And The Light Bulb Goes ON!!!

Woohoo!!  NO rain in this little rural area in California on this day.   Spring is thinking about it, but won't commit.  If I remember right, Spring arrives about May, so we've got a few months to go.  The best part about all the rain is that I don't have to hire anyone to wash my solar panels.  They are so shiny you could EAT off them!!

That of course meant I had to do more unloading.   I used to carry all of those fabric boxes in by hand.  At long last I got smart and got out my wagon from Janesville Ball Bearing Company in Janesville Wisconsin.

You probably wouldn't think twice about stopping here on your RV trip, but if you are in the area, definitely stop in and say hello.  The history is fascinating and if you need any amazing wooden toys for your grandkids ... this is the place.  Absolutely everything is all made by hand.

In 1893 the company was Janesville Carriage Works, making custom made wagons for bakeries ... and even hearses.  In 1917 it switched over to making cars.  The building is on the National Register of Historic places and a fun place to visit.  They still have all of the original equipment inside ... all hand operated ... that they used to make those cars and wagons.  Now they use it to make these special toys.

We called ahead to make an appointment and were lucky enough to meet the three people that make all the toys and wagons.  What a GREAT group of people who do this to save the art and the equipment.  They are wildly popular with fishing boats ... to haul gear back and forth along the docks.

Of course I bought one.  They put COWGIRL on the back for me and shipped it about a month later.  You can load this thing up to the brim and it turns on a dime.  No matter how heavy, it's pulls like it's light as a feather.  If you are ever in Wisconsin, be sure to stop in and say hello.  It made short work of unloading all those boxes.

I don't unload everything by the way.  Just enough clothes for the current temperature, the fridge and freezer, along with Jonathan and Cooper's munchies.  

By then it was time for lunch because ..... well ..... I sat on the couch WAY too long on this morning.  I've shown you this recipe before ... Italian Tortellini soup with tomatoes and basil.  The store was out of basil, so I asked the nice man putting broccoli on the shelf.  He just got some in he said, and went clear to the back to get it.  There's nothing like the smell of fresh basil!!

This recipe takes an entire 15 minutes from start to finish in an instant pot.  You actually only cook it for one minute.  Look up Pressure Luck Instant Pot Recipes if you are interested.

The perfect lunch for a cold day, served in my best china.

Empowered by a little good food, I finally headed to the sewing room and began the big organization.  Not really, but I DID fill an entire bag with fabric for Cindy and Ray in order to make a little room for more goodies.  My mother saved aluminum foil ... I save fabric, in spite of the fact that I know I will NEVER use it because the pieces are too small.  It's a good thing they are right up Cindy's alley.

Then I switched over to this quilt top that I'm sure Deb will recognize.  It took some doing, but I was able to cut and stitch the backing to fit the quilt top.  It's all ready for quilting when I return to Tucson.

I then waded through several bags of fabric pieces, not finding any clue as to what they would be.  It's basically the same fabric as the quilt, so I took the two big already-sewn squares and added to it, making two pillow shams.  It's not exactly what I had in mind, but it's the hands that stitched the blocks together that count, so hopefully it will look great on the quilt.  

Did you know that every single pillow is actually a different size??  I measured three.  There was no pattern here, I just winged it, so I hope it fits.

Time flies when you're taking out stitching because that piece turned out too short, and soon it was dinnertime.  Dark is coming, so I went out to reprogram the light control once again.  It said OFF.  YES!!!!!  Last time I looked, it said on ... though it wasn't.

And then the light bulbs went ON!!!  I did a happy dance in front of the garage.  YAY!!  The lights are working ... at least for the time being.  I checked early this morning and they were STILL on!!  I'm so excited!!  Now we'll wait and see if they turn off at the appointed time.  Thank you Bill for the reading of those teeny tiny letters ... I probably hit the On/Off button accidentally!!  Sometimes it takes a man .........

This morning I have the lovely job of bill paying, after my cup of phony coffee.  Maybe I'll have TWO cups ... then of course I have to play with Cooper.  Maybe I'll get to it by noon!!

So Much To Do!!!

 There's one thing about traveling ... coming home is never a relaxing experience.  Try as I might to just hang out with the kids and watch a little TV, it never seems to happen that way. 

