Last night I was pretty ill.  Like violently ill, for the whole night.  Man, that was an experience.  I have no idea what the deal was.  Trudi made stir fry at 7, then around 9 my stomach started feeling weird.  By 11 pm, I was in incredible pain.

I don’t see how it could have been food poisoning.  5 other people ate and they all feel great. There was no meat in the stir fry.   It was on top of wild rice.  Whatever.

I have never been that sick in my life.  I was deliriously sick.  It would come in waves, maybe 30 minutes apart.  I’d think it was over, but it just kept coming and coming.  I probably threw up 50 times.  The last 10 or so, nothing was coming up and that is when I felt I was doing real damage.

Plus, about 3 or 4 am, I started cramping.  Like all over.  My right foot was cramped up for maybe 2 hours, but that was the least of my issues.  I was getting hamstring cramps, thigh cramps, which I’ve never had, my neck, back, you name it, it cramped.  Trying to hobble to the bathroom all cramped up would have been a sight to see.

Initially I was worried about my broken ribs, but that turned out to be a non-issue.  Sure it felt like someone was stabbing me in the side every time I puked, but the abdominal pain was 100 fold that of the rib pain.

I thought seriously about going to the hospital around 5 am.  It didn’t seem right that I could be that violently ill for so long.  But the hospital is in Hayward, about 30 minutes away, and by the time I’d made a decision to go, the pain had already subsided some, giving me hope it was done.

So, around 7 or 8 am, it just left as it came.  Now I just feel like I got run over by a train.  Pretty much just like the flu, which is a 99% improvement from the night episode.  My legs are twitching like I just rode a 6 hour hot road race.  It is all so strange.  Plus, my stomach is making noises that would perfect for a soundtrack from Jurassic Park.

Sorry to even post this, but you know how it is, I seem to write whatever is on my mind.  And I can’t think of anything else, just now, than replaying the night over and over.   I wouldn’t wish that experience on my worst enemy.  When it rains, it pours.
   

My position for the day.  

 

Once thing I love about going to different places is seeing how the locals have evolved with their environment.   Maybe I’ve had more time to just observe, since I’m sort of out of commission, but this trip it seems like it seems more foreign that usually.

Up in Northern Wisconsin, in the winter, this climate is harsh.  People really need to be ready or it could be deadly.  The temperatures are so much lower than most the rest of the country ever encounters, we don’t even have any idea it even occurs.

I spent a winter in Grand Forks North Dakota, where the winters are harsh.  I remember asking a girl there if all the cars there have plugs for block heaters.  She didn’t know that cars came without them.

A couple New Year’s ago, we were out on the Hemlock Ridge at midnight and the actual temperature was around -35.  I think the high temperature the day was -12 or something silly like that.   Dennis’ ski race is Saturday and they keep changing the forecast.  The high now is supposed to be -2, with a low of -20.  It is lucky there isn’t as much wind in skiing as cycling, but it is still cold.  42 km at -5 would be tough.  But, he’s lucky it isn’t Sunday.  The high temperature is -8 on Sunday.  It is crazy.

Okay, here are some photos from the last few days up here.