My Cruisin' Girlfriends

Another cruise with my cruisin' girlfriends. We had such a good time for 4 days. We drove to Long Beach, CA and embarked that night to Catalina Island  http://www.catalinachamber.com/
While on the island we visited the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Gardens. On the way, our tour guide gave us a brief history of the island and entertained us with little known facts about Avalon

The next day we were in Ensenada, Baja California   http://www.enjoyensenada.com/
We spent the day on a Country Wine Tasting Tour. It gave us a chance to visit the countryside. I was surprised by all the Olive trees and the beautiful vineyards.

We enjoyed the nightly dinners, dancing, and shows. It was all such fun. Somehow in 4 nights we developed a name for ourselves, "The Dancing Girls." What a blast!

Alfa Roadrunners at Quartzsite 2010

The above link is a picture of the Alfa Roadrunners that attended the Quartzsite Campout in 2010. Over 50 were in attendance (abt. 30 rigs). We have about 200 members. The Alfa Roadrunners are a group of fulltime RVers living in our Alfa Motorhomes. We try to get together several times a year. We gather at Quartzsite each January during the RV Show (usually the third week of the month).

Sunday Night at Quartzsite

Most of the Roadrunners left Sunday morning, but a few of us stayed behind. At sunset Bud fired up the campfire. Someone suggested we watch the football game around the fire, so John brought out his small TV, connecting it to his satellite dish. Will crankied up his Honda generator and we were ready to go. We passed around peanuts, cheese and crackers, and ham and pineapple chunks until they were gone. It was a fun evening.
You gotta love this lifestyle. What a great bunch of people in our RV family.

We decided

Our Last Day at the Quartzsite Campout

We gathered together for breakfast and supper on this beautiful day in the desert. We ended the day with our nightly campfire. What a wonderful time we have had with the Alfa Roadrunners at the Annual Quartzsite Campout. Until we meet again.....happy trails to you. May you travel safely. Hope to meet you again on the road.

Robin took this picture from atop a rig. Our club was formed to socialize and have fun and that we do.

It's Raining Cats and Dogs in Quartzsite

Willard relaxes with old Western movies while it rains cats and dogs on our Campout.  But, between storms we have managed to have Coffee and Donuts, Happy Hour most days, Breakfast in a Bag, and two evenings with Heavy Hors d'oeuvres. We even had our Hobo Stew dinner. We have shopped at the RV Show and the World's largest Flea Market. Today we went to Parker, AZ to deposit a few $$ at the Casino and pick up some items at Wal Mart. One night Willard and I played music around the campfire. And best of all we have visited with many of our RV friends. We have about 30 motorhomes in camp so far.  Life is good.

Rocky naps between his daily walks.

We had to pospone our Beer Pancakes and Weenie Roast for another day (hopefully Friday). Our Potluck Dinner and business meeting is scheduled for Saturday. The sky is clearing, so it just might happen. I think I'll stick around to see what happens next.

It's My Birthday

Dan called at 7:30 to wish me a Happy Birthday. I was more than happy to crawl out of my nice warm bed to talk to my "baby." He was on his way home from work, the evening shift. Joey called a little later too. It was good touching base with the kids.

It's been raining on and off all day accompanied by a cold south east wind. I think the sun peeked around a grey cloud a couple of times. I've spent most of the day on the computer or wrapped up in a blanket while curled up in the recliner watching movies in front of our warm "fireplace." Bill and Karen came by and brought me a tortilla warmer. They are down from wintering in Salt Lake City while Bill recoveres from a shoulder replacement. Graceann and Charlie came over with a delicious chocolate birthday cake. They are here in Quartzsite camping with the Ham Radio Club.

Robbie called. It was so good to hear from him. And later in the evening Randy called. What a nice surprise. Wonder what will happen next?

Goodbye 2009

December was not a good month for us. First I injured my back muscle and couldn't move around for a couple of weeks. Then Willard got his first cold since retiring. And he gave it to me. Christmas was uneventful because of our being sick. We even missed the New Year's Party. (So sad)

Now we are in the middle of January and at Quartzsite for a week of R&R at the Alfa Roadrunner's Campout. It is wonderful being able to meet up with many of our RV friends again. Later....gotta go....I hear another rig coming into camp.

Thanksgiving Came and Went

We decided to stay at North Ranch for Thanksgiving. Peggy and Ray invited us to sit at their table for dinner at the Activities Center in the park. About 200 attended, sitting at tables of 10. The park provided the turkey and gravy. Each table provided their own fixins. We met several new people. It was good.

The next day we met with Gary, Harvy, Dianne, and Dot over at Ray and Peggy's to play some music. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards, we went to the Leftover Pot Luck dinner to finish off Thanksgiving Dinner.

The next morning we went to the Pancake Breakfast and on Sunday we attend the Ice cream Social. Eat, eat, and eat. Seems that's all we did for days.

Willard has been getting as much gold as he can before the rains come. I've been line-dancing three days a week, attending meetings, and playing my bass at the Jam Sessions.

We'll probably stick around here for Christmas, too. Of course, we never really know what will happen until it happens. We like it that way.

