This is Joel dry washing in Weaver Creek 

This is Joel and Willard prospecting for gold. We had a wonderful week long visit with Joel.  

Crowned "Queen of the Road" of Stanton Red Hat Gold Miners

On Tuesday I was crowned as the Queen Mum "Queen of the Road" in the Red Hat Society here at Stanton. We had a dilicious brunch and invited the men. The Opera House was filled to capacity. Willard sang to me after Karen and were initiated. We all danced to "Queen of the Road." I take over in October 2006. I selected Karen to be the Mini Queen because I know she will be back next year the first of October and we work well together. We will plan the October activity, then ask other Red Hatters to take turns planning and organizing the other activities through March. We had so many outings, luncheons, and just fun activities this year. The Red Hat Society is a disorganization with no rules or fund raisers. We just have fun and enjoy each others company. We have about 40 members here at Stanton. I'm looking forward to next year. Judy, our Queen Mum for the past two years, did an outstanding job and is a great mentor. I just hope I can wear the crown with the same enthusiasm and fun.

March 9, 2006

We are starting to prepare to leave Stanton. We will be storing our gold prospecting equipment in Bill's and Karen's 24 ft boxed in trailer and pay the storage fee of 50 cents a day. It is better than renting a storage unit in Congress for $60 a month. They are having extra keys made.

Today I received our new updated travel cards that we plan on giving to friends that we meet on the road. Included is our name, address, phone number, web page, and email. We have already traded with quite a few rvers that we have met. I write notes to help me remember them and where we met them on the back of their cards.

We are in the process of changing our address from Livingston, TX to South Dakota. In August we changed our domicile to SD because it is less expensive to live there. We don't pay state income tax. The registration on our vehicles are less, as well as the insurance. Also, when we make a big purchase (like a new RV or a new TOAD) we pay only 3% sales tax. We have our mail forwarding service out of Sioux Falls, SD and they have done a fine job getting our mail to us. We will keep using our Livingston mail forwarding until May, just in case I have not contacted everyone about our change of address.

I have also changed our email to jeanbass@escapees.com , a free service from Escapees. I just cancelled our account at Sisna and saved $100 a year.

I have begun cleaning out the cabinets, drawers, and bay areas to reorganize and discard items we have found we don't need. We took our rock trim saw and grinder over to Ernie's in case someone in the Rock and Mineral Club wants to use it while we are gone. I just weighs too much to haul around during our travels.

We are excited about Joey visiting all next week. We have a full schedule planned. We want him to have a taste of our life here at Stanton. Today Bill and Karen said some in camp are contemplating parking at another camp next year because of all the dust we seem to have, but we like it here and plan on making it our home in the winters for quite some time. We purchased two air filters and have had no trouble with the dust while inside our motorhome. Every year is different here and we always make new friends and get involved in new activities. Also, we enjoy reunions with old acquatintances.

But we are getting excited about getting back on the road. We've been here long enough. Only three more weeks!

Update

It's been so long since I have written anything and so much has happened. I'll begin with our activities today. Karen and Bill came by this morning about 8:00 and asked us to go with them to North Ranch (a nearby Escapees RV park) an have a biscuits and gravy breakfast. Of course, we didn't turn them down. After breakfast, we went to Wickenburg and went to all the garage sales we could find. I bought a sleeping bag, some corner shelves, a transister radio, a billfold, and a wooden model biplane. We met Carol and Bill at Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch. Then after a stop at the grocery store and the post office, we headed back to camp. I cleaned up the RV while Willard played his guitar outside. I can't believe we can make such a mess of this place in such a short period of time. After supper, we took Duster for a walk around the camp then settled down to an evening watching TV.

Many of our friends have left Stanton or getting ready to leave. We plan on packing up and leaving about April 4, which is the last day we can "live" here. The rules say that no one can stay her over six months unless they are caretakers.

I have been having some health issues. My right eye needs some more attention. I am scheduled for surgery in two weeks and I will also be seeing a retina specialist. Also, I had an ecocardiogram to see if my heart valves are still leaking. They also took blood samples to see if my cholostral is still high. I also had an Xray of my lungs and took a breathing test. I'm trying to get ready for 6 months of traveling without having to worry about my health. I can't believe I have been having so many problems the past two years. I have always considered myself very healthy. I have changed my primary care physician to a doctor in Wickenburg, since we plan on staying near Wickenburg during the winters. And Prescot has quite a few specialists. I am now on Medicare and can receive medical attention anywhere. Before I qualified for Medicare, I had to go back to Utah for any madical problems, since my medical insurance did not cover anything out of state. Willard is strong and healthy. It is a good thing because he won't receive Medicare benefits until July. He was on my insurance, so he did not elect to have Medicare Plan B. We later found out that you can only apply for Medicare in Jan. and July. And it takes 6 months for the government to get the paper work done. He has hospatilization, so I told him, if he gets sick he is going to the emergency room. Enough of this!

