STROLLING THROUGH A COUPLE OLD PIONEER CEMETERIES THIS MORNING & SOME THOUGHTS ON QUARTZSITE…….

THE OLD CONGRESS PIONEER CEMETERY AT THE END OF GHOST TOWN ROAD

These gorgeous Arizona weather days just seem to keep going on forever this year.  What a pleasure to be in what I feel are perfect day time temperatures of low to mid 70’s.  Fingers doubly crossed that it will continue.

Peter & Leslie expressed an interest in seeing the 2 old cemeteries at the end of our Ghost Town Road so it was off we went for the long drive of less than a mile.  The oldest of the 2 cemeteries dates back into the late 1800’s & is located where the mining town of Congress once stood right next to one of the largest Gold producing mines in Arizona.  CONGRESS GOLD MINE  The town is long gone now but the old mine, a mere shadow of it’s former self still remains & tailings are at present being worked by a few determined individuals.

   

Always interesting walking through cemeteries.  Names, dates, & inscriptions, on the stones often give one a historical idea of the area.  Often surprising findings as well.  Came across Confederate Soldiers buried in the Pearce Arizona cemetery as well as one of Abraham Lincolns body guards.  One of Wyatt Erp’s brothers in the Wilcox cemetery are a few that I remember.  Walking around cemeteries may not be everybody’s cup of tea but we always find it interesting.

  

LESLIE RIGHTS A FALLEN ANGEL WHILE PETER READS AN INSCRIPTION

The annual largest gathering of RV’s & RV folks in the world is well underway again over there in that Quartzsite Arizona place.  Our first visit to Q was back in January of 07.  We have been back many times since.  We have experienced the serenity of the desert there & fought our way through the crushing crowds in the big tent on opening day.  We’ve walked all the vendors rows picking up needed & uneeded items.  One time we took all the standard uncomfortable furniture (couch, chair, dinette) out of our Class A & sold it to the Gambler down on vendors row.  Drove to Ikea a few days later in Mesa & refurnished the rig.  Another time we had to pack up & move 3 times because of other RV’ers crowding in too close to us.  We’ve endured wind storms there as well as rain & cold.  Tried out different eating places & found a place that sold 25 cent hamburgers after 4 p.m.  Walked around Angela’s Garden & other areas of interest in Quartzsite itself.  Even bought an RV there last January.  Quartzsite is a must see experience for every RV’er.  It’s Mecca for RV folks.  Anything you need for your RV can be found there & just about anything you don’t need can be dragged home as well.

I think we endured the Q about 4 or 5 times during it’s frenzied January blast.  I wrote posts for all those visits & of course complained roundly about the crush of the crowds, RV’s practically stacked one on top of the others, the noise, the crowding, the inconsideration's, the traffic chaos, & the list goes on.  But there’s a good side to all that mayhem at the Q as well.  It was a great experience for us at the time.  We had a new awning installed out in the desert as well as our blue flame heater system.  We went right in there & went toe to toe with the aggressive crowds.  We became an active part of the Quartzsite melee & came away much the wiser for our experience.  Picked up some bargains & things for the rig.  Not likely we will ever be a part of those crushing crowds again but I do come away with the feelings of ‘I’m glad we experienced the times there we did’.  Both good & bad.  Now if there is anything we need or want in the Q we know enough to just wait until most everyone has left before making the hour & a half drive over there.  Most of the stuff is still around, most of the people are gone, & most of all it is a much pleasanter experience for people like us.  I much prefer the quiet little Quartzsite we have come to know & not the big January Circus we have been to so many times.  That was then & this is now & that’s my thoughts today on Quartzsite:))

  

Ever had a funky smell in your rig you just couldn’t figure out?   Checked all the cupboards & bins for dead mice.  Looked under the sofa or behind the couch in case a bird had flown in & died.  What about the bathroom.  That’s always a likely place for nefarious odors.  After weeks of ‘funky air’ Merikay of MERIKAY'S DREAMS finally figured it out.  A common problem but one that folks just might not think about.  Slip on over & she will tell you where the big stink was coming from & why.  And no it does not have anything to do with husbands……….

