Our Lady of the Blue Highways

Our Lady of the Blue Highways
Portrait in oils by Jackie Poutasse

Monday, October 19, 2015

At home in Belt

Obviously, we made it home from Texas...had a flat tire on Daisy and a minor problem with Luv. (The truck)   My computer is resting, it has a virus of some sort, so I figured I couldn't post to this blog.  Surprise, another talent of my kindle.

Summer was spent reading and waiting for the mower to get fixed.  Also, for Miss Daisy to get picked off her nose once again.  That happened in July, decided to wait for cooler weather to begin working on Daisy.  In September, I discovered a packrat had taken up residence in Daisy and while trying to find where she got in, we found extensive water damage.   We will have to strip the entire interior.  That means replacing all insulation and wall board for everything....floor, ceiling and walls.  I guess I owe the rat a big thanks.   

I 'll keep you informed as to our progress, but bear in mind, we are in Montana, and winter is drawing near.  It my be spring before we can start.

I have also applied for a camp host job in northwest Montana for next summer.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Bear Hugs
Until next time
Boots and Tucker

She believed she could do it and so she did.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

OUT N’ ABOUT

(FYI - It's happened again - no internet - a huge Texas thunder boomer wiped it out at the RV park)

Diane decided she wanted seafood for lunch.  I mentioned seeing the Bleu Crab Café – and off we went.   The service was slow, very slow.  (I made allowances for it being Easter Sunday and they probably weren’t used to a crowd on Sundays, but still – waiting 20 minutes for even an acknowledgement?)   The food??? – well the fish, (tempera battered and fried) was outstanding, the French fries soggy and the hush puppies leaden.   Oh, yeah, the prices were outrageous for what you got.  Normally, I wouldn’t bother to mention this, but………………..

A while later, while riding around with Myra, supposedly just to go wash her truck -  (with Myra her “I’ve only got to do this one thing – ride with me” – never is just one thing) she was looking for somewhere to eat.   We stopped at the “Sugar Shack” – which turned out to be mostly a bar…. A noisy bar….. and, can you believe it in this day and age??? – a smoky bar.   Being Easter Sunday – nearly everything was closed.  We tried the Bar-B-Q place across the road from the campground – closed….   Actually we learned it is only open Thursday – Saturday.   In pursuit of good eats for Myra (I was still stuffed with leaden hush puppies)  we stopped in at the Chinese buffet -   Bingo!   Weekend buffet.   Weekend SEAFOOD buffet – for about the same price Diane and I paid for lunch. (Actually, it was less)   Myra did not hesitate, she immediately attacked the seafood table and came back with a plate heaped with crab legs, steamed shrimp, fried shrimp, fish, frog legs, and many other delacasies  (oh, crap….. where IS the spell check on this thing?)   They even had oysters as well as all their normal fare.   I had finally, finally found a Chinese restaurant worthy of the name for the first time since leaving Virginia.   I sat there drinking my iced tea while  watching Myra devour 3-4 plates of food.   I did say she was hungry, didn’t I?

Lest I lie …….  I had 3 large glasses of iced tea at lunch – waiting patiently (well, maybe a tad bit impatiently) for our lunch to arrive, and 2 more large glasses of tea while watching Myra eat – need I explain why I am up at 4:30 a.m.  typing this blog?

Myra’s “just one thing”   We headed to the car wash, but passed it by to go to Wal-Mart, then we washed the truck.  Then we drove over to Fulton Beach road, and drove along the beach.  Then we turned around and on the way to the visitor’s center (which was closed, of course – Easter Sunday, remember) we detoured through the high society end of the beach to check out the fancy beach homes.  Passed the visitor center and drove through the “art” community, then along the pier looking for fresh shrimp, found a seafood store open – medium shrimp - $10 a pound, then to the Sugar Shack, the Bar-b-Q, and finally the Chinese Restaurant.

I mentioned it was 4:30 a.m.  right?   I am so glad I am a touch typist – of sorts.   The only light is from the monitor  and the keyboard is black so it is a challenge.   Oh, wait – I started at 4:30 – it is now 6.00 and day is breaking.   Breaking what?  Have you ever wondered what that means?


Myra shared with me what she would do with Miss Daisy if she owned her – and it was very close to a photo of a “Glampered” rig that I saved from facebook – I’ll have to try to find it and see if I can post it, or at least move it to a handy place for inspiration.

