Trip to Ringling Museum with Debbie

I know Randy wanted to spend hours in an art museum, but I really thought we needed some time away from each other, so I jumped at Debbie's invitation to tour the Ringling Museum in Sarasota. They have a fabulous collection of Reubens and other Renaissance paintings, made even more interesting by the fresh flower arrangements exhibited and inspired by the paintings. Taking photos was okay, but no flash. I struggled to find a manual light setting and in turn forgot to compose the photos. Hopefully, you can see what the flower arranger was trying to do.

We left the art museum and went to the circus museum. This beautiful wagon was transported on rail cars until the circus reached it's destination and then was part of the parade advertising the circus. I have only seen one small circus and had no idea that in it's hay day the Ringling, Barnum and Baily Circus was huge, employing 800 people and putting on a show under a tent larger than a football field. The circus no longer belongs to the Ringling family and the house and museum were bequeathed to the State of Florida. Truly a great place to visit... very well done, reasonably priced and the pork barbecue for lunch was yummy... not quite up to a Sonoran hot dog though.

Randy spent the day meeting the new neighbors, a couple from Ontario who Randy says look and talk like the Clampetts. We are now sandwiched between ZZ Top and Jed and Granny. It just makes you want to spend your winters in a trailer park, doesn't it. I am out of taffy so time for sleep.

We try to go to the beach.

After spending the weekend doing laundry, cleaning, and trailer maintenance, (just a little pipe leaking problem, tail light out, and Yuk, Yuk, Yuk, sewer back up problems), we decided it was time for a Beach Day. We packed up the coolers, lawn chairs, straw hat, sunscreen, dog water, dog treats, dog and headed for the only dog friendly beach: Fort Meyers Beach. As you may remember, we had visited the beach when we first arrived, a cool, overcast day, no problem parking and very few people. After sitting in traffic for one and a half hours, we realized that our only hope of remaining civil with each other was to turn around and head home. Boy, are we beach newbies, who knew that that the beautiful 80 degree weather would inspire every other Snowbird in Southwest Florida with a dog to head for the only dog friendly beach. It may not seem obvious to my blog followers, but Randy and I do eventually learn from our mistakes and we have concluded that next time we travel, the dog must either board with Aunty Lissy and Uncle Tim or learn how to stay alone in The Land Yacht.

It wasn't a completely ruined day, I discovered Beall's Fun and Funky Florida style clothing outlet. I had great fun picking out shorts and shirts for Randy, pants with embroidered matching tops with beach themes for me and some cheap flip flops... I realized I was out of control when I noticed that in my Southwest Florida induced "dare to be tasteless" frenzy, I had put some denim capri pants with flamingos gracing the pant leg in my cart. I traded them in for some salt water taffy.

It is time to sign off, not only am I getting tired, but my fingers are too sticky to type... damn that salt water taffy.

Another cool day in Fla, but we're not complaining

Remember our neighbor, Charles Manson, well turns out, when he is sober and not stoned out of his gourd, he's actually a very nice guy. He came over to apologize for the first night, said he had just been laid off from his job and was understandably depressed. (Not really a good time to decide to meet the neighbors, but we all have lapses in judgement.) Because he is home during the day, we asked him if he could dog sit so we could go to the Edison Museum in Fort Meyers. He agreed to do it for a case of beer. Randy thought this was a pretty good deal... who wouldn't want to be paid in beer. Edison was an extrordinary man... I knew about the light bulb and the phonograph, but the list of his inventions was incredible. He was such a forward thinker. He realized that we would become too reliant on foreign oil and thought we should be looking at the sun to meet some of our energy needs. At the end of his life, he was trying to find a way to grow and harvest a plant on American soil that would provide a source for domestic rubber. He tried many different plants and trees, including the amazing Banyan Tree. His original sapling is now a tree which has spread over an acre. That is the Banyan tree behind his statue. Eventually, he developed a hybrid of the lowly Goldenrod which stood 12 feet tall and could provide many pounds of latex. Sadly, he was already 84 and died before he could bring his final dream to fruition.

