Day 23 - A great afternoon

My cousin and his wife, Virgil & Darlene Qualle, spent the afternoon with us. They are from Cannon Falls, MN and on their way to Palm Springs. We enjoyed the sunshine and had a nice visit at our camp sight and then went to town for supper.

There is an owl nesting in a tree near our camper. She sits on the nest and the daddy owl brings her food and spends the night near by. I hope you can see her in the picture. She really blends in with the tree. If you click on the picture it will enlarge.

Our friendly gopher made a bigger hole in the dirt pile. I still haven't see the gopher.

Mel smoothed it out today so we wouldn't trip on it. Maybe there will be another pile tomorrow. I get to go to my favorite place tomorrow.......the laundromat. :-(

Good night & God Bless

Day 22 - Windy again

Windy but warm. Another quiet day. We decided to move to Brenda next Wed. Let me know if you want our address.

We have a new pet. A gopher decided to make a pile of dirt right in the middle of our little area.

Haven't actually seen the critter but the dirt pile is sure a nuisance.

We are having company tomorrow so we picked up a few snacks to serve. Molly got a bath. She is white again.

Have you noticed how close the moon is to the planet Venus? Pretty cool.

That is about it for today.

The picture is of our little yard.

Day 21 - nice day

I thought I was back in MN this morning. It was only 36 degrees out and we were out of LP for the furnace. Good thing we had an electric mattress pad. Mel changed tanks and it warmed up in here real fast. By noon it was warm outside too. It was about 72 this afternoon. :-)
I squeezed some more oranges for juice. mmmmm.
Mel fixed the bottom step on the camper and I got a start reading a book... "The Shack" We went for a short ride then. No place special. Ate out for supper then home again.

Good night and God Bless

Day 20 - Cold day in CA!!

Yes, it was cold all day. It didn't get over 65. I bet you all feel sorry for me too. But it was cold. And very very windy! The river was moving so fast I almost got sea sick looking out the window. ha! We went into Blythe for a while but didn't stay long. Just came back and turned the furnace on. All you MN people must be blowing the cold down here.
I made a meat loaf supper and that's about all the work I did.
This morning I had to do some truck business. I thought I was on vacation but the unexpected does happen. Thank goodness for email and fax machines.
Molly said she wanted some popcorn. It does sound pretty good. I guess I will make some.

Good night & God Bless

Day 19 - lazy day

We didn't go anyplace today. To tired after the weekend. I did catch up with my checkbook and bill pay. Made a good supper and otherwise just sat around.
I got a phone call from my cousin who is coming from MN and will visit us the first of the week.

Now we are all rested up so we can be on the go again tomorrow.
I hope it warms up for tomorrow. It only got to 65 today!! ;-)

Good night and God Bless

Day 18 - Yuma

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1. my favorite plant, Bougainvillea 2. at flea market 3. Sandy and Ralph...................

We left for Yuma at 9:30 this morning.......or was it 10:30, maybe 8:30. This time change is really playing with my head!! We go just a couple of miles and it is a different time zone. We are in Pacific time zone, 2 hrs behind home. AZ is one hour behind home. Oh well....... We move to AZ soon then I just have one hour to worry about. We log home time but if we have to meet someone at their time then ??????

We had a nice ride to Yuma this morning and went right to Sandy and Ralph's RV Park.

Sandy is sister to Mel's brother in law, Kit. We had a nice visit and then went to lunch. It has been several years since our last meeting.

From there we went to the Arizona Market. This was a pleasant surprise as I didn't know it was a flea market. We went to get a sun screen net for the awning. But had to look at it all. many many many rows of vendors. I found so many things I wanted but going to wait until we move to see just what we want there. I did get some weaved baskets and a cart to carry my laundry to the laundromat. Many things are on my list for next time. :-) I have a new yard to decorate!!!

We went on to the Golden Coral and met friends Pat & Leroy. They are leaving this week for TX so we won't see them again until summer when they are back in Minnesota.

