A Different Life II

[Lily&Me]

I am sure that I will.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by Photobum

Maggie,

Chaco Canyon is a spiritual blessing despite all the bad things that happened there....You will enjoy it....

I've been reading a lot about the Indians of the Southwest, just so you know. I know of the bad things, and they don't frighten me.


Pouring rain most of this day allowed me to put off cleaning out the black tank, and filling the fresh water tank. Tomorrow.

Ran errands set aside for tomorrow, instead, including my monthly labs....the sweet tech who always draws my blood gave me a going away present, after I told her where I was headed....a full roll of that stretchy gauzey stuff they wrap around your arm after a blood draw....in case I or someone else is injured....to stop bleeding.

Ummm, there will be no accidents, nor need for this, but it was sweet of her, it is sterile and I will add it to my first aid kit.

Supposed to have sun all day tomorrow, when I will then be able to watch the grass grow. After rain yesterday morning, then a clear afternoon, my mower guys came to cut the grass. Of course they did. They watch the weather, and when it breaks, they get out there. Great young men, terrific work ethics. I like that.

The grands will be here tomorrow for the afternoon, and we will make chocolate chip cookies and then pizza for supper. Hugs for Grandma, too, before I am gone for a month.

I am reading a book called "Somewhere in France", set in England and France during WWI, about a battlefield surgeon, the horrors and hardships. A novel, nothing mind-bending, but I chose it because both my maternal grandparents served in France during that War....he was a surgeon, and she was a nurse. They met at their initial training camp in the U.S., then married after the war and settled in Mississippi, where he was from.

Having never had battlefield experience, although I worked several years in an Emergency Room many years ago , it is difficult to imagine, but this book paints a pretty brutal picture.

My grandmother never practiced nursing again, after she got back, and of course never talked about it to us, but it was apparently a very, very difficult experience for her.

We think our lives are hard at times, but we have experienced nothing, compared to some.......


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Got the black tank cleaned....not as nasty as I believed, the fresh water full, laundry done, am packed up and ready to go in the morning.

I wonder if I will ever ready for a trip, and not say "Ohhh....Doug" .

So very odd, still, not to have him here. His absence is almost tangible at times.

When my Amazing Grace chimes tinkled this morning as I was puttering around, I told myself that was him, wishing me a safe trip.

Next post....from the road.


Maggie

[ColoradoLady]

Maggie, Doug must be nearby, in spirit. A love such as your's appeared....will surely circumvent such restraints as time and space. I'm sure you must treasure each of those little epiphanies as they present....no matter how faint or transient...you'll recognize them and hold them tight. God bless you Maggie. Safe journeys.

[Lily&Me]

Thank you.

I do believe his spirit drops in, that he tries to let me know, and that he watches over all of us he left behind.

It's what glues me together.


Maggie

[Hittenstiehl]

Go Maggie and Lily, go west and explore as we follow along. Safe travel with new adventure.

[Lily&Me]

Thank you.

Wish you could have joined us.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

5 poke-along hours to Mark Twain NF in Missouri, today....which has beautiful, COE campgrounds. Staying here til Tuesday.

Doug and I always loved driving thru old, small towns...and I still do, tho I don't do the meandering alone that he and I did together.....when he did 99% of the driving.

Train depots, long unused..for trains, anyway..old courthouses, little schools, grassy and beautifully manicured town squares with bandstands in the center of them, Opera Houses...love them all.

Drove thru some serious rain, and apparently it has been raining a lot here. It has really been raining almost everywhere.

Walking Lily, a rather crusty-sounding woman was spraying her site with insecticide. She had a good sized tank and wand, and advised me mosquitoes, chiggers, ticks, etc., didn't bother them, as she sprays everything.

Okay. I will not be spraying.

It is warm and humid here....Lily has had a good walk, and I am inside with the AC going.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

It is nice to go, also nice to not go.

Leisurely drink my coffee, watch the Today show, take Lily for a long walk. All that. Pan bread starting to bake for my breakfast.

Hanging in our bedroom is a large, framed, antique-ey looking, print of roses, that Doug bought me for my birthday or an anniversary, or some similar event.....very early on in our 27 years together. He was always about the roses, and they became a symbol thru the years of our relationship, and of our love for each other.

