TooBusyForWork

RZR riding over the Independence Day holiday

We arrived in Crescent at the Big Pines RV Park. Nice place. It is older and obviously family run. The sites are spotless, nicely separated (for an RV park), and they have their own entrance to the UTV trails in the area! It was obvious who was here from the Central Oregon club, and we managed to connect with one of the group’s leaders easily. On the 4th, we went on a group ride to Ft. Rock and back. It was 115 miles (!!!) on mostly gravel roads ridden at pretty high speeds. We took a long lunch break at a bar and grill in town, and then a thunderstorm came in. We just put on ponchos to keep our legs dry and took off on a fast, more direct route to the campground. I only got a few pictures because my GoPro got knocked down and I didn’t notice it until we finished the trip! But here is the little bit I did get.

The first one shows what most of the roads were like – wide graded gravel with minimal bumps.

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And this is the result of passing too close to a tree! The GoPro stayed attached, but it decided to point straight up to the sky. Nice view of the clouds though LOL!

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While the club had nice people, it just isn’t our type of riding. We decided to head out on our own on Saturday. We ended up riding about 60 miles to the town of Odette and had lunch at Manley’s Restaurant. Very nice burgers! Here are some pictures along the way.

And then we got to this:

BTW, I have no idea why this video is in a totally different format than the others! But take a look at just how narrow the trail got to be. Good thing we had a narrow rig!

One of the interesting sites we saw on the way back was this cinder mine. Many of the roads in the National Forest are improved using this red cinder. There were lots of volcanic escarpments and lava flows in the area.

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We took off for Sisters, OR this morning. I had reserved a 50’ site at Cold Springs Campground (USFS), but when Kevin took the truck over to check it out, we couldn’t have gotten in the site due to trees on the entrance. Sigh. We found a boondock site even closer to town though, so I am not too worried. It is going to be in the mid-90s the first part of the week, so having the ability to turn on the generator as much as we want for AC is not a bad trade off.

This afternoon I picked up my credentials for the classes I will be taking this week, and we had dinner at a Himalayan restaurant called High Camp Taphouse. The food was well flavored, but I was expecting a bit spicier. We didn’t regret the stop though.

Tomorrow morning I start classes. We will be here until the Monday after the quilt show. We plan on visiting Bend for some truck work and shopping, plus we will do some riding a few days.

In Oregon

My post-surgery exam showed everything was good, so we headed out of Iowa on Wednesday morning. First night we stayed at Lake Manawa State Park just inside the Iowa border with Nebraska. It is an old oxbow lake with a pretty new campground we have stayed in before. Moderately priced with widely separated sites, it was a good overnight stop. Thursday night we stayed in the Cabela’s campground in Sydney, NE. It is still too hot to think about going without air conditioning! But by Friday early afternoon we were in Wyoming at the USFS Vedauwoo Recreation Area. This is another favorite spot, and we spent two nights there. We even got the same campsite we had two years ago. Here’s a video showing our site.

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Here is a video from the RZR showing what the dispersed camping area is like. Note this is the weekend before the Independence Day holiday, so it was already getting crowded.

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There were lots of flowers, but almost all of my pictures came out blurry. Obviously I wasn’t holding still well enough. I did get a nice picture of wild roses and a cute little ground squirrel that posed for me.

We drove through a number of areas that had been logged, and the resulting meadows were a riot of color. I wish my little iPhone could capture the colors better.

We crossed a little stream on one of our adventures, and the water looked lovely and refreshing. There was a small bridge designed for UTVs to cross, and we paused to take a nice look.

Most of the times our maps don’t let us down, but this time they did! We had quite an adventure running out of trails that were posted open, and even losing one trail completely due to lack of use. Oh well, the RZR backs up pretty easily!

After two nights at Vedauwoo, we continued down I-80 to the Mirror Lake Highway (WY/UT 150) south of Evanston, WY. Thirty miles from the interstate we stayed at a large dispersed area where cross country skiers start their winter treks. It is known as the “Yurt” because the state puts up a big yurt here in snow season. We stayed two nights here too, meeting up with old friends from the RVForum.net who happened to be camping 30 miles away in a USFS campground. Steve made steaks and potatoes on the grill, and we had garlic bread and a Cesear salad to go with it. I made a nice peach cobbler for dessert, so we were all pretty stuffed.

