Logged. Another Great Day in the Books!

Woke up this morning to Savannah going a little buck wild looking out of my side window, when I finally saw what she had 'window hunted' all I could do was giggle and get my camera!

[caption id="attachment_4756" align="aligncenter" width="221"] Be careful![/caption]

What started out as two little mice at the top of this bush ended up with one in the bush and one on the ground. We watched & giggled in amazement that one- the bush could hold the fat lil thing and two- he/she was putting themselves in an open invitation position (not hiding from predators). We were also surprised the food we did have outside had not been gone through or chewed through by the little critters. They were so stinkin' cute! A good way to start this busy busy day of ours...today would be laundry day, among other things. Now, for the average Joe, or Josephine, this would not really be a daunting task and usually, even for me, it is something I thrive on and like to do...but today...oh today would be so different! With the weather always changing, meaning not having to wear the same Summer/Winter clothes, and now having an extra set of sheets and pillow cases there hasn't been a major need to go to the laundromat...so we haven't... for two months! We have been soaking and washing the essentials in the 3 1/2 gallon bucket and line drying them to get us by until "The Big Wash". I definitely had my work cut out for me today, BUT we found a great, very clean laundromat right next to Safeway and there was only one other person there...score! J' helped pull all of our stuff out, bags inside, bags up-top, every single little thing was going to get washed today, even our canvas tarp was going to get a full cycle! I started sorting and mushing clothes into the front load dryers, which are really great because they hold way more and use less soap. The front loaders are a little bit more expensive but they do a really nice job and get everything really clean. As I did all of the inside work on the laundry, J' started the stuff in the van: fresh water, fresh ice, empty the cooler, clean the cooler (another one of those pizza crusts exploded in the cooler and was stopping up the plug, ewww), refill the cooler...lots of cooler time! Even though there was a ton of stuff to wash, dry and then fold and put away it went pretty fast, I'd say the whole process took us a little over two hours. Team work at its best baby! J' brought in our duffle bags, as well as our backpacks, so the clothes would be put away on site, (he knows me too well, I do not like doing this later). Everything smells so good and feels so soft....awww, the little things!! The other great thing about this place and the front loaders is, with all of our laundry we only spent about 17-18 bucks! Just to give you an idea, I did roughly 6 small loads of laundry in Lake Havasu for $35.00...not a ganga! Today I did, (hard to say with the front loaders but...) anywhere from 10-13 loads. I had 6 machines to wash and about the same to dry all for about $18.00...now that's a ganga!!

[caption id="attachment_4761" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Laundry is done man[/caption]

All wrapped up at the laundromat and Safeway we hit up a couple more places: Dollar Tree, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Wal-mart, gas station, and Little Caesars. 

We feel like millionaires of life right now! Everything got done in one day, everything went super smooth and it was still light when we got home to re-set camp. What a great day! My babaa' even got me a surprise...this is how you know your hubby really listens and that I'm not like every other girl...

[caption id="attachment_4760" align="aligncenter" width="303"] Er.mer.gaw..YESSSS!![/caption]

 I'm always clipping things and trying to tack down stuff... and I make a lot of forts but never have the "clip power" to keep what I make together, especially in this wind. When he came out of O'Reilly he said, "I got you a surprise." I said, "From the automotive store...stickers??" He handed me a bag and as I peeked inside I shrieked with excitement and tons and tons of giggles. What a sweetie! And now what do I yearn for...yep, MORE clips! haha

It's great being so close to town because even though it took most of our day, we didn't have to stay overnight in a Wal-mart parking lot to finish up our stuff the next day (like we did going to Fresno from Shaver Lake). We got everything done and now back at camp and ready to take on whatever comes our way. Even Savannah is completely satisfied, her bedding (from her gifted bed from Mikey), her blankies and her "babies" all got washed AND we found her favorite food at the store...spoiled yes, but oh so content!!

[caption id="attachment_4762" align="aligncenter" width="350"] C'mon everyone
.....awwww![/caption]

 PEACE

What a Beaut!