Yuma is about a 100 miles from here and we got home about 7:30... or was it 9:30????

Thank you Sandy, Ralph, Pat, & Leroy for a wonderful day.

Good night & God Bless

Day 17 - lunch with new friends

Howdy, We met some new friends for lunch today. They are from Adams, MN and wintering in Big River, CA. Sharon and Art Osmunson. We had so much to talk about that I forgot to take their picture. We have mutual friends in Dexter. They also know our son Tom and praised him for his paramedic work in Adams. I hope we can visit with them again soon.

We found out that our new space is now available at Brenda so we took a ride over there to check out the site again. Seems to be real nice. I will even have a little cactus garden. But it really needs more. So I will just have to spend some time at a garden center. Hard work but someone has to do it!!!!!! :-) ...

We spoke to a few folks there and they really made us feel welcome. We will move there next week.

We stopped at Quartzsite on the way home but soooo many people there. I think we will wait a few weeks before we spend any time there.

Sharon and Art gave us a basket full of oranges and grapefruit. Tonight we made some orange juice. mmmmm Fresh juice for breakfast.

Good night and God Bless

Day 16....Ride to Parker, AZ

Hi, We were busy all day. I washed cloths this morning. (Oh but I hate laundromats!!) Then picked up a couple of things at the grocery store. We went to a restaurant for breakfast and had biscuits and gravy. They weren't good. After I got all cloths and groceries put away we went for a ride. We stopped to see some Arizona Petroglyphs...These we seen are Blythe Intaglios. These are geometric figures on the ground surface. They are unsolved mysteries of how they got there. We had to go on a graded dirt bumpy rocky road way into the desert. Fun. (pictures above). You can read about them on line at http://elaineseavey.wordpress.com/2008/03/02/petroglyphs-indian-camps-in-the-southwest/ From there we went up 95, a nice blacktop road but was like a roller coaster, up and down - up and down, on the CA side and crossed over to Parker AZ. We got fuel and a Big Mac then down the AZ side & back to Blythe. Beautiful scenery. Camper neighbors had a big bon fire going and invited us over so visited a while and we came home. We got home just in time before it started to rain again.

Looks like the cold is back in MN. I hope it don't last long.

Put another log on the fire.......

hugs and God Bless

Day 15 - Picnic

Another beautiful day. We never left our camp. Just enjoyed the day and watched the water go by. Mel fired up the grill and we had burgers, fried taters, mushrooms and onions. Sure was good. I made some salsa this morning. Didn't turn out to bad I guess. Had some on the burgers.

I tried out my new metal detector today. I found a quarter first thing. I got all excited. But nothing after that.

Molly met a new friend. But she didn't want to play like Molly did.
Molly has never seen so many doggies. I think every camper here has a couple of them.
But Molly doesn't think they should go by ours so she barks and barks. The squirt bottle is really getting a workout.

Washing cloths tomorrow then for a ride...... someplace. Will let you know tomorrow.

NASCAR at Daytona is getting closer... ;-)

Good night, God Bless

Day 14

Hi, What a lovely day. Close to 80. I wish I had my swimming pool along!!
Another quiet day. Mel polished the pickup. I cleaned house a bit.
We went for a short ride then stopped at K-mart in Blythe. I wanted to check out
picnic tables but they didn't have any in yet. Home for supper and that's about it.
I hope to meet some friends tomorrow for lunch. Won't know for sure until morning.

Good night & God Bless

Day 13, Mountain view

Welcome back. I hope your enjoying our journey.

It was a quiet day today. I think we both have 'jet lag'. 2 hours difference in

time is so weired. We did watch the inauguration. Glad I wasn't there in that crowd.

I bet everyone is really tired.

Mel finished rewebbing the lawn chairs. Then we went to a produce farm and got a few fresh veggies and fruit. We hope to make some salsa tomorrow.

There was a pretty view of the mountains along the way.

We had supper at a Chinese place. I sure ordered wrong. I got a plate half full of almost raw broccoli and celery. Those who know me know I don't do veggies. The meat, soup, and noodles were good.

