California RV trip, day 13

Ship’s log, day 13, May 20, 2011

Bob here.  I was going to type up the ship’s log entry for today.  But I’m in way too much pain here.  I’m practically dying here.  Ooooohhhhh, the agony of it all.  Handing the ship’s log portable entry device over to Paula now.

Well today’s weather was magnificent!  We woke to a slight fog.  But that was at 7:00 so by the time we got the waffles made and the days agenda planned it was 10:30, sunny and 70.  Shorts and running tops, I was hoping for some sun on this pale MN skin.  Bob wore his five-fingers as usual and I had my running shoes on.  The plan was to run the 3 miles to the town of Solvang, where the race, the time trial, started and finished, run back and then jump on our bikes to go watch.  We figured Buck would like a run and it would be fun to see all the bike racers and vehicles heading up early.  We had a nice easy pace going so I could sight see the wineries and horse ranches.  Even saw a farm raising Ostriches and Emu.  There were a lot of them!  The last ½ mile was up hill into the town and the road was now getting packed with cars and the sidewalk full of people.  As we approached a busy intersection that was closed off and police were re-directing cars, we needed to decide: sidewalk with the people or the street, around a temporary road sign that was made of wooden 2x4s and held in place with sand bags.  I took the sidewalk, Bob took the street, went airborne, then rolling and to splat stop.  I am not kidding!  I watched him first jam his foot into the base of the sign, pretty much scream ough many times as he was doing a shoulder roll, grabbing his foot and then just momentarily laying there saying “I’m ok” as these women passing by on the sidewalk asked if he was ok.  (In my mind I’m saying to my self – geez do you have to be so dramatic – and then oh no – he better be ok to drive the RV). I know, not very compassionate of me but, I saw the sign and thought, he really just didn’t smash his toe into it, did he?

When he got up he hobbled over to some grass saying he needed shade and then said ok, now we have to walk back.  I think he was in pain, “shock” he says.  He insisted on taking off his 5-fingers to check for blood.  I’m thinking he’s going to konk-out if he sees blood and then what? When we saw his pinky toe splayed out to the side we knew it was broken.  I saw the purple color and said “get the shoe back on right now or it won’t be going on again anytime soon.  I knew from experience the swelling wasn’t looking good!  Gosh if only Anne D. was here, she probably would have called 911 for us!  I said we’re not walking back, and said I would check on the shuttle service we had heard about.  I took about 20 minutes of asking corner marshalls and finally a corner marshall asking a state trooper, who then phoned someone who would check and call her back to find out the shuttle left from the school.  So I jogged back to Bob and Buck who were in the same spot I had left them, Bob lying on his back with his foot up in the air against a tree.  We made our way over to the school area to wait for the shuttle.  I decided when he met a few people also waiting for the shuttle, he would be ok to take it back down into town with Buck and I would run back down like we had originally planned.  Buck could probably have come with me but since we hadn’t found water for him I decided he would be good company for Bob.  Turns out where they got left off from the shuttle it was a few blocks to hobble to the camp grounds.  Oh well.

So – we bought ice and Bob lounged in his recliner chair as he iced and Bucky chased the ice cubes I gave him.  I put my foot in an ice bath just so Bob knew I felt his pain!

Bob decided he would tape his pinky toe to his 4^th toe with electrical tape seeing that we left all the athletic tape at home, and he though duct tape would be too thick.  He put on his running shoes and said we could bike to the shuttle pick-up area.  After we waited over an hour with a group of people, Bob said he was ok to bike the 3 miles up to the race.  So off we went. The road by this time wasn’t so crowded since the race was well under way.  We were hungry and Bob couldn’t do too much walking around so we found a cute restaurant with outdoor seating and it was right next to the race course final turn with 200 meters to the finish.  There was even the big screen TV right there so if we caught the number we could check the name from our list.  With the large crowds of people ,it didn’t allow us to see the riders as they finished.  We invited two guys, Alfred and Chipper, to join us since they were looking for a table and we had room.  It was fun talking to them as we ate and watched the screen amongst the screaming, cowbell ringing crowd.  

Following the race we went to “The Loft” bookstore to say hello and goodbye of Davis Phinney and Connie.

Davis was signing his book, “The Happiness of Pursuit   A Father’s Courage, a Son’s Love, and Life’s Steepest Climb” 

We walked back to our bikes to ride back down the hill to our camping grounds.  The cars were in a bit of a traffic jam so we sailed right by!  Back at our RV we got the bikes put on the rack and locked up.  While we were taking care of the bikes, our neighbors across the road came and introduced themselves, Eric and Kelly.  They were celebrating their 21^st wedding anniversary and were here to watch the race also.  The camping area is filled with bike fans.  In fact the HDT team bus pulled in for the night while we were chatting.  Bob said his foot was throbbing so could we bring our chairs and his ice bag over to their camp site to continue chatting.  So we grabbed the computer, ice, my beer and went to have happy hour at their site.  Eric is a dentist who likes to bike and his wife Kelly said they have been to this town many times for winery tours, so when Eric suggested celebrating here and they couldn’t get a hotel room when they checked months ago because of the race, they decided to bring their camper.  They were going out for a fancy dinner tonight but we sat and talked for awhile before they had to leave. 

We went back to our RV to make dinner and get Bob’s foot up.  I tried my hand at getting the new oven lit and had to ask Bob to show me once more.  We were having the Artichoke, spinach little pastry shells like we had last night, and Lobster Rangoon with fruit smoothies.  (Bob went shopping before we left home and he purchased both of the appetizers – I couldn’t believe it)! 

Well, we now know the smoke detectors in the bedroom and family room both work!  We had dinner as I typed this, watched the end of the hockey game and then today’s tour coverage.  It’s off to bed and maybe if Bob feels ok in the morning we might head out for a bike ride with Eric to ride the race course from today.  The time trial was only a 15 mile course so the ride would only be around 21 miles.  We’ll see how Bob feels in the morning.