Thursday, August 31, 2006
Chaco to Mississippi and back again
This is an account of Willie's trip to MS and will be written in first person by Willie.
My mother (Ann Haynes) is blind from macular degeneration (which means she has some peripheral vision but cannot read or see detail) and is also very frail. In August of 2003, after the death of my father (Tony), she just needed a walker or cane at the assisted living in Columbus, MS. When a new assisted living home (Lakeside Village -- LV) was built in Noxapater, a very small town where Ann spent her childhood and also in retirement from 1973-2003, she wanted to move there. She moved in on 11/6/2004 and was their first resident. At that time she was still able to get around using a walker and could do most things for herself. During the following almost two years, she had degressed to needing almost total care and being in a wheelchair. She could feed herself but needed help with almost everything else.
For most of the months of July and August, either my sister or I had been getting first weekly and then almost daily calls from LV about various issues involving the need for more specialized care for my mother. The first thing that was tried was a two-week program in a "senior psych" ward to see if some of the anti-anxiety and/or anti-depressants specifically for the elderly would be helpful. After two weeks there, Ann returned to LV, and it became obvious that assisted living could no longer provide her needs.
The first thing my sister tried was to have "sitters" for several hours a day in the hopes of keeping Ann at LV, since it had been her desire to stay there until she died. It seemed no matter when the sitters were there, Ann would cause some sort of commotion at another time. The was eventually having sitters 24 hours a day. This worked out relatively well but had two major drawbacks. The first was that she constantly had another person there, day or night, which was a bit oppressive. Secondly, even at the low MS rate of $7/hour, that really adds up fast and there just wasn't enough money available to continue that course indefinitely.
Finally, in mid-August, after many talks with the people in charge at LV, I decided I would have to make a trip to MS and take care of things. My sister (Cathy) had health issues of her own to deal with, so I was the one who had to handle things. Luckily, Cathy & I have always been in total agreement in these matters, so I had her support every step of the way. It was pretty obvious that we would need to move Ann to a nursing home, with the most likely candidate being the local county nursing home (Winston County Nursing Home -- WCNH), located in Louisville, about 10 miles from Noxapater but still in Winston County. Cathy and I had always thought of WCNH as a gloomy sub-standard place, but this was an emotional judgment, based on no actual fact.
Flying from Chaco is no easy task. Luckily, a friend was going to Albuquerque (the best airport choice) the following week, so this was a good opportunity. The airport is over 3 hours away, so not having to drive round-trip in one day is a good thing! Southwest Airlines has several daily one-stop flights to Jackson, MS, which was quite convenient.
My first task was to visit WCNH and see for myself what we were talking about. I was pleasantly surprised to find a relatively cheerful place, run by a team of very capable women. A lot of the negative feelings had come from the dirty yellow brick exterior, I had not been inside it before. My sister, at the same time, was visiting a nursing home close to her in IL and found it to be quite the opposite. The decision was clearly to move Ann to WCNH. They had a private room available immediately, so we arranged to move Ann the following Tuesday.
Ann's mental state, while fairly lucid most of the time, was too full of anxiety to discuss any decision-making or even the move in advance. I spent a very nervous weekend, feeling very bad about this decision and worrying that Ann would hate me for being the bearer of bad tidings. I decided to tell her Monday instead of waiting until Tuesday, despite several people's opinion to the contrary. I thought it was such a major move that she was entitled to know about it ahead of time.
She took the news quite well, and I did point out that an advantage would be she would no longer have a companion round the clock. She had remarked earlier in my visit that she didn't like never being alone. She became quite nervous later in the day, and she held my hand tightly and trembled a lot. I continued to feel terrible about it but tried to put on a brave face for her sake.
Moving day came and she was ready to go bright & early. We each had to spend time apart, answering questions and being checked over. It seemed initially awful because so much was different, and Ann said several times that she wanted me to take her to New Mexico with me & Doug. I could only respond that she would have to try WCNH for a couple of months before that would even be possible, already dreading the thought of the logistics of that move!
I then left her to get her heavy things moved up by a local man and his wife. When we returned she had had a "terrible" lunch and still was ready to leave and go to NM. I was pretty stressed out myself but again counselled waiting to make this decision and went back to LV for a load of clothes and lighter things. When I returned at 3 pm, I found they had taken Ann to the ER because she had been complaining of nausea. I became quite upset at this news and said they should have just let her rest, since she had been under such stress. They pointed out to me that nausea was one sign of a heart attack and that they couldn't just ignore it and be medically responsible. I still thought they had over-reacted, but continued moving things in and then went to be with Ann in the ER.
They kept her in the ER sitting in an uncomfortable wheelchair for another 30 minutes before the doctor could look at her lab work and xray and release her back to the nursing home (about 50 yards away through several sets of double doors!). Then we had to wait another 15 min for an aide to be free to come get her. They would not let me wheel Ann back to her room. "Procedures" you know!!
She was completely exhausted at this point, and the diagnosis was constipation, requiring several enemas, so I quickly said my goodbyes and went home in tears. Throughout this whole time, I had been in continual contact with Cathy via cellphone. As luck would have it, we both had "IN" Verizon service and could talk without it counting against our regular minutes. After talking & crying to Cathy for about an hour and the same with Doug later in the evening, I finally slept a bit and worried about what would happen the next day.
