TravelStream™ news feed for member dusterbin on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/dusterbin en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:57:14 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusterbin/1/1232904660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusterbin/1/1232904660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusterbin/1/1232904660/tpod.html Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:57:14 -0500 Home is on the Road

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Medford, Oregon, United States

We are home again. After a marathon drive back to Oregon, we are settled in at the Holiday RV Park. After leaving Bouse, we headed to Parker for breakfast and then crossed the Colorado River and saw our first roadrunner this trip! Must of known we were leaving! We traveled 457 miles to Bishop the first day and found a very expensive RV park (their only one) to spend the night. Then off to Reno the next day. It rained on us the whole way. Dale had a gift card for Applebee's so we ound one and had lunch on his secretary! In Reno, we went back to the park we had stayed at before. After all, we were just sleeping there. We spent most of our day and a half with Dale's son, Ben, daughter Mindy and Ben's wife, Kim. Dale had us shopping the whole day!     Saturday morn we left Reno in the rain and it followed us all the way to Phoenix, OR. As a matter of fact, it is still raining. We are happy to be back because of the drive we take to end our vacation, but our heart and mind is still in Arizona. Come on June 30th!!!! Dale's retirement day. Thank you all for following our 5 weeks of travels. We had the most wonderful vacation and can't wait for our "eternal" vacation! There is something to say about getting this old!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusterbin/1/1232412480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusterbin/1/1232412480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusterbin/1/1232412480/tpod.html Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:19:35 -0500 Home is on the Road

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Bouse, Arizona, United States

Before the sun was up this morning, we were off to Quartzsite to take in the Big Tent as it is lovingly called in all RV circles. We had been told how great this affair was for Rvers so an RVer must go see what all the hoop-la is about. As we turned onto Hwy 95 it didn't take us long to get in a long line of traffic. And it was only a quarter to eight in the morning. We found a parking space right off  behind Too Crazy Old Ladies (a place where two women cousins make signs and badges). We then walked over to our favorite eating place (Bad Boys) to have breakfast. They have a tarp like carport with a heater for tables and then outside seating too. Since it was still pretty cool, we chose the tent with the heater. Alas, the tables were occupied. Long tables with one or two people. A couple invited us to sit with them. We took one end of the table as they had the other end. We got to talking and guess what? Yup! They were from Grants Pass, OR, our hometown for the last 10 years. We got a big laugh out of that. It seems we were running into people all over the place from our neck of the woods. After they left, another group came in and took their seats. One lady sat down first so for the fun of it Dale asked her if she was from Oregon. Shock over came both of them because she was from Oregon and she didn't know how he knew and he didn't expect her to say YES! After breakfast, we wandered over to the Big Tent to see what everyone had been talking about. We were not impressed. Infact, we won't be telling anyone to attend this affair. We will be telling them to go to the Arizona Market in Yuma. Better stuff with better prices. We did purchase some LED light bulbs to the tune of $55 but they use less amperage and if we are going to do this boon docking thing this will help us with the solar energy. We also found a couple of businesses in the business of hiring work campers for campgrounds. We got some applications for next year. Getting paid while camping sounds soooo good to me. After the Big Tent, we went over to some other tents on West Main that we didn't go through previously. Oh, wait. We had to wait in line with all the other nuts trying to get into Quartzsite. It took forever to get where we were going and we regretted our stupid desire to go see yet again more yard sales. We had lunch at Carl's Jr. and that was another wait in line with me trying to get us a table. After lunch we took a side street that paralleled the road we needed to get on to get home and missed all the congestion at one of the main intersections of town. Terry and Kathy had moved out on the road to our home so we stopped to see them and their digs. My allergies were acting up so much and Kathy had an allergy pill that has helped a lot. Then on home to quiet and relaxation. Dale ran off to Happy Hour with the other two couples by us. I stayed home and played on the computer. It doesn't talk! We met with Bob, who is big into solar and teaching us how to use solar. We will probably go solar this year. If you have been reading Dale's website (www.rvecafe.com) you saw this picture. It isn't a very flattering photo of us. We look like hicks from the sticks! I will share it with you anyway, with, sigh, a red face. So that was our next to last day in Arizona. Tomorrow we hope to just stay put, take in a bike ride or hike and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. It will be very sad to leave this wonderful weather and fun to return to cold and every day life doing that awful four letter word - work.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusterbin/1/1232332080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusterbin/1/1232332080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusterbin/1/1232332080/tpod.html Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:47:55 -0500 Home is on the Road

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Bouse, Arizona, United States

