THIS WAS THE ABSOLUTE TRIP FROM HELL. For years we talked about camping up north in the Ohio Amish country. Since we had limited time this year, and could not travel out west, we decided to head to Ohio, then Pennsylvania, back through Virginia, and finally West Virginia to climb the New River Gorge Bridge. Sometimes the best laid plans go awry, and ours sure did…BIG TIME.
The ride to Ohio took us two days. As we got into the Ohio countryside, the rolling hills and views were absolutely beautiful. We knew we were in the authentic Amish country when we approached horse and buggies traveling on the same roads with the cars. Our campground was right in the heart of Amish country, and we planned to spend a few days traveling through the country eating authentic Amish food, cheeses, and of course all the homemade desserts we could find.
The next morning we got up and started our usual morning routine, drinking coffee, feeding and walking Maggie and Honey. What happened next, changed our fun trip to a disaster in the matter of an instant. Honey cannot walk down the steps of the camper because of her hip dysplasia, so we go down the steps and reach in to lift her down to the ground. Before I could get back up and catch my balance after putting her down, she bolted and dragged me straight down. The grass was wet with the morning dew and my ankle turned under. The pain was so intense I was unaware of what was going on around me. Dick came out of the camper to help, but Honey immediately took off running, and he had to catch her before she got to the road.
Not sure if the ankle was sprained or broken, we decided to keep our plans for the day and ride around the countryside. Late afternoon the swelling was enormous, we went to the ER to have an x-ray done, it was broken on both sides. The doctors stabilized it with a splint and soft cast, telling us a hard cast could not be put on until the swelling went down, a minimum of 10 days. We decided to continue to Pennsylvania for Labor Day weekend as sitting in a chair at a campground was far more appealing than sitting in a chair at home. Onward we went. After Pennsylvania we would head home, as there was no way to climb a bridge with a broken ankle.
Surprisingly, there was no pain in the ankle after it was stabilized. We made the best of our time in Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania and had a good time with Jessi, Tomasz, Ela, and Julia.
Our plan was to travel home from Pennsylvania in two days. Things continued to NOT go our way. The second day, while driving through northern Virginia, we heard a loud explosive sound. At first we did not realize it came from a tire blowout on our camper as soon as Dick looked in the rear view mirror and saw insulation flying all over the place, we knew. The Virginia State police were excellent in assisting us. However, we lost half a day getting the spare put on and buying a new tire before getting back on the road. There was extensive damage to the underside of the camper, but we’d deal with that when we got home. Our hopes of a two day trip home were over, it took us three. FELT LIKE FOREVER.
Surgery was required to align the ankle bones in the proper position. Plates, screws, and eight weeks on a no-weight restriction got me back up on my feet again. During that time, Dick repaired all the damage on the underside of the camper. We wanted to keep our tradition of Thanksgiving camping again this year. It worked out. Staying close to home in case we ran into any issues, we camped on Lake Lanier at Shoal Creek Campground. Celebrating Thanksgiving with family, we gave thanks the worst was behind us. We were thankful for Honey too, even though a part of her will remain with us forever.
