Merry Christmas!!

Here it is Christmas Day and I would like to send Season's Greetings to everyone and the best in the New Year.


It's been a great Christmas with friends, but a sad Christmas without the kids.  I guess that is what one can expect when they choose to spend the holidays in the sun and sand of the desert.  We made a trashcan turkey, which was absolutely delicious, in addition to a great variety of other dishes.  There were eight of us around our table in the motorhome, we were cosy, but when we're hungry, who cares!!  For those of you that wonder "what is a trashcan turkey" - google it as it is a great way to cook a big bird.

This past week we have been in a friend's lot in Yuma.  And as I have previously described our saga with trying to set up the satellitee dish - well this week we won the battle.  At least until we move and get to go through it all again.  It certainly keeps from things becoming boring.  That will happen later on this coming week as we head over towards Borrego Springs, CA for the next month.

Yuma, AZ

Well, it's been 10 days since I have given an update of our comings and goings. I guess that means one of two things - either, we've been terribly busy and time has been short, or our activities have been so boring that they would be of little interest to anyone. I'll let you decide!!

As I last posted, you could see that we won the TV war, although only for a short time. We moved last Sunday into a friend's lot in Yuma and once again, the war is on. We will, however, be persistent.

Last Thursday we celebrated Gerry's and his cousin's, Myrna, birthdays. It was a small, but great gathering of a few friends. Then on Friday, we celebrated again, but this time it was just us, and Jim and Myrna.

Tamale selections

On Saturday, we attended a tamale festival with Jim and Myrna. There were 40 booths selling various tamales, entertainment, and 25,000 people. Now I had never had tamales so it was an interesting experience - some were quite tasty, and some, well let's just say they were less tasty. In the end, we found we had purchased far too many tickets so we bought enough tamales to take home and freeze and have several meals at a later date.

On Sunday, we moved into Yuma into a friend's lot and will be here until after Christmas. Gerry has spent the past few days waxing, and waxing, and waxing the motorhome. His mission is to try and get rid of a blotchy appearance, and with each coat of wax, he is slowly succeeding. Each day he waxes until his shoulders tell him "stop" but hopefully, it will be mission accomplished before the winter is over.

Tonight, we went out dining and then toured some of the city to view the Christmas lights. There were some lovely displays - one street that the "Night before Christmas" theme. And of course our dining out was great fun - Taco Tuesday at Del Taco. Where else could you get supper for $4.00??

Until next time - we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. May each of you that read this blog have a joyous Christmas and may the holidays be filled with good cheer and good health!!

Pinal County Park - part 2

The past couple of days have been rather quiet, and will likely become a somewhat boring read. We did a bit more geocaching - some we found, some we didn't. I guess we're not really die-hard geocachers but rather use it as a means of recreation while getting some exercise.

I did manage to spend a good part of one day sewing. I am working on making a couple of quilts so was able to sew a fair number of blocks. Now the sewing machine is away for a few days.

I also did a bit of baking - made scuffles. The problem is that they don't last very well so may have to make another batch before Christmas.

Today we drove to Yuma and finally - the weather we have been waiting for. It was warm, sunny, and no wind. I finally was able to put on a pair of shorts. I look forward to this for several months.

And finally, today we won the TV war. We set up the dish - again, and we got a picture, and it stayed. This is the first time in almost a month we have been successful in setting up the satellite dish. Now I would call that persistent, and patient!!!!

Pinal County Park - part 1

After arriving on Saturday in the midst of a rain and hail storm, we got set up and settled.  Sure glad that we are warm and dry and cozy.Sunday was a wonderfully sunny day so we decided to go off into the mountains and do a little geo-caching - something we haven't done for several years.  There are many geo-caches around here so it was easy to find some that were fairly close.  Of course we couldn't, or wouldn't go too far as we were just waiting for the low fuel light to come on - yes, we needed fuel.

