Futurebirds - My Broken Arm

If you are friends with Charlotte on Facebook, you should know based on the title of the post and song exactly what this blog is going to be about. If not, keep reading to find out, but I will tell you it is not focused on Miller Lite, despite the imagery in the video.

We start this story by leaving the Terra Ceia RV Resort and heading north toward Destin and Topsail Hill Preserve State Park.

This was a long enough drive that we decided to split it up over two days, so we stopped for a single night outside of Tallahassee. Generally, we don’t like to drive more than about four hours on a travel day. This keeps us from having to rush too much in the morning, or during the drive, and gives us plenty of time to park and get setup before it gets dark. It also means that we don’t have to stop and fuel up along the way, which can be a pain while towing the rig. With our 48-gallon fuel tank and getting somewhere around 10 miles per gallon of diesel, we can easily go at least 400 miles between fuel stops.

The first day’s drive to our overnight stop was uneventful. We kept the RV hitched up and were able to navigate a nearby truck stop in the morning to fill up on expensive diesel, mediocre coffee, and bad pastries. During the second day’s drive a closed bridge on the way to Destin sent us on a detour which delayed us by an hour or so. We usually have Google Maps open for navigating, but we don’t always trust the routes it gives us, especially when we get rerouted. Routes that are fine for cars can be questionable for 50+ feet of truck and trailer. So we stuck to the larger highways and made it eventually.

Topsail is a Florida state park that was once a private RV resort. As a result, it is much nicer and more geared towards RVs than any other state park we’ve stayed at. Sites are very nicely setup, with concrete parking pads and patios, but with plenty of greenery in between to provide some privacy. The whole park is right on the Gulf of Mexico, with a gorgeous white sand beach you can reach by a long walk, short bike ride, or a free tram ride. Only state park visitors have access so it doesn’t get too crowded.

We got parked, got setup, and then packed up to head to the beach. We were feeling good, so we weren’t even going to wait for the tram; Charlotte and I were going to walk while Izzy rode her bike. That’s when it happened. I was helping Izzy get her bike helmet on and she accidentally got pinched on the neck by the latch. She gave a loud cry, which got Charlotte’s attention. She was at the top of the stairs, headed into the RV to grab something, but then spun around to see what was going on. As she attempted to walk down the stairs, her foot caught and she fell down the four steps onto the concrete patio.

She knew right away it was pretty bad. We cancelled the trip to the beach and started looking up urgent care facilities so Charlotte could get an x-ray. We got pretty lucky that it was Saturday and not too late in the afternoon so there were a couple of places still open. We ended up at Emerald Coast Urgent Care, which was thankfully not busy.

They took Charlotte back for a consult and x-rays. At some point, they brought Izzy back there to show her what was going on. This was good because Izzy was being a bit of a pain. I think she was jealous of all the attention Charlotte was getting.

Unfortunately, the x-rays confirmed Charlotte’s fears. Her elbow was broken.

Since the break was basically in her elbow, the urgent care clinic wasn’t equipped to set it or cast it. They gave Charlotte a splint, a sling, a prescription for some pain medication, and a referral to an orthopedist. We picked up her meds, grabbed some Chick-fil-A for dinner, and headed back to the RV.

Luckily we were in an area with several orthopedists to choose from, but the next day was Sunday so they were all closed. We spent the morning unsuccessfully trying to catch the lizard that had made its way into our RV.

We decided that even with Charlotte’s bad arm, we might as well check out the beach. So we walked over and caught a ride on the tram.

On the way back, the tram pulled over so we could see some wildlife.

The next day, it was back to business. Charlotte logged into work and tried typing with one hand while I called around looking for an orthopedist with availability and reasonable fees. Somehow, we were able to get in that afternoon. Charlotte was able to see a physician’s assistant who was on the fence about whether or not surgery would be needed. Rather than making us come back to see someone else, he was able to text her x-ray over to the surgeon who recommended surgery in order to preserve range of motion. They had a spot available the next day, but we weren’t ready to move that fast.

We stopped by a local diner for an early dinner and to weigh our options. In the end, we decided to have the surgery done in Destin, but that we would need some help. We booked the surgery for Friday. Conveniently, Charlotte’s mom Linda is a semi-retired perioperative nurse and had volunteered to come down to help us out if we needed it, so we took her up on her offer. I spent the evening trying to figure out how to get her to Florida. Our stash of airline miles and hotel points came in handy and I was able to get flights, a hotel, and a rental car booked for minimal out of pocket costs.

Tuesday and Wednesday we tried to go back to normal. Charlotte put in hours at work, and Izzy and I went to the beach.

In the evening, we explored the park and ate some ice cream while we spotted turtles in the pond.

