September, 2023

Another successful Wednesday Night Mexican Food dinner

School picture 

Big night for Cooper

Cash loves his pickles

September pic of this gal I call mom!

Lady at Legends crocheted these for mother. How cute!

On the road to Arizona!

A little get together with a few of our friends :)

Having a table crysis, legs are being worked on.

 

May 2020

We are settling in nicely and getting caught up on a few things.

Only been home a couple of days and happy to report that the yard is officially cleaned up.
The foot high shade grass is back to its beautiful manageable length.
Just like everything during this Pandemic it needed a haircut!

It was really nice to have it cleaned up....thanks to Eve and her family for doing

such a great job, as usual! 

We are selling the RAM truck in the next couple of weeks so I am doing a major clean on it.

I had no idea that Bronco actually had all this hair in the vehicle.

I know she and Chuck are going to miss Big Bertha but we just don't need that big of  truck any

longer.

What a great truck she has been.

I am happy to say she is going to still be in the family as my step-sister and her husband are purchasing it from us.  

Of course the batteries, yes I say batteries, since she has two to get her going have decided to die and we are having to replace both of them.

With the lockdown in full swing Chuck purchases a couple from Batteries Plus and we make a drive over to pick them up.

Now she is ready for her new home!  

Since we now have a much smaller motorhome we no longer need the extra length on the barn so that means we need to close up the back of it and put the barn back to its enclosed self.

This time around we are going to be using the clear panels on the top portion of the barn so we can get some natural light in.

We had saved the old tin that came off the back so it was pretty easy to get the wall back up.

Chuck went back with wood to secure the panels since we had removed the metal struts that ran across the back of the barn.

I am going to be so glad to have the barn enclosed again as it will stay a lot cleaner and hopefully that will also keep the Leprechaun a little cleaner as well.

The task was a bit trying on the high spots as we didn't have the right ladders for the job, but Chuck was able to stretch enough to secure the panels and we had this little job done and cleaned up within a day.

Hey, we are retired, so we can take a little longer on projects if need be!

Mother's Day was spent with the family coming to the house and we all spent the afternoon outside.

We didn't get to do our usual hugs and touching but it was so nice to have them out to spend some much needed "family" time together!  

Chuck had been working on Big Bertha getting her ready to sell, and had placed his glasses on the back bed on the cover.

Forgetting that he had placed them there he took the truck for a spin and later in the evening he started looking for his glasses.

He remembered that they were on the back of the truck so we set out looking down the road by the house to see if they had fallen off.

We weren't lucky enough to find them.

I just knew they would be on the side of the road squished.

Fast forward to Monday.....our neighborhood has a group on FB.

I was looking on FB and someone had posted a picture of his glasses on the site.

I immediately responded to the post.

The neighbor was so kind and actually brought the glasses to us.

Amazingly they really weren't scratched up or anything.

The cactus that stays in Oklahoma has bloomed right on time.
I think you could almost set a clock to the day that this goes shows all its glory.
I am thinking of taking some of the small ones back to Yuma and see if they will flourish there.
Will let you know about that next year!

We meet Rita and Keith at our favorite Mexican restaurant and have lunch before handing over the keys to them.

I knew Keith was as excited to be purchasing her as we were when we got her.

So glad they were able to buy it and give her a good home.

Tony has been going by our place in Yuma and checking for snakes.

When he shows up, he always rings our doorbell so we get to talk a little with him.
This got us to thinking and we came up with a plan.

It was decided that we would have to get Heidi in on this as well, so we came up with the idea to have a virtual "Happy Hour" ever so often so we could catch up on what is going on in Yuma.
Now I'm not saying this is a lightbulb moment as our Canadian friends have been doing this for quite some time but they are using the app Zoom and we just don't feel that secure with it due to all its breaches.

Tony & Heidi don't have Apple phones so we looked into Google Duo and have to say that it is a flawless app so far!

I have been working on the inside of the Leprechaun and trying to make it look more like "ours" instead of looking like all the rest of them on the road.

The painting of the cornices have been somewhat time consuming but I am so excited to get rid of the busy pattern that has plagued the inside of the rig.

