On the 28th of March, Maddie and I did a long day trip to many surrounding towns near George.
We drove just over 430 kms (260 miles). We started at 08:00 and got back home at 19:30. I wore the leg the whole day. By the time we got home, I really wanted that leg off.
Our route followed R62. It follows between the Langeberg and Swartberg mountains. That long thin valley is called the "Klein Karoo".
We started by heading north through the Outeniqua pass to Oudtshoorn. Ostrich capital of the world. We tried to get pictures of ostriches. They were shy that day. Here is a picture of Maddie getting ready to sneak up on some, and here is a picture of them running away from Maddie.
A great picture of 8 Ostrich asses.
We then drove to a small town called De Hoop. It wasn't even on the map. Many farmers around the turn of the century would get together and build a big church to serve all the farmers in the area.
Huge church in a town with population 31. The clocks even had the right time.
Often a small town would grow around the isolated church.
De Hoop soon got a railway through it.
I wanted to steal this railroad sign.
The next town we visited was Calitzdorp. It was established 1821 and currently has a population of 4300. Calitzdorp is a very arty, crafty town. It felt like a hippy town. And as usual, it is built around a big church.
At one time in the early 1800's, within the British realm, the determining factor of whether a settlement was a town or a city, was whether or not, it had a Cathedral. The small settlement of George had a Cathedral, and at one time, George was the smallest "city" in the world.
We then passed through the towns of Zoar, and Ladismith.
Ladismith Church, from 1874. (We did not take this picture.)
To the north most of the day was the Swartberg mountains.
And to the South was the Langeberg mountains.
Soon we arrived at the wonderful town of Barrydale.
We stopped for lunch.
Note the dainty little finger. :-)
Barrydale's claim to fame is the fact that it has the Fynbos ecosystem to the South and the Klein Karoo to the North. These two ecosystems are about 10 kilometers apart, with Barrydale in between.
Barrydale is also the start of the Tradouw Pass through the Langeberg mountains.
When we did motorcycle tours, The Tradouw Pass was one of the motorcycling highlights. 17 kilometers of tight, twisty, canyon road.
After the pass, we were now between the Langeberg mountains and the ocean.
We approached the small town of Heidleberg. Of course there was a church.
We both were tired, so we got on the freeway and just went straight back to George.
I had been wearing the leg for 12 hours now, and the stump had shrunk so much it was very hard to walk. The stump was bottoming out in the socket. Back at the house, I took off the leg.
On freeing the stump, the blood rushed in and PLP was there very strong. I quickly washed the stump, and put on a nylon shrink stocking, and took anti-inflamatories. Trying to keep the swelling contained.
We were both very tired, and bed called early. I was battling with PLP. I drugged up and waited. I sat in the kitchen and watched CNN and read my book.
At about 2 in the morning, I SMSed my Texas buddy. He then called me, and we had a wonderful chat for 1hr42min. Having a chat with him, helped take my mind off the PLP. Finally I headed for bed at a bit after 4 in the morning. Awake 22 hours.
At about 6:30 I woke to pee, and got a rush of PLP... really strong. I was not able to reduce it by action or keeping busy.
The best thing for me to do, was drugs, wait, nap,...drugs, wait, nap,......(rinse and repeat). The next 48 hours were a blur.
Now I am sort of recovering. Even with the compression stocking on for 2 days, the stump is swollen.
This pain and drugs life, is just not sustainable.
A teaspoon of pleasure, for a bucket of pain.
I need to try to get the silicon liner on the stump, and maybe go for a short walk.
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