Windy 1-9-09

Today was chore day...laundry, sheets, clean the bathroom etc.

The weather first thing this morning was nice, but the wind came up around noonish and was strong all day with big gusts. Sand and dirt blowing everywhere and the mountains disappeared.

We ran some errands...fueled the truck, filled our 5 water bottles at the water station, mailed off a couple of things at the post office...which meant waiting in line for awhile and then to the grocery store for a few things. It isn't nearly as busy down here this year.

I have a headache from the wind today, so this is all I can think of to write for now.

Not much going on... 1-8-09

Another quiet day, it was about 68 degrees again and the low was 44.

Larry took care of some business and I worked on a couple of scarves. I walked two laps and Larry did his usual four. We visited with Dave, Nancy and company a couple of times during the day.

We went over to the Arizona Marketplace for an hour or so and caught the rest of the booths we missed on Sunday. We didn't miss too much. Nothing new or unique, many repeat booths and not as many interested us as in years past. I'm not even sure we'll go into Mexico, there isn't really anything there we need either. We'll just bask here in the sunshine and conversation!

Easy day 1-7-09

The low this morning was 42 and the high was 68. It was breezy again which makes it feel cooler.

Larry went through his outside compartments and I finished another scarf. We drove into Yuma to the Michael's store so I could pick up some more yarn and a different size of knitting needles.

That was about it for us today. We had the bbq out for the first time in months and bbq'd hamburgers. We took a walk after our early dinner and enjoyed the sunshine.

Snacks & Sunshine 1-6-09

Today I did my Shred and Larry did his four laps around the park, then we walked around the corner and visited with friends for an hour.

We spent the afternoon visiting with my cousin's Pat & Mike Corral who are spending a month here in the Foothills for 5 weeks. They are renting an RV space on a lot in the Foothills. We may try that the next time. People own the lot and they may have put one to three RV pads and hook-ups and then they rent them out. Some are just very basic and some are graveled and landscaped.

We had snacks while basking in the sun and as we were leaving, the cactus garden in the front caught my eye with the sun catching the edges of the leaves. The agaves had such sinuous curves to their leaves.

The last picture is of last nights creation.

Laundry day 1-5-09

A quiet day for us today. The low was 40 this morning and it was chilly for most of the day. The breeze makes it brisk...the high today was 60.

Larry took his four laps around the park today. It has been three years since we've been here and two people stopped him today to welcome him back, ask where he's been and where was his wife. Funny, but nice. So many people kept track of our laps when we took our morning walks the last time.

We did a load of laundry. They have here instead of coin machines, machines that take a card. You have to buy the card for $5...it was $2 three years ago...(a rip-off and makes Larry cranky) and then you load it with money and when you insert it in the washer or dryer it activates the machine and deducts the money needed. In our travels around the country we have never run into this system anywhere else.

After laundry we braved the crowds at the new Super Walmart here in the Foothills. It was crazy crowded but most everything here is this time of year. We'll probably go to the one in Yuma next time.

We came home and had Salmon for dinner, we took a walk around the park and then I decided to go back to Walmart for yarn...they had it on sale. It was after 5 and not nearly as busy, most of the snowbirds were home having dinner or cocktails.

The sun was setting as I was driving to Walmart and was glorious, but I didn't have my camera. Tomorrow we are going to hunt down my cousins who are also down here for the month and have a nice visit with them.

Windy 1-4-09

Today's low was 51 and the high was 64, it was overcast in the morning and windy with gusts most all day. The wind felt like it was blowing off of an iceburg.

We were slow to get started today. We both seemed to have a lot to do on the computer, then in spite of the cold wind we ventured out. We went over to the Arizona Marketplace, it is an open air market and was not very crowded, but it was still chilly. Some of the vendors were huddled next to propane heaters. These are frigid conditions for Yuma! We were hungry when we left, we found something to eat on the way home and after we returned we just continued on as we were before we left.

My sister Lori planted a seed in an email to me today. Lori shared with me how a young woman wanted to know where Lori had gotten the scarf she was wearing (I made it for her) because she loved it. Lori told me I should be selling them...well, duh! I just don't know why it has never occured to me before and now with Etsy.com it will be easy to do.

I have been knitting and crocheting since I was about eleven and I really enjoy it. I love taking a pattern and making it unique by the yarn colors I chose to use and I have given oodles of my work to friends and family over the years...mostly afghans, scarves and hats. Unless I have a gift to make, I find projects I would like to do and wait for an opportunity to make it....well, smack me over the head...if I am selling, I can knit and crochet all I want.

