SHARING THE DESERT

After a particularly long, hard, frigid, winter in Northeastern Oregon, our friends Bob and Diana Rush were able to escape their lovely, but cold, home in Enterprise and with their Harley's tucked into the trailer, head South to spend a few days with us in the warm Arizona sun. It had snowed (again) the day before, but the window of opportunity was open....... I had made a Southwest Chicken soup to welcome them---I'll make this one again, as it is really yummy.

They had enjoyed Oatman and the burros who live there, so we did a return visit this year. Since Oatman is so close to Kingman, we had to hit Cracker Barrel for a bite to eat.

Diana did the walk at the bridge and channel with me. Off then to our wild animal rescue place in Valentine, AZ. Keepers of the Wild. Up close and personal with the animals at feeding time is an impressive sight. The stories of how these animals came to be here is sad, but with a happy ending for them.

The next day took us in the other direction, across Parker Dam. An "open house" sign caught our notice and we stopped to check out the "one and a half" models they had for sale. Somewhat pricey, but decorated so nicely with your own private beach space----I could live there. We looked at few more along the Parker Strip, also doable, but the $400 a mo. maintenance fee, was a major turnoff for me. They are interested in a "something in this area" to get out of the cold for a few months each winter, but do not yet know what that "something" will be. I would be great fun for us to have friends to ride with here."

The Desert Storm boat show was in full force on McCulloch. Diana and I walked it. Absolutely wild boats!

Friday a.m. we said "so long" to our friends. We may get to visit with them after our summer in Glacier National Park Glad we had a chance to share "our" Arizona warmth with them.

WHAT A DRAG

Drag race that is. We had a chance to work the Las Vegas spring drag race. It was our last chance to visit with our "race friends" for quite some time. The soapopera that is AS THE MAINGATE TURNS continues: Lots of plots and subplots, the twists and turns of life on the race circuit. Our friends that have left the MG family are all working elsewhere and happy.

We worked in the Nitro Mall, which gave us a renewed respect for our friends Len and Ellie, and found ourselves "working" with some young people who are temps and did as little "work" as they could. We were amazed at the lack of work ethic shown by them. Spikey Hair (we never did learn his name) was lazy, his girlfriend was sullen and bored.

I had to step up about 12 inches into the stock truck, and by Sunday noon, I felt as though I had been on my own personal StairMaster. I thought I could not step up there again! I should have buns of steel after that workout----but no such luck.

The 12 hour days of Fri. and Sat. turned into a 15 hour day on Sunday as we had to do the dreaded INVENTORY. The adults worked hard and the kids counted stuff. Doug is a machine, Patrick works like a dog....I think he will be sorely missed.

That was last weekend. We are home preparing for a visit from our Oregon/Harley friends Bob and Diana Rush. Dan has been busy with a landscape project and has not found any new roads to travel while they are here. But even if we travel on roads we have done before, it is always good to get on the bike and play with friends.

Return to the Lake

This adorable young tiger has absolutely nothing to do with our return home, but everything to do with Keepers of the Wild as Jonathan has about 10-12 of the beauties in residence AND I just remembered I had a picture!

Wildflowers; lupin, Indian paintbrush, the big yellow ones, and tall reddish ones lined the highway as we left the Verde Valley area and headed home to Havasu. Many of the Yucca were in bloom or just out of bloom. I'm searching for the" perfect "saguaro to photograph. "What constitutes the perfect saguaro" . That would be one with a solid green bottom, arms, but not too many, that curve upward and are symmetrical. One standing alone, preferably against blue sky with a few white clouds, and maybe some of the big yellow wildflowers at its base----That should keep me occupied for a while.

As we came through Parker and along the river, it struck me that the terrain is similar to what we had just enjoyed in Sedona--smaller and less grand, but similar. The river seemed especially blue today and I thought of our winter visitors who, for the most part, have returned

home to the North. As much as we enjoyed our stay in Verde Valley, home base is pretty nice too.

MYSTICAL RED ROCK LANDSCAPE

Sedona is situated in the heart of a unique geological area that has mesmerized visitors for years. Massive red rock monoliths that contrast with the green of cypress, pinon, junipers ,rise against a blue sky. Oak Creek winds through town from the mouth of Oak Creek Canyon. These words are mostly borrowed from a guide book, but truly describe the mystique that is Sedona.

We took a drive around scenic Red Rock Loop and discovered some walking/hiking trails which we intend to use on our next visit here. Everywhere I looked, I saw another photo op that I had to take.

