Dec 17, 2008

This is Lauren, one of my bosses and a great friend. She was decorating for Christmas!

So many days have passed since my last post. I've been busy ranching! I've had a couple ewes have some lambs, been pushed under a gate by an angry cow. Got some bruises on the backside and leg with that one. Also that day a heifer ran by me that we were sorting out of others and kicked me on the right thigh. It was a rough day at the office.

Our birdhouse decorated with lights!

We have had bitter cold here the last week. It is below zero at night, we have been plugging in our trucks and putting in diesel additive to keep the diesel from gelling up. During the day the temps have not gotten above 15 or so and with the wind chill, it is very cold to work outside. The water tanks for the animals are freezing up and we work all day to thaw water.

Thanksgiving dinner- left to right is Gary (ranch hand I work with, Bob, Jim (brother in law) and Donna (sis).

We have to get some cows and heifers bred tomorrow so we will be working them thru the chute. I just hope I don't have a run in with cow K577 again.

Loading bags of wool to take to Scottsbluff.

On Sunday, Bob and I and Carley will load up in the truck with all the Christmas presents and head to Woods Landing, just 25 miles SW of Laramie, WY. We are going to house sit for the owners of Woods Landing thru the 30th. It will be nice to be over there. We'll get to spend time with Justin, Karl (Bob's sons) and their families,as well as my sister, Donna and family.

Our house with Christmas lights.

I am also going to work in the cafe and clean cabins while I'm there. So it will be a working vacation.

Dec 3, 2008

Since it has been a while since I posted, I tried to post some pics, but couldn't do it. Maybe next time...
Over Thanksgiving, my sister, Donna and brother in law, Jim came over for the holiday...They got her last Wed. evening, we had dinner and enjoyed some time together. The next morning, I woke them up at 6am to go out to do chores with me. They went with me and I think they had a good time. Jim had his camera and got some good pictures. Donna pitched in and helped me with chores. After chores, we went and checked cows on the cornstalks, noticed some cows that had gotten out. Henry showed up and said we should take a trip south of town to check out the elk. After we picked up Jim and Bob, we headed south. There is a herd of elk that we got great pictures of.
We headed back to the house to find it filled with the wonderful aroma of turkey baking in the oven.
Gary showed up before dinner and got to meet my family. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks to everyone who helped...

This week has been busy. We had to fence another 2 circles of cornfields to pasture cows. We finished that today and trailered 5 loads of cows, approximately 40, to the field today. We also moved cows and calves from one pasture to one closer to the place.

The weather was wonderful the past few days, in was in shirtsleeves yesterday. This morning, a cold front moved in and it didn't get above 30 degrees. It was so cold. Days like these, I sure miss the warm weather.

Nov 24, 2008

Today was a busy day at the ranch. After chores, the vet showed up to preg check cows and heifers. We got them corralled and proceeded to run them thru the chute to get checked and vaccinated. We had some wiley heifers! A couple ended up in the chute wanting to climb over the top. Some just didn't want to cooperate and get in the chute. We did finish with them and had 5 heifers that weren't bred.
Afterwards we got the sheep in the corral to sort. We had to tag ewe lambs that Elton wanted to keep and sort the others out that are going to the sale barn. We finished that and sorted the rams he wants to keep also.
Right before lunch Elton got a call saying that some cows were out that were put into the corn stalk field. We had lunch, then Elton and I headed out to the field. Gary and Henry stayed at the ranch, worked on the horse trailer and then ground some feed for the bull calves and heifers. We found the cows that were out of the field, pushed them back in, fixed the electric fence and tried to move a cow to another pasture where she wouldn't get out of. 1/2 way there, she found a way back in the corn field. It was dark by then, so we headed back to the ranch. Tomorrow we will try to get her back into a pasture that she will stay in.

Dinner tonight was deer tenderloins, mashed potatoes and green beans. Bob didn't want to cook them after all, so I ended cooking them after working a 10 hour day. They turned out great. Thanks to Ed and Pam for giving us a deer...