Marteen, our fence builder rolled in today about noon with a couple helpers & dug 3 fence post holes for our new south gate.  Imagine he may be back Monday to cement in the corner posts.  Brought the 14’ gate with him today.

   

I THINK MARTEEN’S HELPERS MIGHT BE HIS SON & DAUGHTER…GATE & HOLES AT RIGHT  

We had originally planned on going to Ike’s Cook Shack for supper in Wickenburg but as the day wore on & energy levels drained a bit we opted for a yummy pizza from the CONGRESS DEPOT right here in Congress.

 

Immediately following the Pizza furniture was re-arranged for the crew to watch DOWNTON ABBEY.  Not my cup of tea so Pheebs & I headed out to the rig to work on tonight’s post…………………

DOWNTON ABBEY FANS

Sure am enjoying my time in the rig.  Haven’t snapped on the TV once.  Peaceful & quiet in here.  Just my ambient music all day long on Sirius XM.  I leave the door open for Pheebs to come & go.  This sure could become a habit…..

GROANER’S CORNER:))  You might be a Farmer if......

-Your dog rides in the truck more than your wife.
-You've never thrown away a 5 gallon bucket. 
-You have used a chainsaw to remodel your house.
-You have used baling wire to attach a license plate.
-You've been stopped by the deputy sheriff for a cluttered dashboard.
-You have used a tractor with a loader as scaffolding for painting or roof repairs.
-You've used the same knife to make bull calves into steers and peel apples.
-You know cow pies aren't made of beef.
-You can eat an ear of sweet corn with no teeth or utensils in under 20 seconds.
-When you were little, you "beat-up" another kid on the school bus arguing over the color of tractors.

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

I THINK THIS MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE MIGHTY MOST LAZIEST DAY OF THE YEAR SO FAR

MOON SETTING IN THE SUN’S EARLY MORNING GLOW

Pheebs & I were all snugly buggly in the rig last night & everything went well for our first of 7 nights.  I slept on Kelly’s big bed in my toasty sleeping bag & Pheebs slept up front on the loveseat sofa.  Of course about 5:30 she hopped up on the bed nudging me with her cold little nose telling me it was ‘uppy-uppy’ time.  And with a bunch of slurpy smooches on my face uppy I got.

US GUYS WERE ALL BRIGHT EYED & BUSHY TAILED THIS MORNING…WELL SORTA

 

ALL SNUGGLY IN OUR TEMPORARY WINNIE WAGON DIGS

Aside from tipping a full jug of water over on the kitchen counter I did manage to make myself a good hot cup of coffee.  Been a few years since I’ve made coffee.  Seeing’s how I basically only drink one coffee a day now that 1 cup is usually made by Kelly in the morning when she makes a pot of coffee.  She likes more than one cup first thing in the morning.  Took a fair number of years to beat my coffee addiction down to just 4 cups a day & then a few more years to get that down to one coffee a day.  Occasionally a second cup when traveling but I am no longer addicted to the caffeine so do not suffer the withdrawal effects I did at one time years ago.  Now, about this darn peanut butter & honey problem of mine…..!!

 

EASY TO SEE WHY WE HAD TO GET RID OF OUR MISSION CHAIRS…JUST TOO CROWDED FOR THE PHEEBS AND THOSE WOODEN ARMS WERE JUST TOO HARD ON HER HEAD

Peter came with us on our desert walk this morning.  Been awhile since we had walked to the watering hole or better known here in the west as a ‘tank’.  Water level down quite a bit since the last time Kelly & I walked out there a couple months ago. 

KELLY WITH BROTHER PETER ON OUR MORNING DESERT WALK

 

CHECKING OUT A CATTLE WATERHOLE

SPOTTED THIS IN THE UNDERBRUSH WHICH WE AT FIRST THOUGHT WAS A COW SKULL

ON CLOSER INSPECTION IT TURNED OUT TO BE THIS PILE OF BONES BUT NO SKULL

One day last week we were serenaded by classical music on our walk.  We became aware of music in the desert air one morning & determined it came from the Congress School about half a mile away.  Played for about 10 minutes & it was definitely Bach, Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, or one of those guys.  Just seemed so strange for a school to be playing classical music over their PA system outside.  And then the music abruptly ended.  Sounds of a clicking Mic & then a ladies voice saying something about a pledge of allegiance.  Couple more clicking sounds & silence.  Our classical music concert was abruptly over.  Guess someone just accidentally left a wrong switch on somewhere.  I had visions of a schoolyard full of teenagers running frantically around in circles with their hands over their ears as Mozart’s violins rattled around in their head spaces.

