J01W1

Monday, December 3, 2018

We were up early this morning wanting to get on the road and take a good chunk out of the 450 miles that we have to drive to Deming, New Mexico today. This has always been our longest day for driving on our way to California. We waited until it started getting light about 8:30, and then got on the highway.

It didn’t take long before we missed our exit in Santa Rosa, New Mexico and we had to drive back to find it. We calculated how many more miles we’d have to drive if we stayed on our current path and decided it was worth the return. Besides we had only gone about 5 miles past the turn. It was our only lack of concentration of the day.

We had another experience when we were looking for gas today. When you get west of Texas the gas stations advertise regular gas for discount prices until you realize that the octane is only 86 and the motorhome requires 89. So the gas goes from an advertised price of $2.19 to $2.44. It’s always nice to know when you’re getting screwed. We didn’t have any other issues today except the Sun shining in our eyes right around sunset. Sharon had been driving at that time and we just made it into our campground before it turned blinding. We knew the Sun would become a problem because it always is on this elongated day.

We settled into our campsite and were not too pleased with the price or the size of the site, not to mention trying to figure out how to park on it. The girl from the office walked back after we figured it out, and we got settled into our site.

For the rest of the night we watched TV from the satellite even though it was still having a problem downloading the programming. By 10:30 it was time to turn off the lights and head into the back room.

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Since we were traveling yesterday I had no chance to publish my Journal, I tried to do it this morning but I couldn’t get to the Homestead Sitebuilder. So for the time being I’ll have to wait until I can get my sitebuilder working before I can publish.

After contacting Dave and Joyce Zuzelo yesterday, we called them this morning and set a time to go for lunch today. We met Dave and Joyce a few years ago when we were having trouble with our satellite dish, and Dave came over to help, when he saw Sharon on top of the motorhome. It was an odd situation, but at a time when I couldn’t negotiate the last step on the ladder to get to the roof. . It was the same year that they moved out of their motorhome and built a house here in Deming. Anyway Dave came over and allowed Sharon to get off the roof. Since that time we’ve kept in touch over the years.

They stopped over at 11:30 to pick us up and they came inside and we showed them the motorhome. At 27' that took about 14 seconds to complete that tour. We sat around talking, and catching up, for about an hour before we left for the restaurant.

We went to the Rancher’s Grill for lunch and the food was delicious. We only had sandwiches but they were very good. Sharon had a Prime Rib sandwich and mine was a Chile Cheeseburger with a pile of Green Chiles that squeezed out with the first bite. After we ate we sat and talked for about an hour and a half before we finally got up to leave. The restaurant must have been happy to see us go. We were the last ones there.

On the way home we got a city tour to include the Luna Mimbres Museum, the Amish Bakery, the Movie House, all the important places to visit. They swung by the campground and dropped us off. Dave wanted to see all the storage that I told him about in the motorhome so they stayed long enough to see that. We also set a time and date to have Breakfast together at Denny’s on Thursday.

For the rest of the night we sat and scrutinized the television. We had some favorite shows on tonight including the Curse of Oak Island on the History Channel. We’re still waiting for them to find something of what we would consider significance. But nothing happened again tonight.

We were ready for the sleep chamber again tonight by 10:30. It’s getting harder and harder to stay up until then.

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

We were up this morning with a plan to go for Breakfast to the Grand Motor Inn and try their buffet. Unfortunately they only have a buffet on special holidays and it’s a Dinner buffet. Bum information on this one. But the food was good at a reasonable price. The only complaint we had was that the food was not very hot when it was served.

After Breakfast we took a trip in the car to Aker Flats to the souvenir store that we passed the other day on the way in to Deming. This is one place that we’ve never stopped at before. We’ve stopped at several Indian Trading Posts across Arizona and New Mexico but we’ve never been to this one before. It was about twenty miles back down the road and we were back before noon. They had a lot of really nice stuff but we couldn’t find anything we couldn’t do without except for a little thing for our grandson.

Back in Deming and finding ourselves at the Amish Bakery, we did find something we couldn’t do without. A couple of cinnamon buns that were calling to us magically appeared in our car before we left. The girl who waited on us was very personable. She wanted to know where we were from and if we were from Deming or just passing through. After about a 10 minute conversation with her we were on our way home, back to the campground.

After we got home I had a repair job ahead of me. The strap that holds our bedroom door from slamming closed while we’re driving. It took about an hour and a half but it’s better now than when it was built.

We had Ravioli and Meatballs, Garlic Toast and Salad for Dinner tonight. The Ravioli was from home and the rest Sharon put together for us. It was all very good, indeed.

We spent our night in front of the tube watching whatever recorded tonight. Our DVR is recording sporadically and we never know what will be on there or not. For the last few nights it’s recording all the right shows.

We gave it all up around 10:30 and headed south.

Thursday, December 6, 2018

We were up and off to Denny’s this morning to meet Dave and Joyce for Breakfast. It turned into another gabfest for at least an hour after we finished eating. It was another very pleasant visit.

