So there was a family vacation
My dad turned 70 this year, and decided he was taking us all somewhere to have a family vacation. We ended up renting a place through VRBO.com in the Adirondacks, not too far from Old Forge. There were a few wrinkles (the ad specifically promised internet access, and that proved to be a lie.... "Oh, we never said *that*!"), but it was mostly very nice. My dad, his girlfriend M, my sister and her husband and her 1-year-old and us. It was a nice mix of lazing about, playing on boats and in the water, reading, hiking, etc. Some highlights included getting everyone - even my dad who Does Not Play Games - totally hooked on Blokus. (We played a bit of Quirkle too, but Blokus was clearly the heavy favorite.) My favorite statement/moment of the trip came on the first day, when my dad said, speaking of his childhood, "I was a nerd before the word for nerd existed!" And then he looked at me, and I looked at him, and we both said, "Oh, well, erm, do you suppose, um, maybe?" So of course, we had to look up the etymology and origin of the word, only proving the point (about both of us).
And then the last 24 hours kind of sucked. On Friday afternoon, my dad was on a long hike with galagan and E, and he slipped and fell in some mud and blew out his knee. I was on a short hike nearby, and we saw a ranger who was out searching for an injured hiker - and then we realized that his injured hiker was up the trail they had taken, and he told us "It's a gentleman in his 70s" - and we said "That's our dad." (How many 70-year-olds could there be up there? Ours were the only cars at the trailhead.) Long story short - they had a cell phone, and excellent cell service up on the ridge, so they were in regular contact with dispatch and us. Search and Rescue got up there, and after a while they sent galagan and E back down. Eventually a total of 8 guys were up there with my dad, and they lowered him off the side of the mountain on ropes - they got all the way down about 6 1/2 hours after it happened, just as full dark had fallen. We were waiting up the bottom with the ambulance guys (who were actually hilarious and really interesting to talk to), so we got to see him briefly before they took him off. M rode with him in the ambulance to Utica. This morning we all got up early, packed up all our stuff and cleaned the cabin and drove to Utica to see him - he had been discharged at 1 a.m. and was at a hotel. It's not actually his kneecap, but he ruptured the tendon that holds the kneecap in place. He is in no pain, he just can't walk on it. We put him and M in my car and drove him off to Albany and put him on a plane for home - tomorrow he will call some doctors there and see when he can schedule surgery. He's all right (except for his hiking and travel plans for the whole summer....), and everyone's all right, but the whole thing sucked. And now we're home, which is SUCH a relief. :)
And then the last 24 hours kind of sucked. On Friday afternoon, my dad was on a long hike with galagan and E, and he slipped and fell in some mud and blew out his knee. I was on a short hike nearby, and we saw a ranger who was out searching for an injured hiker - and then we realized that his injured hiker was up the trail they had taken, and he told us "It's a gentleman in his 70s" - and we said "That's our dad." (How many 70-year-olds could there be up there? Ours were the only cars at the trailhead.) Long story short - they had a cell phone, and excellent cell service up on the ridge, so they were in regular contact with dispatch and us. Search and Rescue got up there, and after a while they sent galagan and E back down. Eventually a total of 8 guys were up there with my dad, and they lowered him off the side of the mountain on ropes - they got all the way down about 6 1/2 hours after it happened, just as full dark had fallen. We were waiting up the bottom with the ambulance guys (who were actually hilarious and really interesting to talk to), so we got to see him briefly before they took him off. M rode with him in the ambulance to Utica. This morning we all got up early, packed up all our stuff and cleaned the cabin and drove to Utica to see him - he had been discharged at 1 a.m. and was at a hotel. It's not actually his kneecap, but he ruptured the tendon that holds the kneecap in place. He is in no pain, he just can't walk on it. We put him and M in my car and drove him off to Albany and put him on a plane for home - tomorrow he will call some doctors there and see when he can schedule surgery. He's all right (except for his hiking and travel plans for the whole summer....), and everyone's all right, but the whole thing sucked. And now we're home, which is SUCH a relief. :)