Ready, Set, Go!

Kentucky Lake at Land Between the Lakes Rally

It is way past time to get this blog updated!  Where did this year go? And these past three months have flown by.

Three months in a nutshell....two fiberglass rallies and one hip replacement.

By mid September it became increasingly obvious that David's left hip was not going to last until March, 2018. We call the hip surgeon and set the process in motion, hoping that it will all work out time wise and not interfere with the winter desert trip.

We have reservations for the Land Between the Lakes rally in early October.  Arriving a few days late due to doctor appointments, we find old friends already there.

We take a break from socializing and go paddling!

We are camping in a different loop and it feels like a new rally.  Managed to get a few nice sunset shots.

We spend time with old friends, make some new friends and just enjoy life.

.......A brief interruption here...I am working with Blogger and Google Photos.  Just experimenting, trying to make blogging easier.

We get back home, wash clothes and head for another rally at Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park.

Now this bunch knows how to party!

(Anticipating some protest, I deleted the karaoke video!)

By mid-October the surgery date is set for 11/6/2017 and we need to get the Escape ready for winter before the operation.  As the trailer lives in storage, we decide to camp at our local county park, Chester Frost, to perform the clean up.

After 4 days of washing, polishing, adding gutters, and winterizing, we are exhausted and ready to go home.

This is the best these two senior citizens can do.  Think we will hire professionals the next time!

Two weeks later we are at the hospital and David's getting another hip replacement.  Definitely a scary procedure for an eighty year old but it is a successful operation.

David is working hard to rehab the hip and doing a great job of it!

Checking up on our neighbors' new house

This brings the blog up to present time where we are counting down to the winter journey.  This will be our 6th year to winter in Arizona! Looking forward to being back in the desert and also to seeing friends.

Miscellaneous thoughts:

Normally each year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I get depressed.  Nothing major, just mild sadness possibly attributed to seasonal affective disorder.  But not this year!  Maybe it's because we have been so incredibly busy but I want to think that the different state of mind is due to internal changes.

This has been the most difficult year.  I have experienced the whole spectrum of feelings from sadness and isolation one year ago to rage, fear and hopelessness.  I have been astonished by a few friends and fretted over their behavior.  Yes, I am talking politics.

But through this pain and darkness there have been gifts.....for I am a better person than I was 

a year ago...a stronger person more willing to say what I need to say and a more forgiving person. Forgiving myself when I react negatively and forgiving others when they are unkind.

I am loving more, including those who want to label me.  And I have hope.

Wishing that everyone finds love, peace and happiness under their Christmas tree this year.