Bill and Glen's Annual Harley Ride 2012 Part IV "Blue signs with white letters..."

No unusual noises to wake to this morning. Actually kind of peaceful. Birds chirping, morning sun breaking into a new day. Several things would make it even better... Revile on a Calvary bugle off in the distance, the whinny of fresh horses, The jingle of harnesses being mounted. What a place! We just spent the night in tents in northwestern Nebraska at a sparkling gem of a place named Fort Robinson. The US Calvary has occupied this place for many years. Most of the buildings are in their original condition and upkeep has been very rewarding. We deconstructed camp packing everything the same way we have each morning. After the packing is complete we embark on a mission to devour some breakfast food and begin our adventure. There is plenty to see here and information about life in this place in a different time is abundant. The displays are very informative. A team of mules is hitched to an early American stage coach and rides are available for a real taste of early American west. A walking tour is always in order and for those nimble enough to hoist a leg, horseback rides into the surrounding area are guided. Jim and Glen elected to pursue the walking tour.
I was having issues with the results of the arachnoid attack I had suffered a couple of nights earlier. The skin around the bite was so sensitive I couldn't stand to have anything even brush up against it. If I took the antibiotic without food it made me nauseous. So for all the beauty and desire I couldn't stand to move. I found a bench and parked. After a while I got stir crazy. Got on the Harley and motored over to the showers. I was in dire need of a shave. It's really amazing how many times I can shower brush my teeth and forget to shave. Somewhat reminiscent of remembering to take the trash to the end of the drive on Wednesday's...
After the shave I mosied back over to the parade field, found a bench and parked my posterior as comfortably as possible. By mid morning Glen and Jim had made it back to the bikes so the days progress was discussed, headed to Chimney Rock National Monument southeast of Scott's Bluff, Nebraska.

The road south from Crawford, Nebraska is a very lonely, shadeless, unmerciful stretch of highway. Not ten minutes into the ride I started feeling quite strange. Tingling in the hands and arms, feet tingling and definite feeling of restless leg syndrome (at least what I imagined restless leg syndrome felt like), thoughts of irregular heart beats, sweating, not being able to focus on objects straight ahead, almost sensations of vertigo. Wow, I feel bad! We came up to a gravel pullout and I needed a break. Jim and Glen motored in behind me, I was finishing off a bottle of water when they pulled up. I told Glen I wasn't sure I was feel good but this was no place to hang out. We proceeded south to the intersection of highway 2 and 71 in the middle of nowhere Nebraska. I got another bottle of Gatorade from Glen and finished but told him I was feeling really bad. Time for a Bayer aspirin. we took off to the west following 71 south. All I could think from that point on was "Lord please let me get to some help!!!" I really thought I might have been having a heart attack... The thoughts in my head were racing so fast it was a good thing I had no choices to make except continue forward on the path we had chosen. I kept looking for Scott's Bluff over the next rise, when it wasn't there it was another "Lord help me..." All of a sudden we popped over a rise and there it was! The Blue sign! You've all seen them, even if you didn't notice them they were there. When you think you need it is a very relieving sign! Blue sign with a big white H. Left turn. Not sure where Glen and Jim were but I was headed for help. Every corner of the hospital was the just before the Emergency room. Not! Where the heck is the emergency room. Panic again! finally if I'd gone right instead of left I'd already be getting help. Glen and Jim pulled up about the time I had my helmet off and started towards the doors. I walked in told them the problem and was immediately moved to the processing area. The receptionist was outstanding. I was digging for my insurance card and she kept saying we'll get to that later. Service with a smile (a very pretty one at that!). Into the room draped with a robe waiting. Didn't wait long, the ladies of the ER were all over me. EKG stickers (if they stuck one on me they stuck 30 and no they didn't shave my chest) in hand I was there for the full treatment. EKG complete, waiting. We discussed the spider bite and the possibility of it being the cause, probably not. We discussed my doctor's diagnoses of vertigo and whatever else was potentially relevant to my circumstances. I had blood drawn in Norfolk earlier in the trip and was still quite bruised from that needle. The ER here decided to draw blood again. The new girl trying to get a needle in my veins got more than she bargained for. Apparently I am thick skinned so she was having issues getting the needle through my hide. Once the needle was in the vein kept moving around on her like a kid playing hide and seek. After two tries in the left hand, one try in the right hand, one try in the right arm at my elbow joint and once in the same location on the left arm I told her I was sorry but we needed to get someone else in here before I developed a severe aversion to needles. She agreed and went for help. The next girl came in tried once in the left arm and decided the only way this would work was in the inner bicep of my left arm. Wow! I was tired. The doctor's decided I was dehydrated enough it had caused most of my symptoms a long with a touch of vertigo. An intravenous IV was started to replenish my electrolytes and I was headed for la la land. I guess Jim and Glen came back a couple of times but I never heard a thing. After six hours spent in the ER taking a nap the hospital personnel decided I was capable of continuing my adventure. My deepest thanks to the ladies in the ER in Scott's Bluff, Nebraska. I hope blessing flow in your lives like never before! Glen and Jim, thanks for patience!
Jim and Glen had gotten lunch and nested down in the waiting area while I was taking a nap so none of us made it to Chimney Rock National Monument. We'll save that for another time.

