Long time no see...

Let's see...The last night of our trip down we stayed at an interesting place along the Colorado River between Needles and Blythe, CA. It was a mix of permanently installed single wide mobiles, double wide mobiles, park models, and RVs. The section for temporary visitors is along one end of a large field they call "The Golf Course". No course, no holes, no sign of a golf course, but that's what they call it. The place looks like it was built in the forties or fifties and has passed its heyday. It being winter, many of the residents were not there. You can buy a house and a boat for $30,000, so if you're looking for a retirement spot, this might be it.

There is an old red barn in the middle of the place, and that's where the community gatherings are held. Next on the schedule was a broadcast of UFC. They have a llittle store and a 3 seat counter at the grill and that's also where the office is. No internet there. Pretty much no there there. It was very quiet and we had an unobstructed view of the mountains across the road. It was a spectacular sunset that night and it was so quiet there, it felt like the sunset was just for us.

Lots of the homes have boats and atvs or battered jeeps parked in the carports. One of the homes has a huge Budweiser sign in the front window. The people who were in residence were mostly retirees. Quite a few of the places were for sale. It was a bit shabby and a bit rundown, although it was as clean as things can be in the desert. Most places had a beat up truck trailering personal watercraft. Even tho we called it Bubbaville, we would stay again, I think. We certainly had an undisturbed night. There are so many stars when there are no other lights! It was beautiful. We got to watch a flock of quail for a while. They are such busy birds.

Then we arrived at Betty Jean's the next afternoon and the Christmas fun commenced. We had a most enjoyable time with the family, fairly laid back and relaxing. We enjoyed the sunshine and thought it was hot although the Arizona people went around wearing jackets! They thought it was cold. At 67 degrees and sunny, it was hot for us and cold for them. Funny, isn't it?

Yesterday, we left Betty and Ron's and traveled to our current campground, Verde Valley Thousand Trails. It's near the town of Cottonwood, which is a very old place. We are out in the country in a canyon. It's another place where there are lots of stars at night. The trip out here was nice, lots of good scenery, pictures of which are all on Ray's computer for now. We saw a coyote just outside of Florence, AZ. The primary employer there seems to be the State, as there are both a prison and a detention center. The coyote was well furred and well fed and seemed perfectly at home with the traffic and people.

For a time in late afternoon, we sat out in our lawn chairs on the little lawn between our rig and the next space, which was empty last night and is now full of a 5th wheel. We sat out there until it got chilly and we got hungry. It was so relaxing and so beautiful. We have a good view of the canyon walls from our site. Norman seemed to enjoy the grass and relaxation too. No cats within sight or smell, so he rested and kept watch while we enjoyed sun, sky and scenery.

After supper we watched a few episodes of "Firefly" and went to bed. It was so quiet and so dark, we went right to sleep. Sometime during the night the heat pump quit and it went down to 49 inside but it was 29 outside for a low, and our bed is nice and warm, so we weren't bothered. And when Ray got up, he switched the gas furnace on and by the time he woke me up, the mh was warmed up. Norman was curled into a tight ball in the corner of the couch. But he's furry and I am not worried about him freezing.

And now we're here in the lodge using the internet and finally updating the blog. I am going to miss the sun. It was hard to leave Tucson. We both wanted so badly to stay. Permanently. Ray said he'd call his boss and retire that minute. But, it's still a bit early for that, so back to the rain we go. We have checked the weather forcast for Seattle. It is not encouraging, but it is January and to be expected. In fact, rain is to be expected for another 6 months or so. I'll miss the sun.