Now that we have an on site dog sitter who we can pay in beer, we may try to go to Sarasota and the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Musuem. Randy does not know about the fabulous art collection and I think it best to let him find out after we have driven the fifty miles to Sarasota. Now if I could just figure out a way to trick (I didn't say that) him into seeing a professional production of West Side Story, playing in Naples, my trip to the Gulf Coast would be complete. Maybe dog sitting neighbor Dominic would go with me for a case of beer. You never know...

Bonita Springs and exotic birds

Randy and I spent the day with my friend Karin's daughter Debbie and her husband John in Bonita Springs. Deb and John have exotic birds at their Florida home and Randy and I were introduced to them. One of the birds had an amazing vocabulary, it even sounded human when it was mumbling to itself. Deb insisted that I get into the large cage with it after telling me "Ruby" could be unpredictable. Against my better judgement, I stepped into the cage to get some photos and while clicking away, I swear I heard this bird say: mumble, mumble, bite it's arm, mumble, grumble, mumble, snatch out it's eyes, mumble, grumble, grumble, steal it's camera. As I was quickly exiting the cage, I know it said: mumble, mumble, missed my chance. The bird Debbie was holding was friendlier and she thought maybe I would like to have it walk all over my body. I saw those scars on Deb's arms and thought to myself, I know the chemo I am on only lowers your white count slightly, but I am NOT risking some exotic birdy disease for the chance to have this thing perch on my arm.

We had a great visit with Deb and John. I hadn't seen Debbie in years and really enjoyed catching up with her and meeting John. We got back to Casa Airstream a little late because we overshot our exit on I 75 by about 40 miles. (Randy was really happy about that) It was nice to find my cozy little bed waiting and that is why I am writing the post on Thursday morning.

Kindle meltdown, RV Park Barbecue, and Tornado Warnings

Finally a lovely warm day, I went for a swim, overused my shoulder and came home in pain. I took some happy pills, settled in a lawn chair with an ice tea and my Kindle, turned it on and zap, screen meltdown. I called Amazon and the great news is I am getting a replacement via UPS tomorrow. And believe me, without my Kindle, the Stunned and Dismayed RV Park would be barely bearable.

However, feeling that we hadn't given the park and the people a fair chance, we decided to go to Tuesday Barbecue night at the "clubhouse". I insisted that we make a concerted effort to socialize and maybe even get a good meal. The sign said to bring your own drinks, so Randy packed up his beer and a soda for me and off we went. Dinner was a tiny hamburg and an even tinier bag of chips, but Randy took solace in the fact that he could at least have a beer. He took a beer out of the cooler and 20 people pointed to the No Alcohol Sign. At least we got noticed. It was time to go anyway, because someone was firing up the old Kareoke Machine and such hootin' and hollerin' you have never heard.

We returned to the trailer just before a huge Florida sized wind, rain and thunderstorm blew in from the Gulf. Randy turned on the TV and saw the warning sign scrolling along the bottom telling people to seek shelter in the sturdiest part of their homes and that trailers and RVs were not safe. (We already knew this, but there was no mention of what to do if your only shelter was an RV.) I have to admit it is a little scary imagining yourself flying through the sky like Dorothy in your tiny airborne silver bullet. We kept watching the news hoping they would announce shelters for RVers, but just the warning..."trailers and RVs are unsafe in a Tornado". Finally, just before the power went off, they removed the Tornado Warning for this county and I am happily writing this blog, secure in the knowledge that I won't be visiting OZ tonight.

