Our Final Glamis Trip of the Season (Monday, February 26th, 2018)

We got a call from or friends Tony and Joyce asking us to join them for their last Glamis trip of the year.  At first we said no because we have so much going on, but then we changed our minds and decided to join them for a very short camp out.  We all left at 11:00 yesterday morning and made the three hour drive with Tony and Joyce, and their neighbors Larry and Jann.  When we got to Glamis, Tony pulled into Osbourne Overlook, where he wanted to camp, and we all got set up.  Before long we were joined by other friends Jerry and Mary, and on Monday Ken and Naomi joined us as well.

Once camp was set up, this was the view out our motor home window. The dunes were heavily used over the weekend, a little wind would sure make them better.

When we arrived on Sunday afternoon there were so many kids enjoying the dunes.  One young man offered us some blood orange slices that he was enjoying.  They were off of his friends tree, and man were they good!  Some others were blowing up toys to take out on the dunes.  It was fun to see them all having a great time!



When we weren't riding, we sat around the camp fire and enjoyed our time together.

And when we weren't sitting around the camp fire, we were out enjoying the dunes.

Us following our fearless leaders....Tony and Joyce!!!

Jerry out duning!

Jann's lovin life!

One of our Sunday rides took us to this picnic table out in the middle of nowhere.

Group photo!!!

It was a really fun place to stop.  One thing I love about Arizona is that not only do people take care of these little places they find, they actually keep making them better!

Below is a map of our rides this trip.

The red trail is the trip to the picnic table, the green and teal trails were more through the dunes.  On the teal track they made a stop at the Glamis store, but Steve forgot to mark it.  The top dot was our camp. We went about 75 miles in these three tracks.  We did other miles but they were just in the dunes around camp.

We are so glad we decided to go to the dunes after all.  It was only one night, but it was a lot of fun and Steve got his dune fix before the season comes to an end!!!

Everything Needs a Little Sunshine (Friday, February 23rd, 2018)

The weather is finally warming up a little bit, and our risk of freezing temperatures has passed (I hope).  So today Steve helped me move my garden back outside where it belongs. 

I was amazed how light the leaves had become in just the few short days that my garden was inside.  

It just goes to show that everything needs a little sunshine.  The garden does, and so do I.  Here's to wishing for warmer temperatures!

Busy Day! (Wednesday, February 21st, 2018)

Steve and I had a big day today.  We started out with yoga at 7:00 this morning, followed by our usual workout classes; spin class for Steve and a step/weight lifting combo class for me. 

We had time to come home just long enough for me to get a little work done, then it was time to meet San and Sharyn for golf.  The course was busy today, so it took us four hours to play 18 holes.  And it was a cold 18 holes.  The chill is still hanging in the air, but after the beautiful winter we have had so far, we are definitely due.  

By the time we got home from golf, it was 5:30.  We were both starving, and tired, so we just wanted a quick healthy snack.  

I decided to make some guacamole, and with all of our plants still in the house, my task was very easy.  I didn't even have to open the door and step into the back yard.  I picked by tomatoes and jalapenos right in my own living room.  

Our guacamole turned out great, but since it is one of our regular snacks, we should have it down by now.

The cold weather is supposed to hang in here until Saturday, so I guess my plants will get to be babied for a little while longer.

Trash to Treasures (Tuesday, February 20th, 2018)

The cold weather has called me indoors, and provided me with an opportunity to get a few projects done that I have been putting on hold.  

Last summer we set up an outdoor over that we have really enjoyed using, but it was bothering me that it just sits out and collects dust when we aren't using it.  So I decided to take some old vinyl that Steve had laying around and make a cover for it.  It didn't need to be anything crazy, just a good dust cover.

This is the outdoor oven.

And here is it's new cover.  The back flap has velcro for easy on and off.

When I finished the oven cover, I decided to make a bag for our portable propane fire pit.  It has light weight rocks in it that tend to flake off and make a huge mess, and we like to take it with us in our motorhome, so a bag seemed like a necessity.  

The fire pit has all kinds of things sticking out from it, so the bag needed to have extra room to accommodate the propane line, starting unit, etc.

I used more of the old vinyl to craft a bag.  Steve wanted some heavy duty carrying handles on the bag, so I used an old boat strap that was no longer strong enough to hold the boat on the trailer, but is certainly strong enough to carry a fire pit.  I even had some velcro on hand from other projects that I used to make the carrying handle.

The straps criss-cross on the bottom of the bag for extra strength.

The top has a two way zipper.  I actually bought the zipper for this project.  I used zipper by the yard, so that I could put two opposing pulls on it.  I made my own zipper (a great learning opportunity), so that it is easy to get the fire pit in and out of the bag.

As much as I have been enjoying our great weather, it was really fun to spend some time indoors and get some projects done.  We still have a lot more projects that we need to tackle, but at least we made some progress.  We'll see how long this cold snap lasts, and how much we can get accomplished.

Colder Weather (Monday, February 19th, 2017)

We have had the most beautiful weather this winter!  My garden has thrived, and we have neglected all of the things we need to do around the house because the outdoors has been calling us.  

But today, and for the next few days we are supposed to get pretty cold.  In fact, we are supposed to come close to freezing the next few nights.  I am not ready to let my garden go, it is just coming on so well, so tonight Steve helped me move it inside.  I hope no one comes by unexpectedly, because my house is full of plants, but I am so grateful to Steve for letting me be a crazy garden lady.  