A week or so later:
We enjoyed a 3 day visit from friends from Virginia who are on a journey to the West Coast and Pacific Northwest - we'll see them again in June when they pass through June.   Holly and I enjoyed a nice long game of Canasta.  I kept score on a piece of notebook paper - when we were finished, Holly said - "Hey, where's our score notebook"  Sure enough in the pocket of my card bag was the little notebook - the last time we played was in 2011 -  I'll bring it up to date and include place as well as date - and we'll see how long we can keep it up!  (I do plan a trip to Virginia in the not too, too distance future.)

We've been to the China A restaurant 3 times already - bought shrimp for dinner in between times.  
Visited the aquarium - with Tucker - he really enjoyed watching the fish.   One bright yellow little guy was picking up pieces of coral and dropping it around the entrance of his home - making a porch, I suspect.

I have really enjoyed the thunderstorms we have had here - really loud, really flashy.   Tucker - just yawns and keeps on sleeping.

I've got some sewing projects in progress for Myra -  Cut them out yesterday - will start sewing on them tomorrow when Myra returns from a visit to her new home.

Oops!!!!!   I've just been told the library closes in 15 minutes - I'll post and continue on whenever I can catch up with the internet again!!!

Until next time......
Boots n' Tucker

She believed she could do it and so she did!

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

SHAKING THE DUST

SHAKING THE DUST

Of New Mexico off our boots.

I tried to write about the activities of Deming that I missed posting, but I just couldn’t breathe any life into the words.  So, perhaps “what happens in Deming, stays in Deming!!!”

So, finally it was time to leave for Texas - we got off early enough - about 9:15  and pointed Luv and Miss Daisy toward Texas.   It was a beautiful day for a drive - lightly over-cast so we didn’t have hot sun to deal with - no wind.  It was 100 miles to El Paso and the Texas information center.

Our original plans were to stay one night at Ft. Stockton and 2 nights in Banderas so we could drive into San Antonio from there.   Upon arrival at the Texas Information center, those plans were adjusted.   We were given a print out of the days reported wild flower hot spots, and they were east of Fredericksburg, so we cancelled Banderas.

After leaving El Paso, I swear we drove nearly 100 miles without seeing even one house!!    I’ve mentioned before that the Texans claim everything is bigger in Texas - that must include their bladders cause the rest areas are 100 miles apart.

We arrived in Ft. Stockton in good time and got set up.   After Deming’s desert colors, the rich green of new grass was awesome.  Tucker was in hog heaven, rolling and rubbing around in the grass.   The RV Park is under new management - for the past 7 months and the new owner has made many improvements, including a wonderful new dog park, wi-fi, and cable tv for those who want it.   The new owner is 29 years old and receives accolades from visitors and employees alike.

The current camp hosts were leaving the following day after spending a year there.  This couple really knows how to rough it!!!!    They have a huge motor home, and tow a custom made trailer with their jeep and  A HOT TUB on it.  Can you believe it?
The fellow told me this was the first place they camp hosted where there was not a hot tub, so he called his son and had him build a special trailer to hold the hot tub.

In the morning we got on the road in good time and got off the highway at Junction, TX to meander toward Fredericksburg on a quest for wild flowers.   The blue bonnets were just popping out - but were beautiful to behold.  There were other flowers blooming along the road also.   We came over the crest of a hill and the fields were filled with huge red boulders .   Sorry, I don’t have photos, but pulling along Miss Daisy on narrow 2 lane roads does not provide many opportunities for pulling over for photos.

We arrived at Fredericksburg, drove through town and on to the LBJ Historical park.  The park was closing in 15 minutes so we back tracked to the Wildseed Farm.  I bought a packet of Rocky Mountain wild flower seeds for my daughter, Brooke, and a bottle of fig balsamic vinegar for my eldest.  There were other varieties, but I didn’t know what she would like, and I know she likes the fig.  Diane bought a Rosemary plant.  We looked for Basil, but they were out.

 All along the road there were wineries - and new ones being built.   A friend in Deming recommended we eat at the Bavarian Inn for good German food.

To get to the Inn, we had to make a sharp left turn into the Inn’s drive.  We moved along the driveway and made another hard left that took us along the back of the building.   Yet another hard left down the other side of the building, between two rows of parked cars.  Yikes, if that truck was a full quad, or a long bed, we would have been stuck.   We made a tight, tight right turn, and found a (3 actually) parking spots - You do realize I was towing Daisy all this time, don’t you?  

We had a rather forgettable meal of German food and headed out to find a Wal-Mart to park at for the night.  This was our first time spending the night at a Wal-mart - it was doable, but very noisy since we were right beside the highway - but it worked out o.k.

