Garage Sales & Quartzsite

Yesterday we drove over to a block long garage sale. Norman and I didn't find anything worth buying. BUT...aren't these retro bicycles just the greatest?! It was very tempting to buy them for the grandkids...lol

Today twelve of us from the neighborhood caught the Buffalo Bus to Quartzsite for the RV tent show and sale. Yep, the bus has a head and a tail...

I had a crack to make about the back of the bus...but I really don't know the ages of the people reading this. So my "crack" is censored...you figure it out...hee-hee

I wore my Christmas shirt from the BS Family...love it!

OMG...Kathy and I giggled the whole day at the comments it solicited. Right off the bat a gal walked up and asked to take a picture of it. Some would walk away slapping their foreheads, when we had to tell them what it said. One comment, "Oh, it's a Twinkie on Dorothy." Wrong...

About an hour before the bus picked us up to come back to Yuma, Kathy and I heel and toed it across the freeway and down the highway to get a cache at the Hi Jolly tomb. All we needed was a picture of ourselves holding the GPS. Done...

Hi Jolly...Some of you are old enough to remember the Kingston Trio singing about Hi Jolly and his camels in the desert near here. For those who don't, the guy came over with the camels and took care of them for the soldiers stationed in the area way back when...

Fun day...tired...got pretty warm today...need a shower...knee is swollen...oh well, fun day!

Just a "This n That"

The other day several of the neighbor women went visiting and made cheesecakes. They were really scrumptious smelling. Me? Well, I'm not a fan of cheesecake, but went along to visit. I took a b-u-t-ful scarf, I've been knitting for about two years now, to work on. It's been a challenge, because of the yarn I chose. It's coming right along, don't you think?...LOLOL Another couple years, and I may have it finished. Want one?

Last spring we called to get a new screen for our GPS, because we had scratched it badly. No dice, we had to send it in to be replaced. But the company didn't replace the screen and send it back. NO WAY, that would have been too easy (for us). They sent us a re-furbished one, which turned out to be a lemon! After several phone calls to the company, many techs later, one tech controlling our computer and trying to fix the 2nd one...Norman asked him how come we didn't have a red arrow on the compass. "That's it", was his response. No point in working anymore on it, and a third was sent out. Here is Norman...2 re-furbished GPSs, one hooked to the computer, and on the phone to a tech...But we think we now have a good-working GPS...thank goodness...mmm, 543 now Jill.

While riding in the desert, I picked up a pretty sparkling rock out of a wash. Here it is painted and shellacked ready to go to the Roxaboxan Park in downtown Yuma. I mentioned the park before. People from all over have added rocks with their names and states painted on to the park. I put our geocache names on this rock (Buckshot & Foxy), because that is how we found the park.

Trying a new recipe today in the crockpot...Reuben Chicken...sauerkraut, swiss cheese, thousand island dressing and chicken breasts. It'll be that or peanut butter sandwiches tonight...hee-hee

Norman tried yet another barber and now has 'big ears', almost no sideburns and a ragged neckline. His barber at home is going to have to begin coming south, because my man is about to run out of barbers to try down here. Yesterday Kathy turned & walked toward him following the little arrow on her GPS to a cache and said, "hmmm, and to the pinhead". Thought we would wet our pants laughing...He's now "the pinhead"...LOL

Big Eye Mine Ride

Four quads and one Razor made the ride to the Big Eye mine yesterday. It was a long ride, about 50 miles, but wonderful fun! The desert is really dry, so I had Norman stop for this picture. It's in a big wash full of green trees, shrubs and cacti. It is also the only area we go through that is this green. This year a couple of sharp eyes spotted a big eye in a rock formation in the morning sun. Unfortunately, we didn't take a picture hoping to get a little closer. But as we got closer, it disappeared, and the afternoon sun didn't shine on the rocks the same way...next time? Maybe...LOL

It's always a HOT walk uphill to the living area, and our guys grabbed a bit of shade to rest up and have a bottle of water before going the rest of the way to the mine. Kathy wanted badly to walk as far in as a person could, so she and I grabbed my man's little flashlight (worked good Todd) and went up two tunnels. It's a hardrock mine, or I never would have gone. Plus the miners dumped a bunch of debris not too far in, so a person would have to crawl through an area to go further. Sure is dark! WOOOOOO.....

Norman loves tools and machinery, as many of you know. So we have over half dozen pictures of these two items. The one on the left is a small forge for heating drill bits. On the right is an air-drillbit reshaping machine.

