Harlingen to Quartzsite, AZ
Well, it was just before Christmas, 2012, last blog I wrote so I have a lot to remember and fill in! Luckily, I have kept a daily personal journal so I can review what the last months have been like, cuz on my own, I hardly remember yesterday! We stayed in Harlingen from Dec 15 til Mar 15, so I had not a whole lot to write about! We had only intended to stay a few days, which turned into a month, which turned into 2, etc. Robert & Nicole said we could cut through their lot to go to the pool and we got acquainted with them and a lot of their friends, in addition to the fact the park had so much to do...we even got involved with a little Variety Club ("theater?") there and were in 2 performances.
Christmas Eve, there was a dinner at the park, but we were invited to go with a group of neighbors to Chinese Buffet where a lot of people from the park were going. Nice to have people to be with to enjoy. Christmas night, there was a dance at the park, and we were invited to join a table of the staff, and got to know a few more people. There were dances 2-3 nights a week, but mostly line dancing, and what we tried to learn was "trail dancing". Couples line up and all do the same steps (which is taught in classes once a week). We went to a few classes, but it is just not our kind of dance....too much choreography to learn! A few of the dances had variety of music, so we did get to dance some.
Variety Club at Harlingen
I got in habit of going to the morning aerobics exercise classes M-F, and Al would go to the work out room and use the equipment. Saturday mornings, there was a Zumba class which I thoroughly enjoyed!!! Wish it had been more than once a week, but was great.
One night we had a surprise..Opened the refrigerator door, and it fell off! Guess I had stuffed it too full on the bottom shelf, and pushing against the food forced it and the plastic broke! Al used Duct Tape and superglue so we could get it back on and had hoped it would work, but ended up buying a new door. Can you believe just a new door was +/- $800. This frig has been a real pain!!! Still not working the way it should either.
Elvis Duo in Harlingen
One night, we went to a hamburger place with a group from the park, and they had 2 Elvis Impersonators who actually performed together. Pretty good job done by both. 1st time they had ever done it! Hmmmmm..just realized this NEW WINDOWS 8 COMPUTER is not laid out like my old one, and I can't pull up the photos! Yeauck!!! More to learn, and I am struggling!!! Sorry about no photos! Actually, I don't think we took any scenic photos in Harlingen the whole time, just pics of the new friends we made there.
Jim & Sue
We spent a couple days in South Padre Island at a retreat, and that was nice. Most people around here spend a lot of time at the beach there, but it didn't appeal to us that much. Lots of wind in and around Harlingen.
Robert & Nicole, Harlingen
Dave & Anne 
Jim & Janet
The Harlingen area put on a free festival (gave everyone T-shirts) with lots of booths and free samples
So you remember who we are!
We went to lunch with 2 other couples in our car, so I got to ride in the back end with the cat carriers, etc. Glad it wasn't very far!
I got the last seat in the car!
Sunshine Kitchen Band
Paul & Celeste
We visited the Border Patrol office for a tour which was very interesting. There was a lecture about how they patrol the border, make drug busts, etc. They took us into the ammo room to see all their equipment, and showed us how the night vision goggles, etc., work. Then to a camera room where 20 cameras along the border are monitored, and into a "Bubble" room to oversee drug mules and other illegals get processed. Pretty frustrating to hear how many of them are released and go back to do it over and over again. The guard said some of them are on 1st name basis, they have been there so often!
We took 2 trips walking across the border into Progresso, MX. We were told the Cartels are paid to leave the tourists alone there, and that it is the only safe crossing at this time. We went to a dentist and got our teeth cleaned and got night guards made to protect our teeth when we sleep from grinding/clenching.
Rusty, too! 
Magoo knows how to relax!
First week in Feb., I flew to Seattle area to visit with family. Al stayed in Harlingen to take care of Rusty & Magoo, and enjoyed his time as a bachelor, I think. I had a great visit, got to see all 3 kids and spouses, all 6 grandchildren, both brothers and one's wife, ex-mother-in-law, etc. SO Nice they are all in same area. I hopped around from place to place to spend as much time as possible with each one. Hardest part of this traveling for me is not being close to family and friends!