In the morning, we went back to the LBJ park -   I got the permit to visit the living history farm, maneuvered Daisy around the big parking lot, and got us sort of stuck in the little parking lot at the farm, when Diane said “you go ahead, I’ll just wait here in the truck”   Darn!  I’d already seen it and I thought Diane would enjoy it, but not to be.   But by then, I had Daisy jammed in the end of the parking lot, and we had to wait for two cars to leave in order to pull out ourselves

Back on the road again, we headed to New Braunsful to see if we could find the bakery.   (The oldest bakery in Texas) I lost all hope of that when we got shuttled off on a detour.  I guess I should tell you that at this point, I was operating without a GPS -  it died in Deming.   I have a back-up GPS with me, but no instruction manual.   A friend downloaded one for me - then I couldn’t get the GPS to turn on - so we were traveling the old fashioned way - with maps only.

The detour brought us back to a main street and I recognized the old round-a-bout and sure enough there was the bakery.   I’ve been thinking about this bakery for 5 years - ever since my last visit there.   We bought a bagful of goodies - and they were good!!! Oh, my how delicious.

I had planned for a trip to Greune at this point, but without a GPS, I had no idea which way to go - and couldn’t see it on the map, so we headed south - toward Rockport.

Oh, my, the flowers, the flowers, beautiful, georgous, awesome - what else?    Drifts and drifts of color - blue, yellow, white, soft orange, bright pink - you name it - covering the verge of the highway.   What a treat!  I’m so happy we made this part of the trip.

So,…..   We arrived at the Bay View RV Resort a day early.   The first thing I did upon arrival was to break the barricade!   Yep, that’s what I said.   Broke the barricade.   Not entirely my fault -  I was reading instructions (I had called and left a message that we were arriving early, but had not heard back)   when a beige pickup drove up beside me and said “follow me in”  I really did think she was a member of the staff.  I started through, and the barricade started coming down - Oops!   I hit the brakes and my “new friend”  waved me on - and sure enough, the barricade came down between Luv and Miss Daisy and was left dangling in the road way.  I followed the beige pickup through the park until it left the park on a private road.  I drove back to the office and was met by a security guard who helped me get to my site.  Yes, of course, he mentioned the barricade……..   What did you expect?????

First thing in the morning, I checked in and asked to talk to the boss, who it turns out, was on his way to Lowes to get some parts to fix the barricade.  I asked the manager to give him my phone number and have him call me.   As of this date, I haven’t heard from him.  I have an idea this was by no means the first time the barricade was broken.

That was Thursday night - Friday was spent setting up, and fixing up, and putting away.  We hit a rough section of road along the way and the result was the bathroom mirror was shaken off the door - not damaged, thank goodness, and the cabinet with the pull out shelf - well, the shelf pulled out, pushing the door open and the toaster oven, popcorn popper (don’t laugh), and baking pans, and hot pot were all on the floor.  Nothing broke -  I was grateful the crock pot was in the back - as the shelf wiggled out, the crockpot fell down behind it, otherwise the pottery insert would have been broken!.

Saturday morning, we headed down to Harlingen to visit friends Myra and JT - who had been camp hosting there for a full year, and had just bought a home there.   It’s about 200 miles from here - with a single rest area about half way - 100 miles - see what I mean?

When we arrived there, we left Tucker in the 5th wheel we were renting for the night and headed to Mexico with Myra and a couple of her friends.

What a day!!!   So different from Paloma.   Here the vendors were right in my face - violating my personal space and totally overwhelming me and sucking away my energy.  I don’t like crowds, and this was a major crowd.

 The first thing was to go to a very nice, upscale (white tablecloths) restaurant for lunch.  It was  delicious! - and reasonably priced - about $9 for the meal.

We then took off walking.   And looking,    And walking, and looking some more.  Myra has become very good at bargaining since she’s been in Harlingen.   She was looking for silver bracelets.    She found what she wanted, and then had them throw in another bracelet for $4 - for me.   I can deal with that!!!!!    What I was looking for in Mexico was silver bracelets and pottery.   I decided I’d hold up on more bracelets - I’ll send $$ to Myra and she can pick up some and stick them in an envelope and send to me.

Diane got tired of walking, so we sat her down in a bar  (a first for her, I’m sure) and one of Myra’s friends sat with her while we walked on.


 So now we were concentrating on pottery.   I saw a beautiful bowl in one place, but decided to keep looking.   I was also starting to get tired by now.  But we walked on., and on.    In another large pottery store, I found a pottery light switch cover for Brooke and also a beautiful bowl -  I liked the rim shape of the other bowl, but I liked the colors of this one - it went well with a scrap of fabric I was carrying with me.

