a QUIET day

We walked this morning...brrr, it was cold. Then I put a stew in the crockpot; I'm trying to learn how to use this contraption. Most of the food has turned out OK.

Then I spent most of the rest of the day sewing blocks for a quilt. Hmmm, will I ever complete one? Dunno...

Norman spent most of the day with Boo. They shopped Home Depot and Ace Hardware for guttering and faucet parts. Boo's had a leakey kitchen faucet forever. Norman had quite a job getting everything cleaned up and the faucet repaired.

I lost at bingo again tonight, BUT I guessed the correct amount of people playing. Everyone at our table puts in a quarter and makes a guess. I'm doing all right winning those quarters. This is about the fourth time...yippee...

Super Bowl XLII

New England Patriots vs the New York Giants...hmmm, I think the game was pretty boring. A lot of push and shove without the big plays we all like to see. In a way it's too bad the Pats didn't clinch a 19-0 season, but on the other hand they were caught cheating to achieve some of those wins. The Giants...well, heck, always good to see the underdog play the game well and come off the winner.

Bellichek?...Poor loser...left the field before the game ended...didn't have a good word for the winning team (wouldn't a 'good' coach at least say "Congrats"?) Maybe he'll get fined for leaving?

Forgot to look up my "Change of Possession" rules...worked out ok since, none of the couples bothered to bring money (we were all just walking across the street). But we did do an abbreviated 'change of possession'...it worked and not so expensive.

That last possession?...since there was only 1 second on the clock AND everyone had flooded the field AND the Pats had left the field...why wasn't the game just called then? Afterall, it was just a kneel-down play at that point...BUT it did put the quarter pot in Norman's hands for the last possession...YIPPEE!

Oh yes...mustn't forget my favorite ads...

always love the Clydsdales!

that cute chick that danced with the Sobe lizards

the girl with the one eyebrow who used Planters peanuts for perfume

and the homing pigeons vs Fed Ex

Brothels n Drugs en Mexico

Yep...here's our usual stop for liquor and meds...what can I say, both in the same store...We don't even know if it has a name; it's just the "purple front" store. And this is the last stop before getting in line to cross back over the border. Why the last stop? Well, two bottles of liquor and several bottles of that good vanilla are heavy to carry all day.

The Hawaii Club is the newest brothel in town. We headed here to get the Green Door t-shirts, from the old brothel. But that picturesque old place has been replaced by this one. The old one was in great Mexican-style. It had a small green beat-up old door on the left of this picture. Then a rusty wrought iron balcony above with a series of doors behind it. This is where the girls hung out or maybe I should say 'over' the railing displaying a hint of their wares...We did find the ol' Green Door. Still operating, but in a different area. And, "no" we didn't buy more t-shirts. One brothel t-shirt is enough.

Had a great Cuba Libre with my chicken mole', and Norman had a Margarita Grande with his enchiladas. Why do the drinks and food taste better there? Maybe it's the mariachi (sp?) band playing "Feelings" while we eat?...hee-hee

Oh the line to get out...my oh my...people just don't pay attention to the news. AND we knew better than to go yesterday. Two pieces of ID required to get back to the US, and many people didn't have it. Here's a picture of where the middle (sorta) of the line is. The car line backed up at least a mile all afternoon. The line of people was backed up about 1/2 mile, two and three people wide. The folks sitting around in the foreground are waiting for their friends to get to this corner before standing in the line.

I guess I didn't really get a good shot of the line of people. Shoulda stood on that concrete bench thingy. We got IN LINE along that wall in the background way down by the black n white sign in the middle of the pic (on the bridge over the canal). It took us one and a half hours to finally clear customs. WHAT WE DO FOR FUN! Most people are used to the line, although it took longer today. So we all laugh and joke and tell stories, find out where we're all from and where we're all staying, and what we've seen or done that was fun.

Snow Day!

