And then, and then, and then, and then, and theeeeennnnnnnnnnn

I hope y’all get my title reference. I normally do not like stupid humor, I have more of a dad joke sense of humor, but for some reason I find the movie "Dude, Where's My Car?" stupidly hilarious and find myself quoting it all the time. I don't know what's wrong with me, lol, probably a lot! At any rate, seems like I get the bug to write once every two years or so. For some reason, my last blog post was never published so I just published it today, and it kind of made me sad to re-read it. And well, in two years, a lot has happened again. Things change and things remain the same. Let's play catch up one more time shall we... As I finished the last post, we were in Colstrip Montana. We left there at the end of June. I got home and had a few days with my dad before he passed away July 7th 2022. Two days later I turned 50. Ok, let me give you a brief rundown of the past two years. Eventually in Colstrip the weather did turn nice, I was taking our dogs, because we adopted two dogs during this time frame as well, but I had been out walking the dogs, up and down hills in Montana. I woke up one morning with pain in my lower back. I just figured it was sciatica, this has happened before, a few days’ rest, and I will be fine... NO. I came home, back still hurting, my dad died, I turned 50, and July 21, I was hospitalized with pancreatitis. Y’all, let me be real clear, I DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL!!! This is something that excessive drinkers tend to get. They tested everything and could not figure out why I had gotten this. Well, I was there for two days, until the pain came down and I could attempt to eat again without pain. So, ok, that was that. But I still had pain in my back that was not going away. Fast forward to December, I woke up one morning with a crick in my neck, or so I thought. As the day went on, it just kept getting worse and worse, and manifested in my left shoulder blade. It was beyond painful. So, I thought, well it's a pinched nerve, it will be ok. Not so much. I tried everything, EVERYTHING! I saw so many Chiropractors and massage therapists no one could make any improvement in my pain. At one point I was trying decompression therapy and that created a fresh new hell that I have since dealt with and no one can fix (but GOD). We were in North Dakota and I decided to try acupuncture, FINALLY!!!!! Finally, something worked! My shoulder was no longer in pain. I decided to have her try to fix the pain in my lower back...IT GOT WORSE!!! I don't know how, but it got worse and more than that, I started having spasms in my legs and could barely walk. I finally got back home to Colorado, to my Dr. who sent me for so many tests, including Lyme disease as there had been ticks in Montana. And I think I had at least 7 MRIs to rule out MS. So, what they found is that my spinal cord in my neck was so pinched up, they were surprised that I was not paralyzed. The insurance keeps asking what happened, because surly, I must have been in an accident. I keep telling them, I literally just woke up with a pinch in my neck one morning! I turned 50 and my body rebelled, I don't know what else to say. So February 2024, I had spinal surgery to decompress my spinal cord and replace two disc's and fuse three vertebrae and guess what.....my lower back STILL hurts!!! They told me it could take up to two years for the nerve damage to repair, after that, it is what it is. Well, it's December 2024 and I am slowly, VERY slowly, seeing some improvements. I am slowly being able to walk short distances, albeit painful and leaving me out of breath, but I'll take it. I'm still traveling with my husband. We have been to so many places over the past two years, both very good and not so good. We are currently in Moriarty, New Mexico but I'll save that for another day. Hopefully in the near future and not two years from now...No guarantees though! Jennifer

And Then...

