A Day with RVillage Friends

This past Saturday we drove to Socorro, NM about 70 miles south of Albuquerque to meet with RVillage friends, Bob and Trish whom we met here in Albuquerque last May before leaving on our travels.  Trish and Bob were from New Jersey and had been on the road for about a year before we met them heading back to the east coast for the summer. 

They also have a Tiffin motorhome so we had much to talk about when we met.  Trish writes an almost daily blog so we have kept up with their travels though had not been close together since last year.  They are currently volunteering at a dog/cat rescue facility in T or C (for those outside New Mexico, that stands for Truth or Consequences.  Yes, named after the once TV program.  Check on the internet for info regarding how the name came about.).  Since it is over 100 miles between the two cities, we agreed to meet half way to show them the sites in the Socorro area before they leave on the southern route into Arizona. 

We met at the Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge which is located about 18 miles south of Socoro and near the Rio Grande River.  Wildlife such as Sandhill Cranes, Snow and Canadian Guess, Egrets, ducks and other birds migrate from the north in Canada to this area and south for the winter each year beginning in about October through December and return starting in about March.  There are also lots of other kinds of wildlife in the refuge such as coyotes, roadrunners, bobcats, rabbits, etc.  On any given day you never know if or where you will see such wildlife and unfortunately, today was one of the days when we saw little.  We did manage to see this eagle sitting on an old dead tree in the middle of the marsh,

some snow geese in a pond,

 an assortment of birds outside the Visitor Center feeding at the feeders, an egret, but no Sandhill Cranes.  While Ron and I see them here in Albuquerque and we did see some prior to arriving at the Bosque, none were in the areas we traveled through the area.

After our visit to the Bosque we travelled 8 miles north to have lunch at the Buckhorn Restaurant in San Antonio, a favorite of Ron and me.  The owner won a throwdown with Bobby Flay back in about 2004 and has been written up in Sunset Magazine as well as others..  The parking lot was busy and we did have to wait a few minutes for a table since it was right at the lunch hour.  We all ordered the Buckhorn Burger consisting of a hamburger, chopped green chili, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and mustard (a specialty of the house) as well as fries and a drink.  While the wait is long for the meal, it is worth it.  They advertise that they are not a fast food restaurant and they are right.  The owner visited with us several times and is there overseeing things at all times.  He is quite a character.

With our tummies full, we headed to Socorro (9 miles north) to take in the sites there.  Even though Ron and I have travelled through Socorro many, many times, purchased gas and even stopped at the local McDonald’s, we had never taken in the sites there. 

Socorro got its name in 1598 from explorer Juan de Onate whose tired and hungry men were given food and shelter by the Piros Indians.  He named the Pilabo pueblo “Socorro” which means “help” or “succor” in Spanish.  In the 1600’s Franciscan friars built mission at Socorro and other nearby communities.  It was not until the early 1800’s that the actual settlement of Socorro began.  In 1815, 21 families were given land grants to settle there.    A Civil War battle was fought a short distance south of Socorro on February 21, 1862.  After the Civil War, lead and zince mining as well as silver and the arrival of the railroad made the area a center for diverse mining activity.  In 1889 the government chose Socorro as the site for its new School of Mines (now known as the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology).

Arriving in town, we attempted to find some addresses for places I had seen on line, but to no avail.  In a small town, even the Visitor Center is closed on Saturday so no help there to find the locations.  The one place we did see; however, was the old San Miguel Mission Church (founded in 1598) which recently underwent a renovation.  Much to our delight, the Church is now open and we were able to take a look inside. 

We also came across this very old house with the turret.  You all know by now that Ron and I have a fascination for old homes.

It was getting late in the afternoon, so we returned Bob and Trish to their car in San Antonio and we began our trek back to Albuquerque but not before stopping in the town of Lemitar to take a picture of this old Mission church.  It is called “La Sagrada Familia” which in Spanish means “Holy Family.”

It was a wonderful day full of conversation, catching up and learning more about Bob and Trish while sharing a meal and seeing the sights.  We hope to see them again this year if they pass through this way on their way to San Antonio in June.  Thanks to RVillage for giving us the opportunity to meet more RVers and share experiences with others living the RV lifestyle.

