Friday, December 31/2010

New Year's Eve day and the sun is shining although there still is that chill in the air. Ben came out from town and said he had a good night. He was warm and clean and had done his laundry as well. He was meeting the new year rested and squeaky clean!! Because it was going to remain cold again tonight, Ben decided to stay at the motel for another night and I said I would keep Rizzo until he was settled back at camp. He can hang with Hogan while we party tonight in town.

Since the bus needs fuel, propane and the tanks dumped, John has decided to stay in town for the night. Larry and Ariane will drive their little tracker in and then if they want to come home early, they are free to do so. This way, no one has to wait on anyone else and that is better all the way around.

We headed into town around four and were to meet Larry and Ariane around seven at the restaurant. We found the dump station at the Horspitality RV Park and were treated with the sighting of a roadrunner while there. Even John managed to see it!!

John and I finally got our act together and headed to the Seven at 6:30 and were on our first beverage when Larry and Ariane arrived. Supper was good - as usual. Being Friday, it was John's favorite - all you can eat fish and chips and my mouth was watering for one of their totally awesome burgers.

It was great talking to all the girls again and asking about their Xmas. No one had any great plans for the New Year and we all hoped that it would be pretty quiet for Lee (Erika's boyfriend, who is one of Wickenburg's police officers).

Once supper was done, we headed down to the Rancher Bar for Karaoke. This was a new experience for both Larry and Ariane and I so hoped that they would enjoy it. As it turned out, I think that Ariane enjoyed it more than Larry. I did mention that we always clap for the singers - sometimes because they were good and sometimes because the singer was finished and the song was over!! It was good to see Mr Stub again and he sang me one of my favorite country songs of all time - Tumbling Tumbleweeds. It totally made my day and what an incredible way to start the New Year - with my favorite song. We saw many of the friends we met last year and the whole evening turned out well. John even managed to get up on the dance floor with me for a few slow dances and although his knee and ankle cracked and complained, he managed pretty darn well.

Midnight arrived with all the usual noise makers and streamers and a rousing rendition of Auld Lang Syne and Happy New Years all around. Larry and Ariane left shortly after midnight and John and I stayed for another hour then taxied back to the Seven where the bus was parked. The cab fare was a whooping $2.00!! WOW!! Once out of the cab, John and I walked over to the Mecca where we soon discovered the place was packed to the rafters!! It was standing room only and there was very little of that. We said a quick hello to Sally (the bartender) and after a quick beer, we walked the block to the bus where we had a rousing game of Yahtzee!! Happy New Year everyone. May 2011 be the best year yet.