Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding: in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Thanksgiving

 

This will certainly be a Thanksgiving to remember.

Dinner was to be at 3:00 so we took off on a ride in the side by side.  There was a road/path we wanted to explore.  These roads can be deceiving as they start out as a nice gravel road,within a mile they are rutted with large rocks.  We headed up to the top of the mountains.  Gary is always game for the off  beaten path, so we ended up really on top of the world.  It was a beautiful day, no wind and you could see forever.  There was no way but to thank God for His mighty handiwork and all the blessings we receive.  It was a wonderful time just to praise and be thankful.

 

I was very glad I had spent that time as instead of going down the way we came up – No -you guessed it another path to explore.  So straight down we went thru huge rocks and ruts.  My hands were white from

gripping the handle in front of me and I nearly squeezed Rudy to death.  Gary kept saying “relax enjoy the view”  I was praying like mad just to get down the hill and thankfully He was listening as we made it.

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My driver

 

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mine shaft done by hand probably years ago

 

We got back to camp around noon and I quickly got my potatoes, salad and dessert ready.  We had 40 people for dinner.  The president of the club has a huge bbq as in the kind you pull on wheels behind your truck.  We had turkey and ham that was wonderful.

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We were so fortunate in our weather, no wind and warm.  Campfire was started around 4:30 and we sat around till 7:00. A nice bunch of people – we all have in common the love of outdoors and of course the thrill of the hunt for elusive gold.

 

Friday was a travel day.  We decided to head south to Quartzsite for our next adventure.  I have to say I was glad to leave the dirt and dust.  Everything is covered in dirt.  It took us 3 hours to load up all the gear and Gary kept complaining that he was just done in.  We were heading for an RV park to clean up, get water, dump, do laundry, etc.  Was dark when we arrived so we stayed at a truck stop near the park as it was closed. It was 10 degrees warmer so that was welcome. Took one blanket off the bed.

 

Sat am got up and Gary was feeling crummy.  Flu-ish so that was the reason he felt so tired yesterday.  We got our spot in the park and have decided to stay here a week in case he doesn’t recuperate quickly.  Nice to have power and all the water we need and yes I will admit I did waste it today.  Long shower and plenty of hot water to do dishes.  4 loads of laundry and haven’t done the rugs yet 

We did drive out to our spot in the desert that we stayed last year and it is just as great.  I am anxious to get out there for the view and private spot.  Our gold buddies are following us and will be here next week, so we will be sharing a camp again.

 

We are going to add one additional solar panel to the motor home.  That should eliminate the use of the generator.  Using my c-pap   machine during the night puts a drain on the batteries.  Also I would like to use my crock pot and hopefully that will aid with that.

 

Gary was taking a nap late yesterday afternoon and when he got up said his back was hot like a sunburn.  Well he has this huge rash all over his back and creeping into the front.  Very red and hot so gave him a Benadryl and off to bed.  This morning was worse with blisters that were weepy and all over his trunk.

So off to Parker to the ER to see what the cause was.  Well of course as I pretty well figured, we aren’t going to look into the cause, just treat.  So injection, more Benadryl and tapering course of Prednisone, which I might add had here with us, but not wanting to self treat, I was a good girl.  The good news is he is so much better this evening.  Rash look 90% better so glad we went.

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Taft Claim –Hill Country

 

A week has passed since we arrived.  A mile in from the highway.  Pretty step in some areas thus the heading Hill.  A nice flat area ie parking area for our motor homes.  We have 4 tucked into the spot right now, but come Thanksgiving it will be full to overflowing I understand.

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More wildlife here, coyote right in the parking lot, chuckers (huge quail) and hummingbirds.  Three feeders out now and so far 3 hummingbirds.  These little guys have no fear.  Gary had a red hat on the dash of the motor home and in came one.  Probably in for 15 seconds, took a look around and then out.  Was certainly a first for us.

Have not as good luck as far as gold here as we in did on the first claim.  This is a very active claim so has really been work over.  Did some shoveling this week.  Too many rocks – I just want DIRT.  The dust is pretty awesome. 