There are only 3 geocaches along the whole way. So we had put together seven caches in pill bottles the evening before. We don't have much stuff for trading, and haven't found anything interesting at the garage sales. Therefore, all we put in each one is a dollar bill for the 'first to find'. This picture of Norman and I supposedly smooching, we put together as a clue for one of the caches. We're calling the cache 'Near the Tunnel of Love' (we think), and I'm holding the cache in my hand. BTW...the tunnel behind us goes through the hill.

Ever wonder how we get the quad on our pick-up? Well, this is how my man does it...riding side-saddle. He figures, if he misses, he can get away from it. Me, on the other hand, I straddle that baby and don't like doing it...lol...We can't get the tailgate up all the way, so have short chains to hold it in place. It's important, because otherwise we chance losing the ramps, which go to the ground.

YOU MIGHT BE A REDNECK

....if you hang a trouble-light as an address light....

Geocaching & Quad Riding

We went geocaching in Old Town Yuma after the SouthWest Area Geocacher's breakfast Sunday with Bill and Kathy. We found about twelve in just a couple hours. Spent some time trying to guess the answer to a puzzle cache that would open a combination lock, but no luck. We'll go back to that one. With the help of the internet, Kathy and I believe we have the anwer now...lol

The rock we're holding is in Roxaboxxon Park. It's based on a children's book about children with no toys who use rocks to build houses and cars, etc. Cachers are encouraged to bring a rock from their state and leave it. This is NOT our rock, but one Oregonians left.

Quad riding with a bunch of friends today. Took some new-bies to the Fortuna Mine, then we headed south to try to find the Harrier crash site. Bet you can guess...yep, that's part of it at Norman's feet. It's scattered over a wide range. Nothing big...but, boy oh boy, lots of stuff I could never identify...I took the coordinates at the site, then walked out to the road. We're thinking of setting up a cache here. It's taken us a couple years of trying off and on to find it. We both think it would make an interesting cache for people to find. Only problem I can see, it might be too long a walk in...my GPS said I walked a mile out to the road. I'm hoping to find a place online to convert the coordinates I took to distance by mile.

Isn't this just the greatest big nest?? No bird around, so we have no idea who uses it, but it's a biggie. Several of us decided it was a Kodak moment...enjoy the pics.

To my man's delight, I also picked up the perfect flat rock from a wash to paint for the park...LOL...I'm thinking a fir tree with a mountain...our geocache names...the state name.

WHY IS MY GUY SMILING?

And what is that blue post he's standing next to?

Ahhhhhhhh, he's smiling because we have the 'penthouse suite' for a couple days. And that post is one of four that raise the RV to be worked on.

Got the transmission fixed in a day and a half. I don't really understand all that was replaced...a couple of loom wire groups...a main wire that ran from back to front...solenoids...All to the tune of a hefty pricetag. And that guy? Well, he's really hoping the fix has been done properly this time and lasts a good long time, because it sure didn't come cheap!

Oh, the 'penthouse suite'...they dropped the RV down for nighttime, and yes, we did sleep there. But the shop is located along a frontage road with the freeway. The road has many many produce shippers on it. The one right next door turns around at least 75 18-wheelers a day. Do I have to say, "We didn't get much sleep that one night."

A few stray thoughts:

So very very proud of my Seahawks!! I nearly fell off the couch cheering, when Lynch did that 67 yard touchdown run at the end of the game. I haven't paid that much attention to football this year. Looking forward to the game with the Bears this weekend.

Our Oregon Ducks played a classy game. They did Oregon proud!

My sour grapes: I'm trying very hard NOT to e-mail the SEC, the Auburn coach & the refs association and ESPN and complain about #90 (Fairley) on the Auburn team. Any player who intentionally kicks a downed player in the head after the play is dead should be pulled from the game and sent to the locker room. Then to top it off the ESPN commentators honor him with an 'on air' interview.

The guys beat the gals in Sequence severely...got us back...LOL...Boo n Ethel can't eat candy, so they set out big bowls right next to our elbows during the games. Got to get rid of it, doncha know. And you know me, I gobble it without even thinking...

The wind has been from the north and is cold. But if we stand or sit in a protected place, the sun is warm at about 65 degrees. The weatherman says we'll be close to 80 by the weekend. I think it will be my book and a Coke in a lounge chair outside on Saturday.

