Meeting a neighbour, fast trip to the gate and a warm day....

Our Location: Quartzsite, Arizona

(All pictures shown before the end of sunrise picture were taken before the sun was actually up)

 

Awake just before 6 am today, I started by getting caught up with the blogging folks. I read a few blogs, made a few comments and checked a few things I wanted to research. 

 

This greeted me when I slipped out the door this morning...

Next I headed outside about 6:55 am to catch the sunrise. I was greeted by the moon shining brightly and a few clouds still showing off their glitter against a dark sky. Off to the east the horizon was starting to brighten just a bit.

 

Lights off toward HWY 95......

I had merely slipped my feet into my slip on shoes that I use for quick errands outside, and pulled on my fleece sweater and had my mini gloves stuffed in my pocket but I was still in my jammies. The temps were reading 45F/7 C when I quietly made my way outdoors. 

 

This same cactus I snapped a few days ago with all the breaks in the bark...

I strolled around a bit taking some pictures of the moon and a few stars, a few cacti and occasionally snapping one of the eastern sky. It was starting to show off it’s range of colours  by 7:30 or so. A few more pics, a few more glances around and I was getting set to focus on the sun actually peeking out from it’s hiding place when I heard the fella in the tow behind trailer not far from me. He was talking on the phone. Then he disappeared but reappeared within a minute. He was still on the phone and walking toward me. I could hear him more plainly and heard him talking in medical terms. I knew something was wrong and he was heading straight toward me still talking. I immediately started heading toward him and just kept listening. Getting closer I asked if there was something wrong, and could I help. He told me his wife has had a stroke and the ambulance would need to be brought back to our location and could I meet them at the check in building. Telling them to watch for a white chevy pickup I headed back home, slipped on some pants and grabbed my keys. Off I headed for the gate house. I can tell you I broke the 15 mph speed limit. I made it to the gate as quickly as possible, within  8 minutes and I’m telling you that’s fast. 

 

The sky is turning lighter over that way.....

I meet the ambulance and paramedic truck just inside the front gate coming slowly with the lights on, I told them to follow me and we headed back to into the dust storm. Of course it was difficult to see, the sun had just popped over the horizon and the dust was everywhere but we managed to get back here pretty quickly. I pulled down the roadway past his entrance and directed them into his driveway, turned around and went back home to the Igloo. They didn’t need me standing around looking on. I admit I did take a picture from the front door though. I checked the time, it was under 20 minutes from when I turned the key in the ignition to start the Dogsled, until I turned off the key  back in our own yard. I spent a few minutes of that time directing the ambulance and truck in to his driveway, turning around and coming back home to park in my own spot. I realize that driving faster than the limit may have caused some people to complain to the front gate and I would definitely admit it was me if anyone asked but under the circumstances I can’t see anyone complaining. 

 

Definitely a sunrise going to happen....

It was about 10 - 15  minutes and they were leaving, they turned the lights off. Not wanting to be nosey but not wanting to seem unfriendly either I noticed the gentleman outside about 10 minutes later and decided I’d drop over and see if I could be of any further assistance. The ambulance took his wife to the clinic/hospital in Parker, thinking that she's had perhaps a mini stroke, with low blood sugar also in the mix of issues. He was on his way there within a few minutes. He thanked me and I headed home after offering any further assistance he might need. He left shortly afterward and I haven’t seen him any more today.  I still don’t know his name, we never got to that part of the conversation.

 

That's the moon way up there and that beat up cactus in the back ground....

For the above reason I didn’t get the total sunrise but I’m not complaining, just explaining. 

 

Can you see the hint of colour back there behind that truck and 5'er off in the distance.....

The rest of the morning Riley and I simply house cleaned. We pulled out the vacuum and gave the Igloo a good going over, I even pulled the floor vents off and vacuumed them out as well. The amount of beetles we’re still getting is ridiculous. Not as many as before but we’re still probably getting about 6-8 a day. The heat is slowly killing them I think, as we’ve found dead ones every day as well. Hopefully we’re getting to the end of them soon. 

 

And over that way as well....

After a thorough clean in her room Riley was tired and just wanted to rest. Of course I was also ready for a rest myself. I however didn’t sit down, instead I prepped lunch and stuck it in the fridge. After that I took my book and headed outside to read.

