January 31, 2014---Yuma, Arizona

It was overcast here most of the day.  No moisture, just a hint that it might rain someday.

Bonnie, Nancy , and I went to the bead shop at midmorning.  I needed some crystals for a project at Tuesday’s class.  Another bracelet, and it looks hard, too.  Bonnie said it wasn’t, but she is such an excellent beader that sometimes her assessment doesn’t take my limitations into account.  

From the bead shop, we drove to a haircut place so Bonnie and Nancy could get clipped.  Judy is an excellent beader, and, as I discovered, a fantastic hairdresser.  I ask if she could trim my neckline.  When she was finished, she ask if she could play with my hair.  When she was through, I couldn’t believe the change.  My hair has never looked so good.  Wow!

When I got home, I thought Bill would be surprised.  No!  He didn’t even notice.  That’s just about the norm around!  

We went to dinner with Todd and Bonnie.  Dwight and Sheila joined us at a Mexican food place.  They just got into Yuma from Tucson this afternoon.  It was good to see them.  The food was good, and as usual, we had lots to talk about.

We watched one Bronco program tonight.  It seems as if it is taking Super Bowl Sunday way too long to get here.

God must be a Bronco fan.  The sky at sunset was beautiful...orange and blue...streaking across the distance.  Perfect colors for two days before the Super Bowl.  Perhaps it was an omen! 

January 30, 2014---Yuma, Arizona

Todd, Bonnie, Bill, and I went to Algodones, Mexico this morning for dental appointments.  Todd’s took longer than the rest of us, so we went to lunch without him.

I had been put on a liquid diet for the rest of the day, so I ordered a diet Coke and cheese soup.  I couldn’t eat the vegetables in the soup, but the melted cheese tasted wonderful and the broth was really good.  Bill and Bonnie had very yummy looking Mexican plates and sodas (not diet).  When our bill came, their sodas were a dollar each, but my diet one was $1.50.  Go figure!  South of the border one never knows what one might encounter.

Bonnie and I had a little time to shop, but we didn’t buy much.  That’s usually the way it is when we are in Mexico.  They have some neat things, but since we both live in motorhomes we don’t buy much.

The four of us met at the border and made it back onto US soil with no problems...no bail money needed, Michelle.  (She’s my worrier!)  Todd and I were both hungry after our dental “ordeals” so we chose Sonic for milkshakes on our way home.  We also took time to find one cache.

It was 5:30 before we got home.  Bill was very tired from our long day.  He kept going to sleep while watching TV, so he finally gave up and went to bed at 8:30.  Wow, the poor old guy was really tired!

January 29, 2014---Yuma, Arizona

This morning, Bill took me to old downtown Yuma to a bead store.  I am making a bracelet for Sara and I needed some special supplies.  Bonnie works at the store on Wednesdays and she told me I could find what I needed there.

While we were in that part of town, we stopped by the the mall.  I needed to have a question answered by Verizon.  With that out of the way, our next stop was to be at Sam’s Club.  I sent Bill there by himself so I could spend my time at JoAnn Fabrics.

When we got back together, we discovered it was nearly time for lunch.  As luck would have it, we happened to be very close to In-N-Out.  We just couldn’t pass up a chance to add #5 to our 2014 count, could we?

Before going back home we made a quick stop at Walmart.  Yes, that is possible!  Hard to believe, isn’t it?

Naps were the order of business, until 1:30 when we were going geocaching with Todd.  Three of the hidden things were easy to find.  One of them, however, was not easy to get to.  We could see the cache, but couldn’t get to it because of a fence.  We had to drive over a mile to get to the area we needed, and then drive about 1/2 mile on a desert road.  But we were successful!

January 28, 2014---Yuma, Arizona

Bill and Todd went geocaching this morning.  Bonnie and I were going to a beading class.  Our friend, Nancy, was teaching it.

The bracelet was a rather difficult pattern.  I can usually figure out how something is made just by looking at it.  Not so with the pattern we used today.  Even though I made the bracelet, I look at it now and I still can’t see how it went together.  I hope to make another one tomorrow.  I’m certainly glad I have the directions.  Hopefully, I will be able to duplicate the things we did in class.

It was after 4:00 when we arrived back at our motorhomes.  We had already decided we would go out to dinner.  Bonnie suggested a place called Chicken on the Run.  Basically, their food was “down home cooking.”  There were several things on the menu I might like to try, so it may call for at least one or two more visits to the place. 

It was nearly 7:00 when we got home.  That may not sound late to some of you, but for us “old people,” It was time to be home watching some TV.  We are seldom out running around “so late.”

