Our arrival on October 1st came with exactly what we expected—very hot weather. Coming from a humid climate to a dry, arid desert definitely takes some adjustment. While the temperatures were high, we enjoyed the sunny skies and Yuma’s beautiful desert scenery. Arriving this early also had its advantages, including much lighter traffic compared to the busy high season from December through March.
We quickly settled into our beautiful lot in the Foothills of Yuma, Arizona. The desert landscape, large fenced lot, and partial outdoor casita—used daily—are big pluses for us. Bill loves BBQing and using the smoker outside, which essentially gives us an additional outdoor kitchen. We move our chairs around and enjoy watching TV outside on our RV setup.
We both enjoy attending local farmers markets and participating as vendors with Divine Treats. Liz especially enjoys making peanut and cashew brittle and is grateful to have many repeat customers from last year. The dry desert climate is ideal for making this type of candy. In addition to brittle, she also makes fudge, toffee, and Christmas-time cookies. The cashew brittle has been a huge hit, and demand has been so strong that we find ourselves ordering multiple bulk boxes of cashews each month to keep up.
A week before we planned to leave Yuma,everything changed with Shale(our female almost 10yrs old)She suddenly wouldn’t eat or drink, and the severe diarrhea had us terrified. By late Saturday afternoon, we knew we couldn’t wait-we rushed her to an emergency hospital in Yuma.
They took her from us right away, placing her on a gurney and bringing her inside. Watching her go through those doors were a hard moment where we felt hopless.
After X-rays and blood work we got the diagnosis:pancreatitis. She was admitted to the ICU for two nights. Leaving her there was very hard. The RV-felt empty with out her and Shadow her brother looked lost.
The next couple of weeks were filled with worry and constant attention. We watched every drop of water she drank, every small bite of ground up food she managed to eat. She has weaned off chicken and turkey and broth baby food. It was slow and emotional but we were just grateful to see her gradually getting stronger. She currently is now the Shale we know and love!
It took a long time to write these updates as we both have been busy onsidering retired but enjoyed our winter again in Arizona. We look forward to heading to Wisconsin in June to see family and friends andJuly in our old location of Bismarck ND.
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