Nov 23, 2008

Today was my day off and I had some time to go to an auction. There was an estate auction of a lady that worked at the courthouse and we had become great friends. I will miss her. There were a lot of great items at the auction. I ended up with some serving bowls (needed them for Thanksgiving), I paid $5.00 for 7 bowls...I also got a southwest clock with turquoise stones for $5.00. Then a crystal creamer and sugar came up and I only paid $7.50 for both of them...Don't know what I will do with them, but the price was right.
I got to see lots of my friends and had a great time.

My hairdresser, Pam, came by this morning and asked me if we wanted a deer that her husband, Ed, had shot this morning. I accepted and we now have a deer hanging in the garage to be cut up. We are having backstraps tomorrow night for dinner. Can't wait for that. Bob even said he would cook them...Can't beat a deal like that...

I also had time to make a rope basket today. It turned out great...

The weather is supposed to be fair this week thru Thanksgiving...At least in the 50's...Sure am missing Q!!!

Nov 21, 2008

No pictures today but we all had a great day on the ranch.
We went to the section where the heifers were and a buyer came and looked over some heifers that were bred. He chose 25 to buy. We got them sorted for him to load and take to Colorado. We then gathered the cows that were in the pasture and had a cattle drive down the road to the corn stalk field for them to graze for a while. Henry rode the horse and I took the 4 wheeler. All went well and we had no problems.
We went back to the ranch and did chores. I had to vaccinate a sick lamb and put him in a separate pen. Henry brought back some heifers that hadn't been bred.
It was windy and cool in the morning but later on it turned out nice. The temp got to about 50 with no wind.
It's supposed to be nice thru Thanksgiving. Sure hope it holds true...

Nov 20

The above pictures is of us with the cows, I am in the 1st picture on the right, my boss, Elton on the left of me.

I had a busy day today. After chores at the ranch, we headed to the pasture to bring the cows and heifers in. The vet arrived with his assistant and we proceeded to run them thru the chute to preg check them. We had a great day, with the weather about 30 degrees, and things went well. The cows passed thru the alley to the chute without many problems.

This picture is of Henry, pushing cows to the chute...

After they were checked we sorted them, pushing heifers and non bred cows to a different corral.

We started about 11:30am and finished about 4pm...

I then had a hair appt. about 5:30pm and got home about 7pm. My hair looks great and am ready for tomorrow...

It's supposed to up into the 50's tomorrow and higher this weekend. I guess I won't complain about one day that is in the 30's.

I got an email from a friend in Arizona who is now going to semi-retire. He is going to be enjoying the easy living in the desert for a few months. He will have fun, there are so many things to do there.

Have a good night...

Nov 18, 2008

This weekend was good for me. Sat. was a regular day at the ranch. Chores, etc...We then had to go to the south pasture a few miles out of town to sort cows. Dave owns the pasture and had some calves in with Elton's. We got them sorted and trailered them to the pasture NW of Oshkosh. There were 76 cows total to transport. I hauled the smaller trailer that held 7 cows each time. I took 3 trailers full. They moved so much and it was hard to pull them. Elton had the goose neck trailer that held 11 cows. It was a lot of trips to get them moved over.
Sunday, I had the day off and I got my house cleaned for turkey day. I put a lot ow winter stuff away in the sheds, hoses, tubs, etc. It was in the 60's that day and just great to be outside.
Monday, chores were done and then I took the truck and went to Arthur. It is about 60 miles away. Nothing but pasture land to view on the drive over. I had to go and pick up a beef that had been butchered for Elton and Lauren.
Henry, Gary and Elton got the grinder repaired and got some feed ground and mixed for the heifers and bulls.
After work Gary came over to pick up the 26" TV we gave him. We decided to get rid of the heavy TV out of the trailer to lighten the load. We're going to put a smaller 20" one in there when we get on the road again. Who wants to watch TV anyway when there is so many other things to do???
I talked to my sis in Laramie yesterday on my drive. We're planning a trip to hike the Pacific Crest Trail starting next summer. We might take a couple weeks and hike somewhere in Oregon. I want to take a month but she suggested we start out a little slower since it will be the first hike. Great idea, Donna...
They will be here next week for Thanksgiving. I am really looking forward to seeing them. I haven't seen them since Oct. 1st. Sure do miss my family!!
Gotta go to work,,, Have a great day!

