Disaster missed by a mile

Jo is in Oregon with her sons while the Carr Wild Fire rages on around her house.  But the latest news is that the fire is headed away from her street.  It looks like she is going to be one of the lucky ones--knock on wood.

I am spending the next three days at the bottom of Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo and out of range of wifi and phone.  If I don't re-emerge within the next 72 hours, send a search party.

Sister Mary and her husband, Jim will be joining me tomorrow for one night before I turn toward Santa Fe and they head on to Colorado. They are escaping the fallout from the volcano for a little while.  It is scary to me how so many of the recent natural disasters have touched friends or members of my family.  But, luckily all have survived.

A Revival

I cannot seem to keep everyone up-to-date as to my whereabouts or the condition of my family so a blog revival is in order.

Like today.  Sister, Jo, who lives in Redding, Ca, was evacuated from her home yesterday because of the Carr fire that is roaring down out of the hills and consuming everything in its path.  Looking at the maps that I find on-line Jo's tiny, vulnerable house is in the path of this giant. But winds keep switching around and we have our fingers crossed that the fire will get under control before long.
It looks like the local authorities are allowing her 30 minutes this morning to go in and retrieve some more of her belongings.  Her son, Mike, is driving down from Oregon to pick her up and take her back home with him.  Last year his house near Ashland was under the shadow of another forest fire that raged on for months.

I worry that our entire country is going up in flames and I see no end in sight to these conflagrations.  There are so many theories as to what is causing them---inadequate logging, out-of-control beetles, diseases, incompetent management, drought, too many people encroaching on the forests, greed, climate change, politicians, etc, etc.  Do I see any efforts to tackle these problems?  Well, there is Smokey the Bear.

Sister, Mary and her husband, Jim are currently in Colorado while avoiding the fumes from the volcano in Hawaii.  Their house is not in the path of the lava but the lava is close enough to be worrisome and the fumes are dangerous.

I am presently in the Cracker Barrel parking lot in Abilene, Tx and headed to New Mexico.  I will start posting to the blog as I go in an effort to update everyone.  If you have any problems viewing this blog please let me know.

It was a Long Long Trip to Ft Worth

First of all--Aunt Louise has made great strides in the last few weeks.  She is eating again, gaining some weight, and talking clearly--though usually wryly and sometimes even sarcastically.  She still cannot walk more than a step and can stand for just a moment or two.
Yesterday she asked me where I would like to go and what I wanted to see.
"Why?"  I asked.
"Because there are places I haven't taken you yet."
"Like Tennessee?" I asked.
"No, a museum!"   Her reply was definitely sarcastic.

Now she regularly quizzes me on where I would like to visit or what restaurant I want to try.

Once again I stand in awe of Aunt Louise.

It took almost two weeks for me to get from Tucson to Ft Worth.  In El Paso I started to sneeze and by the time I reached Van Horn I was coughing and running a fever.  At the juncture of I-10 and 1-20 I had to decide what to do.  I could not carry cold or flu germs to Aunt Louise and the more northern route was showing dips in temperature well into freezing.  There was no way I was going to turn around so I decided to stay south and head toward San Antonio which was only marginally warmer.

By Ft. Stockton I knew I needed to see a doctor to stop this virus, so I spent the afternoon looking for a clinic that would see me.  It was several hours of sitting in various offices and listening to receptionists tell me, "The doctor is too busy to see you today.  Would you like to make an appointment next week sometime?" Finally a young doctor (he was all of 14 years old) saw me, diagnosed me, charged me, and pushed me out the door toward Walmart to pick up a prescription.

It was dark when I left Walmart and drove out of town to the closest rest stop where I planned to spend the night.  Unfortunately, I was so exhausted I had not refilled my water tank and it was empty. Nor had I dumped my holding tank and it was full.  But as I pulled in to the rest stop I practically leaped for joy when I saw a free dump station!  Wow! Not everything is bad luck.  I pulled up to the sewage receptacle, gathered all the gear and proceeded (in the dark) to connect the hose.   As I turned around I stepped on something soft and squishy and almost fell.  "What the.....?"  Yep, the person that had dumped his tanks ahead of me had filled the area--with his sewage! It is the RVers nightmare! A faulty connection can produce a disaster.

My head throbbed as I pulled out the garden hose, connected it and hosed down the entire area.  Finally, I could dump my own tanks but I double checked to make sure everything was connected as it should be.  I smiled smugly as I opened the sewage lever, leaned against the RV and listened as the holding tank gurgled into the ground receptacle.  It was the tiniest rumble that alerted me;  I looked over in horror just in time to see a fountain of sewage come exploding back out of the ground!  The system down in the ground was probably frozen and when my sewage (and also the RVer ahead of me) filled up the pipe, there was no place left for sewage to go except up and out!

For the first time in 7 years, I hated my RV life!

I hosed everything down again, and filled my water tank with enough water to take a shower.  I knew I was going to need one.  I also soaked my shoes (that are fortunately made of rubber) in a bucket of bleach water.  Two bottles of anti-bacterial soap later I was in bed and asleep. It was two days before I was able to drive on to Kerrville.

For some reason I have not been able to transfer photos from my camera to the computer.  I am hoping Ron can solve that problem for me.

On the way to Aunt Louise's

I am sorry to be slow in posting but I have been out of wifi range for some days.  Oh how I hate driving through West Texas!

