Hair Hat, and Starting the year off sick. :(

WELCOME to our new followers, LilNomad and Richard.  I don't see any info on either of you, but if you have blogs, I'd like to check them out, let me know.   Thank you for following along with me and Katie on our adventures.  I'm expecting 2012 to be a wonderful year for us, and I'm glad you'll both be along for the ride!  Welcome aboard!

Not a great photo, I took a million shots, but this is the best of the hair hat.  This is with the grey hair.   (I don't know how people take those great pictures of themselves, extending their arm and snapping the pic. It sure doesn't work for me!)

 Hair Hat - it works best on me if I brush all my hair out of the way.

I took the hair out (it's attached with Velcro) one day and wore just the visor, which I really liked.

New Years Eve was a quiet evening, spent around the fire with the Dingbats.  We have a few new people who have arrived - the more the merrier!  One of the women organized a little gathering and some people brought wine, champagne and nibbles for everyone.  I'm not much of a wine drinker, and champagne is too dry for me, so I brought along my Irish Coffee in my traveling mug.  It was perfect for drinking around the fire.

We had clear skies, with the moon making it's way across the sky as we sat outside.  Katie and I were in bed early, but I read one of my library books until after midnight, so we heard the noise at midnight, and were awake for the beginning of the new year.

I like the sound of 2012.  Do you say 20-12, or 2000- 12?  I keep saying 2000-12, but I'm hearing it pronounced in the media as 20-12, and I like that.

On January 1st, the Dingbats gathered around an afternoon fire and shared BBQ hot dogs, potato salad, beans, etc.  It was a beautiful day, and the food was delicious!

On Tuesday morning I woke up early with bad stomach pains that lasted all day (and I felt like I had also come down with the virus going around). I was worried about the pain, and finally I checked on-line for  appendicitis symptoms.  It was kind of a toss up - I had the symptoms, but they could have meant other things, too.  I decided to adopt a wait and see attitude.  Most people that listed their comments on the MD.com site waited at least two days to head off to the doctor.

I was awake most of the night, not in great pain, but not completely comfortable, and finally dropped off to sleep.  Katie and I woke up at 11:00 this morning, and although the stomach pains have decreased, they are still there, maybe 30 percent of the pain the day before.

 Same site, but I moved the rocks way out - now it's quite a large area.

Turns out, we are REQUIRED to have AT LEAST 15 feet between rigs, 

and you can pretty much mark off what you want to be your campsite.

Finally in the late afternoon today I went over to talk to Hazel, who is a retired nurse, to check my symptoms with her knowledge.  I also wanted her to know that if I took off in the middle of the night, or sometime tomorrow, I was heading to Kaiser in San Diego, and I wanted her to know I'd try to be back for the Big Tent show.  If the pain is worse, I'm not going to be walking around the campground saying goodbye!!

I did nothing today but sleep and lay on the couch reading.  The funny thing is, I don't seem to have the virus - I guess it was just allergies after all, because it's not bad at all today.

I'm pretty confident I'll feel better tomorrow.  Hazel gave me some Pepto Bismo, and I just started taking it.  Cross your fingers for me.

David, one of my followers, and whose blog I follow, was going to stop by for meet on his way through Quartzsite to Mexico, but unfortunately I had to cancel.  I was more worried about giving him the virus, but as it turns out we were probably okay there, but my stomach pains would have made for an uncomfortable visit.  Sorry, Dave, we'll meet again down the road.  

Our moon rising late this afternoon:

A little earlier these machines flew overhead - it's so fun watching them power themselves across the sky. 

 Close-up of one of the flyers. 

Santa Claus is here - I guess he doesn't go directly to the North Pole after Christmas.  But, heck, he needs some R&R after all that hard work, and the long flight, right?  I'll post photos of him and his rig next time.

From Me and Katie, have a great Tuesday evening, everyone!  :)

Happy New Year – Welcome 2012!

 

Thank you to all our Followers and readers for joining me and Katie on our full-timing adventures, starting June 2011.  We've learned a lot, gone to many places, met a lot of great people and pets, and gotten very comfortable in The Palms.  We continue to enjoy full-timing more and more each day.  Here's  looking forward to the future!

For 2012, Katie and I wish for you:  all the champagne, ribbons, balloons, jewelry, flowers, toys and Happy Day tickets you could want for the entire Happy New Year.

Last day of 2011 - and what a year it's been!

