Retirement……LOVE IT!

Well, we have finally made our first BIG road trip.  We left Sanger, TX, and headed for Buckeye, AZ, on Wednesday, January 10th.  Our first day we traveled 262 miles to Colorado City, TX, where we stayed the night at Lone Wolf RV Park.  It was our first experience driving the RV in some pretty strong winds.  That was NOT a fun day!  It was stressful and, needless to say, I did not take any pictures.  In fact, the second day wasn’t much better.  It was another windy, stressful day, and another day without pictures.  We traveled about the same distance the second day to Van Horn, TX, where we stayed at Mountain View RV Park.  We traveled 524 miles in the first two days, and we were STILL in Texas!  Texas REALLY is a BIG state!!

Both RV parks the first two nights where nice, but being in such a dry environment takes some getting used to.  There was no grass and virtually no trees as we know them in Missouri.  Poor Zoey only had dirt and gravel, and she couldn’t figure out where to go to the bathroom.  I wish I had taken a picture or video of that!  It was really pretty funny.

The third day we traveled 282 miles and crossed into New Mexico.  Finally the wind had calmed down, the road was smooth, and traveling that day was rather enjoyable.  Plus, I finally remembered to get my camera out because I wasn’t stressed out from difficult, windy driving!

It was such a lovely day, we even stopped at a rest area just to get out and enjoy the sun, walk a little, and enjoy the warm air.  Well, PLUS we had to use the facilities. 😂 I even snapped a few pictures.

We aren’t in Missouri any more, Dorothy! I have to remember to watch out for snakes while walking Zoey!

The third night on the road we stayed at a KOA campground in Lordsburg, New Mexico.  The population of Lordsburg is about 2400.  It’s a nice little town, but I have NEVER seen so many motels in a town that size!  I bet there were at least 20; maybe more.  We ate a local Mexican restaurant for supper and it was really good.

The next day we traveled into Arizona.  I have seen the desert once before when we flew out to Las Vegas for a short vacation, however, traveling THROUGH the desert on the ground for several days in a row is totally different.  I kept thinking about the early pioneers traveling to California in their covered wagons through this very desert.  I can only imagine how difficult it was and the strength and perseverance those people had back in those times.  Had I been born during that time period, I’m not sure I would have survived very long.  The desert valley with groups of mountains “popping up” every so often is really beautiful.  We even had our first experience going through a border patrol check point!

The trucks exited first and were all in the lane on the right. The cars then exited and were in the left lane.

Our next stop was at Picacho Peak, AZ.  We planned to spend two nights at the Picacho Peak RV Resort.  This was a REALLY nice RV resort but it was out in the middle of NO WHERE!  It was located at the base of Picacho Peak Mountain and Picacho Peak State Park.  There were two gas stations on the other side of the interstate (one had a Dairy Queen and the other had a Subway Sandwich shop) and that was it.  If you needed a WalMart, you had to travel twenty miles in either direction.  There was a Flying J truck stop about 10 miles west of the RV park that had a Denny’s.  Anyway, the view of the Picacho Peak from the RV park was beautiful.

On our second day at Picacho Peak, we decided to explore the Picacho Peak State Park.  There were lots of hiking trails, two campgrounds with RV hook ups, several picnic areas, and lots of beautiful views of the surrounding desert.  The lady at the park entrance showed us where we could go if we wanted to see a beautiful desert sunset that evening.  We went back to the RV until about an hour before sunset.  I set up my tripod and good Sony camera and waited.  The pictures of the sunset I’m going to share with you now are the ones that Jack took with the camera on his iPhone.  I’ll share the sunset pictures from my Sony as soon as I have some time to upload them to my laptop.  Here are some pics of the state park and the sunset.

Again, these sunset pics are from Jack’s cell phone camera.  However, I must say, they are pretty good!

Pretty amazing sunset pictures from Jack, aren’t they?!

