JOURNEY INTO SPRING

We left Belt with the snow barely melted and drove in and out of  spattering rain for much of the way through Montana and into Wyoming, and ended up staying in a motel in Casper, Wyoming the first night.   In Casper, the mountains are so close, they appear to be just across the road – and the peaks still had heavy snow loads – which is not unusual this time of the year.

 In the morning, we took a “short cut” away from the highway toward Scotts Bluff and Fort Laramie.   Near Laramie, we stopped to check out the wagon wheel ruts from the thousands of wagons that transverse the Oregon Trail in the 19^th century.   They were awesome!  Cut through soft sandstone they stand as mute testimony to the impact of the migration.   The Platte River had such a bad reputation for danger, that the travelers would rather struggle through the desolate landscape than attempt to ford the river.   I think I read once the description of the Platte as being a “mile wide and an inch deep”.  I didn’t see it that way til I was well into Nebraska –

 

 

Looking over the countryside from the Wheel Ruts -   and wondered what it felt like to be travelling with all the hardships they endured, and looking out and seeing nothing but endless prairie as far as the eye could see -  the trees ended here. 

I also stopped at “Register Cliff” where the pioneers carved names and dates into a sandstone cliff along the river. Of course, more recent “pioneers” have left their marks too!

 Can't see the signatures very well, but they are there!

Swallow nests on Register Cliff.





This cave was used as cold storage for foodstuffs.

A Pony Express Marker at the foot of Register Cliff.

 

Fort Laramie was quite a surprise.   I expected to see a small gathering of necessary buildings with a log wall surrounding it.   (Where would they get the logs in the middle of the prairie, Boots?)  - Well there were trees along the river, but this fort was spacious, - no walls – buildings mostly made of limestone blocks quarried a few miles west.   Some of the buildings were in ruins, some reconstructed – the barracks building was huge – the homes of the officers were large – and at first glance, I thought they were much more modern in age than the rest of the fort – but no – they were authentic to the time.  

 

Ruins of the hospital at Fort Laramie

The Bunkhouse

Fort Laramie stood as guard and supply station to those working their way west.   Surprisingly the Fort was only active for a very short time.   I enjoyed wandering around and looking at the different exhibits.  A Ranger stopped to talk with me and made it a point to tell me that the park was very pet friendly, and that Tucker was actually welcome inside the buildings – just pick him up and carry him in with me.   

 I intend to return by the same route so I can stop and spend more time in the Fort -  I had thought to go through the Black Hills, but that will be just before the 4^th of July – don’t think I want to do that.   I realized at that point how much time I had spent wandering around and I still had to travel across most of Nebraska before getting to my campground for the night – so we hit the road.    (I had planned to stay in hotels on the way East – but since the weather was expected to be in the 80’s during the day and 50’s at night, I saw no reason not to camp – I had my little back pack tent with me for the return trip in June.

As the miles rolled by, spring started to show more and more -   In Montana and Wyoming it was still winter brown – in eastern Nebraska the grass started greening up, in Michigan the trees were starting to fill out and by the time I got to Maryland, it was full spring!!!

 

We stayed at a KOA (I like them when I’m straight-line travelling – I can put the address in the GPS and just “Sally Forth”!  

 

Tucker realizes that when the tent goes up, that’s where he will be sleeping, and never hesitates to hop inside and try it out! 

 

During the night, the wind picked up – or rather, it really started to blow!   Tucker dived under the covers and cuddled as close to me as he could get – probably remembering the blow-down in New Mexico.  Early, early the next morning, we were packed up and on the road again.   I say “early”, but realized I had crossed a time line somewhere so it was actually an hour later than I thought.  At some point during the day, we crossed the Mighty Mississippi – and it was in flood – for miles water creeped toward homes on each side of the highway.

 I had a choice of campgrounds that day -  KanKanKee, IL or South Bend, Indiana – oh, or Rock Island, IL -   Rock Island – seemed too soon to stop -   South Bend – well I wasn’t sure I could make it that far – it turned out to be an over 600 mile day of travelling.   I decided to head for the Kankankee site.   I think I should have held out for the South Bend site!!!!    I got off the highway and spent the next hour driving through farm land – you know the kind of area -  ½ mile down this road; 3 ½ miles on that road -   many without signs – I just had to depend on the GPS – and the land was flat, flat, flat – no high point to get a view of where I was headed.   The sun was sinking fast behind me, and I seemed to be getting nowhere. 