OK...the kids know how much I love the snow. So early the other morning I began receiving pictures of the g'kids playing in the snow. Boy oh boy, was I ever jealous!! I know, I know, hard to believe, since I'm sitting in the sunshine of the Southwest.

Then girlfriend Pat had to send me the clencher...a beautiful shot taken from their driveway. They live along old Melrose Road. The pic is small, but doncha like it?

I'll add my favorites of the g'kids...l to r: Cole, Jo and Hannah

And this one of 9 year old Derian driving the jeep around the snowy fields really made me envious!

Alrighty...the sun is streaming in through the windows giving us free heat, I've had my first Coke of the day and it's time to join the parade of walkers out here in the Foothills of Yuma.

Saturday night

Last night we went to the Elk's Club for dinner and to celebrate Bill's 69th birthday. It's his favorite number (and Norman's), doncha know! It's a beautiful Elk's, and we had a good meal accompanied by 'Curtis the Singer'.

When we got back, we joined the neighbors for cards. I thought we were going to play a couple hands of crap on your neighbor. But NO! They were playing quarters, and we lost another $3 in half an hour. Dang...Richard has taken us to the cleaners year after year.

Have you met some of our neighbors? Well, here are Boo n Ethel

and Richard n Janet...

Racing around in the desert

We had a new couple join us for a couple days. They were great fun, and we're all hoping they join us again. They were in Quartzsite for their RV club rally and came to our spot after it was over to ride quads. Fortunately for Norman, they had three quads, and he got to ride with the group. He very quietly says...yeah, it was fun...BUT I know better. As we headed south to Yuma, Norman was thinking about buying one for each of us. And saying they wouldn't get used much, until I reminded him both Todd and Earl had quads. Hmmm...he's thinking harder now...lol

A Memorial Service

Norman lost his wonderful, marvelous, memorable Senor Frog baseball hat in the Big Tent! Everyone in our group was looking for it. He and I went to the main office and asked if it had been turned in. And we even called the office several times. That hat never showed up. I suppose someone threw it away.

The gals in our group felt so sorry for Norman. They pooled their pennies and bought him a new hat. What do you think?

Cruising the desert

Norman and I took the pick-up for a little ride south of our campspot. It was great fun...although slow going. The paved road turned to gravel and got narrower and narrower. Then it became just a jeep trail with rocks of all sizes. It followed along a wash here and there and went up into the hills eventually coming out about where we started. A couple times we had to get out and rearrange the roadway, pile medium-sized rocks next to large ones OR roll some out of our way. We only bottomed out once, when we went over a crest on the trail (well, we high-centered...hee-hee). Other than get the pickup reeeaally dirty, we only broke the license plate cover. One of our group couldn't believe we made it over the trail until he saw the picture of our pickup next to an old Dodge Powerwagon military vehicle.

Pictures say more than words...

Steak on the bar-be...and potluck...topped off with homemade apple pie and Umpqua ice cream...

Then we gather 'round the fire!

Quartzsite, AZ

Here's the January and March picture of the Quartzsite area. It's looking north. The big tent in the upper picture is only set-up for a week and has vendors selling everything imagineable for RVs. And "dreams"...many of the states and the Provinces of Canada are here passing out brochures and maps encouraging the RVers to come visit. It's great fun! Norman loves seeing all the new gadgets, and I love going through picking up all the free stuff I can find. This year I made Norman jealous when I found free red licorice...lol. And the biggee for this year was the free pancake mix in a can like RealWhip comes in. I guess the pancakes were good, but we tried it in the wafflemaker, and it was just too thin. Norman goes nearly every day to this tent. He's always finding new stuff to look at.

If you look at the highway overpass in the upper photo, you will see it's lined with cars. The town now has three stoplights, two are at each end of the overpass. This is where we get backed up for miles on Hwy 95 coming out of Yuma. And just to get around takes sometimes 5 to 10 minutes to cross the overpass. Sheesh...what we'll do for fun.