 

Cute little unit, that's a window in the door ...(sorry for the fuzzy pic)

About 1:30 pm I came inside, grabbed my salad, and headed back outside, alternating time in the sun and the shade as the temps were at 89F/ 31C in the sun. Before long Riley was outside cooking lunch on the Weber. Today we had salad (of course), a grilled potato, veggies with Oregano, Parsley and Rosemary (fresh green beans, fresh mushrooms, asparagus, cauliflower, spaghetti squash), and Bourbon BBQ Chicken breast. We followed that up with some peaches. I can tell you it was excellent and I enjoyed every bite.

 

Definitely something happening over there in that sky...

We finished a quick clean up by 3:00 pm and once again I sat outside for a bit but retreated inside with the door and windows open the Igloo was the perfect temperature. I will admit I didn’t do anything else this afternoon except read. I finished a book by John Saul called Shadows. It was a different kind of read than I’m used to, and although I’ve read a few of his books, they too were different than I usually read. I can’t say they aren’t good but you have to enjoy stretching your imagination a bit. I’m going to start a book by Stephen White called Blinded, we’ve had it for a while and it’s been shoved to the back of the book closet until today. 

 

A slight breeze this morning making the Stars and Stripes wave in the distance....

Our little spot has been a bit busier today with a bit more noise but still much better than the other spot. Not a lot of dust floating around here as there isn’t much going on to stir it up. We like that too. I will admit I had a few other things I wanted to do today but since it’s so warm out I’ll wait until morning  to actually attempt at least one of them. Who knows maybe I’ll get ambitious and get two of them accomplished.

 

Love that pink over the mountains in the west....

I headed outside about 5:15 pm tonight to catch the sunset, the temp was reading 76F/23.3 C. I was just pulling up a chair when our neighbour pulled into our driveway. I walked out to chat with him and find out how things were going forgetting about the sunset. 

 

I'm pretty certain the sun is back there ....

His name is Jim, his wife’s name is Karen. They are from Oregon and have a cat named Puma. Jim told me that Karen's troubles were related to low blood sugar. However the doctor thinks that due to the stroke like symptoms  perhaps it’s an indication of future issues and are sending her to Las Vegas for more testing. We chatted a bit about what that might entail and so on. I once again told him if there is anything I can do to help I’d be happy to do so while I’m here.

 

My last picture of the sunrise....

Jim and Puma headed off home and I came back inside having missed the sunset tonight. Again I’m not complaining, just explaining. 

 

A bit later over at the neighbour's place....

Apparently another ambulance was needed down closer to the check in building near one of the restrooms at the same time our neighbour's  ambulance was leaving the driveway, some one staying in a tent suffered a stroke there. A busy day here in the BLM near Quartzsite. 

 

My lunch time salad, there is lettuce under there honest....

Riley has gone off to do whatever it she does. As I explained last night, I’m not sure what she does and I don’t think I want to know, she makes a lot of noises in her room. I’ve been writing my post, editing pics and just kind of enjoying the peace. 

 

Lunch is served....

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful day, as we all know we’ve had it better than some. Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment. 

 

Sunset was finished by the time I got back to my camera....

Until next time…. take care, be safe, 

 

Love the pink in the sky over there.....

Deb

A cloudy day, a bit of shopping, and no sunset....

Our Location: Quartzsite, Arizona

Today's pics are totally 100% this morning's sunrise.

It's started.....

I woke this morning about 4:30 am, played a few rounds of CrossyWords on my iPad before drifting back to sleep until 7 am. I think I snored and woke myself up, either that HRH Miss Kitty was hacking up a fur ball. I’ve yet to determine which one it was.

I grabbed my fleece jacket, mini gloves and the camera heading outside to catch the sunrise. I even caught the moon before it slipped out of the sky. The sun rise was once again a thing of beauty. I never did actually see the sun, as the cloud cover prevented that but the sky was telling me that the sun was there with no doubts. 

Back inside about 7:35 am I started getting myself settled down to read blogs from yesterday. Of course HRH Miss Kitty demanded food before I dare sit on the couch. I will admit she had only one or two morsels of food left in her bowl but somehow I doubt she’s in danger of starving. 