I have frequently thought that I should be doing something more contructive with my time besides sitting around and crocheting or knitting all day. Well, writers, artists, all kinds of people need to sit around all day creating their craft...I have had an epiphany and am excited to get busy!

I can do other things as well, but now while sitting in the passenger seat while cruising the country I can work, etc. I've just had a big block because I always remember my Mother sitting in her bathrobe knitting all day, and she never seemed to do much of anything else,....so I just have to remind myself I am not my Mother and remember to keep balance in my life. I am forty-nine and feel silly for taking this long to figure this out...oh, well, better late than never...smile.

Here is evidence that proves men over 60 can be in touch with their inner child! Auntie Annie e-mailed us this photo that she took of Uncle Robert at 2:30 in the morning when she discovered him out on the lawn making snow angels in a very rare snow for Pahrump and also for Uncle Robert who has lived most of his life in Hawaii. Way to go, Uncle Robert!!!!!

Our first night in Yuma 1-3-09

We had a very peaceful first night. I only heard the train once around 4:30 a.m., but that was only because I was awake.

We had a 10 a.m. coffee appointment, so I had to hurry as we didn’t drag our carcasses out of bed until almost 8:30. Yesterday being a day off from my workout didn’t help any. I wasn’t sore this morning, but I did find that the humidity was dragging me down. We had forgotten that it is humid down here in the winter. But I forged on and we didn't miss anything.

We had coffee with our friends from Alberta, Canada and sat in the sun and baked. After a couple of hours we came back and had intended to go out exploring, but that didn’t happen. We didn’t really want to get back in the truck after being in it all day yesterday and we haven’t acclimated to the sun yet…oh, poor us…boo hoo, too much sun on day 3 of January….tee hee. The sun kicked our butts, we just felt like sleeping the rest of the day away! We resisted, but it was hard. As it was, after noon it clouded up and the sun was gone for the rest of the day so it was easier to get away with lazing around inside.

I dug through my bag of fun yarns and knit up a scarf for a quick gift, it took me about 40 minutes to whip out. Yet again I had started and had about twelve inches knitted up when I didn’t like one of the yarns (I use four strands and huge knitting needles), so I ripped it out and found another yarn and got it done up in no time.

After dinner we took a little walk around the park and took in all the changes in the park in the three years since we were last here. Around seven we headed over to one of our friends and four couples of us headed over to where one couple had moved to this season….I was going to say escaped, but I shouldn’t really speak for them….laugh! It was a little celebration for Linda’s 60th birthday…she doesn’t look a day over 50 and she is so funny and quick-witted! We all had a good time and enjoyed the ice cream cake and coffee. We always enjoy visiting with all of them and learning about their country and their lifestyles versus ours.

From the top the first couple is Don & Linda, the second is Neil and Mavis and the last but not least is Dave & Nancy. I realized as I downloaded the camera that I forgot to get Stan and Maxine’s picture…Stan had left to get something they had forgotten and after he returned I forgot to get their picture….I’ll get them the next time we see them!

The addendum to 1-2-08

This is an addendum to yesterday's post. My tired brain didn't catch that the edited version of my photos didn't get posted. I usually edit to make them more interesting and crop out a lot of extraneous stuff that gets picked up when I snap the picture while flying down the road. So today you get to see the after, I could have just replaced all the photos on the blog, but I just didn't feel like going to all that trouble. I have exploring to do today!

Driving to Yuma 1-2-09

We were pulling out of our park in Pahrump right at 8 a.m., an early start for us. A lovely sunny, warm day and quite a lot of traffic. The Las Vegas basin was really hazy with smog, reminded me of Los Angeles. When I drive through air like that I give thanks that I am fortunate NOT to have to live in a city. I'll take smelly cow breezes over smog...if I had to choose...fresh, clear air being the first choice of course.

It was a pretty uneventful drive, we hit a couple areas of some wind, but not for very long, the most boring part is highway 95 south through California. It was very exciting to cross over into Arizona and start seeing the Saguaros and the Ocotillos (though there were areas of Ocotillos in CA.). The terrain is just more colorful and interesting than most of Nevada's, Nevada seems mostly gray and sagey green, but Arizona is redder, browner and right now after the rains surprisingly green. The Ocotillos actually looked shaggy with their bright green leaves masking those brutal thorns that are the Oco's usual adornment. I didn't get a good picture of an Ocotillo yet this trip, but I know I've posted some in the past. All of these pics are of Arizona.

I will hopefully find time to get better pictures of the cacti, these pictures were all taken from the truck. It is hard to get good pictures on the fly this time of year with the sun so low...at least with the directions we were traveling today...I am always shooting into the sun.

