11-2-10 Chanterelles and Texas!

Saturday I was feeling super.  So I went with Kate to the Olympic National Forest and went mushroom hunting, it is still Chanterelle season here in the PNW.  Now for years, Kate has insisted that we pull over on the side of the forest service roads and then scramble up the sides of the mountains.  No trails.  No animal tracks.  Just straight up the sides of the mountains.  I can not usually go very high as I am not a mountain goat, and being shaped like a Weeble, it makes it hard to scramble.  

This year she reported that she had found some flat areas to go to and THEN go up the side of the mountain.  So since I was feeling so good, I was very excited to go.  I packed up the dog and all my mushroom hunting accoutrements, which consist of a couple of great mushroom guide books, some mesh bags, a little knife, and a fanny pack to put them in.

Much like our usual hikes, this one started off with about 3 stops, for gas, for food, for whatever....

The dog loves his McDonald's sausage patty, he sure does.

We get to the mountain we like best.  We hike in a few feet, Kate takes off, the dog follows her, and I take this opportunity to answer the call of nature.  I finish, Kate returns saying that there are NO mushrooms here. We get back in the truck and head deeper into the woods.  

We stop again.  We get out.  We hack our way into the bush, where it is relatively flat, and Kate goes up the side of the mountain.  I stand at the bottom, calling out, "Did you find any?"

"Whoop!" is the answer.  She has found some.  

"How high up are you?"

"Here."

I look up, she has somehow managed to get 100 feet up the mountain in 30 seconds.  Sigh.  I can't make it.  I am just too out of shape from being sick to really do it.  

I look down.  I am standing in a patch of Chanterelles.  I whoop myself.  And I start looking around, and there are more and more mushrooms appearing.  Five feet from the road!  

I fill up my first mesh bag.

We head out to another spot.  She takes off this time, down the side of a mountain (we had parked at the top), and I walk about 5 feet from the road.  And find mushrooms!

And I am done for the day.  We pile back in the truck and I am amazed that I have not been short of breath or fatigued for over 4 hours!

And then Sunday occurs.  I am so fatigued and short of breath that all I can do is put the mushrooms up to dry in the dehydrator.  We did not have many children trick or treating, and we turned away the 17 year olds with no costumes empty handed.  Strange neighborhood.

Monday the pain has returned in my left leg this time, and I cannot walk more than a block without panting and gasping for air.  I cannot even carry on a conversation normally.  But I clean the house a bit, go shopping for Kate, and pack my bags.  We are headed for Texas on Tuesday (today).

Woke up Tuesday feeling terrible.  Had almost no sleep from the pain, and we got up at 5 am.  Ick.  But I felt better by the time we got to the airport and decided to go on the trip and see what happens.  I really wanted to see my in-laws.  I adore them.  

So I was wheeled around the Seattle and Minneapolis airports wearing my silly surgical mask with my Lysol wipes in hand, wiping all the surfaces I came in contact with.  And finally arrived here in San Antonio.  

We are headed out to Fort Sam Houston tomorrow with JR's mother and sister to tour the grounds and see the exchange.  

Hugs.