Camping at Quartzite

Well, we've been busy lately. a few weeks ago we took our RV to Quartzite, AZ. It's a huge gathering place for RV's from around the country in the month of January. They have a big rock show and flea market there that attracts thousands of RVs. You can camp out in the desert for free and everyone does so. We had a great time and brought our motorcycle too. One day we took a 300 mile ride to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park. It was the first time we tested our solar panel and it worked great. And of course we had to have a campfire in the evenings, that's part of the fun.

On the homefront, Ed had a surgical procedure done 2 weeks ago and has been out of work until tomorrow. And as some of you might have heard Sam's Clubs all over the country laid off all of their demo associates, which means me.They laid off over 10,000 people and are going with a contract company like Costco has. I put in a application with that company so we'll see what happens.

So that's it for now. I'll keep you posted on what's happening. Bye, Love, Vicki & Ed

IT NEVER RAINS IN ARIZONA

Everyone has probably heard of the rain storms we got this week and is still raining.
Well, over 4 inches of rain might not be a big deal for some, but this is more than half of our
yearly average, so it was pretty impressive. These pictures are of the golf course
where Ed works. The pictures are of Trail Ridge's driving range (or should I say diving
range). I love the ducks swimming around. It doesn't take them long to find a new lake.
As every Arizonan would say-we needed the rain! It has been a draught here for several
years now and this will help fill the lakes and rivers, especially the ones associated with
the Colorado River, where we get a large portion of our water. That's all the excitement
for now. Love Vicki & Ed

Happy New Year from Arizona!

In SunCity West, Christmas is still a fun time for alot of the seniors here. They go all out and decorate their houses, just like they have been all their lives. On Christmas Eve, everyone gets in their cars and golf cars (like us) and drives around to see the lights. They also have lumanaries on the sidewalks in front of some houses. Those are white paper bags with sand and a candle inside. It's pretty neat, some streets have them all the way up and down.

We opened our presents on Christmas morning. Since Ed and I are working part time jobs, we each used our 'own' money and shopped for the other. I got Ed a Wii console with some games. Ed was super surprised and loves it. I also got him a golf shag bag. That holds a bunch of balls to practice with on the putting and chipping green. I received a new Schwinn bike. My other one was probably 15 years old and was not fun to ride anymore. It was a struggle. This one is awesome-now I need to get busy and ride! I also got a Ninja Blender. I demoed it and fell in love with the blender, so Ed surprised me with it.

I hope everyone's Holiday was full of love and happiness. Bye for now, Love, Vicki and Ed

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ARIZONA!

Happy holidays everyone! We don't have any snow yet, but you never know! Actually, we turned on the heater last week when it reached 67 degrees in the house and use it in the mornings and evenings. As you can see, we got the house all decked out in ornaments, and lights on the house and the palm trees we're standing by. Now we are just waiting for Santa to get here.

Last week we took a trip to Yuma and then over the border to Mexico to see what kind of prescription drugs we could get. I wanted some Clairinex for itching and ointment to send Raymond. It was amazing, every other building was a pharmacy or dentist or doctor. And they would all stand outside asking if you need dental work or medicines. Then we spent the night at the Marine Corp air station in Yuma. They have an inn there and right across the street was their shopping mall and down the street was the NCO club. So we had a fun time and then went back home the next day.

So, that's all for now. We hope anyone who reads this will have a wonderful Christmas and that 2010 is a year full of happiness and good things. We miss Alaska, especially our family there and hope someday we'll get back up to visit. Bye for now, Love, Vicki and Ed

Brittany's and Buddy's Wedding, Oct.23rd

Top left-Erin, Hannah, Jessie, All stepsisters' Toni's kids. Chris, Mom Ponce, Dad. Brittany, Buddy, and Ponce's brother and family.
Bottom left- Toni's Aunt Fran, Toni, Jackie, My Dad, Ken and Grandma Mary D., Toni's Grandma.
Raymond's Birthday was today-he's 29. When he turns 30 next year and 55 for me. I think that will be a getting old mark. Yuk! Well, I went to my step-niece's wedding. It was all the way over in Mesa, so I went to my Dad's and road over with them. It was a very nice wedding with a beach theme, because that's where they really wanted to get married. The amazing thing to me was all the women dressed in black. I thought I would be the only one. I borrowed this dress from my mom so I didn't have a lot of choices. Jackie, my step mom, Toni, my stepsister, and her two daughters plus some others all wore black. The reverse is true for funerals now; no one wears black-go figure. We all had a nice time and all the stress from the last months was over in about an hour. Brittany and Buddy are wonderful young people and perseverance and luck it will last a lifetime. Bye for now, Vicki

Beautiful Utah

Here we are at Bryce National Park-again! I think I could go there over and over and not be bored with its beauty. As you guessed, though, it was a bit chilly that morning. At our campground it was in the low 20's at night and our last night it was 12 degrees (burrrr...)
We did have a relaxing time on our trip, with lots of campfires and good food. Ed and I do all the cooking for our friends that own the Panguitch KOA while we are there. They are wonderful people and let us keep our 5th wheel trailer at their campground all summer for free. That way we could go there every month for a little getaway.
Our truck is finally getting broke in with 56,000 miles and our gas mileage is between 19 & 20 mpg, but still sucks with pulling our 40ft. trailer-oh well! My car broke down the other day to the tune of $600. We were driving it and it started to die. We limped home where it wouldn't start again. So called the tow truck and took it to a Subaru dealer here. The battery had a bad cell and when they took it out it started oozing everywhere. The alternator wasn't working right and over charged it. So we got those 2 things, plus the belts were horrible and my windshield washer motor died, also new wiper blades. The nice lady in charge took the cost of the wiper motor ($98) off our bill. If that's a way to get us to come back in, it worked. They even washed my car.
I've been keeping busy working 4 to 5 days a week and doing yard work and some fun fixer-upper things. We sit out on the patio almost every night and are really enjoying the cooling temperatures. Well, that's enough rambling for now. Take care everyone, Love, Vicki & Ed

A Little Bit of Nostalgia

This was taken when I was 19 years old by my first husband. I can't believe I ever looked that young! I scanned this and am going to print it and frame it for my son's birthday. This has always been his favorite picture of me.

On another note, we're going to Panguitch, Utah next week for 7 days and do some more sight-seeing that we've missed, and then bring down our 5th wheel for the winter so we can use it here. Hopefully, I'll have some interesting pictures to post. Well, bye for now and I hope everyone is doing well and are enjoying their lives. Love, Vicki & Ed