Randy and I find a nice beach... dog gets us into trouble

Today was sunny and 65, a good day to explore Fisherman's Village in Punta Gorda. We found beach themed gift shops, clothing stores with Hawaiian shirts and fancy flip flops, one cute gallery with some neat fish prints, (literally, the actual fish is inked and a rice paper print is made from the fish) and Randy's favorite, The Salty Paws. He bought a ball cap with a German Shepherd on it. Keeping with the fish theme, the only thing I wanted was a giant fish cookie from a tiny bakery next to the Salty Paws. I resisted, always mindful of those Weight Watcher Points. Randy suggested I buy a ball cap or a Tee shirt with cookies on it. What a pair we would make... the skinny man loves his German Shepherd and roly poly woman loves food.

We left Punta Gorda and drove northwest to Gasperilla Island. This small island is dotted with very fancy condos and houses, but does have a beautiful public beach. The rules were posted on a post in the parking lot and we actually thought pets were allowed... it was a bit ambiguous to be sure, but there weren't many people, so we leashed up the girl and off we went. It didn't take long for us to realize that people were staring at us with there cell phones to their ears. Randy took the dog and made a beeline to the truck just ahead of the local Sheriff of Snootsville. I was walking with my cane and exaggerated my limp to illicit sympathy, but I don't think it would have mattered to this bunch. We climbed into our "good ol' boy truck" and waved to the sheriff and the well healed looking couple who had done their civic duty. I know rules are rules, but they really weren't all that clear. The very coolest thing on this island, besides the dog unfriendly beach, was a giant Banyan tree... and the fact that no one told us to move on when we stopped to photograph it.

Home to The Sun and Shade and our very modest little trailer... which suits me just fine.

Pizza fire, Pizza fire and none to soon... it's cold down here

It's cold in South Florida! Not as cold as Saranac Lake, but cold. Randy and I decided to find a dog friendly beach, which we did, the very nice Fort Meyers Beach. We even found a handicapped spot that allowed for free parking... well that would have been very nice if the handicapped person had brought her handicapped hang tag. Oh well, we plugged the meter, fifty cents for 15 minutes, which was about all we could handle in the cold. We'll be back when the weather improves.

We returned home, closed the windows and turned on our space heater, (Thanks, mom, that was a great Christmas gift.) Randy had bought a frozen pizza for dinner and fired up the Magic Chef. He popped in the pizza and went back outside, I had closed the door between the bedroom and living/ kitchen room and didn't notice the smoke pouring out of the oven. We opened the roof vents and all the windows. It looked like the trailer was on fire. I was waiting for someone to call 911, but it was after 6:00, everyone had turned in for the night. Even our neighbor, Ziggy Pop, was too stoned to notice. I guess it was for the best, we certainly would not have endeared ourselves to the park inhabitants if noisy fire trucks had been called. Actually, I suspect nobody called, because compared to the fancy trailers in this park, we look like aging hippies in their gypsy wagon.

Praying for warm weather here in South Florida, but glad we're not in Saranac Lake. (Sorry, Kath, I know you love it up there... but you made it on the local news... right here in Punta Gorda.

Just another warm south Florida day

We decided it was time to explore the surrounding environs. We headed south to Ft. Meyers, found the historic downtown, but did not stop to walk the street, just drove through. I love the colors of south Florida and Ft. Meyers did not disappoint. Each store was a lovely pastel color. We saw a bit of the older residential area; lovely clapboard houses in those pastel colors with neat architectural additions. It is such a contrast to the surrounding countryside where every thing is flat and featureless for miles and then a brief oasis of manicured lawns, trees and shrubs... either a golf course or a subdivision or both. I can't help but wonder what it looked like before the Spanish, English, carpetbaggers, land developers, snow birds discovered it.

We returned to the park hoping that our next door neighbor hadn't slashed the tires of our little silver home on wheels. He hadn't. I think he realized we were not his kind of people, (thank God) and wasn't going to waste anymore time on us. Feeling the need to move around, we decided to investigate the park's "nature" trail. As you can see, not too much nature, but a good reason to hobble about with my cane and get some exercise.

