Whole Lot of Nutin

Wow, I just realized it's been 2 weeks since I last posted. Amazing how time flies when your doing a whole lot of nothing. Ok, we haven't exactly been doing nothing, theres doctor visits, housekeeping, visiting friends, shopping, etc, etc, etc, you know, all the routine day to day stuff. A few of the things we do have lined up are, getting the MRI on my knee this week, to assess the damage (hopefully minor). Sheryl will be getting 2 more injections in her back to help with her chronic back pain (the last one worked great). Skin cancer screening next week at the dermatologist and of course the ever popular colonoscopy scheduled for April. Yup, had to wait until April as that was the first open appointment they had, so it looks like we'll be here for 2 more months. We weren't real happy about staying that long, but I guess there are worst places to ride out the Winter.
Today is also crazy windy, with quite the dust storm blowing, you can not even see the mountains right on the other side of town, now that's alot of blowing sand and dust!!!
So that's all the news that's fit to print for now, we'll catch you back here next time, we actually have something to blog about, hard to make day to day life interesting.

Indestructible....Not

Remember way back when......when we thought we were indestructible. We ll of course I was one of those fine folks, it wasn't a conscious thought, just more of an attitude. We took dumb risks, however well calculated we thought they were, and usually survived unhurt.
Well, it seems my turn finally caught up with me. Last Saturday, while hiking Alamo Mtn, on the way out, I twisted my right knee pretty good. It hurt a bit, but not much, however I could tell something wasn't right. I pressed on to the parking area and the car (not much choice as we were miles and mile from anywhere). The next couple of days I rested and it seemed to be ok, then Monday evening, I stood up and ouch at the back of my knee, and not just a little ouch either!!! Ok, better see the doctor and have it checked out. Today, I get the appointment, see the doc and explain what happened. He says ok, let me see, I take off the brace I put on and.........can't be good, when the doc looks and says Ooooooooooo, yea, you really did it, and that's without even touching it yet. Knee looks like a softball and after the exam believes I tore a couple of the ligaments. He wants to do an MRI to see the actual extent of the damage, but says we'll have to wait a couple of weeks for the swelling to go down or we won't get a proper image. Rest, Motrin and a Knee Brace until then. Oh Joy.
Worst part is, may have to stay put for a bit longer, depending on the results and treatment........dang, that wasn't in the plan.........we'll just have to play it by ear and see what happens.
With all the chances I've taken in life, it's almost funny that this happened walking on fairly level ground, with just some loose rocks.
Moral of the story, if your out there, be careful, bad things can happen and I for one will tell you, I won't be taking any unnecessary chances anymore if I can jack myself up just walking!!!

Take Care and to quote the Sgt from Hill Street Blues......Hey, lets be careful out there.

Alamo Mtn, NM.

I have been telling some of the folks here in the RV park of places to go and things to see in the area, both on and off the beaten path. One of the areas is Alamo Mtn, located south of Alamogordo, NM. What is unique about this mountain is its location and contents, it is located on one 1.2 million acres of BLM land called the Otero Mesa and it contains 10,000 ancient petroglyphs. Due to it's location it is seldom visited by anyone and I have yet to met anyone who has heard of it......my kind of place.
Saturday, myself and fellow fulltimer Ed went for a drive out to show him the Mesa and petroglyphs.

Once leaving the pavement, our destination was in sight, a mear 60 more miles of dirt road.

Along the way we ran across a small heard of Antelope.

Almost there.

Arrival. There's a small parking area and access gate. Unless you know exactly where your going it's pretty difficult to find, hundreds of miles of county dirt roads and no signs.

 First stop, the old Butterfield Stagecoach Route Stop ruins. There are a couple of remaining foundations, stone walls and the remains of a stone fireplace. The first photo shows a stone marker. On top of the marker is a engraved compass.

 After the ruins, it was a good hour of bushwacking (since there are no trails) up the mountain, before we came across our first petroglyph.

 After the first one, we found a few other small ones, then hit paydirt with one of the largest on the mountain.

 Right behind the large one was this smaller yet still good sized artwork. By this time we had been hiking for a good 3 or so hours, up and around the mountain. A cold wind was blowing and we were starting to wear down.

Another hour or so hike down to the parking area and we were headed home. Coming down off the mesa, you are greeted with this stunning view of the mountains to the west.

We had a great day out, a little tired as it's been a long time since I've done much hiking like that. On top of that, while hiking down, I twisted my knee pretty good, so a few days of rest our in order.

I was asked a couple of times about Sheryl's surgery from last post. She has been living with a hernia for a couple of years now as a result of her heart surgery. She finally decided to go ahead and get it taken care of, as long as were here, plus it's been bothering her more and more. It was a pretty basis surgery so she is doing well now. We look at it as another check off the list so we can head back out on the road.