I returned to WCNH Weds morning dreading what I would find. What I found was Ann smiling & saying what a good breakfast she had eaten and how she didn't think WCNH was such a bad place after all. I felt about 10,000 pounds lift from my shoulders and was able to smile again! After spending some time with Ann and apologizing for my outbursts of the prior day to some of the staff, I went back to LV to clear out the rest of Ann's stuff.
I was ruthless in getting rid of things but still managed to find two large boxes of "treasures" to mail back to myself and Cathy. We gave much away and threw out the trashy stuff. I kept out select pictures to take up for her walls at WCNH. Weds afternoon, my cousin Ann Covington met me at WCNH and hung all the pictures. Ann C is a retired interior decorator, so she has a really good eye. The room looked great after we finished. Ann talked about how nice her room looked and said what a good lunch she had that day. Again, she said she thought this was a good move.
Since things were looking so positive, I made arrangements to fly back on Saturday and to spend Friday night in Jackson so I wouldn't have to drive down so early in the morning. It's about two hours from Noxapater to Jackson. I planned to spend some time on the way down relaxing & enjoying myself.
Thursday morning I went over to WCNH and found Ann attending a little singing service. She seemed to enjoy this a lot, and it was something they didn't have very often at LV. This was another positive of WCNH. Later I looked at the activity schedule and realized that there would be many activities that Ann might enjoy if she had the energy for them. I did some more errands and put some finishing touches on her room and told her I would be leaving the following afternoon. She had been asking when I was going to get back to Doug & the kitties.
Thursday afternoon, her special geriatric chair (a more comfortable chair for someone who can't walk at all, with a tray for eating) arrived and also her very own wheelchair, donated by a free wheelchair program from nearby Philadelphia, MS. I felt especially good to be leaving her so well supplied. I also felt that she was in a more appropriate care facility when I was able to observe first-hand some of the care by RNs and better-trained aides she was receiving.
I visited her twice Friday morning and she thanked me for being there when she needed me and said how much she appreciated my doing this for her. It sure made me feel better about it all, though I hated to leave for so long. It will probably be December before I or we can visit next. I am hoping Cathy will be able to visit in late September.
While there I was also able to visit with many friends & relatives and get their advice, support and a few meals! I appreciated all of it. I spent 4 nights at a little cabin on the grounds of LV, 4 nights at a Best Western in Louisville and 2 nights at a nice little Super 8 in Jackson. Both of the latter had WiFi which was helpful with my travel arrangements. You can save a lot of money booking on the internet. I also saved a lot of money by turning 65 in early August and being able to fly on Southwest Airlines' nice low Senior fares -- about $150 each way and you could book each way separately.
Friday afternoon I had a leisurely drive down the Natchez Trace and stopped and walked around a bit at a lovely rest stop beside the Pearl River, just north of the Ross Barnett Reservoir. It was a gorgeous sight, despite the 96 temps and high humidity, with the abundant water lilies in full bloom. I then visited an interesting sounding bookstore (Lemuria Books -- lemuriabooks.com) that contained a letterbox (www.letterboxing.org) and enjoyed looking around and purchasing a few items. Afterwards, I had an early dinner at Broad Street Bakery & Cafe (www.broadstbakery.com), which had a wonderful vegetarian portabello mushroom foccacia sandwich. Both businesses were located in Historic Banner Hall, an architecturally interesting restored building in the northern part of Jackson.
I arrived at the Super 8 around 6 and had a relaxing evening, making preparations for my 12+ travel day. Saturday I went to the airport about 9:45 for my 11:45 flight, which left on time without incident. My 3-hour layover in Houston Hobby became 4 hours when we had to exit one plane (maintenance issues) and wait for another to become available. I finally arrived in Albuquerque and was so happy to see Doug waiting there for me!
We bought some groceries (when at Chaco, 2 hours from groceries, you can't ever pass up an opportunity for fresh produce!), had dinner and drove back to Chaco, arriving about 11 pm. The cats were all glad to see me and it felt so good to be home! Now I am getting re-settled at Chaco and soon will feel like I've been here forever.
It was a stressful trip with a really successful outcome. I had some very special moments with my mother which I wouldn't have missed. I am so proud of her acceptance of such new surroundings. I wish I could visit her more often and we may take the trailer to MS for a while after we leave Chaco (in December). Things that far off seem too uncertain to plan right now.
My mother (Ann Haynes) is blind from macular degeneration (which means she has some peripheral vision but cannot read or see detail) and is also very frail. In August of 2003, after the death of my father (Tony), she just needed a walker or cane at the assisted living in Columbus, MS. When a new assisted living home (Lakeside Village -- LV) was built in Noxapater, a very small town where Ann spent her childhood and also in retirement from 1973-2003, she wanted to move there. She moved in on 11/6/2004 and was their first resident. At that time she was still able to get around using a walker and could do most things for herself. During the following almost two years, she had degressed to needing almost total care and being in a wheelchair. She could feed herself but needed help with almost everything else.