I'm sure that at this point Steve is thankful that I only have six pots.  I just couldn't let them freeze!

Daytona (Sunday, February 18th, 2018)

Our friends Tim and Cheryl invited us over for a Daytona party today.  We all brought fun appetizers, and had the race on in the living room, but as we usually do, us girls headed outside for some sun and conversation.

Sitting by the pool, enjoying the beautiful day!

Tim....being Tim.

OK, so the pool isn't actually done yet, but we'll have more pictures next summer when we can enjoy it for real.

Sushi and a Campfire (Saturday, February 17th, 2018)

The weather has been so beautiful lately that we decided to enjoy it on our back porch tonight.  Sushi was our dinner of choice and as it started cooling down, we lit a little fire.

This is my kind of evening!

Rovey's Needle and Fireworks (Friday, February 16th, 2017)

Our friends Tim and Cheryl took their motor home out to the desert this weekend for an event called Winter Blast.  

At this event, pyrotechnics companies from all over the U.S. bring their shows to demonstrate to interested companies.  It is an event that spectators can pay to watch, or if you want to watch from afar, you can just park out in the desert and watch from there.  That is what our friends were planning on doing.

As part of their camping trip, they wanted to get a RZR ride in, so Steve and I said we would take them out to Rovey's needle.  But as the ride approached, I had too much to do at home, so they ended up going without me.  But they were kind enough to share their pictures from the day with me.

Up on the hill looking over lake Havasu.  This is a fun little stop on the way to the needle.

Then on to the needle.  I really love Rovey's Needle and was sad to not get to see it again.  The honeycombs in the rock, produced by the wind are amazing!

Looking down at the RZR's from the bottom of the needle.

When their ride to the needle was done, Steve came back to the house to get me and we both headed back to the camp site.  We had a wonderful steak dinner with Tim and Cheryl, complete with baked potatoes, brown butter noodles with cheese and roasted asparagus.  Yum!

Once it was dark, we drove the RZRs up on the hill to watch the Winter Blast fire works.

It was a great show, and a beautiful evening.  We were so glad they asked us to join them for this great day!

Homegrown Tomatoes in February (Thursday, February 15th, 2017)

I still can't get used to gardening in Arizona.  Gardening in the winter instead of the summer is crazy, and the plants actually produce.  I planted my tomatoes last October, and they have been slowly producing little tomatoes all winter, but now that the weather is warming up a little bit, they are really taking off.

I have two plants, both in pots, and they are both doing great!

These are the tomatoes that I picked after we returned from our dune trip.  

I am so excited to have home grown tomatoes, especially in February!

Riding Buttercup, Imperial Sand Dunes (Monday, February 12th, 2018)

The plank road and the border wall were very interesting, but the reason we really came to Buttercup was to ride.  These dunes are so beautiful, and we are excited to get out there!



Each time we visit the dunes, they are different than the time before.  The wind reshapes them and moves them, so although they remain somewhat consistent, they are never the same, but always beautiful!

Our friend Tony.....I told him that next time he has to carry the camera so there are some pictures of us.

Back at camp, we played a little golf between rides.  We would drive the balls and try to hit them right into the center of the power poles.  Tony got quite a few in. Steve made it once.  I guess we know who the better golf is! 

At both Glamis and Buttercup, there is a hill that is called Competition Hill.  It is a very long, steep hill that everyone likes to challenge themselves and their cars on to see if they can get to the top first.  This is the Competition Hill of Buttercup, and those are our friends climbing.  I wanted to get some pictures of Steve climbing, so I had him let me out.  He stands out because he is the only one with a white roof.

Here he is coming back down to pick me up.

 When I am taking pictures in the dunes, it is really hard to get the perspective of how big these dunes really are.  But I got a few that will help you see it.  

I took these pictures from the top of competition hill after we climbed it.  The dots below are three RZRs driving by, right where we just were at the bottom of the hill.

Here we are looking back down at our friends at the bottom.

Then back to the ride.

The views in the dunes are spectacular!

There are a lot of burned out cars in the dunes.  

As we understand it, prior to the border wall, as illegals would cross from Mexico into the U.S., they would drive their cars through the sand as far as they could.  Once the car got stuck, they would burn it so it couldn't be identified.  Then they would cross the rest of the way on foot.  

As we would come across one, it was always fun to stop and look.

Another car.

When we finished riding the dunes, we took another short ride to the Dunes Diner.  It is a restaurant just off the highway near Buttercup.  We had to cross the highway  on an overpass to get there, so that wasn't good with sand paddles, but it was fun to see anyway.

Just outside the diner, there is a gated mansion.  A little paradise in the desert.  I'm not sure who would want their mansion out here, but someone does.

It's so well concealed by the trees that you can't really see it, but it is huge.

This is the Dunes Diner.  It is closed for remodeling this year. People like to take the sand highway in their sand car, side-by-side or whatever and ride from Glamis and come up here for a meal.  Maybe some day we will have a chance to do it!

We met some great new friends on this trip that we look forward to getting together with again, and we truly enjoyed our time in the dunes.  I think we are finally learning how to ride them!

The Imperial Sand Dunes is such a pretty place, I told Steve I would love to come back sometime and just photograph it.  Not at high speed from a RZR, but up close and personal.