BLM in Blythe is muy Bueno

Well, Parker only lasted for a whole day! We slept at the Wal-mart last night after watching the fights...Benson Henderson won against Nate Diaz. It was a great fight, so glad we found a place we could watch it at. We woke up semi-early, walked Savannah...boy was it cold out this morning!

[caption id="attachment_2929" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Chilled to the bone[/caption]

We started driving around 9 a.m., we're not in a rush to get anywhere...where are we going? We figured we would just drive over to Blythe, CA and see what our options were over there.

We drove past a ton of farm land, many many stacks of hay with no animals to feed and for the first time in my life...cotton plants!

[caption id="attachment_2918" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Do they sell this?[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2919" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Miles and miles of Cotton![/caption]

We drove out of the "country" and hit a frontage road that had a Flying J on it...haven't seen one of these since June! We stopped, filled the tank up just a little bit and went inside to look around. If you've never been to a truck stop, especially a Flying J, they have so much stuff in there to look at and it's all stuff people in this lifestyle use so it's fun to see what they have. Since we hit the road this morning without putting anything in our bellies we did a 'horrible horrible' thing and bought coffee and Cinnabon! I don't think either of us had actually ever bought a Cinnabon in our lives...not something we would normally buy or eat but today felt different. Get ready for the biggest freakin' sugar high!

[caption id="attachment_2920" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Sugar Fest 2012[/caption]

It actually took me half the day to finish it...going back in a few times until the whole thing was gone. My stomach can't handle that much sugar all at once...my goodness! And of course, Savannah helped a little bit!

[caption id="attachment_2921" align="aligncenter" width="300"] She had a pretty firm grasp on it![/caption]

We drove over into California and found towers almost instantly...yep, follow those towers! We headed out to what looked like the desert but found ourselves in a neighborhood type area then into an RV park called The Hidden Beaches. We didn't see any water but maybe that's where they got their name from!? We stopped and asked the Ranger/Host (Steve) if he knew of any BLM and after a very nice conversation I had the name of a couple of places we could camp. We headed back out and with the directions he gave me, within about 10 minutes, we were on BLM land looking for our next spot!

[caption id="attachment_2922" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Wide Open Spaces[/caption]

There is a TON of open space out here and it doesn't seem like anyone is out here...kind of weird for this time of year. Where is everyone? We drove up the trail a few miles, we like being more off the main road than right on it and since we have a good vehicle we can go a little further back. We found a great spot and were level right away...perfect!

[caption id="attachment_2925" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Happy Huntress[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2924" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Panorama[/caption]

 Now that we're parked for the day...this girl needs a shower so I'm off to get 'so fresh and so clean'. Hope you have a fruity fresh day!

PEACE

 

Scraping up some Cache

With all of this sitting in the van these days; haven't gotten my chair out yet and catching up...yes, still on posts, I decided today would be a great day for a much longer walk then Savannah and I usually take. I also turned very brave and instead of walking on the "main road" I took off into the desert.

Very shortly after, J' decided to stretch his legs too and come with us...so we headed on a walk into the almighty desert! Just a little 411 on this Florida girl, I wear flip-flops about 98.99% of the time. It does not matter if it's snowing outside, raining, sunny, whatever...my flops and I go hand in hand! J' actually gets stern with me sometimes because I always wear the 'wrong shoes' when we go for long walks or adventures, yep, always have my flops on. I have slipped, I have fallen, I have nearly broken my ankles but they are just so airy and free and easy! haha

[caption id="attachment_1340" align="aligncenter" width="300"] It's all good[/caption]

So there we are in the desert barely 50 yards from the van, walking talking and I took a step and felt something hard hit my right heel. I thought I had hit the edge of a really sharp rock so I took a look at the bottom of my foot/shoe and there was a stick stuck in my shoe. Okay, I thought I'll just pull it out and I'll be back on our stroll. As I went to pull it out though, it was not coming out...that's when I realized this little stick had gone through my shoe and into my heel. Yep, I panicked! I started calling out to J' to come help, it's in my foot, oh my gosh...tears and tears. My knight and shining armor came to my rescue and yanked it out of my foot. I thought I could go on but it hurt pretty bad and when I looked down and saw a small pool of blood accumulating on my flop I freaked out... yep, more tears. We walked back to the van and cleaned it, put some iodine in it (I swear J' was going to send Iodine into my brain with how hard he was pushing it into my heel, but by his story he just really wanted it to get in there).

Don't mind my dirty feet!

[caption id="attachment_1341" align="aligncenter" width="300"] So painful[/caption]

The stick was about 1/2 an inch in my foot. Since I've never had anything stuck in my foot before that was certainly long enough! After J' cleaned me up and I cleaned up my tears, we started back on our way. I could handle this! We walked around and looked at all of the cool and different types of Flora out here. There are cactus, Yucca plants, those really hard and painful bushes that went through my foot AND our tire (yep, same one) and some other little white bushes that look like big cotton balls...but beware they are not fluffy!

