Pages

Total Pageviews

Monday, January 29, 2018

Quartzsite, Yuma and Los Algodones Here We Come

The subject of Quartzsite AZ has come up within a group of friends.
Jerry and Konni said they were going and they had family members that were going to save us some spots so we can boondock.



Our friends Diana & Chris are even coming to Arizona to meet up and make this trip.
We go to The Riverbottom the night before departure for dinner.
Little did we know that everyone in the world was going there tonight as well.
It was very busy and it took forever to get our food.









Diana & Chris spend the night at Desert Gardens and get ready for a fun adventure.












January 20th
We head out on Saturday morning 6 trailers, 11 people, 3 dogs and 2 cats strong.
Jerry and Konni are leading the group, and Chuck and I are taking the sweep position.
The day was a bit more cloudy, cool, and windier than we had wished for, but we are on the move and all is good in the world.







Our first stop is Gila Bend AZ for a lunch break.
One of the 6 trailers pulled by Konni's brother Steve, continues on to Quartzsite so we are now 5 strong.


Lunch is quick, and we are back on the road in record time.
Before you know it we are seeing the town of Quartzsite.
Jerry had given us all maps of the location that we would be boondocking just in case we got separated, but this group did very well.
I don't even think we ran any very yellow lights today!!!



We are going to camp on State Land for the next couple of days.
Guy and Suzanne show us the way to their rig, and we all circle around and begin to settle into our home away from home.
As far as you can see there are people out on the flat land staking their little bit of sand.
Solar panels are all over the place.
Chuck gets ours all set up and we are officially boondocking at Quartzsite.
The evening was spent sitting around and just enjoying the social time with everyone.

January 21st.
We have heard about the Big Tent that we need to go shop at, so Ida & Steve lead us in and we find parking spaces.
It is busy and those parking spaces were far and few between.
The Big Tent was very busy with people.
Reminds me of the fair in Oklahoma.
Interesting part of this tent is that we basically came out empty handed.
Chuck and I thought there would be more large vendors with stuff for the trailers, like steps and accessories.
Guess the big guys have decided to not participate in the event this year.
We proceed to shop the outside vendors and go up and down the many isles of stuff.
The rock and gem show is going on as well, so it was fun to see all the beautiful rocks from all over the world.

Later in the afternoon I get a text from Carol and Ryaan.
They are joining us today as well, to boondock but they didn't bring their trailer, they are going to tent camp.
Man, and I thought we were roughing it...LOL
These two are really cool people and we are so glad they are our neighbors at Desert Gardens.
They have been on very many wonderful adventures and love the outdoors.
Upon getting back to the rigs, sure enough, Ryaan and Carol have their tent all set up.
The winds are pretty high today, and they have secured it to a mesquite tree.



The weather has been very breezy today and it has only been in the 60's so the gas firepits are coming in quite handy as we sit around them and enjoy the Fireball Jello Shots that I had made earlier.








Everyone had their own ideas for dinner tonight, and we went with Jerry, Konni, Guy, Suzanne, Steve, Carol and Ryaan to eat at Silly Al's.
We order their Goliath Pizza and shared it amongst 6 people.
The pizza was delicious and we ended up having several pieces left over.
Suzanne had driven Carol, Ryaan and I to and from the restaurant, and we followed Jerry, Konni and Chuck back to the rigs.
This day has been fun, so no telling what tomorrow will bring.

January 22nd.
Today we wake to Ida and Steve having heat issues with their rig.
It was fairly cold last night and their propane isn't heating the rig during the night.
The day before Ida and Steve had the same issue and had hoped they had fixed it.
Bev and Ken had heating issues with their propane as well.
Jerry has a low tire, so he is taking it to the tire store and have them look at it tomorrow.
We hang around and watch the guys work on Ida and Steves new awning.
They were supposed to be getting two today, but it seems the company ordered the wrong size for one of them, so they will only get the one replaced today.
They are finished fairly quickly and the new awning looks really nice....too bad they didn't get them both!
The Discount Solar Store was a place the guys wanted to check out.
Doing some price comparison on batteries for the solar on the rigs.
Looks like the prices are a bit higher than what we can get at other places, so again no money was spent.
We went to a few of the other vendors that are scattered all over the area.
Found some beautiful Saguaro skeletons but just wasn't in the mood to buy one.
I am sure we may regret not getting one, but for now we are good!

