Fulltiming Road Runners

I promised to share some pics of the flowers we found growing within a very short walk of our campsite. I personally hate seeing photos that aren’t identified unless someone is asking for an ID, so I always try to find the name of whatever I’m sharing. These pics should all have an ID.

This one is the Arizona Lupen. It is on the side of the road a few steps from our site.

Mom & I both love this flower. Sometimes it has a deep purple throat and is even more gorgeous. It is the Desert Chicory.

This is one of the most delicate little flowers. It’s called the Desert Star. It’s found flat on the ground with none of it’s stems or leaves showing… they are all underneath the flower (the greenery you see is NOT part of the desert star plant), which is about about the size of a nickel.

This pretty little thing is a Desert Sunflower:

Last of the flowers is this pretty little purple/blue thing. It’s called a Phacelia. I love it!

I wish Thom were writing this one, he enjoyed it a whole lot more than I did. You should have seen him… he was like a kid on Christmas Morning.

This afternoon he was out walking the dogs he is dog sitting for our neighbor when I thought I heard him yell my name and he said something, then I thought I heard the word camera & “stick”. If he tells me to get my camera, he’s got something super for me to shoot at! The word stick must mean the snake grabber tool he has (yikes!). I grabbed my camera and then to the pickup for the grabber tool, then headed his way. He was about 30 - 50′ on the far side of Curt’s tent. When I got there he said keep an eye on it while he went to tie up the dogs. It was a fairly hefty size rattle snake. It started heading for a creosote bush before Thom got back. I managed to get a shot of it stretched out, heading for the bush, then everything I got was curled up under the bush. We figure the snake was about 4-1/2 feet long. He happened on it while walking the dogs and apparently got within 3 feet of it when it warned him with a rattle. (that would’ve scared the blank outta me.

Here are a couple of pics of li’l guy.

It sure was a pretty thing. I probably got closer to it than I should have or even wanted to, but I didn’t have time to put my zoom lens on the camera, so had to make do with the 80mm lens. I think the closest I got to it was about 5 feet though.

Yesterday Mom and I went for a walk along the wash and I got several good shots of wild flowers, but I guess I should wait until tomorrow to post them. I’m running out of generator time tonight.

I can’t even remember what we’ve done the last few days. We’ve not gone anywhere special. We’re just kind of relaxing, enjoying Mom being here and doing things with her.

Mom loves sitting outside in the sun reading or working on her crocheting. Mom has arthritis in her back and the sun feels so good on her back. We’ve been lucky and have had basically good weather since she got here a week ago.

I’ve had a ball making my trees and still have two left to finish, but find they take up a lot of room and we’ve not got a lot of room in the RV. I either have to sell some trees (in case you’re interested, they’re all for sale!), or get a new “favorite hobby”. My friend and neighbor, Linda, told me that a craft store downtown (Hardy’s) had beads on sale for 50% off, so we went down there Sunday to get some beads for my trees and I found a how-to book on French Beaded Flowers. The flowers in the book looked so pretty and elegant, I bought the book and took it home to see what all was involved. It looked easy enough (and doesn’t take up much space!), so yesterday we went back and I bought supplies needed to make the first project in the book… a red poppy. I finished the poppy today and am totally hooked. It looks as good as I’d hoped it would and I can’t wait to start my next project! Of course, I’ve still got the two trees to finish, so I’ll sit in the sun tomorrow and work on those, then I’ll get back to the bead flowers. Hopefully, tomorrow I can take a pic of my poppy and show ya’ll what it looks like. I’m really pleased with the results.

Mom and I had both been feeling the lack of exercise lately, so we went for a walk. Mom’s back keeps her from walking very far so we were both excited and pleased when we managed to get all the way to Quartzsite lake and back very comfortably. I need to print out a certificate of accomplishment for Mom!

Weather is getting warmer here and feels like early summer to us (Utah Summer, not desert). We have 5 more days with Mom here and hope it stays as nice as it was today. We saw some great wild flowers today and I took several pics. If any turned out okay, I’ll share.

Ya’ll stay cool, or warm, whichever is relevant and take full advantage of every day that comes your way.

It started raining lightly sometime early this morning (2 or 3:00) and continued raining lightly off and on for the rest of the day. By 8:00 this morning our weather station (pic to follow) had registered 0.02″ of rain. By the time we got home from work (about 1:15 p.m.) it had registered 0.04″ of rain and by the time we got home from Blythe (About 4:15 p.m.) it had registered 0.08″ of rain. We almost got 1/10″. hehe We were just thrilled we got measurable rain to see how well the weather station worked.

I now have 6 wire sculpted trees finished. The pictures don’t do them justice. It’s hard to capture the highlights on the beads with my camera… I’m still working on it though. (Tim, where are you when I need you?)

This is my first attempt at my own design totally different from the wind swept tree. I call it my Beaded Ironwood Tree. It’s made with Black and Gold colored copper wire with small beads scattered through the branches (unfortunately, you can’t see the beads much), mounted on a “chunk” of tree root.

