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How to survive a Sjӧgren’s flare

Published by Cassie

Well, that summer flare Dr. B. warned me about finally hit about two weeks ago. (I started this post and several others about a week ago when the flare receded for a couple of days, only to come back and kick my butt for several more days.) At the beginning of the summer, my rheumatologist told me that too much sun exposure could cause an increase in symptoms. Knowing this, I canoed for about four hours during the heat of the day two weeks ago. And then I spent most of the last two weeks feeling like someone was taking a hammer to my joints. If I could have floated in a zero gravity chamber so nothing could touch me, it would have been a dream come true. But hey! It didn’t seem to affect my lungs at all, so I’ll call it a win.

This picture doesn’t show how teensy they are, but the four together are about the size of a fingernail. The day I messed up my dose, I took the four small ones – 4mg and left the one larger one – 5mg – behind. Oops.

I must pause to note that the day I felt the worst I can’t completely blame on sun exposure. I spent a day at work unable to focus on a thing the trainer said and unable to even rest my wrists or elbows on the desk. When I got home I realized I took less than half the steroid dose I was supposed to take in the morning. Let me tell you, you don’t realize just how much impact those teensy little pills make until you miss one.

Here’s the best (dumbest) part: I’d totally do it again! Canoeing is awesome. I got to spend a good bit of time with some family I don’t get to see often, and a day of paddling is always a fun. In fact, I am determined to buy a kayak before next summer so I can get out on lakes or up a creek as often as possible –preferably still with my paddle, but you know how my luck goes. Probably after four or ten more trips out I’ll figure a way to keep the flare from being so bad.

Even though laying around does absolutely nothing to help the flare pass more quickly, I was too lazy to get up and get out last week. Instead, I spent more time catching up on some blog reading and being inspired by Instagram feeds. Here’s a short list of fellow adventurers I follow – and if you’re ever having a down day, maybe they can help cheer you up, too.

The Real Hiking Viking

This guy is a veteran who now spends his time hiking. So far this year I’ve followed him around out west. He recently took a break from the Pacific Crest Trail to complete part of the Sierra High Route and will be going back to complete the rest of the PCT. His pictures are phenomenal, and not just because he’s a great photographer. Every time I see one of his photos it only reinforces my determination to hike the PCT the second I can get around without oxygen.

My Alaskan Life

If I could live anywhere, I would choose either Montana or Alaska. I’m super envious of this woman who moved to Alaska from Europe. Every day she delights with pictures of places that I dream about. Mountains, stream, glaciers, helicopter rides, kayaking and hiking are just some of the things she posts regularly. Her feed has me itching for the day I finally set off on my Alaskan adventure.

The Hurt Blogger

When I have weeks like last week and am too lazy to move, this woman makes me feel about two inches tall. She has battled rheumatoid arthritis – dubbed “Arthur” – since she was a child. Nothing I’ve ever dealt with compares with what she deals with on a daily basis, and she’s training to climb Denali. If this girl can keep up with her training and prepare to climb a mountain, I can keep on hiking.

Sturgis Chick

This lady’s trip is wrapping up now, but you can still go back and follow her adventure from South Dakota to the tip of South America and back on her bike. She left her job, sold everything and decided to live on the road. It’s basically what I’d do, except with an SUV or something because I don’t think I could pack that light. Or ride a motorcycle for that long.

The Chronic Adventurer

I started following this guy before I ever got sick, but his blog took on a whole new meaning after the whole autoimmune disorder/lung disease thing started. He has inflammatory bowel disease, and keeps on adventuring despite his health problems. He has periodic stints in the hospital because of his disease, but through it all, he’s kept pushing through. Earlier this year he even completed the London Marathon.

Reaching freedom’s shore

Published by Cassie

Featured image: The John Rankin House sits atop Freedom’s Hill in Ripley, Ohio. Hundreds of escaping slaves passed through this house on their way north.

Ripley’s Front Street lines the riverbank with historic homes and shops.

Nestled between a high ridge and a deep, narrow neck of the Ohio River you’ll find Ripley, Ohio, population 1,738. If you float east of Cincinnati for about 50 miles you’ll glide right past it. But be careful – blink and you may miss it.