It has been just beautiful here!  Thursday I re-organized my camp, put things in order and actually sat outside and read my book.  I don't do that often, the weather has to be just right, and it was!
Denise is back in town, and came by for a visit. At the same time my neighbor, Don, walked his dog over to our site and the three of us sat down and chatted for a while as our dogs played, and played and played.  Don's dog, Duffy, is a real cutie with lots of energy - he LOVES to run!  Katie and Duffy get along well, and Bennie fit right in.  The two boys had a contest, marking everything in site.  They were so funny!   Here are some photos of that visit:

 Benny, Duffy and Denise.  Bennie is checking out the hole Duffy dug in the dusty dirt while Duffy looks on with concern.  :)

 Katie watching Duffy dig.  Katie pretty much stayed out of the way. (Good girl!)

Duffy resting after digging the hole.  He's a pretty happy pup.

 I do NOT need a bath, DAD!

 Getting to know each other.

 NO, you can't sit in the dust bath!

 Checking out Duffy's good work.

The dogs had such fun, and it was really fun watching their shenanigans.

Yesterday late morning I headed off to La Posa South to dump my tanks.  While I was there, I stopped by the encampment of Denise, Sandi & Jim and Jeri & Terry.  They are the first of their group to arrive at Quartzsite, and they are expecting 18 to 20 other rigs from their group to arrive soon.  I had met Denise before, but just met the others yesterday.  What a nice visit we had. 

Denise and Bennie, Jeri, and Sandi and Skittlez

They parked right next to a wash that has a large open area in front of it with no rigs immediately near them.  They will have a great area for all the friends they are expecting to arrive soon.  I'm sure I'll be visiting again.  Thank you for the warm welcome, Sandie and Jeri, I'm so glad I finally met you!!!

While I was there, Denise gave me a tour of her large Class A toy hauler, in which she carries her Harley.  What a beautiful rig!  The bike's area is pretty large, and could also be used for an office if Denise needed one, and everything was new and perfect, with a really large living area.  It was so comfortable, and I have to admit, my favorite room was the bedroom, which is actually a separate room, very pretty and cozy and comfortable.  If I ever have a Class A, I want a bedroom like that.  Thanks for the tour, Denise!  Love your home!

Katie is getting much more socialized, she likes Duffy and Bennie, and did well with Sandi and Jim's two pups, Scooter and Skittlez, too.  But she was pretty leery of Jeri and Terry's Roxie, who is a large older female Doberman, a very sweet dog, who seemed kind of hurt that Katie didn't want anything to do with her.  So far she seems to do okay with the smaller dogs, but the larger ones, like Roxie, Dumbledorf and the two Greyhounds, Val and Fleur - she definitely has some fear when they get close to her, and she growls and barks at them.  I'm hoping that in time she will become friendlier with the big dogs.

Our gorgeous sunset Thursday evening:

A day for errands

WELCOME to our new Follower, Debra!   Debra says in her profile that she wants to "one day make a mobile living as a Writer, Photo Artist and Public Speaker," the mobile part would be in a motor home.  She's got some work to do first, but if successful, will be on the road on a couple of years.  Good luck, Debra, believe me, it's well worth the hard work to be able to live like this, whether you're working on the road or not.

Today was the day I needed to get some things done.  We were good with our tanks and fresh water, so didn't need to take care of that chore, but I needed to get other things out of the way, especially returning a library book that was due today.  So, after getting dressed this morning, Katie and I went into town to get a few things done.

First the library, I returned the book that was due today, and checked out three new ones:  James Patterson - Don't Blink, Danielle Steel - Happy Birthday, and Fern Michaels - Home Free.

Then, armed with new books, we stopped at the Laundromat/ Showers/Cafe.  I had all my laundry ready to go and my bedding stripped, so I loaded up three washing machines, and then went next door and ordered a cheese burger, coffee and coleslaw.  They have great burgers at this place; they grill the buns, so they're a little crispy inside.  I started on Home Free while I ate.

Then through the connecting back door into the laundromat to put the wet things into two dryers, and wait.  I love doing laundry with The Palms in the parking lot.  I went into the rig and got hangers, and went back and waited for the loads to dry while I continued reading.  When they were done, I folded some things, hung the rest, and carried it all back to The Palms where I hung the things on hangers, put away the folded clothes and towels, put the clean duvet on the down comforter and put the sheet and pillow cases on the bed.  Threw on the comforter, tucked it in and laid the quilt over it all.  Done!

Then we stopped at the Dollar Store for a few things, and headed down the highway to top off our propane tank.

Next we drove down one of the main streets where all the vendors are.  Katie and I walked around looking at things, asking questions, and ended up in a pet shop.  I bought a front carrier, like a backpack but the pack is in front, to carry Katie in.  We tried it on and the seller adjusted the straps across my back, and I walked around in their tent for a while to see if Katie would stay and if I could carry her weight.  It was pretty comfortable, and although Katie never SAT DOWN, she seemed okay with it.  I wanted something I could use to bring her with me if I had to carry her, and this works great. 

