Our year is not off to a good start. (long)

horizon36 · January 22, 2015

I hope the rest of this year doesn’t go the same way as this month has gone. We traveled from Lake Havasu City AZ to the FMCA rally in Indio on the 6^th and during the last 10 miles caught a spray of rocks from a passing semi. Both windshields got chipped badly. We arrived at the rally site and got settled in to our vendor parking spot. Said Hi to our friends and decided to set up our booth the next day. I was putting up our backdrop banner when the step stool I was on collapsed and I went down like a sack of potatoes. My wife drove me to the hospital where they took X-rays of my leg and let me know that I broke the tibia plateau and might need knee surgery. They wanted us to wait a week and take more films and then meet with the surgeon.

So, here we are at the rally and I can’t weigh coaches and have to lay in bed with my leg elevated. My wife with the help of another vendor friend weighed some coaches on departure day, but that was only a fraction of what we usually earn at this rally. We also had a special event at another resort we had to cancel and a number of assorted people that had scheduled way in advance to use our service that also had to be cancelled. So, financially we took a big hit.

At the end of the rally another friend drove our coach to a nearby resort where we had only planned to stay for a few days and now needed to stay a month or more. We generally don’t stay at resorts and pay $1,000/month so we took another hit by staying here. After a week of lying in bed we went to see the surgeon and spent 2 hours discussing whether or not to do surgery on my knee. Final result is I chose not to do the operation. Reason is I could have issues in 6 to 18 months either way and the solution is to do a knee replacement either way. By not operating now to put a plate on the tibia I will recover in 6 weeks, and save myself one operation. I will need a knee replacement in the future, no matter what. At least I have Medicare and a good medi-gap policy.

I know that this is long, but I’m almost done. Today the glass guys came out to look at the chips and now cracks in the windshield and said it needs to be replaced. Well, the insurance will cover most of it but we still have a big deductible we have to pay. Another hit. Oh, I failed to mention that we were going to work for another vendor at the Quartzsite show and now we couldn’t. There’s another financial hit for us and a big problem for our friends to find help on short notice. We also had our coach serviced at the rally and that cost a lot to do the engine, transmission, filters, lube and generator.

We have come to the conclusion that we need to sell our business because of my knee injury and would appreciate suggestions as to where to advertise that’s it’s for sale. I would really like an Escapee to buy it so I will place an ad in the magazine. If you have some ideas for the business or want to know more please PM me as I won’t publicly post stuff about it. We also could use ideas on other business ideas that don’t require kneeling etc.

Thanks for reading and I hope your year is off to a much better start.

bigjim · January 23, 2015

Its too late to caution you about ladders but maybe it will make others pay attention. I took a tumble off mine about 2 years ago and even though I didn't actually break anything it has taken most of that time to get back to close to where I was. It will never be as good as it was. So I hope things go better and you get better. EVERYONE ELSE WATCH THOSE FALLS- never hurts to be reminded.

horizon36 · January 23, 2015

I was on a small 2 step stool and only about 18-20" off the ground. So, it doesn't take a fall from much height to do some serious damage.

bigjim · January 23, 2015

Righty O. I was on an 8' stepladder but the fall was on the second step from the ground. I think human nature makes some of us not be as careful on the low steps vs the high steps. Human nature, it'll get you all the time.

BrianT · January 23, 2015

Sorry to hear of your fall and all of the hits that seem to add insult to injury.

I broke my leg last week, too, both in the lower left leg. Surgeon got me all screwed back together but its gonna be a while till I can even walk.

Not a lot I can offer but I feel at least some of what you're going through.

Take care! Hope your healing goes better than expected!

horizon36 · January 23, 2015

Brian,

sorry to hear of your accident and I wish you a speedy recovery. My wife has been great and is doing everything around the coach including setting up our satellite dish. In order to use the water closet she got out some tools and removed the door so my leg can stick out into the hallway when I'm seated. She then went to Walmart and bought a rod and curtain to cover the doorway for some privacy.

Yesterday she dry washed part of the rig that had been sprayed with sprinklers and has done some other minor adjustments and repairs. I don't know what I would do with out her.

bigjim- Yep, it does not take much height to do some serious damage.

Clay L · January 23, 2015

Sorry about your problem. That does throw a rock in the gears for sure.

Three years ago my friend Bud was working on his solar panels and while carrying some parts up the ladder on his motor home, fell backwards off of it from near the top. He shattered both heel bones and broke both ankles. We were in Bouse AZ near Quartzsite and the nearest hospital was in Parker about 26 miles from us. The orthopedic surgeon came over from Lake Havasu twice a week but at that time only did surgery as complicated as Buds was in Lake Havasu - about 80 miles from us.