Ripley was home to a huge shipping center, and bustled year round. The area’s pork and tobacco farmers used the many tributaries leading to the river to move their wares further down the Ohio River to the Mississippi and beyond. But underneath this busy farm city was a quiet movement that helped transport hundreds of people through the area. While slave traders were shuttling African Americans west down the river to sell them, others were helping a movement that led to freedom.

Ripley was well known as a hotbed of activity for the Underground Railroad, so much that armed fights were not uncommon. Some Southern slave owners had even placed bounties on the heads of well-known abolitionists, such as the Reverend John Rankin and freed slave John P. Parker.

Reverend Rankin’s home on Freedom Hill has a great vantage point to see signals from the town for when it is safe to cross the river and watch for approaching bounty hunters.

Rankin’s home at the top of the ridge was made to order for his work. With the home’s elevation, it was easy for lookouts to see several miles to make sure there was no one pursuing. The area’s terrain and waterways also worked to escaping slaves’ benefit when they needed help losing the hounds tailing them.

If you stand behind the Rankin House, you can see for miles in either direction down the river, even on a misty, spring day. When you walk down the 100 steps and look back up to the house, maybe you can imagine the relief that escaping slaves might have felt when they finally reached that hearth. Today, this ridge is known as Liberty Hill. From Rankin’s home, railroad passengers were transported to Felicity, Ohio on their way to Canada.

It’s worth mentioning here that one of the Reverend’s visitor’s was Harriet Beecher Stowe. Even though Rankin didn’t speak publicly about his work on the Railroad, for obvious reasons, he made an exception for this guest and told her the story of a woman who was chased across the river on foot while it was thawing. She was forced to hop from chunk of ice to chunk of ice with her baby in her arms to escape bounty hunters. This story made it into “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”

Rankin’s home has been restored to its appearance when he lived there, and can be toured for a nominal fee.

John P. Parker was a slave who bought his freedom and eventually settled in Ripley. He was one of the first black men to have patents issued before 1900 and helped hundreds of people reach freedom.

Another well-known Ripley resident was John P. Parker, a man who was able to buy his freedom by working extra hours for his last owner. I can’t help but pause here to think about what it would have been like to have to work to earn the right to be my own person. Did he ever wonder, while he was working all those hours, if his owner was lying to him and wouldn’t grant his freedom after all? The concept is unfathomable to me.

But Parker did get his freedom and eventually settled in Ripley, where his experiences as a slave fueled him to help others reach freedom. He was also one of the first black men to have inventions patented before 1900. Today, his former home is a museum that can be visited during summer.

Ripley has a beautiful, historical waterfront with other places that played a role in the Underground Railroad. A few of them are listed below and more information can be found on Ripley’s website.

212 Front Street: The “North Star Station,” owned by Thomas McCauge; known as the wealthiest man in the western reserve.
200 Front Street: Owned by Thomas Collins; a story goes that he sold coffins and once hid escaping slaves in them to thwart a search party
“Signal House”: I haven’t been able to find a location for this, but this was owned by Vic and Betty Billingsley and signaled to the Rankin’s on the hill that the river was clear to transport escaping slaves.

“The Appalachian Trail Girl’s Guide”

Published by Cassie

After I finished “Four Boots, One Journey,” I switched things up and read a “Part Memoir, Part Manifesto” from a girl’s point of view on the Appalachian Trail. Megan Maxwell’s mission with her book “The Appalachian Trail Girl’s Guide” is to inspire more women to hike and camp and be confident in their outdoor abilities.

Sold! I’m so sold. In fact, I was going to stay home and clean out my car this weekend before I go on a canoeing trip, but I’m so stoked for hiking that I’m going to let the dog hair and Coke Zero bottles keep piling up and go hiking. Then I’m going to go canoeing – and probably hiking if I can convince my cousin to abandon the canoe long enough. But for real, by the time this post goes live, I’ll be panting along a trail at Big Bone Lick. The car wash will still be there when I get home.

But all shenanigans aside, this was another great book. Before reading it, I was solely focused on hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Not that I didn’t want to hike the Appalachian Trail, it just didn’t appeal to me as much. But after reading this, I’m dying to hike this trail and I’m plotting a way to knock out a section hike, ASAP.

It was also a nice contrast to the book I had just finished reading. “Four Boots, One Journey” was written by someone older taking a very different kind of journey, and it had a very different vibe. “Girl’s Guide,” was written by a recent college graduate who enjoyed hiking. She wasn’t on a quest to find herself or get over a tragic loss. She was just trying to hike.