More winter weather

On Wed. we did load up rams and fat lambs at 6am to go to the auction. We made it out of town by 7ish. Got to Ft Collins, CO around 11am and unloaded the sheep. Then we went in to watch sheep sell. Prices were good on some and low on others. Elton's sheep did ok. When the sheep came in the auction yard had a couple goats trained to take the sheep in the auction pen and back out. It was fascinating. After sheep sold, there were 500 goats to be sold. We watched some of them sold and I wanted to bring some of the baby goats home so bad. Too bad I don't have a farm to raise some on. But in the fall next year they probably wouldn't travel too well in the 5er...



Winter is nasty today. The wind has been blowing all day. We did chores this morning and then checked to see if there were any new calves. We found 2 new babies. We got them ear tagged and weighed. One bull calf was born with a cleft palette. Elton called the vet and took him to Ogalalla to have surgery done. He is doing ok so far.

After chores we had the day off till evening chore time.
I spent the day cleaning the house, making pumpkin pie from a pumpkin patch pumpkin, trying to install a new towel hanger in the bathroom and making a few greeting cards.

I have to complete some Christmas presents soon also. Can't say what they are in case some of you are watching this blog...

We are having scalloped potatoes and pork chops for dinner tonight and baked squash. Also homemade pumpkin pie with tons of whipped cream.

Till tomorrow, stay warm and enjoy the night...

Winter weather coming

The wind was blowing & all the tumbleweeds had a place to land. Nebraska fence line with nature's catch...

Winter weather is here. Today we had snow but it was fairly warm. This afternoon it warmed up more and just made the place mucky...

Gary and I worked in the shop today, straightening it up, putting things in their place. Looks better too.

This afternoon we worked on Lauren's chicken pen. We had to enlarge it and put a cover over it so the guineas won't fly out. The geese got a new pen with a used dog house to take cover in when the wind blows or the snow gets too deep. Lauren got 3 turkeys the other day from a lady that moved to Arizona.

We also sorted sheep today. We are taking a load of fat lambs and rams to the auction market in Ft. Collins tomorrow. We load at 6am and will try to leave by 7am. That will be a fun day.

This is a picture of 2 cows babysitting all the calves in the pasture.

Nov 6, 2008

The last few days, we finished fencing the corn field. It is now ready for the cows to be transfered over. It will take a few trips to get them all over to the new field.
Gary has been installing a new gate in the lamb pen. I helped him with a couple of posts as well as Elton. We had to take turns tamping the dirt in. I am really out of shape for doing much of that.
Another project was to shovel all the stuff away from the wind breaks. That I can handle and I had an audience of 53 bulls watching me.
Today I wanted to just hitch up the 5th wheel and head to Arizona. We had 35 degree weather and wind with gusts of 50 mph and SNOW! I am not ready for that. While scooping hay into tubs to feed the sheep, it was blowing so hard and I couldn't keep my eyes open. I probably ate 2 pounds of hay and another pound in my eyes. The second trip to get hay, I put on goggles. I may have looked ridiculous but they were very helpful. This afternoon was a little less windy, but still blowing snow and biting cold.
I had to go to the store that sells coveralls and coats (the lumber store) and get a coat today. My zippered sweatshirt just won't cut it in this weather.
I also had to give a 300 lb. calf some pills today. They were the size of peanuts before you break the shells. But hope he feels better tomorrow.
Bob got 1/2 day off today. The whole town was without power from about 11:30am till 2:30pm. The house sure got cold fast without heat.
We're not going to get a break in the weather till this weekend. Another cold windy day tomorrow...
Sure wish I was in Q!

Daylight savings day

Did you all make it thru Halloween? Bob had carved a pumpkin and put a candle in it so the trick or treaters could see it when they came to the door. But--we had zero come to the door. Bob was happy about that--now he gets to have the candy he bought.

