Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas 2010

We spent Christmas day at Michael & Brittany's beautiful new home. Brittany is the oldest daughter of Barry & Rachel (for those of you that don't know them... Barry is my 1st husband's brother). We had a wonderful day and truly appreciate Barry & Rachel including us in their family Christmas.



Barry


Papa & Victoria


Victoria


Proud Papa & Victoria


Duke


Getting dinner ready


Baby Kourtney & Brittany


Baby Kourtney...she was just
getting her first teeth


Barry making himself at home...
not sure what Jeared is doing
with the doll. :-)


Kourtney ready to
go nighty-night

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas from Apache Junction/Mesa, AZ

We arrived in Apache Junction on Wednesday afternoon. We went to dinner with our friend, Ginger, Wed. night and had a nice visit. Yesterday we had some last minute errands to run and it was a zoo out there! Tomorrow we will be spending Christmas with Barry & Rachel and their family. We ALWAYS have such a good time with them and are really looking forward to it. Below are a few pictures of this area that shows why we like it so much here.


We never get used to how low the
planes fly over the freeway when
landing at Sky Harbor Airport in
Phoenix.


Same plane...

This is my favorite type
of palm tree and it's right
across the street from us.

Here's a corner in Apache Junction
with the Superstition Mountains in
the background.
The Superstition Mountains with
the Phoenix sign made from white
rocks.

Another shot of the Phoenix sign.

The Superstition Mountains from
our campsite...not a bad view!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Quartzsite, Arizona again

Yesterday we drove over to Quartzsite, AZ again. There are more RVs there and more of the flea market booths are open now. After Christmas it will really fill up. The months of January & February are when they have the Gem & Mineral Show there and there will be thousands of RVs camping in parks and in the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) areas in the desert. Quartzsite is unlike any other place we have been. It's excellent for people-watching and you just never know what you are going to see there.


The Quartzsite billboard...
listing their claims to fame.


More RVs in the desert now



"Welcome to Beer Belly"...not
sure what that's about, but check
out the painting of the miner to
the right.


"No Name Street" and they
even have a sign for it. :-)


Somebody even flies their own
plane into Quartzsite.


Sure glad they didn't have to
climb too "high" to create their
rock artwork. :-)


The sky was so pretty on our
way back to Ehrenberg...






Monday, December 13, 2010

The Official Center of the World in Felicity, CA

Yesterday (Sunday) we visited "The Official Center of the World" in Felicity, CA. This place is directly across the freeway from our RV park. The idea comes from a children's book named, "COE, The Good Dragon at the Center of the World". Felicity was named after the owner's wife. There are dozens of marble slabs there being engraved to depict the History of Arizona; The History of California; Early Aviation; A Korean War Memorial and Part I of the History of Humanity. One of the marble artists was working while we were there and it is amazing to see how he etches the pictures from a small example. There is also a pyramid that houses the "Center of the World" plaque, a section of the original Eiffel Tower winding staircase, a chapel and a sundial.

The highway sign at our exit.


This is the Chapel On
The Hill. They brought
in tons of dirt to build
this chapel on.

This is a section of the
original staircase in the
Eiffel Tower in Paris. It
was the steel that Mr.
Eiffel installed there in
the late 1800's. It was
replaced in the 1990's.



This is the arm of the sundial.
It is a 3-D bronze replica of
Michelangelo's "Arm of God"
painted on the Sistine Chapel.


The sundial.


The dot in the center of the plaque
is The Center of the World. :-)

The 1st marble slab in
the History of Arizona
section.

This is the section of marble
the artist was working on. The
large picture on the bottom
right of the slab is the same
as the small picture on the
bottom right of the paper.

This is the pyramid that has the
marker for the Center of the World
on the center of the floor inside.

Winterhaven, CA & Yuma, AZ

We have spent the last week at Pilot Knob RV Park in Winterhaven, CA which is right across the state line from Yuma, AZ. There's not much to Winterhaven, so we have spent most of our time in Yuma for shopping, etc. Below are a few pictures from the past week. Tomorrow (Monday) we leave to go back to Ehrenberg, AZ for 9 days.


In the background you can
see the inland sand dunes,
which are just west of our park.

We aren't just close to the
California/Arizona border,
we're also close to Mexico...
this is the border area on the
Colorado River near here.


I saw this tree (and others
like it) in Yuma. Not sure
what kind it is, but I think
it may be the same as the
one below, just trimmed
nicely.


A tree in our RV park...I love
the white trunk.
This is the "Ocean to Ocean
Highway" bridge in Yuma.
This bridge made it possible
to travel from the Atlantic to
the Pacific on land. It was the
last link to connect the route.


For those of you who remember
when Bob had his beard and had
darker hair (and more of it)...I
was shocked when I saw this guy
at the end of Antiques Road Show.
Bob replayed it and couldn't believe
himself how much this guy looked
like him. :-) Now I'm trying to
figure out how he was in San
Antonio in 2007 and I knew nothing
about it.











Thursday, November 25, 2010

Not The Thanksgiving We Were Planning...

We were planning to be at Zion River Resort in Virgin, Utah this weekend with my cousins from California. Late Tuesday night we checked the weather for that area and realized it was going down to 11 degrees there last night. We decided that was just too cold for our rig (and us) and we headed back to Ehrenberg, Arizona. We cancelled our reservation at Zion River Resort and are still trying to juggle the rest of our reservations. We will be having Thanksgiving dinner at the clubhouse at the park here. We are so sad that we aren't going to be with my cousins and also that we won't be able to visit Zion National Park. At least we'll see my cousins in February when we head into California for a few weeks. HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Las Vegas, Nevada

We spent all day yesterday in Las Vegas and did not step foot in ONE casino! We just really don't care for Las Vegas since it has become such a zoo. It's just TOO MUCH of everything now. We were really there to have Bob's hearing aids repaired and my wedding rings repaired. We had to wait 4 hours on my rings because once they reantique the wedding band, it has to dry for at least 4 hours. So, we went to lunch, went to Sam's Club and a few other stores. We were very happy to get back to Pahrump and the slower pace!!! We went to the Nugget Casino for their excellent prime rib buffet for the 3rd time this week. You just can't beat a good buffet that's only $10.70 (including tax) for 2 people! I'm sure I couldn't make a meal at home for that. When we first got there, I went into the restroom and Bob dropped $1.00 in a penny machine while he waited for me. When I came out, he had it up to $10.23. So, he cashed it out and we went to dinner. After dinner, he put that slip in a poker machine and ended up cashing out $249.23. YEAH!!! It's about time he carried his own weight! Especially since I didn't have a good night...I lost $45.00. :-( I apologize for some of these pictures not being centered too well. I was on the phone with a friend as we were crusing through Vegas and trying to take pictures at the same time. :-) At least I wasn't driving at the time!


This snow was on the side of the
road between Pahrump & Las Vegas.
YUCK!!! It was in the higher
elevation, but I didn't need to
see it that close up!


Red Rock Canyon between
Pahrump & Las Vegas











I remember when this jerk
had a TV show.