Fulltiming Road Runners

They told us things would really slow down after Labor Day weekend, but we sure didn’t expect this!  By this time on Thursdays we are usually half full.  We haven’t got a single camper in either campgrounds yet.  It’s really cooled down in the canyon so that may be part of it.  We’ve had highs in the 70’s and lows in the high 20’s & low 30’s.  Wouldn’t it be something if we were empty this weekend.  I don’t think it will happen but ya never know.

Yesterday I had pancakes for breakfast, knowing the carbs would bring my blood sugar way up, so right after I ate I took a good brisk walk (in between photograph shots) to bring it back down.  There’s not much in the way of birds, flowers or critters to shoot.   Summer is gone and Fall is already here.  I did get some lovely fall color shots that I want to share with ya’ll.

I don’t know what kind of leaf this is, but I thought it was pretty with the “shadow leaf” behind it.

The Wild Geraniums have given me so much pleasure in so many ways and are continuing to do so.  They bloom from Spring through Summer, they draw the deer in to munch on them, and now the leaves are turning gorgeous Fall colors.

This next photo represents the end of Summer and beginning of Fall.  I set the aperture of my camera so the flowers would be blurry, representing the end of summer, and the leaves sharp, representing the new Fall.

Last fall picture… the Cow Parsnip seed bunch.

I finished my 2nd hummingbird.  I’m calling it a Broadtail Hummingbird though the colors aren’t true.  It does have the red throat and more white in the tail.

I’m loving the relaxed feeling I have, in spite of only having 10 days to get packed up and on the road.

Now I think I’ll take a cart ride over to the Upper Meadows campground and see if there’s anything work taking pics of across the meadow and in the campground.

Ya’ll stay healthy and happy!

Toodles!

We received a comment from a reader today that pretty much indicated I sound angry/sad/bitter in my blog posts.  This is my response.  I don’t feel like I’m an angry person, I don’t feel sad or bitter….

I guess I’m appearing much more bitter and unhappy than I feel or wish others to think we feel.  When I blog, I’m sharing feelings and thoughts  I’ve had that day.  They usually are more intense than those that stick with us in our memories.

Thom and I are thoroughly enjoying our time together in the Ogden Canyon, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time in the Arizona Desert.  We have had moments and frustrations in both places, more so here in the canyon than at AZ.  I seriously feel the time we get to spend with my son, his wife and my grandson, the time we get to spend with the wildlife here and the many different kinds of birds, critters and butterflies I get to see and photograph pretty much makes up for the frustrations we go through here.  Will we come back here?  Not to the Meadows campgrounds.  We will never work another job where we don’t have phone service of some kind.  We have, though, already put in our bid for one of the other campgrounds in the canyon that does have phone and electricity.  I can’t imagine not being able to spend time with my Grandson next summer.

Wherever we are, Thom and I find happiness in just being together and being able to experience nature.

This first year as fulltime RVers has been a learning experience.  Our experiences in the future will get better because we have become smarter.  In the meantime, since we’ve retired we’ve both become happier and healthier, and we look forward to more experiences as Workampers and we intend to learn from each of them.

We enjoyed our time with Mel, Kirk and Brody so much, it was a real hardship to say g’bye to them this morning.  They left around 11:00 a.m. and that was probably a week too soon.

Until last night the weather was  really nice.  Not too hot, not too cool,  just nice for sitting around sharing time with friends.   It was probably a little cool for tubing, but that just meant Mel, Kirk and Brody stayed around and visited with us.  How nice is that?!

Last night a thunder storm hit and hit hard!  We had hard winds, heavy rain and your standard, run of the mill thunderstorm.  It rained all night and was pretty cool.  Today our high was around 64.

Today I emailed the American Land & Leisure corporate office telling them we would like to come back next year to the South Fork campground, but need to talk over a few things before we sign the agreement.  I hope we get a favorable response.  We both know we are the best hosts they’ve had in the Meadows campgrounds for several years.  We’ll keep ya’ll posted as to what’s happening.

I have a new beaded hummingbird almost done.  I’ve adjusted the colors to make it look more like a Broadtail Hummingbird.  After we leave the campground and get down to the shop to have our warranty work done, I want to start another hummer to look like the rufous hummingbird.  If it turns out good, I’ll give it to my brother… and then ALL the rest will be for sale!  LOL

I led Mel through the steps of beading bracelet/anklets and it went so well for her she’s decided she loves it and went to town to buy supplies and is now a beading maniac!  She caught on so fast and is so good with it.  I can’t wait to see what she comes up with in the next couple of weeks!

Time for me to go and get settled for the night.

Ya’ll stay healthy and happy!

Toodles!