We spent Tuesday night at the Elks Lodge in Mountain Home, ID. Nice people at the bar, and the camp area was very quiet. Wednesday we spent at the Fairgrounds in John Day, OR. We had reserved a site that was plenty long for us, but it was overhung with very low branches so we didn’t fit. Kevin found a camp host who got us moved to another site where the roof wouldn’t be rubbing branches. Starlink was pretty awful though due to the trees. Oh how spoiled we have become with fast internet (just about) everywhere!

Tonight we had landed for the holiday weekend at Big Pines RV Park just south of Crescent, OR. The Central Oregon SXS Club is having some group rides, and we are going to join them. It seems like they do more gravel roads than trails, but the country is pretty so we will survive. It is raining now, and a big thunderstorm is just barely passing us by (so far). It ought to help keep the dust down tomorrow!

Playing catchup with medical issues

We had planned on heading to South Dakota right after Memorial Day, but life got in the way. I am good at getting my preventative medical care, and my mammogram reports have noted words to the effect of “dense breasts … consider MRI.” I decided since I was 70, maybe I should! I have had absolutely no symptoms or test results indicating breast cancer, but surprise! The MRI caught a very small cancer, 4-6mm in size, Stage 0 Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS). Of course that started a waterfall of appointments for biopsies, consultations with surgical, radiation, and medical oncologists, etc. Crazy. I had surgery on Monday, and the pathology report says there is no more cancer. In fact, they couldn’t even find it in the samples. The thought is the biopsy I had actually caught it all. So we are now planning on leaving on Wednesday and heading to Oregon. I still have an appointment with the surgeon and medical oncologist on Tuesday, but I am feeling very, very relieved!

Since the cancer was so small, very contained, and non-invasive, we did enjoy some time in between all the appointments. It took two service calls before Kevin finally got the RZR power steering warranty issue resolved, so we took a 75 mile trip along the Cheese Country Trail beginning and ending in Mineral Point, WI. It is a rail to trail graded trail that was just beautiful in the midwestern early summer.

Trailside picnic area managed by the local SXS club

Kevin also replaced the convection/microwave in the motorhome. The original one was losing display readability, but it was a pain to get the new one in. Turns out the mounting bracket wasn’t installed correctly originally, so when he tried to use the same screws, things just weren’t level. Ahh, so that’s why there were all these extra screws LOL! He finally got the mounting bracket level, and using screw jacks he got it in the right spot.

And is it even a post without a picture of one of the cats? This is Luna impatiently waiting for Kevin to throw her little ball for fetching.

I also participated in the #NoKings rally in Waterloo. This was my favorite sign, mostly because the doodle looks almost exactly like our old dog.

I also got some of the internet famous Dubai chocolate as a reward after surgery. Yum. Not quite sure it is worth $5 for this piece, but it was very good.

We are now packing for the trip. More when we are on the road.

Family, quilting, and the RZR (mostly)

My daughter did officially graduate with her MS in Midwifery! We camped near where her ceremony was. She is part of the University of Iowa’s very first class of Midwives, and she already has a job beginning in September. Until then she will continue as a L&D nurse as she has been. It takes quite a while to get the official go-ahead to schedule boards and the her DEA license. Luckily her employer is paying for all of that. The evening of the ceremony we had all the local kids, spouses, partners, and grandkids at a restaurant for dinner. It was great fun to see everyone and I not have to cook or clean! We also had a smaller group out to the camp for a peach dump cake and my famous New Mexican style green chili chicken enchiladas, both cooked in Dutch Ovens.

I also have gotten some quilting done even with multiple dentist and medical appointments. We try to condense all our visits into a short period when we guarantee we are home, and this year both of us have had to have follow ups which take even more time! I still have one more next week, but Kevin is finally all done.