As I mentioned, Dish Network has some severe problems that they have not been able to correct.  Their servers are still down, which meant when I called to have the ON button pushed at this house, I had a wait time of 1:16.  That's one hour and 16 minutes.  

It's also interesting to note that every time I call, I get someone out of the country.  This time the guy was from Nicaragua.  Really Dish Network?  Are ALL of your services outsourced?  Maybe that's why you can't get anything fixed.  

It always takes another 30 minutes to explain to them exactly what I need them to do.  Apparently they do not train their people well.  The kid had no idea what I was talking about.  It used to be that they left all three receivers on at one time.  Now, I'm only allowed to have one on, which means they must TURN IT ON every time I move.  He finally "got it" as I explained for the fifth time, and he sent the signal.  Woohoo ... I have TV.

Of course it rained all day long.  One slight break in the weather and I discovered the downspouts were again plugged up.  Time to drag out the ladder.  It's not leaves that plug it up, it's been raining so hard that the moss that grows on this section of the garage, comes off in big chunks, plugging up the hole. Yes, it's a pain, but I'm happy to say it's now working just fine.

While heading out to unload the truck, I was reminded that the Jeep battery needed to be reconnected.  Do you know if you touch that little post accidentally it gives you a nice little jolt???  Scared the heck out of me!!  

It's got to be done and there's no Prince Charming here, so I continued on.  All hooked up, I decided to attach the batter charger just for good measure.  I'll find out this morning if it starts or not.  It's always a roll of the dice. 

I was running out of Panda Express lunch, so I made a quick trip to the grocery store.  It's interesting that a big block of cheddar cheese at the most expensive Safeway store is $5.99 in Arizona.  Here in California, it's $7.99 at cheap Save Mart.  Chicken breasts are now $8.99 a pound, so I chose to buy a whole chicken for $11.00.  I had plans for him later in the day.

On the way home, I stopped off at the post office to mail my big folder of tax documents to the Accountant.  Accountants shouldn't hate tax time, but I do.  Why can't they do it all by email ... paperless?  Then it was on to dredging through that huge pile of mostly junk mail.  Wouldn't you know, I got TWO more tax documents to mail off.   99% of everything else went in the trash can.  Nice how the post office keeps the garbage people in business.  

Finally it was time to drag out the BBQ.  Oh to be able to call up George for his chicken recipe.  You all know who I'm talking about.  I thought I wrote it down, but couldn't find it.  

I gussied up the chicken ... a nice 5 pounder, a good choice over the ones in the store they pre-cook for you.  That's usually what I pick up, but on this day they were smaller than a Cornish game hen.  Seriously tiny at two pounds.  Yes, they were the same $8.99 price as what used to be a 5 pound bird.

I stuck my thermometer in what I thought was the thigh meat and set it on the Q.  I figured 90 minutes.  Suddenly it dawned on me I kept hearing a beep beep beep.  That CAN'T be ... it hasn't been but 45 minutes.  I reset the probe to a different spot and closed the lid.  

Although I completely forgot it and let it overcook ... it came out PERFECTLY tender and delicious.  You can't beat that crispy skin.  Thank you George!!!  I love this chicken, and so does Cooper, so it's a win-win.

About that time I realized my outside lights were on ... and it's daylight.  It's supposed to come on at dusk and go off at dawn.  How can such a tiny little thing cause me so much grief?

Here's the one inch square keypad.  Can you read any of that?  Me either.  To make it worse, I still have the instructions after 10 years, but they say hit the On-Off button.  There is NO on-off button.  It says  to hit the "mode" button, but again .... NO mode.

I spent three hours standing in the cold garage trying to reprogram this stupid thing.  It's all programmed correctly, but the lights refuse to turn on because every time I hit the MODE button to SAVE, it turned the lights off.  Over and over again, I reprogramed it ... 

Completely mad and frustrated, I just went inside at 10:30 and went to bed.  I'm pretty good at electronics ... and this just makes me crazier than I already am!!  All night long I thought I heard someone breaking in the garage because it's pitch black outside.  

BUT I remind myself ..... I'm still alive, so just quit yer worrying!!!!  

A big storm came through yesterday dumping about 3 inches of rain in two hours.  The 60 mph winds didn't materialize, at least not at my house.  The forecast says mostly sunny for the next ten days.  Thank goodness I'll have time to get all the fabric out of the trailer so I can get back to something I know how to do.  Sewing and quilting!!!

