It's Monday

So far it has been a pretty good Monday. We all know the day, Monday, can be horrific and I have experienced some myself. But today is good because at long last I am feeling well and have some energy. In my last post I wrote about my bronchitis and thought I had fought the virus and won. False sentiments because I just finally won the battle between me and the virus after nearly a month. I had some rough nights of coughing and coughing and feeling like an elephant was sitting on my chest! Hopefully, I never get bronchitis again! We are still in the AZ desert until May 3rd when I have my pacemaker checked. Then, we will hit the road and wind up in Redding. It will be nice to be home for the summer with family and friends. Weather looks like it will be warm in Redding also. It was in the low 100's over the weekend in QZ but forecast to cool down to the high 80's later this week...my ideal temps. The cacti are blooming in the desert now and even some saguaros which is early for them. We are going to take a ride in a few days and take pix of the cacti...got some good pix last yr too. That's about it from this RV deep in the desert and you all have Happy Trails until I write again.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone! Hope you all have a great day!

We will just be here in QZ, enjoying the warm day, and Jer will BBQ a steak for dinner for the 2 of us.

I am recuperating from bronchitis right now. Caught a nasty bug on the plane from Detroit to Phx on 3-28 which turned into bronchitis. On Fri 4-6 Jer took me to the ER/triage in Parker, as I couldn't stop coughing for hrs. Of course, you know this trip happened in the wee hrs of the morning per law of averages, right? The Dr took a chest x-ray, exam etc and decided it was bronchitis I was suffering from! So, I had a breathing treatment which relaxed the tight chest congestion, and prescriptions for a strong antibiotic and prescription cough syrup. Today I am feeling 10 times better especially since the coughing spells have been reduced. All my chores are still waiting patiently for me to get to them, and hopefully I can soon do that!

Yes, a trip to MI was mentioned above---from Fri 3-23 to Wed 3-28 I was in Northville, MI visiting my son and family. Had a great time and wonderful to see them again, especially after their move to MI in Jan, 2012. Tried my best to spoil the 2 g/sons, who are 1 yr and 3 yrs old. The older boy didn't want Gma Pat to go home! Wish we lived closer so we could visit more often.

We are still in QZ until around May 5th. I have Dr appts scheduled in April and a pacemaker check on May 3rd so will leave anytime after that. Don't know if we will see the saguaro cactus bloom this season or not. Some of the other cacti are blooming now, like the ocotillo, some cholla, always have beautiful blooms and nasty thorns.

Weather is warming up to the 80's now but nights are still cool. Should be in the 90's by now though. Should not complain as could be in an area with rain and cold temps,

Better go for now, get more coffee and who knows what trouble I could cause!!

Blooming Cactus in the Spring

Ocitilla blooms. This cactus blooms several times
a year.

Pretty pink flowers on a bush, which I don't know the name of --HA!

Saguro cactus blooms in late May and puts out these white flowers which only last a few days and that is it for another yr. We were fortunate that we saw them last spring.

A cluster of blooming saguros --it was neat to see one cactus after the other in bloom as we are very rarely in QZ in May.

A close-up of the white saguro flowers.

Jim, Becky, Jer and Pat at Deer Lodge Bed & Breakfast, Nov 2011

Jim & Becky ride Bert's quad and Jer gives
them directions to Deere Run Resort.  It consists
of a cement slab and all kinds of stuff.  Tables and
chairs so you can sit and eat lunch too.






Jim and Becky standing at Smokin Joe's
gravesite.  You never know how this area
will be decorated from time to time.  It is always very
interesting.

 Here is a view of some of the decorations.
 Really clever.










Jer and Pat in front of the Deere Run Resort sign. We sure had lots of fun that day.









We all stop and get a demo from a gold miner using a dry wash to find his gold!  This was near the
Spanish Wall.  Becky sure wanted to find some big
gold nuggets but no luck this trip.  Maybe next fall!

Jer, Pat, Taffy and Roy camp out at the Hoodoo Hilton Mar, 2012

Jer exploring around the cabin area. It is definitely
a beautiful place to camp and so quiet, very remote.

Entrance to the Hoodoo Hilton cabin, in
KOFA land. It was built in the early 1940's
for the cattle ranchers.

This is the living and sleeping area. There was also
a kitchen with a wood cooking stove, but the stove
is not operational now. Had a great time here for
2 nights and it was Roy's and my first camp out in
a desert cabin. You can see the wood stove in the right side of the pic and Roy built us a fire every cool morning to keep warm and heat water for coffee.

Jer provided our light in the evening with his
head lamp which could be clear or red. Came in
handy when he had to take Taffy outside in the dark.
No coyotes or other wild life could sneak up on him or Taffers. And his hands were free to handle the dog.

Just returned from a nice ride out in the desert in our Ranger. Wanted to find some crystals for Jer's Dr. but no luck today. It was warm, in the 70's, but overcast and rain forecast for tonight. The desert needs rain but love it when it rains at night while I sleep and is sunny during the day! Our dog, Taffy, loves to ride also.

