Adventure Location: Martin Creek Lake SP
Adventure Date: 1-23-2023
The OFM rolled out of bed clumsily due to major pain in his left hip and knee. This has been happening now and then for a few years and Ibuprofen took care of it before. Today the Ibuprofen was definitely helping.
The OFM put his mind to finding out WHAT IS CAUSING THIS SEVERE PAIN? After about an hour of thinking back the OFM finally noticed a pattern that we hope will stop this bad pain.
The steps to the Castle were damaged many years ago and are a pain to get from stored to usable and back to stored.
The OFM got used to getting up into the Castle at convenient times during travels by leaving the steps in the stored position. Then opening the door. Next put his left foot up on the entry plate and grabbing the sides of the door opening and pulling with both arms and lifting with his left foot to get into the Castle during short stops. Then more or less do that backwards to get back out. All this was to save wrestling with the steps to deploy them. The steps have been slightly damaged by bumps while navigating close quarters locations. That “step” is 26” high when the steps are stored.
This morning is the first time in the many years of occasional hip and knee pain trouble that finally we finally connected the leg/hip pains with the no steps entry and exit move.
We played with the steps some this morning and think that this occasional maneuver is the cause of our severe pain that awakens the OFM on occasions. So now we will NOT be doing in/out maneuvers without bringing the steps in/out to ease the load on the ancient bone joints of the OFM. We will let you know the results of the effort when we figure it out for sure.
We will be moving on down the road in the morning to Lexington Tx and Sonnys Campground for a night. One thing for certain having this rest day for the first trip in seven months has been the right thing for the OFM teams to do. We looked up Sonnys on the internet and found that they have gone up $5 to $30 for an overnight stay after several years at the old price. It is a very nice stopping spot and the gas station across the highway is extremely easy to get a rig in and out of for refueling.
This evening we meandered around the boat launch and island part of the park looking for pictures. We decided on this two pictures to attempt to show how nice the park is.
This first picture is from the right boat ramp dock looking across to the left boat dock. The boats launch into a finger of the lake that stays fairly calm even in strong winds. We feel it is a very nice scene to start your boat travels.
About 200 feet away is an island that has camping on it for the rugged tent campers and sleep under the stars tough folks. This next picture is looking toward the island where a nice cove ducks into the shoreline of the island. It also made a nice picture we think.
It proved to be a wonderful day of healing and just enjoying being alive in a nice location. A gentle but very nice day of trying to have tooooo much fun.
Nice pictures! The aches & pains could be from the driving too, I notice it after 3 hrs. Using the steps could be a good move, a drop of oil on the stairs moving parts won't hurt either.
ReplyDeleteThere is something to be said for staying two nights when you stop, use the day to relax or see if any photos are hiding out where you have the extra day. Just saying..
Thanks for the input. The driving pains are a totally different set of pains. I get those all the time also. Being ancient has its drawbacks.
ReplyDeleteAs you know I have had many mid-size SUV, called crossovers. In every one of them after an hour on the road my right hip would almost cramp up to where I had to try to stand in my seat while driving to stretch it out. That is the side the hip was replaced. I can see how stepping up or stepping down 26" could cause some wear and tear on older knees and hips. Try not to take an over dose of Ibuprofen. You probably already know that 800mg per day will destroy kidney's. I don't live on Ibuprofen but when I do take it, it's like a magic pill. Beautiful lake photos. Glad to hear your trip is going well and as planned.
ReplyDeleteThank you Steve for your input. Yes I am aware of the continuous use of ibuprofen limitations. Thanl you for the reminder .
DeleteHa. Been reading the comments. At this age, it's hard to know what's causing what! Glad you've located one source of misery, and hope revising your routine helps. Then maybe you can get someone to fix those steps! Of course, they all may be difficult to use. Well, you've certainly found a lovely spot. Best thing is, the lake doesn't seem to be lower than usual. The trees are lovely and your photos make me want to go there.
ReplyDeleteThis park is a rather nice one for gentle (old folks) fun. Several nice walking trails as well as the roads. The lake is actually a little over two feet low at the moment. They do rent paddle craft of some type in warmer weather. I have enjoyed stopping here twice each year for 12 years now.
DeleteBarney, could you not carry one of those plastic fold-up steps? Looks like you have room. Ours traveled flat and we used it for high shelves in the RV. Of course you'd have to be careful that it wouldn't slip. It would make the distance up and down more manageable.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the suggestion. I will give it consideration.
DeleteBarney I hope the change to the step eliminates your hip pain. Hubby used to get bad hip & leg pain when he carried his wallet in his back pocket and then sat on it for those long drives, back in the day. So nice you made it back on the road.
ReplyDeleteMy wallet left my back pocket many many years ago to prevent that nerve pinch trouble. Thank you for trying to help. I appreciate it.
ReplyDelete