May 21, 2021

It's been a long time.  Bob continued to live for another 7 years although we had given up our carefree lifestyle because of the doctor's prediction. They don't always know.  We wished many times that we had not listened and kept on traveling.   He died on June 10, 2019.  So it is now just Judy.  So now I am living the life of a widow and maybe I will start writing again about widowhood and the trials of that life style.  It is lonely but you can survive.  Just stay busy.  Do things with your friends.  There will always be a hole in your heart as you will always miss them but life can go on.  

                                                                                                            Judy

God has presented a road block in our lives!

Hello Everyone:  Sorry it has been so long since our last post but God has changed our lives since then and we have been very busy adjusting to his changes.   Due to Bob's health we will no longer be on the road.  He is not getting stronger and is very weak.  The doctor's have told us it is only a matter of time as there is nothing further they can do for him as his heart is too weak to even attempt a stint.  However, they have also admitted that they are not the ones in charge here as too how much longer he will live, only the Good Lord above will make that call.  However, both of his doctors are very blunt in that the future does not look good.

We have moved into an appartment and put the RV and the Tow truck on the market.  We are anxious to give someone out there a good buy on a Fifth Wheel.  We are getting a lot of calls on our truck but we can't sell it until the RV is sold.  So, we are awaiting someone to step forward and decide our Montana is just what they need.  Adjusting to apartment life is different but it is very quiet here and there is no lawn care or maintenance to do.  We just pick up the phone when we need something fixed.  Since Bob can no longer do that sort of thing and our house is leased until March 1, 2014, we decided that an apartment was the best route for us to go.  We just need some furniture as we sold all of ours when we moved into the RV and went on the road.  We will slowly acquire in time but much thanks to Bob's brother, Bill, who brought down a load of stuff to loan us until we get the stuff we need.

We have decided to be cremated and our ashes deposited in the new Crematorium that our curch is building.  We will be pre-planning Bob's funeral in a couple of weeks as we desire to bypass the expensivc funeral homes and just have the familty direct the funeral with the help of our church's funeral advisor on staff.  After all the use of our church is free for both visitation and the funeral mass. So, why make the funeral directors rich - our children can use that money once we're both gone.

So there won't be any travels to write about in the future.  But, I will try to still post occasionally in the future so all of you who have been our faithful readers will know what is happening.

Judy
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Hospital! Hospital! Hospital!

Well folks here we are over a month later still sitting in Tuscaloosa, AL.  There will be no Wisconsin as we had to give up our contract with the Corps of Engineers.  Bob did get his defibilater changed out due to dying batteries on April 19th in time for us to meet our work start date.  However, 3 days later, he had a heart attack and that changed everything.  They did another heart cath while he was in the hospital and things don't look good for the future.  Got lots of decisions to be made.  We know we're going to have to modify our travels a little bit but still want to live in the RV and move around some.

On May 9th, he ended back up in the hospital with an infection which kept him in the hospital for a week.  He came home yesterday but is still very weak.  So will sit where we are for another two weeks (that'll make 2 months) and then decide if we want to move the RV to another park in the area.  On the good side here is 2 of our 3 children came home during this time.  It sure was nice to see them.

Judy's tooth could not be saved so she had dental surgery between Bob's second and third hospital stays.  I am also having some back problems so have been trying to go to physical therapy.  However, with a bone spur, arthritis and scoliosis it looks like I am just going to have to learn to live with it - good days and bad days with short travel days.

And now on to our dog, Berry, we learned that she is now suffering with kidney insufficiency.  That means lots of pills for her and a special diet.  Oh well, she is 13 years old so guess it is time for some health problems to start appearing.

I really don't mean to be so depressing but that's just the way things have been since returning to T-town.  However, we know God is in charge and he will take care of things.  We definitely are trying to keep a positive attitude knowing that things will work out for the best.

We would appreciate your Prayers.

Later, Judy & Bob

Back to Alabama

Yes, here we are back at Tuscaloosa, AL.  We arrived last Monday evening and hit the camp site a running.  Got lots of business and doctors to see while we are here.

First of all let me say that Bob got his splint off his broken wrist bone on Monday afternoon, 3/26, before we left New Mexico on 3/27.  The doctor also gave him a cortizone shot in his wrist that afternoon to help relieve the pain from arthristis that had set up from an old injury to hopefully help him with the driving.  Also, I had been sick our last week there with an abcessed tooth.  I mean the whole right side of my head was swollen and in intense pain.  Finally got a dentist to see me and the good news was the tooth could be saved.  So, he started a root canal - drilled into the nerve and packed it with antibotics and filled over until I could get back to my normal dentist since we were heading here anyway.  He also gave me a week's supply of antibotics to take.  Never took so many pain pills in my life.  I don't usually take much in the way of pain pills but this required them.

