What's that? Oh...'change' is calling us again!

Camp is thriving! We have some additions to the bunch! Kevin arrived a couple days after we did, it's been nice having him back around...such an 'easy' camper and great company.

[caption id="attachment_4603" align="aligncenter" width="350"] FUN.[/caption]

Cheri has also joined us for a little bit of time. I love having (my) time with her, I feel like we're sisters, we tell each other like it is and get along so well and always have fun no matter if we're just sitting together. I love my Miss Cherry! We sat for a couple of days and wrapped some jewelry and thought of new things to make and then made them; rings, rings with beads, she made me a bracelet, I fixed a necklace and wrapped another awesome stone, a Moss Agate to be exact!

[gallery ids="4604,4605,4606"]

It's my best wrap yet...yessssss! It's so nice to see her face every couple of months, it's warm and familiar and we just love her and Mr. T (Tony) ❤

Oh yeah...I colored and reshaped my hairz. I needed to get away from the reds due to how the color fades...fast and brassy, plus I really wanted to get back to a darker more 'natural' color for me...my hair is naturally a very dark brown. I went with a fun (cheap) color, Midnight Blue Black, that I remember as a fun color a few years back and goes well with my skin tone.

Take a gander at the process....

[gallery ids="4610,4613,4611"]

 J' really likes it and so do I...I think it was a good time to change.

Speaking of change, we figured we would move our camping spot too. We moved about 100 yards away from where Ray & Kevin are camping...it was fun to try something different but we are who we are and we just like to spread out and have our space. It's actually the perfect distance because we are close enough to walk to each others camps but still have our privacy, it's great! We have a great view, a place to put our kitchen and we get sun all day...couldn't have planned it better.

Have you gone through the process of change lately?

PEACE

Pretty Comfy on the Coast

We have now been on the California coast for four full days now. While it has been fun, it has definitely been an interesting learning experience. I have grown rather fond of the little routine we've gotten ourselves into. Here is a little run-down...

A usual day:

Wake up at 5:45 a.m., J' gets up and drives to our "day spot" aka the side of the road that sits on the ocean that we park at all day for FREE.

We park and lay in bed together, either falling back asleep or watching the sets roll in in the dark, misty morning water sometimes even catching a glimpse of a tribe of dolphins...

[caption id="attachment_4279" align="alignright" width="150"] Cozy?[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4280" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dolphins![/caption]

the wash of the traffic rocking the van ever so slightly for that romantic feel...and feeling very thankful that we get to lay here in our fort, in bed while they all rush off to the rest of their day.

When the sun has risen in the sky a little more, to shine some light and warmth down upon us, we do our morning rituals and enjoy a nice stroll along the beach with Savannah, she totally digs this. She just loves all the smells of the beach and the city...and lots of other things I can't smell!

We've been doing some long walks, definitely a couple of miles. We like to know what's around us and if there might be better spots we could be parked, so we walk...plus we all like the exercise!

Once back from our walk, our daily 'grind' will begin... gazing at the sets rolling in, watching the surfers do their thing, books being read, work being done, life being lived, more walks being walked, all the while the salty fresh breezy air playing against our skin and dancing with our hair.

Yep, I love Mother Ocean, she's incredible!

When we're not "sitting still" we are usually driving to see more of what surrounds us; cities, parks, beaches, etc. In the last couple of days we have been to Redondo Beach and have discovered quite a bit in Malibu but what seems to be quite fitting for us, is Santa Monica. Here, in Santa Monica, we can park within a few miles of both our night spot to our day spot...so for now, we don't really feel the need to change it. Of course, we are the *ADD Tribe (*Always Dreaming & Driving) so I'm sure that will change at any moment! haha

The day passes, we sit through rush hour traffic again...with the same people as the morning I'm sure and as night falls, we set up the bed in our day spot...with lights and laughter!

[caption id="attachment_4286" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Now that's a sunset![/caption]

Once 8:30-9:00 p.m. rolls around, the bed is down and we are rollin' rubber to our snooze spot. We find ourselves a nice level, quiet space to fill for the night and with just a few things to put up in the windows, just like that we are laying in the fort dozing off to usual neighborhood sounds.

Easy.

Next day...the fun starts all over again!

[caption id="attachment_4285" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Stealth Machines[/caption]

It's definitely been a change from the last 10 months of desert and mountains and private space and we are definitely tossing the idea around of staying here for a while. Everything in our lives is ever-changing...which we crave... so we always like to seek out other options. You just never know what's around the next corner if you never drive around it!

PEACE

 

 

It's Poppin' in Palm Springs

Today seemed like a good day to switch it up a bit...time to move on. Palm Springs here we come!

