Detours of Past & Present

The weather changed so much overnight that we thought it would be best if we headed closer to Tucson to get some warmer weather and try to get in touch with my sister and her family. We also wanted to get some other things done since we would be moving the van anyway. So back to Tucson we go!

[caption id="attachment_3875" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Interstate Walls[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3876" align="aligncenter" width="300"] On our way[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3877" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Downtown Tucson[/caption]

We started driving into the streets of Tucson to look for a self-serve car wash and ended up on the streets of Downtown Tucson, there is a lot of construction right now but it was nice to see the city. I don't think as many times as I've been to Tucson...and I was born here...that I've ever actually driven into Downtown...that I'm aware of at least! We drove around where the University of Arizona is, now that is a place I remember very well. When I was about 15-16 years old I came out and visited my sister and her hubby, pre-kids, for the entire Summer.

While I was here I had to keep up with my swimming routine and the University of Arizona was kind enough to let me practice with them during the week and even swim in a couple of swim meets...I was in Heaven!! It was really fun and good for me to have to "keep up" with college swimmers and some of them even had to keep up with me...it was a good confidence booster, plus I got a lot of amazing training from some of U.S.A.'s top swim coaches...and the pool was beautimous! So driving past the University was a little blast from the past for me.

[caption id="attachment_3879" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The outside of the pool[/caption]

We found our self-serve car wash right behind the University, where we stripped Joon Van down to her bare skin and cleaned her up, nice and good! She looks amazing, inside and out!

 The car wash took us about an hour and a half, then we were off to do our other errands, finishing our day driving back to the Casino del Sol.

[caption id="attachment_3884" align="aligncenter" width="300"] T-Rex at a stoplight!!![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3885" align="aligncenter" width="300"] "A"- Mountain[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3886" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Casino del Sol[/caption]

So, we're back here for...I don't really know. Hopefully I'll get in touch with my sista' soon and we can hook up and get our visit in. I can't wait to see my lil' noodlebugs...they are gonna freak!

Hope you all had a lovely day!

PEACE

 

 

Is that Laughlin calling our names?

First things first, Happy Birthday to my sister Brooks. Today is the 10th Anniversary of her 25th birthday! haha

Savannah got her wish this morning...she got to go all the way down the hill and even walk around on the main road some. I armed myself with some bear spray and my usual rocks but as we walked down to a certain part of the road, the hair on my neck was starting to stand up a little. I might have been freaking myself out (because I tend to do that pretty easily) but for some reason there was a part of the road that looked like it may have been a home to a coyote or ten...so we turned back toward the van.

[caption id="attachment_2547" align="aligncenter" width="300"] See Joon, way up on the hill!?[/caption]

We kept walking but then as soon we turned around the bend in the road, that RV sits right there, so I kind of felt a little trapped. All of this land and I can't go anywhere...damn! We walked back and forth down the main road about six or seven times until I got bored and Savannah started rolling in Donkey Doo!

We really are in a beautiful place so once we walked back up to the van I took some more pictures of our surroundings. I have a great program I have been using (when I remember) and it makes the pictures so much more clear...and it has some cool special effects that I like to mess with. Here, enjoy them with me...

[caption id="attachment_2549" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Reggae Joon[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2551" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Picturesque[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2554" align="aligncenter" width="300"] She does not like the camera[/caption]

After picture time, we did some stuff with Joon and cleaned her up a bit. We sat inside a little restless today...another day in the van. We started talking about maybe moving down back into town just to switch things up a bit. Almost within the same minute as our conversation we saw some pretty big machinery coming down the road; a motor grader, a semi with a flatbed truck carrying a track hoe and what looked like some mining equipment along with some work trucks in front of and behind the bigger trucks. It's so funny because anywhere and everywhere we go there's construction, in one way or another. I swear we could be on Mars and there would be construction!

[caption id="attachment_2555" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Really?[/caption]

Now our conversation was starting to turn from an idea into reality. We figured we came back up to the mountains for more privacy then we were getting in town and the day we came back that RV came and parked right down below us (and is still here) and now there is construction right around the bend. Weighing our options, we chose to move back down to town...mix it up a bit! So, we started packing up...wasn't too hard due to our clean-up this morning...go us!

[caption id="attachment_2556" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Times a wastin'![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2557" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Look how she's sitting! haha[/caption]

We were in town within about 20 minutes of our decision. It felt good to be back, for some reason. I think it's just the gypsy in us...feels good to move around, shake it up!

We parked at the Edgewater, we still haven't figured out if they really allow the overnight parking but we thought we'd give 'em a go and try it out. We took Nana on a potty walk, then put her back in and took a walk around the Edgewater Casino...it was still pretty early, something to do, ya know! It was definitely interesting walking through the casino 'after dark'. Every single machine had a butt in the seat, ciggy and drink in hand, in the zone. We wished them luck and kept walking. We don't have much water to cook with so we 'splurged' on a couple of dollar menu cheeseburgers at McDonald's (inside the casino) and hurried back to the van....that's where our drinks are! We are pretty much calling it a night now that our bellies are full, we have a good spot for the night and our TV reception is bomb! It's crazy, here in this parking lot we get channels from Las Vegas AND Phoenix but just a few rows over we don't get as many channels and they are all different...weird but we'll take it! Hope you get to watch something you enjoy tonight! For us, it's the X Factor...bring on the talent!!