Life In the RV

Happy Valentine’s  Day

Ron and I have done a great deal of traveling since we have been together both here in our home state of New Mexico, but also traveling by car and plane and in our RV to other states mostly in the western part of the US until this past summer when we were able to go to the east coast as many of you have seen in my blogs beginning in May of this past year.  We are not hikers though we enjoy being in the mountains and forests so our travels include short walks at local and national historic sites along the way.   Local small towns offer some interesting sites to see which you would not see if only taking in the well known places.  Some like our visit at the Coon Dog Cemetery in Alabama this summer proved to be quaint and unique. 

That being said, I have not written about sites in New Mexico since we are not visiting them and because, due to recent circumstances, we have not really ventured out much but stayed close to home visiting with friends, shopping, eating out in town and enjoying quiet time in the RV.  We are both home bodies so enjoy the time in the RV in this quiet park watching the neighbors and kids come and go.  There is a park across from our site which is regularly used by the children who live in this mobile home/rv park.  Nice to see a park used so much and children outside playing.  That is not to say that we have not kept busy with other projects.

Ron really enjoys doing photography and taking on line classes to learn more about how he can better post process  his pictures as well as using the internet to find things we may need or more to the point, want.  He also enjoys his game shows, police type TV shows and doing some reading on his Kindle.   He never enjoyed reading until he got the Kindle.   Fortunately, we have gotten most of our RV issues resolved for the moment so he has not needed to contact a service provider or do any repairs himself. 

We did, however, decide to replace our hide a bed sofa with two recliner chairs.  We have only used this sofa for company twice in the past year and do not travel with friends or family for the most part.   We had seen these wall hugger recliner chairs this past summer in some friends RV back east.  The chairs were ordered before Christmas from Amish Workbench Furniture and only just this past week arrived for install.  We found another RVer here in the Park who wanted to upgrade his sofa so were able to have our local RV service people take out the sofa and deliver it to our neighbor.  How much nicer they are for watching TV and for taking those late afternoon siesta’s that us seniors seem to need. 

While Ron does his thing, I keep busy with reading, quilting, crocheting and the usual household chores like house cleaning, meals, dishes and wash. Unfortunately those chores do not go away just because you live in an RV.   Last May I put a full plastic container of books in the basement and to date have not read one book from that box.  That is not to say I have not read any books.  I have quite a stash in the RV and of course being the avid reader that I am, have found a few books at flea markets, etc. which I could not resist buying.  I also read books on my Kindle.  Ron keeps saying get rid of the box of books, but I tell him the books are by my favorite authors that I need to read before giving away.  I give books away at RV Parks so we are not carrying all of the books I have read with us still.

Before going full ltime, I took a quilting class and had pieced three baby receiving blanket size quilts to be quilted this winter.  These have now been completed and will be donated along with the crocheted blankets to our local Project Linus group.

 I crochet while Ron drives the RV and in the evenings.  Since we travel so much I cannot donate my time locally so make these blankets as my community service work.  Two blankets were donated in Virginia this past summer as this is a national organization.  I also made my first wall hanging for the RV and have plans to do more cutting before we leave here in June so I can piece more projects while we travel.

We are both ready to be on the road again and have missed being in a regular RV Park and getting out to sight see in the area.  Oh well, there is always next year.   So much for life in our RV in Albuquerque this winter.  Do I miss the house here in town?  No, not at all.  We really like our life in the RV.

About the Ballards

Fourth chemo treatment is now behind me and I did even better than the last two times.  Hooray for that.  I really feel blessed to have done so well and pray I will continue to do so.  There will be two more treatments before I begin radiation therapy some time in early or mid April.  Will know more when that starts when I meet with the  Radiation Oncologist in early March.    I am thankful to have had several friends come to stay with me during infusion which really helps to pass the two hours I am there quickly. 