January 27, 2014---Yuma, Arizona

At 7:00 this morning, Bill took the Honda for a bath.  It was covered with Quartzsite desert dirt, big time!

Soon after 8:00, Bill left me at Walmart to get a manicure while he took the Honda to Sam’s Club.  One of the tires had a slow leak.  He thought it might be a thorn from all the running around in the wilds.  It was a nail.  How civilized it that?!  The repair didn’t take long and he was soon back to fetch me.

Todd, with the two of us, went caching.  We found four “hidden treasures” before deciding it was lunchtime and heading for Sonic.  It was a nice day so we ate at one of their outdoor tables.  It was nice to sit and visit with Todd, whom we have known for way more years than we have been living in the motorhome.  He and Bonnie moved into their MH fulltime about the same time as we did.  

Before returning home, we went to the Marine base to get passes which will allow us to go out onto the Barry Goldwater Bombing Range when “the coast is clear.”  If we want to go caching on the range we have call at 8:00 of that day to get the “all clear” signal or stay away until another day.

Back at our “hacienda on wheels,” we visited with several friends who dropped by.  It is fun and interesting to touch base from time to time.

Todd and Bonnie came for a visit after dinner.  Of course, their two little dogs came, too.  Maggie, the shy one, immediately jumped up on Bill’s lap and stayed there for quite awhile.  That was an unusual occurrence for both of them.

January 26, 2014---Quartzsite to Yuma, Arizona

Happy Birthday, Lori.  How well I remember that special day, 48 years ago!

At 9:30, we pulled out onto Hwy. 95, headed toward Yuma.  Meredith said she could hear us singing our Willie Nelson theme song way up in Colorado.   

It was a nice ride from Quartzsite to Yuma.  The highway is good and most of the desert bushes were green.  The ocotillo was beginning to put out red bloom spikes.  The desert at this time of year can be very beautiful.

We parked the coach next to our friends, Todd and Bonnie.  They rent a lot across the street from where we usually park.  Bill needs to do some maintenance on the MH and has to be able to get the basement slides out.  When we park at Jim and Pat’s we are close to a stone wall and can barely open the bay doors, much less get the storage slides out.

Okay, this is the time for a drum roll.  An important announcement is about to be made.  We went to In-N-Out for lunch!!!!!  That’s number 3 for 2014.  Yippy, Skippy and yum, yum!

On the way home we went to Walmart for a few groceries.  When got back to the MH, Todd came over for a visit.  One of their little dogs, Lexie, came, also.  They use to call her “wild child.”  Today she fit that name.  She was so excited to see us and be in our motorhome.  She has a way of making me feel special, kind of like Hapa does.

When Todd found out where we went for lunch, he said, “I thought we were going there for supper.”  Bill said, “Okay.”  And so we are up to number 4!

Mileage traveled today...75.

January 25, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

Bill Dane, weatherman extraordinaire, reported 40 minutes of rain during the night.  He said it was a 6” Arizona rain...6” between drops, that is!

A group of rally attendees went for a hike this morning to see some petroglyphs.  I didn’t go because it was going to be longer and rougher than I could do.  Bill went and enjoyed it.  He, Wendy, and Henry (the only geocachers on the excursion) found a cache up in a rocky place.  Wendy got the information from her cell phone.

I stayed home, in bed, and slept most of the time they were gone.   We spent the rest of the morning visiting with friends.  A lot of people will be pulling out tomorrow, including us.  

At 2:00, we gathered for a group picture and then a pot luck lunch.  There was so much food, as usual, at that kind of event.  People stayed and talked and talked.  Henry built a fire in the fire ring and we sat or stood around, getting warm and visiting some more.  It was a nice way to end the day.

Tomorrow, Super Driver and I are going to Yuma.

January 24, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

We were back on the geocaching trail this morning soon after 9:00.  We found a series of 20 caches with no DNFs.  It was a good morning.  Most of the caches were hidden far enough off the road to require some rather lengthy treks.

We went into Quartzsite for lunch.  I’ve been hungry for Mexican food so that is what we did.  It was very busy and the service was a bit slow, but we had chips and salsa to munch on so waiting wasn’t too bad.  And the food was about average.

When we left the restaurant we went to the Quartzsite Bakery, one of my favorite places.  Their bakery items are really good, and I love the sign on the front...”We’re open.  Get your buns in here.”

Before going back home, we went to the Quartzsite Gem and Mineral Show.  It was so crowded I didn’t feel like walking several blocks from the parking lot and then trailing around the show so we went home for naps. 

