The Desert Bar

Now this is the "Oasis" I have always dreamed of! Yesterday our neighbors here asked if we wanted to follow them to the Desert Bar. They had never been there but heard it was a very interesting place and wanted to check it out. The road that leads to the bar is about 4-5 mile north of Parker Az and once you turn off hwy 95 you have a 5 mile long drive along a bumpy dirt road out into the desert. Not knowing what we were going to find when we got there we were shocked. There must have been a few hundred vehicles there, with people everywhere. The bar is only opened from Noon - 6:00 pm and Saturday and Sundays only. The bar is opened from Oct to April and closed the rest of the year. One thing that interesting is they are off the grid, so all of the power for the 2 bars and kitchens is solar. Go to www.thedesertbar.com and look at their website. The people in the picture are our neighbors Steve and Sandy and their friend Patty. Had a few cold beers but didn't eat. The other ate and said the food was ok. Weather here has improved a lot, in the 70's and around 40 at night. Quartzsite is now offically packed with people and rv's. Almost impossible to eat out unless you eat early, like 4 pm. Yesterday was a sad day for Jackie and I as we got a call from our very good friend whom I have know for over 20 years that his wife Bev Edwards passed away at the young age of 70. We have traveled together, I have stayed at their home many times and talk on the phone almost every week. She will be missed

Getting Propane in Quartzsite

 This small town will have up to 100,000 people here during January and February and all will need propane sometime during their stay. The RV Pit Stop is the most popular and cheapest. They have 4 fill stations 2 on each side of the round tanks. They can have lines out onto the street if you hit it at the wrong time. But usually you can pull in and out without much of a wait. I had 2 bottles and when we pulled in since they were slow one worker took a bottle while the other was filled. We were in and out in less than 5 minutes. Our trailer has 2 tanks each holding 7 gallons or 30 pounds. Usually we go thru a bottle per month and spend on propane around $22 per month on propane but this season here the nights and mornings have been cold so we are using almost 2 per month. The weather has been a little cooler this year but most days you can still be comfortable in shorts and light shirt. We have some friends here from Nevada where we use to live. Jack and Susan came down in their travel trailer and will be spending a week in the rv park we are staying. They were amazed at what goes on in the town as far as the flea market and gem shows. It is hard to explain to people what it is like here. Yesterday we had high winds. So all of the outside stuff had to be picked up and we cancelled our plans to BBQ. We are into our 3rd month here, we were wondering if we would be able to stay the 4 months we planned and so far we have enjoyed our stay. A couple reasons it has been ok to stay this long is that we have had a chance to meet and get to know some folks staying here. The other was we had moved and did a lot the past year and needed a break. As much as we enjoyed the trip across country, and we will do it again, we got a little road weary. We are looking forward to the remaining time here and possible visits from Jackie's brother and sister-in-law and her cousin Brenda. Also another couple from Nevada may be coming down sometime during the season. We are testing out several of the restaurants that we had not ate at so when they arrive we will know rather or not to go there for dinner. The things I do for friends and family.

Back in Quartzsite Az.

I have started the blog again. I was talking this afternoon with a friend (Ron Morgan) and he was saying he missed the blog. For several reasons I took some time off, mostly just lazy. But we spent many months just helping some friends or visiting with the kids and grandkids so there was not much to write about. I know many of you enjoyed following the blog and I should of handled it a lot better. But I am back at it and will keep posting. I know there will be times when we are not doing much but will still try and make it interesting. We are in Quartzsite Az and will be here from November until the end of February (2013). We are both doing well, Pepper is having lots of problems with her back legs. She is on meds and has to be helped up stairs. She turned 14 in July so she has a lot of years on her. 

I have a lot of catching up to do on a few things that have happen to us the past few months. So over the next few months I will post a little of what we have been doing and our future plans. But currently we are sitting here in Quartzsite and enjoying the good weather. We were able to sit outside in shorts and tee shirts while having a cocktail. Quartzsite is starting to fill up with the snowbirds. The population during most of the year is around 2000 people but come mid January there will be over 100,000 people in the area. They have a huge flea market and gem and bead show during January and February which draw snowbird from all over the USA. It is expected to have 1400 vendors here selling everything from a pair of socks to a huge motorhome. The pictures posted are from the past few days. Some of the sunrises are worth getting up for. We like to get out into the desert and wander around where no one else goes. We like the feeling of being out where most humans have not walked before.  We found a path most likely made by migrating animals which lead us to an old Ironwood tree, with some research discovered the tree is the oldest living thing in the area at 1050 years old. 

 Have a Merry Christmas from Jackie and I.

