Sunday, January 29/2012

I slept in!!  Wow, I totally missed the sun rise.  The sun is shining like crazy and the heat from it is streaming in through the big front windows and it is so nice and warm in the bus this morning.  The birds are busy and even the little hummingbird is at his feeder.  I am going to have to refill that feeder today.
My knee is much better this morning (so far) so I am glad that I popped those advil last night before bed.  Hogan and I will have to make the trek up the hill later today.
One of the fancy chairs we got from Cabelas last year has started to rip so today I got out the big needle, the string and the pliers and fixed it.  Hopefully my sew job will prolong its life!!  It is so difficult to find good quality chairs that actually last for more than one season!!
Keith came over with a full 45 gallon barrel of water and we pumped it into the bus so now we are full again and ready to go.

Lorne and Marilyn our friends from B.C

I was sitting "in the back yard" when I heard a truck pull up and stop and to my surprise, Lorne and Marilyn arrived for Happy Hour!!  They arrived here in Wickenburg this afternoon and had to hurry out here to the desert to arrive in time for the daily gathering.  I was under the impression that they were going to be flying down, landing in Phoenix and taking off to Mexico from there so was not expecting to see them until March so it was indeed a nice surprise.  They stayed for a few hours and we caught up on all their news.  They headed back into town early as they have to be in Phoenix tomorrow.
John bbq'd chicken for supper and it was delicious.  It was off to bed soon after as I had to catch an episode of The Good Wife on TV before falling asleep.

Saturday, January 28/2012

I was up real early today - before 6 a.m.  What is with that!!  I was going to just lie in bed until the sun came up but instead, the text message chimes came over the phone so of course I had to get up to see who would be texting me at 6 in the morning (7 at home).  I thought it would be my sister but it turned out to be our oldest son Jace, telling me to get my old retired ass out of bed.  I text him back to say it was only 6 a.m. here and he said "my bad"!!  Ya, well, I was already awake!!
The sun is not scheduled to come over the hill for another hour and a half so I was "in the dark" for a while.   It is a good thing we now have all that reserved power in the batteries so sitting here with the lights and the Internet on is not a problem.  I did need a bit of heat though so had to start the heater and man, it was kicking out some good heat.
The sun finally rose above the hill at 7:35 so now the bus is flooded with light and the birds are oh so busy at the feeder.  There is lots of chirping going on again today.  There is no clouds in the sky at present so it should be a warm one today.
We are supposed to be going quadding today with some friends we play shuffleboard with.  They said they might drop by and pick us up so, that should prove to be fun.  If not, sitting in the sun working on my tan also works for me!!  I did pack the quad yesterday so we are pretty much ready to go if they do show up.

The Apple Dumpling Gang!!

Heading out towards Vulture Peak

Spring is coming to the desert - an ocotillo starting to leaf out.
Behind each of these little leaves, is a very sharp thorn!!

A view of the back side of Vulture Peak.  The trail to the top is on
the other side.

Lunch stop

At the old house

Ray's gun - just in case!!

Ray - one of the shuffleboard gang

John on Wickenburg Mountain

Tonight's moon

The yard lights in the palo verde tree

a real fire - no "campfire in a can" tonight!!