Some of the caches we found were along the edge of a wildlife preserve.  One roadrunner and lots of little brown lizards...that was the extent of what we saw.  By the way, we hear coyotes nearly every night, but I guess we can’t really include them in our critter count, can we?

January 23, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

I told Bill last night that I needed a day off today.  I had a good night’s sleep and slept late.  When I did get up, I felt much better.

We didn’t go geocaching.  We just stayed home.  Some of us at the rally were having Open House time so others could see the things we have done to our RVs.

I didn’t realize how many things we have done to our home until we started showing some of the other RVers our house.  We have redone the TV and put in a flat screen model, put a clock in one of the cabinet doors by the TV, made a map holding place under the dash on my side, and replaced the screen in the top half of the screen door with plexiglas so I can see out better.

We also had the front seats recovered, Bill put new window trim around all of the windows, we had a table/desk made in Junction City last fall, Bill has converted our florescent lights to LED, and we have a household refrigerator now.  We also replaced our small living room chair with a high-backed recliner and ottoman.

Everything has been done over the years and we didn’t realize how much work has been involved.  I told one of our RV friends that it has been a work-in-progress, but we don’t feel as if we are always in a constant state of remodeling.

I was tired by 1:30, so after eating a late lunch I took a nap until it was time to go to Happy Hour.  And I was happier today than yesterday!  

January 22, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

We went geocaching at 9:30 and didn’t quit until 1:30, after finding 34 caches.  We went out onto the desert southeast of Quartzsite.  There were some interesting hiding places along this section of the Gas Line Road.  We did, however, have one DNF.  We looked for one cache for about 20 minutes and then went back later on our way home.  Still no luck.

We were really tired when we got back to the the motorhome.  I tried to take a nap, but was too tired to relax.  That doesn’t even make sense, does it?  Anyway, that’s how it was!

We went to Happy Hour, but I was too tired to be happy.  After awhile, I went back to the house to get some desk duties out of the way.  With geocaching comes a lot of extra computer work.

The weather has been really nice here on the desert.  This morning there was a hot air balloon floating lazily over the foothills to the west.  We can’t remember ever seeing any balloon activity in this area.

January 21, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

This morning, after breakfast at home, we went caching.  Last Friday, we had a “Close Encounter of a Geocache Kind.”  The roads and paths were so confusing, and hard to navigate and we were basically lost.  Yes, Joshua and Brent, it was an adventure.  

Today, we went at the caches from a different direction, thanks to a suggestion from a fellow cacher, Wendy.  It allowed us to finish two power runs that crossed paths.  Yippy, Skippy!  We found a total of 20 caches, so it was a good day.

It was cool and a bit breezy at Happy Hour.  I only stayed for about half of it.  I had some book work that needed to be tackled.  I had some success.  We had company tonight.  Mike, a geocacher,  came to give us some information.  While he was here, I was able to multitask and load caches for tomorrow.

January 20, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

We went in for pancakes this morning.  There was a crowd, probably because the RV and Tent Show opened two days ago.  A lot of people come to Quartzsite just for that.

After we ate, we went to the show area.  Bill let me out by a bead display and went on to park the car.  I was in search of some special beads for Lori.  The first place didn’t have what I was looking for.  A walked about a block to the next bead vendor.  I purchased some things there last week and sent to Lori.  They still had what I was looking for so I made my purchase.

I called Bill so I would know where to meet him at the Tent Show.  He had already gone in the tent even though it was very crowded.  We walked around the vendors on the outside of the tent, but decided to come back in the afternoon on another day.

Before going back home we went to Subway for a meatball sub, one of our favorites.  After eating and watching a Western on TV, we took naps and went to Happy Hour.

It seems as if the day had just flown by.  I am getting behind on some of my work here at home.  Maybe our pace will slow down when we get to Yuma next week.  That’s probably wishful thinking on my part! 

January 19, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

After a really good breakfast prepared by Chef Bill, we went out in search of some caches, but today wasn’t too good a day for that.

We took some back roads in search of caches for a series we started on Friday.  We tried and tried to find ways to get to the right area, but had no luck.  By the time we got to the Pipe Line Road, Bill was so confused about where we were and so tired from fighting the steering wheel over the rough roads, sandy places, and stream beds, all he wanted was to go home and rest.  He was just about completely worn out.  

When we got back to the MH, I told Wendy about our ordeal.  She said if we had turned right on Pipe Line Road instead of left, we would have soon been to the cache area.  

