HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY

Carol wanted to go to Denny’s Restaurant to get her free birthday breakfast.  Well, it’s not a free breakfast anymore.  Here at this Denny’s they do a $7.29 credit.  We had a small heard;  Ed & Sandy Kruty, Denny & Susie Orr, Jim & Lisa Koca and Mark of course.  Wow, we’ve been coming to North Ranch, Congress for a long long time during Carol’s birthdays.  She’s had a lot of them here too.  Oppps, there goes some more brownie points.

After the birthday breakfast, Mark, George and myself went into Phoenix to buy food for this weekend’s Boot Camp.  Over a $1,000 later we returned to North Ranch.  We had filled to pickups full of food.  We will be cooking two breakfasts and one dinner for about 90 meals each.  They won’t be box lunches that’s for sure.

For dinner we all (Ed/Sandy and Denny/Susie and Carol and myself ) went to Tasty Freeze for pizza.  We used Carol’s birthday as an excuse to go there.  They got pretty good pizza there for sure.  We’ve been going there for years.  Plus we got to ride in Denny’s party wagon.  It’s an old VW bus in great shape.

After all of today’s doings it was time to call it a day.  At 7:30 PM I went to bed.  I was all tuckered out somehow from all of the excitement of Carol’s birthday.

Retirement is getting tired from doing less work.

See ya when we see ya……

And The Fun Continues

Here we are behind Ed & Sandy’s.  Love it.  I wonder if they deliver meals.

Carol’s off to Line Dancing and I am….?  I know I did something I just can’t remember what.  Oh well.

Here’s the kitty watching a rabbit.

Then there’s lunch.  They only way I like and can eat Span is to burn it.

Later Mark pulled into the campground as did Jim & Lisa.  A last minute decision was we all to include Ed and Sandy went to dinner.  It was only 4:30 but I needed something to wash down the Spam.  What the hell.

Here’s where we went.

Pretty good place and we all been here before.  The girls were all drinking Blue Margaritas.  The guys new better.  It was good.  Mark and I got to work on figuring what we needed to get food wise for this weekends Escapees Boot Camp.  We fix them a real good breakfast to start the days right. 

When we left the Ranchero (with authentic Mexican Food) it was still daylight.

Back at the ranch we all went our ways.  Carol & I, Ed and Sandy played Fast Track again  We whooped the girls 2 out of 3 games.  we left them win one and just barely.

Another quiet night except laughing at the game.  Seems like I have a hard time remembering the rules.

Retirement is going out to dinner during the week – often.

See ya when we see ya.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

One thing for sure is that our internet is a lot faster here.  I guess at the Quartzite North desert people stayed inside due to the weather and thus were on the internet and was therefor slow. 

We went grocery shopping this morning.  We needed more food.  More than bread and milk like at Quartzsite.  We were like kids in a candy store.  We did our best just to get sale items.  Plus we are slowly downsizing our freezer and enlarging our guts in doing so.  We want the freezer just about empty for our return to Texas.  Remember we are switching to our 25 foot camper, no room!

I washed the car at the self car wash.  I got all the dust off so it don’t look as bad.  I need to wipe it down real good but that will be another day.

The day was a lazy day not doing much of anything.  Denny & Susie came over for a short while.  I straighten up the large compartment underneath.  It was nice to be outside in the sun and not windy and cold.

Carol cooked a roast in the slow cooker and we took it over to Ed & Sandy’s for dinner.  It turned out real nice.  Then afterwards we played Fast Track again.  At least that’s what I think it’s called.  The girls whooped up on this time.  I think us guys had to let them win or they wouldn’t play anymore.  At least that’s the best excuse we could come up with.

Retirement is at times trying to keep busy and out of trouble but not always succeeding.

See ya when we see ya….

Line Dancing Dates OPPPPPS!

Change number umpty up.  Get this.  Carol had the wrong dates for her Line Dancing Rally in Menifee, Ca in March.  Hey, she was only off by one week and it was later.  The same week of the Escapade in Tucson 19-23 March.  Well, no need to say which one we (Carol!) are going to.  Priorities, priorities!

