Pepper Thief (Tuesday, December 18th, 2018)

Life has been a little bit crazy since getting back from Mexico, but we are finally getting back to normal and getting caught up on all of the day to day things.  

One of the first things I did when we got home the first of November was to plant my winter container garden for this year.  It has now been growing for about six weeks and is doing really well.

The tomatoes are happy and are starting to produce tomatoes already.

One of my jalapenos is doing great!  It's starting to get some tiny peppers on it.

The other jalapeno plant had a visitor last night, and not only did the visitor help itself to a pepper, it helped itself to the entire plant!

Yep, that's all that is left, and I'm not happy.  😡 

Crazy Christmas Lights (Sunday, December 16th, 2018)

When we pulled our artificial tree out of storage this year, we noticed that the lights were no longer working.  I love my "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree, and I don't want to replace it, so I had to choose some new lights.  I decided on something called copper wire "fairy" lights.

As you can see, they are made of very small copper wire.  The entire 99' spool, containing 300 lights isn't much bigger than an outlet plug and the LED light bulbs are also really tiny.

I really wasn't sure what to think, but decided they were here, so I would give them a try.  We plugged them in, and they put off a nice amount of light, so I started stringing the tree.

I was planning on showing you the finished result, but then decided that it would be more fun to wait until Christmas Day!

Pheasant Hunt (Saturday, December 1st, 2018)

Our youngest daughter and her boyfriend have had a great year of hunting, and today they had another successful day! 

One was his, one was hers.  She said that she got the better one, Steve said that's because her boyfriend clipped its wings so it couldn't fly. 😂😉

We're so glad that they are having a great season, and enjoying the bounty that Colorado has to offer!

Wikieup Ride From Challenger (Saturday, December 1st, 2018)

It was a very cool, crisp morning as we headed out for our ride to the little town of Wikieup.  "Winter" is finally here, and this will be our longest one day ride for 2018, so some clothing preparation was a necessity!

We left the house at about 7:15 this morning, before the sun had risen, and made our way through town to Challenger Wash on the south side of town where our ride would begin.  We were happy to have our helmets to keep our heads warm, and our toasty winter gloves.  I even had a blanket for my lap, and a scarf for my neck because when you are in a completely open car, the wind gets very cold, very fast!

I didn't take any pictures as we headed out, because it was just too cold to take my gloves off in the wind.  I know, I have become very wimpy since moving to Arizona.  But that OK!  

We made our way out of Challenger Wash, through Mohave Wash, and into Standard Wash, where they were holding the Desert Bash Poker Run.  We drove along several miles of the Desert Bash race track, just hoping we wouldn't come across any of the racers (which we didn't), and then made our way over to Alamo Road.  We drove down Alamo Road for several miles.  Then we got on Boriana Road then finally making our way toward the Hualapai Mountains where we would cross over into Wikieup.

The Hualapais were definitely the most beautiful part of our ride, and by the time we were getting close to them it was finally warming up enough to take my gloves off and take a few pictures.  The sun was still low in the sky, making for some beautiful shadows.

Unfortunately, the low sun and shadows also made it a bit harder to see as we drove, but once we were up in the Hualapais, the trails were nice and moist, and there was no dust to look through.  No more summer smoke from the California wildfires either.  Just a beautiful, crystal clear day!

There were seven cars in our group on the way to Wikieup.  Sam and Sharyn were the ride leaders, and Steve and I were the tail gunners.  Usually tail gunning means eating a LOT of dust, but not today!  This is perfect!

At about 12:00 we dropped down out of the Hualapais and hit the main road leading into Wikieup.

We stopped at the Wikieup Trading Post for lunch and gas. 



We were the second group to arrive, and they put us in our own little area of the restaurant, which was nice.  By the time the final groups showed up, our area was full, and the others were being seated out in the main restaurant area.



Were still wearing part of our winter gear, because we are chilled to the bone!

We all had burgers, which were pretty good.  Their battered fries are crispy, crunchy, and really delicious!

