A Strong American Woman

You have heard of people who are weekend warriors, working out and doing extreme sports only on the weekends, then there is me, vacation warrior. I try more difficult and age defying things only on vacation. This almost always proves to be a bad idea, yet I still don’t learn.

Back in 1988 I went to Greece with my friend David. While we were on the Island of Mykonos we decided that we needed mopeds to get around the island, especially since we were staying on the far side from all the action. One night after dinner in the dusk of the late summer sun we headed back across the island. David being a far superior driver led the way with me not far behind. The road was mostly desolate but as we came around a curve we saw a crowded taverna on the mountain side of the road with a steep cliff across the way.

The taverna was busy and as David passed a small truck that was parked in front did a u-turn not noticing me coming right up behind David. Time slowed down and I can remember every millisecond of my life since I was sure it was passing before my eyes. The first thing I thought was, I am going to die, followed quickly by do I hit the truck or veer off the cliff? Truck, cliff, truck, cliff I’ll take the truck for $1,000 Alex.

Once I knew my direction I started thinking, “how is David going to get my body home?” My parents are going to be crushed…Then I hit the truck. I flew through the air and did a full 360 degree flip and fat saved my life because I landed on my butt. As soon as it happened I thought, “I can think, I’m still alive.”. I looked down at my pants and noticed that my right hip had gotten so much larger than the left. “my God, I’ve gained a lot of weight on vacation” I thought. Then I pushed on my hip and popped it back into its socket. Apparently relocating my own hip while I was in shock was a good thing.

To make a long story short, I was whisked off to the vet slash doctor where David was told I was a strong American woman and I would live through my dislocated hip, broken arm and broken leg. Which was true. We stayed in Greece nine more days under the idea that I had to heal some where and flying with all those broken bones would just hurt more.

Since that trip to Greece I have stayed off mopeds, but I still end up getting hurt doing the safest of activities. Today Russ and I went up to the top of Deer Valley for a hike. Walking should be something I have mastered at this point in life. About 300 yards from the top of the mountain I slipped on the mud of a down hill switch back sliding into an unnatural knee bent backwards like a mountain goat position. Nothing life threatening or even in need of a doctor, but really, only 300 yards into a 2 and a half mile decent.

Good thing I am a strong American woman, lord knows what any female of another nationality might have done. I made it down the mountain and pray the limp will heal by tomorrows day out. I don’t know how much less I can do.