Yes, I have chosen to drive to Ft Worth--the longer way.  First of all, Aunt Louise is now in Hospice but is showing very positive signs of rallying.  Of course, we all know that's what Aunt Louise does best--rallying when the doctors have thrown up their hands and said, "there is no way she can recover from this."  Her attitude is, "I can recover if I want to and no little, wet-behind-his-ears doctor is going to stop me!"

She is a 97 year old phenomena who informed me two days ago, "When you get here we are going to take a trip to Tennessee."
I asked, "Why do you want to go to Tennessee?"
She answered me as though I should have known the answer--"Because I've never been there!"
I think we'll wait a little while before planning that trip.

Now I am stuck in a rest stop on I-10 about 300 miles west of San Antonio.  The weather is cold and overcast, and there is a dense fog that is keeping me from getting out on the freeway.  Daisy has been outside for her morning walk but she was back inside and into her bed in mere minutes.  Inside the RV is comfortably warm but there is a very cold front that will be here by Sunday. That front is keeping me from turning north toward Ft Worth so I will wait.  I fear the RV cannot withstand temps in the teens for many days in a row.

More later, if the wifi signal comes through the fog.

Christmas Day from Tucson

Today is Christmas Day--I hope it is wonderful for each of you reading this.

For me it is becoming sad.  Aunt Louise has been in the hospital the last few days with, what appears to be, a small TIA.  Suzanne took her home last night and this morning she woke to congestion in her lungs.  I fear that her very ravaged little body is about to give up so I am beginning to prepare to fly to Ft Worth.  Stay tuned.

Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area

Not much to blog about these days. The rounds of doctors, dentist, vet and the RV service center have kept me running in circles.  In the end, Daisy, Spirit and yours truly are all just fine. Now I have cleared my schedule and hope to take in a few activities worthy of blogging about.

Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area

One day my friend Lynda and I drove about an hour east of Tucson and 1/2 hr south of Tombstone to this small wetland area.  It is a winter stopover for the Sandhill Crane and we were able to see a few thousand of them.

There is an easy pathway out along the water and we got a fairly good look at the birds.

In January there will be more than 30,000 of the cranes in this small slough and I hope to get back to see them.  

There were only a few thousand on the day we were there but enough that I felt the trip worth it.

The cranes are good size birds-- up to 4' high and larger than I expected.    

There is a camping area for 5 or 6 RVs so I may come back in Jan. and spend the night. 

From the wildlife area we drove back to Tombstone for lunch.

I really like that cars are forbidden on the main street.

It is not hard to imagine what it was like here when Wyatt Earp was the sheriff....

...and Doc Holliday gambled in the saloon.

Rush Hour

I do not think some apparel has changed much in 150 years.

We indulged in two of my favorite things:  Fudge....

 

....and sunsets.

Camping at Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Area

The summer heat in Tucson is sometimes nearly unbearable.  But Tucson has a natural air-conditioner--Mt Lemmon--a 10,000 ft high mountain that rises straight up from the edge of the  city. At the top there is the very cool town of Summerhaven and the southernmost ski area in the U.S.

I was standing at an overlook less than 1/4 of the way up the mountain and looking south toward Mexico when I took this picture.  That litter you see all over the valley floor is actually the houses of Tucson.

The word Tucson comes from the Tohono O'odham language.  It translates to "At the foot of the Black Hill."

Humans probably entered the Tucson valley over 10,000 years ago in search of large animals still present at the close of the Pleistocene era.  Later inhabitants adapted to drier environments and eventually began farming.  Hohokam settlements thrived from about A.D. 200 to the 15th century.  The Tohono O'odham are likely descended from the Hohokam.

I was on my way to this campground to meet some fellow camping ladies for the weekend.

Bev, Myrna and Candy

These ladies do a monthly weekend camp trip somewhere in the close proximity to Tucson.   

 

This was a lovely weekend complete with hot dogs, marshmallows roasted on a stick and a huge skunk that wandered casually through our campsite without the least bit of concern that one of us might attack him.   

Good thing that Daisy had gone to bed before Pepe Le Pew arrived.   

This park was covered with ruins from what had been a Japanese internment camp during the second World War.  

The park and camp were named for Gordon Hirabayashi, who at age 24 challenged the internment of Japanese Americans. He was convicted of violating a curfew being imposed on the Japanese Americans  (all citizens of the U.S.) and was sentenced to this work camp.  

Prisoners built the structures that were here along with the highway that goes from Tucson to the top of the mountain.

 Many prisoners had been convicted of breaking tax or immigration laws.  Others refused to join the military for moral or religious reasons.  The conscientious objectors included Hopi Indians and Jehovah's Witnesses. Some, Like Hirabayashi were citizens who protested the internment of Japanese Americans.

At first, prisoners had only picks, shovels and wheelbarrows to use . Roadwork progressed faster 

 when jackhammers, bulldozers and tractors were added.

After the war the camp became a detention camp for wayward youth. The camp finally closed in the 1970s.

 

The largest forced removal and incarceration in U.S. history was signed by President Franklin Roosevelt  (Executive Order #9066) on February 19, 1942. Some 117,000 people were sent to ten internment camps in remote parts of the country. Their homes, businesses and belongings were left behind and lost forever.

"I was always able to hold my head up high, because I wasn't just objecting and saying 'no,' but was saying 'yes' to a prior principle, the highest of principles."

Gordon Hirabayashi

His case was reopened in 1987 and it led to an official apology from the U.S. government for the mass incarceration of 117,000 Japanese American citizens.

In 1988 President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act, which acknowledged the injustice and apologized for the internment.