On Tuesday, it was cool and cloudy once again so we decided it would be a good day to go into Casa Grande shopping.  It seemed we didn't buy a lot of things - at least not at any one place.  The only thing was we hit a lot of places.  Sadly, we got tired so likely missed some bargains along the way.
On Wednesday morning we received an email from a fellow - we had found his cache the day before.  He came over, we had a bit of a visit and off we went in search of several more caches.  We found four today, went back into the mountains, and the scenery is far more than one can see from the road.  It is such a surprise to go back behind one mountain and come across such views.  I have included a couple of photos to hopefully give some idea of what we saw.

While the photos show beautiful blue skies, the nights have been cool.  Yesterday when I checked the temperatures, they were just below freezing.  Checked the temperatures here and guess what, they were just below freezing.  Something is wrong with this picture.  Fortunately, the days warm up somewhat because the sun is shining and gives some warmth - we look forward for this cold front to pass!!

Pyramid House

Apache Junction, AZ

On Wednesday, November 30, we left Safford and drove over to Apache Junction, AZ.  What an incredible trip - the scenery was marvelous.  In Apache Junction, we spent a couple of days at a friend's place.  We had planned on going off-roading, but something happened to the Arizona sunshine --- cloudy, cool, and even a bit of rain.  Since the visibility in the mountains would be limited, and it wouldn't be fun to be outside, we had a change of plans.

On Thursday, we toured Queen Creek Olive Mill where they grow olives, and produce extra virgin olive oil (yes, it means that the olives are well-behaved!!).  It was very interesting to see how this process works.  On Friday, it was cloudy and cool again so we went to the Mesa swap meet.  We didn't get much, but a swap meet is a swap meet is a flea market.  There really is any big differences with any of them.

Today, we made the big trip to Pinal County park (just 20 miles or so out of Casa Grande).  We arrived in time to have a rain shower with some hail.  It is still heavy cloud, with the odd shower.  Hopefully, tomorrow we will get some sunshine although the plan is to do some shopping, but if the sun is shinging, plans may change.

Safford, AZ

We arrived here on Sunday from Las Cruces, NM - such a big drive it was - we left at noon and arrived here about 3 and stopped for lunch on the way.  That is unheard of for our travel habits.

On Monday we drove around town (population about 9,000), had lunch, and did a bit of shopping.  There is an Ace Hardware that could put Home Depot to shame for the variety of hardware items they carried.  It consisted of several buildings with entries from one into the other - it was huge.  We then drove out to Discovery Park which is part of Eastern Arizona college.  Everything was locked and it looked like no one has been around for quite a while.  Later when talking to one of the locals, it had closed several years ago, but they have a caretaker to look after it.  Too bad as it looked like it could be rather interesting.

Today we just stayed around the motorhome and did some clean-up.  I cut out all my quilt batting for quilts I have been trying to work on since last winter, as well as some more flannel.  I am almost all done cutting so let the sewing begin!!

Tomorrow we are off to Apache Junction for a couple of days.  Another big day - 150 miles.   Will update you on our fun in our new spot.

End of the Trails in New Mexico

Today was our last day of the rally and off-roading in New Mexico!  Yesterday we had a great drive around the Dona Ana mountains.  Last night we went out to a Mexican restaurant for supper.  Choice number 1 had an hour and a half wait, so we went to choice number 2.  As it turned out, Choice number 1 is the choice of tourists but number 2 is the choice of locals, and I know why - the food was fabulous. 

Today, we went on the "Skyline" trip and had a chance drive to the top of a mountain.  We didn't take the drive right to the top, especially after we saw one of the drivers take a wrong line and his two front wheels went up as the back went down - yikes!!!  All was well as he made it up, and down, safe and sound.  Actually after watching the 5 out of 20 Jeeps go up, I think we would have done fine.  I don't know if the trip the day before had any bearing on it.  There was a space between two rocks up a mountain and a very steep decline - Gerry wanted to go, I didn't.  Of course after some discussion (and I do mean discussion), we went up and over.  Actually it wasn't all that bad in the end.

Now it's time to move on and we will start heading west.  I think we will go towards Apache Junction and spend a few days up there.