November 2019

The month starts out with finishing up some of the things I needed to get done around the Casita.

More plants have been purchased and planted into pots.

We went to Lowe's and got an ocotillo to plant in the front area. 

I am hopeful that it will take root and flourish.

Amazing how you buy them bare rooted and with a little water and patience you wait to see if they will start growing.

Since they are protected by the State Of Arizona ours has the tag proving we didn't go out into the desert and dig it up.

Jay and Chuck were reconstructing our tired and worn out mailbox holders.
Seems that they have eroded to the point that when the mailman tried to place mail in the box it fell over.
Susie said she saw the mailman when it happened and said it was so funny to watch him try to figure out what to do with the mailbox that was now in his hands.  

I can only imagine what he was thinking....but he did get out of his vehicle and go and tell Jay that we had to get this fixed...LOL....you think!

A day to go over to Mexico and find some stuff was in order.

We bargained for a wall mount Talavera water fountain.

It really does look nice on the patio area.  

That same day I guess we were really in the bargaining spirit and I also came home with a leather peacock.

I tried to buy it last trip and the lady wouldn't come down to my price.

Chuck told me she got very close in price so this time I went by and told her I would give her $23 for it, and she remembered me and said "OK"!!!!!!

I also found some "Frida" prints that just had our names on them....LOL

They will look perfect in the casita over the bed.  

Looks like the casita is becoming a "Frida" casita!  

If you don't know who Frida is, here is a link to this very colorful lady.  Frida Kahlo

We also bought a painted mailbox from our friend Saundra.

It is truly amazing to watch these very talented people take a plain ole mailbox and bring it to life. 

Chuck has been playing golf and I think he is really enjoying getting back into the swing of things.

I played one day with the ladies, and I enjoyed it very much.

I am not the avid golfer that these people are, and I have told them that I would not be joining them that much on the course.

Its just not my passion.

At this point in my life, I really don't know what my passion consist of other than working around the casita and decorating it and just really enjoying my non constructed time to be doing something.

Not sure if that makes any sense, but I think I have worked so long and had so many time frames to work with it is just fun to "do nothing"....LOL

Diana and Chris made it to our neck of the woods.

So excited for them to be as they are only a few doors down from us.

They brought their two dogs, Zoe and Abby.

We start our day by walking 2 miles and Diana says that her two dogs are so excited to walk.

I know Bronco enjoys her daily walk.

We finally get to take the RZR's out on a trip on November 11th.

Our next door neighbors Cathy and Don are leading Chris, Diana, Chuck and I on a trip "around" the mountain to the town of Wellton, AZ.

Our plans are to have breakfast at a little place they always go to.

The ride was interesting and although Chuck and I had ridden around some, we had no idea that you could actually go around the mountains to this town. 

Our plans quickly changed to "Plan B" as when we reached our restaurant destination it was not open.

Looks like they aren't open on Monday....Oh well, we are just enjoying exploring and this makes it even more fun.

"Dusty Rose Diner" was our plan "B".

Kind of a quaint little eatery that looked like the locals frequent it quite a bit.
Check out their sign "OEPN"...LOL

Upon further inspection it appears they even cook their burgers on the charcoaler that is in the front of the building.

Most of us had breakfast and Chris and I both commented about how good the pancakes were. 

Could be that we were just really hungry, but I think all in all it was a great brunch.

The company wasn't bad either....it was awesome actually.

I ended up taking a picture in the community bathroom as I couldn't help myself.

It appears you can weigh yourself while in the bathroom....LOL....not really, I think they were there for decoration.

Amazing the things you see along the way, isn't it!  

Our drive back was pretty uneventful other than playing tag with a train that was riding along side us.

Chuck and I look a bit silly with our dust mask, but I think it makes me laugh when I see ourselves in the mirrors.

We can't thank Cathy and Don enough for planning our little trip.

It was a lot of fun, and I know when everyone gets back from the holidays, there will be plenty more of them.

Lil Bit, our RZR, did very well for our first longer distance drive. 

Decided to go back over to Mexico (once again) and see what bargains we could find. 

This was the first trip for this season with Diana & Chris. 

It was a nice warm day, and of course we had a great time with our friends.

We have this trip down now.

We hit the local taco vendor and have our "shrimp or fish taco" when we first get there.

This assures us the energy to bargain with locals and get some prized possessions to to back over the border. LOL

November 15th, we decide to explore the hills around us. 

Chuck and Bronco had already been on most of these trails so he we felt he was seasoned to lead us around.

The goal was to see if there was an actually trail that would take us through the mountain pass instead of riding around it. 

We find a trail and it was going quite well until we got into some boulders that were just too large for us to attempt to crawl over. 

The area we decided to turn around at was a nice area so we decided it was the place we would have lunch.

Our ride today was a slow ride and we enjoyed crawling around the mountain.

Saturday the 16th we were invited to Susies house for "Omelette's in a bag".

They had all the ingredients chopped up and ready for us.

All you had to do was find your name on one of the Ziplock bags and fill it with what you wanted in your omelette. 

I was told they had no jalapenos so of course Diana & I took care of that!

Don & John were in charge of the boiling water that cooks the omelette's and I have to say they were quite punctual on their timing of the food.

As we waited for the food to cook, we had Mimosa's and Bloody Mary's to drink.

This wasn't these peoples first cooking experience as they had this down very well.

Before you know it the omelette's are coming out of the boiling water and "breakfast was served".

The ONLY reason that the food might not taste good would be because you didn't choose the correct things to put in your bag, but I don't even think that you could mess that up!

The whole thing was great.

The company of our little group of neighbors is absolutely wonderful.

I think we have a really nice group of peeps here in Yuma!  