Oh, well.  We will try again another day.  I’ll tell you one thing for sure, our lives together have never been dull.  Today was a perfect example of that.

At 1:00, the game for the AFC championship between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos began.  I think most sportscasters expected the Patriots to make the best showing.  That was not the case.  The Broncos outplayed them and are headed for the Super Bowl in two weeks.

And then it was time for the Seattle Seahawks to play against the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC title.  It was a very close game, but Brent was cheering loudly for the “sea pigeons” and so were the rest of us.  Brent was so excited after Seattle won, he couldn’t talk to the rest of us.

I suggested he should breathe deeply.  Michelle thought Willie might need to give Brent mouth to mouth.  When I talked to Brent a couple of hours later, he said that Willie didn’t know what was going on.  Brent must have been much more excited than Willie had ever seen him.  That I would have liked to see!

So now our entire family will be playing in the Super Bowl.  What a time that will be!

January 18, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

At 10:30, a group of us went to a place called The Desert Bar.  One of our group, Henry, had been there before and thought it would be a fun “field trip.”

It is located north and east of Parker, AZ in the Buckhorn Mountains at the site of an old mine.  The road into the place was as bad as some of the ones we cached on this past week.  It is five miles off the highway.

Hours of operation are high noon to 6:00 pm, Saturday and Sunday, October through April.  They serve a variety of sandwiches and fries.  Bill and I shared a Philly steak sandwich, which was good, but not as good as the ones Connor makes.  We also shared an order of fries which was huge.  Their prices were a little high, but its the “only show in town,” so what can you do? 

There were seven levels of seating.  I would estimate maybe 1000 customers when we were there, and more were coming in as we were leaving.  It certainly was an interesting place to visit.

On our way out to the main highway, we went with Mike and Wendy, other rally people, to find a geocache.  Several hills had to be climbed to get to the hiding place.  I made it about 3/4 of the way up the first hill and waited there for Bill to “rescue” me on his way back down.  After all that exercise, Bill was ready to head back to Quartzsite.  We made a quick stop at Walmart on our way through Parker, before going home for naps.

I was too tired for Happy Hour.  Bill went for a short time, but soon came back home to rest some more.

January 17, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

Happy Birthday, Bill!

I took the old guy for a pancake breakfast...free...this morning.  Afterwards, we went back out onto the desert for some caching.  We finished the power run we had started yesterday.  

To get to the area where we needed to be, we decided to take a shortcut.  Oh, dear!  Not always a good idea.  We drove down a dry stream bed.  All went well until we came to the place that looked like it might be the end of our forward motion.  Super driver got out and walked around some bushes.  When he came back to the CRV, he said he thought we could make it.

I will digress a little to ask how many of you have ever been on the race track at Daytona International Speedway in Florida?  We went there with our kids many years ago and took a tour of the facility.  Daytona has a very steep banking on part of the track.  On the tour, the driver of the van stopped as we got to the steep part and the vehicle started sliding down to the bottom of the track.  It was quite an experience.  Years later, we toured the track again...this time Lori, JP, and Natalia were with us.  The tour had changed and only drove around the bottom of the track.

Well, our trip “around some bushes” would put Daytona to shame, as far as the steepness goes.  But we made it and were soon in the area we wanted to be.  It was an exciting ride.

We logged 20 finds before driving back into Quartzsite for lunch...free, of course.  We really are enjoying La Mesa RV this year.  I am nearly as generous with birthday celebrations as Bill is with anniversary celebrations!

When we got back home, we rested before going to Happy Hour from 4:00 to 6:00, where Bill was serenaded and presented with a large candle stuck in a piece of pineapple upside-down cake.  After such an exciting day, it was good to have a relaxing evening at home.

January 16, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

We didn’t get out onto the geocaching trail until about 10:00 this morning.  The first cache we looked for we weren’t able to find.  It gave us a forbidding feeling to get a DNF right off the bat.  

Not to worry, though.  We found the next 14 caches.  We were caching on a road called the Gas Line Road.  It is a dirt road, with very few rocks, but some dips that we had to be careful when crossing.

We went into town to eat lunch at La Mesa RV.  Today it was Chinese noodles.  I normally don’t use soy sauce because of the salt content, but today’s concoction needed a little help on the flavor.

We went home for naps.  At 4:00, we had the first Happy Hour for the RV Forum gathering.  Tomorrow is the official beginning of the rally, so I guess today was a practice day.  There were about 25 people with chairs sitting around a fire pit with no fire.  Tomorrow, things should be different...more people, a fire, etc.  Today several rigs pulled in and more should arrive tomorrow.