I will close tonight with what I consider a funny story on the Six o'clock news. It seems that 4 men were arrested together in one of the local parks exposing themselves to passersby. They ranged in age from 60 to 75, which prompted Randy to quip, "what happened, did the horseshoe game get rained out." Randy has been fairly amazed at the advanced age of most of the inhabitants of the Gulf Coast. (Of course, we are not exactly spring chickens, ourselves, so I will have to keep track of that Randy, lest he join a group of "over the hill" exhibitionists.)

We are here... The Sun and Shade RV Park

Well, what can I say about this park... it was probably quite nice in the seventies. As you can see from the first photo, Randy was wrong, the drainage ditch is not the pool and there is even a sign reminding you of this fact. It may also be, given the average age of the residents of this park, that the signs are necessary in case of rapid onset Alzheimers and the inability to distinguish a drainage ditch from a man made pool. Actually, the pool is more than adequate and I seem to be one of the few who use it. I think I should buy some flip flops to wear in the shower, however.

The only down side to our site, which backs up to some sort of giant wild horse tail weeds, (The manager said they would cut them down, but it makes for a great privacy screen, so he didn't really see any need.) is that we may be living next to Charlie Manson. His name is Dominick (or so he says) he was pretty high when he wandered over to introduce himself. He seems a bit crazy and certainly did not endear himself to me when he was describing the woman across the street as heavyset and than added "just like you miss Jackie". WTH, the man is either crazy, stoned or just plain stupid. What man in this day and age doesn't know not to comment on a woman's weight. I made a beeline for the trailer leaving Randy to contend with "Charles" and his ramblings about "coloreds", gays, Hispanics... Lord help us. I think we will be doing a lot of sightseeing.

I am sure we can keep him at bay once we plaster the airstream with Obama, gay pride,and peace stickers... oh, and large photos of Keith Oberman and Rachel Maddow just in case he is a Glenn Beck fan.

Randy has his BB gun in his sleeping bag.

Dr. says the chemo is working and we are off to Florida

Randy and I have fired up the old Airstream and we are on the road again... this time to the Gulf Coast of Florida; a town called Punta Gorda. We spent the first night in south Georgia in an RV park next to a Waffle House. Having recently joined Weight Watchers, (for the 250th time) I was excited to see that the Waffle House had a "light menu". I asked for the "light ham biscuit". It was made with Canadian Bacon, a good Weight Watcher choice. However... biscuits are never a good choice and this one was slathered with butter and put on the grill...yum! Well, there will be plenty of time to count those points. When I returned, Randy had the trailer ready to roll. I jumped into the cab, a light ham biscuit in each hand, (just in case Randy wanted one) and we were on our way to Florida. We got the thumbs up from an Easy Rider on a Harley when he saw our vintage Airstream with its very cool solar panels... this even got a smile out of Randy. The good feeling didn't last long, however, as the trailer started some gentle (my word) bucking because the vintage trailer brakes were acting up... my handy Randy man pulled off the highway and worked his magic (with just a few disparaging remarks about my baby) and we were rolling again. Just a few more hours and we will be the newest and possibly the youngest campers at the Sun and Shade RV Park. I found this park online... a real bargain at $17.00 dollars a day. It even has a heated pool. (Randy says for that price it is probably a sink hole with 'gators in it.) I think it will be great and if it isn't, more fodder for the Blog.

I think the name of this blog should be The Pink Safari?

After 2 years of living with the very doable "bone only" metastatic breast cancer DX. (diagnosis) I have joined the ranks of those inflicted with the much more scary "ORGAN METASTASES". I will now look back on years 1 and 2 of the Pink Safari, as a gift. I do, however, have a great new oncologist, one Dr. L. Emens at Johns Hopkins. She looked at my latest scans, liver tumors, new and better bone tumors, and even tumors in a place I did not know humans had... The Omentum, and said with a big smile, "we can shrink these things and put you back on hormonal drugs and you can PARTICIPATE in my Vaccine trial". (The reason I met her in the first place was to participate in her trial.) So, per her advise, I have started my first chemo drug... an oral form of chemo that is actually supposed to pack quite a punch. It has several SEs, (side effects) the most serious, Hand and Foot Syndrome. A lovely affliction that can leave you with cracked and bleeding hands and feet. This nastiness can be controlled by ice baths and many slatherings of Bag Balm. I take this disease very seriously and apply BB all day to my hands and feet. Because we own a super shedding dog, and I am not into house cleaning, I am beginning to look like a hobbit with dirty, fuzzy feet and hands. (I already resembled a hobbit in stature.) A small price to pay to keep my hands and feet healthy, albeit a bit on the gross side.

