January 24 - February 14, 2020
Tombstone, Arizona
It's weird.
Actually, many things are weird.
About this whole "winter base" thing.....being in one place for months. Being in a house. Having projects. Building permanence.
It's weird not being on the road and seeing new things. The absence of planning places we'll visit over the next several weeks, of unexpected adventures.
Yet looking back over our years of fulltime RVing, it is the weird places and experiences that stand out. So weird isn't bad, it's just, you know...weird.
Although we only traveled fulltime for less than five years, it became who we are immediately. So although we've pretty much always lived in a permanent structure, being in a house now feels like we're living such a different life.
Do I want to get rid of it and travel fulltime? Nope!
But we are both looking forward to April and hitting the road again :-)
Although it feels like we haven't done much, that we've been lazy slugs since the holidays, once I started gathering photos and looking at my calendar I realized we've been doing a LOT!
Our diligent construction crew finish the kitchen, including the new shelves, moving the dining room light, rewiring the outlets and disposal along the wall with the sink, paint, and installing the sink after the counter tops are installed. We're so happy with how it all turned out!
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| Our new kitchen. Love the counter tops and how perfectly they matched the stain on the new shelves! |
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| How that corner looked when we moved in. |
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| We didn't need the pantry or broom closet that we took out. We're so happy with the new, open layout. |
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| From the updated dining area. |
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| We don't miss the lamps :-) |
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| Feeling spiffy now! |
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| With the original microwave we had very little usable counter space. And then there was the kitchen carpet! |
Not long after we joined John and Pam to see Mike and Janna, we enjoyed a visit from John and Pam with Dave and Sue! To say that we've made dear friends in our travels and blog reading would be an understatement. We've met up with these four all over the country, and although we each have a base we return to now, we still have wonderful travels to share and the love of travel in common. It's great to get caught up and too soon it's time for good-byes-for-now. Three bloggers and none of us got a photo!!
An hour later (not a week or a day, but an hour) after our four travel buddies depart, our high school buddies show up in their fifth wheel to spend the week! Our new two-space RV lot with 50 amp and water was completed the day before - another crew of hard workers who do a great job.
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| Getting electrical from the house to the RV spaces. |
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| Jesse's a pro at laying down the gravel. |
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| Room for two with awesome views. |
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| Our first campers! We watched the Super Bowl at Jimmy and Maggie's house the last two years so it's great to have a place we can host them! |
Ten of us gather for Super Bowl in our new abode - six of us went to high school in overlapping six years! We certainly never thought 45 years ago we'd be watching the big game together.
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| Never a lack of things to eat! |
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| Explaining we have BBQ and cole slaw for Kansas City and crab dip with sourdough bread and Ghiradelli Chocolate for San Francisco :-)) just noticed the interesting rabbit ears over my head! |
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| Turk, Jimmy and Jimmy (Cindy's spouse). Donnie and Anna won three out of four quarters in our pool - cheaters!! |
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| Rhonda, Tessa, Maggie and Cindy (Anna's sister) comfy on the couch with Donnie holding down the carpet in front of Anna. |
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| Lizzie wasted no chance every time Bill left his chair :-) |
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| Me and my beautiful buddy Anna. |
Yes, it seems we know a lot of people everywhere we go, and here in southeastern Arizona is no different. In addition to our Tombstone friends (there may be more of them soon), we have five(!) more friends who live in nearby Safford, Arizona. We meet up with them in Benson for lunch although sadly Marvin isn't able to join us this time. It really is amazing that so many of us have stayed in touch from a very small town.
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| Clockwise from the left - Jodee (class of '73), Bill (class of '74), Anna (Donnie's spouse), Donnie (class of '74), Turk (Donnie's brother, class of '71), Jimmy (class of '75), Paul Scott (class of 72), Clyde and Sarah (married, class of '73), Jack Wininger (class of 74), and Maggie (Jimmy's spouse). |
Rhonda (also class of '74, and now with Turk after 45 years since we left Eagle Mountain), Anna and I make another (this time successful) trip to Bisbee while Maggie gets caught up with work. It's a beautiful day and although there's little parking, there aren't a lot of people. We do a little shopping although all of us manage to leave without a single item, and stop for yummy coffee before heading home. It's really nice to have some girl time :-)
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| Bisbee is all about layers. |
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| And the old west. |
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| And lots of pretty colors. |
We hang out with our friends and spend evenings between Donnie and Anna's and our place, playing cards and Cribbage. We get out for fish and chips in Sierra Vista one evening.
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| Dinner at the Landmark - Donnie, Anna, Jimmy, Maggie, Jimmy, Cindy, Jodee, Bill, Rhonda and Turk. |
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| A round table was the right choice! |
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| Tessa's alter ego as a pillow. |
Over the weekend we are treated to incredible sunsets. Sadly they're all in between our friends' visits :-( Jimmy and Maggie leave, and two days later our RVing friends Ron and Renee arrive!
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| While those flaming western skies are stunning, we love our southern views of the Mules and Burros (mountains). |
One of those "in between" days, Donnie and Anna take us out to the area south of Gleeson where they were hunting Javelina a few weeks ago. It's a gorgeous warm day with clear blue skies. We need to do this more often!!
Before we bought the RV I was active on the RV-Dreams forum and so was Renee. When she noted we were going to the RV show in Pomona, California, in October, 2014, she reached out to meet up. It was our first meeting with anyone from this new life style we were preparing to join. We had a great time getting to know she and her spouse, Ron. Fast forward 5+ years and we've stayed in touch through our blogs, Facebook, and a couple additional meetings. And now we get to share our new place with them (and Rufus) too!! They're only here for two nights, and the weather is cold and wet (including snow their last night!), but we have a lovely visit and tasty burgers in Tombstone.
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| Renee, Ron, Bill and Jodee at the Longhorn. |
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| We're fixing it now, but unfortunately our RV space is too tight a turn for bumper-pulls to back into. Fortunately we have 30 amp and water in the driveway with easy access! |
Now don't laugh, but the day Ron and Renee leave, more high school friends arrive at Donnie and Anna's! Seriously! Kevin was in Bill and Donnie's class and has been married to Bridgette for 35 years so she's family like Anna and Maggie. They're here for awhile, looking at maybe also making Tombstone their home. There are no more visitors on the schedule as of right now. We'll see how long that lasts :-)
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| Donnie and Kevin giving Bill a hand taking down the old TV antenna. Nice to have friends in the neighborhood! |
Somewhere in all of this my leg starts hurting, and I finally go to the ER to get some answers. X-rays show nothing, including zero arthritis which makes me very happy. Most likely inflamed pinched nerve, and a few pain killers and a small leg brace give me relief "most of the time". Getting old is not for sissies!
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| When everyone in the ER waiting room sounds like they have the plague, I'm grateful to have the "back room" all to myself! |
So I'm enjoying the weirdness, looking forward to our future travels, and realizing we haven't been nearly as lazy as I thought :-)))
