Through the eyes of friends...

Our style of full-timing is that we are "on the go" 365.  We travel all year long.  We stop for a few days, a week or two at the most, depending on what there is to see and do.  We don't "winter" or "summer" at any given campground anywhere.  That said, we haven't set down roots of any kind (yet), and the friends we've made, have been either the ones we had before we started this lifestyle, or ones we've made along the way.

Being nomads of sorts, we seldom get "company", so when we do, it's a real treat!  This past week, some dear friends of ours that still live in a sticks & bricks house in Denver, but have the same model RV as ours and venture out camping from time to time, joined us in Albuquerque for a few days.

We had spent some time there this past April, and Rich used to come here quite a bit for work about ten years ago, and Deb had been, but not the surrounding area so much.  We all like this area, was familiar with most of it, but still had some areas that some of us hadn't seen yet, so it would be fun to show each other our "finds".

The first day's adventure was to Socorro to show Deb the Very Large Array.  Rich used to come out this way for work quite often, so he was quite fond of the area.  In our last visit, we had found a great restaurant that we wanted to share with them as well.  When we got to the small town of Socorro, we had one hit and one miss...our restaurant, the Socorro Springs Brewing Co, the lunch didn't disappoint, it still was great, but a (great) nut & jerky place that Rich used to love going to, wasn't there any longer (and no one in town knew what happened to it), so he was greatly disappointed.

We did get to see one new thing in town though, which was fun for us, and that was the inside of the San Miguel Mission.  It was closed when we were here last time, so it was nice to see how beautiful the inside is.

Rich, knowing the area, drove us on into  Magdalena and all around it, giving me the opportunity to get some really fun pictures!  We even drove out to their old cemetery!  We tried getting to "Riley" which, per their posted sign, is now a ghost town 30 miles away, but the road pretty much just petered out, oh well, we gave it a good try! 

As we drove over to the VLA, range cows and antelope came out to greet us.  Deb had never been out there, so it was fun to show her just how big those things really are!

The following day our goal was to head to the tiny town of Cerrillos!  Deb's son-in-law had a relative who had come from there and still had someone who was living there!  It's one of the town's along the "Turquoise Trail".  We had been to Madrid, which is also along this trail and a really fun town, so would be fun to show them and stop there for lunch.

Cerrillos was a hoot!  "Tiny" it is!  It's true"claim to fame" is it's beautiful and unusual turquoise.  It's a really pretty greenish color that's mined here, and at one time it and gold & silver were heavily mined in these hills.  Now, it's pretty much just this pretty turquoise.  The other thing the town's been used for is several movies have been filmed here including Young Guns.  It also had a pretty interesting Turquoise Mining Museum that had all sorts of things!  While we were there, a group of YPO (Young Presidents Association) folks were having a scavenger hunt, and showed up.  It brought back some fun memories, as I used to handle those groups in my "old event coordinator days"!

Deb & Rich did indeed catch up with "relatives" at Mary's Bar, took lots of pictures, and then we were off to Madrid!  As usual, we had a great lunch at The Hollar while we listened to the band Cactus Slim play for us! 

As usual, we found some "goodies" we couldn't pass up, as there is always something really special in this art-filled town!

It is so much fun, seeing places you've been before, through the eyes of friends!  To soon our friends were on their way back home...and we are off on yet another unknown adventure!

 ...On the road to Washington,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Thanksgivng Blessings...

We usually spend the month of November in Washington.  Both our toad and our rig are licensed there, and most of my family lives there.  So, once a year, we, and our vehicles all go there for "annual check-ups" and visits.  Now, November isn't the warmest of times, but, alas, that was when "everything" fell into place three years ago!

Three years ago, last December, we sold our house in record time (two weeks!), found the "perfect" RV (clear across the US) and loaded up what we didn't sell into a tiny storage unit and headed north.  Washington seemed like the perfect "home base" since we knew we would be on the road full time, and my sister was willing to be our mail person.  So, we drove up there, registered ourselves, got doctors, new licenses, etc. and celebrated!  Now, once a year, we brave the rain & cold and visit family and get rewarded with a wonderful Thanksgiving Feast for our efforts!

We started out thinking our adventure would be just for one year.  Jack was new to "camping".  Born and raised a "city boy", his idea of "camping" was "no room service" at a hotel.  I, on the other hand, love it.  This whole thing had been my idea all along, he was just "coming along for the ride...or the drive, actually, since he does the driving.  Now, this being our third full year, with no end in sight, he's the one who is still really loving it!  Probably even more than I, if truth be told!

Every year has been very different from the one before...just like life itself.  We are blessed with good health and this year I was reminded how much that matters as for the last four months I've suffered with limited use of my right arm due to some bone spurs in my shoulder.  I was thrilled that the doctor in Tacoma was able to tell me what all the pain was about and that a simple out-patient surgery will fix the problem once and for all.  I will have to come back in a few months to have it done, but that's minor, and we can go on with our journey from there, no further problems.

I also feel blessed that I have a family that allows us to travel the way we do and understands and loves us.  We don't get to see them as often as we would like.  Our children and grandchildren are spread all across the US and it's tough getting around to all of them very often and still see all the nooks and crannies of the various states, but we try as best we can, but of course, its never enough, and we miss them more than we like.

We are also blessed by the people we meet along the way.  Some are just in passing, but some we've managed to stay friends with, and that's extra special.  People like us who really get this crazy life-style of ours, who love this wonder lust.  This year, several of our friends who haven't been able to RV in a long time due to family issues, now can, are now planning on trips to either join up with us, or travel along with us.  We've always traveled alone, so we are looking forward to doing some "companion traveling" in 2015!

Doing what you love, being loved, and being healthy and happy...that's truly a blessing, ones I wish for everyone!

On the road again,  Marie