We slept in a little today. The sun beat us up! We had to think about what to do today. A hot shower was on my schedule. Dale planned to go biking with the boys. I thought I would have some time to myself then! But along comes the neighbor lady asking me to walk with the girls. Of course, I said yes. So Morgan and I took off up the road with the girls and we walked about 4 miles today. There are so many roads here and washes one could easily get lost. It is a good idea to take the GPS. After we got back home and got some water in us, Terry and Kathy showed up on their motorcycle. They wanted to see where we were parked. They also brought some sad news. Their Shiloh dog was 12 years old and having seizures. The vet suggest that there really wasn't anything to help her, so she crossed over the doggie bridge. She will be missed, especially by Annie the cat! She loved visiting Shiloh this last summer. After they left, we turned on the TV to watch the Arizona Cardinals go for the championship and a place in the Super Bowl. We were happy when they won. Then it was time for happy hour up at the neighbors. It is really nice meeting other RVers and learning about this lifestyle from those who have been doing this thing for years. Barb made some carrot cake and we had a good time. This photo is from down in Quartzsite. Dale was vacuuming the truck out and thought he was going to vacuum a string. It turned out to be a walking stick. Fred offered his arm to take pictures. Good thing they don't bite. Tomorrow we are off to the big tent and more shopping. Yahoo....NOT. Oh, about that list of things to do today - threw that out the door.
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Bouse, Arizona, United States

Yep, more R and R. I was up early though catching a desert sunrise. God just so happened to throw some clouds in the sky to bring out the awesome colors light brings to them. The clouds are slowing moving west. Dale is off riding his bike with Bob the nearest neighbor and guru solar guy. I know they will have some fun and he can show Dale this country as he has been here longer than we have. Morgan stayed home, but keeps looking out the back window to see where her master is. She and I will go for a walk real soon. I am baking banana bread! I forgot about using applesauce instead of butter. Rats! We decided to go to the big tent event on Monday. I can't even imagine all the people who went on opening day - today! Kathy told us that the BLM land filled up fast as the big day approaced. ARGH. Too many people for us. Enjoy the sunrise. The last photo is the sunrise in the West - just a little pink!                     
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Bouce, Arizona, United States

Yep, it is true. Today hit 75 degrees out here in the Sonoran Desert! Yahoo! I was up around 8 a.m. and took a cup of tea and my bible outside and sat. The chair seat was hot by that time of day. Usually, at Quartzsite last week, one had to wear a coat and winter hat outside that early. So I just enjoyed the morning in the sun. Dale and I will take an Arizona tan back to Oregon. Dale took Morgan for a bike ride. Morgan was up and ready to go and had a hard time waiting for Dale to get everything together and on his bike. They were gone for about an hour and poor Morgan walked into camp, tongue hanging. She was panting so hard. We brought her in an let her drink a little water and tried to cool her off. One thing the desert doesn't have is a place to take a swim. So, no more bike rides for Morgan unless Dale gets out of bed very early to do so. The rocks here seem to be really sharp and compacted together and they hurt her pads. While Dale was bike riding, I finished reading a book I was in. "Dark of the Moon" by John Sanford. I'm a fan so it was a good read. After fixing lunch, we headed into town to buy eggs at the little country market. It was small. Then we took off on all the roads we could find just to see the area. Lot of dune buggying going on here. They even have the Parker 400 Race December through February here. I guess this race draws a lot of people to the area. We are having tuna casserole for dinner with a big salad. Then relaxing some more. I could get use to this, you know!!!
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Bouse, Arizona, United States

