Summer Bucket List

After the accident, I started making a summer bucket list of things I wanted to do and accomplish before the end of summer break. Many of those items involved road trips and birdwatching. A few highlights include a trip to Seney Wildlife Refuge where we got to watch Trumpeter Swans, a visit to Dow Gardens, and a trip to visit Maple Bay farms and nature trails near Williamsburg. Photo dump from some of our adventures:

On the trip to Seney, we managed to get up to the Upper Peninsula. Growing up, my family spent many summers in the beauty of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and returning there feels like going home. When we have to leave, crossing the Mackinac Bridge feels like leaving a part of my heart behind, always. Trips there are few and far between, but I always treasure visits to the UP.

On another one of our adventures, we were on the freeway when the car made a loud noise, like a tire had blown. We pulled off to the side of the freeway, and Ben checked all of the tires, but couldn’t find anything. We started back on the freeway again, only to find the noise came back again every time we got up to 55mph. Managing to make it to the closest exit, we pulled off and checked everything again. The tires, brakes, etc all seemed fine. Ben looked under the car but couldn’t find anything.

We decided to try taking backroads to test it out. The noise quickly grew worse, and pretty soon, we didn’t feel safe driving it. We were close to Clare, and ended up calling a tow truck, after we found a shop in Clare that was still open and could help. (It was late afternoon, so most shops were closed.)

Jim’s Body Shop in Clare took amazing care of us, treated us like family, and even let Annie hang out in the waiting room since she was traveling with us. Annie even made a new friend with a dog they had in their lobby. I can’t recommend their shop enough! They also offer a towing service, which we didn’t realize when we called Quality Towing Services, but their driver was very friendly and helpful as well. Jim’s Body Shop had us back on the road in no time at all. You can also find Jim’s Body Shop and Quality Towing and Roadside Service Inc. on Facebook.

It turned out part of the mud shield under the car had come lose somehow and was flapping on the ground and likely hitting the tire as well, which caused all the noise. It was a long day, but we are so thankful it was nothing serious and we got to meet some pretty awesome people along the way!

Health Updates:

This blog post is already pretty long, so I’ll try to keep the updates short this time. Ben met with a movement neurologist, and is still waiting to hear back from a pain neurologist. The movement neurologist believes he may have Tourette’s syndrome, in addition to the idiopathic neuropathy and whatever else is going on.

I’ve continued to try to do the independent physical therapy exercises. There is still weakness on one side, and there may always be, but I’m trying to get back as much strength as I possibly can. I have had quite a bit of swelling and soreness in one of my ankles, as one side tries to compensate for the weakness in the other side, and am doing some exercises to try to reduce the swelling and soreness. It’s a balance, with one side being weaker and the other side overcompensating for those weaknesses.

Fall Bucket List:

After doing a “Summer Bucket List” for the past couple of summers, I am starting to do bucket lists for other seasons as well. It’s easy to love summer, with the beautiful sunny days and so much to do in the warmer months outdoor. It’s harder sometimes to enjoy the colder months. As we approach fall, I’ve started working on a bucket list of things I want to do, both inside and outside before winter sets in. I plan to do winter and spring bucket lists as well, giving me something to look forward to. I make long lists, so we won’t hit everything on the list, but that’s ok. A few highlights already on my fall bucket list for fall:

• Visit Seney Wildlife Refuge again
• Visit some of the local nature preserves I haven’t been to yet, or haven’t hiked in the fall.
• Enjoy campfires.
• Enjoy watching the sunrise and sunset.
• Stay up and watch the stars come out.
• Go on a fall leaf tour.

I will end here for now, as this post is already getting long. School is just around the corner, but we hope to squeeze in a few more trips before summer ends. I hope to post again before the end of summer.

Until next time,

Cindy