New Adventure

We started May out with three mystery shops at restaurants, one a new one for us, one a delivery pizza and the last one a Black Bear shop. We enjoyed them all and will miss them this summer.

Dawn, Vince and Bethany met us at church on Mother's Day and then took us out to eat at Sweet Tomatoes. We had a good time and I enjoyed the food since I like salad. Larry is not too fond of salad but then it was Mother's Day, not Father's Day! The outfit Dawn and Vince gave me for Mother's Day



On Monday after Mother's Day we met Todd and LaTia at Applebee's about half way between us to celebrate Todd's birthday since he was not feeling well when we first planned the meal for his birthday. Todd and LaTia at Applebee's.


We had a really great time together. Todd was feeling pretty good and that helped a lot. We rode the bike and enjoyed the ride as well.

On May 15, just five days before we left Phoenix, Larry had the privilege of leading one of our neighbors, Tony, to a saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He went to church with us on Sunday May 19. Our primary purpose in life is to see souls saved and encourage straying Christians to return so we are rejoicing with the angels in heaven over Tony's decision.

Sunday evening May 19 we had Vince's 50th birthday party and our going away party at the clubhouse. Todd and Vince at the clubhouse for Vince's 50th birthday party.

The "boys" at the party.

The "girls" at the party.

The birthday boy and his cake.

One big problem was two grandkids didn't make the party -one totally forgot about it and the other one set his alarm for AM instead of PM and slept right through the entire evening. I told him I was disappointed not to see him again before we left but I was glad he got the needed sleep as he has been having a problem sleeping with his roommate's new whinny dog keeping him awake much of the time. Cerét felt badly for forgetting and came to see us before her work and our leaving Monday morning. That was a really nice gesture and we are grateful she made the effort. Cerét and Grandpa the morning we left Phoenix

We spent the next eight days at St David where very few folks were staying. The section of the park we wanted to park in was closed for the summer but Larry was able to jackknife the trailer into a spot that was wide and we were able to get everything into the site without unhooking. Jackknifed in our site in St David. Another view of the site in St David.

We took just the bike out and enjoyed a nice ride to Bisbee, AZ one afternoon and went into Benson after church on Sunday for lunch. It was very windy most of the time we were there so we stayed close to home. We did join the park for their Bar-B-Q on Saturday afternoon when more folks came out for the holiday weekend. Although the days were hot the nights were wonderful with the temp. going down into the low 50's or high 40's, great sleeping weather.

We had planned to spend Tuesday night, May 28 at Sam's Club in Las Cruces, NM but on arrival found they had no place big enough for us to stay that they allowed so after shopping we moved just down the road to K-Mart and spent the night there after checking with management to see if it was OK.

Wed May 29 was again windy but we had a nice tailwind much of the day and made good time and had decent mileage for an all uphill climb from Las Cruces to Ruidoso, NM. We stopped for fuel in Alamogordo and added an additive that seemed to make a big difference in our ability to climb at a higher speed. We arrived at our new adventure, Bonita Park Camp and Conference Center, 10 miles south of Capitan, NM around 1:30 PM on May 29 and are parked in the RV park as of now as the only volunteers (the three other RV's are staff members). Bonita Park RV park.

Where the gym was before the fire.

The devastation of the Little Bear fire of June 2012 is evident everywhere. Aftermath of the fire looking south from the RV park.


All the staff members except one lost their homes in the fire. There were 248 homes/cabins lost in the fire and 123 of those were on this camp's grounds. The people are very resilient though and forging ahead. One of the perks of volunteering here is we get fed and the food is awesome! We plan to stay the entire summer. God is good all the time.

Preparing for our next move

Getting old is for the birds! I completely forgot yesterday was the first of the month. The morning started off getting our mail and finding a nine day past due bill that I didn't even know about! Trying to get that straightened out and paid was quite a task because I don't have the card to give the correct number. Fortunately by using the phone listed on the account, our billing zip code and SS number I was able to get it paid. Then I had to change all the information (bank and bank account as well as cc number) with the merchant so that won't happen again. PTL the account has a fifteen day grace period so we weren't “donned”.

We started off April with another mystery shop at a new restaurant for us in Scottsdale. Since it was an evening shop we took the bike and had a really nice ride along with a great meal. I am going to miss all these great shops this summer when we will be in much smaller towns which do not usually have mystery shops.