Oh ... the check engine light?  It went OUT.  More on that later.

Home Sweet Home

 Gosh .... this is going to be a truly boring blog today with absolutely NO accidents to report.  For which I am exceedingly thankful!!!

I was still watching the weather, mostly for the wind speeds.  I don't mind driving in the rain, I just don't like to be pushed back and forth across the freeway.  It wasn't looking all that great.  Since I'm always up so early anyway, I decided to head on out.

I'm pretty sure my RV park neighbors weren't all that happy to hear my truck start up and a little slam banging, but that's the way it goes.  I pretended I was their alarm clock and was on the road by 6:00 am.  I've always been a slow-ER driver, not needing to go 65-75 mph like most RV's.  I just sit back, enjoy the ride and let everyone pass me by.  If I timed it right, I would miss the wind and rain.

That meant it took me 40 minutes just to get OUT of Bakersfield.  No sir, the construction is NOT finished and the Hwy 99 North turnoff is still a big fat mess, made worse by those drivers who want to scream by you, just to slam on the brakes and try to squeeze in can opener style.

The rest of the three hour trip was uneventful as I cruised along at 58 mph.  I guess the crazies aren't out that early in the morning.

I got home just in the knick of time as the winds picked up and the rain began falling.  This storm lost it's gumption and hung around for a solid 11 hours.  It didn't rain hard, but it kept up all day long.  That didn't bode well for unpacking.

Cooper was the first in the house, followed shortly after by Jonathan.  He talked up a storm and seems to be okay this morning.  If he eats today, I'll know he's good.  Birds are funny ... they will look absolutely great and normal ... and then they just fall off the perch and die.  They try to make sure the predators think they are fine .... then they crash.  Today will tell the tale.

Cooper promptly crawled up on the couch next to me and went to sleep.  All that vibration and jiggling makes him a little sick, so he was VERY happy to have the couch not move.

I made one quick trip to the Post Office to get my mail.  Too bad the government doesn't get with the program and go paperless like everyone else.  The only reason I have the p.o. box now is for those 1099's and W-2's for my taxes.  

On the way home, I decided to splurge and hit up Panda Express.  The smaller container is bothersome for the same $11.00, but I do love their food.  I wish I could duplicate it.  

This time I got their honey sesame chicken breast and of course the usual orange chicken.  If you haven't tried the sesame ... it's BEYOND delicious!!!  I think it's my new favorite and I need to find a recipe.

You may have noticed it was Tuesday .... isn't that Bingo day?  Yes ... yes it is ... but THIS day I decided I just needed to veg out, rest up and count my blessings.

NOW however, I have to figure out why none of my outside security lights are working!  It's one of those programmable things ... so tiny you can't see to program it.  To be honest, I'm rightly thankful to have that problem on this day because I'm here and I'm ALIVE!!

I Cheated Death On This Day

You should be thankful you are alive every single day.  On this day in particular, I'm sure I cheated death and I don't know why, other than a Godly hand reached down and pushed a car off the road.  

It started off nicely enough, except the 10-15 mph winds were a pain in the butt the first 3 hours.  It pushed me right and left making for jaw clenching and a death grip on my steering wheel.  I WAS able to partake of a cookie or two that Patsy offered as a going away present.  I think it gave me strength for what was to come.  I'm also sure these came from Bill's stash, so thank you both for the yummy snacks.

They lasted all the way to Indio.  Worse than the side wind was the head winds that kept my poor truck working itself to death trying to keep up the pace.  I kept having to turn the cruise control off and watch the speedometer like a hawk to keep from getting run over.

At long last with lots of mountaintop snow, we entered Indio.  I kept looking for a place to stop and give the kids a rest, but it was not to be found.
 

Of course it was much prettier in person than these pictures.  With the wind, I wasn't about to take my hands off the wheel for picture taking, so this is it.

Little did I know what was in store.  I turned off on Highway 147 and headed to Yucca Valley and the turnoff to Barstow and Highway 58 to Bakersfield.

There I was, about halfway along the two lane road before my turnoff.  It looked like this drawing.  A two lane double yellow line on a corner.  I'm going 55 mph, followed by a tractor trailer rig a bit behind me.

