When The Cats Away .....

Wow ... the temperature changes around here are epic this year.  I wake up to freezing cold, blowing winds and shivering in my boots, only to need the AC for an hour in the afternoon.  That is the beautiful desert for you!   I'm sure the desert is also where these beautiful colors came from.  It's going to be hard to remember to write 2025.

Just look at the morning light on this day.  The best news of all, it's cold enough at night that the critters don't come out ... at least not the creepy ones.  

Look the other direction and you see the birdhouses and feeding stations the Chance Restaurant provides at the front of the property.  On this day, Mr. Chance will be riding off into the sunrise.  

Let me just take a second to brag on my friends.  They purchased this place in Tucson while I was visiting them in the Grand Canyon where they both worked.  There was nothing but a house on a big hill.  Dan immediately built a garage fit for a King ... no kidding, I could live in that garage ... and an RV cover for their rig.  

In the meantime, he landscaped and rocked this place like a pro.  The concrete driveway is even lined with decorative pavers ... I'll have to get pictures.  There's a big greenhouse out back full of plants they grow, along with waist level planters for their garden.  

Add to that all the meals Chef Patty cooks for me while here.  She can make a gourmet meal out of a toothpick and a hank of hair.   She also makes quilts for children in need.  LOTS of quilts!!  If I'm in need of anything, they are quick to help me out.  Look!!  No more tipping Cooper's water bowl over.  They gave me one from their now-gone rig.  I haven't spilled a drop of water since.

And these ramps Dan says he no longer uses.  Much smaller and easier to use than my big yellow squares.

I think I've mentioned before that Dan and Patty were the builders and owners of their own Harley shop.  That's actually how we met many moons ago ... riding with a group of bikers all over the Central Valley in California.  Little did I know we would become life long friends.  

I quit riding several years back.  Dan however, still goes on long crazy rides, becoming part of the Iron Butt crowd.  This gorgeous "horse" is his newest ride ... and what a beauty she is.

And so I bring you to yesterday's adventures.  Dan took off on one of his rides heading towards the Death Valley/Nevada border area.  While the cat's away .......

The MICE will play!!  Patty and I drove to ANOTHER fabric shop.  I know, I said I wouldn't, mostly because I just don't have storage space.  However ... it's amazing just how much stuff you can STUFF in the crooks and crannies of this rig.

How could I possibly resist when Joann's was having an after Christmas sale.  Eight yards for .... I'm going to brag here ... $2.99 a yard.  Who could turn THAT down???  The gold was a little more, but perfect for my next project.  I don't know what that is yet, but I'll think of SOMETHING!!

Back at the rig Coop and I lounged for a while, before going inside just in time to hear the bad news.  

Mr. Dan called to say he was 2-1/2 hours out with a very big hole in his tire.  OH NO!!  There's nothing worse than sitting alongside the lesser traveled road with a flat tire.  When it's a big hole, the little air compressor doesn't work.  

I remember several flat tires back in the day, one blowout while going 65 mph down the freeway ... a FRONT tire no less.  Luckily we were able to stay upright, but stopped right in the middle of the freeway.  Talk about heart stopping!!  I jumped off and waved traffic over until my ex got the bike off the freeway.  We called one of the group, who drove his truck out to pick us up a few hours later.

It took several hours for Dan to get a tow truck for the bike.  Thank goodness he had a phone signal.  The bike tire shop said they would stay open and wait for him to arrive.  If not back on the road now, he's probably sleeping in the tire shop!!

Such is the fun and excitement of riding a Harley ... AND buying fabric while the cat is away!!!

Looking Good In The New Year

 GOOD MORNING ARIZONA!  It's so nice to see you again.  This is actually the sunrise and it's pretty dark outside, in spite of what my phone camera makes it look like.  When the sun first comes up, the color shows in the West instead of the East.  

The weather has been perfect, though yesterday I actually had to turn on the AC for about 30 minutes.  It worked, but there's another thing full of questions.  The fan runs all the time, whether you put it on auto or not.  That could be annoying, but for the time being, it worked like a charm.  That's when I opened the vent. I'm going to stick a note on my forehead, because of course I forgot to close it again last night and kept waking up cold.  I'm making a list to stick on the control panel instead.

Breakfast was a slice of orange and a tasty English muffin Patty got for me.  This board ... I can't tell you how much of a difference it makes.  No worries about cutting the counter and SO much more space.  Dan is a Prince for making it for me.  

In no time I spotted the Amazon truck in the yard.  I thought a new gadget was to be delivered today, but it came early.  What is it you ask?  You're not going to believe it.  No, it's not the bike.  It's a tire pump.  Mr. Chance showed me this little gizzy that he takes on his gorgeous Harley.  THIS baby ... if I were still riding, I'd buy one.  

