Mind-Bogglings:

Our house sold, we moved our personal things out, it was sold furnished and turn key.

We were declared homeless. 

First place we went was down the road to an Air B&B in Rio Rico which is very close to the border with Mexico. A casita way out in the desert, actually in open range country with cattle wandering by once in a while. The most incredible part of the place was the views. Right up against the Santa Rita mountains it felt as if we could reach out and touch the peaks but also with views of hills, mountains, valleys in all directions. The full moon visited us while there. The views could lead one to fully admire this part of the country, it could change your view of nature and much more.

After ten days in Rio Rico, we pull ourselves away and are on our way to the other side of those mountains, the wide spot in the road called Sonoita. It has a population of about 800 and most of the inhabitants are scattered around living on ranches or farms. Nearby is the small town of Elgin which is one of the centers of vineyards, wineries and wine tasting in Arizona. 

About half way to Sonoita we stop in the little town of Patagonia. We hike the Cemetery Trail, wondering why it's called that. The trail started out easy but soon greeted us with quite a climb, switchbacks and all. When we reached the top we were now aware why the trail had it's name; a large historical cemetery sits there on the top of the mountain, great views. After descending we had a delicious lunch at a cafe in the downtown. On to Sonoita!

Our new Air B&B where we will be for about 3 weeks lies four miles from "downtown" Sonoita, then two miles on a dirt road to a 20 acre farm with horse and sheep. We will be in a small cottage near the barn, nice facility. More about this location and our experiences here soon.

Stan the Man 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Mind-boggling trip with or without hearing.

 

Mind-bogglings don't always grab us and sometimes we don't even notice when something like that happens, that means something unexpected with unexpected results that impact us directly and we wonder, why did that happen to me? Well, Ive had one of those recently. Yes, it seems that we had everything going our way but then? 

Well I've been wearing the same hearing aids for about seven years, no problem, well okay, once I lost one but they were still under the warranty even though I lost it it was replaced with no cost to me.

But this time I'm not so lucky. One morning recently I was reaching for my hearing aids to re-install them but the second one, for the right ear was missing the little rubber thingy that sits into the ear was not there. I said, "oh no". It led to a long and thorough search of the place we are staying with no luck. I came to the solution that it had stayed in my ear and was still there. So off we went to an urgent  care center to get it extracted . I was nervous because how foolish would I feel if it wasn't in there. But it was, the nurse practitioner said after a few minutes of probing, I see it. I had to sign a form giving her permission to extract it which she did. Suddenly there it was, out of my ear.

But they discovered both the rubber thingy and a ball of wax were totally covering the ear drum. No wonder I've been having trouble hearing. There might have been infection in there also so now I'm on 10 ear antibiotic drops twice per day.  and have no hearing out of that right ear. I'm hoping this ordeal will be over soon. I have other stuff to deal with, like where will we go next. We are on a mind-boggling trip to who knows where.

Stan the Man 

 

 

Things  moved slow, negotiations, back and forth on our big deal, selling our house, and going homeless. Then suddenly it happened, primarily because of our flexibility and willingness to give up some money. Was it worth it? I can't really say at this point but if the freedom we are just beginning to feel is any indication of how we will feel, without question, it was worth it. We still didn't lose too much and we are able to move ahead. 

Move ahead? What does that mean? Well, we have big plans but not much is clear yet. We are taking it one step at a time. Our first step after signing the final paperwork, no actually, it was the day before the papers were signed and the money flowed in our direction we moved out of our house, former home and into the Green Valley Best Western Inn. Three days in one hotel was enough, but we had a few details to take care of. That was completed yesterday so as of last night and for the next week or so we are staying in a little rental out in the outback of a place called Rio Rico. Small but with great views of the surrounding mountains, an outside fireplace that we enjoyed last night and it got us about 30 miles or so closer to Mexico where we would like to spend some time eventually.

But first on to Sonoita, AZ for nearly a month, staying on a farm, and in the middle of a great wine growing area. We have plans beyond that which will be disclosed as soon as they are firmed up.Stay tuned in!

Stan the Man 

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Mind-Boggling Resolution

We appear to have a mind-boggling deal on the sale of our house and the closing is scheduled for January 20th. We went through a series of negotiations, back and forth, until the issues were resolved by us granting credit to the buyers for improvements to the roof and a couple other things. So, the bottom line is there is basically a reduction in the cash our buyers have to come up with and we don't have to worry about getting the work done. We are not happy about the bottom line to our net profit but a deal is nearly done. It is a mind-boggling accomplishment however and we are happy we will be free to travel, find other housing or whatever we decide to do. The feeling of freedom will be welcome when the deal is signed sealed and delivered.

