Friends, Roads and Motorhomes!

Not long ago I read a statement on an RV forum which warned people about intrusions in their motorhomes. It seems a friend of his was boondocking (camping without hookups) in a remote location (I think it was desert BLM land) and was awakened at night to hear someone breaking into their trailer. I will just say that it ended well, with the vandals leaving in a hurry. After having read that, I woke up a couple nights later from a nightmare that involved an intrusion into Phaeton Place while I was in here alone.

When our friend Dave knocked on the door Saturday night, it was dark, about 8 p.m. and I told Terry not to open the door but to talk through it. What made it even more difficult was that the last time we saw Dave, a former law enforcement official in Chicago, he had long hair and a full beard. He looked like he could play with ZZ Top or the Oakridge Boys. Now he is clean shaven and his hair is cut short, but Terry recognized him soon enough and he came in to visit.

He and his fiancee Sandy had been to the Balloon Fiesta here and then went over to the Four Corners area. Their destination there was Chaco Canyon which is the best preserved pueblo of the "ancient ones." While taking the road to the Canyon, they saw a sign that said "pavement ends" and it immediately went into a rutted, washed out road that was impossible for them to instantly avoid. Within seconds, his shower doors shattered and one of the door frame rails poked a hole in the fiberglas shower floor, grout popped up from the floor tile and his windshield twisted enough to create an air leak which obviously has to be repaired. They turned around and headed here to Albuquerque to get the necessary repairs made. So that is how they ended up here just one lane over from us.

Some of you who know them know that their border collie Max was viciously attacked by five German Shepherds last year while they were south of the border. They drove a marathon trip back to Texas to get him emergency care to save his life. They did and Max survived. Today his hair has grown back and he shows no signs of that attack, although the scars are visible down in his hair. They have had him on a diet because he had gained some weight because he couldn't play his beloved frisbee, but he looks good. He has, however, become deaf. He started having trouble with his ears while he was recovering from the attack and there is some speculation that infection caused it, but they can no longer take him out without a leash because he cannot hear them call him anymore. He still likes to play frisbee however, and he is the same lovable Max as before.

Yesterday we went with them over to the casino and had breakfast. Then we went out in search of one-armed bandits since we all got $25 of free play money from the casino. I am happy to report that we all walked out with more money than we went in with, just playing on the casino's money. We were entertained for about two hours, so we were happy campers.

Since Dave and Sandy had some shopping to do, we went down to Old Town Albuquerque and walked around the shops in the square. We have been here before, but it is always interesting to visit an area well preserved and steeped in history.

Today we travel on toward Arizona on our quest to see the Grand Canyon before it snows. Hope we make it early enough. We have said that if the weather turns cold, we will turn south, so we shall see.

Till next time. . .

Dale