Discovering More in New Mexico: Santa Fe, Los Alamos, & Albuquerque OLA

Carol having fun at the Old Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas

National Helium Monument in Amarillo, Texas

As I said in the last post, we had time between my right and left eye cataract surgery (please see Part 1 http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2012/11/wow-overhauling-carol.html). We actually made a brief stop at the Cadillac Ranch at Amarillo, Texas on the way to Santa Fe, New Mexico. The unique ranch is devoted to 9 old Cadillacs that have been stuck to the ground, nose down, since 1974 with layer upon layer of graffiti painted on each one. Bill and I, of course, left a huge BC on one! There was also the Historic Route 66 Museum and the National Helium Monument (Amarillo produces most of the helium in the country).

Route 66 (Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona) Museum in Amarillo, Texas 

the helix-shaped spiral staircase at Loretto Chapel, Santa Fe, NM

Immediately upon arrival in Santa Fe, only about 4 hours away, we went to the most famous spots in the city, vestiges of the Spanish colonization of the territory. Loretto Chapel, built in 1872, features the miracle of the helix-shaped spiral staircase that was built by a carpenter, without nails, who just appeared one day and vanished when it was finished. Outside, a tree is heavy with rosaries from devotees hanging from every conceivable branch.

San Miguel Mission in Santa Fe, NM, oldest church in US
oldest house at its right

Santuario  de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe
oldest shrine to Virgin Mary, in Santa Fe, NM

Midtown is the Old San Miguel Mission, the oldest church in the US (several years before 1628, the date on the earliest document found). Beside it is the oldest house in America. A few miles away is the Santuario de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, the oldest Shrine to Virgin Mary in the US. We also had fun window shopping at the colorful Plaza and visiting the Georgia O’Keefe Museum with her distinctive art, influenced by her life in the desert beauty around Santa Fe. But the best view of the city is from atop a hill where the Cross of the Martyrs stands, a tribute to those who perished in the 1680 revolt against the Spanish colonizers (please see Part 1) and those who were punished after the re-conquest of the territory in 1760. 

Cross of the Martyrs with a view of Santa Fe, NM

one of the murals at the Coronado State Monument

A few miles west of Santa Fe is the Coronado State Monument, at the Kaua Ruins. Coronado is the legendary first Spanish explorer of the Southwest in 1540, much like Magellan is to the Philippines or Columbus is to the Southeast. There we got our first experience at a pit house, a kiva, and some pueblo ruins. But the prize in the Monument is the set of 6 murals found in the ruins, hanging at a special adobe room created to protect them and where no flash photography is allowed. 

one of the cliff dwellings at Bandelier National Monument
near Santa Fe, New Mexico

pueblo ruins at the bottom valley
in Bandelier National Monument near Santa Fe, NM

A little further northwest of Santa Fe is Bandelier National Monument where we saw some examples of cliff dwellings which we were able to climb into. The dwellings and storage areas were in cavates on hillsides.  The ruins of a Pueblo lie at the bottom of the hills surrounded by a clear flowing stream that was the community’s water source.

Bill with Gen. Groves and J. R. Oppenheimer
at the Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos, NM

This was on the way to Los Alamos, further up in the northwest from Santa Fe, which was the secluded site where by J. Robert Oppenheimer and a team of scientists including Enrico Fermi, built the atom bomb (we saw the cottages on BathTub Row where they lived). General Leslie R. Groves took charge of building and maintaining the infrastructure while the scientists pondered upon the imponderables. Finally, on July 16, 1945 the first ever atomic bomb was tested and detonated at Trinity Site, southwest of Albuquerque (unfortunately only open 2 days a year).

where Oppenheimer lived on BathTub Row (only homes with bath tubs)

Little Boy for Hiroshima and Fat Man for Nagasaki
at the Bradbury Science Museum

The rest is history. Little Boy was dropped in Hiroshima and Fat Man on Nagasaki, Japan, ending WWII. Still active today, the Los Alamos National Laboratory assembled the bombs while the facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee produced uranium (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2010/06/camping-in-great-smoky-mountains_18.html) and the one in Hanford, Washington produced plutonium (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2010/08/returning-to-pacific-northwest-part-1.html). The three sites largely comprised the Manhattan Project. The Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos explains it all. 