We drove in around 12:45-ish, maybe even 1 p.m. Palm Springs is a gorgeous area, the landscaping is done just beautifully: lush green plants & trees, among the prettiest flowers everywhere. When we mentioned to a friend, a few weeks ago that we would be in Palm Springs, she said she would be here for another couple of weeks...another reason to stop for a few days. We drove into town and stopped to find our bearings before driving all over...only finding the town is much smaller than we thought so driving around to find things was much easier.

We connected with our friend, Sayward, over the phone...she wouldn't be back in town for a couple of hours. We used that time to go frolic downtown! The downtown area of Palm Springs is pretty awesome. It's very artsy! The way it is laid out, it kind of reminds me of a mix between Lincoln Road in Miami with a blend of Denver. I love it! ♥ 

[caption id="attachment_4147" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Sonny & Me[/caption]

They have the Forever Marilyn statue: a 26 foot tall bronze & stainless steel statue of Marilyn Monroe, in her most famous pose in her white dress blowing all around her, it weighs over 34,000 lbs.! It was pretty rad. 

[caption id="attachment_4143" align="aligncenter" width="225"] See the Arrow!?[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4144" align="aligncenter" width="219"] Peeper![/caption]

They even have their own Walk of Stars...not with the handprints but cool nonetheless. We stopped and talked to a chick on the street, who recently just became homeless and couldn't be more happy with herself. J' was giving her ideas about selling her art at the upcoming art festival next weekend. We named her "Palm Springs Chrissy". She is the most positive, proud, happy, outspoken 'homeless' person I've ever talked to...it was a nice, upbeat conversation. We walked the entire downtown area, getting some pretty nice pictures, we found some great parking spots and then headed over to meet up with Say where she is staying. We pulled up and there she was, just as beautiful as ever! It's always nice to see radiant, shining people. We got parked behind her & leveled-up, then over to enjoy her hugs. I'm sure we sounded like chickens: squawkin', gigglin', talkin', hugging, laughing...great! After getting settled in our spot, we joined her in her rig for the remainder of the night, chattin' away getting all caught up on the last 3 months of our lives. She is really easy to spend time with, she sees life in the positive and has good insights on a lot of different topics. The night was relaxing and full of good energy...the time just flew by. 

We will spend a few days here with Say, taking time for work and time for play. She says there is sooo much to show us...woohoo, our personal tour guide!

PEACE

On the Hunt

Today was a nice day and since I've been sitting in the van more than I would like to I made sure to take Savannah on a nice long walk...this morning and this afternoon. I hope this is the beginning of the warmer weather coming in...hoping, hoping hoping! Earlier today as we were making lunch, I had to pull the cooler out to get food out and kept it out to use as a table. Savannah took it upon herself to make the cooler area her new fort...can't say I blame her, it's soft, dark and cozy down there!

[caption id="attachment_3893" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Fort Bug![/caption]

After our yummy lunch of green beans and chicken, I made Savannah into a Ninja...I haven't dressed her up in a minute, she actually walked around for a while with her outfit on, she's so cute!

[caption id="attachment_3894" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Ninja Bug[/caption]

J' and I washed each others hair...oh, how good it feels to have a clean head again. If there's one thing we must have on the road, it's clean hair! When our hair isn't clean, everything feels...well, not right.

[caption id="attachment_3900" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Clean girls![/caption]

 Savannah and I went on a really nice walk in the afternoon on the land behind the casino. I think there is Indian land back there, there are houses and some kind of farm and a bunch of signs that say, "Private Road, No Access", but we always see people coming in and out with cow and horse trailers. Anyway, there is a bunch of open land behind the casino and it's great to take Savannah walking back there because she can hunt (on leash) and scurry about like the crazy lil spirit she is. There are Pheasants (which I found out from friends, are actually Quail) and ground squirrels running about, mostly trying to get away from Savannah but they're still cute and it's good exercise for the Bug.

[caption id="attachment_3901" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pretty Pheasants...er Quail[/caption]

After Nana ran around like a mad-woman, I took her up on top of this gravel hill to watch the land from above. I love watching her 'hunt', she sees every single movement, her head and ears are cocking from one side to the other hearing the chitter chatter of the animals...she's so stinkin' cute!

We must have sat up here a good 35-40 minutes, just watching. J' told me I should have let her off-leash to go hunt but I don't trust her, she never listens to me so she stays on-leash with the momma. It was a beautiful afternoon, glad I took some extra time with my nugget, to just be. It's been a while since we've been able to just sit outside and enjoy the day like that.

I feel like I've been hunting for sunshine lately and today I think I found it!

What have you been 'hunting' for?

