Started Getting Cabin Fever Today..........

even though Becky pointed out that I had stayed home only "one" day. Actually spent more time than that trying to rest up knee/leg. We did go out briefly on Friday for fish 'n chips so guess she's right. Anyway, I was feeling a "need" to get a gambling fix and we needed to make a quick run to the Commissary. Stopped at Paradise and was entertaining myself by winning a bit and losing some of it back........at least the slot machines weren't gobbling up my cash. I was getting kinda broke when the machine went nutso and racked up $153.00. There's a bank of slots that have a "mystery" pay out on occasion.......we've both hit it in increments of $8 to $12.........it never seems to pay out more. Today it coughed up one of the larger "mysterys" for me. I finally quit $132.00 ahead and we headed for the Commissary. Unfortunately the Commissary closes at 1600 so we missed it by about 15 minutes.

Stopped at our old standby........Wally World and Becky felt like she had to spend my winnings. Well, not quite all of it so she compensated by buying me some donut holes. Fair deal I guess.

Nothing going on this coming week.............weather supposed to be great in mid 70s. Knee/leg not doing any better so maybe the Doc will have some kind of news from my MRI............at least maybe we'll find out if they can do something besides pain pills.

Later. W&B

Raining Today............

started late this evening and it's come down pretty good. I think we've already exceed the annual rainfall for Yuma in the first two months of the year. Outta make the grass grow green.......for awhile at least.

Bummer.......we always go out to the Proving Grounds in February to watch the Army Parachute Team, the Golden Knights. This year they had a change of venue and are spending their winter in Florida..........or someplace back East. They were always fun to watch.

Finally got an MRI on Thursday and the Doctor's Office is closed on Fridays so waiting until Monday to see if the MRI can tell me what problem is with my knee/leg. Been just hanging out in the M/H and trying to stay off my feet as much as possible the last two days.......more of the same tomorrow. Doesn't seem to be doing much better and Sunday will mark day 14 when I first started having problems. The Doc must think it'll be a while to get back to "normal" as he gave me a prescription for percocet for 30 days. By the time the month ends I'll probably be hooked like old Rush Limbaugh!

Been watching a lot of TV while Becky has been shopping and doing the domestic stuff. I think she had a "girls day out" next Tuesday with Suzannah and her sister. I may have to hobble to the Casino since I'm starting to go into withdrawals. A new month will start and maybe my luck will have changed by then.

Once the rain stops I guess I'd better get the M/H washed and waxed. At the price of labor down here I can't afford NOT to have it waxed. They usually charge a dollar a foot for washing and $2.00 a foot for hand waxing. They do a pretty good job.

Snoozed off and on this afternoon so will probably be up until the wee hours watching the tube. Gonna have to get a life one of these days.......that'll probably occur when I can get back on both of my feet. Later. W&B

Wednesday..........Time Is Flying....

and we'll be getting ready to head back North before we know it. Got rent paid up until March 25 and we just might leave then........kinda depends on how the leg comes along. Saw my Yuma doctor on Tuesday and he's sending me for an MRI which is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. At least we'll find out what the problem is. Getting tired of hobbling around on crutches.

Sue and Frank stopped by today and we had planned on doing a little caching..........ended up Becky went with them and I hung around home to rest up the old leg. Probably wouldn't have made much difference anyway. At least I got my income tax done while they were gone. After they came back we headed for a little Fish N Chips place, when we got there we were met with a big sign on the door that said the owner had a doctor appointment so the joint was closed. It's pretty much a one person operation but they prepare a pretty good batch of fisn and chips. We ended up going to another restaurant where they serve breakfast 24/7. They need help with their gravy.........otherwise not too bad.

That was about it for today. W&B

Well, Tuesday Finally Get Here..........

Old Folks Blowing Soap Bubbles.

Before Tiny Bubbles started...........JJ on my crutches.

after a long weekend of Geocaching Events, fun, food and frolic. There were about 350 attendees at this year's event.......more than last year. The main event was held on Sunday and Saturday we held the Flash Mob and Warm Up at in Old Town near Lutes Casino. Lutes even closed the Casino down for a couple of hours for us on Saturday; but, we still overcrowded the place.

The pictures are from the Flash Mob, Tiny Bubbles. At 1445 a horn sounded and about 150 grey haired, wrinkled old folks stormed the area around the fountain and the street between the fountain and Lutes. I think auto traffic came to a stand still during the 15 minutes and passers-by couldn't figure out what the heck was going on. We started blowing soap bubbles and this lasted for 10 minutes or so. People were inquiring what was going one and they received responses such as "protest against high taxes", "the funny farm let the inmates out" and other similar responses. Believe all attendees enjoyed themselves.

