The Last Ride

Today is our last day so we took off on a 30 mile loop leaving and returning to the motor home.  Had a few geo cashes in the GPS to look for on the way.  Also more pictures of flowers and blooms on cactus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  I am not sure what type of cactus the top one is, the bottom is a prickly pear.  In 2 more weeks I’m sure they will all be in bloom.

We were going thru a canyon that takes us to the Colorado River and thus the California line.  We got to the beginning and there were two ladies on quads stopped on the road.  They weren’t sure where this road would take them so we informed them of the loop and they decided to follow us.  Gary checked with them to make sure they had enough fuel.  The road was good but a little steep in some places so he advised them on how to put the quads in low range as they had no idea.  We decided that they probably were not too experienced.

Arrived at our geo cache, was fairly easy to find.  They were excited about the cache as had heard of them but didn’t realize what was involved in finding them  The ground was full of rocks and uneven of course.  One of the ladies was having difficulty walking and stated she wished she had her CANE. !! She is in need of double knee replacements.  Oh my goodness I thought, get her back on the quad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They were really good sports about all this and commented once that “this was exhilarating”

On the return loop we followed the freeway but did have to wander thru the hills.  These little roads were worse than the canyon road.  Pretty steep and loose rocks.  We held our breath as they followed us along.  They did get a little scared they said on a couple of the hills, but just went for it.  When we returned to the motor home, we stopped and chatted with them.  One of the ladies is 77 and the other 72 aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  We told them they did GREAT .  Complained a little of sore thumbs – both have arthritis in their hands.  We exchanged emails, the  older one lives here year round.  So we promised to look them up next year.

Had our last campfire tonight and are ready and packed  to leave in the morning.  We had some noise in the pickup that sounded like we had snow tires on.  I was concerned of course as I have to drive the thing home.  Gary took it in and sure enough is was a wheel bearing on the right front.  So glad to have that fixed before we start.

Heading for Las Vegas tomorrow and will stay until Wednesday.  Looking forward to our visit with Whit. Staying at a nice RV park with HOOK UPS no less.  Has been 3 months since we have had power and water.  Plan on taking some nice long showers.

Pray for God’s blessing on our traveling.

Dome Rock

We left the long term area and are up in the desert with a view. We needed propane and dump so decided not to spend another $40 and headed for the 14 day free area. We look down on the town and the freeway so is lovely at night.  Rudy is not as happy as we are back to the larger rocks so is harder for him to get around.  We weren’t going to put our little room up but after a day, Gary decided to just put up half of it.  So we have an 8 x 8 instead of the 8 x 16.  Works out great, nice wind break, although we are thankful for the wind now as it has warmed up.  Makes a great little hobby room for him. 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a ride yesterday to check out the flowers.  Still a little early but did get some shots.

The fragrance is fabulous – can’t describe it other than a sweet sage.  Taking many deep breaths as we are riding.  Poor Rudy is not inclined to be in the sun.  Left him in the seat while we were taking pictures and looked over - didn’t see him as he was on the ground under a bush.  Took a dive off the seat to get out of the sun.  Poor guy – back seems to be ok.

It took the humming birds 2 days to find us. Have seen several gold finch, but not going to buy thistle seed for these guys will save it for the birds at home.

The weather has warmed up into the 80’s this week.  Main reason we decided to stay down a little longer especially after looking at the weather at home.  There is always a nice breeze so the motor home stays cool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evening sunsets.

Will be enjoying the few days left we have in the desert.  Looking forward to being with family and friends again

Quartzsite Desert Camping

 

We have returned to Quartzsite.  Have been here a month now.  We are in the long term fee area (cost $40 for 2 weeks or $180 for 6 months).  This gives access to water, garbage and dump station and the luxury of staying in one spot longer than 14 days.  This is the first time we have been in a low spot rather than our higher ground view areas.  The benefits are several trees for shade and even grass now that we had some rainy days.  Gary has added a shade room off the motor home that protects from the sun and wind.  This is another reason we are not in a hurry to change spots as it is rather time consuming to put up and take down but am certainly enjoying it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are 4 miles from town, the closest we have ever  been.  Gary is involved with the RC airplanes – they have a very nice flying field and a nice bunch of guys that are very active.  We haven’t been doing any prospecting as it seems we have rain just when the ground is drying out so difficult to run wet dirt thru the dry washer.  He can do a little flying right from our site. 

