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

Blabbin' in Blythe

Something must be wrong with me...I haven't picked up my camera in almost a week. I actually don't even know where it is right now! I just don't see the point of taking pictures of the same thing day in and day out...but hopefully that will change soon. Each day we get closer to January, which means (for us) Quartzsite. I know there are some people (who have been there before) that won't be there this year, but we have never been and it's been a major to-do since even before we started our journey...so we will be going this year and are pretty stoked about it. So, right now it's a little bit of a waiting game but it's giving time for J' to grind it on the work-front and for me to find all the stones in the world to wrap as jewelry! I'm going to have to go through them soon and maybe weed out some of them...and maybe not, hee hee! I am having a hard time finding a place to put them...we'll see. I also haven't really been doing much lately due to my shoulder dislocating a couple of nights ago. The first time my shoulder went out was probably around 2002, I was making a salad at work...go figure! I went to a doctor and he told me surgery wasn't really a possibility due to the flexibility of my muscles and bones because of swimming. He said my shoulder would just stretch right back out to where it is now in time, so he gave me exercises to do and saved me a ton of money! It goes out a few times a year now and when it does, it's so amazingly painful...it takes my breath away. I'm very thankful to have J' around (most of the times it happens) to be able to put it back in place. This time I was pulling the blinds down on one of the windows...POP! I was stuck in between the bed and the ceiling and couldn't move to a better position, it actually paralyzes me...hurts to move, to breathe, to think. After it gets popped back in, the crying and the pain starts...it's just so freakin' painful. For about 2-3 days I can't really do much with it: can't raise it, lift anything over a lb. with it, sleep on it, and walking Savannah has to be done all left handed so she doesn't yank it out of the socket again. It stays sore and spasms for a few days, it's just a real big pain in the butt. I've been having a hard time sleeping due to my shoulder (and the cold) and the other night I swore I was going crazy! I was in between barely asleep and barely awake, actually having nightmares when I heard this noise and started seeing what I thought were lights. At this point I didn't know if I was in my dream or if something was actually going on around us, so I laid there trying to wake myself up. I thought I was hearing cars racing...? What a weird noise right? I mean we're in the middle of the desert it's about 12:30 in the morning, pitch black, freezing cold outside...who would be out here racing cars at this time of the night!? Just as I was trying to make sense of things I see headlights coming straight toward my window and hear a car motor, could have been a Mustang? Then I see this car whizzing by my window...what the crap!? I raise my blinds and see taillights of not just one car but two more ahead of the one that just whizzed by my window. I looked at my watch, in my mind it was like 3 a.m., it was only 12:38 in real time. Savannah was very interested in the whole thing, she was puffing her cheeks, getting ready for a fight. I cracked my window with the screen on it because I heard voices. I have to say, it's kind of unnerving to be where we are and have cars this close to you and able to hear voices...almost like they are walking toward the van. I haven't been this 'weird' feeling this whole time we've been doing this, but I was actually scared at this point. I couldn't see them due to us having our shades in the front windows (keeping cold out, warmth in) and also being in bed...still trying to wake up 100%. They sounded like they were only about 50 yards in front of the van, they were blaring music, hootin' and hollerin'. I just couldn't wrap my mind around why people would come out here at this time of night and hang out, outside...it's like 30 degrees outside! After J' heard me moving around and Savannah huffing and puffing, we started talking about it and he said it was probably just some high school kids drinking with nothing better to do. This was probably true, I just didn't want them to start messing with us because they were bored. I stayed up and tried to watch out of the window...couldn't see anything but pitch black. I finally heard them turn the music off and doors shutting, then heard what sounded like a Jeep climbing a hill pretty close to us. I opened my blinds back up and there were lights coming up over the hill on the side of us, then the lights were coming straight for the van at a pretty good speed. There's no way these people didn't see us. The "Jeep" turned and drove behind us then came up from behind at probably about 30 mph then swerved around the van, got back on the road and finally left. Jerks. It took me about 2 hours to finally fall back asleep, Savannah just wanted to keep looking out the window as she laid her head on the sill. I have to say that as small as she is, she's a great protector with super good hearing!

Other than that it's been pretty darn quiet around here. I think all in all we've only had 6 buggies pass by the van during the day, the entire time we've been here (2 weeks). We haven't even send a ground squirrel in over a week, nor any Coyotes. The cold doesn't just keep us in the van, it also gets the critters! Where do all of the Coyotes go, we wonder? I mean, they still have to eat, they can't just go to Burger King! Now, that's a funny image...haha

I was just looking to see what my last 'photo session' was of. I had actually hung my camera up outside to take pics of my "skinny" jeans (well they used to be) to send to a friend of mine. A few days ago, I was talking to a girl of mine about weight loss and I had actually come across a picture of me a couple of years ago with these jeans on, they were skin tight on me...looked like they were painted on me they were so tight. That same day (we had this conversation) I noticed I was wearing those same jeans. I now call those jeans my L.I.M.P. jeans = Load in my Pants! I swear they are so big on me now I can take them on and off without unbuttoning or unzipping them! So I did a side to side picture to show her...

