Wow, here it is the end of March. Where has the time gone? We’re Trying To Keep Up with our own lives, yes, pun intended.

We arrived back in Apache Junction the first of October. Our plans had been to spend the month of October in the Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon areas prior to returning to AJ in November. However, due to Teri’s intestinal challenges, we decided to return home early and get in to see the doctor and make sure everything was ok. The short answer is everything is fine and she has recovered well from the e-coli.

Shortly after arriving here, I flew to Harlingen, Texas so see my grandkids, Damian and Mia. We had loaned Teri’s jeep to Damian for the summer so he could start saving money for the purchase of his own vehicle. He fell in love with the jeep and did not want to part with it. I landed around midnight on a Friday night and Damian picked me up. The next morning I met with each of them for breakfast before starting the trip back home. I had to be back home by Monday morning for my doctor appointment first thing. My first night on the road I stopped in Deming, New Mexico. I asked about a good place to eat and was directed to the Adobe Deli. This little gem was about a 20 minute drive from my hotel into the fields surrounding Deming. When I arrived, the dirt parking lot was full. I found a small hole between a couple of cars to squeeze the jeep into and took a look around. There were 3 buildings set in a U shape. I finally figured out which one had the restaurant. As I walked through the dark foyer to the hostess desk I noticed all the memorabilia on the walls. The hostess said the wait was about 30 minutes or I could sit at the bar and order dinner. I decided to sit at the bar. As I looked around, I marveled at all the mounted game displayed on the walls. The dining area was full and there was a friendly banter going on all around me. The barmaid/bartender recommended the rib eye so I went for it. I can’t remember when I had a steak that tasted so good. As I sat there, 3 young men were sitting to my left. The one closest to me said hi and we struck up a conversation. It turns out all 3 are hunting guides in the area and we talked for about an hour before I started the drive back to the hotel. I learned that the building used to be a school for the kids of the farmers and field workers. It is now a restaurant and also serves as an event center. As I walked out into the night air, I was amazed at the sight of the stars. There were no electric lights anywhere in the area and the stars were bright and beautiful.

Our weekly calendar started filling up fast. We started training with Kevin 2 days a week at the gym. I met with Kevin, BJ, Pat, Justin, Eben and Geordie, all members of the Level 10 Racing Team, on Wednesday’s to ride our bikes to the top of Shaw Butte, not once but multiple times. I have never ridden anything so steep for so long. My first several days of meeting them, I could not ride to the top without stopping 1-3 times depending on whether it was my first time or third time trying to climb it on that particular day. Yes, we were training for the upcoming fall races.   

Teri started hiking again spending much of her time in the Hawes Mountain Park area and the Superstitions. True to her sense of adventure, her hikes were extended time and again as she found various off-shoot trails and had to go exploring. We picked up our weekly breakfast meetings with Joe Caldwell and we started booking our doctor appointments. One of our breakfast meetings with Joe was to celebrate his 82nd birthday. As you can see each week was busy and we were constantly comparing calendars to make sure we didn’t miss any appointments or activities.

We had the honor of attending the Celebration of Life for Dave Neuman. Initially we would not have been back in time but our change of plans made it possible. Dave had passed away earlier in year due to a severe illness and the family had held off on the event. Dave had been a friend, a fellow officer, a supervisor and teammate. He was definitely one of the good guys who was taken from our lives much too soon. The celebration allowed us to meet with people I hadn’t seen in years or even decades (I retired in 2002).

We also had the pleasure of attending the Chandler Police Department reunion and Appreciation Dinner which was sponsored by the American Legion Post 35 in Chandler. The Legion provided a splendid feast from Olive Garden. Again, an opportunity to reconnect with former colleagues. The Legion has long been a strong supporter of Chandler PD and FD.

And to top everything off we had the chance to attend the retirement party for John Allison where we rubbed elbows with so many more friends from decades past. John had come to Chandler PD several years after I had started. John, Mike Colvin and I became good friends. We would spend weekends with the families camping, fishing and generally just having a good time. John had been a motor officer when I had been the motor Sgt and he continued to be a huge part of the motor team after I left. Therefore many of the party-goers were former motors and we had a great time reminiscing and telling stories.

There were 2 large events looming in my immediate future. The C4- Cave Creek Cactus Classic- mtb race in November and starting the consultations regarding my hip. My hip had slowly became more problematic to the point that I was walking with a very pronounced limp and could not walk for more than about 20 minutes before I had to sit and rest. Ironically, I had no problems riding my bicycle.

As I was about to turn 65 in November I started the process of applying for Medicare. I started this path about a month late not realizing the required deadlines. What a fiasco this turned into but I was able to get it done. Health insurance carrier, Medicare, the Social Security Administration, AZ State Retirement System all had their fingers in this puzzle. A word to anyone thinking of Medicare, start early with the application process.

