'Tis Many Tramps Among Us

Hello 2015!

We have had quite a good start to the new year, and we are hoping you have too!

I can't believe that January is almost over, although it seems to have lasted quite a while. Sometimes I can't believe how many memories just one month brings...and to think we get 12 of them, how cool is that!

Over the past two weeks, we have met some really great people, as well as getting to see some old friends whom we've made new memories with. This time of year always brings a sense of "home" as we gather in the desert, around camp fires, telling stories, having coffee & brekkie together, building things materially as well as emotionally, and all the while, hearing music & laughter echo through the washes. It's an amazing time for us dwellers and those that are just starting out or just have the itch.

For our little corner, most of the afternoons of the first week were spent working on our dirt bike, well...more like working on getting the motor OUT of the dirt bike! The bike stopped running and with a ton of research and forum talk, it was decided that we needed to have work done on the piston and head. So our "RTR Army of Men" got the motor out and shipping boxes built for send off. Everyone was so helpful and I think the boys even had a little bit of fun doing it! Boys and their toys!!

Throughout the gathering, there were morning "classes" on various things such as; solar, tune-ups for your vehicle, boondocking, stealth camping, Vision & Dental services in Mexico, gadgets, cooking & work-camping. The afternoons & evenings included everything from jam sessions, hula-hooping, wire wrapping, "family" dinners, walks, drinks and firepits. For some, there was much more and for others, much less but all in all we are quite the festive bunch!!

I have to agree with Bob that this was the best RTR yet. We networked much more this year, and like I said at the beginning, met an array of amazing people. At this time, we are all starting to move on in different directions; some going home, some going to work-camp, some going to Mexico, many to their Winter destinations. We may all be going to different places but we all hold the memory of good food, awesome company, a great gathering and friendships that will last a lifetime.

Thank you for being part of it for us and we hope to see you next year, down the road or anywhere else in between.

PEACE

The BEST rock shop in Sedona!

With the boys going on bike rides, every day that Micheal was here, I was able to spend some time in a Rock Shop that was nearby the trails. I walked into this shop, The Village Rock Shop of Sedona, and at first was just another shopper, oooing and awing at the beautiful gems, stones, crystals and jewelry. I got to talking to one of the owners, Kristen Joy, and the next thing you know we are sitting on the couch in the shop going through my box of rocks! What a cool experience it was to have someone else with great energy feeling the energy in MY stones!

I had questions about a few of the stones I've been carrying and have never been able to place...a name or a feeling. When she picked them up, just as for me, there was no feeling...just flat. After some conversation about them we came to a conclusion that maybe I should just "recycle" them. She told me I would know what to do with them when the time came...although I already knew what I wanted to do with them! It was great sitting and talking with her, it turns out we're even from the same area in Florida...small world.

If you're ever in the area or want to stop by online, she is a great energy to be around and knows "a thing or two" about stones! She raves about her partner Mike Silberhorn and his amazing knowledge about the rocks, stones and much more. They also have open mic night, where bands will come and play for a couple of hours and fill the room with an uplifting energy and peaceful mood.

http://www.villagerockshopofsedona.com

6101 Hwy 179, Suite C Sedona, AZ 86351

I just really loved this shop and the owner and would love for everyone to have an amazing experience like I did while visiting the area. 

Thank you Kristen for taking the time to sit down with me and go through all of my stones and hear the stories. The energy of the shops' ambiance was as awesome as it gets...I could have stayed here all day, but the boys came back!

Have you visited your local (enter favorite store/store you've never visited) today?

PEACE

That's a Wrap!

Today was another day that I had been looking forward to...Wrapping class with Miss Cherry! This class and time with everyone is so much fun. Miss Cherry & I had our own "private sessions" over the Summer...which I was happy to know the basics now, I could enjoy the company a little more! We spent the whole Summer together, it was awesome! So, Miss Cherry was having a basic wrapping class today at 2:00 p.m. It's been a pretty windy, chilly kind of day so a couple of people moved their vans into a wind block...it definitely helped.

Cherry walked everyone through the most simple basic directions, showed us by example and she teaches so well...it's very easy to learn from her and she makes it a little harder to get frustrated...It's Art!!

Take a little stroll through the art gallery of today...

