TRIP WEST and arrival at APACHE JUNCTION, ARIZONA

Not sure where we got these pictures, but we were close.

Our last month in Ohio was very stressful and other than our sister-in-law, Loretta, others did not realize how much!! Loretta and I packed up Gary's sister's apartment since she will be remaining in the nursing home for the future that we can see. It is a sad situation, but one that any and all of us could face some day. It has really brought to us how uncertain even our very near future might be.

After moving as much as possible to Loretta's third floor for storage, we were relieved and looking forward to moving on with our futures. Even Loretta got a new job and is moving on after her very eventful past year of illness and surgeries. I finally got a picture of her grand daughter and great grand daughter.

Alexis and Esma

Our oldest son has his house on the market and is hopeful of a sale soon. Our second son has a purchase pending and they were hoping that it would close before we left the area so that we could tour the inside. However, it did not turn out that way. I think they will rattle around in this after their past fifteen years in such a little house.

In the mean time we loaded our youngest son's last load of boxes to take to him in Minnesota. He only began his move there two years ago!
Now that everyone else seems to be settled down, we will move on.
We picked up our motorhome from storage near Minneapolis, MN and parked at Walmart for the night to meet with Ben in the morning, who just got off work for the week. He had to be ready to move on to ND the next afternoon for two weeks of work there. So glad that we were able to visit even for a short time.
And glad that we were able to meet with friends and family in Ohio through those last few weeks. I was so thankful for my friend, Louise, who is always ready to share my burdens. And I am sure that Gary did his share of unloading.  We will miss you all!!
Now we began our trip South and West on September 22nd to winter in Arizona at Apache Junction.
On our first day south, near Des Moines, IA we stopped at a Walmart and met up with our Salem friends, Bill and Jane for lunch and a visit. They will later be in AZ also.

Bill and Jane, see you again soon!!

Our next stop was Lawrence, Kansas at Clinton State Park for Saturday and Sunday night. There we met up with Gary's distant cousin on his mother's side of family, Steve and Connie Dresbach for Sunday breakfast at First Watch Cafe' and then on to their church, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. It was a great visit as well as service. Connie had a Crop Walk for Hunger that afternoon. So while she did her thing we got a few groceries and got ready to move on the next morning.

Monday, September 25th, we began the third leg of our journey, through Kansas to stop for the night at Liberal, KS Walmart.

It was a very long, wet, rainy day which caused us some problems with the engine. Maybe from some water in the gas that we took on??  Gary loaded up with gas treatments that we got at Walmarts along the way.

Tuesday we  crossed the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles seeing a lot of cattle stockyards along the way. And boy could you smell it even with windows closed!!

Next stop Alamogordo, NM Walmart with the beginnings of the mountains in the back ground.

As sun moved on west!

Our stay there was climaxed with a dead battery in the car. Guess we had it running the brake buddy for too long without a charge??  Good old AAA took care of that.
Our next to last day was on to a stop in Tucson at Desert Diamond Casino that we had parked at before.

Tucson, AZ

Desert Diamond Casino, Hotel

The mountains begin changing!!
We love this area.

And our last day was going back north in Arizona to Apache Junction. Our final stop Meridian RV Resort in Apache Junction for six months of winter. Gary and I will begin our new jobs as workampers there on Monday, October 2nd.  me in the office three days and Gary will sort mail six mornings a week.

   

Office complex, pool, laundry, mail, etc.

The following views are from my seat in the front of the motorhome as I work on the computer.

Back of the office, clubhouse, and pool.

A neighbor in front of us. I believe that she has
worked in the office.
Mountains in the distance.

Superstition Mountains.

View out the side window at our neighbor, the park manager,
 and our very small parking area.  We have an obstacle in the
front of the lot of utilities also. We have to be very careful
getting between it and our motor home to get in and out.
We will do it carefully for six months.

Gary found an American Legion across the street from the park where they serve a full menu with a Friday specialty of fish. So guess what we had for dinner last evening!!

Yes, I'm right here!
I've got to get my pictures!!

Our next week should be busy just with adjusting to our new jobs.  Stay tuned!!