For the last few days we have been busy. Busy going, busy seeing, busy hiking, busy talking, and busy eating.Friends of ours showed up to stay a couple of days. Carole and Jack are in Arizona touring. After they got set up, Kathy, Terry, us and Jack and Carole went out to dinner. We found a "Mexican" restaurant. I use that word loosely. We thought something was wrong when we hear Oldie but Goodies on the radio instead of Mexican music we usually hear from our special Mexican restaurants at home.  The next day we hit the road to see the surrounding area and to meet up with a man who knows about solar as an alternative energy source for our rig when we boondock. The drive took us to Bouse (rhymes with house) about 25 miles north of Quartzsite. This town was started around General Patton's tank training. We also found a great place to camp for the rest of our vacation. Carole and I took a walk while the men talked, we came upon this gnarly cactus. He's been around for awhile. We stopped in Bouse to have lunch and had four choices of restaurants. We picked the one with the most cars - right - locals eat there so must be good. We had a variety of dishes, tuna sandwich, hamburger, chicken strips and a Denver omelet. Alas, Dale's was the only lunch that came out awful. Dale told us I could teach the cook how to make an omelet! Theirs was burned and they really did serve it! We then moved on to Hope. We took a loop around this area of Arizona back to Quartzsite. We had dinner together and said our good-byes as they were leaving on Wednesday morning. Wednesday, was laundry day. Not a day I or Kathy was looking forward to but one that was an absolutely necessary. We were blessed to get to the laundry and find 5 washers free. We got our laundry done at the same time, which was nice. Then off to Joyce's Crafts. She had most any craft you would want but we were interested in the monk cloth and patterns and card embroidery. That didn't stop us from looking at everything though. We returned home to have lunch and then take off to Palm Canyon south of Quartzsite. Palm Canyon is in the KOFA (King of Arizona) National Wildlife Refuge in the Sonoran Desert. We learned that Palm trees do not have rounds so you can tell how old they are. So the Palm trees in this canyon are over 100's of years old because they are native to Arizona. They are called Fan Palm trees. We drove on a very rutty dirt road to the parking lot just below the canyon. Then we had to hike up the mountain about one-half mile. We happened to do this hike on one of the hottest days in January. It was wonderful. I think it was the best day so far in Arizona this trip. We have been blessed with very warm days and little wind - except for the first dinner of our rally! On the way home to our rig, we were called and informed about dinner out with our Chapter at "The Best Mexican Food" restaurant. Eighteen of us went. Again, we had strange food. Well, not like what we get in Oregon. The one good thing about Arizona, the food is priced less than in Oregon. I guess I would rather have "good" food and higher prices! Today, Thursday, we took off early to get a free breakfast at La Mesa RV Sales and Service! Yes, you heard me right. Terry went the day before and said the pancakes were really good. So we gave it a try. It was fun. And the pancakes were good. They also served juice and coffee. While we were waiting for our pancakes in a long, long line, I asked the woman at the counter if she was a work camper. We had a nice discussion but in the end she didn't really know what a work camper was and got the job through a family member whose best friend's friend works there. It is all in "who you know." As we were walking out the door I came face to face with Jack and Lora! They worked at Howard Prairie with us a few years back and Lora and I have kept in contact. I was floored to see them in Quartzsite. They are living in Lake Havesu. They were down purchasing a Fleetwood Discovery coach and were excited about getting out of the "tunnel" coach they now have. Yep, they don't have any slides in their coach and are looking forward to 3 slides and more living space. I know we like our 3 slider 5th wheel. We got back to our rig, hitched up, said our goodbyes and headed for Bouse. We were excited to get out in the desert, away from everyone and just do some R and R time alone. We haven't had that yet all these days of our vacation. So far, we are truly blessed with a great spot, wonderful sunsets and Dale is urging me to go out to see the Arizona sky. It is completely dark here. So, see you later.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusterbin/1/1232079780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusterbin/1/1232079780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusterbin/1/1232079780/tpod.html Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:24:41 -0500 Home is on the Road

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Bouce, Arizona, United States

We have been so busy doing, seeing, talking and going that I haven't been on the Internet for a couple of days.
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Quartzsite, Arizona, United States

Today started early for us because of signing up for a "Ring Toss" competition. Although, I did sleep until 7:15 am. That is a first for this whole vacation! The RV was pretty warm this morning and I thought we had had a warm night. NOT! We both forgot to turn off the heater! Morgan and Annie enjoyed a warm sleep for the first time in too many days. Dale ran off to coffee and donuts at 8. I ambled over around 9 to get ready to toss those rings. The air was very cool, so I dressed in layers and ended up taking most of them off. God blessed us with a very warm day and hardly any wind. Yahoo! I got a cup of tea and a donut (shhhhhhh!) while they set up the game. Dale told me to lose so we wouldn't have to spend all day doing this. We won the first game against Kathy and Terry. Dale threw two 5 pointers on top of each other, plus more points to win the game. The second game we won with ease! Now to the play offs. Oh brother, did he say to lose! We were neck and neck with our opponents. They pulled ahead, leaving one of their washers right next to the 5 pointer hole. On my last washer to throw (I missed the holes with the first two) I took aim and shoved their washer into the hole, making them the first to make 21 points. They were brand new members to the Escapees and our chapter. Had to make them feel good! They went on to the finals and lost out to two guys. Now what was up with that. Every other team was male/female and two males win. We didn't get too hot under the collar about this fau pax (???) to not cause trouble. We didn't want to get these women roaring! Our loss left the window open to a walk with the dog. We took out over the desert, no one place our aim. Dale took his GSP in case we got lost. We only went 1/2 mile until we had to turn around to head back for lunch. So we got a mile in. Lunch was tri-tip sandwiches and chips. After lunch, we took off for town to get Morgan a bath and clip, ice cream (which turned out to be a mega cone), walked around tents we hadn't made it to, got some gas for the generator and then to meet our friends, Jack and Carol who came in from home. We then went off to dinner with Kathy and Terry and ended the day sitting around the campfire. Our rally ends in the morning.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusterbin/1/1231644300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusterbin/1/1231644300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dusterbin/1/1231644300/tpod.html Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:07:28 -0500 Home is on the Road

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Quartzsite, Arizona, United States

