Adventures in the Lily Fields

We were in Portland at the end of last week for Olivia's her regular Shriners check up. After the appointment, my aunt wanted to take me up to the Camas Lily fields because I'd never seen them blooming.

I packed the baby in the front carrier and my five-year-old Anna wanted to come along. We were hiking happily, enjoying the sunny day. The lilies were gorgeous, but before we were even to the top of the hill, I was hot. Really hot.

My hands started to prickle. Then my scalp. I thought I might be dehydrated, but I kept walking.

As we came down the opposite side of the lily field hill, I started to get really uncomfortable. I couldn't breathe so well, either. I tried coughing to get the junk out of my lungs, but it wasn't working.

Anna asked my aunt at that point how much farther we had to go and I heard her say thirty minutes. There was no way I could walk for another thirty minutes.

We were still a twenty minute hike from the nearest road, but it was closer than her home, so my aunt called the dashingly handsome (and have I mentioned heroic?) sidekick to come meet us at the parking lot. By the time we finally made it to the parking lot my arms were covered in welts. We had to stop several times so I could catch my breath.

My uncle is a paramedic. He was in a far-away town working for Life Flight (a helicopter rescue service where he works part time), but my aunt called the fire station anyway and asked his co-workers if they could help me. Aaron drove me down there and I sat in the back of the stationary ambulance so my uncle's friends could give me an IV for Benedryl and a nebulizer treatment to help with the asthma.

I hadn't had an asthma attack in months, which is why I didn't have my emergency inhaler with me. *sigh* Lesson learned. I'm thankful to have friends in high places (read: the medical profession).

I was pretty loopy on the long drive back home, thanks to the Benedryl. My poor DHHS had to basically care for our five children single-handedly because I kept falling asleep....

So, that was my weekend adventure. What was yours?

Make sure to check back here on Tuesday because I will be giving away a book and interviewing another debut novelist in a World's Quickest Interview. You won't want to miss it!