When arriving in Albuquerque in late August, we did not intend to be here more than a month to do our annual doctor appointments but circumstances dictated otherwise.  Since this has been home for Ron and me for many, many years, I said I would only write in the blog about once a month unless there was something interesting to write which so far there really has not been. Those reading this blog are mostly close friends and family; however, there may be those who would like to know a little about Ron and me, how we arrived in Albuquerque and what we do with our time when we are not traveling.  So, here goes.

I was born in California but grew up on the east coast in New Jersey and New York before heading back west to go to college in Arizona where I met my former husband.  He and I lived in Arizona, California and Michigan before arriving in Albuquerque in 1973 with our two children who were not of school age as yet.  My son and family now live in Virginia while my daughter and her family live in Texas.  Wish they were closer as we do not see them often enough.

Ron was born in Washington state and  other than his time in the Army in the 60’s spent his youth and young married life in South Dakota before taking a transfer in 1984 to Albuquerque bringing his wife and young son.   Ron’s son and his fiancée remain living and working in Albuquerque.   Ron and his son are close and enjoy getting together for guy breakfasts at local restaurants as schedules allow. 

In the 1980’s both Ron and I were divorced from our former spouses.  We were introduced in 1990 by a mutual friend, got married in 1998 and lived in a number of homes on both sides of town, bought our first used RV in 2006 (an old 1996 Newmar in case we did not like it) and looked out for my Mother here in Albuuqerque until her death at the end of 2014.   Ron’s Mom passed away earlier in 2014 leaving us both as the heads of our families since we are both first borns.   At that point, we decided it was time for us to realize our dream to live in our 2008 Tiffin RV and travel full time around the U.S. seeing all this beautiful country has to offer. 

My blog began in late April and tells about our travels this past year.  

Happy New Year 2016

It's a new year and time to start new traditions, do new things and see new places.  What are your plans?  I can't wait, but unfortunately our travel part will have to wait until at least April when we might be able to be gone for a couple of weeks before I start radiation therapy.

We had a quiet Christmas and New Years Eve here in our RV in Albuquerque.  Our temperatures before Christmas were pleasant and we have now had two snow storms neither of which has given us in our location any significant snow (a dusting with some on the roadway), but did drop up to 8" at friends who live closer to the mountains.  Fine with us as we have no snow removal equipment and since we are retired have to go nowhere on the snowy, icy roads.  Albuquerque seldom has snow on the roads that last more than a day or so since temps during the day tend to melt the snow.  Unfortunately, it does not mean that the roads are not wet and subsequently are black ice at night.  While the roads are now clear, the temps have not risen above 40 degrees for the past week and three more storms are predicted for this next week.  Other parts of the state; however, were really snowed in according to the local weather reports.

The one nice thing about our location and position in the Park is that we face the Sandia Mountains located on the east side of town and part of the Rocky Mountains.  Sandia means "watermelon" in Spanish and the mountains got the name because as the sun sets, the mountains turn a beautiful shade of watermelon pink.
While this picture is not from our RV, it is what we see out our front window when the sun sets without snow on them.

This is the same mountains showing them with snow which is what we are currently seeing.

The highest peak in the Sandia's is almost 11,000 feet and there is a beautiful tram ride up to the ski area from around 6,000 feet near the foot of the mountains here in town.  The view is spectacular no matter the time of year and you might even see big horn sheep clinging to the side of a mountain along the way.   A restaurant and overlook as well as the ski lift await you at the top.  If you would like a leisurely drive to the top you can drive east on I-40 into Tijeras Canyon to a two lane windy road through the CibolaNational Forest to the top.  At this location there is a gift shop and overlook of the city as well.

Come visit sometime and see what the Sandia Mountains have to offer as well as the city of Albuquerque.  We definitely have four seasons here and there are many, many different kinds of activities from hiking and picnicing to visiting Indian ruins, to Old Town and of course, the International Balloon Fiesta in October every year.

