A Time to Thaw Out

 

February 2021.  

   Another international excursion for the Thomas and Pinkerton couples. Braving the fear of a year-long pandemic. It’s not quite so fearful for us because we’re had our Corona shots!  Yes!  That’s all there is to it!  Two shots of Corona and Bob’s your uncle!

   So after sealing the deal on our home inside the boundary of Johnson, Arkansas, we began the arduous task of giving it a new facelift. New paint within and without, new kitchen , master bathroom overhaul and new wood flooring.   We have had great help with this project!  Thanks so much to Steve & Rhonda for a ton of scraping, sanding, texturizing, priming and painting, including high work on Steve’s scaffolding!   Thanks Jeff & Cara for your help with electrical, plumbing and carpentry!  A big thank you to Debby’s sister, Sandi and her husband, Marvin for helping us with getting a new kitchen, bathroom, wood flooring, shelves, cabinets, countertops and much more!  Marvin is a master craftsman and we were lucky to have him helping us!  They also sent down some of their best help from Branson to install our kitchen and all the flooring!  Many thanks, guys!  A big thank you to Ron and Nancy. She is a great painter!  Dr. Ron was new to this kind of stuff but he worked hard and helped me immensely!  We scraped old glue off the floor, patched Sheetrock,  chipped up tile, mud and taped, sanded, removed old flooring and trim, covered floors, windows and trim for painters and installed a new toilet. For his hard work outside of his professional field of a podiatry, Ron has earned the coveted “ Carpenters Pencil.”  Next month we plan to have a pencil sharpening ceremony and catfish dinner!  Thank you, my friend!  Much thanks also to Brent and my son, Matt for coming all the way from Ok City to help us, even with ice on the roads!  Matt was great with the detail work we needed. Brent was our floor tile guy. He did a great job installing our bathroom flooring!  Also, thanks to Debby’s sister Teri and Sam who helped with some demo work; also to a friend of Sam’s who helped. Most of all, thanks to Debby for her labor with not only the demo and finish work, but shopping for everything going into our new home; new appliances, cabinets, flooring, paint color, and a million little things that takes a keen eye and determination to complete. 

   At our age, the physical workout has been over the top and we needed a break!  

   We did not expect record-setting cold temperatures, snow and ice to be a part of the mix. Arctic conditions puts a strain on a Codger’s energy level, not to mention all the work sucking us dry. 

   With all that said, we chose a resort in Mexico and planned our adventure. Puerto Peñasco, on the Sea of Cortez appeared to fit the bill.   We picked a date and time, bought airline tickets and made travel arrangements to cross the border into Mexico. We also contacted the resort management to see what we needed to do to bring my Guide Dog, Toronto. 

   Our traveling companions, Ron and Nancy Pinkerton used some of their air miles and flew American. Their trip was uneventful. Our trip was a bit different. 

   We flew United because we had some previously canceled flight credits that needed to be used. 

   United was 45 minutes late taking off. Part of that was having to de-ice the plane prior to takeoff. I’m sure every other airline in Northwest Arkansas had to do the same. They otherwise made no excuse. The pilot probably overslept. 

   We landed in Houston at the exact same time as boarding on our connecting flight began. We literally ran to get up to the sky train to go to another terminal!  Debby got a leg cramp, which made walking even more difficult. Although we were hurrying at break-neck speed, I noticed everyone else was passing us, even other old people!  A kind man driving a buggy stopped and gave us a ride to Gate 5, which was still a Codger mile away!  We barely made boarding. We were among the last to board. 

   We made good time to Phoenix and headed towards Baggage Claim. We stopped at a doggie relief station to give Toronto a chance to relieve himself. As usual, he was very reluctant to step foot on that plastic grass with the fake Fire Hydrant in the corner. I bribed him with a kibble to give it a go. He sniffed around a lot, made a couple of circles and stepped up on the turf. I rewarded him for being brave. 

   At Baggage Claim, we soon discovered that one of our 3 suitcases was missing. It was the one with all of our warm weather clothes we had packed for Mexico. I could just picture us lounging around the beach in our wool long-handles!  

   The baggage agent got on her computer and found our suitcase still parked in Houston!  Wonderful! Fortunately, she was able to get it on the next flight to Phoenix. She promised to bring it to us at the La Quinta about mid afternoon, which did actually happen!

   Tonight we rest. Tomorrow morning we catch a shuttle van to go to our resort in Mexico.   The shuttle will pick us up at 10:30 for the 4 hour trip. So what could go wrong?