Have to say that I am quite pleased with the outcome.

I also was able to get rid of some of the busy pattern on the dinette.

It was just not in the cards right now to reupholster the cushions.  

For one thing, I can't make up my mind what material I would want to use, so this temporary fix works for me!

I ordered some of the chair cushion covers I have been seeing all over the internet.

The ones that are to cover the dining room chairs.

In my mind the shape of the chair and the curvature of the back of the dinette were pretty close so I am going to order some and see if I can make them work.

I also framed the large mirror that is on the wall by the dinette area.
I think it looks a little more finished.
There is more to come for the mirror, but you will have to wait and see next month.

I will also post pics of the rig when I get  it all put back together....or should I say when Chuck gets it all back together.
He has been working on the solar panels for it and has it basically pulled apart at the moment to run the wiring.
Heck might as well make one big mess all at once.
Stay tuned for more pics!

We got a call from the grandkids asking to come and spend the day with us.

Of course we were delighted for them to come out.

The day was filled with Starbucks drinks and some fun playing around the house.

Cash was really excited because Pops let him shoot his pellet gun.
Cash kept calling the rifle a "sniper rifle"....think it has to do with one of the video games he plays :)

Going to have to nick name him "Eagle Eye" as his marksman abilities were right on target.

He was one proud kid.  

Cash also got to go on the top of the Leprechaun and check out the roof as Pops was working on the solar panel installation.

Cooper and I baked some brownies and smashed the middles when they were done so it made a bowl.

Of course we had ice cream to go into that bowl.

All in all it was a good day with the grandkids.  

They are very special....and we are always happy for them to come and visit.

I guess I haven't gotten tired of painting as I decided to try gel staining the garage door.

It was in really bad shape and Chuck helped me power wash it to prep for the paint.

I have used the gel stain in Yuma on a few things and am hoping that it works out good on the metal door.

I only got one coat of stain on today and the wind is supposed to be blowing the rest of the week.

That means the cotton wood tree down the street will be filling the air with cotton, so that concludes this painting for a few days.

Its the end of May and we are knee deep in the Pandemic.

Things are opening up and people are acting like they have been set free around here.

For myself I am still wearing a mask and trying to stay my distance from everyone.

Hope June will be a little more friendly to us, but the way its looking I don't think the Pandemic is over yet!  

February 2019 The Quest To Find a Casita in Yuma, AZ.

Today is the first day of February and we are
saying goodbye to Diana & Chris.
They are going to head back to the frozen tundra of Oklahoma.
Although I hate for them to leave I think I am glad we are staying in the warmth just a little bit longer.







Chuck and I have been in contact with our realtor and she is going to show us a few places in the Foothills that we think might be something we might want to purchase.
We look at several and think we will keep looking for the time being.

As we leave a place Chuck turns down a street we hadn't explored and there is a place for sale that peeks our interest.
Long story short, Deena meets us later that day and we are really really interested.

By February 3rd, we have found our winter home, we hope.
A little negotiating with the owners and it looks like we have a deal.
Wow, that was fast!
We are going to be the proud owners of a 460 square foot Casita and double car garage.


It's kinda funny because the garage has more square footage
than our living quarters.
It is pretty exciting to see a lemon tree and an orange tree on the lot.
We even have palm trees....never in my mind would I ever think we would own palms.

The next few days are spent driving over to the property and getting the paperwork done so we can close in a couple of weeks.
No kidding we have gone over and stood at the property hoping to see neighbors moving around so we can get the feel of the neighborhood.
We have seen no one.
Sure hope they are our kind of people....LOL

We had the guy come and do a home inspection and while he was there, we actually meet some of our neighbors.
The couple on the corner that are starting to build a new home came by.
We meet Jay and his wife Pat.
They inform us of a couple of things that they thought we should know about the property.
We already knew the things they were telling us.
I told Chuck I wasn't sure if they were trying to warn us on our behalf, or trying to scare us away from the place...LOL

Everything is in order and we will be making a trip back to Oklahoma to celebrate our grandsons 8th birthday, and then turn back around and close on our new Casita!





