Ready to Roll!

We’ve been trying to tie up a bunch of loose ends in Benson, and are getting so excited about starting our big trip for 2014. Things finally came together today.

Don got his new (correct) CPAP mask, after having tried for several months. (Long story, won’t go into details.) He saw his doc after being on a new diabetes medication for about 2 weeks (Victoza), and got an excellent report! His blood sugar levels have stabilized, and the months of roller coaster highs and lows are finally over with numbers now under better control.

We got the rear Fantastic Vent lift motor replaced a few days ago by our favorite local mobile RV repairman, Stephen Weeks of Kiwi RV. He had a spare, so he just charged a small amount for labor.

We packed away the clothesline after I finished catching up all the laundry, and we put the patio furniture and bicycles in the shed. (We decided not to take the bikes with us this time.) The inside of our shed/casita is uninhabitable, but the contents will be safe while we’re gone.

And there’s nothing to blow away on the patio.

The new Sea Eagle 2-person inflatable kayak now has a home in the back of our car, Carrie. We cleaned out the entire back end a few days ago, even though we got a surprise rainstorm while doing so. We haven’t had a chance to get the kayak into water yet, but we’re ready to do so whenever we find suitable lakes/rivers along our travels.

I pulled all our winter clothes out from under the bed – okay, mostly MY winter clothes, but Don’s parka is a big member of the group – and stored them in a Ziploc space bag.

They take up a lot less room now, with all the air sucked out by the vacuum. The jumbo bag is so big, I could even put more stuff in it. It was the size on sale, and I didn’t really know how much space I needed.

My latest crochet project got finished today. It’s a shopping bag made of cotton yarn. It’s pretty big, and I hope it will hold the weight that will undoubtedly fit in it. And that’s less yarn to store under the bed!

The Agave aka Century Plant is still growing its tall stalk, and hasn’t yet started putting out blossoms. One of our neighbors will take care of it after it blooms and dies.

We just noticed yesterday that another, smaller Agave has started growing its own stalk.

We sure have enjoyed all the blooms of the desert plants, especially those on our Ocotillo, that Don kept thinking was dead.

Although the desert is beautiful and is showing lots of green lately with the few rains we’ve had, we’re looking forward to seeing lots more green along our travels.

And what better way to start a trip than with friends? Bill and Jan Mains arrived in our neighborhood today, and will be going with us to Deming tomorrow. We’ll then take different routes and meet up again in Goshen, IN for the Escapade.

On the way home from our dinner at Pablo’s, we enjoyed a nice, though not spectacular, sunset.

Soon we’ll be scratching that hitch itch and singing our favorite Willie Nelson song “On The Road Again…”