Keepin' Busy

We had a 'Welcome Back' dinner and entertainment at the clubhouse on Sat. November 2.   On Monday November 4 we picked up our new Smart car in Chandler and stopped to see Todd and his family before heading back home. We also stopped at Camping World and bought a new water softener among other RV essentials.  I had a delivery shop that evening which was nice, getting paid to have pizza delivered!   Larry hooked up the new water softener which is twice the size of our old one and what a difference! Our old one was nine years old and the resin in it was shot and each 'recharge' lasted about one day. We have gone four weeks now and the water is still soft. 

                                                Our new Smart car

On Veterans' Day we went to Golden Corral with Dawn, Vince and Bethany so the fellows could have a free meal. The place was packed and the food was really good. They have three different 'flowing fountains' of chocolate, caramel and white chocolate now although I did not try any except the chocolate which they had before.

On the 14^th we went to Scottsdale where I did another shop and we visited the Goodwill Store since we arrived too early for the shop.   It was meant to be as we found two different plastic boxes the right size to replace old ones where the new water softener goes and they cost $1.68 together. Such a deal!

I did another mystery shop on the 18^th and on the 20^th the awning fellow came out to replace the awnings, only they didn't get replaced.   First he forgot to bring the new hardware for the slide out awnings (we are upgrading them since insurance is paying for the fabric) and then Larry discovered the color wasn't right.   We were going to go with the color he brought since we were changing all the awnings until we discovered the slide out covers were the right color and then two awnings were the wrong size so we still don't have awnings.   He is supposed to return the end of the first week in December hopefully with everything right this time.

                      Stacy from Awnings R Us working on a window awning

Larry has been busy installing a louder horn in the new car, putting wheels and a stand on his drill press so it will be easier to use and now he is installing a new TV in the bedroom. The old TV stuck out in the walkway at the end of the bed and I was always bumping my head on the darn thing.  An added bonus was we lost 45 lbs as the old TV weighed 60 lbs and the new one weighs 17 lbs plus there was the weight of the cabinet around the old TV. It is not finished yet so pictures will be next month.

 Larry installing a louder horn in the Smart.  He had to take all the front and side panels off to get to the horn.

                             The stand for the drill press which Larry welded

                                                         

                                 Getting the wheels ready for the drill press stand

The park had their Thanksgiving Dinner on Saturday November 23 and we had 86 folks attend.  Our family Thanksgiving was in the clubhouse on Thanksgiving and we had a great time. It was the first time for us to see our great granddaughter, Milly. She is three months old and a really good baby. She didn't cry and she didn't sleep all afternoon, just smiled and entertained herself, the kind of baby everyone dreams of having.

                                          Enjoying our Thanksgiving feast

                             

                      The newest member of the family, Millianna, "Milly" Clark

We're Back!

Friday, Oct 4 we left Happy Jack and drove 60 miles down to the TTN Verde Valley Preserve in Cottonwood, AZ (going from 7000 ft to 3400 ft). This is our home park and one of my favorites. Saturday morning we had some excitement as someone who left put hot coals from their fire pit in the dumpster and it caught fire! Rvers are very savvy and resourceful and brought out a hose and buckets and had the fire under control long before the fire dept arrived. A few days later the park had a water main break and we had no water for three days. Good thing those two things didn't happen the same day! We were fine as we always carry water in our holding tank as we have had similar problems in the past and learned from experience to always carry water.

Larry replaced the door handle on the bathroom door with flat ring pulls after again catching his pant loop on the old handle and about tearing it off (the pant loop that is). We have a very narrow “hallway” and he had to walk sideways down it to avoid hitting the old handle so now walking down the 'hall' is easier. It is something he has talked about doing for a number of years.

The new pull ring on the bathroom door so we won't "catch" on the handle anymore.