The only stressful moments we had on today's trip was when it was time to get diesel. Larry had planned on getting it at the Flying J in Ehrenberg, AZ...I couldn't remember where he was thinking of until I saw it and I exclaimed..Oh, no...not here! They are laid out really badly and this time the line was longer than the last time we went through. Larry wasn't sure what was up ahead...we would have been calling it too close to go all the way into Yuma and he didn't want to get fuel in Quartzite fearing they would be crazy busy too. He got in line and I told him we would still be there an hour later...we sat there for over 5 minutes and there was no movement of any kind so we decided to continue on.

We came to a rest area and stopped to make lunch and stretch, after we got back on the road at the next exit was a large, easy to get to Texaco station...we exited behind two others pulling 5th wheels going to the same place, but we didn't have to wait too long and Larry had a nice conversation with the guy on the other side of the pumps. As we got back on the road I told Larry that we would probably still be back at the Flying J if we had stayed!

Quartzite seemed very empty going through it. There were lots of empty spaces in the various marketplaces and the RV parks and desert areas seemed pretty empty too.

The mountains from Quartzite to Yuma are pretty but between the road and the moutains are power lines and I don't like them in my pictures but I had to get a photo of them anyway.

As we hit the outskirts of Yuma we started seeing the lettuce and cabbage fields and we passed an orange grove...ah, winter in Yuma...oh I forgot to mention it was in the low 70's....woo-hooooo!!! It is going to be really nice not freezing every night.

We pulled into the Las Quinta Oasis RV park about 5 p.m., that is Mountain time here in Arizona. As we were pulling in a pickup truck full of our Canadian friends was pulling out...they saw us and swung back in to say hi! We are really excited to see them all again...it has been three years.

We were able to get a site way at the back of the park, just around the corner from where we had stayed the last times we were here...they wanted to put us up at the front, but those sites were pull-thrus with more highway noise and more coming and going of rigs, there were other issues with them, but my brain cells are getting pooped...it is almost eleven p.m. and I have to get these pictures uploaded yet.

Oh, we traveled 359 miles, which makes Pahrump halfway between Fallon and Yuma for us. It took us 8 hours from Pahrump.

After we had gotten all settled in and grazed for a bit, I sat at the computer and Larry was thinking about his shower when I received an email from Dave & Nancy inviting us over for dessert...so we went over to their place for hugs and refreshments and conversation. It was a lovely walk in the warm dark air below the sky full of stars, our way was lit by lighted palm trees...ah, Life is Good!

I apologize for any horrible mistakes I may have made in this post...I'll fix them tomorrow.....if I remember....Laugh out Loud! I have a tired brain.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 1-1-09

Happy 2009! Larry and I saw the new year in like we have for the last couple of decades (I'm astounded that I can now speak of my life in term of decades)...we slept it in!

Today started out cold but was warm enough for us not to wear our light jackets later.

I started my day as I have for the last two days, with my 20 minute Jillian Micheal's 30 day Shred DVD workout. I've been doing it since July, but only every other day and for December maybe only once or twice a week. It was cookie, pie and fudge month after all!

On Tuesday I had decided to get more serious about my workouts so I could shed my cookie-fat, so on Wednesday even though I was sore from Tuesday's workout I pushed through and low and behold as I warmed up, my muscles quit hurting so bad and by the end of my workout I felt pretty good. Today was a little more difficult because my muscles were feeling fatigued during the weight lifting portion, so I just did less, but kept on pushing through and after I finished I felt great. The royal pisser is that all this cardio, strength training and abs work...works! My body may not look different, but I feel better in my body.

I really like this program because it is only 20 minutes...who can't give themselves 20 minutes to get in shape? It is the best, well rounded doable workout I have done, even though I am panting and sweating before I even get through the warm-up! Because I knew how wimpy I had gotten I started the weight portion using one pound cans of beans for my weights. Just going through the motions was tiring in the beginning, but after about a week I moved up to 2 pound weights and for the last few months I have been using 3 pounds. The DVD has three levels and I have made it up to the third level, but I haven't done it lately...had to get back to that level. I go back and forth between level 1 and 2...I don't want to hurt anything and I want to build up and not burn out. I can do this workout in the trailer too, but I wonder how it sounds to anyone going by when I am jumping up and down doing jumping jacks and butt kicks! When I feel like I am going to die, I just keep thinking, only 20 minutes, only 20 minutes...I can do it!