The book was full of helpful information for things I wonder about, such as dealing with feminine hygiene on the trail, and what it’s like to be a woman on a trail dominated by men. She keeps the trail guide vibe and lays out section hikes to try, the best places to see, and trail angels along the way. (Trail angels are people who help hikers out or let hikers stay with them, either for free, a small fee or work trade. See, I’m learning the lingo already!)

Added bonus: She’s has a blog and she’s still very active with it. (Check out http://appalachiantrailgirl.com/) I fell down a wormhole with her blog and found myself reading for almost an hour when I was supposed to be writing this post. It’s full of information about more hiking (like this post about the Great Sand Dunes), gear, jobs for thru-hikers and other adventures (like biking along the Pacific Coast with her mother).

Bottom line: If you’re interested in a thru-hike or sections of the Appalachian Trail, pick up this book.

Going to the Sun Road

Published by Cassie

Featured image: St. Mary’s Lake, Glacier National Park

I do a lot of raving about Montana and Glacier National Park on here, but I promise it’s for a good reason. The place really is spectacular. We only got to spend about two days there on our trip, and the only reason we could tear ourselves away from the state was because we knew we were headed to Yellowstone National Park next.

One of the views you get from Going to the Sun Road.

At Glacier, more than 93 percent of the park is wilderness, so it is totally unspoiled. Hundreds of miles of trails cross the backcountry, and the most beautiful parts of the park can’t be seen from a car. I absolutely will to get back to this park to do some hiking once I’m in a little better pulmonary health. I need to see Avalanche Lake and Grinnell Glacier, just to name two, before I die. If you are interested in more about hiking in Glacier National Park I’ve read Hiking in Glacier backwards and forwards.

But the way most of the park’s visitors see it is from their car. Going to the Sun Road, so named either because of an Indian legend or a story some guy made up about an Indian legend, depending on who you ask, is a marvel of modern engineering. The road is about 50 miles long and east-to-west across the park. It curls around and cuts through mountains and it hugs cliffs and traverses valleys.

It’s a great way to get a slice of what the park has to offer, especially for people who aren’t otherwise able to get out onto some of the trails and experience the park. But, for the love of all that is holy, if you have working legs and lungs, GET OUT AND HIKE THIS PARK. Do it. Do it for me. Do it for yourself.

If you have a fear of heights or falling, I’d suggest you lay down in the passenger’s seat while someone else drives.

When we – Lacey and I – visited this park we did not hike. It was a travesty. But we didn’t hike because we got robbed of a day’s worth of visiting in the park because of a blown-out tire and incompetent rental car company. We had just enough time for an awesome horseback ride – that I can still feel in my back – and a trip across Going to the Sun Road.

It was enough to whet our appetites. We’ve been dying to go back since then.

Parts of the road are open year-round, so there is always something to see or do at the park, even if it’s snowing at the upper levels. Just but sure to check the vehicle requirements if you are driving an oversized vehicle on the road because there are some restrictions. If you don’t want to drive, there is a shuttle service that operates in the park and it is included in the price of admission.

But enough of the boring details. You can find all of these things out for yourself from the park’s website. For now, I’ll leave you with some meh video of the Crown of the Continent.

If you have a fear of heights or falling, I’d suggest you lay down in the passenger’s seat while someone else drives.

One of the views you get from Going to the Sun Road.

Oh no! The big 3-oh!

Published by Cassie

Featured image: My amazing family threw me a surprise 30th birthday party.

This is so not where I expected myself to be when I turned 30.

I had all kinds of plans. They were great plans, too. At this point I should be a hot-shot reporter preparing to go to grad school. And then I would become a teacher and show the next generation how it’s done. I was rather stuck on myself, no?

Then the wheels fell off, my graduation got delayed. Then delayed again. I eventually finished, but never found a job in journalism. I went back to working in banking, which I hated for every day of the 10 years I did it. Basically, if I compared my life now to where I planned it out to being, I’m a complete and utter failure.

So why do I feel happier and more fulfilled than I ever have before?

I spent a good bit of time pondering this. Clearly I still spend entirely too much time thinking about myself, but I was curious. I have a decent job now, still nothing to do with what I paid tens of thousands of dollars to do, but I’m happy. Then one day, it hit me: I simply do not care anymore. I’ll elaborate.

