Second Straight Day of Travel

(Raleigh State Fairgrounds, NC) Hi 87 Lo 60 -- We stayed the night in Beckley, WV last night and it was QUIET... too quiet. We're used to having the noise machine that makes a steady sound to cover up surrounding noise. It was so dead quiet it kept us awake. We also noticed that our bed felt harder than usual. We were about 3,800 feet above sea level and the altitude increased the air pressure in our sleep number bed. We were warned that might happen. Neither of us slept very well so we got up at 6:30, closed up the one slide and headed out. We did use the generator last night for two hours to watch a couple TV shows and to  get the blog done. If we were to boondock very often we'd want a second battery. The slide had a hard time coming back in, but it made it. Before we got on the road we found this sign in the parking lot of Walmart.

The trip through the West Virginia countryside was gorgeous. The trees are already starting to turn up in the higher levels. Here's few of the shots I took on the fly while driving.

We arrived at the NC State Fairgrounds in Raleigh around 2:00. We got set up, had a sandwich and went to the hospital. Mom was in good spirits and was glad to see us. She's a lot better today than she's been, and getting great care from the hospital staff.  I had a talk with the nurse and she explained she can't leave the hospital until at least Monday because her sodium level is too low. The fracture in her back can be repaired with surgery, but it's risky for someone her age. So we're going to discuss other therapy options with her doctor. It looks like she'll be released to a nursing facility for a while for recovery and therapy. In the meantime we'll be working with COPE, a local elder care assistance agency, to find an assisted living facility to move her in to. We know she's doing fine now with the great care she's getting.

Jim picked up his mom Alberta and her sister Roberta from the other side of Raleigh and brought them for a visit with mom. She loved it. We also got to meet with a couple of the health care people who have been assisting her. It was great getting all the updates from different sources.

We took Alberta and Roberta to dinner then took them home, and we came back to the fairgrounds. We rushed out so fast today after getting set up that we weren't here when the fairgrounds security guy came by to collect our money. We had a note on the door with their phone number, which we called. The agent came by a few minutes later. We discussed our situation with mom and he agreed to let us stay for the whole month of October. That's quite a relief because we're so convenience to everything here. We'll be here during the State Fair in mid-October, which should be wild! Thankfully our campground is separated from the main fairgrounds by about a quarter mile, so we won't be in the middle of the action, but close enough. It's going to be a busy month!