[caption id="attachment_2996" align="aligncenter" width="232"] Whoa vs. Whoa[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2997" align="aligncenter" width="225"] L.I.M.P.![/caption]

If you're looking for a new "diet" just join us Vandwellers! It's a little different when you don't have fast food on every corner calling to you because it's easier, an oven to bake your favorite pies and cookies in, or a refrigerator to store all your yummy leftovers in, that mostly never get eaten! If you want to lose those extra few pounds that just won't come off,  just live in your van for a few months...works every time! haha

PEACE

&

Chicken Grease ya'll!

Smiles, Snakes & Sunsets

It's been a moody week of madness around here...haha not really...well maybe the moody part! The weather is definitely changing like I said in the last post. I find myself getting in the van, for the night, a bit earlier each day and also finding myself wearing socks and shoes earlier as well.  We are welcoming the change...only when we aren't taking showers, brrrzies and freezies!! You would think that with the cooler weather these damn yellow jackets would get the hint and skedaddle but nooooooo...they're still here. We were reading on the almighty internet about natural remedies for these lil buggers and read on how they really don't like the smell and acids of cukes (cucumbers). We asked Jenn if she would grab one for us while she was in town, to try it out. We were very impressed the very first time, we cut up a few slices and put them around the kitchen table...poof, they were gone.

I was able to make pasghetti that night with no buzzing, no dodging, no swatting. It was so very very pleasant. Of course overnight the cukes wilted and were eaten by other bugs so that next morning to make breakfast, I cut up some more slices.

[caption id="attachment_1032" align="aligncenter" width="300"] A Nanatini![/caption]

They came around but not as much as usual, so I figured, we may be onto something here. Then I think they may have followed us down to Jenn & Johnny's for dinner that night...talk about Meat Bees!

You can't see them in the pic, but they were everywhere. Meat Bees or not that dinner was some good eatin'! We had gone into Prather earlier that day to pick up a few perishables and just get out for a small amount of time, we got Johnny some wood and nails to make their bench seats and a shovel for us. The guy in the hardware store was easedropping on our shovel convo. and he said, "Now that is the most in-depth comparison shovel conversation I've ever heard." haha We're very passionate about the things we buy. Johnny was able to build a bench for one of the sides, I think it's going to work really well in Wendy.

[caption id="attachment_1024" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The only pic I have of it.[/caption]

Oh and when we went down to Prather, we gave in and finally bought a coffee maker. Yes, just another thing we wish we would have brought but ya live and ya learn! And oh how glorious it was to have fresh ground-from-beans-coffee. It's only been about 3 months for J' but it's been about 10 months for me. We bought just a small pot, because it was cheap and it's just the right size to get us by, but not go overboard on the a.m. drug! (My stomach will thank you)

[caption id="attachment_1025" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Hello Old Friend[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1026" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The best part of waking up...[/caption]

During our morning cup-o-joe, we somehow came to a decision that it was time to get some organization going, so we both grabbed a spot and went to town. I did the kitchen and J' did his office. I don't function so well when our space is filled with chaos and disorganization, but it's fixed and all pretty again.

[caption id="attachment_1027" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Captain Coffee![/caption]

Also when we were at the hardware store I asked for some brown paper bags...another natural remedy for the Y.J.'s~ if you ball up a paper bag, the yellow jackets think it's another nest so they won't approach it...I don't know how that works since yellow jackets have their nests in the ground, but it's worth a shot!

[caption id="attachment_1028" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Brown bag, cukes...let's cook![/caption]

I really think they could give a damn about the bag...but it looks cute, so it stays! I think we attract critters, bugs ...all things of nature. The other night J' was going to grab some water out of one of the 'water coolers' outside. (We had to put them outside and take the lids off due to our water getting funktified last time and turning green. We put some bleach in the water this time and maybe just a bit too much because now all of our water tastes like a swimming pool....minus the pee.) As he was about to pour out some water he said, "Whoa, is that poisonous?" Oh dear lord, here we go again! I walked over to the 'water cooler' and there was a teeny snake on the ground beaming with brilliant colors of black, white and red. We put Savannah in the van and started looking 'him' up, we found out (thankfully) that it was just a sweet little Sierra Mountain King Snake. They are not venomous but get confused with the Arizona Coral Snake which is highly venomous and dangerous....they also eat rattlesnakes! J' is trying to tell me the whole, Red into Yellow will kill a fellow, Red into Black a friend to Jack. I just say, "If you see a snake, get outta my wake!"