Its time for lunch and Jerry suggested The Yacht Club.
We got there before the rush, and from the time we sat down Chuck told the waitress he wanted a piece of Mud Pie that was on their menu.
Actually 3 pieces of Mud Pie were requested.
She said she would see if they had gotten some in, and let them know.
Our food comes and we eat.
The place is getting busy, and as the waitress comes by and refreshes our drinks, we again ask about the Mud Pie.
She says she is really busy but will check.
We sit there another 30 minutes....it seems like anyway, and she never comes back to bring our pie.
Long story short, we finally just get up and hunt her down and request our tab so we can pay up.
She acts a bit put out and says our pie was coming out.
I think we have given her every chance to get the stupid pie, and we are finished!
Unhappily she takes our money and we leave.

The evening was spent grilling some food and sitting around the camp fire.
It is still fairly cool and the fires were great.
We hope that Ida & Steve's heat works tonight as Ida has said she can't spend another night like last night.

January 23rd.
Well, the lack of heat issue is still with Ida and Steve.
I look out the window and see our faithful campers Carol & Ryaan sitting outside making coffee.
I suggested they come in the trailer and warm up but they assure us they are good!
Ida came over and warmed up though.
Steve is out working on propane tanks and running to get more propane.




Jerry and the guys have removed his low tire and he will take it to the tire store this morning.









We girls got around and went to a store that Konni had bought a few cute yard items from.
I am happy to say that we all came back with some goodies!
Back at the trailer Carol and Ryaan pack up and head back to Florence.
We are giving them "The Tough Peoples Award"......impressed with their tenting skills....me on the other hand....well, let's just say "no way"!!!!








Dinner tonight is at the Mountain Quail Restaurant.
We have a 40 minute wait so Chuck takes advantage of the wait and orders a piece of pie to go.
Today is "National Pie Day"....so why not eat your desert first.  :)
They had Chicken Fried Steak on the menu and 5 out of the 8 ordered it.
The waitress got a kick out of how easy we were to please.
Konni ordered a steak sandwich, medium rare.
The funny thing about this is the waitress asked her to initial the order for the medium rare steak.
Never have heard of anyone doing this, but Konni obliged her.
The food was really good, and I am happy to say Konni's steak was cooked to her liking.
Strange sandwich though, as they didn't even toast the bread....
In observance of "National Pie Day" several of us had a piece of pie.
Chuck even ate a little bit of my coconut cream.
Enjoyed spending the evening with all these fine people.

Oh by the way, something I learned today from Guy...he uses crutches from the Goodwill to hold his solar panels up....Jerry was the one that suggested it and by golly it works....LOL

Packing up tomorrow to head to Yuma.
Goodnight world.



January 24th.
I am happy to report that Ida and Steve had heat last night in their rig and they will be going on to Yuma with us.
Bev and Ken got up early and pulled out for California.
They left about 7:30am.
We are packed up and pull out at 9:30am.
We are now down to 4 trailers 8 people, 3 dogs and 1 cat.
Jerry is leading the pack to the Quechan Casino Resort in California where we will attempt to find spots to boondock another night or two.














Coming through Yuma I was amazed at all the produce that is grown here.
There are laborers out in the fields gathering the veggies.
Beautiful dark soil and lots of irrigation make for a bounty of produce.








We cross into California and not a couple of miles down the road we take the exit that says Mexico....sure hope Jerry knows where he is going...LOL
We pull into The Q and survey the area for a spot for the 4 rigs to park together.
The parking is a bit of a free for all and there really is no right or wrong way to park.
Jerry finds a place that we can all park and stay together.
We begin making our little area set up.
Strangest thing is we are on California time part of the time and then other times we are on Arizona time.
When we walked into the casino to grab some lunch with Ida & Steve my watch and phone changed back to Arizona time but Chucks stayed the same.
Chris decided to take his truck to Yuma and have the Dodge dealer look at his brake issue.
Diana had their shuttle take her to the Sams store in Yuma, and we all piled into Big Bertha and made our way back to the trailer.
Jerry & Konni ran over to Mexico to make a dentist appointment for tomorrow.
Chuck and I are planning on looking for some glasses while we are there.

Dinner tonight is spent in our rigs.
We have to get our rest so we can make our way over to Mexico in the morning.

January 25th

Jerry and Konni are driving over the border and we will be parking in the large parking lot.

Konni has a 10am dental appointment so we leave the trailers at 9am.
Big Bertha has all 6 of us again today.

I truly had no idea we were so close.
You could see the lights of Mexico last night, but I really didn't realize we were so close.
The border is only about 1-1/2 to 2 miles from where we have parked the rigs.

