Well, I think only 3 or 4 of those who regularly read the forums know why my finds have gone stale since my daytrip to Wickenburg earlier in May. About 4 days after that, I developed a pretty severe chest infection, with my lungs filling with fluid and my throat constricting. Thinking it was better after a week, I went back to work with a cough. Two days later, I noticed myself getting a little short of breath, but didn't worry too much about it. That Wednesday, the breathing became much shorter and I developed a fever again (this being on my b-day). By the time I got home from work, my breathing was so shallow, I was taking 8+ breaths to every 'typical' one breath. Off to the ER I go, have a battery of tests run, get jabbed all over the place, and find out about 4.5 hours later that I have viral pneumonia. What fun. During that hospital visit, I had to cough so hard I bruised the ribs in my back. So I miss the rest of that week, and the entire next, taking more drugs than crosses the border daily.

Finally, I start feeling better on Thursday in the sense that I was starting to feel 'normal'. The caches I found on 5/14 I did with a 102 fever, and felt terrible. Guess I wanted to see Reloaded that bad that I tried to ignore my body's messages by masking it with ibuprofen/cough syrup/cough drops/antibiotics. I can't help but think that the roots of my 3 week medical ordeal had something to do with my trip to Wickenburg. It just seems far too coincidental. At any rate, while galavanting around in the desert this summer, PLEASE be aware of those things you come in contact with, especially those things that certain small animals leave behind.