Picacho Peak, Yuma, and Quartzsite, AZ

Greetings Everyone,

It is time that I write on our blog -- didn’t realize it had been so long since I last wrote. Here it is almost the end of February. How fast the days go by. I am writing this on Saturday, February 23, 2008.

We have spent some time sightseeing around Casa Grande. One day we went up Picacho Peak State Park. Had a picnic lunch and then went hiking on a trail up the side of Picacho Peak about a 1 ½ mile round trip. Not far from the state park is the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Farm that is open to the public. Stopped there and enjoyed “hand feeding” the deer, ostrich, emus, and larakeet birds. The larakeet birds are a member of the parrot family – very friendly and quite colorful. They gave us some liquid in a little container and the birds would land on your hands, head, arms, shoulders and eat the liquid. A little bit scary for me as I was afraid they would start pecking once they landed on you. They were loud also, but it was fun watching them feed.

We stopped at a Greek monastery on our way back to Casa Grande. The public is allowed in the monastery every day until 3:30 and then everyone has to leave. It was 3:15 when we got there so we didn’t get to tour the grounds. It looked really interesting and what few monks we saw were all clothed in black robes with beards and some kind of covering on their heads. Would like to go back and tour the grounds.

On Valentine’s Day Larry and Bob took Judy and I out for a special supper. We ate dinner at the Cracker Barrel here in Casa Grande. It was very enjoyable and the food was delicious. We spent the day doing laundry – quite romantic! Ha!

The annual O’odham Tash Indian Celebration Days were Feb. 15, 16, & 17. Several Indian tribes from around the area have a crafts and arts fair. Beautiful crafts made by the Indians. Friday Bob, Judy, and us took in the arts and crafts fair and Saturday morning we all went to the parade. Several tribes participated in the parade and it was fun to watch. That afternoon we attended the all-American Indian rodeo. Among the events were bareback riding, bull riding, barrel racing, calf roping, bronco riding, and the wild horse racing. In most of the events, the animals came out the winners. Ha! The wildhorse racing was especially comical. A team of 3 or 4 cowboys have to catch the wild horse, saddle him, and them ride him to the finish line without falling off or getting bucked off. It was quite a challenge for most of the cowboys, but funny. I hadn’t been to the rodeo since I was a teenager.

Sunday, February 17, was the Missouri get together for people from Missouri who live in our RV park. We all met at a local café in Casa Grande. About ten couples or so attended and we enjoyed visiting with everyone. The general consensus was that we were all glad we were not in Missouri this winter! Some of the people were from the KC area and some were from St. Louis area. Most all of them had heard of Smithville!

Larry and I took off for Yuma and Quartzsite. AZ on Monday, Feb. 18. In Yuma we visited with Bob and Paula Devers. Larry used to work with Bob. They took us around the Yuma area and showed us a date farm and we had a date shake. Was it ever delicious and I don’t even care for dates! Yuma is quite a vegetable farming community. We saw workers picking head lettuce and Romain lettuce. There were also crops of broccoli and cauliflower. We had lunch down in the old historic area of Yuma in a unique old Lupe’s Casino café. After leaving Bob and Paula’s we went to visit Pat and Woody Green, who were spending sometime in Yuma with some of their friends from Washington state. Pat had gone back to Washington for a few days so we visited with Woody and their friends, Ron and Jill Davis. For supper Woody took us and his friends to a Mexican restaurant. The food was great. Then we went back to Woody’s and he graciously let us sleep in their camper while he slept in Ron and Jill’s motorhome. Ron and Jill had recently purchased a fifth wheel, so they slept in it.

The next day (Tuesday, Feb. 19) we drove north to Quartzsite. Quartzsite is a town in Arizona where people go and camp out in the desert without electicity and water or what they call “dry camping”. You can park just about any place and call it home. A lot of flea market vendors and RV vendors park in Quartzsite and set up business during the winter months. About 75% of the vendors had already left Quartzsite by the first of February, but there were still quite a few for us to check out while we were there. It was quite a place to visit, but I sure wouldn’t want to live there. I guess in December and January it is quite a popular place to be if you have a camper – people parked everywhere!

The drive from Casa Grande to Yuma to Quartzsite and back was mostly desert land and small mountain ranges. Because of the recent rains, the desert floor has a lot of green color and some small flowers are blooming. None of the cactus are blooming yet. Sure don’t see any homes or farms around – just cactus and sage bushes. We got back to Casa Grande about 6:30 that night.