Yesterday at work, chores came first and then Gary-the other hired hand worked on getting a grinder apart. New parts were ordered and should be here on Monday. We use it to grind corn and mix feed with it for the bulls and heifers. Today a load of feed came for the bulls and heifers to tide us over till the grinder is repaired.
I worked on painting some poles that they will use to finish building a fence at the entrance to their place. I also ran to town and picked up a 55 gallon drum of oil for the tractors. I filled some feeders with salt and mineral for the sheep and still need to get one more feeder for the heifers mineral and salt.
A couple days ago I had to milk Bessie, she had too much milk for just 2 calves. I was able to take it home and use it. My cereal never tasted so good! Sure brought back memories of growing up on the farm.

Today, I went out and did the morning chores and then went with Elton to check the cows with calves. No new calves today! We did have two calves on the other side of the fence we had to move over. After that was done, they sent me home till 4pm.
I stayed busy cleaning the house, doing laundry, made lunch for Bob and me, ran to the grocery store (twice), the first time I forgot dish soap. Then to top off the afternoon, I made a cranberry orange quick bread. I just took it out of the oven and it smells heavenly! Toasted with cream cheese is the best way to eat it.

It's about 70 degrees here today. Bob got the leaves raked up in the yard and hauled off. He got out trailer parked to the south of the house yesterday and winterized it. He told me that next fall we will be back in Arizona. I'm happy about that.

This is Daisy nuzzling up to the lambs.

If you look to the SW there is a crescent moon with Venus close by. I'll try to enclose a photo.

Another day at the office

This is Tony Llama..

We had to say goodbye to Scott today. He was here for 2 weeks helping out on the ranch and he will be missed. He was great to work with and always found the fun in the job! But...I don't think he will miss the sheep too much.

We have been vaccinating sheep & calves that have gotten sick. We moved some cows to a pasture just west of Oshkosh yesterday.

Today we got back to fencing a cornfield where more cows will be turned into probably later in the week.

Lauren, the owner, has Tuesdays off and yesterday she made sloppy joes, pistacio salad and these wonderful date bars for lunch. She is a wonderful cook and we look forward to Tuesday lunches! Thanks Lauren!!

We had to wean 4 calves off of the milk cow today to make room for 2 more calves that need a nurse cow. They were crying all day.

I took some pics of some things on the ranch. Enjoy a bit of Nebraska!

Pumpkin patch

I had a day off on Tues. and I drove to Chappell to pick up a friend to go to the pumpkin patch with me. We drove to Big Springs and had a great time. There was acres and acres of pumpkins and gourds. We collected some and then headed back to her house. She and her husband had me join them for lunch.

I also did some geocaching and found 2 caches.

Thurs. was a busy day at the ranch. We have an extra hand for another week. Scott lives in Omaha and came out here for 2 weeks to help out. He purchaced some property from the owner earlier in the year and comes out to help on the ranch when he can. We sorted sheep, placed rams in pens with ewes, seperated cows and calves, vaccinated calves, moved cows and calves to a different pasture. It kept us busy all day. I hopped on the horse and rode her, I hadn't been on a horse in about 8 years. When I was leaving, a ewe was having her lambs.

We did get a little snow yesterday and it has been bitter cold with wind for the past 2 days. It is supposed to be warmer today

Lambs, lambs and more lambs

At the ranch, where I'm working, we have babies all over the place. Also a pic of the water tower with the beautiful sunset.

23 ewes have lambed and we have about that many left to lamb. We've had to pull 5 lambs and have lost 3 lambs. Also lost a calf the other day.

We're doing fence rebuilding now so we can wean spring calves and get the cows onto new pasture.

One of the hired hands will be leaving the end of the week for a month so we are trying to get all these things done before he leaves.

I have learned how to drive the bobcat and the tractor now. It was a little intimidating at first but now, it's just fun!

I got a phone call from Phyllis who is in Quartzsite last night. It was good to talk with her. She said the count of people coming in is down about 25 from last year.

Today, I have the day off and I'm headed to Chappel to pick up a friend and we are going to the Pumpkin patch. Need some decorations for Halloween...

