Yuma farewells and on to Hawaii

One concern I had with us starting the life of being married to a travel nurse was would I feel lonely with leaving behind my friends and family in Colorado. Caleb wondered too what it would be like for me traveling every few months. I already knew what it was like to say good-bye to dear friends and family from when we left South Carolina to move to Colorado. God provided friends in Colorado Springs and grew our family in Colorado. I trusted that travel nursing would be another opportunity in life for me to see who God brings into my life even if it's for a short time. Rather than it being a concern now will I make friends and meet people, it's become something I look forward to with each assignment. I won't be sitting in the middle of nowhere with no people around us. So who will I meet? What kind of friendships will be formed at each travel location?

Matt, Marti, Janah, Jeff, and Caleb were all travel RNs in the ER in Yuma

Yuma was a great first assignment. Yes, we may have grown tired of being in the desert, but we spent time with family, friends, and met some great people. We met two other married couples who are both ER travel nurses, Jeff & Janah and Matt & Marti. We cheered the Broncos onto a super bowl win at a party with all of us. We went and shot guns together a couple times with the Js, had a few dinner and hang out nights, and went out for bowling as our final farewell. Jeff, Janah, and Matt have all lived on Oahu and Marti had been there for vacation. They had a lot of advice to share with us about Hawaii living and traveling. We hope we get to run into these guys often down the road while travel nursing. We might all end up in Alaska the same time. We shall see!

Our first travel nurse housing. We loved it.

Pat & KeLee is the couple whose 5th wheel RV we have been renting. They were the first ones we met in our RV neighborhood. The first few nights Caleb had to work, KeLee invited me to come join them in the hot tub for the evenings. They encouraged me to come to BINGO with them one night and introduced me to their friends and other neighbors. They made us feel very welcome and at home in the RV neighborhood. Caleb and I said the 5th wheel has never once felt small to us or cramped. We are still talking about getting an RV at the end of this year to continue travel nursing the country.

I could write a rather long blog post sharing about all of the wonderful neighbors who I enjoyed getting to know, but I'll share only a few right now. Many of them started leaving a couple weeks ago to move back to their summer homes. Betty is a dear lady in her 80s from Prince George, British Columbia. She was my pool friend. She faithfully went to the pool to exercise. She showed me how to use some weights in the water with resistance to strengthen arms. I was also surprised to see her treading water for 45 minutes everyday. Quite impressive! She inspired me to exercise some while at the pool and it has felt great. I didn't make it to 45 minutes treading water yet, but I was working on getting there.


Cliff and Sue were a fun couple to meet! Sue was one of those people who I instantly connected with in conversation. We spent quite a few afternoons at the pool talking. Sue was so dear to me and she knows how special it was for me to visit with her and get to know her. We shared about our faith, family, where life has taken us and taught us, and so much more. After meeting Sue, I knew things would be just alright with me travel nursing and not being lonely. God used her to encourage me in this.

Tom & Joyce were our next door neighbors in their RV 5th wheel. They are from rural Nebraska and Tom is a retired southern baptist pastor. Tom made delicious homemade ice cream which we enjoyed a couple times. Joyce has had the dream to go to Hawaii for quite awhile and is now trying to convince Tom to take a trip to Hawaii this summer and visit us if they come.

Janet & Gary were from Canada (I think Alberta) and I saw them at the pool and hot tub the same time each day. I feel like when Janet was saying good-bye to me she vocalized my exact thoughts. She said, "I know our paths may not ever cross again, but I think about people I have met and I know you guys will come to my mind often. I wish you a happy life."

And we were able to spend time with my Aunt Jane and Uncle Steve. It was so great to be in Arizona the same weeks out of the year they were. They came to Yuma last week to spend a day with me (Caleb had to work) and to say good-bye until we see them in Maine again. We checked out a mining museum outside of Yuma in the desert. A couple lives on the land and is working on restoring old mines and preserving artifacts and information about the history of the area. We also saw some burros (wild donkeys) while driving out there.

Prickly Pear Cactus bloom in our RV park

I look forward to our days on Oahu, HI and seeing who we will meet. Oahu has a lot of travel nurses at the many different hospitals on the island. I'm sure we will meet some other great nurses and spouses to explore Hawaii with. We hope family and friends will come to visit us in Hawaii! Shoot me a message or email if you are interested in talking about a visit.

On Oahu we plan to rent/share a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath town home with another couple who went to the island initially for travel nursing. They are living on the island now and the husband took a permanent RN position at the hospital. It is the same hospital Caleb will be working. We will be living on the west coast of the island in a resort area called Ko Olina. Housing is very expensive on Oahu so we are thankful for finding this couple who rent. We can't wait to meet them in less than two weeks and to watch our plane touch down on the beautiful island of Oahu.

Until we take off for the Hawaiian islands, we get to head home to Colorado Springs and spend a week with family and friends. I am thrilled to see those stunning Rockies with their snow-capped peaks and to spend time with people we love.