It was amazing to me that we didn't have any check in area or anything like that for passport violations on the US side.
The streets are narrow and full of people.
Los Algodones is known for their dental and optical services.
No more do we get into the business area and we are overwhelmed with people shoving business circulars and flyers at us for dental and optical services.
We walk the direction that Jerry told us to and we no more get a block and there he is.
He has left Konni at the dentist and found us.
Love it when a plan comes together!
We make our way back a couple of blocks to where Konni is at.
Chuck has already found him a pair of sunglasses that he wants to have his RX put in.
Seventy five dollars and two hours later he has his new glasses.
Me on the other hand, I am looking for just that special pair of glasses.



Konni has finished at the dentist and she suggest we find some food.
There is a little restaurant she suggest so we head there.
As we made our way to the restaurant I saw an optical store that looked like they might have the glasses that I am looking for.
I will check them out after we eat.




Lunch was great.
Only thing I didn't like was it was cold in there....LOL
The weather is a bit cool this morning, but with the sunshine it will warm up quickly.
Most of the wait staff had on sweat shirts.  :)










After we finish, I go down to the optical store and sure enough, I found the pair of glasses I was looking for.
Since I have requested the less heavy lenses and the broader spectrum of vision field on my glasses they are going to cost more, and take a little longer to make.
They tell me to come back at 2:40 to pick them up.
Looks like we are going to have to waste some time and shop....Oh no!!!

And shop we did.
Jerry and Konni had already found the location of the vendor that had the stain glass windows for the trailers.
We make our way there and Chuck and I find two for our trailer.
The little shop has a lot of cool stuff and we are all busy trying to make the best deal for what we are wanting.
The shopping was a blast.
Bargaining with the proprietor was a lot of fun.
Konni told us to be sure and bargain with them, so we did.
It proved to be a good thing and we got our stuff cheaper.












We even stopped and relaxed at a little outdoor restaurant and had a margarita.
It was a lot of fun.
So many places to shop and bargain with.
I think all of us were loaded with our purchases.
Thank goodness Jerry offered his vehicle for us to put our newly purchased items in.
You see, it gives us more room to shop for even more....







Jerry has offered to take everything back over the border that we have placed in his VW.
This was great.
There was a bit of time to waste before my glasses are ready and Chuck, Ida and Steve went back to Big Bertha, leaving Diana, Chris and I in Mexico.
I told Diana that Chris looked like our body guard....LOL

We make our way back to the optical store and it was 2:40 when we walked into their shop.
She tells me that my glasses had just come in.
Perfect timing!!!
The glasses fit well, and I am pleased with my purchase.
Now to get used to the new prescription!


Now it is time to get back to America, so we make our way to the border crossing.
Diana is in contact with Chuck and we meet up on the US side of the border just like clock work.
Chuck is making a u-turn as we come through the gated area.












Back at the trailer we fix some dinner.
After dinner I text and see if Diana and Chris want to go to the casino.
Chuck and I had an ice cream sundae, but Diana and Chris were nice and didn't.
Since we were in the casino I just had to try my luck.
I went to the machine that I had tried to win on yesterday and put some money in.
In no time I was up $90.
It was time to cash out...as I wasn't going to sit and lose it.
This has been a fun day and the win just finished it off perfectly.
Thanks Quechan Casino.



January 26th.
Ida and Steve are packed up and ready to head back to Desert Gardens.
Their rig was a bit hemmed in and a exit route had to be figured out.
Chuck tells Steve to just drive forward and he would put some of our leveling blocks over the curb and get him out the easy way.
Love the mind of my guy.
He can come up with some of the best solutions.  :)







Diana and Chris truck is still in the shop so we want to stay with them and take them to it if and when it is ready.
The dealership calls around 10am and tells Chris it is ready to pick up.
They can't find anything wrong with it.
Diana and I had convinced ourselves that we may have missed something over in Mexico and decide to go back over there.
The guys drive us to the border and let us off.
They are going to pick up Chris's truck.
Diana & I spent about an hour and a half walking around and bargaining for more stuff.
It was just as much fun as yesterday.






With our arms full, we head back through customs.
The line this morning was nothing compared to yesterday.
It was a breeze walking back over.
Chris and Diana are in contact and he comes and picks us up just like Chuck did the day before.










Back at the trailer we start talking about going ahead and starting back home.
Diana & Chris have a sick worker and they are concerned that he won't be able to work Monday, so the extra windshield time today would  be beneficial to them.

