Oh, yeah . .

[Calvin writing}

Ok, so nothing for months, then two posts in one day. Oh, well. I've posted the URL for this on VanDwellers, so if any of you folks visit this, thanks.

When I looked at the post from earlier today, I realized that I hadn't posted about Mom going to the hospital. Quick background; my mother was taken from the nursing home to the hospital in December. We had a stressful week or so leading up to the paragraph in the last post.

Also in December, someone stole the minivan. It was gone for about one full day. We went to get it at 4 a.m., after the police had stopped the van and chased the thieves for about two miles on foot before losing them. The minivan was full of tools, which explained why the thieves stole the minivan rather than any of the cars which were also there. They needed it to steal the other stuff.

We lost all of our personal stuff that was in the van, including my tool box. We also lost the back seat, which comes in handy. Storing it for the trip would be a nuisance anyhow.

The damage to the van wasn't too bad. We had to replace the passenger-side window (don't lock doors!) and we now start the van with screwdrivers. We can get the steering column rebuilt for $150, but we'll have to wait a while to get it at that rate. The guy who does it for that price keeps very busy. We also went out and bought The Club (steering wheel lock), then had to replace it with a better unit for half the price from Master Lock. The Club, it turns out, only works for cars, not trucks or vans. The Master Lock unit is longer and we like it better.

I suspect that I've failed to post a few other things. I'll deal with that if and when it comes up.

Mom, big trip, more

[Calvin writing]I have been unable to post for months because I couldn't get to the right page to log in. Beginner problem. Anyhow, there's plenty to talk about.

Mom had a CT scan and the doctor said that she had "normal pressure hydrocephalus" right after my last posting, and he also said that Mom had a week or two to live. She's still around. Another doctor said he didn't know what she had and sent her back to the nursing home. We're thinking that any form of hydrocepalus would account for a lot of Mom's bizarre attitudes & behaviors over the years. I haven't heard any more about her since Mindy said about a week after the incident began that the nursing home was talking about giving her speech therapy. That seems a little bizarre considering that Mom's lost what little hearing she used to have, but oh well.

Shannon and her boyfriend, Brian, are living with us again. Despite the long serious talk, they didn't last all that long at Vicki's. Kids! Anyhow, they're sleeping on her mattress and box spring in the living room. They're both working and will take care of the apartment while we take our trip (see next paragraph).

I don't know if I even mentioned this before, but Loretta and I have been planning a trip to Arizona. We want to see what the climate will do for Loretta's arthritis and look for places to spend winters on the road or possibly places to simply move to.

The timing of our trip has changed. Due to someone else's surgery, my boss asked me to take the three weeks of accumulated vacation time two weeks sooner than expected. As of now, we will be leaving February 4 and returning to work February 27.

The heart of the trip will be a week or more that we'll spend at my old best friend Don's place in Apache Junction, Arizona. He doesn't have spare space; we'll be sleeping in the driveway (or back yard) in the minivan. We have milk crates and plywood to use in making a bed. Most likely the mattress will be a spare futon mattress that Loretta's daughter Vicki has. We hope to post pictures on the VanDwellers Yahoo group. Speaking of pictures, pics of us & the minivan are forthcoming. Just one of those things that's taking time to get around to it.

The van setup will include storage in the milk crates (9 of them) and in a small cabinet that we'll bring from the apartment. Larger items will be stowed between the milk crates. We will have the Porta-Pottie (okay, not the brand-name item, but it works) and a cooler between the front of the bed and the front seats. We have verified that the 12-volt outlet (cigarette lighter) works and we will use that to charge the cell phone and the laptop (via an inverter bought for the purpose).

We plan "major stops" at Albuquerque, NM and in Arizona at Quartzsite, Tucson and maybe Prescott. Albuquerque and Tucson are prospects as places to move, and Quartzsite is a best place to meet a lot of fulltime RVers all at once. I also want to follow US 62 all the way back. I spent most of my childhood close to 62, and I always wanted to see "where the road goes." This will probably give me my best chance ever. Even if we go fulltime, we'll probably have other priorities.

If anybody starts reading this, look forward to more updates now that I've figured out how to post.