For most of the months of July and August, either my sister or I had been getting first weekly and then almost daily calls from LV about various issues involving the need for more specialized care for my mother. The first thing that was tried was a two-week program in a "senior psych" ward to see if some of the anti-anxiety and/or anti-depressants specifically for the elderly would be helpful. After two weeks there, Ann returned to LV, and it became obvious that assisted living could no longer provide her needs.The first thing my sister tried was to have "sitters" for several hours a day in the hopes of keeping Ann at LV, since it had been her desire to stay there until she died. It seemed no matter when the sitters were there, Ann would cause some sort of commotion at another time. The was eventually having sitters 24 hours a day. This worked out relatively well but had two major drawbacks. The first was that she constantly had another person there, day or night, which was a bit oppressive. Secondly, even at the low MS rate of $7/hour, that really adds up fast and there just wasn't enough money available to continue that course indefinitely.
Finally, in mid-August, after many talks with the people in charge at LV, I decided I would have to make a trip to MS and take care of things. My sister (Cathy) had health issues of her own to deal with, so I was the one who had to handle things. Luckily, Cathy & I have always been in total agreement in these matters, so I had her support every step of the way. It was pretty obvious that we would need to move Ann to a nursing home, with the most likely candidate being the local county nursing home (Winston County Nursing Home -- WCNH), located in Louisville, about 10 miles from Noxapater but still in Winston County. Cathy and I had always thought of WCNH as a gloomy sub-standard place, but this was an emotional judgment, based on no actual fact.Flying from Chaco is no easy task. Luckily, a friend was going to Albuquerque (the best airport choice) the following week, so this was a good opportunity. The airport is over 3 hours away, so not having to drive round-trip in one day is a good thing! Southwest Airlines has several daily one-stop flights to Jackson, MS, which was quite convenient.
My first task was to visit WCNH and see for myself what we were talking about. I was pleasantly surprised to find a relatively cheerful place, run by a team of very capable women. A lot of the negative feelings had come from the dirty yellow brick exterior, I had not been inside it before. My sister, at the same time, was visiting a nursing home close to her in IL and found it to be quite the opposite. The decision was clearly to move Ann to WCNH. They had a private room available immediately, so we arranged to move Ann the following Tuesday.
Ann's mental state, while fairly lucid most of the time, was too full of anxiety to discuss any decision-making or even the move in advance. I spent a very nervous weekend, feeling very bad about this decision and worrying that Ann would hate me for being the bearer of bad tidings. I decided to tell her Monday instead of waiting until Tuesday, despite several people's opinion to the contrary. I thought it was such a major move that she was entitled to know about it ahead of time.
She took the news quite well, and I did point out that an advantage would be she would no longer have a companion round the clock. She had remarked earlier in my visit that she didn't like never being alone. She became quite nervous later in the day, and she held my hand tightly and trembled a lot. I continued to feel terrible about it but tried to put on a brave face for her sake.
Moving day came and she was ready to go bright & early. We each had to spend time apart, answering questions and being checked over. It seemed initially awful because so much was different, and Ann said several times that she wanted me to take her to New Mexico with me & Doug. I could only respond that she would have to try WCNH for a couple of months before that would even be possible, already dreading the thought of the logistics of that move!
I then left her to get her heavy things moved up by a local man and his wife. When we returned she had had a "terrible" lunch and still was ready to leave and go to NM. I was pretty stressed out myself but again counselled waiting to make this decision and went back to LV for a load of clothes and lighter things. When I returned at 3 pm, I found they had taken Ann to the ER because she had been complaining of nausea. I became quite upset at this news and said they should have just let her rest, since she had been under such stress. They pointed out to me that nausea was one sign of a heart attack and that they couldn't just ignore it and be medically responsible. I still thought they had over-reacted, but continued moving things in and then went to be with Ann in the ER.
They kept her in the ER sitting in an uncomfortable wheelchair for another 30 minutes before the doctor could look at her lab work and xray and release her back to the nursing home (about 50 yards away through several sets of double doors!). Then we had to wait another 15 min for an aide to be free to come get her. They would not let me wheel Ann back to her room. "Procedures" you know!!
She was completely exhausted at this point, and the diagnosis was constipation, requiring several enemas, so I quickly said my goodbyes and went home in tears. Throughout this whole time, I had been in continual contact with Cathy via cellphone. As luck would have it, we both had "IN" Verizon service and could talk without it counting against our regular minutes. After talking & crying to Cathy for about an hour and the same with Doug later in the evening, I finally slept a bit and worried about what would happen the next day.
I returned to WCNH Weds morning dreading what I would find. What I found was Ann smiling & saying what a good breakfast she had eaten and how she didn't think WCNH was such a bad place after all. I felt about 10,000 pounds lift from my shoulders and was able to smile again! After spending some time with Ann and apologizing for my outbursts of the prior day to some of the staff, I went back to LV to clear out the rest of Ann's stuff.
