Ramblin' Ruis: April 2018

A Time for Everything

Sunset over the Weaver Mountains

April 11,2018

Well here we are again. It seems like just yesterday that we were in Florida but on March 1 we left Cedar Key with our destination Congress Arizona. As we change locations we left behind new formed friendships and headed off to discover new adventures around the next corner.

Well it would seem totally incomplete to do an update and not include a Camping World story. SOOOO, as you may recall we had to order a new recliner set for the camper as the side I sit on had begun to lean to the right as something in the frame had broken. So, we had a scheduled appointment on March 1 in Lake City Florida to get the new recliners installed. We arrived at 8:30 am and unhooked the trailer. While I was unhooking the trailer, I heard a noise in one of the landing gear that I hadn’t heard before but the gear went up and I didn’t notice anything out of the way as I moved the truck so the service guys could move the trailer for the installation. Paula and I left the Camping World and had breakfast at a nearby Cracker Barrell and ran a few errands before returning to pick up the trailer so we could head west. When we returned to the lot the trailer was sitting around front and it appeared that the repairs had been completed. Paula went inside to talk to our service guy and I began to back up to hook up the trailer. When I got out of the truck to lower the tailgate an employee on a fork lift was riding by and said he would be back in a minute to help me hook up. I waved, and at the same time was wondering why he was going to help me hookup as I have been doing this for a while now. At the sametime Paula and our service guy were walking toward me and as they got close the service guy said we were going to have to have a jack to raise the trailer to load. Evidently the noise I heard was the pin shearing off on the left landing gear. WOW. WOW. WOW. The service guy went on to say that when they moved the trailer around back that the leg wouldn’t extend and hold the weight of the trailer. So, we are very fortunate that the trailer did not fall when I unhooked or even before one night while we were asleep. These guys were very nice at Camping World and they assisted in jacking the trailer with, a floor jack up so I could hook up the truck. The part was ordered and was being shipped overnight but this being a Thursday it would not be in Lake City until Monday or Tuesday of the next week.

So here we are………thinking we are heading west……… when actually we have to find a new place to camp near Lake City. Side note we were hooked up and could go where we wanted but we just had to stay hooked up until the landing gear leg could be replaced. We were able to find a nice KOA where we stayed until the repairs were made on Monday March 4. While we were at the KOA we decided we needed to get a few groceries from Wal Mart. Now we are hooked up so we decided to ride our bicycles to the Walmart which was about 4 miles away. Now my wife was somewhat reluctant to make this ride so as we went along I had to keep setting short term goals such as the next cross street or stop light. We made it without much trouble. We got our groceries and I bought a basket for the bike to carry the groceries back. Now the terrain was flat so it was an easy ride but no short-term goals needed on the return and when Paula saw that yellow KOA sign she caught another gear and I could barely keep up with her.

Finally, March 4 we are west bound on I-10 3 ½ days later than planned headed to Arizona. Now for those that don’t know I-10 runs east to west from Florida to California across the southern US. We pushed across Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana in a day and a half. Then came Texas, it was 2 days of hard driving to cross the lone star state. The scenery didn’t change much just a few more hills in west Texas. As we passed through El Paso on I-10 we were close enough to the Mexico border that Paula’s cell phone switched over to the international calling plan and welcomed her to Mexico.

Finally, we were out of Texas and we spent two days in Los Cruses New Mexico. Los Cruses is a historic old town where bandits from days gone by like Billy the Kid, Pancho Villa and others use to hold up when on the run. We then spent one day to take a break from driving and did some sightseeing. We were able to visit White Sands national park and Fort Seldon. White Sands is located between two mountain ranges in a valley used by the US Military for a missile testing range. Its strange driving across the desert and seeing this big white patch of sand in the middle. This sand is course and packs down hard so there are roads cut through the dunes to drive on.

