Reflecting on a Year of Positivity

Today’s writing prompt invites me to write about what positive things have happened to us in the past year.

I guess I can write this as a year end review and share only the positive moments. Where would be the fun in that?

So lets start of the year where it began in January. January was a fly by the seat of our pants kind of month. We were in Alice, TX for New Years Eve 23/24. We were all set up in the RV park waiting to go to work. We had an orientation on the 3rd and were excited to start work shortly there after. There was a positive in waiting to go to work. Our daughter Beth was able to drive down to visit a few times. Then the delays with the pipeline hit and we needed to get back to work, sooner than later. On the positive we called another company and we were off to work in 3 days.

Our first gate guard job and wow were we introduced quickly to how it all works. Our first gate and it was fracking! I don’t know how we lived through that as our first gate but we made it. God had his hand in that for sure! That gate came to an end and we had 3 more gate jobs after that. We learned quite a bit really fast and met some great friends along the way.

Our next adventure was to make it back to Arizona. Brian had not been to the Carlsbad Caverns yet. We made our way to the Carlsbad, NM KOA in May. I had lived in Carlsbad, NM when I was a teen. (yesterday ya know) Wow has Carlsbad changed! It is now a oil boom area so there are many new stores and growth to the town. We visited the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens State Park which has changed so much! We drove past my old house, it looked the same. We spent a day with friends from Washington who drove down to meet with us going to the Carlsbad Caverns.

Leaving Carlsbad getting to Kingman, AZ was an adventure. We made it to just the other side of Flagstaff, AZ and lost the alternator in the Beast. The positive and such a blessing was a friend of ours lives in Flagstaff. We were able to reach out to her and have her pick up a new one. By then we had made arrangements to stay at a KOA in Williams, AZ. So we made a day of going to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on Mother’s Day. In May was a great time to visit. It was not to hot or to cold. We met some very nice people at Walnut Canyon. They invited us to visit when we make it to San Antonio after the harvest season.

We made it to Kingman, AZ and settled into the RV Park there. Brian spent most of the month finishing working on the shed he had started back in November. May was getting pretty warm there. We took a few days to go to the property over Memorial Day Weekend. Staying in a tent on the property was such a positive for me! Feeling grounded to our land. At 6400′ elevation the nights were cold for sure. We left the rain fly off the tent so we could see the stars until we fell asleep.

I had been to the property several times. Never once seeing a snake. Well that had to change sometime, right? It did in a big way! I was walking up the hill on the north west side when something caught my eye. To the right of me was a rattle snake. It wasn’t after me but I was running away from it as fast as I could scream! The positive here was I did not get bit! Brian came over to check him out. Yes it was a rattle snake. We looked up his color and pattern and decided he was a Prairie Rattlesnake. End of story there, I now own a .38 special I affectionately call the “Snake Charmer”.

Brian finished the shed and we were off to St. Johns, AZ to a RV park there for the month. We drove out to the property a lot. We cleared out over 200 sage brush with a pick ax and muscles we forgot we had. We cleared some trees that will be in the way of our fence line. Not one more snake found. We enjoyed the 4th of July festivities that St Johns had to offer. Canons firing off at the first light of day. A delicious breakfast and lunch offered by the city. Then beautiful fireworks display near the airport about 9 pm.

We were able to meet up with friends and spend time with them. One of our friends invited us to dinner we ended up having to eat and run. The storm that was brewing could have left us stuck in the mud on her road. It was a great time visiting while we could. Other friends who live in the area had us over too. She shared some delicious recipes with me and I have shared her blog in a previous post.

We had time to take the Kayak’s out for a few trips and enjoy some local food. We highly recommend El Camino for Mexican fare in St Johns. In Show Low there are the 2 best places to enjoy with friends. The Irish Colleen and the Red Barn Creamery. Both had great ambiance and something for every palette. This was a great Positive note for our summer in St. Johns.

