Thank you all for all the love, support and prayers for our son Matthew. We flew home right away for he was in the hospital for 11 days due to unexpected, hypertensive crises following a severe sinus infection weeks prior. We can’t thank enough his friend Scott who stayed at his side till his brothers John & Daniel drove down to be at his side till we got there They were my eyes & ears. He is doing great now and glad to be home with his dogs! Nurse’s Day & Mother’s Day I spent by his side and they staff there brought us in all kinds of goodies as did I for them every day! Matthew even sent me flowers from his hospital bed and I enjoyed them every night when I returned home. With him stable and all appointments made we were encouraged to continue on our adventure!
Thursday & Friday, May 16th & 17th, 2024 – Got the house cleaned and ready to leave. Refrigerator emptied, packed our duffle bags up and our lovely neighbor Kati drove us to the airport at 2pm. Our dear friend Rigo arranged for us to get back to our truck & camper in Albuquerque on stand-by tickets which we knew nothing about. He texted us once we were there to inform us that there are delays and cancellations due to a severe storm happening in Dallas. So we found our friend Joe’s girlfriend’s bar that she was working at and had a drink. Then got dinner! All the flights were cancelling! We spent 10 hours at PBI when finally we got on the 12:48 am flight to Dallas. CRAZY! Oh but our standby experience gets better. Now at Dallas it will be 5 hours before a possibility to get to our destination. Rigo drove 40 minutes from his mom’s house (he’s visiting her) to pick us up; take us to her house to sleep for 2 hours! Got there at 3:50am, crashed till 6am, brushed our teeth and to our surprise, walked into the kitchen to meet her for the first time in 12 years, & her brother & sister in law visiting from Brazil. They got up early to make us breakfast before heading out for the airport so we could try and catch a flight! What an amazing breakfast feast! Scrambled eggs, coffee, toast with jams and Portugal cream cheese (which was delicious), muffins, fruits, juice and so much more! We were so humbled by their generosity and hospitality! Thank you was not enough!
Now the fun really begins! Rigo being a pilot had access to all the flights and how many seats were left etc. We know nothing about this! We walked all over this terminal… 3 different gates and trying to figure out whether to fly to Santé Fe or Amarillo and get a rental car and drive 6 hours to our truck/trailer!!! Anyone who really knows me, knows I’m not comfortable flying but better over the years…I’m stressed, tired and now getting nervous and emotional! We are waiting at a gate that Rigo found that might work that’s going to Albuquerque, and the people in front of us get called for the last 2 seats on this plane. They were a family of 3 and declined. It’s now 10am! Our names were called and I broke down in tears…rolling down my face, ran over to hug Rigo, and apparently got yelled at by the ticket lady who I didn’t hear a single word she said.
We arrived in Albuquerque, called for an UBER and it’s a TESLA! Our first ride in one. We get to the campground, checked everything, cleaned out the refrigerator, hitch up, check with the office and we’re on the road at 11:23. It’s sunny & 76*. 11:56am on the radio the song playing is “Take it Easy” by the Eagles! (heading to Winslow Arizona) 1:00pm we cross into Arizona and time change. Mile long trains passing….Indian Reservations, fields of sheep and now seeing large rock formations. 2:00pm we made a detour to relax and get back on track and stopped at the Wigwam Motel on Route 66. AKA Wigwam Villages built in the 1930’s & 1940’s. The rooms are built in the form of tepee, mistakenly referred to as wigwams. The movie CARS designed the Cozy Cone Motel based on the Wigwam Motel. Walked around, looked at the old cars and rooms then headed across the street to a Safeway to stock up.
While we were home we were unsure of our return, so Tim had to do some modifications to our itinerary. We needed some time to decompress so a familiar area was the town of Winslow and he booked us at Homolovi State Park which we love. We arrived there at 3:30pm, site 22, checked in, setup then took a nap! When we woke, just like the last time there, there were wild Burros behind our rig. 5:50pm 84*, sunny and windy. Nicole, Ellie and Angelina arrived at 9pm. They drove from home to spend some time with us for a few days to help us relax. Got everyone’s beds put together and we were all in bed by 10:30pm. Drove 251 miles today….and flew from West Palm Beach! We are tired travelers!
Saturday, May 18th – Tim’s 65th Birthday! His wish was to be back on the road and we did it! Angelina woke up at 5am!!!! I brought her into bed with us where she snuggled, cooed and babbled for a long time. It was already sunny out and she enjoyed looking out the window by our heads. 8am everyone is up now and we enjoyed coffee & tea and had a relaxing morning with cereal, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. While we all took turns showering and getting ready fro the day …Tim and Ellie played Go-Fish {her version of course} outside. Now it’s time to find Diet Cokes!
11am- Arrived at Petrified Forest National Park and toured the visitor center, movie and exhibits. We walked the few trails there. Stopped at the Painted Desert Inn {it was closed 3 years ago when we were here so Tim was thrilled}. Amazing building, the back doors are all framed out in Petrified Wood. Drove through the park stopping at all the overlooks and a few trails and stopped at the last visitor center for a snack then back to the RV to change for dinner.
5pm we arrived at the historical La Posada Hotel/Restaurant/Train Station/Museum. Built in the 1930’s, it’s the last of the great Fred Harvey Santa Fe Railway Hotels. We ate dinner in the Turquoise Room next to a window watching all the trains going by. We had an amazing Birthday dinner starting with Squash Flower Blooms stuffed with cheese. Bison short ribs with a BBQ Chile sauce with blackberry. Tim had a Game dish with Quail, Bison, Elk and Wild Boar. Then a birthday dessert! Walked around the grounds and down by the train tracks. Next we “Stood on the corner of Winslow Arizona”. Took a lot of pictures. Returned back to the CG to have a small fire and Ellie roasted marshmallows and enjoyed S’mores! Our NOMAD Near Me app alerted me earlier that 2 of our friends we met at last year’s rally were 2 sites down and they visited us for awhile. We then called it a night!
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