Fulltiming Road Runners

I guess I’ve been occupied the last 4 days, not sure what I was occupied with, but obviously must have been occupied since I haven’t blogged since Sunday.

Monday and Tuesday at work really pointed out the fact that things have slowed down in QZ.  Both days combined we only signed up 18 campers, and some of those were renewals.  The RV show in the big tent is over and now it’s crafts & classic cars.  I’ve heard that most of the vendors in the big tent for crafts are holdovers from the RV show.  We’ve been busy and not had time yet to go into the craft show yet.  I hope we can do it on Saturday.

We are a group of three RV’s and we use our (Thom’s & mine) portable tanks to dump waste and fill fresh water for all three.  That can pretty much take up a whole day, or even a day ‘n a half.

People say, ahhhhhh, retirement, become a snowbird and have lots of free time.  When you do it the way we do, you develop a routine and don’t really have that much free time.  We work on Monday & Tuesday at the contact station.  We then have 4 days to dump waste, get fresh water, grocery shop and play.  Sunday is pretty much laundry day and takes a half a day since we do laundry at the trailer.  None of this is dyed in wool.  After all, we ARE retired.  LOL

To be honest, we’ll be glad to see the majority of the people leave here.  Sorry Quartzsite, I know they are your bread ‘n butter.  I don’t like having to battle the line of people at the Post Office just to get to my PO Box to get my mail.  I don’t like having to push my way through crowds just to get into a store I need to frequent.

Most people here are “old pharts” like us, and most “old pharts” are pretty self centered. I guess they feel they’ve paid their dues and can expect to be first in line, catered to and don’t have to follow the rules.  It can be scary driving in QZ during the time the place is swollen with show goers.  We have more than our share of slow pokes on the road, and those who don’t pay attention to where they are until they realize they need to be “over there”…. they just go “over there”, no matter who’s in the way.  We’ve learned to keep our 3rd eye open so we can stay safe.  It’s a whole lot easier to stay alive here when the influx of Big Tent show goers leave.

Tomorrow Russ & Thom are going on a day’s drive.  I’m going to stay home and get as much done as possible, including baking a banana cream pie.  Hmmmmmmm…. I truly think Thom buys those bananas, eats one or two of them, then lets the rest get over ripe so I’ll make a pie.

Ya’ll stay healthy ‘n happy!

Toodles!

Yesterday was Lettuce Festival day in Yuma.  We went, we saw, we conquered.  Actually, it was a fun day.  It was set up in the historical town center, from the center about 1 block in each direction.  There were vendors on both sides of the streets selling everything from yard art to designer soap, with food marinades ‘n dips in between.

There was one section that was for the benefit of the food bank.  They had produce donated by the farmers down there and sold it at minimal prices.  We were able to buy a bunch of radishes for 25 cents, head of iceberg or green leaf lettuce for 50 cents, head of celery for 25 cents.  I bought a large head of green leaf, large head of iceberg, head of celery, 2 bunches of radishes, bunch of green onions, bag of brussel sprouts, bag of snap peas and small head of brocolli for $4.50.  Try and do that in a grocery store!

This is a pic of Deb, Russ, Thom ‘n Marv at the festival.

Today we did the type of stuff one needs to do if they are boondocking in the desert.  Thom did laundry while I cleaned and prepped all the produce I bought yesterday.  You have to take into account when you last filled your fresh water tank, how many showers have been taken, how many time dishes have been washed, and when you last dumped the gray water tank.  If it all falls into place you are safe to do laundry & clean produce without running out of water, or over-filling the gray water tank.

After we finished laundry, Russ, Thom & I drove out back (beyond the camping area here) to look for wood for Russ to carve into walking sticks.  I really need to get some pics of his art.  He’s really talented!  We found some wood Russ thinks he can use and I found a few rocks that are really intriguing.

Of course, we were in the country we love and found several things to take pictures of that are a part of why we love this desert.

Here is a shot of a Saguaro with the sun behind it.

This is a trio of the Fishhook Cactus.  I really want to go back in March and see if I can catch the blooming.  They are beautiful!  You can see by the thorns against the rock why it’s called the fishhook.

This one is a barrel cactus, which is of the same family as the fishhook, in front of a Teddy Bear Cholla, .  Again, I want to come back in March in time to catch the bloom.

And this is the only flower we found blooming out there.  To be honest, I was surprised to see it in bloom.  In the past, this flower bloomed later than others.  It is the Fairy Duster.  You can see by the unopened buds that it’s just starting to bloom.