I was ruthless in getting rid of things but still managed to find two large boxes of "treasures" to mail back to myself and Cathy. We gave much away and threw out the trashy stuff. I kept out select pictures to take up for her walls at WCNH. Weds afternoon, my cousin Ann Covington met me at WCNH and hung all the pictures. Ann C is a retired interior decorator, so she has a really good eye. The room looked great after we finished. Ann talked about how nice her room looked and said what a good lunch she had that day. Again, she said she thought this was a good move.Since things were looking so positive, I made arrangements to fly back on Saturday and to spend Friday night in Jackson so I wouldn't have to drive down so early in the morning. It's about two hours from Noxapater to Jackson. I planned to spend some time on the way down relaxing & enjoying myself.
Thursday morning I went over to WCNH and found Ann attending a little singing service. She seemed to enjoy this a lot, and it was something they didn't have very often at LV. This was another positive of WCNH. Later I looked at the activity schedule and realized that there would be many activities that Ann might enjoy if she had the energy for them. I did some more errands and put some finishing touches on her room and told her I would be leaving the following afternoon. She had been asking when I was going to get back to Doug & the kitties.
Thursday afternoon, her special geriatric chair (a more comfortable chair for someone who can't walk at all, with a tray for eating) arrived and also her very own wheelchair, donated by a free wheelchair program from nearby Philadelphia, MS. I felt especially good to be leaving her so well supplied. I also felt that she was in a more appropriate care facility when I was able to observe first-hand some of the care by RNs and better-trained aides she was receiving.
I visited her twice Friday morning and she thanked me for being there when she needed me and said how much she appreciated my doing this for her. It sure made me feel better about it all, though I hated to leave for so long. It will probably be December before I or we can visit next. I am hoping Cathy will be able to visit in late September.
While there I was also able to visit with many friends & relatives and get their advice, support and a few meals! I appreciated all of it. I spent 4 nights at a little cabin on the grounds of LV, 4 nights at a Best Western in Louisville and 2 nights at a nice little Super 8 in Jackson. Both of the latter had WiFi which was helpful with my travel arrangements. You can save a lot of money booking on the internet. I also saved a lot of money by turning 65 in early August and being able to fly on Southwest Airlines' nice low Senior fares -- about $150 each way and you could book each way separately.Friday afternoon I had a leisurely drive down the Natchez Trace and stopped and walked around a bit at a lovely rest stop beside the Pearl River, just north of the Ross Barnett Reservoir. It was a gorgeous sight, despite the 96 temps and high humidity, with the abundant water lilies in full bloom. I then visited an interesting sounding bookstore (Lemuria Books -- lemuriabooks.com) that contained a letterbox (www.letterboxing.org) and enjoyed looking around and purchasing a few items. Afterwards, I had an early dinner at Broad Street Bakery & Cafe (www.broadstbakery.com), which had a wonderful vegetarian portabello mushroom foccacia sandwich. Both businesses were located in Historic Banner Hall, an architecturally interesting restored building in the northern part of Jackson.
I arrived at the Super 8 around 6 and had a relaxing evening, making preparations for my 12+ travel day. Saturday I went to the airport about 9:45 for my 11:45 flight, which left on time without incident. My 3-hour layover in Houston Hobby became 4 hours when we had to exit one plane (maintenance issues) and wait for another to become available. I finally arrived in Albuquerque and was so happy to see Doug waiting there for me!
We bought some groceries (when at Chaco, 2 hours from groceries, you can't ever pass up an opportunity for fresh produce!), had dinner and drove back to Chaco, arriving about 11 pm. The cats were all glad to see me and it felt so good to be home! Now I am getting re-settled at Chaco and soon will feel like I've been here forever.
It was a stressful trip with a really successful outcome. I had some very special moments with my mother which I wouldn't have missed. I am so proud of her acceptance of such new surroundings. I wish I could visit her more often and we may take the trailer to MS for a while after we leave Chaco (in December). Things that far off seem too uncertain to plan right now.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Chaco Culture NHP, Nageezi, NM - Aug 1-???
We've been here over a week now, and have not fully settled into the Chaco experience. No doubt part of the problem is that GB, our mentor and friend, is away and won't return until next week. There have been three severe rainstorms in the past two weeks (one since we arrived) that have flooded the campgrounds, and even when it doesn't rain, the clouds preclude any Night Sky viewing. And most serious, the health of Ann, Willie's mother, continues to be an issue, so Willie is flying out to Mississippi next week to see what can be done. Ann will probably have to move from assisted living in Noxapater to the nursing home in Louisville (MS).
After the last heavy rainstorm, there were waterfalls coming over the cliffs from the mesa tops in the campground and throughout the entire park. We were "off duty", so were free to wander and admire and try to get photos. This is quite a special occurrence, and we felt privileged to get to see it. The campers who were tenting under the waterfalls, did not feel quite so lucky, although they did realize how unique it was.We had one outstandingly clear night sky program, and all the astronomers were giddy with joy to see the celestial objects. The almost full moon blotted out a lot of things, but it was still great!
The cats all seem to be happy to be back at Chaco -- or maybe it's just that they're happy to be stationary again. They are definitely getting into a nice Chaco routine!!
Tuesday, August 1, 2006
Riana COE Campground, Abiquiu, NM - July 27-31
After what seemed like an eternity (but was only 2 weeks) we were finally able to move without angst. We were to again meet up with Fred & Linda - they left Heron Lake a day earlier - but between the heat and their dislike of the available sites, they decided to spend only the one night. We had made reservations months earlier (for the best site) when we knew we were to arrive at Chaco on Aug 1.
