Sunday, February 24
There’s just not a whole lot that can be said about this day.
Barbara woke up at 1:30 a.m. with the same “stuff” I had the last few days, except even worse. We still don’t know what caused it, but we know that none of it was pleasant. Obviously, there won’t be any photos of this day’s activities.
The day was spent fixing Jell-o, running to Wal-Mart for necessary supplies, and me going to Mother’s house to do some very necessary laundry.
The only bright spot of the day was when we got word that Barbara’s brother-in-law, Cal, had waked up and seemed to be feeling better. He had no recollection of passing out at home and being transported to the hospital on Saturday; He just remembered going to sleep at home and waking up in a hospital room with his family around him. We know he must be better because the first thing he asked for was his cup of coffee.
Other than that, it was just a windy and dirty day here in Artesia.
Monday, February 25
It was just another windy day in and around Artesia. With constant winds from 30-35 mph and gusts to 50 mph, there just wasn’t much that could be done outside. In fact, we even had to close in the right-side slide-outs and crank down the TV antenna for most of the day because the wind was rattling everything so much. I did get out for a bit during the afternoon to do a few chores, but for the most part, we just hunkered down for the day.
We got word from Carol that they were sending Cal home today. He is stabilized and the hole in his lung is beginning to repair itself.
Barbara was still reeling from whatever bug she contracted, so she stayed home tonight while Jerry, Nancy, Becky, and I went to the high school gymnasium to watch the Harlem Ambassadors basketball team do battle with a local team.
The Ambassadors are a college-age offshoot of the old Harlem Globetrotters. While they are highly skilled, Jerry and I didn’t think the show came up to the standards that we expected; still, it was an entertaining evening and the price, only $3.00 for adult admission, wasn’t bad at all.
Tuesday, February 26
Barbara was still under the weather so I took Mother to her rehab session. It s really interesting to watch her PT, David, work with her, and I was pleasantly surprised to see how hard she worked to accomplish each of the exercises.
After I took Mother home, I went back to Big V to check on Barbara. We spent the afternoon working on the lists of things we would need for our upcoming trip to Puerto Rico and getting a few things organized.
Wednesday, February 27
With suitcases and bags on nearly every piece of furniture, we have a real mess going on in Big V today. It’s time to do some serious organizing and packing for our trip, and that doesn’t seem to get done without a lot of mind-changing about what we “need” for this little adventure.
We decided we’d try to eat real food today, so we joined the clan at Chaos for the regular Wednesday gathering. After lunch we went out and did a little shopping for a few necessaries, and then it was back to Big V for a short nap before tackling the packing chores again.
Tonight we went over to Jerry and Nancy’s house for Jerry’s early birthday dinner. His birthday is Saturday, but they will be out of town and we will be on the road, so they decided that tonight would be the best time to get together. Jerry cooked up some delicious roast beef with all the trimmings. Afterward, we enjoyed some delicious raw apple cake that Jean had baked and Jerry, Nancy, Becky, Barbara, and I fired up a couple of rousing games of Fact or Crap. What a fun evening we had…we’re even starting to feel human again!
Thursday, February 28
We took Mother to her rehab session at 10:00 this morning and then headed out to do some last minute shopping for the trip and for me to get a haircut.
When Mother was finished with her workout, we took her home and then drove up to Roswell to visit Carol and Cal. Barbara and Carol went out for an hour or so while I stayed at the house and had a really nice visit with Cal. He seems to be doing much better now that he is back home.
After we got back to Artesia, we checked on Mother and then went out to visit Jean before settling down in Big V. Jean and I got interested in a basketball game, so Barbara went on back to the motor home while we finished the game. When I got back into Big V, we did some reading and called it a night.
Friday, February 29
Here we are…the last day to get everything ready for the big trip…so much to do and now we’re down to the last minute.
We finally got all but the last two bags packed and loaded in the car. I took care of some plumbing chores that I had put on hold, and we did some straightening and minor cleaning.
Tonight…recheck all the lists and make sure we have everything we think we’ll need for an early departure tomorrow.
Saturday, March 1
Happy Birthday to Jerry Terpening in Artesia!