 I passed an interesting old barn – it’s siding was more “not” than “there” – you could see right through it, but it had a brand new shining metal sliding door on it! 

 I finally got to the campground as darkness was closing in – and the manager forgot to leave the information out for me as to which campsite was assigned to me -  so I just stopped at the first empty one and set up the tent – I didn’t even peg it down – I figured if my weight wouldn’t hold it down, the added 3# of Tucker’s weight would surely do it!

 Once again, we got up early, at about 5:20.  I showered and packed up and was on the road within an hour – headed to my grandson’s home in Michigan.    We pulled onto the main road (again this was farm country – “main” was no more than a narrow 2 lane road.   Remember the hour or so I spent wandering around the night before?   Well, barely a mile down the road there was a sign saying it was 1.9 miles to an interstate!!!!!

And as for getting up early?   Gained another hour somewhere along the way.    Within an hour or so, I was past the southern Chicago area and into the corner of Michigan.  I stopped at a rest stop/welcome center – sorry I can’t remember the name of it just now – but it was the very first traveler information center every built back in either 1925 or 1935 – can’t remember that either.

In any event, I arrived at Jesse’s home about noon where I picked up several boxes of Brooke’s stuff that didn’t fit on the truck when she went there to pick up her household goods.   I was to spend the night in Seven’s (great-grandson) room – I looked up those steep stairs, then out at the green grass in the back yard, and put up my tent again!

Well, actually, I didn’t put the tent up – Jesse did – or at least started – Brittany pitched in and finally Seven was called in for backup!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, if anyone thinks tiny Tucker is no use to have as head of security – about 11 p.m. Jesse came out to say the lights were on in my truck (sure fire way to have dead batteries in the morning – been there, done that)   As soon as Jesse set foot in the back yard, Tucker set up such a fuss he probably woke household’s 6 lots away.  

 

In the morning, I said goodbye to Jesse and family and headed for a l-o-o-o-on-n-n-n-g day of travelling -   By the time I reached Nanjemoy – I had covered 688 miles – and only the last 2 hours were tiring –  by then it was dark and I had turned off the cruise control.  It was a very good day for travelling – my major problem was the GPS once I got into Virginia – it insisted I go through DC to get to Brooke’s -   In the dark, in Fredericksburg – I got lost.   Not for long, I finally thought to enter tiny King George on Hwy 301 as my destination – and, then, I got lost again – in King George???   It’s only one road for Pete’s sake!!!!   Actually, I thought I had over shot my destination, but I hadn’t gotten there yet – finally I got headed in the right direction and arrived at Brooke’s at about 10:30 p.m. -  she called minutes later, having just landed in DC after an unexpected trip to her Dad’s in Nevada.   She arrived at about 11:30.

 

The next couple of days was spent saying Hello to those I hadn’t seen for a year.   Then, Brooke had her knee surgery.  The damage turned out to be more extensive than expected so recovery may take a bit longer, also.   But, she is doing well now – she won’t be driving for another week or so – and by then she should be ok on her own – and I’ll make a trip down to Virginia Beach.

 

In the meantime, I’ve been going through all the stuff I left under her basement stairs – I’m about half way through it – have put some in the yard sale pile and some in the trash – getting there, though -   the next couple days, I’ll try to get through with my stuff so on Monday, Brooke can work her way downstairs and we can start going through her stuff – she is going to have quite a yard sale.

 

Mother’s Day has come and gone -   I went to the dinner at the farm (brought Brooke back quite a plate of goodies, including a 4# lobster)   It was surf and turf and a myriad of sides!

 

Brooke had roses sent to me – they are beautiful (and arrived on time)!   The roses sent for Brooke  arrived over a week late!   Never order flowers from “flowers for you”!!!!  They offered $5 off the next order -   they expect another order??? Got to be crazy.

 

Today, we’re going out for a bit – a church picnic – and I’m telling you this group knows how to put on a feed!, and since Powerball is up there a bit ($600,000,000) I think I’ll buy a ticket.

 

Well, obviously I didn’t win the big prize.  I’m still here, helping Brooke pack her house.  

Until next time,

 

Bear Hugs

 

Luv ‘n Boots & Tucker, Too

 

She knew she could do it and so she did!

 

 

GET READY, GET SET, ……….WAIT!!!!!

I’ve been reminded that I haven’t posted for a month so I’m trying to get something written down before I hit the road.