I did finish the May Kona Block of the Month, this time quite early for once! I am glad this is just about the last of the brown and dull green blocks. We will be moving to more cheerful colors soon.This one was the easiest yet; just a square in a square, some flying geese, and some squares.

I have quilted two quilts. The first one had been sitting in the “pieced not quilted” pile for far too long. I wanted a quilting design that would contrast the linear pattern, so I decided to use two different sizes of circular templates connected randomly with wavy lines. I am actually pretty proud of the circles; it is HARD to quilt around circles! And yes, it is actually nicely square. Luna kept coming by Kevin’s right foot and he twisted around some.

See those pretty circles?

I also quilted the Turkey Giblet quilt I pieced during our winter trip. It is so busy I just quilted it in a random meander with black thread. The first picture is pretty true to the actual color; the other not so much.

Kevin worked on the RZR more. He had all the important pieces one, but he still needed to improve how to get it on and off the truck. Our last little RZR had a removable cloth door that he could climb out of easily. The new one has solid plastic doors that remove with screws. The first few times he needed to get out or in he climbed through the open roof, but obviously that wasn’t a long term solution. He decided to build up the wooden supports in the truck so the door was above the truck side walls. Note the ladder in the second picture; it is definitely needed. Luckily the RZR still fits on the truck hitch attachment which was a pleasant surprise. We were worried the hitch would need to be lengthened an inch or so. He also bought new tires so we now increased the total ground clearance about 2” while maintaining the narrow width we need. Impressive! BTW, that’s our old AZ tag; we now have a new one for the new rig. He installed this one to make sure the lighting worked.

Of course when you get a brand new rig from the dealer you are taking a chance of finding some kind of factory issue. Yup, we have one. The steering is misbehaving some, so the RZR has been at the shop since late last week. Should be home next week, or so the service shop said. They’ve seen it before and seemed to know just what to do.

And here is an in-process picture of my bleeding hearts and shade garden getting weeded by my granddaughters. Their parents don’t like their faces on the internet, but we all agreed this one was ok. The bed looks much nicer now!

Nicer after the granddaughters did weeding

My only remaining quilting task here is adding a first border onto the green Mystery Monday quilt I did a year ago. I need to enlarge it to king sized for our motorhome bed. I am also prepping for a class I will be teaching at the Rocky Mountain Motorcoach Association “Ramble” – a rally in October in Farmington, NM. I will be teaching folks how to make oven mitts. It was a popular class last time I did it at the FRVA international convention a couple of years ago, but this is a much smaller rally so I am not expecting more than 4 or 5 people. I am providing supplies for 10 though, just in case. I need to get the insulation cut at least, plus see how much fabric I need to buy new and how much can come from my stash. I have plenty of time for the fabric, but the insulation comes on a big roll, and I don’t want to haul that around!

Other than that we are just getting organized for our trip beginning the first week of June, assuming I get clearance from my doctor which is very probable. We won’t be back until the week before Halloween, our longest summer trip yet.

Update on the new RZR 900 Trail side by side

Since we got home Kevin has been keeping the delivery folks busy. He’s been having a blast getting the new RZR ready for the trail. The version we bought is really stripped down as it comes from the dealer. It didn’t even have a roof, mirrors, or turn signals.

Here is the front so far. Notice the roof, front bumper, winch, low mounted fog lights, a split front windshield (it opens into three separate positions), a manual windshield wiper, side mirrors, a center mirror, and removable side windows that attach with magnets. The 2” lift kit isn’t obvious, but it gives a significant benefit for the rock climbing needed in Arizona. He also got 27” tires all around (the original 26” tires were different widths too).

From the side the windows are a bit more obvious as is the custom GoPro attachment he 3D printed for me! He also installed rock guard at the bottom of the doors to protect the plastic lower doors.