We were making plans to watch the football games on Sunday.  Some people don’t get the major networks, so they are looking for RVs in which to watch both games.  It should be interesting and fun. 

January 15, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

Once again it was pancakes before caching.  Both were good today.   

We went out into the desert south and east of Quartzsite.  There was a series of 14 caches all in a row.  We found the first one easily.  The next one was not so easy.  As we were leaving the area, two more cachers arrived, so we all went back and looked some more.  This time we were successful.  

We completed the series with our new caching buddies, Lonny and Jeanie.  We were all going to lunch at the same place...La Mesa RV...so Lonny said he would “pay” for our lunch.  Such a generous guy!

After going home and resting, Bill took the coach for fuel, propane, water and dumping the tanks, while I went to a rock shop on an errand for Lori.  I wasn’t successful, but I will keep trying.

As of this afternoon, we are parked at the RV Forum Rally in the Long Term Visitors Area (LTVA).  We will be here for about a week and a half, before going on to Yuma.

January 14, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

The pancakes were good!  It was a little cooler this morning, with a slight breeze blowing.

We went caching after breakfast.  We were south and west of I-10.  The terrain was different.  Instead of flat areas like the past few days, we were on trails with lots of dips up and down mountains.

I will still classify today’s roads as “fifteenondary,” because of the dips that were sometimes deep and a challenge for the CRV.  Several times we were in 4-wheel drive to get up the other side.  The rock situation was better than yesterday, but the chance of high centering on the dips was a challenge.

After finding only two caches, we made our way to a river bed that took us back to civilization.  We saw a rather large roadrunner...our only critter sighting.

Before going home, we went to La Mesa RV for a lunch of spaghetti, salad, and a roll.  It was all very good!

I spent most of the rest of the day working on geocaching maps and loading coordinates into the GPSs.  There are still a bunch of caches to find in this area.

January 13, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

Happy Birthday, Dwaine!

We went for free pancakes this morning.  Fuel for our bodies and our pocketbook, eh?

We went north and east of I-10 on an ever worse road than yesterday.  Our first find was uneventful.  Then came the “biggie.”  We went up onto a ridge, stopped at the top to survey the situation, decided it would be OK to go down the other side, so down we went.  The only problem was that the road on the other side ended.  So back up and back down we went to find the road we needed.  No luck, so Super Driver decided we needed to go back up and drive along the top of the ridge.  This we did until the top of the ridge got so narrow, there was no room for the CRV.  We noticed that others had driven down the side and through a break in the ridge.  Before long, we were in the area of our next cache.  Yippy, Skippy!

The rest of the road was rough, but we were able to log ten caches before making our “escape.”  The very last of the “path” was just about the worse we have been on, but we soon came onto a paved road.  Wow!  What a treat!

We went back to La Mesa RV for a lunch of taco salad.  And the price was the same as their pancake breakfast!

I went bead shopping for about an hour and then returned home to rest.  I think all this rough country is taking its toll on both of us.  Tomorrow, we plan to cache south of I-10. 

Years ago Bill and I developed a Road Classification Chart.  A two lane road with wide shoulders was a secondary road, so an Interstate must be a “firstondary” road.  Right?  And a two lane road with very narrow or no shoulders is rated a “thirdondary” road.  A “fourthondary” is full of potholes, etc.  And so on and so forth.  Well, most of the desert roads toady were “fifteenondary” or worse.

“Stay tuned for a road update tomorrow.” 

January 12, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

Chef Bill prepared a really good breakfast for us...bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast, and orange juice.

With happy tummies, we set out in search of some caches.  The road through the desert was really rough, but the driver did an excellent job.  One of the caches was at the site where General Patton’s troops trained in tanks during WW II.  That must have been a sight to behold.

We found a total of nine caches.  And we even saw some wildlife.  A little lizard ran for cover as we approached.  At one point, a bird was circling overhead.  We hoped it wasn’t a buzzard looking for lunch.  We also saw several coyotes or foxes run across the road in front of us.  We didn’t get a close enough look to identify them.  Their tails were bushy, which sounds more “foxish.”  The coyotes we have seen in the area have been rather scraggly looking.  I will have to inquire to learn if this is fox country.  We know coyotes are plentiful.  It is certainly a mystery at this time.

There was a cache at the top of a rocky hill.  We made it up, with Bill assisting me the last 1/3 of the way.  The top was very rocky and it took us awhile to find the “treasure.”  My guide wasn’t sure how he was going to get me down, but after surveying the situation, we decided to go down the back of the hill and walk on a little dirt road around to where we had parked the CRV.  It was all quite an experience.