Before we left this morning we noticed that our LP Gas gauge was showing empty. So as soon as we left the restaurant we drove down to the LP locations according to Google. They were really not convenient to where we are camping. And as luck would have it, we didn’t notice that our campground sells propane. I guess the sign on the front marquee and the huge flag were just too small for us to

see. We disconnected our electric and took the motorhome to the front of the campground and got our LP filled. We only had our electric to disconnect since we didn’t hook up all our utilities. It took about 20 minutes to get the whole thing done and reconnected at our site again.

After getting gas I took out our extra satellite receiver and encountered more trouble. It didn’t seem to be able to hook up to our system by not having enough connections. I called DirecTV but it seemed like after an hour on the phone I wasn’t going to get any satisfaction from them. Or any help for that matter. Although she was thorough, she blamed all my troubles on my antenna and not the receiver. So I just put the old receiver back in and left it as is...........not working.

We had Playmoor Burgers for Supper tonight. A Playmoor Burger is one Hamburger patty and one Bratwurst patty on a bun with onions and Horseradish sauce on it. It may not sound that good, but it is a fabulous sandwich.

We sat and gazed at the TV for the night and I perceived what I thought was a kidney stone giving me some difficulty. I found my drugs to combat the problem and shortly afterward went to bed.

Friday, December 7, 2018 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SHARON (44)

I woke up this morning in “kidney stone mode” and took some more pills right away. They haven’t been working like they usually do. I remained in pain for most of the day, but it wasn’t the full blown pain I’m used to. In any event, I ruled out eating until after Sharon had her Supper. She then offered to make me whatever I wanted. So after several suggestions I settled on a bowl of oatmeal and a couple of pieces of toast. She also put out a cup of applesauce so after the oatmeal I ate the applesauce. It actually stayed down which I was wondering if it would. I don’t usually get sick to my stomach with the stones, but you never know. A lot of people I know who have had kidney stones get very sick.

We just sat around watching the Telly for the afternoon. I mostly sat in my recliner asleep from the pills I was taking. I always feel dragged out when I take one of those forced naps. Today was no different since I was still ready for a nap or two.

We watched TV on the campground cable all day today, so we didn’t have anything recorded on the DVR. Even if we had anything recorded we have no guarantee we could play it back. I’ll have to check and see what did record either today or tomorrow. It has been recording some programs that we’ve had set, but it’s very iffy to say the least.

I was ready for bed at 10 so I just headed for the padded room for the night. Sharon decided to stay up with her book for awhile. I was sound asleep by the time she got there.

Saturday, December 8, 2018

When we woke up this morning we had a date with Dave and Joyce to have Breakfast at Denny’s at 9. I was feeling fine when I woke up with no pain in my back. Shortly after my shower I got nauseated for no reason what-so-ever. I told Sharon to call and cancel Breakfast because I was afraid of getting sick at the restaurant. As it turned out, that single episode was the only time I got nauseated for the rest of the day.

We didn’t have any plans for today so we weren’t missing out on anything that we had already planned.

I surfed around the TV for the afternoon while Sharon took a nap. By 4 o’clock she was up and getting ready for 5 o’clock mass downtown. She planned on picking up KFC Pot Pies for Supper tonight.

She was back home by 6:20 and we sat down to our Pot Pies. KFC also included a chocolate chip cookie for dessert. A nice little touch.

We watched a movie called Open Range on the DVR tonight. I recorded it in the Spring and have seen it a couple of times but it’s a good movie and worth seeing several times. The movie kept us up until 10:30 but we didn’t last much past that. Sharon was suffering through a cold and I still had the kidney stone.

Sunday, December 9, 2018

Sharon was up and offered to make Egg McMuffins for Breakfast this morning, but I was only feeling good enough to have one instead of my usual two. It turned out quite good however, along with our coffee.

We had intended to watch the Packer game today on TV but unfortunately the networks decided not to cover such a lousy spectacle. Mike McCarthy got fired this week after such a miserable showing this season. Mike was not the Packers only problem. Here’s a good one: The Packers had trouble scoring points this season so who’s named as the interim coach? The old offensive co-ordinator. Is it me or does this sound like a jackass move.

We watched a couple of games today anyway including one by my “favorite” broadcaster.” NOT!!!!!

At Suppertime I still wasn’t feeling much like eating and Sharon suggested Cream of Broccoli soup and Grilled Ham and Cheese sandwiches.

Before Supper we went out and disconnected our utilities and hooked up the car for travel tomorrow. I also dumped the holding tanks and refilled out water before I came back in.

We sat and watched TV on the cable tonight until it was time to go to sleep. We’ll be leaving for Benson, Arizona as soon as we can get ready tomorrow. It’ll only take us about 4 hours to get there so we won’t be driving a full day. In fact our last trip to Deming is always our longest day on the road.