 

MALE CARDINAL DANCING AROUND ON THE FEEDER PLATFORM

We all just basically out sat on the front porch this morning enjoying the warm temperatures & watching the bird activity around our Saguaro Cactus.  With a few bodies changing location now & again this afternoon was much the same.  Not exactly the kind of morning & afternoon that makes for good blog fodder at the end of the day.  Maybe we will all get mobile Sunday.

 

I always find it interesting reading RV’ers posts who are new to the lifestyle.  Brings back so many memories of when Kelly & I first ventured out.  Everything was a ‘first time’ for us.  Whether it was towing a travel trailer, 5th wheel, or a toad, it was all nerve wracking but excitedly new to us.  Dumping tanks, wider turns, maneuvering through traffic with our 53 foot set up.  Generators, converters, inverters, propane appliances, storage bins, batteries, & the list goes on & on.  Still does sometimes.  Doug & Dolly from MISS ADVENTURE TRAVELS are going through that exciting learning curve at the moment with many ‘firsts’ popping up along the way.  Doug ventured out onto some Jeep back roads in the Bouse Arizona area getting his Jeep into 4 wheel mode for the first time.  Oh how I remember the excitement & apprehension of our first time doing the same thing.  Am I in the right gear, do I have the crankcase set right, are all the wheels working, what about that sand ahead, oh oh steep gully coming up, what about that big rock sticking up out of the road, oh geezzzzz, I’ll never get up that hill, where are we??  Awwwwww, great times those early days & still great times today.  Nothing has changed.  The excitement, wonderment, & apprehension are all still there & that is what adds up to the overall greatness of this whole RVing experience & lifestyle. 

Are there rules & regulations for RV folks camping out in the boonies?  Is there a protocol to follow, maybe some etiquette?  How about a whole lot of just plain & simple common sense & respect for others all mixed in with a healthy dose of responsibility.  Well, yes & no there is.  Nina over at WHEELING IT has just written a ‘must-read’ post about all that.  Drop by & she’ll tell you about it & answer many questions existing Boondockers or future Boondockers have.  Boondocking rocks…..:))

<<< THIS IS ANOTHER CEREAL MIXTURE FROM HOLY CRAP THAT KELLY EATS

And a possible correction to Friday night’s post.  Kelly didn’t think TRADER JOES carried the HOLY CRAP cereal I thought I saw there.  She went on-line to TJ’s site this morning checking to see if they carried that cereal & could not find any indication they did.  But I’m almost certain I laid eyeballs on the cereal somewhere in the past week or two & my brain seems to think it was Trader Joes.  Would appreciate any TJ shoppers out there letting me know if they have seen it on Trader Joes shelves.  It’s a Canadian product by the way.  Check out TJ’s top 25 favorite customer products as rated by their own faithful shoppers.  25 TOP FAVS AT TJ'S.  By the way, I hope no readers went ripping into Trader Joes this morning asking a cashier, “Hey where’s that Holy Crap we hear ya have”.

PETER & LESLIE SPENT A QUIET AFTERNOON RELAXING & READING IN THE BACK YARD

Dave from GOING RV WAY is the latest RV’er to join our ‘Friends’ list.  Welcome aboard & thanks for stopping by.  That’s a tight fit in the storage facility you have there but looks like an easy out. 

‘Acheapguy’ in the Shout Box wondered if we have earthquakes here in Arizona like California.  My answer to that is no I don’t think we do.  Never seem to hear much about earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunami's, snow storms, or cyclones out here in quiet old Arizony.  Just a few of the many reasons we like it here:))

HEY MOM & DAD….I THOUGHT THIS WAS MY SOFA

 

OH WELL I GUESS I CAN SHARE JUST THIS ONCE………………..

