Halloween And .......................

NO trick or treaters!!! Ain't no kids around here...........nothing but 65+ residents.

Weather starting to get crummy........up to about 80, or maybe a little more, today. No wind to speak of.

Yesterday some friends stopped by and asked us if we wanted to go to the swap meet.......we had some things to do, visit to Home Depot and Credit Union on the base so couldn't go with them. I checked out some patio stones for the space next to the motorhome......all we have is pea gravel. Twelve by twelve bricks/stones/slabs or whatever you care to call them run about $1.19 each. I'll have to wait until the lot owner arrives about Nov 11 and check with her. We did get a 10x12 foot hunk of outdoor carpet that I just threw over the gravel. It beats the heck out of walking on the gravel; but, patio stones would be better. Since we're going to keep coming back I have no problems putting a few bucks into the place.

After our early morning jaunt onto the bombing range the other day we were at home when I checked the computer..........two new caches on the BR had been published. We mulled over it for a bit and then headed onto the range. Took a wrong fork in the "road"; but, we still managed to capture two more FTFs as the other local caching nuts were chasing some downtown about 14 miles away.

Today we had to visit some Good Wills and Salvations Army shops as Becky is looking for some more reading material. I think she picked up 7 or 8 books so that should keep her busy for a little while. After that we headed out to the Cocopah casino for our first visit this year. I managed to contribute $5.00 to them and Becky left about two and half dollars.

On the way home we took a backroad that comes out a few blocks from our street and there were 5 caches placed alongside the road. We found them so got caught up a bit with our caching. Still many more to go that were placed before we got down here.

Fortunately, no new ones came out today..........I think the reviewer was out and about for the weekend himself so we may have a load of them tomorrow. I placed one at the end of our lot, Larry placed two on the bombing range and he said he knew of several others that had been placed............but none of them were published today. It'll probably be a busy morning.

Sunday is go to breakfast day; but, we haven't made any plans with anyone.........we'll probably just get up and go somewhere. We haven't been to Ligurta yet...........would be nice to see if they've gotten rid of the flies since our last visit there.

Later. W&B

Guess The Geocaching Season Is Starting..........

as my phone rang about 0500 this morning and the voice at the other end asks if I'm ready to go to the "bombing range". I said OK and about 25 minutes later Larry is pounding on the door. Becky is even up (farming!) so we had to wait for her and away we went toward the range. It's really dark at 0530. Larry, Becky and myself find the first cache, a FTF, and while we're standing there a car goes roaring by and stops down the road. Some more cachers looking for the elusive FTF. We catch up with Larry, Barbara and John, forge an alliance, and we go after the remaining caches as a group. Daylight is starting to appear as we head up the road for the last of six caches that were published last night.

We round a corner, skid to a stop and find a little red vehicle parked in the middle of the road. Off in the distance we see Bob and Judy as they are capturing their second, FTF. The cache is called the "19th hole" and was well done.

We all decide to go to breakfast after the 19th hole...........where do we go, why the golf course, of course. This is where we had our geocachers breakfasts last season and the food is still good...........and reasonable. I took pictures of Judy, Bob, John, Larry then Becky, Larry, Rita and Barbara. Then a self portrait.

After breakfast Larry, Becky and I drive down the road to pick up a couple more new caches. Last one was kinda neat.........it was a skelton hanging in the tree; but, very difficult to see. Becky finally claims success.

We got back to the rig about 0900. We'll probably take a nap this afternoon!

Hope no more caches come out today..........we still have things to do; or, I should say "I" have things to do outside, haul out our tables, bar-b-que, destroy some weeds, etc, etc, etc.......................more later if we can stay awake. W&B

Tuesday...............

and still need to do a lot of stuff to get settled.............too lazy to just "get her done". Lot is still full of tumbling weeds.............tumbling weeds if they are pulled. The ones we cleared out when we arrived all blew away today with the high winds we've had through today. Think the winds will continue tonight and then it's supposed to cool down in the 70s for a few days.

Went to dinner with some friends last night and then Becky and I visited the Paradise Casino to make a little contribution. I paid $10.00 for two Pepsis and Becky left them a few dollars also.

Today we made a speed run to Mexico but didn't hang around too long because of the wind/dust blowing. We did stop and grab one cache that was placed about a half mile away late last night. Too lazy to go for it in the dark last night.............and I still haven't found my flashlight.

Gotta work on my list of To Dos in the next few days. Later. W

Made It To Yuma About.................

1300 this afternoon. Temperature was 90 and it felt like 100 when I was setting up the M/H while Becky was on the computer and harvesting her crops (Farmville)!

Bummer.............can use the air card here; but, it's like using a telephone line. Sprint doesn't have a 3G network in Yuma. The main thing is.........it works. After the sun started dropping I went out and finally got the satellite dish up and running. Still slow in the afternoon and early evening; but, it gets better around 2000 when downloads start showing up in the 600-700 range. Looks like I might be stuck with two systems for awhile.

Going out to breakfast tomorrow with JJ and la84fishn...........got some debts to pay off for two of the caches I had placed before we left in March so this will take care of one of them. After breakfast, JJ will still have a hot dog coming at a later date...........he thinks he should have a steak dinner!