The winds have died down today, to about 11 mph. Just enough to keep the air cool, but the sun was out full force and a few feathery clouds floated through the blue sky. Today was breakfast by our hosts. They fixed us an omelet in a bag with ham, cheese and green onions. We were going to have a brunch breakfast, but they decided to fix it for us. Therefore, I had all these ingredients for a French Toast Souffle and I made it anyway and shared it with everyone. So I was up early, 5:45 to get it ready to bake. When I found out breakfast wasn't until 9 am, I went to sleep on our couch and slept so good. The room was warm by then. After breakfast we had a triathlon for old people. Wait a minute, we aren't old! We split up into teams S, K, and P - which stands for Escapee -SKP. Dale and I were on K team. Our first event was to take a patty mint and unwrap it and eat it with a knife and fork while wearing these huge, bulky gloves. There were 11 people on each team and the timing was for the whole team. We won that round. Our next event was the disc throw using plastic plates. Of course, Dale and I got a good ribbing because we won the cow pie toss at the September Rally - me the year before and Dale two times in a row. They added up the distances for each team members throw to determine the winnerI got lucky and the wind caught my plate to take it the top distance of all the teams which put us in first place. Yahoo, Gwen. NOT. Next, we had to stand in a line, spread our legs wide and . the back person had to throw a ball through the legs all the way to the front. Then the front person would run to the end of the line and start all over until everyone had thrown the ball once.We came in second.  So Team K won the triathlon and a bag of candy.  Then we took off for town to buy a flexible hose for the LP gas heater. Dale had decided to go ahead and buy the one we found a couple of days ago. While at the RV place, they were giving away a free hot dog and drink and had 6 good old boys playing their guitars and singing. We grabbed lunch and sat for 10 minutes to listen and went to Herbs Hardware to buy the hose at a $2 savings. Then we went to ice cream, toured the town and came home to cook stuffed green pepper casserole for potluck dinner tonight. I am here to tell you once again that Chapter 37 SKP members love their food and know how to cook. We had so many different dishes with only a couple being the same. Our favoriate was the sausage and kraut dish. Yummy. Doris made a cake and as always, her cooking is just downright sinful it is so good. As we were leaving dinner, the full moon came up over the KOFA Mountains and it was beautiful. Take a look. Kathy and I went to Donna's house to play cards and learned a new game called "Maneuver." It was fun and we had a good time chatting and sharing RV experiences. Another day down with a full day ahead tomorrow. Morgan gets a bath. Goodnight and hope your home is well and happy.
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Quartzsite, Arizona, United States

Boondocking takes practice and gaining lots of tips on how to preserve water, volts and not filling up the holding tanks. Boondocking is when you take your RV out and park it withouth hooking up to electricity, water or sewer. One does this to help the pocket book and spending any part of the income an RVer lives on. There is even a BOF of Escapees that boondock always. Some members brag that they have NEVER hooked up to anything. Dale and I have boondocked many times in short spurts. Now we are trying it for 14 days. Things that we are doing is gathering up the clean water that comes out of the spout while we wait for the hot water to start. We then use this in cooking and washing dishes. We take either birdie baths (we called them spit baths) or get in the shower and catch all the shower water in a oil pan Dale purchased. This water is put in the toliet instead of using the fresh water. Doing dishes can be a challenge, but we catch all the waste water in a dish pan and toss it in the bushes. We do have a generator that we use to charge up the batteries. Solar is in our dreams right now. We have an inverter that we can fire up the computers, internet and TV. But I need the generator to dry my hair or use my curling iron. We have two LP gas heaters we use so don't have to turn on the furnace. So far, we are going okay. An adventure! Today, Dale and I ran to the tents to pick up our badges and get some breakfast. At Too Crazy Ladies Dale found out he had forgotten his wallet - AGAIN! I had some cash so we went off to find breakfast. We found one that had delicious food. One has to be careful on which tent to pick for food! If you get my drift.After breakfast, Dale went to check out a TV arm to put on our internet dish and I walked to the local market. There are two markets in this town. Well, we call markets like the Mom and Pop down the street. This store was just a little bigger than one of those, but not big enough to call a food store. I bought some bread.                                                                                                   Dale and I returned home and I decided to stay here and he went off shopping. I knitted and took a nap. The wind has come up, about 25 mph and it was cool. Friends of our came all the way from Southern California and visited for a couple of hours. It was good to see them but Morgan got a lovely surprise. River and Harley, two Jack Russells she fell in love with this summer came too. They ran all around our area barking and having fun. Tonight was dinner provided by the hosts of the rally and everyone brought a side dish. It was windy and we had to bunch up and pull an RV up for a wind breaker. Yet, with all that, we ate and ran back to our rigs. This weather sure puts a damper on a good party. So here we are, me in my pj's and Dale working on his web site watching TV and listening to the wind whistling around us, rocking and rolling the rig. It will be a wild sleep tonight.
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