Do you think they might be beaming folks up?

 
The morning temps upon returning inside read 44F/ 6.6 C and while it was a bit chilly outside it wasn’t cold. A slight breeze made you know it could be crisp if it wanted to be.

A huge thanks to Bill Richards (On Our Way) for his offer of assistance and generous advice regarding my little water pump issue. I appreciate it very much Bill but I’m truly not too worried about it. You are truly a gem, as Miss Patsy alludes to often.

This morning after Riley staggered out about 8:30 am we enjoyed a hot drink and chatted about what we had to get accomplished today and what we’d like to do but that wasn’t necessary. By 10 am we started loading the truck with a large propane tank, smaller water jugs, two drinking water jugs, and a bag of garbage. We were soon off, our first stop to fill up the small jugs, and get rid of the garbage. After that we headed into town to RV Pit Stop where we payed $2.10 per gallon for our propane, from there we headed off to The General Store (I think is the name) to fill up our drinking water jugs at 5 gallons for $1, what a good buy. After that we headed on back home to get these things put away before we went off to do some looking around at a few of the vendors we noticed along our way into town. 

 
We managed to find 2 BBQ Grill mats that George Yates (Our Awesome Travels) has been using for some time and he says works fantastically. We bought the same ones George showed us some time ago. We paid only $5 for two. I also bought a half dozen extra fuses even though I have a lot of spares already. We didn’t buy anything else but we enjoyed looking at some of the little exhibits. 

Leaving the area we bought ourselves that ice cream we didn’t get yesterday. Although it claimed to be home made I don’t think it was, didn’t have the right flavour to me, but oh well, we enjoyed it anyway. 

Back home we discussed that due to the over cast day and the wind which seemed to be picking up that Miss Riley (who has offered to be chef for a while) would make a ONE DISH meal inside. Totally suited me. I of course, made our salads while she prepped everything for the one dish meal. She included sweet onions, asparagus, fresh mushrooms, carrots, cauliflower, sweet Italian Sausage (out of the casing), diced tomatoes, a few spices and some Parm cheese. Tossed it in the oven for a bit and it was excellent. It really hit the spot. 

After lunch which we didn’t finished until almost 4:30 pm we cleaned up the dishes and tidied up a bit. I grabbed my fleece sweater and the camera but there was no sunset tonight at all. Too much cloud cover but the temps weren’t really cold, just a bit coolish.

Inside I wrote my post, and edited pictures, while Riley did what ever it is she does that causes her to chuckle and talk to whoever it is that doesn’t answer her. I think she’s playing a game but since she wears headphones she doesn’t answer when I talk to her. So I guess we’ll never know. 

So there you have it, our busy type day. Nothing too exciting but we enjoyed it a great deal. We are totally enjoying this location, today we had one vehicle go past along with 2 ATV’s. It’s a fantastic location and we’re enjoying it very much.

And this was going on opposite the sunrise....see the moon?

Thanks for stopping by, hope you had a great day as well. Feel free to leave a comment, I do appreciate them all.

Good morning from Quartzsite, Arizona.

Until next time….. take care, be safe, 


Deb

California, laundry and Dome Rock.....

Our Location: Quartzsite, Arizona

A much warmer night last night, the temps at 5:45 am read 47F/ 8C, not chilly in the Igloo at all. I woke up off and on through the night, not sure why but I didn’t have any trouble falling back asleep so it was an okay night.

 

The start of sunrise...

Made my hot drink and sat down to read and comment on blogs around 6 am. Of course HRH was fed while I made my hot drink. Two bites and she was off to find something else to do but there must be food in the dish or she thinks she’s going to starve. She is too funny. 

 

Billowy pink clouds......

After completing my reading I headed outside to get some sunrise pictures. Fantastic sunrise this morning, truly magnificent. I snapped at least a couple of dozen pics, don’t worry I’m only going to post a few, but I couldn’t resist.

 

Hot pink....sizzling almost....

Riley was up around 8:30 am and we sat discussing the day ahead and enjoyed some hot drinks. We had a number of things on the list but some that must absolutely get accomplished today. So with that in mind we sorted the laundry, loaded it up and headed out to find the laundromat at Quartzsite. Since we’d checked it out before we kind of knew where it was but managed to find it again without the use of a GPS. I measured the distance with the Dogsled, it’s 3 miles from our front door to the front gate. So I guess I didn’t put in 3 miles yesterday but it sure felt like it. 

