SHOPPING TRIP TO CASA GRANDE, AZ.

STORMY SAGUARO SKY

The pitter patter of raindrops on the rig's roof about 5:30 this morning took me back many years ago as a kid to the days of tenting. That cozy feeling as you huddled inside your sleeping bag listening to that tap, tap, tap on the canvas. And always the thought of leaks, being careful not to touch the inside walls because somebody told you for sure that would cause the tent to leak. And as it rained ever harder you waited for that inevitable first wet feeling underneath you somewhere as the water somehow found it's way inside & began to pool right where you were!! And it was always your sleeping bag that got the wettest......first:))

Our little shower didn't last long but the sky was full of water as the large dark ominous clouds slowly tried to jostle for position right over our rig. Looked like it was probably going to be a good morning to drive into Casa Grande & do a little mall crawling. Didn't take us long to make up our minds & we were on our way.

OUR PARK ENTRANCE

Casa Grande is about a 20 minute drive east of the campground & because we had been there 3 times before, we knew our way around the area. Last year when we drove into the Promenade mall, a lot of the big box stores were still under construction. This is one very large multi-million dollar mall complex & one needs a road map just to get around to all the stores. It was about 11 a.m. & it was a Friday, but we couldn't help notice how empty the stores were. Acres of parking lot but few cars. Is it a sign of the times & what is to come? Busiest place in there was the "In & Out" hamburger place where the parking lot was full & cars were lined up in the take-out line. Another sign of the times perhaps. Our first stop was Marshall's where Kelly went in for a browse & I waited in the car listening to some tunes. Luckily she came out empty handed. Next was Best Buy where we picked up a set of Sony headphones. At home our television & located about 55 feet away from the computer. In the motorhome the television is about 2 feet above the computer & this creates a problem when Kelly wants to watch her "night time" shows & I'm stuck underneath the television having to listen to the darn things. Now, with the noise reducing headphones I can plug into the computer & float away with my many hours of downloaded music as I work away at whatever it is I'm working away at. No more wailing police sirens, gunfire, soap opera acting, or gory operating rooms with anatomically great graphic gobs of blood & gore brought on by some manic psychopath running amuck murdering whomever!!!! What ever happened to Jackie Gleason & The Honeymooners. Where's I Love Lucy when you need her & how about a little lite hearted whistling from Andy & Opie. Geeeeezzzzzz what kind of blood thirst & violence oriented society have we turned into anyway!!!!

Found a Staples store where we got one of those plastic things for under our office chair here at the computer. Castors & carpets do not work to-gether well. Popped into the "In & Out" hamburger joint for a couple yummy burgs & coffee. Asked a few questions at the Verizon store & Kelly slipped into a Sporting Goods place but once again came out empty handed. She said there wasn't one person in that whole store. Next it was down the street to Wal-Mart for some groceries. By this time I was starting to drag pretty bad & my shopping tolerance was running out real fast. Had to get Kelly to crack on some speed while we weaved our way through the heavy traffic aisles. Time to wrap this trip up, get out of town, & head back out into the solitude of the desert. Enough was enough!!

The rains came back just as we were unloading the loot back at the rig & we ended up having a nice 20 minute shower. Wondered who owned the gray car outside because the one we've been driving around has been brown. I was sure we left Ontario with a gray car. Yep, the southwest sure has a lot more dust than it really needs alright!! To-morrow we're going to do a little day trip around the immediate area & see what we can see. We may roll out of here Sunday but we're not sure yet. I like the idea of Sunday because of less traffic going through the road construction nightmare known as Tucson. We'll see how the current travel negotiations unravel to-morrow.........................

No Photos for the web album to-day.

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A GOOD TRAVEL DAY & A GREAT CAMPSITE

SUNSET WEST OF CASA GRANDE, ARIZONA

I had put the solar panels down, & pretty well stowed all the gear away late Wednesday afternoon so there wasn't much to do this morning except hook the car onto the back of the motorhome & hit the road. Didn't want to stay another day because I couldn't stand listening to my own complaining about the crowds in Quartzite any longer.

We rolled north into Q & I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of traffic. Snapped a few pics out the window. It was about 9:30 a.m. when we waved good-bye to Quartzite & headed eastward to Interstate 8. Traffic was light & we rolled right along with no problems. Mornings are my favorite driving times because I enjoy the way the morning sun always lights the landscape & this morning was extra special because there were a lot of varying cloud patterns & that added a moody character to the sky. Distant mountains on both sides of the road looked stately, especially the ones to the south cloaked in a dark shadowy haze. Great lumbering Goliaths with high jagged peaks reaching for the clouds. Just the kind fairy tales & old western legends are written about. A beautiful morning. The other thing that became immediately apparent was the ever greening of the desert & hillsides the further east we went. More & more Saguaros began appearing, Palo Verde trees, cholla, & I'm sure there may have been some early flowers here & there had we stopped & looked. We passed the RV campground near Tonopah where our water line froze up two years ago, passed a service station that we remembered from last year having huge craters in it's parking lot that would have put a B-52 bombing raid to shame.