February 9th we pull out from Sans End RV Resort and head back to Oklahoma.
Bronco was excited to be on another trip.
She is quite the travel dog.









Our first night is in Deming NM.
Chuck tries to find us a spot to park at the Walmart there, but there were just too many big trucks and trailers around there for me.
You know how it is when you are driving thru a Walmart parking lot....well, think what it's like pulling a 43' trailer behind you.
I was a nervous wreck.
Plan B goes into action and we pull out of the parking lot and go right next door to an old K-Mart parking lot.
Oh my, so much better.

We find a spot to pull in and call it a day!


The following night we roll into Sweetwater, TX. and again pull into a Walmart parking lot.
I go inside to make sure it is OK for us to park out there, and I am talking to this lady explaining what we are doing, and this lady speaks up and says, "she doesn't speak English, but I work here as well, and you guys are fine to park where you are at".
At this point in our travels, we are just glad to be able to sit down and rest especially since it has gotten colder and it is now raining.
There is road construction on the frontage road and a few times during the night we heard crashing and banging going on.
Nothing ever hit us so it looks like we have survived the night at Sweetwater. 




Traveling in February is always a bit tricky since you never know if you are going to get caught in a snow storm or even a wind event.

So far Chuck has been able to get us where we need to be and we should get back to Oklahoma without any issues.

Once home we start packing the Taj-mah-hauler full of the "stuff" we brought back from Arizona last season.
Looks like we will have a place to put all those talavera pots and solar lights we bought for our other lot.

















I don't even want to mention that it is COLD in Oklahoma and the weather is really not cooperating to well with us. 
We are having quite a bit of wet stuff coming from the sky.

 We celebrate Cash's birthday a day early this year.
What can I say about this grandson of ours.

He is absolutely the cutest guy I have ever seen.
He is sporting a few less teeth in the front and when he smiles it makes you laugh.
Cash is growing up way too quickly....but that is what they are supposed to do, right!











Cooper seemed to like the necklace that we had made for her in Mexico. 
So wonderful to see her smiling face.
Thankful to know that she is healing inside and out from the bus crash. 
Time heals all wounds 








The reason we celebrated his birthday a day early was so we could get back on the road and try to beat some of the weather that is looking pretty bad for travel.
We will be taking what Chuck calls the "southern" route back to Yuma.







I can truly say driving thru El Paso, TX was interesting.
I am being nice to say "interesting".....so many people...going the same direction as us...and driving like crazy!
We just held steady in the middle lane and Big Bertha and Chuck maneuvered their way thru all the construction and masses of vehicles.
I guess I never realized how close the Mexican border was to El Paso.
Upon looking at the map, I realize it now!








We stop for the night at a KOA just outside of El Paso...it is actually in the town of Anthony, TX.
This place is really nice for big rigs.
Every site is a pull through and you have so much room between each site.
The lot was pretty empty where we parked.
There are some full time residence in an upper area, but where we parked, it was pretty empty.
I guess it wasn't quite empty enough for our next door neighbor, because when we pulled in they scampered to put their cat back in their rig and that was about the only time we saw them.
The gentlemans scowling face said pretty much everything as we maneuvered to get into the site.
I guess he thought he was going to be the only person here tonight.

It was so nice to be stopped and set up by 3pm.
We unhook and drive to fuel Big Bertha so we can make some miles tomorrow.

2-19-19
We are up and on our way by 8:30am as there is snow in the forecast and we would like to get through the area before it gets bad.
I had no idea that we were so close to New Mexico....Anthony is right on the border!
You now know why I don't navigate these trips, I am just along for the ride....and sometimes a few directions  :)

We are about an hour and a half along on our trip today and we find snow.
The flakes are pretty large and it is coming down like crazy.
The wind is bad as well, so today may be an interesting day for sure.







The snow lets up before we get to Deming, NM. but the aftermath of the snow they have been having is showing on the mountains.




Did I ever mention that it is COLD!!!!
My gosh this has been an interesting trip....from warm to cold a few times now.




We hit another band of snow along the way today as well.




By the time we make it to Willcox, AZ. the skies are clearing and it looks like we made it through the "weather" event we were dreading.