I saw the black car (orange in this picture) pull out into my lane to pass the two vehicles in front of it.  WHAT ARE YOU DOING?  I'M RIGHT HERE!!!!  I barely had time to hit the brakes before saying "I'm DEAD".  I couldn't go left because of the two cars.  I couldn't go right because these roads are very narrow with deep sand shoulders.  I'm going 55 mph!!!  I looked down to see 50 mph and knew the trailer was going to go straight through my truck, killing us all.

The entire thing took less than two seconds, so there was nothing to do but watch.  To my amazement, in literally one second when the car was less than 30 feet in front of me, it swerved to my right.  I braced for impact.  He missed my truck.  I braced for impact on the trailer.  He missed my trailer.  I don't know how that could possibly be since the shoulder isn't as wide as one lane.

I lost sight of him as he went by the right side of my trailer.  I was still slowing down when I remembered the big truck behind me.  I don't know if he hit the truck or if he hit one or both of those two cars he was trying to pass, but when he overcorrected (as I looked in my left mirror) there was a huge explosion of sand and dirt into the air.  

I don't know how he possibly missed me.  I hit my hazard lights and kept going slow while calling 911.  The line was busy.  No kidding, it took six tries to get someone on the phone.  Send an ambulance ... it's a really bad wreck.  I told the dispatcher I couldn't find a place to pull over and he said to just continue on my way.  He would send help.  He took my info and said someone may call me at some point to be a witness.  I need a drink ... a BIG drink!!!  

I felt guilty for driving on, but I did what I was told.  Five minutes later as I'm still on the same highway, the ambulance and two big fire trucks went by, lights flashing.  I was the luckiest person in the world on this day.

I drove another 15 miles to the stop sign before pulling over on Barstow Road to let Cooper out.  He was seat belted in so he didn't fall, but I rather imagine Jonathan hit the floor of his cage.  He's fine now and talking as I type.

Definitely not something I ever want to repeat.  Obviously the guy is an idiot, but I hope he survived, if only because he saved my life by jerking the wheel to the left and missing my truck and trailer.

From there I was on to Barstow for fuel at $4.99 a gallon.  I didn't care one bit.  I finally arrived in Bakersfield and breathed a big sigh of relief.  Pizza helped.

I'm off really early this morning trying to beat the storm headed my way.  Hopefully it's a day full of NO excitement at all!!

The Magic Hand

Good morning Quartzsite!  Wow three days went by FAST!!  I'm sure I just got here yesterday, and now I have to leave.  I'm trying to hit the perfect weather window and miss rain and snow.  But FIRST .. Patsy came by walking Mr. Gibbs and Bill helped me check the oil in my truck.  It looked just fine.  The only thing we could come up with was maybe a bad sensor?  I'll have it checked when I get back home.

In no time, Patsy sent a message about puzzling.  We finished off my Giants puzzle in record time.  It took a little wrangling, mostly by Patsy who is an expert at this stuff, before it was finally done.   I just sat there and looked pretty.   HAH!!!

In a couple of hours, I headed back to the rig.  You know how you always expect the door to open when you push the code buttons?  OH NO ... no matter how many times I hit those buttons, they would not work.  Naturally this was the first time EVER that I did not take my keys.  Big sigh!!

I made the long walk of shame back to Bill and Patsy's rig to request assistance.  I don't know what kind of assistance I expected, because I knew every window was locked down tight and the keys were INSIDE.    Bill walked back with me to the door.  

I don't know what got in to me, but I hit the door three times with my fist before punching in the code.  Let me just say Bill has the MAGIC HAND.  He just reached up, pulled on the handle and opened the door.  Bad words came from my mouth.  

Luckily Bill is a very patient man.  He told me to go get a magnetic key holder and showed me exactly where to put it.  It's going to be my first purchase when I get home.

 Next on my to-do list was fuel.  I headed off to the local Arco station and filled up with diesel for $4.29 a gallon.  I'm glad they had fuel, since the last time I was here they were out completely for over a week.

Patsy again called to say Lori and Roland (Canadian friends) were here for the day and wanted to hang out at where else .... Silly Al's.  I was all over it!!  It was the perfect time to get extra food for me to eat on the way home.  

