Homeward
Our driving days were now about four or five hours,
but we found time at each stop to do some hiking or other activity.
There was a new installation of solar panels at our campground in El
Malpais Monument in Grants, NM, but they hadn't been hooked up to power
anything, yet.
We hiked beyond this fence and up on a hill.
Looking back down to the campground.
There were only a few other campers.
 
Plants in arid areas have evolved to survive there by succulence like
this cholla or developing small leaves like this oak.
On the next day, we were at Schreiner Park in Junction, TX. It was next
to the Llano River, which was dammed here.
There were not many other campers, but that evening a few more joined
us.
 
We did NOT test the rope swing and jump into the river.
The next day, we spent some time enjoying the Riverwalk in San Antonio.
The last time we were here was in 2011 when we met up with Dori and
Aaron--here's the link
for that trek page.
No one was performing in the theater on this day...
 
Even though we were outside, the riverwalk gets crowded, so we wore
masks during the pandemic.
This is a lock in the river system.
We had lunch at The Republic of Texas. Hot chili felt good on this chilly
day.
 
Quanah Parker is familiar to us since his history was included in Lucia
Robson's "Ride the Wind" historial novel. We hadn't noticed
this sculpture courtyard before.
 
A mosaic history of the city.
We settled in the next day at Uncle Dick's Campground next to a bayou
in Butte La Rose, LA.
We hired a guy to wash the van. It needed it.
We saw there was a trail off the campground road on our map, so we walked
along the country road a ways only to find that the trail was behind
a locked gate for a hunting lodge.
 
Then everything came to a screeching halt that Sunday afternoon Feb.
13th when I turned my left ankle on the edge of that country road and
fell forward smack on my right shoulder. My hand was in my pocket. Dean
found the nearest ER, where the doctor thought my shoulder was dislocated,
but the X-rays showed that I had broken my upper humerus (arm bone)
in two places near the shoulder. He gave me a shot for pain, a prescription
for pain meds, and a sling. He said I'd be in a sling for six weeks.
Bummer! We did not go back to the campground, but Dean fixed a portable
dinner we could eat on the road and he drove into the night. We stopped
for a few hours at a rest area so Dean could sleep, but I could not
crawl into our bed, so I spent the night in the passenger seat tipped
back as far as it could go. The next day, Dean did a marathon drive
the rest of the way home. I saw an orthopedic doctor three days later
and he confirmed that it was broken and gave me a better sling.
Update: I went back to the orthopedic doctor 3 weeks
later and then again at six weeks. The X-rays showed that the bone was
healing. I finally had begun to stretch out the arm and to slowly build
up strength. As of late June, I'm still not 100%, but I have good range
of motion and have built up strength through exercise and gardening.
And I am thankful that Dean was there for me in my time of need!
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