Gotta make a run to the commissary tomorrow and continue getting settled before we start having "fun".

Later. W&B

Made A Trip To Oatman Today........

since we've been wanting to make this little trip for several years. Today, we finally dun it.

Oatman is on the old historic Route 66 and it used to be a thriving community with the gold that was mined in days past. It's now a tourist trap. There were two geocaches in town and another one that we picked up on the road into Oatman.

Right now one of Oatman's claim to fame are the wild burros that come into town and wander up and down main street. We only saw two of them today. There were signs posted around that indicated if a burro had a "carrot sticker" stuck on its forehead then that particular burro wasn't to be fed any carrots. The two burros in town today were apparently mother and offspring. The baby had a sticker stuck on it's forehead. A lady told us that the sticker was there because the younger burro still hadn't developed enough teeth to consume the carrot. If it was fed a carrot it quite possibly would choke and die.

I was tempted to buy a carrot for it; but, I figured animal activists would be all over my "ass"........ so I didn't waste my money buying a carrot. But, can you imagine the photo op of a young burro trashing around main street!!

Didn't spend much time in Oatman so back to the RV park we came. Considering Sea Food Buffet at the casino tonight.

Later. W&B

In Laughlin.............

After leaving Tonopah we headed down the road toward Death Valley. We stopped along the way several times to look for some geocaches. Here's a couple of them and a pic of Becky as we entered Death Valley. We had just left Tonopah where it was C O L D the previous night. Here's the temps when we reached DV. These pictures are in no particular order.

We had to drive down to the lowest point in Death Valley……….an area called Badwater Basin. I can’t remember why the name……….probably from the salt content of the water that has pooled here. Probably the most photographed sign in the Valley is the “Sea Level” sign posted up the cliff just behind Badwater Basin. We nearly had the place to ourselves when a big bus load of tourists drove up and most of them headed out toward the middle of the basin. Becky joined them and then came back after the bus had departed. Look in pictures 6 and 7.……….that’s Becky coming back from her hike. We also found a historical marker placed for the 49ers who entered Death Valley hoping to find a route through the mountains. If you come to Death Valley you’d best have a full tank of gas. I filled up in Beatty, NV for $2.79 a gallon.

That’s about it for our DV excursion. Nest stop Laughlin. Oh by the way, I paid $2.27 for gas in Bullhead City!!

Headed down the road to the Devils’ Golfcourse……another virtual cache. The area is mostly salt that was left after water evaporates after the infrequent rain falls. Even Tiger Woods couldn’t break par on this course!

There’s a museum at Furnace Creek………it was actually “free” to browse around. This old engine was a virtual cache so I dipped a couple of my coins here for the mileage………my Jeepen Jumpers and FisnJack coins. They had a lot of "old stuff" on display in this outdoor museum......Becky was one of them.

Left Tonopah and headed toward Death Valley. I downloaded a few caches along the way so we made a few stops and grabbed a few caches. Found a couple in Goldfield…….this old hotel was a virtual cache that also served as the town high school for some years. It’s now probably beyond restoration although still listed as a historical site. Further down the road we found a Moose Mob cache at the location of this former cat house.

We'll be leaving Laughlin on Saturday morning for our last leg into Yuma. W&B

Tonopah..........About 1600.........

WOW, weather sure can change in a hurry. We've had gusts that made the M/H rock and roll and I was afraid that I'd lose my satellite dish even though the base weighs about 30 pounds! Now it's starting to rain. We'll be OK tomorrow if the wind continues from the North/NorthWest.

Made It To Tonopah...........

about noon today. Got my MTV set up, Becky has her internet working, and I'm leeching a signal from the Ramada Hotel. Whatever works.

Paid for the RV site, got a senior discount, ate lunch, got another senior discount and then the slot machine got all my discounts back plus one-half of my bankroll.

Nice and sun shiny right now and the cashier said they have been having mild nights lately.................although a week or so ago it got down to 19 degrees! Here's hoping for another mild night.

Right now we plan on stopping at Death Valley...........for how long is anyone's guess. I would like to get to Lake Havasu on Saturday and we'd like to spend a couple of days in Laughlin too. That would put us a few days ahead of our original plans so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Later. W&B

Sunday Afternoon................

and we pulled into the Desert Rose RV Park near Fernley, NV. Was going to stop in Reno; but, drove on through. Originally planned to overnight it at the El Dorado or Legacy; but, that would mean leaving the M/H and trailer in an unsecured lot overnight. Think I have everything on the trailer locked down with cables and padlocks; however, no reason to give someone an easy opportunity to lift a few items.

Anyway, we have a couple of casinos within a few miles of the park so will give them our business instead of Reno.

We were going to stop at NAS Fallon for a day or so..........since it's only 27 miles down the road we'll drive to Tonopah tomorrow and overnight there instead. Just called the little RV park behind the casino and they no longer take reservations...........stricly first come first served. Bummer. Guess we'll have to leave early and try to reach Tonopah by noon.