Snow to Sunshine

Omigosh...It's been a while, since I've blogged. My pictures aren't going in, where I want them...frustration is setting in...mmm, more chocolate needed...lol

After a good night's sleep from our busy Christmas with all the kids n g'kids, we chose a snowy day to take all the lights off the outside of the house.

Then we spent the next day, which was sunny n bright, taking down the Christmas tree, packing all the decorations (had to buy two more big boxes) and getting everything into the attic.

Trying to remember just how we got the quad, the extra gas cans, two bicycles and then the ramps needed to load the quad is always a puzzle...We're ready to hit the road on New Year's Day, but the weather changed out minds. I celebrated New Year's Eve at midnight finishing my snowman, visiting with the neighbors while illegal fireworks lit the sky and snow fell...it was great fun!

On the morning of the 2nd the weather reports for Southern Oregon and Northern California said sunny and dry...I grabbed my hat, and as snow was still melting in the yard, we hit the road!...For the first time ever, except for a little drizzle around Sacramento, we had dry pavement and sunshine all the way. It was wonderful! We even wore our sunglasses the whole way.

We spent one night at a casino in CA. I was a big winner on Texas Tea. Well, I won enough to cover what we had put in the machines and the cost of our breakfast. I call that a profit...hee-hee

Shortly after getting parked we set-up a morning walk with one of the neighbor couples. And, of course, our walks always include garage sales. This little pitcher is vaseline glass. Uranium was used in the mixture to form the glass. I thought I had a great "find" for only $4, but after looking online, I learned that's about all it's worth. But, hey, not everyone has something that glows under black light.

We didn't find Romeo's number, but the fellows we found on our walk one day did a wonderful job of washing and waxing the RV and my pickup. She looks so pur-ty, I took this picture for her travel bug page. Oh, thats a geocaching term...my pickup has a decal of a bug with a number, and geocachers can log her online as 'discovered'.

Funny story about the Duck BCS flag I have flying from the truck window. We went to the Marine base to get our passes to go into the desert south of here. At the front gate the young Marine told Norman in a very serious tone, "Sir, you need to turn right around and leave the property. You're not allowed here."...This puzzled us, but it turned out, he was joking and is an Auburn fan...LOL

My birthday and also the Seahawks 'wildcard' game day...So I'm wearing all my gear, hoping it helps to bring them good luck!!!...Beautiful day here...sunny and about 75...

We haven't gotten too settled yet. RV did have transmission problems again. We'll be spending a couple days in a shop along the freeway next week.

The gals beat the guys...severely...at Sequence the first night we were here...That was a pleasure...hee-hee...

And the practical jokes have begun...hence, I have a huge champagne glass sitting on the dashboard for my rum n cokes...and there's a brick in Boo's patio which reads, "Fred's Hump"...

there'll be more to come...

Long Weekend to Eastern Oregon

I thought about doing this trip day by day, but I think I'll just summarize a bit...

Marian and Earl joined us for a quick trip to the Steen's Mountains in the southeast corner of Oregon and a look see at the Fort Rock area set-up for riding the quads. It was a long hot drive that first day. We tried to stop for lunch, as we passed through the beautiful Klamath Marsh Refuge, but didn't find a spot big enough until we were back in the central Oregon high desert.

By the time we reached French Glen it was close to 100 degrees outside and not that much cooler in our coach. Instead of staying in the beautiful BLM campground, we opted for the "rustic" rv park to be able to plug in for air conditioning. Rustic AKA weeds...unlevel parking spaces...frogs popping out of shower heads...picnic tables busting as more than one sat on the bench (now that's another story...lol). But we did have a pretty little common nighthawk, who chose to perch on a branch next to us nearly the whole weekend.

We spent the next day touring the mountains. Norman and Earl gadded about on the quads, and Marian and I took my air conditioned pickup. I don't know exactly what the guys did along the way. Marian and I stopped to look at the flowers (with the flower book)...

visited with a pastel artist out working in a meadow...

toured campgrounds...

took each other's pictures in a patch of snow...

got mud all over our shoes...

read all the signs along the way...

looked at all the viewpoints...

laughed and gabbed.

By cracky...I think I have these pics in the correct order. Whaddadeal...got to remember to learn how to do this blog in a different way. The pics are a challenge.

Any-the-way...we traveled from the marshlands...to the juniper/sagebrush level...through the aspen...and on to the rocky ridges and snowpatches. It is the most awesome landscape. We didn't stay long enough to do the area justice, but it is definitely added to our "got to go again" list.

