Texas and Beyond Plus Some Really Good News

Writers Block

I have been in a writer’s slump for awhile….actually for about four months!  I came down to Texas for the winter as I usually do.  Some of my time was spent with my siblings in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area during the holiday season. 

I was lucky enough that my son, Jason and his family, wife Anna and children, Kaitlen and Shawn came by my cousin’s home to visit for a few hours while they were in Dallas visiting some friends of theirs.  It was great to see them and introduce them to their cousins and see their Aunt Hazel.  And it was great to see my beautiful little grandchildren again.

Shawn, Jason and Grandpa

Nephew Kevin and Cousin Edna

Jason, Anna, Shawn, Kaitlen and me

Edna and Hazel

Rockport, Texas

After that visit I went to Rockport on the Gulf Coast of Texas to stay for a few months because it is warmer there normally. That stay was pretty routine and boring for me and the weather was not very nice.  However a new turn in the road of life happened while I was there.  Here are some Rockport photos and then I will tell you my story.

Rockport Bay

Rockport looking at the Gulf

Daylight After Darkness

My story began two years ago while I was in Rockport for the winter where I met some folks at the RV park we were all staying in that are still my friends.  One couple, Don and Margie, became close friends and actually moved to Oregon and bought a home after many years full time in their RV on the road.  They originally were from Georgia but love it in Prineville, Oregon now.  Anyway, that winter of 2012 was a very low time in my life as I had just lost my beautiful and wonderful wife of 46 years, Pati, the summer before to inoperable brain tumors. All I could think about was just trying to get through each day one day at a time, not knowing where or what I was going to do without her….thus the reason for my blog’s name.  It was a very difficult time for me then and for a long time after.

Margie kind of took me under her wings and hung out with me and helped me through the tough times while we were there.  She told me about a friend she had known all her life that lived in Kalispell, Montana that she thought I should meet.  Margie felt we were meant to meet each other because of our similarities.  I had just secured a summer job in East Glacier Park and she thought we could have some dinners etc together while I was up there.  I told her I would think about it but probably not going to happen. I did not contact her friend. 

The story jumps to this past summer of 2014 when I was leaving their house in Oregon after a visit for my annual jaunt to Texas.  Margie asked me when I was going to call her friend, Cathryn.  It had been a few years since she first asked and I told her that if Cathryn wanted to call or email me now that I would respond as one could never have enough friends.  I just did not have the guts to make the first move.  I did not even know what this lady looked like.  Margie told me she is a retired educator, high school principal, to be exact, after forty years.  She was close to my age and had been single for about twenty years.

I did get an email from Cathryn introducing herself. Cathryn told me Margie has been after her for two years to contact me and she also hesitated but it felt right this time she asked so she took the first step.  I wrote back and we have been corresponding daily via email and phone calls since that first contact in October. After grieving so long from losing Pati this was like a lifeline thrown to me that I was not looking for since I was kind of drowning in my own self pity. We have very similar interests and wants and concerns and visions so it has been a joy to talk with her every day like a pen pal and get to know her.

After about three months, we decided that she should fly down to Rockport and we could meet each other in person so we planned that trip for a week the first part of February. We met, we liked each other in person more that we did on email and phone, and we could not shut up for the whole week.  We cooked together and laughed together and really bonded.  It was a wonderful week and we both agreed that we will continue our relationship going forward.

So, without more details, I have a special lady in my life now and I am trying very hard to move forward with my life, which is getting easier each day with Cathryn’s help.  We plan to meet in Las Vegas the first part of May and she is going to spend some more time with me, actually living and traveling with me, in my 5^th wheel as we travel back up to her home in Kalispel, Montana.  From there we will see where the days and the roads take us as we continue to build on this new relationship.

Cathryn Louise McDevitt

Now, for those that are lucky enough to read my blogs, I would like to introduce you to my new best friend, Cathryn McDevitt.  I have a feeling you be hearing a lot more about her in the future.

Cathryn

Cathryn during our visit in Rockport.  Shrimp before the grilled oysters!

Moving On

Back to the present time.  I am staying at a corp. of engineer’s campground on Canyon Lake, just north of San Antonio, Texas.  After visiting with old friends around here, I am heading west next week to Silver City, NM and Casa Grande, AZ then to Prescott Valley, AZ before getting to Las Vegas and on to Hurricane, Utah where my brother, Mac, lives and then back to Montana and the west coast. We are actually planning a trip to NY and New England next fall and plan to spend next winter together on the road.

Looking out from my camp spot

Right outside my window.  Fourteen deer!

Canyon Lake.  Very low.

I hope to share many adventures with you more often that I will also be sharing first hand with a gal from Montana named Cathryn and her beautiful Golden Retriever, Annie.  As my sister in law Susan always says, and until now I cringed every time she said it, but no longer…..LIFE IS GOOD!

Happy Trails to you.............until we meet again.