MOLLIE GOES TO THE BEACH

This afternoon we took Mollie for a walk on the beach.  It was cool but sunny. There were a few local families out and a few local vendors peddling flowers, pottery and jewelry, but for the most part it was very quiet.   You can see the amount of beach we have at low tide.

Mollie seem to really enjoy running on the sand.

She even managed to find something to roll in.  I think it is much easier on her feet than the desert rocks and gravel we have been in for the last month.

She also enjoyed chasing the gulls.

All in all a great walk for all of us. As I write this, Mollie is already curled up in a chair fast asleep.   Tonight it's shrimp on the Barby.  You know those shrimp I bought outside our door this morning.

Until later

P.S.  Mollie decided this evening that she wasn't done running and playing and slipped out the door to go visit a few neighbors.  Thanks to Bob she was returned safe and sound, was sent to her room, and we did enjoy those shrimp.

FRESH SHRIMP

Did you have fresh seafood delivered to your home this morning. We did.  One pound of jumbo shrimp for six dollars fresh at our door.   A nice way to start the day.  I hear they are really good with eggs!!

MEXICO

We have arrived in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. For the next month we will be staying at the Playa Bonita RV Park , which is right on the Sea of Cortez.
We enjoyed a beautiful sunny day as we made the short drive down from Ajo today.

Earlier this week the weather was not so nice. We left Quartzsite on Wednesday because we heard a storm was approaching and the weather was going to get bad.  We arrived in Gila Bend late that afternoon.  The first RV park we wanted to stay at was already full, but the second one we checked at had room for both of us.

Thursday morning it was raining and windy as we drove up to Buckeye/Goodyear to finish up our pre-mexico shopping.  Thursday evening Bob and Linda had us over for dinner to celebrate Judy's birthday. We enjoyed a great chicken dinner and chocolate cake while the coach was swaying and the rain came pouring down.  The power at the RV park went out that evening, and Bob's weather station recorded a 51 mph gust of wind. It was wild weather.  Friday morning arrived with partly sunny skies, so we packed up and headed south to Ajo, AZ.  We needed to pick up our mail and Bob and Linda needed to pick up their insurance for Mexico.  At one point during our short drive to Ajo, we were entertained by a group of A10 warthogs doing practice bombing runs at the Barry M.Goldwater Air Force Range.

Shortly after we got settled into our sites at the RV park in Ajo, Bob heard air coming from one of his RV's front tires.  He discovered a large bolt stuck in the tire.  A few phone calls later and Coachnet had arranged for a tire to be sent down this morning from Phoenix. The tire repairman arrived at 9am. the tire was replaced, and we were on the road by 10:30.

The road to Puerto Penasco was covered by mud in several places from all the rain, but we made it through without any problems.  As this was Bob and Linda's third time driving down here we just relaxed and played follow the leader.

This evening we walked up to a restaurant on the edge of the RV park and had a wonderful dinner.  We enjoyed margaritas, calamari, shrimp fajitas, chicken enchiladas with mole sauce, and chili rellenos.  Yes, we even had room for dessert and we all had flan. 

The waiter asked if we wanted coffee and Judy and Bob opted for the Mexican coffee drink.

Prepared table side, it was as much fun to watch the waiter prepare it as it was to drink it.

After a leisurely stroll back to the coaches , we played a few games of Mexican Train. Bob was on a winning streak, he won 3 out of 4 games. A great way to end our first day in Mexico.


Until later.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUDY

Today is a very special day.  Yesterday we said good bye to Quartzsite, and we are currently at Gila Bend for a couple of days getting ready for Mexico.  But I digress.... as I was saying.

Today is my wife Judy's birthday.  Happy Birthday Dearest.  The most important person in my life.
She is mother to our 4 children, Grandma to our 4 soon to be 5 grandchildren and my best friend.  She can dress up with the best of them but is a blue jeans girl at heart.

10 years ago for our 25th anniversary we went on a Rick Steves tour to Europe.  On the final night we had a farewell dinner and our guides had titles and awards for each of us.  Judy was labeled as "Mona Lisa"  because of her quiet smile and the fact that you are never quite sure what she's thinking.  I think that is an accurate description.  I am in love with my own "Mona Lisa".



 HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAREST!!

TRAILER TRASH!!!

Well it happened. I know, you've been thinking it all along. It has now been confirmed.  Judy and I are nothing but TRAILER TRASH.  After my rant yesterday I knew I needed to repent and accept Quartzsite for what it is and more importantly what I am.  The RVA group which has graciously and warmly accepted Judy and me into their little circle tonight made it official.

