We had such a wonderful time with our family and friends back in KC and STL, MO. We were so fortunate, again, to be able to stay with our daughter, Suni and her family and Diane’s sister, Suzy Capps, and my brother in law, Tom French. Their hospitality was beyond gracious. The time spent with them and the happiness and joy that was shared could fill a book on its own, the pages of which are sealed in our memories forever. Playing some gigs with my musical pals and seeing old friends at the band jobs was inspirational for me. Each year The Road Apples host a reunion at the Focal Point and this year we filled up the place for two shows. I thought the band played very well, especially considering we get together once a year to revive the spirits of those time-tested tunes. My kids, Suni and Eli, and their children were all there for us. It was one of the great moments of my life to have them all there when we performed. On November 1st I was able to play with the Log Cabin Boys again at the Shlafley Bottleworks, and again we had a tremendous time. I’m so fortunate to be able to perform with these fellas...they’re all such terrific musicians as well as human beings in every great sense of that phrase. I practiced hard before the gigs. Playing by yourself, even every day, is not the same as playing out in public in a band. It’s just not the same.
Finally, Diane and I find ourselves heading West again on the cusp of Christmas. Leaving Lees Summit we head south through Wichita, Oklahoma City, west through Amarillo, across eastern New Mexico and finally landing in Albuquerque. Here, waiting for the final touches of repair and maintenance on our motor home, Nell, we had time to visit some friends we have who live here. Fellow musician and high school pal, Tim O’Rourke, and his wife of so many great years, Laurie, live in Placitas, NM, just up highway 25 from Albuquerque. We visited with them a Sunday over pizza and had a million laughs together. Tim had been safekeeping some of my instruments for me while we were back in MO. Tim and Laurie are very special individuals. They are tied to the land there and have given us great travel advice.
We also got to re-unite with Michael and Beth Meyers over dinner at a wonderful Native American restaurant where we feasted on Elk Roast and associated natural vegetables. We were having such a great time they literally had to kick us out of the restaurant at closing time. Michael is such a marvelous artist. He showed us pictures of his latest painting and I must say it is breath-taking. It baffles my mind how he can create such realism in his portrayal of people. Beth is such a great conversationalist and is so learned on so many subjects. Conversing with the Meyers is inspirational as well as just fun.
We wanted to visit with Loretta and Chester Chavez and their darling grand daughter, Veelah. We met them in Colorado in 2018 while camping. Last year we had a fun-packed dinner with them along with their daughter, Clara. They made us feel like family...such hospitality. We simply ran out of time this trip. We’ve made it a point to visit them at first opportunity, probably in late April or May as we travel north to Colorado to our camp host job there.
Finally, we picked up our motor home and headed south to our first camp hosting job on Roosevelt Lake. This is where Cindy and Dusty host and it was their looking out for us that landed us the gig there. It’s amazing what new friends you can make on the road. Christmas Eve we spent in Deming at a great little RV park way off the beaten path called, El Rancho Lobo. Truly, I’ve never experienced such great customer service or hospitality from an RV park before. It’s just a small little park in the desert, away from everything, that is super- affordable. To show you how they treat you, the discounted our Christmas Eve stay to $0.00 as a Christmas present. The rain and chilly temps couldn’t dampen our hearts once Carol, the host, reminded us again what Christmas is really about. I don’t know when, but at some point we’ll make it a point to stay here again. If you’re traveling through the area camping, you should too.