Since he died, I have come across an extraordinary plethora of rose covered items....and now have many more rose covered items than I ever owned when Doug was alive. I find rose covered items in the darnedest places, and on the darnedest things, and like to believe Doug leads me to them.

Pajamas, nightgowns, coffee mugs, small notepads, a small toiletry kit for the trip to Greece, etc.....I have roses everywhere I look, they remind me of him/us, and they comfort me.

I believe he nudges me toward them, I really do....like last week in WalMart, of all places. I never look at bags in Walmart, but somehow found myself in that area.....and there, in Walmart, was an assortment of bags, in a soft black, with pink and red roses on them.

Not only roses, but bags....something Doug and I joked about, because I have such a penchant for carrying bags...not so much purses...but tote type bags. I have too many of them, and he would often tease me about them.

And so, of course, believing he wants me to be surrounded by roses...I smiled and selected a smallish one, and bought it...$12 or so, an inexpensive, but comforting, indulgence. What else could I do.

So, not really needing a tote bag, but needing something to hang from a hook in the Interstate and then within to store the solar lights and tiny hummingbird feeder I recently purchased....also at WalMart....for the Gila Wilderness trip....there it was.

Decorative, to me, functional.....and comforting.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

I woke up this morning to a Fraud Alert email from Capitol One....my new card, of just shy 3 months, hacked at 3am today, with an attempted online purchase from Ghana.

Capitol One was on it, as they should be, so it is now cancelled and a new one will be issued.

Called ahead for a site to the COE campground west of Kansas City, KS, and when I asked for the office address for my card to be delivered, I was told their "policy" is to accept no mail or packages of any kind for any camper. Period. Nothing. Ever. For anyone. Because...."people like to sue".

What??. Never having run across this anywhere, least of all a federal campground where such a policy seemed incredible, I pressed a bit for specifics, i.e. something written that might allow a bit of discretion.....then, the gentleman told me.....he could write a policy and show it to me, if I wanted him to. What??

Ahem, fast forward to a conversation with the supervisor, who confirmed this was "practice", not "policy", and he allowed my envelope from FedEx to be delivered to their office, where I will pick it up.

After the supervisor agreed to the delivery, I told him politely that these folks never know who might be on the other end of the line when they make such statements, that I personally know more than I wish to regarding how bureaucracies run..... and that I knew this volunteer could not write policy. Also, that because he was reasonable and agreed to my very reasonable request, this will end here.

Yikes.

Will be here til Friday am, to get my new card on Thursday, then will move....somewhere...perhaps to the SP across the lake....as all electric sites here are booked for the weekend. There are some lovely non electrics here which are shaded and by the lake, so we'll see.

Such are the risks one takes when you prefer to travel without reservations.

It is 92 degrees here, but Lily has had a walk....and all is well.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Greek pasta salad is one of my favorite go-to entrees in hot weather.

Last time I was at Trader Joe's, I picked up a couple of bags of their dried tortellini with pesto. Cooked up one of these last weekend at home, added some chopped red onion, an entire jar of sliced Kalamata olives, a jar of marinated artichoke hearts, a bottle of good Greek salad dressing, and a block of Feta cheese, crumbled.

If I were making it to serve others, I would add cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and green pepper. It takes up less room without the veggies, and keeps better.

It is delicious. . Especially flavorful with the pesto flavor punch of the tortellini.....which is shelf stable, taking up no room in a frig or freezer.

Yes, it makes quite a bit, but I can eat it every day, til I am sick of it, and by then it will be gone.

Just sharing.


Maggie

[Ray Eklund]

Tomorrow is July 1 and the Quemado, NM clock is now on its countdown. Will be looking forward to meeting you and the others for this adventure and needed relaxation.

I found your Thread and caught the last couple days of posts.

Your Doug has not gone anywhere as long as you remember. Some day. Some place. Some person is going to be stumble into your life and fill this gap in your heart. This person may have the same yearning for what was lost, but not gone. It could be someone who helped give you directions, offered a seat at the Cafe on your trip West. Be aware that you are in one World and Doug is in another. Make the best of this World and the next World will further continue your relationship with whom you miss the most.

Open your heart and mind to these special places you will find yourself in July 2015. As long as the wind blows and the grass grows you still have time.