At the back you can see the tail lights, turn signals, lighted license tag holder (we have a tag from Arizona), spare gas can, water can, fire extinguisher, and a spare tire mount (plus tire of course). One of the real advantages of the new tires is now all five tires are the same size. There is lots of storage now for a lunch ice chest, spare parts, tools, two flag pole holders, and emergency gear. We are pretty cautious with emergency gear since we frequently ride by ourselves. Food, water, extra clothing, emergency shelter, and an In-Reach emergency communication device. A few things you can’t see include a radiator rock guard, power outlets in the dash plus custom switches for the new stuff, hangers for our ear protection/radios, and grab handles to make getting in and out of the rig a lot easier for old joints like ours LOL!. Oh, and Kevin had to modify the wooden ramp in the truck so the bottom of the door is just above the side rail of the truck. With the old RZR he just took off the door to climb in or out. This one has OEM doors, and they don’t come off easily.

Since we have had wet weather in the last few weeks we haven’t taken it out to the local OHV area, but it is looking like we can do it next week. We have been busy working on other things and putting off. I did get my garden weeded by my fantastic granddaughters, we have gone to concerts, and then my back ablation added to limited opportunities to ride. Kevin has made sure we have stickers for riding in Iowa, Arizona, and South Dakota (both the state one and the one needed for the Black Hills). We are still waiting for the ones for Oregon and Utah, and we need to order the Wyoming one. Wow, I guess that is enough.

As for sewing, I have another quilt sandwiched just waiting to get on the machine. This one is very modern, and I am looking forward to doing straight lines and circles on it. But my daughter is graduating with her MS in Midwifery, and is planning on taking her boards in the next couple of week. We are heading down in the RV for a few days to make it easier to get to the graduation. We will be staying a few days just to relax too.

Back in Iowa for a while

When we got home, we had a fabulous Easter dinner with most of the kids and grandkids. This time we had butterflied leg of lamb, and it was lovely. Because Kevin cooked it in the sous vide, it left the oven free for roasted carrots. It takes a LOT of carrots for 13 people! We also had green beans with bacon and onions cooked in the Instant Pot. It took two Instant Pots to cook the four pounds of fresh beans, and it took Kevin and I both working about 45 minutes to snap them all. Memories of my grandmothers house came back when we would snap a lot of beans on a regular basis during summer. My grandmother did all kinds of canning out of her 1 acre garden. She basically provided vegetables for her, my grandfather, my mom, my sister and me all year.

As I noted last time, the cats were very busy exploring. I tried to put the first load in the dryer, and I was treated by this! Good thing she has bright eyes, because she was really hard to see until I called.

Luna is also a bother downstairs isn the sewing area. She only occasionally will sit with me upstairs, but as soon as I go downstairs she is fully involved! She sits on the quilt while I try to quilt, tries to climb on my lap while I am doing anything, and she is fascinating by seeing the thread moving from the thread stand to the machine. As soon as I took this picture, I moved her away. Cats and thread are a dangerous combination!

We are also keeping the Amazon delivery drivers busy. Our English friends Tony and Anne showed us pictures from their game camera when we were in Quartzsite. I bought one myself, and set it up at night in the living room to make sure I had the settings right. I didn’t, but the picture below is pretty cute anyway. I have since set the camera for videos and corrected the AM/PM issue.

One of the things I am working on this year is a Block of the Month from Kona Fabrics. It includes a Zoom class with a quilt shop about 45 miles away. She includes all kinds of methods to do the class which is interesting. I pushed my technique in April, and I am not thrilled with the result. I didn’t dislike it enough to take it apart though!

The may version was much easier, and I only had one spot I should have re-done. You can see if you notice it. I am just not too picky anymore.

I finished the quilting for the partner of one of my son’s. She is a Broadway theater fan, and I was pleased to find the feature fabric.

I quilted it with golden yellow thread (hello Tony Awards!) in a random meander with loops and stars.

I used the same color in the binding. I really like doing machine binding this way. I serge the edges first for a nice firm edge, cut binding at 2.25”, sew on front, press well, turn over the edge holding the fold with clips, then sew the binding from the front with a decorative stitch. This time the stitch was a 3 step zigzag, but I have used a number of other stitches in the past.

