It has been a good long while since we did a blog post (June 9!). Let’s just say this summer and fall have not been typical nor quite what we expected. I have had to look a calendar to see what we did when, it’s been such a blur.
Mid-July we left New York, destination Las Cruces. It was time to check on the new house build (all those details and pictures are at https://house.cjsquare.com). On the way, we arranged to meet up with Wisconsin friends Allen and Bonnie in Hannibal, Missouri. We had a great time visiting, but not many pictures were taken. But this picture was notable….
During this time, my Dad (in Albuquerque in independent living) started falling. My brother Jim (also in Albuquerque) and I coordinate my Dad’s care. A lot of time was spent on the phone getting Dad home health aids to help him in the morning and the evening. When we got to Albuquerque, we did all we could to keep Dad safe and living independently and then headed to Las Cruces. We had barely gotten there when my Dad fell and broke a hip.
And that sums up how the summer was spent…driving between Las Cruces and Albuquerque. At one point I left Jim and the RV/Jeep in Las Cruces and headed out in a rental car to Albuquerque car for a week for Dad’s hip surgery. Time was spent at the hospital, a skilled nursing facility, and making new assisted living arrangements. Dad’s stuff had to be sorted through, moved into his new apartment, arrangements made, etc. He is settled into his new place now and getting excellent care, but not as mobile as he once was.
During the Albuquerque time, we met Kani and Bill for the first time. Kani is the RVing sister of a friend of ours from our Kodak days. If you recognize the name Karel, you know who I am talking about. we arranged to meet up at an RV park west of Albuquerque and had a wonderful time visiting with them. Yes, we have another new set of friends on the road!
Mid September, we headed back to New York. Just before we did, the framers got the stairs that lead to our garage roof deck put in our new home. We headed out there at sunrise our last morning before leaving and were treated to a spectacular sunrise.
During all this, we sold our New York house…to our oldest daughter Callie! It’s a great fit for her (low maintenance), she was able to lock in a good interest rate before they really went sky high, and it gave us our equity from the house but still a place to temporarily store our worldly goods. So, we are officially homeless.
While home in September we packed boxes (left them in Callie’s basement), sold unwanted furniture, and got some pesky medical appointments out of the way. Mid-October, we were heading back to Las Cruces…again. But this time, we managed to have some fun.
Cheering on the Buffalo Bills
Heading back to Las Cruces, we spent a Sunday night in Joplin, Missouri Elks Lodge. I realized the Buffalo Bills were playing the Kansas City Chiefs that day (Joplin being just south of Kansas City). I looked at the Lodge calendar and there were having a Chiefs Viewing Party. How could we pass that up? Side note: This is a beautiful Elks lodge. The previous lodge was destroyed in an F5 tornado that hit Joplin in 2011. They did a wonderful job building a new one.
Oklahoma City Area
Onward! Using RVillage (think Facebook for RVers), we knew friends David and Celia (https://piddlinaround.net/) were moving from the west coast to the east coast while we were doing the opposite. Here was an opportunity to get together for a few days. After much discussion and consulting the weather forecast (it was starting to get cold), we agreed to meet up at the Edmonds, Oklahoma Elks Lodge for a few days. It’s just north of Oklahoma City, so we visited the very sobering but interesting Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial and the National Cowboy Museum. It was good to catch-up with David and Celia, especially since they will be east this winter, not in Arizona.
The National Cowboy Museum was not quite what we expected, but still good. It’s an art museum! I enjoyed the exhibit of cowboy hats and these HUGE paintings. From the museum’s website…”From 1991 to 1996, Wilson Hurley devoted his life and artistic skills to creating five enormous triptychs that depict the grandeur of the American western landscape. Known collectively as the Windows to the West, the fifteen canvases grace the walls of the National Cowboy Museum’s Sam Noble Special Events Center.“
If I could buy prints on these paintings in a smaller format, I would. It was awe inspiring to look at a painting and know the subject matter.
Amarillo
Say what you will about the pitfalls of social media, it helps us RVers. Via Facebook, we next realized John and Tina (Andiamo with the Caparellas at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100041399290933) would be in Amarillo the same night as us. A few text messages later and we decided to spent the night in the same RV park as them. Again, we made another connection on the road.
After that, we stopped a few days in Albuquerque to check on Dad and see the rest of the family and then moved on to Las Cruces. The house should be having electrical installed this week. We have been picking finishes, cabinets, etc. Things are progressing.
Rodeo, New Mexico
Waiting around in Las Cruces for stuff to happen will sometimes get old. So we are currently spending a week at one of our favorite campgrounds in Rodeo, New Mexico, Rusty’s RV Ranch. I’ve mention this place before and it’s still just as good. Friends from Rochester are building an Earthship down here, so Jim has been getting some “tractor therapy” by running their loader to move dirt. I have finally broken out my sewing machine again and some quilting is happening. Then there is always the hot tub. Ahhhh.
We did take a drive yesterday to the Arizona Sky Village. The night sky in this area is rated 1 out of 9 on the Bortel Scale, the absolutely best for viewing the nighttime sky. This desert neighborhood is a cluster of homes with their own observatories. Who knew such a thing existed!?!
What lies ahead….
Around Thanksgiving, we are going to head back to New York for the holidays. Besides enjoying time with our girls, we need to finish packing up our stuff. After the holidays, we will…say it with me…head back to Las Cruces. So again, our lack of movement will probably result in infrequent blog posts. We are hopeful we can get back to our normal RVing fun once the house is finished. We have our sights on Alaska for Summer 2023.
Enjoying your blog post and glad to be a part of it. Great to hear your Dad is doing well.