Wow! The 2 oldest Granddaughters are learning to drive and doing well. So hard to believe they have grown up so fast. Son, Brent and his wife took me with their 4 children for special lunch in the Space Needle! Has been years since I have been up, and the view still is boggling.
8 Birthday Balloons!
Daughter, Jan & Joy
Brent, Nathan & Camden
Jessica is 8 on Chinese New Year 
Elise
Meredith, Cara & Vanessa
Siblings,: Tom, Sylvia, Glenn
This tree was at Town Square in Uvalde, TX. Can't get the picture to move where I want it!
So,I did just regular stuff most of the time, but we kept busy! Our middle son, Jim and his wife, have an offer accepted on a new house and are waiting on finalization of that , Our daughter, Jan, is moving into my family home and fixing it up, Youngest, Brent and family , is busy working, and grateful to be able to be working out again after his scare last year with dissected artery in his neck!
First night after leaving Harlingen, we stopped at Zapata, TX for one night. Took the 20 ByPass around Laredo, as we have heard from many NOT to go into Laredo, especially in our RV! Illegals hiding in the brush along the hwy, as it is right on the border. After not moving for so long, we were both tired from the stress of getting ready, plus our brake and turn lights on the car wouldn't work when hooked to the RV. 2nd night, stayed at Crystal Springs in a park full of welders for the oil pipelines. Nice quiet park, and there weren't many nice parks or many parks at all to choose from along Hwy 83! 3rd night at Bec's in Concan, then stopped at ,Junction, TX at a car repair place to get the lights figured out before we got stopped or rear-ended. They got it fixed quickly and helped us find an RV park a few blocks away. On the way to the park, I was driving the car, and realized the AC was not working. Then, it started only working on the passenger side. So I went back to the car repair, and they said to leave it til morning so they could check it out. Well, it needed a part, which came in next day, but was wrong part in right box. So, we stayed another night to get the right part. The part did not fix the problem! So it is now our 4th night here, and we are waiting to hear. They had to take the whole dashboard apart to get to it, and they are short-handed! Nice park here, and we got 50% discount as Al is a veteran! Problem is, no car, so we are not going anywhere. Walked to town (about 1 mile each way) yesterday, and will go again later today. Got the RV clean inside (I vacuumed, and Al cleaned the shower). Oh, yes, no Verizon in this area, so am using wi-fi at the park, and daughter-in-law told me about Tango and Viper to get and make phone calls via wi-fi. Modern technology leaves me baffled! We were there 5 nights, the AC fixed ($680), then moved on to Abilene for 2 nights. Went to see the play, "39 Steps", which didn't impress either of us. Abilene was cold and windy. On to Lubbock, TX where we stayed at their Elks for 11 nights. Enjoyed visiting with the couple parked next to us, (Roger & Doris) and had the RV worked on at Billie Sims RV, this time for the heat pump/AC. Still battled trying to learn Windows 8 and get my stuff where I could use it.
Al celebrated his 70th birthday by getting our hair cuts, dinner and a meeting. Next day, went to the Buddy Holly Center! We both learned more about the tragic plane crash that took his life along with Richie Valens and "The Big Bopper" than we ever remember hearing when it happened. Very interesting place.
We also visited the WWII Silent Wings Glider Museum. Way more interesting than I expected, about the Gliders, their pilots, and how they were used in the war.
Al's lunch babe 
We also went to see movie, "Temptations of a Marriage Counselor", which was touted to be a comedy...NOT! It was well done, but not funny, at least to us! The Visitor Center was very helpful, and we went to the Museum of Art which was very well done.
Inside Carlsbad Caverns! Can't describe
the beauty!!!!!
From Roswell, to Carlsbad Caverns! there are not enough words or photos to describe the amazing beauty found underground here. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to walk the steep, descending pathway because of my knees balking at first but I persevered, and after they got used to it were fine. So glad, as it was truly wondrous.750' below the earth, we walked about 3 miles through the caverns, taking picture after picture.
