Guess who I got to meet?

Nina, of "Nina and Paul," and Wheeling It!   Unfortunately Paul wasn't able to make it - he stayed home to watch Polly, who was having a problem with one of her legs.  We were all sorry we missed you, Paul - but very happy that Nina still came by to visit us.  What a cutie pie!   After reading Wheeling It! for so long and passing them like ships in the night, we were finally in the same place at the same time, and got to chat a bit.

Jeanne, Denise and Nina:

Gayle, Jeanne, kB, Chris, Jimbo and Kim:

Katie got her own little visit with Nina:

Suzanne, Jim and Gayle:

Kim is such a dog lover, and Katie LOVES Kim!

Nina, Jeanne, Joe, kB, Denise, Tara, Debbie:

Suzanne, Jim and Nina:

Remember the photo I posted a bit ago with the bare tree against the mountains at sunset - with a hawk in it?  Well, here are a couple of photos of the hawk earlier in the evening.  Isn't he a beauty?

American Coot in Mittry Lake:

A couple of Grackles on the big rock outside The Palms:

Hummingbird at the feeder:

Katie has always liked Denise's Bennie, but she really LOVES Tara and Joe's Milo.  Whenever he was outside, Katie would get so agitated I thought she was going to go potty in the house.  I'd quickly let her out, and over she would run to visit Milo and Bennie.  She sure liked all the dog socializing here at Mittry Lake:

And a final "see you later" to Nina.  Thanks for dropping in for a visit, I so enjoyed meeting you and hope that next season we'll have a bit more time to chat.  Safe travels to you and Paul on your way to the big city!

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

Fresh Artichokes: Two-for-a-Dollar

Yuma, AZ Tuesday Marketplace.  I've never seen artichokes at a Farmer's Market - artichokes are my favorite food.  They run from $2.50 to $3.00 each in the grocery stores.  Except Costco or Sam's, where the prices are better.  I couldn't believe they had two large boxes of artichokes at the Farmer's Market, and they were 2 for $1.  I've NEVER seen them that cheap.  I got four of them, and so far have only boiled one.  It was GOOD!  The second one will be cooked up today.  :)

Bunches of fresh asparagus with the tough ends cut off were only $2 a bunch.  Great deal and really fresh looking, so I got a bunch of these, too.  

I also got some nice broccoli, which I cooked up to make my New York Pie for dinner.

Other tables had citrus:

Colorful peppers:

Jewelry, other foods and many different items.  This booth had some cool clothing wraps.  The seller demonstrated the many ways this top can be worn, it was kind of amazing.  But not RVing attire.  Very cool, though.

Here's the street - lots of booths, but not too many.  It made for an easy walk to the end, seeing everything.

Below is one of the food booths, looks like Kim is enjoying a taco - she said it was really good. 

Next, on the way to Best Buy, we saw an In-N-Out Burger.  Jeanne saw it first, and proceeded to entertain Kim and me with a hysterical fit of not "using her words."  We couldn't figure out what was wrong, when she finally blurted out real words: "In-N-Out Burger!"  Jeanne has heard about their burgers and fries but never tried them and was very excited to see their sign.  Of course, we stopped for lunch.  I'm not a fries person, but I love chocolate shakes, so I treated myself to a burger and shake.  Yum. They both had burgers and fries.  All delicious, and we proceeded to our next stop...

...Best Buy!  I've debated on and off for a long time about branching out of the Android world into Apple land - and I finally bought a new iPad Air.  And screen protector.  And smart cover.  $$$$$  For once I spent some money on something fun.  For me, not for The Palms.    :)))))

We also stopped at Wal-Mart and brought the dogs in - they were in our carts on blankets Jeanne keeps in the car for Riley.  Katie and Riley REALLY enjoyed going down the aisles, looking at all the stuff, smelling all the odors, being greeted by other shoppers.  Even the staff was very friendly to them.  I guess in Yuma it's so hot outside, lots of days people can't leave the dogs in the car, so they must be used to people bringing them inside where it's cooler.  They can't do much damage while in a shopping cart, so I guess were were okay.  And the dogs just loved it!