The riding is great – again just take off from the site and go for miles.  Miles of easy riding (yeah) and then also more difficult terrain.  We have heard quite a few horror stories of quad accident, but I think inexperienced riders go into areas they shouldn’t.

Last week we had a great surprise.  Laurel and Chuck were in Indio at their time share.  We drove over to see them – had lunch at a great fish restaurant and then they came back over .  Had a fun quad ride – Laurel and Chuck riding double on the quad and I might add Laurel did most of the driving .  She was awesome!!  We did one geocash (first one we have done ) and then a nice long ride exploring and picture taking.  They went to Mexico to get new glasses for Chuck and we weren’t able to go with them as we had friends arriving from Lebanon that day.  Have been here for months, and everyone came the same week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharon and Al arrived late Monday pulled in just back of our site.  First time they have experienced dry camping.  Did the tour of vendors in town.  Sharon and I got involved in beading watch bands so took a lesson in that.  I had seen these watches at craft shows before and thought they would be fun so will see how many I do.  The boys took a ride on Wednesday.  Over a mountain that we have been looking at but I have been reluctant to try.  So glad it was a boys ride as there were some difficult terrain.  They ,of course ,thought it was a great ride.  Go figure. They pulled out Thursday to head for Yuma and we headed to Phoenix to see Dr. B who was at a conference.

Thank heavens for the GPS as it took us to the right spot we needed.  Had a wonderful visit as she was taking care of new grandbaby Delaney while Mom was in a class near her hotel.  Beautiful day and we just sat out in the sun and walked a little.    Gary hit the hobby shop and then joined us for ice cream at the end of the visit.

How about that hair???  She was soooooo good.  What a treat!!

Had showers over the weekend, but clear and beautiful again.  Gary is getting a little antsy about coming home mainly because of taxes and the possibility of early work.  I am not ready yet especially seeing the weather at home.  We will play it by ear.  Will sign up for another 2 weeks and just see how it goes.  We want to stop in Vegas to see Whitney on the way.

We again are so grateful for this time we have had this winter.  God have been so gracious to us.

Rain in the Desert

 

We had quite a rainy and windy day yesterday.  The rain was no problem, but the wind was another matter.  We are 24 miles North of Yuma camping again in the desert.  The motor home is on a high point overlooking the valley so no problem with flooding.  The picture below is right behind us.  There is a road that goes up into a large wash . We did look at it  for a site.  So glad we decided to be up high.

This was around 5:00 pm when the rain had just stopped.  Our humming bird feeder was out all day and was swinging madly in the wind and rain.  The little guys hung in there dashing in and out trying to get a sip in between swings.  It reminded me of an airplane refueling in the sky.  The last one that came into the motor home could not find his way out.  I had to take a hat and move him out gently.  The first one that was motor home challenged.  We haven’t had one come in since we got here.

 

We have been 10 days now.  The landscape toward the back of us is nothing but rocks and hills.  Almost moonscape in nature.

Looking out the front is the Colorado river, very small I might add, which you can’t see.  Then a little to the North still in the camping area are several small lakes.

 

It gives a nice choice of camping.  We are in this area as it it closer to the prospecting, although Gary hasn’t done much.  With the rain now, the dry washing will be over. Metal detecting will be the only way to look for gold now.  We have 12 couples in the area now with the same mind set.  Some more driven than others.

There are several burros in the area and are quite friendly especially if you have food.  We were riding the other day and there were 5 of them at the top of a hill.  When I am out walking, you run across their little trails winding thru the rocks.

Yuma is our nearest shopping and has everything you could want.  It is all truck farming and date orchards from here to town.  It is still amazing to me to see all the lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower etc in the fields.  You just want to go out there and start picking.  One of the girls brought lemons from home, so I just made my second batch of lemon bars, which have turned out quite well considering the little oven I have.  It is difficult getting use to the gas.  I should get a thermometer to get the exact temp as I know it is hotter.