[caption id="attachment_1344" align="aligncenter" width="225"] The Painful Plant at large[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1345" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Yucca Yucca[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1343" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Cotton Ball Bush[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1346" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pinky Cacti[/caption]

 That's when we stumbled upon something new and fascinating. It wasn't just the object that we stumbled upon, but the idea of why it was there in the first place. Now, I know we're pretty hip and up-to-date people (yes, you can laugh) but I think we are a little late on finding this new trend, er...game. About 12 years late! We have found Geo-caching!! The coolest part about it? It was magical finding this first cache together, it was a surprise just waiting for us in this wide open space. At first, we thought we hit the jackpot...maybe there was money in there!? I knew I took my walk into the desert tonight for a reason!

[caption id="attachment_1347" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Someone left us cookies!![/caption]

 We opened it up and started taking everything out to look at it. We brought it back to the van so we could spread everything out, after all this was the coolest thing we've discovered yet. This particular cache has been here since 2006, there didn't seem to be too much in it but it was fun to look at everything.

[caption id="attachment_1348" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Cache Cards[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1349" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Chillin' in a cookie tin[/caption]

 We sat and went through everything and made sure to log our find in one of the books. We didn't take anything, but started talking about what we could contribute to the caches along the way. And you know we had to sign up and become members on the website! haha There is a huge group of people that play this game all over the world. It's amazing. We started looking to see if there were any other caches in the area and it turns out there are hundreds of them. We put a few into our GPS and thought we would give one more a go before sundown...plus we had to put the other one back.

[caption id="attachment_1350" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Cutest Cacher around![/caption]

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that after we cleaned my boo-boo I broke down and put on my boots....I didn't even have to be scolded into them! haha They are freakin' sweet and are perfect for this area.

[caption id="attachment_1351" align="aligncenter" width="300"] These boots WERE made for walkin'![/caption]

We made the second cache right before the sun fully set. We took the GPS with us this time and it was only .4 miles away but walking through bushes, washes and rocks it seemed a lot farther than that. This one was kind of hidden...like a treasure! Ooooo, I LOVE treasures!!

[caption id="attachment_1352" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Hidden Treasure[/caption]

 I was scared to take the wood off of the tin because I don't know what's been living under that thing, but again I was brave and just whipped those logs off and bam! There she was!

[caption id="attachment_1354" align="aligncenter" width="300"] ta-daa[/caption]

When we opened this cache there were colors jumping out at you everywhere, this one had a lot more in it. We just looked through it at the site due to the sun setting so quickly, signed the log, covered her back up and headed home.

[caption id="attachment_1353" align="aligncenter" width="300"] A 5 year old's dream![/caption]

 We were escorted home by another stunning sunset.

What a cool find, eh!? It just goes to show you never know what's out there for you to find or discover. I'm sure what we found is just the beginning to a new, fun, interesting part of our lives.

When will you pop your Geo-cache cherry?

PEACE

 

Ketch-up

Well, I think I just need to write every single day because going back and trying to remember, even from pictures, is getting a little blurred. This post may be a little longer than most...maybe not, I don't know. At this point I don't think it really matters! haha Well we got to Tai Shan, that's what I named our spot. We got to Tai Shan mid afternoon on July 1, we pretty much just unloaded and danced with the sheep. On the 2nd, we woke to beautiful weather, surprised... I know. I was finally able to catch up with family and friends via the web and get some pictures out on the phone as well, to of course brag of our new home! Miss Banana Boat has to be tied up here due to the excessive amounts of underneath sides of rocks that I can't see (that's where snakes...rattlesnakes, like to hang out). Plus there are so many nooks and crannies around here that she can get lost in or get hurt in and god only knows what else is out here to gobble her up! So for my sanity, she stays on a long tether for now. She's pretty happy though, she has all the sticks in the world to break apart.

[caption id="attachment_766" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Don't look so defeated lil' bug[/caption]

We set up the solar shower so we could have the most purest of all cleanings and I tell you what... Not that I want to become a nudist or anything but I could get used to showering in the nature like that. It's actually very freeing for the soul, and of course I have the hubby keeping an eye out for any wandering hikers or eyes...his are okay!

We set up a little gym with 15 lb. weights, push-up bars and a jump rope...gotta stay healthy no matter where you are. We have our solar weather radio out and charging along with our solar panel on top of the van charging up our battery system.

