Back in Sierra Vista AZ

We got back to Sierra Vista on the 9th, plenty of time before Kelly's spinal surgery.  She was diagnosed with Cervical Stenosis, a condition that is normally seen in much older people. Kelly was experiencing numbness in her left arm and was in constant pain.

Cervical spinal stenosis is the narrowing of the spinal canal in the neck. The spinal canal is the open area in the bones (vertebrae) that make up the spinal column. In cervical spinal stenosis, the spinal canal narrows and can squeeze and compress the nerve roots where they leave the spinal cord, or it may compress or damage the spinal cord itself. 

Her surgery was on Wednesday, April 13th.  Her surgery involved the fusion of 4 cervical vertebrae and inserting a plate.  Things went better than expected and she was discharged on Friday.  She is recovering at home and doing wonderfully. 

T & I will be here until Kelly is able to manage things on her own. Then we head up to Phoenix where we begin moving into our house.  Though we will be living in a "stick house" and not living "on the road", we plan to travel several months a year.

For those of you who have followed us on our travels. I hope you've enjoyed my journal and traveling with "The Rolling Hills."

I don't expect to post anything again until at least July, when we will probably head out to who knows where for a few weeks.

Lawrence & Topeka Kansas

Our trip to Lawrence was all about seeing our son Thomas. We arrived in Lawrence on the 29th of March, a day ahead of Thomas' arrival from England.   We spent nine days in the area.

Lawrence is  the home of the University of Kansas.  Everything there is to see in Lawrence is either at the University or on Massachusetts Street.  It is a pretty area, though once you get out of town there is little to see other than silos and fields.

University of Kansas

Those of you who know us, know that one of the first things we found was a coffee shop.  We met Scott and his daughter, Phoenix at the Java Break, a quirky little coffee shop just off Massachusetts (locally called Mass St.).  Java Break is a 24/7 coffee shop and has great pastries and "cereal bar" for those late night munchies 

Scott & Phoenix

Scott and Thomas are both into music so, Scott arranged a jam session with a few of his friends and Thomas got to join in.  It was fun watching them play.

Scott & Thomas on the right

Thomas & fellows jamming

We drove over to Topeka one day.  Toured the Brown vs Board of Education National Historic Site.  Brown vs Board of Education was the Supreme Court case that changed history.    I'm glad we chose to visit the museum. 

On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment and was therefore unconstitutional.



T & Thomas - Brown vs Board of Education
Topeka, KS

While in Topeka we walked along the path near Lake Shawnee.  






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Spring in Topeka


Most of our time in Kansas was spent just hanging out, wandering along Mass Street and enjoying our time with Thomas.  Of course we scoped out the area for a winery and went wine tasting.  


Thomas
On the day of Thomas' departure we visited Union Depot in Kansas City and enjoyed the Da Vinci exhibit.  After which, we sadly said goodbye to Thomas.

Liberal, KS and Hooker, OK

Liberal KS and the Land of OZ - March 26

The thing to see while in Liberal is Dorothy's House and the Land of OZ.  Being the children we are, we immediately headed to Dorothy's house.  We went on a tour of her house, guided by one of the many Dorothys.  Saw Dorothy's room with Toto napping in his bed.  We walked down the yellow brick road and met the Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow and into the Land of OZ  A bit hokey, but fun never the less.

The night we stayed in Liberal the temperature went down to 26 and it snowed.  We got up in the morning with snow and ice on the motorhome and car and had some clearing to do before hitting the road.  Oh how I miss Arizona sunshine!

Hooker, OK

While on our way to Wichita we drove through a town called Hooker in Oklahoma.  The town apparently enjoys the humor of it's name as evidenced by their welcome sign.  They even named their American Legion Baseball team The Horny Toads.

Tucumcari NM- Route 66

One night in Tucumcari is all that one needs to take in the sites on Route 66.  I walked from one end of town to the other and took a few pictures.  It's sad to see how run down things have become over the years. 

Blue Swallow Motel was built in 1939 and opened in 1941.
  Listed on the National Historic Register. One of the longest
continuously operated along New Mexico's Route 66.
 

As the Blue Swallow Motel, the property was updated with neon signage proclaiming "TV" and "100% Refrigerated Air". It would continue in operation through both the heyday of post-war tourism on the old US Highway system (when roadside billboards advertised "Tucumcari Tonight!" and "2000 motel rooms" for many miles^[5][6]) and the years of decline which followed the loss of US 66 traffic to a newly constructed Interstate 40 in the 1960s.

Alamogordo, NM

White Sands National Monument 

Glo @ White Sands N.M.

We added yet another National Monument/Park to our list of places we've been.  White Sands is unique in that it is located in the middle of the desert.  Having grown up on at the beach, when we saw the sand we thought no biggy, but we kept expecting to see a body of water somewhere.  The sand is so soft, it feels like talcum powder.