While on the hunt for "native made" jewelry rumored to be found next to the Dairy Queen in Oak Creek Canyon (where it really is) Dan said he had just signed us up for a helicopter tour of the area. We had only to listen to a sales pitch for a property that had RV spaces. Well OK then, off we go, (we are pros at this sales pitch stuff) only to be met by a razor haircut, slick ,loud, high pressure salesman. Did I mention that this helicopter tour is FREE? We could deal with him-for the FREE helicopter tour-but due to a scheduling glitch, and Sam waiting for us back at the motorhome, we bid farewell to Delbert the razor-cut, slick, loud, high pressure salesman AND our FREE helicopter jaunt. I joked to Dan that it was all a ploy to whisk me away from the natives with the "native made" jewelry in Oak Creek Canyon. So, I bought a wonderful pair of earrings at the Blue-Eyed Bear in Sedona.

So much pottery, art, and jewelry--we will be back.

I neglected to mention Johnny Rocket's restaurant in the Cliff Castle Casino. Dan had the absolutely best hamburger he has ever had. You know that Dan is the hamburger guy, so if he thinks it's the best---it must be! We had a great little "senior" waitress, who enjoyed her job and did it well. Ya don't see that everyday.

Many, Many, Many Trails

Here we have Dan and Sam at a park in Verde Valley on the banks of the Verde River. Nice park.

With the purchase of our Camelot came an offer to stay 3 days at a Thousand Trails. We had planned this Arizona loop to include Keepers of the Wild, Williams (to check out a future job), the Grand Canyon, Cottonwood, Verde Valley, and Sedona. As Dan was reading Nick's blog (Gypsy Journal), he noticed that Nick and Miss Terry are staying at this TT.

"Are you up for another membership park sales pitch" asked Dan. "Sure", I said. Even though we are OK with boondocking where we can, stayed in field across from Grand Canyon RR station and across the street from Cliff Castle Casino, it would be nice to have a park to use as home base for a couple of weeks and explore the area---beautiful scenery , steeped in rich history.

Always on the lookout for great places to dine, we took Nick's advice and visited Hog Wild in nearby Cottonwood---absolutely great BBQ. Several other places were added to the list by Greg, the TT salesman. When can we come back here?

A Glimpse of the Past

Montezuma Castle National Monument-WOW-This ancient cliff dwelling dates back to 1150. The Castle stands in a cliff recess 100 feet above the valley. The Sinagua Indians lived in this valley along the banks of Beaver Creek which, along with Montezuma Well, provided water for daily living as well as for the farming. The natives grew corn, beans, squash, and even cotton.

Bits of pottery showed evidence of their artistic skill. The ranger attempted to play the flute, which he said was "really quite easy", but did a poor job of it. He did, however, weave a tale of life as it probably was in the days of the Sinagua Indians who lived in the great house up on the hill.

There is much of interest to see in the Verde Valley.

Just on a Wild Chance....

Our love of animals-big, wild, cats in particular, led us to the gate of an animal sanctuary that is literally the "last chance" for unwanted animals. Keepers of the Wild is home to 150 who would have otherwise been destroyed.

At one time Jonathan Craft was an illusionist, but seeing the abuse that was happening to the big cats used in the shows, decided to find a solution to the problem, rather than be part of the problem.
The story of how Keepers came about is indeed a tear- jerker for animal lovers. Johathan is truly my hero.

Keepers moved into their new home in Valentine, AZ where they have about 17 acres of land. Nice big habitats have been created for the 2 remaining lions, 4 or 5 cougars, and many tigers! Our adopted cats include Bobcat Angel, and Lynx-Kitty. There is a large pack of wolves and hybrids. We heard how many of the residents came to live at keepers and wonder what people are thinking when they attempt to make a pet (for a child) of a wild animal.

We were on hand for "snack time" about 2-ish, chicken bits designed to get the residents up and at'em. The cats would sleep the day away if you let them. The real meal, an 8-12 pound chunk of beef tossed over the fence, was quite a production. A team of workers placed pans of meat into spaces within the enclosures--teamwork is a must for safety. I could, would, love ,.to work here.

Over the years of travel we've spent the night where we could hear the crashing of waves, the babble of a brook, the wind in the trees, a train in the night. But this was the first time we've been able to hear the ROAR OF A LION!! Life is good.

A Chance to Visit

Today I had a chance to visit with friends we worked with in Skagway, AK. After a nice lunch at the local Red Robin, they came up to the house, where we sat outside at the new patio furniture that sits of the extended patio area, surrounded by the plants that adorn the new plant stands, and looked out over the gravel yard that was formerly-just dirt.

