Old Boyfriend

Well, it went as well as could be expected, though he did drive past the rig while I was sitting outside talking to Margie. Neither of us recognized the other, so he drove on past and went home and called me. I asked him what he was driving and then told him he drove past. So he came back. He only lives about 3 miles away.

We sat and chatted a bit, mostly general stuff. We didn't mention his marriage to Nita, the one he broke up with me for, though I did tell him about his daughter Cheryl visiting me after and asking me how I felt about him now. "You mean other than wanting to punch him out?" was my reply.

We drove over to his place in Eagar -- about 3 acres, and looked at his collected of vehicles, some International trucks, friends' pickups and 5th wheels. He's got a doublewide with a nice porch.

Then off to lunch at Booga Red's (no, I don't know the significance of the name). Got back to the park about 1:30 and sat around chatting some more. A few stories surfaced, including the one about me trying to kill the rooster -- he told me that Don and that rooster didn't get along either.

He's got an elk permit this year and he and a guy will be hunting each day now until they get one or the time runs out. I said I expect an elk steak.

For those who don't know, I met Chuck in Jackson Wyoming in 1972 and it was his idea to move to Tucson. We lived together for a few years and maintained the relationship until 1979. Don lived next door to us (and is the guy in the Wild West photo with me) and we've kept in touch all these years. Now that Chuck is a widower, he feels free to be in direct touch with me. We'll be in touch again for a meal or two.

So the mantra is friendly but not intimate.

Camp Cookout

About 4pm a bunch of us gathered over at the rec hall with many bowls of salads (potato, macaroni, tuna, etc etc) and meats to be grilled and many condiments and drinks. I think I ate four different kinds of meat -- ribs, chicken, burger, brat, and four different kinds of salads. I missed out on the corn on the cob but I did get home-pickled beets (and you all know how I feel about beets). And about 6pm I got peopled out and also needed digestion aids such as loose clothing, so I went back to the rig and holed up.

Earlier in the day, Margie took me to the Safeway to stock up. We drove around a little and it turns out that Eager AZ butts right up to Springerville. And who called me about 9pm? Chuck. He was all ready to come over right then but I put him off until tomorrow. This is going to be interesting. The last time I saw him was 1987. More later.

High Heat

is being warned for everywhere in Arizona -- except for where I am. Yah! Tucson and Phoenix et al are running in the 110 area; the highs here are mid 80s to upper 80s. Not bad at all.

Have had a day of rest so am planning a shower and a laundry day. Really nice to have both right here. The campground is about 1/3 to 1/2 full so it's nice and quiet. And have cable tv is nice, too -- get about 20 channels, except there's no PBS.

Both water hoses failed yesterday but the owner had an extra hose so eventually got hooked up. One camper tried to help out earlier by using channel locks to tighten the fittings, even after I told him not to tighten them so much I wouldn't be able to undo them. But, of course, he did, so I had to borrow the pliers and another person to help apply torque.

I've been happily goes through the old family photos my brother put on disk. I'm still getting used to the new iPhoto -- everything gets put into an "event" whether you want it to or not. I wound up making "event" equal a single date/day so they'll line up by the date taken. Now I have to change all the old photos from the date Orlando took the digital photo to the actual date of the photograph (like mom as a little girl circa 1929). Tedious but nice to have. Thanks, blala.

More later. Maybe some pics of the trip from Abq to here and this campground.

Blowing Off St John

Not the saint, more's the pity, but the town I had planned to stay in for Sept. Left the people a message at 8am today confirming my arrival this afternoon. Got in town about 3.30 (actually 2.30 AZ time; they don't do daylight savings). Saw a sign on the main street for the rv park, and my gps was directing me, too. Went about two blocks into a funky area with a mishmash of trailers, homes, rusted-out rvs, cars on blocks, etc. GPS said "here" but there was no sign anywhere and there was no street number (810) -- I found 840 but no 810. So I parked on the side of the road and called the number, got the voicemail and left the message that I couldn't find them and that I would wait a bit to hear from them. Waited about 30 minutes and then left a message saying "never mind, I'm heading down the road."

