RV life means you can pick the best weather to be anywhere. But sometimes getting to the best weather takes you through more challenging weather! In early January, a freezing windstorm in El Paso, Texas, had us blowing out the water lines again, and damaged our coach door when a wind gust grabbed it and the support strut ripped right off the door.
We arrived in Tucson, Arizona, in mid-January, and visited with Doug's parents and his sister and her family over the next month. We were glad to see that Doug's parents are really enjoying their independent living casita and the associated community. It was also the year to celebrate Doug's dad's 87th birthday and Doug's parents' 65th wedding anniversary, for which all the extended family came into town, including our daughters.
Even in Tucson, a light snowfall found us, and several days of freezing weather plus a missed propane delivery had us trying out our new connection to an external propane tank. Testing the connections with a spray bottle of cleanser revealed bubbles at the end of the connecting hose. First Doug, and then Alison, drove all over town to finally find a hose company that would crimp on a new connector.
Besides visiting family, we also enjoyed meeting fellow RV'ers at Blue's Kitchen, where a seasonal resident uses his outdoor kitchen to serve breakfasts! We enjoyed a hike in Catalina State Park, and attended one of the fascinating venues of the annual Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Showcase.
In late February, we headed back to Texas. We ended up staying an extra night in Midland as we replaced tires #4 and #5 of six. Originally we thought we needed to replace a leaking rear tire and a leaking front tire. It turned out that the rear tire just needed its extension valve tightened, but both front tires were worn down to smooth on the inside line, so we replaced both of those with the new matching tires. (And made a note to get the rig aligned at a later date.) We are so thankful we never had a blowout on our steering tires!
In Dallas, we visited family friends and also a friend from college. We highly recommend the Perot Museum of Nature and Science! We also attended the Dallas RV SuperSale, and while many rigs were interesting, saw only one we liked as much as our current rig. (The Winnebago Vista National Park Foundation Canyonlands class A.) At twice the price, we decided we will remain well-satisfied with our current rig!
We spent a weekend in San Antonio in an RV park directly on the Riverwalk, about 5-1/2 miles from The Alamo. There are five Spanish colonial missions in San Antonio: The Alamo, better known for its role in the 1836 battle during the Texas Revolution, and Missions Concepcion, Espada, San Juan, and San Jose. We bicycled to three and took a bus and an Uber to see the other two.
We arrived at Alison's mother's house in Corpus Christi, Texas on March 1 to help her clear out her garage of memorabilia. Doug, being retired, did the lion's share of the work, and we both enjoyed the old photos and stories of the adventurous lives that Alison's parents had lived. Carolyn was born and raised in the deep south, but her longing for travel led her to leave Birmingham after high school to take a job with the federal government in Washington, D.C. and then Tehran, Iran. There she met Mike, who had already traveled across the U.S. by motorcycle, fought in WWII, run a donut shop in Ketchikan, Alaska, smoke-jumped in Montana, and joined the federal government with postings in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. After they met, married, and had two daughters (Alison and Diana), they relocated to the U.S., but the travel bug never left them. A later posting to Athens, Greece led to camping and sailing throughout Europe. After retirement, Mike and Carolyn's two year travels in an Airstream trailer were a direct inspiration to us.
A widow since 2005, Carolyn decided she was ready to enjoy the structured social life and care of an independent living community. We helped her to select and contract for a lovely apartment, and began preparations to help her with the move. Alas! It was not to be. Carolyn fell and broke her hip, and passed away at the age of 88 after a short battle with a post-operative infection (C Diff).
We have been extremely fortunate in being able to spend so much time with Alison's mom over the past three years, and in being able to be with her at the end. Our two daughters flew in, and we were able to bring Carolyn home from the hospital to her house and be with her as she peacefully passed.
As you might imagine, we spent the following three months settling Carolyn's estate and preparing her house for sale. We did spend one weekend in Boerne, Texas, visiting Alison's college roommate and her mom, sister-in-law, and niece, and we took one quick (but long!) trip to St Petersburg, Florida, to deliver Carolyn's car to our daughter Isabel and to scout out where we wanted to stay when we return in November with the rig. We also arranged for some rig maintenance, including replacing our broken coach entry door, and reupholstering our sofa and dinette benches.
We have endured the brutal heat wave that's afflicting the entire southern U.S. this summer - coastal breezes have helped a lot - and are now back on the road again, heading for RAGBRAI (Des Moines Register Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa).
Having a legacy of parents (on both sides) who have always supported us, including our non-traditional choice of RV life, has been a great blessing. We will miss those who went before us, and we will continue to travel to spend time with our loved ones whenever we can!
Comments