Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, December 5, 6 and 7, 2017 (Kartchner Caverns State Park, Benson, AZ)

Tuesday did not start out well for Steve...and the result has affected not only our cavern tour plans for today but our travel plans for the next week. 

He had just gotten up and was going down the stairs when he must have stepped too close to the edge and slipped. All I heard was a god awful thud and the anguish scream of pain. His feet had come out from under him and he had come down hard on his right side and back...on the stair edge. He was in so much pain that he broke out into a sweat and had a hard time breathing for about 45 minutes. It's a very helpless feeling not being able to do anything for him. He managed to relax in his chair...as the initial pain eventually subsided somewhat.

Shortly before 9:00 I headed over to the Discovery Center to explain what happened and cancel our cavern tour. I cannot say enough about the staff there...Jennifer, the supervisor, personally took care of issuing vouchers for a tour that were good for a year. She also gave me her business card and said if there was anything else she could help me with, to not hesitate to call.

Once back at the trailer, we discussed our options. We are due to leave here Thursday and head to Patagonia Lake State Park for 4 nights. It was obvious that there is no way Steve would be able to travel, so we decided to stay here for the week and cancel Patagonia. So I went back up to the Discovery Center...again, Jennifer was more than helpful taking me into their offices to Ruth, a Customer Service Specialist. Sitting behind her computer, she looked up our reservations...extended our stay here and cancelled our Patagonia reservations.

Okay...with that all taken care of, now it was all about Steve healing. He didn't want to go to the Benson Hospital quite yet...wanting to wait and see. I also sent a note to Loretta, a fellow RV-Dreamer friend who lives in Benson...we had arranged to meet for lunch tomorrow. Sorry, Loretta, we'll have to postpone lunch. Thank you for "being on call" should Steve need a ride to the hospital...not only could he not manage climbing into the truck, he really wouldn't stand the jarring ride in the truck.

So Steve spent the rest of the day alternating between his chair, editing pictures and pacing gingerly back and forth in the trailer...trying to stay limber. He's finding it very painful lifting, bending and getting in and out of a chair I spent my day doing some odds and ends and a little baking.

Wednesday was basically a repeat of Tuesday. Steve managed to sit outside in the sun a little and wander around out there a bit. He had managed to finish editing pictures, so I worked on a blog update.

By Thursday, Steve seemed to be doing somewhat better. He is still moving around gingerly. I think he must have bruised, or perhaps cracked, a rib(s)...which I understand is very painful and takes some time to heal.

We needed to refill our drinking water supply and my grocery list was growing. So I left Steve home and took the truck into Benson to Walmart. He was happy that he didn't have to go shopping with me...and I was happy to go shopping on my own! While I was gone, he showered and then went out for a walk around the campground.

With a freeze warning in the forecast for tonight...temps are expected to drop to 28F/-2C...Steve filled our fresh water tank and disconnected the water hose. As a matter of fact, it was a chilly day today ...sunny though...and windy. The daytime high didn't go much above 9C/49F.

We are hoping Steve will be able to do a caverns tour tomorrow afternoon...and we have rescheduled our lunch with Loretta for Saturday.

Wow! A blog post without pictures... :-)