On the road....

[Rebecca Petris]

Hi all,

I'm going to be a little bit elusive for about a week or so... Moving from Florida to Washington (state) and will be on the road with the family. I will probably be online at some point - I'm a hopeless DEZ junkie - but will not be doing much email, so if I'm slower than usual to respond, this is why. I'll catch up the week of August 7th.

If you see a car with a DEZ logo magnet on the side coming through your town, honk .

[mspirk]

Hope you enjoy your new locale! Have a safe trip.

[kitty]

Have a safe trip!

[dianat]

So, it's kinda like you're on a pilgrimage to to the home state of the Almighty! (Right?)

[Rebecca Petris]

3500 miles later...

Phew!! We are finally here and on our way to being settled in. Mad scramble trying to get caught up so I will try to keep it brief.

It was a lot of miles, and the first three days were all over 100 degrees, but thankfully, the end of every day brought a pool for me to soak in and my 3-year-old to work on her dog paddle in.

We drove through parts of the country I've never been in before... I particularly enjoyed the sand hills of Nebraska. We also took a scenic loop through the Badlands of South Dakota.

One thing I learned on this trip was a new appreciation for the role of climate in dry eye... something that has had a lot of press attention lately. We stopped in Lincoln, NE to meet a dry eye friend. It was hot and dry and so windy... I don't know how people stand it. Even in Tampa I wore Panoptx, but in that climate I think I would just be staying indoors. By the same token - I'm really feeling a positive difference here in the good ol' Pacific Northwest. Haven't even replaced my Wileys yet and I'm doing well.

I need to post an update on my sclerals - will do that separately - but I have to say that the sclerals made a HUGE difference for me on the trip. There is no way I would have been able to put in so many miles or do outdoors activities with my daughter on the trip otherwise. I managed to break my Wileys (my favorites for driving) halfway through the trip, and was wearing just a cheapo pair of sunglasses from Walmart the rest of the way, but my eyes held up great.

Nice to be back... Apologies for those posts/emails I haven't answered yet, I'll get to them shortly! Missed you guys.

[Rebecca Petris]

Climbing in the Badlands (SD)

[Rebecca Petris]

Mount 'Mushmore' and a 3-year-old who won't stand still long enough for a photo

[Flick]

Rebecca - I'm curious about your eyes feeling better in the Pacific NW than in Florida, since Florida is so humid. Is it because of the increased rain, you think? Or less air-conditioning maybe? What do you think?

[Rebecca Petris]

Rebecca - I'm curious about your eyes feeling better in the Pacific NW than in Florida, since Florida is so humid. Is it because of the increased rain, you think? Or less air-conditioning maybe? What do you think?

Air-conditioning, without a doubt. At least that's the main culprit.

[SusieD]

Your 3 year old looks a real sweetie. Bet she keeps you on your toes!