It was sort of like a class reunion. It's fun to catch up and hear about mutual friends, what they are doing and where they are headed to work this summer, and where they worked this winter. We are all hard working folks who have retired form "regular" jobs and enjoy shorter term work that take us to different parts of the U.S. What a beautiful country we have, so many wonderful places to be/work/live for a period of time. Sometimes I wish we had stared this life-style sooner....so much to see, how much time?? There is a question to ponder.

Bob and Vivian are headed to New York to work at a big campground in the Adirondacks, an area of the country they have not visited before. I hope this will be a positive experience for them. Bob and Jeanette plan to spend most of the summer in Oregon where two of their kids are. They promise that if we visit, they will take us to Agate Beach, a place I've heard about but never been.

It was good to visit with friends, in our nice back yard and patio.

Home Again, Home Again.....

It's good to be home. I forget, when we are traveling, how much I like our house here in Lake Havasu. While the house is not large, I enjoy the space. Even though, technically, we've lived here 5 years, we are still in the process of landscaping the yard and decorating the house.

It's expensive to be home--all these little touches that we don't have (or need) on the road, are "must haves" here. The large dirt area we have in the back now is covered in gravel, the patio area has been extended. When we travel, we are tickled to have a picnic table at our site. Now we "had to have" patio furniture on that extended patio area. And even though the old BBQ worked just fine, we "had to have" a new BBQ to go on that patio area. Now the plants we've lugged across the country, back and froth from Alaska, can not longer sit on the patio. No they "must have" a plant stand. Actually, those very plants are special, they are spider plant babies that are descendents of the mother plant that was given to us as a wedding present 28 years ago!

I like the town/city...a new shopping center is soon to open with a Super Wal-Mart, Penney's Dillards, Theaters, Michael's and a Pet Smart---what more could ya ask for? I like the lake and the walk there. I even like cleaning this house.

Most of all, I love our neighbors. They have 10 cats and two dogs. I just have to look over the fence and watch the kitties play. Sami likes to watch the cats too :).
I miss our Tera that traveled with us and gave us so much joy for 18 years.

We'll be here about 4 weeks before we do a mini trip. Not sure where all Dan intends to take us, but I know it will be fun.....

A Chance to Grow up Cowboy

These two little boys, being part of the "rodeo family" will have a chance to grow up to be real cowboys. There was a event for the little kids with stick horses--so very cute-all decked out from hat, western shirt, Wrangler jeans belted and complete with buckles, down to the boots. Some even had spurs. There was a steer head on a bale of hay for future ropers to practice on.

It was a beautiful day-hot, not a cloud in the sky--and even though we are bone tired, I'm kind of sad to see the end of the 83 Annual La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, February 16-24, 2008 It's 8:45 and all the horses, bulls, calfs, and sheep are gone from the pens. The arena is empty. The vendors have taken down thier displays, and most of the trash has been removed. All is quiet on this western front.

Chance Customers

As I was saying----I've never worked where the customers come up to my counter on horseback, but as you can see, it happens here at La Fiesta de los Vaqueros aka Tucson Rodeo. Now, of course, I have apples ready for when the horses and riders return. Glad I had my camera with me. This is a hoot.

Apparently Tucson is bursting at the seams with celebrity events going on: Tiger Woods is in town for a huge purse tournament. Championship riders from all over come to compete here. Tuscon has lots to offer.

I've observed that the "rodeo circuit" family is pretty close, which you don't see in many sports.

Always really nice folks at rodeos, mostly hardworking and honest.

Tomorrow Laila and her friend Hannah will get to see the rodeo, hope she wears her cowgirl outfit---think I'll have to visit one of the vendors who have real cowgirl hats.

You take a Chance....

When you start something like a blog, journal, diary, or log many things can happen to it. You can loose interest, you can't find anyone interested in it, you can find that you do not have time to do it, or you can have a computer glitch, which is what happened. After many months of perfect operation the computer gremlin decided not to allow this site, and that is why there have been several days without an entry Chris (Geeks on Tour) was willing to help me resolve this issue. How nice is that???

So to recap: The rain stopped, the sun came out, the lake receded (the pea gravel guy took pity on us and put some down in front of our trailer) and the shoppers, shopped!

Now, I've worked retail in several different venues, but never before have my customers come up to my counter on horseback. This has got to be the ultimate drive-through. What a hoot. Now I have apples with me, ready for my next encounter.

You Take a Chance When---

You start what should be a fun daily exercise to record your thoughts and activities of life as in my blog aptly named By Chance, when the computer gremlin that has been sleeping for many months rears up and causes a glitch which is why there have been no entries for several days.