 What they are really famous for is their deep dish pie.  We haven't had it, but all of our friends have and they say it is amazing, so we'll have to come back to Wikieup for pie some time.

The trip to Wickiup was 104.9 miles, but we are taking a different route back home.  We would cut across to Alamo Road instead of going through the Hualalais, so the ride back home won't be as scenic, but it will be a lot shorter.

While we were in the restaurant, it clouded up a lot, so now we are hoping to get back home without any rain.  Fingers crossed!

We didn't encounter any rain, and as we approached Havasu, the sun was starting to sink low in the sky again, and the dry dust was flying.  

Our total ride ended up being just short of 165 miles.  It really didn't seem that long, especially after it warmed up at bit.  Since we ride with full face helmets, we don't have a windshield.  And without a windshield, it can get pretty cold!

 The orange line is the path we took today. The town of Wikieup is on the far right where the track almost goes off the screen. 

I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive about this ride because it was such a long one, but I ended up really enjoying it.  It offered a little bit of everything!  

We rode on dirt roads, trails, sand, rocks, mud and even a short stretch on a paved road.  It was such a fun day, with a great group of people!  That is what we love about riding with the Havasu side by side club!  We have made so many friends through this club and continue to discover great new rides all the time!

After going home for a quick shower, we made our way back to Sam and Sharyn's house for a wonderful soak in their hot tub.  Ah, it felt so good!  It took the chill off and warmed us up from the outside, in.  We really needed that!

When we were finally warm we headed out for some yummy Mexican food before calling it a night.  What a great day with great friends!

Go Fly a Kite (Sunday, November 25th, 2018)

It's our final day with the kids, so after a fun morning of shopping, we decided to go to the park for a little kite flying. 

Steve has a large stunt kite that is a lot of fun for the guys to fly.  It is a bit of a handful for us girls, but we took it to the park to see what kind of damage we could do.  Our youngest daughter is a little afraid of this kite because it pulls so hard, so she was hoping we could do enough damage that we would have to throw it away at the end of the day. 😏

I tried my hand at it, but after being pulled half way across the park, I crashed and burned.

With a little team work, our daughter was able to get the hang of it, and eventually even flew it on here own.

When we finished our kite flying, it was time to head home so the kids could pack up.  

While the kids were here, our daughter's boyfriend had talked about these crazy creatures that live in the desert.  They look a lot like big horns, but their horns grow back, instead of curling around to the front.  He shot one several years ago in west Texas.   As we left town,  he looked out the window on our daughter's side of the car, and said "There's an aoudad".  We turned the car around and went back to see it.  Even with help, we had a hard time finding it, but sure enough, there stood a single aoudad on the side of the hill.  How in the world did he see this?



As we drove through the desert on our way to Las Vegas, we were treated to the best sunset of the entire weekend.

After all of the busy days, the silly games, and lots of laughs, the most important thing we gained from this precious time with our daughter and her boyfriend is a renewed sense that our daughter is doing great!   She is the happy, confident, and tackling life, and has a great person by her side to do it all with.  

As hard as it is to say goodbye, our hearts were happy as they walked away.  We will cherish these memories until we get to see them again...soon....Christmas is coming!

Races with the Kids (Saturday, November 24th, 2018)

The Blue Water Casino is holding circle track boat races this weekend, so we decided to take advantage of another gorgeous day!  They had about 50 different classes of boats racing today.

When we left the boat races, we met our friends Alan and Linda at Fox's Floating Dock Bar for some lunch, but the wait for food was too long, so we just enjoyed a quick drink with them and then continued on to catch our next races of the day.

We have never see Fox's this crowded before!

Our final stop of the day was the circle track car races at Sara Park.

We had planned on going out to dinner after all of the day's races, but when all was said and done, we were all too tired, so we enjoyed a nice quiet dinner at home before calling it a day. 

We feel like we have done so much since the kids arrived three days ago, but the time is flying by much too quickly!