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Sun, Feb 23, 2014

2/23/2014

9 Comments

 
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El Nariz del Diablio -- The Devil's Nose -- a train ride through switchbacks in the Andes, starting in a little town called Alausi. It was constructed in the early 1900's to go from the mountains out to the coast. Today, it's used as a tourist ride...

There are several ways to describe occupational therapy, particularly because we, as occupational therapists, can address impairments in such a wide array of environments or situations.  Our profession is difficult to describe well in a succinct manner.  However,  this is a decent sentence to help clear things up a bit:


Occupational therapy is about helping people do the day-to-day tasks that “occupy” their time, sustain themselves, and enable them to contribute to the wider community.


Each day-to-day task, or activity of daily living (ADLs), can either be broken into tiny segments or evaluated from a more broad spectrum.  One of the ways to evaluate one's day is through his/her routines.  If you think about your day, think about how many routines, big or small, you complete daily.  Something as finite as wetting your toothbrush before you start to brush, or something as broad as waking up, coffee, then shower, then breakfast, then work, etc....  With our blog and Facebook posts, we have spoken to very broad manners.  With another guest appearance by yours truly, I decided to play my role as an OT and evaluate our daily routine and share it with you.

A typical day on the road, camping.  Things obviously change from a hotel.


Depending on forecasted high temperature, the alarm sounds between 4:30-5:30am (the hotter the climate, the earlier the alarm).  Seth is not a morning person.  I am.  However, I really like lazy mornings drinking coffee.  None of this has changed much since leaving the comforts of home.  We have realized we need about 2 hours from the time we actually climb out of bed until we are rolling down the road.

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This is an old photo from California....but demonstrates our slowness before we set off for the day. And Seth's priceless expression indicates his love of mornings.

I get dressed first, my clothes laying on the tent floor next to the sleeping bag for easy access.  Pack up my pillow and the compartmental bags of clothes (thank you, Blank Brand) into my pannier that's sitting in the vestibule next to my tent door.  Grab all of the small things that attach to my bike that are too valuable to leave on due to theft or rain -- light, the GoPro, and items from my handlebar bag like my wallet and phone.  Pack up the electronics, the Nook, iPad and headlamps.  Pack up the journals that go into my Camelbak bag.  Set all of these separate bags next to the door so that when I get out of the tent, I can easily reach inside and move them outside.  Seth has yet to start his day at this point. He's awake, but not moving.  It's too difficult for the both of us to move around too much at the same time.


I climb out of the tent, in the process evaluate the saturation of the rain fly (lately, it's absolutely soaked with rain or dew)...  I grab the bags I've just packed and start to pull apart our bikes, unlock them and open the trailer bag to remove the standing water from the top.  While I start to organize our stuff outside the tent, Seth is getting dressed and packing up the remainder of stuff in the tent -- included the sleeping bag and folding up the sleeping pads.  I advise him on the layers of clothing needed in the outside temperatures.  Then I unpack the stove and get water boiling for coffee.  

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Another picture from California when we were accompanied by Jessica, Steve and Zook. We were cleaning up not only our gear but also the mess of raccoons after their midnight feast. There is always something to be done around a campsite when you got places to go....

We try to move constantly.  There is always something to be done.  While the water is boiling, I remove other small bags from the trailer bag so that I can repack it properly (sleeping bag and tent have to go in the bottom or the puzzle just doesn't work).  


Seth's wheelchair fits under his side of the vestibule but it blocks him in.  I unzip his side of the tent, allowing him freedom to get out and continue with the morning.  By this time, the coffee is typically ready.  I have a titanium cup and he drinks from a Kleen Kanteen bottle.  This is the only time we stop.  If possible, I sit down with my coffee.  We typically take a moment to enjoy the scenery, typically mountains waking up amongst the clouds with us.  Once the coffee is gone, though, it's back to work.  Clean the pot, pack the stove and have bags lined up along the trailer to organize them before packing them up for the day.  Seth is disassembling the tent and I start making breakfast.  Breakfast is usually a white bread product with peanut butter.  I fill up Camelbak bladders and bottles with water I've hauled from the day before. 


Put all the panniers back on my bike, load up the trailer bag.  Seth gets on his bike and we take off in the southern direction, hopefully before the sun has poked its head up over the mountains.  

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Loading up all the shit that goes onto my bike, one thing at a time. It's gotten into quite a routine at this point and I know exactly where everything goes. It still looks chaotic at this point in the morning, but soon it will be all piled onto one vessel, rolling (hopefully smoothy) down the road.

