Desert plague, hospital visit, black widow encounter and its only been a week! WTF!

Our campsite at Balmorhea State Park over looking the Guadalupe Mountains ( over there is Mexico!)

Holy cow what a whirlwind week we have had! So We arrive at Balmorhea State Park in western Texas March 3 and are so looking forward to hanging out in the natural spring fed pool and swim with the fishes for our 3 days there. We arrive, set up camp do a quick and cool late night dip then off to bed. Boom does Alex not contract some sort of desert plague that literally leaves him bedridden and unable to eat or move for 4 days straight!! I thought maybe his leg wound from the shin buster accident was infected, but no it seemed fine. A stomach flu? But how and where in the middle of a desert would he get that and no one else got sick sharing a 200 sqft trailer?

I got panicked by day 4, loaded up the kiddos and drove to Fort Stockton 1 hour away (doing 85mph in the truck oh ya Texas speed limits were handy here) to the nearest hospital. Well we thought OHIP was bad and I can say we waited just as long or longer for this visit :( 8 hours in ER he got the all clear with two bags of IV fluids to combat his severe dehydration (drink more water in the desert!), pain medication for the migraine he couldn't shake off (I'd rather push out another 10lb baby then suffer from a 4 day migraine) and antibiotics for an ear infection (probably from capsizing in the South Llanno River last week...see our canoe conundrum post).

While he was locked in ER and I was not allowed in with kids I took them outside to eat vending machine junk (the only food for miles) and let them run around in the hospitals 'garden'. Does Madden (of course!) not pick up a giant spider by it's long ass black legs and start poking it. A gardener in his thick Texas accent comes around to say "Hey now boy that there is a black widow! Yo don't want to mess around with her she's venomous!" OMFG! Cue me screaming and smacking that sucka outta baby's clutch!  Excitement right? geez!So happy to report after all that week long drama Alex is finally better (8/10 and 10 lbs lighter but I'll take it!!!!)

​It is hard seeing  a loved one sick and to single parent it in the middle of a desert with no support, stores, people or wifi was a bit of a challenge and took its' toll on me (was not the happiest mama for a few days), but I am just so damn happy Alex is finally up and at it again! Praise Jesus!!

So I'm so sorry Balmorhea State park we did not get to enjoy your natural spring fed swimming pool  and swim with the turtles and fishes as  planned, but thank you for the road runners (remember the cartoon? Meep Meep) running around and providing the best entertainment for the boys who would chase you all day long. Free outdoor entertainment rules! (would love a road runner pet for Madden) And to the amazing stars lighting up the sky at night as I slept on the pull out couch (not bad friends/fam tried it out for ya'll) thank you for giving me comfort and seeing the beauty when I was run down, tired and worried for Alex. The coyotes again at night would howl away and the kids slept soundly as the desert is hot as shit during the day, but very cool at night and who is with me on the best sleeps come with open windows and fresh cool air blowing on them? Riiight! Maybe next trip we will check out your pool, but for now I am glad to have moved on from Balmorhea State Park and on to New Mexico!! Caves, aliens, missile testing and sand dunes oh my! Stay tuned..........

Meep! Meep! See the road runner in front of Lennon. Those suckas are fast!

The only time and pic we got in the natural spring fed pool filled with fish and turtles. It stays warm all year (75degreesF) and goes from 3 feet deep to over 25 feet!

The best pic we could get of the road runner ( this is the female. The male is darker and his tail feathers stick up more)

Trying to keep kids busy for 3 days with bubbles and road runners! BTW this pic was at 7 am!!!!