Today just slipped right on by me. Can you believe I don't have one single picture from today!? Me neither. After feeling like total crap-o-la yesterday, we rinsed away all the 'dirty' with hot showers and laundry today. Good thing too! With all of the rain we had, we found out that our tarp had not held up so well totally soaking through our duffle bags on-top, totally soaking every single piece of clothing in the bags, plus rolls of toilet paper (yuck)! It made me happy to find this all out at the laundromat instead of anywhere else. Needless to say, there was a lot of folding going on at that laundromat. I totally wish I had at least one picture of what I looked like today. At this laundromat in Ehrenberg, there are many different characters roaming about and it seems everyone and their brother always wants to talk to me. Usually, I do not have a problem with this, I will smile politely and carry on a conversation, knowing it's just how it is in public places...but today, today I was in no mood. I don't mind laundry day, I actually kind of look forward to it. I like to do laundry, I like sorting everything and waiting for it, then folding it in the precise way I do when it's all dry, it makes me feel good. Today though...not today! I really just wanted to take a shower and get on the road but after we found out that everything was soaked to the bone, it held us there an hour and a half more then usual and every single person wanted to have thee longest drawn out conversation. Now, the reason I wanted a picture of me was because of this guy that came in about 45 minutes into us being there. He was a "cool guy", biker dude (he made sure I knew that), probably in his mid 30's. He came in with, who I'm guessing was his mother and starts yelling and cussing at her, dropping F* bombs, about how to put his clothes in the washer. There are about 4 other people, trying not to look up at him yelling at her, minding their own business. After he ranted on her, he left for a minute, he comes back in, walks past me, turns back around to me and says, "Excuse Miss..? (he picks up my hand like he's going to kiss it) Has anyone told you how exquisitely beautiful you are today?" Uhhh..... I wanted to burst out laughing, but just said thank you. He then, of course, wanted to know everything about me. I looked toward J' (who had no idea this was going down) and changed the subject, making it politely clear I was 1- with someone and 2- didn't really want to share anything about myself. Throughout the rest of his time there he still tried making small talk with me...only making me laugh even harder on the inside. First of all, even if I wasn't with anyone, this guy totally just berated and cussed at his mother, or whoever she was, in front of a bunch of strangers...not a turn-on dude! Secondly, you should have seen what I looked like! I had on a pair of J's basketball shorts that went down past my knees, one of his shirts that's bright green and says, Pirates arrrr Cool, black socks pulled up to my knees and my blue and green muk-luks, with my fro' all over the place. If he saw beauty in that, well....good for him, but I don't think so Bub! We made it out of there in three hours, reorganized the inside and the top and drove to Ace Hardware. We had to get another tarp, stat! It was looking like rain and we could not count on that tarp to do its job...we already knew that it wouldn't. We went to Ace and got a canvas tarp to put over the other tarp (double barricade) and drove to our old campsite in Blythe. We told ourselves we wouldn't come back here, but we were so close and didn't want to make a drive back to Quartzsite tonight so we ended up staying for the night. J' put the tarp on, even in the extreme wind, which came out of nowhere...glad he did too...it's raining again! All I can say is, I'm soooooooo happy today is (pretty much) over. My attitude and emotions are raging and it is not pretty. The laundromat was just the tip of the iceberg this morning! Sometimes I wish I would just go straight into Menopause, is it that much worse than this every month? I don't know... maybe I'm wishing myself into a whole different, much worse monster than shark week is. All I know is it's a good thing I know how to cry and that bed, tele and chocolate were invented or this would be a much worse nightmare!

Well, I'm off to get my "beauty sleep"...hahaha that guy kills me!

PEACE

Rejuvenation...complete.

Over the past few days I've just been doing lots of odds and ends. J' got my chair down for me so I've been sitting outside...ahhhh, I love sitting outside! I feel so much more refreshed and connected when sitting outside. I can sit in the sun, be closer to Nana and I just love being outside!

I've gotten some things done that aren't even that big, but annoying to not have done.

I took a shower, it's so nice and warm in this spot...it was actually a really nice (almost warm) shower!