We had been driving about 2 hours when we saw it. The large tall sign appeared out of the horizon & steadily drew closer. Can it be....could it be?? Yes, yes, it is!!!! "CRACKER BARREL:))))" For us this was a true oasis in a long driving desert. There was a Cracker Barrel restaurant ahead just east of Buckeye. No decisions to be made here, this was an automatic YES!! The large fairly new mall is located about 5 miles past our turn off for Gila Bend but that was ok, we were starving for some good old country kitchen cooking. Had been over a month since we were last in a Cracker Barrel in Yuma. Can you tell this is our favorite place:))

I had a sausage skillet & Kelly had the newer Santa Fe skillet but we both agreed the sausage one was far better. Check the web album later for a picture... http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

KELLY CHECKING THE MENU AT CRACKER BARREL

By 12:15 we were back on the road & made the big swing south for Gila Bend. We knew we could dump tanks there & take on fresh water plus propane or gas if we needed it....which we didn't. For anyone traveling, if your coming into Gila Bend from the north, watch for the Shell Station on your right. There is free water & dump right behind the station & we noticed they have just paved the huge parking lot. No problem for big rigs getting around in there. There is also an RV Park right next door as well. Only took us about 20 minutes to do our business in there & we were back on I-8 heading east again. THE BEDROOM PAINT JOB

Herb had told us about a great little free camping place between Gila Bend & Casa Grande so that is where we headed. Jim Kortsen West Pinal Park is located in the V of the fork of I-8 & highway 84. This is a great little gem of a camping area. Well maintained with some sites having a concrete pad with picnic table & covered roof. It's all dry camping & lots of room & greenery between the sites. Not many rigs here so we were able to find a great little spot where the dogs (or us) wouldn't bother anyone. Only slight downside is a bit of traffic noise from I-8 to the south & some traffic on 84 north of us. Nice Saguaro cactus in here too. Right now as I'm typing this I can look out through our big windshield & see the dull glow of Tucson on the low cloud cover to our southwest. Across the whole horizon running north to Phoenix I can see the un-ending twinkling of lights. I'm guessing much of that is Casa Grande about 20 miles to the east. OUR NEW DIGS WEST OF CASA GRANDE, AZ

A fellow RV'er out walking his dog noticed our Canadian flag decals on the rig so came over. He's from British Columbia, & wouldn't you know it........his brother lives in Port Elgin Ontario which is a about a 90 minute drive from our place in Bayfield.

Our weather has been fabulous. It was a warm night in Quartzite last night & even warmer when we got up this morning. I could feel humidity in the air as soon as I stepped out of the coach. When we stopped in Buckeye around noon there was a warm wind blowing & our outside thermometer was saying 80F. It seemed even hotter than that by the time we got to our campsite west of Casa Grande. The sky was dark over Tucson & I think they got some rain. Also, we were surprised at the many crystal clear television stations we can get here with our antennae. And, our Verizon card works grrrrrrreat!!

All & all, it was a good day & we're happy to have a nice quiet & private campsite for a few days. To-morrow morning we'll drive into Casa Grande for a few groceries & things. And what a relief it is for me not to have anything to complain about to-day. Ok, ok, a little traffic noise but what the heck.......................... OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

OH NO.....REMBRANDT'S ON THE LOOSE WITH HIS PAINT BRUSH AGAIN

VISITING WITH BEA & HERB FROM ALBERT, CANADA

"Do you need a groundsheet?" "No, it'll be alright." "That's what I'm afraid about" she said. And so began our day as Kelly headed back into Quartzite for one last browse & I headed for the bedroom armed with a can of paint & a brush. Another fine Arizona morning was underway.THE MASTERPIECE BEGINS

We had decided awhile back to paint the back wall of the bedroom the same color as our slide in the front area. Bought the paint in Yuma last month & this morning the paint urge finally kicked in. I like to do those kinds of job when Kelly's not around because it just makes for a little more peace of mind when I don't have someone making suggestions, telling me how to do it, changing things, or questioning my work methods....so to speak!! Took me about an hour or so to finish up the paint job & while standing back admiring my word, I glanced in the bathroom. Hey, I was on a roll!! Within minutes the paint was flying in the bathroom too & I had one wall totally finished before the Boss rolled in. Too bad, because I could have had the second wall done too, but...... "Lets think about it" she said. And just as I figured, after I had the paint all put away & brushes cleaned, she later said, "yes, let's do that wall as well." Arrrrrggghhhhh!! QUARTZITE'S MOODY MOUNTAINS

Another RV couple we had first met down at the Hickiwan Trails RV Park...
http://hickiwantrailsrvpark.com/ last year are here in Quartzite again this year so after a few Facebook messages back & forth Bea & Herb came out to our campsite for a visit. We had seen them last year here as well & last month we dropped in to see them when they were staying near St. David south of Benson Az. Once again much of the conversation centered around internet connections, phone plans, antennas, boosters, etc. Bea & Herb have had a rough winter so far. First, their motorhome engine blew while going over the Rockies a couple of months ago. Second, the fuel pump in their rig went the day before Christmas while they were in a propane line-up in Benson. They spent Christmas day in their rig on a Ford dealership's parking lot. And then to make matters worse.....it snowed on them!! Next came news that the furnace igniter in their house back in British Columbia had failed to light the furnace........and their whole house froze!! Water pipes burst in numerous places, the bottom busted out of the water heater & when the temperature went up, all that frozen water melted...... flooding their house. The one rubber plant they had is now deceased as well:(( Let me tell you, these two people are in remarkably good spirits considering all the bad luck they've had so far.
It was nice to see them as we chatted the afternoon away. They are here until the end of the month & then headed off somewhere but not sure where. What a great life eh. We waved good-bye to Bea & Herb around 4 as they headed off out into the desert in their little green Jeep Liberty. Wonder if we'll ever cross paths again. With the economy about to spin out of control & the approaching doom & gloom, it's unlikely a lot of us will ever see each other again because I have a feeling this is going to be the last year of traveling for a lot of us RV folks:((

TAKE CARE GUYS & HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN SOMETIME

This is our last night in Quartzite & to-morrow morning we'll head east over to Buckeye & then south to Gila Bend where we'll dump tanks, take on water, fuel, & propane. Herb told us about a spot between Gila Bend & Casa Grande where there is free camping so we'll check that out & maybe stay a couple days before rolling down through Tucson & on to the Benson area. Not crazy about having to run that construction gauntlet through Tucson again but that's just the way it is. We want to be on site for our ranch sitting job near Douglas Az somewhere around the 28th because we have an orientation period to go through with the folks at the ranch. That will be good because I've never had to milk chickens before, never met a mule more stubborn than me & I'm not sure which end of the horse to put the hay in.