We try to ride for about an hour before having our first stop with consumption of more simple sugars.  If the riding is easy and we lose track of time, it's 2 hours before our first stop.  Seth will eat some orange slices, I prefer a Gu or gel product.  If possible, we've stopped at a place that I can pee in the bushes.  


And we continue.  We try to stop at least every hour for a bite to eat...sometimes more or less frequently depending on the road quality.  We have a mid morning snack, typically consisting of a granola bar.  Through Ecuador, we've been drinking iced tea or coke as well.  As we ride, we stop to buy items where ever convenient or necessary.  The tea and coke purchase is typically in the morning so we can sip throughout the day.  Around 1-1:30 we have lunch.  Depending on our supplies, it's a repeat of breakfast, but sometimes it's that same white bread product with cheese.  Sometimes fruit, too.  And coffee.  We typically make enough coffee in the morning to make a 'road coffee' - filling the kleen kanteen for the day.  I clean up and we continue.  If the afternoon grows long, we stop for another sugar snack -- orange slices and gu.  But we try to plan our lunches so that it will carry us to the end of the riding day. 

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From Baja South, Mexico, admiring one of the many mountains. Even if we stop to admire the scenery, we try to make use of the stop and have a snack. We try to make every stop as efficient as possible. Eat, pee, photo, and go.

Since we don't know what the towns will be like, what they will have or how frequent they will be, we stop at gas stations or stores when we can.  Seth will typically take advantage of the toilet at a gas station since camping toilets are non-existent and squatting is not a possibility for him.  We will get snacks for the afternoon -- chips, nuts, more fresh bread, but most importantly WATER. Because of the weight of water, we try to save this purchase for as late as possible.  But I will carry it all day if needed.  


Depending on the terrain and the long term goals, we start looking for a decent camp site in early afternoon.  Things we consider:  the next day's terrain -- are we coming close to a HUGE climb that we can't finish today, so lets get as close as possible and hit it hard in the morning?; are we meeting someone soon and have to make so much mileage in a day to get there?; do we feel awesome and just want to keep going?; do we feel like shit and just need to call it a day?; don't want to pass up this perfect campsite?; we need supplies, so we HAVE to keep going?; etc -- there are several things to consider.  After 5 months on the road, this is getting easier....  

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Our first campsite on the road....this is WAY back north in Bend, OR.
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A Baja campsite deserted because it was "cold" to them. I always enjoy the company of a resident friendly fur baby.
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Another one in the Baja desert. Sometimes we just have to ask. People are typically willing and friendly enough to let us rest our head for a night.
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Who doesn't love fury friends?!! Notice the doors we have on each side of the tent, making it easier for us to access.
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A camping spot just south of Quito, behind a gas station. It was perfect -- soft ground, shelter, far off the road with the added perk of a toilet.

If the day goes as we hope, it's about 3:30 when we find a camping site, look for a person to ask permission, and start evaluating the ground.  Where do we put the bikes?  My bike is far too heavy to stand on it's own.  It does best with a wall or something solid for stability.  If no wall, Seth's bike will do.  Where do we put the tent?  Flat land, away from water, shelter from wind, shelter from the road and any potential people who are going to want to talk to us all night and the next morning.  Where can I go pee?!  My bladder is about to burst!!  


Set up the bikes, Seth gets out of his and we start setting up the tent.  If there is someone who wants to riddle us with questions, Seth entertains while I set up the tent.  Before I put on the rainfly, I put down the sleeping pads and sleeping bags, then throw in the electronics, my Camelbak bag, get out a headlamp.  Then put on the rain fly.  I put our clothing panniers under the vestibule.  Then I jump in the tent, clean off as best as I can with baby wipes and change out of my riding clothes, leaving them next to the sleeping bag in preparation for the next morning.  Seth is probably still talking to whomever.  If there is a dog, I'm attending to him/her and beginning to get out snacks to replenish our system before dinner.  

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This was our most recent campsite. There was no place to lean my bike, hence the lean with the bikes together. We chose this spot because we had been climbing most of the day and could see the next big hill. Then this flat, unfarmed spot magically appeared. We jumped on it.