at the Petroglyphs National Monument near Albuquerque, NM

Albuquerque is the most modern of the New Mexico cities. But still it is host to the Petroglyph National Monument where rocks revealed as many as 20,000 petroglyphs. Bill and I walked one of the two trails (Boca Negra and Rinconada Cayons) and discovered pictographs that told the stories of American Indians and how they lived. We were going to visit the Pecos National Historic Park (filled with more petroglyphs, etc. and the Acoma Sky City, another continuously inhabited pueblo like Taos Pueblo) but we ran out of time. I had to be back to Pittsburg for my left eye cataract surgery. But we did have some fun at Old Albuquerque where art and crafts prevailed. We also did not miss the Sandia Peak Tramway which is the third longest single (the upper section of 7,720 feet) clear tramway in the world, climbing from about 6,500 to 10,500 feet.

Sandia Peak Tramway in Albuquerque, NM

There will be other times though. New Mexico is a state we wouldn’t mind seeing again since we did not even go to the places like the Painted Cave or the Puye Cliff Dwellings which would require us to hire guides and probably hike strenuous courses. Bill might be ready for that, but I am definitely not! This visit really showed me the enchanting indigenous peoples, the American Indians, still flourishing in the state, the extent of the Spanish influence of the 1500-1800s, like their 300-year reign in the Philippines, and the now noticeable gradual rise of the descendants of the Anasazis (please see Part 1) and those who came up from Mexico and their influence in American politics (the Hispanic vote) and the arts (cuisine, fashion, and casinos). 

OLA: Discovering Enchanted Places and People, New Mexico, Part 1

the 1000-year old North House in Taos Pueblo, New Mexico

Between the right eye cataract surgery and the left (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2012/11/wow-overhauling-carol.html ), Bill and I made a quick trip to New Mexico, making it the 48^th US state (plus 9 Canadian provinces and 6 Mexican states in 3 ½ years)! It is the 47^th state that entered the Union in 1912, followed closely by Arizona and later in 1959 by Alaska and Hawaii. It is interesting to note that New Mexico and Arizona are the last strongholds of the American Indians, retaining the best preserved ruins and the largest reservations.

desert beauty...in my color!

The New Mexico and Arizona territories were conquered by Spanish explorers at about the same time (1500s) as the Philippines. We were also both ceded (as was other Islands) to the US in 1898 after the Spanish-American War. Thus Native American culture holds a special interest for me in two areas: my past through our shared history of Spanish colonization and my future as a concerned US citizen.

the South House, Taos Pueblo, New Mexico

The city of Vigan (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2011/04/ola-taking-road-trip-to-northernmost.html ) in the Philippines and the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, are both World Heritage Sites. Vigan preserves more of the Spanish influence while Taos preserves what was there before the Spanish came and then some. Taos Pueblo with a population of 4,500 is the oldest continuously inhabited community in the US and is a member of the Eight Northern Pueblos. 95,000 acres of preserved land called the Blue Lake Wilderness Area of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the source of the river that runs through the Pueblo, is attached to it.

hornos at Taos Pueblo, New Mexico

cemetery and old church in Taos Pueblo, New Mexico

We had some of their bread, baked without dairy in outdoor adobe ovens (hornos).  Red Willow Creek splits the Pueblo into north which has the Hlaauma and south which has the Hlaukkwima, two adobe Great Houses believed to be more than 1000 years old. The old church and cemetery had been there since 1619. But the new San Geronimo Church was built in 1850.  In 1680 they revolted against the Spanish but in 1706 they were reconquered. Today the modern city of Taos lies nearby, with a population close to 5,000, and with a beautiful Plaza that serves as a place for art and crafts and domiciles for tourists.

San Geronimo Church in Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, built 1850

the Low Road, and the Rio Grande, to Taos, New Mexico 

From our base in Santa Fe we went to Taos through the Low Road, running parallel to the Rio Grande whose banks are beautifully gold and yellow in fall with a magnificent River Gorge at its widest! Then we left Taos back to Santa Fe through the High Road of lush evergreens. By dusk we finally found the Santuario de Chimayo built in the 1800s in a small valley with its original 6-foot crucifix standing in a small well-kept plaza. 