We had our last campfire to-night & both agreed this is the warmest night we've had since leaving home back in November. It was dark & I even had a short sleeve shirt & shorts on....most amazing:))

I must remember to take a picture of the finished paint job to-morrow too. Even the Boss thought I did a good job. Like I said........................most amazing!!

OUR LAST CAMPFIRE IN QUARTZITE

No photos for the web album to-night.

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PLEASANTLY SURPRISED BY SOME BLOG FOLLOWERS

TUESDAY MORNING SUNRISE

Another fine morning in America's southwest. We don't have the best television reception here but we were able to pull in CBS on a Yuma station & that's what we watched the Obama inauguration on this morning. It will be one of those moments in history when people will remember where they were & what they were doing. For us it was a beautiful desert morning south of Quartzite, Arizona. Door & windows open with a nice breeze blowing through the rig. Kelly was finishing up some dishes & I was sitting in one of the Poang chairs taking a few photos. Yes, it will be a nice morning for us to remember.
LOOKS LIKE KELLY'S REALLY ENJOYING OBAMA'S INAUGAURATION

I don't think Obama had even made it off the podium before Kelly was out the door, into the car, & heading back into the Quartzite moshpit. I happily continued with a bunch of puttering around the place secure in the knowledge that my Quartzite ordeal was behind me!! Kelly later told me that to-day & Sunday were not nearly as busy as Monday when I came along. Why is that!!!!

I was stretched out in the lounger soaking up some warm sun when the thought occurred to me that I hadn't put our Canadian flag up yet. Last year we got ourselves into trouble a few times for flying our Canadian flag on American soil so this year I hadn't put it up. Kelly had picked up an American flag & pole kit at the Frugal Coyote store in Borrego Springs a few weeks ago & I had put that one up on the rig yesterday. Etiquette seems to dictate it's alright to fly our Canadian flag if the American flag is above it. The flag pole was too short for two flags but I remembered an old sawed off hockey stick I had in one of the bins for propping up the bin doors. So, with some metal C clamps, a bit of rope, & a whole lot of duct tape I began re-constructing a longer flag pole.

AL WASN'T THE ONLY ONE SOAKING UP A LITTLE WARM SUNSHINE TO-DAY

I was sitting in the chair in the process of fastening the metal flag pole to the old hockey stick when I was aware of sound & movement out on the Old Yuma road off to my right. Two ATV's had slowed & the lead ATV made a direct turn right into our campsite. I immediately figured I was in trouble for something. I grew up under the heavy eye of criticism so whenever anything unusual happens I always figure I've done something wrong. But, that was not to be the case to-day. This was about to be the first of two feeling good events for me. Pete introduced himself & his buddy Ed as they both climbed off their machines. Pete lives nearby & has been following our blog for about a year now. He knew we were in the area & from my vague description a few days ago of where we were, was able to track us down. They had been cruising the area looking for our flag set up that I just posted a picture of in yesterday's blog. Problem was, I had just taken the flag down 10 minutes before to begin working on my flagpole extension idea. However, coming down Old Yuma road they spotted the rig & me sitting in a chair with the flags stretched across my lap. These desert dwellers have sharp eyes. We spent the best part of an hour talking about all sorts of things that RV'ers generally talk about & Ed really liked the color of our adobe painted walls. The fellas were just about ready to leave when Kelly rolled in from Q. I was glad she got to meet them & it was a good feeling knowing someone had taken time out of their day to actually track us down & tell us how much they enjoy reading the blog & seeing the pictures. It was especially nice for me because I'm geared more for negative remarks & not compliments. The boys rode off into the desert & I resumed my flagpole project. Thanks guys:)) ED & PETEPETE WAVES GOOD-BYE AS THE BOYS HEAD WEST TO-WARDS THE MOUNTAINS

Kelly had picked up a computer fan a couple of days ago because I figured it might be a good way to circulate some of the warm blue flame air from the upper half of the coach to the lower half. Pete had given me an idea on how to hook it up so I was sitting on the floor working at splicing some wires when the dogs suddenly let out a bark just as a knock came to our open door. Oh oh, I must be in trouble for something. The big fellow standing at the door said, "Hello, my name's John Brown & I was in the area, I read your blog & just wanted to meet you." Well, to say I was totally befuzzled would be putting it mildly. And just as with the other two fellows ,I felt a certain unease for a few minutes until I realized they were not here to bash me for something I had said in the blogs. I do get a little opinionated at times you know. But two blog followers in one day.........who would have ever thunk it. About 15 minutes into the conversation with John he mentioned he has a website as well & as soon as he said John & Brenda's Incredible Adventure, I knew who he was. Their blog is one of the links on our main page...
http://johnbrendasincredibleadventure.blogspot.com/
We had ourselves quite a chin wag for an hour or so & as so often happens, we seemed to know a lot of the same RV blog people. Always lots of things to talk about & lots of things in common in the RV world. RV folks are never at a loss for words. John's wife had to fly back to Calgary for a bit so John figured he'd take a drive down here south of Quartzite to see if he could find us. He's camped north of Q. Nice fellow. The sun was down over the mountains when John headed back to his rig.

