Whoa! My lower legs are swollen up and look horrible. What's the deal?
A quick call to the Group Health Consulting Nurse makes us stop and think about...my diet! Turns out that I have been exceeding the 2400 mg of recommended daily sodium intake (and by a wide margin) of late, resulting in fluid retention. What do you mean I can't eat french fries and chips, and salty, processed foods all day, washed down with half a dozen soft drinks??? Just because that's all the food I've encountered for the last 1000 miles...
Well, I can still push down the pedals painfree, so in the still early morning air, we cross the last few miles of South Dakota and enter Minnesota at Browns Valley. Some sort of platting symmetry is in effect here and every 7 miles we reach a town>> Beardsley, Barry, Graceville, Johnson, Chokio, Alberta, Cyrus, and finally Morris (for a quick pizza (14", low sodium version, of course!) and 3 lemonades. A gleaming metal complex of grain silos provides some midday relief from the hot sun. About all I remember about this stretch is that, in the morning, the corn was on the right and the soybeans on the left. The next time I noticed, the soybeans were on my right and the corn on my left. Attention to this sort of trip detail is vital; I can just imagine awakening from a lunchtime nap and heading off in the wrong direction. I also noticed that the white pelicans were on the right in the afternoon... Sure is hot....
Brindil and I have coordinated our breathing during these hot afternoon finishes, and we pant together the 20 final miles into Starbuck, a simple resort town, popular for lake fishing, and full of people walking around with bait pails and Supersized Biggulps. I claim our spot at the Cedar Inn and right down the road, claim my Choco-Blizzard (sodium free) at the convenient DQ. And no, there was no coffee shop in Starbuck (I know you were wondering) but the town does claim about every other ammenity, according to the enormous list of international symbols posted on the welcome billboard. The nurse told me to put my feet up, so I think I will (for about 10 hours...
PS The song lyric from yesterday was from 'Wooden Ships" by Crosby, Stills, and Nash circa 1970. Anyone get it?
If you weren't a vegetarian you would be used to all the bad stuff you are eating. I guess sodium and junk food breaks your mother's rule about whatever is worth doing is even better in excess.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the pictures. Your blog is essentially my sumer vacation trip across America, one blog entry at a time.
Hey Gary,
ReplyDeleteWe're waiting for you with a table full of corn on the cob! I love reading your adventures and so appreciate the humor brought out in the photos you choose! See you soon.
Lisa and Tony