It is nice to be back in the desert as there are no rules.  You can run your generator anytime you  like.  The solar panels are working great.  During the day we can run everything with no problems.  Sometimes need to run the generator at night as we have both computers and TV going.  If we had more batteries, we wouldn’t need to run it.  We miss the showers at the spa – hot and lengthy and the church family.

Before we left the spa I took a picture of Jim and Linda’s bird feeder for the gold finch.  This is where they go, when they leave Oregon.

I did catch an evening hummingbird on the feeder.  Still working on getting one in flight.  Need to get the tripod set up with Gary’s camera to get a good one.  The chimes are made of obsidian dug out of the ground in the Northern Calif area.  Quite the artisans that put them together.

We are still having a wonderful time.  The other day I did mention that I missed the house a little mainly for  more room.  Gary is working on radio controlled airplanes now so there is a lot of STUFF laying around.  Miss the junk room upstairs and the washer and dryer.  Ugh- doing laundry at the Laundromat .  The days go by very quickly even though we are not sure what we do.  We are grateful everything has gone so smoothly and our health is good, except for the 2 week flu period.  God is Good.

Happy New Year

 

I have been quite remiss the last 3 weeks in regard to blogging. After reading my niece’s blogs, I feel tongue tied.  Some people just have a great way with words.

 

Ok will start with most recent and work back.  Quiet day to start the new year.  Had to dump the motor home and fill with water.  We have gone 3 weeks – hoped we could make it the whole month, but not quite.  Taking showers in the park showers really cuts back on water usage and the grey water filling.

Thursday, New Years Eve, we took a short (45 miles) ride.  A very busy day for riding – all sorts of riders out there and pretty windy, so we didn’t stay too long. Had a little get together with Jim, Linda and their friends in the evening.  Campfire and munchies – getting to know more folks here in the park.  I would say half the park is Canadians and we give them a bad time with their accents.  Quite a few people from Oregon also.

Christmas was very nice with the church family.  Had a wonderful potluck.  The food was really something probably 100 folks there.  Christmas eve was special as the church had a communion service.  As nice as it was, we still miss our family and friends.

We rode that week 2 days in a row.  Both days were 65 miles.  The problem being you have to ride 13 miles in each direction to get to the area of the desert to ride.  There is a military bombing range right behind the park, so obviously you do not want to be riding there.

 

We are looking for crystals in amongst the rocks.  As you can see Gary is bundled up.  Its the wind that gets to you.

Jim talking with border patrol.  The officer had not been in this area before so was getting an update from the expert.  Is very common for the illegal's to go thru  this area.  We see the border patrol many times during the day.

 

I did feel the earthquake the other day.  Visiting with Linda sitting outside facing their motor home.  Felt the ground moving and then watched the motor home tipping side to side. Was slight but definitely knew the old ground was a moving.  The boys were out riding and they didn’t notice it.

Gary is feeling better but still fatigued if he does too much.  Did get in on a game of ping pong the other day.  Played hard for an hour, gasping for air but hung in there.  They play on Tues. and Thurs and is quite serious.  There is every activity you can think of here.

We have enjoyed the hot tubs- Very relaxing.

This is just one of the pools – hot tub over to the left.  We like this one as it is more private.

Every Tuesday evening they have a talent night.  Probably 200 people show up and the talent is pretty amazing.  Especially as they have it every week and have new talent each time.  The men and their voices really shine.  The church choir has a great men’s section – pretty impressive for a bunch of old guys.  They have a jam session two days a week, but we were a little disappointed as not really acoustic.

We leave here the 12th of Jan and head to Yuma to camp at another claim and hook back up with the folks we were with in November.

The weather as always is great.  Just having the sun shining every day is so up lifting.  Oh another thing – hummingbird in the motor home again.  Gary was napping in the recliner and the little dickens came back to the chair and woke Gary up very quickly. All the gold finches from home are here.  Jim counted 35 at his feeder.  I got some pics today will post with next blog.

We thank God for all His many blessings.