 SoulRaven came over and paid us a little visit with Zeke, his pup, and we talked (in the sun) for a couple of hours...later tomorrow we would see results of this! While we were talking to him, we got on the subject of being more level and maybe moving the van. When our conversation was over, we bit the bullet and decided to move over to one of the granite slabs in front of where we were. The move took us about an hour, we had to get level! I think we used every log in the near vicinity to make ourselves level, but finally we were able to do it with the two biggest pieces of wood (other than the trees) that were on the ground.

In doing this, we also found a cute little snake, a Rubber Boa. They are the friendliest of the Boa family.

Our new site is much more like home for some reason, maybe it's the granite slabs... it's not so dirty. I don't know but I love it here! We have this whole place totally to ourselves, it's pretty amazing.

On the 3rd, J' worked on his stuff. I worked on my blog for all you awesome peeps out there and we were paid a nice visit from Bob. He asked if we wanted to have pizza together that night and if we needed to go into town for anything, he would take us when we went to get the pizza. He's a cool dude. So Bob, SoulRaven & I went into town. I was able to get fresh water, ice, & some food items and of course we got two amazing large pizzas. Man, I wish I wasn't so hungry at that moment because I didn't even think to take a picture of these pizzas. The amount of toppings on these bad boys was incredible. Thank goodness for this pizza shop, because it was awesome! We all had dinner together; J & I, Bob, Miss Cherry, and SoulRaven. It was nice to hang out again, it had been a couple of days since we were all together and SoulRaven would be leaving in the morning...he'll be back of course, but it's always nice to hang with friends.

On the 4th, we celebrated quietly. Not much going on around these parts until the weekend. I messed around with the tri-pod, taking pictures all over the campsite. Miss Cherry and I had a good laugh about those pictures! I'm a dork, that's all. So Happy belated 4th to and yours. And the sunsets here are just so purty.

The 5th...the 5th is the day I lost all together I guess...? I lost a day somewhere so I'm going to blame it on the 5th...or I could blame it on Bob! He blamed me for him being late the other day...so it's his fault! haha I think all I did that day was give myself a spa day...Tai Shan Spa Day! I gave myself a full pedi and mani...mostly to hide the dirt!

And the 6th, the 6th was a good day. We figured out that we are going to get a new solar system... not like The Solar System with the planets and junk...like solar (the sun charging stuff) system, for those of you who do not live out of your vehicle! haha Our system is just too proprietary and would cost an arm and a leg to get what we truly need to charge our system. Right now we are using a generator that SoulRaven is letting us use until he gets back in a couple of weeks, until we can ship out the old and get in the new. Thanks SoulRaven, it's been a huge help! Bob & Miss Cherry invited us over for dinner, so Bob came and picked us up (our spot is not really an easy in-n-out kinda spot & I think Bob likes our spot) and we went to their new casa for dinner. They really have a nice area, it sits up on a hill. They have their camping space and then if you walk down this little hill it just opens right up into open air where all you can see is mountain range upon mountain range, millions of trees (& one big dead one, haha)...oh it's just beautiful. I named it, Meditation Point...yes I like to name things if you haven't already caught on to that!).

[caption id="attachment_786" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Hello Mr. Dead Tree, in the way of all of the good pics![/caption]

We had dinner~ taco soup with cheese and tortilla chips, cornbread (Bob made from the SunOven) which he also made brownies from too. Everything was just delicious and it rocks to have awesome company as well.

[caption id="attachment_788" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Homer is ecstatic![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_790" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Tony is da' lil' man![/caption]

After dinner we walked down to Meditation Point and just talked, as friends do. I love hanging out with them, they are just the nicest people ever. It was nice to have some girl time with Miss Cherry, girls have to be girls ya know!

After dessert we hit up the local store for some things and Bob dropped us home.

[caption id="attachment_795" align="aligncenter" width="225"] haha I like the picture at the bottom[/caption]

Today was much of the same. J' worked and looked more into our solar system. I yapped on the phone to my momma, texted with Brooks, played and ran around with Savannah, made a new fort with the sheet and an awning and practiced on Claramae (my guitar) a little bit. Now we are just chillin' in Joon Van. J' is trying to find the Sonnen/Silva fight (our connection isn't really fast enough to stream it Live for some reason, works for The Bachelorette?) and I am catching up on this, so I don't go crazy anymore trying to remember, haha. I am also waiting to see if we will see any fireworks, they are having a HUGE fireworks show tonight at Shaver Lake and since we sit right over top of it...well, like 5 miles away, and it's commercial grade, I'm hoping to see some. I love me some fireworks...BOOM! It's getting to be totally dark, so wish us both luck that we get to see what we want tonight. I guess from here, it all comes down to Boom Boom Pow!!!

[caption id="attachment_796" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Giddy as a school girl[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_797" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I got some schlock, lock BOOM![/caption]

PEACE