I’ve been enjoying our time with visitors so much that I’m not blogging like I should.  The day Mike, Tiff and Tiff’s family left, Mel, Kirk & Brody arrived.  They had dinner with us last night (I baked a ham on our Weber Grill, saute’d some Asparagus, ‘n Mel brought a ‘tater salad), and we sat around the fire talking until Thom had to go lock gates at 10:00.   Today sometime, I’m going to walk Mel thru the making of a beaded anklet.  It’s a pretty simple pattern, so once she gets the hang of it, she can finish the piece in just a couple of hours.  This way she can find out if she might enjoy beading.  She said she’d like to eventually be able to make a hummingbird.

Our weather has cooled down considerably.  The low yesterday was 28F and today was 30F.  Highs are pretty much staying in the 70’s.

Well, Mel is here to pick bead colors, so I best get off the ‘puter and help her out.

Ya’ll stay healthy & happy.

Toodles

It was a pretty calm weekend.  My son, Mike and Tiff and Coen came in with her two sisters ‘n their spouses/kids, ‘n her father ‘n mother.  It’s been a wonderful few days, being able to stop and visit and share with them in between duties.  Tonight we had dinner with them, and as they were the only campers here we were able to devote the whole evening to them and enjoyment…… what a joy!  They are here one more night.

Marv and Deb came in Friday night and left late this morning.  I know I say it over and over, but we sure enjoy spending time with them… as limited as it was this time, being the weekend with people coming and going.

Mike ‘n Tiff ‘n family will leave Tuesday, probably just before Kirk, Mel ‘n Brody come in.  Mike was hoping to see the 3 of them again.  I’ll have to be sure and give them Mike’s email address.

Time for me to go.

Ya’ll stay healthy ‘n happy!

Toodles!

I’m not gonna pick a topic.  If I say “all is calm”, all hell breaks loose.  If I say “status quo”, all hell breaks loose.  If I say “Nothin’ new”, all hell breaks loose!  I AIN’T SAYIN’ NUTTIN’!!

I’m hoping this is a fantastic weekend  My Daughter-in-Law’s father came up shortly after noon and set up camp, then a bit later Tiffany (D-I-L) and her Mom showed up.  A little bit later even, Tiff’s sister and her S/O showed up and set up a tent, then a little after everyone thought it should be dinner time, Tiff’s other sister showed up with dinner for them all, and just 20 minutes ago Mike showed up… he had to work today.  He has to work tomorrow & Saturday too, so he is commuting about 25 or 30 miles both days.  I hope to be able to spend some time with all of them on Sunday and Monday.  Things usually slow down on Sundays through Thursday morning.

Tomorrow evening our friends Marv and Deb will be arriving.  It’s always a joy to spend time with them.  What’s really nice about them is we know that even though we may be saying goodbye for a while when they leave, we know we’ll be seeing them sometime this winter in Quartzsite.

To top it all off… next Tuesday, our very best, favorite campers (and super good friends) are coming in for several days, Mel, Kirk, Brody and Buddy.  Mel and Brody are Mucuy’s (my parrot) favorite camping buddies.  Mucuy has a special bond with Brody and responds really great to Melani.

With all these good friends and family here in Utah, we are already trying to find a way to come back here and not be in the same type of situation we’re in now.  (We’re also trying to talk all of them into coming down to Quartzsite for a visit!)  Mike said he and Tiff are thinking about it and Kirk & Mel even said they may be able to work something out.

We’ve become good friends with the U.S.F.S. Law Officer here and are working on getting her to come down this winter for a visit.  If we come back to this canyon to host, she’ll be a big part of the reason we do!  Her and our families.

It’s about time for me to catch the happenings in the world on the news tonight, so I’m going to say “thanks to the Powers That Be for an uneventful day” ‘n

Ya’ll stay healthy ‘n happy!

Toodles.

We had about 8 campsites empty out on Saturday Morning and fill up again by Saturday night.  That was fine, all our campers were good people and happy to comply if asked to quiet down after 10 p.m.

This morning, though, all hell broke loose!  At 9 a.m. there was a pounding on our door.  From the sound of the pounding I knew it wasn’t just a camper wanting firewood or to renew for the day.  When I answered it, it was our friend’s brother who had heard a scream and ran to the bathroom to see what was happening.  A woman outside the men’s bathroom was hysterical and her significant other was on the floor in the bathroom bleeding from the head.  He had had a heart attack and fell, cutting his forehead.  A camper across the street had heard the scream too and when he saw what had happened, he started CPR.  Thom remembered another of our campers is active military and very well versed in CPR also.  He raced the cart to his site and brought him back to help with CPR.  This gentleman, Luke, performed CPR for 20 minutes until the ambulance arrived.

With all the issues we’ve had in our campground with communications, you may be wondering how we fared this time.  We got very very lucky.  The host in Perception Park happened to be in her motorhome using the phone when I radioed for her.  We were able to get the 911 call made within 5 minutes of the man going down.  Normally the hosts in Perception would have been out cleaning bathrooms and campsites at that time and they don’t take their radio with them.  As I said, we were very very lucky!

