Day Four: Of Blizzards and Broken things...

So, we started out the day pretty much the same... slow start. We weren't sure what weather to prepare for. It had snowed a bit on Sunday, rained a lot on Monday, sunny/cold on Tuesday... it was a little unclear. So we figured we would dress for cold. There wasn't a lot we had planned. We were going to hang with David for a while, go to the Rio and check out the Venetian. We didn't really have anything set in stone. we were going to try to meet up with some friends from a while ago and whatever... lazy day, lazy plans. David came up and said that he might have a couple of ideas on what we could do. There was a ghost town somewhere out there... or we could go to Lake Havasu Azirona (yes I misspelled that on purpose) and see his hometown. That sounded like fun. I hadn't been back to Arizona since I was about 5 (unless you count passing through it on the way here) so I was up for it. We all agreed that we were Lake Havasu bound. As we got our things together and went downstairs, we discovered that David had lost his keys. He couldn't find them anywhere. He checked his room, his bag... everywhere. We finally decided that they had to have gotten locked in his car somehow. We checked out in the parking garage and, sure enough, his key was sitting perkily on the back seat, laughing at us. Oh crud. We spent two hours in that garage trying to get his car open. He pulled at the door to his car, stuck a wire hanger down the window and basically did everything he could think of to open that door. We had two security guys helping and there was nothing any of us could do. We listened to music, sang, took pictures. Generally we just had fun. Finally, C and D went inside and rode the glass elevator to the top of the hotel while mom and I went to get 'hot chocolate' from the coffee place inside. (I am using sarcastic quotes because we did not know until we were almost done drinking it that Starbucks puts espresso in their signature hot chocolate. That right there on top of the missing key should have warned us... but we just didn't see) As we got our drinks and D and C finished their elevator joy ride, david and the security officer got the car open. Yay! We were on our way. We stopped at in and out and got food, stopped at terrible herbst and got gas and then went on our merry way towards sunny Arizona. Or so we thought. C, D and I followed Uncle David and Mom along the freeway. As we drove things got brighter and brighter. Not because of the sun, no, because of the snow that was surrounding us. It was not long before we found ourselves in the middle of a FREAKING BLIZZARD. IN FREAKING NEVADA! We were calling back and forth between the cars deciding what to do. We decided to stop by the side of the road somewhere, get Mom in our car and say goodbye to David. He could continue on home and we would go back to Vegas. Without warning, David crossed two lanes of traffic and turned into a casino parking lot. We couldn't get across those lanes fast enough to make the same turn, so Mom and Uncle David told us to keep going until we could turn around, they would wait for us in the casino. We went 5 miles and a half hour further. Traffic was NOT moving. Finally, we turned around. We were having fun. We ate Smarties from Canada and opened the windows to the horizontal snow, turning the car into a snow globe. We took pictures of everything and blasted music. It was great. We got to the casino parking lot and watched as the reader board our front blasted the words 'Poor Weather Conditions Ahead, free coffee inside' to the poor people stuck in traffic. We called Mom when we got there and tried to decide if she was coming out or if we were going in. Finally, we just decided to go in. It was freezing, slippery and slushy outside. We went in and met up with mom, when we found out that David was missing again. We looked around, couldn't find him. His phone went straight to voicemail. Nothing. We were trying to decide whether we should just leave without saying goodbye when mom came rushing over to tell us that we needed to find security or something. David had just fallen in the parking lot... and broken his leg. Yes, that is what I said, broken his leg. We rushed outside, careful of the slushy snow that covered everything, and found David sitting on the ground. His leg was stretched out in front of him and he was shaking pretty badly. We got security over, along with about 10 other people. Everyone was trying to decide what to do. We saw cars spinning out everywhere in the street and the parking lot. The ambulance said that they would be a while. We waited outside with him. They casino personnel covered David with blankets, coats... anything that they could to keep him warm. I tried to lighten the situation with humor... he didn't appreciate that much. We surreptitiously snuck photos that he also wouldn't appreciate. It took the ambulance an hour to get there. It wasn't until we got to the hospital that we discovered that they came from less than 5 miles away. The traffic was just that bad. Mom drove David's car to the hospital while D, C and I drove Sid, my car. We waited in that hospital for 7 hours. After 4 hours they determined that the leg was broken in two places. You know how they figured it out? They took him in for a CAT scan. Morons... a simple X-ray wouldn't do. C D and I had to go to an auto place to get chains for my tires and a new headlight. We also replaced David's windshield wiper, as the one he had was cracked in half. We tried to get dinner for all of us, but ended up with nasty crap that cost way too much and tasted like chemical cardfood. In the end, they wouldn't let David eat anything anyway in case they had to take him in for surgery. I would be afraid of surgery from that hospital... The techs that took him in for the CT lay him on the gurney with his feet sticking out the end and pushed him through doorways feet first... using his feet to open the doors... yeah he did have a broken leg thanks for asking. They apparently didn't care. they put him on some sort of psychotic drug that had him freaking out, then another drug to calm him down. They also said that their 'bone doctor' wasn't in, so they would splint it tonight and we could come back tomorrow to get it cast. Come back tomorrow? What pills are they taking? D, C and I finally came back to Vegas (on clear roads, by the way) to wait at the hotel room for Mom and David to come back from Henderson. Yeah, did I mention that we only made it 20 miles outside of Vegas. This whole thing happened within spitting distance of our hotel practically. What the heck?
I should say, though, that through this whole thing I know our Father in Heaven has been watching out for us. I am not sure that what happened here was His design or a result of our bad choices, but I am sure that He has not left us alone in this. There were many other things that could have gone wrong, many worse things that could have happened. We had good people around us that helped us through it all, and we had angel to bear us up. I only hope that they are okay being with us in Vegas. This town still makes me uneasy, but I no longer fear it. I wouldn't want to live here, but I like it much, much better than I ever thought i would.
As for Uncle David... well... it is 230 am here, and he has been at the hospital for 10 hours. Mom should be bringing him here very soon, and we are waiting for them. (Well, I am, D and C have passed out on the bed)He is not in the best of moods, and he is very drugged. I know that he is not happy with this day, and I fear that he regrets coming to see us. I regret only that he is hurt. I think that this day ended up with a much more interesting story than any of us could have planned. I wonder what tomorrow holds...