Off road Jeep Trip 11/20/10

Roger got in one Jeep trip before we leave Casa Grande. He went with a group of "Rock Hounds" from our park. They went to the Ajax Mine and through Box Canyon. These photos will also give you a good idea of what some of the back country looks like in AZ in our area. The building on the hillside was part of the processing facility for the Ajax mine.In some places, there are just holes in the ground that leads into a mine. Last spring Roger had 'rockers' (don't ask, I can't tell) installed on the lil Jeep. This was his first chance to give them a work out and he had a grand time crawling up and down some very steep rock face.

The Rock Hounds brought back bags of rocks and everyone had a good time. Each trip is a new experience from year to year, even to the same places due to the effects of wind and rain. There are always new challenges each trip. And these guys and gals love it!

happy trails...

Algodones, MEX 10/25/10

We've made 2 of the 3 trips to Algodones in the last week, as part of our adventure with the dentist. It is a 3 hour drive to the border (Yuma). There is a $5 parking lot right at the border and we walked across. One of our destinations was the "purple pharmacy", where we loaded up at very good prices. They carry everything there,as well as cosmetics, vitamins..etc etc. List goes on and on. And there is a pharmacy on almost every corner! There are also dentists and opticians every block too. This was a first for Roger and I and I was impressed with our savings. Our friends have made this trip many times and had the itinerary all laid out for us. Our dentists are in a new building (see photo) about 2-1/2 blocks from the crossing. All of the surrounding street sidewalks are filled with vendors. My friend Max found a darling little leather shoulder strap purse and I found some pretty "glitters".
happy trails......

ball games and rain

As we headed south from Washington at the end of September, we visited two of our granddaughters on the way. We were pressed for time but got very lucky with the girls' schedules. Hannah had a double header the day we got in and Lacey did not have school or work the day we got to Chico. Hannah pitches for the Lady Eagles and they won both games on the Sunday we visited. We somehow did not get photos of Lacey this trip.. too busy seeing her new house, meeting her housemates, and getting in a good dinner. Both girls are thriving at school, busy as ever, but managed to have some time for us too. We didn't get to stop and see Vienna and her family this trip, but hope to catch up them on our return from places south next year. I've included a little video of Hannah throwing a pitch. I would not want to play catcher for her! Wow, what an arm!

After several hot days in Casa Grande the first of October, we have had a couple of days of "monsoon" weather! I've included a short video, which actually missed the thunder and lightning, and photos of our "lake" at our front door. It was a pretty impressive display of mother nature at work. Today, 10/6/10 sunny weather has returned and it is not quite so hot. After all my complaining of rain in Washington, the 105deg. heat of our first days in Oct were WAY to HOT! We are adjusting to the low 90s, and love the sunshine every day. Well, I hope the videos work... my blogs are always a work in process....

Happy trails....

Sept in western WA 9/21/10

After our return from a short stay at Cultus Lake BC TT park, we returned to western WA, rain often our companion!. We stayed at the Thunderbird TT park near Monroe, WA. This park is in three sections. We stayed in the 'upper' section, where the pool, store and various playgrounds are. This section is also the one with full hookups. The other two are along the Skykomish river, with only water and power but views of the river. The sites are nice, with picnic tables and fairlylevel lots. Course the rain was still with us so we cut our stay there short and returned to Enumclaw. Our son Jason has poured a large pad around his 'warehouse' in the back of his lot which is great for our Enumclaw 'home'. Course it rained while we have been here too, but we did manage to see soccer games for 3 of our grandkids, Sharon, Kyle, and Kevin. The photos I've put up of our 'site', were taken the first day in a week that it has not rained, and you can see the clouds that are still hanging around. As you can see from the first pictures above, the clouds systems here are pretty impressive;course they butt up against Mount Rainier, so it's not surprising! We expect to head south by the end of this week. Our goal is to reach Casa Grande by Oct 1, but plans are always open to change and variation. The folks in Fiesta Grande park told me yesterday that it was 107 deg., so that's sort of daunting... thank God for Air Conditioning!

Roger is waiting for our DISH receiver arrival today.... our antenna is a little 'pod'. I think of the green canvas tent, navy cot, and Coleman lantern and stove we used as a kid..... boy have times changed. Course camping along a river was my mom's dream...... and we are not that far from that scene....

Happy trails....

painting on the road

I have been doing a little painting while we have been travelling these last few weeks. The first painting is from a photo I took some time ago. I hope folks who were with us on the Baja trip recognize these fellows in the second photo. They were a common site all over Los Barriles. The coffee sign was on the back wall of a wonderful restaurant in the little village of El Triunfo. I have also been reading a lot... what a life! We cut our stay in Cultus Lake short and have retured to Birch Bay. Tomorrow we head back to Puyallup for a short stay. I did a couple of 'backgrounds' for paintings today, as well as the cattle painting. Hope they will inspire me to keep at it. Meanwhile... happy trails....

Seeing BC

Today we took a drive to Harrison Hot Springs, BC. Beautiful day. We had lunch in a cafe on the street that faces the lake. Lots of folks were on the beach, walking the street or checking out the little shops. Not many boats on the lake and just a few signs of snow on the highst, most far mountains in the distance. Fall is in the air a little here though. We notice a few trees beginning to take on color and the air is just a little fresher here. This TT park is full and very busy. I had photos of the luau and dinner that were put on Sat., but internet is slow so will not get them up. Tomorrow we will try the very nice short 18 hold course right next to the entrance to the park. They have a one price/all day fee that is reasonable and we are going to see how we do! Great to have some sunshine and blue skies. Happy trails....

La Conner/Birch Bay 8/12/10

Our friends in Casa Grande will recognize the name on this farm... however, it does not belong to our good friends Marge and Bub Schuh, who live in Illinois. It is a farm outside of Mt. Vernon WA where we stopped and bought blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries. I took photos of the garden, flowers and pumpkin patch, and we enjoyed peach cobbler ice cream, made right there at the farm. My third photo is of our camping site at La Conner, which is a heavily wooded Thousand Trails perserve. The last photo is of our current site in Birch Bay. You can see how diverse the perserves are. The sun has come out at last and it is beautiful here. When the tide goes out, it goes out a LONG way! There is a daytime state park here with a long beach line with many tables along the beach. We checked it out on Friday and the road was full of cars, families picnicing, kids playing, flying kites and digging in the sand. Boats were out in the shallow water (wind and waves a little rough though) and folks were also tending crab pots. Many boats were stranded in the sand however, due to the low tide. We almost made a trip into Canada without our passports, when looking for the closest Walmart. Fortunately we turned around just before hitting the last turn to the border! Roger is loving his new GPS so a road trip anywhere and he's ready. We will be here until Thurs., when we head to Canada and TT Cultus Lake perserve - with our passports in hand! Hope you are enjoying the great weather .... Happy trails....