Rolling with the punches!

Winter has lost its charm now that we've reached the crusty old retirement years. Our plan was to enjoy the holiday season before our sojourn to the sun; the parties, the family get-togethers, Santa brunches, Christmas carols, the high-calorie goodies, a few too many cocktails, Christmas cards, talking to old friends but NOT the snow which started falling December 13th before winter officially began and continued until January 5, 2009 – a total of twelve storms and an accumulation of about a meter and a half. Xmas over and snow piled almost up to the rafters, I still dreamed of the exodus to the desert and pondered the weeks of preparation for Xmas and then the need to dismantle all the decorations for another year....and basically, it's all for 'one' day.

We watched the weather reports religiously and cheered when they announced the end of the snow was in sight and to expect rain..........only to be stunned when more snow started to fall and a further accumulation. This happened over and over and eventually, we stopped hoping that our day of departure was imminent. Maggie by now was deeply embedded in a white mantle of snow so deep that when we asked the snow plough driver to clear a pathway to her, the plough got stuck.

Strange how things turn out.....I lost a filling from my tooth and so was really happy to still be at home to make an appointment with my own dentist. And then, Bell ExpressVu, our satellite TV provider suddenly shut off our service to two of our four receivers. When phoned, they needed to confirm that we hadn't removed any of the boxes from our home and had us to check each box's electronically displayed numbers while they noted them down. It is illegal to remove their receivers from the location they have been assigned to. So, once again...lucky we were still home.

It took us over a week but we slowly extricated Maggie the motorhome from the deep smothering shroud of frozen snow. Each day, we poulticed our sore and aching muscles with bags of frozen peas and then when we were about ten shovelfuls of snow from freeing her, Fernie let out a loud shriek as he crumpled to the pavement....he had apparently torn a muscle or tendon in his hip. The pain was intense and ice didn't ease it so a trip to the doctor seemed necessary for muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatory medications. It was his right hip and walking on that leg was intolerable. Hmmmmm....does that mean that he won't be able to drive the motorhome?

Well, it didn't really matter anyway because the 'pineapple express' as the warm weather pattern with deluges of rain is called had left floods of record-breaking proportions in its wake. Interstate 5 in Washington State was closed in several areas ....... water across the freeway. It had excised the north completely as there was no other route open to go south. Even the trains were out of commission and the only way to get from Seattle to Portland was by air......or maybe boat. The floods abated finally and the highways opened again so surely Fernie's pain would also subside. I insisted that he rest up while I packed the motorhome. But the pain was unbearable and so it was back to the doctor's and then for xrays. The official diagnosis which was actually just an educated guess was 'torn tendon' and he won't be able to drive the motorhome for 4 to 5 weeks – sheesh! That takes us to the middle of February. If we believed in such things, it would seem that we were being sent a strong message “Don't go south this winter”.

Now, I wasn't taking well to all of this disruption in our plans....as a matter of fact, I was quite snarky. Having a tendency to impatience, I knew I had to work hard at modifying this character flaw and learn to 'roll with the punches'. With the guidance of a good friend and serious philosopher, I was on the road to learning the art of meditation.

My demeanour more serene and remembering the expression 'if life gives you lemons, make lemonade', I realized that I must make this screwup and delay into an opportunity. After all, we've roamed around every nook and cranny of Arizona over the last three winters. So why not go further afield.....something that would be aided by a later departure because spring would make it possible to explore areas unnavigable in winter weather.

A tentative itinerary was created with lots of room to expand it along the way. This is it:


2009-02-14 Home to Chehalis WA
2009-02-15 7 Feathers Casino OR
2009-02-16 Rolling Hills Casino, Corning CA
2009-02-17 Santa Nella CA
2009-02-18 Bakersfield CA
2009-02-19 BLM lands Tecopa CA - 6 days
2009-02-26 Pahrump, NV
2009-02-27 Las Vegas - 6 days
2009-03-06 Laughlin, NV
2009-03-07 Winslow AZ
2009-03-08 Sky City Casino, Acoma, NM - 2 days
2009-03-10 Tucumcari, NM
2009-03-11 Elk City, OK
2009-03-12 Lucky Star Casino, Oklahoma City, OK - 4 days
2009-03-16 Quapaw Casino, N of Tulsa, OK
2009-03-17 Branson, MO - 4 days
2009-03-21 Little Rock AR - 4 days
2009-03-25 Bally's Tunica near Memphis TN - 3 days
2009-03-28 Ridgeland MS
2009-03-29 New Orleans LA - 4 days
2009-04-02 Hollywood Casino Bay St Louis MS - 2 days
2009-04-04 Island View Casino Gulfport MS - 2 days
2009-04-06 Beau Rivage Casino Biloxi MS - 2 days
2009-04-08 Gulf Shores AL - 2 days
2009-04-10 Prattville AL (Montgomery/Selma) - 2 days
2009-04-12 Perry GA
2009-04-13 Savannah GA - 3 days
2009-04-14 Charleston SC - 2 days
2009-04-18 Myrtle Beach SC - 3 days
2009-04-21 Morehead NC
2009-04-22 Virginia Beach NC - 5 days
2009-04-27 Danville VA
2009-04-28 Kingsport TN
2009-04-29 Pigeon Forge TN - 2 days
2009-05-01 Nashville TN - 3 days
2009-05-04 Carrolton KY
2009-05-05 Ashland OH
2009-05-06 Cleveland OH
2009-05-07 Ripley NY
2009-05-08 Hamilton ON
2009-05-09 Toronto ON - 10 days
2009-05-19 Sarnia ON
2009-05-20 Elkhart IN
2009-05-21 Ottawa IL
2009-05-22 Tomah WI
2009-05-23 Superior WI
2009-05-24 Fargo ND
2009-05-25 Bismarck ND
2009-05-26 Beach ND
2009-05-27 Billings MT
2009-05-28 Butte MT
2009-05-29 Haugan MT
2009-05-30 Wenatchee WA
2009-05-31 Home