Iowa had had a terribly dry winter, but we finally got a bunch of rain. The flowers are all considerably delayed, but they are finally coming out. My pink and white bleeding hearts are doing well. Ignore the massive infestation of weed! My local grandchildren are coming over tomorrow to week for me.

And in a statement of really good news, I got another radioablation on my back that has really helped in the almost two weeks since I got it. I am also keeping up my pain meds – gabapentin and cyclobenzaprine plus lidocaine patches occasionally. I still have problems with any walking over a block or so, but I have no real pain when I am not moving. This is a huge improvement over how I felt before the procedure.

I am now working on quilting some other tops that I have been ignoring for far too long. I am also taking a sampler class offered virtually and sponsored by the Arizona Quilt Guild. The guild is well worth the $15 a year in dues!

Iowa – home again first time in 2025

It was time to get home. Always something to look forward to, and something we regret since we love the Southwest so much. I did some serious medication and lots of heating pad use, and I was able to drive semi-comfortably.

We left Monument Valley and went to Page, AZ, staying at the Elks Lodge 4 April. It was a gravel parking lot, and they charged $15 for dry camping. I thought that was fairly high, but, then again, Page is a big vacation spot. Very friendly people though. The next night we went to the Twin Arrows Casino outside Flagstaff, AZ. It is always an easy spot to stay, free, and not too noisy. On 6 April we spent the night at Santa Rosa State Park, NM. Lovely place. It is a bit of a pain to get to, but worth it for a beautiful and quiet spot. We thought about staying two nights, but there was weather coming in, so we kept going.

Monday saw us all the way through Texas and into Elk City, OK where we spent the night at the Elks Lodge. Again it had no hookups, but we were able to find a nice spot. We got to Oklahoma City fairly early on Tuesday. We stayed at the Edmond Elks Lodge. Not very nice due to crowding. We could hear a lot of conversations from surrounding coaches! We stayed two days because a group of elementary and high school friends were getting together. I keep forgetting how little I have in common with the people I went to high school with! I think this will be the last time I try to get together with them. Life definitely does go on.

We spent 10 April on the trip at the Kansas Star Casino south of Wichita. Great place to spend a quiet night for free. The lot we stayed in was gravel, but it was pretty flat and relatively unoccupied. There is an alternative spot closer to the casino that was asphalt, but it was slightly more occupied. Our last night was spent at the Walmart in Osceola, IA. Lots of reefers running all night, but it was handy. A bad wind was coming, so we left early and headed straight home.

We got here this morning and put the motorhome at Big Woods Lake County Park. We are about half unpacked, and we will finish tomorrow. The cats are enjoying the space. Each of them is rubbing their faces over pretty much every surface, marking the place as theirs after so long.

With the new RZR and tariffs being on and off, Kevin has ordered all kinds of things for it. We had them delivered to my oldest son’s place. A lot of things are big (front and rear windshields, bumper, etc.), and our son has joked that he will give us the bill for the storage unit the items required! He also said we owe the poor UPS guy who has to walk up 20 steps or so to their front door! Kevin will be fully employed getting everything put on. I have a list of things to quilt, and I need to get them done before we leave again around Memorial Day, so most posts going forward will probably be quilt-related.

What can be said about Monument Valley that hasn’t been said?

Wow, wow, and wow. We are absolutely overcome with the beauty of Monument Valley. I have wandered around a lot of red rock country, but just never made it here before. We got here on Monday and just rested up. Here is looking out the door of our motorhome at Gouldings RV Park.

We also went to the Mitten viewpoint. On the 31 of March (Monday) the West Mitten shadow shows up perfectly aligned with the East Mitten. We were ready to take pictures, but at the last minute the clouds covered the sun and the shadow was lost. We did get some preliminary pictures though.

On Tuesday we took full day tour with a Gouldings Navajo guide named Marvin. It was cold and windy, so we were glad we had a regular enclosed van for the tour. Most of the 3 hour tours were in open vehicles!

