It's Really Slim!

Here are, still at Cactus Forest and the week has been very, very quiet so as a result, my rambling will be "really slim".  Although we do have some company which is great so we don't have to depend on each other for entertainment -  Dawn and Kirby, Jim and Myrna's daughter and son-in-law.

We didget  a couple of important chores done.  First we spent a couple of days and shampooed the carpet.  No, it's not that  our space is that big, but our energy level isn't that high and we do shampoo with a little green machine so the entire time is spent on our hands and knees scrubbing away.  But at the end of the day, the carpet looks like new and I'm glad that's all done.

We went into town the other day and saw an interesting marker along the way.  Not sure what the pylon on the cactus meant, but it made for an interesting sight.

Once in town, we did a bit of grocery shopping and then got our Bivalent Covid booster.  We were somewhat delayed in getting ours as it is recommended not to receive the booster until three months after having covid so now was our time.  We did spend part of a day not feeling great but we weren't sure if the aches and pains were from the vaccine, or from the two days of carpet shampooing.  Another chore done!!

Also, this week was the American Thanksgiving holiday and of course, when in   Rome, do as the Romans do.  We celebrated, kind of in a traditional way, Thanksgiving with Dawn and Kirby.  I say traditional because we had roast chicken (no turkey but a close second), dressing,  and mashed potatoes - close enough!!  And oops, I forgot to take a photo.

Yesterday, an RV came in and stopped in the middle of the road.  This poor little guy seemed to be lost.  Gerry rescued him and took him into the woods.

The weather has been terrific (other than a day of wind) so daily we go off and scavenge for wood and have a fire.  The evenings are really too cold for a fire so we have it as a gathering  spot at happy hour.  I am sure you are thinking how can it be too cold for a fire - easy - I want to be warm on all sides and in the evenings, when it is quite cool, one side is always cold; thus, too cold for a fire.

And you always have to love a great sunset.  It seems that every evening we look out and marvel at the beauty.  I know we have beautiful sunsets at home but with buildings and such, we don't get to see the whole picture.

Early in the evening

Later on - a different direction

It is interesting the folks we meet along the way - folks that have been RV'ing for years and newbies.  And every week, there are new friends and new stories - it is such great fun!

So once again, it has been a quiet week and I'm sorry to say that there won't likely be any big exciting things happen, but one never knows!  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will be back next week.  Have a terrific week.  

 

Slim Picking!

I'm afraid that if anyone is looking for some entertainment value in my ramblings this week, it really will be slim picking.

Last weekend we said good-bye to some folks - Gary & Marleen left on Sunday and then we said good-bye to Jim & Myrna and Kirby & Dawn on Monday as we headed out on Monday.  First stop was the Pima County fairgrounds which has an excellent facility to dump, replenish our water supply, and top up our propane.  Next stop was at Walmart to get some groceries, and then it was on to our next spot - Cactus Forest BLM. 

Now this spot is not very large but it is certainly aptly named.  It truly is a forest made up mainly of a variety of cacti among the palo verde and the mesquite.

 

Some of the cactus almost appear to be blooming but actually, I think these are the seed pods.  They do add some nice colour.

Others have chains (hanging chain cactus) which really can be quite long.

And then there is always some entertainment above us as occasionally an ultralight flies by.  He best be pretty careful as some of the saguaro cactus are really pretty tall.

And to finish the week with some excitement - we went and did laundry, picked up a few groceries, and even had time to stop at an outlet mall on the way home.  Mostly it was to look around to see if there was anything that we had to have.  Well, Gerry did find a pair of shoes to replace his crocs (that somehow got damaged).  It was a good day, a productive day, which is certainly  more than I can say for today.  But then again, it is the weekend.

Perhaps next week I may be able to write something a bit more exciting, or perhaps it may be another week of "slim pickings".  I hope you all have a great week, and those of you that are getting snowed in, hopefully it will be better in the days ahead.

I do have a request - we love when you comment but please let us know who you are.  If you comment as "anonymous" it just tells me the name is unknown and we sure would like to tell you a hello!!
 

Empire Ranch

This week we spent at Empire Ranch and had a great week of visiting.  Joining us were Gerry's cousing, Myrna and Jim; Jim's daughter, Dawn and Kirby; and friends Gary and Marleen.  It was also Gary and Marleen to the rescue as they brought Gerry's new credit card, replacing the one he lost last week!

