Custer House - Day 727 (Yr 2, Day 362)

Bismarck, ND

It started out to be a somewhat lazy day; finally got out of bed around 9:30.  I had a conference call for a job at 10:30 and Mitch had to help his sister with some computer stuff, so by the time we had brunch, it was 11:30.  At first, we weren't going to do much, but the weather was really nice and it seemed a shame to waste it indoors.  We decided to return to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park and do the guided tour of the Custer House and On-A-Slant Indian Village, taking our urb-es to get around the park on the bike trails.  We parked at the Custer House and discovered that Mitch's urb-e wasn't working (it seems that his battery isn't charging properly; I hope this doesn't mean packing it up and returning it to CA to repair).  I hurt myself in the pool yesterday (will explain shortly) so my walking was even more limited than normal.  We took the tour of the Custer House, which was extremely interesting, and then decided to return home (it was 3:30) rather than drive to the other side of the park.  For $12, we'll just do it another time, or just visit the Indian Village on our own without the tour.

General Custer lived on those premises from 1874 to 1876, when he brought his cavalry to prepare to attack the Lakota Indian tribes.  This is part of the story of "Custer's Last Stand," which took place a few miles away at Little Big Horn (as in "Battle of").  The actual house was destroyed over a century ago, and an exact replica was built in 1989.  Still, very luxurious and impressive for the time period.  What I especially enjoyed was that it was strictly role playing.  We were taken back in time and we were guests of the General and his wife, who would be back in time for dinner.  Our guide was the laundress.  It was quite a lot of fun.

Yesterday (Shabbat) we had a very warm day.  We spent a bit of time in the pool.  We actually bought a small plastic blow up ball, which we used with a mother and her 8 year old daughter.  When I was going down the steps into the pool, I guess my feet were still a little slippery from the suntan lotion and I lost my footing on the step.  I was able to just let go and jump in, but my toe must have gotten caught or banged in the bottom step (not really sure).  I thought it was ok, but today it's all swollen and black & blue.  Not sure if I just bruised it or maybe even broke it; it hurts like hell when touched or bent.  In addition, my knee feels very weak, like it's about to buckle at any time.  I think I may have pulled something.

I also noticed a lot of swelling in my feet over the last few weeks, and feel painful numbness at night.  I am going to find a doctor and have it checked out this week.

UPDATE:  Swelling is due in part to sitting for extended periods of time, plus possibly water retention, for which I need to greatly restrict my salt intake and get up and walk more.