 So, here’s what’s happening –

 First, one day everything disappeared from my desktop – all my shortcuts – everything – my desktop now just has a photo of the Rocky Mountain Front on it – nice to look at, but not very useful.    

 Then, a few days later, both my remaining USB  ports quit working.   I couldn’t connect anything.   I don’t like the laptop keyboard or mouse, so I carry around my own – but without the USB ports, I couldn’t use them.   I also, and this was major, couldn’t re-charge or load audio books on my MP3 player -   Oh, no!   Boots without books -  Disaster!!!!!!

 I messed around a bit and learned how to find my files and short cuts, (it won't let me create new short-cuts)  but how I hated the built-in mouse.   I had finally come to the conclusion that I needed a new computer & was just shopping around for one, when, after nearly 3 weeks -   something caused the computer to shut down, and what do you know????? When it re-booted, everything worked!   Yippee, Hooray, Celebrate!!!!!

 Then, happily working away on my computer, I talked with Brooke one day.    She is scheduled for surgery on her knee on the 7^th, and will be off work for 2 months.   In addition, she has listed her house for sale.   So, I decided that instead of waiting until September to head for her place, I might as well go now and give her a hand while she is recovering.  

I need to go through the stuff I left there – to see if I can pare it down a little – and I can help Brooke go through hers, too.   I just need to be back around the first of July.

 July is going to be a busy month for me – first off – Diane has a conference to attend the end of June in Chicago – then the first part of July, her daughter has a conference – and we are going to House (rather, pet) sit for her – then sometime around then, we have a camp out scheduled with the Loners on Wheels – in the Lincoln area – and finally the Family Reunion!  

A busy July and nothing else planned for the summer.

 I guess I need to order new tent poles if we are going to use the big tent for the campout.

In any event – at the time these plans were made – it was snowing – the truck was covered with snow, and filled with sewing stuff and the camping stuff was in Diane’s storage shed. 

 And……  everytime we got relief from the snow – it snowed again -   Five big snows in a two week period.    I finally caught a break for a few days, rented a storage unit in Great Falls and got packed up -  Ready to leave last Wednesday -   (5 x 10 storage unit -  in Virginia - $80 per month - in Great Falls - $26 per month - a Bargain!!!)

 

I got up early that morning, checked my facebook and e-mails, and had a message from Brooke, telling me she’d see me on the 2^nd or 3^rd.   Wait a minute -   I figured I’d get in the 29^th!!!!   I called her, realized I’d gotten the wrong dates in my head, and took my duffle bag back out of the truck.  And waited, and waited!   

I finally left yesterday morning – headed south and east – when I left Belt, the wind had settled down, but there were high wind warnings throughout central Montana -  I prayed for them to calm down – cause in Northeast Wyoming, they close the roads for high winds – even the interstate.  

But we had not problems at all and made it to Casper, Wy for the night -   got in about 6 p.m. and had a good night’s sleep.

Tucker rarely sleeps under the blankets – when I got up this morning, I couldn’t find him -  he was under the blankets, and is so small, he didn’t even make a bump in the bed.

Oh, lest I forget – I had and interesting experience last week.   -  I got an e-mail from some guy who said he was with the Riverside Park Council in Spokane, WA and they wanted permission to use a photo I had taken in the park on their website -  Diane told me to delete it – it was probably a scam or virus or something, but I was intrigued and investigated -   I looked up the Council, found where this guy was indeed a member and the website was for real – and there, in all it’s glory, was my photo with their logo at the head of their web-site.  (someone must have decided they needed to get someone’s permission to use the photo, and that is when they contacted me)   I would never have recognized it as one of mine – but there it was in my Blog of August 2010.    

I asked him how on earth he found the photo and my blog -   easy,     He just Googled images of the park and it led him to my blog, which he said he enjoyed reading.

 Scary, isn’t it???????

In any event, I’m going to head out early this morning -   Headed for Doniphan, NE today – plan to stay in a KOA – I have my little back pack tent with me and it’s suppose to be in the 50’s the next couple nights, so that’s what I plan to do -  after all if we were able to stay in a tent in New Mexico when it got to 12 – 15 at night, we certainly should be able to manage this.  And at $18 will certainly be easy on the budget.

From Doniphan, NE – the next night will be in Rock Island, IL – then on to Lansing, MI to pick up some boxes Brooke left at her son’s house, then on to Maryland – through Virginia -  with my finger’s crossed.

