I never, in my 60 years, have been in any accident where injury is involved. Twice I have been rear-ended while waiting at a stop light but both were mild, didn't even made a scratch on my vehicle. Once on our way home from a debate tournament, a deer jumped in front of our van but we were all safe, although the van was totaled.
Then last Saturday, June 6, that changed. While camping at Wilson Lake, we found some biking/hiking trails for all levels. There was a children's trail and also for both the novice and advanced. The trails for the advanced/pro take you to some craggy mountain trails but you will be rewarded with the breathtaking view of the lake and surrounding landscape of limestone and rock formations.
The Friday of our camp-out we meandered through a pretty wooded trail called "Birdy Loop Trail." We saw some wildlife and plenty of birds. While taking a break along the trail, a cottontail bunny hopped along the path where we were. We didn't move a muscle and just watched him. Bunnies here must be used to people already because he was bold enough to go past Michael and inched closer to JJ and when he looked at me I greeted him with a "good afternoon, Mr. Bunny' and he scampered away. We had a hoot from that encounter. I wished I had my GoPro with me, it would have been very cool recording that scene. I love that trail so I asked Michael if we can come back again in the morning, which we did.
After breakfast we headed for the trail with the GoPro. I wanted to share it with you all, how the loop twists through a clearing and then the trail takes you in to a wooded area where we saw the bunny the afternoon before. Along the wooded trail we saw a handful of big trees felled by beavers. I'm amazed at how precisely the beavers made uniform cuts around the trunks of the felled trees. I know they could do that, but big trunks?? no way! I was impressed, and images of Mr. and Mrs. Beaver from "The Book of Narnia" series came to mind :) I guess they can fell huge trees down with their teeth, but I digress.
Now where was I? Oh yeah and then, too, there is this mysterious feeling when you are biking in a wooded trail where the towering trees create dappled lights all around you. You can pretend you are part of a movie like "Jurassic Park" where a meat eater is stalking you and you have to pedal really fast or else....ok I'm getting off topic again. Anyway, Mike and JJ were already ahead of me by 10 minutes. I stopped at the entrance of the loop to record the intro for my intended video before proceeding.
As I approached the wooded part of the trail, I rounded a U turn. The next turn after that was a sharp turn and by the time I realized it was a sharp turn, it was too late to hit the brake, my bike slid sideways and BAM! The next thing I know I was on the ground. I didn't move for I don't know how long - I was assessing my situation. My right thumb started to swell right away and when I slowly lifted the bike off my left leg, I was able to slowly stand up. Good, right? When I took a step I realized I could not move my left foot so I dragged myself and the bike to the side of the trail. Good thing it was a little early so nobody was out biking yet except us. And then as I was standing on the side of the trail, I realized my ankle started swelling. I let the bike fall in the bushes and I slowly lowered myself down to the ground and waited for Mike and JJ to come back for me.
Michael went back to camp to get some ice for my foot. Then I straddled on JJ's bike, the height was just right for me to sit and "ride" it back to camp. We stopped a lot to apply ice on my foot. It was a long, hot, painful walk/ride getting back to the campsite with the 11 o'clock sun beating down on us. When we made it back, I laid down and applied more ice to the injured foot while Michael and JJ broke down camp. While I was fussing about getting comfortable in my mat inside the tent, I noticed a bump on the ground next to my mat. That's strange I thought, why is there a rock all of a sudden in the middle of the tent floor. Anyway, when they were ready take the tent down Mike moved me to the back seat of the Subaru where he made a comfortable spot for me. After the tent was folded they found a turtle under it, no wonder there was a bump in the middle of our tent floor. It must have decided to hide under the tent.
The silly, pretty turtle -- probably wondering where he was...........
...he looked so lost.
Stopping once for gas and pizza for lunch around 2, we made it back home around 4 o'clock. It had been a very long month of June and probably July....we'll see.
Thank you all for following. Have a great summer. Spend as much time as you can with your family specially the little ones for, my goodness, they grow up so fast. Love you all...Shalom!
