasty Moose-Wilson road to and from Teton Village.

The route from then on took us through the Utah Valley past Provo on Route 89. The sun was setting by then and made the desolate stretch more desolate.  By the time we got to Salina, it was way past 8 PM.  This time I booked for 2 nights to make sure we get some rest, in yet another roach motel named Rodeway Inn. And yet another bedbug problem. Wife's got bitten again, we had to move to another room. So much for resting.

Teton Village, WY

I sure would've liked to stay for another day and rest in West Yellowstone. But this is an expensive country so we decided to soldier on till we get to Utah. And I ended up with a cold sore on my lip. It is yet another sign that I'm recovering. I'll have fully recovered if I start catching cold regularly. (Yeah, as strange as it might sound, I enjoy saying that I used to get sick often before I got sick).

The route took us back into the Yellowstone National Park and out through the south entrance. Shortly after, Snake River and Teton Mountains appeared. The tall granite mountains soaring above the desert basin and the lake would've stunned anybody except my wife who slept through it. But the majestic mountains appeared flat and hazy in the midday sun unfortunately. The famed Jackson Lake Overlook on Signal Mountain did not provide a better view either.

I aborted the plan to go up to Snake River Overlook and then stop for charging at Jackson. I was too tired. We instead went directly to Teton Mountain Lodge from Moose.  I still have 100 miles left in the tank and we'll go back up tomorrow and then move south after a fueling stop at Jackson.

Belgrade, MT

So much for avoiding cold and snow. Yellowstone sunny and scorching -- the heat from above and heat from below, it was Colter's Hell alright. I left my hat and water in the car at Midway Geyser Basin and I almost fainted. I guess some years it gets cold early. This year certainly wasn't one.

There are four ways to enter Yellowstone. None are more impressive as the Eastern one. From Cody, it looks reminiscent of Yosemite. It is the entrance to Buffalo Bill State Park to be exact; you have to go through it before you get to Yellowstone. The original access road to Yellowstone is still hugging the cliffs of Shoshone canyon around Buffalo Bill Dam.

Past Buffalo Bill Reservoir it meanders through Yellowstone mountains till you get to the Yellowstone Lake. We took this route to arrive at Old Faithful after 1 PM stopping at various vista points. We plugged our car behind Snow Lodge and went for the 2:14 eruption. It apparently was not as regular today and went off after 2:19.

Black Sands Basin near Old Faith was not on the Reader's Digest route. But it provided the most interesting color among all. Then we went on to the Midway, Fire Hole Lake and Fire Hole Canyon. Yellowstone is famous for hot springs and geysers, but there are lots of cold streams and rivers meandering through meadows and canyons. They regularly meet each other at the river's shore. I'd love to dip in the hot spring and flow into the cold river, but you probably will scald quickly in reality. The spring water is boiling. Lots of sulfur too. The name Yellowstone probably come from the sulfuric limestone. You can smell that suffocating smell while you walk among the springs and geysers.

There is no yellow stone in Fire Hole Canyon. It is a granite canyon with Flatbed River running through it. It is the look of Yellowstone many people don't know. And Fire Hole Canyon is the preview of Yellowstone Canyon that we'll visit tomorrow.

The day ended with 15,000 steps registered on my fitbit. Add all the driving and getting in and out of the car, it is one of the most active days since I got CFS. It's practically a recovery. We took a day off here in Belgrade to recuperate and I just feel fatigued, not sick. It is the post-exertional fatigue, flush with happy chemicals. Tomorrow, I'll probably get post-exertional funk -- it has been a regular pattern lately in this trip. But I'll recover in the afternoon. That has been the pattern too.

Cody, WY

A skinny biker with full beard pulled behind me as I pulled over to take picture of the town of Cody. He asked where I would charge an EV around here. I told him he could charge in RV park. He went aha! and said that someone was asking where she could charge in Cody. It must mean that EV is becoming mainstream if a redneck biker in the wild west knows something about it.

The landscape turns decidedly desert west of Gillette. Then big mountains appear as you approach Sheridan past Buffalo on I-90. It is Bighorn National Forest that you have to climb over before you get to Yellowstone.

The steep climb over Bighorn mountain drained the car quite a bit. I knew that I'd get it all back on descension, but I wasn't going to take chance the same. We skipped all points of interests and headed directly to Cody. No matter, the drive still provided beautiful views of the vast Bighorn basin. The other side of the mountain on descension was a mixture of forest, meadow, streams and desert. Then cornfield reappeared near Lovell after crossing over the Bighorn lake.  The clouds must be dumping its load  there before climbing the Bighorn mountain.

I'm glad we took 14A through the mountain to Cody rather than continuing on I-90 around the mountains to Bozeman or West Yellowstone following the supercharger network. Only thing I missed on this route was the waterfalls along the Sheep Mountain Road. And I remedied the lack of supercharger on this route by camping at Parkway RV park in Cody.

Camping is a lot of work under the best circumstance. It is not something a CFS patient can undertake for sure. Unloading stuff from the car, making the bed and then returning the car back to the drive-worthy state takes a lot of work and I was totally exhausted by the time we left Cody. Amazingly, I partially recovered by the time we left Cody after breakfast at Wild Horse Cafe across the Cody Rodeo Stadium. Yet another sign that I am recovering.