OK...it's turned darn cold!

Posted that last picture, enjoyed the 70+ degrees, got up the next morning to more sunshine, but the wind was now coming from the north. BRRRRRRRR...really cold! And cold wind again today; we had to wear our jackets.

I came down with 'the cold' that many seem to be getting. Feeling kinda rotten, but am working on a positive attitude and hope to be rid of it in the next couple days. Oh, and I used the nose flush thingy...oh, that is nasty, strange feeling, but it seems to have given me some relief. So I'll use it again tonight.

I've taken advantage of not feeling like going out and...cleaned the coach, vacumned, wiped everything down with anti-bacterial wipes, done the laundry, sewed a little, read my book and finished 'another crocheted dishrag'.

Norman took on the chore of grocery shopping for next week. He had a list, so it only took about four phone calls to me to get it done...lol...You see, he only shops for crackers and pop and ice cream. He had no clue about the other stuff I buy. It was good for him...hee-hee...Oh, he also ran into town to do some shopping for RV parts. Eh, gads, sure happy I wasn't with him. The traffic was so bad on the highway and inside the Walmart (food shopping) he was gone over four hours.

We've got nearly all our stuff put away for an early start to Quartzsite tomorrow. All the window coverings are off, filled the water tank, dumped both gray and black tanks, hid our bicycles behind the shed on this property along with a couple plants I'm bringing back.

We won't get going too early. Ya see, we don't get up much before 8-ish. But we do want to leave in the morning. The line waiting for the stoplight in Quartzsite a couple years ago was three miles long. Later in the afternoon it is often up to ten miles long!!!

That's it for today. I've missed out on horse racing yesterday, bingo tonight and the quilt show tomorrow, all because of this dang cold. But beginning Saturday it's shop til ya drop week in Quartzsite...animal skulls...snake vertebraes...jewelry...beads...t-shirts...rv's and their accessories...artwork...craftwork...you name it, it's there...oh, and Todd, I can buy Derian a really nice rock!

NO WORDS NECESSARY!

Our weekend in Mesa

We had a wonderful "family" time in Mesa visiting with my sis Di and her family. The weekend was filled with talking, eating, playing with the babies, watching the NFL playoffs and talking.

This is Bard holding Lily, and Dan holding Lincoln. They are so good with the little ones. Lily and Lincoln are growing up surrounded by nothing but love.

Norman had a great time playing with Marley. He is still amazed at how strong the dog is. Marley takes Norman for walks around the area.

And Grandma Diane is raising Lily in the "Lovely" tradition. Here she is at the China Buffet with a plateful of desserts. Oh, I guess I should add...I added a brownie and Norman added ice cream.

We didn't get to see much of Alicia and missed her laughter. She had to work all weekend. Alicia and Bard try to do their work schedules so the kids don't have to be babysat too much.

Di and I are tied at Cribbage, so I'll have to return this winter for a re-match. She says we're playing for "doing the dishes", but, heck, she cooked and I did the dishes. Now, what's in the winning for me? I sure don't want to cook, if Di loses. Of course, I could cook over the phone...LOL.

A new one on us: I ordered pizza delivered during the Seahawk game ONLINE. Guess that's one of the perks of living in a reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaallllllllyyyy big city.

Seattle SEAHAWKS!

The first couple minutes of the game was SO EXCITING!

Then those dratted cheeseheads took over, and we lost. It was a sad moment this past weekend. But somehow I managed to keep my spirit up, and have a wonderful visit with my sis, Di.

My birthday...