It has been a long time since I have been in here to write. The last time I wrote anything was 2 years ago, we had just finished up in Miles City Montana. And guess what, here I am in Montana again! This time I am about an hour away from Miles City in a small town called Colstrip. But I will get to that in a bit. First let’s play catch up, shall we! I think the best way to do this is to just kind of walk through the events of the past two years. October 2020, I came back to Colorado from Miles City. I had a wonderful holiday season spent with my family. January 2021, the grandkids were homeschooling and the oldest was really having a difficult adjustment to it. I made the decision to stay home during that time and work with him one on one. End of May 2021 and through the summer, hubby was on jobs in La Junta, CO and Canon City, CO. These places are within a couple hours’ drive from the house so I traveled back and forth a lot and spent a great deal of time with the grandkids. We welcomed our newest grandson on the 31st of August this year and I stayed home to help mama and daddy and get to know my sweet new grandson. During the Autumn of 2021 our family went through a very dark time. Everyone started getting sick with Covid. It was the strangest thing, just all of a sudden, it seemed like everyone was testing positive. One of my brothers was diagnosed too far into his illness and he was not able to make it through. Right now, that is all I can say about that as I am still grieving and just can't go through the details. During this time, we had been in Cheyenne, WY and we had been traveling back and forth as Cheyenne is only about three hours from our home. We went home for Thanksgiving and, of course, we ended up with Covid. Mine was pretty mild but hubby was very ill. We went back home to Colorado so we could be in our house and near our Dr during his recovery. That takes us through the end of 2021. Now for this year of 2022! Hubby has been to Texas and Colorado, I stayed home for the most part because he was so close to home. We were thrilled when we learned he was coming back to Montana as we really enjoyed ourselves here last time. So far, we have been here for 7 weeks and this has been a very difficult trip for me. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly... I’m actually going to work that backwards because I like to end things on an upbeat note. So let’s start with the Ugly. The Springtime weather here has been, well, ugly. Since we have been here, we have had two major snow storms dumping about a foot of snow on us each time. Most days are cloudy and cold and even when temperatures are reaching into the 60's, there is still a cold breeze which makes it very uncomfortable for me. Yes, I am going through "the change" and I should find this weather delightful, but I don't. I do not like being inside so much. And I am more often cold (freezing) than hot! Last time we were in Montana, we enjoyed a beautiful Autumn and I was able to go for walks every day and sit outside to do my bible study each morning. Here not so much. The Bad, I hate to classify Colstrip as Bad, but it's pretty bad here. Not in a crime sort of way mind you, but in a, there is nothing here sort of way. I will explain in just a minute. The other bads: the nearest Walmart is just over an hour away in Miles City. Now I know that sounds like a petty first world problem, and it is, but when I get to my description of Colstrip, well it will make more sense. And the closest actual city is Billings, about two hours away. And with gas prices as they are, well, it just stinks to have to go anywhere. The Good, well, the good is right here in the camper. I was able to get private internet hooked up to the camper, not a campground Wi-Fi but actual internet service through a local company. That is really exciting because we can stream all we want with no issues! And I have been doing a lot of online classes this trip. I have an area set up in the camper now with a desk and lots of my crafting supplies. On previous trips I have tried to bring so much with me and there just is never enough room. This time I was very selective in what I brought and I have been learning how to paint with watercolors. It's been my own sweet journey! I found a group that does devotionals and doodling together online and that has been a huge blessing to me on this trip. Ok, let’s get to the fun part! Welcome to Colstrip Montana! Colstrip is a, wait for it... coal mining town! You either work at the mine or you work at the power plant. We are currently staying in the man camp belonging to the power plant. It's really not that bad here but it is not a public campground, you must have some kind of tie to the power plant. But that is a story best left for another day. We have a lovely view of the ginormous power plant right out of our back window! Actually, you can pretty much see the power plant from anywhere in Colstrip, but I digress. There is one gas station here and a small, but surprisingly convenient grocery store that is sinking into the ground, shopping is a bit like walking through a funhouse. There is an Ace Hardware, but as with all Ace's, you will pay twice what you would pay at Walmart for anything, but the owner is a wonderfully kind man. Oddly enough, there is a Subway here and that is it for fast food chain restaurant type places. They have a bar restaurant but that's not really our thing so we have not been. They have a community center but I have not gone there either. They have a walking trail and they boost over 30 parks, but there is no trail head to park at and no parking at any of the parks which suggests to me that these are strictly for the people that live directly in the community of said trails and parks. Now they do have a lovely lake with a trail around it and it has been nice enough one time for me to go take a walk there. Otherwise, it's just cold and windy here. Now I realize that maybe I'm not giving it a fair shake as it is Spring and maybe it's not a "normal" Spring and I'm a sissy lala when it comes to the cold. But hey, I'm just sharing MY experience. But, as we were told by a resident, don't drink the water here, it's contaminated, and indeed it does smell a bit off, I thought it was my camper, but y'all, even the dogs will not drink the tap water here! We buy them bottled water because they refuse this water. And I have read news stories of all the COPD problems older people have here from working in and living around the mines and power plant. Just informing and reporting my own opinions. Maybe Colstrip is actually a lovely town to live in or visit. We have another month here so if something changes in that time, I will let you know, otherwise, see you in the next town! Jennifer