The highlight for Norman and I was being able to add the "highest cache in Oregon" to our 'found' list. It was at the summit of the Steens at 9733 feet. The picture shows a road behind us, but unfortunately there was a gate. We did only have to climb the last few hundred feet.

We grabbed a couple more caches along the way...got lots of mosquito bites (ugly little bugssss)...and the outside our vehicles turned brown with all the dust. Speaking of the dust...we tried to settle in for a couple nights in the off-road vehicle areas outside of Bend. But the roads are only paved so far then it was more dust. Norman was sorely disappointed and not about to add more dust to our already covered motor (something we have to think about with a diesel engine in the back).

We spent one night at a Walmart, before re-thinking our plan and heading to East Lake. Norman and I haven't been in this area since the kids were wee ones. Instead of dirt roads and only one campground at Paulina and East Lakes, the road is paved and is lined in campgrounds.

From here the fellows were able to access the off-road area without taking the rv's into it. Marian and I spent a leisurely day reading, chatting and hiking the area. Norman and Earl hooked up Earl's trailer w/quad to our pickup and drove over to ride.

I give up...everything keeps popping up in all the wrong places...my editing is going to pot in a handbasket right now...so...here it is folks...enjoy...we sure did!

blogging, basking (?), baking in Bakersfield

We've been having problems with our transmission for a couple years. And we've supposedly had it repaired...So as we approached Needles, CA, we were surprised to have our transmission "code" and the speed drop down to 30 mph. Norman went under the bed and under the RV and jiggled wires...took apart modules and put them back together...added some dialectic grease to some connections. All to no avail! We limped into Bakersfield at 30 to 50 mph and into an Allison repair center.

They've been working on the transmission and wiring for 2 days now...still getting "error" messages.

We've both read a book...watched an old movie...baked brownies...gone out for a great steak dinner...shopped at Wally World...played on the computer...and are running out of things we would like to do. Because we'd both like to be 'on the road'.

Norman has been keeping track of everything that has been done to the coach. Most he understands, but some is new and interesting.

At night it's really quiet despite Highway 99 and the Golden State Highway right beside the facility. We are surrounded by a barbed wire topped cyclone fence that is locked at night (we have a key) and locked garages in front and back. On one side is one of several oil refineries (?). This is a picture of it just as dawn was breaking.

We are hoping now to be leaving in the morning.

300th Cache Found

We out into the bombing range for probably our last quad ride and geocaching find before heading home. We walked about 2+ miles through the desert doing the Jackass Golf Course. Here is Kathy holding up the top of one of the caches.One of us carries the Good Sam red tote bag, and we haul some of the trash out of the desert. That's Bill, Kathy's husband, with the beard.

And we found our 300th cache. This is the top of the 19th hole of the golf course. Sure had fun...but it was really hot!

Took the quads straight to the mini-mart for soft ice cream cones!

Couple days with Diane

Di and I met at Tucson Electric Park and watched the Mariners lose *B-( to the Diamondbacks yesterday. It was a fun game, and, NO, Cole, Ichiro and all the other big names didn't play. Drat the luck! Both teams played their rookie and wannabe rookie players...But the hot dogs, beer, game and crowd made for a great time... The crowd got into the Mariner rookie pitcher's apparent headshot to the Diamondback catcher. But really the guy didn't even have to dodge or duck, and the catcher caught it easily. The umpire jumped in front of the catcher and threw the pitcher out of the game. Both teams crowded near the mound...they seemed to come out of the woodwork...but no fight took place. The crowd hooted, hollered and laughed!!! Whadda joke...later a Diamondback pitcher did the same thing and the umpire just looked the other way...

We checked into a motel that was really a dive...yukko...It was a Days Inn even, but we checked out the room for clean beds and said "oh well"...Then hurried down the freeway and caught "Alice in Wonderland" in 3D...drooled over Johnny Depp as we gorged on popcorn...Later we skipped the tacos made with calf cheeks or pigskin and opted for shredded beef and chicken...lol

This morning we took in the desert museum...How do you like our version of "Batwoman"??

We saw lots of beautiful desert plants and cactus...hmmm, guess they're desert plants also...lol...Read about the beginnings of the Earth and ancient Arizona...saw fossils

a bird in its saquaro nest...

a couple of bobcats...

turtles in a pond...

and many other desert critters...

HAD A GREAT TIME!