But wait ... I don't have any room in the freezer.  It was such a shame ... I had to eat that last two cups of ice cream with caramel sauce so I could throw the tub away and make room for pizza.  Someone had to do it so I made the sacrifice.

As usual, this place was pretty busy, with slow service.  They just don't have enough waitresses and/or waiters to take care of that many tables.  When the food got there, it was the usual good eats ... at least my BBQ chicken bacon was delicious.  

It could have used another 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce, but I'll slather it on when I reheat it tonight in Bakersfield.

And so I'm off.  This was the last sunset I'll see in Arizona for a couple of months.  I'm heading out this morning early since I have a eight hour trip.  See you down the road tomorrow.

The BIG Q

Here I am in beautiful downtown Quartzsite.  Actually I'm a little on the outskirts.  So far the weather has been beautiful, unlike other parts of the country.  I even had to change into a short sleeve shirt later in the afternoon.  That's a first for this season of traveling. 

As always, Cooper and I were up and out at 4 am again.  It's fine with me though, because the alternative isn't good.  He's got a nose this kid ... and has to stop every two feet to smell the roses on our 8:00 sprint around the park.  Weird kid ... sometimes he even digs down to get a better whiff!

Jonathan is hanging in there, though I can tell the traveling is getting a little hard for him.  If he just sits there, he'll fall off the perch, so he must hang on for dear life.  I do everything possible to give him a good ride.  The sign of well being is eating ... and he's still doing that!

After hanging out in the rig catching up on computer and phone stuff, Patsy sent a message.  It was puzzle time.  Someone finished up yesterday's version, so I brought out my giants puzzle.  It's just my size .. and age group, with big pieces, lots of colors and MAYBE easier to assemble.  

Did I forget the check engine light?  Yes.  I was too excited about the microwaved taquitos I was having for lunch.  Note to self:  Next time try to pack some food for YOUR stomach, and not so much for the critters that it takes up ALL the freezer space, which is minimal at best.

Someone mentioned poker pool, which instantly peaked everyone's interest, even though it wasn't poker pool day.  In no time we were hard at it.  Well THEY were hard at it.  I'm terrible at pool, so I try to get lucky and have them put all the balls in the pockets FOR me!!

We laugh and have a great time missing ... and no one cares.  I play so they don't have to lose.  

In the middle of that someone mentioned my water hose was dripping.  I wasn't going to hook up, but showers are so much better when you do.  It's weird, because it wasn't dripping when I turned it on.  Here's the thing about this nice RV family.  Patsy sent a text to Bill, who went right over and fixed it for me.  I didn't even miss one stroke with the pool cue ... well I DID miss the balls, but the game continued.  Thank you so much Bill!!!!

At long last I headed back to the rig ... the Austin Texas rodeo finals were on and I had to watch my guys win.  And WIN they did!!  It was also fun that several of the new kids on the block won also.  With so many 19-21 year olds hitting the rodeo road, it's going to be in good shape for years to come.

Another round of oh-so-yummy taquitos kept my stomach at bay, followed up by a piece of delicious with a Capital D ... pineapple cheesecake.  Anyone ever heard of that before?  Patsy brought over a piece so big I had to cut it in half.  YUM YUM!!!

She even brought a piece of Gibbs happy birthday cake for Cooper.  He wasn't to interested at first ... he's so persnickety.  Surprisingly, since I was enjoying my pie so much, he decided that cupcake was pretty tasty and ate it up.  Then he crashed in his recliner.  Yes ... he gets his very own chair.

A very nice day with very special people!   I completely forgot about checking the oil in my truck.  It seemed to me that while pulling hard uphill, the oil pressure was low.  I just had the oil and fuel filter changed, so I'll take a look today.  Not that it will make any difference, because I have no clue.  

In the past I thought that happened because I forgot to hit the tow haul button, and hitting it while moving caused the light.  The tow haul was engaged this time, so I've no idea what it is.  Just another thing to make my brain work overtime here in the Big Q.

Mexico City?

 There's been quite a bit of rain in Mexico City, and since nothing is flat, there have been some landslides and flooding.  I bet you wonder how I know that?  But first .........

I wish I had seen this sooner.  This is the Railroad Museum being towed around the country by one engine and a flat car.  It apparently spent some time in Tucson before heading West.  I've heard of it before, but this is the first I've SEEN it.  Sadly, I can find no information on it at all.  Maybe someone knows what it's called?