Five of us were inducted into and from henceforth shall be known as Quartzsite Trailer Trash.  There is no higher honor they could bestoe on us.  Come to think of it, there is no lower honor either, but that's beside the point. 

So ended another day in Quartzsite.  Sitting around the campfire, sharing food, stories, and even a few lame jokes.  As a former boss of mine use to say..."beats getting poked in the eye with a sharp stick".  Until later.

THE PROBLEM WITH QUARTZSITE

We arrived in Quartzsite on Tuesday afternoon. It was peaceful, and the traffic wasn't too bad. Today is Saturday and what a difference four days make. The big tent rv show is going on, and thousands are now camped close by in the desert. In fact, too close. After coming from the peace and solitude of the Imperial Dam BLM, it feels like NYC. These two pictures illustrate very well the difference 60 miles can make.


We joined the mob at the rv show, but soon left. I do not enjoy being elbow to elbow with people checking out the latest in time sharing campgrounds and miraculous healing magnets or copper bracelets. There are a few things we want to go back and check out but we'll wait until Monday when the weekend crowds have gone home.

We went out for awhile this afternoon, and when we were coming back we couldn't find our RV. We knew we were in the right area,but couldn't spot our rv. We then realized another group of 5th wheels had set up literally 15 feet behind our coach. Why is it that human beings feel the need to group together so close even when it isn't necessary? The last time I checked, we are in no danger of being attacked by Wolves or raiders. In fact the greatest risk is probably the fumes from all the generators running unless you are like Bob and Linda who have a great solar power system. Speaking of power, our 4 house batteries are dying and it is time to replace them so Monday we are buying 4 new batteries. Which brings me to my next point.

Why are we here? Well first there are a lot of suppliers here fixing and selling rv stuff. If you shop carefully you can actually find pretty good deals. Second it's the people. After my rant you might wonder what I mean. No I don't like the masses, but we are with a group of 8 or 9 couples that Bob and Linda know. We weren't sure we were up to the task. Judy and I tend to be fairly private and much prefer being with one or two other couples at a time. But the group has warmly welcomed us in and we have enjoyed getting to know everyone. By the time we leave on Thursday we might even have everyone's name straight. Mollie is also working on her social skills and gets a B+ for her first fireside visit. I think there are at least 8 other dogs here in our little group.

So basically the problem with Quartzsite is very simple...... it's ME. I need to work on being more flexible and tolerant. I thought I was done with that lesson, but apparently not.  Till next time.

DUMP DAY

When you dry camp in the desert as we have been doing since the first of the year you eventually run into a problem. No matter how frugal with your water, sooner or later your water tank becomes empty and your waste tanks become full. This is a fact of life and you must deal with it. Judy looked forward to Dump Day. This meant that she could take a shower instead of sponge baths. I think secretly she was also looking forward to hubby taking a shower too.

Tuesday was dump day. We packed up all of our stuff and drove over to the dump station, no you do not just empty your tanks on the ground, and as I pulled up to dump the tanks Judy hopped in the shower. I came inside to take my shower and of course ran out of water midway through. I managed to get enough water to rinse myself off and we moved to our next spot which was refilling the water tank with safe to drink water.

We then followed Bob and Linda north 60 miles to Quartzsite. While they were checking out sites we went on into town to top off our propane and diesel. After setting up we headed back into town to do laundry. Even though we have a washer, dryer, we don't use it while dry camping. With the right tanks full, and the bad tanks empty and clean clothes we are now ready for our 9 days at Q. I will close this with a sunset, since you really don't want to look at Dump Stations....do you?

BOB OF THE DESERT

When I was much younger there were numerous TV programs about man and nature. For example, who could forget George of the Jungle, Wild Kingdom or even Grizzly Adams. Well sit back and listen to the tale of Bob of the Desert.

This man tamed the ferocious desert burro, and if that wasn't enough, captured with his bare hands the elusive hummingbird. I know.... it's hard to believe but I was there, I saw it with my own eyes, and most importantly I captured it on film......wait, that doesn't work any more, I captured it on compact flash and SD cards.

Our story begins on Sunday afternoon when we noticed 9 to 10 burros checking out our camp site.

Monday evening, as Bob was preparing our nightly fire, I think to protect us from the wolves, this burro surprised Bob. Bob quickly evaluated the situation and with no thought of danger proceeded to pet the burro,
then he even fed it a carrot out of his bare hand. We were all in awe.

As if that wasn't enough, the next morning a hummingbird flew into Bob and Linda's RV.