After spending two nights at Picacho Peak RV Resort, we headed out on our last leg of the journey to Buckeye, AZ.  It was only about a 90 minute drive that day (which is the way we planned it).  We decided to NOT go through downtown Phoenix.  We took Interstate 8 west about ten miles south of Phoenix over to State Highway 85 north.  We checked in to Leaf Verde RV Resort around 1 p.m. on January 15 and set up camp.  So far we really like this place.

Jack drinking his morning coffee out on our “veranda.”

I’ll post my sunset pics soon.  I will also keep you updated on our “adventures” in Arizona in the coming weeks.  We will be in Buckeye until March 15.

So, for now ….. “On the Road Again!”

Betty

It has been a very busy two months. We have done a lot a traveling in our car to see family for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We spent Thanksgiving at Mike and Jennifer’s house with the grandkids. It’s only a two hour drive from the RV park where we have been staying. I’ve already written about our Thanksgiving adventures in a previous post. You can click this link to see that post: https://retirementnowwhatdoido.com/2017/11/25/brrrrr-its-getting-cold-outside/

After Thanksgiving we went back to the RV and just “hung out” until time to leave for our Christmas holiday travels. We did routine cleaning and maintenance on the RV. We did a little Christmas shopping which involved a lot of gift card purchases because we were not going to have a lot of room in the CR-V to transport gifts. We did some reading and watched a few … some …OK… a BUNCH of Christmas movies on the Hallmark channels. Jack thinks we watched too many Christmas movies, but I don’t think there’s any way that can be done. There is nothing that helps get me in the Christmas spirit like watching Christmas movies (OK, I’m also a hopeless romantic!) and listening to Christmas music.

We did, however, make one quick trip to OKC during this time. Mike and Jenn’s church was having their annual “Christmas Spectacular” the weekend of December 8-10. We have attended this event in past years, and it is always very good. We decided to drive up in the car Sunday afternoon so we could see “Christmas Spectacular” Sunday night, then attend Kylee’s “Parent Observation” ballet lesson on Monday night, and be there Tuesday evening for Jackson’s birthday supper (THESE events are the BEST rewards of us BOTH being retired!). Sunday evening’s Christmas Spectacular was another great performance.

Watching Kylee doing her ballet always amazes me. It is a very strenuous and disciplined activity (I actually think it’s as physically strenuous as ANY sport; maybe even MORE so). She started on pointe a year ago, and I think she is doing superbly.

Tuesday night’s birthday dinner was fun. We canNOT believe he is already 11 years old and is getting so tall. Birthdays with the grandkids are always fun, and, as you can see, Jackson is always up for silly fun!

The week before Christmas I began to feel like I was getting a cold. After about 2 days of the stuffy head, runny nose, headache, and achy all over symptoms, and discovering I was running a little bit of a fever, I decided I better go to urgent care and make sure it wasn’t the flu. There had been many news reports on TV about how bad type A and type B flus were going around in northern Texas. Therefore, on Thursday before Christmas, I found myself sitting in a waiting room freezing and shivering watching everyone who went in to exam rooms come out with surgical masks over their mouth and nose. When I was called back, they did all the regular things (blood pressure, listen to heart and lungs, look in eyes, ears, and nose). They also did the swab test for the flu. I tested negative for both types of flu (YEA!!) but was told that didn’t mean I didn’t have the flu because I could come in the very next day and test positive (so exactly HOW good are those tests then?). I did have sinus and respiratory infections, so I got a prescription for antibiotics for ten days. I asked to get an antibiotic shot to “jump start” the healing process, and they gave me one. By the time we left for Christmas with the grandkids a couple of days later, my fever was gone and I was beginning to feel better.

We went to OKC on the 23rd. On the 24th we picked up our oldest son at Will Rogers airport, did a little last minute Christmas shopping, and met up with Jennifer, Mike and the grandkids at their church (Journey Church of Norman, OK) for their Christmas Eve service. It was a touching service and watching Mike helping to lead worship is always a joy. Jeff wanted a family photo after the service, so we went up on the platform to take a picture. We were told we needed to back up on the platform to get in some better lighting so the picture would turn out nice. To our great surprise, one of Mike’s friends who works back in the media booth, turned on the snow machine which was used in “Christmas Spectacular” and located right above us.  You can see the surprise all over our faces!

