Zero Day
Well last night was a blast. A cow wandered into the area where I was camped. It continued mooing all night long. Just peachy.
I got up late thanks to the cow. The plan was to hitchhike into Payson. I first called the VA hospital in St. Petersburg to get authorization for urgent care and an x-ray of my leg. Then I broke camp and headed for the highway to hitchhike into town.
It’s never taken me more than an hour to catch a ride, but this time it took two and a half hours. I finally was picked up by a trail angel dropping off another hiker. He took me directly to Banner Urgent Care.
I checked in and a doctor saw me immediately. He looked at the leg and said I need an x-ray. Unfortunately, their technician was out, so they sent me to their imaging department a mile away. While the urgent care facility was authorized to do the x-ray, the imaging facility was not. The VA in Florida was closed by then, so I couldn’t get another authorization. I would have to wait until tomorrow. That presents a problem. The trail angel who drove me into Payson was going to Phoenix in the morning. He could drop me off at the trail or the Phoenix Airport if I had to get off the trail.
There was nothing to do but wait until the next day. I got a hotel room and settled down to see what would happen in the morning.