Oct 12

Hello from Nebraska! We won't be going to Quartzsite Arizona this fall due to having to reclaim our house in Oshkosh Nebraska. The renter failed to pay rent and we had her evicted and are now living in the house. Breaks my heart to have to stay here and not be with my friends in the south. During the month of August and September, Bob came over and spent a lot of time at the house. I came over several times and we spent a lot of time in the court room trying to get some of the money back that was owed. The judge ruled in our favor so now comes the hard part, getting the money. If necessary, we will take her to court again..
My sister, Donna, and I spent a lot of time this summer on hikes. We only completed one overnight hike. That was the tough one! We each carried about a 33# pack on our backs and the hike was tough. But we made it and I felt good about it. Our longest was the Thursday before I moved over to Oshkosh. We went on an 11 mile hike. It took about 6 1/2 hours. One spot was tricky, we had to cross a ravine that had been washed out and only a small log across it. I froze in the middle but eventually made it across. The next 2 days were kinda tough, the muscles I hadn't used in a while sure talked to me.
Since moving to Oshkosh, I got a job working with a rancher and his wife. They were friends before and asked me to help them. I am helping with lambing, calving, chores, fencing and general ranch stuff. I am dog tired at night but sure sleep great.
I'll send pictures when I get some of the lambs we are getting every day.
Miss everyone in Q!

We're back

It's time to start posting on the blog again.

We have some changes this year. Bob and I are going to be moving back into our house in Oshkosh, Ne in about a month. We had to evict our renter and now have to get it back in order to put back on the market to sell. I will miss going to Quartzsite so much. Hopefully we won't spend too much time there and can still get down there. Bob thinks that we will spend the whole winter there. I don't even have any winter clothes and we will encounter quite a bit of snow very soon.

We had snow flurries at 8500 feet a couple days ago. At Woods Landing we are at 7600 feet. We also have been having a lot of rain and cooler weather. This morning it was only 37 degrees.

A couple weeks ago, I went to Cody WY to help my sisters with a surprise birthday party for my mom. She turned 75 this year. She was not expecting it and really enjoyed the party.

I also met up with a couple old classmates that I hadn't seen since 1972 and we got reacquainted. We had a great time, taking a 6 mile float trip down the Shoshone river. We got totally soaked since we were in the front seats of the raft.

Here's a pic of my sis and I before we headed out on a 2 day hike. Also a pic of the Snowy Range above Laramie, WY.

I'm headed over to Oshkosh, NE tomorrow to take a few things over to the house. We have to go to small claims court for the 2nd time to get some more back rent owed by the renter. Seems like it never ends.

I'll be posting more now that I will be getting Internet all the time.

This post is long overdue!
We are in Woods Landing for the summer. I have been working non stop at the cafe, store and cleaning cabing. I'm putting in close to 100 hours every 2 weeks. Not much time off for hiking which I was going to do a lot of this summer.
I have done some hiking with my sis tho. The hike up sheep mtn. was an 8 mile treck. It felt like the Grand Canyon all over again. Then yesterday we went up on the Snowy Range and hiked from Northfork Campground to Brooklyn lake. It was a 5 mile hike.
Next week Bob and I will be headed to Oshkosh, NE to take care of some business with our house. We recently put it up for sale and have to talk with the realtor and sign papers to list it.
August brings a 4 day hike with my sister. I think it is about a 40 mile hike. It will be good just to get away for a few days.
I don't have internet service or cell phone service where I'm at. Just the same as last year so when I go to town, I catch up on emails.

WYOMING

I forgot to post a great picture after we took a ride up the canyon along the Colorado River the other day. We stopped at a forest service campground and had lunch. I loved the Flinstones picnic tables!

We left Moab this morning at 9am. Bob drove to the interstate, I drove to Rifle, CO and he took over again to the next interstate. Then I drove into Rawlins.

Got some pictures along the way, and we are glad to be here. We pulled into the RV World Campground at 5pm. So it was a 8 hour day. It wasn't too bad until we quit driving and sat down in the trailer. Now we don't have the energy to do anything.

While driving from Meeker Co. to Craig, CO. there were so many deer and elk hit by vehicles alongside the road. I counted 15 elk and 40 deer in a 45 mile stretch. After Craig, CO. the numbers increased.

Snow is seen on the mtns of Colorado. We ran into some construction outside of Rifle, Colo.

We made it to WYOMING...YEA!