Why?   Cause -  I have Virginia plates on the truck – but no inspection sticker -  annual inspection is required in VA – and mine was due last October – so, since I was out West, I scraped the sticker off – so’s not to bring attention to the fact it was expired.

 I was in the process of changing the registration over to Montana - but you have to have a driver’s license, first – and I have to make an appointment on-line for that – and they say I might have to wait weeks for the appointment, and since I had to leave, I left – with the Virginia tags and no inspection sticker

 I did manage to change my truck insurance over to Montana -  Ouch!!!! Painful!!!!   How was I to know that Virginia has one of the lowest insurance rates in the country – and Montana one of the highest! – my insurance went up 50%!   But -  Montana does not have sales tax, so I’m sure that will more than make up for it!

 In any event, it’s time to wake the “Little Guy”  (Tucker) up and haul tail down the road.  

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in Maryland, and those in Virginia over the next two months!

So,

Until Next Time,
Bear Hugs

Luv ‘n Boots and Tucker, too.

And, yes, of course the Bear is with us, too

She believed she could do it, so she did.

Or, maybe I should change that to:
She knew she could do it and so she did -    what do you think, Diane? -  See, I do pay attention!

 

OMG – IT’S FINALLY SPRING………

And, when I got up this morning it was 8 degrees with fresh snow!!!

My trip from New Mexico to Montana was uneventful – and very pleasant.   I stopped in Sheridan WY to see my nephew one day – it was a very nice visit. My nephew is a highly acclaimed tattoo artist – his art work is outstanding.

I didn’t realize how much I missed Montana until I started seeing the mountains – the Colorado mountains are beautiful, too – but to me, the Montana mountains are special

We drove down the road a bit one day because I needed some willow to repair the farm set.  The creek was frozen over so I gave Tucker a chance to check it out!

    Tucker on ice

 

Shortly after arriving in Belt, we left for Bozeman to visit my cousin’s daughter.  Her place is beautiful – out in the Gallatin Valley, perhaps 10 miles from the foot of the Bridger mountains.

    Bridger mountains

 

It’s a mile from the house to the nearest road – so Tucker gets to run free during the day while we are there – also, there is Booger (dog) and Itty Bit (cat) for him to play with.

 

     Tucker and Itty Bit (full name Itty Bitty Stinky Kitty)

 And the food!   Well, of course there was good food.   We had a huge pineapple upside down cake,  another day we had a coconut pie – Yum!   And toward the end of our visit – Shelley and I started talking about wanting something chocolate – don’t know what happened, but I ended up making a white almond cake – but flavoring it with peach schnaaps – really good!   With Chocolate frosting. – On St. Patricks day, we had corned beef and cabbage, of course.  

We had taco dip one night, hot crab dip another time, and short ribs – gosh, I can’t remember all the good stuff we ate.

One day we were driving on main street – a residential area – headed to the Olive Garden (we weren’t in the outskirts, we were in the middle of town!)  I spotted a deer walking out between houses -   I counted 12 mule deer in the group – the lead doe stepped off the curb, then stepped back – and I swear, she looked up at the light, saw it was green and proceeded to lead the group safely across the street.   12 Deer – in the middle of town!!!!

One day while Tucker and I were out walking, he unknowingly flushed a pheasant – he was about 20’ ahead of me – he switched ends and high-tailed it back to me – I could just about hear him saying, “Mom!, Mom!, Up!, Up!, What WAS that?”   The next day, he was more prepared – and purposely flushed two birds.

Shelley had a large bucket of “Twizzler” type candy.   I grabbed a couple of them and curled up

On the sofa with a book – naturally, Tucker, suspecting I had food was immediately on my lap.  I kept telling him that those were my “bones” and he couldn’t have them.  Then he became protective of them- growling over them, and lying on top of them.  I finally lifted him up and discovered the little twit was swallowing one of them – whole.  I grabbed his jaw and started pulling the end of the twizzler, slowly and carefully, afraid I would cause it to break off – I successfully removed it from his mouth – and he had swallowed fully ½ of the thing! That’s nearly half his own length.

Of course, while in Bozeman, I visited the quilt shops – I needed three more pieces for Angie’s quilt and I found 2 of them (they had another, but I have one picked out on-line)  At the third shop, which is out in the country and on a farm, I picked up some hand embroidery patterns – this will be my new interest – once I get my sewing projects finished.  The setting of the shop was charming – complete with a flock of sheep – which kept Diane entertained while she waited in the car for us.