Fountain of Youth

We left Quartzsite Saturday morning.  Going a little slow as first time Gary had been outside and he definitely was in slow mo mode.  It took 3 1/2  hours to make the trip.
Jim and Linda met us at the front and we hopped in their pickup to come up and look for a site.  The dry camping area is at the top of the hill.  We are on a corner lot overlooking the valley and the sea with the mountains as our backdrop.  The actual site is gravel and we have a pile of same just off our patio.  We just need some green grass carpet to cover it up.  Have the hummingbird feeder up and have one little guy who has also been in the motor home.  I don’t get these birds here.
 



We didn’t unload anything as Gary was done in.  Sunday I went to church which is very close.  Just walk down the hill.  We got the quads off and I got the carpets and chairs out while Jim and Gary worked on the Hughes Satellite and the Direct TV.Both of those job went very smoothly which was nice.
Monday Linda and I headed for Palm Springs to do a little SHOPPING.  That area is just beautiful.  Palm trees, grass, and the mountains framing it all.  Did a Costco run and other stores that I haven’t seen for 6 weeks.  Had lunch in a regular restaurant also.

Tuesday they bring in local produce which was fun.  Also a little store and cafe here.  Bible study after that and finishing up our spot.
Wednesday we took Jim and Linda to Palm Springs as they flew home on business.  Did a little shopping and finding our way around.  It is a good hour from the camp.  Gary went to Brawley Monday  which is South about a half hour .  They have a super Wal-Mart with other grocery so will probably go that way as is closer.
Pretty quiet day today – met several people from Oregon.  One couple from Junction City with quads.  We may ride with them tomorrow depending on how Gary feels.  Still not up to par and running low grade temps in the evenings.  He can’t do much without fatigue so we really have been laying low.  They have every activity you can think of here. No reason to be bored that’s for sure.
The showers are very nice and a real treat for us to stand in nice hot water for a lengthy time.  Haven’t tried the hot tubs yet – I guess they vary in temp.  The water of course comes out of the ground steaming.
Having a wonderful time – can’t believe it is almost Christmas.  The church has a nice potluck and Christmas eve service so will enjoy that.

Still in RV Park – Flu

 

Just a short update. As the Prednisone course ran down, so did Gary.  I might add at the first of the week he was wired.  Got all sorts of things done.

Flu symptoms returned with a vengeance.  Completely wiped out with splitting headache soooooo we signed up for another week here at the park.  This is the third day and maybe a 8% improvement.  I am sure it will take the whole week to recover and then will probably be my turn.

 

On Wednesday we joined the Rock and Gem club in Quartzsite.  I think Gary would like me to get going on a hobby.  I didn’t realize at the orientation meeting, we would get to dive in and cut and shape a rock.  It was pretty crowed so the folks that were helping were spread pretty thin.  Well of course, Gary caught right on.  He is familiar with all the machines so a no brainer for him.  His agate took great shape, while I was bumbling along on the sanders.  I should have just stuck with him, as he taught me how to maneuver them and gave me a lot of tips as is usual.

There was a class going on making glass beads which looked very interesting and dangerous I might add.  Just like miniature glass blowing with propane torches (huge bunson  burners) melting your glass.  They had some beautiful designs.  They also have classes in silver smithing.  All the classes are very inexpensive.  Then they do field trips so you can go and look for rocks.

 

Our gold buddies have arrived and are parked in my favorite spot in the desert.  We are expecting rain tomorrow so that means they won’t be able to dry wash.  You get it- they need dry dirt to do this.  If the weather stays cool, they may pack up and head to Yuma to another claim.  We will hope to join them in January there.

 

We will leave here Saturday (Lord willing) and will go to the Salton Sea resort and stay a month.  We will dry camp there, as it is quite expensive, but they have wonderful showers and the dump and water station is very close to the parking.  We have decided it is better to stay in one place a little longer as we have so much stuff to unload and load.  I knew this would be a problem when we left.  Will go lighter next year I am sure.

 

It is nice walking here as no sand or gravel in your shoes and a flat surface for a change.  My little produce farm just across the border has changed from last year – not nearly as good.  Was disappointed as it was great.

 

I see this is not as short as I intended.  On my fourth book on my kindle and going thru the Bible.  Will update when we get to the Fountain of Youth.