I’m not putting a crazy amount of pressure on myself to achieve. I’m not worried about getting a certain job title, or pay grade or place to live or car to drive. I’m not worried about what others think about where I am in life. It’s a fabulously liberating feeling not to have to deal with self-imposed pressures all the time.

I don’t know exactly when the switch flipped and I stopped worrying about five and ten year plans, retirement and accomplishments. It started before I got sick, but getting diagnosed with a lung disease definitely clinched the attitude adjustment.

I never expected to be in a place where I was actually satisfied with my life. And I don’t mean satisfied as in complacent – I’m definitely still pushing myself. I’m quite sure I’ll push myself right into the grave one day, but I’m sure whatever does it will be a great story to tell in the afterlife. When I say satisfied, I mean in a position where I don’t feel like a failure, or compelled to do something because it’s what people do.

If 30-year-old me could go back and catch my 21-year-old self before I started college, I’d tell myself to slow down and enjoy life a bit more. I’d suggest exploring more, traveling more and not worrying so much about what others expect from me. And 21-year-old me would probably listen intently, thank me, and then go back to working a full time job, an internship and taking a full course load.

These days, the only accomplishment I’m thinking about is a long distance hike. The only five-year plan I’m thinking about is how to live off the grid (so my student loan servicers can’t find me). The only career goals I have are to earn enough money to travel and then share my adventures with you.

I’ve never been happier.

Another new look!

Published by Cassie

Featured image: Wyoming roadsides always offer photo ops.

It would have been great to have posted last week, but redesigning this monster started taking up more and more of my time. So instead of making more work for myself and dragging it out, I put a hiatus on posting last week and just pulled out the redesign. And so here you have it: Something that is a little easier to read, displays pictures much better and is slightly better organized.

But my favorite part is the logo at the top designed by one of my best friends, Karli, a.k.a. The Beatkeeper. She is a fantastic designer and agreed to help me with the logo and the Gus Scale graphics you see for trail ratings. To top it all off, she has an amazing blog about music and how it influences and permeates our lives. Plus, every time I read a post, I come out with a new favorite song.

This layout gives me the opportunity to divide content into sections, more like a magazine and less like a blog. There’s “Living Breathless” which chronicles life with an autoimmune disorder and a lung disease, “The Gus Scale” with trail ratings for the busted lung club, “Throwback Thursday” where I get to tell old stories that didn’t make it to the blog before, and “History” where I get to let my nerdy side out to play and check out historical sites around town. And I can’t forget “Vagabond Girls,” which chronicles my adventures with Lacey, one of my other bestest friends and fellow blogger An Ardent Heart. (She’s just getting started, but I keep pushing her along. She has a lot of great things to say!)

I hope you enjoy the new look and please, if you see anything that looks weird or you just don’t like, let me know. I’ll do my best to accommodate you.

Clifty Falls State Park

Published by Cassie

Clifty Falls State Park near Madison, Ind., is awesome. The park has 10 different trails of various difficulty, plus a campground, amphitheater, pool, playgrounds, playfields, and an Inn with views of the park and the Ohio River.

To get there, you will pass through nearby Madison, Ind. This charming little town is full of shopping, dining and history – including several places that were part of the Underground Railroad.

But for the part we really care about – the hiking. I’ve been to this park twice this year and every time I go I like it better. The first time was earlier in spring; there were still no leaves on the trees. The second time I went everything was in full bloom, and I had a lot more time to explore the park.

One of the things I like about this park is the trail heads are marked clearly; we never had any trouble finding where we were trying to get. I also love that the trail table on the lower left side of the park map actually gives fairly accurate trail descriptions.

Big and Little Clifty Falls

Trail 7 – 1.25 miles

This is your view of Big Clifty Falls from beneath the overlook.

I had to add the “or hound dogs” part; Emme didn’t seem to think these signs applied to her.

We’ve established in previous posts that I love waterfalls. Clifty doesn’t disappoint in this department: there are four that are all relatively easy to access. If you need ADA accessible, there is an overlook at Trail 7 where you can get a good view of Big Clifty Falls. But beyond that, if you can’t do steps, you’re out of luck for all of the trails. The only drawback with this park is that you can’t really get a good view of any of the waterfalls from the trails and there are umpteen billion signs warning you not to veer off the trail under any circumstances.

The trick with most of the trails at this park is getting in and out of the gorges. Everything is situated around the creeks, gorges, caves and waterfalls.