[caption id="attachment_2829" align="aligncenter" width="150"] So fresh & so clean[/caption]

I sewed our silverware holder back together, the top was totally coming apart from the part that holds the silverware...so everything kept falling out of it every time you would pick it up.

[caption id="attachment_2830" align="alignleft" width="150"] Ah, geez[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2832" align="alignright" width="150"] Together again[/caption]

Since I had the needle and thread out, I secured my snap button on my favorite knit sweater, it was starting to pull away from the yarn...didn't want to lose it!

[caption id="attachment_2831" align="aligncenter" width="150"] Sew Radical[/caption]

 I have also spent anywhere from a half hour to an hour each day picking up rusty nails, broken glass and trash that has been left behind. I don't understand people and the thought process of leaving this stuff behind. I think it's very disrespectful. I started picking it up because I couldn't walk Savannah 5 feet in any direction without yanking her out of glass or nails or pulling trash out of her mouth...she's just a baby! Also, once we started looking around we started realizing we may pick one up in a tire if we're not careful so it became a daily thing.

[caption id="attachment_2833" align="aligncenter" width="150"] Full bag...tsk tsk tsk[/caption]

 Having some things to do in town and knowing about all of the trash, glass and nails we left our 'sweet spot' to do our errands. We had a full day ahead of us...crazy how two things take all day to do! The car wash: Wash Joon along with the mats and rug inside (and the grill). Laundry: 9 loads of dirty, dusty digs! Oh and we had to get water and ice, but that takes like 10 minutes.

[caption id="attachment_2840" align="alignleft" width="150"] Scrub a dub dub[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2841" align="alignright" width="150"] The inside too![/caption]

 The AZ Car Wash was a super nice wash and it was pretty much right next to the Laundromat so it worked out really well. While I started sorting the clothes into machines and doing my thing inside, J' was pulling clothes out of bags from inside and off the top, all of our sheets and blankies off the bed...anything that needed washing. While J' was outside getting the van squared away again with the mats and all that, I was inside feeling like I was in a Library...oh and getting yelled at! It's been a while, hasn't it!? I wasn't the only one this time though, haha. See, there are signs on every single dryer saying, Please close dryers gently. I thought I was doing a pretty good job at not slamming them, but the lady that worked there, ironing undies, thought differently and literally yelled across the laundromat at me to not slam the door. Okay, I shut it hard but I didn't slam it. Then about two minutes later, a dude on the other side of the 'mat slammed his dryer door. That lady came out from behind her ironing board and tapped him pretty hard on the shoulder, sternly telling him not to slam the dryer doors. My goodness! About a half hour later, I was so in my own world that I guess I had lost my flow of gently shutting the door and "slammed" it again....yep, got yelled at again! I looked up after she walked away and the shoulder tap guy was looking at me, laughing to himself. We had a 'moment'...it was kind of funny, but I couldn't wait to be done.

[caption id="attachment_2844" align="alignleft" width="150"] Very clean[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2845" align="alignright" width="150"] 2 out of 9[/caption]

 Finally done with laundry and the van...and $30.00 dollars later, yep expensive here! Thank goodness J' does the outside stuff while I'm doing the inside stuff, it would take twice as long if we didn't have each other there. I sort, wash, dry and fold and he takes everything apart and puts everything back together, especially making the bed from foam to fort! We were both totally pooped when we were finally done and ready to go back to camp and just veg. We found a new spot sans all the nails and glass, it's actually up on a little perch and we can still see all of the towers so we are getting hella good signal for TV...hopefully the wifi will be just as good.

[caption id="attachment_2852" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pretty perfect![/caption]

Overall the last few days have been very successful. Many things have been accomplished...doesn't really matter how big or small, things are things and once they are done it feels good. Now, we are pulling our fort out early, everyone is clean in the clean sheets and ready to get our snoozers going!

Goodnight my friends, much love and light to you and yours!