We chose to leave Bozeman on Wednesday morning because Wednesday night there was a

Wicked storm due.   We were not 2 miles from Shelley’s when we ran into snow – and it continued, getting more intense all the way down, around and through the Bridgers – then, as suddenly as it began, the snow stopped and it was clear sailing the rest of the way to Belt.

Tucker is once again attending church with us – he is so popular with everyone there!  It’s like he knows he must be quiet during the service  – he just curls up on my lap and listens!

    Tucker, on his way to Church

While we were in Bozeman, Diane’s son built a railing around her loft – now I feel much more secure when I’m up there – it is to be my sewing area while I’m here.  Although I haven’t moved my sewing machines up there yet – maybe tomorrow – I can start on some of my projects.  Kit sent me the fabric for the reverse side of her quilt, so I can get started on that.

I’m also gathering, or at least trying to gather info for a family tree – and I’ve started on the Family History book – have to have all this done by mid-July for our reunion.  My mother was one of five siblings – I started with my 4 great -grandparents,  and with I have so far, I have over 200 people documented on the family tree – I have three of the families mostly completed, nothing on one line, and only half on the fifth family – so, there could be another fifty or so to add.

In any event, I certainly won’t have time to get bored!!!

Diane called out to me the other evening to “look at Belt Butte” and this is what I saw – it faded some in just the few seconds it took to grab my camera – but it was an amazing sight anyway.

    Belt Butte

The day I arrived in Belt, I saw some of the deer in the neighbor’s field – but none since then – until this morning -  I counted ten of them in the field down the hill -   it’s almost time for them to start dropping their babies – I’m looking forward to seeing the fawns.

Until next time,

Bear Hugs
Luv n’ Boots n' Tucker n' the Bear

She believed she could do it, so she did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW MEXICO EXPERIENCE

 

 Finally leaving Arizona – stopped at a rest stop and took Tucker for a walk – the signs were a bit daunting!   Glad it was dead of winter. (Arizona style, anyway)

 

 

We pulled into the Picacho Peak Park entrance for a lunch break.  Looked like it would be a great place to visit – but time was churning on and I wanted to have plenty of time to put up my tent once I arrived in Deming.

 

 

On the way to Deming, I passed a couple trading posts – I stopped at one and found a treasure trove of T-shirts – bought one.  Rather – another one.

 Got to the LoW-Hi ranch about 3 in the afternoon, and proceeded to put up the tent.  That was my first problem -  I figured out later that I didn’t properly seat the shock-corded poles, so they came apart, then pinched fabric so I couldn’t budge them.   Finally, 3 other campers (all with rigs) came to my rescue and we got her up and then I installed a small, back-pack tent in the end of the big tent, and put my bed in that – for extra warmth.   It turned out to be the smartest thing I did.

 I arrived on Wednesday afternoon, and spent the next few days just resting, organizing and meeting people.   The campground was nearly full.   Folks, this campground is so neat – of all the other campgrounds in the area, it was the neatest – out in the middle of the desert, but with native plantings, and well defined sites – even a pet park for Tucker to meet friends, and there were a lot of dogs, and also cats there.  

 

 

 

 

They had a bunkhouse – for games and meetings, and TV and just hanging out, a rec room, laundry room, a couple of covered patios. 

 The weather was nice – cold at night pleasant during the day.  When I say “cold at night” I mean that the temp was in the 12 – 15 degree range at night.  But with my double tent set up, we were quite cozy – as long as I didn’t move around or shift the bedding – then I would get cold spots – so – after 3 or 4 nights like this, I did what any red-blooded, all-American out-door living gal would do – I bought an electric blanket – no problems keeping warm after that. 

 The wind would start blowing about 10:30 a.m., and quit after dark, so that was OK, too.

A fellow named Bob was parked next to my site – when he was 54 – he decided to find himself.  Started walking from Yuma, AZ and before he hung up his pack 6-7 years later, he had walked on all continents but Antarctica.   He had so many great stories to tell – I wish I could have had more time to visit with him.  He was a retired Marine.

One afternoon, one of the campers taught us how to “braid” a T-shirt – makes them more feminine looking – doesn’t work too well for me cause I need every bit of length, but it’s nice looking and something I’d never seen before.