Our campground in Rawlins Wyoming. We will spend a few days here, check out the North Platte River for fishing and just enjoy being back home to Wyoming.

Leaving Moab

After spending a week in Moab, visiting Arches National Park, the Canyonlands and a few shops around town, we are headed to Wyoming today.
We were going to leave last Thursday but the weather in Colo. and Wyo. kept us here 3 more days. Lots of wind and snow settled in during the week.
Now we have warmer weather, the storm has moved east and we're on our way.

We're going to try to make it to Rawlins, WY tonight. About a 10 hour drive. We'll be tired and grumpy but at least we'll be in WYO.

Bob caught a terrible cold a couple days ago so he isn't feeling too well. I keep trying to have him take something for it, but he won't. So I guess he will just wait it out and get better when it's over.

On to Moab Utah

We left Navajo Dam NM this morning about 10am. Headed thru Farmington, Shiprock, NM and then onto Moab Utah.. I took these photos of the scenery along the way. The Mtns. into Utah were snow capped. One shot is with a truck that just passed us with a load of trees going to a nursery. We also were able to get diesel at Cortez Co for $4.09/gal.

We got to Moab about 3:30pm, long drive because of traffic and slow driving.

It is beautiful here, 80 degrees and all the leave on the trees are out.. We BBQ'd hamburgers out tonight and Bob is sitting outside having his usual whiskey drink.

Hopefully tomorrow we will head into town to see if I can sell some of my hummingbirds to local store owners. Might head to Arches National monument in the afternoon.

Love the weather here.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last day in NM

This will be our last day at Navajo Dam, NM. Headed to Moab tomorrow.

Bob will be saying his goodbyes to his friends at the fly shops today and get to the river for one more day of fishing.

Yesterday I dropped him off at the river, there was a fly fishing seminar going on. I headed to town and got the laundry done. When I got back I joined in on the seminar. It was very interesting and well done. There were quite a few people attending. 1st picture is an entomology class down by the river.

2nd one is instructors demonstrating the use of the fly rod.

It's been about 27 degrees every morning for the last few days and warming up to low 60's in the day. And the wind---it never stops blowing.

But as we head north it will be warmer in Utah and then onto Wyo where we will probably hit snow.

We went geocaching yesterday after the seminar. There was a cache up by the lake. We got to within 249 feet of it, had to cross the road and hike up the hill, straight up. I made it to the top and found the cache. Coming down was the hard part, ended up on my backside a couple of times. But mission accomplished!

April 25, 2008

We have been out of touch since we landed in Navajo Dam, NM. We moved out of Cottonwood campground yesterday to Abe's Rv park. Our 21 days ran out at the state park to camp. We do have Wi Fi here at the RV park. Finally, in touch with the real world again. This place is just west of the dam.
Bob has been fishing a few times and the fishing has been slow. The river is down some but filled with trash from the bottom of the lake. He is discouraged with fishing!
I have been doing some carving on cottonwood bark. I'm making whimsical houses and they are turning out pretty good. Bob has also started carving these things.
While here, we spent some time with Ron and Terry (our friends from Q). They took off on Thurs to head back to Iowa. We sure will miss them.
We're going to a fly fishing clinic tomorrow down at the river. It is put on by the San Juan fly fishing club. Might learn some new techniques for fishing!

Navajo Dam NM

Update!

We left Quartzsite, Az on March 30th. Went to the Grand Canyon and spent 3 days up there. It is still breathtaking! I did go on a hike on the Bright Angel trail. I had my pack, water and hiking stick and started the long climb down into the big canyon. I went down 1 & 1/2 miles to the first marker. It was a little scary because there was still snow and ice on the trail. But the hike up was incredible. It was so steep. I rested quite a few times but made it to the top. It took me 2 & 1/2 hours to complete the 3 mile trip. And of course I had to buy a T shirt that said I had hiked the canyon.

While camped at the campground just out of the Grand Canyon, I noticed a shed where some people had a couple of goats. I walked over and they were trying to get a brand new baby to get his first meal from his momma. These guys said they had never had anything to do with animals cause they were from the city. They were also taking care of the goats for their boss. Well now, me being a good old farm girl, offered my help with the new baby goat. I got it to drink and kept tabs on it while we were at the campground. The guy, Ruben, was the manager for the Spaghetti Western restaurant. He told me and Bob to come over on Wed. evening and they would give us a meal for helping them. What a nice gesture from them. We went over and had a wonderful spaghetti dinner.