Norman kept asking where I wanted to go for dinner on my 66th birthday. I couldn't think of a place. Finally I told him...for my birthday I want to do our first ever Volkswalk. So yesterday morning we drove into town and did a 10K (6.21 miles) walk through a neighborhood, to Joe Henry park, on a bike path along the Colorado River...and after losing our map...took a wrong turn and ended up in California

So?...OK, now we can see Paradise Indian Casino, and we're ready for lunch. We enjoyed a wonderful New York steak and French fries...yummy! Oh...no gambling...only had my sunglasses...lol...This is the mighty Colorado River behind me and my new super-duper #12 Seahawk jersey. And, yes, I took it off before going to bed

We got back to the motel where we started our walk, tired...

Along the way I took these two pictures. I've never seen a pomegrante (sp?) tree. This one isn't in season, so the pic is one of my "art-sy" photos. And the roses are just beautiful right now.

We never did figure out how to get pictures off my cell phone. We looked on the internet and even called the Verizon techs. So before heading home, we stopped at a Verizon store. The fellow opening the door for us gave me the answer. It is so simple!!! Why I didn't think of it, I dunno. And even the techs couldn't come up with this simple answer...I e-mailed G'ma Simpson to myself from my phone. Now isn't that EASY???

My day ended with cupcakes for our table provided by Margo at bingo last night. And since it was my birthday, I think I should have won something...but everyone at our table just played for the fun of it...a good time...a good day...

Bart Simpson's g'ma

Hope none of you know this woman...if so...well???

What can I say...we sees 'em as dey are!!!

Our SPOT

OK...someone asked what our spot looked like. So below you'll find a couple pictures. The lots in the Foothills (Yuma outskirts) vary in size. The fellow from Washington we're renting from has two lots side by side. It is about 100 feet deep and 150+feet wide. It easily accomodates 4 RVs, but many people squeeze in several more, if no one complains, that is.

We're almost at the far south end of the Foothills, just one more block, and we'd be in the desert. This part of the desert is the Barry Goldwater Firing Range. There is a Marine Base in Yuma with some great jets (my favorite the Harrier) and helicopters. They fly over pretty regular. A person can get free permission to drive out into the range. A couple years ago we went out there and played on a bunch of old tanks. Pretty fun...spinning the tourettes and all.

The big thing this year is to drive out and take a look at the big ol' fence the government is building. If we take that drive, I'll put some pictures in our blog.

Now I need to do a little research or make a phone call. I got a great picture on my phone and am trying to get it on the computer now. Boy oh boy...the learning curve sometimes gets really steep.

Excitement in the neighborhood!

First off...we've moved across the street and down a couple lots. We're now in a large lot with 3 other RVs. I like it a lot better. I don't feel obligated to include anyone in what we're doing AND friends can drop by and not have to visit with anyone but us. Not that I want to be inclusive, but sometimes things would get a tad uncomfortable...Plus instead of looking out our front window at a shed and the neighbor's backyards, we now look out onto the street and can get NOSY!...hee-hee

Well...the excitement...The whole neighborhood was out in force this morning as a 30X72 foot double-wide manufactured home arrived right in front of us. It landed on the property next door. Do you realize it's bigger than our house?...Gees!!!

The saleswoman showed up to take pictures of the installation and make sure everything went proper. AND she brought donuts and coffee for everyone. Now that's a pretty cool woman. We all enjoyed the donuts...hee-hee...and we hung over the fence for about two hours and watched the proceedings...Here are pics of the first half going in, the wheels and axles removed and the blocks placed under, and the second half in the street yet.

See the fence and gravel lot??...This is where we are parked. We add our own mats for patios and plants in pots, if we want. I brought down a pot of geraniums and am planning to add a couple more pots with cactus-sorta plants to take back to friends. We'll stay here most of the time we're down south.

Our social life...so far

New Year's Eve we went to a cocktail party...great fun! We thought it was a regular party...you know, with kissing at midnight...YUM! But, no! It was announced shortly after everyone had arrived, that the lights were going to be turned off at eight and they were going to bed...lol...We did have a good time gabbing and eating and drinking.

