Hanging Out Tooooo Long in Arizona

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My long range plans have always included transitioning my “home base” to the southwest. I am a sucker for blue skies and low humidity. I had a great time with my aunt and her family and plan to return for short visits. My best friend from childhood, Gary, knew of those plans. When I told him I wanted to make that transition in the spring of 2014, he was pleased. We hadn’t seen each other in almost five years. When I queried him about the specifics, i.e., allowing me to use his address as my VA mail drop and driving me home after outpatient procedures that require sedation or anesthesia, he readily agreed.

Initially, I was planning to stay at an RV park near Gary’s; however, when he learned of my accelerated relocation plan, he suggested I stay at his empty house while he took a trip to his brother’s place in Virginia so he could housesit/petsit for his brother and sister-in-law while they vacationed in Ireland. Whew! ‹deep breath› Gary’s place is maintenance-free and needs no house sitter, but he thought it would be nice to have signs of life and someone to collect the mail. After an almost non-stop drive from Sanford FL, I arrived at Gary’s place in Mesa AZ on Friday, March 21, 2014. We carefully backed the Pilgrim through the gate and into his back yard – a clear violation of the rules of the homeowners’ association!

After the rush had subsided on Monday morning, Gary drove me to the main VA hospital in downtown Phoenix to get me registered at my “new” health care facility. A few days later, I took Gary for his flight to Virginia and kept busy doing some preventative maintenance on the Pilgrim and some research on the attractions in the west. Although I had lived in New Mexico for a number of years, I had never planned such an exhaustive exploration of the western states as I would experience during The Great Adventure. After Gary returned from Virginia, he went through the stack of mail I had accumulated for him and the anticipated was found – a violation notice from the homeowners’ association. I already had determined which RV park I would use and made arrangements to relocate the Pilgrim.

On Tuesday, April 22, 2014 I moved to Countryside RV Resort in Apache Junction AZ – about five miles from Gary’s home. Early on Wednesday morning, I was notified that my kid brother had died from post-surgical complications. The folks at the RV park gave me a great monthly rate to accommodate my RV so I would have electricity for the refrigerator (AND the catsup, mustard, jelly, etc., etc. that I didn’t want to spoil). Friday I flew to Rockford IL for an unplanned three-week stay. It really sucks when your 64 year-old sibling dies. Our father died when I was twenty-eight; and, between the Marine Corps and college, I had not spent much time with him as an adult. Roger and I had talked a little bit about Dad, and I had learned only a few tidbits about Dad’s childhood. Now, another resource is gone, and many questions remain unanswered. The bright spot in the trip was that I was able to attend the first birthday party of my seventh great, great nephew – alright already, so two of the seven are great, great nieces!

Before, between, and after our frequent absences from Mesa; Gary and I went to a couple of his oldest grandson’s baseball games where I was able to reconnect with most of Gary’s family (his daughter and her husband live in California). We hit some of Gary’s favorite honky-tonks and eateries where I met some of his friends. On Memorial Day we visited the veterans’ park where we met some former Marines – one of whom had been the second man off the first landing craft at Iwo Jima. Although wounded multiple times, he survived. What an honor to make his acquaintance! One day I was invited to ride along when Gary took the middle-aged of his three grandsons fishing on Gary’s pontoon boat. We spotted some bighorn sheep on the cliffs above Canyon Lake – AWESOME. Gary’s daughter flew in for a long weekend. It was great to see her. Both of Gary’s children call me Uncle Larry, and they are as close to children as I ever will have.

I did take one week to move the Pilgrim to Tucson. I had emailed my ex-wife, Barb, some time ago and had inquired about the possibility of getting together for a visit with Sam – the dog we had adopted about six months before our divorce. Sam and I had “school” for 15-20 minutes about six to eight times a day and had grown pretty close. I received an email from her to let me know that a growth had been found when Sam was getting his annual teeth-cleaning. The pathology report was cancer. An exploratory procedure had been planned to investigate the extent of the cancer and resection if possible. She suggested that if I wanted to see Sam, I should make it sooner rather than later. Thus, a trip to Tucson was in order. It took Sam about 1.726 seconds to recognize me. Barb and I had a nice chat while Sam and I reminisced. Unfortunately, resection was not possible, and Sam had to be euthanized.

I had several diagnostic appointments at the VA clinic and at the main hospital, but most of my spare time was spent researching the western states and developing an itinerary for the 2014 chapter of The Great Adventure. By the time I had returned from Illinois, it was too hot to grill so I typically found myself eating out one meal a day and having something light as the hunger pangs dictated. I usually dragged Gary along with me (or at least offered). Unfortunately, we both added some pounds. My plans for the summer and fall of 2014 are to stop in Nevada to see something other than the casinos, to meander to southwest Idaho to visit a friend I worked with at the fire department, to wander out to the Olympic peninsula to visit a couple Gary introduced me to in Arizona and to finish with a southbound trip along the Pacific Coast. My return should be in mid-November – just in time to undergo the required pre-procedure tests before my kidney stone removal in early December. Let’s hope the stones remain asymptomatic until then.

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Photos

There Is A Group Of People Who Would Argue The Desert Is Ugly
Canyon Lake - Tortilla Flat AZ

The Prickly Pear Were Still In Bloom
Canyon Lake - Tortilla Flat AZ

As Were The Saguaro – My Favorite
Canyon Lake - Tortilla Flat AZ

One Of The Canyon Fingers We Explored
Canyon Lake - Tortilla Flat AZ

The Ram Overlooking The Flock (See The Silhouette Between The Saguaro And The Rock Outcropping)
Canyon Lake - Tortilla Flat AZ

Sam
You Were A Great Dog And Left Much Too Young - RIP

Comments

[Tom Hester]

Larry, Please know my deepest sympathy for the loss of your brother. Pazzzz, tom

[The Travel Camel]

My sympathies
Sorry to hear about your losses Larry. Hope you are doing as well as can be expected.