Knee still bugging me so we didn't stay too long at Lutes. Up and early on Sunday morning to set up for Yuma's Event #7. I spent all morning long selling 50/50 raffle tickets and "Yuma Micro" cache containers...........those big metal continers that stand over 3 feet tall and weigh 21 pounds. We got rid of quite a few and the 50/50 raffle helped defray expenses for raffle prizes.

Did nothing yesterday but kick back and rest up. There are 25 new caches that were placed for the event and hopefully we'll be able to hunt them down before we head back North. The "go home" date will be determined by how fast I get off the crutches. Saw my regular doctor today and he ordered an MRI so should have that taken care of in a day or so. I think I might have a hairline fracture of the tibia........the MRI will determine that. Anyway, not much can be done except try to stay off the leg and let it heal.

Didn't get any pictures of the Sunday event but all attendees have been reporting the event as a great success from the logs they have been posting on the Geocaching Website.

That's about it for now. W&B

Made It Through Friday..........

.....tomorrow weekend events get underway. Twenty-five new caches will be released sometime tomorrow morning. We can't go looking for them since we placed 5 of them and know where the others are........if we get around early enough we might take the Rhino out and watch the action by the FTF nuts. If I had a tow line might even be able to pick up some casino money pulling people out of the soft sand. I'm sure 2 whl drive vehicles stand a good chance of getting stuck reaching some of them.

Also, tomorrow is the Flash Mob Event to be followed by the Warm Up Event. For the Flash Mob we'll meet on the street in Old Town and at a given signal everyone there will haul out their "bubble blowing" equipment and make soap bubbles until they run out of ammunition or until 15 minutes has elapsed.........which ever comes first. Should make the "muggles" wonder what the heck is going on and also wonder where these crazy people came from. Saturday afternoon there is sure to be a bunch of people wondering around Old Town.

Becky and I just finished mixing up our super dooper mixture. The recipe ses it works better if we let it sit overnight...........so hopefully it'll be ready to go in the morning. Used Joy liquid soap, distilled water and glycerin..........didn't have time to test it so we'll let the event be our test run.

Should be able to take a bunch of pictures so watch for them..........not everyday you see a bunch of senior citizens blowing soap bubbles in the middle of the street.

Another senior citizen from Quartzsite drove down today.........she had questions about geocaching in general and the event in particular so she stopped by and I overloaded her with information and then we went geocaching. I'm still hobbling around on crutches so I just sat in the truck while she hunted down the caches. She did OK until we parked along side the street and the cache was down a dry wash about 324 feet away. I wasn't going down there on crutches so she toddled off into the wash and underbrush. After about 45 minutes I was getting concerned because she hadn't come back yet. Finally, a car drives up and she gets out. Seems she missed the "get out of the wash" point and proceeded on past where we had parked. We were about on 40th street and she finally climbed out of the wash about 50th street, cut across someone's yard and the man was kind enough to drive her around until she found the truck. She'll never forget that...........mainly because I won't let her. That ended our caching for the day.

Gonna be a long day tomorrow so guess I'll post this and hit the hay. More later. W&B

Tuesday.......Already........

Here's some pics from our last excursion on the Bombing Range. Our A Team (tbly, JJ, Char, la84fishn, crzoldy and myself) were joined on the range by Red Buggy Man (Don and Sally).

After Valentines Day breakfast at our favorite hole, Ligurta, we headed for the southern end of the bombing range. About a dozen new caches were placed down there and we were in the First To Find Mode.

First collage..........tbly shows no fear of heights and Sally doesn't either. Sally is as old as we are but can still scramble up the rocks with ease. The cache was called Ark and was an Ark made by lcpc28..........the guy who takes a lot of time and effort into making unique caches. They finally located the cache and then had to find the log........it turned out to be hidden in a false ceiling under the main deck. Unique and tricky.

Next cache was supposed to be relatively "easy"; but, nothing is easy when the coordinates are about 35 feet off. Too many rocks and too many holes to hide something in. JJ finally made the find a long way from where it was reported to be. So it goes.

Another cache that gave us problems was a little bitty metal capsule stuffed under some bark on the side of this old Ironwood tree. We spent a long time here too using mirrors, metal detector and anything else we had on hand. The metal detector should have found it............but it didn't. Again JJ was the hero and spied it looking down after he had climbed around the tree. It was sandwiched in behind some bark......couldn't see it from ground level.

The rest of the other caches weren't as difficult except for one we never found. We finally assumed that it was posted with bad coordinates and it was.

