Have you seen this helicopter in the trailer?

There's an interesting story behind this photo.  A few weeks ago Bill, the owner of the above Class A and trailer, pulled into the Dingbat area and joined our group for a week or so.  When I walked down to the campfire and saw his trailer with the helicopter, I told him I've seen him on the road.  And also parked in an RV park.  He said it probably wasn't him, and we talked about where exactly I saw it.

Turns out, his rig and trailer were stolen for about 8 months.  I finally remembered that I saw the RV and trailer at Distant Drums RV Resort in Camp Verde two years ago, and he said that was during the time it was stolen, and yes, it was in that area at that time.

One day in April, 2012, while I was camped at Distant Drums a woman just pulled into the resort and parked the rig near the office.  Katie and I walked by on our way to the dog park and I stopped and commented on the helicopter and asked if she was checking in.  She said no, she just stopped to have a kind of "garage sale."  I asked her what she was selling, and she said, "Just about anything you'd want."  I didn't want to take any more of her time, she was busy and I didn't want to buy anything, so Katie and I continued on with our walk.  Later they were gone.  

Turns out, according to Bill, she stole the motor home and trailer and was selling everything inside both, and then tried to sell both the trailer and the motor home.  That's when she was caught, and Bill ended up getting them back, minus quite a few things.  There was more to the story, but it's his story to tell, not mine, and I'll leave it there.

Really strange that he and I would be parked in the same place two years later having this discussion.  I think his trailer is pretty cool looking.  Of course, it's not really a helicopter inside his trailer, but it looks pretty realistic in person  - he explained how the graphic on the door was created and applied.  He was a helicopter pilot in Viet Nam, hence the helicopter on the trailer.  :)

Mello Mike is having a giveaway contest.  Click on this link to find out how to enter.  This is what Mike is giving away to the lucky winner:

Very nice - and I've entered!  If I don't win, I hope you do.  ;-)

We're still having the best weather here at Quartzsite.  I keep talking about how great the weather is, but it's by far the most enjoyable so far in my three years of camping at Quartzite.  Cold nights and mornings, but nice warm days, not hot, mostly clear skies for my solar panels and very little wind this year.  So far.  I think the clear skies and lack of wind are what make it so nice for me, even more than the temps.

I've finally re-installed my Adobe Photoshop Elements program.  In case you don't know about Elements, it's like a little sister of Adobe Photoshop.  Cheaper and far easier to learn and use, more for someone like me who is not a professional graphics person.  I would definitely need lessons to learn Photoshop.  So, yesterday I was playing around with the different options in the software, many of which are pretty neat.

I took one of my House Finch photos and added one of the options to it and this is what I ended up with.  Original photo:

"Hey, get your beak out of my seeds!"      "Sorry, baby, what was I thinking?"

This looks like it was created using colored pencils:

I haven't had this program installed in quite a while, and it's going to be fun trying to learn it. Again.

WELCOME to our newest Follower, Karen!  Her blog, Karen in the Woods, is one of the most interesting blogs I follow.  She and her husband, Steve, are camp hosts, boon dockers, have a large Sheltie, Duke, and just adopted a new rescue Sheltie pup, Finnegan.  They are doing all sorts of wonderful upgrades to their new house in Wisconsin.  Karen is also a fabric artist and Steve seems to be able to make, fix or restore ANYTHING.  I love reading about their house and grand kids, and everything else they do.  Check out her blog, trust me, you'll find something to love there, too! Welcome Karen, thanks for following along with me and Katie!

From me and Katie, have a great Saturday, everyone!  :)