Sunday, July 15
Since Ernie’s job took him out of town, Jim and I picked up Edith and attended church with her. Afterwards, Edith offered to buy our lunch and Jim decided that we should all go to Kwan Den for some Chinese. The three of us enjoyed our meal and then agreed it was bound to be nap time!
Can’t remember another thing worth writing about!
Monday, July 16
Happy birthday, Nancy Terpening!
After swimming exercises with Becky at the AHS natatorium, we spent the day just catching up on things around the house.
Finally, arrangements were made between Jerry and Jim as to how they were going to sneak the big red 4 wheeler behind the fence without Nancy knowing…The plan was really rather simple (had to be for Jim and I to follow it!)…We would arrive at Nancy and Jerry’s around 6:00, before everyone arrived, and Jim would ask Jerry if he had time to go with him to pick up the lawn mower at Edith’s as I didn’t go with him today and he couldn’t lift it into the car. My job was to keep Nancy occupied and away from the back windows where she might see the guys unloading it. After what I thought was the right amount of time, I said I was going out front to sit on the picnic table. Sure enough, Nancy tagged along though I know she was thinking that she had a perfectly beautiful patio table out back in the shade! But, she was too polite to say anything.
What I hadn’t counted on, was that we could hear the sound of the tires on the gravel as they turned into the alley! However, Susie and her family arrived just about the same time and Nancy was distracted greeting them. The surprise was still thumbs up.
Once again, pictures are worth a thousand words!
It was a great night with lots of fun and laughter.
Tuesday, July 17
After our usual morning trip to the pool, we decided to once again take off on the cycle. If we’re going to do a long trip to the Pacific Northwest our bodies need to get in shape, in more ways than one!
Our destination today was Elk, NM, which is basically a wide spot in the road. However, this place holds special meaning to Jim…
Jim: When I was young (starting sometime in elementary school) our family attended the annual Cowboy Camp Meeting held at Elk, a small ranching community in the foothills of the Sacramento Mountains about 60 miles west of Artesia. The camp was sponsored by our church (First Baptist of Artesia), and was held on land owned by the Cleave family.
It was a great time of visiting for the adults and playing for the kids (when we weren’t in church services or Bible study). Daddy was one of the camp cooks each year, and it was a wonderful treat to wander by the cook shed and enjoy the aromas of camp coffee and whatever barbecue dish was being prepared for the day…beef, pork, goat, or whatever else had been donated by area ranchers.
As the camp grew, we moved out of the little church building into a new tabernacle. Likewise, the little cook shed became too small to meet the needs of the crowds that gathered during the week, so a new kitchen was built.
After Daddy died in 1966, it was decided by the powers that be to name the kitchen after Daddy, and a plaque was installed at the entrance stating that this was “The Little Kitchen,” in honor of Joe Little.
Since then, the Elk Camp Meeting has disbanded…no one knows exactly why…maybe it had fulfilled it’s purpose and it was just time to move on to other things. It’s too bad, because the camp week was a wonderful time at the end of summer for families to be together and recharge their batteries before getting school started. There was wonderful preaching, great singing, and enough recreational activities to wear everyone down so they could get a good night’s sleep in the fresh mountain air. And, did I mention the food? Words just can’t properly describe it all.
We wanted to ride up to Elk today to try to get some pictures of the old campground. It is now a hunting preserve and none of the structures are being used as originally intended, but the plaque is still on the wall at the entrance to the kitchen. One of these days, I want to contact one of the members of the Cleave family and get permission to enter the property and take some close-up shots of the old buildings. Meanwhile, this is some of what we captured on the ride today.
On the left is a shot of the entrance to the kitchen. (If you look carefully, you can see the plaque honoring my Dad) On the right is the original building where churc
h services were held.
After leaving Elk, we continued west on U.S. 82 through Mayhill and up to the eastern edge of the village of Cloudcroft before turning off on a state road for a scenic trip (about 30 miles) through the Sacramento Mountains toward Ruidoso.
