Yeah I am a big Fan of the animation ‘Up’. I made Al and I adventure pins years ago. So off we go mounting up and leaving ‘Happy Trails’ as we go.
We stopped in at our new local doughnut shop to begin the day and then went to see Pat W. at Circle of Life Hospice care on our way out of town through Bentonville. She was so excited and happy for us, she said, ‘you two go and leave everything behind and really enjoy your selves’. She wanted to see our bikes parked out side, so we took a picture and showed her. And we took a selfie of us all. Al prayed and we all hugged. Greg R. bless his heart, he is beside her always.
I could not resist taking a picture of her boxes of cards, our precious ‘Card Lady’ as we all know and Love her. 1000s of cards we have all received over the years, she never missed our birthday’s and anniversaries EVER.
Traveling the pan handle plains of Oklahoma with gust of winds most of the day got us 460 miles down the road and into Guyman, OK. for the evening. Many more miles to go.
The good news is that the scenery will soon become more beautiful as we enter into Colorado tomorrow and head towards Grand Junction area.
I am kind of gimpy and slow walking with my knee, mounting on the right side so I don’t put so much weight on my gimpy left knee. Funny though I center up my bike off the kick stand on the left and it doesn’t seem to bother it. With out our massive amount to luggage, it’s easy to pull up center, but all the added weight well… Al has to give me a shove sometimes when I park on too steep of ground. I had Dr’s orders for Physical Therapy ……and now I am thinking maybe I can just call cross country motorcycling – physical therapy and it will ALL be GOOD. 🙂
This past week we have been on the recieving end of church providence. It is humbling to just say, thank you – you are so kind. More than so kind, you ARE our Christ given church family.
Al and I had our BIG plans (bucket list cross country motorcycle great adventure to the Pacific coast hwy 1 – tour ride) abruptly changed in a blink of an eye as I tumbled in a crumpled heap on the ground with what was sprained tendons and I could not get up and walk, one week ago.
So a week has passed with doctors orders of immobilization, rest, elevation and no weight on my left leg. With us confined in our home. God has proved he can and will change our well made plans and in that very process validate that his love and care is at work through his people.
Our beloved church family has been at our door everyday feeding us and administering church FAMILY love. God knew our greatest need before we left in desperation of escape was to see that assurance in action.
Al has left me alone very minimally most of the rest of the week, being a hover vigilante care giver. Today he has made a hospital visit, and a couple other meetings and a funeral this afternoon. This guy really needs a vacation ! I know the pace he keeps. Recent months have drained us both.
Today I have broken my strong bond with that dastardly walker. I have not had any lingering twinges of pain all day, just feeling a little stiff. Tomorrow morning I go to my return appointment to check my progress. And I am aggressively convincing Al that I believe we may go on our trip this week.
I am still enlisting prayers as it is with my left leg that I push my bike off its kick stand. I will continue to wear the brace and be very careful. I plan on giving it a test run tomorrow afternoon.
What is Church.
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:12-17
God wraps it all up in a tidy bundle with his words there.
Well as many of you know Al and I have been detoured from our fantastic adventure bucket list trip that has been in the planning for close to a year.
I packed like a Ninja warrior on Monday and Tuesday. After going to Mercy clinic on Monday I was placed on an intense steroid pack to treat a knee that has been bothering me for a couple months.
Wednesday morning I decided to excercise and walk my field beside our house. Started down the hill on slippery grass and made a judgment call to, not. So I turned around to go back up the incline and in about my third step something snapped. I could not put weight on my weak knee at all and crawled backwards all the way back to my back door. NOT a pretty site. (Al was at the Honda dealership getting a new front tire on his bike for the trip.)
We spent the rest of the day at Mercy, x-ray, exam and immobilization instructions not to put weight on it for a week.
I Am Sad ! Al is taking Great care of me, in fact he is crowding my naturally free spirit. He tells me to stay put and then when his out of site I hop up to my speedy walker and see how fast I can make it go. It’s a cheap excuse of power and I would really like to be on my motorcycle miles down the road on our incredible journey. My most heroic moment has been while Al was out mowing – I watched a spider on the sealing long enough I could not stop myself from rolling up under it with my handy walker and equipped with the fly-swatter, balancing on my good leg, I slapped him down and then finished him off on his landing.
Thank you so much to our many caring church family and friends who have, called and texted.
For my Sister, Debbie who arrived as we got home from all day Mercy clinic visit and the search for a knee imobolizer that was unsuccessful. She brought me a walker, an ice pack, a cane and an imobolizer from a friend of hers. In addition to the crutches Al and I picked up.
Dana J. Over nite ordered us a special immobilizer from her pharmacy at a special discount. It’s like a straight jacket for my leg. Thank you Dana.
Coach, Matt E. brought me Ben and Jerry’s, Jimmy Fallon ice cream today, along with his expertise of athletic injury’s and good encouragements of speedy healing. I needed to hear his positive take.
Constructor, David R. Called and offered to build us a ramp.
Bless his heart. But because last year when he remodeled our house he built a back door that makes for great accessibility we told him that is working well for us.
Gina E. brought warm brownies which I promptly asked for Al to serve with ice cream and indulged.
I do believe that before I finish this lengthy blog, I may get the pony I have always wanted.
BJ of course got right on a meal train and she said she had an overwhelming response – millions of eager church family coming to our aid. WOW ! Tears. We ARE NOT going to starve after all. 🙂
I am an eternal optimist and am successfully convincing Al that I will be so good and I believe my knee will have a miraculous recovery within a week.
So my greatest need is prayer. And I KNOW how powerful our church family prayer warriors ARE.
PRAY !!!! Speedy recovery and that I don’t abuse my time of waiting patiently with this stupid walker and this stupid immobilizer.
And of course part of my optimism is in a belief that God’s timing is aways priority. He maybe protecting us from a bigger issue than my silly knee stuff.
NOT unpacking. Still hoping for a much needed departure.
I need a sturdy left leg to hold my 725 pound bike up.
The white container is my special hot chocolate mix for the colder riding days.
Theses are called dry bags – rain proof riding. No umbrellas for the riders.
happytrails2U 