[caption id="attachment_1029" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Just a bitty little thing[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1030" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Cool lil' dude[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1031" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Handsome Fella'[/caption]

From there it's been pretty lame 'round here. I haven't been feeling well due to surfing the crimson wave but it'll get better, just truly unmotivated to do anything but EAT! Nom nom nom. I did get up enough energy to fix our comforter finally... thank goodness that's done. And a big thank you to Jenn for letting me borrow her machine and some awesome fabric! It's really not a hard project but to lay out a massive comforter somewhere where it's not going to get dirty is just hilarious around here, but it's done and I'm happy.

I worked on the comforter most of the morning due to my own malfunctions! After getting done and putting everything away J' and I just talked about everything like we always do. While we were sitting around I saw two of my Blue Jays, they were playing and flying around, having the best time. I just love their colors, they are so magnificent. Here is a close-up of one of them in a nearby tree, kind of blurry but I think it's his butt!

[caption id="attachment_1035" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Butt shot[/caption]

To make the night even better I took Savannah for her nightly potty walk and when I came out from under the tarp I was amazed...the sky, the ground, the trees, the van, Savannah....everything was the coolest shade of pink! The colors were everywhere last night. I just love stuff like that! So here are some cool pics of what I was able to see last night, none of these have been messed with, straight from camera to blog!

What's that saying? "Red Sky at night, Sailors Delight...well whether it goes or not, I'm using it here. How spectacular is that? I know it's probably just pollution but it's still cool, especially up here in the peacefulness of Tai Shan. There are (few) times when I would love to be back in "normal" life but at times like this, those thoughts are a million miles away. I hope you have a great weekend and are doing the things you love and if not I hope you're happy sitting here just reading my blog...hopefully you have something yummy to eat!

[caption id="attachment_1039" align="aligncenter" width="300"] What a lush[/caption]

PEACE

ϟϟ Rattlesnake...it's what's fer dinnerr! ϟϟ

Yesterday was such a nice and different day...very relaxing and refreshing. While we were fartin' around at the lake, we talked about enjoying that rattlesnake pretty soon. Jenn has it in their 'F'-word (Freezer), and we wanted to have it together. We figured we would just have everyone from 'camp' come and try a bit in the next day or so. Everything fell into place to do it tonight, SoulRaven didn't make it but we were sure to save him some. The ladies, Miss Cherry & Jenn, came over with the snake and some yummy veggies.

[caption id="attachment_910" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Making stuff up[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_909" align="aligncenter" width="300"] "Laying it down"[/caption]

We laid the snake meat on aluminum foil and wrapped the veggies in other foil packets, only seasoning them with a small amount of garlic and Bragg's Sea Kelp seasoning.

[caption id="attachment_924" align="aligncenter" width="300"] ♫ This is how we do ♪[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_913" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Looks nekkid[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_920" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Looks interesting, eh!?[/caption]

The meat looks like bony fish meat... piece it together, you got yourself a snake (kinda creepy to look at it like that). haha

I was glad Miss Cherry made it over, she's always so much fun...she even creeped on me! haha

[caption id="attachment_912" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Peeping Cherry![/caption]

We all got a few pieces of the snake along with fresh veggies and Garlic knots that Jenn made...um, yum (even though they weren't cooked all the way...messin' with you Jenn!) Everything was great. They say rattlesnake tastes like chicken, frog legs, quail. I just think it tasted like bony, stringy rattlesnake, ha!

[caption id="attachment_919" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Fearless Foursome![/caption]

It was a fun night to try something different and I think it's always good to try new things, especially with the journey we went on with these snakes, phew.

[caption id="attachment_921" align="aligncenter" width="300"] That's a wrap![/caption]

 PEACE

**Viewer Discretion is Advised** NEVER a dull moment!

Just like any other day: Wake up, combat the yellow jackets while you make breakfast and clean-up, hang out, work, catch up on things, etc. Today we worked together on a little project; the hinges for the solar. We had to drill holes in the hinges, cut them so they weren't so long, sand them down so they weren't so rough up against Joon Van, spray paint them due to the sanding and then attach. We took everything over to this big log where we could work and J' could attach the hinges to it to drill the holes, kind of like a vice. It worked quite well.

[caption id="attachment_869" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Nice vice![/caption]

We worked over in this space for a good hour, maybe more and when the sun got a little too hot for my liking (with jeans on), I moved back over to the shade.

[caption id="attachment_870" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Cuttin' loose[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_871" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Creeped out just looking at this picture[/caption]

Some time later, maybe an hour or so Savannah was hunting, like usual, in the bushes right where we just were (in the 1st pic above, just above J's hands is where she was standing). I always keep a close eye on her because she's my baby, she's small and just like a kid if you take your eyes off of her for one minute, she disappears. I saw her standing on this rock right at the edge of the bushes (where I was just sitting on the log) and saw her kind of back away at the same time hearing a very strange noise I had never heard before. It took me a minute to process it...didn't sound like a bird, a chipmunk or a squirrel...that sounded like a baby rattle! I told J' what had I heard and he said, "We might have a rattlesnake, did it sound like that?" I told him I had no clue what a rattlesnake sounded like, so he went over to investigate. J' went over to the rocks and bushes and jumped back and said, "Whoa, that's a rattler alright." He asked me to keep an eye on it, as I slowly started to freak out.