We are in Oregon (update)

 Haven't had time to do much on the blog the past two weeks or so. We were here in Albany exactly one year ago and I helped my friend Pat get his home ready to sale, well I am now here helping him fix and correct a few things because it is being bought. There were a couple difficult projects that had to be done. The hardest was cutting and jackhammering the basement floor to reroute a sink and shower drain. Getting to old to do that type of work. The home inspector found a few things that need attention, so we have been fixing some and others require a contractor. We are almost done! I have put some pictures of different places we have parked over the past year. It was a blast to see and do what we did over the past year and have so many more things we want to do. Our plans for the remainder of this year is to slow down some and  spend more time at each stop. Depending on what happens with the sale of Pats house and how much more help he will need our plan is to move on the 1st of July to the Oregon coast. Will spend a month in Waldport, then move down the coast to Eureka Calif and stay a couple months there until it starts to cool down in the Sacramento area. We will visit with the kids and friends near Sacramento for month or so, then work our way to Quartzsite Az. Will spent the winter there and plan our next stage. So for the rest of this year we will be going back to some of our favorite spots. Will try and find new and interesting things to post, stuff we missed our first time at these spots. Some friends and family are planning on visiting us along our way. Hope they all can make it. Weather here has been cool and wet. The past few days it has warmed up and reaching into the mid 70's. Pepper is having a difficult time getting around, her back legs are shot. We have to help her up stairs, I even have a ramp for her to go up to get into the trailer. She turns 14 in a couple weeks, poor girl is starting to really struggle.

 Spent two nights at the Moose Lodge in Gettysburg. They have a 15 acre area just outside of town where they have a pond and a big area to have functions. So we parked there for the two nights by ourselves and toured the town and battlefield. We were surprised by how large of the battlefield area was. We went by the visitors center and got a driving tour brochure which had 16 different stops on it. You could spent days looking at all of the monuments and fields where the battle took place. What I found interesting was that the battle only lasted 3 days. As I posted on the last blog we decided to go to Oregon. We made it yesterday afternoon. We were going to just take our time but have problems with the trailer jacks which allow us to unkook. So we spent 3 days connected to the trailer and moved across the country quickly. Put in several 10 days driving, which is something we don't do. Glad we decided not to try and unhook because I was just able to disconnect and it stopped working. Today my friend Pat and I will trouble shoot the problem. We are staying here for at lease a month. Pat all but has his home sold and as it stands right now will have to be out by the 14th July. Paper work on sale is almost done. I will be helping him do any repairs that the home inspector finds and now looks like some packing. It rained last night, which is not unusual here. Pepper will be glad she doesn't have to travel for a while.

Travel update

The last two stops have had bad internet reception, so I can't post pictures. Will as soon as we can. We made a drastic change in our plans a few days ago. We left the DC area on the way to Gettysburg, when we started talking about the traffic, heat, rain, humidity and Jackie missing seeing the kids. So we decided to head back west to Oregon. These past 8 months we have traveled and seen many things. We plan on continuing but are finding that we now have gotten some of the travel bug out of our system. So we are going to slow down some and over the next several years continue wander around but at a slower pace. We really enjoyed the summer along the Oregon and Northern California coast and our winter in Arizona. So we are going to hit some of our favorite places again, spend a some time visiting with the kids then head out again. For us this lifestyle is always changing and we are learning how to adapt to the changes. Right now the change is saying get your ass to the cool coast of Oregon. We are now near Bloomington Il. and will be in Iowa City Iowa tomorrow. We are going to spend 3 nights at the Moose Lodge, so we are not traveling over the holiday. Weather hot and a little humid. Pepper struggles in the heat so she too will be glad to get somewhere cool.

Reunion and Washington DC

 Had a great time with my friends. We three met somewhere around 1968-69 at Vandenberg AFB. We managed to get in a couple rounds of golf, some sightseeing and lots of good food. One day we drove to Gettysburg and did a quick drive through the battlefield. (Jackie and I are moving to Gettysburg today and will be staying at a park owned by the Moose Lodge. Plan on spending a couple days getting a better look at Gettysburg.) We also took a drive in Washington DC after dark to see the city with its lights. The Capital and Washington Monument were something to see at night. We also did a walking tour. Fred dropped Carl, Jackie and I off at the Metro and we took it into DC. Riding the Metro is an experience in its self. Part is above ground but mostly underground. In DC that is the best way to get around. There was a lot of walking required to see everything but with a couple benches and a few bottles of water we made it. I think this has been one of our best stops, we really enjoyed the visit and getting to see DC was something high on our bucket list. The move today to Gettysburg is only 40-50 miles, we have to go to a rv park to dump our holding tanks before going to the Moose Lodge. Should be set up by noon and off to see Gettysburg. After Gettysburg we are moving a little north toward Lancaster Pa to see the Amish community. After that not sure where we will head. Weather is perfect. Around 75 during the day and a little cool at night, so sleeping is comfortable. Pepper has been having more problems with her back legs, she struggles getting up stairs or hills.