Back to Texas - Family Emergency

June 16 to July 18:

After making the decision to head back to Texas with the news of Connie's niece Lisa Aragon worsening condition, we left around 11:00 AM on Wednesday morning to drive as far as we could. I was "under the weather" so Connie drove most of the day. She made comments that evening about how beautiful the drive along Highway 30 in Idaho was (I sleep through this part of the trip). We made it as far as Rawlins, Wyoming where we spend the night at the Western Hills RV Park. We set up as the sun was setting, ate a quick meal, and then on to bed. The next morning I was feeling a little bit better and we split the driving between us. We made it to Dumas, Texas where we pulled into the Dumas RV Park for the evening. After another quick overnight stay we were on the road again the next morning. Connie called all of the  parks in the area to see if they had any spots open, but all of them were booked for the time period that we needed them. Our friends Brooks and Heidi Ivey graciously opened their extra bedroom to us for as long as we needed it. We made it to their house in Cedar Park, Texas where I dropped Connie off. I drove the motor home and Jeep on to Rosanky where we keep the rig parked at my dad's ranch while we stay in the Austin area. My dad has put in a second 50 amp connection so we are able to have full hookups while at the ranch.

Connie spent the next few days at the hospital with Lisa. Lisa was in a coma and was not able to communicate with anyone. Connie and her sister, Debbie, would be at the hospital during the day while Lisa's boyfriend would spend the night at the hospital. As the days passed Lisa's body began to shut down and the family had to make a decision about when to take her off life support. The decision was made to keep her on the machines until her daughter was able to make it down from Fort Worth to see her mom. Once this occurred, the machines were removed and Lisa passed quickly from this life. She was 41 - much too young to be gone.

Lisa Hodges Aragon 1976-2017

In the days that followed Connie helped her sister, Debbie, make the arrangements with the funeral home for Lisa's cremation, arrange a memorial service for her and started the process of going through her possessions. Most of her stuff was in a storage facility and everything had to be gone through and decisions made about what to do with it (what to keep, what to give away and what to donate).

Connie with her cousins Alan & Donna along with sister Debbie (far right)

 
Once this was all accomplished, we spent a few days at Brooks and Heidi's house before heading out to the ranch in Rosanky for a few days. We did manage to have a "Happy Hour" one evening to see several of our friends during our stay at the Iveys.

After spending some time with my dad, we made a quick trip to San Antonio to see our good friends, Fran and Mal Vaughan. Coming back to Rosanky, we drove the rig to Jim Hogg Park on Lake Georgetown where we spent a week with temperatures near and above 100 degrees. We were able to spend a couple of days in the lake to cool off from the heat. Rhonda and Russell Herrington came out for a visit and spend the day with us in the park.

Our site at Jim Hogg Park on Lake Georgetown

On July 18th, we packed up the rig and headed north again to escape the Texas summer.