Starting Cancer Treatment

Yesterday I started my chemo treatments at the New Mexico Cancer Center here in Albuquerque.  Our day at the Center began at 8:15 a.m. and ended at 1:15.  The staff we worked with were very caring, explained all the procedures and the drugs I'm being given and gave us information on the side effects for each drug and answered all questions.  The process began with a blood draw, a dose of a steroid for nausea along with a saline solution and then each of the three drugs were administered with close watching to be sure I tolerated them well, which I did.  Ron was able to be with me the entire time so I had support.  My dear friend whom I consider a sister,  Ceil also came by to see how I was doing and to offer her support.   It really meant a lot to me.  Thank you, Ceil.

It is now a day later as I write this and so far I am feeling fine but was prescribed anti nausea medication to take as needed.

I am optimistic that I will beat this cancer and as I told my daughter in law, I will be around into my 90's to drive my family nuts if I haven't already.  Ha !  Ha!  So many friends and family have written wishing me well and praying for my recovery and I want to thank each you and to let you know how much your support and prayers mean.

A Trip to Texas

November 14 - 28, 2015

Before starting my chemo and radiation therapy, Ron and I drove to Kyle (south of Austin), Texas to see my daughter Laurie and family.  We expected to go in the RV; however, the campground near Laurie's was full due to the recent flooding again in the area so we took off in the car taking two days to drive the 800 plus distance.

Not wanting to wear out our welcome during the two week visit, we took off for three days to San Antonio where we stayed at a lovely old hotel (The Crockett) just behind the Alamo.

This was our third trip to San Antonio so there was not too much we had not already seen.  We did take a narrated tour of the city on a double decker bus, walked the Riverwalk again, went to an IMAX movie (Spectre) and rode the elevator to the top of the Tower of the Americas which was built during the 1968 World's Fair.

Views from the Tower

Fountain at the grounds of the Tower

San Antonio does have some interesting things to see.

On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, my daughter and granddaughter and I went shopping at the fabric store for Grammie, but also ended up purchasing material for the two of them to make placemats.  Neither has been interested in sewing so I was thrilled to be the instructor taking them through the cutting, sewing, and finishing.  They both did a great job and were pleased with the results as was I.  Not sure they will do any more but we shall see.

Our Thanksgiving was quiet with just the family and lots of football.  We left for home on Friday with lots of rain on the way.  On Sunday, we moved our RV to the new location closer in to town and convenient to everything.

Good News and Moving Forward

Ron and I, our friend  Ceil and new RVillage friends Tricia and G did attend the FMCA Rocky Mountain Ramble in Farmington the end of September and we all had a great time.  It was fun for Ron and me to catch up with so many of our vendor friends, to attend some very informative seminars and enjoy some good entertainment.  Weather cooperated and we were able to enjoy sunny days for most of the time.  We spent a couple of extra days in Farmington before returning to Albuquerque and Enchanted Trails RV Park.

An  update on my health issue is that the MRI showed the second tumor was benign so no mastectomy was called for, thank goodness.  Surgery took place on Oct. 20 with just a lumpectomy and node removal.  The node is negative which was great news also.  I will undergo another surgery this week to remove a bit more tissue from around where the tumor was before further treatment starts.

This past week we met with a second medical oncologist who was very informative, gave us a couple of options to choose from regarding chemo and helped us to understand more about my cancer type.  I decided that this is where I want to do my treatments and we are proceeding forward with this doctor's recommendations, etc.  Chemotherapy will start on Nov. 30 and will continue for 5 more times every three weeks followed by radiation therapy.  We will meet with the radiation oncologist this week to find out how many sessions I will have for that once I finish chemo.

We hope to make a short trip to either Texas to see my daughter or to Arizona before my treatments start as we will be unable to do so once they do start.  We will move to the mobile home/rv park when we return and remain there for the rest of our time here.  Our hope is to be able to travel once again come the first part of May.

No Matter What, Plans Change

Our plans for the remainder of this year have suddenly changed and we are not sure just when we may be able to resume our travels.  For the time being, we will remain here in Albuquerque.

Last week I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer.  While the tumor is very small, I will have to undergo surgery and most certainly some kind of therapy, probably chemo.  After visiting with the breast surgeon, we found another tumor which is prompting an MRI to determine if it is also cancerous.  That is scheduled for Oct. 8 with surgery on October 20.    If the other tumor is cancerous I will be looking at a mastectomy rather than a lumpectomy.  Lots of reading to do about all of these things.

