The Doctor is In

The first day we arrived in Jackson Wyoming I went to an emergency medical clinic. My right ear developed an infection. The walk-in clinic was the same clinic I went to last year when I was in Jackson and came down with a very bad head cold. The ear infection started over a week ago. I was also starting to get an infection in my left eye.

I have been sick only once since 2008 where I required medical care. That time happened to be last May while I was in Jackson Wyoming. Having to seek medical care in the same town again as where I was traveling last year was quite a coincidence. At home, many years passed by without having to go see a doctor for an illness. At least I knew where the emergency care place was located.

Even the same doctor I saw last year was on duty when I went back. After talking with me for a few minutes, he remembered me. He was the Doc who gave me the classic line about why I was sick that I will never forget. He told me that I probably picked up the virus four days ago, which made sense since I was out and about for several days in Ft Collins Colorado. He said the reason I was sick was, and this is his quote, “People are filthy.” By that he meant I picked up the head cold from someone who didn’t wash their hands or some other basic personal hygiene. The head cold symptoms consisted of a fever, sore throat, and congestion. While he couldn’t treat the actual cold, he did recommend several over the counter cold remedies that brought me a lot of relief from the symptoms.

I’ve told the “People are filthy story” many times. I told the doctor that I repeated his quote often. He laughed and said, “Yes, that sounds like something I would say.” I was already taking the proper antibiotic ear drops for the ear infection that I brought along with me. I just needed him to look inside and clean out any wax or infection debris. I felt the ear would need to be cleaned out so the antibiotic ear drops would be able to reach the infection for the drops to work. My ear felt totally clogged.

To my surprise, he told me that the ear canal was completely clear and clean. The fullness and pain I felt was from inflammation of the ear canal. This was actually very good news since it would have been difficult for him to clean out my ear canal since I have a hole in my eardrum. I was already doing everything I needed to with the ear drops. I just couldn’t look in my ear the way he could to make sure the ear was okay.  He gave me a ZPack just to be sure to clear out any other infection and also some steroid drops to help soothe my left eye. I’m feeling much better now. I think I am beginning to develop a bionic eye.

The next day we drove up into Yellowstone passing through Teton National Park. The day was windy and cold. We were so cold while walking around Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic Spring.

The weather was really too cold and windy to be out and about. Today was the coldest I have been in a long time. I know I have been colder, but I really don’t remember when. Years have passed since I was this cold. I was freezing.

We retreated back inside the car and drove back to the Old Faithful parking lot trying to warm up. In a classic we can’t live without the internet moment, all three of us had our noses buried in our smartphones, when Erica looked up and exclaimed, “Look, Old Faithful is going off.”

Snow fell for several hours on Saturday morning at our campground.

Video of snow in the campground. If you look carefully, you can see Robles moving around on the dash of the rig when the magpies chirp. There is a magpie nest in the tree next to the coach entry door. The cats have had endless entertainment with all the birds.

We are going to drive back into Yellowstone over the next few days to some places where animals are often seen. There are not many people in the park yet so many animals such as buffalo, grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, foxes, and elk are venturing out into areas of the park that they would normally not be going to if lots of humans were around.

Vangelis – Beautiful Planet