FINALLY GOT OUR CANADIAN FLAG UP JOHN, FROM JOHN & BRENDA'S INCREDIBLE ADVENTURE

So, all & all, it was quite a pleasantly unexpected day for me. Made 3 new friends & that ain't too bad for a guy who is not exactly people oriented anymore. John touched on that subject to-day when we were talking about spending quality time with oneself. I have felt that for many years now but it's not a subject that is easily discussed with many people. In the RV world a lot of emphasis is placed on the social contact element with people always being to-gether for an unending array of constant club & social events. It is easy for me to understand that lifestyle because I have been there & done that but it is difficult for a lot of those people to understand my/our desire to be off by ourselves boondocking & not wanting to participate in the happy hours, the pot lucks, the line dancing classes, the fire rings, the wheelbarrow races, or the 3 legged grasshopper tickle. Just some quiet quality time playing with the dogs, doing some puttering, soothing music on the satellite radio, soaking up some sunshine, listening to the wind in the trees & watching the magic cloud shadows play across the distant mountain tops. Thanks John, it was nice to hear someone else touch on that subject. MAX SAYING GOOD-BYE TO BIG JOHN

And thanks to Pete & Ed. All you blog follower guys made my day:)))))))

No photos for the web album to-day.

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QUARTZITE!! IF IT WASN'T FOR THE HORDES OF PEOPLE, I MIGHT LIKE THIS PLACE

MONDAY MORNING SUNRISE

Last year we had a lot of big winds blowing through here in the night disrupting our sleep but this year the old north wind is behaving itself, but the coyotes aren't. As soon as darkness descends, the yipping & howling begins. Most of the RV's here are east of us with a few to the south & some to the north. West of us is wide open desert for miles, and that's where the coyotes are.....lots of them. Within about half an hour of sundown we could hear them very close behind our unit last night again. Maybe 50 yards of so. Maybe less. Shone the flashlight into the blackness hoping to see some shining eyes but they were too clever for that. We always hear them but we never see them. They hang around all night sometimes really yipping up a storm, & that sets Checkers off which in turns wakes me up. Max & the Motormouse aren't bothered by the Coyote sounds but Checkers does a lot of growling & barking. So, the last couple of nights have not been good for sleeping.

I had myself psyched up for the trip into Quartzite this morning. I wasn't going to let thousands of people, hundreds & hundreds of vendors, traffic jams, or jostling line-ups bother me. No sireeeee, I was up for the challenge.....but then we got there!! We were at Tyson Wells before the vendors were open but still had trouble finding a parking place. The vendors opening time was 9 p.m. but only about a third of them were sleepily getting up to speed so we just kind of slowly ambled around. I'm not good at slow ambling!! By 9:30 things were gearing up & people were rolling in. We found what we were looking for at the flag pole place but then began the long slow ordeal of browsing. I'm not good at browsing!! I can get out on a rough hiking trail & go for a long ways for hours without tiring or so much as stopping for a drink of water, but shift me into browse/shopping mode & I'm toast within half an hour. I have a theory as to why that happens. Walking slow for hours with numerous stops to look at stuff & long periods of standing in one place waiting for a spouse is hard on the legs. Weight & pressure is held longer on each leg joint causing early stress to all areas of the limbs & therefore, the mind. It seems to be a common affliction that affects only males who are in the company of a woman at the time. There has been no recorded history of a woman ever having this problem either by herself or in company of others. And strangely enough, men on their own looking for an item or out to buy something rarely suffer from this either. They know what they want, they know where to get it, & they know enough to clear the area as soon as they have what they came for. Believe me, I know of these things!! And that's my theory & I'm sticking to it!!

THIS WAS MY BREAKFAST STOP

After trudging along up & down aisles & aisles of vendors for what seemed like hours we finally made our way over towards the Big Top area. I was in there on opening day last year so knew enough to stay well clear of the place. If you have a strong need to be trampled, the Big Top is for you!! Had a look at some RV's & as much as we prefer motorhomes, the 5th wheels do have the nicest floor plans. We had a fifth wheel 2 years ago but find the motorhome much more convenient. Made our way around the outside of the Big Top to the vendor Kelly got the windshield sunscreens at yesterday. They also had pre-made sun visor material for motorhomes as well so we picked up two. Kelly couldn't remember where the sun screen vendor was at first so that cost Al's legs some more of that stress stuff. You remember the theory, right!!

Grabbed a quick bite & even managed to find a table & chair to sit down & eat it at. But only briefly. Chairs were at a premium & Seniors waiting for them were beginning to look downright dangerous. We had just passed a booth where they were handing out gun licenses for concealed weapons & by the looks on some of those older folks faces I'm sure they were concealing more than guns!!

KELLY'S ON THE CELL PHONE TAKING A RESERVATION FOR DEERPARK LODGE

Made our way back to the parking lot........& then came the traffic jam. We were bumper to bumper & it took us about 20 minutes to go a block & a half. Was glad to reach the highway & make the right hand turn out of town. Traffic was fine going south for us but traffic heading northbound into Q was bumper to bumper for about 2 miles out of town. Oh well, better them than me.

Soooooooo glad to be out of the Quartzite crush & back out to the desert & our rig. Time elapsed....3 whole hours. Spent the rest of the afternoon resting my legs, snoozing, reading & trying to restore my mind back to something resembling normal. A 20 Borax mule team couldn't drag me back into Quartzite again, but of course, Kelly, being a woman, is heading right back in there again in the morning. What was the name of that book a few years ago, Men are from Mars & Women are from......WHERE!!!!