GROANER’S CORNER:((   Howard County Police officers still write their reports by hand, and the data is entered later by a computer tech into their database. One theft report stated that a farmer had lost 2,025 pigs. Thinking that to be an error, the tech called the farmer directly.
"Is it true Mr. (Smith) that you lost 2,025 pigs?" she asked.
"Yeth." lisped the farmer.
Being a Howard County girl herself, the tech entered: "Subject lost 2 sows and 25 pigs."

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

BUSY DAY SCURRYING ABOUT & OUR COMPANY ARRIVES LATE AFTERNOON

So nice watching a big yellow Arizona Moon rising over Yavapai Counties distant Weaver Mountains these past couple nights.  Throw in a surrounding chorus of unseen Crickets & it makes for a mighty fine ending to yet another series of sunny & warm day’s here in America’s great South-West.

 

Had ourselves a busy morning scurrying about making things ready for Peter & Leslie’s afternoon arrival.  Got the rig all set up complete with our Sirius Satellite radio boombox.  TV’s ready to go as well with 2 channels.  One’s a weather channel & the other is CBS.  Better than nothing I guess but it’s the Satellite radio that is always top priority for me.  ‘Chill’….channel number 053:))

<<< GIVING MY GARDEN TOOLS A REST THIS WEEK

Did myself a couple loads of laundry.  Don’t know what or why it is I like hanging laundry out to dry but but it’s one of life’s little pleasures for me.  To counter-balance that little pleasure…..I hate making my bed!!  Oh, & I don’t like peeling potatoes although up until today it has been many years since I have had to do that.  But there I was this morning standing at the sink under the orders, ‘get those potatoes peeled or else’.  Yes Sir:((

 

And a few questions to answer…… Yes, Trader Joe’s carries Holly Crap.  We saw the people who came up with that Holy Crap grain cereal idea on Canada’s THE DRAGONS DEN awhile back & they said everyone who tried their mixture in the early days of development said, “Holy **** is that ever good”.  Thus the name was born.  The show is on Canada’s CBC channel.  In America the same but slightly different format show is called SHARK TANK & can be seen on ABC.  Dally does have a natural small tail about a foot long but we have no idea what kind of a breed she is.   

Our company rolled in from Rochester NY via Las Vegas Nevada about 5:30.  They spent the last couple days hiking around Red Rock Canyon, walking ‘The Strip’ took in the Blue Man Group show & today did Hoover Dam before heading for Congress.

KELLY’S BROTHER PETER STEPS OUT OF THEIR RENTAL SUV

 

PETER, LESLIE, KELLY & OF COURSE THE PHEEBS

<<< NOW THERE’S THE LOOK OF ‘HAPPY TO BE IN ARIZONA’

Kelly had whooped up scalloped potatoes & ham for supper. (remember I’m the guy who peeled the potatoes) Nice to see Leslie & Peter again.  Last time we saw them was when they brought Kelly’s Mom up to Bayfield from Spencerport NY last summer.  They will be with us for a week & are looking forward to some good old rest & relaxation while here.  They just toughed out all that bitterly cold weather & snow storms in Rochester last week & are so looking forward to sunny days & warm temperatures.  And it looks like that is just what we are in for over the next week while they are here.  Nice when the weather co-operates & things work out like that……

HOPE PETER & LESLIE DON’T GET TOO SPOOKED BY THE PAINTING ABOVE THEM

Thanks to the folks who sent in their comments about what color to paint our front door.  All great suggestions & a few of them we had thought about ourselves & a few others have us thinking outside the box.  And while I’m at it let me once again thank all our readers for their comments, shouts, & emails each & every day.  It is those welcome feedbacks which is at the very heart of me keeping my blog going.  I greatly appreciate all your support & encouragement.  And that includes all you lurkers too:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  My husband's skills with do-it-yourself home repairs are at best mediocre.
After spending several evenings trying to fix a leak in the bathroom, he finally admitted defeat and called a plumber, who finished the job in ten minutes.
Watching him put away his equipment, my son asked what had been the problem.
"Well," the plumber replied, "seems that your father got hold of some tools..."

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as