Traveling with Parkinson's, Just Follow Your Routine?

You have everything packed and now it's time to leave on your trip. Your Doctor gives you this advice regarding traveling with Parkinson's disease, "Just follow the same routine you do at home." 

Follow my same routine? Yeah, right.

Living in Yuma, Arizona has some advantages. If you are flying, the Yuma airport has just one airline and only two gates, so getting through security takes 5 minutes or less. If you are driving, there are only three roads out; I-8 east, I-8 west and US-95 north. For our Las Vegas trip, we went north.

A LOT of desert between Yuma and everywhere else

Living in Yuma has some disadvantages, too. Once you leave Yuma heading north, the next bathroom is at least 90 minutes away in Quartzsite, Arizona. We got up at 5:30 and left at 6:30 am, so I took my thyroid pill with just a sip of water, instead of a whole glass. Routine slightly off schedule before we even left. 

Once you leave Quartzsite, then next bathroom facilities are in Parker, Arizona (40 minutes away) and then in Needles, California (75 minutes past Parker). There is a LOT of desert between Yuma and everyplace else! 

We stopped for breakfast in Needles at 10 am (pancakes, eggs and bacon.) From Needles, the next bathroom is another hour away, so I drank very little at breakfast and kept my fingers (and legs) crossed. Routine off even more.

We got into Las Vegas, Nevada about 11:30 am and got stuck in a huge traffic jam. Our daughter and grandson (The Kids) had flown to Las Vegas from Orlando, Florida the night before. The Kids call to ask where we were. Stuck in traffic, we answer. We could see the hotel from the highway, but it would take another 45 minutes to get there. We don't have ANY traffic jams in Yuma, except inside the grocery store on Senior discount day!

The Kids have a normal routine as well, and with the three hour time zone difference, we assumed their routine would coincide with ours. Wrong. Instead of going right to sleep when they arrived the night before (2 am their time), they stayed up until 4 am (7 am their time.) They had just awoken, were starving and ready to eat a big meal and we weren't hungry at all.

So, we stalled them for an hour or so and then ate. Later that evening we went to see a very humorous comedy show, walked up and down Fremont Street and then The Kids were hungry again. So we had a slice of pizza at 9 pm. We finally went to sleep at midnight. Routine completely gone, but we had a great first day (except for the traffic jam.)

On Day Two, we were up at 7 am and it was raining lightly. One of The Kids called at 10 am; she'd just woke up. The other Kid was still sleeping. Who knows when time they went to bed? The three of us had donuts at 11 am. Routine gone. 

The Kids were finally ready for a big meal at 3 pm. In the evening, we watched an Elvis type band on Fremont St and The Kids napped. They came down later and were hungry, so we had hot dogs at 10 pm. We finally went to sleep at 1 am. It was then that I realized I hadn't had a bowel movement in two days. Routine completely gone, but still having a great time. 

On Day Three, we slept until 9 am. I walked over to McD's and got some milk and oatmeal cookies. The Kids woke up at 1 pm and we went to a buffet. The Kids only had one more day here, so we grabbed our cameras and drove up to the Las Vegas Speedway.

Our Grandson went Drift Car Racing in a Camaro with a professional driver from Monaco. He had a blast and the huge grin on my Grandson's face was priceless. 

Grandson riding in Drift Race Car

We ate late, again, and went to bed about 11 pm. Routine gone, still no bowel movement, but we are having fun.

Day Four, our last full day together, came too quickly. We were up early. I did the McD's milk and cookies for breakfast again. I finally have a bowel movement. Maybe it was the oatmeal cookies? 

The Kids were up slightly earlier today and we had lunch at 1 pm. Our Grandson did a zip line from one end of Fremont Street to the other (about 4 blocks.)

Then we just sat in our room, took pictures and visited for a while. 

Grandson, YumaBev, Daughter, Wonderful Husband

Later, we got in the car and drove to the Stratosphere Hotel. My Grandson did the Sky Jump, which is like the free fall part of skydiving. We ate late again and said our goodbyes (the worst part) as The Kids had to leave for the airport very early the next morning. We got to bed after midnight. Routine completely gone.

Grandson getting ready to jump

He jumped from way up there!

I had set an alarm for 6 am and called The Kids to make sure they were up. Heck, for all I know, they may have never gone to sleep. Since we were awake, we went ahead and got ready to leave, too. We walked down together and they hopped into a cab and were gone. 

The Kids heading back home

We climbed into our car and headed back south through the desert to our home. Once again, I was mindful of just how far between bathrooms it is.

Just as we pulled into our driveway, we received texts from both Kids saying they had just landed back in Orlando (2300 miles.) Routine still gone, but who cares? 

It took about 5 days to get back on my "normal" routine. We had a wonderful visit and I'd do it all again next week. Except for the traffic jam, I definitely don't want to be in another traffic jam. Unless it's Senior discount day, of course. 