We started the trip by visiting the lesser traveled Mystery Valley and having lunch cooked over a fire mostly by his wife. Oh, and we got stuck in sand! It took Marvin, Kevin, and Rick (the other person on our tour) to push the van while I put it in low and gunned it. They really shouldn’t send guides out in an 2 wheel drive van when all the signs say 4WD required! After lunch we visited Monument Valley. Instead of posting pictures chronologically, I am going to arrange the pictures more by type of scenery.

Arches. There were lots of arches.

And then there were the remnants of the ancestral Puebloan people (previously called Anasazi).

They were a small people based on the size of their hands

Notice the craftsmanship still present in the ruins. Square corners and a combination of large and small stones to keep the walls straight.

And then there is just the raw. beauty of the place.

We stopped at a hogan in Mystery Valley where an older woman explained the process of weaving beginning with the sheep shearing (manual because no electricity!), washing, carding, spinning, and weaving. She had some beautiful things for sale, but it was out of my budget. Maybe I will have to save up for the next time we come.

We didn’t see much wildlife; this is a hard country. We did see this hawk.

We had dinner on Monday at Gouldings Inn Restaurant (Navajo tacos for both of us) and breakfast at the same place (French toast combo) today. Food was good, and service was quite adequate despite a number of reviews saying the opposite. We had wanted to visit the various museums, but my back is still giving me fits. I have another radioablation on my medial nerve scheduled for 23 April, and I can hardly wait.

We have had some wild weather while we have been here. Monday it was windy with a big dust storm, overcast, and cool. Tuesday it was cold and windy with more dust. Wednesday we got rain, snow, cold, clouds, and sun. Today wasn’t as bad though it did rain a bit and snowed a bit more.

Tomorrow we go to Page to register the new RZR then head to Grants for Saturday, assuming the weather is ok.

Out of Quartzsite for this year

We left Quartzsite on Monday, 23 March, planning on gradually working our way home to Iowa. This is the picture Kevin took on Sunday night of the sunset. It was taken through a long lens, and then it had be reduced in quality some, but it is an impressive sunset view from our campsite.

We first went to Lake Havasu City, spending 4 nights at the Elks Lodge there. I went to a “Staycation” with the Havasu Quilters guild Monday through Wednesday. The problem was that I was still very, very sore from my back spasms. I didn’t get nearly as much done as I intended. I finally sewed up the quilt block for March’s Block of the Month, but I am not very happy with it. It is not only not my best work, it isn’t even my average work. Oh well, it will do though. I made some little scrubbers for gifts from a kit I have been hauling around for a couple of years. They will be cute in a gift package of a mug and hot chocolate mix (the fabric is hot chocolate related). I also finished all the 8 star blocks I needed for my Christmas quilt, but I didn’t get much more accomplished. All day Monday back would spasm for 30-60 seconds while I just tried to breathe through it. It really sucked. Tuesday was better with no spasms, just soreness. Wednesday the pain was bad. The staycation is normally a treat with lots of good companionship, good food, and lots of sewing time.

After LHC, we headed north to Monticello, UT. We spent one night at the NavajoLand RV Park in Tuba City, AZ on the way. It was decent but not really set up for a rig our size. In Monticello we are staying at the Western RV Park. It is another older campground where we barely fit, but they obviously just redid their sewer system with a lot of fresh gravel on all the sites.

The reason we are in Monticello is because Kevin bought a new side by side! The shop is in Grand Junction, CO, and we drove the truck with the old RZR in the back from Monticello to there. Why? Because when we leave here tomorrow we are headed back to Monument Valley, UT and then to AZ to complete all the paperwork. We had planned on picking it up after we left Monument Valley, but they had rebates that expire tomorrow. But first a bit about the trip up to Moab on the way to I-70. I don’t think we had ever driven the road headed north, though we have done it southbound a few times. It is a glorious drive. There was haze and we had a schedule to meet so only a couple of pictures, and those were through the windshield. The first was the lovely La Sal mountains south of Moab. Lots of snow on their peaks.

And then we started getting to the fabulous rocky outcroppings as we got nearer to Moab. I loved this one the most, and I named it “Haystack.”