OK then, to recap: The rain stopped, the sun came out, the lake receded (the peagravel guy came by and put some in front of our trailer), and the shoppers shopped!

Remember when the kids went off to school/college/first job but came home and brought their dirty laundry? Well, that's what we did last night--took our dirty socks and stuff off to the kids house--sweetened the deal with thick steaks, and gifts for our almost 2 1/2 year old granddaughter, Laila. Do you know that there are "potty training kits" in the market place today? Seriously, they come with a DVD, a little bracelet thing that reminds the child every 2o minutes x 3 hours to visit the potty, a little plastic potty that makes a realistic flushing sound, a little plastic sink that makes the sound of water, and a plastic gadget that has 3 different reward sayings for a job well done--Yes, of course, we bought one for Laila!

We've had several retail jobs, but this is the only one where the customers come up to the counter on horseback to make their purchases--this is the ultimate drive through. What a hoot. I got a picture of this, but as yet have not uploaded it to the computer.

We met a little boy today whos first name is Chance, his dad noticed our name tags and pointed it out to him.

Tonight is the lunar eclipse. Don't recall how often this occurs. Kind of spooky to know that it is there, but you can see it.

Along with the computer glitch, was a new instillation of our email system with myrvspace.com and as a result all our email addresses were lost in cyberspace. So if you don't hear from me/us in a while, please send a note so we can get your address. Thanks, Patty

Chance of Rain

The weather site warned of a chance of rain, but how often is it right?? Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, it started. Rain sounds nice of the roof of our motorhome, but we are parked at the Tucson Rodeo grounds, the dirt rodeo grounds---dirt+rain=mud.

Sami, our Beagle, has short legs, her tummy is close to the ground. Ya see where I'm going with this?

So today we had inventory to count, and display cases to fill. Dispite the fact that it was freezing inside the trailer, we got that project done. Outside our trailer was a lake, a muddy lake. Hopefully Mother Nature will behave, the sun will shine, the lake will recede, and shoppers will shop. We have some really nice merchandise.

For the sake of the contestants and the participants of the parade , and all the folks who work so hard for this, I hope all will be well for the 84 Tucson Rodeo.

Valentines Day

St. Valentines Day. A serious day for florists and confectioners everywhere. A day for lovers everywhere. I spent the day with mine, as I do most days---

We left the rally in Casa Grande, AZ and drove the short distance to Tucson where we will work the rodeo. The parking accomadations and not exactly what we had hoped for--squeezed between two other motorhomes-not able to open the slides all the way. We are, however, in full view of the horses and steers/bulls that will be used for the rodeo. Also, in full view are four ugly pugs?? that will drive Sami absolutely wild. She will probably bark herself hoarse.....no pun intended. She will, at least, wear out a path on the dash.

Wish I knew how to put music into this, 'cause I'd play "when I'm 64", an old Beatles song.

Tera

Old cat, Tera. She seemed like a good subject for this old dogs' new tricks. I figured out how to put a photo in my blog, YES! This feat was after installing that new photo program--only took me an hour.

So far, so good

Got the blog address down now and will send it to my email buddies. Next projoct will be to install the Picasa Photo program which will manage my pictures and make them the proper size for sending in emails as well as here-it should be fairly easy.

What are the chances?

Here I am 3 hours later, still trying to figure out how others can view this blog. During this time, I've found some interesting things, but NOT what I was looking for.

Sooo, one of you dear friends will be chosen to give it a try for me. J & M may still be having difficulty with their system. The kids don't have time, My beloved neighbors M & T are under the weather, so that leaves L & E who I know are close by and may have the time to fool with this project---if I can get up the nerve to ask them.

So much for my pride at creating this :( old dogs can learn new tricks---it just takes longer.

My First Chance

This blog business just might be a hoot, and a lot of fun. It should be a chance to share pictures and tales of our travels. It can be a way for our "old" friends to know what we are up to, and can be a way to meet/make new friends.

Those of you who know me, will be suprised that I,me,myself created this blog. I must confess that I learned how to do this at a seminar taught by Jim and Chris Guld (Geeks on Tour) at the Gypsy Journal Rally in Casa Grande, AZ. I thought I remembered how to add pictures, but now I think I need to re-read that part.

So next, I need to figure out how to get you-those "old" and "new" friends to look at this blog----hmmm--=maybe e-mail. We will see. Please feel free to comment about this little project of mine. If we are lucky, we can get Dan to write some stuff--you know he has the gift. But for now, this is my first chance.