The patient had expired at least once and was brought back to life.  They called for the life flight helicopter and set up the landing site for the chopper on the highway at the intersection of our campgrounds.  The ambulance took the man down to the landing site and as they were transferring him to the helicopter he crashed again and they were unable to revive him this time.

My dear friend, Mari, and I sat at the entrance to our campground keeping traffic both in and out.  Thom was using our car to guide the emergency vehicles in, and then the cart to go help set up the landing site and control traffic at the Upper Meadows and the highway.  Things were all done and we were able to relax by noon, but I have to tell you, by then we were both exhausted from the constant high adrenaline for so long, yet too wired still to try to relax and take a nap.  We had a dinner date for 5:00 this evening at friends down canyon.

It’s a good thing it’s Sunday  with no new campers coming in.  Neither of us did any work today other than Thom finishing the cleanup/disinfecting job in the bathroom the man had the heart attack in (the paramedics did a really good job of cleaning up, but it still needed a quick mop and bleaching).

By the time we got cleaned up and hopped in the car to head for our friends (Marv & Deb) house, we were really ready to get out of the campground and to a totally different environment.  It was really wonderful to spend the time with Marv and Deb and share thoughts and plans, etc., not to mention the food!  We were able to totally get this morning out of our minds and just enjoy our time with these good friends.

Another really good thing is Marv and Deb are coming up to camp for the weekend this coming Friday.  This may be our last time to see them until after November down in Quartzsite.  AND, another really good thing is my son, Mike, our daughter-in-law, Tiff and darling Coen, along with Tiff’s family will be here starting Thursday thru Monday to camp.  It will be so nice to spend more time with Tiff’s family and, of course, Mike/Tiff/Coen!

Today has totally confirmed our feelings that we will never host again in a campground where we are sole responsibility and we don’t have the support we need for emergencies.

Ya’ll stay healthy and happy!

Toodles!

It’s been a relatively normal weekend in our campgrounds… no big partiers to quiet down, no issues of any kind… really nice.

We’re totally enjoying having Scott, Mari and Scott’s brother Matt here.  I’m feeling totally spoiled!  Mari had the opportunity to buy craft wire very inexpensively and brought a bunch to me.  On top of that she cooked her Asian Salmon tonight which was out of this world!  Ya know, she says it’s super simple, and yet, I see her hopping in and out of her camper and know she’s working in very close quarters and has to improvise to turn out these great meals!  I totally respect and admire her!

They are leaving tomorrow afternoon and I’m going to really miss them!

Last night, while everyone else was outside around the campfire and I was being an icicle in the trailer (couldn’t get warm), I finished my hummingbird!  There are some very obvious flaws, but I intend to do a whole lot better next time!

Here’s a couple of shots of my beaded ruby throated hummingbird.  This one from the front.

And this one from the back

I want to do one for Mom and one for my brother, Russ, and after that, any hummers I make, I’ll charge for!  LOL

Ya’ll stay healthy and happy!

Toodles!

Not a lot going on here. It’s very quiet for a Thursday afternoon. We’re used to being half full by this time of the week. I doubt our managers appreciate it much, but I’ve been giving our military guys price breaks on the campsites. If we can give old people (our age & older), and disabled people 50% discounts, we can certainly give our guys who put their lives on the line regularly in Iraq a discount when they come here during R&R.

The other evening we had a special visitor at my hanging plant basket. I’ve only seen the Hummingbird Moth twice now. The light wasn’t great for taking photos of him, but I tried anyway. Here are a couple of shots. He really is the size of a small hummingbird.

Scott just showed up so I better go be a hostess. Mari is coming up later with Scott’s brother. She had to work today.

Ya’ll stay healthy & happy!

Toodles.

I can’t believe it’s been 4 days since I’ve posted.  things are calm and quiet and maybe that’s why I haven’t thought to post.

They said it would be slow after July 24th (Utah’s Pioneer Day), until Labor Day, and even then it will be slower than all other holidays.

Tomorrow, our friends Scott and Mari will arrive, Scott’s brother will be with them.  They are staying thru Sat. night.  We’re really looking forward to spending time with them.  I don’t know about Scott’s brother, but Scott and Mari are both quite intelligent and oodles of fun to talk to.  I’m going to miss all our friends from Utah when we go to Arizona.  Won’t stop me from going, but I’m going to miss them anyway!  I’m so glad we get to see Kirk, Brody and Mel one more time before we leave!

I have a photo of my 3D hummingbird but it looks like a dead bird and I’d rather not share it.  I’m almost done with it and will share the whole thing very soon.  It’s really fun to make, and I can’t wait to start another one to make it right!

Ya’ll stat healthy and happy!

Toodles!