NorahAura

What an insteresting day.... Started the day out early, about 7 am... Got camp packed up, then drove down to an island mini-mountain at lymon lake. Found out that there were some petroglyphs there. So, took the mile hike, saw a caterpilar, got out of breath a few times, but didn't see any petroglyphs. Found out later that I went the wrong way on the trail..... oh well.

So, on to Flagstaff and Page (near Lake Powell). My Grandmother mentioned there was a petrified forest on my way to holbrook. So, I decided to stop in. Only to discover how big the place was! :) Well, anyway, stopped at the vistor's center, watched a video that was mostly about why taking any of the petrified wood from the park was illegal and immoral.... Booooring... of course I won't take any wood. Oh well, so on to the park, walked about 1/2 mile around the great logs trail, then on to what they calle the Crystal forest. I was excited to go on this mile walk becaus the brochure said there would be amethyst. But, didn't find much, if any of that. It was still a nice walk, took quite a few pictures of some awesome petrified logs. It was like nature had just lifed up these logs to the surface, saying, "see what I created 220 million years ago!, is't it neat?"... and it was. traveled my way up the park, didn't stop at everything. But, did stop near the north end of the park to see more petroglyphs, only to find out that I could get up close to them, they had binoculars setup.. Took a few more pics, not sure how they will turn out, but we'll see. Sat down for a moment to have lunch... Then, on up to the north end of the park which is littered with lookouts onto the "Painted Desert" with layers of carved away sediment revealing all of the beatiful reds, whites and blacks, like a beautiful painting.

Finally, after 3 hours of seeing the sites, I was back on the freeway, on my way to Flagstaff. Stopped off at a Circle K in Holbrook... got myself a caffenated engergy drink (and regretted it later). Made a pitstop in town where I found wireless again, sent a quick email, then looked online for the best price on hotels in flagstaff & page. Not being sure where I was going to end up as it was nearing sunset at this point. Made my way to flagstaff, at this point being night-time. Stopped off at a village in, had some more coffee and a small steak dinner.... Got some more gas, this time $3.06.... then made the 2 1/2 hour drive up to Page. Made it into town fine, but then started to stress about which hotel was cheapest... did some more war driving, and finally found the best place (motel 6, $50 for the night).

Then, started to worry about my money. So, called the bank, found out it was fine and started to reply/send emails. I think it was a combination of stress & the caffeine, but I started to have an anxiety attack. Being the type that has never had to take pills before, I tried a few things to calm me down. Walked around the building, went to get something to drink (thinking I might be dehydrated). Then it hit me, full force, felt like I was going to pass out one moment, then heart raced with adrenaline the next. It was like a semi truck was sitting on my chest, I was dizzy... I took my Xanax pill.... layed down, it got worse. Walked around a bit, drank some more water, watched TV, went to the bathroom... anything to distract me from the thought that I had a blood clot, waiting to make its way up to my brain, remembering all those hospital TV shows.... feeling like the pill wasn't working fast enough.... waited for 1/2 an hour... still felt horrible.... So, what else could I do... I went to the emergency room....

I checked out fine... no evidence of heart attack, just was having a bad attack and needed to take a higher dosage. By that time, I was much more calm, but felt like it was only because I had been able to ask the doctor more questions (would you have seen evidence of a past heart attack in the EKG?: "yes"; can anxiety cause this severe chest pain?: "yes"). In some ways hearing this from the doctor instead of just reading online help quite a bit... Still feeling a bit of chest pain, the doctor gave me three more pills and told me to take them when I got back to the apartment.

I took them and within 30 mins, I was asleep.... Waking up to a knock at the door at 10 AM: "Room Service!".

So, I am now diagnosed with Anxiety... why in the world has this started now? I have never had this problem before... I mean, I am not a New York Stock typhoon.... Or a thrill seeker.... I am 28 years old for goodness sake.... Well... I guess this is only Day 3, still 9 more to go... Hopefully, I will have this issue taken care of by then... Meantime... no cafeine.