IT JUST DEPENDS ON WHERE YA ARE.....

Cassie and I play a game, of "this is what I see today".  Shes sent me this on 12 9 11.

 

well, hello 6 months of shitty weather!



Medina, Ohio.  December 9, 2011


and I sent this back to her......

Sunrise in the Desert at Quartzsite, AZ
(Same day)

And where would you rather be???????


Life is a Journey... Enjoy it!!

Jim and Barb

TRIP TO LONDON BRIDGE

We took a day trip to Lake Havasu City, AZ on Dec 8^th.  We shared the day again with Jerry and Deb.  It was Jerry’s birthday this time.  It was his turn to pick the restaurant.

The main tourist attractions in Lake Havasu City are the London Bridge and the Lake.  It was a bit to cool to take a boat ride so we walked across the London Bridge, had lunch in a London style pub (we had fish and chips) and returned to the other side where our truck was parked.  Other area things we did, we visited the local Lowes store, a furniture store and of course Jim had to go to a grocery store.   I really think the sight seeing trip to London Bridge was just an excuse to go shopping.

You know the little song "London Bridge is falling down, falling down".  It really was falling down, it was sinking at the rate of an inch every eight years.  By 1924 the east side of the bridge was 3 to 4 inches lower than the west side.  In 1967, the Common Council of the city of London placed the bridge on the market.

On April 18, 1968, Robert McCulloch purchased the bridge for $2,460,000. Contrary to popular belief, McCulloch was not under the impression that he was purchasing the Tower Bridge.  Each block of the bridge was disassembled and meticulously number to be later reassembled in Lake Havasu City and rededicated on October 10, 1971.  Total cost of the bridge, relocation and reassembly of the bridge was $5.1 million.

The Sign to the London Bridge.

The Fountain at the entrance of the English Village

Side A

Side B

The  Bridge was quite unique

They put plaques up to let you know the name of the bridge.

View of the Bridge from the Pub were we ate Lunch

The scenery is so neat here.  And the best part the sky is always so blue.

Jim thought this was neat.

Moon over the desert mountains.

Life is a Journey… Enjoy it.

Jim and Barb

Trip to Mexico (12 6 11)

We made a trip to Mexico on Tuesday (12 6 11) for the fun of it.   We shared the day with Deb and Jerry (new neighbors from the new desert hood).  I had gone down to Mexico last week with Gretchen (another new neighbor from the new desert hood) so I got to be the tour guide, since I was the seasoned traveler.

Our new friends, Jerry and Deb

Getting into Mexico is no big deal.  They just have a handrail walkway and you are corralled into the main entrance of the little town of Los Alcadones. 

I followed Jim as he was about to enter Mexico.

Once you get into the little town there are dentists, optical shops, pharmacies and liquor stores everywhere.  There are also “barkers” to drum up business for the Dentists.  I met one of the barkers his name was PePe (as in PePe La Pu).  Dentistry work is very reasonable in Mexico, and believe it or not, lots of Americans go down there to have their dental work done.  A lot of Americans go down there for their prescription drugs, also reasonably priced.

Jim, as we entered Mexico.

Liquor Store.  This was the third buisness as we entered Mexico.

Street vendors

Dentists and street vendors.

Street scene in Alcodonoes

I think this was a personal residence, it didn't have
a Dental sign on it.

 

Getting out of Mexico, however, does take some time.  I think we stood in line for an hour.  Once you get to the Border Patrol officer, they look at your passport, ask you what you bought, tell you to have a nice day, then you are on your way.  Pretty quick and painless.  We did not feel threatened in anyway and felt safe the whole time we were there.

We felt safe, maybe cause of the protection there.

This is the line to return to the United States.

On our way back we stopped in a gift shop where they sell “Date Shakes”.  It is a milk shade blended with dates in it.  Deb and Jerry said it was very good.  I didn’t try it.  The place had great black cherry ice cream cones!!!!

These are groves of Date palms.  I couldn’t get over the way they were planted, very straight rows.

Date Palm Trees.

Date Palm trees all in a row.

Date Palm Trees

The mountains take on familiar shapes.
Looks like a little scotty dog to me.

It was a very pretty day, just chilly.

Life's a Journey…Enjoy it!

Jim and Barb

The Joshua Tree National Park

On December 3^rd we took a trip to the Joshua Tree National Park to celebrate Jim’s “coming of age”.  He was old enough to purchase the SENIOR PASS.  This pass will allow us to enter any National Park, Forest or Monument for free.  It will also allow us to camp in any National Park or Forest for half price.  There are some advantages to getting older.

We shared the day with new friends Jerry and Deb.  They left on October 1st on their adventure of Full-time RVing also.

It was a bit chilly day but it turned out to be a very interesting adventure.

We ran into a sand storm, kinda like a snow storm.

Visability was low.  There was sand drifting on the road.

Entrance to Joshua Tree National Park.

 Jim getting his "SENIOR PASS"

Jerry and Jim with their SENIOR PASS.



Rocks.





Cholla Cactus, also known as the Devil cactus aka Teddy Bear Cactus.
  This cactus has little barbs on it and sticks into anything that comes near it.
It is known to "jump" on you.



Oh Look, Rocks

Oh look, MORE rocks

This place is great to climb rock formations.  Just a bit to chilly that day to go out and kick around a few Rocks.  Another day perhaps.

A Joshua Tree (not very pretty)



A prettier version of a Joshua Tree



This Rock  is in the shape of a Skull.




Eat your heart out Cleveland, this is rush hour traffic in the desert!!!!!
There was a sign that said the next service station was 100 miles away.



Safe Travels and Stay Healthy,

Jim and Barb

The World of Geocache

We have been introduced to the World of Geocaching by Bob and Donna.  This is really a small world, Bob is from Beloit, OH and Donna is from Salem, OH.  We met them out here in the desert for the first time at an Escapees rally near the end of November.

Geocaching is a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game. Players try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS-enabled devices and then share their experiences online.

Since Bob and Donna are the members we rode along with them and they showed us the ropes.  It was great fun.  We got out and saw different areas that I am sure we would have never ventured into on our own.

My first cache--it was in.......

This Tree.

We also got to view some history of the area.

Donna found a cache, in a pile of rocks amoung a lot of rocks.

It was fun to see what "Treasures" were left in the cache.

Petroglyphs left from the Indians from the area

Grinding holes the Indians used to grind corn



More Grinding holes used by the Indians



Donna found a Travel Bug.  She will take it to a new site and leave it for the next Geocacher to take it to another site. thus the name....Travel Bug.

I think we have been bitten by the Geocache bug now.

Unitl the next time.

Jim and Barb.

Weird things here in the Desert

We saw a van the other day with a Brahma Bull and a Donkey in the back.  I asked the owner if they were their pets.  He said they have a small show that they put on with the animals. 

You never know what you will see out here.

Safe travels and stay Healthy,

Jim and Barb