Leaving Carlsbad, The sewer hose snapped in the cold, and spew its contents. Luckily, Al didn't get it all over him, but had to clean up the dump area! From there, we drove about 5 miles to get Propane, and the lady asked why our exhaust hose was laying on the ground! So another thing to fix. Al was able to fix it back with some wire. Glad she noticed it before it did real damage!
Frozen fountain
From there to Bernalillo to see our good friend Susan Bade who used to live in Tillamook. We were there about 4 years ago, and became friends with her husband, Bruce, and many of their friends there. So it was almost like old home week. We pulled into Coronado Campground where we intended to stay about a week, but thought we had picked up bad fuel in Roswell, as the engine had no pick up. We drove around all over for a couple days to get rid of the fuel, filled up again and it was still bad. When driving around, the mud flap tore off one side and fell tearing the exhaust by-pass hose. Took RV to Meyers RV in Albuquerque to have them take the pillow block off the heat pump (advised to do so by the manufacturer). Al got the mud flap repaired and replaced with Al Withers' help!
Loretto Chapel Santa Fe 
We drove to Santa Fe and saw the Loretto Chapel Staircase. The Chapel was built with no access to the choir loft, and the Sisters prayed for a solution. A carpenter arrived on a donkey to build a circular staircase with only a saw, square, hammer and tubs in which to soak the wood. His miraculous staircase contains 33 steps in two full 360 degree turns. It has no center support, nor is it held from its sides. When he finished building, he disappeared without seeking payment.
We took the RV to Caterpillar to check out as still running poorly. They agreed we had a problem, but couldn't work on it til the next week. I returned the Windows 8 computer to Coscto. Hated to give up, but it was making me absolutely CRAZY!!! Ordered another online with Windows 7, so now I am learning it, but at least can find my photos and put them on here!!! I had written quite a bit on this blog before, but lost almost all of it tonight and had to do it over. Still having difficulty with placement of photos but at least its is much better than none at all! We spent a lot of time with our friends from Bernalillo, going to meetings, out to eat, movies, etc. Then took the RV to Caterpillar and moved us and the kitties to Super 8 motel for 4 nights while they replaced the fuel pump and all 6 injectors! Thank God we have an extended warranty as it paid all but $500 deductible. It is now running MUCH better, and our mpg increased by 1 mpg on this past fill up!
Went to the Balloon Museum at Albuquerque. Much to see and read, and would have learned more if we were not so tired that day.
Inside hot air balloon
basket
Al Withers & Dolores 
Susan Bade & Bruce 
Al Withers & Dolores
They are engaged!!!
Bruce's birthday!
Guest at Bruce's party
From Bernalillo to Gallup, NM for 1 night, then on to Flagstaff where we got to
have a late-night visit with Alex and Amy Rangel who used to live in Tillamook. They both look great, and have been working hard at their new jobs while Amy goes to school. Next day, drove through Sedona, AZ. Beautiful, like Zion, in the mountains. We were disappointed not to be able to stop in town, as there didn't seem to be any place big enough for our rig with car attached. Next time will go in the car. The road down from Flagstaff was pretty winding, and neither of us were able to relax and enjoy the beauty.
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| I do drive occasionally! |
Then to Sun City where we stayed and played at Paradase RV park with pool for a week, looked at RV's, shopped, etc., then to Mesa Palm Gardens for 2 nights, looked at more RV's, AND WE FOUND ONE . We both loved it! Only problem was, it is 40' long, and won't fit in the garage at home! Kinda made the rest of the RVs look uninteresting, at least for now.
Mesa has golf-cart crossing signs all over the place, and there were even spaces reserved at the bank for golf cart parking! Guess that's what most people come here to do!
PLEASE let me know if you prefer not to get these blogs in the future. Hope all is well with all of you until we see you again,
Al & Sylvia Johnson
