Jan. 27, 2011, Quartzsite, AZ – Happy Hour and Big Tent

The past week has been busy.  First, Susie and Denny Orr, Escapees RV Club Chapter Directors, hosted their sixth annual Happy Hours last Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.   I am embarrassed to admit that I had such a wonderful afternoon visiting with Escapees friends that I forgot to take any photos.  Larry would probably say:  She was so busy talking, she forgot to take photos!

And he would be right.  At the special gathering place along the I-10 frontage road on the east end of Quartzsite, at least 300 Escapees members came together for two afternoons of entertainment, snacks, and fellowship.  Some actually camped there, some drove up from Yuma and down from Parker—and some of us came from other boondock spots in Quartzsite.  We brought chairs, refreshments and lots of hugs to share!

Denny and Susie do the planning and set-ups—and the rest of us show up to enjoy the energy they bring to the gathering.  Denny and Susie, thank you for all your time and hard work—done so we can come and meet and greet long-time friends and take away a feeling of belonging to a very special group!  You are the best!!

Following in the lack of photography efforts, I failed to take photos of the Big Tent Show that opened last Saturday.  It is impossible to photograph the tent and surrounding area to illustrate the scale of the size of the tent and number of parked cars surrounding it.  Highway 95 headed north was backed up almost three miles with cars pouring into Quartzsite from the south—and probably almost as far from the north.

We are long-time attendees and I have to say:  The number of RVs parked in the BLM free and long-term visitor areas as well as traffic clogging the highway feels much higher than previous years. And the show attendees were spending.  I bet the vendors leave with big smiles after this show.

I had the opportunity to re-visit some Escapees commercial members and introduce them to the new Escapade Director, Bob Pinner.  I know he will do a great job setting up the Escapade Market Area for the upcoming Escapade in Gillette, WY, this summer.

More Quartzsite information in the next blog, because we are:

Back on the road…..

Part of our story is living with a serious medical issue.  Larry’s kidneys are failing and have been for over 10 years.  When we first heard about it, we were devastated!  We saw a very uncertain future with only scary things littering the path we were going down.

  We did some basic diet readjustments and the failure rate slowed down.  Life might have gone on with minor inconveniences such as blood tests every three or four months and doctors’ visit once or twice a year.  In Feb. 2008, he developed a blood clot that lead to the discovery of an aneurism behind his knee.  The vascular surgeon was well aware of our concern and tried his best to flush the dye from Larry’s kidneys, but the damage was done.

Since 2008, we changed our diet even more.  We adopted a modified version of the dialysis diets, limiting protein consumption and strict monitoring of sodium intake.  And, it has been working.  His creatinine levels have hovered between 3.0 and 3.5.  We have chosen to continue to travel and do what we want—working around the monthly lab tests and Procrit prescription for treating CKD’s anemia.

Last summer the creatinine level dropped back down to 2.7 for three months running and we were thrilled!  Unfortunately, the numbers started climbing in Livingston.

We are heading to Antioch, CA, to do the lab work back where it was 2.7 in September and find out if his kidneys are now failing at a faster rate—or if the reading was an aberration.  You know what we are hoping for—so please keep us in your prayers.

We expect to be back in Quartzsite around Feb. 6th.  I promise to take photos while in the Antioch, CA area.  In the meantime, enjoy  one of the many beautiful Quartzsite sunsets.