Riana CG sits on Abiquiu Lake, a reservoir created by the Corp of Engineers in 1963. It is one of our favorite cgs, in part because there is so much to do nearby. Abiquiu was the home of artist Georgia O'Keeffe for many years before she moved to Ghost Ranch, which is also nearby (our campsite offers a stunning view of Cerro Pedernal, which O'Keeffe immortalized in many of her paintings). 
We visited a letterbox that took us from the Abiquiu library, in the lovely historic square, past O'Keeffe's home, then past a historic "pentente morada", a stopover for members of a wandering penitential brotherhood.
Another day we drove past Ghost Ranch on Hwy 84 to Echo Amphitheater, a huge natural arena overseen by the NFS. On the way back we tried to drive to the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, 15 miles down a winding dirt road and surrounded by the Rio Chama Wilderness, but gave up about halfway in. The scenery was incredible, but it was getting late and rain was threatening, and the road is quite hazardous when wet. 
On the other side of town we visited the Poshuouinge ("Village above the Muddy River") Ruins, remains of an ancient pueblo with over 700 ground-floor rooms surrounding two large plazas with a great kiva in the larger plaza. 
A steep, half-mile trail passes by the ruins before climbing further up a hill to two overlooks, which offer excellent views of the ruins and the Chama River valley.We also attempted to visit the beautiful mosques of Dar al Islam, a non-profit organization that presents mainstream Islam to the people of North America and provides programs for Muslims, but the gates were locked both times. We left a voice message that went unanswered.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Heron Lake SP, Chama, NM - July 23-26
Since the landing leg was completely missing, we didn't have to worry about it dragging on the ground during the move. We did, however, have to hook & unhook using the one functional leg & two hydraulic jacks. This was not something I would ever agree to do again voluntarily. We moved to Heron Lake to be with Fred & Linda -- Pat & Dennis had originally planned to move there also, but instead headed west to their new lot in California, in part since they were worried about finding a spot at Heron Lake. And for good reason -- if Fred & Linda had not been there already and saved us a spot, we would not have been able to get in. Big thanks to them not only for saving a spot, but for a very nice spot.
It's difficult to give an objective opinion of the cg since we had so much turmoil in our lives during the entire stay. Willie's mother's health took a turn for the worse, the negotiations for giving the Wheat Ridge house away were still ongoing, and our landing leg wasn't fixed until Wednesday, the day before we were to leave the area completely. All of this was compounded by a lack of cell-phone reception, which effects not only our verbal communication but also sending & receiving email. We did enjoy our visits with Fred & Linda.Saturday, July 22, 2006
Little Creel RV Park, Chama, NM - July 16-22
We originally planned this stop in order to meet up with friends Pat & Dennis Wood, but we now had a second, more urgent reason -- to fix our landing leg. The move to Chama was one of our most nerve-wracking, even though it was only 35 miles. When re-hooking we found that not only did the landing leg not fully retract, but would fall freely to the ground when the front was raised, meaning that it would drag on the road unless we somehow tied it up. Once we managed to tie it, there was barely 3 inches clearance between the bottom of the leg & the ground. After we started moving we stopped at every opportunity to make sure that the leg was still secure.
The campground itself was nothing special. It bills itself as a"resort" campground, and may well be by Chama standards. We actually stayed at Little Creel II, an old cg (formerly Sky Mountain) that Little Creel bought out and was in the process of expanding -- or may still be in the process of buying. While there were a few nice spots amid the trees near the river (for premium prices!), most of the cg was a bare dirt lot. But we didn't mind, since we had a good time with Pat & Dennis. As well as our usual daytime sightseeing, we played games or otherwise socialized each evening.
Chama is best known as the main terminus of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. Pulled by old coal-burning steam locomotives, the trains wind their way through the mountains, eventually winding up in Antonito, CO. The trains are THE major source of revenue for Chama, attracting both riders & photographers. We found the $60 fare a little on the steep side, so we fell into the latter category. After parking and watching the train go by, we pulled onto the highway and immediately recognized Fred & Linda Lanoue's truck. We pulled over & chatted, then went our separate ways, only to run into each other 10 miles down a dirt road at a NFS campground, where we had a picnic lunch together.
Bordering Chama to the northwest is the Sargent Wildlife Area. With Pat & Dennis we found a letterbox there, and then went on a pleasant hike, so much so that we invited Fred & Linda to go birding there with us later that week. We discovered that the area also had a lovely free camping area. We took Pat & Dennis to Los Ojos to see Tierra Wools, a worker-owner company selling hand-spun, naturally-dyed yarn and gorgeous hand-woven rugs (also quite expensive!). Although we didn't buy anything woolen, we did buy two door mats from a company that uses old tires to make various products. The mats are decorated with colorful beads and guaranteed never to wear out.