[caption id="attachment_3256" align="alignleft" width="150"] Whirligigs[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3258" align="alignright" width="150"] Antennas[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3257" align="aligncenter" width="150"] Frigid Fun[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3259" align="alignleft" width="150"] Sculpting[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3260" align="alignright" width="150"] Success![/caption]

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_3261" align="aligncenter" width="300"] What a fun class![/caption]

When the class was over, everyone went running back to their vans to get inside...away from the breezy cold wind. It's much nicer inside! We can put the heat on, everything is warm, there's no wind! I give props to those that sleep in tents...I love my four solid walls!

 The little things people!

 

[caption id="attachment_3262" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Looks like rain[/caption]

I do not foresee us leaving the van for the rest of the day/night...it's biting cold out there. No thank you! Even though it was a little chilly, the wrapping class was entertaining, educational, and most importantly FUN!

Have you been a creative little dragon today?

 PEACE

Let the Festivities Begin!!

It's funny to say but we are actually setting an alarm now. Truly we are people that don't lay in bed all day, but lately with the weather being so chilly and sometimes quite breezy we haven't been getting up or out of the van until it warms up...either in the van or outside or both! We figured with everyone being here together, we would all be cold together in the morning! haha So we have started setting an alarm in the morning so we can be bright eyed and bushy tailed with the rest of the gang. This morning we had a 10 a.m. meet and greet...again (I guess they had one yesterday but not everyone was really here, so another one was done this a.m.)

[caption id="attachment_3228" align="aligncenter" width="300"] R.T.R. has begun![/caption]

We circled the group with introductions and talked about the calendar of events that will take place over the next two weeks. There will be seminars, dinners, fire pits, classes and I'm sure many things will get stuck in between all of the scheduled events. Before the R.T.R. started there was talk of a "Girls Day" today...Wednesday is always Girls Day! Right Lesa!?

[caption id="attachment_3232" align="alignleft" width="150"] Matrons of the R.T.R.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3231" align="alignright" width="150"] Purty in Pink[/caption]

 Even though there were just a few of us, it was nice to sit and chat and pamper each other. We soaked, rubbed, manicured and painted our tootsies and enjoyed one another's company. It was nice being around some lady folk again, haha! Every girl in this world needs another girl to connect with. One of the ladies, Trisha, sat with me and taught me the basics of crochet and even sat with me and walked me through chains and hooks and all kinds of stuff. It was so nice of her to sit and be so patient with me, I get super frustrated at things that seem like they should be so simple. I was reminded again and again that everyone does this differently and learns at a different pace...soooo Woooo-saaaaaa! haha I'm sure that within time and practice I'll be hooking in no time...er, maybe I should rephrase that! And while we were having our girl-fest, a couple of the boys (mine included) fixed up Lesa's back windows for her to be warm at night now!

[caption id="attachment_3229" align="alignleft" width="150"] Beginners Course[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3230" align="alignright" width="150"] Helping Hands[/caption]

 Everyone is pretty great here, everyone helps each other out and it's totally not a big deal....makes you wonder, "If everyone treated life this way, there wouldn't be much to complain or get angry about!"

We finished up with our girl time right around the same time everyone was getting ready to go for the evening walk. I would stay back...I needed to recapture some of my energy. J' went with everyone else leaving me and my O.C.D. to fight for the Championship Belt, due to what he left behind!

[caption id="attachment_3234" align="aligncenter" width="300"] ...and breathe...[/caption]

He really meant well at the beginning of all of this (and he can't help that I have an organization, cleanliness disorder). The plan/goal was to take everything off the top and out of the back of Joon Van to see what we actually have up there and possibly get rid of some stuff. He was in full force of attacking this goal but as the day went on more and more people wanted to catch up, say hi, meet and so on, so whatever was on-top or in the back was now lying on the ground in three different piles. I came back from Girl-fest 2013, he left for a walk and there I stood...staring at all of our stuff...on the ground. It truly isn't a big deal, but my O.C.D. just threw its gloves off and is ready to rumble 'raw-style'! I finally gathered everything into one big pile and when J' got back from the walk, he covered it with the tarp to 'make it go away'. Yep, he gets me! haha And everything will be put away tomorrow...it has to be, we are about to get some pretty nasty weather.

Before going over to the fire pit, we cooked up some bacon and cheese sammies with mashed taters and our new friend, Bernie, brought over some mac'n'cheese. We had a feast! I'm glad J' is getting to meet some pretty cool dudes out here...among the ones we already know!