We enjoyed our favorite Chinese buffet three times while in Cottonwood and I visited Dr. St George three times and my back is doing much better. We also enjoyed “the Hired Hands” twice as they are performing weekly now at Verde Valley. We met a couple from CA who sold their home, Dad quit his job and they are taking their four children on an extended trip across the US. Mom is home schooling the children (ages 12-8). They are two months into their “adventure” and learning a lot about Rving. It was very refreshing to see this family especially since the children were so well mannered.

                                  Our site at Verde Valley in Cottonwood, AZ

We arrived back to our leased site in Phoenix on October 25 and got set up for a long stay. Saturday evening we went to the park monthly dinner. Sunday after church we went to the State Fair with Dawn, Vince, Bethany and her friend, Makayla and met Colby and his new girlfriend, Krista. We were celebrating Bethany passing her beautician certification and Colby getting a new job. We went to the coliseum to see Jerry Lewis. It has been a long time since I've seen/heard him and I had forgotten how stuck on himself he is, much like Jim Carey of today. It was fun to see clips from his long career. He is 86 now and sat down for the whole show.

                                                At the AZ State Fair

                             Us eating fattening fair food and enjoying every minute

We have had the awning fellow come out for an estimate and the awning material has been ordered so we will soon have the awnings repaired—yeah!

I also have done a mystery shop at a new restaurant for us. It is fun to try new places and get paid to eat.  We are back in the swing of things in Phoenix.

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!

Flash Floods

We have continued to have rain nearly every day so the place is greening up nicely but so are the weeds which are giving Larry's allergies fits. We finally took a day to move the MH and went to Valley of Fires about 25 miles northwest of us. We had planned to spend the afternoon looking around but as soon as we got out of the MH we were attacked by loads of small flying bugs that got in our eyes, ears, noses and mouths so we basically turned around to come home.. It turns out the bugs were a God thing as our weather alert radio went off warning of flash floods about ten miles from the camp. It started raining buckets and we drove through several mildly flooded areas on the road. We also saw two deer who thought about crossing the road in front of us but changed their minds when Larry honked the horn. They jumped straight up and over the fence, such a slight to see but of course too quickly to get a picture. We arrived back at the campground just five minutes before another flash flood went through the camp again cutting it in half. We were so thankful the bugs sent us on our way or we would have been caught on the wrong side of the flash flood and would have had to wait for the road to be cleared of the debris and would have had mud all over the coach.

          Valley of Fires near Carrizozo, NM showing the nice camping spots

We had another flash flood go though the campground a week later, so that is three flash floods we have experienced here. And we had never experienced flash floods before. God protected us each time.

The second flash flood that went through the campground that we missed by five minutes

A couple, Phil and Claudia, who live in Capitan, also volunteers at the park and we have seen at church, took us out for lunch after church at KaBob's Steakhouse in Ruidoso. I had catfish since fish is something that is not served here at the camp and it was wonderful!  We had a nice afternoon with them then worked the dinner shift that evening.

We took a bike trip to Ski Apache, 17 miles one way and 3000 ft up. It was the first day that looked like it might not rain so we took advantage of it. The ride was lovely with beautiful wild flowers all along the way of a very curvy road. Many of the curves were named like Horseshoe Bend, Texas Bend, Last Bend, Cat's House and Shady Lane. We were disappointed it wasn't open when we reach the top as folks over 70 can ride the lifts for free. There are maybe 10-12 runs and four lifts including a four seat gondola. It is only open on the weekends during the summer and we are working mostly weekends now that the kids are back in school so it probably won't happen.

           Larry at Ski Apache showing three of the lifts including the gondola

                          Looking down on the curvy road leading to Ski Apache

                                   Wildflowers along the road to Ski Apache

After 26 days we were able to finally pick up our car in Roswell. It was done eight days before that but the insurance company didn't get the supplemental check to the body shop before then. Larry had them put a new wing on the back and he is quite pleased with it. It looks like a totally different car.

