FROM 80 DEGREES TO SNOW

We  traveled  to  Cottonwood,  AZ  on  2-19  from  Emerald  Cove.  For  several  days  before  we  left,  we  had  80  degree  weather.   You  could  find us  at  the  Hot  Tub  during  Happy  Hour  and  then  sunning  ourselves  on  the  pool  deck.   What  a  life.   This  is  what  traveling  in  the  winter  is  all  about.

So  much  for  that!   The  last 2  days  we  have  had  a  high  of  42  degrees  and  we  even  had  snow  yesterday.  BURRRRR!   Southern  CA.  is  having  a  storm  and  we  are  also  getting  it.  There  was  a  golf  tournament  cancelled  in  Phoenix  or  Tucson  because  of  snow.   We  lost  our  Direct  TV  signal  feed  last  night.   Denny  went  to  investigate  and  there  was  an  inch  of  snow  on  it. 

 

We  debated  about  skipping  Cottonwood  and going  straight  to  Palm  Springs  (our next stop) because  we  knew  it  would  be  colder,  but  decided  to  stick  it  out.   Not  sure  we  made  the  right  decision,  but  we  are  only  here  for  2 weeks.   I   am looking  forward  to  lots  of  new  geocaches  with  wine  tasting  along  the  way    This  area  is   a new,  up  and  coming  wine  destination.

 

 

We  were  on  a  geocaching  trip  up  to  Parker  Damn  and  saw  several  donkeys.   Wild  donkeys  hang  out  along  the  road.   We  made  another  trip  one  evening  to  go  to  dinner  and   saw  several  groups  of  ten  or  more.

 

 

 

After finding a geocache at this spot, I had to take a picture of the damn.

 

 

 

Another geocaching spot, but on the other side. We didn't find the cache, but it was a beautiful view

 

 

 

The pictures below were taken on the beach at Emerald Cove. I was in the same spot, turning in 3 different directions

 

 

 

 

Emerald Cove

Last  Tuesday,  Feb.  5th,  we  traveled  to  Emerald  Cove  RV  Park.   It  was  a  long  commute,  12  miles.   This  has  always  been  one  of  our  favorite  parks.   Big  River,  where  we  have  been  staying  for  6  weeks,  isn't  the  best  park,  but  certainly  the  friendliest  we  have  ever  been  in.   Before  we  stopped  there  last  year  to  spend  the  holiday's  with  Denny's  first  cousins,  we  had  always  stayed  here.   Big  River  is  the only  park  we  have  ever  been  in  that doesn't  have  a swimming  poll  and  hot  tub.   It  was  a  tough  decision  to  leave  all  our  friends,  but  the  hot  tub  was  calling.   We've  been  back  twice  to  visit  everybody.

 Emerald  Cove  has  2  pools,  2  hot  tubs,  a  Tiki  Bar  and  lots  of  activities.  We  really  missed  a  hot  tub,  so  we  have  been  going  there  everyday.  Love  it!   They  serve  breakfast  everyday  in  the  clubhouse  and  lunch  at  the  Tiki  Bar.   Also  have  dinners  on  Friday  and  Saturday  night.  Love that!  Anytime  I  don't  have  to  cook  is  a  good  day.   Last  Friday  we  had  Fish  and  Chips,  Saturday,  New  York  steak.   They  have  karaoke  on  Saturday  nights  at  the  Tiki  Bar.   Denny  wasn't  feeling  good  so  we  didn't  go.   We  aren't  too  far  and  we  could  hear  it  from  our  rig.  Sounds  like  everyone  was  having  a  great  time.

 

Since  we  have  Thousand  Trails,  we  can  stay  here  2  weeks in a reciprocal agreement.     We  are  thinking  of  buying  into  Colorado  River  Adventures  so  we  could  stay  longer.   We'll  see.

 

Denny  has  a  very  bad  cold.   Seems  everyone  over  at  Big  River  had  something  and  we  felt  lucky  we  didn't.   Two  days  before  we  left  he  started  sneezing.   Now  it  is  a  full  cold.   He  is  pretty  miserable.    Hopefully  I  won't  get  it  but  probably  will.

