Entertaining Ourselves

When you realize you've made a mistake, make amends immediately. 

It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm

Once we got the chill of the morning on Friday past us, it was a beautiful day.  The sun was out and there was ever so slight a breeze.  It was close to a perfect winter day in the desert.

I had mentioned in my last blog that there were two things going on at this park that I wanted to go to but they were both on the calendar for the same time and in the same place.   As it turned out, we didn't really do either.   First of all, I wanted to check out the beading that was scheduled for 10:00.  Then, we both wanted to play cribbage with the group.  We used to play cribbage but it had been a long time ago so we thought we would go and re-learn how to play. As it turned out there were only two ladies beading and no one was playing cribbage.  Oh, the cribbage board was there and we were told to play.  Huh?  We don't remember how.  Even the person in charge wasn’t there ….. so back to the motorhome to entertain ourselves.

We rarely have a problem entertaining ourselves though.  We’re pretty good at that.  Instead of playing cribbage or watching them bead, we loaded our ATVs on the trailer and headed to the BLM to ride. 

 

The BLM is only a short 4 or 5 miles from where we are currently parked.  Once unloaded and after my video camera was connected, we headed due east through the area.  The pictures on this blog are just screen shots from the video. There are so many trails and so many places to explore out there.  The BLM actually has a map of trails in the area.   This was just a scouting trip but next time we go we'll pick up a map since we'll probably do a bit of riding between now and February.

We did stop and say “hello” to our friends, Dave and Millie.  However, our timing wasn’t really too good.  They had been napping and we came a knocking.  Oops …. sorry, Dave.  Hope you were able to continue your zzzzzs after we left.

We also weren't the only one out riding.  We passed a couple others on the trails and more yet closer to the campsites.  Needless to say, we were a tad dusty when we returned.  It's also amazing how tired you can be from just taking a ride but we were.

Quartzsite has it's own yacht club.  We hadn't eaten there yet so decided to give it a try.  It only seemed fitting that if we were eating at a yacht club we should have fish.  That, we did.  Their fish and chips were only $6.99 and pretty darn good.

Terry’s getting a little antsy to get on the road north.  I’m  holding him back with a tether.  Not so sure when we’ll depart but we’re still watching weather.  There is definitely snow in that forecast.

‘Tis just life on the road.

Checking in at Quartzsite

Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey.

The big wind storm passed through Quartzsite on Thursday.   With the winds taking a break on Friday, the 136 mile drive was an easy one especially after we got out of the Phoenix area.  We actually didn’t get on our way until close to noon but we weren’t in any hurry.  The only plans we had were just to get settled.

Quartzsite hasn’t started to rock and roll yet with the big influx of RVs and people.  It will though in about four more weeks.  There are a few vendors and more and more keep coming in. The traffic isn’t bad yet but it will be.  The lines aren’t too bad either but they also will be soon.  It’s not that the town is empty.  It certainly is not.  It’s just not bulging at the seams yet.

Price of unleaded fuel in the Phoenix area averaged between $3.19 and about $3.24 a gallon. Gas isn’t that cheap in “Q”.  After all, it’s their high season and they want to pull in all the cash they can. The  price on Main Street in “Q”?  Well, two stations are selling it for $3.35.  Just down the street there is a Pilot Station at $3.23.  Obviously, that’s the place to stop.  A Love's is just around the corner but we haven’t checked that out yet.

After moving into our site and setting up, we drove the two short miles into the center of town. We were off to the Best Mexican Restaurant.  We had eaten at this restaurant several times in the past. However, the Mexican restaurant was no longer in business. In it’s place was Q-Town Café. The parking lot was packed and the people just kept coming. Menu prices were reasonable, service top notch and my barbecued ribs were some of the best I’d ever had.

Shopping with the vendors in town can be a fun experience.  You can find just about everything for sale.  However, the local stores start marking their products up about this time of year.  High season is short lived here..  Many of the businesses and even the RV parks close down during the summer months.  This is it.  They’ve got to make a profit.  That profit hopefully will see them through until the RVers start coming back again in the fall.

On the first Saturday of each month there is a huge craft fair in Quartzsite.  We wanted to check it out.  However, we also wanted to check out the breakfast offered at the park first.  You’ve got to admit that $3.00 is a great price for breakfast.  The park volunteers were cooking and it appeared as though everyone in the park was eating there.  The menu consisted of french toast, bacon, strawberries, orange jucie and coffee.  Not a bad deal for $3.00, huh?

