The day we went to see the helicopters we had to take the Island King's truck because he has 4WD and my Dad's truck does not.
You can't get to the site in 2WD so we all piled into the Island King's truck to make the trip.
But...
Our truck is a Forerunner which is a lot smaller than Dad's truck AND it has NO AC.
The Island King is weird about AC and even though he's had plenty of opportunities to fix the AC he refuses. He complains about the heat but he doesn't want AC.
Weirdo.
And because the truck is smaller than Dad's, I had to sit, smooshed, in the backseat with the boys.
Who fought the entire time.
At one point I really wanted to stop the truck, put them out and drive away.
But that would have been pointless because I have no doubt that they'd show up at the house around dark with full bellies and pockets full of cash. They're resourceful like that.
We drove for miles into the Reservation on clay roads and sand trails, with more sand blowing into the truck than you can possibly imagine.
And it was HOT. VERY HOT.
We got to the helicopter site and even though I'm a relatively smart person - stop laughing - I made the biggest mistake you can make in 100 degree heat.
I drank nothing. No water, Gatorade, not even a Pepsi. Nothing.
Not surprisingly, I started feeling a little queasy.
But I wasn't thirsty, at all, and it didn't occur to me that I might need a little water even though I was sweating gallons by the minute.
We left the helicopter site and drove farther into the woods looking for another geocache and by the time we got to that one I was not feeling well at all.
We started walking down a trail to find the cache and I was feeling sicker by the minute. Dizzy, nauseous, weak and a little disoriented.
And still didn't think about drinking some water.
From there we drove farther into the woods and the farther we went, the more my head pounded and the more I felt like I was going to pass out.
I told Dad and the Island King that we needed to change our plan and head to the pond we'd planned to eat lunch at later.
We got to the pond and it was a little cooler than being in the truck but I was still too hot.
I don't like to wear shorts in the woods so I had on jeans, hiking boots and a short sleeved shirt and when we got out of the truck I was so hot I felt like my skin was on fire.
So I took off my boots, socks and jeans - not caring that my Dad and the boys were standing right there.
My legs were redder than I've ever seen them.
At this point Dad and the Island King realize that I'm not "just hot" but am in need of some help.
The Island King took a bottle of water out of the cooler, told me to bend my head down and then poured ice cold water all over my neck and head.
I was getting ready to take my shirt off too (I'm sure Dad and the boys would have loved that. Mom standing there in her bra and underwear lol) but the Island King tells me to leave it on because it will hold the cold water longer and help cool me down.
Then Dad soaked a towel in the ice water from the bottom of the cooler and wrapped it around my neck.
He handed me a bottle of water and I drank it and then drank a second one.
He wanted me to drink a Gatorade but my head was pounding and I thought maybe caffeine would help that so I drank a Pepsi and two more water bottles.
They broke out our picnic stuff and he made me a sandwich, which helped too.
Meanwhile, the Island King has been rummaging around in the back of the truck and comes up with an extra pair of pants he keeps back there.
He gave me his shorts and then put on the pants he'd found.
I felt bad but the pants were a light-weight BDU with lots of rips and tears in them for ventilation. And since he wasn't having heat issues I took the shorts.
I was feeling better but still kind of "off" and hot so I told everyone that even though we had hours more of caching in the woods planned I wanted to go home.
Right then.
We headed home but once we got back out of the woods we had to stop and put air in the tires (we'd let a lot of air out for better traction in the sand) and when we got to the store the Island King told me to go inside and stand in the AC while he put air in the tires.
So I did.
Dad had already gone in and when I walked in he said "Why don't you go in the bathroom and freshen up a bit."
I thought he meant splash some water on my face kind of freshen up but I was wrong.
I took one look in the bathroom mirror and almost fell out.
I was beyond filthy. I had on giant shorts, black socks and hiking boots. And I can't even describe my hair.
No wonder Dad suggested I wait in the bathroom.
But the bathroom had no AC so I walked back out into the store.
Where people stared at me like I'd just blown in from Planet Hasn't Bathed in Months.
It gets better.
What a sight!
I don't know why I didn't drink any water all day, I usually stay very hydrated while out in the heat.
I can say that I won't ever forget again!Labels: Done