What this means now is that we won’t be coming back to California after we go back to Texas to pick up the camper like planned.  Now after getting the camper we will head Northwest up to Great Falls, MT and go into Canada via Sweetgrass.  We are still aiming for Prince Rupert and the ferry but going up via Canada’s National Parks Banff and Casper if their open (snow?).  We got a free pass for the park’s entrances.  It will probably be more of a window tour going thru the pretty parks. 

We’re not speeding up to the ferry and we’re not on the slow lookey lou drive.  We got about 3 weeks or so to cover 3100 road miles.  We’re thinking about getting on the ferry the first week in May.  Our next goal is to get to Skagway (Dyea NF) about Memorial Day (29 May) for the train ride on the 30th.  It’s just a thing to aim for kinda.  It’s not a do or die thing nor is any of this Alaska trip.  We should be on & off the ferries for just about all of May.  Normally it’s about a 3 day trip or so.  We will be making all the normal ferry stops and adding some that are a little out of the norm like Prince of Wales Island and Mitkoff Island.  More as time gets near.

Meanwhile back here in Quartzsite.  It was cold again last night.  It got down to 33 degrees out and 47 inside. I slept in till 5:30 AM this morning.  Damn this tile floor is cold.  But we love it anyhow because how easy it is to clean.

We left our spot about 9:30 and went into Quartzsite to get LP.  We stopped at four corners and paid $2.10 a gallon plus tax which is over 10%,  On the road again by 10 AM.

The 100 mile trip was a little windy but not as bad as it was yesterday.  It was an uneventful trip.  Yea….  We arrived at North Ranch Ed & Sandy’s place.  Ahhhhhhhhh full hook up.  That was so nice after two weeks on the edge of misery due to the unusual weather at Quartzsite.  Like I said before, it was the continued worse weather we had been in during the 17 years we went there.  No thanks.  We’re done.  No plans to do it again in the next 17 years.

Ed & Sandy had us over for dinner.  The brats were great.  We played a game called ??????? I forget.  It was a lot of fun.  The girls kept crying.  It must be because Ed and I are the grand champs.

Quite warm night.  It only got down to the low 50’s.

Don D – see your butt in Parker!

Retirement is not having to work for a dumb boss.

 

See ya when we see ya.

One More Time–The Last Time?

Ed and Sandy and Carol and I went to Bad Boys for breakfast one more time.  The breakfast was great blah blah blah….. When we returned back to the rigs it was time to leave.  Ed & Sandy left first then Bob & Tammi.  Bob & Tammi we will see again at North Ranch in about a week.  They’re going to Phoenix to see some friends.  Ed & Sandy are going home to North Ranch.  We will meet up with them later today and stay on their lot.

Well, around lunch time I called Ed & Sandy.  They were almost home.  They said the wind was really bad.  The wind picked up real bad here at Quartzsite by now too.  The weather is calling for bad wind all day so we decided not to leave today.  I had to pile our chairs, table, fire pit and LP tank in a pile.  I couldn’t keep the compartment doors open long enough to put stuff away.  It was windy all day and just barely got into the 50s.

We don’t have to move so we didn’t and we stayed put.  It did get a little lonely out here by ourselves.  The wind whistling and the slide tops flapping kept us awake.

Tomorrow (Sat) it’s calling for not as much wind so we will finish packing up and head for North Ranch.

Retirement is having the ability not to do anything you don’t want to do unless the spouse says too.

See ya when we see ya…..

Not Windy For A Couple of Hours

This morning wasn’t windy so the paragliders were out.  I don’t know what they are called and they are neat.  We got three within 100 yards or so.  Here’s my best shots from a distance.

Coming in for a landing.

We even had a small plane do a fly over.  One year we had one land and spent a few hours on the ground.

Tammi was doing something out in the brush.If you look close you can see her tripod.

She was taking pictures of the sunset.

Here’s her hubby Bob.

Retirements goal is to see more sunrises and sunsets.

See ya when we see ya if we do see ya….

One More Trip Around the Block

At 6:30 AM this morning it was 34 degrees outside and 50 degrees inside the rig.  Dress warmer I guess.  I got our LP heater going and our rig’s furnace going to warm things up.

This morning we decided to go over to East Kuehn Road area.  There’s a couple of vendors down that road we want to see.  It will be same ole, same ole…..

We’ve been here so many times it’s hard to go around and check out the vendors.  Some old and a lot of new selling basically over priced foreign junk.  Very few true flea market vendors bordering on pure unwanted junk and again over priced junk.