Had breakfast in Woodland at our favorite diner with Rhonda and the Twerps this morning and then we pulled up stakes and headed down the road. At least I managed to pig out on biscuits and gravy one last time!!!

Weather nice so far. Highway 80 between Sacramento and Reno really sucks in places. They have been working on it and really improved some areas; but, other stretches are worse than the Alaskan Highway..................well, just about as bad.

Becky finally gave up the air card so I'll post this and give the card back to her. We're on the fringe of a 3G connection so still getting pretty good up and download speeds. That makes "B" happy 'cause she farming like crazy.........will probably have new crops to harvest later this evening. If that doesn't make sense to you (it doesn't make much sense to me) you'll have to check out "Farmville" through the Face Book connection.

All for now...........later from Tonopah. W&B

Friday..........

and we're sitting at the fair grounds RV park in Woodland, CA. Left Corning this morning and will spend most of the weekend visiting kids before we head South on Sunday or Monday. Bryce has a football game tomorrow so will take that in before we leave.

No set schedule on our way South and no reservations made any place.........Becky couldn't believe that!! Probably will stop in Reno, Fallon, Tonopah, Death Valley and Laughlin.................that is if we don't lose our bankroll in Reno.

If the aircard is working we should be posting updates as we continue toward Yuma.

Later. W&B

Monday...........

and we got back to Corning about 1300 today. Stopped at our favorite state park yesterday afternoon since I didn't feel like driving through. If I did we would have been driving at night and I avoid that if possible. Trees are really turning colors; however, they need a couple of more weeks and then they'll be displaying all the fall colors.

Big rain and wind storm starting around midnight tonight and tomorrow is supposed to be 100% chance of rain with gusts in the 50s. Got home just in time. Hope it doesn't last as we still need to pack up the M/H for our annual trek to Arizona. Will be leaving on Friday.

Didn't stop at Seven Feathers Casino on our way back.............Becky said "No". She had been playing solitaire and won too many games so figured her luck was due to change and didn't want to test her theory at the casino.

Of course when we got home we had to visit our own local casino...............I was losing my social security check when the gambling gods decided to grace me with a tiny run of luck and I managed to depart there $3.00 ahead! I think Becky just about broke even.

More later. W&B

Made It To Vancouver............

about 1400 this afternoon. Opted to stop at an Oregon state park last night and good thing we had full hookups as it was C O L D this morning. Ran little electric heater all night long. Drove about 50 miles up the road and had breakfast at Seven Feathers Casino, lost $10.00 and we continued on our way.

Had dinner with the Morris' and then Becky, Tami and the Twerps went to Cassidy's school for some kind of "star gazing". Guess they had telescopes set up and some kind of presentation for the kids and parents. I just looked out the window, saw the stars from the comfort of the M/H so don't figure I missed anything.............well actually I'm missing some new TV programs as our local stations are received from Chico, CA and we're too far north to pick them up. I got the little box to receive local stations from the antenna; but, too lazy to dig it out and hook it up. I'll catch the reruns.

Tomorrow I'll pick up the Rhino and trailer and load everything up. We should be ready to hit the road for Corning sometime on Sunday. Will probably spend the night at the Valley of the Rogue state park again and then have a short drive left on Monday morning.

So far the weather has been treating us kindly.............no rain in sight; however, forecast is changing to rain for Monday. Hopefully we'll be South of it by the time it arrives.

Doug and Cassidy are arguing about where to go for their birthday dinners. Guess we won't know where we'll going until tomorrow sometime.

Ollie, the miniture schnauzer is really growing and not as "cute" as he was when they first got him. Still likes to chew on your fingers though if you're not paying attention.

Well, the star gazers should be getting home shortly so will post this and see if they learned anything. Later. W

Another Tuesday.....Week Since Last Update.............

........haven't been doing too much; but, finally went to Woodland on Friday, Jace had his BD party on Saturday and Saturday morning we drove about 35 miles to Bryce's football game. They ran into a tornado...........think final score was 20 - 0 or something like that. Jace had his "kids" party last week so this Saturday was for the family and few close friends. Had a nice bar-b-que and Jace wanted some oysters so he and his dad grilled them up and served them to the shell fish eaters...............they were scrumptious! Sunday morning at the diner for biscuits and gravy and then B and I headed for Corning around noonish.

Yesterday we just chilled out and enjoyed the cooler weather (at least I did). Today we had the carpets in the house and M/H cleaned and I managed to abuse the oleanders.............chopped them right down to size...................but, they'll be back!

The Fantastic Fan people are great to deal with............they sent me a new motor and fan housing at no charge. Heck the fan has been out of warranty for about 5 years..........nice to find a company every now and then who stand behind their products.

Thursday, we're heading back up to Washington on a speed run to pick up the Rhino. After mulling it over for the last month I finally decided that I wanted to take it to Arizona. Will celebrate a couple of BDs up there and we'll come back on Sunday or Monday to get ready to head for Yuma. Think we'll stop in Woodland for the following weekend and hit Reno, Fallon, Tonopah, Death Valley and Laughlin before arriving in Yuma in time for Halloween.

That's about it for us. Later, probably from Washington. W&B