Renegades Anniversary Rally

On Oct. 7th I was to go to a meeting and leave for my next RV adventure. The day felt a little off but I threw everything in the motorhome and headed for Aransas Pass, TX. The wind was blowing and it was a long trip down. Hwy. 59 and Hwy. 77 South don't have but one rest stop that I saw. It took 5 hours of driving to get there (about half of it in the rain) and I stopped for gas at -1/2 tank before arriving. The Rally was the 30th Anniversary Rally for the South Texas Renegades FMCA chapter. It was held at Ransom Road RV Park. Even though the Office had closed an hour earlier the Manager opened up to check me in. I was presented with a Welcome bag of goodies with several very nice items including a very nice embroidered light blanket. I had a great site close to the rally room (thanks to a conversation with the Manager a few days earlier). Someone invited me to dinner in the rally room but I needed to set up first. Several people were there to help and since it had gotten dark, I appreciated the help. I took the dogs out and could tell I was really dragging so we had a short walk and I went inside to put things away and make up my bed so I could be rested for tomorrow. It took me a while to put things away and it was 10:00 when I started to make my bed. By that time I really didn't feel well and I had to lay down on the sofa to rest (with my new blanket wrapped around me). I would sleep for a couple of hours then get up and put on a sheet, then get dizzy and need to rest again. It was 5:00 AM before I finally got my bed made up and I crawled in with my clothes on because I felt so bad. The next morning I felt worse and was running a fever of 101°. The owners of the park were across from me and they were wonderful. They came over to check on me and wanted to call an ambulance. I said I would drive myself and they told me where the local clinic was located. Three phone calls back to the park later I finally found the clinic and it was closed for the Columbus Day weekend. Fortunately the North Bay Hospital was next door so I went to the Emergency Room and checked myself in (about noon). I am so glad I was in a small town - only one person ahead of me. My temperature was 102.4° by the time they checked me in. They did all kinds of tests and kept asking me about the flu (no symptoms). They started an IV and every time they left I would fall asleep. I know the did blood tests, x-rays, and made me pee in a cup. They asked lots of questions, poked and prodded some more, and disappeared to do something with my information. About 6 - 7 hours after checking in I started to shake. I asked for a blanket and after I finally got someone to bring me one a cruel nurse (not really) took it away and said my fever had gone very high and I needed to take some more Tylenol. My hands were shaking so badly that I could not get the tablets. They finally had to put them in my mouth one at a time. That was so scary!!! My body hurt from the trembling and I was still cold. The nurse did finally cover me with a sheet and after 15 minutes I stopped shaking. They told me I had a bad bladder infection and they wanted to keep me overnight. All I could think of was my poor dogs shut up inside since morning and I told them I couldn't stay. It was after 9:00 PM when I finally rolled (in a wheelchair) out of there. They didn't want me to drive home but I was by myself and who else was going to drive me? I was still very groggy and swerved all over the road trying to get back to the park. As I drove into the park I saw a familiar looking dog - Sammy. He was being walked by the owner of the park and one of the younger employees had Jaymie. They didn't know what had happened to me but the motorhome was unlocked (unusual for me but I couldn't find the keys when I left) so the got the dogs out and had walked them earlier and were walking them again before they went to bed. That was so considerate and I was so grateful!!!

The next day I made it to the local Wal-Mart thanks to my GPS. I got my prescriptions filled and bought lots of Cranberry juice. I had missed all the rally activities so I headed over to finally get my first dinner. The food was catered and it was good. The people were nice and sang karaoke and played games after dinner. I didn't feel like staying for everything and when I left it was raining. I got chilled walking to my motorhome and when I got back my temperature was over 102° again.