Meanwhile, the landing leg parts arrived on Monday, and Dave was able to remove the leg and take it back to his shop to work on it. Unfortunately, the gears were not the problem, which we didn't learn until late Wednesday. Thursday morning Doug called Atwood (who makes the legs), and Travel Supreme (who made our trailer) and found we could save $30 by ordering a new leg from Travel Supreme, but through a colossal misunderstanding, TS didn't get the leg ready to ship until Friday. Looking at our (and Dave's) schedule we decided that the only way to insure getting the leg on time was to 2nd Day it, which for a 40-pound landing leg meant an additional $60, all because we tried to save $30. Eventually (and after much arm-twisting) TS agreed to pay half of the difference, so it was a wash.Sunday, July 16, 2006
Elk Creek Trail Head near Horca, CO - July 12-15
This also was not our original destination -- we planned to camp at Aspen Glade NFS campground, where we camped in 2004 right before going to Lathrop. This time we reversed our course, but when we got there, we found that all but three sites were "reservable" and booked, and the non-reservable sites were taken. Friends Richard & Doug had told us about a boondocking spot they stayed at just a few miles up the road, so we headed there and found it without any difficulty (although we would not have been bold enough to seek it out on our own). 
We parked in the middle of a large meadow with a couple of older rigs nearby, one of whom left later that day. When Doug was unhooking the trailer, he found, much to his chagrin, that one of the landing legs (which support the trailer in the front) would not retract all the way, meaning that we could not get level front-to-back. An impromptu trip to Chama was quickly planned for the next day, where we discovered Dave's Trailer Repair. Dave was mainly used to working on horse trailers, but they use the same brand of landing legs, so he was quite familiar with them; not only that, he was willing to drive the 35 miles over a pass in order to work on our trailer! But since we were coming to Chama for the entire next week, we decided to have the replacement parts overnighted to Dave & he could work on our trailer in Chama then.
The first two nights boondocking were quiet, peaceful and pleasant. The third day, we hiked a few miles up Elk Creek, enjoyed a picnic lunch, and hiked back to find that a group of tenters and a trailer had moved in. They proceed to play "dueling stereos" until all hours of the night for the next two nights, and drive ATVs up and down the road to the restroom during the day. Why people go to quiet, remote areas and then have to make as much noise as possible escapes us.Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Lathrop State Park, Walsenburg, CO - July 10-11
This was not our original destination -- we had planned to spend time in one of the two Passport America campgrounds in La Veta. If you recall, we spent one night there last August, and commented at the time that La Veta seemed to be either past its prime or not yet there. This was reinforced by the fact that the phones for both campgrounds are now disconnected. Calls to other cgs in the area found them either less than desirable sounding or way too expensive, so we went with "tried and true", having stayed here in August 2004.Lathrop is a enjoyable park with lots of activities: it has a golf course, two lakes (one "no wake"), two campgrounds (one "no hookup"), birding, etc. For us it was a down day -- we went grocery shopping, ate at a very mediocre Mexican restaurant, and walked around the park.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Junction RV Park, Ordway, CO - July 7-9
We have discovered that it is easier and much more enjoyable to drive out to flat, sparsely populated eastern Colorado than to brave the cities and passes of the Front Range. Junction RV Park is relatively inexpensive ($15 for full hook-ups) and attractive, although unkempt -- the hoses have probably not been moved since last fall and the trees REALLY need to be trimmed.
We went on a scenic tour past Lake Meredith (looking for possible boondocking sites), revisited Bent's Old Fort (to take pictures since my camera batteries conked out last time) and visited the Koshare Indian Museum in La Junta, which houses a variety of ancient & modern artifacts, including prints, pottery,
jewelry, kachinas, and books, as well as an authentic reproduction of a kiva (ceremonial round room). As these are normally off-limits to non-tribal members, this provides a good opportunity to examine the adobe walls and marvel at the log roof -- the largest of its kind in the country, consisting of over 600 logs and weighing almost 40 tons. We found that Lake Meredith and nearby Lake Henry both offer free camping next to the lake (with, of course, no hookups).
We stayed here an extra day because of severe weather warnings -- in an RV it's usually safer to hunker down than to be caught traveling.Friday, July 7, 2006
Pepper Pod, Hudson, CO - July 6
Hudson is only 40 miles from Shady Acres, and not exactly a center of tourism, so why did we park in this small, fairly expensive ($24/night) RV park near a railroad track? Well, the faucet in our shower has been bothering us for months (hard to shut off and not closing off the faucet completely when running the shower), and there is an RV repair facility just north of Longmont, who seemed quite knowledgable when we discussed the problem with them. Even better, it is associated with Camping World, who sells the replacement unit with a fixed installation fee. This was important since the service manager explained that in order to replace our faucet, they have to remove the living room wall behind the bathroom. The fixed installation fee saved us about 3 hours of labor costs. Since we figured this could take the better part of a day, we didn't want to have to travel very far afterwards, and Pepper Pod fit the bill.
We dropped our trailer off at 9am, bundled the cats off to Pat Andriene's (we stayed there once before when we left our trailer at Casey's Non-Service Center), had a farewell lunch with Leah, went to a "Trompe L'Oeil" (to fool the eye) exhibit at the Longmont Museum with Mary Ann, picked up our trailer at 5pm, and were glad to only have to drive 30 miles east.
The most interesting part of this park was the manager, who was happy when he had campers, but "not too many", since then he'd have to spend too much time dealing with them.