Finally called it a day and then we got a little confused trying to find the main road back. We haven't been to this area for a long time and aren't as familar with it as further up North. Well we did get back to the main road and then Becky and I hunted down 10 or 11 more caches on the road back toward home.

I paid the price for the climbing and walking when we got home...........knee area giving me fits Sunday evening, went to urgency care on Monday........their x-ray machine was broken so no help there. Went to another urgency care this morning and they took xrays but can't determine what is causing my problems. They just gave me some more drugs and crutches and told me to stay off my feet as much as I could. Yeah right.

That was our weekend adventure. Later. W&B

Friends Arrived In Town Yesterday..............

Steve's parents, Ron and Diane, arrived in Yuma yesterday and we were supposed to get together today. Unfortunately Diane feeling under the weather so we never hooked up with them. Tomorrow is already planned out; but, if Diane is feeling better we'll cut our activities short and try to see them. Bummer, come all this way and can't get out to enjoy the 70 degree weather.

We're meeting for Valentine's Day breakfast at our favorite "breakfast hole"......Ligurta Station. They still have the best biscuits and gravy around. After that a little geocaching with JJ, Char, Larry and us and maybe Theresa will be able to make it.

When we couldn't meet up with Ron and Diane we went down on the bombing range to find some new caches and then later Becky and I took the Rhino out to plant 5 caches for the upcoming event. Caches are close by but we put about 18 miles on the Rhino looking for nasty places to hide them............well, we actually placed 3 of them where an off-road vehicle isn't required. Two others are placed where 4 whl drive is almost a must unless cache seekers hike in to them.

That's about it for us............gotta get on line and get the caches ready to publish. Damn Hughes Net really sucks...............things don't speed up enough to actually get things done on line until about 2200.............and then it's about time to hit the hay.

Got a picture from Dug showing Trace sitting in a Youth Model Polaris RZR at the dealership. Thought they were just "looking" so I offered to kick in a few bucks if they bought it. Next picture I received is Trace again and this time the RZR is sitting at home! Me and my big mouth just cost me a few bucks. Nice looking little rig though.........wonder how long it'll be before "hop up" time arrives. For these nuts "too much power is not enough". Wonder where they get that??

Well, all for now. Later..........W&B

Rain Over..........Sun Out

today so we ventured out and about. Bad move as we strayed too close to the casino. Gave them back some of the money I won last trip.

Found one cache and we're looking for some areas to place 5 caches for our upcoming Event. Kinda got it figured out; but, so many geocaches are being placed around here the place is getting saturated.

Gonna reach high 70s (and maybe even higher) this weekend and coming week. We may have to head back North early to escape the upcoming heat wave. Well, maybe it won't be that bad.

Got last injection in left knee today. It's doing a lot better; but, not too much success this time with the right knee...........better; however, results not as good as they have been in the past. Hopefully I can get it fixed this summer..........after our trek up North. July sounds like a good date if I can get in to see Orthopedic surgeon soon after we get back to Corning.

Not much else going on..........maybe have to wash up the Rhino after our trip to Off Road Park at Ocotillo Wells..........it got pretty muddy and the recent rains did a pretty good job except for the underside. Also gotta get the M/H washed and waxed..........best place to have it done as I'm not going to do it. Average price runs about $3.00 a foot for wash and wax. Can't beat the labor prices here.

About it for now............... later. W&B

Made It To Monday............

Finally have most of the stuff stowed away in the M/H; but, we're still having problems finding stuff. So it goes. Saturday we did a little shopping for the upcoming Geocaching Event and then decided to get our fix at the Q Casino. Good move as I left there with $90.00 more in my pocket. Could use a few more of those visits.

Sunday was our geocaching breakfast and over a hundred people showed up for a decent breakfast. I say decent because they did have biscuits and gravy..........although gravy would have been better with a little sausage in it.

After breakfast the A Team headed to the bombing range for a little geocaching before Super Bowl started. Becky and I quit a little early and headed for the barn. We were both pooped. I took a little nap and woke up in time to settle back for the game. Becky hit the hay before the game was over and didn't get up until 0800 this morning. Guess we both needed the rest.

This morning we get a call from JJ saying La84fishn was looking for a new cache on the range and needed help. We arrived just as La8 and another cacher made the find. There were about 6 new caches on the range so we hunted them down and came back home. Becky was farming the rest of the afternoon and I put together 5 ammo cans to be placed for the coming event. Guess we'll go out tomorrow on the next day and place them.