I breathed a big sigh of relief once I was through Tucson, although traffic never is very bad this time of the morning.  There seems to be an epic flower bloom, which doesn't show up at all in this image.  It's hard to take phone pictures when you're trying to keep your rig on the road.

My first stop was in Casa Grande, taking my usual exit to Jan and Bills house.  But WAIT ... there's a sign that says it's CLOSED.  I took the first one I came to.  I knew I was in trouble when I saw the roundabout with way too many streets spreading out like a wagon wheel.  

It was too late to plug an address in to my GPS, so I asked my phone to help out.  That's always dicey since it doesn't know how BIG I am.  Just as I drove up to the house, they drove in the garage.  Perfect timing!!!  I only get to see them about once a year, so there were lots of hugs around.  

In an hour, I had to hit the road again.  Winds were coming up in the afternoon that I didn't want to run into.

But of course run into them I did.  I cruised along nicely down the Phoenix bypass road until I hit Hwy 10.  I hit a headwind which soon turned into a side wind.  Have you ever had one of those days that just doesn't end ... and every crazy driver in the world seems to be on YOUR highway?

Ninety miles to Quartzsite ... and every 15 miles, traffic came to a screeching halt.  It wasn't a problem for me since I usually drive below 60 mph.  Let's just say my hazard lights got a really good workout and there was lots of truck rubber left on the asphalt.  No pictures, I kept both hands on the wheel.

Besides a ridiculous amount of traffic, THIS was the problem.  There were four highway patrol and four pilot cars taking this huge building (I think) down the freeway.  It was wider than two lanes ... and this particular highway only HAS two lanes.  Thank goodness they pulled over to let traffic by, but that didn't stop the stop and go!!

Totally exhausted and with yet another check engine light, I pulled in to Park Place RV Park.  Look who I found!!!  There's nothing better than a wiggly butt greeting by this sweet face!!  I mean Gibbs of course, not Patsy or Bill ... although I always get great hugs from them.

The Park Hosts here are just the best!!  They let me pull through to a 50 amp space where Bill helped me unhook.  

We chatted for a bit before I headed to the recliner.  But of course I had to feed and play with Cooper for a bit first.  Hey ... let's turn the TV on.  No channels would come up at all.  No problem, I just need to authorize this receiver.

That's when it began.  The four hour marathon to turn on the idiot box.  It seems Dish Network's App isn't working at all.  No problem, I'll call.  That's funny ... the menu is completely different, even with a different voice who said my account address was mo, or maybe it was duh.  Nothing worked.  I finally got on the internet and tried that.  Nothing.

At long last, frustrated like no other, I called back and got in line for the 45 MINUTE WAIT!!  No kidding ... I plugged my phone in and listened to their terrible music as I played games for over an hour.  At long last ... a voice in the dark.  

Buenos Tardes!!  I laughed ... mostly because in the background was the loudest barking dog I've ever heard.  We talked for a bit before I asked where he was.  Mexico City he said, working from home since Covid had closed their office building completely.  

So what's going on?  Apparently ALL of their servers have crashed.  I told him it was probably Russia.  This happened exactly one month ago ... and they still have not been able to get them back up and working.  That's why the app won't work and they are getting a million phone calls.

You know me .... well, how's the weather in Mexico City?  He said it was bad because his daughter had to go to the second session of school and come home in the rain and flooding.  I secretly thought to myself ... someone is waiting an extra 5 minutes because of this conversation.  But we kept talking ... mostly because I thought he was being railed about the TV problems and it might be good to just be nice to him.

At any rate, he sent out not one, but TWO activation signals to my receiver, and FINALLY ... just in time to go to bed .... I had TV.  I said buenos tardes and wished him luck.

Just another day of problem solving I could do without.  I'm looking forward to some puzzling today and lots of rest in my recliner.  Oh ..... and some wiggly butt loves from Gibbs!!

Visiting With Friends

When Tom and Deb in the Stinger Bee said they were in Northwest Tucson, I said I would drive out for a visit.  I've been trying to catch up with several RV friends this year, but our paths never did cross at the right time.  I didn't want to miss this chance.

