Bear sighting on the way to Quartzsite

Well, yes, I did see a bear last night - this is a grizzly - the first one I've seen since I've been full-timing.  Thankfully he is in a display at Cabela's in Glendale, AZ.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.  I doubt I'll ever see a real bear in the wild, so this will have to do for me.  He is beautiful, isn't he?

Grizzly Bear at Cabela's in Glendale, AZ

I left Bluewater Lake State Park on Friday morning and headed to Sunset Crater National Monument.  I was planning to boondock at the disbursed camping area in the national forest across the freeway, but it wasn't all that great.  I got there early and waited for Hazel and Cari to follow in the afternoon.  When they got there with their Class A rigs towing their cars, it was decided this wasn't a good place to camp for the night. There weren't any good sites for them, only some uneven pull-outs along the road that I could fit in, but didn't like much.

I did go in further on the right side of the "T" at the end of the road toward the Meadow, but saw nothing I wanted. I ended up having to make a U turn in the middle of the "Road not for autos" road leading to the Meadow - I don't know what Class A's do on that road, but I was happy to get turned around and out of there. And it would have been nice if that "Road not for autos" sign was at the beginning of the road, not down the road right before it deteriorated badly.

I did find something interesting right behind where I parked and waited for Hazel and Cari, though.  As I walked around the rig looking for rocks in the way, I saw this right near the rig:

I don't know what animal these bones came from, but it  must have been pretty big.  Being the neat-nick that I am, I re-arranged them on a large rock to see them better.  It looked like two jaw bones, two rib bones and four vertebrae and two additional disks. Maybe from a large buck? Do they have moose up there?

We all decided to head on down the road to one of the Walmarts in Flagstaff - I called them and was told no parking is allowed by the city, but Walmart doesn't mid over-nighters, so we were welcome to come down and take our chances.  When we got there, other rigs were already parked there and we joined them.  No knocks on the door in the middle of the night, so we all had a good night's sleep.

The next morning, Saturday, Hazel and Cari drove over to the Sunset Crater National Monument, while I drove down the road to Camp Verde.  We decided we'd stay at Cliff Castle Casino overnight, and since I had already checked out the Visitor's Center for Sunset Crater and wasn't interested in more sightseeing, I wanted to get on the road.

Camp Verde was having their Jackpot Ranch Verde Valley Annual Fall Festival and I wanted to walk around and see what they had there.  I wanted to get there early so I could leave Katie in The Palms and be back before it got too hot for her.  There was a shuttle from the parking lot of the Casino, so that was the plan.  Unfortunately they were having a shuttle problem, so one of the volunteers offered me a ride to the festival, where he was going to see what was going on with the shuttle people.  This is his truck, it was in beautiful condition:

This is the back window, showing his jewelry business info in Camp Verde.  He and his wife used to travel in an RV, selling their jewelry at shows, but now are settled in Camp Verde in a storefront. 

Hazel has been talking to a Greyhound Rescue group and was pretty much decided that she was going to adopt one of the male dogs, which is why we were in Camp Verde.  I checked him out when I was at the festival where the group had an area set up for adoptions - he's a beautiful dog, very quiet and calm.  He has some physical damage from racing and being in a cage, but even I could see his beautiful lines.  When he is healed, he will be a wonderful pet for Hazel.  I don't want to say more, but you can check out Hazel's blog and find out what happened that afternoon and on Sunday when we all went to the vet in Flagstaff for a final check.  If the vet released him, the dog would be available for adoption and a new owner could take him home.  I haven't seen a post yet from Hazel about the new dog, but you can check here today or tomorrow to find out more.

While I was at the Festival I had my flu shot from the Walgreen's booth, and also bought a big bar-b-qued hamburger and a baseball cap with a Roadrunner embroidered on it.  I enjoyed walking around the beautiful grounds of the ranch, and then I took the shuttle back to The Palms feeling like I had accomplished something.

After the vet appointment on Sunday afternoon, we all drove back to Cliff Castle Casino.  Hazel and Cari are traveling to Quartzsite, AZ today, but I had a 10:00 appointment at D & R's Family RV in Glendale, AZ to have some things fixed on The Palms, so Katie and I hopped in the rig and got on the road, heading to Glendale.  We arrived at 6 PM Sunday evening and got settled in the parking lot of Cabela's, which is just down the road from the shop.

And here we are - I called and was told parking is okay in one section of the parking lot, despite the No Parking signs.  We were the only rig here overnight, and it was very quiet.

If there is a spot of sunshine, Katie will find it:

Katie loves a spot of sunshine.