Ogden, UT Trip

After the Death Valley trip we headed for Ogden, UT for Melissa's wedding. On the way we stopped off at Dan's house in Cedar City for a few days. We arrived in Ogden on Wednesday just before a front moved in. On Friday we entertained at the Assisted Living Center near Joey's home. Afterward, we attended a Weber State basketball game. That night Dan, Trevor, Jessica, Tyler, and Mckinna came for the wedding. Saturday it started to snow! The temps dropped into the 20s and 30s. What were we thinking when we decided to drive the motorhome up here? That afternoon we attended the dinner, wedding, and reception at the Weber State Alumni Center. It was just a wonderful afternoon. Muddy Boots (Dan's band) entertained at the reception. It has been an eventfull trip. If the roads are clear tomorrow, we will head for Arizona to the nice warm sunshine.


And the snow came down.

I was glad Bill and Karen delivered our little electric fireplace. It really made it homey in our motorhome. It also helped heat the living room.

Willard and Rocky relaxed while watching a football game on TV instead of attending the Weber State football game in the snow on Saturday.

I was glad I knitted Rocky a nice warm sweater. He was too. Brrrr!

Death Valley 49ers Annual Encampment

We Red Hatters were in the parade.

The Wagon Train came into camp after completing a 50 mile trek into Death Valley. This was the Wagon Trains 43erd Encampment. We also welcomed trail riders who completed 125 miles in 5 1/2 days.

We played in the Talent Show. There were 50 acts.

We didn't know what to expect at the Encampment. Charlie and Graceann said they had a great time last year, so we decided to go see what it was all about. This annual event celebrates the Death Valley Wagon train that crossed the valley in 1849 headed for the gold fields in California. This was the 60th anniversary. The events took place at Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek. We stayed at Furnace Creek. When we arrived we were surprised to find about 400 rigs in a large National Park campground. Across the street was a visitor center, motel rooms, a restaurant, store, postoffice, museum, swimming pool, golf course, tennis courts, service station, and horse stables. We had a full week of activities: daily jam sessions (2 1/2 hrs), wonderful nightly concerts (mostly western and cowboy music), fiddle contests, a talent show, an art show, craft show, parade, historical films at the visitor center, tours, and a chance to meet and greet lots of wonderful people. We will definately plan on attend it again next year. As usual I kept forgetting my camera, so I'm thankful that Charlie and Graceann shared some of their pictures with me.

Pahrump, NV

After the Hitch-Up breakfast we left Bullhead City, AZ and headed toward Pahrump. We took a secondary road through a Joshua Tree forest, skirted South Vegas arriving in Pahrump just in time for lunch. This Western Horizon park is one of the nicest ones we've been to. Too bad we will only be here for the night. We will fill up with water and empty our waste tanks before going on to Death Valley where we will be dry camping (no hook-ups) next week. I just came back from the dog park. I think I'll take a nap or perhaps go to the hot tub. Come to think of it I may go for a wine tasting at the Winery next door. Hmmm. Oh what to do.

I'll do the laundry and get groceries tonight. And we will fill up our motorhome with diesel in the morning. Then on to a new experience early tomorrow. Life is good......

The Chapter 32 Rally Comes to an End

It's been a fun week: (1) we were able to visit with a lot of North Ranch residents and some that weren't, (2) attended a Mel Tillis concert, (3) I placed 8th out of 30 in a poker tournment, (4) we entertained along with Jim, and (5) Willard got his fill of nickle Keno for awhile. Tomorrow we hitch-up and head down the road toward Death Valley. Life is good.

Chapter 32 Rally in Bullhead City

First Day: We arrived in Bullhead City yesterday morning. I had put the wrong address in the GPS so we almost turned onto the wrong road. Not a good idea. You can't make a U turn in a 40' motorhome pulling a TOAD. We turned off at the next red light after spotting a big turn around area. While we were sitting there checking our map, Willard saw Peggy drive by in her truck. We decided to call the RV park that we were to stay in and lo and behold we were on the right road to the park. Amazing......

We got parked and settled in for the week. At 4:00 we attended a get-together and pot-luck "dinner" at the pavilion. I was surprised at how many people we knew that were attending the rally. It's always a little awkward meeting with a new group of people. But, we always make new friends which is a blessing. There are about 40 people here and most are from North Ranch. Afterwards, we went to the Riverside Casino and deposited a few bucks.

This morning we gathered for a wonderful breakfast at the pavilion. The rest of the day we just goofed off. A storm is moving in and fierce cool winds began invading the area. Tomorrow the temps are expected to be in the 60s. We are supposed to play our music tomorrow afternoon, but, if it is too cold, forget it.

Hitch-Up Itch

We have just about put away our stuff ready to head down the road to Bullhead City, AZ early in the morning. We are going to attend a Chapter 32 Rally for a week. Then it's off to Death Valley for a week of playing and listening to music. After that, we will be headed for Utah to attend Melissa's wedding. We should be back at North Ranch about Nov. 16th.

Tom and Andra Visit

Tom and Andra (our Florida friends) came for a visit. They stayed in the North Ranch RV Park. We stuffed a lot of activities into just a few days: visiting, sharing meals at our home, lunch at the Congress Senior Center, linedancing, and drywashing (yes, they recovered some gold). Andra gave me a sewing lesson on free form sewing, we had a show-and-tell on recent projects, and Tom fixed our fan and bedroom light. It was a fun filled few days. They left for LA early this morning. We will miss them. Below are some pictures Tom took while Willard, Charlie and he were dry washing out on the desert.

Dry Washing for Gold on the Arizona Desert near Congress, AZ Oct. 22, 2009.


Photos by Tom

October on Lot 360

The hummingbirds visit early in the morning and late in the afternoon.

Willard is busy working his puzzles.

The birds love my bird bath.

My mini-garden furnished tomatoes and basil for the neighbors all summer.