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Abstract

, though, my stomach started spasming and I felt like I was going to pass out or keel over. I had to get out of my driver’s seat while we were waiting and move around a bit. This led me to throw up a bit more and nearly shitting and piss myself. I needed to go to the bathroom at this point but the 7-Eleven didn’t have a public bathroom.We would have to continue on our journey and try to get me to a place where we could set up again so I could lay down and we could get our antenna up. I was confined at this point during the trip to staying in the cab of the truck. We knew we still had a potentially dangerous windy road ahead of us. At least we didn’t have the rain anymore.We started driving and made it a few more minutes as we were now within 10 minutes of the Autozone we needed to get to. Then it happened. I saw a little smoke coming up from the top of the hood and I also felt myself losing pressure quickly.There was an industrial park to my right and as I was losing all of the power in our truck/tiny home, the engine died and we were safely off of the highway. We had to sit there.It was only 1:15 and we had to wait until 5 pm until the warning would lift. The winds continued to be fierce as we waited inside the cab for all of this to taper or at least show some relief. At this point, I was still hurting and I was feeling anxious and stressed at the same time.My body needed to rest at this point and my body was also telling me that my energy wouldn’t last through this wind warning. We were in the middle of nowhere though and stuck in front of an industrial steel fabricator that was luckily closed since it was Saturday.We waited there as the wind howled trying to figure out our next move. We didn’t even know what was wrong with our engine. We had to wait there and wait not only for the wind but also for our radiator and engine to cool down.We waited over an hour and then checked the radiator. The coolant was low. We figured that maybe it had leaked out of somewhere. We just couldn’t see quite where the leak was coming from and maybe we could fix it by putting enough water in to get over to the Autozone down the street. We emptied two gallons of water into the radiator and then tried again.It started leaking faster. Oh, no. We were out of options and possibilities. Mike and I were perplexed at first as to why it was leaking this badly only now. Then we realized something and braced for the worst possible scenario.The head gasket had blown. I don’t know if you’ve ever had to deal with this but even temporary fixes for this kind of repair aren’t cheap. We would be needing to spend at least a couple hundred dollars upfront even to repair it ourselves. We certainly couldn’t get to it right now and in the middle of nowhere.What would we do now that we’re stuck without access to the city and with a tight budget? We both knew given the time constraints, my health, and our current weather situation what we had to do. We were going to have to call around

Options

and get a tow to where we were originally headed. Yep, we were going to have to risk spending a large amount for something that we were also going to have to put more on afterward.This made my stomach curdle again as I started literally throwing up out the door with the wind whipping against me at the thought. How with all we have had to endure through these months are we going to survive after having to drain our savings account just to go a distance that would’ve only taken another 15 minutes to get to if our head gasket hadn’t blown?I had to hold my tears and my pain back and I had to brave this final decision to get us to a safe spot and away from having to deal with the fierce wind for the remainder of our trip. We called around and we got a tow truck for $500.Yikes!! That’s not what I wanted to pay but we had to bite the bullet and pay that to get to safety. I wasn’t going to risk being stuck in that driveway until night.The wind was unrelenting and the night was coming. The tow truck estimated a 4 pm pickup and they were on time. The tow truck operator was quick, and efficient, and eased our anxieties. We were on our way and I tried to hide how bad I was feeling the whole time. I knew that once we would get to our destination, I could get a hot shower, a meal, and then go straight to sleep.The moments I had throughout the day where my pain, sickness, and anxiety almost got to me washed away as he was towing our home/vehicle on the back of his tow truck to get us to safety.I was so appreciative and even though I hated paying so much, I definitely was relieved to pay him and arrive at a place where I could set up and figure out our next steps for the next couple of days.The day that started out calm, peaceful, and full of energy ended with me being foggy, dizzy, in tons of pain, and relieved but worried about my future finances and I knew I just needed to sleep. There are definitely bad days but I’d class yesterday as a pretty bad day on multiple levels.The day cost us hundreds and hundreds of dollars on top of acknowledging that we have that much more to spend to get moving again after this week. I’m not happy that we had such an untimely repair that we need to make now but the fact that both of us are safe and that neither of us died is nothing to take for granted.I guess the lesson is to heed those wind warnings a little more carefully and not travel when you don’t need to. A normal repair situation may turn into much more when the wind is howling at you for hours on end. I commend Mike for going out there a few times to confirm our problem while the wind was whipping so hard it was knocking around our securely placed solar panels.I was out there for a bit too while he was pouring the water into the radiator. Even just holding the hood took a ton out of me. I hope I don’t have another travel day like this to have to report on again for a long time. I mean preferably never again but I’d be jinxing it if I said that.</article></body>

The Expensive, Scary, and Violent Pain-Inducing Adventure

Traveling when you’re managing long COVID and breaking down in violent weather

Yesterday was one of the scariest travel days I’d ever experienced. I was going down a familiar highway trying to beat out a high wind warning that we had no idea of how bad it would actually get. We had just left the Native reservation for a supply run and our familiar travel center and we were on our way on a short trip to another travel center to brave out the wind from there.

The problem is the wind wasn’t going to be catering to our schedule and we wouldn’t understand the full force of the wind until it came. The wind gusts of up to 60 mph as reported started whipping against our drive the entire time down the highway. We were having to resort to stopping on the side of the road or slowing way down below the speed limit more often than not. That wasn’t going to be the worst of it though.

At one point during our drive as had happened previously to us back a few months ago, we had our hood fly up on us again despite it being secured down. Luckily, our hood didn’t smash our windshield like it did last time. I think that’s only because it had bent from the impact of the last time and was already bent enough to avoid the new windshield entirely. At least, we had a miracle there. That would probably be our only one of the day.