White Sands National Park

Once we left White Sands we drove to a little State park called Fort Seldon. This was a fort that General Douglas McArthur’s father served as the last commanding General and where the younger McArthur spent some of his youth. We wondered through the visitor center and watched the informational video on the forts operation protecting the trade routes and wagon train trails. After seeing the visitors center we went outside to see the remains of the forts adobe walls and layout. As we entered the walkway to the fort a sign on the side of the trail said “Respect the privacy of the rattlesnakes and stay on the trail”. The trails were clear and gravel which lead us into what was the remains of the fort. As we walked around Paula reached out to feel the texture of the adobe walls. As we walked further Paula was going to touch the wall again when out of the corner of my eye I saw some movement which I quickly identified as a baby rattlesnake curled up in crevices on the wall. I immediately warned Paula not to touch the wall and pointed out the snake. Obviously, rattlesnakes can’t read as Paula was obviously on the trail. We quickly exited the fort as we cautiously looked for mama rattlesnake.

Before we left Los Cruses we met up with Tony and Lanette Langley for dinner. Tony and Lanette were fellow employees at Fishing Bridge last year and they will be returning this year but will be working in a different location this year. We had a great dinner catching up and swapping stories of each of our winter adventures. We learned from Tony that because of the amount of weapons testing conducted in the Los Cruses area that when you fish in the areas lakes or rivers you are given a warning card that outlines the safe amount of fish to eat each month due to the radiation levels. Good to know in case you are going to visit this area.

Once leaving New Mexico we stopped in Wilcox Az. This was near the notorious western town of Tombstone Az. After getting set up in Wilcox we made our way to Tombstone. Tombstone was a late 1800’s mining town in the lawless Arizona desert which is most famous for the shoot out on October 26, 1881 between the Earp’s and the Clanton’s at the OK Corral.

OK Corral

Now this epic gun battle between the law and order group of the Earp’s and the outlaw group of the Clanton’s is what has kept Tombstone on the map since all the mining dried up shortly after this historical shoot out. I am not sure what Paula and I were expecting but we found one street preserved close to the 1880’s. This to us was more like a Tweetsie Railroad on steroids for those on the east coast to reference. Everything was commercialized and you couldn’t even see the OK Corral with out paying 10 per person to see a slapstick recreation of the shootout. Which we did. Somewhere in all the trappings and commercialization was lost the 30 second gunfight.

After leaving Wilcox we arrived in Congress Az which ironically was a mining town and is where a lot of the prospectors came to when Tombstones mines dried up. Congress is a small desert town located about 1 hour northwest of Phoenix at the foot of the Weaver Mountains. For the movie buffs you might recognize the Weaver Mountains from the movie Granite Mountain Hotshots. This movie depicted a forestry department Hotshot firefighting team that was killed in a wildfire. This was in the Weaver Mountains about 10 miles from where we are located.

While here Ed and Judy Lonsdale our friends from Idaho that we worked with at the park last summer passed through as they were on a road trip to Death Valley and northern Arizona. We had dinner with them and then spent the day hiking in a park in Wickenburg where we had a very nice picnic lunch.

After lunch we headed toward Phoenix as there was an air show at Luke AFB. The Blue Angels naval flight team was performing so we were able to see them for the first time.

Blue Angels over Lukes AFB
It was truly amazing to watch these guys flying so fast upside down, side by side, and various other tricks. The show lasted about 45 minutes and was a real treat. Glad we were able to spend this time with Ed and Judy as they will not be returning to the park this year.

Paula and I were able to catch a ballgame at the Dodger’s spring training against the KC Royals. This was a nice time as we both had a Dodger Dog and enjoyed the game.

Unfortunately, on March 18 Paula had to fly back to Asheville as her mother was hospitalized. As much as we enjoy this adventure there are still “life things” that each of us have to handle.

The Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes in Chapter 3 talks specifically about a time for everything. And in verse 2 it says “there is a time to be born and a time to die”. Sadly, on March 22, 2018 at 7:54pm Paula’s mother Jane Hansel ended her struggles her on earth and entered the gates of Heaven where she will suffer no more. In verse 4 of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 the write also says “there is a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance”. As sad as it is for us to lose our wife, mother, grandmother and mother-in-law we can laugh at the good times we had together and dance and rejoice that she is no longer suffering. On March 27 we were able mourn and celebrate her life and her passing in a very nice service at the “Little Church on the Hill” know as First Presbyterian Church of Swannanoa.