Monday, February 10, 2014

Wintering in the Warmth

I'm just not into this blogging thing this time around. Part of it is not always having an internet connection and the other part is difficulties with uploading pictures from the camera and phone. Frustrations that make it not too much fun.

So, we left my cousins home in Tuscon AZ and travelled to Quartzsite AZ for a huge RV event. The town normally has 300 people and during this week in January it expands to 1,000,000!!! Sounds crazy. This experience was quite a learning experience. My first challenge was staying hydrated. I had trouble sleeping because my sinuses would dry out and I couldn't breathe. After a couple of days I got it figured out and learned to actually enjoy the heat in January lol.

The desert at first glance is all brown and boring, but then you notice the beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Being from Michigan I'm used to sunsets off the water - say Lake Michigan. Here on the desert the sun sets behind mountains that are everywhere around you. The colors on the opposing mountains change from second to second. From purples, pinks and oranges.... just beautiful!! I'd love to add pictures, but read paragraph one :) We stayed on the desert in Quartzsite for 19 or 20 days and I was starting to look forward to being hooked up to water. We traveled by motorcycle most days into town and walked around and usually stopped at the market for a couple of items (can only get what we could carry) lol. The main purchase was a chrome exhaust pipe cover that MM put on right away. We got a few do dads for the kitchen as usual, but resisted buying stuff that we wouldn't use after getting it home.

We checked into Lake Havasu RV Resort on January 30 and are here for 14 days. It is a very nice resort (Colorado River Adventures) that has lots of activities and great meals for purchase Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. We've gone into town most days on the motorcycle and walked the London Bridge in town. The bridge was purchased from London England in 1964 and completely reassembled by 1971. You can see the Colorado River from just about anyplace that we travel in town. After being here a few days we traveled on part of the old Route 66 that went from Chicago to Los Angeles and stopped in a town called Oatman AZ. There were wild burros everywhere and walked right up to you. We got a few shirts and a Route 66 sign. On another day we traveled to Parker Dam. Think Hoover Dam but smaller lol. Here too, we stopped to turn around and saw several wild burro. MM whistled and they came up out of the ravine straight to the car. They thought we had food ... what a disappointment for them. On Friday the 7th we went on a boat cruise to Topock Gorge. The boat was very clean and the guides were very informative. We saw a bald eagle, mountain goats and wild burros. Most of the goats were mama and baby and some of them were very young. Hopefully someday I'll be able to figure out the picture thing because we got a lot of good ones lol. The boat also stopped at a spot where there were ancient petroglyphics etched into the stone.

On days that we're not doing anything special we ride into town (on the bike - it's like summer here) and walk on the trail at the Rotary Park. Very nice about .8 miles and has several workout stations where you can do sit ups, pushups and other exercises (did way too many situps on the first day lol). And all of this is along the Colorado River with California on the other side. Always so pretty.

Guess the best and worst part of this whole adventure is being away from the cold and snow lol. The best because we're missing one of the worst winters since record keeping began. The worst because we're missing all of our family so much. I miss seeing the smiling faces of our grandchildren and hearing their sweet voices and laughter. Lots of give and take but we're giving it a try.

Today I finally got out the sewing machine and made a dress for the Dress a Girl Around the World mission.  It was pretty quick and I hope it fits within the guidelines for the size.  It takes a little to get everything out and there is not a lot of room for ironing or cutting.  Not sure if I'll do any more on this trip. It's just easier at home. An easier project on the road is knitting. I did finish a poncho and hat for myself. Again, wish I could post pictures :(.

Hope the next park has internet service at the rig - it is so much easier and I might put in more effort and time with pictures. I still hold out hope of adding pictures to these posts lol. Call me optimistic! So, until next time - see ya

Blake Randal Smith


 
 
 
 

Blake Randal Smith born 2/10/14 8:15 a.m. 7#2oz 19" long Baby and Mama doing well.

Blake brings up the rear (so to speak) we now have 6 grandchildren Margaret (Maggie)(6) Olivia (4) Alexis (3) Jackson (Jack) (2) Lillyanna (Lilly)(1) and Blake. We are very excited about this new addition but are kind of sad that we can't be there until April to see him. Guess it's all about choices and trying to make everyone happy. And of course, we know that you can never make all of the people happy all of the time. So happy for all of the blessings that have been bestowed on us. We are definitely not deserving so I'm sure it is God's AMAZING GRACE!! Thank you.