A family Thanksgiving, whirlwind trip to Florida and winter plans
November 2023
I’d like to say we relaxed once we got to Benson but that would not be true. While we were astonished at how roomy the RV was in comparison to the Ute, we were even more impressed at how much stuff we had in the Ute to move back into the RV for winter. So, it took a bit, plus deep cleaning the interior and exterior of the Ute. Of course there was the exercise room, morning coffee, friends to catch up with and friends to make, the workshop, and lists of what projects we wanted to accomplish during our stay. It has been almost 5 years on the road, and so a good point in time to pause for planning, reorganizing, upgrading, and dreaming about the future.
Just about the time we fully moved into the RV, it was time to drive to El Paso for Thanksgiving with our younger daughter and her family. They arranged for us to stay at the Fort Bliss FamCamp, which was very convenient. When we arrived in El Paso, we had our bloodwork done at a Quest lab in preparation for our annual doctor appointment in Florida at the end of November. We found a pet sitter, Kennedy, who only took care of one pet at a time and Pumpernickel made himself right at home when we went for an introduction before our trip. He ran right up the stairs of her home and planted himself on the bed in front of the aquariums!
Our daughter cooked several meals for us including a delicious holiday feast. We enjoyed taking walks, catching up on their plans, and played games during our evenings together.
Granddaughter Noli just turned one and is so much fun to be around 😍 Our time together was far too short before we flew to Florida for a few days. We took Pumpernickel to the Petsitter, and he again ran upstairs to join Kennedy’s husband who had just returned from deployment overseas. While we were away Kennedy sent us several pictures a day and I think he spent all 4 days on one of their laps in bed.
Our trip to Florida was for doctors, dentists, eye exams, checking on our storage, catching up with friends, and taking a walk or two on the beach.
Considering two of the four days were travel days, I think we accomplished a great deal. Our small storage unit still is very tidy, but we did see a few mice droppings 😮.
Management mentioned that a renter had brought in some field mice with their belongings but the problem was resolved to their knowledge. We went through the unit and really only found a few spots near the front, and no critters were subsequently ever caught in the traps they put in for us. We kept thinking—the one time we didn’t bring the cat—who is a great mouser! We’re good for another year, though we are thinking more seriously about consolidating by finding new medical providers in Arizona and moving our storage there as well.
Returning to Texas, we picked up the cat, who definitely had a more restful week than we did. I think he misses the aquariums.
We were so thankful to have found Kennedy to look after him!
Oh, and I turned 62 this month which made me eligible for this card—50% off camping in national parks and Army Corp of Engineering Parks
