Our trip to Wyoming had its ups and downs, but overall we had one of the best times of our life. Ray’s incontinence issues didn’t cause much of a problem until the morning we were leaving there. Got Ray up at 4AM to find the sheet, and the mattress cover, wet; it was still dark so I’m not sure about the mattress itself. That felt the tiniest bit damp (why don’t they make mattress covers waterproof?). I left the mattress uncovered and told my sister to tell them to send a bill if there were any issues. I had brought disposable pads with us but they were too lightweight, when he got into bed I couldn’t make them stay in place. So I never used them. Too late I realized I could have put the pads under the sheet to hold in place. Oh well, I was using the Guards but for some reason this time they didn’t catch it all. Other than that, Ray did fantastic in that department, after all my worrying. I am learning to be more proactive too, and taking opportunities for bathroom breaks when they present themselves, rather than waiting for him to ask.

We got off to a terrible start. 24 hours before we were to leave I found out Ray didn’t have a reservation for the first leg of the journey, even though I had called the airline myself for the tickets two months in advance so there wouldn’t be a mess up. Well that plan didn’t work! It took half the day to find another airline at another airport to make our connection in Denver and also arrange for a limo there since I didn’t want to drive into NYC during morning rush hour. I couldn't sleep a wink that night, afraid to oversleep with the limo coming at 5AM, and just too revved up in general. I didn't really sleep on the plane either and then we get here and I didn't sleep that night either. Never went 48 hours before, it was sort of an odd feeling. Luckily Ray got his usual beauty rest, he knew I’d take care of things, no matter how crazy it got.

Here’s a shocker: At 4AM the morning we were leaving, right after I got Ray up for the limo to the airport, I pulled out our nice carryon suitcase to pack some last minute stuff, reached in one of the side pockets and felt a velvet bag. Since I hadn't slept in 24 hours at that point, I thought I was dreaming, but it was Ray’s lost gold bracelet! I showed Ray and we both sat there in shock, then he put it on and kept it on the whole time in Wyoming. I feel SOOOOO bad I secretly accused Pat. And SOOOOO glad I didn't say anything to her face. Boy do I need to make amends with her. How could I be so wrong? I tried to call her after we got back, but the cell number doesn’t belong to her anymore, and she hasn’t answered the email I sent asking her if she’s available yet to be Ray’s aide (i.e. has her umemployment ran out?) Hopefully she will turn up eventually as she always does. It’s only been a couple of months. I’ve been told I have to take another aide or they will sign off on me, I can only stall so long. Pat is back to being my guardian angel finally.

Anyway, back to the trip. We finally get to Cody but our luggage didn't, and I was devastated. Doesn’t take much to throw me for a loop these days. It took about 24 hours to locate the two suitcases and get them to us, meanwhile they authorized me to buy a few things to get by. Walmart is the only game in town: I had to run through like I was on a game show grabbing things, because we had a reservation for horseback riding and my brother-in-law is a stickler for appointments. He said I had 20 minutes; 19 minutes later my sister came looking for us! I did manage to grab a few souvenir sweatshirts along with the other booty at least.

Anyway, my brother in law is always go-go-go so we got to see all the sights: the Buffalo Bill Dam, the Buffalo Bill museum (part of the Smithsonian so really top notch, you can spend all day), touring Yellowstone, endless parties at the family cabin and at the family lodge, fly fishing, horseback riding, square dancing, and of course the rodeo. Cody is the rodeo capital of the world, in case you don’t know! The horseback riding I did without Ray, luckily BIL is allergic to horses so he was able to stay with him. Ray got really cold at the rodeo (it was night time, around 50 degrees and drizzling) so we left there a bit early, before the bull riding unfortunately. But Ray did stick it out for about two hours at least. For that I am grateful. He really is a trooper, I must say. We got to sit with someone who explained all the different rules and events, I never realized how much there is to it all. Then the next morning there was snow on the mountaintops across the way, which was sort of startling since it was in the 80s a couple of days before. Never a dull moment.

Anyway we are still sort of exhausted from it all, but in a good way. Ray always improves so much after a big trip like this, but I’m waiting awhile before I plan anything like that again ;-) All I can say is, we did it! Yay team!