The next day we headed to Navajo Dam, NM. We left about 9am and got here around 4:30pm. It was a long drive but we had fairly good weather, only got rained on once.

We have seen Ron and Terry twice since we've been here. They are parked up at Navajo Lake. Bob and Terry might go fishing tomorrow. The river is running too high to wade out in it. They had to release a lot of water from the dam because of heavy snowfall this year so it has put a damper on fly fishing. The drift boats are still taking customers down the river but not catching as many as last time we were here.

Today we are in town doing laundry and ran to Walmart to pick up a few things.

We might go out geocaching this afternoon. I went out the other day and had to climb a steep hill about a mile up and then over boulders and thru bushes to find a geocache inside a hollowed out boulder. It was a fun find.

Have a great time till I post again...

Last post from Quartzsite

This will be the last post this winter from Q !

We are headed out in the morning, going north. We have the trailer all packed except for a few items we need to put in tomorrow morning. And the dreaded thing of saying goodbye to friends we have spent the winter with.

We're only going as far a Lake Havasu, AZ tomorrow. We will camp in the free BLM area just north of the airport. Then onto the Grand Canyon for a few days.

I won't miss this 90+ degree heat. Tomorrow in Lake Havasu it will be 80 degrees so we'll be fine.

Bob borrowed Thom's compressor today to get the trailer and truck tires aired up. They were all a little low. Then he used his ladder to hop on top of the roof to make sure the solar panels were tightened down good.

He even cleaned out the truck interior, got it all shiny for the trip.

When we worked last Wed. Larry uncovered a scorpion. Of course I had to get a shot of it. They are very fast moving critters and UGLY! This was the first one I have ever seen.

John and Marie left Wed. also. Marie worked at the check in station Wed. and Thur. and John worked across the hwy the same days. I went to Mexico a couple of times with them.

And last but not least---Bob and Ranger Clyde. Bob and him have become good friends over the past 2 winters. Clyde is storing our tent for us this summer and will be glad to see Bob again this fall. I think they are one of a kind. I'll post along the way and keep everyone up to date on our travels back to Wyoming.

Hope everyone has a great summer and safe travels.

Getting closer to leaving

We had a nice Easter dinner at Mountain Quail Cafe today. Bob had the ham dinner and I had the chicken fried steak dinner. There was enough to bring home for supper.. We went for a drive around after dinner and I got some snapshots. Here's a few.

Some cactus's blossoming in yellow and fuchsia.

A grapefruit tree ! ! I wanted to stop and get some grapefruit. Maybe I will ask him if I can have some before I go.

This is the bush that is causing my allergies to flare up. The flowers are blooming so much and I am constantly sneezing...

A lizard once again. And a dove atop a palm tree.

I got some more packed into the trailer and if Bob said "GO", I could be ready to hitch up the trailer and be outta here. We are both itching to get on the road. I am anxious to hike the Grand Canyon and he is ready to do some fly fishing on the San Juan River. Next week it will happen too.

Hope you all had a good Easter.

Easter EVE

Easter eve is here...I imagine all my nieces and nephews are helping their kids color eggs today. Then the hunt is on tomorrow to see if they can find them all. My mom and step dad had their Easter last Sunday since my nephew Chuck was in town for spring break. Him and his family live in Easter South Dakota where he is attending school in forestry. So it will be pretty quiet at mom's tomorrow.

I ordered a tent from Cabela's for my summer hiking trips and had it sent to my sisters house in Laramie WY. It got there ok, so now I am ready to go hiking. 3 months from today we begin the hike. I've been doing a lot of walking to condition myself. But the elevation is a lot higher there and I will probably notice it some.

Judy (fulltime roadrunners) took this picture of a desert iguana today. She said he was huge, at least 8 - 10" long from nose to the back end. The tail was probably another 10".

Here is a picture of the hummingbird I just finished. Also I made some ears of corn earrings.