Based on the experiences of the day we turned our adventure towards Ft. Laramie, Wyoming. Take note, FORT LARAMIE not Laramie! Two different and distinct places. Ft Laramie! All I can think is John Wayne and wagon trains! Very cool place. It's located on highway 26 between Guernsey and Torrington Wyoming. Actually it's about 3 miles south of highway 26, the turn is on the west edge of Lingle, Wyoming. Fort Laramie is an exceptional piece of American history. The fort has had three names in it's history. Remnants of all three forts exist whether it's foundations or complete buildings. The existence of structures does make or break the history associated with a place. Lesson learned. I have walked where the feet of men who set the established paths of this country have walked, I have not taken from there steps but felt the aura and emotion of their presence in a different time. Each of us are walking paths everyday that may affect the future of a people. Fort Laramie was a place for soldiers and their families. It's a big place. The relics of history that still stand in the houses and buildings of Fort Laramie are eerily complete in accuracy. It is where each piece belongs. From the soldiers uniforms hanging in waiting for their call to duty to the fire brigade station standing guard in the barracks, it all fits. It is a journey back to another time. As you stand at the parade ground you can hear the cadence of the march. You can see the stands filled with officers and families. You can hear their children playing in the distance. You can stand on the ridge by the Ice pits overlooking the Laramie river before it pours its wealth into the North Platte River you can see and hear the children splashing and playing in the river. You can see where young soldiers courted the young girls from the fort (under the watchful eye of their Officer fathers!). For the emptiness of people there has been a tremendous amount of life in this place. I'm not trying to quote the history of the place, there are books upon books to do that. I am sharing what I felt and what I imagined in this wonderful place! I was really hoping the picnic area would allow overnight tent camping but alas not to be. Asking about overnight camping was met with the response "No one but the security guard is allowed here overnight!" It was not meant to be mean and really didn't come across that way. I got the feeling that this was one of those places that needed the night to itself to maintain the feeling of being a very special place day in and day out. What I would give to ride around with that security guard just one night, especially if we were horseback!!!
On we go... Guernsey State Park is a really nice place on the North Platte River, great fishing! No vacancies with electricity! Just our luck. I remember delivering some steel plate somewhere south of Guernsey several years ago and seemed to recall some campground outside of town on a dirt road. We went back to town and turned south on the west edge of the military base. A mile or so south we found a golf course that I had no recollection of, hmmm. Turns out the golf course was part of the city park system and had tent camping with electricity available. There were no other occupants in the camping area we chose. We were really thinking this wa going to be a peaceful night with the sprinklers chinking away all night and no traffic. Pipe Dream! As soon as the office closed it seems as if every person in the town of Guernsey, Wyoming showers in the city park shower complex. Oh well, the mosquitoes were enormous! We went back to town for dinner which was bar food next to the liquor store and the old bowling alley, we were told it was about the best around, OK... It was what we needed at the moment. Here's to a tomorrow equal or better than today! Sleep well brothers!

Next Post... Forest Fire, Laramie and drinking a Gatorade where the "Wild Bunch rode!"