Again with no thought to the danger he was in, he quickly with compassion and care, captured the hummingbird and set it free.

Later that morning as I was pondering all that I had witnessed, I looked off towards the east, and there it was, the burro that Bob had tamed. Standing tall and proud, it must have wondered...."who is this Bob and why was he here?".

Desert Musings

I've been through the desert
on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert,
you can't remember your name
'cause there ain't no one
for to give you no pain.

La la... la lalala la lala la... la.. la.
la la... la lalala la lala la... la.. la.

Ah yes, memories of the first rock concert Judy and I went to. So it's Wednesday the 6th and we are sitting out in the desert at the Imperial Dam BLM LTVA area. We will be here until next week when we move north 60 to 70 miles to Quartzsite.

Our days here can be described in one word....SIMPLE. We get up when we want, we eat when we want, we go to bed when we are tired.
In the immortal words of Forest Gump... " When I got tired, I slept. When I got hungry, I ate. When I had to go, you know, I went."

Yesterday's highlights were finding a building that Italian POW's built during WWII, visiting a display at the Yuma Proving Grounds, checking out the Imperial Dam, and taking trash to the dumpster. Even Mollie dreams of bigger things. Of course Judy and Linda insist on breaking the law. It is a full time job just keeping them out of trouble.
But we are not bored. The little things take on greater importance. It reminds us of how busy our lives back in Michigan really are. For example here's a picture of our neighbors....no not Bob and Linda, these are our new neighbors.

Last night when the generator was on Judy ground some whole wheat flour for a baking project. We also tried to grind some flax seed. Doesn't work. I spent an hour taking apart the grinding head and cleaning it. Thursday we are getting out visiting some neighboring areas. We also need to head to Yuma to pick up some produce.

In closing..... Happy Birthday Linda and remember even though you are older than me you will always be younger than Bob!!!

Messing around in the Southwest

I know, I know ... I haven't been very good at posting lately. I may have hit my head sledddding, or something. But seriously we have been having fun!

When we left Alamogordo we followed this RV all the way down to Columbus, New Mexico. On our way there we stopped at the White Sands Missile Range Museum.


We spent a few hours viewing this great exhibit before moving on down the road.

We stayed 3 nights at the Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus and walked across the border into Mexico twice to have lunch and do a little shopping at the Pink Store.




We then moved on to the funky, artsy town of Bisbee ,AZ.

We took the back roads there and on the way had to avoid an airplane. I know, it sounds crazy but we came up over a hill and there was an oversized truck headed towards us.

He had one third of an airliner on his trailer. We quickly pulled over and soon the rest of the plane followed on two more trucks. You never know what you will find out in the desert.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and we were soon hooked up at the Queen Mine RV Park in Bisbee. This was our third visit here and we never grow tired of it. If I come up missing some day you might want to check for me in Bisbee.


We spent 3 nights at the Park which is situated up on a hill right next to the huge Queen Mine Lavender Pit. We enjoyed walking around and exploring this interesting town. Of course no visit would be complete without lunch at the Cafe Cornucopia and a stop at Seth's Bisbee Roasters.

We then moved on up the road to the Saguaro SKP Co-Op park in Benson. We are members of Escapees but have never stayed at this park. This is a very nice co-op park where you can buy your site.
The waiting list to purchase a site ( the 'Hot List') , has about 450 names on it and it can take 4-5 years to get to the top of the list. Some members have also built very nice casitas on their sites. Judy and Linda enjoyed the flexercise and beading classes. There are a lot of scheduled activities and we really enjoyed our stay there.

We are now in the Phoenix area getting ready to fly out early tomorrow morning to spend Christmas with family in Portland.
We will spend a week there before flying back to Arizona and meeting up with Bob and Linda again.

SLIP SLEDDING AWAY

On Sunday we went to the White Sands National Monument with Bob and Linda . It is unusual to have snow on top of the dunes. During the summer you can rent saucers which you wax and you can slide down the dunes which look like sand but are actually gypsum. Bob thought we should take advantage of the snow. So yes on Sunday we pretended to be kids sledding. Ironic that we come all the way from Michigan to sled in New Mexico.

By the way... this morning we were reminded of our true age. But it was fun and a once in a life time experience. As usual Judy was graceful while I.... well you can see for yourself.

COLD AND SNOWY

Okay, I know we haven't written much. Having a hard time getting in the mood with the cold weather. We are in Alamogordo NM with Bob and Linda. If you would like to know where we've been and what we have been up the last couple of days, follow this link.

Looks like a warmer day today. We are headed to the museum at White Sands, and a Pistachio packing plant.