After Rainbow in New Hampshire, Jorrie and I hit the road together. We didn’t quite know where we wanted to go, but were hopeful we would find a secluded place in the woods. But the first night we ended up in the closest Walmart parking lot. Apparently so did half of the people leaving Rainbow. All evening different people from The Gathering came over to the buses to talk.
From there we decided to visit my friend Julia, in Piermont, NH. We stopped at a dog park on the way where the dogs enjoyed running around, and afterwards we checked out an adjacent wooden playground, running through all the tunnels and playing on the slides.
We got to Julia’s later in the day and were able to park both of our buses in her driveway. With my short bus and Jorrie’s full-size bus, finding parking is often difficult. That night we all hung out and relaxed, and also took much needed showers after being in the woods for a week.
The next day, after a pancake breakfast, we all went paddle boarding. Julia and her son Achilles each had their own, and Jorrie and I shared mine. We paddled around on the choppy water of Indian Pond, and stopped to rest on a floating dock in the middle. Achilles played and jumped in the water while we basked in the sun.
That night we went out for Chinese food before going bowling. When we arrived at the bowling alley, we had to play in the arcade first. Achilles and Jorrie both played motorcycle racing games, and I sat on the back of Jorrie’s fake bike as he played.
The bowling alley’s nighttime darkness was lit up by different colorful spinning lights. I had to bowl with my left hand, due to the very painful dog bite I had received on my right middle finger at Rainbow. Jorrie also played with his left hand in solidarity, and we did surprisingly well. I even got a strike, so I might continue to play with my left hand in the future even when I don’t need to.
The next day Jorrie and I were back on the road. My finger, which had been bitten five days prior, had been starting to hurt worse and worse. Shooting pains traveled like an electrical shock all the way up to my shoulder whenever it was bumped. I hadn’t taken the bandage off at that point since I had been told to leave it on as long as I could. But with the increasing pain, I figured I should have a look. I only had to remove the top bandage to tell that it was incredibly infected. And it smelled terribly. I had been hoping I wouldn’t have to have it looked at, but it was clear I needed to.
We drove to an urgent care, but they wouldn’t take my insurance and told me to go to a hospital. Luckily for me, Jorrie came in with me because I hate needles. They started me on IV antibiotics, and I needed tetanus and rabies shots. I got four shots in all, and they said in three days I would need the next of the series of rabies shots. We were there for a total of four hours, and I had an amazing nurse, friendly, fun. Near the end of our visit, security came through trying to figure out whose buses were parked in their lot. Even though we were in the ER and there was plenty of parking, they didn’t like that we were parked there. This seemed silly to me. Why can’t I park my vehicle in the parking lot of the hospital where I’m a patient in the ER? But we were able to finish up shortly after that and be on our way. My nurse sent me off with a whole basin full of medical supplies.
Jorrie and I continued on our way east, sleeping in our buses at different rest stops. We decided to stop for a night in Brattleboro, Vermont, where we hiked down a trail along a flooded river. The dogs were thrilled to be able to run about and splash in the water. We also explored a few of the little shops around town.
That night we sat on the hood of Jorrie’s bus taking turns playing songs and enjoying each other’s company. As we sat there, we watched a cop pull someone over. Jorrie was worried that he might come and give us a hard time, but I assured him we could be here. But after the person who got pulled over drove off, the cop pulled into the parking lot and slowly headed toward the bus with their headlights shining on us. “Oh great!”, I thought, “they are gonna come bother us.” But they suddenly turned around and took off. I guess they didn’t mind us being there after all, or had actual criminals to deal with.
We continued on the next day, finally making it to a secluded spot in the woods at Camp Kelly campground, a free camping area I’ve found myself at multiple times since I’ve started traveling. We took the campsite at the very end, which was a large clearing at the top of a hill. The dogs and my cat Thomas were able to roam free there.
We enjoyed the solitude, but I had to go back out into the world the next day. The rabies vaccine is a series of shots, and I still had to get two more series. The hospital in New Hampshire had told me to go to any nearby hospital, and I would be taken care of. I drove to the closest city in Vermont, about forty-five minutes away. I walked in, told them I needed the next shot and showed them my paperwork from the first hospital, they assured me they took my insurance, and gave it to me with no issues.
I returned back to the campground, and we could see a storm rolling in. As the sun was setting, the sky filled with dark clouds and they opened up with rain, lightning, and rumbling thunder. We could still see pink bits of the sunset peaking through in places, and in the middle of all of it, a rainbow appeared. I had never seen a rainbow surrounded by lightning, and it was beautiful.
The next day we were back on the road again, headed to my folks’ place in Central New York to visit. I hadn’t seen them since Christmas.
While I was there I had to get my last rabies shots. I went to the Oswego hospital, but when I arrived they told me they couldn’t do it and sent me to their affiliated Urgent Care. When I arrived there, they also refused to do the shots. I decided to stop in at the WellNow Urgent Care across the street, mainly because they have free slushies, but they also told me they wouldn’t do the rabies shots. I started calling around to different hospitals outside the county, but no one could help me. Eventually I was told to call the health department. The man who I talked to told me that in New York State, the county you got bit in had to pay all your medical expenses, and since I was bit out of state, none of them wanted to do it because it was quite expensive. I was frustrated because I didn’t even want the shot in the first place, but the doctors and nurses in New Hampshire had convinced me it was necessary.
In the end I talked with a man from the Health Department in Oswego County. He was very rude and angry that I had gotten the shot in the first place, saying it was unnecessary and his county wouldn’t be held responsible. He was awful to deal, but I was persistent and eventually received the shots and everything was settled. I could finally relax and enjoy being back in my hometown visiting friends and family.
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