August rolled around and it was time to get back to work. We headed north east to North Dakota. Sugar Beet Pre-Pile was about to start. We had some issues getting there. Along with the issues we had many blessings and positive moments! We lost another alternator in Moriarty, NM. Upon reading in many forums we are not the only ones having this issue. One other person said he has gone through 6 in 1 year. The blessing there was, the manager of the RV park we pulled into was going to a parts store that afternoon. She gave me a ride to the parts store and we picked up Pizza for dinner on the way back. Thank you Erin for being so kind!

On the road again and things were going smooth until we tried checking into a state park in Iowa. Do not believe when a state park says they can accommodate you. The park outside Sioux City, IA website said sure you can bring in a 32′ 5th wheel. No you can’t! Positive note, we stayed in a hotel that had great water pressure for a long shower!

Back on the road. We made it a mile past Summit, SD when our drive line hit the ground going 60 mph. Thank you God for giving Brian skills of his trade to know what to do. Thank you to the SD state trooper who gave us an escort back to Summit. The positive here. There was an RV park and a mechanic shop within 1/4 mile of each other. Brian took the drive line off and the mechanic shop got it to Sioux Falls, SD and had it rebuilt. We received a call from a friend that Pre-pile would be starting a day early. Positive, Brian was able to get a car from the shop to drive up for 2 days work. He got back to Summit to pick us up and get back on the road.

We made it to the farm and settled in. Brian worked Pre-Pile. We had a few days off so we went 10 miles to Icelandic State Park to go camping. It’s North Dakota in the fall. Cooler temps and nice days right? NO we encountered 100 deg temps and more biting flies than you can imagine! We spent the whole time in the Cougar. One small positive was a walk we took on a short trail.

Back to the farm for Potato harvest and the Sugar Beet campaign. Potato harvest started 10 days late. The first day we finally were able to go out and we were shut down for rain. This was for sure a crazy weather year. Sugar Beets were on time but also shut down several days for warm weather delays. The Northern Lights were amazing. We had several beautiful nights of them. Harvest ended for the farm October 16th. The farm put on an amazing steak dinner at the country club again this year. We waited a few days before leaving and Brian was asked to do 2 more days. American Crystal Sugar asked the farm for more. Brian was happy to work those extra days. The positive here was that we had a great harvest season and enjoyed time on the farm with good friends!

Time to head south for the winter. We made our way down the I-29 through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma into Texas. We only had 2 small issues on this leg of the journey. One RV park we were scheduled to check in said they had room for a 32′ RV and did not. The other was the Kansas/Oklahoma winds that led to tornadoes. We safely made it through Oklahoma only a day or two before they hit. Thank you to the bar tender in Wichita, KS who gave us the tip off of the high winds coming. He for sure was our positive on that leg of the journey south.

We had a brief stay in North Texas at Star Ranch near McDade. It is a family friendly nudist club. It was great being textile free even for a few days. No photos as that is not allowed for privacy reasons. It was a great stay and we look forward to going back again. The positive here was being textile free for a few days!

Onto McKinney, TX where we spent a few days visiting with Rhett. We took a drive to The Colony where he works. We stopped for a brew at the Truck Yard. Fun place to be! Ya’ll have to check out the Toilet Lid Museum there. It is open 24 hours. If driving through North Texas. Its a fun must see! Positivity flowed spending time with Rhett and meeting his brother who I must say makes an amazing Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie!

We stayed in an RV park South of San Antonio for 3 weeks. We visited with Beth again, had dinners out, and walked the River Walk. It is great being back in the land of HEB. We hiked the Enchanted Rock with friends and did some much needed shopping.

We took a gate near Laredo, TX the week before Thanksgiving. With the condition we would have Thanksgiving and Black Friday off. To spend with family and friends. We had a great Thanksgiving! So many new people we met. Thank you to Shawn and Bobbi for the invite to the ranch Thanksgiving!

We are now at our gate for the next couple of months. This will take us into the new year with many new adventures! May positivity flow in 2025 and Enjoy Positive Living!

See Ya’ll down the road in 2025!