Death of the blog

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Merry Christmas! It would appear we're in the only warm spot in the country! I don't have any new pictures to post, but wanted to let everyone know that Waylon's tail is curly again!!! The antibiotics/anti-inflammatories did it! And also wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays.

So it turns out we do have stuff to write about. Cruises are really cheap, if you're around Miami and can leave at a moment's notice. We did a 4 night to the Bahamas last week. Had a good time...it was our first cruise; the Bahamas were disappointing (dirty and crowded), but being on a big ship was a blast! We had a balcony room and all you could eat (food wasn't great, but it was free!) The picture to the left was Miami, leaving; picture top right is in Nassau; one in the middle is Great Stirrup Cay (private island owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines). All in all it was fun, and we'll do another one some day.

Prior to leaving, Waylon was exploring here at the compound, went into some bushes and yelped really loudly, and when he came out of the brush, his tail was limp. I freaked, gave him some benedryl (assuming he'd been stung by a scorpion in the face). I was wrong...as it turns out he was stung by a scorpion in the tail. We went to the vet where the put him on antibiotics and antiinflammatories, and his tail is still limp. The vet didn't think it would stay that way...hopefully his curly tail will return...that's the cutest part of him!

The Keys are great. We've picked up where we left off...working around the compound, catching up with old friends and making new ones. Weather is fabulous as always and the sun is shining most every day. No fishing yet...

The annual boat parade was last night, where the locals decorate their boats and travel around the bay. That's about the only reminder that Christmas is around the corner...seems unlikely when it's 80 degrees. Happy Holidays to everyone out there...

We made it to the Keys last weekend! It's great to be back. The weather, water, foliage, birds,... are all beautiful.

The trip here was uneventful, camper-wise. It looks like the suspension may finally be fixed. Won't know for sure until we move again, in April.

We had lunch with Sammy in Ft. Myers...he's doing great.

I won't be writing much while we're here, as every day is pretty much the same, and I've written about it all already, last year.

Mark is doing well. This year we will be painting the outside of the motel. That should keep us busy. Ginger isn't as big as I thought she'd be...she and Waylon are about the same size, and they picked up fight where they left off! He's happy to be "home".

We spent 2 weeks with Steve & Raylene in San Acacia, NM, hanging out on their ranch, working with the horses,... What a great area! We've never been there in the fall, and it was very green, temperate and pretty. They've expanded to about 50 acres and had 39 horses (some were boarded). And while we were visiting, we went to Ruidoso for a weekend, and to Ruidoso Downs to watch one of their horses race her first race. Well, she was rejected by her mom as a baby, so Raylene bottle fed her every couple hours for 3 months until she started eating on her own, grew up to be a beautiful filly, and came from last place to win her first race in 6 furlongs! We were so proud!!! And won $68.00 in the process! Anyway, we plan to go back next fall and spend a lot more time with them.

While we were there, the travelling camper repair guy came to fix our suspension again. Then he came to Dallas and fixed us again. Then we went to the factory in Ocala, FL to have it fixed again, spent 2 very frustrating days, and we think it may FINALLY be fixed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Time will tell. Dallas sucked, except they had the best farmer's market I've ever seen with probably 50 or more venders selling fresh fruit and veggies!

Now we're in Port Charlotte, FL for the night and should be in the Keys tomorrow:) It's 90 degrees with 500% humidity here:( I guess we need to get used to that again. I was really looking forward to it after the dryness in Idaho, but holy crap! My hair is majorly frizzy and it's hard to breathe!!! It's usually cooler and breezier in the Keys...I hope.

Taos was cold and windy, and we were going to leave after only 1 night there, but decided to get a visitor's guide and check it out. We started with New Buffalo, the destination of Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider. It's a hippie commune that was bought 5 years ago by Bob Fies, a retired doctor, who has spent tons of $ and time restoring the main house. What a great place! They are attempting to live off the grid completely, doing lots of organic gardening, solar, battery power, and cysterns. We may do some work camping there next fall.

Then we visited the "earthships" which are entirely self sufficient and very cool! They use their water 5 times (gathered in cysterns from the rain), utilize solar panels and battery power, and the homes are built out of old tires and adobe. So Bob & I bought 3 books to learn how to do this. Not sure what we'll do with that information yet, but I'm sure it'll be useful at some point.

Now we're in San Acacia, NM with our rancher friends, Steve & Raylene. We've been here for a week, and are helping out around the ranch. The economic crumble has hit them pretty hard, and while they have 52 acres and 50-some horses here, they are unable to afford ranch hands, so Bob and I are lending a hand. Will probably stay here for another week or so then travel pretty fast to the Keys.

Bob was on WAPL last Friday for the 30th anniversary! He phoned in and talked to Rick & Len & Roxanne & Joe & John for about 20 minutes. I picked it up on the internet...it was great to hear him on the air again!

Waylon is having a blast here with Doc, a 1 yr old black lab. They have the run of the ranch, and he's getting pretty comfortable with horses finally. We haven't been able to do any riding; all these horses are breeders or race horses. And speaking of which, we went to the race track last weekend to watch one of their race horses, Lonesomedove run (her maiden race). Raylene bottle fed this colt for 3 months because here mother rejected her. She came from the back of the pack (7 horses), and won! It was very exciting! She was a long shot at 25-1, so needless to say, I won a couple bucks on the race!

The weather here is gorgeous. We've only been here in the winter, so it's great to see all the green this time of year. It's been in the 70's during the day yet, and a little chilly at night. Another place we could possibly settle down...

Made it to Durango, CO last Tuesday. Another gorgeous place! Rick & Pati from the Baja trip live here, and we've spent some good time with them. A couple dinners in this very charming town, and drove up to Silverton one day (a tiny little mining town at 9500 ft. that reminded us of the town in "Northern Exposure". There's a cute little train that goes up there twice a day, but it's $75.00/person, so we decided to drive. It's mostly closed for the season, but we found a great little bar and had fun!

We also found the best dog park ever near our campground. It's about 5 acres, bordered on one side by the Animas River, and the other side by a mountain, then fenced only on the north and south side. Waylon loves it, and we've me some great people and dogs!

Rick and Pati are leaving for a trip to Italy on Wednesday, so they're quite busy, but we had a weekend visit from Joe Rooyakkers and his friend Lori. Also had a great time with them. Golfed yesterday, did a little biking, and went to Pagosa Springs today (about 1 hour east of here). A great little resort area that boasts the most healing springs in the states (or was it the world?). There were 20 pools, each one a little warmer than the next. We all felt great after an hour of soaking, then Joe and Lori headed back to Winter Park, and Bob & I had dinner with Rick and Pati, and are now pretty exhausted!

Will probably leave here Tuesday and head to Taos, NM, then San Acacia, NM.

How 'bout them Packers today?!