You will feel the atmosphere of anticipation, when Nancy takes whomever wants to revisit the row of Pit Houses where we will be camped. Their pot shards and obsidian flakes scattered as if they left for the season to return for the Elk hunts of the Fall Season.

The Gila Cliff Dwellings are well preserved and also have a spiritual balance of what was there among the Anasazi then and what you will experience today.

Your Doug must have been your soul mate and guiding Star.

Take those memories and apply them forward to those you meet in near future. What you have lost just might be near the next tree, the end of the next trail or in line at the grocery store. It is all up to you to be aware of your surroundings.

Be well. We will be seeing you soon.

[Lily&Me]

How sweet, Ray. Thank you for your kind words.

I am really looking forward to the Gila Wilderness trip, meeting you and your wife, and all the rest.

Doug was my soulmate, and I his. It is not something everyone gets, and I feel very fortunate to have had him, us, and the soulmate experience.

It is extraordinary, to have such a bond with someone else, to know each other so well, and to love each other...warts, and all....as we would say.

I am a lucky woman, to have had that, and him, in this lifetime.

See you soon!


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

I followed the Lewis & Clark Trail across Missouri today.

Crossed the wide Missouri River a couple of times.

So much history in some places in this country, that I am humbled by it, and in awe.

A really good read is "Undaunted Courage", a biography of Lewis, taken from his journal from the explorations with Clark.

Lewis was born in Albemarle County, Virginia in the late 1700's....would have been a contemporary of my ancestors there, descendants of whom traversed the mighty rivers in 1806 to settle in southern Mississippi.

Fascinating, to me.


Maggie

[DIR1]

I have to go get my US atlas from the van so I can follow this... I'm not familiar with that area of the country.. I have read a lot about Lewis & Clark... when you're on their route and know what they had to accomplish at times... simply amazing!!!
keep having fun!!!! hugs and love to you two there... gail

[Lily&Me]

Hi Gail!

Great to hear from you.

Our mutual friend promised a photo post of the wedding....still waiting and looking, but I'm sure they are crazy busy right now.

Take care.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

The Lewis & Clark expedition was an amazing adventure. That kind of exploration makes our little travels seem so trivial.

Am going to adjust my route a bit to go thru Dodge City, KS. Doug and I were thru there a number of years ago......cattle yards as far as you can see, just what you would expect in Dodge City.

I just want to see it again.

There are also some tall prairie preserves....going to get a photo of the Interstate in one....my own, modern covered wagon.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

This is a really lovely campground....Couer Dalene on Melvern Reservoir. $8.50/night with the Golden Age Passport.

Yes, I know I'm not level, but was getting over as far into shade as I could yesterday.

The areas not in campsites are allowed to grow naturally...prairie, I would guess it is called....lots of wildflowers, and I saw a beautiful goldfinch early this morning.

I am going to take the empty site just down the hill from me for Friday night...plenty of shade, and there is a wonderful breeze here, so we will be fine without electric...then head out to spend the 4th in Emporia, doing laundry and seeing what festivities are going on there for the holiday.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Capitol One Venture gets 5 Stars. *****

My replacement card was delivered by FedEx about 30 minutes ago...directly to my site....because the office old guard would not take responsibility for it.

People are such a stitch. At least they told FedEx my site number....now, why couldn't they just do that for anyone who needed something delivered??

The camp host here told me they are not allowed to get mail, medications, packages, nothing, ever, delivered to the administration office.

They are here for months. WTH??

Sometimes you just run across a place operating like a little fiefdom.

At any rate, about 32 hours after I spoke with Capitol One yesterday morning, a new card was in my hands. Can't beat that.

I am very happy with Capitol One. Good job!


Maggie

[Hittenstiehl]

Hooray for Capital One.

Good thing they (campground) didn't have a rule about not accepting mail AND not letting the Fed Ex guy in.

Sometimes when they (we) want to dig our heals in we certainly lose sight of the problem solving side of customer service.

Can they imagine the glowing review they could have gotten on TripAdvisor and RVReview if they had gone out of their way to be helpful.

Bottom line you got great service from Cap1 and a new card for the Nigerian cafe dweller to hack. ( No offense intended toward Nigerians just Cafe Hackers)