Day 44 - Oh shoot!!!

Hello to everyone. No pictures tonight. You will never guess why. My camera isn't working.
What happened you ask? Well, it is like this.......... I had the camera by my side while riding in the pickup. We were on our way to rummage sales and grocery shopping. Molly decided to get in my lap and bumped the camera. The camera fell to floor. That doesn't sound so bad you say. I unhooked the seat belt so I could reach to pick it up. Molly has a cup with water in it in the cup rack which is on the center floor. The camera fell in the water. (now you know the rest of the story) Oh no.......not again, I said. I quickly pulled out the card and batteries. water run out of the camera. I dryed it the best I could and it is now air drying on the table. Does it still work? I will let you know tomorrow.

Mel made some salsa tonight and it smells like an onion in here. He did good for the first try.
Does anyone have a good recipe?

Our neighbor owl is hooting. so neat. Mother owl still sitting on her eggs in a tree a couple of campers down. Daddy owl comes at dusk and stays in the tree with her until morning.

Good night and God Bless

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Does anyone remember this car? Mel had one almost like it as a teenager. His was a yellow convertable. It is a 1950 Hudson Hornet. The first NASCAR champion, Red Byron, raced one like this............The old car carrier is a 3000 White . early 50's.....The bear is in one of the flea market stores. Just look at the turquoise it is wearing........Which one is the chief?.......................

We made another trip to Quartzsite. We looked around a car lot that had really cool, but really expensive cars. Mostly from the 50's. I love the cars from the 50's. Back to the market place and a bit more shopping. Not to many venders left but enough to spend some time there. Still have a couple to check out. Molly gets to walk with us. She likes that better than sitting in the pickup. She met many other doggies. We had a coupon for a free chicken dinner if we bought one so we ate supper at Popeyes. (I told you Mel was cooken!)... Headed back home just at sunset. (picture below taken at the West end of Blythe main street)

Sat out by the water for a while then came inside and checked out our purchases.

Weather looks bad again in home area. I hope not to bad.

Good night and God Bless.....................................

Day 43 - Enjoy the view day

Hi there. Another 80 degree day. We just stayed home. Watched the water go by. It is so pretty out there. The birds are singing, the sky is very blue. We visited a bit with the neighbors. Molly and I took a short walk. All this fresh air sure makes me tired.
For supper I made pork chops with mushroom sauce, baked potato, corn. Mels turn to cook tomorrow. I hope!


I only took one picture today. It was a crop duster plane. But it didn't turn out very good. I will post it anyway. It just cleared the tops of the trees in the camp. Molly started barking as I was trying to take the picture so didn't try any more shots. Love and hugs to all.....good night

Day 42 - Wash day

The first 2 pictures are the irrigation ditchs used for water the crops. They are bailing alfalfa not far from here. Smells so good.

#3 is the entry to our camp

#4 a bunch of sheep. These are on our road to the camp. Notice the black sheep. So cute.

#5 The sun is setting. looking kind of SE.

Washed cloths today. We decided to just go into Blythe to do laundry as there is only 2 machines here . I had 3 loads. Turned out well. Another beautiful day. It was pretty windy this morning but it was nice this afternoon. Molly found a new friend a few campers down. Another little white Bichon. He was a seven year old but they played nice together.

We took a little ride this afternoon. This morning I made a pot roast in the crock pot with potatoes and carrots so supper was ready when we got home.

After supper we just sat out and watched the beautiful sunset.

Good night & God Bless

Day 41 - Flea market

Good evening, I had a good morning. After talking to the office about the prices here we got
$140 back. Nice eh? I found that it was cheaper to rent for a month than it was for 2 weeks so they rewrote our papers and gave money back. Sure was nice of them. We made the reservation by phone so didn't know about any of this at the time. Then we got their brochure and found a lot of other info that they didn't tell me on the phone.
We spent the afternoon in Quartzsite. Did a lot of shopping even though most of the venders have all ready left. I was pretty disapointed for that. I guess they start leaving the first of Feb. We should have come here first. Next time... I got a couple pieces of jewlery. Mel got a tool. We found a race track too just a few miles from our camp. Sat. night stock car races. The Nascar race was rained out yesterday and was held today. But we missed it. Mark didn't win anyway.