We dropped our trailer off at 9am, bundled the cats off to Pat Andriene's (we stayed there once before when we left our trailer at Casey's Non-Service Center), had a farewell lunch with Leah, went to a "Trompe L'Oeil" (to fool the eye) exhibit at the Longmont Museum with Mary Ann, picked up our trailer at 5pm, and were glad to only have to drive 30 miles east.The most interesting part of this park was the manager, who was happy when he had campers, but "not too many", since then he'd have to spend too much time dealing with them.
Thursday, July 6, 2006
Shady Acres Mobile Home & RV Park, Lafayette, CO - May 26-July 5
Friday, May 26 brought us full circle back to where it all started --Shady Acres was where we parked our rig in preparation for going full-time, and where we said many a tearful good-bye as we started off on our adventures 6 1/2 years ago. We've since stayed here 3 more times, each time vowing that it would be the last. But camping options are extremely limited in the Denver metro area, and when we were in the neighborhood (staying at St Vrain SP) we decided to check it out, and, in all fairness, it is significantly improved (not that it doesn't have a long way to go). There is now a full-time on-site manager and laundry facilities. The manager took down an old power line that was hanging down so low that, the last time we stayed, it tore one of our vent covers. Loud "boom box" cars still frequent the car wash next door a little too frequently, but one must take the bad with the good -- it's right across the street from a grocery & a library, and conveniently located for visiting friends.
Much of our time here was spent selling our house in Boulder, then finding & buying a condo in Longmont that we may retire to after we give up, or at least curtail, our nomadic lifestyle. By "exchanging" the rental property in Boulder for the condo in Longmont, we managed to avoid (or at least postpone!) quite a large tax bill. Also in buying the condo we made a new friend, realtor Leah Haenselman, who hopes to meet us out on the road someday -- maybe even this fall.Even more time was spent trying to donate Doug's old house in Wheat Ridge to the Humane Society of Boulder Valley (where we used to foster kittens & cats) in exchange for a lifetime annuity, called a Charitable Gift Annuity. If we were expecting a straight-forward transaction we were in for a big surprise, since the deal still has yet to be completed. It is looking quite promising, and when/if it is finalized, will enable the Humane Society to provide this option much more easily for future donors at all levels.
When we weren't pulling out our hair dealing with one or another house frustration, we managed to see 4 movies (probably more than we've seen in any year on the road): The Da Vinci Code, X-Men 3, An Inconvenient Truth, and Prairie Home Companion. We longed to also see "Wordplay" but just couldn't fit it into our busy schedule. We strolled through Old Town Lafayette on their "Chair-ity Walk" -- painted chairs to be auctioned off for charity. We enjoyed a Sierra Club Benefit Concert in Denver (Chris Daniels & The Kings). We attended an Oberlin College reception with its Alumni Assoc Exec Board. And we were underwhelmed by the "Body World" exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science: an exhibit of actual human bodies that have been "Plastinated" (replacing body fluids with clear plastic). 
In most cases, the skin had been removed & the individual posed (eg kicking a soccer ball). Each of the individuals had voluntarily donated their bodies for the process, but even so . . . as an anatomy aid for medical students, maybe, but as an exhibit solely to satisfy the curious, this was a little too much. Most others are quite impressed with this exhibit, we just happen to not be among them!
We also got to go birding -- 3 times with Boulder Bird Club & 3 times with Bill & Becky Eeds. Even though summer is not the best time for birding in Colorado, we managed to see three lifers: Cassin's finch, dickcissel, yellow-breasted chat (all common in their range but still unseen by us until this year).
One of our trips with Bill & Becky was to Rocky Mtn Natl Park, where on a half-mile stretch of trail we saw eleven different species of cavity-nesters -- both parents flying in & out of holes in trees frantically feeding their chicks. 
Speaking of Bill Eeds, he was one of a handful of people who were selected to go to Arkansas last winter to try to verify the existence of the ivory-billed woodpecker. We attended a 90-minute multi-media presentation by Bill & two others on their experience, and although they found no further evidence, it was interesting seeing pictures of the buggy, spider- and snake-infested swamp that they endured for two weeks trying to see that bird
(and that hundreds of thousands of others would have gladly traded places with them!).Bridge also played a central role in our whirl of activities -- social bridge at the Longmont Senior Center (if we're going to live there the bridge has to be acceptable) and best of all, bridge with dear friends Penny & Sue, as well as several other games with various friends. We just recently realized that we are not going to have such a high level of bridge for many months to come.
We found time for geocaching & letterboxing (we finally got an acid-free notebook, stamp & pad for letterboxing!), introducing Mark & Susan to these pursuits. Susan took to geocaching right away -- she found the first two when the rest of us were stumped. An interesting letterbox in Lafayette is "The Daytime Resting Place of Fodor Glava". Fodor died in Dec 1918 after moving here from Transylvania, and right about where his heart would be grows a tree, supposedly from the wooden stake that killed him.
And there's always music -- both making & hearing. Willie played violin with "her" quartet and we were treated to a fabulous lunch both times prepared by violist Judy Cole. Doug bought a digital keyboard from good friends Sheila & Tom and enjoyed playing it in spare moments (Sheila & Tom also had us over for 2 parties). And a free 4th of July concert by the Longmont Symphony gave us a chance to see some old friends still playing in that group.