Santuario de Chimayo on the High Road from Taos, New Mexico

Up to this day, the Taos Pueblo and all the others descendants of ancestral Puebloan culture survive in New Mexico and northern Arizona. They continue to exist as sovereign nations, favored in fact by US laws with minority rights. But before the arrival of the Europeans, American Indians went through three periods. The Paleo-Indian Period was when people first came into (or first originated in) the Americas (some say at least 13,000 years ago) by land bridges or coastal boating. It lasted until the Ice Age (some 10,000 years ago).

Then the Archaic Period (until about 4,000 to 5,000 years ago) was when American Indians spread out across the continent, moving into every habitable portion of the continent, nomadic in culture. By the end of this period, North America was a veritable patchwork of differing cultures, languages, and societies, some having kinship with those of the Eskimos, others with those in Mexico, and others neither.

the parking lot at the Visitor Center
Chaco Culture National Historic Park

The Formative period, beginning at various times between 3,000 - 5,000 years ago, witnessed a flourishing of American Indian societies. In the Southwest US, those who belong to the Anasazis, ancestors to the Pueblos of today, erected multi-room, multi-storied ‘Great Houses’, built roads to connect their communities, and traded with other societies. This period ended with the colonization of North America by the Europeans.

the Fajada Butte as you enter Chaco Canyon
reportedly used for astronomical purposes

It is best represented in the Chaco Culture National Historic Park about 150 miles west of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Getting there we passed through scenic byways and many desert beauties but the last maybe 20 miles were through very rough graveled roads. The Chaco Canyon and the National Park stretches 10 miles in the San Juan Basin, barren but beautiful, home to the ruins of 9 Great Houses connected to one another and to other societies through a network of roads. This must have been the center of trade,  worship, learning, constructed around 900 and 1115 AD.

Bill at the northern end of Pueblo Bonito
Chaco Culture National Historic Park

The nine are: Penasco Blanco, Pueblo Alto, Kin Kletso, Hungo Pavi, Pueblo del Arroyo, Chero Ketl, Una Vida, and Wijiji. The most famous, thoroughly studied, largest, and best preserved is Pueblo Bonito with 650 rooms. Each of them had one or more ceremonial kivas, big circular chambers. Constructed using sandstone, in beautiful patterns, fitting together tightly and reinforced by logs to become multi-story, the rooms and kivas are arranged in grids with doorways and vents that connect room to room.  Although less preserved, less advanced, and more recent than the Pyramids in Mexico (please see…), they are nevertheless, for me, the most fascinating piece of the history of pre-European America.

Carol at the southern end of Pueblo Bonito
Chaco Culture National Historic Park

The Great Houses are intriguing as studies revealed that only about 5-10 of the rooms of a Great House were used for habitation each with an accompanying storage room. The other bigger (more than double in size) suites are associated with the kivas and suggest political or social boundaries as no doors connected them. A great majority of the rooms, however, smaller and road-related, opening to the roads with no access from the inside, suggesting uses other than habitation (stores/temporary storage?).

one of the several kivas at Pueblo Bonito
Chaco Culture National Historic Park

An extraordinary number of artifacts, from the Pacific coast to the west and Mexico to the south, compared to the hundreds estimated to have lived there, were excavated, especially from the trash mounds. And the extent of the road network, first noticed in the 1900s is still being expanded by ongoing discoveries. They were engineered roads about 30 feet across with berms on the sides, extending far and wide. Other great houses were found along this network of roads and today it is estimated that they all (about 150) were spread over almost 300,000 kilometers.

Plaza at the modern city of Taos, New Mexico

The phenomenon that is Chaco is truly intriguing. It must have been the center of a vast regional network for the American Indians at the time, a haven for barren nomadic living. As mysterious as its building, however, is its evacuation. Its descendants are all over the Southwest. One of them, Taos Pueblo, is still alive with its traditions preserved and with self-governance enshrined. What an enchanting place and people! How I wish indigenous Philippines was better preserved.

WOW: Experiencing Election Fever!

Carol at the Cottonwood , Arizona Post Office, addressing an express delivery envelope for her ballot

On Election Day, Nov. 6, 2012, I cast my vote by mail via guaranteed express mail delivery (Bill had already mailed his vote a week before) that will arrive at the King County Elections Office of Washington State two days after. It is my first time to vote after my naturalization February of last year. So this fever a different.