The next morning we attended the annual bloody mary party put on by Peggy and Bill of Eugene. Lots of people...gobs of food...great bloody mary's!!!! BUT the wind was blowing from the north, and it was freezing cold. Everyone hung out for about an hour or so and then called it good enough.

Tonight we girls lost at Sequence to the men. ;-( They always meet in the shed and plan their attack but generally lose to us...hee-hee. Must have been the dinner they ate, cause they really played a good game. But as with most evenings, it ended early...

And this is how Norman and I spent the rest of the evening...

Car washes

By the time we arrived in Yuma, my black pickup was solid gray with small red rocks all over it. We unhooked at the quarter car wash and after $4 it no longer had rocks on it and we could see out the windshield.

The next day we spent over 5 hours at the big car/rv wash. I took the pickup through twice waiting in line at least an hour each time. The first time through they didn't get it clean so did a free re-wash. Then I spent another 15 minutes wiping most of the streaks of dust remaining off it.

Norman? Well, he waited in the RV line for over an hour before they told everyone to go on home. The coach in the carwash wouldn't start because the batteries got too wet. New batteries were installed, it still wouldn't start and a tech wouldn't come out to help...About an hour after Norman left, they got the coach out and no one was in line. I called Norman and he brought our coach back. We got all the windows and mirrors washed while waiting in line again. Then as we were inside the carwash, we watched the first half of the Oregon game. (Hmmm...guess I should tell you, they hand wash and dry the coaches.)

Dec 30...on to Yuma

Norman was exhausted last night and after a little reading in bed, we turned the lights out early. Then at midnight I made a pee run. The cycling of the water pump woke Norman, and he swears we have a leak. So with flashlight in hand he searches all the bays and cupboards for the "phantom" leak...It's never found, but he kinda thought 36 degrees was a little too chilly at night to keep looking. But the stars sure are bright and beautiful!

We sleep in a little this morning, eat a leisurely breakfast, shower and put on fresh clothes. We'll jog east over to Parker and then south on down 95 to Yuma. It's only a tad over 100 miles now.

Several of us have headed out after Christmas and taken the coast route south to Yuma. THE CONSENSUS: What a beautiful drive for a car. The scenery was beautiful. But in an RV it was extremely slow going, nerve-wracking through all the turns, especially around those redwood trees, and lots of trucks! Pretty much everyone said the same thing, "WHAT A BITCH!" And we'll all seriously think twice before driving it again in the winter. It took Norman and I one day longer to get here despite two days of driving 10 to 11 hours.

Dec 27...Yuma bound

11 am and we're "on the road, again"...feels good, except we're a little concerned about the weather. We've been online and checked various sites; it looks like the best route to take for the next few days will be 101 along the coast. Right off the bat we hit snowfall at the little community of Tenmile just out of Winston...boo! But it doesn't last long, and we have rain and wind all the way to Eureka.

As we enter California a flashing sign alerts us to the possibility of hail. Now, this ain't funny. We just got out of small claims court trying to get our last hail damage paid for. Fortunately, no hail...whew!!

After a quiet night on some side street in Eureka (11 hours of sleep!), we head on down 101. Again a bad flashing sign, "Chains required at Willetts"...do we go through Willetts? Yep, we do. Thank goodness by the time we reach this area, the roads are clear. But trucks and cars are in the ditches here and there from the night before.Lots of snow all along the way. Really pretty, but happy it's not falling on us...We turned inland and cross north of Clear Lake and came out on I-5 at Williams...Tonight we stopped south of Stockton at an unnamed wide spot on the
road with gas stations, restaurants and a motel. We parked tonight in a dirt lot along with a few big trucks and some U-haul rentals (that's gotta be some uncomfortable sleeping).

The next day is another long drive. First, WE MADE IT THROUGH BAKERSFIELD WITHOUT.
BREAKING DOWN!!!! That's a first for us...I've talked Norman into trying a different route this time. So we head straight over through the desert to Needles before turning south. Then just before the Vidal Junction on 95 we find a spot in the desert to spend the night. It's quieter than Eureka, and we enjoy our first beautiful desert sunset

Sunday, JULY 15, traffic from Hell

OK...I didn't write anything these past couple days. So I'm doing the "ol' catch-up" game.