Seems like the solar business continues to be the one area that grows continually.   We’ve had solar for over 10 years so I guess it just might be starting to pay for itself now.  We’ve worked up to two systems.  One controller and one 100 watt panel came with the coach.  Then we installed our old 500 watt worth of panels, a new fancy controller and we have eight AGM batteries.  You would think that is enough.  It’s never enough.  Being AGM batteries we turn on the generator at 12.0 volts.  We have to run the generator about 2 hours a day if the sun isn’t shining that much.  We usually turn off the inverter at night.  We’re done with solar.

Kuehn Road area…..nothing breath taking and we were back at the rig by 11 AM.  We left about 9:30 AM.  I cooked some dogs and chicken outside on the BBQ.  I had to get my grill wind barrier thing out because of the wind.  Calm at first in the morning and then it starts to kick up and continues to after sun down.

Our gang went to a place I think its called Family Restaurant by McDonald’s.  Food was OK and companionship was outstanding.  Here’s the gang leaving

Ed is missing as I am of course.

We got back to the compound and since the wind had died down we sat out at the OFF until about 9:30 PM.  Ed & Linda from North Ranch came over and sat with us all.  We joked around a lot and really had a good time.

Retirement is forgetting you ever worked for money.

See ya when we see ya…..Jean & Claudette.

Tanks ?

You know we’ve been coming out here every year since 2001.  This is the first time that it has continually stayed miserable.  We stay out here between 2 and 4 weeks usually.  This time we’ve been out here since 12 Jan this second time.  We came out here for a few days after the 1st of the year.  Then we went to Yuma and now back to Quartzsite since the 12th.  There is no let up on this cold, cloudy and windy time frame for us out here in this mess.  It just might be our farewell for a long time.  It just ain’t fun anymore.

Our grey water all leaked out the other night during the heavy rain.  I fixed that the next day.  Gauges say we are out of water but I also have a visual gauge that I look at.  It’s the tank itself.  I estimate about 25 gallons left.  The black water tank says it full but no splash back yet.  Our LP tank is about 1/2 full.  We are almost done after 12 days.  We will leave sometime between Friday & Sunday.  We got reservations at Kruty’s Kampground at North Ranch in Congress, AZ for two weeks.  I will be doing the cooking for the Escapees Boot Camp.  Not that I’m a good cook it’s more that I volunteered and can heat food up basically.  Throw in a little of this and little of that and you got a meal…… It’s chefs that know how to cook and I’m not a chef at all.  I think the most I’ve cooked for was about 60-80 people, I forget.

This morning was not windy so these things went up.

Here is us, Ed & Sandy and Bob and Tami..  We are the extreme Northeast corner of 14 day BLM land.

Carol & I went into town since it wasn’t a wind storm for awhile.  Here’s are next trailer?

Outside the tent was an easy walk due to the wind and cold was staring up.

Inside it looks crowded but it wasn’t really that bad just here at an entrance.

Then went over to Tyson Wells vendor area.  These guys are all outside and it wasn’t crowded at all.  We walked all the rows too.

We went back to the rig and the wind started up again.

For dinner we (the gang-seven of us) went to the Grubstake.  Or you can call it the greasy spoon.  Everything is deep fried just about. 

I told Sandy we were gonna stay a month with them…

We liked the fried what ever it was.

Back at the rigs we got out our OFF (old fart fire) ring and fired them up (2).  The wind died down to nothing for a change.  You could see people outside setting at fires and enjoying themselves as we did.  This was really a first for this calm night.  This is the real Quartzsite!

Retirement is not having to call into work sick on a nice day.

See ya when we see ya…..

Wind Continues Of Course

Carol is a bit under the weather today.  She tried to go to Line Dancing but was just not feeling up to it.  Now you know she’s sick.  She stayed in bed most of the day.

I watched the BLM people chase off the rigs that were over nighting in the Day Use Only Area.  People just can’t read the signs or just don’t think they will be caught.  I think they should slap them with $100 fines or 3 day community service.  Oh well, neither will happen.

It was sunny part of the day but that wind really kept the temperatures down.

