Ahhaaaaaaa! Warm cascades of clean fresh water for as long as we wish. In case you hadn’t guessed, we have reached Las  Vegas and, again, have full hook-ups!  This is the nicest place we have stayed since starting our adventure.  Vegas goes all out when it comes to luxury and this LVM Resort is no exception.   Until today, our home site in The Woodlands got top billing as the best RV Resort but LVM Resort takes it up a notch.

Got to laugh at their garbage cans…big fancy plant pots!

Our neighbor feeds the birds.  If you have ever cleaned bird poop off your car, you know that you don’t want to hang over your RV from a ladder cleaning white dried up poop…but the hummingbirds were a delight to watch.

On the way up we passed through the Mojave Desert and several areas where strip mining was very noticeable.  Seemed that there were as many negative mining bill boards as positive.  I was really shocked to see the thick layer of smog blanketing the city.  It wasn’t noticeable when we used to fly in yearly during the summer for the conference.  So we traded dust for smog.

Spent the day getting the grime and grit washed off us, the dogs, Ribbit and LilyPad.  Slight detour to Johnnie Walkers RV Repair to get one of our slides fixed as the hammer was not our choice of methods for our upcoming stay in Alaska.  Driving over huge rocks and possibly off-roading resulted in new tires for Ribbit.  The rest of the week is ours to relax, see shows, relax, go to dinner, relax…you get the idea.

We leave tomorrow for Vegas.  Got our four solar panels put on this morning and went to the RV show again this afternoon with the pups.  They enjoyed all the attention.  Mutt and Jeff, Schwarzenegger and DeVito, Boxer and baby…they really didn’t care what you called them as long as you kept up the love.  They both acted like perfect ladies, no snacks off the ground and glued to our sides as they worked their way through the crowds.

Back at the LilyPad we set up for the night, bid adieu to our Tiffin family and headed out to have one more pizza at Silly Al’s (picture compliments of TripAdvisor) before turning in for the night.   You cannot put into words the experience of Quartzsite, AZ nor will you find the words to explain what it is like to sit at Silly Al’s eating pizza and people watching.  Portland Weird, San Francisco Hippies, Freak Show, One Flew Over The Coo Coo’s Nest,  A Few Loose Screws, Queer as a Two Dollar Bill come to mind but don’t sum up the mixture of human diversity sprinkled liberally with crusty, dusty desert and old cologne.  We stayed for the Karaoke and heard mostly old timers and one exceptionally strong melody from a young lady.  Couldn’t get up the nerve to take pictures but stranger than Fiction sums it up pretty well.

Boiled egg bags for breakfast.  Who’d a thunk! Just put everything you want in your omelet in the heavy duty zip lock bag, add beaten eggs, boil in water for 13 minutes and poof…breakfast!  How on earth did you, oh superior fearless Girl Scout Leader Karen, not know about these?   Makes cooking in an RV, especially when boon docking, so much easier and the clean-up is a snap.

Mack the Fire Guy came to our camp after breakfast and told us of the fire dangers of RV living.  Didn’t totally scare us to death but did make it clear that if you don’t plan an escape and make sure your emergency exits work, you may never find out if you can get out.  Again, good to know.  Now I know where the propane turn off valve is, I know which windows swing out, how to put out a fire properly and what to take when there is a fire.  So it’s true… you are never too old to learn.  Actually, that’s all I’ve been doing since September, learning how to work things I never thought I would want or need.  Didn’t know I had any open space left in my brain that wasn’t already filled after all these years…guess I was wrong!

Went to the RV show this afternoon.  One thing about RVers…they are Patriotic, and the capital “P” was no typo.  Every group we have been with says the pledge, a prayer and recognizes those who served.  One out of three have a huge US flag flying over their RV’s.  All are proud of their country and not afraid to show it.  We will be picking up our 22 foot pole and US flag tomorrow afternoon.

Went off-roading in Ribbit this morning and took the pups.  Drove down very dusty county roads then onto a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) road, then set out on foot over Tyson Wash to view the “grind holes” (areas in the rock where the Indians ground their grains) and some faint pictographs.  Both pups loved being out loose and exploring the area.  As we left the area, rude four wheelers wouldn’t even wave to us as they passed.  Guess they didn’t consider us part of their crowd…but we showed them!  No way can you call our Woodlands Rich Bitch Car a woosie now!

Relaxing social pot luck dinner tonight.  They held a drawing and John won the big prize, a $100.00 certificate for Camping World…guess some of that good Karma is coming back to him.  Sure hope it holds out till we get to Vegas next week!

Today is wash day.  When you boon dock you don’t take a shower every day and you don’t do laundry in the rig unless you can drive your rig over dirt roads to the potable water area and then to the dump area.  A lot of work is involved in pulling up so no one does it more than weekly.  Yes, all us women really miss our daily showers but in the interest of true boon docking, we put up with it and do the wash cloth thing.  John and I decided we really needed a shower so we drove to the Flying J Trucker stop, armed with our spray can of Lysol, a package of germ wipes and flip flops, to take a nice hot shower.  I will be forever grateful to the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts as their camping experiences taught us tricks to survive showers in less than optimal situations.

While in town, we ran across so many wrinkled, leather skinned, long grey haired and bearded old prospectors that I felt like I was viewing a scene from my history books back in grade school.  This town is mostly a tent city and it’s amazing that so many people come here and survive throughout the winter.