First, let me say the traffic from Bellingham south on I-5 through Tacoma WAS HELL-ish!...We do know now that the brake assist we installed in the pick-up works. At one point the warning lights in the RV flashed, as I screamed STOP four times and Norman slammed on the brakes...We stopped in the first rest area after that and had a well-deserved rest, potty break and lunch. Whew....

We spent a couple days in Kalama Washington visiting friends from Norman's school days and another pair from Yuma. That was wonderful fun! Had great meals, thank goodness some like to cook more than me. hee-hee...But we were parked next to a herd of goats, they are stinky. We didn't open the window next to them on the second night.

It felt good to be home. We do live in "God's Country". Wherever we travel, home always looks beautiful when we return.

Wednesday, JULY 12

Up somewhat early and on the road. Canada 3 is one mountain to climb after another, slow going, although the scenery is spectacular. Approaching Osooyous are large bronze statues of animals (mostly birds) that are very expensive-looking. We never did figure out what they were for, but enjoyed seeing them. Osooyous has really changed since we visited this sleepy little farming community along side a lake. It's a huge resort area now full of tourists.

Norman found us a FREE really pretty place along side the Simulkameen River to spend the night. It turns out to be where a gas station has been torn down. I did a campspot garbage clean-up, and we have a beautiful view of the river from our front window. Which, it turns out, is a "good thing", because before long we have rain all evening and all night.

NO TV, again...So we pull out "Gone With the Wind", which we've carried with us for years and not watched. Tonight it's popcorn, snacks and a three + hour movie. Lovely evening...

Oh yes, I thought I might see some critters finally, you know...large ones. But all we've seen so far are prairie dogs and chipmunks. And it doesn't change here...lol

Tuesday, JULY 11, the "pretzel" road

On the road, again...heading towards home. We're going to go home along Hwy 3 and see what it is like. It's an uneventful day except for this highway. OMIGOSH...It has more twists n turns and ups n downs than a pretzel. Tonight we're spending in a little campground just west of Castlegar and the Columbia River. This campgrounds only claim to fame is an actor in the movie "RV" stayed here last year. We had to disconnect and jockey the coach around every which way to get it into a spot. Then there's no tv, but I guess that's alright. Dad did some reading, and I got our journal caught-up.

Monday, JULY 10

By the time we rose about 9am, several of the RV's in our group had left, but we feel rested. We have decided to stay one more night. Lsundry needs doing, I need to stay off my foot (the plantar fasciitis is really bad now) and the weather to the west of us looks really nasty. Several we've visited with today feel the weather is a concern also. They're opting to stay one more night too...After noon Norman says, "Let's go to the Olympic Park!" We are so happy we did. The bad weather was all south of the city; we had sunshine at the Park. With only two hours until closing, we managed to do everything except see the video in the museum.

The museum was great. It had all the outfits the Canadians have worn since 1988 in the Olympics. They were really nice (and expensive). And there were interactive displays to try. We don't know ZIP about hockey and couldn't figure out how to hit the puck. Lost those games "big time". Tried to get into the position for ski-jumping. I couldn't come close and Norman only managed it by putting his hands on the skiis. We sure laughed hard here.

I was really disappointed in the Ice House. I was under the impression we could do a "controlled" luge run. The Ice House is set-up with runs for bobsled, luge and skeleton, but they are only long enough for the athletes to practice their starts. It was going to cost us $6 Canadian to go less than 100 feet. (The sleds down Mt. Hood Meadows or Park City were much better even though they were on cement.)

We got into a bobsled. Let me tell you...that is really difficult. The passenger area is so narrow, I thought we were going to have to have help getting out. We twisted, we turned, we crawled, we fell out "best way"...lol.