Our friend, Bob, is still in the hospital in Phoenix recovering from an ATV accident. He broke his arm, 5 ribs, fractured his pelvis, fractured his lower spine etc. He won't be able to walk for a few more wks or so and heard it will be 5 months before the spine is completely healed. He sure did a number on himself. Say your prayers for him.

Not much going on here this weekend. May be raining again tomorrow too. Guess I will do some cooking so I can freeze some meals for Jer to eat while I am in MI.

So long for now. Patty

SURPRISE, I'M BACK!

Hi, this is a surprise! Have not posted here in yrs looks like, guess I forgot all about blogging!

Jer and I are in QZ right now and having fun as usual. Haven't gone on as many Ranger rides

this season especially since mid-Dec as weather has been cold and windy until now. Even now it vacillates between the 60's and the 80's! I know it will get HOT all of a sudden and then no turning back!

We will have to ride over the Hog's Back and Queen of KOFA once again before heading back to Redding. We will leave here the end of April or so and stop at Larry's in San Jose for a Celebration of Life for Karen who passed away on March 4, 2012. So sad just 68.

Next week I will go to visit Billy and Katie and their boys in Northville, MI for a few days. It will be lots of fun and laughter. They just moved to MI from Chg in Jan, 2012.

Have to run for now and hope I can keep on writing in here at least once a week from now on.

Love, Patty

Here I am again

I am here and posting--imagine that!!!
Weather is going to be real hot again--106 later this week. It will be 102 on Sat. when David Williams's Celebration of Life is held. Course, Sharon and Noel will be used to the heat but probably not Cindy and Mel, coming from CO. Oh well, the Elks will be air conditioned so the heat won't be too bad.
Nothing much exciting happening--today Jer picked a mess of fresh green beans. Had some with dinner and think I will freeze the rest to have later. We don't want to get sick of green beans!!!! Waiting for the corn on the cob and tomatoes to mature--mmmm yummy stuff!
If there is an abundance of tomatoes, I will make salsa --always good--and bring some to my friend, Anne.
That's about it for today but at least I am living up to my promise--so far--lol.

Can You Believe --I have not posted since March???

Astonishing--I have neglected this blog since March!!! I have decided to try and write more often--course, wouldn't take much to write more than every 4 months--LOL!
Well, last you heard we were in the desert --but we came back to Redding by April 6th. Had lots
of yard and house work to catch up on and still are finding lots of projects around our house to keep us busy. Right now we are starting to work on the RV, installing some storage cabinets, cleaning everything, caulking around the outside (which took Jer quite awhile) etc etc --this is to ready it for QZ again.
Been doing activities with the family too --attended several graduations, which one was in Richmond--my oldest daughter's son who grad. high school. We visited there several days --went to Six Flags over Marine World in Valejo and that was fun. Had dinner at the Texas Roadhouse--great meal. Jennifer, our g/daughter in Redding, went on the trip with us too.
Had lots of B-Days, family get togethers and bbqs so far and now kind of at an uneventful time.
In Aug. though, my son and family will be here for a few days, looking forward to that and spoiling my newest g/baby once again.
Summer hasn't been too hot--yet--no 115 days yet--and believe me, I am not complaining about that one bit.
Better go for now and promise to return real soon.
Bye for now

Road to the Williams's Hideout

You can see that the road to our place is scenic and w/o any RVers nearby. Hope to keep it that way.
Our own little spot in the desert. I will have to add a new pic later after the flowers bloom all around
us from the earlier spring rains. Hey --how about this --haven't written here in 2 months and now can't stop!!!

Our New Campsite

We moved to this campsite the day before Super Bowl Sunday so had to hurry and get the satellite dish up so we could
watch the Cardinals play. We have fallen in love with this site as it is so remote and quiet. Someone else decorated it
and it is so neat. We are hoping that the Stices will park in a site near us next winter.

March Already???

OMG--March is here and this is my first entry of the New Year of 2009!!!! Been so busy this yr. that guess I never got around to writing in this online journal. Had a great New Yrs. at the
cousin's place in Phx. Since then, we returned just last Sun. for a day's visit as Mel/Cindy were there again from CO for a few days. Had fun as usual.
Warmer/hot days now in QZ and is what we came here for. Yesterday it was like 90--all of a sudden it went from cold to hot! Jer and Taffy went riding and loved it while I stayed home and did the household chores and talked to my sister, Joy.
In a few weeks I will be going to Chicago to visit my son, wife and new grand/son, William, born on Feb. 2, 2009. Then, fly down to FL to see my Mom and 2 sisters for a week. The visits will be so much fun, can hardly wait.
While I am gone, Jer and Taffy will go in the wilds camping with a friend, Ken. They think they will have more fun than me--all in the perspective!!!!
When we all return again to QZ, we will have 2 weeks in April before heading for home. Doesn't seem like it should be approaching time for home already. We have to do some more quad riding before that happens as we can't do that in Redding--only if we are able to camp at Hat Creek.
Well, adios for now and hope I get back here before another 3 months has past.