Picture 1.. mountain view on the way to Quratzsite. Hwy 10. Picture 2.. Mel watching the river at the back of our camper. The edge of the cliff is just in front of the picnic table. Picture 3... If you click on it to enlarge you can see a few the desert campers. They park all over the desert for free. Called Boondockers. No water, elec, or sewer. have to use your own water tanks and a generator. I forgot to take pictures at the flea market. Next time.

Take care & God Bless

Day 40 - Now this is camping!

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Our view today.


A dock is just below us. But to many steps for me. I think Molly would jump right in if we would let her.


We found out that we could get a lake front sight after all . They will come and dump our tanks so we wouldn't need the sewer part. So we moved right away. What a beautiful view we have now. We seen 2 Loons today. Still to far away for pictures. I will see if the road goes down far enough to get a closer look.


There is an owl nesting on 3 eggs just a little ways from us. Been watching her.



We have been watching the race but it got rained out. Haven't heard yet when it will be.



It was 80* today. No place to swim though. lake to cold.



Mel made supper tonight. Wasn't that nice?



Good night and God Bless ...................................
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I took this picture putting the camera up to the binoculars. ..
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normal size

Day 39 - Blythe, CA

Here we are... along the Colorado River. Pretty isn't it? We even seen a loon. I thought we were back in Minnesota for a sec. The loon was to far away to get a picture. Had a look at it with the binoculars.

We got here about 3:00.

We looked in the book for just the right RV park & Hidden Beaches sounded really pretty. River front sites, it said. We figured it was pretty close to Quartzsite. But we were pretty disapointed. Didn't get the river front we requested because we also wanted full hookups and couldn't do that by the water. So we are 3 rows back. With weekend full timmers on both sides and back of us. so there is LOTs of stuff all over. Boats, motor cycles, wood, sheds, big dogs. No cable. But I must say the people are nice. We were invited to their bond fire tonight but just to tired. (is that what 'old' does to you?)
The beaches are really hidden.... Just look at our beach.

The best part of it all is that there is grass. Well, kind of. Pretty dry and kind of weedy but it isn't crushed rock like the AZ park. I am sure it will work out ok. Just that we paid a price to be by the water and........... It even said fishing. then to find out that there is no fishing in the winter. Ok, I have complained enough. Sorry!

Tomorrow is race day. we get 3 channels (kind of) on TV so hopefully we can watch the race. It is in California this week. Maybe we will have to listen to it on the satalite radio in the pickup. Or follow it on the computer. Maybe the neighbors will watch it . That would be nice.

Next week is flea market time in Quartzsite.

Good night

I forgot to tell you that I found the pottery I wanted. Well, almost what I wanted. Not quite the color I had hoped but this will do.

Day 38 - California here we come!!

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.....Hi there! We are in Quartzsite AZ for the night. The trip was so pretty in spite of the cloudy skys and rain. The mountains got bigger. Seen lots of fields. It was hard to tell what was planted in them. One was onions. One was broccoli, and I think the picture was a field of lettuce. The ways of irrigation was pretty neat. I wonder why the blimp. There was no writing on it. Fun to see anyway. We parked for the night in a simple camp site. No hookups.

The sun was setting as we got here.

Tomorrow we will go the the Hidden Beaches Camp site across the Colorado River in Blythe CA.

The wind is really blowing. Our camper is moving pretty good. We will be rocked to sleep!!

Our best wishes to our new friends, Pat and Leroy. May you have safe travels. Their RV was behind us in AZ City. They are going to Texas on Monday.

Good night all, God Bless

Day 37 - Trip to Coolidge

I am laughing because the pictures never go on in the order I want them too. I hope you enjoy them anyway.

The white plane is called the Guppy. NASA used it to pick up shuttle pieces that was to big to ship by truck. The only other way they could have taken it from California to Florida was via the Suez Canel and that was to expensive.

The bubble is located at the bottom of a B17 plane and the place a bombardier sat...all hunched up. I can't see anyone bigger than my 8 year old grandson fitting in there.

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....Looks like it warmed up a bit in Minnesota & Iowa. I sure hope it continues.

We went to Coolidge today and met Ken and Marie, Mels half brother, for lunch. We had a good visit. On the way home we stopped at Verizon phone to get our phones to work without using a password. We so need one of our grandkids to get our phones to work. :-)

Molly got another bath. She sure gets dirty in all this sand and gravel.

