Time flies without thought.

The months have gone and I know not where. It seems only yesterday that I was in Arizona. Yet I have moved on first to Texas then on to Oklahoma, which was supposed to be for only 4 days and turned into 3+ months. Then I arrived back in Texas for the final prep to become a resident of Texas.





Let's back up and regroup a bit. Since my last post I was able to visit San Xavier Mission just south of Tucson in Wa:k, AZ. This was with my dear friends Snookie, Bonnie, and Diane. We had a wonderful time touring the mission which was built in the 18th century and is still an active church.




During this visit we noticed a sign advertising a Pow Wow to be held in a few weeks. Put on our list for future reference.

At time ticked off I began to think of what needed to be done before I left Arizona. One of the most important things was to get the tires replaced on the camper. These were original tires which were ten years old at this time if not older. I made it to AZ with God watching over me without any problems but didn't want to push him to far. New tires and the pocket book just under 375.00 lighter makes me feel a bit more secure. Thinking about what I could live without to lighten the load. I find this to be the hardest thing for me to adjust to doing. I have given up 80-90 percent of my material things and find it hard to do more. So on to repacking and putting things safely in places to travel. March 29th was coming fast for me. And though I hate to admit it panic was setting in again. Life on the road is an adventure and one I embrace completely, but I am still nervous when I set off after a few months of down time in one place.

Saying goodbye to friends I have made has been the hardest thing. Working in the activities department made work fun and we had a really great group this winter. I love you all and hope to see all of you somewhere down the road.




The days came as we said goodbye to one after another. Our song of choice for most fulltime RVers is "On The Road Again".

The day came when Duncan and I hit the road heading into the sun leading us east toward Texas. First stop was Las Cruces, NM I wanted to see the petroglyphs at Three Rivers Recreational site north of White Sands so planned to spend two nights there before I set off for Galveston, Tx. The petroglyphs were amazing and I had a great time climbing over rocks and taking pictures.











There are over 22,000 identified petroglyphs on this one little hill in the middle of the desert. Oh! I almost forgot that morning I stumbled upon a Peter Toth statue in Las Cruces so that was first on the agenda of me to visit. This is number 5 for me.




Since I have my national senior pass it would be silly not to stop at White Sands since I was right there.










Oh and did I mention there was grass in the campground. It was the first Duncan had walked on since our arrival in Arizona in October of 2013. I had found a patch at a resort we went to several times which I had walked on barefoot. Next stops are a couple of one night layovers on our way to Galveston Island for a gathering of my fellow lady RVers some of whom I had met, but many I had not. This is the best part of this lifestyle!

REMEMBER!!!!!!!
LIFE IS SHORT, BREAK THE RULES, FORGIVE QUICKLY, KISS SLOWLY, LOVE TRULY, LAUGH UNCONTROLLABLY, AND NEVER REGRET ANYTHING THAT MADE YOU SMILE!!!

Until next time............

I HAVE BEEN SO NEGLECTFUL!!!!

I was recently reminded that I have not posted in a long time and it is not that I have had nothing to write about it is just that time seems to get away from me and I have been a bit lazy about it as well.  I tend to write on Facebook and forget there are people out there that do not use it.  Looking back on the blog it was the beginning of November the last time I posted anything.  So will attempt to play catch up to the present.

The holidays were busy and a lot of fun.  We celebrated Thanksgiving with a dinner shared with about  120 residents here in the park. We as the activities staff cooked turkeys, and gravy and everyone brought another element to the dinner.  It was nice and a good time was had by all.

Shortly after Thanksgiving another of the workampers and I went to the Desert Museum in Tuscan for the day.  It was a special day with Native American food demonstrations and a basketry sale.  We got to sample many different foods and the baskets were so beautiful, but way above what my budget would allow so I just got a skirt and top to wear for the dances. The museum is a living exhibit of native plants and animals.  They have cactus of all kinds, bird aviaries as well as a free flight raptor show which is amazing.  We spent a long time in the hummingbird aviary just letting the birds fly around us.  Debbie has an orange camera which also drew the birds to her as you can see in the picture.

I have since made another trip to the museum which I will do another post about later.  Many more pictures.

Salmon to die for and as I have said before I never liked it.

Look for the hummer just in front and above the camera.

View of one of the many gardens.

A couple of the hawks with the trainer.

Then decorating got underway for Christmas. Seven trees were decorated and I lost count of the wreathes and stockings that were hung with care. And along came Christmas and another dinner was planned. We had about the same number of people again.  Santa brought me a beautiful Pearl necklace, bracelet and earrings which I totally love.  New Years came in with me awake and a wonderful night was had by all.   We had a few nights when temps dropped into the high 20’s and days stayed in the 50’s, but that did not last long at all. 

Fellow Activities Staff

We have had dances or shows every week and I have relearned to dance the waltz and with the help of our line dance instructors I have now mastered 5 of the dances to where I can do them without thinking about every step I take.  My goal was 5 before I would buy my cowboy boots and now am sort of shopping for them, but not all that seriously yet.

Feb brought Valentines and although I did not have one to share the day with I was invited out for dinner with a group which I really enjoyed.  I begged my boss to let me off for the dance that night as it was always a special holiday for Les and I that I did not want to have to sit there and watch the other couples that night.  I still get teary eyed with I hear our song played by one or another of the groups and have left the room when I hear it.  I will probably never dance to it with anyone else. It is hard to imagine that longer.

It is hard to believe I have been here 4 months today.  Time is flying by and they have asked me to come back next winter. 

Two weeks ago I went to the Gourd Festival with my friend Snookie on Saturday.  Then on Sunday went up to Mesa to get together with 9 other ladies from my Women RV Forum. This Monday I went to the Renaissance Festival with my niece Ariana and her family.  I will do separate posts for these as I have many pictures to post for each.

Just a sample of the beautiful gourds.

   

Then the next day I took off to Quartzsite, AZ which is the winter RV gathering ground for the winter snowbirds.  There are about 3000 people in the summer swelling to about 100,000 in the winter most of which stay on Bureau of Land Management  areas in the desert.  I had another online friend who I wanted to meet and she had invited me to stay with her so off Duncan and I went to experience the boondocking lifestyle.  People live in the desert with no water, electric or sewer hookup for up to 6 months of the year.  Most have generators, some solar panels and they either drive into town to empty tanks and fill up with water or they pay to have someone come out to do this for them so they don’t have to move the entire winter.  Jan/Feb brings in the largest RV show out here and other vendors for just about anything you could want along with huge rock vendors.  I really could have gone crazy with the stones for jewelry, but just settled for a new chain to replace one I had broken.  This was a major item on my bucket list so just had to go and experience it.

As you can see life has been busy with little down time this winter.

REMEMBER!!!!!!

Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile.

HOW GOOD LIFE IS AND THAT IT CAN END ALL TO QUICKLY!!!

Until next time.....