[caption id="attachment_3235" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Master Chef[/caption]

Not too many people were at the fire tonight...a little too chilly maybe!? I was able to converse with an old friend, Micheal and create a new friendship with Brady. We're all hoping that the weather gets better/warmer...even if it just got a few degrees warmer it would be easier to hang out a little while longer. For now though, we are back in the van with our Mr. Buddy Heater (that we love so much) on...don't know how we would get through the chilly nights without it. If you are thinking about whether to get a heater or not...just get it. We thought we would never use it and we have been using it on the daily...you just never know when weather isn't going to go your way!

Stay warm my friends...find a cute guy or gal to snuggle with or a fuzzy lil critter or just a super awesome blankie if nothing else!

[caption id="attachment_3236" align="aligncenter" width="150"] She found her bowl![/caption]

PEACE

P.S. J' is feeling much better...thanks for all the good juju!

 

 

Cleaning, Grinding & Digging

I know you are just dying for an update and I apologize for being a few days behind. First things first, the torsion bar... J' ended up walking over to Home Depot a couple of days ago and got an angle grinder to take it out. The darn thing just would not come out or off any way ya sliced it...so he sliced it in half and finally got the darn thing off!

[caption id="attachment_1674" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Grinding away[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1675" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Only half of it![/caption]

Our new friend, Wayne, offered us a couple of jack stands that he isn't using.  He came to check in on us after reading about the torsion bar problems from the blog, how cool is that!? He then whisked J' away to get some fresh water...FREE Water!! He's a super nice guy with a heart of gold.

Thanks Wayne! 

During the day, while J' was walking, grinding, refreshing, grinding, etc. I started feeling not so well throughout the day but figured J' already had a lot on his plate for the day, so I thought I would help with some things. I did my first potty dump ever, probably not the cleanest of all things I could have done but it needed to be done. ..so now it's done! I spent a good hour or so spraying, wiping, rinsing, filling...all of the fun stuff! 

[caption id="attachment_1676" align="aligncenter" width="225"] So fresh & so clean, clean[/caption]

The next morning I would find out that I did a few things wrong:

1&2- I twisted off the wrong cap to pour deodorizer & water into the wrong area! 3- When I twisted the cap back on, it actually didn't twist back on but crossed the threads, so it leaked a little (good thing we have the mats like we do, they got taken out and washed). 4- I didn't put any water into the top of it. Well, all I can say is, at least I tried to help. It did get a very thorough cleaning AND all the gummed up T.P. was taken out, so I did do some good! I also cleaned the inside of the van up, it looks so purty!

 I hung curtains on the outside of Joon to make it cooler on the inside...it sure heats up in here during the day. A big thank you out to SoulRaven for the curtains!

The rest of the day, when J' wasn't gone or grinding, he was working or reading on the torsion bar. I moved from one spot to another moanin' & groanin' and Savannah dug herself into a frenzy trying to get a hold of one of those Kangaroo Mice...poor things! She sure is a good digger though...she's bound to strike oil out here!

[caption id="attachment_1679" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Digging to China[/caption]

 We all know what she would do with those little mice too...exactly what she does with everything of hers... saves it for later!

[caption id="attachment_1683" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Sha-Sha's all locked up![/caption]

Let's just hope for everyone's sake she never catches up with those scared little mice but it is good exercise for her! haha

PEACE

 

Witness Protection???

Today was the day. The day of spice, the day of color, the day I turn into the 'new' me...Okay it's just the day I colored my hair! haha I made sure I had all of my ducks in a row before starting. Box of color with everything in it...check.

[caption id="attachment_1483" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Supply check[/caption]

Water heating up in the solar shower...check. Vaseline around my hairline...check. And that J' wouldn't need anything from me in the next 30 minutes...check! We are on our way. Just a reminder of how I looked before...

[caption id="attachment_1484" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Before[/caption]

Ready, set, color...

[caption id="attachment_1485" align="aligncenter" width="300"] During[/caption]

It only took 25 minutes for it to process and actually smelled very pleasant.

25 minutes later...

