Little TOW-Wanda…my very first camper. I wish I’d never traded her in!
I keep my photos stored in a couple of clouds. I use iCloud from Apple because it comes with my iPhone/iPad. I do pay a nominal fee to store extra data over the amount that is free. And somewhere along the line, I signed up for OneDrive which is part of the Microsoft 365 Suite of programs. I really love it because I get an email with my “memories of the day.” Similar to FB Memories, OneDrive saves every photo I’ve ever uploaded. And, occasionally I am surprised by something I haven’t seen in years.
I thought these photos might have been lost and I was so excited when they showed up yesterday. They were taken when I went off on my three month journey through the wilderness and backroads of Colorado…and New Mexico, Wyoming, and South Dakota. This was in the earliest days of my grief. I purchased my camper after Mr. Virgo died and I took off alone to navigate my grief…one campfire at a time.
Somewhere along a desert highway…pulling my camper on my own. I learned a lot that year.
I knew absolutely NOTHING about a camper. I really didn’t know what I didn’t know and like they say…ignorance is bliss. I could hook it up and unhook it. I could back it in with some modicum of success. I didn’t use the plumbing…at all. This simplified things greatly. The heater was pretty self explanatory. I needed it at this point in the trip because it’s really cold in March in Colorado.
There were days I woke up with snow on the ground. If that happened, I made arrangements with the campground to just stay put till things looked better. I passed the days looking at colorful magazines and napping…and writing. I went to the Four Corners area of Colorado and camped on my dear friend Sue’s ten acres overlooking Mesa Verde for at least a week. She took me to my first “wild hot spring”…which was essentially a hole in the ground with rocks around it. Eventually I traveled on south to Ojo Calliente in New Mexico.
The only wild hot spring I’ve ever been in. Free and hot, hot, hot! There was no other water to temper this water that bubbled up out of the ground. You couldn’t stay in for long!
There was a small primitive campground at the mineral springs at Ojo. They had yoga every morning in a yurt on the grounds. A restaurant served wonderful food. You could buy a package deal that got you entry to the hot springs, a massage, a meal, and the campsite. At the time, I think it was something like $50 for all that. Quite a deal. I think I stayed there two or three nights. I was going to go on across the desert southwest to California but changed my mind. I still didn’t feel comfortable being that far away on my own.
I’m planning another solo adventure in a couple of months that I’ll tell you more about as we get closer to a departure date. In the meantime, the weather has turned chilly again with a final wintry mix of snow and rain over the weekend. Night time temperatures will be down in the twenties. I’m WAY over this and will be happy to see winter put to bed for good soon. I finished a pair of socks yesterday and started knitting a black winter hat to go with the pair of mittens I finished last week.
My latest projects…a pair of socks, some black wool mittens, and a hat to match.
I went out to check the camper last night and the refrigerator is still not getting cold so we’re going to have to do something about that. It is under warranty so it won’t cost us anything. But it is a pain in the rear having to take “The Birdhouse” in for service already. I’m sure it’s something easy to fix or replace.
Enjoy your Saturday, dear ones!
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“She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.”
Proverbs 31:13 ESV
#Knitting, #Memories, #Grief