Trail 7 was the first one I hit, and at the beginning it seems like it will be too much. It isn’t.

In a rare moment when Emme’s little hound dog nose isn’t pressed to the ground, she looks ahead under the rock ledge.

It starts out ADA accessible, then goes down steps. You do have to come back out, but it’s not as bad as it seems going in. Take a right halfway down the first batch of steps and the trail will take you under a rock ledge to another view of Big Clifty. When you get back to the steps you can either keep going straight or take another right and complete a short loop through the woods.

Cake Rock

The highlight of this itty bitty trail is seeing Cake Rock, a huge boulder that looks like a piece of cake balancing on its side.

These are the steps getting to Little Clifty Falls. Don’t worry – you only have to go down them.

The loop will bring you to the other side of the steps – so you’ll be left of where you started at the top of the steps. Take a long, narrow set of steps down and you’ll be standing on top of Little Clifty Falls. I love standing there and watching the water go over the falls. But once you’re across, you can go right and walk along the top of the gorge and get more views of the falls. Once you make that right turn, you’re on Trail 6, a half-mile trek which leads out to the Hickory Grove Shelter.

This is a piece of the steps leading back out of the gorge. It actually isn't as bad going out as it seems like it would be when you're staring down all those steps.

This is a piece of the steps leading back out of the gorge. It actually isn’t as bad going out as it seems like it would be when you’re staring up all those steps.

If you opt to keep to Trail 7, you’ll make your ascent. The first time I did this trail, I looked at those five sets of 17 steps, lost all heart, turned around and went back the way I came. It was a mistake.

Once you get up those steps, it’s a mostly level trail along one side of the gorge, across the creek and back up the other side. The trail comes out at the ball fields across from the parking lot at the trailhead.

Tunnel Falls

Trail 5 – .9 mile

The trees and weird angle of this shot of Tunnel Falls isn’t helped by my foggy GoPro lens. I’m getting tired of lugging a DSLR around, but I haven’t mastered GoPro photography yet. But this is another example of the difficulty of seeing the waterfalls from the trails on top of the ridge.

I cheated a bit on this trail. It’s a bit more rugged than Trail 7, but I really wanted to see the falls and the tunnel. There’s no ADA portion to get you started, once you park at the trailhead it’s all downhill. Literally. Back down into the gorge you go, down a long set of steps. Once you get to the bottom, an overlook gives you your first view of Tunnel Falls, a long, lean flow over the rocks.

Someday I will remember to count the number of steps on a trail. All I can remember about this one was there was a lot of steps, but they were still over before I knew it.

I was a little worried about the difficulty of the trail, but we kept going back to the tunnel and it was pretty easy going to the mouth of the cave. Once you get to the cave, you’ll have to pick your way over rocks to get inside, and if you’re more than five feet tall you’ll be ducking about fifteen feet into the cave. I didn’t get much farther than that because brilliant me left my headlamp in the car and it was a bit dark in there. I didn’t want the only joint I rolled that day to be my ankle.

For a fun bit of history for you, this tunnel is part of what’s known as “Brough’s Folly” because it was part of a failed attempt to build a railroad. The tunnel was started in 1852. When you visit, keep in mind that Trail five and the tunnel are only open in the summer to protect the bats who live in the cave.

Hoffman Falls

Trail 3 – 1 mile

On the trail around Hoffman Falls you’ll cross a couple of bridges over pretty little creeks, like this one.

If you feel froggy, you can continue on Trail 5 until it dead ends to trail four, and take that to Hoffman Falls. Or you can wimp out (like I did) and hike back out on Trail 5 and drive to the trailhead for #3 and hike down to Hoffman. Trail four is rated very rugged and I wasn’t sure of my ability to complete it. Spending more time catching my breath than hiking isn’t how I like to spend my outdoors time.

Getting down to Hoffman falls was another trek down steps, but I loved this trail. You’ll cross a couple of creeks and you can use this tail to get down to Trail 2 – my nemesis. But more on that later.

Once you get past the falls, Trail 3 joins with 1 and 2. Following trail 3 will loop you back to the trail head, but I was starting to run low on oxygen so we turned back before completing the loop. Or you can take Trail 2 when they split and hike up the creek bed all the way up to the base of Big Clifty Falls.

Hiking is always better with friends! This is Karli and me (looking all sexy in my Buff, a.k.a. sweat catcher. Because if there is one thing I do well, its sweat.)