The temperatures were rather decent as the sky was clear so Mr. Sun could do his job.  However, the odd day had quite a brisk wind which made it feel mighty cold.  And of course, the evenings are always cold.  But we had a nightly bonfire so it was easy to stay toasty warm.

One evening we had bush pie night.  For those that don't know, bush pies are a staple while camping.  You take two slices of bread and line cast iron pie makers, add a filling as desired, and sandwich it together (similar to a large perogy) and bake in hot coals.  We had a variety of fillings - egg, cheese, sausage, or pizzas, and of course dessert of saskatoon pie fillings, chocolate and or marshmallows.  A great way to enjoy the outdoors while "dining".

Over the fields we see several hawks scanning the grasslands for some tasty treat,  We did see this one overseeing the lot.

One day we decided to go into town for lunch so off we went to Patagonia - a small town that seems to be a welcome spot for artists and artisans.  Lunch  was had at the Wild Horse Restaurant and was most enjoyable.

We visited the Butterfly Garden  There were not a lot of butterflies although there were a few on the few remaining flowers.

And when we looked across the street, there was a large tree that looked as if it had been shaped.

On our way home we stopped to see the "big tree".  Perhaps this tree isn't so big by some standards, but remember, this is the desert where often the trees are actually bushes.  Quite impressive I must say.

Since this week was mainly spent visiting, I don't have a lot to say without expanding on some of the stories told, but that is likely better for another time.  I hope you have a great week and perhaps Old Man Winter is going to take a break from the early onset of the snow and cold and wind.  There seems to be a lot of sickness (flu, cold, covid, etc.) so please take care of yourself and stay healthy!!

A Great Week, and maybe Not so Great

 It seems like a couple of days ago I was writing last week's blog. I guess as they say, time passes quickly when you  are having fun.  And this is when we start finding out what was left at home.  For starters, no camera.  Fortunately the cell phones now do have some pretty decent cameras.

We left our campsite Sunday morning and headed south.  The weather has been great but it is time to move on.  I love to see how so many of the overpasses have some sort of decorative display.

An then there are the interesting highways where it seems they started building at each end and, oh-oh, they don't quite meet up.

So after a couple of nice easy days, we stopped at Tucumcari, NM to see some of the many murals throughout town.  There are quite a few murals depicting some of the history of Route 66.  We did not want to unhook the Jeep so we found a side street to park on and did a walking tour.

  We did see some interesting murals that have been painted throughout the town and when we got back to the motorhome, some fellow came running over and said "I have to ask you to leave".  We looked at him (since we were heading out anyway) and asked why.  He responded that we were not allowed to park there and the owner was planning to tow us away.  Now, we were parked on a public street and granted, we did park in front of an apparent entrance to a visibly abandoned building.  However, we did not get towed and simply left.

We carry on to Santa Rosa, which also supposedly had some Route 66 areas.  We get there, Gerry reaches into his pocket and oops, no credit card.  Since a wallet is rather uncomfortable when sitting and driving for extended periods of time, he takes it out and just sticks the credit card in his pocket.  I guess it caught on the phone and is likely laying on a street somewhere in Tucumcari.  And I'm sure that everyone knows how easy it is to call a bank and have the card replaced and then to have it couriered somewhere besides your home address.  Finally got that done and the end of the story is that it did get couriered to a friend's place in Yuma so Gerry will see his new card soon.

So now it's off to see what there is in the town of Santa Rosa.  We didn't find anything of interest pertaining to Route 66, but we did see the Blue Hole which is a small, deep pool and this one is used for training scuba diving.

Next, it's off to Alamogordo, NM where we found a great spot, the weather was perfect so we decided to just hang out there for a few days.   The area is know for pistachios so we went off to do a tour. 

Of course, the timing wasn't right but we did get to see some of the town.  We also spent that time to wax most of the motorhome - just a wee bit left.

Now we are off to meet some folks at Empire Ranch, just south of Tucson.  It's a historic, working ranch. 

As luck would have it, this weekend is the cowboy festival.  It's a two day event with quite a number of demonstrations, a music stage, cowboy story telling as well as quite a number of displays and vendors.  Gerry and I went for the afternoon and an interesting day it was.

This is a cavalry demonstration

Dancing Horses

Gerry watching the making of cowboy biscuits

These volunteers were showing you where to park

And I will end this week with a couple of desert sunsets.

I hope that you all have a great week.  Some of you are being hit with a grouchy old man winter - hopefully, he won't be too miserable.  Take care.