PEACE

Chilly Climate = Warm Wishes

The wind and chill stuck around for the most part of today, although it did warm up enough for us to take a walk around the parking lot later in the afternoon. This parking lot is so big that it's a really nice walk, actually feeling like we're getting some exercise. We walked around, gabbing and taking in all of the different sights...still getting used to all of the different cactus and plants...they're pretty cool. We walked over to one part of the lot that looked like it might be a sidewalk to a walking path, but just ended up being a dead-end sidewalk with a bunch of cactus 'balls' on the ground. J' went to kick one of the 'balls' and it stuck in his shoe...he was amazed, never had he gone to kick something out of the way just to have it stick in his shoe. He spent a few minutes trying to get it out of his shoe as well as trying not to get it re-stuck in his finger! Crazy cactus balls!

[caption id="attachment_3860" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Kick the 'ball"[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3861" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Ball gets stuck in shoe!![/caption]

I shot a few more pics of the crazy cactus that are out here in this parking lot...they are super neat looking...I'm going to have to find out the names of these things!

If anyone knows what they are called, please let me know. Other than that, just another lazy afternoon of walking, working and Winter! I hope the weather starts getting a little nicer and warmer and then stays that way...I'm getting over this whole Winter thing here! haha

PEACE

Sitting quietly in Sahuarita

The weather sure did change overnight! The wind picked up with a little bit of spitting rain throughout the night. We woke up to a pretty blustery day, Winnie Pooh! The day only got colder, windier and darker as it flew right by us. It even seemed as though a lot of the RV's even left due to the weather changing so drastically...maybe they had other plans but it just seemed that way.

We ended up getting the heater down...why sit in the cold when we can sit and be comfortable!?

Not a very exciting day but at least J' was able to get some work done and we stayed warm.

PEACE

A Surprisingly Fun Afternoon

We have been at the Casino del Sol for a few days and it's been great but we decided to switch it up a bit and go to a different casino, ya know...for options. Options are always great to have and to know about. We drove to what we thought would be a closer casino to my sister, when we decide to visit her, but it was totally not our cup of tea, there was an aviation training field right across the street meaning very very loud planes at all hours of the day and night,

the parking lot was not full of any RV's not really making us settle in very well, the neighborhood didn't make up for any of these other things either, so we moved on down the road to a casino in Sahuarita called Desert Diamond Casino.

What a huge difference! This casino had quite a few RV's of all sizes and was the biggest parking lot we've seen so far. We found our parking spot and thought we'd go inside and see what the casino was like. The building was really pretty, it had a really pretty fountain in a covered walking area into the entrance of the casino.

The casino itself was smaller than most we've been inside but it was nice. J' turned to me when we walked inside and said, "Let's play a game!" Now, he never plays the slot machines so it was a little out of the ordinary but...okay! We put a dollar into a penny slot machine and pulled a couple of times, the dollar ran out, put another one in, made a little bit of money then it ran out again. We put one more dollar in and we hit a few good rolls and ended up winning $9.30! haha How awesome is that!? We got up and walked around for a little bit, passing by the buffet restaurant, saw the prices: $9.99 for lunch buffet from 11-2...it was 1:51! The ladies at the buffet counter even gave us 10% off, usually if you have a player's card you get 10% off, since we wouldn't be able to go, stand in line, get one and get back to the buffet by 2 p.m., she gave it to us! Funny how things work sometimes huh!? The buffet was great, the most amazing thing too was they had all you can eat ribs! Cha-ching...Jackpot!!

The buffet was great and the best part was with our winnings, it was buy one get one free! Woo hoo! It was a fun unexpected afternoon...those are always a ton of fun! Now we're just waiting for the weather to change, it's supposed to get pretty cold again tomorrow and stick around for a couple of days...we might just have to get the heater down again!

Wish us warm!

PEACE

All is Well at the Casino del Sol!

I think we may have found our resting place for a minute! This Casino del Sol is something else! The parking lot is humungoid, the casino is really nice inside (with a very good ventilating system for the smoke) and almost felt like we were in the Venetian in Vegas.

The landscaping is beautiful and there's a ton of room to walk Savannah, also feeling very safe while doing so. We were able to put our antennae up on the van and are getting somewhere around 60 channels or so...crazy, a lot of them are Spanish but we're still bringing them in...that's what counts!

[caption id="attachment_3807" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pick a spot, any spot![/caption]

The parking for the RV's is in the back of the casino over by the amphitheater, which reminds me of a place in Denver called Fiddler's Green, well it used to be called that until Coor's took over. It's gorgeous!

