camping

When all is said and done, I can't say that I appreciate the rain following me down here from Oregon with such persistence, but it did serve the purpose of chasing me home from a deluge-esque, and health-threatening frolic in the woods of the Gualala Coast.

I had never seen this part of the 101 before; between Sonoma and Gualala is indisputably the most gorgeous strip of crashing waves, sea rocks and fielded cliffs I've ever beheld.  Seventy miles of curves right on the edge of the water.  Cows included.  Epic.

Yesterday was gorgeous - cool, but sunny and without wind - and the mile hike from the campsite to the ocean was (cue trill) also epic.  Having never been camping during a flare before, I noticed it was particularly difficult to watch everyone else devour sausages, chilli, smores and several nefarious fluids without partaking... I did finally give in and stuff a roasted marshmallow into my mouth.

For whatever reason - and I think I may have somewhat identified it now - my body decided to conduct Round III of the prolonged attacks of this flare.  On the camp ground.  Awesome.  Thank god for individually isolated restrooms.  Fortunately, I pre-funked with hyoscyamine, promethazine and oxycodone which, if they didn't serve to alleviate any pain - and they didn't - at least put me in such a state of mental turbidity that the agony of the first two episodes was diluted.  I stumbled back to my tent and collapsed straight into sweet drug-induced slumber.

And this morning, the rain came.  So we drove home.

Conclusions:  A nutritionist is officially necessary.  Why gastroenterologists have no idea what actually occurs during digestion is beyond me.  However, since I have identified a pattern between Rounds I-III of this flare, I can conclude that a nutritionist may be helpful in usurping its redundancy.  Without going into too much detail, it has become apparent that a week's worth of complex carbohydrates are simply sitting in my gut doing nothing more than nurturing unwelcome flora, and when I finally eat something that has the strength to push its way through - i.e. the tiniest bit of butter or fiber - everything comes out together, including that which has not yet been digested.  A veritable parade of the Untouchables of the gustatory world.  Huzzah.  I need a balance of complex carbs and other nutrients that wont destroy me on contact that will work together to go through me in a paced and "healthy" fashion.