I Just Saw My First Boat RV

Yesterday evening I looked out my window and low and behold a boat was moving into an RV site across from us. "Reel Dirty" is from Florida. The owners travel and camp in their boat. What a unique "RV." Imagine, you can live in your boat on land or on water. What a great idea.

Our Feather Friend Visitor

This morning we had an unusual visitor. Polly, a parrot that lives with one of the guests at Stanton came for a visit this morning. She didn't talk much, but she loved to pose for pictures. I spent most of the day trying to get our income taxes figured out. I hope this is the last year I have to do the long form. My life must get simpler. Jack and Hazel stopped by for a visit to let us know they will be going back home to Oregon on Sunday. We plan on meeting them at Blue Bucket in Oregon in July. Blue Bucket is a gold prospecting camp near Baker, Oregon. We spent a month there last summer and really enjoyed it. And Willard recovered gold, an added bonus.

This afternoon Willard and the "boys" practiced their guitars. They will be playing after the Potluck Dinner Friday night. It will be Don's last night to play with them. He will be moving to the Guest Ranch in Wickenburg where Penny, his wife, is working. They will begin preparing for their trip back to Houston for a visit with family. We hope to meet them on the road, for we will be heading that way in April.

We invited Mark over last night for a steak dinner. The food was good and it was fun hearing about all of his experiences this past year. He is remodeling his Airstream while he is here for a few weeks. Then he will be back on the road.

We are going to Laughlin tomorrow. Karen will check on Duster while we are gone. Hope we win some money!

Polly visited us this morning. She belongs to one of the guests here at Stanton.  

Polly loves to have her picture taken. 

The Old Bath House Work Party

As you can see, the Old Bath House is leaning. So, we had a group of our neighbors over to help fix up the old building which is located at our campsite. The rock structure to the left of the building was used to heat the water for the showers. The building is now level. We need another work party to replace some missing siding in the back and on the left side. The doors actually close now. Karen made delicious donuts for us all and Judy built a fire in the fireplace to help keep warm. Later Willard and I roasted hot dogs over the fire for lunch. Judy came back over later and read by the fire, while we went to Wickenburg. Photo by Snackmaster.

Our Valentines Day Wiener Roast

"Some had to go back for more."

We had plenty of food and boy was it good. 

Just visiting. It was great seeing Mark again. He arrived today (center of picture). 

We had a Wiener Roast at our site. About 40 people joined us. We had a wonderful time visiting and eating. Alice sang Happy Anniversary to JoAnn and Dave. It was their 23 wedding anniversary. 

Willard trying to keep warm. 

Jam Sessions in front of our Motorhome.

Willard is singing at the Jam Session. They try to practice at least once a week and entertain for various events here at Stanton Camp.

Don and Hollywood Don come over for a Jam Session 

We had fun showing him Stanton. Look carefully and you will see Stanley playing on the ATV at camp

Stanley's Visit

Austin sent Stanley to visit for a few days. We were to give him adventures around Stanton then send him back to Austin in Missoula so that he could share the adventures with his classmates. We have so many cacti aroun here that the first thing that happened to Stanley was that he got stuck on a cactus. Ouch!

Stanley is helping Willard dry wash.

New Friends from the Fulltiming Class of 2005 visit.

Snackmaster & Jan and Glen & Diane Hubbard (Rollin' Hubs) visited us at Stanton.
We gave them a tour of our treasured old ghost town and shared our gold prospecting hobby. It was great seeing them again. Photo by Snackmaster.

Typical Day at Stanton?

