Ken's appointment :) Getting things done around the house

Good Wednesday afternoon!

Where is this year going?! It's almost February.  We've had a good few days since we got home.  Monday we headed over early to Reno for Ken's glaucoma appointment.  All good news his pressures were 16 and 17! Yay! The eye drop is working! Last appointment the bad eye was 23 and now 17.  He goes back the end of July.  

Eric and Christina gave us this pic of Seth and a few others for Christmas.
Gets me every time I look at it.  Ken hung it today
(well, he hung it before but it didn't stay.) The picture is straight.think my
camera was crooked!

After that we headed over to Total Wine and then to Winco to get some groceries. We ran by Lowe's for a couple of shower heads too.  We thought we'd go ahead and drive over to Minden and hit up Carson Valley Inn as we hadn't been there in awhile.  There were hardly any cars in the parking lot..gee what's up with that. They had a buffet going in one of the rooms downstairs, but turns out they're changing out their kitchen appliances so Katie's was closed. Darn, they re open the 1st.  Now what? Back to Carson and Betsy's Big Kitchen. There just aren't too many choices that we like, but what we like we really like. :) 

We had a beautiful sunset..Karen captured it..

Lisa was there and took really good care of us as usual.  Then we headed home. Unloaded groceries and then just took it easy as the day was done. :)😊

Tuesday we were basically home.  I pulled apart my kitchen and got rid of a wheelbarrow full of stuff I don't need.  It was to the point my cabinets were such a mess I didn't even know what I had and didn't.  Put some new tupperware like stuff in that I bought at Black Friday   Once that mess was cleaned up I ran to the post office to get a mailing box for Seth's stuff.  

Ken took John's trailer and went and got some wood for Karen for the fire pit.  He moved the cab over to the concrete. I checked it out and it looks ready to go. 

Today, (Wednesday) was a baking day for Seth. I got some cookies done and packed :) Ken worked most of the day outside finding plenty of stuff to do along with a load to the dump.  We don't pay for garbage so about once every 6 weeks or so he'll take 6 garbage cans to the local dump for $10.00.  We're hoping that doesn't change but we're hearing rumors. 

Part of Ken's work today, burning tumbleweeds that have
gotten carried off by the wind

In a few minutes they're gone

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip

Double Chocolate Chip

Still writing letters and hoping we get Jacob's address soon. Seems longer to me than 2 weeks but it really hasn't been long over that. I remember Seth's took about 2 weeks to get. Hurry up and wait! 

It's been 20 years since I've done care packages. When Russell was on float I used to send them once a week but that was 20 years ago.  I think I did pretty good at filling every nook and cranny in Seth's. Hopefully he likes it too! I'll mail it in the am before getting my hair cut finally! 

Before the final finishing..

Every nook and cranny filled!

Ken's going to bar b q some burgers in a bit and I've got some oven fried potatoes to go with them. I was going to do zucchini fries or broccoli tots, but I'm thinking I'm too lazy now! Oh well. 

Adam and his friend Lexie from Oregon

Adam and Lexie went Cross Country skiing a
week or so ago..Of course he liked it !

Have a good night.  Happy Hour soon! 

Quick catch up...

Good Sunday evening!  We are back home after a wonderful time in Quartzsite visiting with our friends! :) 

After a frustrating time with the internet connection in Q I just gave up.  I realize I should write notes or something in order to remember the days...but I don't. So I'll just pinpoint some of the highlights and carry on.

We had a several wonderful Happy Hours with our friends.  We met new friends, Keith and Bob and JoAnne.  We were able to spend a few hours with Dave and Cheryl who we hadn't seen in 2 years. We got some yummy food at Silly Al's (even though it was crowded..way crowded).  We visited the Big Tent once and finally got to Beer Belly's Adult Day Care. Ken got the hat and a beer coozie since it was official as we had actually been there.  Bill did a wonderful, heartfelt toast to George! We all know that if it wasn't for George we all wouldn't have been there together! He was definitely missed along with Suzie!  We certainly spent quality time catching up and just enjoying each other's company.  Time was short but we're sure glad we went. If we're lucky we may see some of them down the road later this year.  😊💗

Our spot at Plamosa Rd..