[caption id="attachment_3811" align="aligncenter" width="300"] AVI Ampitheater[/caption]

I wish it were open to the public so we could kick our soccer ball in there, but I understand why it's not. For lunch we made our first round of smoothies...yummy scrum-diddly-umptious smoothies! We bought a single serve blender, which actually works pretty darn good with all of the stuff we jam-packed in there! haha

[caption id="attachment_3809" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Serving One...at a time[/caption]

We're still learning. I'm going to call this smoothie the Tutti Frutti...I might just call all of them that, since the name is so much fun! The contents of the Tutti Frutti consists of: Apple juice, ice, strawberries, blueberries, banana's, peanut butter, Muscle Milk protein powder, yogurt and ground up Flax seed. Yes, all in this single serving cup....it was overflowing with scrumptiousness!

[caption id="attachment_3808" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Tutti Frutti awww Rootie[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3810" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Thumbs Up to my babaa'[/caption]

We're both pretty stoked that this is going to be a normal part of our days now. We just have to get another blending cup for easier smoothie making...today we shared and made two. The blender is pretty small too so it fits right in with our stuff in Joon...welcome to the family Blenderella! haha

In the early evening I took Savannah on a hunt, making sure she got to sniff every single cactus, rock and shrub! That's when I saw this little guy...the red and pink caught my eye, but he almost looks translucent!

[caption id="attachment_3805" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Lil' Liam the Lizard[/caption]

All in all I'd say this place is pretty nice and welcoming of travelers ..which is always nice to find, especially when you don't know where you are! I spent the majority of my day finding out exactly where we are and what is nearby, like parks, Wal-marts, Farmer's Markets, where my sista' lives and if there are any other places to camp, either Casino's or BLM. I feel like I have done a fairly good job with this, but we shall see when it comes time and we are there either parking for a few days... or driving to the next place! For now though, we will be parked right here at this casino, enjoying the mountain scenery, each others company and being able to channel surf...woo hoo Surf's Up Dude's and Dudette's!

PEACE

 

 

Playing Hide~n~Seek

What a night last night, eh!?

We were up with the rest of the group to sit in the 10 a.m. circle. This morning would be about Boondocking, BLM, City Stealth, etc. This could definitely serve helpful in the nearby travels! I made cafe and met J' over at the circle.

It was bound to be a lengthy discussion due to everyone's experiences and/or opinions, but Bob did a great job on keeping it on track. The information was some new and some we had heard before or experienced ourselves, but always good to learn at least one new thing! I walked over to the "Free Pile" (yes, it's exactly as it sounds). It's a pile full of stuff that people in the group are getting rid of: can't find a place for it, can't find a use for it or simply don't want it...and it's all 100% FREE! You just never know what you're going to find...and like they say, "Another man's 'trash' is another man's treasure." I'm going to call it "The R.T.R. Recycle/Freecycle Program." This would be my first actual look at the free pile since getting here...there is a ton of stuff here! There are books, dishes, seat cushions, clothes of all sorts, shoes, glassware, cookware, perfumes, hangers, even a coffee maker and a printer (our printer)! I ended up grabbing a few different items of clothing, I was surprised to find they were in super good shape and really nice brands like Columbia...good for lengthy wear! I tried them on to make sure they fit, and after a washing, I'll have myself a few nice cardigans, tank tops

and a pair of Cherokee hiking sandals. (I scrubbed those suckers down, they're like brand new!) I even found a 2013 Calendar with super cute animals on it...I have been looking for a 2013 Calendar. I also picked up a book named: I can't believe I'm crocheting! haha How cool is that, it's totally 70's style too, love!

[caption id="attachment_3489" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Pile of Wonder[/caption]

After our nice finds and new digs, we 'piddled' around the van, talked to a few peeps and headed down the road to our Football Destination Point...Ehrenberg. First, we had to get some water and twice the ice, then we would be on our way.

Even though we were going to Ehrenberg to watch the foosball (last two games) we had other business to take care of as well. Remember the backpack that J' was carrying out of the Flying J', last week when we took showers? Well, that backpack came up missing the night we got back to Quartzsite, when I was trying to organize the van into sitting-still mode. I pack the front seat a very certain way, so I noticed his backpack was not in the van...after a good in-depth discussion about the whereabouts and the recovery of it, we decided to just check the desert when we went back. Today would be the day we would find out if we were right on its whereabouts... dun dun duuuuunnnnn! haha

[caption id="attachment_3493" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Are[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3492" align="aligncenter" width="300"] You[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3491" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Serious?[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3494" align="aligncenter" width="300"] haha[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3495" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Good Karma![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3497" align="aligncenter" width="150"] Oy vey[/caption]

 The funniest thing was that it didn't really matter if we found it or not. J' had decided the stuff that was in the backpack wasn't really worth worrying over...if anything he would miss the backpack more than anything inside of it! Anything that was of any importance, was not in the backpack and anything else could be a $20 trip to Wal-mart to replace under-roo's and socks. But here we are laughing about it, with it, back in the van!

Hakuna Matata...

it means No Worries!

PEACE