FLAG POLE IS UP

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HOME ALONE WHILE KELLY HEADS INTO THE MOSHPIT

SUNRISE

Quietly watched the sunrise over the Kofa Mountains this morning. The jagged peaks of the Kofa range are like ancient castles perched high atop massive mounds of solid rock below. Names like Squaw Peak , Signal Peak, & Polaris mountain. I remember them from the past couple of years & they are beautifully stretched across the hazy southeastern horizon. To our west is the Dome Rock Mountains where the morning sun becomes the evening sun & blazes the sky with it's flaming silhouette sunsets on the mountain tops.SUNSET

Kelly was anxious to get into the moshpit early this morning to find a good parking spot. One of our RV friends got nailed with a $74 parking ticket in there the other day. Not nice, but it's Quartzite & it's the middle of January!! SNOOZING WITH DAD'S HAT ON

Had myself a great morning just puttering about. Built a firepit amongst other things. Weather is totally great with lots of sun & warm temps. Had to put the awning out for some shade because we don't have any trees nearby. Our site is OK for a few days but not as nice as a few of the sites we had last year. People kept crowding in we kept moving!! Last year at about this time we were here as well & it was a beehive of activity for us sometimes. Had our torn awning replaced, had a blue flame heater installed & if that wasn't enough, we hauled all our furniture out of the rig, loaded it in the car & drove it into Q & sold it to one of the vendors known as, The Gambler. Until we got over to the Ikea store in Tempe a week later, all's we had in here was 2 folding chairs & a small wooden table. Kelly jokingly told the people at the Gambler place that we had to sell the furniture for gas money to get back to Canada. And everybody believed her too. I just kinda pulled my hat way down over my face & tried to make myself about as small as I could.

In yesterday's post I had written a little piece on how to make campfire's more colorful by using some plastic & copper materials. Several guests quickly pointed out in our website Shout Box about the toxicity & bad elements this releases into the atmosphere. Thought about that for a few minutes & came to the conclusion that they were absolutely right. I went back & removed the campfire colors instructions. It's a good thing we have people on the ball out there:)) PUTTING UP THE SOLAR PANELS THIS MORNING

We've had inquiries about the earth oven we were parked beside over near Borrego Springs last week. The same people who built that oven are currently cooking in another one they built right here in Quartzite & if you go to Doug & JoAnn's site you can see some pictures of the gang using the oven.....http://www.mytripjournal.com/travel-418783 Click on the pictures.

I can hear the far distant "thumps" of bombs being dropped in the Chocolate Mountain Bombing range many miles & two mountain ranges to the west. Three days ago when we were on our Elephant Tree hunt south of Ocotillo Wells in California we could hear the same thing. We were on the other side of the Chocolates then but we were easily 60 plus miles away. We are much more than that now but the "thumps" are unmistakable.

Wind came up in the afternoon so had to get the awning down. An exhausted Kelly finally made it back from the Q Crush around 3 with her booty of bargoons. Finally got some RV Quick Shades for our big front windshield. While parked, they block out the sun's hot rays plus we can see out but nobody can see in. We do have curtains that pull across the windshield but they are a real pain. Also got a small computer fan to help circulate the warmer air down around the floor area. A stone pizza baking plate, night light, hanging basket affair for fruit, but..........no new flagpole for the rig!! Kelly looked at poles to-day but couldn't decide on the right one, sooooooooooooooo, looks like I'm going to get dragged kicking & screaming into town first thing in the morning. But, maybe that's not so bad because if I play my cards right, maybe I can talk the Boss into a big mess of bacon & eggs in town somewhere..........Ya, that's what I'll do. Can hardly wait to get rolling.........................10-4!!

SUNDOWN OVER THE DOME ROCK MOUNTAINS

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WE WOKE UP IN CALIFORNIA & WENT TO BED IN ARIZONA

CAMPFIRE COLORS

Another beautiful sunny California morning with a big fiery sunrise beaming through our windshield. Not sure exactly when the decision was made to pack up & head for Quartzite but I guess we just kind of hit on the idea about the same time this morning & before long we were in the process of putting solar panels down, awning up, ground mat & chairs away, etc. Planned to drive over & say good-bye to Butch but he beat us to it when we heard our dogs barking. There was Butch & Kapeesh coming over a rise to see how we were doing. Had us big chin wag for quite awhile & then it was good-bye. Always a sad time for me saying good-bye to people & leaving favorite campsites but soon we had the big wheels rolling & my focus was shifted forward to the new adventures ahead. SAYING GOOD-BYE TO BUTCH & KAPEESH

Dumped the tanks in Borrego & took on fresh water. Hitched the car up near the Kiwanis booth just off Christmas circle & headed out of town. Bye bye Borrego Springs & thanks once again for all the great memories over the past 18 days. Sure hope we get back to see you again.

We decided to take a different route to Quartzite & have us a look at some roads, mountains, & scenery we've never seen before. Down through Ocotillo Wells & on into Brawley. We were both needing a good Wal-Mart fix & we had heard there was a new 6 month old Wallyworld in town. What a great looking store because the outside is done in a southwest architecture theme. I did take a picture of the place, & by the way, we asked, & yes it is RV friendly so it's ok for an overnighter folks.