PEACE

Once you go Black, you walk out!

This morning, I felt like a real girl! I woke up, took a shower...yes again! I washed dishes and made breakfast and even put on a dress, all while J' worked and tinkered around with our new TV (in the voice of the announcer from The Price is Right...say it again). I, probably unlike most women, LOVE to do dishes, well now that I don't HAVE dishes to clean anymore. It's very soothing and almost zen-like, ahhh. I wanted to make sure that every single plate, spoon, knife and fork were clean as well as our cookware and anything else that needed soap and hot water!

After everything was spic and span, I made us another pancake breakfast, we used the rest of the box and each got three nice sized cakes. I uploaded more pictures to my picture sites (still didn't get all the pics uploaded, think I need a couple of days but I was able to get about 9 albums loaded). J' got our TV working and figured out and we were able to leave the box behind as garbage. Lil' Phil (our portable TV) was NOT working out for us, let me name off a few reasons why; the screen was too little only 9 inches, the volume control was on the TV only, could not access it with remote, when you plug it in...which you had to do if you wanted to watch TV for more than 15 minutes, it would pixelate so bad it was almost unbearable to watch TV, it would only charge when the TV was off, not while it was plugged in and on...I will keep it at that. We talked about getting another TV, just a regular TV and we've been looking at Wal-mart. We saw a TV that would fit perfectly in our space (we know because we went and got a tape measure from hardware...) so, we bought it. It's a Sansui 19 inch and it totally fits in the space we have for it....so perfect!

Check-out was at 11:00 a.m. (I think it's wrong that we have to wait until 3pm to get into the room but we get kicked out at 11am. I know, I know, I've worked in the hotel industry, but I still think it's just wrong). It didn't really matter because we had somewhere to be, yep the Hullabaloo wasn't over yet, we were gonna go get our slots on baby!! Table Mountain Casino here we come!! This place was just a small place in the middle of the mountains and a lot nicer than I thought it was going to be. People did not give this place good reviews but we went anyway, the worst thing that could happen...we leave.

We spent a couple of hours here. Don't worry about the bug; covered parking and her A/C unit hooked up and working great and our check-ins on her, she was good to go. Now, you know that I am a picture girl (if you didn't know that, I am), I wanted to document our Anniversary/Birthday with a picture. I took a few pics of us, that didn't even come out good, in the elevator BEFORE getting to the casino.

 The doors of the elevator open, we walk out, walk past a 'security guard' and as we're walking past her she is hanging up a phone and says, "Excuse me miss, the men in the office just told me to tell you they saw you taking pictures in the elevator and you are not allowed to take pictures in the casino." I was like, Whoa!! They are fast. I said, "Oh okay thank you, it was just in the elevator though." Yeah, I got the evil eye! haha Geez take a chill pill. I get in trouble everywhere! We had a great time, though. J' played his games, I played mine and we got a free buffet because it was our first time there, oooo I even got a shirt! The food was good, the desserts were really good, I would know I had 3 or 4. And yes, I'm a law breaker, I took pictures of the food...so there evil eye-maker!

[caption id="attachment_366" align="aligncenter" width="300"] ...let me see that Turkey Roll![/caption]

Nutty Cheesecake & Brownie

[caption id="attachment_369" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Peach Cobbler & Ice Cream[/caption]

We even walked out 'up' from what we walked in with...woot woot! On our way home, we stopped at a little gas station. J' came out to the van and said, "Take your camera and go take a picture of the dog behind the counter." I didn't know why, but I trust he knows me all too well so off I go. I walked into the store and I saw no dog, no guy, no one. I waited and someone else walked in and I heard a dog bark...a big dog bark. I looked and looked but only saw a dogs' leg under the counter. Finally the owner came out and I told him, I was supposed to come in here to take a picture of his dog (and asked if he minded)...then his dog jumped up on the counter, well put his paws on the counter! It was the most beautiful Doberman I've ever seen, although he had just had his ears clipped (booo). He was gorgeous, 7 months old and his name was Homer! I'd have a Dobie in a minute if we had somewhere to put one.

[caption id="attachment_370" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Sweet baby Homer[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_371" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Look at those paws...and that face...so sweet[/caption]

Since we didn't stop to get groceries, we stopped in Prather instead, just for bread, ice and drinks. Things are more expensive here too, not as bad as Shaver Lake, but still more than Fresno. I did get a free yo-yo out of the deal though, suckers!

[caption id="attachment_800" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Yo-Yo-Yo[/caption]

From the store we just came home, set up camp and hung out for the night. We watched our new TV (I'll make-up a name soon enough, gimme a break!) and we still only get two channels (I know it's the antennae). We get FOX and This. This~ is a channel that plays the most awful movies ever, they're all from the 80's or earlier (and not the good ones, yes there were some) and I swear they play movies where the main character in the movie must have gotten their big break from that movie or something...they're really something else. The other night we watched a movie with Alec Baldwin in it, hold on let me see if I can find the name.... Wow, that took some time. It was called Miami Blues and it was a stinker, so I thought. Tonight we watched Stephen King's Silver Bullet with Corey Haim, they were having a 24/7 Stephen King Marathon for Friday the 13th. That was the best movie we've seen yet on that channel! J' was asleep before me and off I went right after him. Our celebrations may be over on 'paper' but the celebration for life will go on and on and on.

Happy life to us all!

PEACE