Eleven p.m. I get the call (actually a text) from home. My 77 year old dad had fallen and broken his left hip. Hmmm…. not good – not good at all.
I remember reading the text from my mom (which said, “I was parking the mower and while getting off of it – I stumbled – called for your dad and we both fell – I landed in the grass and he landed on concrete and broke his hip.)
The words in my mind and out my mouth went something like, “Oh sh$t, sh$t, sh$t!!!!!!… Trapper, sitting 10 feet from me asked, “What’s wrong?”
“This isn’t good, hun. This isn’t good at all! My dad fell and broke his hip.”
We were 1800 miles away from Knoxville, TN.
Was this one of those “for real moments” that we talked about early on – before we left out? Was this just another “thing” Daddy will recover from and be fine? Do we head home, do we not, if we don’t and something happens…. all kinds of “crazy” goes through your mind. There were many options available for me to return “home” – I know – but we decided to stay together and face it together.
We spent the next couple days deciding what we were going to do and where we were going to stay/park. So, while the doctors figured out what was going on with my dad – we were figuring out truck stops and Wal-Mart’s (that allowed overnight parking) along the route. Our plan was to bee-line from Cottonwood, AZ to Knoxville, TX via truck stops, rest area’s or Wal-Mart’s.
We were in Emergency mode – to say the least. And the doctor’s were still trying to figure out when they could do surgery on my dad. In the end it took them four days to feel comfortable (you see, my dad has had 5 heart attacks, open heart surgery 3 times, several stints, got run over 52 years ago and the list goes on). God keeps this man on earth for some reason, for sure!
Within those four days, we checked out of our campground a day early and headed east.
Our trip back East was basically cut-n-dry…. Truck stops, Rest Area’s, and Wal-Marts. We stopped at a couple Rest Area’s but the level was sooooooo off… we opt’d for Wal-Mart’s for most of the trip.
Both of the Wal-Mart’s we stayed at, we did go in and ask because they were clearly marked and posted “NO Overnight Parking!” But both said, No problem – “Just Park over there or there and no worries.” Thanks Wal-Mart!
Next blog post we arrive at Melton Hill Dam Campground! Stay tuned!