 

 

Emerald  Cove  has  the  longest  beach  on  the  Colorado  River -1  mile

 

 

 

They  sell  Kettle  Corn in the evenings  on Friday and Saturday 

 

 

 

Beautiful  sunset

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denny and I are Married Again

On  our  trip  last  year,  Denny  lost  his  wedding  ring.  We  were  in  Hurricane,  Utah  for  a  few  weeks  to  see  Zion  National  Park  and  other  sights  around  there.   We  had  just  got  out  of  the truck,  on  the way  to  the  bank,  when   he  discovered  it  missing.   His  knuckles  are  large,  so  he  has  to  have  a  larger  size  ring  to  go  over  them.   Because  it  was  warmer  in  Utah,  his  knuckles  weren't  quite  so  big  and  the  ring  just  slipped  right  off  his  finger.  We  looked  all  over  the  parking  lot,  in  the  truck,   RV  and  the  space  we  were  in.   NO  LUCK!   We  thought   it  was  gone  for  good.

 

Last  week,  I  went  to  Quartzsite  with  a  friend.   When  I  got  back,  Denny  was  excited  and  wanted  to  show  me  something.   HE  FOUND  THE  RING.   It  was  in  an  outside   storage  compartment  of  the  RV.   He  had  been  looking  for  something else  and  lo  and  behold,   there  it  was.   Last  summer  he  had  the  storage  compartment  empty  to  reorganize  it.   Amazing  he  didn't  find  it  then.  

 

It's  been  a  year  and  a  half,  but  we  are  now  officially  married  again.  YAHOO!

 

 

The BIG and the Little

 

As  we  travel,  we  see  all  sorts  and  sizes  of  RVs.   Some  motor  homes  are  HUGE,  like  the  one  below.   The  utility  trailer  they  haul  holds  a  sport  car,  an  ATV  and  a   motorcycle.   In  some  states,  it  is  illegal  to  haul   something  this  long  on  the   roads,   so  they  are  somewhat  limited  to  where  they  can  go.   Do  you  really  need  this  much  stuff?

 

 

 

The  other  extreme  is  so  small,  you  wonder  how  they  live  in  it  more  than  a  weekend  at  a  time.  This  trailer  was  here  for  a  couple  of  weeks.   Never  saw  how  many  people  lived  in  it.

 

 

A  lot  of  people  have   dogs.  We  can't  see  ourselves  traveling  with  animals  but  a  majority  do.  Three  dogs,  one  small  and  two  large,  live  in  the  trailer  below.   Seems  small  for  so  many  dogs,  but  that  is   just our  opinion.  It  is  24'  long  with  one  slide  out.

 

 

 

Our  good  friends  Bob  and  Lou  live  in  this  one.  It  has  no  slide  out and  is  only  22  feet  long.  That  is  the  exact  length  of  our  truck.  Can't  imagine  it,  but  it  works  for  them.

 

 

 

This  is  ours,  not  too  small,  not  to  big.   We  certainly  didn't  quite  need  one  quite  this  big,    but  we  love it.   Certainly  wouldn't  want  to  pull  anything  bigger.   I  think  the  angle  of  the  picture  makes  it  look  larger.   It  is  35 feet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sad Road Trip

My  Uncle  Emmett,  who  lives  in  Odessa,  Texas  passed  away  last week.  I  have  always  said  that  I  will  be  at  all  of  my  Aunts and  Uncles  funerals.  He  lived  in  Odessa,  but  is   to  be  buried  in  Kinmundy, IL.,   the  home  town  of   most  of   my  Dad's   family   and  spouses.    Uncle  Emmett  was  90 years old and married to Aunt Laura, my Dad's younger sister. He  was  a good  man with a  dry  sense  of   humour  and  wonderful  father/grandfather/great grandfather.  We  will  miss  him .  On  our  travels,  we  have  always  gone   to Odessa  to  visit  my  aunt   and uncle.  