So amazingly, this charges up with a USB cable and can run up 150 psi it says.  I'm not sure how, but even 50 would be better than nothing, or better than driving all around looking for a tire place to air up your tires.  It's as small as your phone but may four times as thick, so easily held in your hand.  For $36, it's worth a try and small enough to carry in the glove box.  Of course I scared myself when I turned it on and hit the wrong button ... but I'll get over it.

Though Patty and I both said there was no need to hit up the quilt store, we folded.  Okay, "I" folded.  We drove over to Quilt Central in Green Valley for a look see.  This gal ... she has our kind of taste in fabric, and carries LOTS of southwest and cowboy material.  They are so busy with snowbirds that they hold some kind of class most every day.  I'd probably be broke if I lived here again.

And so THIS came home with me.  It's full of old fashioned fabric for this quilt ... like the bucking horses with riders of the 40's.  I think all our house curtains had longhorn cattle and bucking horses in the pattern.  It's living under the toaster at the moment.  I can't believe I found the space.

Patty made a quick right turn and stopped in at a local Thrift store just for a quick look.  Well lookie here ... I actually found a shirt that will fit me, AND fit into the tiny space I have left in my closet.  

We lounged around for awhile once back home, but company was coming for dinner.  Patty and Dan's son and DIL came for ..... you guessed it ..... ugly steaks.  They toured my rig, for all of the two minutes it took (one at a time inside), before chowing down.  Believe me, no one left the table hungry!!

Mr. Chance is off on a motorcycle trip towards Death Valley today, since his Texas trip got waylaid by rain and snow.  Patty and I will wander about, hopefully not getting into fabric trouble for two days before I take off.  

It's looking VERY good in the New Year ... 

AND WE ARE OFF!!

 I SURVIVED NEW YEARS 2024-2025!  And no, we really aren't OFF to anywhere but into the new year.  One day down, 364 to go.  Ergo, 364 chances to remember to take more (and better) pictures.

What could be better but kitty pics?  Meet Snoopy.  This little rescue turned out to be one of those sweet ones who follows her Mom around like a shadow.  They forgot to tell Dan that she didn't really like MEN.  Though she will allow male "pets and rubs", she will not climb up into, nor sit in a man's lap.  Surprisingly, she likes me too, since she will actually jump up in my chair for some love.  If Patty is not to be seen however, she will wander the house meowing until she comes home.

Meet Missy ... another rescue found on an RV trip through Idaho I think it was.  She wasn't particularly fond of ANYONE at first, including Snoopy ... but the family of four learned to get along in their big RV in spite of the close quarters.  Both of these kids have traveled more miles than most people.

And so after I got in my morning Kitty fix, I turned on the Chance TV for the Rose Parade.  It brought back lots of memories of cutting flower stems to the exact length required, dunking small glass vials into ice cold water, into which the stems were stuffed.  Not hundreds, but thousands.  In a big huge barn.  With NO heat!  

That was a wonderful experience brought on by Barbara and Tom Westerfield who went down several years to help decorate the floats.  I drug along another RV friend and we stayed at the Elks Lodge not far away.  What an experience it was!!  This was the Elks U.S.A. float for this year.

My second favorite was this backyard train that went around the tiny village and even through a tunnel.  What fun would it be to have this in your back yard!

In the meantime, Patty slaved away in the kitchen making WAFFLES!!  Where's the REAL picture you ask?  Well that's my New Year's resolution ... try to remember to take pictures before you inhale those waffles.

Of course I had mine absolutely SWIMMING in pure Canadian Maple Syrup!!!  YUM!!

I tried to catch up on a little sleep after a night of carousing fireworks, but it was not to be.  Instead, Patty and I sat out on their back patio admiring the view and the multitude of quail that they feed every day.  This is the gourmet kitchen in the BACK yard, and there is another in the FRONT yard.  These blocks don't even last a week before they disappear.  

In no time there were a dozen or more quail, chortling the entire time.  When this little group is full, they move off and the next covey moves on up.  Patty and Dan have now adopted about 300 quail!!

We skipped lunch and I headed off to see if I could locate the engine battery disconnect.  Come to find out, the battery is under the floorboard.  Way over there near the weird looking accelerator, there is a panel that they say will come open, in order to disconnect the battery.

I finally got it open ... the one with the weird pictures that mean absolutely nothing to me, and couldn't see a thing.  With my head resting on the brake, I held my phone in my left hand to see inside.  It appears there is something with a red button.  Yup that's it .. push down on the button and pull to the right.  I should have been born left handed.  There's no way you can get your right hand into that hole.  