The photos today aren't very good. Two cameras in the RV, and we forgot them both. We bought a disposable in the Park giftshop. Shucks, not the best photos, but they do provide memories.

Saturday, JULY 8

FREE pancake breakfasts all over town, and we get a catered one here in camp. We find out later, Canadians LOVE their pancakes and maple syrup, but don't eat biscuits and gravy. Hmmm, guess I'll have to wait to enjoy them back in the States.

Our first stop this morning is Heritage Park Village. We had a nice time touring the village. Norman really enjoyed Gasoline Alley, which is an old barn full of old style gas pumps and a few old cars. I especially liked the gas pumps topped with glass eagles.

A story I have to share: Norman met the retired engineer from the Canadian National Railroad, who was running the local steam train. They had fun exchanging old railroad stories as old "rails" like to do. Later in the day Norman had to go to the bathroom. He decided the closest one was in the depot. As he approached the tracks the engineer began blowing the whistle, then the wig-wag lights began flashing and the bells started ringing. Norman kept going; he had a mission! As he crossed the tracks the gates came down, whacking him on the head and knocking his hat off.

Later in the day we went to the Royal Canadian Mounties musical revue. There were about 100 matching thoroughbred horses in the show. They did a performance similar to a marching band to live music. It was really great! And, we forgot our camera tonight. This is a photo of the RCMP in the parade. The horses were magnificent.

Next, off to the Stampede Grounds for the chuckwagon races and the "Light Up the Night" show...The races were great fun. Four horses pulling a chuckwagon, four outriders with each wagon, three outriders had to load a barrel and tent poles into the wagon, then the fourth made sure the wagon went around a barrel before entering the race track. The chuckwagon AND the four outriders had to all cross the finish line within about 150 feet of each other to place. They were pretty wild races...The show was stupendous!!! Singing and dancing by the Calgary Stampede singers and dancers, music by the Calgary Stampede Show Band, drummers and dancers from the Seven Indian Nations in the area, a hilarious bagpiper/comedian (first time I heard AC/DC played on bagpipes) and many more acts all acccompanied by fireworks...Then the big show ended with more fireworks than Norman and I have ever seen "for real". The ending was so loud we couldn't hear the singing. I LOVED IT! Made up for missing our Fourth of July.

A long day...the show didn't end until around midnight, and it was about 1am by the time we got back to the campground.

Rodeo pictures

The first day two of the flag girls fell off their horses, because the horses shied from the flaming "CS" brand in the middle of the arena.
I like this picture of the barrel racer, because it really shows the muscles of the horse. They lose points for knocking over a barrel, so sometimes they put their hand on it to keep it steady. Seems to me, that's cheating, but I guess not.

First day of the Stampede

Friday, JULY 7: Oh YAWN! Up by 5am and on the bus by 6am. Our first stop is the big parade downtown. We had reserved bleacher seats in the shade...The parade was great! Nearly our whole group, all 90+, had on our matching denim Good Sam shirts. We got a lot of teasing over them..."r u all together?"..."did you all hit the same sale?"...We had lots of laughs!

I've never seen so many horses in every size, shape and color in all my life! And everyone either rode, led or was pulled by a horse. Well...there were some people in "horsepower".

Our side of the street won every contest against the north side of the street at yelling "YA-HOO" and "YEE-HAW".

Then it was off to the Stampede Grounds and my very first rodeo. It was a lot of fun. I was very impressed with the training not only the cowboys and cowgirls have, but all the animals involved are well trained. Even the little calves know just what is expected of them and which gate they need to leave the arena grounds from.

Here is a picture of the Grand Champion Hoop dancer. I can't figure out how he managed to do some of the figures we saw.

