Merry Christmas!!! at Copper Mountain RV Park - Tacna, AZ - December 18 to December 25, 2015

Today is Christmas.

Our 3rd one we have celebrated since taking off on the road. For us, it isn't about buying lots of gifts and all the crazy commercialism that goes on this time of the year. Sure, we sent a little something to our little grandkids, and out great grandson. We celebrate the true spirit of Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. A time to focus on the real gift God gave us all.

We went to church last Sunday with some friends we met at the park, Ray & Connie. It was a Southern Baptist Church in Wellton, just a few miles down the road. It was a good service about the difference between Happy Holidays, and Merry Christmas. We definately prefer the latter. This is a picture of the front of the sanctuary.

Can you tell we are in Arizona?  Pretty cool huh?

Last Saturday, we traveled down to Somerton, with Karen & Cliff, and Wayne & Sharon, to the big Tamale Festival.

There were many booths setup making tons of tamales.

And a couple of stages with various bands playing.

And lots of people.

We ate beef, chicken, pork, strawberry, and pineapple tamales. A good day out and about.

Yesterday, we had a Christmas Eve social at the club house. A pretty good turn out.

These functions are a good way to get to know more and more of the winter visitors here.

And we just got done setting up the place for our Christmas potluck party. It's gonna be great!

We do have an issue at the moment. No, it is not my back. That seems to be on the mend pretty good. Donna tripped and fell in the RV about a week ago and I believe she broke a rib or two. It was very painful when it happened. Then a few days later, when we thought it was healing up good, she moved just right, and the intense pain was back, with a vengeance. We are going to move slowly for awhile and see if we can get ourselves back in order.
Sucks to get old!
:)

Feeling Better at Copper Mountain RV Park - Tacna, AZ - December 13 to December 17, 2015

Tomorrow, we will have been here in this park for 2 weeks. It was 10 days ago that I 'goobered' up my back. But I do believe I am going to survive. Each day, a little better. I even went for a 2 mile walk this morning. I must just face the facts that any strenuous back movements and twists are something I must avoid. Maybe I have played my last round of golf. Getting old kinda sucks sometimes.

We have been participating in several park activities though. Card bingo (Yes, I won), wine tasting (Donna gave me her's), BBQs, music jammin, regular bingo (yep, won again), and various games and puzzles. Enjoying our time here with my sister and our friends.

Speaking of friends, I sometimes mention meeting up with fellow Dreamers. Now, Dreamers are folks who are followers of the website RV-Dreams.com, created by Howard and Linda Paine. This website is 'the' website for future and current full time RVers. A wealth of informations there as well as a great forum. Howard & Linda host RV educational rallies several times a year. We have attended two, one in Oregon in 2012, the last one in Indiana in 2014. So all our Dreamer friends kinda keep in touch via blogs, Facebook, or email.

Now on the 5th of January, we are heading to Quartzsite. We are hosting a Christian Fellowship rally at milepost 2.3 off Plomosa Road Jan 9-15. Yep, you all are welcome to come. We are expecting around 20 rigs.
But everyone knows that 'Q' is a pretty hopping place in January. Besides just about every group you can think of holds some sort of rally or get together somewhere in the desert, it is a great place for friends to meet up.

And there will be a lot of Dreamers there. Between now and February, at least 25 Dreamers will show up or are already there. And that's just the ones I know about.

What a great lifestyle. The places we see and go, the freedom to go when and where the winds blow, but meeting so many wonderful people and having friends all over.

Love it!!!

Copper Mountain RV Park - Tacna, AZ - December 7 to December 12, 2015

We just finished our 1st week here at Copper Mountain RV Park. My sister Karen and her husband Cliff are work Kamping here as activity directors. We have played card bingo, regular bingo, had a burger BBQ, movies, and ice cream socials. Donna has been volunteering too.

I played a round of desert golf on the 7th. I enjoyed it and shot a 71. But ....

The next morning, I was in pain. My lower back was killing me. I mean really! When I blew out a disc back in 2012, had surgery, and got my SS disability, this pain is just the same. I didn't think the golf was too hard on my back, but then again, I knew that I had several discs ready to go.

This sucks.

In the morning, I can't be upright (on my feet) for over 30 second. By noon, I can get around fairly good, slowly, but ok. Then the next morning, it starts all over again.

The bummer is, I have original medicare and if I go in and they do the surgery again, I pay 20 percent. Not good! On January 1st, I will have a new Medicare Advantage plan that has no deductible, just co-pays. I have to hold on till the first of the year. Argggg!