There were artisan’s working on the street, too.   One fellow was amazing - painting pictures with spray cans of paint.    ******* 0179

Myra had a bracelet made for my grandson, Seven.  We watched it being made

It was time to head back to Harlingen.   The next day, Myra and JT took us out to dinner after they returned from church.   Then we went to see their new home.   It’s a mobile home in a beautifully landscaped park and it has a large room built along the side of it - that is Myra’s sewing room.   Oh, she really got me enthusiastic about  sewing again!  She is involved in so many groups and projects that just hearing about them wears me out.   I have to figure out how I can come back and stay 2-3 months just for a “sewing fix”.

We left there at about 4 p.m. and returned to the RV Park in Rockport with out incident.  

Let me tell you about this RV Park.   It is huge!  Over 500 sites - and the only drive through sites are where we are - at the far north - east area of the park.   There is a shower/laundry about 100’ from our site.  Unfortunately, it is being remodeled.  So - we have to drive to the showers.  I told you the park is huge.    It’s shady - with beautiful twisted coastal oak trees covering the place - and there are a couple of ponds, making it a perfect home for billions and billions of hungry mosquitoes.  And humidity……. High humidity…… 97% humidity.  We do get lovely afternoon sea breezes and the nights, so far are cool for sleeping.


I got some stuff to spray the site for mosquitoes.   You know the kind, you hook it to your water hose.  Well, I had it hooked up and was trying to figure out how to start it spraying when I dropped it and it started spraying - ME!!!   I figured I would be free of mosquitoes for at least a week, but thought better of it and headed for the showers as soon as I finished spraying the site.

A couple days later, Myra and JT arrived in Rockport with their rig - they will spend the month here too.

Myra is very organized, and is famous for getting people to accomplish, and finish, things.   Right now, for the next 3-4 days - they are on the road again. =- to Biloxi, MS with a u-haul trailer to get their stored belongings and bring them back to their new home in Harlingen.   I am catching my breath while waiting for their return -   Myra won’t let me have a moment’s rest once she returns.   She has the whole month organized with projects and day trips, and quilt shop hops.   We’ll also make the trip back to Harlingen about once a week - supposedly to check on the house, but really so I can help her with some sewing projects, and she can share some ideas with me.

In the meantime, we have been out and about in Rockport -   I can find the Wells Fargo, H.E.B (grocery chain) post office, and Wal-Mart.  Oh, yeah, the visitors center, too.

 I really want Diane to be able to go to church on Sunday - so I ordered a GPS from Amazon and had it shipped over night.   It is a little more basic in operations than my old one, but it will get the job done.  It’s about 50 miles to the church - but at least there is one in the area.  (About the GPS - I discovered two functions my old one didn’t have - shows the current highway speed limit  and shows how many lanes turn on the upcoming exit.)

Until next time, - and I certainly hope there will be many more to come,

Boots & Tucker
In Rockport, TX

“She believed she could do it, so she did!”


Tuesday, March 24, 2015

ON THE ROAD

We left Deming, NM this morning and made it as far as Ft. Stockton, TX for the night - and Hooray!
I have an internet connection!   Hopefully I will have a good connection when we get to Rock Port, TX

In Deming even the library, visitor's center, and McDonald's was hit and miss for wi-fi.

Gotta go fix some dinner and hopefully I'll be able to post this weekend


Boots and Tucker


Thursday, January 29, 2015

SILVER CITY

 (Once more, no photos - I have them, but cannot attach them)

The day began sun shining, sky blue and clear and we decided it would be a good day for a road trip.

Silver City is 57 miles from the LoWHi ranch.   We drove through the desert terrain - flat land surrounded by pop up mountains.  By that I mean - there are no mountain ranges, the mountains just individually pop up out of the ground - no foot hills, just like a jack in the box.    The land is brush land - mostly low growing shrubs with some yucca plants thrown in for punctuation.

We stopped at the visitor’s center and picked up some brochures and a map of the old town.  As we left the visitor’s center, there was a sign on the corner of the lot proclaiming the site of Billy the Kidd’s home and a cabin typical of the area at that time.   The cabin was donated to the town by Ron Howard - it had been part of a movie set.

Across the arroyo and into the historic area.   The arroyo or as they call it “the Big Ditch” has quite a back story.   Originally, when the city was platted, it was decided that this mining camp would have permanent structures - all to be built of brick or stone.  During the time of the mining hey day, there was a lot of clear cutting for lumber and cattle grazing up stream from Silver City.   All this contributed to major erosion in the vicinity.