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

Mittry Lake, AZ

Here we are at Mittry Lake.  I've never been here before, but some friends are already camped here, so Jeanne and I caravaned down to Mittry.  Right now we have Jeanne, Kim, Suzanne, Debbie, Gayle and Jim, Chris, Jimbo, Charlie and Marti and me.  And of course, our various dogs and cats.  CB was here, but left a couple of days ago.  So it's quite a group!

It's much prettier and nicer here than I thought it would be.  There are lots of good places to park right by the water.  I planned to stay for a few days, but it's so nice I'm going to stay longer.

The picture below is the view out my front windshield - can you see the Great Blue Heron on the hill - he's looking left.  From the center of the photo, he's about at 10:00.

Here he is up closer:

Below is right outside the windshield - we are really close to the water and have a great view of the water birds.

This afternoon I got more photos of the heron - right in the water ahead of us.  He ducked in a couple of times and got his outer feathers wet.

This structure is behind The Palms - the water winds around land areas, and right here it comes through the hill, I guess, to the canal alongside us.  It looks like something that was built a long time ago.

This was my view in my first site, the main lake, then I moved to the other side of the parking area, where I was closer to the water in a canal.  The lake view was nice, but I like my present site better, mostly because the water is much closer. 

This is the path to the main lake area where the dumpsters are.  When it's hot, and it's been hot every afternoon, we always take this way back to get a little shade.

This photo below is the main part of the lake - with the mountains in the distance, the palm trees and the other trees, bushes and reeds, it's just beautiful. 

Not a great photo in this light, but this Snowy Egret was perched on a rock by the lake.  I love these guys with their big yellow feet:

This beautiful Great Egret was hanging out in one of the canals along the road going toward Mittry Lake.  They are so regal looking.  There were two American Coots there with him.  

One of the hummers at Jim and Gayle's hummingbird feeder:

Hummingbird shadow at the feeder through my curtain in the afternoon:

My friends said a vulture comes and roosts every night in one of the trees near me.  Here he is our first evening as the sun was setting.

There are two birds in the water in front of The Palms every day fishing for food - a male and a female Lesser Scaup.  This is a new bird sighting for me.  Here is the male:

There is good Internet through my Verizon hotspot and good TV channels.  Jeanne has no AT&T phone service, and my Verizon phone calls haven't been great unless I put the phone in the Wilson Sleek.  Then the calls will go through and hold until I hang up.

Mittry Lake is a very pleasant surprise, and I'm sure I'll be coming back again.

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

Review of the STONE WAVE Microwave Cooker

I read about this item in Karen's post on RVing: The USA is our BIG Backyard.  It was for sale on a TV infomercial for $19.99 plus $8 shipping, but at the Dollar Tree, they are $1 each.   You can read Karen's review on her blog, and see what she cooked for their first meal with the Stone Wave Microwave Cooker.

So when Kim left for Joshua Tree, she said she'd stop at the Dollar Tree in Blythe and see if they had them, and would pick one up for me.  Kim drove into our camping area last Wednesday morning, and she got me one!

It's a great deal at one dollar, and even comes with a little cookbook.  I tried it out that night, first baking the onion, then following that up with their suggestion of using some of that onion to make French Onion Soup. 

Stone Wave Microwave Cooker and little recipe book

This is the front of the box.

Onion in broth after being cooked - I started to break it apart and removed it from the crock.

Just a little broth left.

I put the onion on a plate on my cutting board and sliced it into small pieces.

I followed the recipe for French Onion Soup - added more broth and onion pieces.

Sprinkled grated Parmesan Cheese on top.

Next put some salad croutons on top.

Laid cheese on top - I had Monterey Jack so that's what I used.

Heated in the microwave with the top on per the instructions.

Done!  Super hot!

First bite with some broth, croutons, unions and cheese,  YUM!

I think this French Onion Soup was about as good as any I've had.  One thing I did, though, that probably added a bit more flavor, was this:  I had a roasted chicken that I bought at Smart & Final - it was plump and juicy and there were juices on the bottom of the container.  I put those in the crock for the initial baking of the onion, and that's what was left in that "little broth left" photo.  Then I added beef broth that I bought when I continued on to make the soup.  I think the roasted chicken juices probably made it more tasty, but instead I could have sprinkled a little bit of spice here and there and probably had the same result. 

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everybody!  :)