Here in Anchorage one of the Hospitals is across the street from the University so they pay a little more attention to whom is parked there.  The University does not have enough parking spaces and of course charges for parking permits so students have been known to park at the Hospital until the tow truck shows up.

Glad to hear the wife is better.

 A trip to the ICU from a tick bite, just one more reason we live in Alaska, no ticks, snakes, or poisonous spiders.

Mark in AK

----- Original Message -----
From: "Higginbotham, David A." <dhigginbotham@HAZENANDSAWYER.COM>
Date: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 10:24 am
Subject: Stealth camping spot and tick warning
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM

> I never really thought about it until this past month but a good spot
> for relatively hassle free stealth camping might be a hospital parking
> lot. I just finished a two week stint living in our bus at the local
> hospital where my wife was in ICU after contracting ehrlichiosis
> from a
> tick bite. You can google it but in short it mimics rocky mountain
> spotted fever without the spots. She went too long before she saw a
> doctor and developed Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome and
> Sepsis, in
> short very bad mojo for those of us not initiated to medical
> lingo. A
> very traumatic experience indeed but she is home now and on the
> mend and
> I can not fully express how much nicer it is to catch a few hours
> sleepin the bus rather than trying to sleep in the chairs in the
> ICU waiting
> room. They would not let me "sleep" in the ICU patient room
> although I
> could "stay" all night. The moral of the story: A) monitor your tick
> bites closely and if you get sick within 5-10 days do NOT hesitate to
> see a doctor. B) the hospital parking lot is a relatively nice
> place to
> live for short periods of time, albeit under better circumstances
> than a
> sick loved one.
>
> Happy trails,
> David and Rene' Higginbotham
> 82 Westfalia
> Silk Hope, NC
>