We  decided  to  go  to  Texas  because  it  is  a  lot  closer   than  IL.   I  did  check  on  tickets  to  IL with  Alaska  and  it  was  a  29  hour  flight  because  we  had  to  go  from  Palm Springs/Phoenix  airports  back  to  Seattle  and  then  to  St  Louis.    Crazy.  My  brother  is  going  to  IL.  We  would  have gone  there  too,  if  we had  been  in  Renton.

We  drove  the  truck,  leaving  the  RV  here.   It  was  887  miles  one  way.   Fast trip.  We  were  gone  5  days  and  4  of  those  were  driving  days.   Made  it  each  way  in  1.5  days.  WHEW!  We  are  exhausted  from  such  long  driving  days.  When  we travel   in  the  RV,  we only  go  200-300  miles per day.  That  is  usually  a 4-6  hour  day.  Plenty  when you  are pulling  an  RV.

  It  was  a  sad trip,  but  his  memorial was  a  celebration  of  his  life.   Lots  of  joyous  singing.   I  really  like  it  when  the  pastor/minster  knows  the  person  and  makes  it  very  personal.   One  of  the  best  memorials  I  have  ever   been to.   They  do  it  right  in  Texas.

This was taken on our trip last year.

 

Biking and Geocaching

Since we got here, we have been busy doing different activities. We bought bikes last fall. We have been out several times. We went down the canal with Larry and Joyce. Beautiful day.

 

 

What a good looking couple. I take all the pictures, so rarely is there one of both of us. Thank you Larry.

 

 

 

We  have  also  been  doing  quite  a  bit  of  geocaching.  Last  week,   five  of  us  went  to   Quartzsite, AZ  for  a  meet  and  greet of local cachers  and did a  little  geocaching   along  the  way.   We  found  some  very  unique  hides.  Desert  caching  is  a  little  different  because  you   are  going  o n rugged,  gravel  roads.  Denny  is  very  particular  about  what  roads  we  go  on.   A lot  of  people  have  jeeps  for  this,  but  we  don't.   I'm  glad  we  weren't  driving  on  this  trip.  The  car  we  were  in  had  alot  of  scratches  along  the  sides.   I'm  sure  her  husband  was  not  happy  when  she  got  home.

 

This  geocache  hide  was  very  unique.  You  can  see  how  small  it  is.   We  were  about  to  give  up  when  Denny  saw  it.   I  noticed  the  screws,  but  Denny  saw  that  one  was  slightly  different. That  is  the  key,  look  for something  that   looks  different  or  out  of  place.  Denny isn't in  to geocaching  as   much  as  I  am, but  he  is  very  good  at  finding  them  once  we get  to  the  location.

 

 

 

 

 

 



HAPPY ANNIVERSARY-70 AMAZING YEARS

My  parents  celebrated  their  70th  wedding  anniversary  January 23rd.   My  dad  is  94  and  my  Mom  will  be  91  next  week.   I  look  at  them  and  see  an  amazing  couple.   They still hold hands  and  kiss.   I  had  an  experience  last  fall   with  them  that  showed  me  what  real,  lasting  love   really   is.  Mom  had  been  in  the  hospital  for  3  days.  My  Aunt  Laverne  and  I  were   bringing  her  home.  As we got to the  their front  door,  it  started  opening  ever  so  slowly,  inch  by  inch.   Dad  had  decided  to  meet  us  downstairs  and  was  trying  to  open  the  door.   He  is  in  a  power chair  and   with   his  frozen  shoulders,  it  is  very  hard  to  open  the  door by  himself,  but   he   was  determined  to  meet  us.   I opened  the  door and  he  sat  in  his  power chair in the  opening  of  the  kitchen.  As  I  wheeled   Mom  in,   they reached out with their arms and touched  fingers. My  Dad  had  the  biggest  grin on  his  face  that  I  had  ever  seen.  They  both showed  such  love  and  devotion.   It  brought  tears  to  my  eyes.   I thought  it was the  sweetest  and  most  touching  thing I   had  ever  seen.   

 

My brother and I are very lucky that we had the childhood of Ozzie and Harriet days.  They taught us values that stay with us today.    I think we had the best parents in the world and I love them dearly. They are the center of our family.

 

 

This picture was taken at Christms, 2012.