I was looking for one of those visor hats that has the fake hair on the crown, but couldn't find anyone on that side of the highway that has them.  Some sellers are coming in January that have them, but they are not here now.  Finally one woman told me to go across the highway, and directed me to a certain vendor.  I drove over there, and I think I found the only person selling these visors so far.  My neighbor, Hazel, has one, and I love it on her (she looks good in hats, though).  The one I bought is a visor with Velcro around the inside, and it comes with three colors of hair, a blond/white (a little too blond for my hair, but I can still use it), one that's grey/white (better for me) and a brown - who knows, I might wear that one, too!  I was pretty happy to have found one, finally.

Then we drove back over the freeway to the Post Office, which has fresh fruits and vegetables across the road, and I got some apples and oranges.  I just finished one of the oranges, and it was perfect, juicy and sweet.  I only bought two, I may go back and get a few more.

When we got home I was really tired, and Katie, too.  I'll tell you, it doesn't take much to tire us out these days!  So, after a walk in the campground, we were done for the day.

Today was warm and calm all day long - just another day in Paradise.

Did you notice the difference in my header?  I made that one up when I transferred my blog posts to WordPress.  I needed a different size for the WordPress header, and I think it looks better in Blogger, too.  I just backed up the blog into WordPress again today to keep it current, just in case... 

In fact, Blogger wouldn't let me change the header, said I had already used up all my photo space and I'd have to join Google+ to get more space.  ????   So I joined Google+.  Then I was able to switch out the header photo.  Talk about bribing you to get their membership up!!!  I guess I shouldn't complain since it's free, but that's why I like a backup in place, I just don't completely trust Google.

I didn't get any photos today, and don't have any good ones left over from the last few days.  I'll try to get a photo of Katie in the frontpack, and another of my new hairy visor and post them next time.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Tuesday evening, everyone!  :)

And a Merry Christmas to all!

Katie and I had a great Christmas, starting with Skyping our families in Vacaville and San Diego.  We were able to see Lauren and Drew and Kristy and Matt, all in their new Christmas jammies, and all the special toys that Santa brought everyone.  Then we Skyped with Kennedy, Gavin and Graydin and Tom and Trish, and saw all the special gifts Santa brought them.  I love this Skype thing!  After hanging up, I had this wonderful feeling that I was there participating, and hadn't missed too much by spending my Christmas in the middle of the Arizona desert.  You can say what you want about technology - I love it.

 Merry Christmas from Katie to all the other furkids!

Then I  met up with my fellow Quartzsite Dingbats and we loaded into a Jeep, a truck and an SUV and headed over to Sweet Darlene's for a full Christmas dinner.  There was a buffet of special breads and salads to start, the main course with ham or turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, yams, gravy, and fresh carrots topped off with a slice of apple pie with whipped cream, and a drink of your choice.  It was a great dinner, and the cost was $9.95, 50 cents extra for my coffee.  I have enough food left over for a few more meals, and it was all really good.  I wish I brought my camera to dinner, but I didn't even think about it.

When I got back to The Palms, I actually took a nap for about two hours!  I've never done that before on a holiday, but I was so sleepy after that nice meal, and a nap felt good.

Then Katie and I woke up and walked around the campground with the camera trying to get some good Christmas sunset shots.  The sky was beautiful, but not really any clouds to make it interesting.   Still, a very pretty, peaceful, calm Christmas evening.

Our Christmas evening walk at sunset

 Merry First Christmas!

When we got back from our walk my neighbor, Hazel, came over for a visit.  She has been sick for a while with the flu or bronchitis or something that has really had her down.  Hazel is the one with the Great Danes, and they haven't been out and about much, but she did come to the Christmas dinner this afternoon.  Anyway, we had a nice chat, and hopefully she is on the mend and will be back to normal soon.

After getting The Palms all buttoned up for the night and Katie settled, I went over to the campfire to get some Christmas Campfire shots.  Three of the men were there, Bob, Don and Ron.   Ron had his laptop there, and was showing a slide show of past years at Quartzsite with the Dingbats.  The group changes from year to year, and he had photos of people who are here this year, who are coming after Christmas, and some who aren't going to make it in 2011. 

 Our Christmas sunset

There was a sliver of a moon setting and I tried to get a photo of it.  After lots of tries, I got one that was pretty good, and one I liked that wasn't steady, but interesting.

 Christmas Moon in Quartzsite

This is what happens when you don't have a tripod, but I kind of liked it:

And that was our Christmas for 2011, our first one full timing in The Palms.  Katie and I are both tired, and ready to call it a night, but I wanted to have a post for today to mark our First Quartzsite Christmas.

Bob, Don and Ron around the campfire

 Good night, Palms

From Me and Katie, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  :)