It gets dark around 6:30 and it's nice to be in the tent by then.  So we cook dinner and eat around 5 or so -- typically as many calories, grams of carbs and protein we can pack into one pot.  We eat a lot of rice, pasta, eggs, tuna, peanut butter and bread.  Not really exciting, but it does the trick.  We clean up with as little water as possible since we are usually using drinking water.  I put everything back into the trailer bag but not packed completely since I'll be getting the stove and pots out for coffee in the morning.  I pack up everything water tight for any potential rain and lock up the bikes.  We pee and brush our teeth.  Seth jumps into the tent first so I can put away his wheelchair.  Then I get into the tent.  We read and write in our journals.  Darkness falls and if it's quiet, we are fast asleep with no problem.....hopefully through the night for about 10 hours.


The ideal campsite consists of what is so easily found in the US:  level ground with decent shelter.  But most luxurious of all -- running water and a toilet.  But given the rarity of these, we are continually finding ways around whatever obstacles come our way....like spending a day in the tent in the middle of no where when we were both exploding in both directions.  Luckily we make a pretty good team.  We are opposite in almost every sense of the word.  We see things differently and are able to use each other's opinion to make the best of most situations.  

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Seth writing and updating the blog from a campsite in Oregon...when we didn't have to rely on fast internet to do anything with our website. In this shot, you can notice how Seth's chair fits under the vestibule and how it blocks him into the tent. It's a good system, though, keeping the chair safe from weather.

If I were to go through our routine from a hotel, it would be pretty similar -- we plug in and recharge our electronics and take a shower!!  A shower both in the evening and in the morning.  We have learned to never pass up a good cleaning -- especially if there is hot water.  Now we're really talking luxury!     


And in case you were wondering, Seth and I like a wet toothbrush before we brush.

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A decent showing of what we like to have in stock to eat. The chips are a definite treat and the cans of beans are heavy, but we have found they are worth it. Ecuadorians don't eat beans like Mexicans and beans are hard to come by in small towns. The orange fruit is a granadilla. Delicious and unique to Ecuador. We eat these when we can!
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If we have a place with refrigeration, we are really in for a treat. We found soy meat products (these are meatballs) at a grocery store in Cuenca. I am a vegetarian, and although Seth isn't, he doesn't eat much meat when we're on the road because we cook in one pot.
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Another thing we try to do as often as possible is analyze the elevation profile of our route. This is the profile of our final 200 km in Ecuador. Looks pretty brutal, but that's what we've seen throughout most of this stretch of the Andes.
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A happy place. On the road, but taking a break with a good cup of coffee. Thank you, Cuenca.
9 Comments
Mary
2/23/2014 06:50:23 am

It's really nice to get your perspective Kelly. Really gives us a glimpse of the day to day details of your travels. Always wishing you both happy trails and blue skies.

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Janet
2/23/2014 12:51:59 pm

Kelly I enjoy reading yours and Seth's blogs, it's nice to be able to follow you.

Reply
Danny Gilman link
2/24/2014 01:01:13 am

Wow! This is inspiring, reading the amount of planning for this travel. I particularly like how an OT's field of work is explained.

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Chris Holcomb
2/24/2014 05:24:39 am

Been following you two since the beginning of your journey. I enjoy every post and am inspired. So inspired I have planned my first long distance multi-day adventure. Starting small with 418miles accompanied by 10k+ riders in Iowa. Thanks so defining no-limit reality - You make this QUAD proud!!!

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Daisy
2/24/2014 10:49:44 am

Awesome post Kelly. It IS nice to hear of your days through your eyes. Love and hugs

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John Wolfe
2/24/2014 11:29:53 am

Wow, your blog really puts it in prospective Kelly. Most of us probably don't think about the day to day things you guys have to go thru besides the ride. Thanks for that, I appreciate it all that much more. And thanks for taking the time to bring us all along on your trip thru your blogs. Love you two 🚲 😎

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Tara C
2/24/2014 12:29:25 pm

Great post K! Can't even imagine what it would be like to be sick in a camping in the middle of nowhere situation. Hope you guys are getting some rest and are on the mend!

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Heidi
2/26/2014 10:26:55 pm

Thanks for the post Kelly! Love it! So many details to consider. I think I'd like loading up your bike. It's like a puzzle everyday. In the midst of reading all those daily tasks, I felt a kind of respite every time you mentioned "coffee". Hope it's the same for you guys! Safe travels, friends!

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Jon
3/2/2014 11:46:07 am

You guys are just super-inspirational! I work, or used to work with Seth's Krazy Aunt Patty. Yesterday was her last full day, it was kinda sad. Very happy for her though, as she moves on out of the comfort zone to the next adventure of her life, like you guys do every day. Never stop, I like that!

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