Then, it was off to check out the craft fair.  We had seen lots of  spinners made from soda and beer cans but nothing like these.  I guess each year new ideas come out and some of the trinkets get better.  These were double spinners for $20 each or you could buy a quad one for $30.

We escaped the craft fair without bags of stuff.  Matter of fact, no purchases were made by us.

Here’s a new item to Quartzsite.  It’s the RV Caddy.  This little caddy has a dual purpose.  It can be used as an RV dump and also fill your fresh water tank.  There are two separate compartments in the caddy.  You can rent it from the vendor in town and do it yourself for $35 or you can have the vendor empty your tanks and fill you up with fresh water.  The price for that is $35 also.  It takes about a half hour to completely empty and fill your rig so the reason for the price appearing to be the same is that they figure you could do two RVs in that rental hour.

Saturday the winds started blowing again. It seems the storm that brought the big winds also had other winds behind it plus much cooler weather. We had planned on doing a few things but all we got in was a short ATV ride and a few vendor stalls. It was downright chilly!! 

Bring on the sun!!

'Tis just life on the road.

Happy Birthday to Me

 

The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune.  - English Proverb

Saturday we took our last ride in the desert at the base of the Superstition Mountains. It had been fun riding in this area.  However, on this day the ride was a little different for us since it had rained the day before.  Some of the trails were a little muddy.  

Notice the difference in tires. 

Guess which one is mine and which one is Terry’s. 

Guess who cleans the ATVs when we return from a ride.

Riding in the mud was so much fun!

After our ride, we loaded the ATVs on our trailer for departure Sunday morning.  It always feels good to be on the road again.  We weren’t going far but we were moving again.  That nomad spirit sure doesn’t take a rest for very long.

Our drive wasn’t far.  After saying goodbye to our neighbors we pulled out of the park for our 41 mile move down the road.  Since departure day was Sunday, traffic was very light.  When we arrived at our new site, we were thrilled to discover that only three other RVs were there.  We loved that.  It’s so unlike parking lot RV parks.

Monday we’re finally celebrating my REAL birthday.  I’ve been celebrating the birthday for about a month now.  Remember my surprise birthday party last month?   That was when all the celebrating started.   It started with an ATV outing with the “kids”.  They used that as an excuse for a surprise birthday party.  It was fun and it was wonderful.  

Then, a couple weeks later I posted that Terry and I did a little birthday shopping too. 

This was another early birthday present.

We didn’t intend on being anywhere close to a shopping mall over the holiday weekend.  We HATE to fight the crowds and even hate standing in lines more.  However, we did have a couple things to return to Harbor Freight and we just happened to pass Joann’s Fabrics.  Thus, we had to stop.  I had a couple 50% off coupons.  After all, my birthday was just around the corner.  I had to buy me something.  Well, actually, Terry is the one who stood in that long line and bought them. You can guess by the purchase that I’m hoping to get my sewing machine back from the shop soon.

This is what WE bought ME as more birthday presents.

Our plans for the day?   Well, we’re meeting our friends, Jim and Sandie, on Monday for brisket and ribs.  Nummy. 

Happy Birthday to Me!  Happy Birthday to Me! 

(And, many more)

**  Also, Monday is “D” Day for the Dahls!  Congratulations on the closing!!

Back to the Shop … again?

, 

A hobby a day keeps the doldrums away.

Don’t ask  me if I’m a little annoyed.  Just figure that I am.  My sewing machine went in the shop  on Monday the 7th because of a chipped bobbin plate.  While there I figured it was time to just have the machine serviced  … MISTAKE!   I picked it back up a week later on the 14th.  It went back in the shop on the 15th because now it had misaligned embroidery. I picked it back up another week later on the 23rd.   Machine could hardly sew.  Red lights flashed everywhere when turned on.   Obviously, they readjusted it but didn’t test it.  It went back in the shop on the 24th.  Hopefully, the third time will be the charm.  All this wasted time and no projects finished. One more time and I’m buying a new machine.  Just don’t tell Terry ‘ cuz then I’d have to say he was right since he told me to do that three weeks ago.

