Tour Day #293, Patagonia, AZ, and Racy Verna’s continued Hospital needs
Update on Racy Verna (RV): solar batteries arrived (only thanks to Dave at MK Battery and Richard at Lowe’s RV in Hobbs, but that’s another story…). I thought I’d found a reputable RV repair person to install the new batteries. Not the case, as we now have zero 12-volt power, meaning, no water, stove or lights. But the solar batteries have never charged better!
So, we find ourselves having to go to another RV dealership today and have the new batteries re-installed by someone who actually knows how to install wiring in the proper sequence. Cross your fingers folks, as this is the final straw in our continued journey with Racy Verna, affectionately re-named by Amber, our intrepid new road crew. (Just for good measure, the fridge door broke too, so this is also on our list of “to fix” today, here in Tucson Arizona.)
I go back now to the day before yesterday and our final of 5 marathons in 5 days running streak through the deserts of western New Mexico. We felt like Forrest Gump and Gump’ette from the long week of heat and wind. The views through the final miles of New Mexico made the long 260 miler week incredible, even with my sore hip and Steph’s burnt skin.
We completed in a little place called, Patagonia, Arizona and were welcomed in (like the usual family or old friends tradition) by another “local hero”, Sherry Luna and her husband, Phillip Ostrom. Just two weeks ago, we received one of those jump off the screen emails that inspired us to go slightly off course for a very special opportunity. Here’s how it went:
“My name is Sherry Luna and I live in Patagonia, Arizona. A Montessori teacher friend in Tucson sent me a flyer about your event and I see that you will be in towns near us (Willcox and Tucson). My children attend a very small, but public charter Montessori school in our little town and I am very much interested in your program. I am wondering if you still have slots open and if there is a cost associated with the event…
Please let me know if you are interested in visiting our area. We are in a lovely area, have a 38 acre ranch school and have many hosts who could provide accommodations. We would also be able to mobilize the children into a fund raiser for your organization, perhaps through selling our “seed balls”. These are little adobe balls embedded with native flower seeds that we often make and sell as a fund raiser… The seed balls are broad-scattered and allowed to grow with normal rainfall.”
Needless to say, we were sold! Sherry set up a feast fit for royalty in her family’s SUPER sustainable house, upon our late evening arrival. Sherry also teed up a full police escort and 2 schools combined event with her children’s Montessori School in the eclectic town of Patagonia. This tiny little community is losing population but is on a surge, by way of the current generation of families and people moving here, to re-populate and keep the spirit alive of a town also facing hardship with the current economic situation here in America.
Here was our itinerary for the day (gotta love Sherry!):
8:00am Pancake breakfast at Sherry’s house
9:20am Matt/ Steph run through town with police escort, to the school grounds
9:30am All the students line up to greet the runners in front of the art studio/barn.
9:45am The violin students and choristers will give a short performance.
10:00am Matt and Steph will give their presentation. Students will present their “footprints” etc.
11:00am – noon Tour of R41P’s eco-RV
Noon–picnic lunch and time for play
(Check out Amber’s shot of all the kids taking the Action Challenge and the excitement we all had naming the worms in our compost bin!! I think we added another 200 names to our worm family.)
After this, Sherry toured us through the Patagonia neighbourhood, taking us to another super sustainable house 100% off grid (!!) by solar panels for all their electrical and water heating needs, not to mention the straw bail, adobe, and Styrofoam cement use to build it. Needless to say, it was a full community day affair enjoyed immensely by all. The only sad part was leaving!
Sherry and Phillip also just opened their organic produce and fruit store called Local Harvest (www.localharvestmarketplace.com) and are facing tough decisions to stay open. It has created such an uproar that Phillip has been doing interview after interview to get the message out there that this type of eating, growing and way of living needs to continue. It has actually been through the public’s outcry to stay open, he told us, which has drawn such energy from people and support from the media. They told us that it shows how much people all over want to have food grown organically and sold locally. Even in hard economic times. We put our positive energy into what Sherry and Phillip are doing as mavericks in these tough times.
So I type from the comfort of another (thank you Jess) incredible casita’ out here in the desert. Another supporter, Beth & Bob Fuller, said yes to having us for 2 nights at their desert hideaway. They are called The Casitas at Smokey Spring Ranch (www.thecasitas.com) and is the perfect place for the 3 of us to do some laundry, spread out bigger than 28 feet and yes folks, stay on the positive side of our beloved RV’s road to electric health.