Weather still holding; but, maybe a chance of rain and temperature drop into the mid 60s on Wednesday. Then it gets better and we should be back to 70+ degrees for the weekend. I guess we'll survive the "cold spell" on Wednesday.

Not much going on here so more later if anything interesting happens. W&B

Never Thought Friday Would Get Here...............

been busier than an one-legged ass kicker trying to get M/H squared away and things replaced back into their little cubby holes. Becky has rearranged her drawers and shelves 3 or 4 times and now we can't find anything when we need it.........."it's in a drawer" is the standard answer I get when I ask where something is. Of course the outside cubby holes (my domain) are well organized, neatly stored and I know exactly what is in each cubby!!!

Went shopping today to pick up some goodies for M/H and since we were close to the casino we had to stop and get our "fix"..........I lost $3.00 and Becky won $5.00. Also had our Friday Clam Chowder fix at the Mad Greek restaurant.

This afternoon I found out that the cubby holes are a tiny bit smaller than the ones on the Sunova............the portable satellite dish wouldn't fit! Well, it would fit but the door wouldn't close.

Oh, what am I talking about you ask..........traded old M/H for newer one and we picked it up after we got back from Ocotillo Wells. Thirty-four footer, Winnebago Sightseer with triple slides. Lots more room inside, plus it's got a few more goodies than we had with the old one. It's a 2008 with 5,100 miles and we still got the remainder of the new rig warranty until August 2010.

I guess my ramblings make more sense now if some of you didn't know we traded. Well, that's about it for now..........gotta clean up the Rhino tomorrow from the Ocotillo Wells run, poor little guy has been neglected in light of newer M/H........he probably feels rejected; but, a good clean-up will put him in better spirits. W&B

Been Busier Than A One-Armed Paper Hanger.........

We headed to Ocotillo Wells last Thursday to stake out a claim for others to arrive later. Still had some time left Thursday so Becky and I went geocaching with Wayne and Phyllis. Found a few caches and headed back to camp for dinner and a campfire. Altogether I think 10 rigs showed up for the weekend and other Yuma folks stayed at a nearby Motel. Yuma was well represented.

There was still a lot of mud and standing water in places.........a couple of OFs waded through the water to retrieve a cache located on the Warning Sign. Friday night we had a group cookout, we had rib eyes and I cooked them up for JJ and Char...........JJ had truck problems on Friday and didn't arrive until late Friday evening. Got here in time for some more campfire BSing. Later that evening JJ and I took out the RZR and Rhino and two others were dumb enough to ride with us. Found 2 or 3 caches by flashlight and then headed back to camp. Saturday the event started and the placement of temporary caches had us traveling all over the 80,000 square acres. Recent rain really carved out some ditches and made the off-roading pretty nasty in places. Rhino and RZR handled everything quite well. Lots of interesting areas in this California State Park........I found the Pumpkin Patch to be one of my favorites. Guess wind and rain erodes the rocks into various round shapes. With a little imagination you could almost see the pumpkins.

Another interesting area was Devil's Slide and Shell Reef (I think that was it's name). Lots of ATV and side by side were climbing the hills........personally I prefer the sand dunes.......it's softer if you tumble down the hill. The Rangers had little stops here and there with information on the various areas........they also had a display of a Scorpion.........largest one I've ever seen, around here they grow to +5 inches in length. Another stop had a coyote mounted and a game to play........you had to match "poop" with the animal who made it. We did and got a little sticker, unfortunately I lost mine and can't remember what it said...........oh well, we became "poop" experts by matching up the samples. We did climb up on top of one of the little hills. I was following JJ and my gps ses the cache is about 500 feet away, I was going to go around the hill but JJ runs right up the side of it. Once we got on top we decided it was a little too steep the go down the other side. So, down the hill and around it. We found the cache and a bunch of fossils embedded in the rocks.

Very nice weekend and we'll probably add it to our list for next year. The event was the first ever geocaching event to be held in a California State Park...........some of the parks won't even let a geocache be placed in them. I guess it's up to the superintendent who manages the park and we found one where the Boss was geocaching friendly.

We received tickets for the evening raffle/drawings for each cache we found and for completing other requirements. JJ & Char and Becky and I found 52 caches and ended up with 80 raffle tickets each. Unfortunately we didn't win anything although some members of our group won some prizes. That evening the master of ceremonies asked how many caches people had found.....top number was 53. We quit about an hour early or else we could have exceeded 53 caches............so it goes. No prize for most finds...........not even recognition!!

Last three days Becky and I have been moved stuff from one M/H to another. We're pooped and still more things to do.......maybe we'll be done on Friday. Later. W&B