I hope I’ve been able to share a bit of why we find this desert so enticing and beautiful.

Ya’ll stay healthy ‘n happy.

Tah!

We were quite busy on Tuesday at the Contact Station… had 88 registrations.  We much prefer being busy like this over sitting around waiting for the few registrations to happen.  Russ dropped by the station while we had a big run of people, so he helped us out for a bit.

Wednesday we (Thom, Russ & I) went down to the big tent to wander thru the RV Show.  It was a fun day.  We walked down, so I was quite tired by the time we got home.  I’ve not been walking much since we got here and our walk into the big tent showed me how much I NEED to start walking so I’ll be in shape for going back to Ogden Canyon and be able to handle the elevation of 5500 feet.

Yesterday Russ worked, and Thom and I did some things that needed doing at home.  Today we splurged and went into Bad Boys for breakfast, then headed on to Parker to do our grocery shopping.  I fear we’re going to be doing a lot of pork in the near future.  The prices are really wonderful in Parker right now.  As Emeril says “Pork Fat Rules!”

Yesterday Thom also went into town to the big tent again with Marv & Deb.  I stayed home and worked on my Wire Wrapped Cabochon.  This time in silver.  Today I finished it and am pretty happy with the way it turned out.  I can see where I can improve, but all in all, I’m basically pleased.  The cabochon is the one I made from a raw slab of agate my first day at the Gem & Mineral Club, so I’m especially proud that the whole product is of my making.

Tomorrow we plan on going with Marv, Deb and Russ to Yuma to the Lettuce Festival.  We’ve no idea what to expect, but it’s in Old Town so we will at least get to see new territory.  I really should stay home and get things done, but I’ve reached the point of telling myself I’m retired and owe myself more playtime.  Whatever I’ve got that needs to be done will still be here the next day.

For now I’m going to say g’nite and go sit on the couch and chill….. Thom has the TV on.

Stay healthy ‘n happy!

Toodles!

We’re more or less on our way back to normal.  We had a wonderful time with Scott & Mari here, but because it was the busiest week of the season, we had to work Monday, Tuesday and Saturday.  I hated losing that time with them, but Russ & Marv & Deb were able to keep them occupied and ferried around.  Plus, both Mari and Scott are so good at keeping themselves occupied, we weren’t worried about them at all.  We did get to go shopping at the vendors a couple of times.  Mari is a very talented crafty person so she was in hog heaven shopping the rocks, beads & craft supplies.  Both Mari & Scott are great cooks.  We really feasted while they were here.  They left late Sunday morning and we miss them already.

Here’s a pic of our area while they were here.

Last week we had a huge influx of campers.  We had two days registering over 100 each day, and yesterday we did over 50, today we had 84 come in.  Of course, they are all coming in for the Big Tent RV & Outdoor Show.  One doesn’t want to try to go to town during this show…. at least not in the car.  It’s faster on foot.  Traffic was backed up past our campground which is 1/2 mile from town.  The backup went at least a mile south of town.

We worked Saturday, Sunday, today and will work tomorrow.  It’s amazing how we get ourselves into a weekly routine and when that routine is interrupted it interferes with our comfort zone.  We normally do shopping on Friday or Saturday and Laundry on Sunday.  We haven’t gone shopping, nor have we done our laundry.  Luckily we can get by a few extra days.

I think I mentioned a while back that we bought a weather vane with a road runner.  Here is a shot of it.

I’m sure I’ve also mentioned that we are growing spinach in pots (I’ve gotta try something new each year).  This is a shot of one of the pots of spinach.  It’s doing remarkably well.  If I picked leaves now, I’d get enough for a “baby spinach leaf” salad.

The other day I tried my hand at wire wrapping the cabochon I made.  I used some instructions I downloaded off the internet.  I used some practice copper wire.  It turned out good enough I’m now ready to  try it with silver.  The copper wire is soft enough it was very easily scarred.  I’m anxious to see if I can make a smoother product with the silver.  I’ll take a pic if it turns out good.

It’s time for me to get on to my email, etc.

Ya’ll stay healthy ‘n happy!

Tah!

I know it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged.  It’s going to be another day or two before I can get a real blog written.  We’ve been so busy with friends visiting and dealing with the busiest week in Quartzsite as BLM Volunteers, I’ve not had time to gather my thoughts, let alone blog.  I promise to catch up soon.