BRAWLEY'S NEW RV FRIENDLY WALLY WORLD

The scenery east of Brawley just kept getting better & better as we followed highway 78 northeast. Saw the kids on countless dune buggies, ATV's & dirt bikes as we drove through Glamis in the Imperial Sand Dunes. Looked like the Sahara desert with hundreds & hundreds of off road vehicles bouncing over the dunes in every imaginable direction. East of Glamis the highway narrows with no shoulders so you really have to keep your eyes on the road. One wheel off the pavement & your toast. No chance of putting the rig on Auto Pilot & slipping back to the washroom on this road. No sireeeeee!! The further we traveled, the greener the desert became & it was nice to see some actual trees beginning to appear. Soon we would be seeing Saguaro cactus in the landscape again. Really missed them in California. The many majestic mountain ranges along this road just added to the magic of the desert landscape. What a beautiful country this is. OFF ROADING IN GLAMIS

We climbed aboard Interstate 10 just west of Blyth & rolled right through town to the east side where we crossed the State Line into Arizona. We had half a tank of propane & were down to about a quarter tank of gas in the rig but wanted to wait until we crossed the State Line before filling up because of the much cheaper fuel prices in Az. Hadn't thought about the Flying J being the last gas station in Arizona before traffic headed into California where gas prices were much higher so the place was packed with vehicles. We had to get on the end of a long double line up for the pumps but surprisingly enough my impatience didn't get the best of me for a change & within about half an hour or so we were again back on I-10 & eastbound for Q. LONG LINE-UP AT THE GAS PUMPS & THERE'S KELLY UP THERE TELLING THE DRIVER'S TO SPEED IT UP:))

There's a point on the interstate when you come over a rise & Quartzite appears in the valley below. It's from here that you first see the vast spectacle of thousands & thousands of RV's spread out for miles in every direction across the desert floor. We've seen this before but it's always impressive. It was 5 P.M. when we rolled up to the main intersection of Quartzite & the traffic was surprisingly light. We figured it was because all the RV'ers were home strapping on the feed bags because if I remember correctly, the many vendors here close at 4 o'clock. Nice unexpected traffic break for us.

Figured we might as well head to the area that we had stayed at here the past couple of years simply because we know our way around the desert here. About 6 miles south of Quartzite on highway 95 is Roadrunner road & that was our exit off the road as we headed northwest out into the desert.......& hundreds & hundreds, & hundreds of RV's. But, like I said, this was familiar territory so we knew where to head so finally found us a reasonably quiet spot. Nobody near us on three sides but quite a few rigs to the northeast. Oh well, this is January in Q so that means people, people, people. Probably about 5000 people per square foot once you get right into Q itself so I'll be spending the majority of my time right here at the rig with the furry guys:)) Kelly can go into town & do battle with the crowds & go toe to toe with the vendors & merchants. She has a lot more patience for that sort of thing than I do & besides it's a very considerate thing for me to do by staying home. That way she doesn't have to worry about dragging a complaining husband around everywhere or seeing him reduced to a whimpering pile of mush in the crush of the milling hordes of humanoids.

We're able to pick up some television channels here but I'm not so sure that's a good thing. For the past 18 days we have been without television & it wasn't until we turned on our television to-night that I realized how great the past two & a half weeks have been. No gloom & doom news, no phony cop shows, no ram jam hokey local commercials, & no "happy gang" jokesters on the local news channels. I had really taken a liking to our nightly DVD movie nights, which brings me to last night's movie, "The Straight Story." It's the true story of Alvin Straight who drove his lawn mower, towing a trailer, all the way from Iowa to Wisconsin to visit his ailing brother Lyle. This is a simple movie with no Hollywood glitz & glitter. No overblown & over the top hero figures. No stupidity, no bad language, & no phony characters. Just a simple movie with a simple story. Can you tell I liked it:)) Especially loved the instrumental violin & guitar sound track.

I uploaded the Borrego Ranch photos from yesterday to the web album this afternoon & have also uploaded some photos from to-day. I took a series of pictures with a 135mm telephoto lens of our campfire last night & have decided to include them all in the album because of their colors. Ok Al, back yourself away from the computer & go to bed..................please!!

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IT'S KELLY SITTING ON THE ELEPHANT'S TRUNK

Just over a hill to our west is the RV area that a lot of Canadians frequent during the winter months. It is called Peg Leg Smiths & there is actually a monument there to the man himself. You can read about Pegleg's lost gold mine here...http://www.desertusa.com/magnov97/gold/nov_gold2.html

From our campsite to Peg Leg is only about a half mile or so & this morning we hiked up the hill that separates us. Nice view & I took some pictures for the web album from atop the rocky hill. A lot of Canadian RV'ers come to this spot each year & it was actually an RV'er from Peg Leg that told us about this area when we were in Slab City a year ago. Borrego Springs is only a short drive so it's an ideal spot for the Canadian snowbirds.

PEG LEG SMITH'S IN THE FOREGROUND

Kelly's ankle is getting stronger so we figured on a hike south of Ocotillo Wells. Book said an easy 1 mile loop trail leads to a rare elephant tree. We had been looking for elephant trees in the Mountain Palm Canyon area earlier & that was where Kelly originally hurt her ankle. We had heard of Ocotillo Wells before but had never been down around that area. Ocotillo Wells is only about a 25 minute drive & there really isn't a town of sorts there. It is known as a prime off road recreation area & each year hundreds of thousands of kids descend on this place with their dune buggies, dirt bikes, ATV's, Jeeps, & just about anything else that has a motor. RV's, tin shacks, adobe huts, some nice houses, & a lot of tumble down places are scattered for miles across the desert floor. Luckily for us everything was peaceful & quiet this morning. We headed south out of Ocotillo Wells for a few miles until we came across the turn off that lead to the Elephant Tree Trail. The sandy road started off ok but got very rock infested by the time we reached the trail head. Good thing we brought water because it was very, very, hot. We had been told that rattlesnakes will come out this time of year if the weather is hot to sun themselves, so that was foremost on our minds as we hiked up the sandy wash & onto the rocky trail. No snakes but I did see 3 small lizards skittering about. About 15 minutes of walking finally brought us to the elephant tree. Not a very big tree as far as trees go but when we looked at the trunk section it was easy to see why they are called Elephant Trees. It had a very sweet aroma to it as well. We took a few pictures & then headed back for the car. Just too hot to be out tramping around in the desert this morning & Kelly had a headache by the time we got back to the parking area. MAX, ON OUR MORNING WALK

