Great News and A Change of Plans

Apache Junction, AZ   High  91 Low 63

We saw the oncologist on Monday and he had nothing but good news for us. We really like those kinds of doctor visits.

After leaving his office we headed over to the Texaz Grill to meet up with Bob and Jo for lunch. They stay clear over on the west side of Phoenix and we’re all the way east so we try to meet in the middle. Jo is having back issues and they will have to be in area for most, if not all, of the summer.

Before we made it to the restaurant, Jim’s phone rang. I answered the phone while he pulled over because it was his heart doctor’s office. Seems he has a problem with a blockage in his femoral artery in his right leg. In 2012 he had his left leg fixed with a by-pass and a stent. So we are waiting to find out exactly what needs to be done.

If he has to have a by-pass done (which is highly likely), the recovery period is 6 to 8 weeks. So all plans for leaving next Monday have gone out the window. At this time, we have no idea when we will be leaving.

The worst part of all this is going to be the heat. We only have one air conditioner in our fifth wheel and it really struggles when the temperatures reach 100.

Life Happens.

Happy Mother’s Day

Apache Junction, AZ  High 79  Low 8

I hope your Mother’s Day is filled with lots of love and fun.

Very unusual weather for Arizona in May. We are about 15 degrees below normal. Next week we are supposed to be much closer to normal but towards the end of the week it will cool back down into the 80’s. Sure makes my electric bill happy.

We’ve been seeing a lot of doctors and having lots of tests done. Hopefully next week we get all good reports and we can get out of here. Monday is our appointment with the oncologist. I always spend a very anxious few days before this appointment so I’ll sure be glad when it’s done.

We took Scooter in for a check up before leaving town and loading up on six months worth of pills for her. Her lungs are sounding good but the vet said her heart just gets louder and louder. I know that means that her big heart could just give out at any time. However most days she feels good and loves to go rabbit hunting with Jim. She’s enjoying life and we’ll do everything we can to make her happy.

This is what happens when Jim takes her out to hunt rabbits. Sometimes they don’t get too far. Got to stop and visit you know. The beautiful Siberian in the picture is Kia and she is almost 13. Not sure she’ll be back with us next winter or not. 

We have a mama hummingbird right across the street. Such a little tiny nest. 

Can you see her in the picture below?

Can you tell I’m looking for things to do? This is what happens – poor Skitz. I used her collar to rearrange her ears.

She moved her head just as I took this one.

Saw this at a Fry’s parking lot. Great idea. Solar power and shade for shoppers all in one.

Jim got the roof of the fiver washed and sealed and all new vent covers put on.

An Arizona sunset.

On one of our many visits to Scottsdale for doctor appointments, we had breakfast at The Breakfast Joynt. Pretty good food. But the sinks in the bathroom were really incredible.

On Friday we spent almost six hours getting tests done for Jim. By that time I informed him we were not cooking dinner and doing dishes. We had a coupon for Dickey’s BBQ in Mesa and decided to give it a try. It was really good.

This pair was sitting outside Dickey’s. Not sure where they came from but I hope they made it home safe.

Our New Addition

Apache Junction, Az  High 101  Low 68

Starting to heat up here in the valley. We hit 101 yesterday and today. I checked my blog for a year ago and we had 100 degree weather May 2. If anything needs to get done outside it has to be in the early morning or late evening.

However, after watching the weather on TV, I will take our heat over the storms any day.

We went to visit Aunt Happy. She is doing really good. I helped her put her earrings on (she dresses every day with earrings, necklace and bracelets) and her face powder. She had a couple of small chores for Jim to do. Refill her humidifier and hang up some items that she can’t reach. After our visit we walked with her down to the dining room and Jim pulled her chair out for her and then pushed her up to the table. She then told the three other people at her table – “See, this is why I need a man.” I tried hard not to crack up. What a lady.

Now for our new addition: We had a camper shell put on the back of our pick up. That gives Jim more room for his tools.

He decided this would be a perfect time to straighten out one (yes – one) of his tool boxes.

And this is why Jim can fix just about anything that goes wrong.

Friends and Food

Apache Junction, AZ  High 88  Low 61

We’re continuing to go to doctor appointments with good results. The big test is the PET scan in a couple of weeks. Once we get those results we can start seriously thinking about getting out of here.

Have had a couple of really great breaks from the routine. And like all good things about RVing, these breaks include friends and food.