While a diagnosis of cancer is scary and something that none of us want to hear, I know that I will survive just as my great grandmother and mother both did.  My great grandmother was in her 50's at the time of her diagnosis and surgery which occurred in the early 20th century and she lived to be 94.  My mother was diagnosed with cancer on both breasts at age 78 and again at 92 and died last year at age 95 from old age.  There is longevity in my family and I intend to be around for a long time to come.  With your prayers and God watching over me, I know Ron and I will have many more years ahead to travel the country in our RV.

At this time, we will attend the FMCA Rally in Farmington, NM next week.   We will caravan from here with our friend Ceil and our new RVillage friends Trishia and G.  We will return to Enchanted Trails until after my surgery on Oct. 20 then move to a mobile home park with RV's as well for the remainder of the winter unless it becomes too cold for us.  The park is close to the I-25 and more convenient for doctors, shopping and chemo.  Not sure when my situation will allow us to leave here.  Please add me to your prayers.

If you are coming through the area on your way to warmer climates, please contact us so we can get together.

Enchanted Trails RV Resort, NM

There has not been much exciting here at Enchanted Trails RV Resort except beautiful sunrises to the east, gorgeous sunsets to the west, grounds flanked by three extinct volcanoes and the majestic Sandia Mountains and overlooking the city of Albuquerque with twinkling nighttime lights.  However, the facility does have a history which is interesting.

 Enchanted Trails was originally known as Hill Top Trading Post and was constructed in the 1940's featuring a flat roofed adobe style which has been altered several times over the years.  The building was built to attract passersby on historic Route 66.  There were teepees on the roof line , a burro wandering in the parking lot, big arrows sticking out of the ground and even a stuffed bear at the door.

While all of the fore mentioned have disappeared, there are still numerous old artifacts on the property including 7 vintage trailers and cars, a wagon, and a metal garage covered with old metal signs from days gone by.  The laundry room is probably the only one in the city that sports a mangle iron and a ringer washer.

In the early 1970's the property was converted into a campground and has been the backdrop for several mediocre films and recently the Hudson and vintage trailers were featured in a Route 66 travel video and in a magazine called Caravan.  Check out the website at www.enchantedtrails.com to view videos of the vintage trailers.  All but one of these trailers is available for rental at the Resort.

This past weekend the New Mexico State Samboree took place here with Good Sam members and chapters from throughout the state in attendance.  Samborees are a gathering of chapters and members for a weekend of games, seminars, vendors, entertainment and camaraderie.  For us, it was a chance to catch up with many friends we made when we were active members in a local chapter and on the state staff.

Ron's eyelid surgery last Thursday went well and he is on the way to seeing more clearly now that his eyelids have been lifted up.  He has been a good patient and has obeyed most of the doctor's instructions.  He does look a bit like a raccoon or like he either hit a wall or I punched him out but that is clearing up nicely.

Relaxing and Catching Up

We have been in Albuquerque for just over a week and have just enjoyed relaxing in the RV, taking care of chores and sharing meals and time with friends.  Next week the RV will go to La Mesa for a pure sine inverter to be added.  We did not do this when we put in the residential refrigerator in June but there are times when we would like to do some boondocking and cannot do that without a way for our refrigerator to continue to have power.

Ron will have eyelid surgery next week so will be laid up for a couple of weeks during his recovery so I will once again become the care giver and chief chauffeur.  Don't expect any problems just an improvement in his eyelids not causing discomfort on his eye balls.  Also have our annual/semi annual doctor and dental appointments to attend to.

Next week is the Good Sam New Mexico State Samboree which this year is going to be held here at this campground so it will be quite busy here.  Having been members of a local Good Sam chapter here in Albuquerque and on the State Staff ourselves, we have many friends who are still involved with the state staff so will have an opportunity to catch up with some of them though we do not intend to register for the events.

Our plans from here are to attend the FMCA Rally being held in Farmington, NM the end of this month.  From there we will return through here on our way to Texas for the months of October and November.