We were hoping to drive to Split Mountain & hike to the Wind Caves a little further down the road as well but it was not to be. Turned off the highway at the marker for Split Mountain & headed up a sandy wash for about half a mile. Sign had said 3 miles to Split Mountain but I didn't like the feel of the soft sand grabbing at the tires. Our Hyundai Santa Fe is only a 2 wheel drive & the sand was definitely feeling like 4 wheel drive country to me. Didn't want to take the chance of getting stuck way back in there because not many vehicles pass this way, maybe no cell phone coverage in this remote area, & in the heat of to-day we just didn't want to make any wrong decisions. Turned around & headed back to the highway, back through Ocotillo Wells & eventually back to Borrego Springs. It had been a nice way to spend the morning because we got to see some new territory & it got us out doing something. My favorite days are out exploring new roads or trails. I don't mind sitting around the rig once & awhile but I sure get bored fast if I don't have something to do or a challenge in front of me. That's why I've never understood people who just spend the entire winter months in one place sitting in their rigs. And each year they go to the same place & do exactly the same thing every day that they did the day before & the year before that. But, it's different strokes for different folks & that's what makes this whole thing work.

Before we reached Borrego Springs we stopped at the Borrego Ranch (formally, La Casa Del Zorro) near the little community of Montesoro. We weren't sure what it was but there was a lot of greenery & palm trees so we drove in. Wow, what a swanky-do place. We ended up for nearly an hour in there driving & walking around looking at how the rich folks spend their time. I took a lot of pictures & will post them to the web album sometime Saturday but not to-night. To-nights pics will be from the Ocotillo Wells area. We couldn't help but notice the lack of people in this posh playground to-day & that's probably why we got away with taking so many photos of the place. Here is a link to the newly renovated & recently opened, Borrego Ranch.
http://www.borregoranch.com/ bet this place is going to attract movie stars, if already hasn't. I did get a long telephoto shot of the pool area with a blonde in a white bikini but the person was very far away so no positive ID on Britney Spears. Yep, could be Hollywood alright.

MOTORDOG & HER NEW FOUND DINOSAUR BONE

We had only been back to the rig about 5 minutes when a Class C rolled in & parked a short distance away. Acres & acres of room, countless campsites & this guy rolls in & sets up camp next to us. I call those types of people, "huddlers." As soon as they see another RV they feel compelled to come over & huddle. I don't mind friends parked nearby but we don't care for the those strange huddler types!! Anyway, that's all I'm going to say about that. We'll see how things go to-morrow.

We were going to try the earth oven to-night with a couple of small pizzas but when Kelly saw the price of them in the grocery store this afternoon, that was the end of that idea!! I suggested we try some ice cream in the earth oven but Kelly gave that idea two thumbs down. Women huh!!

Another totally beautiful star studded night with no wind. Kelly had a nice campfire going again & all was quiet in the neighborhood. Even the new neighbor's were keeping things quiet. Not sure what's on tap for to-morrow but as long as it's got something to do with something I've never done before or somewhere I've never been or seen before, I'll be a happy camper....................................

OK, WHICH ONE'S THE ELEPHANT TREE

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AT LAST, MY VERY OWN EGG POCKET

IT IS ANOTHER NICE SPOT WE HAVE

For the past 6 years we have lived in a pine forest back home in Bayfield Ontario & for somebody like myself with an interest in Astronomy, that doesn't make the night sky very accessible. Once again as I stepped out of the motorhome last night here in the desert I was greeted with an awesome canopy of stars from horizon to horizon. An unobstructed view across the great arc of the night sky. The diamond like stars were shimmering against the coal black heavens as the cooler desert air beckoned in the distant constellations & star formations. The Andromeda Galaxy, the Orion Nebulae, the Pleiades, the Hyades, the bright star Betelgeuse & constellation Pegasus, the flying horse, just to mention a few. So nice to sit quietly & enjoy the peacefulness, the stillness, & overall serenity of another tranquil desert night.

As mentioned in last night's blog we have used up all our Verizon gigabytes for the month so this morning we drove into Borrego heading for the free wifi access at the library. Stopped at Calicos for coffee & egg pockets & the boss actually let me have my very own egg pocket this time. Didn't have to share one this morning. Men are not good at sharing stuff, especially when it comes to food. Always figure that whatever is on my plate is mine....MINE!! Walked over to the library with the laptop & got set up. Kelly was on one of the library's computer & I set up the laptop at a station by the window. But, no matter what I did I couldn't connect. Kelly had been having trouble accessing her webmail for the past week or so & made some changes to our connection settings yesterday & that seemed to affect our computer. She worked on that computer for the best part of half an hour or more before she finally figured out the problem. If I had been there alone I would have given up after about 2 minutes, thrown the computer in the car, & drove out of the parking lot madder than a hatter heading for home & complaining to myself all the way about the miserable world of rotten computers!!!!

BORREGO SPRINGS LIBRARY

We are still doing our DVD movie every night & to-night's movie will be "August Rush." Last night was, "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore".....didn't care for it that much. Night before was a movie called, "The Hours." That was 2 days ago & I still don't have a clue what that movie was about!! Tuesday night we tried, "Kite Runner" but had trouble reading the subtitles so ditched it. Next, we tried a Will Smith movie about being the last man on earth......dumped it after about 15 minutes!! I thought "Atonement" was well done & had a quality about it. "Tsotsi" started out ok but by the end I didn't care for it. Kelly watched, "Breach" but I didn't. About 5 minutes into it I figured it was nothing more than one of those two bit boring run of the mill cheap cop shows that infest the television airwaves every night of the week. Don't get me started about the garbage on television these days!! Yes I know Rod, it's my post!! (thanks for the Shout)

Want to say thanks to everyone for all the nice emails we receive. The comments in the blog posts, the notes in our Guestbook, the comments in our Shoutbox, & the messages in our Facebook. The comments come from all across the country including some very nice emails from people back home in our own Bayfield area. As a result of our blog we have met some very nice people along the way & am sure we'll meet many more. I try to answer all questions people send in & enjoy the internet friendships that spring up. I worry that in the jumble of communications, sometimes I miss people or forget to return an email or a comment. Too many Senior moments, not enough Jube Jubes!!