We returned to Prescott to help Larry's mother once again only this time it turned very ugly (I will spare you the details) so we left after an hour and do not plan on returning. Larry's brother and wife drove from IN (around 2,000 miles one way) to see 'Mom' Clark and they were there four days before she let only Larry's brother in for three hours. She would only see him in the evening before they left and he has really bad night vision so it just goes to show she thinks only of herself. They left the next day and said they would not see her again alive. So sad she is burning her bridges and will die a hateful, lonely old woman. We drove to Prescott to see them and met at the Golden Corral so their trip won't be in vain (we met them on day three of their visit). We had a great time visiting and spent nearly four hours at GC! Those folks are so nice and never once made any indication they would like us to leave. Brother Bill and Nancy at Golden Corral in Prescott, AZ

Back in Phoenix we signed the lease for another year here and then rented the Home Depot truck and brought in two loads of pink rock to level the site better. Larry has been concerned about the MH tires and the concrete since the rock wasn't up to the concrete. Now it is and looks good. The weather was perfect 75º and we worked hard for old folks but we are glad it is done. After we added 2 1/2 tons of pink rock to the site in Phoenix

New 'patio' at our place


Since we are leaving now in mid May Larry has been busy getting the MH ready for the trip. It has been seven years since the antifreeze was replaced so we now have new. He greased the u-joints and wheel bearings, replaced the broken tail light and repaired the squirrel cage on the front A/C that had come forward so far it quite working (the A/C). We are so grateful we didn't have to replace the A/C unit itself! Back when we had the trouble with the AquaHot Larry discovered the vents were too small for the heat exchangers and that was why when the heat was on the sinks would get so hot. The heat was going UP not OUT so we bought bigger vents and Larry spent last week putting them in. That was a messy, dusty job but we are glad it is done. Showing the different size of the old vents to the new ones Larry put in so we can get the full benefit of the heat

Fan in cabinet where the modem is, hopefully helping it to last longer

While he was cutting holes in the woodwork for the vents, he decided to put a fan into the cabinet that holds the modem because it didn't have any ventilation. He also fixed the cooling pad on my laptop since my computer was getting so hot. He discovered the connection was broken so I was getting very little cooling. He turned the fans around to blow the opposite direction and the cooling pad is working great now. I do hope my computer didn't suffered permanent damage.

We ended the month with a dinner visit to Dawn and Vince's because Colby was visiting. It is always good to see family! Dawn making salad



Vince and Larry watching TV waiting to eat

Bethany and Colby

2013 'Marches' on

Larry finally put his 'Man Cave' sign over the door of the trailer, something I bought him two months ago.
Larry under his new sign.

This has been a tough month. We discovered our AquaHot coolant was dangerously low with only four gallons remaining out of 16. That caused the electric element to blow out
Burned out electric element

The radiator cap was toast and allowed the coolant to evaporate but PTL Larry changed the wrong fuel filter in the beginning which forced us to continue looking for the cause of our problem. That's when we found the coolant so low. After replacing the cap and new coolant (and draining it all out to replace the electric element), Larry realized he had changed the generator fuel filter, not the AquaHot fuel filter so when he replaced the AquaHot filter, all the problems we were experiencing went away. Had he replaced the AquaHot filter first, we would have stopped looking for the problem and would have burned the AquaHot up and would have had to replace it to the tune of $9000! God is so good! HE is always looking out for us.
How we put the new antifreeze into the AquaHot without using a pump
Hose going into the radiator of the AquaHot. As you can see there is not much room to work.



Then our toilet wasn't holding water so we ordered a new one since it was cheaper than buying separate parts but when we received it, it was the wrong one! Larry decided he could cannibalize it and use the parts since we really didn't need the complete toilet. He went to do the job and only then did we discover the manufacturer had labeled the seal kit wrong and we didn't have the proper seal. He looked all over the north side of Phoenix and found one seal kit but it was labeled wrong too! Since the manufacturer is back east and we are three hours behind them, by the time we discovered we had a problem, they were closed. The next morning I called and did locate the correct seal and had it sent priority mail which still meant we were without a toilet for three days. Fortunately the clubhouse isn't very far away for daytime use and a urinal and a can served for night time use. I kept having to remind myself that our grandparents didn't have indoor plumbing so surely we could last three days! One doesn't appreciate things until they are gone. We are back in business again and we even have a spare seal “just in case”.

In the midst of all that, we had friends from Oregon visit us. We had a good visit (they have family in the area so we weren't the only reason they were in AZ ) and it was good to see them again since we last saw them in Grants Pass, OR in 2009.

