#5. Oopsie

The lineup was very long at Hazel the next morning at 8 a.m. so Kodi waited to get the beverages and croissants, while Toos searched for somewhere to sit.  She finally got two chairs that someone was vacating.  This space is elegant and lovely, and perfect for meeting with friends for a cocktail or two, but unfortunately the seating was mainly low couches, tiny tables, and low bucket chairs.  It didn’t work too well for Dames With Canes and bad backs, trying to balance very flaky ( and tasty!) croissants, and reach hot cups of coffee.  With no choice, they managed, but knew they wouldn’t repeat the experience.  

A bathroom break , and then onto the elevator and down to pool level  they went.  It was close to 9 a.m. and extremely warm when they walked over to the entrance…needing to show their beach bag contents at a turnstile.

They came upon  the lovely wave pool with sandy beach that Kodi had heard so much about over the years.  There were many lounges that needed to be ‘purchased’ for use, but since they did not care if they were right at the water’s edge, there were a number of free lounges available. They took a couple in the back row..the two end ones, to make them easier to access.  Kodi looked at the low, low lounger and wonder if she could manage to get down onto it.  With a prayer and a ‘plop’ from as low as she could get,  hanging onto both her cane and Toos’, she managed it. Toos, being considerably shorter, had an easier time of it.  

They sat and chatted, people watching, and enjoying the sun.  It was great to see well behaved children, and parents using sunscreen on them, and often UV protection swimwear.   The area was busy, but still peaceful.  

Once Toos got too warm, she decided to take a stroll into the water to cool off.  Kodi stayed put to watch their belongings. There was a ramp area not far away, so Toos carefully made her way to it without her cane.  

There were a few distinct lines on the pool floor, under the clear water.  One divided it horizontally, showing where children and any pool toys were allowed, and the other vertically, marking the area where swimmers should move over it to avoid the strongest surge of the waves when they came.  The lifeguard in the pool constantly told people to move further out, and over that line.  Toos enjoyed the cold water after dunking a couple of times to reset her body temp. !  She stayed in about 20 minutes and then made her way slowly back to the chair, to let the sun dry her off.  

Kodi was now feeling overheated, so thought she’d best get at least one nice dip as well.  That’s when she realized just HOW low the damn  chair was.  Legs either side didn’t work , so she turned towards Toos’ chair, and tried to heave her bottom heavy body up, using the cane and the side of the chair.  Nope.  She then had the brilliant idea to use BOTH canes.  She leaned on hers with her right hand and had Toos hold her cane towards her left side. Alrighty now, 1,2,3 heave ho, and she threw herself up to the right, and towards the bottom of the lounger, grabbing for Toos’ cane at the last moment .  And missed.  Because of this, she literally heaved herself up halfway, and onto the ground, yelling , “no, no”!  and landing heavily on the side of her right knee , and then laid there on her side in the sand, like a beached whale, wondering if her trip had just been ruined.  

Toos was unable to do much to help her, being 50 pounds lighter, and unsteady herself.  Kodi sighed and said  “ The sand is nice and warm, so maybe I’ll just lay here for a while.”  The man next to them stood up  ( so easily of course) and asked if he could help her get to her feet..  Kodi said she’d appreciate it, but needed a few minutes to recover from the shock and figure out the best way to move safely . 

With difficulty, she used her arms to push herself into a seated position, then stopped.  She was now between the two chairs , with her butt at the bottom, and her legs extended .  She rubbed her knee for a while, and moved various body parts, and decided the the sand surface and being just a few feet from the ground when she tumbled had saved her from injury ( unless you counted her pride).  Before long she bent the banged up knee, put the other on the ground and her right hand  on the middle of her cane , and asked her kind neighbour if she could use his forearm to pull herself up, with her left arm.  It worked, and she expressed her great gratitude to the Good Samaritan.  She then stood at the back of her lounger..deciding her beach days were probably over, but hopefully not the vacation .  One thing for sure, was that she’d try to enjoy the pool area and sunshine standing there, pretending nothing had ever happened.  She just put her blinders on, and assumed no one else had seen the incident, LOL.  ( Better than thinking people had seen and ignored it, since no one else had moved in her direction,  or had laughed about it).

Toos asked if she wanted to go back up to the room, but she replied that since Toos loved being in the water, and was now dry and hot again, she should go for another swim, and that she was quite comfortable leaning on the back of the lounger, enjoying the Sunshine .  ( That was a bit of an exaggeration, but she was determined not to ruin the day if possible.)

Toos went off again, and Kodi spent some time bending and flexing her right knee, and although it was bruised a little, she was pretty sure nothing worse had happened. She also decided that she wanted to go into the water herself  before they left , and would do that while Toos dried off again.

Once Toos was settled, Kodi took her cane and moved slowly into the pool, hugging the big rock wall on the side.  She went a short distance and stopped, getting accustomed to the chilly water.  The lifeguard blew his whistle , came closer, and told her to move farther along and over the blue line.   She did, then.  But perhaps she’d actually stopped because she wanted his attention.  He was so darned cute. 

After cooling off and chatting to a nice gal from New York for a while, who was a very open book, and expected Kodi to be as well, she was ready to return to the chair of death, and once  again, just stood at the back of it, dripping dry.  Her metal cane had holes in it, so she shook it dry.  ( Well assumed she did, but those holes can be tricky, and the elevator floor had a few sprinkles on it when they left it.)

They made their way up to the room, showered and dressed,  with Kodi doubling up her 12 hour pain meds, and then headed downstairs after eating protein bars and half a banana each,  for lunch.  Their Baileys Coffees at the machines completed the meal.  Toos shared her secret machine find with Kodi.  She called them the her  ‘Birdy’ machines ( and neither remembers what the actual name is) and Kodi and she got regular bonuses and stayed even or a little up on them for over two hours, for a $20 investment.  Then…nada.  Toos then went for a walk, and Kodi blew her brains out on the next dozen slots she tried, before finding one that let her play and stay even again for an hour.  

They had discussed dinner and both agreed that the amazing pizza place needed to be revisited, and they’d meet at the bottom of the escalator at 5:30.