TODAY WE MET MIKE & JIM:)) …… BUT NOT JANNA & ELLIE:((

SATURDAY MORNING SUNRISE

We started out with a semi-sunny morning and another in a series of fiery sunrises.  Needless to say I was out & about with my camera....in my jammies.  Donna, from CAVE DWELLINGS blogs about her efforts at the HICKIWAN TRAILS RV PARK to capture sunrises & sunsets dodging inconspicuously about outside in her jammies too.  Problem she has is that they have neighbors all around.  Problem I have is that I'm outside with my mismatched tops & bottoms, old green beltless house coat, blown out running shoes & hair on upside down.  I'm quite a wreck in the morning & it really doesn't get much better after that.  If the dog catcher came by I would be toast:((  So Donna, consider yourself lucky over there at Hickiwan:))

THE PALM CANYON HIKE IS THERE AT THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN RANGE

Blogging friends of ours are boondocked over near Bouse so we thought we'd amble up that way this morning & have us a look at the area.  Have heard other RV folks talking about it so figured we had better slip over that way while we're still here.  Headed north out of Quartzite about 9:30 & while Kelly was fielding a Deerpark Lodge cell phone call I missed Plomosa road heading east to Bouse.  Ended up on the southeastern outskirts of Parker having to turn left & head east to Bouse from there.  A much longer route than the Plomosa Road route for sure.  Not much in Bouse so we hung a right turn at the northern end of Plomosa Rd & worked our way back to where Mike & Janna from TIN TEPEE/LOG CABIN said they were.  About 3 or 4 miles southwest of Bouse we saw the colored ribbons on a shrub so new where to turn into the desert & head north.  From reading their blog for the past year or more we knew what their rig looked like plus their friends were also boondocked out there with a 40' Tiffin.  Hard to miss a 40 footer in the desert!!

  

BREAKFAST IN THE MORNING DESERT & ADDING OUR LAST COUPLE JUGS OF WATER TO THE ONBOARD TANK

Spotted the big coach OK but no sign of Mike & Janna's rig.  Pulled in past the Tiffin & swung round Mike & Janna's car back to the 40 footer where a fellow was already outside to see who the intruders were.  "You must be Al & Kelly from the Bayfield Bunch" he said as he approached the car with a big handshake.  And that is how we met Jim from JUSTRAVELIN.  Said Mike had taken their motorhome into Bouse to dump the tanks & pick up some water.  Jim's wife Ellie & Mike's wife Janna had taken Jim's Saturn & headed into Parker to do a little of, or a lot of.......shopping:))

Jim had us come inside where we met Bojangles & Jazzy their mini Schnauzers.  Quite a pair of rascals.  Y'know, sometimes it's just best not to go in other people's rigs.  This is a top of the line 40' Phaeton diesel coach & it's very, very, nice.  Kind of makes our rig look a bit like something the Beverly Hillbilly's first took to California years ago.  Jim was a very gracious host showing us around the coach.  His personality matched the motorhome.....very nice:))  Chatted about this & that for awhile until Mike came rumbling up the dusty road with the Beaver on his way back from Bouse.  Wasn't long & we finally met Mike as well & as expected, another fine & friendly RV fellow.  Mike is one of those guys with a twinkle in his eye, big sideburns & a happy easy going face topped with a white cowboy hat.  It was a picture of Mike in their blog walking along underneath his hat one day awhile back that gave me the idea for the type of new cowboy hat I was looking for.

 

JIM, KELLY, BOJANGLES, & JAZZ

It was great chatting with Jim & Mike & we all marveled at how small the RVing world is.  People they knew we knew & vice versa.  Laurie & Odel's SEMI TRUE TALES name came up.  Doug & Joanne from LIVING OUR DREAM were common friends.  Although we haven't met Mark & Dortha Hall of RVING WITH POPPA their names are familiar to us & they have spent quite a bit of time traveling with Jim & Ellie.  It always amazes me how so many traveling RV'ers seem to know or have heard of each other.  It's quite a small world out here on the road.  And it's the blogging RV'ers who are mainly in tune with everything & each other.

LOOKED LIKE RAIN OVER THERE IN QUARTZITE AT THE BASE OF THAT DISTANT MOUNTAIN RANGE

I could see the sky was getting darker over Quartzite way & I knew we had left windows open in our rig for the dogs so with the threat of rain evident we had to get on our way.  Janna & Ellie hadn't made it back from Parker yet so we bid adieu to Mike & Jim without meeting the ladies.  With some handshakes, some photos, & some increasing raindrops, we were into our car & making fast tracks for home, but the rains beat us to it.  A quick stop in Quartzite for groceries & gas & we were heading south for the La Paz Valley.  At least we had windshield wipers & a roof over our heads & that's more I can say for the poor guys on a couple motorcycles we had in front of us.  Been there, done that, not nice!!

   

THAT’S JIM IN THE BLUE SHIRT & MIKE UNDERNEATH THE WHITE COWBOY HAT  (click pics to enlarge)

We got off lucky with only some rain coming in the smaller kitchen window onto the counter & not the other window on my bed.  The sky's grew darker & the rains continued steadily for the rest of the day.  It made it easier for me get some computer things done & I was able to upload yesterday's Kofa mountain palm tree hike photos into a web album.  IN SEARCH OF THE KOFA PALMS  When you open the album try clicking on the 'Slideshow' feature.  The majority of the photos are captioned as well.

CASTLE DOME MOUNTAINS SOUTHWEST OF THE KOFA MOUNTAINS

Weatherman is calling for more rain tomorrow so maybe I'll get to see the washouts with water running through them finally.  By the deep cut washouts across the roads etc, they sure must have some powerful water run offs in these parts.  Depending on the weather tomorrow, we might take a day trip to the Castle Dome Museum down Yuma way.  We'll see....................................

GROANER'S CORNER:((  It's frustrating when you reach the age & stage of life where you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions anymore.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.