The next morning we woke up with sore throats and colds – wonderful. We took it easy and rested up from our short road trip. Thursday we did laundry and stayed around here. Friday (yesterday) Bob and Judy had been wanting to go to the Mesa flea market so we all went up there. It was cool, cloudy, and poured rain in the afternoon. Didn’t help our colds, but we survived and had a fun day. Before leaving Mesa, we just had to stop at Camping World for Larry and Bob. Ha! It is always good to get out of Phoenix by 3:00 because the rush hour traffic begins that early. We left about 3:30 and Bob did a good job of maneuvering through the traffic and getting us safely back to Casa Grande.

Today Bob and Judy and us went to some patio/garage sales but we didn’t find much. An Arizona RV dealer from Mesa had a display of motorhomes and fifth wheels at a parking lot in Casa Grande so we stopped there and checked the campers out. There were quite a few campers. We found a “diesel pusher” that really caught our eye, but way too much money for us to spend right now. Of course, we can always dream! After lunch we went back to the RV park and Larry had a repair job to do with the hot water heater. We didn’t have hot water coming out of our faucets. The cold water worked fine but when we put it on the hot water side, there was very little hot water coming out of the faucet. Larry figured out what the problem was and went out and got the part for it so now we have hot water once again.

Bob and Judy invited us over to their RV to meet some of their friends from the old RV park where they used to stay. Their names are Joe and Judy DuGay from Washington state – super nice people and had such a nice time visiting with them. Hope to see them again before we leave.

Well, that has brought us up to date so far. Hope everything is going well for all and please forgive me for being so long in updating our blog. Thank you for the e-mails from back home.

Happy Birthday to our sweet granddaughter, Ella, who was two years old on Valentine’s Day. We sure hated to miss her birthday party, but we thought about her all day!!!

Happy Belated Birthday, Brad LeFever

Happy Anniversary, Jack and Judy Ruble

Happy Birthday, Mom Bowling

Until next time, Love to you all – Larry and Glenda

Pictures above – (1) Quartzsite, AZ; (2) Picnicking at Picacho Peak State Park; (3) Larakeet Birds Feeding; (4) Friends Bob and Paula Devers and Molly; and (5) Woody Green and Ron and Jill Davis;

Driving, Dancing, and Dining

It is finally “shorts” weather and guess what -- somehow or another I failed to get my shorts in the camper! They are probably still hanging in the closet, but I know I had them ready to pack. I couldn’t believe it! Guess I will have to run out tomorrow and buy a couple of pair. Did manage to bring a couple of pair of capris with me. Larry got his shorts packed before we left. The temperature got up to 78 degrees today! How cold was it back home? (I’m sorry – just had to ask)

Today (2/10) we were invited up to Harry and Sue Foster’s to spend the day. We got up there about 10:45 and had a great time visiting with them. Sue prepared a delicious lunch. After lunch we spent time out on their front patio until it got so warm from the south sun that we went inside – (sorry about that Midwesterners). We left about 4:00 and came back to Casa Grande. They have a lovely home in Mesa.

Yesterday was also a beautiful day. In the morning Judy Howell and I, along with a friend of Judy’s, went to an annual craft fair at Mission Royale, a ritzy neighborhood in Casa Grande. We all found something to buy – aren’t you surprised! After shopping we stopped and had lunch at Mimi’s Café, which has recently opened in Casa Grande. Bob Howell and Larry went to another RV park to their patio sales. Then they went out to lunch. Last night we all went to the clubhouse for a country western performance by a couple who are friends of Bob and Judy’s. What a fun evening! Not only was their singing great, but we also got to dance. Larry and I hadn’t danced that much since Mike and Scott’s weddings. It was also fun to just watch the other couples dance, mostly country western dances – some couples were really good. During their breaks from the show, the singers would come and sit down with us and visit. After the show we got to visit with them also. They are from Springfield, Missouri and perform out here during the winter at several different RV parks. They not only sing country western but also hits from the 50’s and 60’s. They performed for three hours.

Friday night the four of us went to a restaurant for fish and chips. It was an all-you-can-eat dinner and we enjoyed it. Then we came back to Bob and Judy’s 5^th wheel and played pitch. Judy and I won all four games!!! We were so proud of ourselves – usually the guys win most of the time.