Larry's Mom left her phone off the hook two different times this month, the first time being when we were having all our “issues” so we couldn't leave and the police went out to check on her. She was fine. The second time we had already planned to visit her so it was no big deal. She had even figured out the phone was off the hook before we arrived. Larry ended up completely rebuilding her toilet which he found was rusted loose from the floor.

We celebrated grandson Colby's birthday by going to Red Lobster and then Dawn, Vince, and Bethany joined us for the Passover Seder.
Dawn and Colby at Red Lobster

Ellen, Larry and Vince at Red Lobster for Colby's birthday

Dawn, colby and Bethany at Colby's birthday party at Red Lobster

Our son, Todd stopped by when he was feeling a little better as he was on 'our' side of town. It was great seeing him but he didn't stay very long as he started hurting again. He has been experiencing incredible pain for two years now and doctors cannot seem to figure out what is causing such excruciating pain.

Larry has been doing maintenance on the MH by greasing the wheel bearings, changing the fuel filters, and greasing the U joints, front end and chassis. He said he is getting too old to continue doing all that in the future as he really 'feels it' for several days afterward. But since we have more time than money I'm grateful for all he does do.

We were able to sell our old cooktop on Craig's List as well as our small Vitamix container. Every little bit helps!

Larry had a follow-up appointment at his primary care doctor at the VA. Everything checked out OK. The weather was so nice we rode the bike. We also took a night ride recently which took me back many years when we used to ride nightly in Tucson when our house was being built and Larry worked the swing shift. We would ride out to see what was done that day.

Glad February is behind us

We started Feb off with a visit to the VA to see about Larry’s shoulder issue. After hearing the three possible solutions (do nothing, go for physical therapy or surgery) He decided to do nothing for now and just ‘grin and bear it’. We did get new pads for his Tens unit and the doctor told him where to place them for the best help. That has helped some.

We went to Prescott to move the mailbox from the bottom of the hill to beside the garage for his mother. I also called the newspaper and asked them to throw the paper up by the garage door so she doesn’t have to go down the hill to get either the mail or the paper now. She is liking that very much and said on the windy days the paper has been in the paper box below the mailbox which means the paper person has to get out of their car to put the paper in the box. That is really nice!

We met friends at our favorite Chinese restaurant and were very disappointed with the food. We have been going to that restaurant for almost twenty years and learned it had been sold recently so we will not be going back. We also met ‘growing up’ friends we haven’t seen in 11 years and had a nice visit. They have retired to a small southern IN town not too far from where we once lived in southern IN. We learned it really is a small world!

We moved the MH by going to Cave Creek, AZ and doing a take out pizza shop so we killed two birds with one stone. The great pizza we bought in Cave Creek
The pizza was fantastic but Larry was feeling pretty bad and was running a fever (we stopped to buy a thermometer on the way). He spent the next few days in bed and I ended up taking him to the emergency room at the VA on Saturday because he thought he had pneumonia (which the chest x-ray showed he didn’t). Monday evening he started coughing up blood and then his nose started bleeding so we went back to the emergency room at the VA. They kept him overnight but never did figure out what caused the problem. They said he had bronchitis. He has been taking it easy since trying to shake whatever he has. We had some cold weather and hail so he didn’t want to get out anyway. Hail that came down on Feb 20, 2013


The last Sunday of Feb after church I did a shop for Black Bear Diner, something I have wanted to do for a long time. It was well worth the wait and we had enough leftovers for two more meals. Sweet!

And I thought Dec. was busy!

We started the new year off by moving the motorhome by going to Camping World in Mesa for a day trip. When we returned we could not hook up to the internet and had to move the MH three different times, still not connecting. The next day we talked to Moto-Sat to see if the sat tables had changed, not, so we had to reboot everything and finally we were able to connect. Yah!

Larry had his trailer mover listed on Craig’s List and a fellow came and bought it so that gave us some extra money. Larry bought a gun with his half and I bought a two burner induction cooktop. It is really fast and I really like it.

Jan 6 we met at Sweet Tomatoes to celebrate Dawn’s birthday. It is always good to see family and share a meal together. I baked a cake to help celebrate.

Dawn and daughter, Bethany at Sweet Tomatoes

Ellen, Dawn and Bethany Jan 6, 2013

Vince, Colby, Dawn and Bethany at Sweet Tomatoes for Dawn's birthday





Monday Jan7 Larry had a VA appt. and he had x-rays of his shoulder. After the VA I did another mystery shop for our meal and then we went to the movies (Christmas gift) to see Les Miserables. I have not seen the Broadway version so it was all new to me. It is an unusual musical in everything said is sung. I enjoyed it as it had a good story line, no sex or cussing but there was violence.