Stay healthy & happy!

Tah!

For the first time in what seems like over a year, I’ve been sick.  I don’t know if it’s a cold or a flu.  It started night before last, but seems to be on the way out now, so it’s probably a type of flu, colds always last longer than only a couple of days.  I’ve sure felt yucky.  Needless to say, we’ve not done a lot in the last two days.

We did go to Parker yesterday to hit the banks for cash (no, we didn’t rob them).  It costs quite a bit extra to use the ATM’s in QZ and the stores and vendors here in QZ won’t let you write a check or a debit on your card for extra cash (except for the Post Office), so we go to Parker where there are branches to both Russ’s ‘n our bank.

We heard from our friends, Scott & Mari.  They left Salt Lake City today and hope to arrive here tomorrow evening.  We’ll have them to visit with through the 18th, we think.  Next week should be the busiest of all at the contact station.  We hope we can break free a couple of days to spend time with Scott & Mari.

I should have lots to say, but to be honest, the last two days have been pretty much a blur.
One thing that isn’t a blur is tonight’s moon.  It’s supposed to be the biggest moon of 2009.  I managed to get a couple of shots of it.

Pretty, isn’t it.

Ya’ll stay healthy  ‘n happy (I intend to get that way again).

Tah!

Today was shuffle day.  Russ decided where he wanted the motorhome parked, so he took it into town to fill up with gas, then came back and parked it parallel with our trailer about 30 feet to the south of us.  With Russ’s motorhome moved, Marv and Deb were able to choose the spot they want to live in for the rest of the season and they moved their rig.  It is now parked parallel to Russ’s motorhome about 50 feet south.  This pic shows the 3 of us.  Marv ‘n Deb first.  They, of course, now have their truck unhitched and their mats out ‘n cabana up, etc.  I’ll have to take a pic tomorrow to bring ya’ll up to date.  Then there is Russ’s Bounder, then us.

I mentioned our belated Christmas Dinner.  I saved and froze the carcass from the turkey, and had the carcass from our Thanksgiving dinner in the freezer.  I turned them both over to Russ and he made Turkey Noodle Soup….. ALL of it from scratch!  He even made the egg noodles.  I’ve got proof….

He made a HUGE pot of soup.  Marv ‘n Deb ate with us.  Deb brought salad ‘n bread rolls, ‘n I brought my appetite.  The soup was outstanding!  I’m pretty timid when it comes to using spices, but Russ sure isn’t.  Maybe I can learn to be a bit more bold with him around to learn from.  I think I’ll sneak over to his rig tomorrow ‘n steal a bowl of soup for lunch.

The weather was perfect today.  It got up to 71F and the low this morning was about 36F.  I ended up in shorts and T-shirt sitting outside reading my book and working on my latest beaded hummingbird.

The weather report says we’ll be getting winds up to 30 mph tomorrow.  That’s the magic number for stowing the internet dish.  It could be a couple of days before I post on the blog again.

In the meantime ya’ll stay healthy ‘n happy!

Tah!

Today was a very nice day for us.  We worked yesterday and today.  Didn’t get as many registrations as we thought we would have, but we’re still hoping business picks up from now through next week.

Russ walked down to the station near noon and we ordered a pizza to go from Silly Al’s (so far, best in town as far as we’ve found), and the 3 of us ate yummy pizza while we waited for more “customers”.  There is a new pizza place in town we want to try, just haven’t been down there yet.

While we were at work, we got a call from Marv, our friend from Utah, they were leaving Parker and would be here in 30 to 40 minutes.  It was so very good to see them.  We signed them up, and sent them back to where we were camped.  We’re getting our own little community out here in La Posa North LTVA…. Us, Russ, & now Marv & Deb.  Next week, we expect Scott & Mari to arrive for a week.

We’re really excited That Marv & Deb are here.  Heck!, even Willow is excited they are here.  They have 2 Yorkies for her to make friends with and she loves that idea.  It’ll be fun to go exploring together with them.  To be honest, we’ve never shared this type of experience with other people and we’re looking forward to sharing it all and exploring together.  We’re all going down to Algodones together in the next couple of weeks.  Thom and I are going to take advantage of the extra pair of glasses for 50% off, and Russ and Marv & Deb want to shop the great buys down there.

Hey!  We had this really cool looking RV come in here yesterday.  Unfortunately, he only wanted to use the phone and not register, but still it was very much worth taking a picture of.

Bet he’d make it thru the flooded washes, etc.