Chateaugay Lake family reunion

I have been hiding out in the Adirondacks of Northern New York for the last month, staying in my great-grandparent's home on Chateaugay Lake. We have been lucky enough to hold on to this great old house for several generations. Until last week, I had been by myself with only my accordian for company. (no TV or radio) I told Randy I was going to practice the aforementioned accordian sitting on the dock and he was quick to tell me that I had better hope there were no snipers on Lower Chateaugay Lake. (very funny, Randy). Actually, I have been catching up on my reading and spending time with old friends. (And practicing my accordian inside.)

Family and friends arrived last week for the annual Hoy-Kroeger reunion. The weather has been great and we took advantage of one sunny, hot day to swim across the lake. Some of us actually made it over and back. (a mile) A couple of us, yours trully included, resorted to been towed over holding onto an inner-tube. I swam the last 30 feet to join the others who were sitting on a large, slippery, submerged rock. Those of us over 21 were going to celebrate with Margaritas, but discovered, much to our chagrin, that sister Kath had left them in her freezer at home. Nothing left to do but swim or be towed home and celebrate with sister Barb's wine club offerings. (She thought she had cancelled her subscription to several of the clubs, but was pleasantly surprised when bottles of wine kept arriving at her door.) The day ended with the annual party celebrating mom's and cousin Jeff's birthdays.

Time for a second opinion...off to Dana Farber

I got the results of march's tumor marker test and it was now 109. This is high for me. I talked to the nurse at the oncologist's office and she said the doctor was not that concerned and would see me in May. I explained about a new pain under my ribs and it did not seem to make a difference. I got off the phone and pushed the panic bottom. I also spent a day with my head under the covers in an all day depression. Randy periodically checked on me and tried to be sympathetic and encouraging. I so rarely let myself feel scared or depressed, but today I needed to wallow in self pity.

Time for a second opinion. I have an appointment at the Dana Farber Cancer Center on April 7th. My girls are going with me. Dana Farber has a wonderful reputation and just the act of making an appointment with one of their oncologists gives me hope. I have great respect for my local oncologist, but I think it is important to go to one of the major cancer centers to cover all your treatment basics.

Not quite so panicky.

We are home, but I am going to continue writing.

I had such fun keeping the trip blog, that my friend Lynne suggested I keep writing. I was considering keeping a journal and I think this will be a good way to do it. I hope to be around for many years, but if not, this will be a way for my children and grandchildren (?) to remember me, and in the case of any grandchildren I may have, get to know me.

This damn disease is so maddening. In January my tumor marker had gone out of the normal range for the first time in over a year. My new oncologist said that it might not mean anything, but we would run monthly tests, and if it continued to climb, well... we would address it when, or if it happened. I had blood work done before the trip and purposefully did not ask for the results... I didn't want anything to take away from my enjoyment of our western excursion. Unfortunately, the marker had gone up 23 more points. I had another test last week and now the waiting, the horrible, horrible waiting. If it rises again, it will be time to try a new therapy and pray like hell that this one will work. The most difficult thing about having a terminal disease is that you have to fight daily not to let the disease define you. I tell myself not to burden my friends and family with my fears, but sometimes it is hard to stop myself. I am so lucky I have such wonderful people around me who continue to listen.

I promise this journal won't always be so depressing, but my interpretation of keeping a journal is about recording feelings as well as daily observations.