As we were getting everything finished up in the house we got a call from Carol in Roswell; Cal was put back in the hospital late yesterday afternoon because the patch on his lung hadn’t sealed properly and air was leaking into his body. Carol said she thought they had everything under control, but it did throw a scare into everyone.
By 7:55 we had everything loaded in the car and Big V all shut down. We decided that with weather conditions for the next two weeks uncertain at best, we’d just close all the slide-outs and seal her up while we’re gone.
After a quick trip to town to visit with Mother and Ernie, we pointed the car south and headed down U.S. 285 through Carlsbad and Loving, New Mexico, and Pecos and Fort Stockton, Texas, before hitting I-10 east to San Antonio.
Randi had a cheer competition at the Alamodome today, so we waited a few minutes at the house before they got there. After unloading our luggage for the night and visiting for a few minutes, we all decided it was time to go forage for food.
On the way to find a restaurant, the kids took us to the site of the new house they are having built in Helotes, a small community a few miles away from their current home. We took a few minutes to walk around inside the new house (it’s still mostly slab, roof, and frame), and then drove to one of the local burger places where we enjoyed a meal and more conversation.
Back at the house, we just talked, watched TV, and then headed for bed. Randi has a second day of competition tomorrow, so she went to sleep early, but the rest of us weren’t too far behind.
Sunday, March 2
With something going on for everyone today, it was “up and at ‘em” this morning so we could all get a good start.
Once we got all of our stuff back in the Vibe, we followed John, Carol, and Randi to one of their favorite area restaurants for breakfast. The place specializes in Tex-Mex foods, but after our recent bout with whatever we had been fighting, we decided to play it safe and have pancakes instead of what we would normally choose.
We had a really nice time visiting while we were eating, but too soon it was time for them to head back to downtown San Antonio for another day of cheer competition and for us to point the Vibe east on I-10 and head toward Houston.
The ride was generally uneventful, but we did (at Carol and Randi’s suggestion) stop at Buckee’s, a combination gas station, convenience store, tourist stop, about an hour out of San Antonio. It made for a nice break, and we saw a couple of things that we might not be able to live without if we think about them long enough and if they’re still in stock when we come back through on the way home.
We made it to Houston just fine and then joined the mass of humanity (or is it inhumanity) that makes up the 24-hour traffic jam. Joyce and Gary had given us directions that got us around the
main part of the city without too much difficulty and, with a couple of phone calls we finally made it to their home in Clear Lake City.After getting the grand tour of their beautiful new house, Gary suggested that we ride down to Kemah, a community a few miles south of them on the Gulf Coast. Kemah turned out to be a total delight. An amusement park fronts the coast line and there is a boardwalk lining the channel that empties into the Gulf. We walked around and looked at the sights before setting our sights on Captain Landry’s Seafood Restaurant for our evening meal. Even though it was pretty windy and the Gulf waters were extremely choppy, we chose to sit outside next to the channel to eat. Of course, the food and company were wonderful and we had a great time.
After eating, we went through the aquarium that is part of the boardwalk complex. We didn’t know how the camera would work in the dim light,
but Barbara managed to get quite a few good pictures of some really strange looking sea critters.When we left Kemah, we drove back past NASA’s Johnson Space Center on the way back to the house. Barbara and I had both been there at various times during our previous lives when the kids were all much younger. Gary and Joyce haven’t had the opportunity to go there yet, so we encouraged them to put it on their itinerary.
Back at the house we all settled in for a couple of games of dominos, taking up where we left off the last time we visited them in Salisbury, Maryland. Soon, it was time to call it a night, since we were planning to be up very early tomorrow morning to get ready for our flight to San Juan.
Unfortunately, we ended the evening with the disheartening news that Cal has taken a turn for the worse and must have surgery tomorrow morning since the hole in his lung is getting bigger. We ask for prayers for his recovery. After talking to Carol, who encouraged us to go on with our trip, our hearts are quite heavy.
“The better part of one’s life consists of his friendships.” – Abraham Lincoln
From Houston, Texas…Jim & Barbara