We got back home not too long before the Denver Bronco game against San Diego started.  The first half of the game belonged mostly to the Broncos, but the Chargers charged out in the second half.  They made it a very close game, but the Broncos were triumphant in the end.  That was just about too much excitement for us old folks!

January 11, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

Someone in our motorhome was lazy and didn’t get up in time for pancakes.  Yes, it was me.  I must confess!  After eating at home, we went out to snag a few caches.

We were on some very rough roads.  At one point, after finding 12 caches, we came to a wash with an extremely steep place leading down to it.  The CRV has a lot of talent, but Super Driver knew better than to push it.  So-o-o-o, we turned around and drove back over the rocky road.  It hadn’t improved any since we last traveled it.

We decided to drown our sorrows at Burger King.  Besides that, we haven’t practiced  for our anniversary dinner in a long time.  It was just as good as we remembered it being.  The only places better are In-N-Out and Cool Al’s in Jackson, Mississippi, where you might stick to the floor!

When we got home it was nearly time for the Seahawks to play the Saints.  It was their first playoff game for the NFC leading to the Super Bowl.  The weather in Seattle was terrible...monsoon rains and high winds, with patches of sunshine before more rain hit.  The “Sea Pigeons” (as Brent’s sisters like to call them, for his benefit) were ahead at half time, but began to drag.  New Orleans turned it into a real game, and came closer to winning that we would have liked.

Tomorrow, the Broncos play the Chargers in their first playoff game for the AFC.  I don’t have a Bronco t-shirt to wear, but the Colorado clan and Lori will be decked out.  I will, however, be cheering loudly! 

January 10, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

Pancakes again before going to some of of the booths at the flea market.  There is a place that Bill likes to check out.  They sell discounted RV parts.  They usually have a good stock, but so many RV manufacturing companies have gone out of business that their inventory was way down.  Grandpa was bummed.

In the meantime, I went to a bead booth.  After talking with Lori, I purchased blue and orange beads for her to make some jewelry.  She will take it to the shop in Loveland that has sold some of her scarves and things.

On our way home, we found four caches.  We were so tired after all that activity we just had to take naps.  Again, they were rather short.  After lunch, we decided it was time to get on the geo trail again.

We went north of Quartzsite and drove some of the desert roads (and sometime even completely off road), finding eight more caches.  There were several very cleverly hidden containers.  Some of them were in and around saguaro cacti, those magnificent giants of the Arizona desert.

We decided to go to Sweet Darlene’s Restaurant for fish and chips.  They were very busy, but our food came quickly, and was good.  I must say, though, that it runs a distant second to fried catfish in Mississippi.  That’s hard to beat!

We are enjoying being in Quartzsite, but aren’t accomplishing much other than eating pancakes and finding geocaches!

January 9, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

After a free pancake breakfast this morning, at La Mesa RV, we went geocaching.  We are still working on the power run close by.

We had found several cashes before it was time to think about lunch and naps.  I wanted to go to a bead store, but wanted to go to McDonald’s before shopping.  Bill wanted to go, too.

After eating, I went to Joyce’s Craft Store.  Bill stayed in the car to rest his eyes.  I wasn’t in the store for very long.  Mainly, I was scoping the place out for beads in stock and prices.  As soon as I know what Lori wants, I will go back and get serious.

We went back home for naps.  I only slept an hour today and Bill less than that.  We were soon back on the geocaching trail, trying to find all the caches to the end of the trail.  Things were going along fine, on a fairly good dirt road, until about six caches from the end.  We were glad the CRV is a tough little car, because the road became very rocky, narrow, and hilly.

After two more finds, the road smoothed out again.  We went past a working gold mine.  Not too long after that, a guy stopped to talk to us.  He was one of the miners and wanted to know if we had seen any deer.  We hadn’t.  He said two months ago there were big horn sheep in the area.  We hadn’t seen any of those, either.  In fact, the biggest critter we have seen in this area was a large mountain lion and that was several years ago.

At the end of the road was an old miner’s cabin and a place to turn around.  By then the sun was beginning to go down behind the mountains to the west.  This would not have been a good area to be in after dark, so we didn’t waste any time getting out of there.  As soon as we got back onto better roads, the terrain flattened out and we still had a little daylight left.  Just as we got back home, darkness overtook us.

Caches found today...30.  It was a good day!