Not to be outdone by the perfect brunch on Saturday, it was decided to have do overs on Sunday.

This way we use up all the ingredients that is left over. 

Once again it was wonderful!  

Monday the 18th we are celebrating one of our friends birthday.

Tony is getting "older" and his wife Heidi has invited us over for a Mexican food dinner.

The weather has been perfect and tonight was no exception.

The food and company was absolutely spectacular!  

Thanks so much for inviting us to share in Tony's special birthday.

Tuesday the 19th Diana, Heidi and I decide we didn't get enough junk in Mexico and have to make a return visit.  

We are "seasoned" shoppers now, and the locals are even getting where they recognize us....LOL

Heidi was looking for some talavera bowls and me, well, who knows what I will bring home!  

You can bet we didn't come home empty handed!  

The rain gods have decided to show us that they can actually rain on Yuma.

We have a cool front move in today and yes we even got some rain.

Our dinner this evening was moved into the garage as it was just too cool to sit outside and eat.

I was able to make a fire in the firepit and it was great!  

Another first for me was using my newly purchased convection oven.

With Diana's help we whipped up an apple cobbler and baked it.
The cobbler was great, and I am so happy to have my little easy bake over :)

That same evening we actually saw a rainbow over the mountains.
What a perfect ending to another great day in Yuma. 

The following few days were cooler than usual, and we even got a little more rain, but all in all it still some great weather.

The garage is our "go to" place to eat.
At least it is out of the cool breeze that is accompanying the cloudy skies.  

Saturday the 23rd and we are up bright and early and packed to head back to Oklahoma for the holidays.

Amazing how this trip is a lot quicker since we aren't pulling the Taj-Mah-Hauler with us.

I am one that reads road signs....and sometimes one catches my eye too late.

I swear I saw a sign that said something about "pecan pie".....I asked Diana if they saw it and she said they didn't.

So now I am on my phone trying to find "pecan pies" near me....LOL

As I continue to bury my head into my phone, Chuck says he saw a sign for a restaurant in Bowie, AZ.

Sounds like someplace we need to stop!  

Rafters Restaurant didn't disappoint our taste buds.

The food was very good, but let me tell you, that Pecan Pie was worth the stop.
Chris & I had regular pecan pies and Diana & Chuck had their chocolate bourbon pecan pie.
I tried it and really wasn't that excited about it, but my regular ole pecan pie was delicious. 

Back on the road with our tummies full we make our way to Alamogordo, NM. for the night.

Since we have three dogs between us we find a pet friendly motel and get settled for the night.

We opted for pizza and had it delivered to the room.

Not a bad evening  although the train that goes by every so often is quite noisy....just part of traveling I guess!

Sunday the 24th, we are up and at em and making some miles. 

Plans are to make it home today baring no problems.

We stopped in Amarillo and ate a later lunch at Rudy's.

I really didn't realize how much I missed BBQ until we walked into the place and the aroma of some good BBQ slapped me in the face. 

Final leg of our travels and all went well.

We get home a little after 4pm.

It is so enjoyable to make it back to the house even if it is colder here!

Time to get the Thanksgiving feast ready for our family, so the next few days are spent grocery shopping and preparing for Thursday.

Thanksgiving day is very dreary and wet.

The weather had been predicted to be like this, but you know I am an optimist and never believe what they say.  

It was so nice to spend time with our group of peeps.

The grand kids are growing like crazy.

How lucky am I to have such a wonderful group to call "family". :)

Oh my gosh, guess what today the 29th is??

Its my birthday.

I get a text from Doreen today and she said that some of our friends were meeting downtown for dinner tonight and wanted to invite us.

With no other plans we figure why not!!! 

Diana & Chris come by and pick us up.

We meet Doreen, Allen, Lynn, Keith, Carla and Larry at Fassler Hall.

Plans to take the trolley over to Abuello's for some after Thanksgiving Mexican food.

Little did we know that our ill fated Trolley would make that trip of only a few miles over an hour long.

This was some of ours first trip on the new Trolley system and man did we get the slowwwww ride.

There was something really wrong with the trolley.

First sign of this should have been that it was about 30-45 minutes late to its stop.

Second was the total shut down and re-boot of the system midway.

Third was the flashing lights of the truck behind the trolley with the employees coming and going out of our car.

Most everyone on the trolley decided to leave, but we chose to stick with our ill fated car and ride it to our destination.

Yes, we could have probably walked faster but hey, it was the experience.

We kept ourselves very entertained during the trip.

One girl got on and we sang some Christmas songs and 99 bottles of beer on the wall.
They even sang "Happy Birthday" to me :)

The pictures I have added to this post are worth a thousand words.
Some pictures I intentionally didn't post as I didn't want to create a frenzy on this post. 

Finally make it to Abuello's and have dinner....it was delicious as usual, and oh this group of peeps were even better!  

Dinner is over and it is time to make our way back to our vehicles.

The trolley is pulling up as we make our way out of the restaurant.

This trolley is working well, and it makes cutting through a whole lot of traffic an easy feat.
The Thunder Basketball game was just finishing up so the trolley got pretty packed with people.

The girl that had sang and laughed with us earlier got on the trolley once again.
She had made it to the Thunder game and was now making her way back to her car.

She stood by us and we got to laughing about our earlier trolley mishaps.

What a fun evening we have had and it is also a birthday celebration and Black Friday I won't forget anytime soon.

November 30th is my moms birthday.

Sadly she has gotten a cold and we won't be celebrating her 91st birthday with her today.

Final day of November and Chuck and I are dog sitting our granddog Olive.

Kids have gone to Texas for the annual trip to the Gaylord Texan.

I am sure they will have a fun time, and Olive is enjoying cuddling with her grandma!
This is the end of our adventures for November 2019.