The dog has already gone up to bed, and I should, too.

Good night from Abingdon.

Something comes calling at 5 am. We beat a hasty retreat

We finally settled down for the night after a few more jokes about Norman Bates and The Bates Motel and RV Park. We had our big dog and Randy's BB gun, certainly we would be safe from wild animals and Phil/Norman's country boy friends. Five AM, both of us were jolted awake by a noise at the door of the trailer... someone or something actually tried the door handle and was standing on the metal trailer steps. Even the dog was scared, she cowered next to me. We looked out the windows but couldn't see anything around the trailer. We made sure that the door was locked and Randy stood guard with his BB gun. I went back to sleep secure in the knowledge that we were safe in our bunker on wheels. At daybreak he woke me and we packed up in record time, jumped into the truck and... it wouldn't start. Mr., always prepared, Barnes jumped out and grabbed his battery charger from the back of the truck, we were rolling within minutes. We didn't stop until we reached Virginia.

We had a great trip. We loved the the Southwest. We really enjoyed our visit with Gail and Pecore in beautiful Sedona, but we are glad to be home.

Good night from Abingdon.

The Bates motel and RV Park?

Here we are just one hour from Nashville. We made great time and when Randy started to get tired, I got out my computer and looked up an RV park close to I 40. I called ahead and a very nice man said it was just a short way from the interstate, in a lovely wooded setting. The price was right, too, just 18 dollars. When we pulled in, we discovered that we were the Park's only guests. The friendly park owner was there to greet us and help Randy with the hook ups. He told us he lived on a house boat about a mile away with his mother. (just kidding, he said he lived with his girlfriend) But a house boat? We are in the middle of land locked Tennessee. I told Randy I thought the guy was just lonely because he stayed quite a long time admiring Raven and talking about the park. (the Park with no people) I don't think Randy bought my explanation because I noticed he got out his bb gun and put it next to the bunk. He told me he thought we were in the "Hotel California". I told him that strange things certainly went on at the "Hotel California", but I thought he meant the "Bate's Motel" from "Psycho". Either way, it is strange to be somewhere in west Tennessee, in a trailer park all by ourselves...with Norman, I mean Phil, the friendly park owner who lives on a house boat in the woods. I know one thing, I am not taking a shower until we reach Abingdon.

Good night from Waverly, Tennessee.

Nothing falls off, flies away, or otherwise disengages itself from the airstream

What a beautiful sight, these balloons, just becoming airborne as we left Albuquerque. I wish we could stay a few days and investigate this lovely city. We had great weather for today's leg of the journey home. We are staying in a very nondescript trailer park near Oklahoma City. I am afraid we were spoiled by the parks we stayed in Tucson and Sedona. This park has a small indoor pool, when I went to check it out, I found it full of partying kids who didn't look like they wanted to share it with a little, round, middle age woman with her water noodle and bar bells. Oh well, we will soon be home and I can go back to my community center pool full of middle age women of all sizes.

I have been trying to get Randy to admit that he likes this trailer. He just shakes his head when I point out how we have been able to heat it, even in 20 degree weather, with a tiny space heater. I love to see it parked between two, 200 thousand dollar behemoths, looking for all the world like one of them laid a slightly beat up silver egg. It has won my heart. I am not sure this will ever be his idea of traveling in style, but he has been a great sport about it, and I thank him for that.

We hope to make Memphis by tomorrow night.

Randy does battle with wild pigs and we leave Sodona

After Pecore and Gail dropped us off at our trailer, we jumped into our comfortable bunks and prepared to get what we hoped would be a good night's sleep before beginning our long trip home. Sometime after midnight, Raven started barking. We finally settled her down and got back to sleep and she started again. Something was banging against the trailer and the dog was going crazy. Randy threw on his jeans while I offered advise from under my comforter. He opened the door and found two huge wild pigs trying to get Raven's dog food bag out of it's storage container. Randy banged on the door, he swore at them, nothing helped. I reminded him from the safety of my bunk, that he needed to keep his voice down. (this RV park was very strict about noise) Worrying about the ruckus going on at our trailer, Randy ended this nasty pig standoff by bravely snatching the dog food bag out of those porcine jaws. The pig terrorists gave up, snuffled off and we were able to sleep.