 On Monday’s they have pot luck meals at the Rec room.  On weekends, groups get together and decide on a place to eat out and car pool.   Announcements are made daily on activities in the area during “happy hour” at the Bunk house.  

 On Tuesdays, groups get together and drive to Mexico to have lunch at the “Pink Store” just across the border.   I was looking forward to that.   I rode down with three others – including a woman from my own home town in Montana.   What fun talking about the old town and how it has changed.

 

The Pink Store:

 

I was talked into having a Margarita with lunch – “cause the first one is free!”  About 1/3 of the way through the drink, my eyes started crossing.   I mentioned that and was told, “Oh, we should have told you, it’s not only free, it’s strong!”  The food was great, and of course I had a (2 actually) Mexican cokes with my meal.  When I finished eating, I wandered around the store – it has everything.   Pottery, clothing, jewelry, household items – all at reasonable prices.   I was planning on some purchases the next week!

 A newly arrived camper joined us in Mexico – she had just returned from a trip to Central America in her RV - what an adventure.   I can’t imagine I would ever do anything like that, but who knows?  I didn’t get much chance to talk with her about her adventure, because that is the day “things” started happening.

You might remember what my “Plan A” was -  2 months in New Mexico – then  a month in Texas for the wild flowers, then a slow trip back to Montana via western Colorado and Yellowstone Park.   (I actually had a plan B – if it got too cold to head down to Padre Island in Texas til time for the wild flowers)

When we returned to the campground, I decided I needed a nap – The wind was picking up and we were expecting a big storm the NEXT day.   When I poked my head out of my little bedroom, a while later, the end of my tent had blown down.

 

   Two other campers came to my rescue – we got Tucker out and my bedding, then pulled the tent down the rest of the way and weighed it down.  It was dark by then, and one of my helpers talked to the park manager and got  permission for me to spend the night in the game room – with Tucker, which is against the rules.   I think I would have gone to a motel, but……….  My purse was buried somewhere in the tent.

  I spent two nights sleeping in the bunk house, then was able to put the tent back up.  I managed to wash a load of clothes, then returned to the tent and crawled into bed for a nap – and didn’t get up for 24 hours – some kind of virus.  I was miserable – and poor Tucker – I couldn’t even get out of bed to walk Tucker –after the 24 hours, I could barely stand to eat – although, my new friend neighboring my site fixed me breakfast – that’s all I could managed for 4 days.

 Finally, by Sunday I was starting to feel better, and then the wind kicked up again – big time.   I tried holding the tent up from the inside, but the wind was blowing too hard – I got Tucker and we crawled into the “bedroom”  That little tent was a God-send – it kept that end of the big tent from coming down.  I would say the gusts were 50-60 mph – much more than that tent was built for.

The next morning, the end of the tent was down – one corner on the “little tent” end had pulled out the stake and tore the tie down -   the roof poles were shattered and I was devastated.  I guess Plan B is now out of the question, too - since I can't put my tent back up.

One of the campers said she was very surprised I stayed in the tent all night - she spent the night curled up on the floor because the wind was battering her rig around so much.    My response was that if that tent was going anywhere – I was going with it.

 

I guess “that” day has come – I have to get a rig somehow, someway – so that is what I’ll be concentrating on for the foreseeable future!   Cause, I sure don’t want to quit travelling.

The first day I was at the campground – I had talked with my cousin, Diane, in Montana – she said she really missed me and wished I was at her house – that is proof that you should be careful of what you wish for -  cause, the day following the storm, I packed up the truck – still not fully recovered, and….. I think the altitude had something to do with it, too – it took me all day – I checked out of the campground and into a motel for the night – and headed for Montana early Tuesday morning.

Until next time,

Luv ‘n Boots and Tucker, too
And, we’ve still got the Bear with us, too
 

She believed she could do it, and so she did!

 

 

BENSON & TOMBSTONE, AZ

Monday morning was a time of departure.  Kit and Kathy drove Christine to the airport, and I buttoned up the truck and took my leave of Ken – he kindly checked all the fluids and stuff for me.

As I was leaving, it was just starting to spit rain.   I continued to drive through scattered showers, until I reached Tucson, - then it began in earnest – a real downpour.  When I got east of Tucson, I was feeling sleepy, and I was also running about 30 minutes early for getting to Benson, AZ – so I pulled off the road and took a little nap.  When I opened my eyes, it was still raining – then I heard a “Splat” – looking closely at the windshield, I saw SNOW!!!!  No, can’t be.  This is Arizona!   By the time I let Tucker out to do his business, and got the truck turned around, it was snowing in earnest – I had only about 25 miles to go and it was like driving through a winter wonderland.