Even though the park we are at is a mecca for ATV riders in that it borders miles and miles of state land, we have discovered that it’s actually not quite right for us.  We’ve been able to do a lot of riding. We’ve met some really nice people.  That part has been good.  What we have discovered is that anything other than riding we want to do, any part we need to pick up or any place we want to see is a long ways off.  We figure the extra gas we've had to buy for our vehicle just to get back and forth to town has made our stay here pretty darn expensive. The park is nice and would work great for folks who like to stay put.  Obviously, that just doesn’t work too well for us. So, very soon it’s going to be ………….. on the road again.

<<  Check out the sign on the back of this car.

We had our Thanksgiving dinner in a very unique setting.  It’s not that we didn’t have other places to go or hadn’t received invitations to share a meal with friends or at the park.  We just decided to do something different.  This is what we wanted to do.  We’re eating our turkey dinner under a cactus.  Yes …. we had the trimmings but since we didn’t have a table with us, we could only handle one food item at a time.  Now who else can say they’ve done this?

This is one of the camera mounts we moved to the back of our ATVs. We have two mounts and can just change the camera back and forth to take turns depending on who is starring in the next video.

We are learning a lot of things about ATV riding.  However, we have had our share of little "mishaps".    I took out a mesquite tree heading back on Thursday.  The trail we were on had three fast dips.  I was going a little too fast to maneuver them and stay on the road.  Needless to say, I crashed into it. Ouch!

Terry learned he can't drink and drive.   He rode over a small bush while trying to down a Pepsi.

‘Tis life on the road.

This is Quartzsite

A closed mouth gathers no foot.
.

 

Even though a few hundred RVs have already moved into Quartzsite for the winter, it’s not going to be long until thousands more start showing up.   After all, this is definitely the place to be in January.  This is Retirement City USA.   Everyone else is there!   Well, almost everyone else.  We’re not there yet.

Saturday rolled around and that was the day we had written in ink that we were going to take a scouting trip to Quartzsite. The ink only dried, of course,  when we were actually in the Jeep and on our way there.  We figured it’d be about a 2 1/2 hour drive each way …. give or take another hour or two depending on the number of red lights we hit getting out of "Dodge" and traffic through Phoenix.
.

The little town of Quartzsite comes alive and expands at the seams when all the snowbirds start heading south  in their little house on wheels.  During January there is no vacancy at the RV parks in town and the BLM land around it overflows with boondockers.  I'm certain by now you know what boondocking at the BLM is.  It's staying on public land without hookups.  Most RVers are pretty well set up for this before they decide to commit for any long term stay without hookups.  They have generators, batteries and an inverter.  Some RVers have even installed solar panels or wind generators to charge their batteries.  Folks have gone to great extremes to be able to stay for months at places just like this without having to move into a full hookup park.  If you drive around the BLM area, you will also notice that many places look like plots of land.  Rocks have been collected and positioned just like ranchers do with a fence.  PFC pipe and tarps are used to expand the size of the patio and provide protection from the wind.  It's definitely quite a place to be.
.

We had driven through this desert oasis many times. Our first stop in an RV was January 2009, then in 2010 and again in 2011. There’s just something exciting about being where all this activity is. However, come February, we’re usually more than ready to pull out and go someplace else but it always feels good to spend a little time in Quartzsite where everything and everybody is at.
.

The first year we visited Quartzsite we had never boondocked before but had made plans to meet a group of about 15 other RVs in the BLM. We weren’t really equipped for this.  We had two 12-volt batteries, a very noisy portable generator and no inverter.  Every time we wanted “electricity” we had to go outside and start the generator.  What did we do?  We booked a park in Quartzsite for the month of January with the idea that we could go back and forth.  Once we met the group, we discovered it was much more fun to be in the BLM with them than stay in the park by ourselves.  We learned a lot.  By the following year we had changed rigs, had an on-board generator plus a smaller Honda 2000, four 6-volt batteries and an inverter.   We’re still way behind lots of folks but this probably is the extent we need to be.  Oh, we do have a blue boy for the dump and now even a water bladder.  So, are we ready or what?
.

After the holidays more and more vendors will start putting up temporary storefronts.  We also discovered that some merchants raise their prices during this time.  At one local grocery, we noticed two price stickers on canned goods.  You might imagine that your price is not the lower of the two.   It’s definitely the place to be but you might consider stocking up with groceries and other necessities before you head that way. The necessities are expensive but the toys are pretty cheap.

. 

The reason for this trip was not to stay but to actually look around and try to figure out what we want to do and where we want to go.  Well, we also wanted to say "hello" to Dave and Millie who had already arrived for the winter.
.