I'm finishing this up at Ron's D &R's Family RV in Glendale, where Ron is doing some updates for me. My furnace has been giving me some trouble. It would turn on, blow cold air for around 10 seconds and then turn off.  Ron checked it out, and the problem is a bad limit switch.  He's ordering one that will be here tomorrow morning, and that should take care of the furnace issue.  He also put in a new turn off valve with some copper tubing on the line to the catalytic propane heater. He installed it in the back of the fridge area, so it will be easy for me to reach when I want to turn the propane to the heater on or off.  I will be able to do that without turning the propane to the fridge on and off.  He also grounded the solar installation's inverter while I was here, so I should be good to go as soon as he installs the furnace limit switch tomorrow.

I'm staying overnight in his shop yard, where he has some other folks staying, also.  I wanted to be in an area where I can see the last presidential debate tonight, and the antenna TV reception here is really good here, so I'll be able to watch TV tonight.

Then, on to Quartzsite tomorrow!

Have a great Monday evening, everyone!  :)

Our Honey BooBoo names, and meeting another blogger

WELCOME to our newest Follower, Hazel!  Hazel is my friend - we camped near each other last year at Quartzsite.  You all remember Hazel - she is the full-timer with the Greyhounds and she has a cat, too.  She usually has two Greyhounds and two cats, but this year she lost one of each and her traveling family is seeming small to her.  She is also a Dingbat.

Hazel has been full-timing since 2005 and has been a wealth of information for me.  She just started a new blog, Class A Greyhounds...RVing with the Big Dogs; check it out, its looking really good!  Hazel is trying to decide if she should rescue another Greyhound to keep Fleur company, so we are looking at some rescue dogs Saturday, and hopefully she'll find one to take home and love.  I'm glad she has a blog now, so I can follow along with her when she is traveling down the road.

Hazel and Fleur and the horses

Welcome aboard, Hazel, Katie and I are happy to have you as an Official Follower! :)

Do you watch the Honey BooBoo TV show about the little girl and her family?  I don't watch Honey Booboo's show but I've sure been hearing a lot about this little girl.  Anyway, she has a name generator you can log into to see what your Honey BooBoo name is.  I assume that's how she got that silly name.

My Honey BooBoo name is Bloom Dainty or Bliss Darlin' and Katie's is Kewpie Dainty.  Or Kiddie Ding Dong.  Those are pretty good.

If you want to see what your Honey BooBoo nickname is, just do a search for Honey Booboo name generator. Fill in the first and last name windows and your nickname will come up.  In case you don't like the nickname it comes up with, try again.  Each time it comes up with another one.  Silly, but fun.

The other day I had a knock on the door, and it was Jeanne and Riley, coming for a visit. I knew Jeanne was heading toward Bluewater Lake State Park because she had e-mailed me, and I was so happy to meet her.  She's a very interesting woman who is taking a break from work - resetting her life, as she put it. 

She has a  Lazy Daze motor home and when I visited her a couple of days later, she invited me in and we had another good visit.  She showed me some of the things she has made on the road.  She's very crafty, binding small leather notebooks, knitting, making hand lotion and detergent - lots of different clever things.  Her dog Riley is so well behaved and he and Katie got along well. 

Riley, Jeanne and their Lazy Daze

It was so nice meeting you and getting to know you, Jeanne.  I hope we meet up again down the road! 

Tuesday evening the herd of five horses visited our campground again, so we got to see them for the last time before we leave. Two of the mares are pregnant and ready to deliver, and since they haven't been around for a couple of days, we were thinking the foals might be here already.  The Ranger said he thought they might be born this week, but he said today there are no new foals yet.

 

 Colt grazing behind The Palms

Guess who came for dinner?

 

A young family was camped in the site next to me in a rental motor home. The baby was looking out the back window at the horses. He was so cute.
 

The Dad and little girl were eating outside at their picnic table, and were pretty excited to see the horses.  Look at their faces.  The little colt strolled all over their campsite.  That's Jeanne's Lazy Daze in the background.  When the horses left this site, they wandered over to her site.  As usual I was enjoying the horses' visit. I'll sure miss them.

Katie and I saw a rabbit on our walk the other day. I know they are all over the park, but we don't see them often.  This one was pretty cute.

"If I hold real still, they can't see me."

 

"I'm even more invisible when I lay down with my ears low."

 

I yelled at Katie last night, and this is the face I get when she is in trouble.  She puts her chin up and squints her eyes.  So funny.  Of course, I felt bad.

The "in trouble" face.

Aren't these sunset clouds beautiful?