Then the floods began.   Before the floods, Main Street ran right along the bottom of what is now the Big Ditch.   After the floods, the bottom of Big Ditch is 55 below street level and about a block wide.   The floods were devastating - one featured a wave 12 foot high and 300 feet wide.  During one flood - a man attempted to drive his wagon across the flood.  He got to the middle and the current swept the horse from it’s feet.   The man was tossed from the wagon and managed to grab a rock and hold on - the horse and wagon turned over and over while headed downstream.   The horse was found - alive - quite a ways downstream, bruised, but otherwise unharmed,  and the wagon was smashed to bits and scattered along the banks of the Big Ditch.

Another time, a 1000 head herd of cattle was driven down the Big Ditch to a feedlot about 4 miles from town - can you imagine how what that looked like?   It was a particularly easy drive for the steep banks of the Ditch kept them under control.

We found a parking space and started walking - all the old buildings are now shops - a lot of galleries, restaurants and various kitch.   We walked about 4 blocks to Nancy’s Silver Café where we had outstanding Mexican food for lunch.  Great service, basic food and a huge so papilla with honey for dessert.

After visiting the city museum, we started home.  We decided to take a different route - a loop that would bring us back to Hwy 180 about half way to Deming.

We cut off to the loop, stopped to see the Santa Rita open pit mine where they mined copper and gold.  Ho-Hum - being from Montana and having seen Butte’s pit before they stopped operations, anything else is just a little hole in the ground.  

From the overlook, we could see the rock formation “the Kneeling Num”.  It really looks like someone praying at an alter.

We continued along the road - looking to swing around back to the desert - but instead, all of a sudden we were climbing hills - then high into the mountains.   10 and 15 mph curves -and icy spots.  As we climbed, more and more snow was on the hillsides.   These hills, (mountains) were not pine covered, shrubs and bare rock were the norm.   We crept along, and the sun started to set.

 The curves came one after the other, and we kept climbing.  Finally, finally, we came to the summit - 8700 ft.   (remember my coments about pop-up mountains?   Well, there are ranges, too!)  Actually, the Continental Divide runs a bit west of Silver City.

A cyclist was there reading the historical marker.   Diane rolled down the window and said, “we’re lost”.   Turns out the young man was from Switzerland and was biking through the southwest.   He had a very detailed map and told us we couldn’t get to Hwy 180 from there - but that we were only 20 miles from Hillsboro.    !!!?????   Hillsboro is no where - a tiny, tiny town that we have plans to visit later because the café is famous for hot dogs and bumble berry pie.   We had no choice to to continue down the road.   The cyclist was headed down hill, also - to find a camping spot for the night - in the snow!?

A short time later we were overtaken and passed by a small dark car - I commented that “he” must know the road well, cause he zoomed by us.    About 15 miles later, we came across the same car (we could tell it was the same cause it was the only car that had passed us and there was no where else it could have come from)  Hazard lights on, partially pulled off the road.   We stopped to see if they needed help - turns out the driver was a young girl with another girl and young man as passengers.   They did not know how to change a tire and there was no cell service in the area.  We got information from the driver and when we got to Hillsboro, I went into the only open establishment in the town - a bar, made a phone call to get help for the flat tire.   What do you want to bet that the next day three young people learned how to change a tire?

About the bar -  something I never do is walk into a bar alone - this was a different experience.   It was like walking into someone’s living room - it was full with about 8 people there.   They let me make the phone call on their phone (no cell service) and were just generally very friendly - men and women both - and one guy that was the image of Sam Elliott - Be still my heart!!!!    That is one thing we have talked about since arriving in NM - the people are all so friendly and helpful- and they all look so happy.  

Anyway, from there it was another 50 miles to Deming - we cruised in on fumes and found a station open to get a transfusion of diesel.

What an adventure - beautiful country, beautiful people - what more could you ask for???

Until next time,
Bear Hugs

Boots & Tucker,
And Diane, too.

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















































































































Wednesday, January 28, 2015

DOING THE HAPPY DANCE!!!

I now have internet connection here at the campground.

I will start posting again either tonight or tomorrow - hopefully with photos.

I have to leave here shortly for Rock Hound State Park for a program on the Ibex - another post, I hope!

Until next time
Bear Hugs

Boots and Tucker

She believed she could do it, so she did!

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

YEAH, IT WORKED!


