The Oregon Trail: Gerald Hyland

July 25th; Shoshone Falls

       After the several arguments I had with Michael and his conditions, we needed a stop like ShoShone Falls. It's absolutely gorgeous, but let me rant about what happened on the way here.

       Michael's only getting worse as of now. He insisted that he should walk, but his eyes were stuffy and his nose was runny. He slouched as he walked, and he's clearly in pain, but he won't do anything to make things better for him! I told him that he could ride on the wagon, but he said that he didn't want the oxen to pull anything more than what they need to. Then I said "if that's the problem, let me carry you on my back; I rather you rest than having to suffer" so that he wouldn't have to worry about the oxen, but he said that he was fine. He said that he wasn't in pain.

       Well excuse me Michael, I can literally see and hear your pain as you speak. I don't mean to ruin his pride; I just want him to get better. I hate seeing him suffer, but he won't do anything about it!

       At least we get to enjoy the falls. Like I said, it's beautiful. Michael has calmed down from our several squabbles, and after setting up camp for the first night, we sat on a rock next to the river and enjoyed the cool and quiet night. Michael was exhausted, so I let him lean on me so that he could feel more comfortable.

       Tonight is the third and final night that we'll be staying here. We spent yesterday and today basically relaxing and not much else. Michael and I sat beside the river for most of the time since he couldn't do too much else. Naime and Crispin came by to chat too, but it was mostly me and him. We went back to talking about "meaningless things", and I actually think he got better, despite my earlier rant.

       He's still a bit ill, so hopefully he'll take it easy.