The place isn’t overflowing yet with vendors. It will be very soon.  We did hear that more vendors have signed up this year than last.  That's good news. What we are trying to decide is whether we should stay in Gold Canyon or go ahead and move to Quartzsite.  Then, we have another decision if we do.  Should we go out to the BLM  or move into an RV park there.  Decisions, decisions and there are pros and cons with each one.  You might guess that one of the major considerations is about the ATVs. There is one park in town that has an active ATV club. If we move there, we might be able to eavesdrop on some of the conversations regarding great places to ride.  Even though we wouldn’t be there in January, we might just learn a thing or two.  However, there are also many, many ATVs in the BLM.  Well, at least we don’t have to make the decision on where to go today.  Thank goodness.
.

There are several different places people can pull into on the BLM land around Quartzsite.  Some places parking is totally free as long as the boondockers move 25 miles down the road after a 14 day stay.  There are other areas where there is a fee. However, who can really complain about the fee?  You can stay 14 days for $40 or purchase a 6 month pass for $180.  This 6 month pass is good at many other BLM areas and not just around Quartzsite.  It can be used in the Yuma area, Lake Havasu and even at the ever so popular Hot Springs LTVA .... remember that one? It even has hot springs right on the BLM!

.

Hot Springs LTVA  -  Our 2011 trip

 Boondocking at LaPosa South is especially popular because large trash bins, fresh water and an RV dump is available.  The line at these facilities can get mighty long in January if your timing isn’t right.  Last year we had a perfect spot.  It was close enough to the facilities that we could watch the line.  Being close to those facilities certainly has an advantage. 

Even though most vendors hadn’t set up yet, there were still quite a few ready to make some sales. We always enjoy checking out the local consignment shop. You just never know what might be in there. We weren't disappointed on Saturday either. The shop was already set up and it appeared that business was booming. We even contributed to the daily sales total by purchasing a 45 gallon water bladder. It was the same one we had already planned on purchasing from Camping World within the next few days. Evidently someone bought it, didn’t use it and wanted some cash for it. We snatched it up and saved about $35 on the purchase! Aren't bargains fun?
.

This is the famous Millie!

Dave and Millie were just where they said they would be. Well, it actually wasn’t that easy. We had to hunt them down and then they had to find us. Do you get the picture? After a few hours eating a late lunch at the Palo Verde Restaurant together in town, we solved all the world’s problems. The meal was fantastic but not as great as the company we got to enjoy. It was certainly nice visiting again. I have a feeling we’ll be doing a bit more of that over the next few weeks or should I say couple of months? In January we expect a whole gang of people we know to start showing up. It'll definitely be a fun, fun month. Maybe, I shouldn't have used the word "gang" but again, maybe that's a good description after all.

Last year --- our dinner with Dave and IYQ (aka Lee) in Quartzsite

We arrived back at our own little home on wheels well after dark.  It was a long day but a fun day.  Now we have to think about those decisions we still need to make.  We're leaning both ways.

‘Tis life on the road.

Gadgets for “Q” and Filly’s

Everyone is a friend, until they prove otherwise. 

I remember a couple of years ago when we had our first winter visit to Quartzsite.  It was amazing all the neat little gadgets you could pick up from one or twelve of the hundreds of vendors there.  We actually discovered some of these little gadgets were a necessity.  Well, knowing that we were soon going to be heading in that direction I picked up a few more little gadgets from the sale bin at Harbor Freight.  Check out the $2 bargain headlamps.  You might think this is funny but it’s not.  When there before all of us bought the little led lights that attached on your cap to make the nightly path to and from the campfire a little easier to see.

I also found another little $2 LED light that could easily be hung on Duchess’ leash for night time outings.  I wasn’t through with my finds though.  Check out this magnesium fire starter for $1. Now I know it probably isn’t as good as one of those butane BBQ fire lighters but heck for the price, why not give it a try?  Besides that was a well spent $1 ‘cuz we were helping out the local economy.  Will we find these things at “Q” cheaper?  Well, maybe but with bargains like this, I didn’t want to chance it.

I wasn’t through with gadgets from the dollar-ish table.   A few times we found that we needed to siphon water from one place to another.  Perhaps, we’d need to do that again. Or, maybe we’ll want to siphon gas from the Jeep and fill a gas tank for the quad or a generator.  There’s nothing like being prepared.