I figured a quick 30 minute drive.  Little did I realize they were clear on the OTHER side of the mountains, a minimum 45 minute drive!  No problem ... I'll find them sooner or later.  Turns out it was later since I took the shortcut that wasn't so very short.

YAY I found them!!  BOO ... my time there was way too short.  We talked up a storm ... which is what happens when you haven't seen friends in a year.  

Sadly, neither of us took a picture of our little trio.  While we talked, Deb cooked up a delicious cheeseburger salad and we tried out some fresh made egg rolls from another rig at the park.  YUM YUM!!

Just when I was going to go out and bring in this quilt for them, she said WAIT ... I HAVE DESSERT!

 As you know, you don't have to tell me TWICE!!  Oh my goodness ... this cheesecake with strawberries and whipped cream was DELICIOUS!!

Then Deb brought out some fabric her mother had been working on.  An entire quilt top ready to be quilted, along with lots of extra pieces.  I'm taking it all home where I may even be able to make a SECOND quilt that I will bring back for her on my next trip.  Mother-made quilts are pretty special and should be finished and enjoyed.

It was finally time to go since I also had a date with the Chance household for dinner out.  We went basically around the corner to Serial Grillers and had one of their amazing salads.  That gave me the strength to immediately head out and get fuel for my truck.  Easter is coming so fuel has gone up 50 cents a gallon here.  I always use up my Safeway discount before I leave.

This is the last sunset I will see here as I was finally back home to collapse on the couch.  There's still more packing to do, but hopefully I leave on time because I have one more stop to make in Casa Grande. 

Head em up ..... move em out!!!

Packing Up .....

 If you were here, you would hear me taking deep breaths constantly.  That's my way of trying to JUST RELAX.  My brain works overtime trying to remember everything.  I try to fake it for Cooper's sake.  The more I stress out, the more nervous HE gets.

I've been distracted from packing every morning by the fabulous sunrises ... but on THIS day, the clouds came down like a curtain and there were no bows on stage for Mother Nature.  It was a dark gloomy morning.

An hour or so later I look outside to see a nice blue sky.  It's weird how the clouds hung on the mountain tops all day long.  In no time the clouds were back making for a gloomy day.

That's when the list making began in earnest.  I'll be visiting most of the day today, so things had to get done.  I "think" I've got the RV ready to go.  Unlike most people, I have THREE of everything.  One for the California house, one for this house and one for the rig.  That way I'm not hauling near as much stuff in and out the door ... or rather up and down the steps.

I probably haul more for the dogs than I do me!  On one of my trips outside I spotted several of these guys.  It appears they are a black throated sparrow.  I haven't seen them much in the past, but they are here in numbers this spring.  Tiny little guys ... maybe only 2-3 inches tall.

I'm very happy to report that Cooper is doing MUCH better.  This pictures doesn't even show the holes in his foot, but it's healing up and he's not chewing on it.  A good sign.  It's terrible when your kids hurt and they can't talk to you!!

That includes Jonathan .... he got a new home yesterday.  This is the big cage I was carrying in the rig, but it was too big to heat sufficiently for an Amazon parrot.  It's slightly smaller than his other house, but he appears to love it.  He spent most of the day chewing up wood pieces on the floor, standing on his new lower perch and generally making lots of racket with talking and screams.  

This one is also a REAL parrot cage and much easier for the "maid" to keep clean.  If only I had one for the other house, but they are extremely hard to find nowadays.

Pretty boy ... disco disco and here kitty kitty kitty were the words of the night.  They tend to talk a lot just before the sun goes down ... then they become quiet as a mouse so predators don't know they are there.  No one wants to be a midnight snack.

With most everything packed that I could at that point, I even got out to mow the lawn.  Mow the weeds would be more appropriate.  That weed and feed stuff I bought doesn't seem to be working one little bit.  This I always do just before I leave because if I don't, Mr. Chance comes over and does it to be sure there aren't any tigers hiding in the dandelions.  I could feed a grizzly bear there are so many tasty dandelion morsels here.

Today will begin the house prep ... there's a lot to do when you leave a house ... before I take off to visit with Deb and Tom who have arrived in Tucson despite the bad weather and potholes big enough to lose your tow car.  Although Arizona does fix their roads, kinda sorta, it's based on travel patterns.  If you drive the back roads, hold on to your teeth.

I'll be heading out in the morning to big Q town.