Kathie and I are leaving Bluewater Lake State Park tomorrow morning.  We're heading east to Arizona, tagging along with Hazel and Cari.  Hazel wants to go to a festival at Camp Verde where they also have some Rescue Greyhounds that she wants to meet.  Then we are going to the shop in Glendale where I had my solar installed to have some work done and have my solar system and furnace checked out for the winter.  My appointment is on Monday at 10:00, then it's on to Quartzsite!

Tire pressure has been checked, windows are washed, gas tank is full and the tanks are dealt with; our next post will be from Arizona.

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

The Final 200,000 Page View Favorites

If you are really tired of my retrospective - this is the final-final post showing my favorite photos from the 0 to 200,000 page view time frame.  These include my faves that are not animals, birds, sunsets or moons.

 This is a photo of Bluewater Creek taken from above in the Pinon Campsite area in Bluewater Lake State Park, NM.  The colors were this vibrant and beautiful.  6/6/12

 This is my all-time favorite campsite, so far. It was my site at Las Posas LTVA at Quartzsite, AZ and I had rocks around the border, my solar lights, American flag, etc. It was very homey. 12/25/11

The trail at Armitage County Park in Eugene, OR. Katie and I walked this trail many times. 8/9/11

 This is my best lightening shot taken during a lightening/thunderstorm at Bluewater Lake State Park. 8/19/12

Mt. Rainier in the distance from a rest stop

I loved this mossy table and benches at Armitage County Park, Eugene, OR 8/10/11

 Foggy evening at Zion National Park. 10/28/11

 

Saguaro Cactus Forest at Pleasure Lake, they were all shapes and sizes and number of arms. 11/15/11

 Red Rocks at Sedona with the fog coming in. 11/13/11

Loved this campground at Rock Creek Park with the beautiful creek running through it. 10/5/11

Emphasizing the color green at Sand Hollow State Park.  10/18/11

Road through the tunnel at Dixie National Forest.  10/17/11

The Palms at Quartzsite under a big, beautiful rainbow.

Driving North to South through Arizona we encountered Rain, Fog and Snow.  We finally ended up in Quartzsite - SUN!  11/13/11

Rising full moon over red rock with the circle window at Valley of Fire state Park, NV - 11/8/11

This is a photo of my campsite during a ferocious sandstorm/windstorm at Las Posas LTVA at Quartzsite, AZ. This is the worst sandstorm/windstorm I've experienced so far.  3/6/12

HooDoos, UT 10/17/11

Gorgeous cactus bloom at Bluewater State Park - with Bluewater Lake in the background. 6/17/12

I hope you enjoyed seeing my favorite photos.  It's been quite a trip going through them all to pick favorites.

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

Favorite sunset and moon photos

Here are the almost final "favorite photos," the first and second favorite posts were animals and birds, and this post has my favorite sunset and moon shots.  There were so many that I left a lot of them on the cutting room floor and couldn't fit the rest of the series of favorite photos:  the campsites, campgrounds and miscellaneous shots.  So...  I think I'll do four posts, with the other "other" shots in the fourth one.

I've never seen so many gorgeous, colorful sunsets as I've seen since I've been full-timing.  Here are some of those highlights:

Los Posas LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ - 3/18/12

Bluewater Lake State Park - 6/16/12

Casino Arizona, Scottsdale, AZ - 11/19/11

Sand Hollow State Park, Hurricane, UT - 10/18/11

Hood Park, WA - 9/12/11

Utah Lake, Provo, UT - 10/12/11

Watchman at Zion National Park, UT - 11/5/11

Fern Ridge Shores, Veneta, OR - 7/29/11

Utah Lake, Provo, UT - 10/12/11

Bluewater Lake - 8/9/12

I've had many moonshots that are favorites, too, and here are some of those.

Eclipse of the Moon, Los Posas LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ - 12/10/11

Storrie Lake State Park, NM - Harvest Moon, 9/6/12

Los Posas LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ - 12/12/11

Christmas Moon, Quartzsite, AZ - 12/25/11

Christmas Moon, Quartzsite, AZ - A little cold and shaky - 12/25/11

Quail Hill Campground at Imperial Dam LTVA, CA - 4/7/12

Full moon behind The Palms at Bluewater Lake State Park - 4/7/12

Full moon rising in Utah Lake RV Park, Provo, UT - 10/12/11

Los Posas LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ - Full Moon showing sunspots - 12/8/11

Los Posas LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ- 11/30/11

Lake Pleasant Regional Park, AZ - Saguaro Cactus, The Palms and Moon in daylight - 11/15/11

Hood Park, WA - 9/2011

Tomorrow I'll post the rest of my favorite photos, then we'll be back to current news - we're leaving Bluewater Lake State Park on Friday.  I hate to leave, but it's getting pretty cold at night, you know?

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