Phoenix had a four day cold spell with night time temperatures below freezing and daytime temps. in the 40’s. So glad that is behind us!

After the cold spell Larry got busy and finished several projects. He fixed one of our bedroom day/night shades, put in a new ramp for his trailer/shop, and put bug deflectors on the front fork of his BMW bike. While it was cold he replaced my old cooktop with the new induction cooktop. It was a two day project and kind of messy but well worth the effort. He had to put a switch on the front of the cabinet so I won't accidentally turn it on since it is now the counter top. He also put a new winch in the trailer under the sewing machine so we can load the BMW into the trailer easier.

Larry re-stringing our day/night bedroom shades

The new safety ramp Larry engineered to use for his trailer/shop

The bug deflectors Larry put on the front fork of his BMW. He also put on a longer fender.

The old cooktop just before Larry replaced it

Starting the cutout for the new cooktop

The cutout with the new brace ready for the new cooktop

The new cooktop in and ready to go

The switch Larry put in the cabinet so I won't accidentally turn the new cooktop on since it is now the counter top.

The new winch to help load the BMW in the trailer. It is located under his sewing machine on the wall.


We had planned to go to Prescott on Jan 21 with Dawn and Vince to celebrate Larry’s mother’s 90th birthday but she called us on the Friday before saying she would not be alive on Monday and please come. By the time we gathered our things together and arrived in Prescott, she was feeling better. We stayed and Dawn and Vince came up on Monday as planned to celebrate her birthday. We returned to Phoenix on Tues. the 22nd.

Vince, Dawn and Larry in Prescott for Mom Clarks's birthday

Not 90 candles (that would burn the house down!) but celebrating 90 years

This shows the flowers that the lady who gets Mom C's groceries brought to her







On Sat Jan 26 we went to the park Chili cook-off and enjoyed our meal especially since Larry went for free since he won the door prize from the monthly breakfast two weeks before.

Dawn and Vince invited us out to Genghis Grill to celebrate my 70th birthday. She baked a cake and when the server, Tim saw it, he wanted a piece of cake too. Then he asked if we wanted ice cream to go with it. When Dawn asked, ‘how much?’, he replied ‘nothing’ and brought out five bowls of ice cream. How cool is that?

celebrating 70 years at Genghis Grill in Phoenix,AZ




We ended up going back to Prescott on the 30th because Mom Clark’s phone was busy for two days (she left it off the hook) but one never knows about that sort of thing, especially since she seems to be going downhill very fast. She has shortness of breath, swollen legs and no energy, all signs of congestive heart failure. We are planning to go back on Monday Feb 4. It makes it very hard when she will agree to go to a home one minute and the next minute be adamantly against it.

Happy 2013!

We started Dec. with an emergency call from Larry’s mother so we headed to Prescott. She had a blood clot in her arm and was in ICU for a day until the blood clot dissipated. She was moved to a regular room until she was strong enough to walk and on Sat they let her come home. She had agreed to go to care facility for week or so until she was stronger but when the time came to go she refused to sign the papers so we ended up taking her home instead and the county has been checking in on her since she refused to abide by the doctor’s recommendation. It is a situation we are not happy about but when older folks get so stubborn and won’t listen to any kind of reason, you just have to let it go.

I did all my Christmas shopping on line and it was so easy. I for one, dislike shopping of any kind so on line is the least painful.

The weather turned cold so Larry did not spend much time in the trailer working although he has several projects he wants to do. He does not like the cold and I am not overly fond of cold weather either. It is hard to get motivated to go walking each day when the highs are only in the 50’s.

We had our family Christmas get together in the clubhouse where we are staying. Everyone was able to come which we are very grateful for. We had a White Elephant gift exchange and had a lot of laughs over some of the gifts.

Waiting for others to arrive

Enjoying our meal

Ceret opening a gift she doesn't like

Us on Christmas Day


I found some puzzles for the holidays on line and printed them out for anyone/everyone to work on to help pass the time while we were waiting for everyone to arrive. We did have a very nice day. We also were able to get a good “family” picture with one addition, Alex’s girlfriend, Karen.

Back row: Colby, Vince, Alex, Todd, Adam, Shane, Larry
Front row: Bethany, Dawn, Karen, LaTia, Ceret, Ellen

We ended the month with another mystery shop at a pizza place just half a mile down the road. It was very convenient and we enjoyed the pizza. It is nice getting paid to eat out!