                        The car fresh from the body shop with the new wing on it

                            What the car looked like before the wing was added

After several calls to our insurance agent, the insurance checks for the trailer and MH are finally on their way. Thanks, Chris, for your help!

Larry put the new brake pads on the bike which he bought when we first arrived in NM. We have had so much rain daily he had not been able to put them on before. (that and our work schedule). We took a bike ride to Fort Stanton for his birthday before we worked the dinner shift. We watched a short movie about the place and I learned the Indians called the black soldiers stationed there “Buffalo soldiers” because their curly hair reminded them of buffalo.

"Black Jack" Pershing stance  made famous by General Pershing in 1887 when he began his active military career at Fort Stanton

July,a Tough month but it is behind us now

July started off with a bang. On the afternoon of the 2^nd we had a thirteen minute hail storm with golf ball size hail that did a lot of damage to the car, trailer and motorhome.

                          The damaged TV dome on the top of the motorhome 

Hailstones on the slide out cover that ripped it from the MH.  The hail also damaged the other side out cover and all seven window awnings.

                                       Even the tire covers were shredded

                                  Maxx Air vent from the top of the trailer

                         Side of the trailer that was hit the hardest by the hail

              Some of the cracks in the car windshield caused by the hailstones

                                Big dents in the top of the car from the hail

Larry was gone into town on his bike during the storm and I didn't know where he was or what happened to him for two hours since we have lousy cell phone service in the park. PTL, God protected him because the part he was after was delayed so he was inside at the dealership, along with his bike, during the storm. Had the part been there like it was supposed to be, he would have been on the road when our storm hit with nowhere to hide since on one side of the road is a sheer drop-off and the other side is a wall of rock. The next day I started experiencing dizziness and was unable to work my shift in the dining hall. Then on Sat July 6 after my shift working I wasn't feeling very good and went to sit down. Shortly after that I passed out and had two goose eggs, one on my head and the other on my nose, to prove I went down. I remember nothing. We went to the emergency room and they ran all kinds of tests on me but came up with nothing—no apparent reason for me fainting. Since then I haven't felt quite “right”. Several people have suggested altitude sickness but I was here for five weeks with no problems so I really don't think that is it. I may be having a reaction to pressure changes as the next week our weather alert radio went off every day with severe storms warnings and we have had storms nearly every day since.

Friday July 12, since it was raining (again, all day) and we didn't have to work Larry decided to move the cell booster to see if we could get better reception and noticed the washer looked lope-sided (the booster connection is above the washer). Upon further investigation he discovered the floor under the washer had collapsed on one side! He spent the rest of the day taking the washer out (putting it on the bed frame which meant he had to get it done so we could go to bed), re-doing the floor and re-installing the washer in the tight quarters.  He finished at midnight but we didn't get anything put

away until Saturday. Also on Saturday the insurance adjuster finally made it out here to assess the damage.

                              How Larry took the washer out of the corner 'nook'

                                   Larry repairing the floor under the washer

Our friends, Ed and Lana, who have a place in the area, stopped by and then we all went to the big church service that the camp was having that involved five local churches. There was great music especially the acappella group from the Church of Christ. I really liked the bass singers (3) and one was a very deep voice that was wonderful. This past Sunday we went to the Inn of the Gods after church for lunch with them as they are leaving the area and won't be back before we leave in September. It is a beautiful hotel, casino complex on a man made lake with teepees around it for an added touch. It is on Mescalaro Indian land.

Saturday the 27th in the mid afternoon we were talking to some new campers when we heard a roaring sound and quickly saw we were experiencing a flash flood through the campground that basically cut the camp in half. It lasted about thirty minutes and left about 10-12 inches of mud and debris including a tire all across the road.  The camp director came with a frontloader and cleared most of the mud so people could get to their homes and we could get to the dining hall to serve dinner.