Our plan is to boondock in the town of Eloy, AZ.
It is outside of  Tucson and will be a good stopping point for the night.
Our friends Joe and Ernie live very close to our stop and we have been in contact with them and it looks like we will get to see them this evening.
Another couple, Danny and Linda will be joining us as well.
I love it when these impromptus come together.

We park in the gas station that just so happens to have a Dairy Queen in it.
Our friends come by around 5 and pick us up and we go over to the Denny's for some dinner.
It was a really nice evening getting caught up on every ones lives.
We ended up back at the 5th wheel and had a margarita or two while sitting in the middle of the parking lot. 

We are hopeful that they will come and see us in Yuma once we get our Casita set up!





The final leg of our travel goes very well.
I have talked to our realtor and the owners of the Casita have given us permission to park on the lot.
In fact we are getting there early enough that we can go to the title company and sign our documents and get this transaction completed today.





I had no idea that in Arizona, you don't get the keys to your new property upon closing...you have to wait for them to have the documents recorded....so it looks like we will be staying on our lot this evening, but will not be able to take possession until possibly tomorrow. :(
Deena felt it was OK for us to unload the Taj and put the stuff in the garage, so we made it happen.

The title company let us know that we could have our keys today.
What an exciting day!
Deena meets us over at the Casita and we officially have keys to our new to us property.

We have even met our next door neighbors, Cathy & Don and feel we are going to fit in nicely with this little group of misfits....LOL





Now the fun begins.
Doesn't take us long to decide to rip out the oak long piece of cabinets that line the walls as you enter the Casita.
I think it just dates it so much.
Yes, we will have something else there, but not a ten foot long cabinet!
Poor Chuck!

We found a really cool dining table that is pub height for the area that had the very long cabinet.
Oh, by the way, we just moved the oak cabinets to the garage, so we repurposed them quite nicely.













During the past few days we have scoped out some stuff we think we need so we make a run to the local furniture store and pick up some "tiny house" recliners.
They should fit perfectly.
Bronco isn't sure what the heck is going on.
The doors are wide open to the Casita and she can sit inside or out and see everything that is going on.
I think she approves of our new little abode.














It didn't take me long to realize I can't live with the white walls in the Casita.
Since we have a strange greenish colored tile with grey grout, I think a gray color for the walls will work.
A trip to Lowe's to pick up color samples and it didn't take me long to pick one out.
Greyrock Inn from Glidden is the color we went with.
It is amazing what a little paint can do to update a place.
I think the walls were very thirsty as well, because the one gallon of paint was completely used on the main area of the Casita.
I bought a couple of gallons with the intent to paint the bathroom as well, but I am going to save that for a later date.



Chuck and I ventured out and had lunch at Wheezy's one afternoon.
The food and the service was great and I think we will be back here for future meals.
Our waitress had a cute and sassy haircut so I asked her who cut it.
She gave me the girls name, so I will be looking into this in a few weeks when my hair is due to be cut.



I woke up with an idea to put the peel and stick wallpaper on the insides of the barn doors.
Of course I had a roll in the trailer, so I was able to get one door done.


It really looks great, so I ran to Walmart and picked up another roll and got both doors done.
I am not sure how the paper will hold up on the doors while we are not here in the Summers but I can always come up with another idea if it doesn't work out.







February is coming to a close and I think at this point it has been a very productive month.
We are now officially land owners in Yuma, AZ....actually we are in The Foothills....found out that is what you tell people....LOL
We are quite happy with our purchase at this point.
Our next door neighbors invited us over for a Happy Hour so we could meet some other folks.
Wow, I think we hit the mother load on good people....I think we are going to fit in with this group quite nicely.
Time to settle in and enjoy our place and our new neighbors.
I got a text from Diana & Chris and it looks like they are coming back out to Yuma to see us.
She asked if they could squat on the property.
Surely by now she knows they are always welcome anytime and anyplace.
They will be driving out, so I told her to bring an air mattress and head this way.
Now I am excited...we officially have our first guest coming to stay with us.
Goodbye February....hello March!