We had a wonderful time with the grandkids and enjoyed another delicious Christmas dinner of turkey and all the trimmings. We played games and watched Star Wars movies all day long. It was good to visit with some of Jennifer’s family as well as some of Mike’s and Jennifer’s friends from their church who stopped by for a while.

The day after Christmas Jeff, Jack, and I left OKC and headed back to Missouri. We stopped in Springfield, MO, to spend some time with Jack’s mom and to pick up my Honda Pilot (which I left at Jack’s sister’s house after my mom’s hospitalization in mid November). After a delicious lunch at Cedars restaurant and visiting for a while, we headed out. Jeff drove the CR-V and was headed to Columbia, MO, for a couple of days to visit with his cousins and their families as well as a few friends. We headed on to STL in the Pilot to have a few extra days to take care of some appointments, make a quick trip to Dexter for vet and grooming appointments, and visit with some of our friends.

On Friday after Christmas all my family started arriving in STL for our LaTurno Christmas festivities. We pretty much follow the same “schedule” every year. Friday night we ALL (including the LaTurno cousins who can make the trip) gather at my younger sister, Lisa’s, house (Lisa and her husband, Rob, live two houses up from my parents’ house). We visit, have an ornament exchange, play Bingo, some play pool or ping pong, and, of course, have LOTS to eat and drink. This year the cousin that brings and calls Bingo had pink eye and couldn’t attend, so we didn’t get to play Bingo. 😢

Saturday morning we gather at Denny’s for breakfast then head back to my parents’ house to exchange gifts. This gift exchange is for gifts to my parents (our kids’ grandparents) and anyone age 21 and under (basically it’s just grandkids now).

My parents decided about 15 years ago (or longer!) to give us all cash on Saturday morning with the idea that we would then go shopping all day Saturday to spend that money. We would gather back at the house at 6 p.m. for supper followed by “show and tell.” During show and tell we would show my parents what they “got” us for Christmas. It is fun because it has kind of become a competition to see who can get the most for their money.

Then the over 21 group has a gift exchange. We draw numbers and as our numbers are called we select a gift from the pile of gifts in the middle of the room and unwrap it. Then we call the numbers again for the “stealing” round. It’s fun, frustrating, and always worth a lot of laughs. This year I brought a gift NO ONE else would want: it was a Cracker Barrel gift card AND the perfect RV size baking set!! I included a note that said, “Perfect for RVing!” Someone else opened it on the first round, but I stole it in the second round. I was correct: no one else wanted it.  Take note of the dimensions in the picture.

After the gift exchange most all of us went back up to my sister’s house to visit, play games, and eat leftover party food from the night before.  One of the games we played is called Rhythm, and it was always one of my mom’s favorites.  Since we had some new additions to the family this year (a couple of new boyfriends joined in the festivities), we had to teach them how to play.  Needless to say, we all had a lot a fun and some good laughs.

Sunday morning we all gathered at McDonald’s for a quick breakfast.  It was New Years Eve day and everyone was heading home.  Jack and I, however, were staying in STL until January 2.  Jack and I went to visit mom later that afternoon and even convinced her to put on the party hat they were passing out for their New Years celebration.  I’m sad to say that dad, Jack and I did not make it until midnight to bring in the New Year.  Oh, well….maybe next year.

New Year’s Day Jack and I helped dad get his house back in order from all the chaos. We did a little house cleaning and MULTIPLE loads of laundry consisting mostly of towels and sheets.  Jack and I also wanted to do our laundry before we headed back to Texas.  It was a busy but peaceful day.

On Tuesday, Jan. 2, we headed back to the RV in northern Texas.  We were a little apprehensive about getting back to the RV because there had been several days of bitterly cold temperatures (highs in the teens and 20s!) in Sanger, TX.  We did everything we could before we left for Christmas to prepare the RV for the below freezing temps.  Hopefully we weren’t going back to frozen and broken water lines.  I’ll let you know that outcome in the next post.

So for now …. “On the Road Again!”

Betty