January 5-

MONDAY
I’ve just returned from the Visitor’s center where I successfully posted to this blog and I look forward to posting about once a week as long as we are here.

I still will be slow in answering e-mails, so please bear with me -  I’m looking into getting a Hot spot box so I won’t run into this problem on later trips.  It takes me a while to decide on issues concerning new technical toys, especially when there are no kids around to teach me how to use them

Last post, I explained my dishwashing routine - well it has been expanded -  A sewer pump serving  two rows of sites blew up and we can’t empty our tanks until it is fixed.  First it was suppose to be today - now estimated Thursday.  They have to fly in a part from somewhere.   So……  since I don’t have a gray water holding tank, I can’t drain water from the sinks - so I’m using 2 large bowls as sinks - then taking a bucket of the used water over 2 rows to an unused site to empty the bucket into that drain - only one problem,  there are no empty sites except in the two rows that can’t empty their tanks.
My neighboring camper suggested I empty the bucket on the plants.   Yes, there are plants here - there are several wonderful Cactus Gardens - so that is what I’ve decided to do.

The reason there are no unused sites is that 11 new rigs came in yesterday.   What a busy day -

Monday’s are Pot Luck night - but now that I have the ability to cook more things (Brooke sent me a Nu-Wave cook top,  I can’t think of what to cook!!!!  Anyway, we didn’t go to the dinner tonite - I have a whole week to come up with some ideas.



TUESDAY
Woke up to a beautiful day - it was 24 when I woke up - which is why it takes so long to get moving in the mornings - We snuggle up in bed with books until Tucker says it’s time to get up.  High Temperature expected today is 55.   I need to reset the corner jacks. - then crawl into the back of the truck to get more paper plates and find the plastic flatware - so I can cut back on the dishwashing.

Today is Pink Tuesday - when many of the park campers gather together for a trip to the Pink Store in Paloma Mexico.  We didn’t go this time, but we will go next week.   ‘

The Bunkhouse library has the whole series of “Thorn Birds” on VHS - so we have started watching it.   I suggested to Diane that she go to the Bunkhouse and get movies that she doesn’t have instead of watching all that we have with us

Today has been an absolutely gorgeous day - was forecast to be 45 degrees, but I’m sure it far surpassed that - it was T-shirt weather.

WEDNESDAY
This morning was a continuation of yesterday’s beautiful weather.  The breeze has picked up a bit, but the sky is crisp, clear blue.  When I woke up, instead of burrowing down in the covers, I jumped out of bed and headed outside with Tucker - and it seems half the park was out with their dogs.   One fellow spotted Tucker and had to have a closer look - it ended up with us going to his camper so his wife could meet Tucker and we could meet Lizzi - a short hair Chi - the most unusual color I have ever seen - a very soft light tan color with white points.   I got one photo - hope it is not out of focus.

Yesterday, we watched the entire Thorn Birds mini series, and today started  “Thorn Birds - the Missing Years”  I hadn’t known that the “missing years” existed!

The book I am currently reading (not listening to) is Hawaii - I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve read it over my life - but, well I can’t down load any audio books onto my Kindle - so I have no choice but to read -   Hopefully when I go back to Phoenix to visit, my Kindle will straighten out.

We’ve decided to go to the Museum today - I’ll let you know how it goes!

Actually, the museum was very interesting.   We only got about half way through it.  We’ll go back another time to see the rest of it.   Of course, I was very interested in the “wild” west part of it.   One article I found particularly interesting was  about the “flying Grandmother”  I couldn’t read the whole article cause it was hung about 6 inches off the floor -  In the late 30’s a widow who owned a  ranch, went to the local air field and announced she wanted to learn to fly - the owner thought that was persp…. Prosper…… well, heck - ridiculous!!!!   Imagine, a woman wanting to fly.   A woman couldn’t learn to fly!!!!   Her response was  “Why not?  You learned!”    In any event she learned and she, along with one ranch hand and a plane, managed the whole 50,000 acre ranch  on their own.   My kind of woman!  (and here, I couldn’t even get down on the floor to read the entire article)

At one point, Diane and I got separated.  When I caught up to her again, she was talking with an old Geezer  (don’t know why I said that - he probably was younger than I am)  He was quite interesting to talk with - he stopped me later on and we discussed how the “wild west” was all about young men - out sowing their wild oats; and how women brought civilization with their arrival.    Thus tying into my interest in the flying Grandmother.

While in the museum, the wind started kicking up, and the temperature dropped considerably.   We returned home, picking up some of Pepper’s fried chicken on the way.