Which I did, 25 miles to Springerville and pulled into the first RV park I saw, Casa Malpais, which has wifi, cable tv, bathhouse, laundry, etc, and lots of big trees. I was going to pay $200 in St. Johns, including electric but no bathhouse or wifi or laundry, and will be paying $240 plus electric, so it's costing me about $100 extra. BUT it's a nice well-kept park and I'll be much happier here. And there's a store cat, too. As usual, you get what you pay for.

Hooking up my cable for tv is such a pain. May see what I can pick up over the air, but this area is pretty remote so may not get much and may have to do the cable after all. It's 3.5 hours to Phoenix from here (that's in a car at 65mph).

TTFN

Catch-up 1

The computer just got here this afternoon. I've been sitting at Arbor RV Park for the last two weeks, waiting on it. Am doing my best to get caught up quickly.

Moving to St. Johns AZ tomorrow to an RV park right in town. Plan to be there for the month of Sept., except for going to Mexico for some dental work, which will probably take 3-4 days.

More later.

Errands Etc

So I have new glasses!!! Amazing how crisp things are. And today I applied for my new passport. As soon as I get it (6 weeks), I'll go down to Mexico for some dental work. And then I get new tires for the rig. And that's the end of my necessities.

Gabi just called this morning. They got to town last night and will come by this evening to retrieve her car. Seems they had a fender-bender in St. Louis so Greg's car is going to the shop.

Any socializing I do now will mean somebody comes to get me.

Had a fine trip to Mt. Airy and Davidson. Was really good to see the Lindas and talk about our Amazon days -- which were great except for the physical demands. Then off to see Diana B. to talk books, choose books to take with me, and watching Toy Story 3. And she made me fabulous cappuccino in the morning.

Now doing laundry at Mary-Anne's. They're scurrying to get the bulk of the house done before Joe starts work at the college again. New siding is up, needs painting. New windows are in. And so forth.

The Trip Etc.

Got to the place where I was supposed to leave my rig with the mechanic. Surprise, surprise, he wasn't there. Called him; he was at hospital with wife all day; said to ask mechanic next door to put rig somewhere and he'd get to it soon. So I did and got a dissertation from the next-door mechanic guy about my mechanic's lack of work ethic -- after all, he'd come to NM in the 1960s and got in with all them hippies and druggies and bikers, but he does good work. So he grudgingly took my rig off, after I'd left a note in it for Grant (my mechanic), and I went back to the house with Greg. Left Albuquerque about 10.30 am Monday 7/26, cool and rainy.

Stopped in a funky Indian-run motel in Shamrock TX. Down to the road on Tues. to somewhere east of Amarillo. Wed. put me just east of Memphis. And Thurs. night was spent somewhere between Nashville and Knoxville. Headed out about 10am, after a big breakfast at Uncle Pete's Truck Stop, and got to Asheville about 2.30. Stopped at Pastimes and got one issue of Buffy (there were two issues but there was a missing number in between, so he kept the later one and is ordering the missing one). Then over to see Mary-Anne. John R. had called to say he wouldn't be home until 4pm so I was killing time.

John and Ken R. and I were playing cards that evening and Ken graciously offered to move up to the attic for his last few days (he leaves tomorrow) so I could go ahead and stay there instead of moving to Mary Jo's Montford house and then to Black Mtn before coming back to John and Hazel's. Made sense to me, so I did it.

Birthday was nice -- two kinds of cake and two kinds of ice cream. Amy was supposed to come but a friend's son broke his arm so she had to babysit while the kid got taken to the ER. Tonight is dinner with Mary-Anne. Tomorrow is lunch with Amy, dinner with Gillian. Thursday is fancy dinner with Blair and Mary-Anne as a b'day gift. Saturday is party at Amy's with bonfire in back yard and just hanging out. Sunday is road trip with Mary-Anne to visit Linda & Linda at their Mt. Airy campsite (they're RV friends I met in Kansas), and then on to Diana's in Davidson.

Phew. But so far nothing for next week. I may need the recuperation time.

Ken and Hazel and Johnny have all begun using electronic cigarettes, which deliver a nicotine hit but just vapor and no smell. Am giving this serious consideration. It's cheaper, too.

More later.