4/5/2010 Delaware, Here We Come!

We were up early this morning. Lots had to be done if we hoped to be out of here right after the mail arrived around 10:30. Showers out of the way, it was time to get serious.

All the furniture and tables had to be covered with sheeting, the water jugs put around, the fridge totally emptied and wiped down, sink traps had to be dealt with, the BBQ chained to the shed, more last minute things put in the rig, shampoo, toothpaste and hairbrushes had to be gathered….and the list went on.

At eight, the first of our friends that I hadn’t seen last night arrived to say so long. It made us feel so good that quite a few of our friends still in the park rode by on bikes, drove over or walked over to say so long. There were lots of handshakes and hugs goin’ on.

Bob saying so long to Marilyn.

Before we left I went over to Carl and Sandy’s to say “see ya next fall “ and to get pictures of the blooming cactus in their front yard.

We were at the point that we were just about done when we heard the mail had arrived. I walked up to get it only to find out it still wasn’t here. Oh well, we’re leaving anyway, it will just have to catch up with us along the way.

We were in the truck ready to pull out when I remembered that I had a bag of chocolate chips on the top shelf in a cabinet. I have no idea what made me think of it or why I hadn’t taken it out when I was going through the cabinets all those times. One last run into the house and we were finally on our way. We got on the road a little after 11.

We’re headin’ home. Back to Delaware. Back to family and friends and I am sooooo glad! It’s been almost two years since we’ve been home and I really need to see family.

As we pulled out of Quail Run I was both sad and happy at the same time. To tell ya the truth, happy was the stronger emotion. I wanna go home!

So we’re heading east on I-10 and just outside of Tucson we start seeing these signs for THE THING, Mystery of the Desert.

Yellow sign after yellow sign enticing motorists to stop and find out for themselves what THE THING is. Then we noticed that the signs were coming closer together and Mystery of the Desert on the bottom of the sign was replaced with advertising for Southwestern rugs, belts, dream catchers, buckles, earrings, agate bookends, chicken in a basket, hot coffee and that delightful desert dessert, Dairy Queen!

One soon realizes that THE THING is not going to eat the flesh off your bones but its prey is definitely the dollars in your wallet!

Did we stop to find out what THE THING is? Heck no! It cost a dollar to find out so how good can it be? I have to admit that curiosity got the best of me so I looked it up on Internet. I’m doing you a public service here by printing the picture. Save your time and your money,,,,this is THE THING! A papier-mache’ mummy. Now you know.

Have you heard that Arizona is in dire financial straits? That the state is in such deep financial doo-doo that it is closing the majority of its roadside rest areas? What is a truck driver, or anyone for that matter, supposed to do now? Oh don’t even get me started on the drain the illegal aliens are putting on the state of Arizona.

LaVon, here is something for you my friend. I don’t know if its dead or just not blooming yet but here’s what I think is a dead tree for ya girlfriend!

The Mexican poppies are out in force!

We were to travel 285 miles today to Demming, New Mexico.

We normally wouldn’t drive that far, especially with getting such a late start, but we wanted to make it this far so we could catch up with friends of ours from Delaware, Bobby and Shelly Evans. They are heading west to California and stopped for a few days in Demming and called us to let us know where they were. I had emailed them last week to see if they were still in Texas in hopes we would see them there. For all of you newbies out there, don’t think that when you meet someone in your travels that you will only see them that time. We’ve met up with Bobby and Shelly in Missouri, Wyoming, Arizona and now New Mexico.

We had the gusting wind at our back so that made it a much easier drive than having it hit us broadside.

A going down the road picture. LaVon, what do YOU see in the picture below?

When we came to wide open spaces we were warned about the possibility of dust storms.

When we were about a half hour out, Bobby called to let us know that the park was having a leftovers dinner at six , from the Easter dinner the day before, if we were interested. That was a load off my mind because we didn’t have much in the way of food in the rig since I knew we were going to Fort Bliss in El Paso and that I would be doing a big shopping in the commissary. I had planned on fast food for dinner. When we arrived at the Escapee’s Dreamcatcher RV Park we were welcomed with open arms as always and told about the dinner. I asked how much it would cost and the fellow said, “Nothing, just bring a dish to share”. Uh-oh,,,what am I going to bring? I had a large can of fruit cocktail I could empty into a bowl and cover with Saran wrap and not much more taking into consideration the short amount of time I had after we got set up for the night. I called Bobby to let him know of my food situation and he said not to worry about it because they had two dessert dishes to take and we could carry one in. Whew! So after dining on leftover turkey, ham and many side dishes we all waddled back to the rigs for an evening of visiting. Shelly did run me over to Walmart so I could stock up on beer and Pepsi’s. Shelly pointed out all the RV’s in the parking lot and went on to explain that so many stay there overnight that they even have security staff that takes the rigs to a parking place and sure enough, just then a car with flashing lights and SECURITY written in big letters on the side led an RV to a space. Seeing that was a first for me.

At nine thirty I called it a night, Bob had gone back to our place a little while earlier. It felt soooo good to get back into that bed again. You can all relate to how good your bed feels after being away for vacation or a business trip. This was no different.

Delaware, we’re on the road and we’re coming home.