A Birthday To Remember

Today is a great day!  It is the birthday of our eldest granddaughter, Olivia.  She is 15 today, and is quite the young lady.

Olivia is in high school, of course, and has taken to the fast paced life of a large school with complete grace and dedication.  In years past, we've worried about Olivia from time to time because she didn't have much of a connection to school.  This year has been completely different, and we are all so proud of her! She is taking a tough course of French, History, Art, PE and Geometry. Olivia is an accomplished cook, and in fact, cooked her own birthday celebration dinner!

Olivia has touched us with her compassion and caring nature, spiced with a sense of humor.  She is indeed a very special young lady.

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

Crows in the Desert

Today is a day to review the status of the crow population in the desert around Quartzsite, AZ.  Typically there aren't many crows in the desert, but I have been able to find one.  It has landed in our campsite bringing some good news and an awful taste.

If you've been following the blog, you'll remember my rant a few days ago about our relationship with Dish Network and the problems we have been having getting television reception since we've been on this latest adventure.  I was on the phone with Dish numerous times, often getting conflicting information, and always becoming the victim of standard customer service practices (get the guy off the phone as soon as possible!) You know the routine. Well, lo and behold, I finally found Marco at Dish, who has been able to decipher our problems.

We first found out that we had a defective receiver, and Dish sent a replacement.  No TV.  Then we thought we had a defective antenna, but King Controls proved that it was working.  No TV.  Then Dish refused to send another receiver saying that they only had to do that once.  No TV.  Finally, Marco said "you have another defective receiver.  I'll send you another". Still no TV. However, Marco called back to see how things were going, and made mention of the length of the cable connecting the antenna to the receiver being critical. Hmmm.  I checked and guess what:  I had a cable that was twice what was recommended for length.  Uh-oh. Only a marginal signal was getting through, so sometimes it would work fine and other times not.

A new, shorter, cable from the store down the road. Remember, you can get anything in Q.  Now we have a pretty, clear, beautiful picture!  So that's where the crow comes to land.  The problem was mine from the beginning. So I had crow fritters and humble pie for dinner tonite.

Tomorrow will be a better day (even a little warmer, they say).

Uh-oh, This could be Dangerous!

So we woke up a bit late today, expecting the weather to be freezing cold, but it turned out to be a wonderful day!  We went into town to see if there were any new additions to the flea market scene, but didn't notice anything new, except for the Big Tent!

You can see the tent in the background.  It's huge!

This panorama gives you an idea of the area west of hwy 95 as it goes through Quartzsite.

One of the stores we hadn't yet visited was one selling off road vehicles.  Donna had fun checking out the updated versions of the buggy she loves to ride at our special friends' ranch in the desert.  The new models have a much bigger engine, 4 wheel drive, and even a winch! That's something that she has been known to need from time to time....

I wish the price was $899!

                                   And a tilt wheel, too!













So you can see why it could be dangerous!

I leave you with the sign that Donna carefully pointed out to me.....I don't quite know why......

Yeah, it's the one on the top.....Hmmm, or is it the one on the bottom?

Oh Yeah!

We took the opportunity of nice weather today to drive about 30 miles north to Parker, AZ.  We had heard that Parker is a much larger town than Quartzsite, and would have better grocery stores.

And so it did! There was a Walmart Supercenter! And a Safeway! And a Starbucks! But what we most liked about Parker was the place we ate lunch: Big Bellie Subs.

The owner, Rick, has put together a great menu of all manner of sub sandwiches, but the unique item on the menu is his "slider" sandwich.  It's a 4" long sandwich on a super fresh bun for a great price, and it is just the right size for lunch.  His menu of fillings is extensive, and he will customize your sandwich however you want as long as he can get the fillings to stay on the bread!  His shop is a bit hard to see from the road, but is on Hwy 95 just west of the Lake Havasu turnoff.

Give him a try if you are in the area. You won't regret it.

A Dusty Day

Today the forecast this morning was for increasing clouds and wind, with temps dropping rapidly over the next 2 days.  We decided to hang around the trailer and prepare for the bad weather.  We had a package to pick up in town, and needed to empty the trailer holding tanks, fill up with water, and get some propane.

This is the sky just after sunrise this morning:

Beautiful, yes?

Here's the view in generally the same direction this afternoon after the wind came up:

Not so beautiful, no?

The local weather channel predicted gusts to 23 mph, and I can assure you that they were at least that!
As I write this, 2 hours after sunset, the gusts have abated somewhat, and the forecast is for only 12 mph tomorrow.  A gentle zephyr!

We hooked up the trailer and went 2 miles south on hwy 95 to LTVA  La Posa South where there are dump stations and fresh water faucets.  We saw signs before we got to the dump area that said "line starts here for RV dump", which didn't give us much confidence for a quick turnaround, but when we got there we only waited about 10 minutes for both the dump and the water.  While filling with fresh water, we were approached by a couple that noticed our CA license plates and wanted to socialize.  An hour later we left knowing where they lived, where they went to school (50 years ago), what they do now and where they were camped.  We evidently have a standing invitation to "come over and play some cards"! OK and hugs all around.....The things you can do when emptying your RV holding tanks.....

Well, Where is it?

We took off this morning looking for what is called "The worlds tallest Saguaro" in the Quartzsite "things to see and do" directory.  We drove for about an hour, traipsed up and down some washboard roads in the Kofa Wildlife Refuge, and finally found what we were looking for.  Unfortunately, due to some fire damage in 2005 and drought conditions in 2007, the 146 foot tall cactus is now the worlds shortest Saguaro.  We settled for this guy:

Having failed at our task, we had to regroup.  The next point of interest listed the only Arizona location of California Palm trees. (!)  So off we went back into the Kofa Refuge again, on a road named Palm Canyon St.  Imagine that.  8 miles later on a dusty road (again) we came to the end of the road and a sign directing us to a trail.

You see that canyon in the center of the pic as we approach on the dirt road?  That's where we're going.

Here's Donna about 1/2 way up the trail.  It's a rocky, steep trail, and none too friendly for city folks!

We made it!  Did I mention that Pris walked the whole way?  It was a lot of rocky steps for 4 black and white feet.  The trail was a little over 1/2 mile one way, so we had a good walk!

And the Palms?  Oh, yeah:

A little grove of about a dozen small palm trees tucked into a protected crevice about 200 feet up the canyon wall.  Beautiful little trees in a desolate, barren canyon.

What did we do Today?

Today was one of those days that you look back on and wonder where the time went.  A nice breakfast, some chores around the trailer, and all of a sudden it was noon!  We ducked into town to pick up a couple of things, had a soda, and then it was late afternoon!

A long walk this afternoon sent us to this Saguaro cactus plant.  It was growing into and out of the bush at its base.  Kinda cool! There doesn't appear to be anything happening in the desert, but every morning when we go outside there are small footprints all around.  Something(s) comes sneaking in at night to check us out. Hmmm.













We spent a few moments this afternoon reflecting on our nations's flag.  The flag is more beautiful and meaningful every day.  Don't ever forget.