Back in AZ

Sept. started out with more rain and the hail protector that Larry ordered  arrived and we put it on the car to try it out.

Then the rain REALLY came and it rained for four days and nights continually. I thought of Noah and how he must have felt only he had rain for ten times as many days and nights! Fortunately we did not have the flooding at Bonita Park like much of NM had and CO had. For awhile we wondered if it would stop raining long enough for us to leave as the curve at the bottom of the hill where the flash floods happened three times needed to dry out so we could make the turn. (PTL the rain stopped and the winds came and dried up the curve just before we left!)

Somehow I hurt my back and ended up going to a chiro in Ruidoso three times before we left. I am still struggling with it but it is much better. I am looking forward to visiting Dr St George (a chiro) in Cottonwood who is excellent, so I can be 100% again.

Larry had several items the camp wanted fixed before we left so he was busy 'fixing'. Since the kids are back in school, the camp had guests on the weekend only so that left us with all week to do other things.

On the 19^th of September we were finally able to take a trip to White Sands National Monument. We decided to take the car because of my back and it is a good thing we did because we ran into a dust storm and rain. On the way home we saw a beautiful rainbow very low to the ground.

The white sand looks like snow and they use a plow to clear the road when the wind blows the sand over it, just like snow. We had lunch in one of the picnic areas and walked on the interdune boardwalk to see more of the 'dunes'.

The Sunday before we left the church had a Potluck after the service to celebrate Sukkot and that gave us a good chance to say 'good-bye' to the many wonderful folks we have met over the summer.

    Our lunch stop at White Sands National Monument, Alamogordo, NM

The day before we left was beautiful so we took a bike ride to see Bonito Lake (now after 19 inches of rain, running over the spillway) and again made the loop up SR 37 to US 380 to Capitan and back down SR 48. We stopped to say 'good-bye' to Claudia who had knee surgery the previous Wednesday and wasn't able to make it to church Sunday.

We left Bonita Park on Wednesday September 25 and had a nice easy trip to Grants, NM. On Thursday the 26 we took the bike to visit El Morro National Monument.

                                  El Morro National Monument, Ramah, NM

             The pool of ever present water that brought folks here

                                                  The oldest date we saw

What a wonderful historical find in the middle of the desert! There is water year round (which has been the attraction for centuries) and Inscription Rock has sayings and signatures dating back to the 1600's. We had thought about visiting the Ice Caves and Bandera Volcano but decided not to since the cost was $10 each and we would have to walk the two and a half miles to see them both. We would have run out of time and not been able to see El Morro which was a real gem and free. We were quite elated to get 61.2 mpg even with very windy conditions.

We arrived at Happy Jack, AZ around 1 PM Friday the 27 and that is where we are now. So far we have taken a bike ride each day visiting our favorite camping spots from the 80's and checking out new places. We rode to Mormon Lake which we had not seen before and only found a pond so it was quite disappointing. I know AZ has been in drought conditions for several years and it was quite evident at Mormon 'Lake' . The night time lows have been below freezing so we have left our water disconnected but the day time temperatures have been in the high 60's to low 70's, just right for afternoon rides in the area. God made Himself very evident on Monday afternoon Sept 30. We took a ride to Blue Ridge Reservoir which is down a very steep hill with no cell service.

                                   Blue Ridge Reservoir near Happy Jack, AZ

 Where we stopped when Larry had his problem.  I walked to the curve and beyond at      the top of the hill.

 As we started back up Larry had trouble breathing so stopped to rest. His heartbeat was 182 bpm, way too high. After 45 minutes of being unable to get it to slow, I started walking up the hill to try to get cell service and help. I was praying as I walked and asked God to send someone who could ride the BMW out. Almost immediately I heard a vehicle coming, the only vehicle we saw in the nine mile round trip to the reservoir, AND he owns several motorcycles and even races them!  He ended up riding the bike and we took his truck back to our campground.   My jacket fit him so he didn't get too cold since he was wearing shorts.   

                                          Our rescuer and one of his dogs

 Larry quickly took his medication (which he didn't have with him) and is doing much better although he is exhausted from his heart racing so fast for so long. Guess we will stay put for the next day at least. We are praising the Lord for His protection and provision!