It was a L O N G day!!!!

I jumped out of bed at O-Dark-Thirty, ready to meet the world head on!!!  Kind of ..... sort of ..... NOT!!   I did get up to water the puppies however, stumbling around in the dark, trying to manage two leashes and a flashlight.  Back inside, I had totally forgotten how to get hot water for my coffee when you are dry camping.  The microwave just wouldn't work!!

When I checked my batteries, I was under 12.0, so I unplugged everything, turned off the heater and sat in the dark for the long wait from 5:30 to 7:00 when I thought it acceptable to turn my generator on.

The sun seems to be slow to light up this part of the world, but when she did, it was spectacular.  With nothing else to do, I kept a close eye until I saw this and ran outside with my camera.  I'm telling you, Arizona knows how to WOW the world!!

I went back insider when I thought it was over, only to be amazed again when it evolved into this.  It was almost completely overcast, resulting in FIRE on the horizon.  She's pretty fleeting, Mother Nature, and it didn't last more than a few minutes, but what a wonderful few minutes!!

Finally with my generator humming away, lights and the heater melting the icicles, I got ready to hit the big tent again.  I signed up for the Arizona CCW (permitted to carry a concealed weapon) the day before and have class most of the day.  Knowing parking is a problem, I left around 10:00 ... class is at Noon.  As I walked around the outside, it wasn't crowded at all.

The fold up ladders caught my eye first.  I carry a regular 6' aluminum ladder that takes up a LOT of room.  Dan carries this one and says it is great, taking up much less space.  So when I returned to the vendor today, I purchased one with the intention of carrying it all the way to my car, when the nice guy said ... WAIT ... just drive your car to the back door when you are ready and we'll load it for you. How nice was that???

More walking around as I tried to stay occupied for the two hours until my class.

By the time I went INSIDE the tent, it was packed with people.  Take a step, stop ... watch your footing and don't step on a puppy.  As much as I dislike those doggie buggies and backpacks, they worked pretty good here, keeping puppies from getting hurt.  I walked around and around watching all the hawkers sell their amazing, can't-live-without-it products.

Mac the Fire Guy was here ... if you haven't taken his class and used a fire extinguisher to put out a fire, I highly recommend it!!  There's nothing like a little on-the-job training!!

It was here I discovered the pizza fizzy (according to auto spellcheck on my phone).  It's a small pizza GIZZY ... called a peel, great for getting your pizzas in and out of a 500 degree oven.  It's what Miss Terry used at my house when we made pizza for Nick.  A great, handy tool to have for $12.

When I saw the Mac Attack sign the day before .... barbecued pulled pork covered in Mac N Cheese, I made a note to try and get just the Mac ... which I succeeded in doing for a measly $4.  Boy was it good.  I found a seat, sat down and savored every single bite!!!

By now, it was time to head to class ... or so I thought.  As I walked up to the table, I heard the guy tell someone the class began at 12:45.  Well for heavens sake!!  I've got another HOUR to roam around, and truth be told, I'm pretty roamed out!!  Back in the tent I went, checking out more puppies and making the rounds for the fourth time.

Finally it dawned on me I hadn't tried the ice cream.  That will take up at least 30 minutes, so I got in line, paid my $4 and got a pint of ice cream.  

By the time I downed all that sugar, I felt just like Cooper staring at his ball.  I'm not sure I'm going to make it to the end of the class!!

At long last, fifteen of us entered the tent of still-active Police Officers where we learned all the rules and regulations that the State of Arizona wants us to know.  With a couple of exceptions, I think most of us already knew the basics.  We all had to answer questions about certain scenarios at the end, making sure we understood the law, before filling out the paperwork.

Lucky for me, I was first in line to be fingerprinted, since I still had to pick up my ladder.  What a mess that turned out to be.  I had ink from head to toe as we filled out two cards, one for the State of Arizona and one for the FBI.  It takes 60 days to be granted a permit, so they reminded everyone not to go carrying until then.  This permit is good in 32 states, which does NOT include California or Florida, among others.

With that out of the way, I ran to my car, now covered with an inch of dust from passing vehicles and drove over to pick up the ladder.  I was able to lay my front seat down flat, so it fit perfectly inside.  

Back at the rigs, Miss Patty whipped up an amazing chicken and rice casserole which Dan and I wolfed down in a flash!!  By then, it was dark enough for a nice fire outside before heading in for the night.

I have more sunset pictures and a fun fire-in-the-sky trick to show you, but it will have to wait.  I'm seriously cold, having turned everything off due to low batteries again, until I can crank up the generator around 7:30.  It seems Jonathan's heater uses up more power than expected, and since he's a priority, the rest of us will need blankets!!