After that, our windshield wipers weren’t working properly. We had to stop driving while it was raining and we could no longer battle the mighty gusts on what was supposed to be a 30-minute drive. We’ve been battling Long COVID now since early October and I’ve had some very good days but I’ve also had some terrible days where I felt like I was going to die.

Starting the day when the weather was calm, I was doing alright. Sure, I still puked whatever I’d eaten that morning into the grass because it was still very cold and I couldn’t really handle it but I had enough energy to even move and drive to our desired destination. At least, I thought so.

When we had stopped after our hood came up and our windshield wipers had stopped working, we were at a 7-Eleven. We figured that the rain would stop around 1 pm and that we would try moving again after that just to get closer to the auto parts store to replace our windshield.

Our hood would have to be a matter for another day. We found some straps and tied them down even tighter to continue. There was no way that the hood would come up again, even if the winds reached 60 mph again.

Before we could continue to drive, though, my stomach started spasming and I felt like I was going to pass out or keel over. I had to get out of my driver’s seat while we were waiting and move around a bit. This led me to throw up a bit more and nearly shitting and piss myself. I needed to go to the bathroom at this point but the 7-Eleven didn’t have a public bathroom.

We would have to continue on our journey and try to get me to a place where we could set up again so I could lay down and we could get our antenna up. I was confined at this point during the trip to staying in the cab of the truck. We knew we still had a potentially dangerous windy road ahead of us. At least we didn’t have the rain anymore.

We started driving and made it a few more minutes as we were now within 10 minutes of the Autozone we needed to get to. Then it happened. I saw a little smoke coming up from the top of the hood and I also felt myself losing pressure quickly.

There was an industrial park to my right and as I was losing all of the power in our truck/tiny home, the engine died and we were safely off of the highway. We had to sit there.

It was only 1:15 and we had to wait until 5 pm until the warning would lift. The winds continued to be fierce as we waited inside the cab for all of this to taper or at least show some relief. At this point, I was still hurting and I was feeling anxious and stressed at the same time.

My body needed to rest at this point and my body was also telling me that my energy wouldn’t last through this wind warning. We were in the middle of nowhere though and stuck in front of an industrial steel fabricator that was luckily closed since it was Saturday.

We waited there as the wind howled trying to figure out our next move. We didn’t even know what was wrong with our engine. We had to wait there and wait not only for the wind but also for our radiator and engine to cool down.

We waited over an hour and then checked the radiator. The coolant was low. We figured that maybe it had leaked out of somewhere. We just couldn’t see quite where the leak was coming from and maybe we could fix it by putting enough water in to get over to the Autozone down the street. We emptied two gallons of water into the radiator and then tried again.

It started leaking faster. Oh, no. We were out of options and possibilities. Mike and I were perplexed at first as to why it was leaking this badly only now. Then we realized something and braced for the worst possible scenario.

The head gasket had blown. I don’t know if you’ve ever had to deal with this but even temporary fixes for this kind of repair aren’t cheap. We would be needing to spend at least a couple hundred dollars upfront even to repair it ourselves. We certainly couldn’t get to it right now and in the middle of nowhere.

What would we do now that we’re stuck without access to the city and with a tight budget? We both knew given the time constraints, my health, and our current weather situation what we had to do. We were going to have to call around and get a tow to where we were originally headed. Yep, we were going to have to risk spending a large amount for something that we were also going to have to put more on afterward.

This made my stomach curdle again as I started literally throwing up out the door with the wind whipping against me at the thought. How with all we have had to endure through these months are we going to survive after having to drain our savings account just to go a distance that would’ve only taken another 15 minutes to get to if our head gasket hadn’t blown?

I had to hold my tears and my pain back and I had to brave this final decision to get us to a safe spot and away from having to deal with the fierce wind for the remainder of our trip. We called around and we got a tow truck for $500.

Yikes!! That’s not what I wanted to pay but we had to bite the bullet and pay that to get to safety. I wasn’t going to risk being stuck in that driveway until night.

The wind was unrelenting and the night was coming. The tow truck estimated a 4 pm pickup and they were on time. The tow truck operator was quick, and efficient, and eased our anxieties. We were on our way and I tried to hide how bad I was feeling the whole time. I knew that once we would get to our destination, I could get a hot shower, a meal, and then go straight to sleep.

The moments I had throughout the day where my pain, sickness, and anxiety almost got to me washed away as he was towing our home/vehicle on the back of his tow truck to get us to safety.

I was so appreciative and even though I hated paying so much, I definitely was relieved to pay him and arrive at a place where I could set up and figure out our next steps for the next couple of days.

The day that started out calm, peaceful, and full of energy ended with me being foggy, dizzy, in tons of pain, and relieved but worried about my future finances and I knew I just needed to sleep. There are definitely bad days but I’d class yesterday as a pretty bad day on multiple levels.

The day cost us hundreds and hundreds of dollars on top of acknowledging that we have that much more to spend to get moving again after this week. I’m not happy that we had such an untimely repair that we need to make now but the fact that both of us are safe and that neither of us died is nothing to take for granted.

I guess the lesson is to heed those wind warnings a little more carefully and not travel when you don’t need to. A normal repair situation may turn into much more when the wind is howling at you for hours on end. I commend Mike for going out there a few times to confirm our problem while the wind was whipping so hard it was knocking around our securely placed solar panels.

I was out there for a bit too while he was pouring the water into the radiator. Even just holding the hood took a ton out of me. I hope I don’t have another travel day like this to have to report on again for a long time. I mean preferably never again but I’d be jinxing it if I said that.