January 8, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

This morning, we went to LaMesa RV for their free pancake breakfast.  The pancakes were really good, but I wasn’t feeling up to par.

We left to do a couple of caches before we went to a meeting.  There was a Meet and Greet event put on by the Quartzsite Geocaching group.  It is always fun to talk with other cachers, and today was no different.

When we went back home, it was time for lunch, but I was so tired I lay down to rest.  I slept for three hours.  Bill was tired, too, but only two hours worth!  He had already eaten by the time I got up so I ate a quick late lunch and we went out to cache.

There is a new power run that starts on the road in front of our camping area.  A power run consists of caches placed in an approximately line every quarter mile or so.  This one consists of 52 caches.  We were able to find 16 of them before we got too tired to continue.

We have to remember...there’s always tomorrow!

January 7, 2014---Tucson to Quartzsite, Arizona

Our first stop this morning was for fuel at Flying J in Eloy.  A few miles on down the road was a Rest Area.  We stopped to eat breakfast and rest a bit before heading north again.

Twice in the past, when we were traveling on a back road, we have come upon cowboys on horseback driving cattle, using the road as their trail.  Today, we saw something similar on an overpass over I-10.  Two sheep herders were walking along behind several hundred sheep going down the road, with a truck and some cars waiting to pass.  We couldn’t tell if there were dogs helping to herd the wooly critters, but we assumed there were.  They respond to whistle commands.  We wondered if the sheep would be herded to the side of the road so traffic could pass.  Very interesting!

We made three quick stops in the Phoenix area...Cabela’s for a return, Walmart for some items we couldn’t find yesterday, and In-N-Out for lunch.  And then it was on to Quartzsite, our major destination for the next three weeks.

After registering for a 14 day pass to park on BLM land, we got the coach ready for a few day’s rest while Bill and I will be doing all the fun things in Q.  There are lots and lots of new geocaches that have been hidden since we were here last January.  I have them loaded into the GPSs.  We hope to get started on some of them tomorrow.

Our travel total for today was 271, critter count was a whole bunch...or should that be flock...of sheep, and our 2014 In-N-Out count has doubled since yesterday...2.

January 6, 2014---Deming, New Mexico to Pima County Fairgrounds, Tucson, Arizona

When we crossed into Arizona this morning, Bill was in charge of our state line celebration (Honk, honk!  Yahoo!).  I was still asleep.

We got to the Pima County Fairgrounds RV park at 12:00.  After a really fast hook-up, we drove to Tucson for lunch and groceries.

And now the In-N-Out count for 2014 stands at one!  I can’t remember when I started the 2013 count, but I ended the year with nine!  I certainly hope to increase the count for this year.

We shopped for groceries at Walmart.  I also got a refill on one of my prescriptions.  Quartzsite’s shopping facilities are extremely limited for “normal” shopping, like food and medicine.  There were a few things we couldn’t get today, so we’ll make a quick stop at Wally World as we go through Phoenix tomorrow.

We watched Auburn and Florida State play for the national title.  Auburn came so close to winning, but as they say, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.  Brent and his friend, Mike, were tied with another guy in a football pool.  The other guy picked Florida and won $440.  Brent was really mad at Auburn, because it cost him money.  Mike was upset more about his team losing than the money.  Not Brent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

January 5, 2014---Albuquerque to Deming, New Mexico

After leaving Sam’s Club a little before 8:00, with Bill in the driver’s seat and me asleep in the back, we drove south to a Rest Area for breakfast.

At the Rest Area, there was a geocache.  It was an Earth cache about volcanos.  If we can answer several questions about the area we can claim the cache.  It all sounds very technical so we’ll see if we can figure it out.

At the next Rest Area we stopped for lunch and naps.  New Mexico’s state slogan is “Land of Enchantment.”  I don’t think the part we went through going south on I-25 fit that description.  

At the little town of Hatch, we turned onto Hwy. 26 to take a shortcut to Deming.  There were several geocaches there and a ghost town not too far down the road.  We’ll have to put Hatch on our “someday” list and come back to the area another time.

Highway 26 was a good road and we were soon in Deming.  After parking at Walmart, we walked across the street to the Visitor Center.  There was a cache hidden there.  It was a very cleverly hidden one witg a lock guarding it.  To open the lock, we were to put in the date of a fire.  We looked all around, but couldn’t find the information we needed.  I twisted the lock, the metal piece that the lock was hooked to bent, and the lock came off.  Would this be considered breaking and entering?  After we signed the log, my partner in crime put the lock back on and straightened what I had bent.  Don’t worry, we don’t need bail.  We made a clean getaway!

