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Sunday at the Beach with PD

My partner, Dave and I went to Pt. Reyes Seashore in California near San Francisco for a relaxing day at the beach. Sunny, warm breeze not too crowded. And if you’ve been there you know that you park at the top and hike down. In my previous years I walked down the narrow trail with no problem (and up as well). Luckily I brought my walking sticks.

Nature calls

So we got all settled, chairs down, books out, lunch ready...and of course I had to go the bathroom. So using my poles I went up the hill, with the wind, it was sketchy because it was fighting against me. Plus, with my mask, sunglasses and “camping toilet bag” navigating the trail was interesting. Got to the restrooms and the Ranger said it was closed due to a water main break that seriously just happened. So, he allowed the line of people to cross under the wire that surrounds the preserve and do our business on the other side. But wait! The other side was a huge hill, no trail, covered in plants and very steep. A nice woman said she’d keep watch for me while I attempted the hike.

Humiliation and exhaustion

When I got to the other side I had to walk and slide down and then grab a hold to some plants while positioning my feet and my bare backside facing the ocean. Mask dropping, poles sliding away and I’m on all fours. AND worse my muscles cramped up and I couldn’t pee. 15 minutes went by and I yelled up my apologies to her and told her I had PD. It was humiliating.

Finally I went and somehow got the paper out of my bag and very carefully stood up with no balance and got my pants up. OMG, my legs were shaking by the time I got up the hill and back down and under the wire. Dave was worried I had been gone for 45 minutes so he met me at the parking lot and helped me down to the beach! I was exhausted! Fun huh? I had a full day of squats, thank you Rock Steady Boxing!

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