I think early to bed tonight

Hugs and Blessings to all

Day 12 - Day of change

Hi, We found our next RV Park. It will be in a tiny town of Brenda AZ. On AZ Hwy 60. Only a couple of stores and lots of RV's. We decided to find a park where we can leave our 5th wheeler all year. It can stay on the lot for as long as we want. So we won't be bringing it home. It won't have as pretty a view but the folks seemed to be so friendly. We will move in a couple of weeks. Or the first week of Feb. It is about 35 miles from here. They have activities there, church services, crafting, bingo, live music jams. There is even a dog groomer for Molly. I hope we made the right choice. I think so.

We thought we would eat at the Flying J but what a buffet they had. No meat of any kind. There could have been fish but I couldn't identify. There were 3 kinds of onions, some zucchini, tamales, and more kinds of strange veggies. It cost $8.99 plus the drink. Soda was $2. So we left without. We came home and ate.

It was so nice out so we just sat outside for a while.
No pictures today.....
Thank you for your comments. Keep them coming.

Good night, God Bless

Day 11

........Hi everyone, Looks like it warmed up a bit in Minnesota. At least better than 27 below!!

We did some shopping today. Mel needed things from the hardware store. Next door is a garden shop so of course I HAD to get a flower basket. I washed cloths and then we got groceries.

We went for a walk around the RV park and then rode our bikes for a short time. I fell off mine..... Didn't hurt anything. I had to stop for a car and tipped. I can't reach the ground without tipping the bike and my shoe got caught. Maybe if I would ride more often I would figure it out. I hope no body was looking.

There is a couple here that made their own camper. They have a 1965 White truck pulling a 1946 Trailmobile trailer. Their traveling home is so neat. They are from Michigan.

Molly got a bath today. She is white again.

There was a beautiful sunset tonight. I could watch it while making supper.

Good night, God Bless

Day 10, Hidden Beaches, Blythe CA

#1 & 2... out our window...Colorado River

#3...Pat & Leroy Groh, They are full timers... from Mpls.

#4... The Ronkins from Kenyon. Camps in Wellton, AZ

#5... My cousin, Ed Qualle. from Patagonia, AZ

Click on picture to inlarge

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Hello everyone. We made it. We are sitting on the banks of the Colorado river.

I spent most of the day cleaning up the camper. We sure had a mess while traveling.

Mel got the outside set up. Lawn chairs, rug, grill, etc.

Showers, supper and sit.

Yes, our TV works here. Both of them. Can't get the local channels though. Not sure why.

We are suppose to. I see that I am missing the cancer telethon.

There is a Blue Grass concert not far from here so this camp ground is full of folks that go to that. A lot of them will go in a couple of days. Tomorrow will be laundry and not sure what else. The pictures are from yesterdays visits. Then what we see out our windows.

Good night & God Bless

Day 9, Quartzsite, AZ

We are about a half hour from our RV Park in Blythe. We will sleep here and go in the morning to get parked and set up. It has been a long but fun day. We spent the afternoon with friends at their campsite in Wellton, AZ. We met more friends in Yuma for dinner and visited for 3 hrs. I will put up pictures tomorrow.
Good night - Keep warm, we are! ;-)

Day 8, Gila Bend AZ

It has been a big day. We found the RV service place that would fix out Dish antenna... King Dome, and we were even there a half hour early. But the guy says we can't fix it. So why did they give us an appointment?....... Then he said the satellite guy wouldn't be in until afternoon........ So why did they make the appointment for 9 am? We just unhooked and went on our way.Just told them to fix it!!
We went to Patagonia and had coffee with my cousin, Ed Qualle. On South to check out Nogales. We shopped a bit then headed back to Tucson and our camper.
Guess what .......... The TV was on.....both of them. The service guy was gone so we have no idea what he did. We hooked up again and paid the bill. On down the road.
We stopped for the night in Gila Bend. Anxiously turning on the TV....... it don't work!
Mel gave up and went to bed. I tried a few things and walla..... We have TV!!!
Good night and God Bless.

