Author: Steve

 

We don’t see Jim and Elle a lot, but we’ve seen them for a lot of years.

 

 

We first met about fifteen years ago at an RV Park in Golden, Colorado; motorhomes parked side-by-side.  We only talked for a few minutes, but six months later we met up again at Gulf Waters RV Resort on Mustang Island outside Corpus Christi.  It’s been like that; we end up at the same State Park, or the same commercial RV park in whatever state, or we stayed at their house above Carbondale in Colorado.  Now they’re in Scottsdale.  We all just keep making these meetups happen.  Last night they brought pizza and chocolate cupcakes with whipped cream to our house for dinner around the campfire until, if you can believe it, we got chased inside by a rainstorm!

 

But now we’re farther south, in a commercial RV park in Mesa, much closer to our son’s house.  Still north of Matt, but a lot closer.

 

Arizona trip map

 

 

We’ve done some damage to the New Mexico map.  When we got there, it looked like this:

 

Now, we’ve passed through more counties, and it looks like this:

 

That bright red county in the middle is where Bosque del Apache is.  We’ve recorded 159 species there.

 

Tonight, we’re at Cave Creek Regional Park in Arizona.

 

2021 Fall Trip Map Link

 

Love this place.

 

 

Waiting for the evening quail to come in.

 

 

 

It’s a 1922 portable air compressor!  This one powered rock drills and jackhammers.

 

Three people got it!

 

 

Brian has been doing what he’s doing for thirty years.  Thirteen years ago, he left Xilinx Software and went out on his own as an independent programmer.  That independent endeavor has gone well.  Today is Brian’s last day of work.  He has resigned from his latest project.  He is retiring.

 

And, not to worry, he has plans for how to enjoy retirement.  Becky will continue to work at Taylor, Roth, and will be the primary wage earner.  Brian will absorb the household, kid, and kitchen duties.  Housefrau.

 

Congratulations, Brian.  Well done!

 

 

Background:

 

We’re here for two weeks and we’re parked in a spot that has electricity only.  It was time to dump and fill, and since I had to move the bus anyway, I drove out to a nearby truck stop to top off the tank for the next leg of our trip.  I returned to the state park, by myself in the rig, and stopped at the entry station and spoke with a woman I’d never met.

 

The conversation:

 

“What can I do for you, darlin?”  (That was her speaking.)

 

“We’re already checked in to our spot, thanks.  I just tanked up the bus and I’m coming back in.”

 

“Great.  What site are you in.”

 

“33”.

 

“Wow.  That’s a really good spot.  Good choice, and you don’t even look that smart to me.”

 

 

Possibilities:

 

Okay.  New favorite person!

 

She is truthful and blunt to a fault.

 

This person has an instant impeccable sense of just how far she can let her humor take her.

 

She is constantly in trouble, and this is just the next job that she’s going to get fired from.

 

I’m going to go with “finely refined sense of humor”.