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Day Four of My Vacation from Parkinson's Disease (The Final Day)

Thursday, March 1, 2012, Day Four of my vacation from Parkinson's Disease started way, way too early.  It was after midnight before I got to sleep and I woke up at 4 am. We didn't need to pick Lynn up until later, so I let my Wonderful Husband sleep in.  I played on the computer and started writing this series of humor stories.  
Lost? Read Day One and Day Two and Day Three

We picked Lynn up at her hotel at 10 am and she and her Dad posed for some pictures, then we headed through the desert towards Phoenix, 200 miles away.  We stopped at In-N-Out Burger and grabbed a bite and then fought our way through the traffic and dropped Lynn off at the airport.  It was a tearful goodbye for all of us.  Lynn is his only daughter.

I  always drive in the big cities because I was born with MapQuest pre-installed in my brain's hard drive.  On the way out of the airport, my brain's hard drive froze and I took the wrong exit.  I didn't have a map with me, so I had to keep taking exit after exit until I got headed towards home. Needless to say, getting out of Phoenix was a huge nightmare and totally stressed me out.  By the time we got to Gila Bend (a town in the middle of nowhere), I had enough.  I pulled over and my Wonderful Husband drove the rest of the way home through 100 miles of desert and cactus.  


We got home about 5:30 pm and I crashed, I just had to lay down.  An hour later, we ate the rest of the subs we'd bought the night before and I put on my jammies and flopped on the sofa.  Lynn called when she got home, which was 9:00 pm our time and I went to bed soon after.  


My Wonderful Husband asked me if I missed being around people my own age (Lynn is a few years younger than me) and doing his Daughter's kind of fun.  Hell no! was my answer.  I may look like I'm in my 30's, but I'm actually 51 and most days I feel like I'm 80 or 90.  

So, after my 4 day vacation from Parkinson's, I still haven't caught up and it's a week later. 

Maybe I need a vacation?
  
PS  I've still got the tan!







Thank you for reading this story, I hope you enjoyed it. This is just one of a hundred stories in my book, Parkinson's Humor - Funny Stories about My Life with Parkinson's Disease. Please consider purchasing a copy from Amazon.com or your favorite online book seller. Thank you and have a Happy Parkie Day!

Day One of my vacation from Parkinson's Disease

On Monday, February 27th, 2012 at 4:30 am, I decided to take a vacation.  My step-daughter, Lynn, who is nearly my age was coming for a visit and I decided that I would NOT have Parkinson's Disease for the four days she would be here.  

Montelucia Resort

We left the house at 7 am and drove 182 miles to the 4-star Resort in Scottsdale AZ where she had spent the weekend on business (she had flown in on Friday from Orlando FL). The first 165 miles were easy (nothing but desert and cactus), the last 17 miles weren't. She showed us around the resort and treated us to a late breakfast.  The service was excellent as was the food, but they had trouble locating a straw for me (I guess most people don't use straws at breakfast). My shaky hands apparently didn't get the NO PD memo.  We left right after eating and headed back home, the first 20 miles were terrifying and stopping for gas was just your average nightmare.  

An hour or so later, we stopped in Gila Bend, AZ, and had an ice cream cone, took a bathroom break and snapped a picture of the town's humorous Welcome sign.  Lynn was beginning to realize that she was in the middle of nowhere and Yuma was only 100 miles farther into nowhere.

Freida's yummy cake

We arrived at our house at 3:30 pm and I wanted a nap, but instead, I washed some clothes for Lynn and showed her around our home. At 5:30 pm, we went over to our neighbors for dinner.  Sharon made Cornish Hens, broccoli and rice pilaf and Freida made Caesar salad and Lemon creme cake. I don't know what their Husbands did, probably set the table and dug up the extra chairs.  Lynn was seated next to me and instantly cut up my Hen so that I could eat it (she remembered my troubles with knives).  

 We sat around gabbing and telling stories and then we played a game where we each drew a picture of a pig and learned all about ourselves from our drawings.  My piggy looked like he was doing a wiggle dance.  Then I taught everyone how to draw a swan by making a number 2 and Freida showed us how to draw a 3-dimensional box. 

How to make a swan from a number 2

Pretty soon it was late (for us) and we drove Lynn to a nice hotel nearby (not a 4-star resort, but nice).  We decided she'd be more comfortable there, especially with me wandering around the house in the middle of the night.  


By the time we got back home, it was 11:30 pm and I was ready for bed.  I had been up for 19 hours.  I had survived Day One of my Parkinson's vacation.

Thank you for reading this story, I hope you enjoyed it. This is just one of a hundred stories in my book, Parkinson's Humor - Funny Stories about My Life with Parkinson's Disease. Please consider purchasing a copy from Amazon.com or your favorite online book seller. Thank you and have a Happy Parkie Day!