Since there wasn't enough stress and confusion in our lives, we decided to investigate getting new flooring for our trailer. This was something we'd been considering for quite some time - the carpeting in our main living area was really getting stained & ratty - and since we found a flooring company one half block from our trailer, figured we would never get a better opportunity. We thought about Pergo, but the installer nixed that -- he was afraid the slide-outs might cause it to buckle. So we chose a high-quality wood-grain vinyl, and it really looks great, and is easy to clean. We crossed our fingers on moving day as the slide-outs slid in, and then again as they slid out, but we happily could see no ill-effects on our new floor.Last and certainly not least, cats took up a lot of our time and more of our pocketbook. Amber was on antibiotics for a urinary tract infection and eyedrops for goopy eyes. Not to be outdone, Rainbow had to see a cardiologist for arhythmia, thankfully diagnosed as "mild", but is now on medication for high blood pressure. Trixie wonders why she stays healthy and gets less attention than the others.
Friday, May 26, 2006
St Vrain SP, Longmont, CO - May 18-25
Now we're in the Boulder/Longmont area, where we'll probably stay through the end of June. We started out at the state park where we volunteered last Fall. It has been much improved, with electric hookups and nicely spaced campsites. Unfortunately, the clientele remains somewhat the same. The increased cost, due to having hookups, keeps some of the "riff raff" away, but there are still some. On 6/1, it will start being on the reservation system, and that will help with the somewhat trashy drop-in campers. The park is still a work in progress, but they seem to be headed in a good direction.
It is great to be back in the area, visiting with friends and getting some needed medical appointments out of the way. We are taking care of the business of selling our rental property in Boulder. We were hoping to keep the house in Wheat Ridge as a rental, but upon visiting it, we are so disgusted with the condition it is in, which we blame on the poor rental agent, we have decided to sell it, too. If you know of anyone interested in a real "fixer-upper" located near a Greenbelt area in Wheat Ridge, CO, contact us soon!!The cats are quite content to not be on the road every other day -- and to have their sunny windows remain the same for a while. We took all three in to see the vet earlier this week -- they definitely were not thrilled about that! Amber has a urinary track infection and is now on antibiotics for a week or ten days; Rainbow has a heart arythmia and is scheduled to see a vet cardiologist (we think she admires Doug so much that she wants to be just like him).
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Vedauwoo Rec Area, Medicine Bow Natl Forest, WY - May 16-17
Vedauwoo is very reminiscent of Jumbo Rocks at Joshua Tree NP, with large, rounded-off rectangular boulders piled all around. It's only a mile off of I-80, about a two-hour drive from Denver. No-hookup camping was only $3.50/night since the water wasn't turned on.
There is abundant hiking & rock-climbing, plus a few geocaches and letterboxes in the area. If you recall from our last tripnews, geocaching is a high-tech hide-and-go-seek, where you try to find a "cache" using a GPS device. Letterboxing is a low-tech counterpart, where directions are explicitly written. Both the letterbox and the finder have personalized rubber stamps; the finder stamps a page of the letterbox log & writes a brief note, and then stamps their own log with the letterbox stamp. While we haven't had a stamp made for us yet, we find letterboxing more satisfying than geochaching, both in concept and in results.Tuesday, May 16, 2006
RV World Campground, Rawlins, WY - May 14-15
The first thing you notice when driving across this part of Wyoming are the "Strong Winds Possible Next 5 Miles" signs which, if you measure it, are positioned every 5 miles.RV World is another Passport America park, not quite as nice as Ft Bridger, but still better than a lot we have stayed at. PA rate is $12 for the first night, $15 thereafter, for full hookups and WiFi. It has very friendly owners; we enjoyed Bob & Debbie's company here also.
Rawlins is perched on the edge of the Great Divide Basin, the only place in North or South America where the Continental Divide splits significantly. Since I-80 crosses a stretch of the Basin, we had to cross the Continental Divide twice to go from the Pacific to Atlantic drainage (neither crossing is the highest point along I-80 -- that's located east of Laramie at 8630 ft, which is even higher than Donner Pass in CA). Water in the Great Divide Basin flows to a series of saltflats and ponds in an area known as the Chain-of-Lakes, and if you had a big enough hose, you could actually fill the Basin to the lowest spot on the surrounding Continental Divide.
If you've been following our travels for a while, you know that we have serendipitously stumbled on to different "painted" animals, like the Painted Catfish in Jackson, MS, and the Painted Geese in Longmont, CO. Different local artists or groups paint an animal with their own theme, and then they are all auctioned off, with the proceeds going to selected charities.
Well, Rawlins has Painted Pronghorns, but they weren't starting until late May. We asked around, however, and learned that most of the painting was being done at a gallery on Main Street. Unfortunately, the shop was only open by appt, but we were able to peer through the window and see 15 or 20 finished pronghorns, and they were all quite cute.
Much of the rest of Rawlins is somewhat attractive, with a busy well-kept historic downtown area, numerous well-maintained Victorian homes, and the historic State Penitentiary, an impressive Gothic structure that is strangely appealing.