Copper wire wind swept small tree on wood:

Black colored copper wire wind swept large tree on quartz rock:

Small orange tree with leaves. Made with brown and antique white colored copper wire, leaves & round orange beads:

My 6th tree was just finished today and I’ve not got a photo of it yet. I’m not sure what I’ll call it yet. It’s a green and gold colored wire tree on a natural green colored rock found here in the Sonoran Desert. I’ll try to get a shot tomorrow after work.

Finally… I got a photo this afternoon of my color garden (desert rocks - natural colors).

It’s been 3 days again, so I thought I’d jump in and say a few words.

A few weeks ago we ordered a weather station and had it delivered to Mom’s so she could bring it here when she and Russ came last weekend.  They brought it and Thom and Russ put it up on the tripod and got it going on Sunday.  It works pretty good except the outdoor temperature looks like it’s running about 3 - 5 degrees high.  The sensor is in a small insulated box, but I’m sure the heat from the sun still gets in and affects it.  There’s a special insulated cover we can buy to alleviate that problem.

Last Sunday while Mom was at church with Curt; Thom,  Russ & I went shopping down in Tyson Wells.  I saw some things in a few shops I knew Mom would be interested in so I took note of them.  Today, 3 days later we took Mom in shopping & all of those shops had folded up and gone home.  Mom did find the things she wanted downtown though.

Today, while we were out and about, we stopped by the shop on Hwy 95 (The Gold Miser?) that sells metal detectors to get some info and ended up buying one.  It was too good a deal to pass up.  I’m a dummy where these things are concerned so I’ll let Thom do the details.

Things in Quartzsite are really winding down now… the campgrounds are all getting emptier, both BLM & Private; Tysen Wells, Rice Ranch and other vendor areas are emptying out.  I can’t say I’m sorry other than I won’t be able to run into the vendors when I need something I saw the last time out.  I do enjoy our solitude out here and don’t enjoy long lines at the post office, on the roads and at the grocery stores.  It’s a novelty for a little while, but does grow old fast.  Hmmmmmmmm… just think how the residents here feel.

I’ll probably not be back for another 3 days.  I do tend to keep myself busy when Mom is here… it’s tough to break away from our conversations, etc.

Oh my gosh… it’s been 3 days since I’ve posted to the blog. 3 busy days. We worked Friday and Saturday. We’re down to half days now. People are leaving Quartzsite now, not coming in and registering. Most of our business these days is people re-upping their 14 day permits.

Mom and my brother Russ arrived yesterday afternoon. Russ has to leave tomorrow sometime and Mom will be staying until the first Monday in March when Russ will come back and pick her up. Mom lives in Murrieta and Russ lives near Riverside, California. Russ loves being here too, so he graciously goes and picks up Mom and drives her here for her visits, and we get to have Russ here for a couple of nights & 1 full day. For us, it’s a win, win.

I’ve made a total of 5 sculpted wire trees, 4 different styles. I truly do want to share photos of them, but can’t get pictures that show what they really look like. I think I need to find a spot inside the trailer with a good backdrop & shoot with a diffused flash. We’ll see what we can come up with. In the meantime, I’ve started another tree, which will most likely be another whole different style.

Our neighbor (a buyer/seller) was telling us he was going to an Indian Craft show and he was taking his bead work to try to sell. I mentioned Sandy and the exquisite 3-D bead work hummingbirds she had made. He said he’d love to see her work, so she brought it over this afternoon for him to look at. He has agreed to buy both of the hummers she’s made at a very nice price. Both my Mom and my brother Russ fell in love with Sandy’s hummingbirds. I’d buy one for Mom if I could afford it.

Time for me to go join everybody. Russ leaves tomorrow and I want to spend as much time as I can with him. Toodles, until I can get back to prattle on again.

Yesterday and day before were sunny and warm (mid 70’sF to lo 80’s).  Yesterday was pretty windy though.  Today was very windy and the high never got above 59F.  Tomorrow is supposed to be below 65F for the high, but is warming up.  It’s supposed to be in the hi 60’s low 70’s on Saturday, which is when Mom gets here, which is why I’m giving a weather report… just in case she looks in.  I want her to know the week may start a bit cooler than she’d like, but by Sunday afternoon it will be gorgeous and she can sit outside crocheting and watching the birds & squirrels to her heart’s content.

I found a guy’s website that is wire sculpted trees.  His work has given me some ideas on what I want to do with all that wire I got such a good deal on.  Last night I started cutting wire and today almost finished a beaded tree.  I may finish it tonight.  If not, I’ll take it to work with me and hope to finish it then.  As soon as it’s done, and if I think it’s shareable, I’ll post a photo.

I should have baked bread today, but I got so involved with my tree, I just couldn’t walk away from it.