The good news:   the part for the sewer pump arrived.    The BAD news:  It was the wrong part - no idea when it will arrive.   More days of hiking up to the public restrooms and watering the trees with used dish water.  

I talked with Myra who is in Harlingen, TX right now.   I told her we’d be leaving here March 15 and she said she would find a place for us near her to stay for a bit, while waiting for the wildflowers to bloom.

My friend Joy will keep us informed as to the progress of the wild flowers so we won’t miss out.

I played cards again tonite - only 3 of us showed up so we were done in less than an hour.  I won one game - 70 cents!  Yippee!



THURSDAY

Maintenance jerry-rigged a way to allow us to dump our tanks today -  How exciting!

The bad weather seems to have flown right past us - it was chilly - but no heavy wind or icy slush.  Sun, clouds, overcast - alternating all day.

I started typing up my collection of recipes - trying to find ones I can use for pot luck dinners.   Not much luck -  most of my recipes are for desserts. However, nothing wrong with making cakes for all these bachelors in the camp.   But, for the first use in my oven, I think I’ll make Taco Touchdown Dip - my favorite.



FRIDAY

This morning a neighboring camper stopped by to see if he could get the furnace started.  He did manage to light the pilot, but the burner didn’t catch.   He determine that the thermo coupler needed replacement.   While here, I had him go over how to light the oven.  Good thing I did cause I didn’t know it had two pilots and it takes a while and I might have given up on it.   The oven can do some heating on really cold days.

We then went to the library.   I got a card based on my LoW’s membership.  Diane will have to wait until she has a piece of mail addressed to her to get a card.  I checked e-mails, got my Kindle connected and downloaded some books.   We checked out some movies for Diane and audio books for me.  

We also picked up a brownie mix to try out the oven.

SATURDAY
Time to try out the oven - and it shall remain a supplementary heat source.   I finally turned it up to 500 degrees, but the oven only got to 250 degrees.   There I was…… stuck with brownie batter and no way to bake it.   Then I thought of the 1-2-3 cake.   I spooned about 3 heaping spoonsful of batter into a coffee mug and cooked it in the microwave for 3 minutes - and there you have it - a brownie - spoon on the ice cream - and it’s like heaven!

The rest of the day was spent indulging in listening to a book on tape.

SUNDAY

Road Trip!   In the morning, we were still trying to decide where to go for the day - at about 8:50 Diane mentioned church.  I told her if she could get dressed in 10 minutes we could make it to Las Cruces.   We left 30 minutes later - and then had to stop at Micky-D’s for breakfast.  We hit the highway at 9:45 - and it’s just about 60 miles to Las Cruces
Of course, services were over by the time we got there - but we located the church.

We located the visitor’s center and picked up a brochure or two.  My attention was drawn to an item about the old Mesilla plaza nearby.  The little town was founded in 1850 on what was then Mexican territory.   They built a central plaza and a Catholic church - now known as the Basilica of San Albino.     The square is surrounded with original adobe built buildings featuring arts and crafts from the Southwest, Mexico & Central America.

We wandered in and out of shops on one side of the square checking out jewelry, pottery and embroidered clothing - Those of you who know me well, will not believe I didn’t buy a thing!  I made note of several items, though.   Beautiful hand work.

Diane bought a silky shawl like item to throw over her outfit - beautiful!

Tucker was the star of the day - in and out of stores - people stopped to ask about him, and we exchanged dog stories.  We cut across to the plaza to talk to a vendor who had a Chi-Yorki cross - not much bigger than Tucker.   Cars stopped in the middle of the sleepy street so people could look at these two tiny guys.

About then Diane decided she needed a rest - she sat on a bench in the central plaza, taking charge of Tucker and listening to the live Mexican music while I checked out the “Chocolate Lady” store.  Still I bought nothing.

Then Diane suggested I go get the car and pick her up - On the way, I stopped at the Basilica.  What a beautiful church - The stained glass windows and relief work representing the stations of the cross were awesome and the statues of saints were very well done.  But the center of attraction was the alter piece.

And that was our road trip.

Until next time,
Bear Hugs

Boots and Tucker

“She believed she could do it, so she did!”

PS  No photos yet - just cant them set up.   I will keep trying, though.








Monday, January 5, 2015

DELAYS, DELAYS, DELAYS,……

Internet service is nearly nil for me.   I haven’t been able to connect since Christmas Day  Please forgive me if I haven’t  respond to e-mails.   I’m going to the library tomorrow to see if I can connect long enough to post and if I can stay connected long enough, I’ll try to answer e-mails also.