Actually, we didn't leave New Mexico on the 27th but left Alamagordo and traveled to Carlsbad for a couple of nights.  While there we spent Wednesday at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.  We thoroughly enjoyed that.  We toured the entire "big room" using the audio guides.  Sure were tired and thankful that we had decided we were not physically able to do one of the more physical guided tours.  The "Big Room" is really something to see and is free if you have the "Golden Age Passport" which we did.  That thing has paid for itself many, many times over.

We left there on Thursday and drove to an area near Kerrville, TX, where we spent the night in a beautiful little campground nestled in a pecan grove.  Wonderfully quiet and peaceful and had grass.  Berry, our dog, thought she had died and gone to heaven.  Their daily rate was kind of on the expensive side but we used Passport America for our one night stay which made it reasonable.  The name of the park escapes me at the moment.

On Friday, we drove on in to San Antonio where we stayed at Hidden Valley RV Park using Passport America again.  This park is kind of out in the country away from town but was very adequate for our two night stay and the owners were wonderful - very nice people.  Terri even told us about an all day tour of San Antonio that would come out and pick us up at the RV and deliver us back there at the end of the day.  She even made the reservations on it for us.  So on Saturday, we took the Alamo Tours Grand Tour of San Antonio.  If you are pushed for time, haven't been there before and don't know your way around, I would highly recommend this tour.  We started with the Riverwalk and rode the boat ride there which took us all thru the riverwalk area.  From there we rode out to a park which had a Japenese Tea Garden.  After that we went back into town to visit a Saloon (from the 1880's) and Museum.  The Museum was quite large and interesting.  It had pictures created from rattlesnack rattlers the original saloon owner's wife had created. During this stop we also found a place to have lunch on our own and visited the Alamo which was only about 3 blocks away from the museum.  There we reboarded the bus and visited a couple of the different original catholic church missions that were built here before the town of San Antonio and then we went to the Mexican Market.  That was quite interesting with all the wares, both upper and lower end.  There really wasn't enough time to thoroughly enjoy this so would like to go back there someday.  Sunday morning, we went to church and then pulled back out on the road headed east.  We actually drove to Sulpher, LA, where we finally pulled into a Wal Mart and spent the night.  Had company as there were 3 other RV's parked in there.  The next day we actually drove all the way in to Tuscaloosa.  It was almost a relief to know we had gotten home.  However, I will probably be more than ready to leave by the time we can depart.

On Tuesday, we spent the day getting home set up so we could be comfortable during our stay.  And then, Wednesday, we went into the ICD Clinic so the nurse could check Bob's batteries and speed up the pacing to try to get them to go ahead and die so we can meet our schedule.  Yes, Bob's ICD batteries are dying so he has to get them replaced before we can leave.  We are supposed to start our COE contract May 10th in Minnasota.  However, we could be sitting here until June before they die so Prayers are in orders.  We need to keep this job. Then we went on to the VA to drop off one of Bob's hearing aids for repair.  He cracked it all the way around during his NM fall and has been without it ever since.  And then it was on to the tag and license office to get his handicap placard renewed.  It had expired in February along with our tags but we were able to get them by mail order but not the placard.  There was no problem getting it now.

Thursday was our day to drive to Fayette (about 60 miles) and visit the dentist.  We both got our cleanings and check-ups done and I got my referral to a specialist here in Tuscaloosa to get my root canal done which they will be doing this afternoon.  Not looking forward to that.  On Friday, Bob's brother and sister-in-law drove down from Fayette (they were out of town when we were there the day before) and we all went out to lunch then came back to the RV and had a real nice visit together.  Finally, Saturday was a stay at home day which we spent trying to get some cleaning done. 

Sunday, of course was Easter, and we went to church as we always do on Sunday.  Then some friends from church had invited us over for Easter dinner so we did that and spent the afternoon just visiting with them.  Sure was nice to catch up on everything since we were last here.

Well that's about our story for now so guess I will quit boring you.  However, will add a few pictures that I promised to post a long time ago of the Valley of Fires in Carrizozo, NM.

Judy,

 Judy on walk looking at large pieces of lava rock.

Piles of lava rock with weeds, etc., growing up among it.

Walkway out among the lava rock.

More lava rock showing some flow marks.

 

Big piece of lava rock with a large crack in it.

Deep cave like hole in some lava rock

Remember, there was no volcano here.  Lava just started flowing up out of the ground covered this large area of ground with lava which hardened as lava rock.  I think the area was about 32 square miles.  It's unbelievable.



Updates and Pictures as Promised

Nothing going on since my last post.  Just getting ready to travel as we will be leaving here on March 27th - two weeks from today.  However, now the weather is beautiful.  It began yesterday and is supposed to last all week.

Oh well, here are some of the pictures from Bob that I promised to post.  I'll do the ones from Three Rivers first.  I'm sure it'll take more than one post to get them all in so will do Valley of Fires on a later post.

The road into Three Rivers looking at Sierra Blanco

Rocks with Drawings

Judy climbing up the ridge looking at t he stones.

A close up of some of the rock drawings

What are Petroglyps?