PEACE

 

 

9, 10 & we gotta do it again

July 9~All I can say at this moment in time is, I'm glad we are up in the mountains. We had to go back down to 'the city' to get some things done. We had to send our solar panel back for it was not serving the purpose we bought it for. I had a list of stuff to do and J' did too...so off to hell we went. I looked at the weather before we went down to prepare myself for what was to come, but I don't think anything can really prepare you for 106 degree temperatures...other than being in air conditioning! It took us 2.5 hours to load up Joon Van, from pretty much empty to everything we own...good lord what a mess! Even as organized as I could get it,(which is pretty damn organized, I should be a professional!) there was crap falling on top of everything else when we would turn a corner...yes, we are looking into containers and other types of storage but solar comes first (cha-ching)! We packed up and hit up town to see if we could find Bob & Miss Cherry, we did. We asked them if they needed anything and chit-chatted for about 20 minutes and then we were are on our way. My main objective of going into town was to find a knit shawl type pull-over thing...I knew what I was looking for, something to put over top of me when the sun starts dropping that has sleeves but not tight sleeves and I wanted it to be knit so I could get the breeze through it still...okay, whatever. I know what I want and when I see it, I'll know, I just don't know how to explain what it is.  Anyway, I wanted to hit up thrift stores and already had some scoped out (found them on Yelp). On our way down the mountain, we stopped in Prather, just a little town in the middle of the mountains. We wanted to check out their Army Surplus store for more durable jackets for me (and for J) when it does become necessary to have a jacket. I have a really nice jacket, but there are a few things that make it not really functional out here. One~ it's a really pretty light lilac color...dirt will definitely be shown and probably won't come out, due to just how much dirt is up here, it gets on EVERYTHING and fast too. Two~ It's down, ya know with feathers. I've already punctured it once when we were scraping trailers. It's very 'light-weight' for the ruggedness out here, I don't want to be worried everytime I run into something (yes, that happens a lot) or if something snags on it. I just need something a little more functional and rugged than my pretty purple jacket...but I do need something that keeps me that warm, because my little purple jacket is probably the warmest jacket I've ever owned, thanks mom(down to -20 degrees). So give me, function, fashion and warmth and we'll be talkin'! Back to the Army store...they did have a jacket, it was a small, great color for out here but it was yet still too big. Guess we'll have to keep looking.  We both really hadn't eaten yet so we stopped at a Chipotle and grabbed a bite. I actually shouldn't say, just stopped in, due to every single part of the mall parking lot that is in the same area being closed off for pouring new asphalt (or however they do it). They had the whole entire parking lot, front and back closed off for this, with the exception of about 20 spots in front of Chipotle. Now where do you think everyone that had to go to wherever else on a Monday at lunch time was going to park? Yep, in front of Chipotle! Since it is a treat for us to 'come to town', we were really craving some Chipotle steak burritos, so we parked at Ihop on the other side of the mall and walked...and yes, it was about 104 outside at this time...special! As always though, it was delicious and now with our bellies full we can focus on our needs. We drove to our Wal-mart we usually stay at when we're down there. J' went inside to grab some ice for Nana...gotta set up her AC unit if we're going to be in and out all day...and I went to The Goodwill that was just next door. I had read that this Goodwill was pretty pricey for a thrift store and I do have to agree. I know it's a thrift store, but hence the name, if we wanted to pay like close to full price we'd just go get it new. And for such a BIG store, it seemed almost half empty and mostly just kitchenware and furniture, really no clothes. I am quite the thrifty shopper so I have a way I go through the racks, you could call me Turbo Thrift, like Tokyo Drift haha. I know what I'm looking for and you better get out of my way or else you might find yourself in the aftermath of the Turbo Thrift, haha. I know I'm ridiculous, thank you. Although I didn't find what I was looking for, I did find a camo (long-john) shirt that I couldn't pass on, it was only $2.00, so I splurged! haha J' and I met back up at the van, I'm sure he could have spent a lot longer in Wal-mart but we were both so worried about Nana...even with the ice, you just never know. (We do TONS of checks on her, even when we're not gone for very long...doesn't make much for a day trip but I'd rather have my bug than ...whatever). Now that we had ice, we could start our day. We hit up another thrift store, a Salvation Army. I found a couple of pull-over knit sweaters here, they are super soft and I love the colors. On our way to The Salvation Army I saw some neon writing on some windows that said, "WE DO SOLAR". We popped into Energy House to ask some questions about solar for the van, the guy said they only do homes and other buildings...good to know. We had to go to Office Max and a postal place to get our old solar panels in the mail and after we did all that, we were pretty much right next to the Fashion Fair Mall. We needed to get some stuff done with Verizon so we figured we would just go to the Verizon kiosk in there. We spent about an hour with Verizon changing some things, turns out they just rolled out new plans on the 29th of June and now we are actually saving like 20 bucks with a way better plan. *All of you Verizon customers or customers that aren't happy with your current service provider...go in and have them revamp your plan. Even if it's the same plan, they will save you money!* Of course since we were already in the mall, we walked it and the girl in me just HAD to go into this Forever 21 they have. It's two delicious floors of everything a girl could want for...I was only able to do half of the first floor (J' wasn't too enthused about the whole thing). I did however find a major ganga though. All of their sale items is buy one get one free AND I found exactly what I was looking for...twice! I spent like $11.00, how freakin' rad man! I know, like I need more clothes but I was looking for this exact type top and I got it, so I don't feel bad... at all. Plus, J' really liked what I got, so that's a plus. I have learned that if he doesn't like it, I'll probably never wear it...I don't like the question,"You're gonna wear that?" or "Is that what you're wearing?" Two questions I don't think any girl takes lightly...anyway... don't you love my tangents? haha We left the mall and went to Taco Smell to get something for dinner and it was only about 25 minutes to The Bachelorette but something went off in me and I had a total meltdown about the drive-thru and we weren't even at Taco bell yet...don't ask. Finally, we had food and were in our Wal-mart parking lot, took down the bed and turned on the TV. Due to my meltdown, we missed all of the dates but were able to see the final rose ceremony. Just to say it, this girl doesn't know what she wants and I think she made a big mistake but also I think it's just a show and they have to go with ratings. So dancing with the sheep we go...