We say our goodbyes to Konni and Jerry.
Can't say enough great things about these two folks.
They have shown us all the ropes about navagating thru Los Algodonas.
It is 2pm when we pull out from The Q.
We should be back at Desert Gardens by 6pm.
Diana & Chris are still having trailer brake issues and make a couple of stops to see if he can make the constant dinging stop in the truck cab.

Chuck finds a rest area to pull off and we say our goodbye's to our friends.
Sure wish they could stay longer.
We have so many things to show them here in Arizona.
Totally understand how it has to be though.
They end up driving until 9pm, and make their way to Flagstaff.

We pull in at 6pm...and hustle around to get the rig parked with what little bit of daylight that was left.
Stain glass purchase
Chuck pulls the Taj-Mah-Hauler in like a pro.
Electric is hooked up and we finally dump our tanks.
It has been a week of boondocking and have to say Taj did really good.

What a fun trip....
What great people....
Can't say it enough....
Epic week of making memories.
Other stain glass
Thanks to all who participated.  :)






Monday, January 1, 2018

December 2017

December finds us in Oklahoma and enjoying time with our family and friends for the holidays.

We are missing our friends in Arizona.
We actually got a surprise call from our friends Ida and Steve.
Steve was telling us that they were hearing some strange beeping from our trailer.
Not good!!!!
Long story short, we find that Chuck failed to flip the switch from solar back to land service.
The solar panels are packed away so you can see we are in a world of hurt here.
Looks like the refrigerator stayed on as long as it could and you guessed it......smelled like a dead body in there.
Man, I am thinking we are going to owe some people some big thank yous for taking care of our mess.
Just an example of being distracted and not going through our check list thoroughly.
So glad it wasn't any worse....but I think we have learned a lesson from this little snag.

The birthday's have been celebrated, and I am so excited to get something I had been wanting for quite a while.
Mother got me a Cricut for my birthday/Christmas gift.  
I am so excited to learn how to use the darn thing.
It is a bit intimidating, but I finally decided to get it out of the box and set it up.

Diana got herself one as well, so we can be lost together!  
I was able to make a few simple projects for Christmas and I have to admit I was kinda proud of my accomplishments.


The grandkids are singing at their church a couple of times this year, so we make sure we are there to enjoy their performances.  
Cooper had some speaking parts for their childrens service and she really did well.
Cash sang his heart out and was so cute up there with all the other kids.  










I got brave and made some Rae Dunn look alike ornaments for our daughter in law.
They really turned out cute, and would have loved to work on more, but time is flying way to quickly.









Cash and Cooper have a sleep over with us and Cooper had to try out her creativity with the Cricut.  
I think we are hooked on it!



The grands helped me deliver presents to my friend Darla.
Their dog (Katy) loved the attention they gave her. 











Our final Friday Night Dinner Ride for us was December 22nd.  
Lynn surprised us by bringing some of the best Fireball Jello Shots!!
They were so festive.....and I know what I am going to make when we get back to Arizona!!











December 24th is a busy day for us.  
Church, and again the kiddos got to sing with the children's choir.  
We have our traditional Christmas Eve present opening.
The kids were so excited.....it really makes this time of year very special.
Looking through their eyes and seeing all the anticipation of Santa was just too much fun.


Christmas Day mother and Louie spend with us.
It is fairly quite until the kids come by later in the afternoon and we get to hear all about what Santa has brought them.










Cash got an I-pod, and he really thinks he is pretty cool!  
First thing this morning, he text me to wish me Merry Christmas.  

I say this all the time, but I am so very thankful for our little family.
We are so blessed with health and love abound.  






December 26th we spend packing the Jeep so we can head back to warmer weather.  
The temp is starting to really drop and some of the coldest days that Oklahoma has had in quite a while is coming this way.
Sorry, but we really don't want to hang around for it!








So nice to be back in the desert and warmer weather.
I really have to admit that I love our little oasis that we have created out here in Arizona.
What a great group of friends we have made.

















December 31st and we are having a get together to welcome the New Year that is upon us!

It was a bit cool that evening but we all had our fire pits out and it made for an interesting evening.






The evening was a lot of fun....the jello shots weren't that bad either!
The moon put on quite a show for us.
It wasn't quite full, but sure did look it!



All in all the New Year came in without a hitch.
We are glad to welcome 2018 and ready for a great year with all our great friends.



Time to close and get this blog ready to print!!!
I so look forward to this every year.





More adventures await us and can't wait to be blogging about them.








Happy New Year everyone.