Got an e-mail from Larry and Gerry of Clark Rambling  wanting to know how far away we were. They were in El Mirage needing some work done on their rig before they start on their summer travels. Just so happened we had to be in Scottsdale for a test for the Cardiologist as well as an appointment with his internist.

I found a place called the Naked BBQ that is on Bell just off of I-17 and asked them if they could meet us for lunch. They said yes and off we went. Like Larry said – it just felt like we had known them forever. Larry even wore his Redskins shirt which just sealed the deal.

Gerry, Larry, Me and Jim

Sure hope we run into these guys again this summer. And the food was pretty good also.

Then I got a message from Paula - Shadowmoss  and she wanted to know if we could meet for dinner one night. She works nights so her schedule can be grueling. At least it would be for me. We made arrangements to meet at Joe’s Farm Grill and rounded up Paul to go with us. Had a great time and I’m hoping we can do dinner one more time before we hit the road. No picture – didn’t think about it because we were doing too much visiting.

Then today we met up with Jan and Bill for lunch at Red Robin. Jan had a doctor’s appointment in Chandler and that made it an easy meet up. I’m absolutely amazed at how well she is walking on her broken foot. She doesn’t limp near as bad as I thought she would . Still has several months of healing ahead of her but she is doing fantastic. So good to see these dear friends of ours. Once again, no picture.

Jim is doing some repairs around the rig. The vent cover in the bathroom disintegrated and needed to be replaced. Turned into an all day chore. While he was on the roof he found that the sewer caps needed to be replaced. Then our fantastic fan wall control decided to die. Jim found one on a close out at RV Traders so now that is working again.

Just odds and ends of things.

A Whole Lot of Nothing

Apache Junction, AZ  High 84  Low 58

I’m still having internet issues so we are using the libraries wifi. Thanks Toni for that suggestion. Their wifi is lightning fast compared to the internet we have at home when we have it.

I’m never going to be able to catch up so I hope life is going along smoothly for all of you. We have started into all of Jim’s doctor appointments before we can leave the Valley. One down, seven to go. So far, so good.

Other than that we are just enjoying the beautiful weather we’re having. Paul joined us for Easter dinner. We met up with Carol and Doug at Tom’s BBQ for dinner one night. We’ve been to visit Aunt Happy a few times.

Been too breezy for Jim to do any fishing this last week. Hopefully next week looks better. In his down time he put new seats and backs on our camp chairs. Now we don’t have to worry about anyone falling through the bottom. I should have taken pictures but I didn’t.

With so many folks already heading north we no longer play cribbage or poker during the week.

And that’s really about it from here. Just wanted to pop in and say hi to everybody. Miss you.

Salt River Canyon

Apache Junction, AZ  High 90  Low 63

Since we didn’t have any internet to keep us entertained, I asked Jim if he wanted to take all his girls for a ride. Little did he know that ride would end up being over 300 miles.

We hitched up the girls in the backseat and filled up a cooler with water and ice and headed out about 7:15.

I wanted to see what the drive through Salt River Canyon between Globe and Show Low was like. It is beautiful. You drive all the way down one side of the canyon to the river below and then climb back up on the other side.

After driving this beautiful, winding road, we made the decision that we will not going this way when we head north. We did see several rigs towing their way through the canyon but we’ll take the easier way north through Polson.

After reaching Show Low we headed over to Payson for lunch and then back down to Miami cruising by an extremely low Roosevelt Lake. We arrived back in AJ about 4:00 and the girls were certainly ready for dinner.

Still having internet issues. Maybe someday I’ll be back to reading blogs again. Fingers crossed.

Back On Line

Apache Junction, AZ   High 95  Low 64

Haven’t had any internet for what seems like forever. My withdrawal symptoms were getting pretty bad but I survived. (Barely)

So now it’s time to catch up.

Meet the Meandering Maddox’s – Jim and Judy.

Jim left a comment on my blog that said they were in Apache Junction and wanted to meet. We met for lunch at the Handlebar and I am so glad we did. What a wonderful couple. We really enjoyed visiting with them and we’re hoping they change their plans for going to Florida and come back to Arizona next winter so we can spend more time together.

We also had a storm roll through. I love clouds and these were spectacular.

Jim finished making our Convoy game board and it really turned out great. We took the board down to Marv and Donna’s and the women proceeded to tromp the guys. They are now looking for revenge.

Jim and Marv got some catching time.

We (Jim) got the carpet shampooed. It really needed it after all of Skittlez’s problems with diarrhea.

 

Lots of folks are starting to head north already. Not us. We’re planning on leaving about the middle of May depending on all of Jim’s doctor appointments.