Terry also found some little treasures of his own but his treasures meant he had to do some work on the trailer.  At least with my little finds there was no work required and only a place to stash them until we get down to our next destination.

 

In addition to that the real reason we went to Harbor Freight was to pick up a ramp to load our Vinson ATV on the trailer.  Now that we had all the work done on the trailer so we could side load one of the ATVs, we still needed to get a ramp to actually get it on the trailer.  This is the great ATV ramp we found down there at a great price. We did discover that the width needed a little tweaking.  However, that's the easy part.  The hard part was finding the ramp at the price we wanted to pay.

After our bargains, we just had to take another ride.  We just had to.  I think I enjoy the rides even more than Terry does.    It’s peaceful and there isn’t a lot of traffic or red lights on the trails.  The desert really is beautiful.  However, we did see one thing that we didn’t like.  Someone dumped a load of old tires out there.  Ugh!

We were back to Filly’s Roadhouse on Thursday night for our favorite duo in the area – Brant and Kerry.  Those guys really are fantastic.  We love listening to them and we love going to the places they perform.  Of course, the singing was fantastic but the company was even better. We met Jim and Sandie there.

  

Friday we're off for a long ATV ride up to the Superstition Mountains with a group.  Later in the evening we have reservations at the Arizona Opry.  We’ve always wanted to go there so we finally we will get a chance to.  The problem with coming to this area later in the season and wanting to go is that all the seats are usually booked.  That’s not the case this time of year.

Saturday?  It’s a weekend and we’re taking a little trip to Quartzsite .... maybe.  Well, not to stay but just for a visit.  We rarely get bored and I bet you've already figured that one out.

‘Tis life on the road.

Back to the Shop

Don't tell me worry doesn't help. Whenever I really worry about something it never happens.

One of the outback shots from my little ATV video camera.  Gorgeous scenery is to be enjoyed.

How many times do you read the directions that come with your new toys?  Sometimes I do and other times I don’t.  Sometimes that works out and other times not so much.  The latter was more the case with the new little trail GPS which had unfamiliar waypoints.  I didn’t read the directions.  After all, how many years have we had a GPS??  They are a snap .... or so I thought.   After we had the new trail GPS mounted on the quad, we hit the desert to try it out.  I have discovered a trail GPS is totally (and I mean totally) different than the kind of GPS units you use in your vehicles.

Terry and I rode about ten miles Monday.  By the time we got so far out, all the land markers disappeared.   Thank goodness I have a good sense of direction and knew which way the RV park was or we might have ended up in Flagstaff.  I certainly couldn’t figure out how to read or even route the GPS.    Obviously before we depend on it again, I’ll resort to reading those directions and figuring it out.

 
Terry couldn't decide which flag he wanted so now he has both -- US Navy and the pirate flag ---- >>

I was so thrilled that my sewing machine would be ready for pickup on Monday.  After all, I have projects that need finishing.  The receipt indicated it had been given a “complete sewing machine overhaul”.   I was anxious to try it out. The stitching worked fine and the new bobbin plate was perfect.  However, the embroidery stitching was out of sync.  It was totally misaligned.  So …. back to the repair shop it had to go.  Now how disgusting is that?  At least we kept it long enough so that I could tweak the little flags for Terry’s quad before the shop got it back.

There's never a dull moment with us.  We still had other things that needed to be done.  So on Monday we also dropped off our trailer to have it enlarged.  Remember we bought the trailer then the second quad and not the other way around.  The two quads we have now didn’t fit the trailer.  Thus, we needed to have a little creative welding done.  We had taken pictures, measured and drew up what we wanted.  Tuesday we got to see the finished product.   R & G Welding did a fantastic job of enlarging the front with removable sides and adding a back plate for a storage container.  Just in case you ever need it and are in the area, they also install tow packages and brake systems for RVs and toads at great prices.

The weather is gorgeous in Arizona right now so we have options on outside things to do.  We can either take a long quad ride checking out more Arizona scenery, visit North Ranch or we can do laundry and entertain Duchess. We might even fill up our propane tanks.  I think we're down to the fumes. It's early in the day so decisions haven't been made yet .... well, other than that we're meeting the Dixons this evening to scope out more entertainment in the area. 

‘Tis life on the road!

Hanging Out Around Apache Junction

By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he's too old to go anywhere.