First Baptist Church, polling place in Cottonwood, Arizona

I served the Philippine government twice, as Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue in the late 1990s and as IT consultant to the Commission on Elections in the early 2000s, both for the automation of their systems. Therefore, while the buzz and hype was flaunted in traditional and alternative media, my brain was reeling with ‘what ifs’ for my home country.

Romney and Obama

So I felt compelled to write about my first direct experience of the US elections along two areas, process and culture. At 11:15 PM EST on Election Day, major broadcast stations called Ohio for Obama, and with that, his reelection. An hour later, Romney gave a gracious concession speech and thirty minutes later, Obama gave a rousing call for unity! How can a country of 312 M be able to agree on the results in such a short time after the polls close (actually just an hour after those in the Pacific time zone, with Hawaii and Alaska polls still open)? It was truly amazing to see and rather inspiring to watch!

The Electoral Process: Convenience

the ballot and the guide

Process is key to this phenomenon. Articles One and Two of the US Constitution and various amendments lay the foundation for the American electoral process. It is more by the state (who delegates to counties things such a technologies and processes) rather than by the federal government. The latter regulates presidential campaign finance which involves public funds.

It is estimated that there are about one million positions filled every election period. My ballot is only one page, back-to-back, because it is designed at the county level. So it contains very few federal (3) and state (8) positions. I was asked if I wanted to register as a voter when I first applied for a drivers’ license in the county where I was residing, King County in Washington. The county delivered to each voter an Election Guide (also available on the Net). I used it extensively for it had discussions of the state measures being asked (same-sex marriage, legalization of marijuana, etc.) for approval and the resumes of the candidates for each position.

Same-Sex Marriage passed in Washington
along with 2 others, making  it a total of 9 states

marijuana is now legalized in 18 states

At the polling place we visited in Cottonwood, Arizona, voters had the choice of voting manually (OCR) or electronically (voting machines). Once identification is validated (signature-checking machines vs a drivers’ license, a student ID, a work ID, etc.) and an online check with a county voter data base), his ballot is printed or made available on a screen. Very few provisional ballots are preprinted for emergency cases.  As soon as the poll is closed, the ballots are counted; the polling place (church, library, fire station, or school) sends their data to the county which holds all of them (including the paper ballots and other control papers) and sends summary data to the state. And it is the Secretary of State of any state, an elected position that is accountable to the People, who releases official poll results.

one type of voting machines in the US

ballot drop box

The key trend is to provide convenient access to as much of the electorate as possible. It was not too long ago when there was only one day for elections, the second Tuesday of November, which was not even a holiday, and everything was entirely manual. Today it is estimated that 30% do absentee and early voting. Although some states define these to be the traditional like attesting to being away on voting day (absentee) or not being able to vote during polling hours due to work shifts (early), there are those like Washington and Oregon which mail ballots to 100% of those registered. As a matter of fact, ballot drop boxes have become popular there. But there is still great controversy about all these new processes. Please see http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Early-voting-a-trend-but-does-it-diminish-4026673.php.

Culture of Elections: Trust

Electoral College System

Such an open process can be very difficult to control and safeguard thus unacceptable in countries like the Philippines. This gets us to a discussion of the culture of elections. I have often been so amazed that Bill or I would leave a camera or a bag in a retail store or items of apparel at the community center and come back to find it with the Supervisor or right where we left it! I feel that voter fraud (although there were cries about it throughout Election Day+1 and seven House positions still remain unresolved) constitute small, sporadic, isolated incidents in a country that has developed for almost a quarter of a millennium. The electorate, the electoral administrators, and the candidates through their parties have achieved electoral grace by its trust for the Electoral College system that has been used for the past 238 years and the people who have evolved to cherish first and foremost the stability of the Union. Please see the history of presidential elections here: http://www.history.com/topics/presidential-elections.

King County Board of Elections

The other thing that continues to amaze me is that, though there seems to be a melting pot, an assimilationist culture that embraces the country, its demographics is still so diverse and constantly shifting. Romney won the over 45 years old, the whites, the men. Obama won the less than 45 years old, the Hispanics, Afro-Americans, Asian-Americans and other minorities, the women, and the LGBT. Microtargeting each demographic segment is truly a must. When I was teaching ‘Diversity Issues in Business’ at the Seattle Community College in 2007-08, I asked all my students to visualize business in the year 2050 (when the current minority will be the majority) at once because it certainly will not come in a second.