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As you can see the landscape is quite barren, but when you are out in it and riding, it has a certain beauty.  The view is fabulous when you get on top.  There are very few cactus -won’t see those until we get to Arizona.IMG_0165

We went for water yesterday.  Pretty good 3 weeks on 80 gallons.  We have a water bladder that holds 45 gallons.  Looks like a big air mattress.  Use a water pump to transfer into the tank of the motor home.  Was our first venture with it and it went very well.

Into town today to do laundry and pick up few things.  We don’t have the capacity in our little fridge as we do at  home, so more trips to the store.  The Laundromat has free wi fi and you use a card instead of quarters, which I like.  Really isn’t so bad as I read while the clothes are doing their thing.  Very windy and cool today.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Establishing a Routine

 

We have been in our spot for a week now.  Time goes quickly when there is no agenda.  We don’t wear our watches and really go by the sun.  Up early and to bed early.  We have not set up the TV for satellite and we both agree that we do not miss it.  We have the sirius radio, which gives us all the news.

Gary spent the weekend getting us hooked up to the Hughes Internet Satellite .  It was very time consuming but the tenacious geekster had it accomplished by Sunday afternoon.  There was great celebration.

Later that afternoon, we had a potluck with our group to celebrate Betty’s birthday with a campfire after .

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potluck

 

I brought one of my flower pots of geraniums with me and then have added to it.  Sitting on the patio, a little hummingbird came buzzing by  for an instant.  So of course I rushed to get the feeder up and have not seen one since then.  But will keep it out just in case.

Gary heads out first thing in the morning and does some dry washing ie shovels full of dirt and rocks into a machine that separates the rocks from the dirt.  Then brings the dirt back and pans it out.  He has been getting fine gold with every pan so at least not getting skunked.

I have been taking a walk, which is no small feat as the roads or should I say paths are very rocky.  Then a few chores notice the key word is FEW and read or ride the quad.  What a life!!

We took a nice long ride on the side by side.  Found an area with a few Joshua trees.

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The riding is forever.

 

We are making a move tomorrow to the Taft Claim, which is 10 miles to the West and another dirt/rock road 1 mile off the highway.  Will update after tomorrow.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Camping in the Desert

 

Tuesday morning we called our friends from Alaska who we knew were camping on a claim in the desert.  They were kind enough to meet us at the entrance to the road and off we went for a mile  down a very bumpy road to our spot.  There are 3 motor homes on the site.  It took some ingenuity getting into just the right area with leveling etc. We are in a canyon with hills all around.  Dirt and rocks and miles of roads to ride the quads.  camp we are on the left .

Wednesday we went into Ridgecrest to get a few things.  Gary is trying to set up the Hughes Net Satellite as the Verizon air card is unavailable in this area.  Is pretty complicated so still working on this.  This town is very complete with Wal-Mart, Albertsons and all the other complements.  Took a short ride just before sunset and Gary got some nice shots with his new Cannon. 

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We have shared wonderful campfires each night with full moon and great stories of gold nuggets.

Friday, November 6, 2009

The Journey Begins

I was hoping to blog each day, but with the traveling, just unable to do so. Left our house at 11:00 am on Saturday, Oct. 31st. Over the Santiam Pass and on to Burns. Jim and Linda Hedlund were an hour behind us on their way South, so we planned to hook up down the road. Stopped for the night at a little wayside rest area just outside of French Glen. Beautiful country - that morning a herd of deer and 2 huge bucks just across the road.

I am driving the pickup with one quad and Gary has the Side by Side on a trailer behind the motorhome. We are driving down the middle of Nevada good roads and very little traffic. I was thinking of driving 5 hours a day but the men had other ideas so we made it to Tonapah that evening staying in a casino parking lot.

Off to Death Valley the next day. We split up with our friends as they are heading into Arizona. Into Death Valley - first stop Scotty's Castle which is an oasis in the middle of the desert. We were planning on camping at Stovepipe Wells, but on arival, didn't look to esthetic so on down the road or I should say up the road. We went from 5 feet to 5000 feet in 20 miles with no break and then of course down the other side. We were glad the pickup was not being towed There were many exclamations from me on the CB of "I can't believe this" "Are you doing ok" etc. We decided to go into Ridgecrest and camped at the Elks Lodge which has full hook ups.

Elks Lodge Campground
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Scotty’s Castle
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