 

The sun is coming.......

We stopped at the laundromat but the lot was full and we couldn’t find any place to park, so we decided we’d do a few other things first. A  visit to Discount Solar was in order and I did my business there,leaving with an estimate of the work I want to have done. 

 

See it starting to shine thru?

We found a second laundry facility but once again didn’t stay. So we headed out on I-10 West to do a couple of things. We hadn’t been to California yet, nor Blythe, and so we thought we’d head out that way to check things out. I figured we pick up a few items at the grocery store and check out the town, and perhaps find a laundromat there. 

 

Two of these ladies stand on street corners here in Quartzsite. They are mannequins with the ability to move due to some mechanical expertise. 

Of course we had to pass thru the California agriculture inspection station, with a wave of her hand the lady sent us onward. Okay then, we’ll just keep heading out. Blythe was less than what I expected. We found three laundromats that to be honest with you, I simply walked in and turned around and walked out. I’m certainly not a snob but I believe that the machines should be cleaner than my dirty clothes. I was truly amazed at how unkempt these places are. We did stop at the hardware store but didn’t purchase anything, it was a nice big clean place, very inviting and friendly. We decided we didn’t need any groceries and so just didn’t bother stopping. 

 

Wonder where he left the back half? Must have lost the kitchen and the living room, see the metal bowl and the flowered brown chair?

We headed back toward Quartzsite but stopped at Dome Rock Road for a bit of a look see, and at first didn’t find anything that appealed to us. However after a short talk with the Camp Host Jim, we did find something that will suit us fine when we’re back in the area at a later date. 

 

Dennis still has his hat and shoes with him at Dome Rock BLM

We continued on and I decided to drive past the laundromat on Main Street once again, and believe it or not, the lot was pretty empty. I turned the big Dog in to the parking lot, hustled myself in to ensure there were washers available, grabbed a laundry cart on the way out and proceeded to load it up with baskets and detergent, etc. Riley wasn’t too keen on this idea but it needed to be done. I explained to her that she needed only to help bring it in and get it going, she could then sit in the Dogsled to read her book and I would call her to help when it was time to get the clothes out of the dryers. So that’s what we did. We managed to get four large loads washed, dried and folded by around 3:00 pm. As we headed home I mentioned an ice cream from McDonalds and she readily agreed. We had to of course find it first, which we managed, and then got into the drive thru line. It moved pretty quickly and within a couple of minutes we were at the “order here” spot. From there we waited and waited and waited, and finally after 20 minutes we just pulled out of line and left. We hadn’t even made it to the pay window yet. One car was holding up the entire line. I have no idea what the issue was but it seemed ridiculous to me to allow that to happen. However the only game in town, I suppose they think you have no options. 

 

Love the chimney....

We reached home shortly before 4 pm. We unloaded the Dogsled, put everything away and I started making a salad, Riley passed on one. We had left over pasta with sauce from Sunday evening. We were both tired from having a long day , or at least a long day for us. It was enjoyable of course but still long. 

 

Granny, we're off to Californy......

After a quick tidy up I headed outside to catch the sunset. It was nice, not as nice as sunrise, but I’m not complaining, I’ll take it.

 

The sun is slipping away again tonight...

Tomorrow I have at least two chores that need to get accomplished and after that it’s a matter of just doing whatever suits us whenever it suits us. I like it that way. The temps today were wonderfully warm, 80F/ 26C with a bit of a breeze. A perfect day.

 

Amazing colour in the northern sky...

Birthday greetings goes out to my nephew Jason, who turns 28 today. I can tell you that 28 years ago today I was in Myrtle Beach, SC. Jason is an avid sportsman/hunter, and recently married his perfect woman as she too enjoys the same activities. Happy Birthday Jason!!

 

Even the airplanes are getting in on the action in tonight's sky...

That’s our day, long and interesting. I’m so glad we’ve managed to do the laundry and now we’re good for a while. We don’t have to the move to the ‘clothing optional’ portion of the park. Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment. 