 

 It continued snowing for a few hours – a couple inches at least – but I was able to watch it from within my friend’s home in Benson. 

 

The next day, Honey Lou and I drove to Tombstone – I’d been wanting to go back since I was there two years ago to get a T-shirt – I know sounds ridiculous, but it’s hard to find T-shirts not made in China and thin enough to see through.   They were there – Right where I remembered seeing them last time.   They were so neat, I got two of them!

 

We wandered around Tombstone for a bit – spotted this mobile snowman along the way. 

Some of the Sites

Some Of the local characters:

 

Kit – this photo is for you – this family is from the Snowy Mountains in Australia and they are all saying hello to you!

 That evening, we attended a pancake supper at the church – it was quite good.   Honey Lou and I had talked about making bread – I had given her a bread cook-book two years ago and she hadn’t tried it out, so before leaving for the supper, I mixed up a loaf and left it to rise on the counter.  The next morning we finished baking it – not very successfully – high altitude, unknown stove, but Honey Lou says now that she sees how easy it is, she’ll practice, practice, practice.    My friend Jackie who makes the best bread in the world posts photos of it on FB – I promised to share the photos so Honey could see all the possibilities.

Once the bread was out of the oven, Tucker and I hopped in the truck and took off for New Mexico.

Until next time,

Bear Hugs

Luv ‘n Boots and Tucker
And the Bear, too

She Believed she could do it so she did!

 

 

 

 

 

LEAVING ARIZONA

My last week in Sun City was very busy.

 I spent a day with Sharon, gathering family information for the reunion book – also a lot of time

With Kit at the Ancestry website.  Kit also gave me an old version of family tree maker to

Gather the information in a semblance of order.   So far I’ve posted nearly 100 individuals, and I’m not nearly done – and this is a very narrow family line I’m following.  I think it will be a work in progress for years to come as photos and stories are added.  My nieces, Michelle and Christine enjoyed looking at all the old family photos.

I had been wanting to go to a huge fabric warehouse since I was here two years ago.   In the end, I went with nieces and Kit.   The first thing I spotted was some variegated brown velvet which would be perfect for the Victorian crazy quilt I’ll be starting next Year, along with some crocheted snippets to add as trim.  The excitement was building!  Then Kit came up behind me and said – there’s a box of leather over there and off I went.   The second piece of leather I touched was an entire hide of just the right weight for part of Brooke’s costume – so, instead of buying stuff for my crazy quilt, I bought the hide.   I don’t know if I mentioned it before -  I’m making Brooke and her horse  “Xena, Warrior Princess” costumes this fall.   The hide will take care of a lot of it.

 Speaking of fabric – remember the southwestern fabric I went ga-ga over?  I posted a photo of it earlier – well, I found some at another shop – when I brought it home, Kit decided she wanted  it as the centerpiece of one side of her quilt.  I’ll use it in a quilt I’ll make someday for myself, too.  And, I have extra in case I think of something else.

 We ladies attended an art show at one of the local recreation centers.  This was fascinating.  It looked like a small shopping mall, except all the “Stores” were actually art and craft facilities – There was art, stained glass, jewelry, crocheting, quilting, lapidary, ceramics, silver working – you name it! 

 

While we were walking around the art show – one particular water color caught my attention -  It reminded me so much of a photo I took in Glacier Park last summer – as it happened, the artist was at the show and I got a chance to ask him about the subject of his painting – it was the Swan River – which is in the Flathead area of Montana – not far from Glacier Park – it was the color of the water that stood out – must have been some glacial melt.

 Michelle and I spent Saturday at the Chocolate festival in Glendale.   It was a very interesting afternoon.   It’s unbelievable what people have thought to chocolate coat! 

 

   

There were vendors there with other items, too -  including these tye-dyed items.

 

 

 

We took the free trolley to the chocolate factory for a tour – my kind of place!!!!

 Michelle bought a chocolate covered jalapeno for her husband – I never heard what he thought of it.

 After the Chocolate Factory Tour, it was time to head home.

 

 

 

Until next time,

Bear Hugs

 Luv ‘n Boots and Tucker

And the Bear, too

She Believed she could do it so she did!