On a lighter note, there are very pretty sunrises and sunsets here.

This last Friday, after I could move, we went into Yuma and visited with fellow RV Dreamers Brock & Nathalie. We had a great visit. A lot of catching up since we last saw them in South Dakota in August 2014.

Today, we went into Wellton to take part in a craft sale at the park there. Donna and Karen sold some of there goodies they have made.

My back felt a little better this morning. A tiny bit. We will see how it goes.

Life on the road!

RAT to Q to Copper Mountain RV Park - Tacna, AZ - December 4 to December 6, 2015

We said goodbye to Donna's Brother, Gene, and thanked him again for watching Rumble Bunny and Tinker Belle while we zipped over to Texas and back. We packed her up and headed south 134 miles to the Roadrunner BLM area just south of Quartzsite.

We did a couple of weeks here last year and we parked almost in the same spot. There is not too many folks here yet. Just wait a month. We didn't even unhook the Jeep because we were just doing one night.

We all had a good peaceful night.

The next morning, we continued south to Yuma, then headed east on Interstate 8 for 30 miles to the Copper Mountain RV Park in Tacna, AZ.

We met up with my sister Karen here. We parked right by Karen & Cliff, Wayne and Sharon, and Bev & Tim. Wayne is Cliff's brother, and Bev is the Manager of Crescent Bar RV Resort back in Washington. Donna and Karen will be work-camping there next spring.

This place is kinda in the middle of nowhere, but the price is great for the Yuma area (just 30 miles away). It is $190.00 a month plus $0.15 per Kw of electrical usage.

Office and Activity center.

Lots of space.

The 18 hole desert golf course around the park.

Tee off at hole #3, 118 yards. Really cool!

We are going to be here for a month. We will spend Christmas with KAren & Cliff here. And Donna gets to put up all the Christmas decorations.

And so do I!

Karen and Donna going for their morning walk.

Then we are off to Quartzsite for a couple of weeks. Then ...who knows .. We just might do something crazy!

We'll see.

Stay tuned.

A Fast Trip To Texas - November 28 to December 2, 2015

We got moved into the RAT (Riverside Adventure Trails) for a week.

We are here, at the RPI rate of $77.00 a week, because it is just a mile from Gene's house (Donna's brother) and he will be watching the cats while we will be on our trip to Texas. And we wanted hookups because of a cold front coming through.

And what a fast trip it was!

We picked up a rental car (Nisson Versa) on Friday the 27th. And we got up at 3:30 AM and were on the road at 4 AM Saturday morning ... Arf ....

Passed through Flagstaff as it was getting light. Hmmm, snow along the road. It was 24 degrees out. Yikes!

Stopped off in Winslow to get our picture on the corner.

Rats! The lighting sucked for taking pictures. Oh well, we'll get back through here again I'm sure.

Next we passed through Albuquerque. I wanted to take a quick drive by on Kirtland AFB, where I was stationed back in 1972/73. I was stopped at the gate and they said no to my visit. Boo Hoo.

Onward.

Headed south on Highway 285 and passed through some snowy country.

Then on into Roswell. I wanted to check out the Aliens here.

But again ... no time this time.

We stopped for the night at 5:30 PM in Carlsbad, NM at a Motel 8. Over 800 miles driven today. Arf ...

Sunday morning, we left again at 4 AM, for a shorter driving day. But not by much.

We drove by lots of oil fields. There were natural gas flame tubes burning all around us as we headed down Highway 285 and into Texas.

Once in Texas, we were on Interstate 10 and the speed limit was 80. Cool! I set the cruise control to 83 and sailed across Texas. Man! Texas is big!

Being a Sunday, the traffic wasn't too bad through San Antonio. Would have loved to swing by the Alamo and the Riverwalk, but not this trip.

Drive, drive, drive.

Traffic got a bit funky between San Antonio and Houston, but once the road increased to 3, 4, or more lanes, we actually cruised through Houston pretty good.

Just on the back side of Houston, we turned north on Highway 59 and reached our Motel 6 in Cleveland around 5 PM. Over 600 miles that day, but we made it and will spend 2 nights here.

The next day, we made it to Donna's PCP doctor appointment in Livingston and everything went good.

Then we stopped off at Rainbow's End Escapee Park.

And checked our mail.

Back to the motel ... mission accomplished.

