Altitude Sickness?

We got checked in to the Grand Sierra Friday afternoon around 4:30, but the room had no microwave or fridge.  UGH.  They had offered an upgrade to a better room for another $20 plus tax per night, so I said let's do it.  I will pay the difference to help Mark out since I'm the one that wants it.  The upgraded room is on the eighteenth floor, with a microwave and fridge (but no freezer compartment in it), and a very luxurious bath with a huge, fancy, walk-in shower.  It's nice to have a great room since we will be in it for seven nights, the longest single stretch in any one location on this entire trip.

The plan for Shabbat here was to read, relax, and use the pool.  We did two out of three.  We looked at the pool, but we didn't go in it.

Unfortunately, I did not have a good night Friday night and felt sick all day Saturday.  I really felt like I had the altitude sickness again.  During the night, I felt like my heart was pounding and I couldn't get a good breath.  After laying in bed about an hour like that, I sat in the big chair and played puzzles on my phone until I fell asleep.  I woke up in the chair at 3:30 and went to bed.  When I woke up about 7:30, I thought I was fine, but as soon as I started moving around and showering and getting dressed, I started to feel light-headed and dizzy again.  I looked up the altitude for Reno and learned that it's about 5,000 feet.  That's a thousand feet LOWER than Lake Tahoe, so it seems odd that I would still have altitude sickness.  Every where we will be for the next 12 days will be above 5000 feet.  In fact, Cheyenne, WY is 6100 feet.  Not until we reach Dodge City, Kansas, 12 days from Saturday, will we be any closer to sea level. Dodge is 2100 feet.

While we wandered around looking at the various places in the hotel, I started to feel worse and worse.  Finally, I almost fell into a chair in a hallway from the dizziness.  We had just passed a girl manning a First Aid station, so I went to her and had my blood pressure checked in case it was low.  She was delightful and seemed happy to have something to do.  My BP was fine, 126/76.  She also listened to my heart and lungs and said she didn't detect any problems. She asked how much water I had been drinking, and I had to admit almost none.  She said maybe I just needed more water and some lunch.  It was 12:30 at the time.  She offered to have an ambulance take me to a hospital, but I declined and signed papers to that effect.

We had our salads at Subway, and I drank about half a liter of water.  We brought our subs back to the hotel for dinner later.

When we got back from lunch, I felt exhausted and just wanted to nap in the room.  It was 2:30 p.m., but unfortunately, our room had not been made up yet although the maid was in the hall about to go there.  We put our subs in the fridge and went downstairs to listen to Texas on our headphones in a hallway.  Once we went back up to the room around 4, we never left again the rest of the day. As the day went on, I did feel better, but I also didn't do anything except sit in the room.  I slept very well last night.

This morning, I do not feel anything, so maybe whatever it was yesterday has passed or I have acclimated to the elevation.  Who knows.

Today we have to register for the NARFE convention and attend two brief sessions, one at 12:30 for 90 minutes and one at 4:30 for about an hour at the most.  This way we are EASED in to the idea that we are here to work.  LOL!  One of the things we did yesterday was read the entire book of resolutions and proposals and discuss them between us.  Now we are prepared for the bigger discussions and votes that will start tomorrow.  We also spent several hours plotting out a potential big driving tour of Montanan and Idaho for next summer!  It's sort of a tradition to plan a future trip while still on the current one!

I also checked my weight this morning for the first time in several days.  I started the trip at 268.5 and got down to 261 by August 17, the day before we arrived at Evey's.  While with Evey, I gained about a pound a day, back up to 267.  Well, we ate VERY WELL and a LOT! I behaved better the last two days, so this morning I weighed 263.5.  I was pretty pleased with that.  Today should be a good day, too, so I am hoping to see 261 again very soon.

Fancy wall near the exit for the pool

There are so many restaurants in this hotel that you really never have to leave.  There's even a sub shop that has salads, so that's where we plan to have lunch today.  There's a Grand Buffet, Vegas style, several high end fancy restaurants, a cafe, a Grab and Go type place, a Starbucks, and many more!

Looking up one side of the tower from the pool.  The building is sort of L shaped.

Big pool, but no shade.  To get shade you have to buy a VIP Cabana.  

FIFTY lane bowling alley is in the hotel plus a two-screen movie theater.  This place is monstrously huge! And don't forget the largest casino I think I've ever seen in a hotel plus wedding facilities (there's a wedding today) and huge convention facilities.  Oh, and STORES.  LOTS of stores.  You could get lost in here.