Hiking is always better with friends! This is Karli (thebeatkeeper.wordpress.com) and me (looking all sexy in my Buff, a.k.a. sweat catcher. Because if there is one thing I do well, it’s sweat.)

Speaking of Trail 2, this one is a bit of my nemesis. I haven’t been brave enough to try it because to hike it you are climbing along a creek bed. Of course, because you are hiking under the falls this is probably the best way to get a good shot of the falls. This trail is a goal for me – I know I don’t have the strength right now – or the footwear – to climb over rocks and play in the water. But next time. Next time, Trail 2, I’m coming for you.

Things to remember

There is more to the trails and more trails than what I discussed here.
I haven’t had the chance yet to spend much time in Madison, but it’s a place I plan to go back to. I just don’t think the pretty people enjoying their Sunday want to smell me after I’ve been rolling around in the woods for hours.
Wear proper footwear because the trails go up and down steps, over roots and rocks and through the woods.
The volume of the waterfalls depend greatly on the rain. If there has been a lot – like so far this summer – they’re going to be more voluminous. But that also means that Trail 2 may not be passable because there will be too much water flowing. So check the weather before you go or else you may be disappointed.
There is a charge to get into the park: $7 for state residents, $9 for out-of-state visitors.

Happy Birthday, America!

Published by Cassie

The Northside Fourth of July Parade is legendary in Cincinnati. This picture is from a few years ago when I attended.

Independence Day is my favorite holiday. It combines all of my favorite things: eating grilled food, drinking homemade Arnold Palmers, shooting off fireworks, playing with sparklers, friendly games of cornhole and wiffle ball, parades and festivals. I mean, what’s not to love?

Every year, for as long as I can remember, my family celebrates at my aunt and uncle’s house in Kentucky. I think one year we stayed in Ohio, but my uncles nearly got the police called on them when they were shooting off fireworks. I was hiding under a picnic table with my cousins.

Watermelon eating contest!

Not that shenanigans in Kentucky are any better for us; people are just way more chill about explosions down here. And the cops are usually watching the (technically illegal) fireworks shows. As long as no one complains and no one gets hurt, no one gets shut down.

Of course if you’re setting off bottle rockets and roman candles on a packed neighborhood street and one of those little whirlybird fireworks go spinning down the street bouncing off cars, you may want to pack it up and go inside. (Not that anything like that has ever happened at one of my family’s parties.)

Sparklers are still one of my favorite things!

These days, so many of my aunt’s neighbor’s put on their own fireworks shows that we don’t really need to set them off. This year, we sat in the backyard craning our necks to see fireworks through the threes on four sides of us, before taking our camp chairs to the front yard to watch the big show. There’s always one neighbor who outdoes all the rest, and he didn’t disappoint this year either. By the time the sun fully set, the streets were so full of smoke it looked like a foggy morning out there.

And yes, we looked like a bunch of goofballs camped out in the front yard. We didn’t care.

Check out this year’s “Best of” compilation below.

I love a challenge

Published by Cassie

This is me on a July 4th camping trip directly disregarding doctor’s orders and not staying out of the sun … again. Sunscreen usually works, but you have to actually put it on. But a Buff works in a pinch to keep my skin from breaking out any more. My teenage cousins kept saying I looked like I was in the wild west until I threatened to get a six-shooter and teach them to dance.

I focus so much on Sjӧgren’s because that’s the source of all my problems, that I forget there’s another diagnosis in the list: Interstitial lung disease. Simply put, it means inflammation in the lungs. This inflammation is what makes it difficult for me to breathe. As the inflammation clears up, my breathing improves. The only caveat to this is that the inflammation was so bad before my treatment started that there is scarring left behind as I heal. (Let that be a lesson to you other stubborn people out there: Waiting several months after you notice you are having trouble breathing is NOT a good idea, no matter how you can justify it to yourself.)

I learned last week that my lung function is up almost 20 percent from where it was in January: I’m up to 62 percent from 46 percent. And while that is awesome – and more than Dr. M. expected – it wasn’t enough to get that oxygen prescription lowered. I actually got a little bit of chastisement for not wearing it into the office. I mean, my oxygen level did drop down to about 83 before I got to his office, so he may have had a point. But just a little one. After all, I took the steps.