Philippine ballot boxes

My fever brought me all the way back to thoughts for my home country for whom I will never cease to want to help. It is representative of other struggling democracies in the world. The Philippines may not be as large in area or population, not as culturally diverse, and not have the same form of government as the US (binary with federal and state vs unitary, federal only) but it is more densely populated than any state in America. And it is also very young (66 years, if reckoned from US-granted independence, or 114, if from the defeat of the Spanish) Thus the design of the electoral process is still complex. It would be interesting to see which one (or any combination) of the 50 states’ models can be the most beneficial.

   

voting machines in the Philippines

Can the Philippine electoral process have the same convenience for the electorate and trust by every participant? I believe trust must precede convenience. So the first question to ask is: can election administration be accountable to the people by making its positions elective and professional, not appointive and partisan?  Can it be decentralized at some pragmatic level? Can it be made more accessible and convenient without the perception of losing control? Can the national government be open to needed changes? The technology for any scenario is already available. It is not the issue. Culture is. And maybe economy is. So now may be the time. And maybe that is what is happening now, continuing the effort to build trust.

trust in government is now very high and the economy is at a high
with the election of Benigno Aquino, Jr. in 2010

WOW: Overhauling Carol!

in the recovery room, after the cataract surgery on my right eye

To overhaul means: to take apart in order to examine it and repair it if necessary. I may not be a piece of machinery (though many say I am close to being one) but this is how Jack Dock, an engineer and husband of Bill’s sister Rosemary, suggested I title this piece. In 2 ½ months we probably wore thin the couple’s hospitality. I have told you about our many visits to family and friends and explorations of many points of interest from the warmth of their home, but the best is that I got my chance to be examined and repaired! 

dancing after the overhaul!

This is the disadvantage of the full time RV cruising lifestyle that I clearly did not foresee (please look at http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2010/04/debating-pros-and-cons-of-rv-cruising.html): inconsistent health care. I talked about ways to mitigate the disadvantage of not being close to family and friends in the post cited above but with inconsistent healthcare, especially with advancing age, the health risks of yesterday are turned into the health issues of today!

Besides, our lifestyle had us bouncing around 47 American states, 9 Canadian provinces, and 6 Mexican states in just a little more than three years. It’s bad enough that we have grown older; it is worse because we do not have a family physician who knows our history. Bill contracted pneumonia in Mexico (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2010/03/crossing-gulf-states.html), had arthroscopic surgery in Indiana/Ohio though not really due to RVing (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2011/08/ola-taking-much-needed-breaks.html), and even suffered a heart attack in Florida last December (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2011/12/wow-getting-scared.html). 

As for me, I have been having issues myself but we often joke about how major but easy Bill’s and how irritatingly minor and hard to diagnose and cure mine are. I had only talked about hypertension which produced GERD after the aspirins and diuretic regimen, I think, (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2012/01/wow-focusing-on-health.html). But I have been silent about the others, hoping they would simply go away. So Bill decided that we stay put at the Docks for however long it takes to take advantage of the good doctors the couple has.

find the wrist brace, not the grapettes!

Tendonitis. A couple of days before we arrived in Pittsburg, I had hurt my right wrist. Bill alleges it was because of 4-6-8 hours a day of incessant thumping on the computer keyboard because of various and sundry hobbies: blogging, surfing, facebooking, emailing, uploading and editing photos and creating albums, and WWF (Words With Friends). Dr. Carlson referred me to Dr. Stringer who gave me a PAINFUL steroid shot. And here I am, finally free of the wrist brace I was forced to wear for about a month! 

oral surgery on #5

Dental Care. Bill was not happy about the dental care I had with my #5. It hurt in 2008 and a dental clinic in Kent, Washington did a root canal. When I got to the Philippines in 2009, my dentist thought I had better see an endodontist. We went to one of only 2 such dentists in the country. She performed a root canal on a second root she discovered in #5. Well, I don’t think that went well and she instructed my dentist to be conservative about the kind of filling to use. 