And a word about to-night's DVD movie we just finished watching......"August Rush." This was one of those feeling good fairy tale ending type of movies. Inspirational & uplifting. It had to do with one of my most favorite things.....music. If someone were to ask me someday what one single thing has brought me more pleasure, joy, & entertainment in life, my simple answer would be.................................Music:)) HARK......HORSE & RIDER APPROACHING

No photos for the web album to-night.

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SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

CHECKING THE PORK CHOPS

Just got me a few things to straighten out first. Noticed last night that the date on my post was incorrect & looking back I see that other blog dates are incorrect as well. Checked the computer clock & date calendar & therein was the problem. Somewhere along the line Gremlins were at work in our laptop & the inboard calendar had leaped a day ahead making the dates on the blogs 1 day earlier than they occurred. Hopefully I've got the problem straightened out.

Secondly, we've been very pleased with our Verizon air card's ease & comfort of use. Reception has been reasonably good as well but with 3 days to go we are butted right up against our 5GB monthly limit. We don't download music, movies, or anything like that but something has really eaten up our Gigabytes this past month so we have had to stop using our Skype phone program for starters. Over the next 3 days I may not upload the blog or pictures at night. Might just drive into Borrego Springs in the morning & get all that done at the library. The monetary cost for going over the 5GB limit is grossly absurd!!!!

And thirdly.............Sometimes, because we are human beings we have a tendency to say some things, or in my case, write some things that are not always well thought out. I did that a few days ago at the end of my "Traveling With Our Best Pals" blog. I made a reference to liking my dogs better than people. Well, although there is an element of truth in that I should have explained myself or re-phrased that better. Sometimes if I'm little ticked off with the human element, whether it be inconsiderate RV'ers crowding our site, crooked Wall Street CEO's, shifty politicians, maniac drivers, or the all round human greed factor that pervades our society, I have a tendency to set my typing fingers in gear before engaging the brain matter sometimes. It's why I've been called, Mr. Blabberfingers of course. And so it was the other day as I was merrily blabbering my way along. Let me say that I have met & known many fine & wondrous people over the years. Have had lots of best friends & am enjoying meeting new people out here on the road all the time. Guess I just get myself into a snit at times with all the "goings on" in the world. No, I didn't receive any criticism about that statement except that it kinda kept eating away at me. Hmmmm, wonder if it's a sign of mellowing.

So, if you are a human being & you are reading this, then let it be known that Al still loves ya all, even if ya aren't furry critters:))

Oh, & by the way, there is often a good side to the bad side of things & in the case of the inconsiderate campers the other day I will say this.....Thanks. Thanks for ticking us off bad enough to move because we now have a much nicer site:))

Now, back to the enjoyment of the RV lifestyle. We sure had ourselves a rollicking dust up of doggy toy games this morning. Before the sun was even over the mountains, the toys were flying through the air, dogs were barking their heads off, & the kibitzing was in full swing. Didn't have to worry about waking up any neighbors, so me & the furry guys were really kicking us up a storm. And, we never even got yelled at once by the Momster who was diligently working away on her morning computer stuff. Great way to the start the day I'd say:)) Well, at least for us guys anyway.

Very happy with our new campsite & kicking ourselves that we didn't scout out the area better when we first rolled in here a couple weeks ago. Much better here where we are. Better hiking because there are hills, ravines, & gulleys. The landscape is far more interesting than the flat desert where we were. And I love the view of Borrego Springs at night with all it's little twinkling lights at the foot of the towering San Ysidro mountains. Found some other great sites nearby on our walk this morning so if we are ever back in this neighborhood again we'll definitely come to this area just off Rockhouse Road. It's just too bad there isn't a little more greenery but this area was bulldozed years ago for some kind of gravel pit operation. The desert is slowly regaining back it's rightful place but it will be years before the man made scars are gone. Ocotillos & some scrub grass are taking hold now. Sure would be nice to see Saguaro cactus here, but what the heck, stop your complaining Al & just get outside & enjoy the day with the rest of the lizards & fellow desert dwellers!!

We're still taking things easy & trying to give Kelly's ankle as much rest as possible. It has been steadily improving but she noticed some tingling in it this morning when we got back from our walk.

And an update to yesterday's blog about the earth oven. (not solar oven) Thanks to several other RV friends we found out who actually built this oven & that they have a website where you can actually see photos of them building it with a friend last year. They are Laurie & Odel & you can find them here...............http://laurieandodel.blogspot.com/

Just noticed a comment in the Shout Box on our website suggesting maybe my comment about older folks & loud music must be untrue. He/She has a good point there. Re-reading it, I said, "a loud radio station" & that was true but a little further on I said, "no point in asking them to turn the music down." That's a mistake on my part referring to the loud radio station as music because when I heard it they had a news cast on. Another RV'er camped nearby had 2 dogs outside at the time barking loudly & we have since wondered if the folks cranked their radio to drown out the barking dogs. And no, they were not our dogs. So, I understand the person in our shoutbox doubting my story, because for sure......older people & loud music just doesn't happen. Thanks to that sharp eyed reader for noticing the word "music" when I should have used the word "radio." Awwww, what a life, what a life, and don't ya just love it:)) No photos for the web album to-night.

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