On our way back to the MH, we went to Dollar Tree and to Wendy’s for a salad to take home.  After eating, we discussed our plans for tomorrow.  A few things have changed because we want to be in Quartzsite by 10:00 a.m. on January 8 for a Geocaching meeting.

Today, we went 237 miles and claimed one cache.

January 4, 2014---Santa Fe to Albuquerque, New Mexico

At 11:00, Peggy and I started working on our bead weaving looms.  It was fun doing a craft project together.  She is such a quick learner that all I had to do was my weaving and she just followed along.

Bill and I had the Honda hooked onto the back of the motorhome  and we were on our way south at 3:15.  We were driving into a headwind, which isn’t at all unusual.  I just wish that when the old guy driving was dating Mother Nature, he hadn’t made her mad!

It took us 1 1/2 hours to get to Sam’s Club in Albuquerque.  We had an errand to run, but I was really tired.  Bill went by himself and brought back pizza for dinner.  I rested the entire time.

After eating, I still had no energy so I didn’t accomplish anything for the rest of the evening.

Today we traveled 62 miles and are glad to be back on the road!

January 3, 2014---Jim and Peggy’s, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Jim and I spent some time this morning going through photographs and newspaper articles from way back.  We had meant to get that project completed, but it isn’t going to happen.  There was so much and our time here was busy most of the time.

At noon, Jim said he was going to Los Alamos to do some errands.  I went with him.  Trips like that give us one on one time together that is hard to get when others are around.

One of the places we went was to a gallery where Jim has some of his photography on sale.  While he was talking to the director, I roamed around looking at some of the exhibits.  There were beautiful pieces of pottery and baskets, etc., but it was all too expensive for me to consider buying anything.

Peggy and I had planned to do some bead weaving, but we just didn’t get to it.  I mainly wanted to show her how to set the loom up.  I really hope we get to it tomorrow morning.  That will be our last chance for this visit because Bill and I plan to pull out tomorrow afternoon and go to Albuquerque.

I showed Peggy the puzzle program for my iPad.  She put it on her iPad Mini and now she is hooked.  She likes jigsaw puzzles as much as I do, but seldom dumps one out on a table because she would be the only one working on it.  She likes the convenience of the program, and so do I.

January 2, 2014---Jim and Peggy’s, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Peggy and I went shopping this morning...for beads, of course.  We went to a shop called the Beading Heart of Santa Fe.  They have a good selection of beads and other necessities.  The owner, Barbara, drives a Mini with the license plate reading “Beader.”

We stayed there for about 45 minutes, asking questions and getting a lot of good information.  I didn’t buy any beads because we will be in Quartzite soon, but the shop today had good prices on things...much better than the beading shop Brent and I found in his area.

We ate lunch at McDonald’s before continuing our shopping...at Hobby Lobby.  We were on a special quest, but weren’t successful there.    So we went on to JoAnn Fabrics.

Peggy had helped me solve a craft problem and we were able to get the supplies I need to finish it.  It wasn’t a very large store, but had a good selection of craft supplies.

Tonight, we watched the Sugar Bowl where Alabama was playing Oklahoma.  The Sooners were the underdogs, but the game didn’t end that way.  They were leading by one touchdown with less than a minute to go when they sacked the Alabama QB and ran for a touchdown.  It was kind of like the very end of the Alabama/Auburn game.  I would imagine the Alabama coach is going to develop an aversion to the last minute of a game!

January 1, 2014---Jim and Peggy’s, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Happy New Year!  

My brother, Jim, and his wife, Peggy, have a “Santa Fe style” house on the outskirts of town.  The view down into town is magnificent.  This was a wonderfully relaxing way to start 2014!

Peggy fixed a nice New Year’s Day brunch.  She made a egg/vegetable dish, hot blueberry muffins, and fresh fruit.  With happy tummies, Bill and Jim went their separate ways for naps while Peggy and I talked about crafts, mainly beading.

Bill made Peggy a PVC bead weaving frame, so while I am here I will give her an introduction to bead weaving.  We will make a simple bracelet and then she can branch out on her own.  She is very good at things like that.

While we were watching the Rose Bowl we had several kinds of dips and cheese ball, plus a variety of crackers.

After the Rose Bowl came the Fiesta Bowl.  Peggy made a salad, baked sweet potatoes, and ham for dinner.  We ate on TV trays in front of the TV.  I think we had a fairly typical New Year’s Day!  It was fun and relaxing being with Jim and Peggy.