Love watching these guys!

Sunset at La Posa South..AZ has some awesome sunsets
and sunrises! 

A wonderful fire! Thanks Bob and JoAnne!

Coming through Q and the crowds

Fun watching Bill fly his plane!

Bill and Patsy on the left,, Ken and Kim's rig

Bob, JoAnne and Higgins home

Happy Hour on a cool afternoon...

Higgins

Tom and Deb's home the Stinger B

We wanted to be home on Saturday so we had a full day to unload and do whatever else we needed too.  About 1100 Thursday we said good bye with hugs all around 💜 

Not sure where we were going so we discussed Lake Havasu area. Then we were in Parker, AZ.  We love La Paz County Park and said "why not?" Not what we had planned, but isn't this what retirement is about.  We got a nice spot over by the Pirate's Den Bar.  Perfect for 1 night.  Got settled, had a late lunch and then we took a walk through Pirate's Den RV Park. Love to look at the $$$$ in vehicles parked there. Then through La Paz County Park over to the Roadrunner Bar.  Hey, it's tradition :) Had a drink and then walked back to the trailer.  

Our view from our campsite

The Roadrunner docking area..it's a floating bar

The view from the top level..

Around 1700 or so we walked over to the outside bar a Pirate's Den.  It was Happy Hour and Karaoke night. Well, from 1500 to 1800. Guess they think old people go to bed early LOL! We had fun watching people sing, some were really good and others..well, they should have turned the mike off haha. 

Well, instead of Harley's this is how the old
folks roll up to the bar...LOL..

Gin and seltzer...IPA for Ken

How do you like the names of these drinks..all sweet though :(

Add caption

A couple of the singers...pretty good they were

A beautiful sunset over the Colorado River 💙

Friday morning we took our time as we knew we didn't want to go through Vegas during rush hour.  Ken did awesome once again! We spent the night at Armagosa Valley rest area.  We watched the movie "Storm of the Century" good movie but over 4 hours long! No movie needs to be that long. 

Saturday was a lovely drive home.  Got here about 1400 and unloaded a few things. Karen texted so a little after 1600 Happy Hour.  She wanted to hear all about the trip. Her girls and grandkids were over so we got plenty of little hugs and great smiles from them 💙💕  Ken and Karen made a great fire so we visited for way too long! 

Today we slept in until 0630! I cleaned the trailer, did several loads of laundry and did some baking.  Ken did his thing with the trailer and was outside most of the day.  We've had a fire going most of the day as the weather can't seem to make up its mind. That's Nevada for ya!  

Sunrise Armagosa Valley rest area! 

It's always nice to get back home, and even though we only had a few days we're both so glad we made the trip to AZ and got to see our friends. Hopefully next year we can stay longer.  It's amazing that blogging brought us all together 💗💗

Letters are ready to be mailed to Jacob when we get his address hopefully this week.

Apple Oatmeal muffins, banana bread and my flourless
peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

Ken's got a glaucoma appointment in Reno in the am (why we're home now). More baking this week as I want to get a package out to Seth :) 

Gonna get this posted and it's time for .....Happy Hour! Have a good night everyone! Love you all! 

We're in Quartzsite! Happy Birthday Wendy and Christina!

Good morning from Quartzsite, Arizona!  We left home on Friday and drove to the turn off for the Spring Mountains nearing Las Vegas.  We boondocked on a pull over site not too far from the highway.  A great place to spend the night.  

Had our breakfast on Saturday morning and had a great drive through Las Vegas! Very little traffic so it was perfect.  Ken's got the Vegas thing down now after many times of traveling through that city. 

A leisurely drive for several hours, stopping to have lunch in the trailer along the way.  We had planned on heading directly to where our friends are staying at La Posa South but the timing wasn't working.  We'd have gotten there after Happy Hour and with everyone doing their dinners we decided to stay on Plamosa Rd and drive in on Sunday morning. 

We had a nice night out there. Ken bar b qued some burgers and it was nice enough he took out the Little Red Campfire and we enjoyed the evening.  

