Headed for Tucson
Friday 12/11/15 St. Roberts, MO
Finally on the road to Arizona and we are now full timers - or will be after the house sale closes next Monday! The last couple of month have been absolutely crazy.
We decided last spring when we got home that we would pend the summer cleaning out the house and put it on the market in the spring of 2016. Then our next door neighbors in the townhouse put their house on the market in early June and sold it in seven days!! Well, we decided now was the time to jump into the market so we accelerated our timetable. First thing we had to do after talking to a couple of real estate agents was get rid of the endless pool. So I out it on Craig’s list for free, come and take it away (it is 20 years old, but still working great) and had 15 takers within an hour.
So with the pool gone we we refurbished the now family room and put the house on the market in mid-July. Had a lot of lookers, but no real offers so in late September we decided we would head for Tucson the first of November. THEN ... the last week in October I (Dennis) ruptured a tendon in my foot! Just walking down the street and the tendon that connects the ligament that runs down the front of my ankle and holds the foot up just popped.
So off to the doc who sent me to an ortho doc who recommended surgery. Had surgery Friday November 6th. Then I got sick from the pain meds and ended up in an ambulance headed for the local hospital Sunday morning. Spent four days in the hospital and right in the middle of all this we received and accepted and offer on the house and they wanted to close on Nov 30th!
Because of my foot we were unable to do that so we settled on 12/14. We had to pack all our stuff which was a real treat with me in a non-walking cast for two weeks and then a walking boot (which I still have.) We had gotten rid of a whole lot of stuff during the summer, clothes, furniture and other stuff off to the church barn (rummage) sale and the Salvation Army. Still took every minute we had to get things packed up.
So, last Friday my friend Ed brought our trailer over an parked it behind the house so we could load - I still could not drive because of the boot on my foot. The movers came on Tuesday and we moved into the trailer in the driveway. Wednesday and Thursday we cleaned the house - Nancy worked worked like a dog since I was still partially crippled.
Thursday I took my boot off for the first time and loaded the smart on the truck. Thursday afternoon went to see the doc and he wants me to keep the boot on full time for another week and then whenever I am working for another four (!!) weeks. So today (Friday) we hooked up the trailer and once in the truck I removed the boot and replaced it with a high top hiking shoe so I could drive, putting the boot back on every time I got out of the truck - what a pain in the butt!
Tonight we are in St. Roberts, MO after an uneventful 430 mile day, light traffic and good weather. Should be at Desert Trails by Tuesday12/15.
Saturday 12/12/15
St Roberts, MO to Oklahoma City. Pretty uneventful day, breakfast at Cracker Barrel, lunch as well - yes we re in a rut. Once again Nancy was disappointed that they no longer have regular oatmeal. They also have to do something about their payment prcedure. You finsh you meal and go out to pay and there are 6 people in line pying for chotchkees. A real PIA sometimes.
Stopped at the Flying J in Edmund, OK and took on 200 gallons of diesel for $1.95 a gallon! A lot better than a number of years ago when we were paying close to $5 a gallon.
Then the uneventful changed. Got off I-40 in Oklahoma City at the exit for Rockwell RV Park and the bridge across the highway is closed! They did not bother to tell us that when we called head to check for room! Had to go a little North and then West to the next North South road and get back on I-40 to get back to Rockwell Rd. (No frontage road here.) Only problem is the bridge repair has two of the three East bound lanes closed - massive traffic jam. Finally got settled for the night.
Sunday 12/13/15
We have been in contact with our friends Karen and Gary from Tucson who are on their way back to the Twin Cities for family issues. They spent the night in OK 70 miles West of us so we made plans to meet halfway in between for breakfast this morning. First location I had chosen did not work as the Love’s Truck stop did not have a restaurant! Really? So Karen and Gary backtracked about 20 miles and we found a place for breakfast and had a nice visit. Nancy got a short dog fix from Margo as well.