July 10~ I woke up to tow truck driver brakes, he was parking a few spots right behind us, positioned perfectly for checking plates and doing paperwork...hmm I didn't like the vibe, although he was just sitting there (in the shade)...only shady spots on this side of the parking lot, but I still didn't like it. I moved us to the far side of the parking lot under another tree, set-up Nana and off to Wal-mart we went. It's about 8:30 a.m. at this point and there are so many people in there already as well as stockers, stocking shelves (why aren't they doing that at mid-night?)... oh and they are also out of 80% of what we needed. I felt another meltdown coming on (gotta love those hormones), so I told J' we had to go to another store, he saw it coming too and away we went. I was able to get him some breakfast goodies for his birthday though!

[caption id="attachment_823" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Where's the bacon? Damn![/caption]

We hit up Home Fabrics again for a back support for J'. He sits in the van all day due to the reflection on his screen and since it's all hard wood in the van, it doesn't make for comfortable daily sitting, so we got him a foam pad for his booty. He was able to cut some of it off to fit in the 'seat' and use that for his back, so we were able to get 2 supports for 1...what a Ganga! Actually it was a little pricey but if it's going to help him in the long (& short) run, then I'm all for it. We hit up a laundromat, a different one than previously. It's pretty much right next to the Wal-mart we stay at, instead of on the other side of town. We figured we would try to have Savannah sit in there with us because it's just so hot outside (now 106) and she did wonderful. There was a chair in the corner that she slept in the whole time...didn't make one peep. 

I was so proud of her and for that we had to celebrate with milkshakes from Carl's Jr. haha I told you whenever you get your ice cream...you get it! J' is always telling me that he's never going to lose weight if I don't stop wanting (and getting) ice cream and chocolate all the time. It's actually not all the time, but when I want it (about one week a month) I want it and I want alllll of it, so watch out! haha After our milkshake showdown we headed 'home' and what a great place to be going. Our home; where there are no people. Only us, the nature and the animals. The weather is nicer & cooler and there is no money to be spent. We have time to do the things we want to do and time to make up more things to do. I love our little 'home' and everything that comes with it (or doesn't come with it). This is the place where we belong and I'm so glad that we have the opportunity to keep learning that.

PEACE