Halloween night we sat outside the motorhome in the dark playing halloween music with lots of candy. We didn’t have any trick-or-treaters. The candy was donated to the RV park office. Much of our time was spent training, hiking, purging more things from the motorhome we thought we would need- but didn’t and waited for our friends from Iowa to arrive.

As for the race, the Cave Creek Cactus Classic (C4) I finished 14th of 27 in the 60+ age group. I missed my goal time by 2 minutes. Not bad as my training suffered during the year. There wasn’t much in the way of mountains to climb and train while traveling. I’ll take it as a personal win. Races are always a great social event as well where we have the opportunity to reunite with friends we don’t see on a regular basis.

As Thanksgiving approached we had the opportunity to reunite with friends and family. Dinner was served by Kim and Charlie and his family while we all had a great visit.

As the year rolled on into December our friends from Iowa started to roll in. Megan and Devin along with their fantastic pup Dakota, Craig and Sherie, Adam and Tami all made it and our lives became even busier. All of them had a grand time hiking, playing pickleball and sightseeing while I sat on the sidelines. My hip had reached the point where I couldn’t participate. I finally had my surgery date, Jan 16. Megan was also hired as the event coordinator for the RV park so it really became a game of trying to keep up. Game night, bingo, poker, crafts, water aerobics, water volleyball, hikes, day trips and just having fun became the norm.

As my surgery date approached, I was also heavy into training for the first race of 2024, The McDowell Meltdown organized by MBAA, Mountain Bike Association of Arizona. As race day approached I had the best fitness I had had in a long time. I was ready. We met with the surgeon 2 days prior to the race and 4 days from surgery. Teri told the surgeon of my plans to race. He looked at me like I was crazy. You all know I am. He said, “I won’t tell you not to race, however, if I see any cuts, scrapes or abrasions when you are getting prepped, I will cancel the surgery”. As we walked out of the doctor’s office I was heartbroken. This was going to be the only race I could participate in this spring and had been looking forward to it. I knew what I was going to do and it hurt. The surgery meant more to me than the race. The day of surgery arrived. We were at the hospital at 5am. The Dr visited and asked me which leg we were going to operate on. At first it scared me, he should know better than me, but then I realized it was probably just a confirmation. He wrote his initials on the right hip. At 9am I received a spinal injection and I don’t remember anything else until 1230pm when I woke up in recovery. I was wheeled to my hospital room and at 4pm the therapist was there and took me for a short walk. I spent the night in the hospital and the next morning the therapist was there at 8am to take me for another walk. We also climbed some stairs. Upon returning to my room, she said I was cleared to go home. We saw our good friend Joe wandering the hospital hallway looking for me. He stopped in and visited for a short time. I returned home that afternoon. For the next 2 weeks, I walked around the park. Yes, I overdid it at least one day. But I got stronger every day. At the 2 week Dr follow up visit I was cleared to start doing upper body workouts and no longer needed the walker. At the 6 week visit, Doc said I was fully cleared to start normal activities. Yippee! The act of walking without limping or discomfort is amazing. I am now in the process of rebuilding my strength and fitness.

One night we all went to the Hitching Post Saloon. The food was excellent as was the service. Once it got dark, the bull/steer riding started. At the back of the building is a large ring with some grandstand seating along with ground floor seating. In the ring, kids (they are all younger than me) had their hand at riding a bull or a steer. The youngest was a 10 year old boy who tried his hand at riding a steer. Most of the contestants appeared to be under 25. It was great entertainment. The funniest was the mutton busting. This is where kids around 5-8 years old tried to ride a sheep. The best ride was from a 7 year old girl. She wrapped her arms around the fluffy sheep’s neck and held on until the sheep fell face forward to the ground. The young lady also face planted. She jumped up, took off her helmet and jumped up and down with a huge smile on her face. It was great to see the western heritage is still strong.

On another day we all attended the Lost Dutchman Days Rodeo. This is a professionally sanctioned rodeo that lasts 3 days. It has the full compliment of events, saddle bronc, bareback, steer wrestling, calf roping, break-away roping for the women, barrel racing and the granddaddy- bull riding. It was a tough day for the cowboys and cowgirls but all gave everything they had. Rodeo is still all about God, Country, supporting the military and first responders. It can bring a tear to your eyes when the Star Spangled Banner is performed, the presentation of the colors and the tribute to all who have and are serving this country in so many capacities.

Life in the park isn’t so bad either. There are plenty of personalities to keep life interesting as well as activities. Bingo, water aerobics, poker, cornhole, pickleball, birthday celebrations and did I mention fishing and hiking?! We continue to meet with Joe once a week for breakfast. One morning he provided us with another view into his past by brining his 1964 Olympic Gold Medal and a photo of the team that won this medal.

It’s been a great several months but the trip isn’t over. We made the decision to stay in Apache Junction until March 2025 but that doesn’t mean we are going to slow down. We have plans to attend some RV events this summer in Wyoming and Oregon all the while continuing with our training, hiking and having a great retirement.

Thanks for reading and riding along on our adventures. Stay tuned.

Stay Safe.