Day 7, Sunny Tucson

We are here, And it is so nice. It was 70* today. I wish all of you could be here with us instead of the unbelievable cold.

We are parked in a casino parking lot. We met my school friend Jackie and her husband Don for dinner here. We had such a nice visit. They are from Rochester and live here for 6 months of the year.

Molly stayed alone in the camper for the first time. No damage done but she was sure we left her forever. Poor baby - so mistreated!! ha

We changed our appointment to tomorrow morning to get our satellite antenna fixed.

I hope they can do it. I miss TV in the evenings.

Good night & God Bless

Day 6, Lordsburg NM

Behind this hill is White Sands Missile base

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It was 63 degrees today. No coat weather!!! I just had to say that :-)

We didn't really see much of interest during our travels. Pretty scenery with the mountains

all around. We finally found a McDonalds and had Egg McMuffins for breakfast.

We got here about 3 this afternoon. Parked at the Flying J Truck stop. We filled our water tank for the first time but will have to dump and refill tomorrow. This one mostly just cleaned out the anti freeze. We had showers and then a nice supper in the restaurant.

Mel even got the pickup windows washed.

It is so warm that Mel went to get some ice cream!

Good night and God Bless

Day 5, Carrizozo NM (I wonder how they pronounce this)

We're just drifting along with the tumbling tumble weeds!!!!

Hi there,
Baby its cold outside. We were so thinking we would be in warm country by now but not. It has been very very windy all day. and only 33 degrees now.
There was even snow in the ditches near Duran NM,
Checking on AZ temps we will be fine. It is in the 70's there.
We have an appointment to have our satellite dish fixed on Friday in Tucson. I missed my favorite show already. If anyone watched "24" let me know what happened.
We traveled hwy 54 all day and not much to see but open land and little towns with nothing open anymore. No restaurants at all. Only post offices and schools. Maybe a fix it shop or two. McDonald's should open along there and make a fortune!!
We did see 2 big feed lots. At least a mile long and cattle as far back as we could see.

I hope none of you are in the snow storm up there. Stay warm!!
Take care and God Bless.

Day 4, Guymom OK

What a difference a day makes!!! Speirs driveway on Saturday and Kansas on Sunday.

Greetings from the panhandle of OK.

It was a good day. No problems. It sure was good not to wear a heavy coat.
The rivers are running. no ice. Alfalfa showing green in the fields.

This morning we stopped for a few groceries. I brought a lot along from home so didn't need much. Made some lunch and headed out. We ate out tonight. I had catfish. It was really good.

Not much else going on. We will get to New Mexico tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping in.
Good night

Day 3, Emporia, KS

Hello again, We filled up with fuel and LP then had supper. Mel tried our new satalite dish. But.... It doesn't work!!! I spent about an hour with the tech but still don't work. So frustrating. It worked at home. So I guess we will have to find a King Dome dealer and see if they can do anything with it.

I am listing to XM radio. Mel and Molly went to bed.

I will add some pictures in a few days.

Thank you Terri & Bob for a great weekend.
Good night

Hello, We are on our way! Into MO a few miles. We had a great time at Terri and Bob's in Des Moines but the snow wanted to stay with us. We got about 6 inches last night. So we got a late start today waiting for the roads to clear. Terri and Mel shoveled their long driveway. It took them a couple hours. No snow where we are now. Molly had such fun chasing Aidans kittys. It is kind of hard to type when going down the road so will write again tonight. bye

January 2 in Dexter

Welcome friends,

Happy New Year!



We had hoped to leave today but circumstances wouldn't allow. So we will be on the road next Friday. The 9th.

Our semi had some problems so it is in the shop. I am glad it happened before we left.

It is suppose to be done Monday or Tuesday.



We will spend some time at Terri and Bobs in Des Moines and head south on Sat.



Thanks for coming over. Will write again in a few days.

Diane