#23 Fork in the road

Wow.... really has been awhile since I updated the Blog.  My how time flies when you are having fun.

We returned to Reno at the end of August and stayed, once again, at the Marina RV Park for about three weeks.  I, of course, spent the majority of the time gambling...say it isn't so lol.  Caught up with our Reno area friends.  It was a nice stay.

We left Reno late September and travelled to our usual haunt that time of year.. Richfield Utah.  Atv riding for everyone!  Scooter and I were passengers while we roamed the Swells.  What gorgeous country there.  I would have given anything to ride horseback through that place.  But I am older and wiser, so being a passenger is just fine.  Scooter loved every minute of it.  I didn't go on all the rides, just the ones at the Swells.  LJ, though...rode almost every day.  There were several people there enjoying the scenery.  We did have more rain than usual which put a damper on things a few days, but all in all it was, once again, a good trip.

Of course, we left there mid October.  Spent the night in Las Vegas at Sam's Town, then off to Destiny RV Park in Goodyear, AZ.

We've been in Goodyear since October 18th.  Seems like we have committed to being somewhere on a certain date, so we haven't "travelled" like we planned.  We would like to change that in 2019.  I am getting bored and starting to want a home base.  We'll see.  We have made tentative plans to travel with friends this summer..back to McCall, the badlands, Mount Rushmore.  Should be fun!  And maybe we'll make it to Kentucky for LJ to ride some trails there.

Maybe if we move around a little more it would be fine.  But really we are just picking up the house and moving it to a new location.  And..sigh.. honestly, I'm tired of the trailer life.  On the one hand it is freeing and relaxing.  On the other hand boring and cramped.  I know we made a great choice going back to a toy hauler.  I do believe we would be miserable in a regular trailer, 24/7 - 365.  Since we got the toy hauler, I have been able to do a little sewing.  Made Scooter a cover for his ATV box.  I have a 1000 piece puzzle set up in the garage...that keeps me busy.  Read a ton of books.  I crochet a lot.  But, I still get bored.  I know I'm not the cook of anyone's dreams, but I miss having a regular kitchen.  Camping kitchens are fine..camping..but after awhile it's a pain in the patooty.  We travelled so much when we owned Harleys that there's really no place I want to go lol.  Now LJ on the other hand...he's got all kinds of places he wants to go, mostly atv stuff.  Yet here we are lol.  I say...if we are going to spend months in AZ in an RV park because it's not good traveling weather, then might as well be comfortable in a house.  We can travel alllllllll summer if he wants.

Truthfully, I can't get around as well as I used to which is a problem.  Makes it hard to sight see.  I have developed arthritis in my hands/feet and my knees are bad so lots of walking is definitely a challenge.  Thats another reason we need to settle where we spend the most time.  My Nevada health insurance doesn't cover me for anything outside Nevada unless it's life threatening.  Yea.  And all the individual plans are like that.   My health insurance sucks, so c'mon Medicare..18 months.

As a side note... AZ is freakin' COLD this winter hahahaha.  Not at all like last year when it was warmmmmm.   They say last year was warmer in the winter and summer than usual.  Interesting.  We've had some big time rain storms and it has just been cold.  Jacket cold.  What the heck is up with that.  We've been told this is a weird year.  uh, ok.. but still lol.

So my friends, We'll see where the road takes us.  But all in all..so far so good.  We are still saving money and living the dream.  And we are happy, so there's that😀

But wait...

I let this update sit for awhile before posting.  Why, I don't know.  Probably just lazy.  I have posted nothing on Facebook and will keep it that way.  But....What a difference a month makes.  I haven't been updating because life has taken us down a road we didn't intend.  When we got back to Goodyear, LJ decided to go see the ENT as a followup to last year.  He was still having an intermittent sore throat, but since the last test didn't show cancer we weren't overly concerned.  So, long story short...after a biopsy in December, they discovered throat cancer.  Crap.  So for the last two months it has been test after test after test.  To make an extremely long story short..LJ has three types of cancer...throat, thyroid and kidney.  They are unrelated with no metastasis so thats good.  But he still has cancer.  He starts Chemo and Radiation on Tuesday (2/26) for the throat cancer.  That will last for seven weeks.  Then, because it is really bad, he gets his right kidney removed in May.  Fortunately whatever is there is confined to the kidney.  As for his left kidney,  they will treat the two little spots they found on that kidney...at least thats the plan for now.  Then after all that they will deal with his thyroid.  Thyroid is very slow growing as is kidney cancer.  So they'll probably just remove it too, if the radiation chemo from the throat cancer doesn't take care of it.  To say this has changed our plans is an understatement.  But the docs seem to think its treatable and survivable.  The good thing is they all consult each other so the left hand does know what the right hand is doing..thats nice for a change.

So we have purchased me a car to get him around in because the truck is just a tad too big for me to park lol.  I got lucky and found a 2015 GMC Acadia Denali.  I sold my 2015 Acadia when we started this adventure.  It only had 12K miles on it.  It's freakin' brand new.  I love it.

And we bought a house..here in AZ because quite honestly, we like it here and the medical care is so superior.  His group of doctors have been by far the best doctors one could hope for.  We also have good friends right around the corner from us.  We can't move in until July because it's a model home, but that's ok.  We are doing fine in the RV.  But we both decided owning a home is best in case he can't travel or the inconceivable happens.  He doesn't want me stuck in an RV.  And we certainly don't want to be in an RV in August while he's recuperating from all of this.  Another reason to have a home is if he gets through this and we are traveling, but he needs tests or what not, he can fly home, stay in our house, see his docs and fly back to wherever he left me.  We are determined not to let this end our traveling dream.

It's just a change of plans.  We spent two years in the RV and it has helped us to reach good financial health.  And...if we hadn't done what we did, how we did it, we might not have been in the right place at the right time to discover the cancer.  Everything happens for a reason and we are certain fate brought us here.  We are cautiously optimistic life will go on as we know it, albeit with a rather large pot hole to maneuver through in 2019.

So, thanks for listening...keep him in your prayers and please don't post anything on Facebook.

DJ