Today we needed to get some groceries before we hit the road tomorrow, so we ended up at Super Walmart. Well, do we like to live on the edge of excitement or what?! Shopping at Walmart on the FIRST, when everyone has gotten their checks...the place was packed and people's baskets were overflowing with their months groceries!!! All the checkouts were open and were full...but being wild and crazy people we just pressed on and did our shopping too!!! It was very entertaining and required patience. We first got in a line where the checker did more talking and waving around of her arms then she did of actual work, so we changed lines...we might still be there otherwise!!!!

After we got back, I did a load of laundry and then cut Larry's hair. I've been doing it almost three years now and have finally gotten it down pretty good. It took me awhile to figure out what works the best and not be afraid of chunking out his hair or leaving him looking like the moths had gotten to him!

Larry got all the jacks and stands off the trailer and put away, the tanks drained, hoses put away and the truck hooked up to the trailer. We plan on getting up and getting on the road and not lollygagging. We'll have our breakfast along the way somewhere! We'll gain an hour timewise when we cross into Arizona, but we won't really gain anymore daylight!

Larry's Uncle Robert and Aunt Annie came by to see us before we leave and we had another nice visit. We wish we had more time to visit them and wish we hadn't waited so long to get to know them! They are great people and we have a lot in common...besides being family.

I also talked to all my Goddess friends the last couple of days, which is a great way to start the new year! I miss them all.

I have been challenged by Uncle Gene...he was whining again about how he can't stand it when I don't blog...he likes to start his day with his coffee and reading my blog. Which is very flattering, but I told him I don't see how scintillating it would be to read about a day of just doing mundane chores or reading about us not doing much of anything. But he whined some more that I should post SOMETHING...a hello, have a great day, anything, so I am going to try to post every day...you have been warned....who know's what I'll have to come up with!!!! Just so you know in advance...the really boring or nothing much posts will be Uncle's fault....Big Laugh!

Good-bye 2008 12-31-08

Last night was spent getting my email address changed on all those places that I like to get notices and updates from...what a process. It wouldn't be so bad if every place had the same system for changes, but they don't. Some are like trying to enter Fort Knox to find where you go to for changes and some just tell you to cancel and then re-sign up. Some are wonderful with an obvious place you click to change your email address...what a novel idea!

I finished the scarf I was making and it turned out flashy and fun, it is the first picture.

Today Larry got one of our propane bottles filled and made arrangements with the office to get our electric meter read so we can leave early on Friday morning...tomorrow being a holiday no one will be in the office.

We spent much of today plinking along on the computer, still updating and answering the responses I received from people. Larry was still figuring out all the different aspects of the way he likes our email to be configured...nothing can be simple with us. Then he loaded Mozilla Firefox on both computers and we are liking that. We heard a lot of really great things about it and it is supposed to have more security features on it than Microsofts Internet Explorer...Larry isn't a big fan of Microsoft products.

We heard an ad on the radio for a local restaurants angus hamburgers and we were getting hungry so off we went. Larry loves a good hamburger and he hadn't had one in several months. I had their beer battered fish and chips...very good.

Now I am doing my last load of laundry for the year and my last posting here on my blog for the year...I never even thought about all that until a lady in the laundry room asked me if I was done with laundry for the year...ha ha.

Here are a couple pictures of Ian who turned six on Monday...now that his Mother FINALLY emailed me a
few pictures.....LOL, that dig was for her...I'll hear about it.







The last pictures are of the projects I knit for holiday gifts and now that everyone has received them I can share. That is a large afghan on the floor not a rug...I had it laid out there to block.


Good-bye 2008! It was an interesting year.

Sunny, busy day 12-30-08

Good Morning Uncle Gene!

Today started out cold...31 but it was clear and sunny. It eventually got up to 55 and with no wind it was practically balmy compared to what the last few weeks have been here.

Larry spent the morning hammering away on the computer...it seems his email address disappeared into cyberhell and he is figuring out a new address. While he was doing that I did my morning workout...cardio, weights, and abs. Later we had our toast and peanut butter for breakfast.

Larry took the truck over to the car washing station that they have here in the park. It is very nice...a concrete pad, hose and water of course, and then an assortment of brushes, bucket, nozzles, etc. Larry just had to bring his soap and towels. They also have an air compressor there so he could air up the tires again for hauling the trailer.

While Larry was doing that I was scouring, disinfecting and polishing the bathroom floor, toilet, shower and sink. The problem with working out sometimes is that I then have an abundance of energy, so I cleaned a few screens, washed down the fronts of the kitchen cabinets, vacuumed, swept the floor, dusted the mini-blinds and tidied up.

Then Larry was on the phone and computer all afternoon putting together an order for the new communications trailer that he is helping with. In between phone calls we had home made butternut squash soup that I had thawed out earlier with crescent rolls...the refrigerator variety. After that I took a walk in the sunshine while it was still there...Larry was back on the phone and the computer.

