Saturday was a day packed with activity. We started the morning at a local bakery, then ate our donuts etc at a coffee shop across the street. On to the farmers market, then to Best Buy, Target, Cost Plus and our neighbor's church. All before noon! In the afternoon we went to Pet Smart and Fred Meyer.
There was quite an array of accessibility options during the morning. Obviously the bakery, coffee shop nor farmers market had any facility for mobility. Best Buy had a wheelchair which my kids enjoyed pushing for the first few seconds then I took over because of the extreme danger to me and others around me while my kids were in control. The foot plate on the left side was loose, so my cast kept slipping to the floor.
Target had a motorized cart. I picked up the only available one but there were at least 3 others that I encountered in the store (it is funny how you are more prone to notice these things when you are faced with the prospect of using them yourself). This experience was somewhat better than my first except that the route we took around the store ended in going through the clothes section which was too tight a space for the cart and I pulled to the ground an entire line of clothes.
Interestingly Cost Plus had nothing. No motorized carts, no wheelchairs... I hobbled around the store successfully but had I not had someone with me, I would not have been able to carry any merchandise!
I stayed in the car for the Pet Smart trip so I'm not sure how I would fared there. Fred Meyer wins today with about 8 motorized carts at the entrance (one of 3) in through which I went. The cart was a little jumpy (it started and stopped abruptly) but it was fine.
My new cast is tighter than the old one. Not tight enough to cut off circulation or anything, but tight enough that my foot and lower leg have no wiggle room at all. This makes it more comfortable during the day but more difficult to find a comfortable position at night.
Sunday we decided at the last minute to have breakfast at a favorite restaurant before church. After church we came home, but later we went back to Best Buy and then on to our local mall. I was impressed with the mall facilities for the disabled. I crutched in the main entrance and a security guard came over (on a Segway) and asked me if I would like her to have a wheelchair brought from the guest services (in the middle of the mall). I agreed and within a few minutes, they had the wheelchair for me. It pulled to the left (so my left arm was sore by the time I was done) but they looked after my crutches while I had the wheelchair and returned them to me when I was done with the wheelchair.
Praying for a good night sleep as this coming week is busy at work and Dear Wife is back to work until Thursday but we are thankful for the wonderful friends and family that we have surrounding us who have rallied around us with offers of meals (we accepted two meals this coming week) and dear friends who are willing to look after the kids during the few hours each of the 4 days while DW is at work.
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