09/06/2021 Well. Here we are, we made it. We left Casa Grande, AZ on Thursday morning at 9:20. We drove amongst 3 zillion semi-trucks and every time they whizzed by Walt, he shook. Sometimes a lot, enough to blow him off to the berm of the road.
We spent 3 nights in campgrounds in Texas. Damn, that’s a BIIIIG state. I foolishly thought we would be through there in a day. I should have paid attention in geography class. Once out of Texas, we drove through the NW corner of Arkansas. Why is it pronounced Arkansaw? That makes absolutely no sense at all. I’m calling it Ar Kansas. That’s correct, in my mind at least. We spent the next night in Hazen, Ar Kansas. It was a very low-budget campground, they offered nothing. From there we drove to Bowling Green Kentucky. We planned to only spend one night in Bowling Green but Ida paid us a visit so we hung out for another night due to the heavy rain. The KOA had a fabulous dog area, the boys had a great time playing on the playground stuff for dogs. The RV next to us was a year older than Walt but very similar and they were from Az also.
Goodbye Arizona house, you will be missed.Leaving Avalon, headed to the Interstate.First stop, somewhere in Az.Barrio and Max were excellent travel companions. They didn’t talk, want food, have to pee or ask if we were there yet.This was at a campground. I think Gringo missed me.New occupation?He loves it up there, Highway is giving him the side-eye.This was at the second campground, it was in a sand dunes park.Reminded me of the Outer Banks.This was a nice place but no doggie park area.Highway joins in on the dashboard dancing.Yay for doggie play areas, they poop much better off-leash.This boy…Bill is going to build the boys a playground, they loved it.My loves, Max, Barrio and Gringo.Perfect balance.Hurricane Ida
We got showered Wed. morning, packed up and hit the road, final destination, Kentucky. We made it to our driveway but it was totally grown over with weeds. We blazed a trail with my poor car. It was covered in pollen. We were able to get up so we went back down to the RV and Bill drove that up and I followed in my car. We let the dogs out but didn’t let them wander because the weeds were super high and probably full of ticks.
The better part of the driveway.Walt got stuck at the top of the driveway. Good thing there were a few piles of stone. Bill shoveled them in and Walt crawled right out.Max wasn’t having the sunshine.
Bill called Aaron, the guy who was going to clear the road and put in the septic for us and he came right over with a brush hog and cleared the driveway and flattened an area for Walt, then he spread the pile of stones around the area. It is a nice level spot for Walt to sit. We got hooked up to electricity and water and have a temporary septic for the RV.
Just like Green Acres…Property, we own through the trees and down to the road.This is all our field, we want to find someone to farm it. They are burning the thorn trees. These trees have 2″ long hard thorns, nasty things. We want all of these trees removed, the dogs could get hurt, they’ll flatten a tire in a swift heartbeat.Al Fresco dining for the boys.These limestone rocks were here. They will be used for something.This is a random building in a random round-a-bout that serves no purpose, there is no traffic. I went to the Mennonite store, then to Burkesville to Ace and to IGA. This is in downtown Burkesville.This is close to the house.Nice old barn.Our driveway.Max saw his first cow. He was captivated. We walked them on their leashes over to see the cows. We don’t want them over there because of the barbed wire fence. They didn’t see the turkeys, there were at least 5 of them.The view of Walt from the lower field.
I’m not thrilled with the grocery store option we have. I’ll obviously be making trips to Glasgow to get food, once we have a house. Cooking in an RV is not fun at all. Last night we actually had baked potatoes and chicken but the night before I had black licorice, spicy hot pickles and kettle corn. I have absolutely no desire to cook or wash dishes in this contraption.
I know I shouldn’t complain, so I won’t. This life could be a lot worse. We are on our property, the boys have room to run and we have nothing but blue sky and green trees. And no neighbors, the ultimate gift.
Just in case you are so inclined, you can sing along with Neil. Click HERE
June 27, 2021 I’m sitting here thinking of everything I have to get done in the next 60 days. August 27th is the last day in the Arizona house. I’ll more than likely begin making to-do lists for the next several weeks.
Let me first say, it’s not that I don’t like neighbors, I just don’t like the fact that they live next to my house, on both sides, in front, and in back. I never feel alone at my pool because there are 3~ 2 story homes towering over me. I can see them, so they’re close. I prefer to not see another house, I just want to see woods and green and sky. Our neighbors are very nice as are the friends we have made here, we will miss them. It was a great easy place for me to live alone for a few months, that turned into a year. It just was not the best for the dogs, not at all.
I am looking forward to being able to walk the dogs in the woods. They won’t know what to think. I am so excited for them to see snow too, Barrio will probably be afraid of it. Change is good. It helps that these dogs are so chill when it comes to change, it will all be for the best.
Land starts to the left of the white route sign at the top and follows the road and goes west. Burkesville, KY.Entrance to propertyView going up the drivewayour fieldThe building that will be Bill’s shopAlmost 40X60. Close enough to the size the shop was in Everson.
I can not wait to be in the woods again. We left 28 acres in Everson for the jungle in Roatan. The jungle was gorgeous, simply an amazing place to live. If you have not seen the video of our island house, click HERE. It was a very secluded home, despite the fact there was a house down the hill from the entrance to our driveway, we couldn’t see them and they couldn’t see us. Leaving there and moving here, I feel like I’m in a fishbowl. I don’t like it. Nor do I like the fact that my dogs can’t bark here, I try to keep them quiet because “neighbors.”