The weather last week was pretty cool until Friday and it sounds like next week is going to be much nicer and warmer. Usually by about 11:00 it has started to warm up (if the sun is shining) and then about 4:30 it starts cooling back down quickly.

This coming week we hope to get over to Yuma and Quartzsite for a couple of day. We have some friends that are camped over there. Yuma is about 3 hours from here and Quartzsite is about 1 ½ hours north of Yuma.

Well, I will sign off and get to bed.

Happy 60^th Birthdays to Dale Fine and Sylvia Kimsey!!!!

Until next week – Love, Larry and Glenda

Greetings from Casa Grande

Another week has passed and we are starting on Week No.6 – can’t believe how fast the days and weeks are passing. Like they say, time flies when you are having fun!

Last Tuesday afternoon Bob and Judy Howell got back from KC. We were glad to have them back again. They were glad to get back from the cold and snowy Midwest, but they did have a good time with Jason and Dawn and their sweet grandkids. They came over Tuesday afternoon for Happy Hour, and then we had supper together.

On Thursday (1/31/08) Ron and Jan Ford came back through from Bakersfield, CA where they had been spending time with Jan’s sisters and their families. This winter weather kind of played havoc with their travels both going and coming back. They really had to listen to the weather forecasts. They nicknamed their selves “Gloom and Doom” because it seemed like bad weather followed them everywhere they traveled, besides some other unfortunate happenings along the way. We didn’t know if we really wanted them back here. Ha! Ha! Just kidding, Ron and Jan -- we had a great time with you and loved having you here! I had invited Bob and Judy over and we all had supper together here.

Ron and Jan were interested in going to the big flea market in Mesa since they missed going up there with Dave and Jan Legaard and us. We called Cheryl Simms to see if she you like to go with us also. Ron and Jan hadn’t seen Cheryl in a very long time either so we stopped in Gilbert and picked up Cheryl and headed toward Mesa for the flea market. We enjoyed shopping at the flea market and, again, found several bargains that we just couldn’t pass up! After spending about three hours there, we had covered the entire marketplace and had lunch. An orange and grapefruit orchard stand was our next stop. Then we headed out to Scottsdale where Cheryl grew up and she showed us around. It was a very unique area. Being close to Glendale where the Super Bowl was to be held, there were a lot of Super Bowl activities going on in Scottsdale and lots of people on the streets. Cheryl took us to a favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner and the food was fantastic. After dinner we dropped Cheryl off at her home in Gilbert and headed back to Casa Grande. It had been a long day but we all agreed we had a great time!

Saturday (2/2/08) was another busy but fun-filled day. The four of us met up with Bob and we all ate breakfast together at the RV Park’s weekly Saturday breakfast. Judy was going to a Red Hatters breakfast with some ladies from the RV park. After breakfast Judy joined us and the six of us went walking all around the RV park checking out the patio sales that the park was having that day. Each of us found stuff to buy (and probably sell at our next garage sale, ha!). We started out in Bob and Judy’s golf cart, but it was a little too much for the four-seater to handle. It sure did look funny with all six of us hanging out of the golf cart.

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day so for lunch Bob and Judy suggested this café that had a garden patio where you could eat your lunch outside. While we were all sitting outside enjoying our lunch in the sun, we wondered about our family and friends back in Missouri. We have been trying to convince Ron and Jan that they need to get a fifth wheel or a motorhome so we took them to a consignment lot and went through the campers they had. Then we came back to our CAMPER (just for you, Bob) and grilled some hamburgers and Polish sausages for supper.

Sunday morning about 6:00 Ron and Jan headed back towards Missouri. We hated to see them leave but know they were anxious to get back to see their granddaughters besides other family members. It had been a month since they left Smithville. We spent the rest of the day just relaxing and then watching the Super Bowl game. Stopped in to see Bob and Judy for a few minutes when we were out on our walk.

Today we woke up to a cloudy, cold, and rainy day. Decided it would be a good day to eat breakfast out so went to Cracker Barrel and then did some shopping before coming back home. Rained most of the day until about 2:00 this afternoon. It is supposed to clear up and be really nice the rest of the week.

Well, this has brought you up to date on our happenings.

February 5 – Happy Birthday to Kari and Jim!!!

The Snowbirds