[caption id="attachment_1486" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Kind of hard to see[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1487" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Hey Red![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1488" align="aligncenter" width="225"] I love it![/caption]

Who says you can't color your hair in the barren desert...not this girl! See I can still be fashionable in the middle of nowhere...thank you very much! So there we go, I'm all ready for the Witness Protection Program, haha. I know you were thinking it!

The rest of the mid-morning to afternoon was nothing more than watching football. Now that we are in this new location, we get 4 or 5 different channels that show football! That makes J' happy and that makes me happy!

About mid-afternoon, we had another vehicle pull up into our spot...ahh, but I think I know who this one is.

I had 'put out a meeting' with some new friends I had made online, Jim & Colette, to come out and hang this weekend if they were so inclined, so I figured this was them. It turned out it was half of the couple! Colette had left town for some business so Jim came to play by his lonesome. I know you will be sadly disappointed but we were so enthralled in our conversations that no pictures were taken...I'm sorry. We had a great time getting to know each other, hearing each other's stories and just learning about all kinds of different things. I love meeting new people. I think it's always nice to meet people that are on the same wave-length as you as well. I'm glad he came out, even though Colette wasn't able to be here. It was a nice time. I even tried to fatten him up a bit but he wouldn't let me... haha. I did get a burger in him though! Thanks for stopping by Jim and hopefully we'll get to meet your pretty lady very soon!

PEACE

Fruit Whores & Jugglers...Hooray!

The last couple of days have been nice, exhausting and different and we sure were ready to be home already. First things first, before heading back up the mountain we had one small stop and three big stops to make, we had to go get Nana' a new water dish from the .99 cent store and maybe some fun things too...hee hee, it's a .99 cent store, c'mon!

[caption id="attachment_666" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Her bowl, my socks[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_667" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Big Hunkin' Nips![/caption]

I think that might be our new favorite store! haha It's too much fun in there, there is literally something for everyone! From our new gallery of fun, we popped into the closest and what seemed from Gas Buddy to be the cheapest gas in town, a very sad $4.09 IF you pay with cash, $4.21 if you use Credit or Debit...I've never seen that before...crazy town!

[caption id="attachment_669" align="aligncenter" width="225"] For one gallon!! Stupid.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_668" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Crying over gas prices[/caption]

Stopped by our fruit stand. I dearly love this place, they always have amazingly fresh delicious fruit and always have something new or different. We got tons of stuff and again were given a tray of free fruit, all for $14.90! Yum, yum in my tum tum!

[caption id="attachment_670" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I'm a fruitcake[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_671" align="aligncenter" width="300"] My Garden of Eden[/caption]

On our way, trickling up the mountain, we talked about (of course in the future) of getting a class C, because of the room. We have these discussions probably more than any other, it would be nice to have the room, but...and there are a lot of buts, but we like being able to access roads that are more narrow and harder to get into than with a Class C. Then this rig popped up in front of us...weird.

[caption id="attachment_672" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pretty cool rig[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_673" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Heading home[/caption]

We got back up the mountain, stopped and refilled our water and then back to camp we went. When we got to The Passion Post to play Santi Claus to everyone with their packages, we met a new couple Jen & Jonny that are probably going to be here for the next month or so. They're a pretty rad little couple, around our ages...it's always cool to meet new folks! We moved our way up the knoll back to base, set everything up, put stuff away and got some chilly showers in just in time for company! Jen & Jonny and their pup Rain, came to visit for a bit, pretty cool! We sat and chilled for a while, just talking with some tunes in the background.

[caption id="attachment_674" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Maxin' & Relaxin'[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_675" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Rain, such a good girl[/caption]

After a couple of hours we decided to have some grub and invited them to stay for burgers. After dinner we watched some nightly entertainment as Jonny juggled for us and Savannah told everyone she was boss...when is she gonna learn!?

[caption id="attachment_676" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Jughead Jonny[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_677" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Will Juggle for smiles[/caption]

It was another great day, so glad we got to meet some new friendlies and none of our stuff was messed with when we were in town.

Tomorrow is Labor Day and while I don't think there will be much laborious action happening around here, we're back home & we're restocked, so not much to worry about. We are hoping for a Spectacular September and ready to plan our next route outta here in October. We'll keep ya posted and we'll catch ya on the flip side, yo!

[caption id="attachment_678" align="aligncenter" width="300"] She thinks anything soft is for her[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_679" align="aligncenter" width="225"] I love my new sockies[/caption]

PEACE