The White Sands National Monument is about 16 miles southwest of Alamogordo and is comprised of 275 square miles of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals.  It is the largest gypsum dune field in the world.

White Sands from a distance.

T @ White Sands

Sands so bright it's almost blinding.  

Pistachio Tree Ranch & Winery

We had a great afternoon at the Pistachio ranch.  We toured the tree farm and learned about how Pistachio's are grown and harvested.  It takes both a male and female tree to produce pistachios.  The ranch has 1 male for every 18 females.  The amazing thing is that when it's time to harvest, they shake the tree and in 1 minute they have 30 pounds of pistachios.  The Pistachio tree is one of the oldest known to man.

Did you catch the fact that it is also a winery.  Of course we tasted wine.  T says, "Any place that offers free wine tasting is never free."  I always buy wine.  LOL  This time was no different. They had a pistachio flavored Chardonnay and a Chocolate Cabernet.  Can't wait to share them.

Toy Train Depot

After the pistachios and wine we visited the Toy Train.  T loved it.  Maybe I've found a hobby for him! Who knows?

The Toy Train Depot is a toy store and railway museum, featuring scale models of train locomotives and passenger and freight cars, in Alamogordo, New Mexico.  There are over 1200 feet of model railroad track with running trains and hundreds of trains with all the different gauges from HO to Z.

Steam Engine toy train

Deming, NM and surrounding area

March 21,2016

Deming, NM
After spending two glorious months in Arizona, visiting friends, playing golf, taking care of my grand daughter, Sammy, hiking two or three times a week, and enjoying the Arizona weather, we are now headed to Lawerence KS.  Why, you ask, would we want to go to Kansas? Well it just so happens our oldest son, Thomas, is going to be in Kansas for a conference and since we haven't seen him in two years, we are willing to drive just about anywhere to spend some time with him.  As we travel to Lawerence, we'll be making several stops along the way and the first of those is Deming, NM.

We are staying at an Escapees RV park called Dream Catcher.  We got here about 3:00 and the group had a social hour at 4:00.  Now I would like to think it was in our honor, but it was already on the schedule.  Never the less, it gave us an opportunity to meet some nice people and ask about places to eat and things to see.  The China Restaurant was recommended, but alas it was closed on Monday.  So we went to the next place that was recommended Si Señor.  Great Mexican food and reasonably priced.  After a good meal, we drove around Deming to see what there was to see.   There isn't much in the town proper but we did see a beautiful old courthouse.

Luna County Courthouse
built in 1910

City of Rocks State Park

City of Rocks State Park

City of Rocks gets its name from the incredible volcanic rock formations found there. The park encompasses a one square mile area in the scenic Chihuahuan desert region of southeastern New Mexico at an elevation of 5,200 feet. The “city” is a geologic formation made up of large, sculptured rock columns, or pinnacles, rising as high as 40 feet and separated by paths or lanes resembling city streets. These rocks were formed about 34.9 million years ago when a very large volcano erupted. Then, erosion over millions of years slowly formed the sculptured columns seen today, creating a stunning, otherworldly landscape.

Wickenburg AZ

We arrived in Wickenburg on the last day of Gold Rush Days.  The place was swarming with people. Never the less, we enjoyed our walk around town and had lunch at the Horseshoe Cafe.  The street lights are ornamented with cowboy hats.  Western sculptures are everywhere, some of which I am posting here.  The Wickenburg Desert Caballeros Western Museum is must see.  The museum tells the story of Wickenburg and has some amazing western art and sculptures.  

Street Lights

Thanks for the Rain sculptre in front of Museum
 

Center of Traffic Circle

Glo having fun

Devil's Bridge Trail, Sedona AZ

Feb 10

We  took a day hike near Sedona on Devil's Bridge Trail.  T and I started out hiking along the trail and read the signs telling us the length of various trails.  We decided we'd take the shorter of the 3 ways to go.  It was to be a short 3.5 mile roundtrip hike.  WELL, that isn't exactly what we ended up doing.  We hiked 5.6 miles.  We don't know how we did it because we never actually got to the Devil's bridge.  It was a beautiful hike but when we got to higher elevations, the terrain got rough, steep and icy, so we took pictures from afar and headed back down the hill.

Views along Devil's Bridge Trail

T enjoying the views

Devil's Bridge

Verde Valley Arizona

We arrived in Cottonwood, AZ, on Saturday, February 6, and we are loving the weather!  Day time temps range from 65 to 75 with nights in the 30's and no rain.  I've managed to get out hiking almost everyday.  Lots of beautiful views.

Verde Valley (foreground) Red Rocks of Sedona (background)

Verde River

Active Verde River (more water than I've ever seen)

Tuzigoot (Apache for 'crooked water") is the remnant of a Southern Sinagua village built between 1000 and 1400.

Tuzigoot National Monument.

Tuzigoot Ruins

Glo & T @ Tuzigoot