I would love to tell you that our second week in Bella Vista was even better than the first. I'd love to tell you that we smashed our goal to ride over 50 miles while we were here. But none of that would be true. Monday after work we got on our bikes excited to explore the area and ride some new trails. We rode right out from the campsite again. If you're interested, the Blowing Spring campground has RV sites, tent sites and a small cabin so accommodations for you no matter how you travel. We highly recommend this campground. They have laundry, a bathhouse, a natural amphitheater with picnic tables and is situated in the middle of the Back 40 and Slaughter Pen trail systems which boast more than 80 miles of trails together and you don't need a car to access either trail system from this campground!
We rode Rabbit Hole, Smugglers Run, and Flash Flood trails then headed back.
On our way back we saw the pump track at the top of the hill just before we got back to the campground. Dom decided he really wanted to try it. We watched another biker go around twice and Dom took a shot at it. He got about halfway around, through the big berm and halfway across the bridge before the bike took off like a shot, right off the bridge. He landed on his right arm avoiding impact with his head. He was shook up but able to ride home. After showers, his arm started swelling up and we headed to the ER just past the pump track, great placement! I had to stay outside due to Covid-19. They took x-rays and saw that there were no breaks or fractures. The swelling was bad so they kept him until they could get it under control and see it reduce so they could be sure that his circulation was intact. He was released with an elastic wrap bandage and prescriptions for pain and swelling. The nearest 24 hour pharmacy was 20 minutes away. We got the prescriptions and got home around 2 AM.
Luckily Tuesday was my late shift so we got to sleep in after a long night and waking up every 4 hours to get Dom pain meds. After work I grabbed us some groceries, cooked dinner, and we headed to bed for some much needed rest. Wednesday was more of the same after work, rest with ice and elevation.
Thursday morning Dom had an appointment with an orthopedic specialist. We drove to Roger, AR about 20 minutes away and he went in by himself, darn you Covid. The doctor pressed all over his arm and performed an ultrasound to see that he had sheared the fat from his muscles and that was causing all of the inflammation, bruising, and pain. He was given an elastic bandage sleeve to help control the swelling. However, the swelling was so bad and the sleeve was so tight that within an hour the pain became unbearable and we took it off and replaced it with the wrap style elastic bandage we had been using from the ER.
On Friday I packed up the campsite as much as possible and put away anything we didn't need for the morning. Dom helped wherever he was able to. We were leaving in the morning to head back to Texas for the winter and to finish tying up loose ends before truly hitting the open road.
Saturday we finished packing up the RV for travel, it only took an extra 30 minutes from our normal process of both of us doing our own parts. We piled into the car and we were off. Getting out of Arkansas went fine. We were all in good spirits and the drive went well. Once we hit Oklahoma the story changed. There was almost constant construction. The road was making the car vibrate which proved to be extremely painful for Dom's arm. He held it as tightly as he could but the vibration of the chewed up road proved to be too much. As soon as we hit the Texas border we pulled over in the parking lot of a burger place. He debating going back to the ER because of his pain level. Ultimately we tried food first. The burger, fries and shake along with a pause in moving was enough of a break and refuel to get his pain level back to being manageable. We continued our drive and arrived at our destination. Dom had to back the camper into the spot after I failed a few times to be able to line it up with the awkward corner lot. He got it right on the first try! God smiled on us and our efforts when we checked to see if we needed blocks under the tires, the site had a deep rut on the driver's side but we were perfectly level in every way. We unhitched the jeep and pulled it forward and I set up camp, Dom again helped where he was able. It was time for a movie and sleep.
Sunday we realized that we had almost no cell signal in this campground. Seeing as how we planned to stay here long term for the winter, this is a problem. We need to work and to do that we need cell service. We had heard from other full time RVer about the WeBoost cell booster and searched local stores to see if anyone had one in stock since we don't have time to wait for delivery. A store about 30 miles away had one in stock so we reserved it and I headed out. This one however was for a car and had a 12v plug. We then searched for a 12v to 110v adapter. I found one of those another 30 miles from where I picked up the cell booster. I grabbed lunch on my way back to the RV and we ate then tried a mock setup of the booster. I was able to reach the roof from the doorway to set the antenna up there and we plugged in all the wires. We didn't really see any improvement in service. We still couldn't make a phone call, texts would not go through sometimes and forget about enough service to work and maintain a stable connection. We called the campground where we stayed last time to see if they had any open sites, no dice. We are here and we need to make it work. That night Dom's pain shot up again and we went back to the ER at 9:30 PM. It seems like any NSAID pain reliever was making it worse. They performed another ultrasound to check for blood clots and found none. They were able to get his pain back under control and we went home at 1:30 AM.
It was a long week filled with ups and downs. While we found some amazing trails in Bella Vista and Bentonville with the best system for biking that we've seen so far, we also had a lot of challenges. We are hoping for a quick recovery but know that it will likely not be the case as these types of injuries take weeks to months to heal. We are back in a familiar area and have some friends nearby. We are also hoping for a light winter with not too cold temperatures as this will be our first winter in the RV and we both hate the cold. We will see you here next week to see how it all plays out.
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