We really lucked out with the selling of the AZ house. Bill met a lady at the gym and after a few weeks they started talking. She’s a realtor and he mentioned that we were hoping to sell our place. She was interested in knowing more so Bill asked if she would give us a suggested selling price for the house. She said sure, she was happy to do it. In 2 days she came back with a price and we were shocked. THEN, she messaged Bill and said she had a buyer for our place. Her husband is a broker and he is working with the guy who will be managing the Texas Roadhouse restaurant here in Casa Grande. He’s been trying to buy and kept getting in a bidding war with all of the properties. The market here is on fire. He was excited to get the opportunity to make an offer and have it accepted without it getting on the market. We were thrilled because we didn’t have to deal with making the dogs vanish when people were viewing the house. He came and looked, (after he made the offer that we accepted) and 2 hours after he left we had the full price offer and he bought ALL of our furniture. I just bought all of the furniture new in Jan 2020. This will be the 3rd time since Oct 2013 that I have moved to a different house with zero furniture. I’m sort of looking forward to buying ALL new furniture again, sort of. Not really.
Finding the land in Kentucky was a fluke. I was haphazardly looking on Realtor.com and came across this land in Kentucky. Originally we were looking in Tennesee but as soon as we saw something we liked, it was already sold. I decided to see what Ky. had to offer. I saw this listing and thought it was too good to be true. I called Bill in to look, he was very interested and called the listing agent immediately. Even though we have never been to Kentucky, we made an offer on the property and the next morning found out it was accepted. It’s out in the boonies, sort of, not nearly as many conveniences as there are here, but it’s also not 110+ degrees every damn day. The dogs will be much happier.
The land has a newly built concrete foundation that was going to be for a house. It’s almost 40X60. It needs a concrete floor poured, the walls made higher and a roof, it will make a great shop for Bill. There is already water and electricity there, we have to put in a septic system, it’s been perk tested and approved for one. There is a gravel road also. The land is heavily wooded, lightly wooded and cleared, a little bit of everything. The dogs will not know what to do with no fences around them. Next spring we will put in a pool.
So, now the plan is to buy a motorhome here and Bill will drive it and I’ll drive my car, each with 2 dogs. We’ll go to the property and get the shop done and the house built. And, we’ll live in the motorhome. We initially planned to buy a camper to pull with my car; however, the weight limit really made it a no-go. The trailer would be the size of a postage stamp and if it were just 2 people it would be fine, maybe, but add in 4 big dogs and it’s guaranteed to make me insane.
Blame ALL OF THIS on these guys. We could have bought 5 acres but we wanted more for their running pleasure.
BarrioGringoMaxHighway
They don’t appreciate me taking their photos.
I took some evening photos for the buyer. The pool lights are on in this shot.The Cereus cactus is HUGE.So peaceful. Except for the houses all around.Tip Top of the Cereus.The bees love them.This is on a type of prickly pear cactus (I think), second time it’s bloomed this season.
I went to get my teeth cleaned the other week. The hygenist started talking about the Water Pik flosser and how great it is. Of course, she had a captive audience, before I left the chair I had one ordered. She gave me one significant tip, lean over. Probably the 2 most important words ever spoken when having a water pik conversation. It came the next day and I was eager to try it. O M G. Seriously, O M G. And I thought the Sonic Care toothbrush was tricky to use. [I learned quickly that you can not set the Sonic Care on the counter and position your teeth over the brush (that is vibrating at 30K cycles per minute) while using your hands to apply mascara]. It doesn’t freaking work, don’t even waste your time trying it to see if you can do it. It’s a no for sure. The WaterPik is a similar challenge. The first time using it I thought I was going to drown. I had, what was surely 11 gallons of water in my mouth, drowning for sure. Then I realized I could open my mouth and just let the water run out. That seems so uncouth though. There must be a proper way to use this thing. Another thing, do not use the flosser pik on a high speed. This is important if you wish to retain the gums that are on your teeth. Do you know how hard it is to aim that damn thing at the gum line when you can’t look up because your mirror and sink area will look like they made a trip over Niagara Falls. It’s not easy, but my teeth do feel well cleansed after using it and each time is getting easier.
Barrio. He owns me, just ask him.Gringo likes to lay next to my pillow when I’m reading in bed. If another dog gets that position before Gringo does, he sleeps alongside the bed, squashed in against the wall.He may as well talk, he is the bossiest dog we have ever had. Max rules.The grocery store sent free coupons, one was for this ice cream. It was excellent but $4.99 a PINT.Right hand side of display, by green box. 107 degrees. That’s a normal here, that was at 10AM also.We cleaned for 2 days before the buyer came to see the house he was buying. Bill is using the floor steamer. The dogs aren’t fond of any floor tools.CleanThe sky actually dripped for less than 5 minutes. It smells so weird here when it rains, a real wet dust smell.Every bag of dog food must be inspected by Max before we throw it away.I did a foot doc and Costco run the other day. Bill is cutting one of their rotisserie chickens up and the boys are drooling.My handsome lawn ornaments. Just wish they pooped in the toilet.Sold to the first person.
I have been spending my mornings in the pool. I sit on a chair on the shelf and read for 30-45 min, then I get in the pool with my hand weights and do water aerobics for 30 minutes, then I swim a few laps and get out and lay on a chaise until I’m dried off. I try to be back inside by 11:30-12. After that, it’s just too darn hot.
I am going to start packing my heavier winter clothes, things I won’t need until the end of October. We’ll probably have our stuff shipped to us, except Bill will trailer his tools that he will need with the motorhome. The motorhome we still don’t have. We’ll get one, no super hurry, we can’t park it here anyhow and will just have to pay for storage.
I think I will go in my closet and box some winter things. It will feel good to actually start packing, make it seem like it really is happening. And it is.
Mermaid on a Raft 