Road Trip: The Home Stretch!

We made it home today!  The Holiday Inn Express Breakfast bar did not look too appealing to us after eating there for about 7 days straight!  So we opted to get on the road- we both were anxious to get home and we thought we'd get stopped at the Agricultural Inspection Station coming back into California.  We had breezed through the last two states Port of Entries so the Ag Inspection was one last worry to get through.  But first we had to get to California!

It was nice to see the familiarity of the Sierras!

The pine scent in the air told us home was not too far away!

We crossed over the California State line about 9 am and were at the Ag Inspection Station about 15 minutes later.  The attendant asked, "Is that your equipment?"  We replied, "Yes"  Then he asked, "Where did you get it from?"  Mike replied, "Illinois".  Then he said "OK - go ahead!"  Whew!

Mike had worried all along the way that we may be stopped because there was dirt on the tracks we picked up and we would have to pay for the tracks to be cleaned before entering the state.  He had the Dowson's pressure wash them before we picked them up and at each stop, I would catch him brushing any dirt or rocks that loosened up from our load, so that worry was gone!

 Starbucks was just off the road in Colfax. We hadn't had much good coffee on the whole trip and we were really hungry by this time, so the familiar green and white logo was a welcome site! 

 Starbuck's Sausage Muffin Sandwich tasted superb and was a treat compared to our other breakfasts!  Mike swooned when he took that first sip of the dark roast he ordered.

It wasn't long before we were passing by our rice fields!  The heads have come out on the rice and are starting to get heavy and tip - soon we we'll be turning off the water and then harvest not too long after that!

About 11 am we pulled into our farm shop yard to unhook the trailer with the tracks on it, before heading home!  It was a great feeling to have that trailer unhitched!! We had driven 4,300 miles with that load attached and it felt as if we were free!  We then got the fork lift to get my "treasure box" off the trailer, and into the bed of the pickup to go home.

And that's when our last adventure of the trip started!  When moving the 'box' Mike got his left pinky finger stuck between the bottom of the box and one of the tines of the fork lift!  He yanked it out but not before he sliced the tip of his finger in two!  I said, "Let me see it!"  and he said, "You don't want to see it!"  But I did - here is what it looked like when I wiped away the blood!

Yes - we were back on the road to the urgent care!  I thought the urgent care doctor was going to faint when he saw it!  He ordered xrays which came back confirming that Mike had fractured the tip of the finger and it was obvious the nail had been severed!  The Urgent Care doctor then sent us over to the next building to the Orthopedic Surgeon to stitch him up.

(Maybe a fracture pinky caused this guy to be Dr. Evil!!)

The Orthopedic Doc first injected his whole hand with Novocaine.
We both thought - What a way to end our trip!

 We waited a few minutes for his hand to numb and then he went to work. My camera battery died at this point so you were saved from seeing the procedure! He cleaned the wound and then put the iodine around the perimeter of the wound.  He pulled the top half of the nail off and then took some surgical scissors and cut the remaining nail so there was a clean break.  He then quickly stitched up the nail bed with five sutures.  The medical assistant then wrapped his finger up using a whole roll of gauze.  His pinky now looked like a light bulb!  We thanked the doc and left . . .

to get to the pharmacy to pick up his antibiotic prescription and a pain killer so he could sleep at night.  The doctor said he would feel some constant throbbing when that Novocaine wore off!

So about 3:30 pm we finally made it home!

Both of us are exhausted and Mike's nerves were shot after driving with a 24,000 pound load behind him for so many miles.  He decided he did NOT want to be a Big Rig Hauler when he retires!  We had a great time on the trip, met many fun people, and didn't have too many disagreements along the way! But one of the goals was for us to see parts of our country we had never seen and that was a mission accomplished!  

 We are so lucky to live in an country like ours -

the amber waves of grain, the purple mountains and their majesty, were all sites we will cherish and never forget!  Thanks for sharing our journey with me! 

Look for my post "Opening the Treasure Box" soon!!