We also made a trip to Walmart to pick up more medical supplies and some items for hosting an overnight guest.

On Thursday, we drove about an hour east from Topsail and picked up Linda at the Panama City airport. We got lunch right off the beach in Destin, and had to check out the sand after we finished eating.

After that we picked up the rental car (which turned out to be a truck) and checked into the hotel. Izzy was very excited to have her MorMor around and she also loves hotels, so she insisted on spending the night with Linda and Charlotte in Destin, while I headed back out of town to the RV.

The next morning I drove back to the hotel to pick up Izzy, so Linda could drive Charlotte to the surgical center.

The surgery went well and Charlotte got a fresh pair of screws expertly placed in her arm. I spoke with the surgeon and after he told me there were no problems, he humored my curiosity about the hardware he used. I learned that he pre-drilled a hole for the screws, which were Torx drive, and hand torqued them down. Charlotte then got to recover back at the hotel with Linda’s professional help, and without a kiddo demanding attention.

The next morning, I drove back into town to drop Izzy off at the hotel again. She, Charlotte, and Linda would spend one more night there to give Charlotte more time to recover.

I then had work to do as our reservation at the park was up and could not be extended. I got to do my usual tasks of emptying tanks, cleaning the slides, unhooking all the hoses, and prepping the truck, plus all of the things Charlotte normally takes care of inside the RV. Washing, drying, and securing any dishes, storing anything normally hung on the wall, and so many other little things.

Then I got to hitch up all by myself. We have an Andersen Ultimate hitch, which is a tow ball raised up in the bed of the truck that goes into a socket bolted to the kingpin of the trailer. This setup means you need to carefully back up the truck to place the ball directly under the socket and then lower the RV onto it. Usually, Charlotte will back up the truck while I provide directions over our two-way radios and raise/lower the RV as needed. Being by myself I had to maneuver the truck until I thought I was close and then get out and look. It took a while, and a lot of getting in and out of the truck, but I got it done.

Then, it was time to hit the road on my first solo tow. Luckily, I had a fairly short drive, and for the first time in four months, I left the state of Florida.

Unfortunately, I had to stop twice during the drive to attend to a storage door on the RV popping open. One of the doors for our propane tanks decided it didn’t like staying shut and wanted to experience freedom of flapping in the 65 mph wind. With no exits around I pulled over onto the shoulder on a straightaway to close it. Of course, it just popped itself back open not too much further down the road. This time I wasn’t too far from a rest area where I was able to pull in and try to figure out what was wrong. It turns out the latch was just loose and I was able to snug things up with a screwdriver. Then I hit the road again, making it to the RV park without further incident.

I got checked in and was very thankful to be assigned to a pull-thru site, rather than a back in since Charlotte wasn’t there to guide me. I managed to get parked and setup without trouble.

The next day, I got up early and made the nearly two-hour drive back to Destin where I helped Charlotte, Izzy, and Linda check out of the hotel. After that, we walked over to a restaurant near the beach to visit some previously unmet relatives on Linda’s side of the family.

The little family reunion went so well over lunch, we continued at a local park that was on the way for all of us. Izzy got to play on a playground, Charlotte got a bit of rest in the truck, and everyone else continued catching up. But before too long, we had to get going as we still had to drive to Alabama.

Then we drove to the RV park in Alabama, where Linda got to be our first overnight guest. We turned our dinette into a bed for her, which seemed to work well enough.

The next day it was time to bring Linda to the airport so she could get home. Instead of going all the way back to Panama City, I had found her a flight out of Pensacola which was only about 45 minutes away. We said our goodbyes, did some grocery shopping, then headed back to the RV park.

With Charlotte recovering and in pain, and not much to do in the area, the rest of the week was pretty quiet. Izzy and I tried some fishing at the park, but struck out.

We did have some excitement one evening as severe thunderstorms rolled through the area with the potential for tornadoes. Of course, this isn’t great when you are living in a 12,000lb trailer. We decided to prepare as best we could by bringing in the slides and putting some water in our storage tank to weigh things down a bit more. We got plenty of rain, but luckily things didn’t get worse.

Our only trip outside of the RV park was to a newly opened location of our favorite beaver-themed, giant convenience store.

Buc-ee’s is expanding outside of Texas. They sell fuel of course, but also a ton of delicious food and snacks. We loaded up.

And that’s about it. Overall, not a very fun visit to a fantastic park, especially for Charlotte. But we got through it and managed to stick to our schedule. Plus, Linda got to come down and visit and we met some new relatives, so things certainly could have been worse. It doesn’t hurt to count your blessings even if things aren’t going your way.

Next time, we’ll continue our journey across the Gulf. See you down the road!