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

Taking shots of 'Freshness' today

 Well, I'd like to say we are out of the "throes" of sickness but, ya know...I just don't know if we are yet. Last night was probably the worst of it yet. J' definitely caught some kind of stomach bug, he rarely ever gets sick and whatever he has is something of a whole different species! We are hoping the worst of it is over, but we shall wait and see.

The R.T.R. is officially starting today, Bob said he would hold a meeting this morning at 10. We were planning on attending until the Monster of Misery decided to have a slumber party in our fort! We left our spot at about 8:00 a.m. this morning to go get some medicine, take showers and do laundry. It was time to clean everything around us and put some freshness back into the van! We drove over to Ehrenberg and took showers at the Flying J. I have to say, we love those showers! They are always so nice, clean and maintained and you can relax and take as long as you want. They have so many showers that there is never a rush...even when it's super busy. We really like it!

[caption id="attachment_3209" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Clean cutie[/caption]

We looked at the washers and dryers at the Flying J but 1- there wasn't enough room in the small space they had to do what we needed to and 2- it was a little more costly $2.25 per wash and $2.25 per dry. 

We decided to just drive the extra 1/2 mile down the road to the mini mall in 'Downtown Ehrenberg'. The machines there are $1.25 per wash and $.25 for 8 minutes of drying...it's like we are back in Fresno prices, works for me! We were pretty much the only people there, so it was nice and quiet. It only took about an hour and a half to wash, dry and fold everything...then another half hour or so to make the bed.

[caption id="attachment_3212" align="alignleft" width="150"] In between...[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3213" align="alignright" width="150"] Quartzsite[/caption]

 Then we were back on the road to Quartzsite! The nice thing about being in Ehrenberg, other than cleaning off the icky illness was, it was about 10-15 degrees warmer there. When we were making the bed, it was 81* and we were both in tank tops and I had my flops on.....salivating over warmer weather! ☼

We got back and noticed a couple of new campers had arrived. We talked to a few people about "the meeting" this morning...turns out the actual 'meet & greet' will be tomorrow morning, that way new people will have time to set up camp and all of that.

[caption id="attachment_3216" align="aligncenter" width="300"] RTR Camp[/caption]

So for the rest of the day it's going to be maxin' and relaxin' for this crew. We both want to be at our best for the start of things tomorrow...looks like DVD land tonight!

Until tomorrow my friends

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

 

 

Change for change

Okay I think an update is in order here! I would say things have been hectic but I think it's just that way in my head and before I know it several days have gone by! haha Anyway let's see what have we been up to...?? Well...oh Lúnasa sásta (that's Happy August to the people that don't speak Irish...I don't either I just think it's fun to translate stuff!) On the 2nd of August we went down to Fresno to pick up some stuff at the Postal place and grocery shop, among other things as always. We didn't leave super early thinking we could definitely get all of our stuff done by the time the sun would be setting...haha we are silly, yes we are! We left about 10-10:30 a.m. We went down with a plan this time, a list written out for the groceries, a list or budget you might say for the entire day. We thought this would lessen our stress but we can be fooled ya know!? We picked up our stuff and a few things for Bob & Miss Cherry at the Postal place then headed onto the rest of our errands. We proceeded to the laundromat with our 6 loads of filthy laundry. I didn't think it was that bad, we did 6 loads of laundry for $15.00 roughly and we were only there for about an hour and a half...maybe 2 hours (I'm quick and to the point man, I'm a folding machine). There is something strange about going to the laundromat though, it makes me feel like a normal person...maybe it's the domestication. J' helped by making the bed while I folded the rest of the clothes, this helped on time immensely...thanks babaa'! We went to a self car wash instead of the one we went to before because we now have the solar on the roof...not good to go through a car wash with that!

[caption id="attachment_388" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Dirty girl[/caption]

We got to the car wash and their coin machine didn't work so we drove back to the laundromat to get change and then back to the car wash. The van was filthy, just like everything else we own haha...including our feet (yes we washed those too!)

[caption id="attachment_391" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Gotta get the tootsies clean![/caption]

We thought it was neat when we got to the car wash there was a couple of guys, that looked like they just bought this Westfalia, they were cleaning it out and up. It was pretty nostalgic.

[caption id="attachment_389" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Wonder what they're going to do with her?[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_392" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Just like new[/caption]

Now that our clothes were clean and Joon Van was clean, it was time to grocery shop...ugh...the dreaded Wal-mart. We had to get some vitamins there anyway, so we just planned on getting what we needed and getting the hell out...we had a list, should be a breeze. I swear this place just sucks the life out of J' & I, the only time we argue is when we are in THIS store, it's so annoying. We got what was on the list and didn't get a lot of stuff on the list, too and left. We still had two more stops to make before we even thought about making it home and it was already 5:15p.m.

[caption id="attachment_393" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Wonder what an Ice Sandwich tastes like?? Ice cold![/caption]

We made a stop into The Vitamin Shoppe to get my new supplements and since I had done all of my research and knew exactly what to look for (& I had someone helping me) we were only there for about 10 minutes. Out the door we go to the Fruit Stand, oh and I found out their name it's, Takahashi Farms Fruit Stand at Copper Avenue & Auberry Road.

[caption id="attachment_394" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I ♥ you[/caption]

I was, again, like a little girl in a candy store and since we budgeted this time for about $20 in fruit and veggies here, I was grabbing everything I could think to put in or on something...without it going bad. We walked out with a big box full of goodies and the mom (the lady that yelled at me last time) even gave us a free bag full of fruit. She was saying to me, "Grab some of those doughnut peaches and some dapple dandy plums and some of those." I was grabbing things I didn't even know what they were, just thankful that we had the chance. By the time we got back up the mountain the sun was starting to sink but we still needed to get water and be Santa Claus to Bob & Miss Cherry....rollin' rollin' rollin'. We got our water, handed everything out and got back to camp just in enough time to make a quick bite and get in the van by night fall.

[caption id="attachment_395" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Cookin' in the dark[/caption]

The next day would be like Christmas for us we will open the bags of groceries, fruit and the boxes we got from the Postal place and access "the damage" once again!

[caption id="attachment_390" align="aligncenter" width="300"] What a nice sign[/caption]

PEACE