Sunday after breakfast etc we headed on down to where everyone was camped. They didn't know we were coming so it was a nice surprise to see Ken and Kim's smiles and hugs when we pulled in.  Bill and his friend Keith pulled in a few minutes later along with Deb and Tom following soon after!  We met Bob and a little later his wife Jo Anne and the little cutie Higgins.  A little while later, up walked Patsy!  Turns out I did see her while we were filling with water, but I wasn't sure if it was her.  Hugs and more conversation. The afternoon was spent chit chatting with Tom and Deb until Happy Hour.  

We all gathered in the center and got caught up. Eventually they all went in to start dinner. We went over to Tom and Deb's and continued the conversation until Bob came out and started a fire.  Once more, gathered around the campfire the conversation flowed!  Such a lovely evening catching up with friends. 

Originally, we weren't coming to Q until February but we (Ken) got to thinking why not go for a few days where we can see everyone gathered in one place! Ok, didn't take me long to agree. We'll be here until Thursday when we'll start our trek back home for Ken's appointment in Reno on Monday. 

Overcast skies this am, but 46 degrees going for 68 later today. We'll take it! 

Happy Birthday yesterday to my sister Wendy and my daughter in law, Christina! xoxo 

Going to try and get this posted. WIFI is incredibly slow here...

Jacob's swearing in..Back home and Sad News....

Tuesday morning we were out of the motel about 0700.  We figured traffic would be bad with the morning commute.  We arrived at MEPS about 0730.  I told Ken I was paying for parking this time. No more 6 mile walks (LOL).  He didn't argue with me as after the last time he knew better haha. 

Russell, Lori, Aaron and Allissa got there about 0800 and we went to get in line.  Grandpa Bobby showed up a few minutes later.  The Security person told us they were running late, we were fine outside.  A little later they let us in and there was Jacob.  He was able to visit with us until it was time. 

We and four other families were in the same room we were in when Seth got sworn in.  There were a lot more young people getting sworn in but they used other rooms. It's not a long ceremony but very moving! :) 

Jacob 💙

Jacob and Allissa 💖

Jacob and his brother Aaron 

Jacob and Grandpa Bobby

Once he was done swearing in, there were hugs all around.  It was tough saying good bye but again we are all so proud of him for making this decision to serve the country as a Sailor. :)

We headed for Russell's house as he was putting in a new toilet in the boys bathroom.  Ken offered to help and then said we'd go to lunch after.  Lori and Allissa went for a 5 mile walk, and I read my book.  

The boys finished the toilet and the girls got back, perfect timing.  We all headed for Garcia's. Luckily our favorite server, Chris was there so Ken and I had our drinks right after we sat down. :)  We enjoyed the conversation, food and drinks. Russell got texts from Jacob so we knew he was at the airport waiting to fly to Great Lakes, Illinois.  

Russell, Allissa and Lori...💗

After lunch we said our goodbyes and we headed home.  A nice drive and we were home about 1745.  Karen had texted and said John was home and they had a fire going outside.  We unloaded the car and then joined them for Happy Hour.  A great day all the way around.  

This morning I awoke around 0600, we had our coffees and visited with our blogging friends to see where everyone is and what they're up to.  The day started and just flew by.  Ken washed a couple of vehicles and some other stuff outside in the cold.  I was inside most of the day doing some cooking. He wanted spaghetti squash boats for dinner.  We saw them on "The Kitchen" and they looked yummy.  Lots of cheese but still low carb.  They look delicious so we'll see in a bit. :) 

Broccoli, cheese, chicken spaghetti squash

I got a text later in the morning telling us that one of our friends and pretty much the first blogger I had ever followed way back when had passed away this morning :(  We've been watching this journey for the last few months.  

George, the author of  Our Awesome Travels was one of the nicest people we've ever met, along with his wife, Suzie. George always had a smile on his face and was always so happy and that smile proved it! :)  Talk about a half full type of man! He loved his life, his wife and his family.  I'm so glad we got to meet them and to spend time with them the last couple of winters in AZ.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Suzie and family in Canada. 💗💗 

Have a good night!