An Old Shoe

Arriving in Yuma was like slipping back into an old shoe: comfortable, formed to our feet, no surprises. It seems very little has changed here in my three and a half years of absence save for the derelict state of our lot after such neglect. 

Getting away from Wisconsin was uncomfortable for the first three days of travel with no water aboard due to the very low temps we were battling but it warmed considerably by the time we hit Oklahoma. About the time we started having some problems with the truck we also encountered high winds for over a day and were forced to pull over in Oklahoma City in a Sam’s Club parking lot for Christmas day and night, where we had the place all to ourselves. Marc hit a Freightliner dealer right across the freeway on our way out and laid in a supply of parts in case it got temperamental again, but it behaved after that.

Traveling with the four cats was a bit of a circus, handing them out one at a time for passing back and forth twice daily between the trailer and the truck. They did well considering and although nervous and restless, they didn’t yowl. Rocket is back to his birthplace and allowed to go out on his own so he has been very mellow; the others are still trying to adjust to such a small “house”.

The neighborhood is convivial as always; we had a lovely New Year’s dinner party with a group of twenty and friends are always dropping by for a few minutes or time for a beer. Marc has started working although it is light duty at this point since project permits have not yet been issued. 

And of course, there has been a ton of projects to get done on the lot, especially cleanup and yard pruning, requiring four trips to the dump. I was keen to get things cleaned up so we could get the place back on the market. My girlfriend Paulette drove over with my new truck and stayed for five days and suggested perhaps we ought to advertise the park model separately. I had given thought to that notion previously but since we weren’t here locally, had dismissed it. This time was different though, and after running an ad at a ridiculously low price, we had a couple come by to look at it less than 24 hours later who bought it on the spot. They have a newly purchased lot they will be moving it to and were thrilled to get such a new one with the array of windows and high ceilings. That should all happen within the next few weeks and then Marc will be without an office area unless he can put up the job shack onsite at his project by then. 

Selling the park model lifts a big burden off us however and eliminates some of the expenses of carry on this thing that refuses to sell. We’re hopeful the lot will now have more appeal to more buyers as just an improved RV lot and we’re still willing to do fifteen-year financing on it. 

We’ve been tackling projects on the new truck making sure everything on it is going to be road-worthy for me. It likely will require a set of air bags since the hitch height is so different from our other Dodge, which matches up to my trailer perfectly, plus a new set of tires. Marc got new headlights installed to replace the yellow faded originals and is now working on installing all new shocks. Next will be replacing the cruise control button which is on the blink. The motor itself appears to be very strong (gas hog that it is!) and we found out that it was replaced under warranty when the truck had 35,000 miles on it so in effect, the engine only has 51,000 miles on it. For a 1997 model, that’s a steal!

For the next two months, I’ll be learning new things; playing with the truck and trailer learning how to hitch and unhitch and practicing backing up. In addition, my computer is barely functioning so we plan to purchase me a new one with Windows 10 which will be quite a change from 7. Most striking is that I have decided it’s time to move into the 21st century and finally have upgraded to my first smart phone even though I am not yet using it. I must decide upon a carrier and want time to get very conversant with its functions before I turn it on. Traveling alone, I figure I will be able to really use the ability to get online to find campgrounds daily while traveling. 

Yuma weather appears to be as warm and beautiful as ever this winter but we are receiving horror stories from daughter in Portland and my mom in Bend, OR. Both have had abnormal amounts of snow to deal with; a real hardship for my mother since she can’t leave the house for weeks on end. Daughter has had to work from home most days this week due to the Nike campus being closed. She & her fiancé will be able to visit us here at the end of February so she’s looking forward to the Yuma sun. 

That’s about it for now; just mundane and trivial things of everyday life living back in an RV.