Actually, there isn't a typical day here at Stanton. At least not for us. I never know what tomorrow will bring. Usually Willard gets up early in the morning and takes Duster for a walk. Then he eats breakfast and heads for the hills to look for more gold. I usually sleep late, something I love to do, but couldn't in my preretirement years. Today, I showered, then went for a 4 mile hike up the back road to a creek. I took Duster because he loves to walk around in the water looking for fish. No fish in this creek though. But, he had fun looking. The walk took me two hours. I stopped along the way to enjoy the views. When I got back I completed two sketches of buildings in camp. I plan on using the sketches for my watercolor subjects. I'm taking private art lessons from an Oregon watercolor artist here at camp. People kept stopping by and admiring my work. Seems I spent most of the time talking. I then practiced my clarinet for about an hour while Willard fell asleep on the couch. After he woke up he decided to play his guitar and sing to me. We had leftovers for lunch and supper. A few friends stopped by. Willard panned out his gold for the day from his concentrate. Then we spent the evening watching television. That's one day at Stanton.

Karen's and Bill's Anniversary

Tomorrow is Karen's and Bill's Anniversary. Since our Rock and Mineral Club meeting is tomorrow night we decided to celebrate their anniversary tonight. We had a lovely evening. They came over about 5:30 and we cooked steaks on the grill and had baked potatoes and salad. We toasted their anniversary and ate to the tunes of the 50's. We learned how they met and married. It was great getting to know them better. It was a good evening.

Our day was a busy one. Willard and I slept late and had a late breakfast. Then we decided to practice our music. Then we had company throughout the rest of the day. About 3:30 we made a quick trip to Wickenburg to buy groceries. Don and Penny dropped by for a brief visit about 4:30, then Karen and Bill came over about 5:30. I love this life. There is never a dull moment.

The canyon winds a blowing. It's late and I'm headed for bed. Goodnight.

Update

We have really been busy around here. We had a recall on our Tacoma and had to go to Phoenix to get it fixed. We did some shopping while we were there.

Willard took Glen out drywashing to demonstrate the process. They had a good day considering the amount of dirt they moved. The more dirt the more gold. I think Glen was surprised how much work is involved in gold prospecting. But, the prospectors around here love to go out on the desert and HUNT for gold.

I got a perm. It's the first one I've had in years.

We invited Jack and Hazel over for hamburgers the other night. We had a great visit. Willard sang one of their favorite songs for them. Jack is an artist in watercolors and has quite a few of his paintings in galleries in Oregon. He is going to give me a few lessons. I'm looking forward to them.

I'm cutting Willard's hair again. It's been over 25 years since I was the family barber. I just hope other men in the camp don't come asking for haircuts. It's really not my favorite thing to do.

Austin sent us a Flat Stanley (a paper doll) to take prospecting. Austin is in the first grade and he is to give a report on Flat Stanley's visit. We had a great time with Flat Stanley taking him drywashing over by the Vulture Mine. I took pictures of him around the camp as well as stuck to the cacti around Vulture Mine. Then I sent the pictures, a journal, and information about Stanton back to Austin. We even included a little gold and some pretty rocks for his classmates. I hope Austin and the class are happy with the information.

I don't know where the time goes. But, we only have two more months here before we take to the road.

Our Visit to Quartzsite - Class of 2005 Rally

Picture: This picture was taken by someone at the Metal Detecting Siminar.Willard is up front and center demonstrating his Whites metal detector.

We left Stanton this morning at 8:00 am to join the Class of 2005 (those who started fulltiming in 2005) who were boondocking at Quartzsite. We were welcomed by some wonderful people. Willard presented his Metal Detecting Siminar. Everyone seemed interested. Some even brought their metal detectors. Several plan on visiting us at Stanton. Willard always takes our guests gold prospecting, if they are interested. We suggested that they park at Escapees North Ranch in Congress, AZ and drive out to Stanton in their Toads (towed vehicles). The six mile road to Stanton is very rough right now. The county recently did some road work. Now, it rattles our teeth even more. Hopefully they blade it again. To get back on the subject....we had a great experience this afternoon at the rally. Willard even got to play his guitar and sing several songs with Jo Ella & Gary along with Jim and Sherri Reed, the planned entertainment for the evening.
IT WAS A GREAT DAY!

Stanton Red Hat Gold Miners and more

I've been a member of the Stanton Red Hat Gold Miners for several years now. Today we had a lovely dinner here at camp in the Opera House. About 60 Red Hatters attended. Of all things, they made me the Queen Mother. I don't start my duties until October. I think it will be fun. It's a disorganization, so I shouldn't have any trouble.

Willard and I practiced our music this afternoon, him on guitar and me on the keyboard. We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting. I made Tamale Pie for supper.

