I'm back - with a dozen updates for you. :)

It's been a while since I've posted - we've been busy!  My plan was to get past medical stuff, family and friend visits and lots of driving and post again when Katie and I were back in the deserts of Arizona, and here we are!

I haven't been taking my camera out much, but here's what we've been up to, in a nutshell:

1.  Enjoying Quartzsite, visiting with friends, attending the 2nd annual Bloggerfest, checking out the Big Tent and all the surrounding vendors.  Had another birthday on the 13th.  Really Good Times.  Here's a beautiful January sunset at Quartzsite.  I think it looks like a watercolor:

 

2.  A visit to San Diego for medical/dental stuff.  Had my teeth cleaned and then had a colonoscopy the next day.  Results were great and all is well.  No photos - yes, you're welcome.

3.  While in San Diego, I picked up my mail at my mail service and got the lug nuts for my wheel cover that had been lost.  I was able to put the wheel cover back on and now all four wheels are again shiny and looking good. 

4.  Had a nice visit and dinner with Tom and Trish and my San Diego grand kids that evening.  Did a bit of catching up with them and enjoyed a wonderful fish dinner at Fish House Vera Cruz.

5.  Up at 3:30 am and on the road by 4 the next morning.  We missed all the traffic through San Diego and Los Angeles on my way to Merced where I visited with my good friend and ex-husband, Pete.  I haven't been to the house since I left lots of years ago.  Seeing Pete and the house brought back many memories and we had a good visit.  We talk every week so we do keep up with each other, but it was nice to be able to sit down and have a meal together and have conversations in person.

6.  Headed north again to the Vacaville/Fairfield area to visit Kristy and Matt and my Northern California grand kids.  They were in the middle of Girl Scout Cookie sales, my granddaughter is a girl scout and Kristy is the troop leader, so they were going to Wal-Mart, Lowes, etc, to set up tables and sell the cookies.  Lauren is also into gymnastics and I was able to see a couple of practices - she is doing GREAT!  I went with Drew, my grandson, to be measured for his baseball uniform, and then on another day attended a practice.  Baseball was just getting started.  He hit a bunch of balls into the center field - it looks like he'll have another good year in baseball.  I stayed with them for nine days - going to bed early almost every night I was so tired. Kristy assured me this was an especially busy time for them, they don't usually have so many things going on, but I was glad to be able to participate in some of their activities while I was there.  We had a wonderful time together.  Kristy made us her Chicken Picatta (I've already gone out and gotten capers to make my own!) and Matt barbecued the best salmon I've ever had.  They fed me well.  :)

7.  Last Sunday, 2/14, Katie and I were again on the road at 4:00 am, driving in the dark and missing all the traffic.  (As Kristy and I say, the real drive doesn't start until the sun comes up.  I can get a lot of miles behind us before then.)  We were well past any traffic issues and had a long, but good, day of traveling back to Arizona.

8.  I was meeting up with Jeanne to spend the winter in Arizona, traveling, staying at BLM/Federal forest lands as much as possible, and checking out different towns and Park Model parks for a possible future home base for me and Katie.  Turns out the BLM where we were going to meet up now required a permit, so we changed our plans and decided to meet at a casino the next day.  I stopped driving around 6 pm in Kingman, AZ and spent the night at a Wal-Mart.  It was a long day of travel, but I was feeling good and just kept going until I was ready to stop.

9.  The next day we met Jeanne and Riley (her dog) at the casino parking lot and drove to a nice area where I'm getting back into the boon docking mode.  We've been catching up and doing a lot of walking.  Here's a photo out my window the other morning:

 10.  I ordered a Garmin vivofit 2 activity tracker on Amazon.com and with my Prime membership and it arrived in two days with free shipping.  I've been researching different fitness bands for a while now, and finally ordered one.  I looked at all the different brands and almost bought others, but I'm glad I ended up with the vivofit 2.  It shows me the time, date, steps walked, how many steps till my goal is reached, tracks my sleep, and other things, too.  I sync it with their on-line app ("connect") on my laptop and also on my phone.  I love these things!  My daughter told me about a phone app that I'm using to input my daily meals and it also syncs with the vivofit 2, so I can see how many calories I'm eating - and the walking I'm doing deducts the calories I'm using while I'm walking.  A total snapshot.  It's keeping me aware of what I'm eating and how much I'm exercising and I find I'm eating less/better and exercising more.

11.  My black and/or grey tank has been leaking (drip, drip, drip) and I was lucky to find a good mobile RV repair man who came out yesterday morning and replaced both tank valves and re-glued two pipes together and now all is well and I can use my plumbing again.   If you're in the Sedona/Cottonwood area in Arizona and need a good, reasonably priced mobile repair man, I'd recommended him.    Paul's RV (Mobile Repairs)  928-634-0423

12.  And that gets us to this morning.  The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the wind's NOT blowing.  Looks like a perfect day.

So, anyway, all is well.  We were so lucky on our travels to have excellent weather in each location we visited!  Katie and I are healthy and happy, The Palms is working in top form, the tanks are empty, the water tank is full, the fridge and cupboards are full and all is right in our world.   I've either been too busy to post or had nothing to post about - or just been just plain lazy.  ;)  I probably won't post often for a while, but we'll see.  Don't worry if you don't hear from me - I'll post now and then.  But I am still keeping up with your blogs, it's one of my daily "things to do."  

Katie says, "Hi!  Where've you been?  I missed you."  

From me and Katie - in sunny Arizona - have a great Wednesday, everyone!  :)