A Real Adventure To Start A Grandkids Trip

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We’d promised a grandkids trip to the 4 middles, ages 5-11 and thought that a trip that included Dinosaur National Monument for our 5-year-old obsessed with Dinos, would be good. We had put off the trip for a variety of reasons, and finally were running out of time before school started. As school is starting next week and kids clamoring to go, now was the time to put up or not!

We decided to leave early Saturday morning and beat the heat over the pass. That meant shopping with 4 kids on Friday: Costco, Trader Joe’s, and the local supermarket. Of course, we had so much food that the RV fridge couldn’t hold anything more and we had to use our electric ice chest.

Saturday morning came too early as we’d been up packing until 2a.m. We didn’t wake up super early and still had food to pack. Finally, at the late hour of 9am we drove away.

The drive thru Las Vegas was really hot and super slow over the passes but we made it past St George where it was slightly cooler by 10pm. We found a rest stop for the night believing that it would be quiet and restful.

The RV was quite warm, so we opened the windows and the door, with the screen shut. A truck pulled up beside us with a refrigerator running, making a racket. As the kids were complaining about the racket I thought I’d shut the main door. I opened the screen and stepped, not onto the steps, but rather into the air, about a 3-1/2’ drop. Apparently, I smacked down onto the pavement, hitting the left side of my head.

Dale said I screamed, a scream that he said he cannot forget. He put the steps down then helped me up. Blood seemed to be pouring from my head. I thought that I should go to an emergency room as my head was hurting and still bleeding.

Poor grandkids were so scared, but we thought to put on a video, so they became occupied quickly.

At the ER, they took a CAT scan and pronounced my brain was intact. One friend commented that “at least they found a brain”, which is better than no brain probably! I told the Dr. that I bonked my head but didn’t knock any sense into it. He asked if any anyone caught me treading air on video? Well, fortunately, no one caught that act on video so I will not be appearing on stupid-stunt videos.

I got a pill, something strong, to reduce the swelling, and make me sleep. Unfortunately, it was like Codeine which keeps me awake. I left with instructions for massages, foot rubs and ice cream in bed.

We stayed camped in the hospital parking lot for the night and by morning the swelling was down. Unfortunately, I was awake most of the night, so I was ready to sleep.



Like another friend said, “not a good way to start an adventure”.

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Photos

On our Way
Kids already have their noses in their new books