Sep 9, 2019 – Breaking from Normal

After months on the road, the next phase of our travels began with great anticipation for one thing, to fulfill Vivian’s dream of fly fishing on the White River in Arkansas. But that ended just as quickly as it began. Vivian would not be fishing, not for a while.

When not fishing, Vivian’s is learning how to lure various fish species she might encounter on our travels. For that, she has taken up the art of tying flies. In addition to watching an inordinate number of YouTube videos narrated by slow talking fishermen hailing from ‘the mecca’ of fly fishing and who are willing to share every detail of their fly-tying skills, Vivian collects animal parts and with the assistance of a magnifying glass, ties them together to make them look like tiny insects. She has an entire drawerful to prove it. In short, she is obsessed.

So, it is no surprise that the White River, famous for its trout fishing, became a premier destination for us. And with a ridiculous stroke of luck, we secured a one-week reservation for a coveted campsite on the White River at Bull Shoals State Park. It doesn’t get any better than that if you desire to put on waders and stand for hours in the water while attempting to fool a fish into thinking your fly is food.

Upon our arrival, we saw that the fast moving river was extremely high – no fishermen were wading these waters. With sheer resolve in her heart, Vivian would keep the waders in storage and cast her line from the shoreline. This could have been a disappointment of mega proportion, except we had three more fishing locations after this one, giving Vivian plenty of opportunity to test her fly fishing skills. Both of us had much to look forward to during the next few weeks in Arkansas.

The next morning, Vivian went off fishing along the river while I hiked a rocky trail that followed a steep forested ledge. I don’t fish so this is not unusual for me to wander off alone to hike or photograph. Like other RV travelers, Vivian and I have considered worst case scenarios, such as a hiking injury and how we would manage them on the road. I tend to be more care-free about these things than Vivian, and mostly I don’t give it much thought when I am wandering. But today for some reason, I took extra precautions and periodically checked my phone for a signal.

My phone rang – strangely, it was Vivian. I couldn’t think of any good reason for her to call me since she was out fishing. I answered and immediately heard, “I need you to come help me, I can’t walk”. As quickly as I could, I got back to the campsite and grabbed the truck keys.

Vivian is probably the most careful person I know when it comes to physical activity, so I could not imagine what had happened. After all, she was walking on grass, not hiking a rocky ledge. I didn’t have to drive far before I spotted her sitting on the steep steps that led down to the watery banks of the river. Yes, she had been walking slowly, but there were holes in those grasses and one of them caused her to fall.

Immediately, I noticed a swollen left ankle and a broken fishing rod. I thought, “Must be a sprain, broken bones don’t cause that much swelling, do they?”. My attempt at rationalizing that it was not as bad as it looks was not helping matters as I was faced with the task of getting her up the stairs and into the large truck.

Luck is a mysterious thing. The accident happened about 7:30 am. With the help from strangers, I got Vivian in the truck and we arrived at the Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home by 8:30 am. Visions of small town health care inadequacies and insurance denials were dancing through my head as the attendant placed Vivian in a wheelchair.

Relieved to learn that our insurance covered the facility, we entered the examining room by 8:45 am. By 9:00 am, Vivian was wheeled to X-ray and by 10 am, the report from the on-call physician came in. Expecting to hear the word “sprain”, we were harshly jolted by the reality that Vivian had not one, but two breaks in her left ankle.

Without skipping a beat, the doctor told us she would need surgery. “Oh, this just keeps getting better!” While people were rushing around tending to Vivian, my mind was racing in attempts to identify and prioritize the new challenges we were faced with and to find solutions to overcome them. First and foremost, staying at the state park beyond our reservation was not an option, meaning I needed to find us a place to live nearby as follow ups with the doctor were inevitable. Second, I would be the one doing the moving.

Optimistically, we hoped surgery would be scheduled before the end of the week. Instead, the doctor gave us a sincere apology and told Vivian, “We can’t schedule your surgery until 1 pm today because you ate breakfast.” Bemused and relieved, Vivian was whisked away for surgery preparation. We also learned that the surgeon is one of the best in Arkansas. The surgery went well – plates and screws inserted with no problem. Vivian came out of recovery, was given a crash course on crutch walking and sent home by 4:00 pm.

Left to our own devices, we had the spectacular task of getting out of the truck and to the RV door, up the RV steps and up the steps to the bedroom. Not sure how, but we did it. The first thing I needed to do was to make Vivian comfortable and immobile for the next couple days while I figured out what needed to be done and where to go next, cancel upcoming reservations and make new ones, acquire necessary medical equipment, etc.

Fortunately, Vivian was not in pain – but she was incapacitated. As she lay in bed after meeting the challenges of using the tiny bathroom, it finally hit us how dramatically our RV travel lifestyle had changed in one day.

RV Tips and Issues

The obvious tip here is be prepared for anything, especially if you are full time living in an RV. As you prepare for travel, begin many sentences with “What if…?”, and then think through how you would deal with it. This may require putting certain things in place ahead of time, like purchasing insurance that will cover you if you need to have the RV transported back home. Of course, health insurance is a big deal and not having consistent coverage state to state can be a huge problem. In short get your belongings, finances, insurance, family members, etc on board to help anticipate and minimize the fall out from any event that might happen.