Tonight is our first Official Tiffin get together although most of us have met during the last few days.  We are an eclectic group of retired and semi-retired couples, most of us toting our four legged family members, and gathering to enjoy life to the fullest.  “Ruff” and Tiziana, our hosts and fearless leaders, have organized the gathering and are a wealth of knowledge to those of us who are just getting started as full-timers.  It is truly a “family” affair and anyone having a problem with their coach is soon surrounded by those that have “been there-done that” resulting in solutions to almost any RV problem.

“Meet n greet” dinner tonight.  Question of the day…what does toss baseball, watching beautiful desert sunsets, drinking fine wine and being surrounded by fun loving retiree’s all have in common?  I don’t have a clue but we all had one heck of a good time doing it until far after the sun went down.

I am beginning to understand the allure of full-timing.  It’s not just the freedom to go wherever, whenever…It’s the company of the people you meet along the way.  It is being a part of the thousands of fun loving vagabonds, rolling along the highways and back-roads with the entire USA as their playground.  We are truly blessed and life is good.

Breakfast at Denny’s…love their Senior Fit Fare Omelet!   Decided to make it a dog day again even though the dogs got to go to the dog park yesterday.  Took both pups to Saguaro State Park.  The drive up was full of twists and turns and everywhere you look are cactus of every size and shape, rocks and sandy soil.  The park itself is flat and pebbly with lots of dirt roads and Saguaro cactus everywhere.  The cactus species is Saguaro but I’m sure the technical term is big ass cactus!

We watched a movie about the delicate balance of this area.  Hard to believe that cactus need a delicate balance of anything.  We were very careful to keep the dogs on the cement paths as we didn’t want a repeat of years ago when our dog TyTy jumped out of the car and caught a snout of cactus thorns when we stopped in Joshua Tree National Park.   John found out that the cactus that jumped out and bit him years ago is called a Teddy Bear Cactus.   It’s a furry thing that is very deceiving and not cuddly at all.

John mentioned that there were pictographs at Signal Mountain in Saguaro State Park and I had to see them.    Dogs were not allowed on the trail so John stayed with the pups and I climbed up the rocks and got some great shots.  There are lots of crawly things in this desert, some I like, some I don’t, so I stopped every 50 steps or so to listen to make sure nothing with sharp teeth was getting too close.  Half way up I saw pictographs and there were a few more at the top.  I also passed several signs notifying me of what might be lurking behind cactus or under rocks but I had my trusty cane with me so I was prepared.

One thing about owning a house out here, no one has to worry about yard work.  No grass anywhere, sand or rocks in front and back yards and if it’s not cactus, it’s something in the same family.  I’ve never seen so much earth tone in my life.  Quite a change from the constant green shades of The Woodlands.

Tucson has had colder temperatures than Alaska while we were here…20 degrees at night while John has been walking the dogs.  Perfect practice!

Woke up late today and headed towards New Mexico to get the tow chain loops re-welded.  The owner was so nice and the charge was pocket change. Wow, was John ever lucky.  Had it been expensive he might have had to hear about it for weeks!   We walked a few blocks waiting for the welder to finish and found a really small gun and ammo shop to slip into and warm up.  Didn’t hear English until we checked out and the place was crowded.  Didn’t dare take pictures!  Made me glad we are picking up my Grandfather’s shot gun from my cousin…seems like everyone close to the border carries.

As we were driving home we passed miles and miles of orchards on both sides.  Just a few miles after the orchards there were miles and miles of cattle stock yards.  The smell was overwhelming even with the inside filter on.  Glad we were only passing through.

When we returned to the LilyPad, just as I predicted and of course I let John know about it, we ended up re-buying several things we had donated.  Included in the list were large batteries, a refrigerator fan, extra towels for wet dogs and some lite weight shoes for rainy days.  I keep reminding John that retirement means not working and not working means no big paycheck…of course that all changes when I want something.

Another travel day.  The dogs are getting used to stopping along the roads and having new sniffies each time we stop.  Millie doesn’t give it a thought, but KatieBug pulls hard in the direction of the RV when she is finished with her business.  We chose Highway 90 for most of the way to El Paso.  Now I know why they put up fences on the road sides.  I have not seen that many tumble weeds since watching that spooky episode of, I believe it was the Twilight Zone.  Of course we were again near Mexico and we passed by some strange sights along the way.  A blimp in the middle of nowhere that was part of the U.S. Air Force at Marfa.  Old decrepit buildings that looked like they were left over from a nuclear testing site and with the walls ripped open, you can see that they really are made from adobe.  I’ve never seen so many trucks moving along so fast both coming at us and moving away.

When we arrived in El Paso at our RV park, it was a big gravel parking lot with nice wide and long spaces.  Not exactly the hotel atmosphere I would have chosen had we just come for vacation but fine for two nights.  The wind blows hard here so we had to slide in our long kitchen area… but there is still plenty of room.  Another “real life” day of shopping, finding a welder to fix Ribbit’s tow chain connection, getting laundry done and planning our menu for the rally next week.

The internet is so slow.  Loading pictures takes forever.  I’ve got to admit…I’m not as patient as I used to be.  Oh, wait a minute…I was never patient.  Guess that’s something I’ll have to work on sometime in the future.