When the sale is completed and this house belongs to someone else we will be embarking on new adventures that are not totally designed yet. We do know about two stays in Air Bed and Breakfasts in the Southern Arizona area for the first couple of months but after that we only have rough ideas. Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, Spain and mind-boggling places we haven't even thought of yet..

I invite you to follow us on our adventures right here on Mind-Bogglings. 

Stan the Man 

 

Mind-Boggling Problems 

Unfortunately there are many things that can go wrong when selling a house, mind-boggling things. We are experiencing one of those currently. It looked like everything was going well, cruising towards a closing January 20, 2026, it was mind-boggling quick, but then an inspection discovered that our roof had not been completed appropriately. That was about 32 months ago and we had been assured everything was fine, we closed believing that story. We have not had any problem, no leaks but there is a problem with the way the flat roof was finished. 

Now, it looks like we were not informed about the problem, which just might have stopped us from buying this place at all if we had been told. So we are in a mind-boggling situation. If we want this deal to go forward, and we do, then we must come up with a large sum of money to get the roof re-done. And we have to come up with the money very soon. What can we do? Get a loan, steal or beg for help. No, none of those work for us. We will just need to work with our buyers to see what we can work out but I have no idea how that will go. It's strange when the sellers never have any kind of a relationship with the buyers, I know, that's the way real estate is done but it means both the sellers and the buyers are left to simply trust in their realtors. It may turn out fine but all we can do is wait and see what happens. Wish us luck!

Stan the Man 

 Mind-Boggling Plans

I've done some mind-boggling things in my life. Things that you and many others would have told me not to do. Maybe you did tell me, stop, that's crazy, you can't do that. Or it just doesn't make any sense or on and on. But did it ever make any difference? Not that I can remember. You see my wife and I spend many hours discussing, sometimes what you could call negotiating the details, we go back and forth until we decide to do something, then it's ironclad, we know what we want to do and nothing can change that unless we alter it a bit ourselves. Others either don't understand, they don't get us, or they are secretly wishing they had the courage to do something similar. 

So to bring the reader up to date, our current plan, well its more than a plan since we are now well into it. We listed our house with a realtor, it is for sale on the Multiple Listing Service in our community. The one place we have to live in, the one place to hang our hats and hopefully it will be gone soon. Then what? Well, that's where the mind-boggling comes in, we don't quite know. Yes we want to travel the world and we have no intention of buying another house. We want to be Travelers with a capital T. Every week, every month or perhaps every six months we will have a new and different home. The question is can a guy in his 80s like me, with a wife in her 70s accomplish that. Yes, of course we can do that but for how long? How long can we remain healthy, how long can we land on our feet, able to go on to the next place without problems? There's also the critical question of how long will our money last, that's critical isn't it? Travel is expensive and unexpected expenses will come up. Well, our philosophy is simply that we will deal with that when it comes up. That has been our way the 33 years we have been together. Nuts huh? 

Stay tuned in for updates. We had an open house today with a fair amount of interest so we may be on our way soon.

Stan the Man 

 Mexico

A recent trip to Mexico for Dia De Los Muertos quickly became mind-boggling. All our plans, good intentions, and planning went out the window very quickly. We arrive in Mexico City, go through immigration where they now ask you how long you are planning on staying. My wife stated three weeks and they gave her a month. I followed her and expected the immigration woman on duty understood we were together. Bad assumption. They now stamp in your passport the date you must be out of the country. She didn't ask me how long I would be in Mexico which reinforced my belief that she knew we were together, same last name and so forth. She stamped my passport and I we were on my way.

Later when we were on our next flight taking us to Oaxaca City. I looked at my passport and the stamp, then looked at my wife's. She could stay until November 13 and i could only stay in Mexico until October 29. What? That meant I would need to leave nearly two weeks before her or stay and be an illegal in Mexico.That did not sound inviting to me, after all, how are we treating illegals in this country. I did not want to end up in a Mexico jail.

To make a long story short, we agreed we should leave together on my last legitimate day in Mexico, which we did.

I don't know whats going on with Mexico. Seems that they may be making things more difficult for Americans coming to their country but I can't say that for sure. All I can say now is that was a mind-boggling,unexpected development. We love Mexico and will return but with more attention to our passports.

Stan the Man