Keith and Charlotte went into town yesterday for water so they have a barrel full for us to transfer into the bus. Oh I love that we don't have to move this beast very often for anything anymore.  The 45 gallon barrel of theirs is a wonderful tool for the dry camper and once again, I say a silent thank you to Trueman who gave us the barrel last year.  John then gave it to Keith and Charlotte as they needed it far more than we did and it has worked out well for both of us.
The quadders arrived to pick us up and to our surprise they numbered 10. There were 9 side x sides and 2 quads on the trail.  We headed out towards Vulture Peak and let me tell you, it was pretty slow going.  With 10 other quads and most of them side by sides and most of the drivers the average age of 68, it was SLOW going.  It was a bit dusty too.  We stopped for "lunch" about an hour after John and I joined the group and all the "old folks" got out their hotdogs or sandwiches or whatever and chowed down.  John and I had just eaten prior to leaving so it was a refreshment stop for us.
Many of the group wanted to stop at the old house so we headed over there and once again we were amazed at the amount of destruction that has occurred.  While there, I found a few geodes - a type of rock  that forms and once broken open, is supposed to reveal crystal formations inside.  I will break a few open and see just what the inside reveals. I will also leave some intact for Charley back home.  Last year he showed an intrest in rocks so I will give some to him to break open.  Who knows, maybe I am feeding a budding geologist!!
The group decided to start heading back towards the Hassayampa and Wickenburg where they all lived - either in homes or in their RVs.  John decided to take a short cut and while doing so, we broke a strap on one of the bags and lost it so had to turn around and retrieve it.  In doing so, we lost the group and did not meet with them again until the Hassayampa!!  We actually beat them to the river!!
We sat around there for a bit, had a refreshment then everyone stated heading home.  After one final beer with Ray, we too started to backtrack home stopping on Wickenburg Mountain for a beer.  Being so high up, we texted Jace and mentioned that we were enjoying some refreshments on the mountain in 70 degree temperatures!!  He text us back "poor you"!!
We were soon back at camp and John started an actual fire!!  No "campfire in a can" for us tonight!!
The coyotes were yapping but they seemed quite a ways away although Hogan was "on guard" the whole night.
Steak and baked potato for supper then John had to download all today's pics for the blog.  All in all, it was a good day. I fear I am going to be a bit stiff and sore though in the morning so I had better take a few advil

Friday, January 27/2012

I was up early, the sun was just coming up and Hogan for some reason was curled up in John's chair sleeping away.  I have found him there once before and now wonder just what the appeal of this chair holds for him.  I always associate John's chair with Jace's dog Coors as this chair was the one he always slept in when we were looking after him last year.   Oh well, no harm in him choosing what ever chair he wants to sleep in.
The birds are busy and I hear a few different songs out there this morning so now I need to get the binoculars out and try to find the source.
There is a bit of cloud coverage today so I am hoping that it will clear and that I will be able to get in a bit of tanning.  I have nothing planned for today other than Hogan's and my hike up the hill.
It remained cloudy all day today but with no wind, it was warm enough to sit outside and at least enjoy the view.
We are supposed to be going quadding with a few friends on Saturday so I spent part of today cleaning out the quad box and getting it all packed and ready so that if we do go, all that needs to be done is to put in a few refreshments and the camera.  I will be ready to go when the time comes which, just may be a first for me!!
When John backed the quad out of the trailer for me to pack, he somehow managed to run over the "campfire in a can".  I am not sure how he managed that but he said "It doesn't look good".  I imagined all sorts of ugly scenarios and had said that we needed new logs in it anyway so we may have to buy a new one.  By the time I got into the trailer to view the destruction, he had already bent it back into shape!!  It really did not look any different to me at all so I guess we are going to have to look at the ugly old logs for a while yet!!
John cooked some awesome ribs on the bbq and I cooked some totally shitty rice!!  It was gummy and all because I can not read the directions properly.  I was a little pissed off about that!!  Good thing the ribs were awesome cause it kind of made up for the rice - not really, but I pretended it did.
I heard the coyote yapping tonight and although we did not see him, he was close.  John had "his little friend" ready just in case he ventured too close.

There was another wonderful sunset tonight and I hope I managed to get a few good pics.  It was a very pleasing end to another good day.

Thursday, January 26/2012

Awake early and the sun is shining.  I have got to head into Wickenburg this morning as I made an appointment to have my hair done.  The grey is running rampant throughout my flowing locks so it is time to stop all that nonsense.  Hogan is not pleased at all with having to stay here but there is not much I can do about that.
I will stop and get one of the little propane tanks filled as well and it should be a free fill so that is even better!!
With my hair done and the propane tank full, I arrive back at the bus.  It is truly a "hot one" today as the sun is shining and there is no wind and no clouds.  It is sunburn territory.
Keith and Charlotte have decided to join us at the Bar 7 tonight for supper and shuffleboard.  Charlotte has heard me say how good their loaded burger is and her mouth has been watering now for days!!
We arrived at the "7" at about 5:30 with shuffleboard starting at 7:00 o'clock.  Keith and Charlotte ordered and enjoyed their burgers and I ordered a tray of mixed deep fried vegetables - mostly mushrooms and zucchini served with a ranch dipping sauce to munch on.
Everyone enjoyed the evening and since it was so busy at the bar, it stayed open until midnight so we had an extra hour to enjoy the fun.  We left the bar with numerous shuffleboard challenges scheduled for next week!!
Once again, I drove home and once there, headed to bed and read a bit before turning out the lights.  I woke up at 3:30 in the morning to John snoring and the TV on - BUT - He wasn't sleeping!!!    Ya, Right!!

