Friday, August 20, 2010

Wednesday the 4th: DAY 7

3am is when the alarm clock went off and 4am is when we left Amy and Brenan’s house. We had to head out early because we had another 12 hour day and we needed to be in Spokane, Washington around 5:30 to Meet Cynthia and her church group for an evening of devotionals and games. I started the drive this morning because Jamie stayed up working on some of our first blog posts. She was super tired. So she slept while I drove us through the northern parts of Utah. It was beautiful to see the sun rise over the mountains.

Around 8 we stopped for gas and breakfast. We ate at Perkins because they have them all over the west and I was interested in trying one out. They had a really great bakery but the breakfast was kind of lacking. After breakfast Jamie took over driving. We found lava formations at this one rest area where we stopped. They were kind of cool. But other than the mountains we were having a pretty boring drive. I love seeing the mountains, but there is nothing out there on this part of the drive. So since we were a little too bored, I decided to make the day interesting, but not on purpose…

So we needed to stop for gas around 11am. We were somewhere in Idaho, ready to hit Montana soon. Jamie was pumping gas and I was wanting a drink from the back of the truck. As I was opening the latch of the tailgate on the truck, I pinched my left pinky finger in the latch. So it hurt pretty bad and it was bleeding a little but I did not think anything of it until... I started to not feel so well. I told Jamie I was not feeling very well, so she told me to sit down on the tailgate where I then proceeded to lay down in the truck because I felt like I was passing out.

(Let me reiterate! There I was, pumping gas and whatever, when Ashley tells me she hurt her finger. I leisurely inquire if she is alright and not being satisfied with an answer I lean over a see her littlest finger dripping blood on the pavement! The next thing I know I am helping her to sit down, all the while thinking, "Common' girl, get over it! I'm the one with the blood thing, your the reasonable one." After sitting down for a bit she leans back, which seemed fine until I caught a glimpse of her eyes ROLLING BACK in her head!!!! That is when I got laud, calling her name and the attention of those around. There was so much white in her socket, I saw it through the sunglasses!~Jamie)

I am not sure if I completely passed out or not but, I remember Jamie calling my name several times very loudly. Then several people came over to check on me to see if I was okay. After I regained my senses a little, this nice lady kept asking me questions like, “What is your full name?” and “What is your date of birth?” Jamie made me keep talking to her about all kind of things. I eventually moved to a grass area because I felt the need to throw up. I never did that thank goodness. The lady who came to check on me bandaged my finger up with some ointment and made sure I was feeling okay. Then out of nowhere a man comes over and says he is an EMT and asks if he can help. We explained what happened and he offers to take a look at my finger. We find out he is a firefighter and his station is right behind the gas station where we stopped. Apparently another fireman had been jogging by and called the station to ask someone to come check on me.

(It was more miraculous than that. So, we are in the grass and this normal (but cute) guy shows up telling us he's an EMT. Fine-and-dandy, he goes back to his truck to get his first aid kit. With no luck, he returns and I ask him if he will examine the finger as I unwrap it (No gloves=no EMT) he says sure and I begin. Let's just remember that this is JAMIE VESS unwrapping the blood-bulged finger, thank you. Then, out of no where this girl shows up on a bike with a dog, and a first aid kit in hand. MIRACLE OF MIRACLES! With the gloves our EMT takes the lead and sends me after water, assuring me she was fine, and that I could take my time. This is when I took the gas pump out of the truck and got the turkey for my dearest Ash-Lee. Upon return I was explaining to both the EMT and the girl on the bike that I was so grateful they happed to see us, and be here at this gas station. This is when they laughed and explained that they were both firefighters, the station was behind the gas station, and not only had their buddy called in the emergency as he jogged by, but EMT man called the station for a first aid kit before he came back to us. Still, I know when I've been blessed.)

(P.S. Blood-bulged, no it was actually a portion of her finger flesh that was pinched so hard it popped her skin and extruded itself, never to return. Instead it sat out there, all nasty like.)

He was amazingly nice and he bandaged up my finger after cleaning it up. He said I probably did not need stitches which was great to hear. After making sure I was okay and could walk to the car, he left us to head on our way. He was so very kind and helpful!

Jamie was also at my side the whole time helping me to sit up, making me eat and drink water. She was thinking I was probably either dehydrated or maybe even a little anemic. We have not been eating very well on this road trip, lots of sugars and very little protein so we are thinking I needed some meat J She made me eat some sliced turkey and gave me ibprophen too. She was even the one who actually put the bandage on my finger because the EMT could not get the band-aid to stick with his gloves on. I was blessed to have her there as well as the people who stopped to check on me and my EMT.

So after that craziness… we stopped at an exit which had several opal stores off of it. As we went into a couple of these stores we found the husbands and wives who mine the opals from the Idaho mines and then cut and set the stones for jewelry. They were beautiful but pricey of course so we just window shopped. We did get a free chip of opal still in it’s original form.

(This is another of those "Jamie getting over" it things. The Opal mines where just a few miles from the firefighter-filled gas station. I was still nervous about Ash-Lee and wanted to make sure she was really fine. I know walking through Opal stores doesn't seem restful, but they where populated, and close to help should a relapse occur.)

We then continued our long trek to Spokane…we were a bit behind schedule though. Wonder whose fault that was? (I did not mean to pass out) J So after Idaho we ended up going through Montana (another state we did not realize we would be going through). It was pretty gorgeous with all the mountains but again very little civilization. We stopped at this one gas station where we picked up Car Karaokee. Jamie and I popped in the CD and sang along to each song with our inflatable microphone. It was pretty great J We arrived in Spokane around 6:30 and we only made it at that time because we gained an hour with the time zone change.

Here we met up with Cynthia and her husband Joey at their church. They had dinner for us and we listened and participated as Cynthia led a small devotional. We then played a few games with the group. Afterwards we headed back to Cynthia and Joey’s home which they have turned into a Bed and Breakfast as well. The house as well as the view was gorgeous. They live on the hills in Spokane where they are surrounded by farms. It was just beautiful country. After giving us a tour of the house and letting us get cleaned up, we stayed up pretty late talking to Cynthia. Jamie and she had a lot of catching up to do. They were up much later than I was.

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