And here is Kevin in the brand new rig! It is a Polaris RZR 900 Trail Sport. We got a very good trade in, rebates, and additional deals because they had a bunch of 2024 rigs still in stock. It is a 900cc engine with 75hp and real doors that don’t require contortions to get in the rig. Even the seats are more comfortable. Now he gets to keep the UPS driver busy bringing all the accessories to make it street legal and comfortable. Things like roofs, windshields (front and back), mirrors, and storage boxes are all aftermarket. Kevin has a great time shopping for them, and putting them all on will keep him busy when we get home. I can hardly wait until we can take it out on the trails!

We leave tomorrow for Monument Valley. I will post as we finish that portion of the trip.

Edited to add: We had an absolutely fabulous late lunch at Bella Thai in Moab. It is probably the best Thai food I have ever had! I wanted to make sure I had it in the post because I look back a such info later on.

Quartzsite Redux

We are staying at a different location in the Tyson Wash LTVA than we were the last time we were here. The crowds are gone, so we moved a bit closer to the entrance. We back up to a wash, and there have been quite a few birds coming by – quail, hummingbirds, doves, and some other ones I don’t know. A friend has a trail cam, and I am definitely going to buy one before we head out for the summer. She puts it out every night, and she finds lots of cool creatures. One time a bobcat came by! Not here luckily.

We definitely have done a bit of riding since we arrived and my back has improved. I am still taking it easy, so no long, rough group rides. We enjoyed this view from the “Q” mountain (someone put a rock art Q on it). I have posted other pictures from a nearby spot, and the reduction in campers is significant.

One of the interesting things in the area is this old mill just outside the town. It is always fun to wander around it.

We took one 55 mile jaunt out past the famous Quartzsite golf course. You are advised to bring colored ball, orange being the most popular. The 9 hold course has marked holes with flags .There always seem to be people on the course.

We also took a side trip to the old Scott’s Lead Well. There is an old corral, a broken watering tank, and water storage tanks. They aren’t working anymore, so the fish and game folks installed a new wildlife guzzler. The tank is underground, and it has a well to pump. If the water gets low, they come out and fill the underground tank. When we were there we startled a bunch of birds away. The video shows the ride up to the old tanks, and the still picture shows the guzzler and the old tanks in the background. As usual, click on the link to get the video.

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Sadly the desert will filled with trash. We collected 1 1/2 sacks of small pieces of garbage since we couldn’t take any big stuff. This is a burned out fifth wheel someone had taken out to a lonely spot and torched. Probably an insurance scam: “Oh officer, the rig was in perfect shape before it was stolen!” Disgusting..

This is a memorial to a local bicyclist. The bicycle was actually stolen a few months back, but they replaced it.

It is still very, very dry, but the ocotillos have started blooming even though there isn’t enough moisture for their leaves to come out. They are among my favorite desert plants.

Our ride took us out to the Cyprus Copperstone Mine. It is an open pit gold mine that was very profitable. Now they are planning to dig underground in the same disturbed area for more gold. We didn’t get too close; they have gates that are locked. The pit is off to the right.

On the way back we hit the sandhills that are northeast of town. So many people think Arizona is just sand dunes, but they are actually pretty uncommon. Here is a short sample.

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I have been sewing some as I recover from the back problems. This is what I am calling “Midnight in the Desert.” I am in love with the colors of this, and I really like the way the circular star pattern shows up as a secondary design. I was planning on sandwiching and quilting it here, but I have decided I really want to get the intersections super flat with the LaraStar ironing system I have at home. The colors in the first picture are accurate, but those in the second picture are quite washed out. It does show the fabric design of the print though. I have also sewn a few hundred Christmas squares together, but I won’t show that one for a while yet.

Tonight Kevin got a great picture of a doze camouflaged in the brush. It was easy to hear him/her, but it took a bit of work to see.

And no post in the southwest is really complete without fabulous sunrise …

…. and sunset pictures.

We are heading to Lake Havasu on Sunday. It will be getting hot here – upper 80s into low 90s – so it is time to head in for electricity and air conditioning.