Wednesday, January 25/2012

Oh it looks like it is going to be another nice day today.  The sun is up and shining and there is no wind.
I must head into town today to do the laundry as it is once again time for clean clothes and of course the bed linen and the throws on the chairs are always in need of cleaning.  I wonder where the upstairs maid is??
With the laundry loaded into the jeep, Hogan and I set off towards town.  We stopped at the bank (always a girl's best friend) then headed into the laundromat where thankfully, it was not busy.  In no time at all this nasty little chore was done and we proceeded to do a bit of shopping.
I wanted to find a couple of plastic wine glasses as I had enjoyed the wine that Keith and Charlotte brought to supper the other night that I bought some wine and now am looking for a proper glass to drink it from.  A regular glass is just too crass for this!!  Unfortunately, they need to be plastic because glass simply does not last in the bus. It wasn't until we finally stopped at the second hand store that I was able to find a couple of wine glasses!!  For 25 cents each, I splurged and got two!!
With a final stop at Safeway, Hogan and I headed home.  It was almost Happy Hour!!
John was busy "tinkering" again in the trailer so I decided to sit in the sun and just enjoy the rest of the day.
I put some bird seed out so that we could enjoy the joyful antics of the doves and the finches as the sun went down.  John eventually joined me and together we got a kick out of our birds.  There was even a different type of bird with the finches tonight and we think it was a white crowned sparrow.
I had the binoculars out as the jack rabbits were frolicking on the hill beside our camp and Hogan was not being very neighbourly!! I think they tease him knowing that he does not have a hope in hell of ever catching them!!
We moved into the trailer for the rest of the evening while John, once again cooked our baked potato.  Hogan was busy outside checking the perimeter, often returning to the trailer to lay on the mat and occasionally lifting his head to growl.  At one point, he bound off the trailer and headed into the dark carrying on something fierce.  I don't know what he was chasing but by the time he returned, he had managed to break off one of his nails and was bleeding pretty good.  His knee was also out and he was looking rather dishevelled.  It was a good thing that it was time for us to head into the bus.  The potato was done and the salmon needed to go on the bbq.
Once inside, we looked at the damage to Hogan's foot, found it to be survivable and sent him to his chair where he spent the remainder of the evening licking and cleaning.
I managed to get some nice pics of the sunset tonight and marvel how there are never two the same.  Supper was delicious, then it was a bit of TV and of course, some reading.

Tuesday, January 24/2012

New batteries - New compartment

790 AH

Charge controller

Panels tilted

Old charge controller moved to trailer

Two new plug ins

Spuds cooking

New moon

Yard lights

It rained off and on throughout the night and it was windy as well.  I thought that today might be another dreary day but when I got up, the sun was shining and although there still a bit of wind, it looks like it may turn out to be a decent day after all.  There is lots of clouds but hopefully they too will move on out.
After being inside for a few days, it was time to get out and "do" something so I decided to finish the landscaping around camp.  I hauled enough rocks today to make a stone house but instead used them to encircle the various shrubbery and cactus around our camp.  When I had finished, it looked much better.
throughout my rock picking today, I was careful to examine the bottom of each rock to make sure there were no unwanted "passengers".  I did manage to see some sort of multi legged  centipede - he was not impressed with my invasion of his space and I also saw what I think was a very small scorpion.  He was so quick and darted into a hole in the ground so I did not get a real good look at him but, he sure had a curled up tail like a scorpion.  So much adventure, picking rocks!!
It was soon Happy Hour and time to sit "in the yard".  I spread some bird seed out in the area where we were sitting and we enjoyed the silly antics of the birds while we enjoyed the sunset.
We moved into the trailer when the sun went down as it is just too chilly to sit outside comfortably without a fire so instead,  we sat around "campfire in a can" and John cooked our potatoes.  Strangely, this little fireplace cooks the spuds quite well.  Coupled with fresh spinach and a lamb chop for me and a pork chop for John, supper was delicious.