The guy had what sounded to me like a Scandinavian  accent and the rig was licensed in Canada.  this is one of the reasons I love being and working here.  We meet so many different people with many different “homes” and lifestyles.

Okay… it’s time for me to say nite, nite.  Ya’ll stay healthy, ‘n happy.  I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

Tah!

Today was a pretty relaxed day.  We slept in until 8:30 a.m. then got up to high clouds and temps in the 40’s.  Wind was from the north so the high only got up to 56F.  Thom walked the dog, I made our coffees (one brand for Thom, another for me), and Russ came over for a “cup o’ jo” before he went to his orientation at the contact station.  He got back from the orientation a bit before noon and we went to Parker so Russ could hit the ATM at his bank and we could get some grocery shopping done.  We went to Basha’s.

We drove home by way of Hwy 1, through the CRIT (Colorado River Indian Tribes) reservation, alfalfa & cotton fields.  Beautiful green fields with egrets and herons along the irrigations ditch banks, and hawks circling in the air over the fields and sitting on top of the telephone poles hunting.

I seperated the meats we bought in meal sized portions and ran them thru the food saver.  We didn’t have room in our freezer for all of it, so we put a lot of it in Russ’s freezer.  We plan on sharing meals with Russ, so it doesn’t matter whose freezer the food is in.

Tonight was leftover turkey dinner and since Thom and I work tomorrow, we’ll let Russ surprise us with dinner.  As soon as he can find his stock pot, he’s going to make up a big turkey noodle soup with the carcas of our turkey and homemade noodles.  Can’t wait!  Maybe I ought to help him find that pot!

Laundry is done, so it’s time to shut down the generator, thus the internet.

Ya’ll stay healthy ‘n happy!

Toodles!

…. but first I’ll give a very quick synopsis of the last two days.

Friday, Thom and Russ went back to California to get the last of Russ’s belongings.  It was a long day for them and they were pretty tired by the time they got home.  I had that yummy steak dinner ready to cook for them when they got home and they were quite appreciative.  Thom’s wasn’t steak, but chicken breast.  He’s not much for beef.

Yesterday Thom was feeling quite ill so he pretty much stayed in bed or on the couch or outside in the sun.  He’s feeling a lot better today, but still not up to par.  Russ did some organizing of his things in the Motorhome.  Everytime I walked out to the motorhome, he would mumble something like “pig in (manure)” (manure was not quite the word he used), indicating he was quite happy to be exactly where he was/is.   It’s hard for me to not step in and try to help him organize and put things away, but I’m working very hard at letting him do it himself.  It’s his home and he knows better than me what he wants it to be.  Russ also turned in his application to volunteer for the BLM.  He gets his orientation tomorrow and starts work on Wednesday.  He’ll be working with a guy named Joe from across Hwy 95 at La Posa West LTVA.

Today we had our postponed Christmas dinner.  I had a 14 lb. turkey I bought just before Thanksgiving to have for Christmas.  We decided we wanted to have a family dinner rather than just the 2 of us so we waited until Russ was here to cook it.  My record holds….. three years running of moist turkey.  Dinner was great.  We spent the evening watching 2 movies.  Russ has a box full of DVD’s so it’s going to be fun going thru them.

Weather has been really comfortable the last few days.  Even though today was cloudly, it was really quite warm.  The sun broke through the clouds now and then to help warm it up.  With the oven on most of the day, we had the door and windows open to keep it cool inside, and it still got up to 78F.  It got up to 73F outside today.  How’s that for a winter day’s temp?!!  Tomorrow is supposed to be much the same, cloudy, but warm, 20% chance of rain.  Then it will be sunny and warm for next week.  Who could ask for more.  I’ve been hoping for warmer days to sit out in the sun and work on my new beaded hummingbird (I’m doing an Anna’s hummingbird). I started it yesterday, but didn’t have time today to work on it.

I gotta tell ya’ll!  Yesterday Thom and Russ were doing a gray water dump run and used the truck instead of the trailer and car.  For some unknown reason, the truck started shifting into overdrive on the run.  Maybe it’s just a case of not being used for so long and then needing to warm up to it???  Maybe it’s just the magic of Russ being here.  *hehe*

Time to shut down and get ready for bed.  Willow has been walked and done her duty, we’re both tired and I’ve got a book I’m enjoying and think reading in bed sounds great right now.

Ya’ll stay healthy ‘n happy!!

Tah!