Warrensburg, MO to Omaha, NE

No photos today.  Dorothy had a very rough night.  After the experience yesterday of severe shortness of breath, and a feeling of increasing "tightness" in the chest, she felt she had to do something so took a Mucinex tablet last evening.  Unfortunately it brought back a lot of the bad symptoms: headache, queasy stomach, and a shaking inside Dorothy experiences when her thyroid system gets out of balance.  It was pretty discouraging at 3:30 this morning to think we were going backwards to the way it had been.  She got almost no sleep overnight. 

Again, we had to decide this morning on resting a day or carrying on.  The bright sunny morning helped us to carry on for a shorter day today (only 435 kms).  We stopped at a CVS pharmacy to see about getting a nebulizer for at home use.  They were out of stock, but after considerable delay they located them across the street at Walgreens.  However, they could only be obtained with a prescription, which would have meant going to a walk in clinic, which would have meant contacting the insurance company again.  We decided to get in the van and go. 

But first, the van needed fueling.  We have found this can often be a problem.  Just about all places are "pay at the pump" but if you use a credit card, you are asked to key in your billing zip code to verify. Since we are from Canada, we have no zip code so I have to scooter in and either prepay by guessing how much it might take (usually that means not filling up) or leaving my credit card, going out and fueling, and then going back in to complete the transaction ( assuming there is access not blocked by today's tire sale).  Some gas pumps accept debit cards so, that, I've learned, works better.

It remained a sunny day, we took it easy, the roads were better, and Dorothy's symptoms began to improve.  She was able to eat a little food at the Cracker Barrel in St. Joseph, MO.  We reached our hotel in Omaha just after sunset.  Most of the symptoms have eased except the coughing, overall shortness of breath, and thorough fatigue which she has had for two full weeks now. 

As we were checking in, two people, a staff member and a guest, recognized something of our situation.  They invited us to sit in the breakfast room and got some juice drinks and fresh fruit for us.  It was nice to have their company for a few minutes.  We have received many such acts of kindness along the way.  It inspires us to do better, when we can.

And, we are receiving many incredible offers of help from our friends back home.  It has been a source of support to see how many true friends we have and we extend our thanks and appreciation.