Trying to make the most of our time here, and showing folks some of our favorite areas is a great way to spend it. Hope to get out on a few more adventure before we leave and open up a whole new box of adventures.

Take Care and see you back here soon.

It's A Boy!!!

 So whats a green dressed teddy bear got to do with the title you ask??? Well it's a very cute story I'll share with everyone. Our daughter Kayla is expecting here first baby in June and Wednesday they were to find out if it was going to be a boy or a girl. There is one thing to be sure, these two never seem to do things in the traditional way, and this was no exception. Kayla and Chris head off to do the sonogram, however with the results in hand, they had the sonogram tech seal it in a envelope without telling them. They then headed off to the mall and the Build a Bear store. Once at the store, they pick out two outfits a boys and girls respectively. The sealed results are giving to the store clerk with instructions to read the results, dress the bear in the proper attire, box and wrap the bear (along with the results) and they would be back to pick it up later. Wednesday was also Chris's birthday, so the plan was a nice diner out, at which time Chris would open the present (bear) and that's how they would find out what sex the little one would be. I just thought it was very unique way to find out such an important piece of their life and hence the It's a Boy!!! Of course they are both thrilled as we are and the rest of the family.

Wednesday we also had the pleasure of meeting Paul and Marti, they are fellow fulltime RVers and bloggers. We have been reading each others blogs for some time now and it was great to finally meet them. Funny how when following along with someones blog, they seem like old friends when you finally meet them in person, ahhhh the computer age sure has changed things. They stopped by Holloman to say hey and spend the night on their way through New Mexico.

It was a great day, meeting new friends and finding out about the new little Grandson on the way. Sheryl is still healing from her surgery, getting better each day, but still having a rough time with it. Things are coming together and we hope to be back on the road next month, Woo Hoo!!! So until next time, keep Lovin Your Life as we do ours and see you back here again.

Fit As A Fiddle

Had my yearly Physical today and as the title says, Fit as a Fiddle. Last year my Cholesterol was a bit on the high side of normal, but today it was well with in range.....woo hoo!!! Doc said, what ever you are doing, keep doing it. For me, it was eliminating all salt, except what comes in processed foods, hard to stay away from that. Plus a few vitamins and I was good to go.

 I'm sure you remember from last post, our little elec heater burned up, so the hunt was on for a new one. I looked here at the base first and found one similar to the one pictured above. However at $80.00 it was a little more than I really wanted to spend. I knew I had to go into town the next day, so I thought I check out what Wally World had to offer. Well low and behold, they had the same one on sale for $45.00 and with the woodgrain front.....sold!. This little baby sure puts out some heat, but the main reason for such a large unit, is our little toddle Scrappy. You see he has this thing with dragging his little bed around the rig and leaving it most anywhere he wants. The last thing we need is him leaving it in front of the heater to catch fire. The heating element on this unit is up at the top with just the air intake down low.......much better and it's really not as big as it looks.

Another small project tackled, was to tie down the generator which lives in the back of the truck a little better. I've always had it tied down, but just at some preexisting points in the truck bed, this only allowed the cover "plastic bin" to set 3/4 of the way down over it. A couple of eye bolts and drilled holes later, the cover sits nicely over it with nothing to reveal it's contents. A small thing, but something I've been meaning to do for a while. Oh it is also secured with a couple of cable locks, you know just to keep honest people honest.

Ok, time to go change the laundry out, so until next time, we'll see you back here.

Lucky, Lucky, Lucky

 This morning we awoke it a little bit of a mess and to a puppy with that "What are you looking at me for" look, it was so cute. Some how during the night Scrappy managed to find and destroy a paper bag....that'll teach that mean ole bag!!! He is just too cute sometimes....our little toddler.

Now for the Lucky part as the title states, as I was having my coffee on the cold New Mexico morning, I looked down at our little space heater and noticed it was a bit deformed. Holy Cow, I exclaimed and ran over to unplug it. I guess after two winters it finally gave up and had it's own little meltdown. We were very lucky as we could have had a fire, and you know how well these RV's stand up to those. Looks like I'll be off to the store for another one to help fend of Old Man Winter for a little longer.

The rest of the week has been day to day life and finally getting into our medical appointments and procedures. Sheryl did have quite the week though, with a steroid injection to her back to help control her chronic back pain and a hernia repair she has been putting off for a couple of years. Nothing like getting it all taken care of at once. Depending on how the injection works, she may or may not go with further treatments. We are also seeing a new Neurosurgeon, to see if her back has gotten any worse over the last year. I'll be taking care of my yearly physical next week along with scheduling that ever popular over 50 appointment, the dreaded colonsoscopy.....lol. Of course I'm sure you all will be waiting with baited breath for the outcome of it.......lol

That's all for now, need to go look for a new heater, so until next time...............well you know the drill.