We're off to Quartzsite tomorrow, where we will make a presentation on Metal Detecting to about 60 people who started fulltiming this year (The Class of 2005). Many of the class are now in Quartzsite for the week attending our first rally. If we pull our rig out of Stanton, we lose our site, so we will just drive over and spend the day with the group. They are going to have a jam session, so Willard will have a chance to play and sing with another group. Someday I'm going to get up the nerve to play with them. Right now I just play for my own entertainment. It's a Capricorn thing, I guess. We don't like the spotlight. That's why I enjoyed playing in the Orchestra of Southern Utah. I could hide behind the flutes and play my little heart out. "Just don't give me any solos," I'd beg.

Hobo Stew Dinner

Today we had such a nice evening. Joan and I planned a Hobo Stew Dinner. I fixed a basic beef stew and she fixed a basic chicken stew. Then we invited people in camp to bring a can of vegetables to put in the stews. We ended up with 60 people, two electric roasting pans full of stew, french bread, butter, rum cake, brownies. Some ate their stew out of their can, but most ate from bowls. Willard and the other camp musicans had a jam session while we ate. It was a big success!

Yesterday I went to Congress and washed clothes. Willard prospected and, of course, found some gold. I sold one of my wire wrapped pendants to BJ's sister. BJ is our neighbor who just had heart surgery. Her sister is a nurse from Indiana who came to take care of her for a few weeks.

This is Willard and I posing in the box canyon. It was a cold day, so as you can see we were bundled up with several layers of clothing. We usually take this ride in March when it is warmer, but everyone wanted to go today, so we did..  

We are playing in the water. It was a great day, but we were really tired when we arrived back at camp.  

We stop for lunch. 

We are exploring a boxed canyon on our trip 

This is a group heading out on a 35 mile ATV trip near Wickenburg, AZ 

January 8, 2006

Went to Laughlan the other day and won about $600 over and above what we spent. So we went shopping and bought new shoes, some new clothes, and me a new purse. I came in 2nd in a live Poker tournament and won quite a bit on a poker machine. Guess it was my lucky day. Willard lost about $20.

Took Duster to be groomed. We have to have him groomed at least once a month ,since we live in such close quarters in our motorhome. We love him and wouldn't trade the joy he has given us over the past 7 years, so we deal with his upkeep. Worth likes to roll in the dirt when we let him out, but I just clean him up with a handiwipe. I buy them by the case.

We went to Quartzsite to check out the rock show at Desert Gardens and ran into some of our friends (Allen and Mary from E. Texas and Jeff and Judy from Tombstone, AZ). We had a good day. We plan on going back to Quartzsite next week to present a seminar on Metal Detecting and sitting in on a Jam session with the Graduating Class of 2005 (people who started fulltiming in 2005). We are looking forward to seeing the people in the class that we met in Illinois this summer.

We have been so busy in camp lately. Of course, Willard prospects for gold every morning for a couple of hours. Then other prospectors come to our rig to see what he found. The musicians in camp gather over here for jam sessions several times a week. And we play Bingo once a week. The ladies in camp play Bunco on Wednesday nights and I play Texas Hold'em at least once a week. We have a potluck dinner on Fridays. We attend rock club meetings, prospector meetings, and go on rock club field trips.

Willard and Don played for a group at a guest ranch just outside of Wickenberg Monday night. We laughed because they actually sang for their supper. We ate with the ranch hands. It was a wonderful evening.

I have made several more pieces of wire-wrapped jewelry, painted some, practiced my clarinet and keyboard and of course cooked, washed clothes, and put things away in the motorhome. I'm also working on a family newsletter. Hopefully, it will be ready to send by the end of the week.

The weather has been just wonderful...cool nights and shirt sleeve weather during the day. We do need rain though. I think it has been about 90 days without rain which is almost a record.

This is some jewelry I made. It is called wire wrapping. Gold or silver wire is wrapped around polished cabs (or stones), coins, gold nuggets, etc. When I get really good at this process, I'll try making some earrings and bracelets. JB 

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it is already 2006. We've been on the road now for about 6 months and haven't missed the stick house in Cedar City as yet. We had a wonderful New Year's Eve with dancing, singing, fireworks and visiting with friends here at Stanton, AZ. Willard is finding a little gold every day that he prospects. I sold two paintings (watercolor) and am making jewelry. Willard is still playing his guitar and singing. Several musicians in camp gather several times a week to jam. Today we got our mail and enjoyed reading letters in our Christmas Cards. Our mail is forwarded each Tuesday and we get it on Fridays at the Congress postoffice. We always look forward to our mail. Jean