The TRIALS of traveling in a RV

Thursday, JULY 6: We registered early for the Samboree and met a lot of wonderful people from all across the US. There are 45 RV's from as far away as Florida, Maryland, Kentucky, Michigan, California, Alaska and more, over 90 people of all ages...At the orientation and BBQ in the evening we discovered we'll be very busy. All of our meals will be catered (YUMMY!) and two buses will be taking us to all the events. Bonus...we don't have to drive!

Now the "TRIALS"...After registering this morning, Norman set-out to dump the holding tanks. When he pulled the gray water valve, it broke off. He had to finally use a hacksaw to get it out and the tanks were dumped without too big a stinky mess. Then we took our handy-dandy local map and headed out on the freeways to find an RV store to buy new valves. By the time we got back the temperature was really hot in the direct sun. Of course, the valves were located on the hot side. Norman spent the entire afternoon replacing the broken valve. And being the perfectionist, detailed sortof person he is...he replaced the black water valve also. I spent the afternoon sitting in a not-so-comfortable position holding two umbrellas to shade the two of us. Gees, we must have been a site!! lol

Another day passes, and we don't get to the Olympic Park.

Traveling in Canada

Wednesday, JULY 5: We wanted to look around Calgary today, especially the 1988 Oympic Park area. But were reminded by one of the brochures picked up at an info center, we had FORGOTTEN to get the "Canada Non-Resident Inter-Province Motor Liability Insurance" card before leaving home. This is new to us, maybe that's why we forgot it. At any rate, we spent all day in the campground trying to get the info faxed to us from our agent. We needed it for both the motorhome and the pick-up we are towing. Finally towards the end of the day, our agent e-mailed copies of the cards. Boy, they are difficult to read, but will work.

Meanwhile, we drove nowhere. We both felt it was a risk we were not willing to take in such a large city. Calgary in the past five years has grown to over a million people.

In conversation with some of the other Good Sam people, we discovered most had not picked up this liability insurance card. It didn't make us feel any better, but made us realize...this must be a pretty new requirement.

We're in Calgary!

We’re in Calgary, Alberta now for the Stampede. It’s gonna be FUN, according to everyone who has been here in the past…Getting here we stopped at the Deschutes River State Park where the river dumps into the Columbia on Sunday. Omigosh, it was super hot!! At 9 that evening we were still standing in the ice-cold Deschutes, drink in hand, cooling off…Oh I didn’t mention, Norman made a phone call to Tina, because he thought he had left his fanny pack at home. Thank goodness she was in Myrtle Creek. When Tina stopped by the house, she discovered the pack wasn’t there. Sure enough Norman had put it in the pickup and hadn’t transferred it to the RV. The first laugh of the trip…On the 3rd we spent the night just 4 miles short of the Canadian Border along Hwy 95 at Idyl Acres. It has only ten spots, but is truly a beautiful outdoor setting. And we enjoyed wonderful refreshing showers before bed. Oh yes, we polished off both the excellent pre-mixed booze I had bought at the Liquor Barn in Redding. I shoulda bought more; they were really good…The Fourth of July we drove on into Calgary to our designated campground, where we’ll join the Good Sam’s on the 6th. We loved driving through Crowsnest Pass. It’s a spectacular glacial valley through the Rockies with several small communities. We stopped for a long lunch at Crowsnest Lake, and Norman tried out taking his first panoramic pictures.
Before reaching Calgary we passed several humongous ranches. One had miles of fencepost all topped with baseball hats, shoulda taken a picture. Our fireworks event was the Boston Pops on TV…TODAY we’re hanging out in the campground waiting for our “proof of car insurance” to arrive by fax or e-mail. Hmmm, something we should have picked up before we left home. We decided better to hang-out here than drive anymore without it, pretty heavy fine if we get into an accident. Many, many people are arriving for the Stampede!! And we have a great view of the office and the holding tank dump. Hee-hee We’ve met a few people with the Samboree, and it’s time to go out and meet some more. So I’ll mix a sipper and be on my way…adios, amigos…until the next time.