When I started asking questions about getting off oxygen, he steadfastly held on to the opinion that I may never get off oxygen. His favorite thing to say is, “You have to remember you didn’t do this to yourself and there was nothing you could do to prevent it.”

Check and double check, although I would argue that had I gone to the doctor and it was diagnosed sooner, my lungs would never have gotten so bad to begin with. So I could have helped it.

This time he added another little statement: “You have to remember this is a chronic condition.”

I keep approaching this like something that just needs a little more time and then I can ignore it completely and go about my life, but that isn’t really the case. It’s a condition that has to be constantly monitored and managed, to protect my lungs especially.

But if you think about it, that’s not much different from other chronic conditions, like diabetes or high blood pressure. They all require medication, monitoring and sacrifices. I can live with these things, no problem. People live with chronic conditions every day; it’s really not a big deal. But he also said I shouldn’t expect much more improvement.

Challenge accepted, Dr. M.

In January, he said the same thing – and I still got better. I’m not sure if he’s trying to manage expectations or if he really thinks I won’t make any more improvement, but I know I will. Between now and my next appointment with him in October, I plan to improve my breathing. I can’t control my lung function – I can only get as far as the scarring will allow me. But I can control Sjӧgren’s and the inflammation it causes, and I can control other health factors. With diet and exercise I can both decrease the load my cardiovascular and pulmonary systems carry and strengthen those systems. Who knows? Maybe I’ll pick up yoga to help me learn to focus on breathing.

What I do know is I plan to shock his socks off in October. And when I summit Forester Pass on the Pacific Crest Trail – elevation 13,153 feet – he will be the first call I make.

TBT: Yellowstone National Park Part 2

Published by Cassie

This is one of the many crystal clear springs in Yellowstone. The water is so transparent, you can see several feet down into the pool.

This Throwback Thursday is more of a Flashback Friday, but instead of finishing the video and posting this entry last night, I decided to go see the Minion movie. (It was hilarious and adorable, by the way.) But, hey! At least I finally have it finished. It only took two years.

In the world of Vagabond Girls adventures, I last left you in Cody, Wyoming, on the last full day of adventuring in our trip cowboy hunting out west in 2013.

Spoiler alert: We never found cowboys – or at least not the kind we were looking for. Apparently they go out of season, along with everything else in Wyoming, and Cody turns into a ghost town. The only cowboys we ran into were of the retired variety, and while they seemed to be pretty awesome in their day, we would have preferred to find cowboys still in their day.

You can look just about anywhere in the park and see steam rising from the ground.

It was the last day of our trip, we had one more day to adventure and then head back to Denver to fly home the next day. Our goals were twofold: To have plenty of time to explore the park, and to get back to town before all the restaurants closed up for the night. We really wanted a dinner that didn’t come from a cooler or a fast food window. The night before, the only place we could find open past 8 p.m. was an Arby’s; everywhere else was observing off-season hours.

So remember: If you visit Cody, Wy., after peak season, be prepared for nothing to be open.

The day before, we had a sleep-shortened visit to Yellowstone National Park where we got to see some bison and do some light hiking before heading back to town. The second day, we got to check out some more wildlife and more of the geothermal spots around the park – including Old Faithful.

Old Faithful! This time, I got to see it from the front row with all the other off-season travelers.

The last time I visited the historic geyser, it was August and the place was so packed we were practically in the parking lot watching it erupt. Thanks to our off-season vacation, we were able to get front-row seats with the AARP crowd, all of them taking pictures with their iPads.

It was awesome.

Yellowstone is a place everyone must see before they die. It was America’s first national park and it’s the crown jewel. I haven’t seen all of the national parks, but I’ve seen many of them, and nothing I’ve seen come close to this.

Seeing bison is almost a given at Yellowstone. But don’t be that guy who walks up to them and ends up getting gored. They’re still wild animals, yo.

Both times I’ve visited Yellowstone, first in 2010 and again in 2013, I’ve gotten to see bison herds and elk. Once, I saw a moose and antelope. No bears yet, I’m happy to say. As cool as it would be to see one, I’d rather not have to test my survival skills.

Then there are the crows, following you around until you are about to lose your mind from the ca-cawing.

And of course, the geysers. You could be in the middle of a field of wildflowers, and a vent will be right next to you, spewing steam into the air. It’s a constant reminder that under all the beauty, a wild, uncontrollable force continues to shape the land.