 

We’ve been a little busy the last few days.  We weren’t really doing a heck of a lot but it always seems we’ve got something going on or something that needs to be done. 

One thing we wanted to do on one of those busy days was return to the huge Mesa Swap Meet but it’s only open on the weekends. I bought some material there a week ago and wanted more of it before they ran out.  Since this place is so big and we really didn’t want to stroll all the way through it again, we decided just to walk the outside loop.  That’s where the quilt shop was and that’s where we also found little flags for our quads.  Why is it that all the really cute flags are taller than wider?  We needed the wider ones for the ATV poles.  They were only $3 each so we bought a few.  Of course, once we got them back to the RV, we discovered they needed to be adjusted so the pole could slide through and my sewing machine is still in the shop.  We also bought our first Christmas present.  Or, was it our second or third?  Ugh!

Another stop was made so we could get a license plate for our ATV.  We figured if we didn’t do it soon, our luck might run out and we’d get stopped.  It didn’t take long.  The hard part was finding a place open on Saturday to get the title transferred and the plates.  We had made a stop at the DMV on Friday but then realized it was a holiday and no one was working.  One thing about licensing the Arctic Cat in Arizona is that there is no sales tax if purchased from a private party and Arizona licensed the quad for road use.  There are so many snowbirds in the area that they are used to out-of-staters using the address of their RV parks for the title.  However, the title is just printed at the time of transfer.  Actually two stickers are required.  One is for OHV (off highway use) and the other is for normal travel on the road.  No matter what state the quad is licensed in an OHV sticker is required on it.

Bass Pro Shop is located in Tempe.  One more stop just because we had to.  That’s such a fun store to walk around.  You find all these neat little toys you didn’t know you had to have.  Terry found a few.  We also looked at trail GPS units that might be good for finding our way back.  I’ve watched too many of the “I shouldn’t be alive” shows where the problem was in getting back where they came from, I guess.  Even though we already have two GPS units, they aren’t the ones that are good for trails or atvs.  It’s not that we know much about the waypoints on a trail one because we don’t. 

On the way back to the RV we made a stop at the Arizona Casino.  It wasn't really on the way but kind of it was.   We didn’t go to gamble.  We went to donate a few bucks and that’s just what we did.  There’s no gamble about it at all. 

Later in the day when we got back to the corral, we saddled up our horses and hit the trail again.  This time I wanted to try my little video camera on the front of it to see if I could get videos of our rides.  I had ordered a tripod mount and used it on my other quad but it never seemed to tighten up.  These bars were a tad bigger.  I figured it might work.  It did!!  The camera didn’t tip over.  The only problem you have with using a video camera on a trail is that the pictures bounce all over.  There’s absolutely no way to get a nice smooth ride let alone a nice even video.  At least I have no clue how to do it with a tripod mounted on the machine.

We weren’t through yet.  We had been wanting to go back to de la Cruz, a Mexican restaurant in Gold Canyon since we had been here.  We visited in October when we flew down to check out the RV park and liked it then.  Saturday night was no exception.  It’s a great little Mexican restaurant.

Sunday morning we found  an eTrex Legend CX GPS unit on Craigslist.  The unit was in nearly new condition. We walked away with it for $80. I thought it was quite a deal.  Figuring out and following waypoints is a lot different than following roads and highways.  Now we need to figure out how to use it.  There are maps online we can load on it.  However, most of them aren't places we intend to be.

In the afternoon we ended up going back to the Mesa Swap Meet to get a bid for some welding work.  We were loaded with pictures of our trailer since it now needs to be enlarged by about 3 inches to fit the Arctic Cat.  When we bought the trailer we had the smaller Suzuki.  This last ATV is just a few inches too long to fit.  Now to wait for his cost estimate.  Ugh!

Then, of course, we again met Sandie and Jim for a late lunch in Apache Junction.  We also got to stop by and check out their new 5th wheel.  Since Jim is a fisherman (what a fisherman he is!!) their whole place is fishy.  Well, it’s not that it smells fishy.  It’s decorated to make Jim really feel at home.  The theme is fishing.  Really cute ….

One of the downsides we discovered of being this far out in our RV is  ….. it’s a long ways out!  The nearest grocery store is nearly 7 miles.  If we need to go anyplace for anything else, it’s a good 15 miles at least.  We’re not liking that part of being so far from every place.  However, only time will tell what we do about it.