I didn't try too hard because I didn't want to get electrocuted, but I was finally able to reach in with my left hand and push the button.  Pulling it to the right didn't happen.  And if I DID get it off, how the heck will I get it back on?   Needless to say, I gave up, at least for the time being.   I'll try again later when my back isn't yelling at me.

The best news of the day however, came when Mr. Chance, who is a whiz on internet searches, came up with an installer of the Winegard traveler RV dish, the same one I had on my other two rigs.  Not here, but in Quartzsite no less.  I'm not sure if they will work on vans, but I'll be calling them today.  

The night brought out a weird moon, along with cold winds.  There is only a sliver of new moon visible with my eye, but my camera picked up the ENTIRE moon.  That's weird ........  

Patty and I have been discussing a trip to the fabric shop, but in the same breath we both say BUT WE AREN'T BUYING ANYTHING.  We have WAY too much fabric already.  So I rather imagine it will be a nice quiet day of enjoying good company, the critters and the warmth of the desert.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025!!!

 WOWZA!!!  Can you believe it?  Another year around the sun has landed us right smack dab in 2025!  I have no doubt I will not EVER remember to write THAT date!!  I swear I was 55 years old last week, running the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco.  And the week before that, I was gathering cattle in the mountains, getting ready for branding.  Where did the time go?

It could not get any better however, since here I am at the Last Chance Ranch, ready for the party to begin.

Who are we kidding.  At our age, we are lucky to make it to 8:00 before falling asleep on the couch.  For a minute there, I even forgot it was New Year's Eve and was heading to the rig for the night.  OH WAIT!!  It's New Year's Eve!  I think I stayed another 20 minutes before the pup babysitting began.  

I'm actually very lucky in that respect.  Dan asked if I had earplugs for Cooper.  Weirdly, he is probably the only dog I've ever had that didn't mind the fireworks one little bit.  And fireworks there were!!

But first ... hard to believe ... I was again up at 4:30 am.  Even if I have a bad night and can't sleep, the old sounds of "we're burning daylight" ring through my head.  There is just no chance of sleeping in.  Besides, the time had come.  Ten days and the rig required a dump.  More like DEMANDED.  Not bad I suppose, considering how small it is.

Dan said "let's check your battery".  Did I mention he gave me this handy dandy voltmeter from our favorite store Harbor Freight?  We tested it, and after 10 days (having only started the engine once for about ten minutes) it was down to 11.9.  I'm pretty sure part of that is locking and unlocking the doors every morning and night, whereupon all the dash lights come on.  Apparently we are made for moving, not staying in one place.  

Back to dumping ... though I have done this before, I really wasn't looking forward to it.  I unhooked the electric, stowed the kids and we were off to the fairgrounds.  You can dump there for $5.00, though inflation has raised it to $10.00 now.  A $20 bill will get you $10 in quarters for change.  Well, I told him ... it's good for laundry I guess.  

This would be much easier if it wasn't only 7" from the ground.  The black thing on the right is where the hose is stored.  The good news is at this location, you only need a hose that's 3' long since you could almost dump WITHOUT one.  Black handle on the left, gray on the right.  Easy peasy.  I was done in a flash since it took all of 15 seconds.  

I waved goodbye to the sweet Security Guard and headed on off to the grocery store, completely forgetting it was New Year's Eve.  I should learn to relax a bit when it comes to leaving the pup in the rig.  I open the windows and turn on the overhead fan, then race through the store, forgetting half of what I wanted to get.  

Then it was on to diesel.  Thankfully Safeway carries diesel #2.  Do I worry about the price?  Heck NO ... I'm just happy to fill the tank no matter what it cost, though this was a pretty good price by California standards!

Back home, I rearranged the kids a bit.  I was able to turn the chair around and deposit Jonathan in Cooper's bed, giving me more counter space.  Now, instead of running into his cage on the right while getting out the door, I run into it on the left.  

He informed me however that he thinks the pink quilt clashes with the red dog bed.  

Patty, Dan and I watched the last of the Yellowstone 1923 series, hoping they were planning on continuing the story.  Sure enough, for anyone interested, the saga will continue in February.  

I think we made it to 8:30 before I headed out to the boom boom boom of fireworks.  One of their neighbors is apparently a fan.  As you can tell, Mr. Cooper could care less.  

The bangs went off until after midnight.  Just when I thought they would quit, they started up again.  All that tossing and turning didn't do my back any favors.  At 12:02 they started up again and went until 1:00.  You would think after that I would sleep in at LEAST until 5:00 .... but NOOOOO.  

And so begins another year on this planet ... another year of friends, fun and probable frustrations, for which I am thankful.  It's so much better than the alternative!!!  

Thank you all for riding along this last year, and thank you to all who write blogs too.  I love reading them every morning.  Keep up the good work!!   Here's to another year of adventures, mistakes and laughs!!!!