The flash flood from the south side of the gym

                             
               Larry 'checking out' the flash flood from the north side of the gym



Monday July 29 we took the car to Roswell to the body shop for repair. They will have it three weeks. Since we were in Roswell we went to the UFO Museum there and spent several hours reading and looking at all the evidence of the “Roswell incident” in July 1947. I remember as a kid looking at a magazine that had pictures of the creatures that the rancher found on his ranch after their craft crashed during a terrible thunderstorm. Of course the government poop pooped the idea and said it was a weather balloon. The museum has several rooms full of documents to say otherwise.

                                                    Crash site depiction

                                   Newspaper about the Roswell 'incident'

What the creatures that were found looked like at the UFO Museum in Roswell, NM

Enjoying NM

We have been at Bonita Park for a month now and the time has gone by really fast. We have been working in the dining room in the serving line five or six time each week. We spend between 2-2 ½ hours each time and that includes us getting fed. The food has been awesome and we both have gained weight. (not a good thing) So we are trying to cut back on all the good food. The desserts have been great and are my downfall.

We are no longer the only volunteers in the RV park and have met some great people. We watched the new gym go up in five days and already the kids have put it to good use.

Deer in the RV park looking south and showing the 'ribs' of the new gym and the aftermath of the fire on the hill

The 'ribs' of the new gym are up

Pulling the fabric over the ribs of the new gym

Putting on the end pieces of the new gym

The new gym minus the garage door

Because it is a soft sided building and pretty empty when the kids get in there the sound echos rather loudly and often they are in there until past 10 PM. It looks pretty awesome with the lights on at night since the light shines thru the walls.

The gym "glowing" at night

One of the fun things we did soon after arriving was go on the zip line at night. It was a blast but I want to do it again in the daylight so I can see where I am going. Larry had his phone drop out of his pocket as he was nearing the top of the zip line tower (50 ft up) but PTL with his Otter Box case and it landing in the water fountain his phone is fine. The tower to the zip line also serves as a climbing tower but I didn't want to tackle that.

Zip line tower that goes 70 ft into the air (note the water fountain at the bottom)

Me in my Kitty hard hat and spotlight ready to go on the zip line

Looking up 50 ft on the tower where Larry's phone fell from

Water fountain where Larry's phone landed


We took a bike ride to Bonita Lake one Sunday afternoon and cannot get over the devastation to the area. Most of the campgrounds around the lake are closed due to the fire and the lake is down a lot because of the drought. This area was beautiful before and it is so sad to see all the “sticks” that used to be full green trees.

Bonita Lake showing the dam

Private covered bridge over the Bonita River, one of the few structures in the area that did not burn


We went to Capitan, NM 10 miles north and visited the Smokey Bear Museum. The "real'" Smokey bear cub was found burned in a forest fire near here in 1950 and is buried at the museum.

Poster of Smokey in the Smokey Bear Historical Museum in Capitan

The final resting place for Smokey Bear after 27 years in Capitan, NM

We used to eat at home nearly every night and go out to eat on Sunday after church. Now we ate “out” at the camp dining room nearly every day/night and now eat at home after church on Sunday since usually Sunday is “transition” day here at the camp. Our food bill is nearly nil and we have not been to the store for groceries in three weeks. I am not complaining at all just wondering if I will remember how to cook when we do leave the end of September!

Larry repaired a golf cart that was shaking so badly it was hard to drive. It turns out the engine bracket weld let go so he made a beefed up bracket and welded it back in place. He also covered the top with left over material from the gym and finally found a rear view mirror to put on it. It looks really good now and runs great. Right now he is repairing a door latch on one of the camp trucks. He is waiting on parts from the local Chevy dealer to finish the job. He was able to fix the passenger side door latch without getting new parts. It doesn't look great but it is functional. Most of the vehicles around here have been donated and need some type of repair. That will keep Larry busy all summer along with the dining room 'duties'.

The utility cart before Larry put the top on it

The cart with the top in place

The utility cart fixed and ready to go with the new gym in the background