Bud couldn't walk at all before the surgery and for a couple of months after it. We borrowed a ramp from a guy with a park model that was not there that year and with help from about eight guys got it next to the motor home. Since Bud could not get into his jeep at all we rigged a 3/4" X 10"X 4' board we used to slide him from the transport wheel chair into and out of the back seat of my Honda. For about three months we took Bud and Nancy back and forth from Parker and Lake Havasu.

He fell the 2nd of Dec and it was the end of Feb before they were able to leave and head to TX for their gate guard job.

The point of all this? There is usually a way to do what needs to be done even if you full time. In some ways it was a little more difficult because he was living in the motor home but in other ways it was easier. He could crawl back and forth from his bed to the toilet and it was only a few feet.

freestoneangler · January 23, 2015

Wow, you certainly are not off to a great start... sorry to hear about your misfortunes. Your thread certainly should give us all a little pause in reflecting just how quickly things can happen and snowball. I wish you a speedy recovery and you both all the best finding a buyer for your business and replacement work. Things have a way of working out for the best in the long run. God speed.

Bill

horizon36 · January 24, 2015

Clay - what a great friend you are!! I can get around the coach OK but I'm getting tired of sitting so much.

Freestoneangler - I never realized just how fast your life can change. Thanks for the best wishes. I am talking to a couple of people that are interested in the business, so I think things will work out there. We might just volunteer more than we do now, or sell cleaning products. We are a dealer for Wade Maid RV cleaning & polishing products and might just promote that more than we do now.

Kirk W · January 24, 2015

I love to read threads of this sort because they do bring out examples of what is best of our RV community and how helpful they can be. We went though somewhat the same type of thing when Pam had ankle surgery while we were living in our motorhome and was laid up for several months. She had to sit in the door and slide inside because she could not go up stairs and crutches are a challenge in an RV as well. We have found during the hip surgery that she is presently recovering from that life with a walker is much less difficult in our new home-base than it would be in the RV, but adjustment is what RV living is all about.

I am really happy to hear that you have had some interest in the sale of your RV weighing business as it does seem like such a good match for a fulltimer who wants income while traveling. The "Smart Weigh" program of Escapees has been a great step in the right direction, but they can't begin to cover every RV that should be weighed and having more such services available is a good and needed thing.

Volunteer service as an RV traveler is one of those things that we have some knowledge of and perhaps we can spend some time discussing when we see you at Escapade in Tucson? We have done very little paid work in our years on the road but have now completed 36 tours as RV volunteers and have loved nearly all of them. Volunteer work not only can be very satisfying but it also allows you to learn new things and to have experiences that you could not have in any other way. In addition, it does lower your living expenses in that you do not pay for RV sites while doing so and when sitting in one spot there is no fuel for the RV needed. Very often we have found that other amenities come with some locations that do save money but more than that you get acquainted with local people where you stop and experience the places visited as a member of the community and not just as a tourist. We love that way of travel and still enjoy it even now that we are only on the road part-time.

We will be thinking of you both as you move ahead with your recovery and look forward to seeing you at Escapade!

missourijan · January 24, 2015

Sorry about your accident and to the others that also had one. This just reinforces the notion that BOTH partners know about the operation and driving of the rig. You never know when you need the skills to drive, dump or clean the rig. I do most of the outside cleaning, use Wash Wax All, a waterless product but I can't get on the roof (scared of heights). I can dump. I can drive when on a straight highway and easy turns, can't back it up. Need to work on that.

horizon36 · January 24, 2015

Kirk - Thanks for all your thoughts. So far our only volunteering has been as camp hosts in Yellowstone for the last four summers. We now may look for a winter gig. We have often looked to Arizona for places to volunteer in the winter, but it seems that the parks have a lot of regulars that return every year, which is just like Grant Village in Yellowstone. One set of hosts have been there for 15 years and two other sets abut 8-9 years so we are the new guys.

We are both looking forward to meeting you and Pam at the Escapees rally in Tuscon. We'll be working for our friends at their booth "An RV'ers Friend" but will have some time off so we can attend some of the seminars. This will be a change for us as I'm usually one of the seminar presenters and the rest of the time at rallies we are both out weighing RV's.

Jan - Doris has been great. She already knew how to dump the holding tanks, but not how to do the other hook ups including our filter and softening system. Now she does. She also dry washed the coach yesterday and did the Jeep as well. Since we've been here she has done a few adjustments/repairs and is quite good at figuring things out. If I can't drive in a few weeks a friend will drive the coach to the hi-way and Doris will take over from there as we head to the Escapade. BTW, she can also hook up our Jeep to the coach and have it ready to tow. Been there, done that.

Kirk W · January 25, 2015

We have spent two winters in AZ, one at Imperial NWR and the other at Boyce-Thompson Arboretum. Both were good experiences. There are several other national wildlife refuges in AZ that seek volunteers and probably have openings.