 

Soon it will be gone....again...

Until next time…take care, be safe, 

Add caption

 

 

Deb

Happy New Year, happy news, and a quiet day.....

Our Location: Quartzsite, Arizona

I slept in this morning until about 6:30 am, then finally made it out of bed shortly after 7 am. Took a few pics of the sunrise, talked to my middle daughter Bradey, who became engaged at midnight last night. Congratulations to the happy couple, Bradey and David, though they’ve been together for a number of years, it seems they are going on to the next step. I wish for them the very best in the years to come. The future looks bright and promising! 

Sunrise this morning....

I next called oldest daughter Courtney but only got her answering machine, she and her hubby Matt, are in Winnipeg, Manitoba visiting friends for the New Year’s Eve event. 

Love the colours....

Next I called my brother’s house, talked to SIL Barb for almost an hour. Catching up on all the latest news from back home on the island. We chatted about numerous things and the time slipped past before we realized how long we’d chatted. Glad I have 40 hours talk time a month.

There it is now.....

Next I called my best friend Linda, and chatted with her for about an hour as well. We too caught up on all the latest news. She’s looking forward to the new year. 

My salad today....

After that I cleaned up and decided to walk the garbage to the bins. It was a longer walk than I anticipate and while the garbage wasn’t too heavy at the beginning by the time I made it to the bins it  was extremely heavy. Even cutting cross country I think it was probably about 3 1/2 miles round trip. It took me at least 40 minutes each way and I walk at about 3 mph. I can tell you that I didn’t slow down, nor did I stop to take any pictures during my walk. I was on a mission and I’m very focused at times and today was one of those times.

It was very good....

I chatted with a nice fella named Chris from Colorado while at the dumpsters. We discussed my walking stick, which he mentioned as a snake stick. He informed me that the snakes could indeed be out this time of the year and to keep an eye out, as well as an ear. I told him not to scare me as it’s my first time in the area and I was enjoying it. He chuckled and talked about something else. 

This may be the most beaten up one yet...

Back home I flopped into my chair with my book and spent a great deal of time today reading. In the sun, out of the sun, in the sun, out of the sun. You get the idea right? The temps reached 82F/27C by 2 pm today, it was a gorgeous day and I enjoyed it very much.

This crack in the bark went all the way around and upwards as well ....

A breeze kicked up and we put our awning back in as we don’t want to have any issues with it. We also used the wind break for the Weber due to wind today, not that it was blowing strongly but it was blowing at just such an angle to cause a few issues.

And this was a different break in the bark....

Miss Riley was the chef again today. I however had prepped lunch before my walk and so I enjoyed sitting and reading while she slaved over the Weber today. I enjoyed my salad around noon and we finally had lunch around 3 pm. Lunch was excellent again. I had my salad, Riley passed on one, we then had a mixed veggie medley with Thyme and Parsley (fresh green beans, fresh mushrooms, asparagus, carrots, spaghetti squash, and celery), along with a potato sliced that was brushed with oil and tossed on the grill, and of course our Bourbon Chicken breast. It was all very good, or did I tell you that already? 

And then that black one was another break....

After cleaning up I once again headed outside to read and enjoy the sunshine. I will tell you that I truly didn’t do much else today, after my walk I just kind of ran out of energy. I should have taken a bottle of water with me, but I was already carrying a bag of garbage and anything else would have  been tough to carry. 

Look at the breaks in those 'arms'....

Around 5:30 I headed out to get pics of the sunset. I walked a bit here and there taking pics of various cacti and of course the sunset. Not a lot of colour tonight compared to other nights. Too much cloud cover, or pollution. There was some colour of course but the last gasp wasn’t much of a sizzle, more like a thief  slipping out the door, quietly.

And more breaks in the bark....

Back inside I worked on editing the pics and writing this post. So there you have it, our day. Nothing too exciting but it worked for us. We enjoyed it greatly. We have a number of things  on the agenda for tomorrow and I know we won’t get them all finished but I’d be happy with half. Will see how well we do tomorrow. 

Look at all those breaks....

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment. Always enjoying hearing what you think.

Not a great amount of colour but interesting....

Like this pic with the sky behind....

Until next time…take care, be safe,

The last little bit of the sunset.....

Deb