History of the Three Rivers Sight

Judy climbing up the ridge of rocks

Judy  on the rock trail

Looking back down at the entrance to the Ridge

More Drawings

Fractured!!

Fractured!  Yes that's the outcome on Bob's wrist.  They X-rayed it again this past Tuesday and the verdict was that he did have a fractured bone in his wrist.  The doctor thinks everything looks good and that it will heel satisfactorily without putting it in an actual cast.  He has to continue to wear a stablizing splint and not use the wrist - no lifting or pulling, etc.  He can use the fingers but very lightweight.  We have to go back to have it X-rayed again on Monday, Mar. 26th.  The doctor wanted him to come on Tuesday, Mar. 27th, but we explained that was leaving day so he'll be going on Monday afternoon.  Let's hope all is healed so we don't have to locate another orthopaedic doctor in Tuscaloosa when we get back there to continue his care.  Oh well, life goes on!

We had a bad sand storm yesterday.  They are something to experience.  The wind blew hard and it was full of sand.  The visibility was only about one mile and that's not much here in the desert of Tularosa Basin.  The Sacramento mountains are only about 2 miles away and we normally have a beautiful view of them.  We literally could not see them yesterday.  It is still very, very windy today buy at least the sky is clear.  And you can breathe without inhaling sand.

We have done  no sightseeing this week so there's really nothing to tell about.  I did our taxes and am very proud of me.  I used Turbo Tax and not only did the federal but all three of the state returns I needed to do.  There's only one of the state returns that I'm a little leary about and that is Kentucky.  They do not allow non-resident returns to be e-filed and some of the questions asked in regards to that return were not clear.  I guess I'll find out how I did sooner or later.  Bob worked (one-handed) on the auxillary fuel tank he is trying to get installed on the truck before we leave.  Coming out here we came across a section of Texas desert where we really got paranoid about running out of fuel and of course there's no phone service in those areas either.  We're wondering about getting that new Wilson adapter for the truck before we leave here.  Better get on with it if we're going too but haven't priced one yet to see if that makes one prohibitive..

We ask everyone to please continue to Pray for Bob's arm to heal and for us to stay focused on our purpose - seeking God's will in our lives as we travel these United States.

So long for now!

Judy

P.S.  Still haven't received pictures from Bob to post showing last week's journeys.

Bob's Fall

I know I promised to post at least once a week but last week was kind of helter-skelter.
Last Saturday, Feb. 25th, abt 6:00 PM, just before closing the office, Bob took a tumble off the porch down the steps (5) to the ground.  I saw him fall and it scared me to death.  Luckily I was able to help him get up and he went on to finish his last chore before going home.  He skinned up the left side of his face and hurt his left wrist along with breaking his hearing aid in his right ear.  It cracked all the way around.  So, he did tumble hitting both sides as he rolled down the steps.

We spent Sunday afternoon in the Emergency Room in the local hospital here and the doctors there thought his wrist had a fractured bone in it.  They put a splint on it to stabilize it and told him he needed to see an orthopaedic doctor.  He really suffered with it until we saw the doctor on Tuesday morning.  It was swollen really bad and the doctor said he had a lot of arthritis in the wrist which he had severely aggravated.  Due to this he could not make a decision on whether or not there was a fracture.  He put a brace on his wrist and wants him to go back this coming Tuesday for another Xray after the swelling has subsided.  So, I guess we'll find out Tuesday if it is fractured.  However, Bob told him right up front that we were leaving here in 4 weeks which will be 3 weeks on this coming Tuesday.

Yes, its hard to believe that our time here is almost over.  Life here is quite different but we are ready to get out of the wind and find some humidity. 

While he couldn't do much of anything else, on Wednesday we went out sightseeing to see some of the places we hadn't gotten to yet.  We went up to the "Three Rivers" monument.  It is located on BLM land about 25 miles north of here and is where they have tons of drawings on the rocks which were done by the Indians over 600 years ago.  It was quite interesting and we did about half of the climb and walk thru these rocks.  Coming back down off the ridge, it was Judy who fell this time.  She stepped down on loose gravel and sat down on a rock.  Most of all it just hurt her pride but she did have a sore butt the rest of the day as well as torn pants.  After that we drove on up to Carizozo about another 20 or 25 miles to visit the Valley of Fires which is also on BLM land.  Here there are acres of volcanic rock which just erupted up out of the ground for about 225 square miles.  There was no volcano - the lava just started bubbling up and they think it continued for about 30 years.  Here they had a nice 3/4 mile paved walk out over some of this lava rock.  Then, we stopped in Carizozo on our way home and ate supper.  All in all we had a nice day.

I didn't have my phone out with me because my pants didn't have a pocket so no pictures.  Bob did take a bunch so if and when he gets around to sending some of them to me I'll post them here for everyone to see.  Things are hard to visualize unless you have something to base things on.

Well that's about it.  Please Pray for his doctor's visit Tuesday that he will get a good report.

Thanks,

Judy