Now the sun is setting and I am ready for a nap! To early to go to bed though so I'll work on the scarf I started knitting last night and have ripped out three times trying to decide on what I want. First I thought the needles were to big, then I went to smaller needles and I had too many stitches, then after ripping that out I went with less stitches, but that wasn't working for me either, so I went back to the big needles I started with, which I feel is the best for what I want so I'll probably finish that tonight while watching mindless drivel on T.V. I'll read a few pages of my book here and there to give my hands a rest, I'll take a shower and put on my jammies and do more of the same until we go to bed.

So, Uncle...how exciting was that? Tee hee! I'll have to get better and remember to take pictures...so be warned!

Back to Pahrump 12-29-08

Today we headed back to Pahrump from Mesquite. We left just after noon. It was a gorgeous day and finally warming up a bit. When we came through Las Vegas on Friday it had the clearest air we had ever seen...today when we crested the hill above Las Vegas its smoggy haze was back. Las Vegas doesn't have a lot of freeway interchanges, but it has a LOT of traffic. It was before two o'clock in the afternoon and it was bumper to bumper, stop and go traffic from one end of the city to the other. The metering lights were on on the on-ramps too! Crazy, I guess Las Vegas is just commute traffic from dawn until ......? It was just traffic as usual, no accidents...too many cars, we were glad we didn't have the trailer this time. It took us twenty five minutes to go five miles.

The mountains are the Spring Mountains between Pahrump and Las Vegas and the last shot is Pahrump all spread out in its basin as seen from the south.

Today is our Grandson Ian's 6th birthday! He is growing up really fast! I would post a current picture but his mother hasn't emailed me any from Christmas yet!

Las Vegas 12-28-08

We have been in Mesquite, NV since Friday. We are visiting Larry's Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Gene and will be heading back to Pahrump on Monday. We took our walk yesterday morning and I thought me ears and face were going to fall off it was soooo cold, just not what you would expect down here. The sprinkler overspray on sidewalks and the water in the gutters was all frozen and very slick. The people in Mesquite apparently aren't fined for that like they are in Las Vegas.

I took these photo's going through Las Vegas, there is still an amazing amount of building through there in spite of the current economic situation and it is REALLY amazing how much has changed just in the years since we were last through. They are building all these shiny sky scrapers that lack the character of the previous hotels...the themes made the strip interesting I think, now they are just multi-storied mirrors. They are beautiful buildings, but they really change the look and feel of the city. They seem to be changing their focus to the high end tourist.

Merry Christmas 12-25-08

Christmas at Bellagio 12-23-08

Today we drove over to Las Vegas, Larry wanted to see if they decorated for Christmas. It was only an hour from here in Pahrump and the mountains between here and there are pretty.

The Las Vegas Blvd and the outside of the casinos didn't look any different, but inside the Bellagio their garden courtyard was very Christmasy. People were taking lots of pictures all over the place in front of the many pretty scenes and flowers.

I love the large blown glass "flowers" in the Bellagio lobby and I was able to get some good pictures this time. The blue arrangement was really large and was in a foyer in the casino. The artist is Dale Chihuly a world renowned glass blower based in the Seattle area of Washington, if you Google him or go to his site you can see more of his phenomenal works!

The casino's slots and tables seemed awfully quiet to us...not much was going on. We wandered through the Bellagio, Ceasar's Palace and the Venetian. It has been six years since we were last in Las Vegas and much has changed. We had stayed at the Monte Carlo and from our room we were able to see the dancing waters in front of the Bellagio, but no longer! Now there are 5 very tall towers being built in between, we didn't see what they were to become and we couldn't remember what it was they are replacing, but the new buildings are always a surprise.

Last time we really enjoyed the Venetian shops, it was like walking through a Venetian street complete with canals and "sky" above. All the fun and quirky shops are gone and have been replaced with all high end designer shops...Tiffany, Dior, Cartier, Louis Vitton, Gucci and all the rest that I can't remember right now. Not much shopping was going on, even with it being two days before Christmas. The layout isn't as enjoyable either.

We did find the Cheesecake Factory at Caesar's and gorged ourselves on fantastic cheesecake, then we wandered around some more to settle the cake. We decided to head back to Pahrump after only about four hours in Vegas. We don't gamble, the shows are too expensive, we aren't drinkers and we aren't high end shoppers, so we had enough and both agreed that we don't need to return to Las Vegas. We had heard that they were turning their focus on more exclusive hoity-toity atmospheres and we can see that this town isn't for us! It used to be fun to just walk around, but not so much anymore.