We had an uneventful trip until we reached the exit where tonight's RV park was located. A wrong turn took us down a road that seemed to have no place to turn a truck and trailer around. Randy took a chance on an open area with shallow ditches around it. Always my helpful self, I told him I didn't think it was a good idea. He did it anyway. As we bounced through the ditch and back onto the highway, Randy noticed something black bouncing down the road behind us... the trailer battery. Luckily, it was still tethered to the trailer cables. He retrieved it, replaced it in the battery compartment and we found the RV park. Sadly, the battery succumbed to it's wild ride down the road and died. No problem though, we are plugged into the park's power and all is well... for now.

Good night from Albuquerque.

We have Red Rock Fever!

What a beautiful day in a beautiful place. We found a wonderful overlook to take in the grandeur of this place (I wish I had one of those fancy big camera lens so I could do justice to the view.) and Randy got to take a helicopter ride. He was thrilled. It is too bad I can't upload some of his pictures, they are pretty spectacular.

Gail, her lovely daughter Heather, and I toured more wonderful shops and galleries, including one that had a fabulous collection of Native American Kachinas and pottery. I love the traditional Hopi Kachinas and would like to bring one home to Virginia. I have one more chance because we are going to stop there on our way out of town. What should I do. What should I do. I think I will buy one.

We discovered that our very nice RV park hosts about 8 pairs of nesting Great Blue Herons... in trees. Who knew. I thought they laid their eggs in nests on the ground. These birds are strange enough walking in water with their funny long legs, to see them standing on tree branches was a sight to behold.

Pecore and Gail treated us to a great dinner at one of Sedona's many nice restaurants. Heather joined us, too. What a wonderful way to end our visit here in Sedona.

I would love to come back next year. God willing and the creek don't rise. To those who have made this journey before us... Randy and I can finally appreciate the lure of the Southwest.

We start the long journey home tomorrow and hope to be back in Virginia Sunday night. God willing and the Airstream don't lose more parts.

A harrowing ride, a missing vent, but we are in Sodona

Where do I start, the weather is awful... the worst they have had in 14 years. Snow, rain, sleet, oh my. Even lousy weather can't take away the extraordinary beauty of the Red Rocks of Sodona. Gail and I did a bit of gallery hopping yesterday... more tomorrow. Gail made dinner and we got to see why they bought a house in Sedona. The house is lovely, but the lot is spectacular. They have privacy and a 36o degree view of the Red Rocks. Pecore and Gail spent today driving us to some of their favorite spots. This is high desert and it is so different than the low desert. There are many different types of trees, it is greener, and of course, cooler. The beautiful red color comes from iron, sand and calcium which together formed layers of earthy colors that are so breathtaking. The shapes are wonderful and look like their names: coffee pot, cathedral, snoopy, Madonna and child... We are staying an extra day; Gail and I will explore more shops, hopefully in the sun. Randy bowed out, not because he has no interest in galleries and crafty shops, but because he has some trailer maintenance to do. Since we have no idea where our vent cap became airborne, he will have to borrow a ladder and try to fabricate some sort of temporary replacement. I use the steady drip in the ceiling to refill the dog's water dish.

Randy got the furnace working and promised me we would not be asphyxiated. I told him it was so cold, I really didn't care, preferring death by carbon monoxide poisoning to hypothermia.

Our RV park is very nice. Each site has lovely trees and small plots of daffodils. (trying to ignore the snow) It is pricey but the location is great. If we make this trip again, I would like to explore the State Parks. (If they are still open) Arizona's budget cuts could result in the closing of half of their parks.

Good night from Sodona.