I got a good start packing up stuff for our move tomorrow. Will finish in the morning. Plan to leave here by 11. check out time. Checking in to Hidden Beaches RV Park on Sat. morning. I hope we get a spot close to the river.

We have been concerned about Dad's hearing and called the nursing home to have them check his hearing aid batterys. they said they will check on it. Called later and again...they will check on it. A friend went to check on it and seen & told Mels uncle. He couldn't even find the hearing aid. Believe it or not Dad didn't even have it. It was in his shoe.......Go figure. Where was his shoe? I have no idea. Guess it wasn't on his foot. I wonder why the nursing home didn't make sure he had the hearing aid on in the first place. He can't hear a thing with out it.

Poor guy. No wonder he is unhappy when he couldn't hear anything. I think we will be spending a lot of time there when we get home just to see what is going on.

Not sure if I get a chance to write tomorrow night. I hope you miss me if I don't.

good night

Day 36 - Pima Air & Space Museum..... Part 2

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....Lets try this again. We visited the Air museum yesterday and it was so interesting.

Claimed to be the 3ed largest air museum in the US. Over 300 planes & parts of planes were displayed. I wish I could remember all the names of them. There were Bombers, Cargo, Migs, refueling, seaplanes, attack aircraft, fighter aircraft. The picture inside the hangar was a B29. One of the big ones. We took a tram ride around the grounds for over an hour and a half. The guide told us about every one there. "Pres." Mel is coming down from Air Force One. Presidents Kennedy and Johnson used this one within the US. It is just a small one. DC6 I think.

We had a fun afternoon.

We went on to Green Valley to visit our friends, Jackie and Don. They got a new winter home. It is so nice. They will enjoy that. Together we went to a Mexican restaurant for supper.

I don't usually care for Mexican food but this was good.

We got home again about 10.

Late on Tuesday night we heard and felt a very big boom. It really shook the camper. We looked all over but couldn't see any cause. Never did find out what it was. I did hear on the news that the metor that went over and landed in the NW someplace caused a sonic boom. I wonder if that is what we heard.

Last night we got to see the moon eclipse. A red moon.

Now the electric is off all over the park. And I guess way up and around Casa Grande. So whats the deal??????

I better say bye before I lose it all again. Be back tonight

Day 36 - Pima Air & Space Museum.....

Oppppps! I give up for the night. I got all the pictures up and then I didn't have signal enough to hold them. So I did it all over and also wrote the note. Finally done. But guess what. Signal left again and lost it all. Now I am to tired to do it over so will start over in the morning. good night

Day 35 - Oh, so nice out.

No pictures today. Didn't go anyplace. Just enjoyed the beautiful day. About 75*.
I did my home made chicken noodle soup . It turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.
I thought sure it would draw my kids here. It does at home. But it didn't work.

I swam for a while and then just sat in the sun.

We are moving on Friday. Going to a RV park in Blythe, CA. Right on the Colorado River
Checking in there on Sat. morning. Still hoping our friends will be able to join us there.

Thats all for today.. Good night

........Happy Birthday to brother Bart...

Day 34 - Shopping

How do you like my new stuff?

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.I washed cloths and bedding this morning and then we went to Casa Grande for some shopping.Got a few groceries too. Going to make some chicken noodle soup with dumplings in the morning. Come on over.

Two family birthdays this week. My daughter in law, Jen and brother in law, Kit. Happy Birthday !

We are thinking of moving on by the weekend. Not sure where yet. I have to figure out how to take my garden along.

We have been trying to figure out Molly. She is a barker. Sometimes she really drives us nuts. I guess she has also been bothering one of the neighbors so we have been trying to think of how to train her not to bark. We were advised to try the shock collar. We just didn't think this was a good idea. Sure don't want to hurt the little thing. But we don't want to upset the neighbors either. We checked on a collar today. A pet store lady assured us that these collars are good. So we will think about it. But you know what? Molly hasn't barked all evening. Not once. hmmmmmmmm ....Does she know what we are thinking??

Good night

Day 33 = Race day "Boogity boogity!"

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. 1) This is a mouth wash machine I found in the rest room of a restaurant. I have never seen this before. 2) This mansion is in Sadona and owned by the inventor of the lazer. Even has a big telescope on top. I wonder how big the house staff is. 3) Our neighbors moved on today.