[caption id="attachment_872" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The log I was just on and the nice big snake right underneath it[/caption]

He went and got the gun and came back, at this point I think I was about to faint, I was so scared. He aimed, he fired and boom got it...although what seemed like one really huge snake turned into two really huge snakes! Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes to be exact!

[caption id="attachment_873" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The first one, the smaller one[/caption]

It actually took us both a minute to process that there were two instead of one. One got hit dead-on in the head and stayed where it lay, while the bigger one slithered under the bigger part of the rock we were standing on.

[caption id="attachment_874" align="aligncenter" width="300"] That's a big mamma jamma[/caption]

After rigging up a "spear" we were able to locate it and get it out from under the rock it was clinging to...he (the snake) was pissed, he was hissing at us...not a happy camper. Little did we know he got the better half of the bullet & had half of his side blown out.

I was an absolute mess, I was crying, shaking, sobbing, panting. J' kept saying, "Would you stop!" But it just kept coming. There were lots of emotions I was going through: 1- I had never seen or been anywhere near such a deadly poisonous snake in my life. 2- Savannah was barely a foot away from both of them and she could be a lot worse off right now. 3- I have been around and shot guns before but have never been near someone using a gun for protection or to kill something. 4- We just killed two animals of nature...are we horrible people!? 5- I was just plain ole' scared and thought they were still gonna get us. 6- How many more of them are there, are we on-top of a nest? And he's telling me to calm down! haha Silly Brave Man! These snakes were about 3 1/2- 4 foot long and about 5-6 inches in diameter, as thick and snaky as you can get baby. I still shudder with the creeps. The whole Rattlesnake Round-up lasted about 40 minutes, it took us a while to make sure they were actually dead.

[caption id="attachment_878" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Captured[/caption]

Even after we thought they were in Rattlesnake Heaven, they were still twitching and moving around, we both thought it was just nerves but then the one that J' got in the head was still breathing. I was looking at them a little closer and taking pictures and that thing hissed at me...that lil F*er is still alive so I (of course) screamed and jumped away and told J' and he investigated further and yep...still alive and kicking!

[caption id="attachment_880" align="aligncenter" width="300"] He may be missing 1/2 his head but he was still pissed off & hissing![/caption]

So J' had to take the head off of that one too...then the tears came again, I just felt so bad. I guess I shouldn't feel bad for being alive, because they can kill you almost instantly, but I just believe that everything has a soul and is here for a reason and who are we to interrupt something else's life cycle? I guess it's just the circle of life...but I still feel bad. We walked over to SoulRaven's camp to warn him that these critters ARE around and one of the gal's, Jenn, that has recently joined Bob's Flock was over there with him. We talked to them about the whole sha-bang for a minute, we didn't want them to worry about the gunshot (they didn't even hear it, good thing we weren't over there dying!) Jenn had a little bit of experience with handling and cooking the snake so she took them off our hands to make a meal out of them and keep the skins...we asked her to save us a few bites!

[caption id="attachment_882" align="aligncenter" width="300"] It's what's for dinner[/caption]

We took the rattlers though and will most likely make them into jewelry or something.

Being the people we are, we came back and looked up the symbolism of rattlesnakes and that made me feel even worse...go figure. Most of the articles we read all said about the same thing: If you come upon a rattlesnake you are going through a major transitional period. The rattlesnake's message is change and renewal. We also found a site that had 18 Omens of Good Fortune (and YES, I do believe in stuff like this). Believe it or not, we've had more than one of these happen in the last 2-3 days, here they are (the one's we've received): When your ears start to itch (the other day J' would not stop talking about his itchy ear and just the day before I had the same "problem"), A butterfly flies into your house (or van, which is our house), Meeting up with a Cow (just happened yesterday), and Meeting up with a snake. Sorry but something great is bound to happen here! Although it also says to never harm or kill a snake (and there were two) due to its spiritual presence, the more poisonous the snake the better is the good fortune. Dangit! All we can keep thinking and saying is that they were way too close to camp only about 12 feet from the van doors, they could have killed Savannah or one of us and we would NEVER go out of our way to harm a snake or anything else for that matter.

[caption id="attachment_881" align="aligncenter" width="225"] A little too close for comfort[/caption]

But it still makes me sad and I hope the Universe goes light on us for it. Happy to still be here together and with our pup and may we enjoy the light, love and peace of another day.

Love ya'll

PEACE