For dinner I cooked one of those frozen things in the freezer.  You know.  Not sure what it is.  I guessed it was pork chops.  Nope, not that.  It kinda tasted like a steak of some type maybe.  Maybe it was an ice cycle.  It wasn’t too shabby.  Oh well……

Retirement is saying your done one more time.

See ya when we see ya……..

Move Again

We moved.  Why?  Because we could.  And the scenery was a lot better.  Maybe a few more coyote howls at night.  Maybe not a vehicle driving around us.  Maybe……nope, still got wind and a lot of it.  It stayed cloudy all day too.  We’re about 500 yards Northeast from where we were.

Before we moved Denny & Susie came over to say good bye.  They’re going back home to North Ranch.

Then Steve O’Bosky came over with an empty bottle for Mark.  Nancy and him aren’t leaving until Tuesday I think.

Here’s the view out our front window.

And a poor picture looking out our right side.

Then a picture far out our left window.

Ed & Sandy moved out here with us too.  Bob & Tammi probably will tomorrow.

Here I am dancing in my plaid shirt, 3rd layer.  Carol said I would be warm like this.  I think she’s staying warm from laughing.

Retirement is being able to change your schedule no matter how much you screw it up.

See ya when we see ya.

Needs To Warm Up 10 Degrees

Friday it was windy  and that stopped just about all those outside activities.

Nine of us went to breakfast at Bad Boys and we even got a table for us all.  Bob & Molly Pinner came in later as did Bud & Cathie Carr.  We all greeted each other but had no room for them to set with us.

We returned to the rig and stayed inside.  It was just too windy.

Saturday was a lot better.  At 6:30 AM Carol & I were out the door with our laundry.  The laundry place was not empty and some people were already doing their laundry.  While Carol was watching the machine I was off on some chores.  First I dropped off some mailings at the post office.  Next was some gas for the car at the Pilot station.  No problems but gas was $2.25 a gallon.  I got back at the laundry place and we decided to have breakfast There.  Yes, a restaurant was attacked to the laundry.  The food was good but a little pricey for our taste buds.

We got back to the rig with clean laundry for 7-10 days again.

Around noon we decided to go to the big tent.  Ohhhh wow.  We couldn’t get near it because traffic was so backed up.  So we went to Silly Al’s for lunch.  We had the combo pizza and it was so good as normal.  By the time we left there were lines waiting for tables.  We looked over at the traffic for the big tent and said it just wasn’t worth it to us.  We went back to the rig.  In the evening we ended up having a social of about 10 people.  It was still a little windy but the rigs helped block it.  It was fun.

Retirement is learning to have a different type of fun.

See ya when we see ya.

Loosey Goosey Discussion

Yesterday’s All SKP Social was so outstanding.  It just might be out last one.    Seems like we saw a lot more friends from the far past which was just beyond outstanding.  I wish I could have remembered them all a little better.  After coming out here every year since 2001, it’s about time to move on next year.  Yes, 2001, every year.  My lungs can’t take the light dry dust as much as back then.  Carol & I get kinda sick each time a little bit more.   It just might be an age thing now.  Nahhhhh….. and the dust don’t get to our hearts.

Bob & Tami from Hatch, Utah came in yesterday.  After the Social they came over and parked their 40” rig right next to us at our request.  Our awnings are overlapped the way we wanted them to.  Then Mark came over and parked so he could block some wind.We are getting reading for the rain.  Later today (Thursday at 5:30 (after dinner)) we are having a discussion group of the Loosey Goosey members that are in the area.  We should stay dry.  Plus, we have three LP OFFs (Old Fart Fires).  It started to lightly rain last night and again at 7 AM.  Then it drizzled a little bit the rest of the day.  We caught Rocket watching traffic.

We had Bill & Jan Mills, Harry and Carlena Schoolcraft, Bob & Tami from Hatch, Utah, plus Ed & Sandy Kruty.  Then of course Mark were all here to talk about Alaska. We discussed what to expect and answer any questions the newbies (to Alaska) had.

We even had Gary & Mary Wilson (Olsons) come over.  They’re Loosey Goosey Alaska 2011.  I think we maybe put to much fear in them about the roads.  Bottom line if you use common sense everything will be fine.

Retirement is having fun when you want to and not your work schedule.

See ya when we see ya.

ALL ESCAPEE SOCIAL QUARTZSITE

Retirement is fun!

See ya when we see ya……