The filling that was placed fell out just a few weeks after (in Taiwan, actually, even before we got back to the US!). I had that filling redone twice while we were cruising in the US. In March 2010 when we returned to the Philippines, my dentist and endodontist checked their work and went ahead and said it was ok and just put in another filling. About 6 months after our return to the US that last filling fell out, as well as half of the tooth. Dr. Mendez, the Dock’s dentist, referred me to Dr. Lowe, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. And now I have one brand new tooth!

Chronic Hives. The day Bill returned from the hospital after his heart attack, I had sciatica. Excruciating pain left me to be cared for by Bill who was, himself, just recovering. It eased a week after but then aggressive hives took over. I woke up with a swollen left eye one morning so we went to an ophthalmologist who prescribed antibiotic drops and tablets since he thought it was a bacterial infection. 

hives on arms and legs

But then the hives spread to the right eye, then the neck, and downwards to the arms and torso, and finally the legs. One day, the itchiness became intolerable we took refuge at an urgent care clinic near the campground where I was given steroid shots. We then finally surfed for a nearby family doctor who quickly referred us to an allergist. I could not muster enough confidence in these two doctors so we asked Bill’s cardiologist for a new referral.

She turned out to be a beautiful Filipina doctor whose tests led her to suspect lupus and so we were referred to a rheumatologist. He ruled it out and so we were referred to a dermatologist. The skin test was positive for hives. So we went to another allergist. Her tests revealed that at one point I had been infected with hepatitis A, which my Filipina doctor contested. We left Florida, still with recurrent hives, still dazed and confused. 

At the Unbearables reunion in Nova Scotia, Jeep gave me her bottle of liquid Benadryl (I had been using cortisone before then)! It was like a miracle lotion! I could not understand why not any one of the doctors who saw me recommended this over-the-counter gem which largely controlled my hives. But in Pittsburg, Jack’s family physician, Dr. Carlson, gave me an aggressive dose of non-sedating anti-allergy meds. Here I am a month and a half now, virtually free of hives, except for one or two that appear once in a while!

the left eye in preparation three weeks after

being wheeled for the right eye

Cataract Surgery. Nobody has seen me without any glasses, except for my grades 1-3 classmates. I have had aggressive myopia since I was in grade school. My study habits did not help at all. In 1997 I was one of the very first beneficiaries of laser eye surgery in the Philippines. Less than ten years after, however, my vision started to deteriorate again. In 2009 I had new prescription lenses done in the Philippines. 

left eye patch being removed

Back in the US only 6 months later, I needed another set of corrective lenses, especially. When I was back in the Philippines in 2011 I had new lenses prescribed and, again, only 6 months after returning to the US I needed new ones again. The ophthalmologist who saw me for my swollen left eye, the start of my hives, had said I had better have my eyes checked for cataracts when I got ‘home’. 

both eyes now done!

So I went to Rosemary and Jack’s ophthalmologist, Dr. Lazenby, and eye surgeon, Dr. Bhend, and both recommended cataract surgery on both eyes. Well, I now carry 2 cards for my implants and can clearly see! I wake up every morning without having to look for any glasses (except when I need to read or look cool with fancy dark ones) to put on. Bill survived the fear of my finally seeing how he really looks with 20/20 vision!

the mass more clearly revealed by ultrasound

Possibility of Breast Cancer. But, guess what may be the biggest one? A mammogram detected a 7 mm mass on my right breast. An ultrasound was done, then a physical examination. I am supposed to have another mammogram in another 3 months to see if the mass has grown so a biopsy could be done to test malignancy. The process of overhauling may not be completely over. Still, our stay with the Docks had overhauled Carol, though a somewhat bionic one! 

with my pink top ready for
breast examination

It certainly showed to us that full-time RVing should not be carried to the extreme we did at our age.  It was certainly possible to full-time without being constantly on the move as we have been. Our next travel patterns shall have to change to 4-5 months in Europe, 2-3 months visiting family and friends, and 4-5 months settling down in a normal home, in other words, moving closer to the sunbird/nesting stages (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2010/04/going-through-five-stages-of-cruising.html). We will be in Arizona for about 2 months looking to find a home much like the Docks’.  We now think there is wisdom in having some roots, even if, as Bill would say, we are not trees (may I add, plants?)!