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.