After breakfast we headed our separate ways. We hit light rain most of the way across to Amarillo. We decided to skip the Cracker Barrel since it was Sunday - good choice since the lot was packed when we passed. Just about then the rain changed to snow! No big deal but we had wet blowing snow from Amarillo to Clovis, NM, then rain until we got to Portales where we made a quick stop at McDonald’s for lunch. Then it cleared off, sunshine and blue sky by the time we made it to Roswell. Staying at Trailer Village in Roswell, a regular stop for us. They have expanded the park bit and have some nice, new, longer pull throughs.Unfortunately Pepper’s, our favorite restaurant in Roswell, is closed on Sunday, so we had pizza and watched the hockey game.
A bit colder tonight, supposed to drop to around 30 tonight. Last night we had a window open an the exhaust fan over our bed running all night, tonight the furnaces will be running!
Monday 12/14/15
29 degrees when we got up this morning! We are supposed to be heading toward warmer weather! When we were driving through the snow in Amarillo yesterday Joan was reporting 65 degrees in Tinley Park!
Uneventful trip as far as Las Cruces, where we stopped at the Cracker Barrel for lunch. Then we hit heavy rain and fairly high winds all the way across Southern New Mexico and into AZ. Stopped at Ft Wilcox RV in Wilcox for the night, will be another cold one as we are fairly high here.
Got the call this afternoon that the house closed and the money is in the bank! Yeah!
Tuesday 12/15/15
Usually we run the truck and trailer through a quarter self-service car wash that is big enough to accommodate us, but I was hesitant because of the walking boot on my foot, Nancy said she could do it, but again it was 24 degrees this morning so we decided not to do it. We are really dirty from the snow and rain, but that’s the way it goes.
Arrived at Desert Trails right around noon and I impressed myself by backing the trailer into our site in one shot! Never even had to pull it ahead to realign once. That does not happen very often.
I had made an appointment for physical therapy at a place on the north side of the city, but when we arrived Pericles (park owner) recommended one closer to us, right near St.Mary’s hospital just the other side of Gates Pass. So I called, they were booked Thursday and Friday. I wanted to get started so I said I would keep the appointment I had. Then Agility PT called back and said they had rescheduled a regular and could get me in Friday afternoon, so I cancelled the other appointment.
Made a quick trip into town for lunch at Beyond Bread, which also takes care of dinner with the left overs and then back home to get settled in. This is really “home” at this point since it is all we have right now! On the way home we were disappointed to find that the Albertson’s Grocery we have often stopped at on Speedway is closed! Bummer.
Watched the Hawks lose to Colorado tonight, glad to have the Center Ice package as we have not missed a game along the way.
Wednesday 12/16
Nancy had her first Spanish class of the season this morning. I did some settling in and had a guy from Safelite stop by and fixed a stone crack in the windshield that we had picked up in Oklahoma. Agility Therapy called this morning and said they had a cancellation this afternoon, so I can get started on my therapy right away!
After lunch we went in to Agility and I had my first session, nice young man, foot feels better already. Appointment was from 2 to 3 and then we had a training class for the Book Festival at 4. When we got there I looked at my e-mail and found that it had been cancelled. So we went over to Trader Joe’s and did some grocery shopping before we headed home.
This year instead of being room monitors at the festival we have signed up to be liaisons and supervise a group on volunteers, we'll see how that works out!
Thursday 12/17
Nancy did some laundry this morning, the laundry room closest to us has been remodeled with a new tile floor and all new, larger machines.
After lunch we took a ride through The Foothills in Tucson Estates to look at the houses on the market. Nothing there right now that turns out crank, expect the market to heat up a bit after the first of the year.
Friday 12/18
Nancy’s birthday today. Had a couple of guys come and wash the truck and trailer this morning, so I had to get the bikes unloaded from the back of the trailer, They survived the trip OK, we had given away the old bikes that we usually travel with and brought our good Treks with us this time. Our old cover was getting kind of worn so I got new one and then put the old cover on top of that, so the bikes stayed dry even through the heavy rain on Monday. Guys did a nice job cleaning the rig so we are no longer embarrassingly dirty, looks pretty good.
After lunch we went back to Agility Therapy for my second appointment. I now have two appointments a week for the next six weeks. After that we went over to H. F. Coors to pick up some plates for Joan, then Costco and Walmart. After that we stopped at Cushing Street Bar & Grille for Nancy’s Birthday dinner.
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