Such a sweet couple. Their home is in Michigan and own a resort. If your interested you can click on the pictures to inlarge.

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Today was race day. This is about all we did. It was a good race but a surprise ending.

Mark Martin had some bad luck. Ryan Newman won. 6 of the top 8 cars were Mopars.

(Dodges).

I am still waiting for a few phone numbers. I have emailed some but no answers...

thanks for stopping by. Good night

Day 32 - Wide Blue Yonder !

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We were at the SkyDive Arizona park in Eloy. Skydivers and parachutists come from all over the world to practice and learn the art of skydiving. Even the military. The aircraft takes them to 13,000 feet and they free fall for 1 minute before they open the chute. They are so high we can't see them leave the plane or free fall. We hear the plane and a moment later we see nothing, then one parachute and another and all of a sudden 10, maybe more, are in sight. What a pretty sight.
They also offer balloon rides but didn't see any there today. I would so love to go in a hot air balloon.

We planned to watch the Busch, opps, I mean Nationwide race (name change) but didn't have it on the cable here. So I followed it on the computer. Tony Stewart won.

We found a couple of rummage sales this morning. Can't believe how hard it is to find one after following the sign on the road. They need some Minnesota know how!!! You see a sign on the main road with an arrow and that is the last you know where to go. We just looked for stuff in the yard, maybe blocks away from the sign.

We enjoyed supper out. Went to a BBQ rib buffet. So good. Molly enjoyed the bones.

Thanks for checking in. Good night

Day 31 - Just hanging out !!

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Just like Molly in the picture, we just hung around because it was raining out all day.

I did a bit of house cleaning and made some crock pot stew again.

The stew turned out better this time. was so good. Had banana cream pie for desert.

We have been watching a lot of racing this week. So good to have it back

Truck races tonight. National races tomorrow. The big Sprint Cup Daytona 500 on Sunday. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Mark starts out 12th. He can do it this year!!

Russ said to turn the TV around and watch it outside. Turn it up and people will just flock around to watch it with us. I wonder? I think they all will be at Russ's house watching.

I wish we were too.

Trey and Amy are going to the cities for a nice warm motel with pool. That sounds fun too.

Good night, God Bless

Day 30 - Happy Valentines Day

1. The alter in the Chapel of the Holy Cross

2. Mel

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Good evening, Hope you had a great Valentines day. We had some good pancakes at IHOP.

I had blueberry. Do we have IHOP's in Minnesota?

The next thing today was to get my phone fixed. But there was no fix to it. I had to replace it. I was so hopeing that it only needed a new battery but no. Now the process of getting phone numbers in again. I wish one of my quick fingered granddaughters were here to put them in for me.

Just watching the Discovery channel on TV. How they make hotdogs. Now I know why I don't like them!!!

The Twin Race was on at noon. Had to watch that. Mark did ok. The big Datona 500 is on Sunday. This afternoon we got groceries.... again. We went to a Spanish grocery store. Food City. Lots of hot peppers around there.

Good night

Day 28 & 29 Scenic wonder.

..................................Hello, Hope you all have warmed up a bit. It was cool and windy here but still very nice. Tomorrow will be kind of stormy with wind and rain. I hope it don't last long. 75 to 80 for the weekend.

Yesterday, Tuesday, we drove to Camp Verdie to visit nephew, Shannon and his wife Christine.

About 150 miles from here and north of Phoenex. They have a lovely home with view. Chris's decorating talents are something. They treated us to a lunch at a Pizza and salad restaurant in Sadona that was soooooo good. Then a tour around the area. I can't even discribe the beauty.

It was so awesome. I got a stiff neck from looking so hard. I took so many pictures that I wore out the batteries. This happened when we visited the Chapel of the Holy Cross. So I had to buy a post card with that picture. This is a Chapel built into the red rock. You will just have to come over and see all my pictures when we get home. We didn't get back to our camper until 10 pm. It was a good day.

Today we stayed home. Visited with the neighbors. Went for a swim. Washed some cloths.

And I really did something dumb. I had my cell phone in my swim suit and went in the pool. good bye cell phone. So I hope none of you tried to call me today. You can call Mels phone if you want. Tomorrow we have to make a trip to Verizon. The race is at noon so won't be doing any shopping.

We got good news that our very dear friends from Wyoming might come down. I hope.........

Good night. sleep well.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY - Much love to all.