Tucson to Ft. Worth

This last week I  received some very sad news that my Uncle Joe in Louisiana, after a very long illness, had died.  I am so very grateful that I was able to visit with him and Aunt Doris those few days two years ago.  It was a nostalgic afternoon as we sat on his back porch while he reminisced about my childhood visits,  his persistent courting of Aunt Doris some 60 years earlier, and the pride he felt for his children and grandchildren. Once again I have the reminder that the freedom to travel and the leisure to spend time with people I care about is a great privilege that I truly appreciate.  Uncle Joe, I will miss you. 

Before leaving Tucson for Ft. Worth I had a final dinner-and-bridge with good friends Nancy and Suzie (friend Bill is taking the picture.)  

Aunt Louise has experienced another minor fall and, even though nothing was broken, she is back in the rehab center where the doctors are running tests, etc. 

      I quickly put the house in order as best I could, turned it over to the real estate broker to continue his efforts, had the RV serviced,  spent two days doing a thorough cleaning of my little rolling home, and finally repacked everything I thought I might need for the next few months. When I pulled out of town the temperature was over 100 degrees and climbing.

I made it as far as Deming, New Mexico where I spent the night in the parking lot of the New Mexico Information Center.  I had been running the air conditioner in the cab full blast the whole way and by mid-afternoon started the generator so I could simultaneously run the air conditioner in the cabin as well but the temperature in the RV continued to climb.  Sigh Me was panting like a dog and managed to throw up on every reachable surface--each of the newly cleaned rugs, my New Mexico map, two pairs of shoes, and her bed. I love my cat but sometimes--not so much.  

 Morning dawned already oven-warm, and I feared I was in for another bad day.  Back in Tucson and before I had received news of Aunt Louise's distress I had been shopping and had filled my freezer at home with meat, fish, berries, etc.   When I restarted the fridge in the RV, I packed the freezer to the max with frozen food then gave away all that would not fit.  I knew I would be lucky if I made it to Ft. Worth without losing anything.  But when I opened the fridge that first morning on the road I knew everything was warmer than it should be.  

Sigh Me ate a good breakfast but two hours later that meal made a reappearance.  When I passed a bank sign in El Paso about 11 am the temperature displayed on the sign read 107!  I am sure the pavement we were driving on was at least ten degrees warmer.

We reached Van Horn, Texas at 2 pm and I pulled into the parking lot of a tiny motel that touted "Air conditioning", parked the RV in a semi-shaded spot, and checked in. After cranking the AC down as low as we could stand, Sigh Me and I climbed into bed, pulled the blankets up and slept blissfully until 10 pm.  

I drove through the rest of the night and finally reached Aunt Louise's house by early afternoon.  Everything in the freezer was thawed out beyond rescue, and my laundry pile of rugs and misc. bed coverings was huge. 

Did I ever tell you how much I hate driving through West Texas?  I took the above picture because there were clouds in the sky--a rare sight during the previous 3 days.

I finally made it to the Rehab Center to find Aunt Louise in good spirits and having a good time with two of her friends.  (Aunt Louise, friend Carolyn, and Carolyn's Mom).  

More to come...

Stay tuned to find out what those mysterious spots are on my pants legs.

BTW, Thank you, Ron, for posting about Norway.  I loved the pictures and seeing the distant cousins.  The quaint little towns look wonderful  and I hope to get there someday.