From Ruidoso, we rode back toward Roswell, where we joined Barbara’s sister and brother-in-law (Carol and Cal) for supper and visiting. Then, it was back to Artesia after a ride of about 250 miles…another step in getting our bodies prepared for a lengthy road trip.
Wednesday, July 18
Barbara: Today was once again lunch day at Chaos with the clan. Jim and I were pleased when Edith decided to join us. She said I forced her, but I swear it was just gentle nudging!
Since there’s nothing to write about, I decided to show you why Jim and I love NM.
These are photos I took yesterday on our cycle ride.There is a certain ruggedness that appeals to us!
If I were still oil painting, I’d like to recreate the photo of the shed on the left and its surroundings!
Thursday, July 19
Jim: Happy birthday, Karen Francis!
We decided that we had better do something about getting the motorcycle inspected, since July is almost over and we have some travel plans coming up. So, we voted that we would ride the cycle over to Seminole, Texas, where we got the initial inspection last year.
It was a cool and cloudy morning…just perfect for a ride. In fact, we even wore jackets for this trip. We stopped at McDonalds in Hobbs for a quick breakfast, and then continued another 32 miles to Seminole, where we were fortunate enough to not even have to wait for the inspection. It was a two hour ride for a ten minute process, but it was necessary, and a great day for being out.
When we were finished in Seminole, we rode back to Hobbs where we thought we’d take a look at the RV park where we will be staying in a couple of weeks when we go to Barbara Francis and Warren Yehl’s wedding. We didn’t know what to expect, but were pleasantly surprised to find a very nice RV resort with all the amenities. The park has been open only a year, and still looks new. The manager gave us the grand tour of the place and confirmed that our reservations were in order for the first weekend in August.
By the time we left the RV park and gassed up the cycle, it was getting warm and windy. We gave a moment’s thought to riding down to Carlsbad and then back up to Artesia, but by the time we got to the Artesia cutoff about 15 miles from Hobbs, it was evident that we didn’t want to go any more miles than we had to, so we took the cutoff and came on home…another 250 miles under our belts (or should I say on our rears), but a really fun day.
We finished off the evening by attending another of Becky’s softball games at Jaycee Park and Sports Complex. For several innings it looked as if the Methodists were going to win their game, but the opponents clawed their way back and won by a run…a tough loss for our team, but a good time was had by all.
Friday, July 20
After taking yesterday off from our morning swim, we returned to the AHS natatorium for our daily water aerobics…then it was over to Mother’s house for a couple of cups of coffee and a short visit.
Back at our place, Barbara worked on details for our planned cycle trip to the Pacific Northwest while I continued working on the big trailer. I’m not sure what I thought I was getting into when I decided to replace the lights and all the wiring on the trailer, but it turned out to be a much bigger job than what I thought it would be. By 2:00 pm though, it was all done (I hope). I won’t know for sure for another week or so when hook it up to Big V for a trip to Hobbs, Liberal, and Albuquerque.
I spent a couple of hours mowing Mother’s yard (trying to beat a rainstorm that never materialized), and then returned to Big V. After supper and a little TV, it was time to call it another day.
Saturday, July 21
Why is it that when you have a day when you can sleep in, you wake up early? That’s what happened to us today. I deliberately shut off the alarm last night so we wouldn’t wake up early, but Barbara was awake by 4:30 and I woke up at 5:00.
With no swimming this morning and nothing that had to be done right away, it seemed like a perfect morning to indulge in a leisurely breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs, something we seem to have gotten away from. It was nice to just kick back and relax in the comfort of our own home.
The day was spent just doing odd jobs…Barbara went to town and did a couple of loads of clothes while I did some mowing and trimming around the place. Later, I cleaned out the inside of the Vibe…it’s amazing how much dust and dirt can accumulate around here.
Tonight---kick back and relax…work on the journal and watch some TV…a nice end to the week.
“Before you face the day, face the Father”…Sign at Trinity Temple Assembly of God in Artesia.
As a side note, the pastor at Trinity Temple is Bobby Argo, brother of Elton Argo, a good friend of ours and a former teacher at Liberal High School and athletic director at West where Barbara was. It really is a small world.
Wishing everyone well,
Jim & Barbara