Tuesday morning, we were off again at 4 AM heading home. We took a different route this time. We took Highway 290 west to Fredericksburg and then onto Interstate 10, bypassing Houston and San Antonio. We did go through Austin. It wasn't too bad.

Our last stop was in a Day's End Motel in Deming, NM. El Paso traffic sucked pretty good. Construction and a big accident didn't help at all.

The last leg, today, was through Tucson, no problem, and around Phoenix via Gila Bend.

We got home right at 4 PM. Boy, glad this trip is over. Our cats were sure happy to see us. Thank you Gene, for watching our 'kids'.

We put over 3000 miles on the rental car.

Good night folks. I think we are sleeping in tomorrow.

Avi Casino, Laughlin, NV - November 20 to November 27, 2015

We are just finishing the last week at the Avi Casino, located at the very southern tip of Nevada. We have been boondocking here.

Later today, we will be moving a couple of miles east, back into Arizona, to the Riverside Adventure Trails (The RAT) in Fort Mohave, AZ.

This last week, we were out and about and doing something pretty much everyday. We went out with Gene and friends Nell & JP. We went to happy hour at the Laughlin Lodge Casino.

Donna says they have good Coconut Shrimp.

We went to church again with "RV Dreamers" Ruth & Dale. They are winding down their unscheduled stop here in the area. Their 5th wheel is finally getting repaired. They are flying to Texas for Thanksgiving and we are watching their furry family member, Tazzy.

We had Thanksgiving at Gene's house. Nell & JP were there and another friend, Tom.

We had way too much food. We have much to be thankful for. A great life.

We also went out along Route 66 and did some geocaching.

We returned a Traveling Bug, that we found at Midway on Route 66 last year, It's back on the 'Mother Road'. Just 600 miles further along.

It is hidden up in the black rocks.

We love the desert.

Tomorrow, we go on our mini vacation. Actually a fast trip to Livingston, TX for Doctor checkups. But it is going to be like a vacation. Looking forward to the drive.

Ridgeview Resort, Bullhead City, AZ - November 14 to November 19, 2015

An easy drive south to the Bullhead City/Ft Mohave/Laughlin area. We checked into the Ridgeview Resort. This is an RPI park that we were at 2 years ago when Donna broke her foot.

It was good to get back to this area. It kinda seems like our 'second home' area because we have spent so much time here. Our spot has a good view out our front window of the colorful Laughlin casinos at night.

It is a bit windy here, but that is quite common.

We visited with Donna's brother, Gene. He was having another yard sale.

Our RV Dreams friends, Ruth & Dale are here getting some major RV repairs. We all went to church Sunday and then had brunch at IHOP.

It is always good to meet up with friends on the road.

This week, our Jeep got some new shoes. And a much needed alignment.  We chose Toyo Open Country All Terrain II tires. $$$  These should last awhile.

More RV Dreamers are in the area and we had a meet-up at Pints Brewery. Located in the Colorado Belle Casino in Laughlin, NV.

From left to right .. Me, Donna, Anna, Guy, Sue, Ruth, and Dale.  Good times.

Laughlin is all lit up at night.

I think I'll be getting a Reverse Osmosis system for the RV next week. Our old one went with the 5th wheel. I'm looking at these two.

Good prices. We should recoup the cost before long. RO water is good and it will be good to stop buying bottled water and filling jugs at the Glacier water vending machines.

And, I fixed a problem we have been having with our Norcold refrigerator. After having some cooling problems this summer, I used our hair dryer to get the door seals back in shape. This worked great. I also discovered that the hair dryer made de-frosting the fridge a snap. The problem we have been having for some time, is that it has been getting too cold. Our food has been freezing no matter what setting the thermostat has been set on. In doing some Internet research, it seemed it would be the thermister or electronic control board. I found and downloaded a service manual for our Norcold 1210 IM refrigerator and discovered how to put it in diagnostic mode. The display showed all kinds of good info. It showed that the thermister was reading a temperature of 75 degrees right on the cooling fans. That wasn't right. It was covered in ice and frost. No wonder the fridge was running wide open and freezing everything. Then I found an item on the Net that says you shouldn't heat up the thermister with a hair dryer too much. Since it usually measures temps from 25 degrees to 50 or so, I guess it goes crazy when it is blasted with 200 degrees! So I bought a new thermister for 25 bucks, and it fixed the problem. Yay!

I will be careful with the hair dryer heat around it from now on.

Later....