Friday, January 25, 2008

1/25/08 Another sunny day in Boomerville, which is where the Boomers gather in the desert outside of Quartzsite. Tomorrow or Sunday the rain which is hitting the west coast is due to arrive here, so we are enjoying today. There have been so many social gatherings it is hard to keep track or attend them all. Many of our RV friends are here and we are enjoying our interactions with them. This usually takes place at Happy Hour and often around the firepit in front of Mike and Marilyn's rig. Yesterday we joined Al & Donna Ellis over at the Happy Hour of the Rainbow groups. Tuesday we enjoyed a very entertaining afternoon with the RoVing Rods, who are camped on Plumosa Road. Ed Bonham and his band performed for several hours. Bob McCourt came in his kilt and played his bagpipe. Then Sharon arrived with her hammered dulcimer and joined Ed's group so they played again, after a very delicious potluck dinner. We saw many old friends we hadn't seen for years. In addition to all this, we have been going shopping occasionally in the Big Tent and today Elaine is out bead shopping with Marilyn so they will have the right stuff for some more jewelry projects. They are so creative! I must get my camera out so I can post some pictures of their jewelry.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

1/12/08 Sorry about the long delay in updating this blog. Things haven't exactly been exciting and interesting for anyone except us, since we have been using our time here on the desert to try to catch up on things. And we still aren't caught up! Somehow, there just isn't enough time, even though we aren't working. Of course, as usual, we are doing our exercises daily and walking from 3 to 5 miles, so that takes a couple of hours. Then there is the social time every afternoon at Happy Hour, with Mike and Marilyn, and anyone else who shows up. In fact, now more friends have arrived: Ted Sudtell, Dee & Jim Osborne, Bob & Nancy Colbert, and Ken & Carolyn Kimpton. They are all on the picture below, taken at Happy Hour yesterday. And another friend pictured below is the little bird with yellow patches who was visiting us regularly at our previous location. The reason he kept coming was because he was using our hummingbird feeder - and you can clearly see that he is NOT a hummingbird!
Thursday evening we drove over to an RV park across Quartzsite called Rainbow Acres, where 5 rigs of RoVing Rods friends are staying. Lora and Gary Gill had us all over for a succulent spaghetti dinner and she made the meatballs with elk meat from the elk that Gary had recently shot up in Montana. They were delicious. After dinner, we all adjourned to Ed Bonham's place for a nice campfire and dessert. We also got to see the many beautiful shells that he and his wife acquired during their diving days. It was good to see RoVing Rod friends that we hadn't seen for a while: Ron & Barb Bonham, Chuck and Pebby Palumbo, and Lora and Gary Gill.
Friday found us over at Rainbow Acres again because there was a park-wide yard sale which we went to with Bob & Nancy. There were lots of good bargains and we got our walk in while searching for them. Afterwards we went to visit Lee & Susie Blattner, who were camped in Ehrenburg with the Boondockers, on our way to Blythe to buy some groceries. While we were driving over there, we got a call from the visa service we are using to get a visa for Mozambique. They said that the pictures we enclosed weren't acceptable and we had to send new ones. Great, where does one get passport photos in Blythe??!! Turns out that the first place we tried, Rite-Aid did them for $7.99. Then we went to Albertson's and they do them too - for $6.99! What a surprise after we thought we might have to drive quite a distance to get them.
The weather has been absolutely beautiful the past few days with sunny days in the low 70's. Nighttime temps get down to the low 40's, so we are glad to have an efficient propane heater. The next week will see many more Boomer friends arriving and we are looking forward to good visits with them. Opps, the football playoffs are starting so I'll close and join Ken & Mike in cheering for our favorite teams. Just think, here we are out in the desert and we have all the comforts and conveniences, such as unlimited internet and satellite TV! We love it.