Thom & I walked into town yesterday.  We went to Mesa RV for their free lunch and wanted to look at one of their motorhomes with the full length slide, but they are moving all their units to Bullhead City for a show there.  We did look inside a couple of large motorhomes and were pleasantly surprised at the openness of the RV’s now.  They don’t look half as closed in and cramped as they did 4 years ago.  I could comfortably live in one if we ever chose to or needed to replace our 5th wheel.

As a side note:  Thom and I have both learned we could do with less living space if we didn’t have to lose very much storage space.  It would be nice to have a shorter RV so we wouldn’t have to worry about being able to get into the campsites of the campgrounds we want to take jobs hosting in.

I’m going to go take the time to look at pics I’ve taken in the last couple of days and if there’s anything worth posting, I’ll do so tonight.

Another lovely, warm, shorts & tank top, day. I probably managed to sunburn my right shoulder sitting out there working on my bead sorting and tree root gluing. Thom, Curt and I all spent nearly all day out in the sun soaking up the rays. I’ll let you know tomorrow if my right shoulder (pointed towards the sun all day) is red and sore.

My house is a total disaster, but I don’t care. I had a wonderful relaxed day in the sun and warmth. Tomorrow I’ll spend the day inside putting things away, doing dishes, etc., etc.

My son, who lives in Roy, Utah, next door to Ogden, called me today to tell me he was going to drive up into Ogden Canyon to get pictures of the campgrounds we are hosting this summer. Here are two photos he took. I hope it gets more “friendly” before we get there! The Camp Host Site is in the Lower Meadows. Mike (my son) offered to go back in a month and take more pics with the hopes of being able to get into the campgrounds.  We’re taking him up on it.

The entrance into Lower Meadows (Our Summer Home).

Another warm, relaxed day here.  I was in shorts ‘n tee shirt ‘n ready to head for Tyson Wells by 11 a.m.  The vendor with the craft wire was still there so I bought several 12 packs of colored wire spools and then called Sandy (from “Colored Outside The Lines” blog) to see if she was interested in a super, fantastic, deal since it was the vendor’s last day there.  He inherited his father’s craft store & supplies when his father died, and he didn’t want to have to pack the stuff back home so he was practically giving it away.  Let’s see…… at $0.41/spool of 30 yds, if I sold it at the going price of $3.45/spool I’d make $3.04/spool profit.  For the 5 dozen I bought that would be $182.00.  Instead, I’m going to use it, and if I feel my stuff is good enough to sell, I can make my profit there.

After we were done with all our running around, Thom went down behind the trailer to cut up the last of the cardboard and I sat out in the sun and made a large wire tree.  I’m really amazed at how much more relaxed and easy going I am when the weather is warm enough to wear shorts.  The next 5 days are supposed to be the same.  Yayyy!

It was warm and sunny today.  We came home after work to a trailer that was 75F degrees inside.  Heater sure won’t run much tonight!

We worked yesterday and today.  We got a big total of 10 registrations on Friday and 7 today.  Most of those are renewals of 14 day permits.  We hope that since “business” has gone way down, they will put us back on every other day and even half days.  If we do half days, it should be the 2nd half of the day, that’s when we get most of our business.

Yesterday, Tim, the college student (working on Masters) stopped by in the contact station to ask if he could come by after work to do a recorded interview on our thoughts on Quartzsite, fulltiming & boondocking.  We didn’t have anything planned so told him we’d be happy to.  He showed up a bit before the sun went down, wired us for sound - Thom got the remote mike and he held another mike in front of me.  We sat around the campfire and talked until after 9 p.m when we shut down the recorder.  Then I went in the house and Tim & Thom talked another hour.  It was interesting and fun.  Tim asks some pretty insightful questions.  I hope we can get a copy of, or the website address for, his article.  He said that he should have his Masters degree after this project & class.

Tim leaves tomorrow for home and high speed internet so we should be getting more photos & info from him in a couple of weeks.  We thoroughly enjoyed meeting Tim and talking to him.  I hope we don’t lose touch with him.

I’m loving the warmer weather.  I wore sweatpants to work today, but changed to shorts as soon as we got home.  This evening sitting at the fire, I didn’t even need to put on my sweatshirt.  I hope to be in shorts by noon tomorrow!

We’re going back to Tyson Wells vendors tomorrow with the hopes that the guy who sells the craft wire is still there and I can buy most of the rest of his stock of craft wire.  Phyllis (Camp Coordinator here in BLM land) wants some too, so I’ll share with her if it’s still there.

We had a guy come in today (from Alberta, Canada) complaining about the increase in permit fees.  Number 1… his money is worth more this year than any other here in the states.  Number 2… I mentioned that the BLM’s costs have increased just like everyone elses & they need to compensate for that.  He said “I know, I know, I just have to have something to bitch about.”  BUT… that wasn’t the end of it… he kept right on complaining until I wanted sweep his hind-end out the door.

Well, enough of my complaining.  It’s time for me to shut down until Thom gets the Honda generator going.  Maybe in one of our camp hosting jobs we’ll meet someone who just adores us and wants to bequeath us with high end 6 volt batteries so we won’t have to use the generator for an hour every day.