Also, please excuse duplicate information - since I can’t get on the internet - I don’t know what I last posted.

Well, Christmas, New Years, and Birthday have all passed by.  

Christmas Eve there was a party and a gift exchange - Actually, the exchange should have been called a free-for-all as there were several bottles of booze on the table and they changed hands multiple times.   My contribution to the food was a flock of olive/cream cheese penguins - they were very popular and I received many  compliments on them

My gift was a pottery microwave baker.   Since I had decided to get along without a microwave, I wasn’t sure I should keep it, but Diane talked me into it, and then the day after Christmas, she bought Miss Daisy a microwave.   I have to say the microwave baker makes wonderful eggs.

Adventures in cooking have been very interesting.   Before the microwave - not having use of the propane, - I had a crock pot, a George Forman Grill and a toaster oven.  I learned to make poached eggs in the toaster oven - after trying to make scrambled eggs in the crockpot - the toaster oven method was quite an improvement - but the pottery baker was even better.  I had to stop and think about what I needed to cook anything we thought to eat.  

Yes, life in Miss Daisy is quite a rustic experience.   I’m not hooked up to water since something inside is leaking copiously.  Every day, I fill 3 gallon jugs with water to do us for the day.  

As for washing dishes?   First I go out and fill the 3 jugs.  Then I fill my hot pot to heat water..  I pour the whole pot  into the washing sink and fill the pot again.   I pour cold water into the one sink to bring the temperature down.   When the second pot is hot - I pour it into a half full jug - for rinsing.   And eventually, the dishes are washed, rinsed, dried and put away.

Right now, I can’t even wash dishes - the campground has a problem with their sewer disposal - we can’t empty tanks for 2-3 days until it gets repaired.  In our case, that means no washing dishes either, because my gray water does not go to a holding tank - it empties directly into the sewer line instead.

It’s been cold - in the 20’s at night and if there is a wind - it blows right through Miss Daisy.   We have an electric heater, and I finally talked Diane into getting an electric blanket - so we sleep quite comfortably.   Although, for about 3 days after she got the electric blanket, I’d ask Diane if she slept warm and she’d replay - not really, then I’d ask her if she had turned up her blanket and she’d say “no” - so I quit asking

Christmas day we had rain - but the Florida Mountains had a fresh coat of snow.   The mountains are very close to here and seem to poke straight up from the desert floor - no foot hills.

My birthday arrived and I thank you all for the wishes for a happy day.

About the internet - I can’t get on with my computer, but occasionally my Kindle connects and downloads e-mails, but usually by the time I catch it, Kindle is off line again - in addition, I’m a touch typist and have a miserable time typing on the tiny keyboard.

One morning I woke up at 6:20 and caught the weather - “Light snow to commence at 6:30 a.m.”   I looked out the window - no snow yet -   I looked out again at 6:30 and yep!  Snow in large fluffy flakes floating gracefully to the ground.

We had planned a trip back to visit Kit and Ken during the second week in January.  My daughter, Brooke, mailed my Christmas present to Kit’s for me to pick up when I got there.  Then, Kit’s son decided to visit at that time and in order to avoid a crowd, we changed our plans to visit the end of January instead.

A couple days ago, I called Kit and she said  “guess where we are?   We are headed toward your place”   I asked, “where are you going”  She said   “Deming”   She and Ken were on the road to Deming to deliver my Christmas box - It’s a 350 mile drive +each way!   How many of you would do that?  

Well, on my birthday, Kit reminded me we’d been friends for 57 years.   The only person other than family I’ve known longer than that is my good friend Barbara who still lives in Montana.

When we went to the hotel to see Kit and Ken, of course we took Tucker to visit with Sammi and Christi - what a free for all -  Tucker chasing Christi, Christi chasing Tucker, Sammi chasing Tucker and Christi.

Today, I finally figured out how to transfer files from my old computer to the newer one.  That includes putting my photos on an exterior hard drive - that means that starting with my next post, I’ll be including photos again - But before I can do that, I have to crawl into the back of the truck to find the box containing my camera accessories.

Had pizza for dinner the other night at a place called,  “Forghedaboudit”  The pizza was great - but not even close to the delicious pizza made by “Bodacious’ in Virginia!!!!!

I’ve got my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to get on line at the library -  Headed there now!
******** Well, now - I stopped at the visitor's center first and got right on line - so here it is.

Until next time,

Bear Hugs
Boots & Tucker

“She believed she could do it and so she did!”