Valentines Day and Winter Blast

Happy Valentines Day! Terry bought me these tulips, candy, and gave me a Valentine card.

Yesterday we went to a Boomer potluck in Sara Park in Lake Havasu for the birthday of Duane. Last year when his wife Betty tried to find a cake, all she could find was a cake that said "Happy Birthday to Ed." The bakery said that the family didn't want the cake because Ed had died so Betty bought the cake. This year Betty bought a cake and had them write "Happy Birthday to Ed." We sang, "A horse is a horse of course . . . unless it is Mr. Ed" and then "Happy Birthday to Ed." It was silly fun.

After dark, it was time for the amazing fireworks for Winter Blast. We saw continuous fireworks with as many as six fireworks going off at one time in syncopation to music. The falling flowers of fire were awesome. Terry took these photos.

Tomorrow we move back to BLM land for a week.

Colorado River Trip

Sunday it rained and rained but Monday was beautiful with sunny skies. Our new friends, Captain Happy Jack and his first mate Bev, invited us to ride down the Colorado River on their pontoon boat. The water was clear enough to see fish swimming below us. It was fun to watch the Coots walk on water but my favorite duck is the beautiful Mallard.

Captain Happy Jack stopped at the Roadrunner restaurant and tied the boat to the restaurant dock as we ate tacos made with left over Sunday prime beef.

We slowly rode through the canals between the expensive homes. A man waved at us. Happy Jack called to him. “I like your wife.” “Yah,” the man answered. “She doesn’t talk back, either.”

We could see our RV parked in the second row as we returned to the campground.

Gum Gallery

When my friend Debbie invited me to visit her mother’s gum museum, I didn’t know what to expect. What I saw was rows and rows of glass cases filled with gum. In fact, Joanne Brunet, the owner of the museum, said that there are 110 glass cases. I took a deep breath and smelled the gum filled room. It reminded me of my childhood. It’s a fun filled history. Joanne has gum from before I was born to the 21st century. There are gum cards, bubble gum, gum -ball machines, and so much more. I saw gum from over 30 countries. She even has the word for gum in many languages.

If you are traveling to another country or see old gum for sale, call Joanne Brunet at 928-927-7566. She would love to add to her collection. If you are traveling to the south western part of Arizona, she’d love to show you her museum in Quartzsite. But please call her first.

Readers Oasis Bookstore

I went to the Authors Fair the last two weeks of January to sell my books, “RV Chuckles and Chuckholes- The Confessions of Happy Campers” and “More RV Chuckles and Chuckholes- More Confessions of Happy Campers” at the Readers Oasis Bookstore in Quartzsite. Of course, when the big storm came, I was safe in my RV. Since the booth for the Authors Fair blew down and the bookstore needed other repairs, the bookstore was closed for two days.

The number of authors who participated varied from day to day but Debbie, Ceil, Dick, KayD, and Joe, were the ones who were with me most of the time.

Debbie Hilbish, the lady in the shawl, was the hostess for the event. She is an artist and poet whose book is “Bits and Pieces.” She also sold cards featuring her paintings and photos of Arizona. For more information go to hil_ster@yahoo.com.

Ceil Stetson, the woman in sunglasses, sold her book, “Dear Sergeant Honey” which can be “classified as a love story, a historical WWII story, a diary of a WAC or a biography.” (These words are from the back of the book jacket.) Go to http://www.dearsergeanthoney.com/ for more information.

Dick and KayD Johnson wrote “Our Journals of Cruising the World on the S/V Mermaid.” This book is a fun and informative journal about an Alaskan couple that lived for five years on a sailboat that wasn’t as large as our RV.

Joe Gerard, the man who has his hands out, wrote “Flight from Tokura” which is a novel about the experiences of three young men who survived on a Japanese held island in World War II and flew a plane to safety. Joe is waiting for confirmation on a possible movie contract.

Debbie, Joe and Ceil met me in Lake Havasu at a writer’s meeting that Sharon Poppen gave at the Senior Center. Not only did she give us valuable information on writing but we also met for dinner at the Black Bear restaurant. Sharon has written “Hannah” about a young woman in the 1870’s who seeks revenge for the death of her husband and “After the War, Before the Peace” about four South Carolina brothers who attempt to avenge atrocities from the Civil War.

Meeting and conversing with these authors has been not only informative but a fun and fascinating time. We all thank Paul Winer, the man in the beard and long hair, for allowing us to use his bookstore and encouraging us.

Writers at Boomerville

Pat sent me an email which read “72 blogs in 2009 and nothing yet in 2010??? What's happening in your world??”

We have been living on BLM land, which is Bureau of Land Management land where we can park our RV for two weeks in one location before moving 25 miles or more to another location. When we do this, we do not have hook-ups. Without electricity, I can’t spend hours choosing photos and writing on the computer. We do have lights, TV, a stove for cooking, refrigerator and hot water but we use propane and solar power.

Why would we choose to live like this? We camp at CRA (Colorado River Adventure) where we need to be out of the system for one week before we can return for two weeks. We were out of the system at the beginning of January. We only stayed five days at the Yuma CRA Campground before we went to Quartzsite and camped with 134 RVs at a BLM spot called Boomerville. I also went to the Readers Oasis Bookstore to sell my RV books.

Betty Prange led a writers group in Boomerville on Saturday, January 16, 2010 in our RV. Using the writer guidelines of Natalie Goldberg from her book, “Writing Down the Bones,” we wrote using the words “They loved the surprise.” The surprises were all different but delightful. Introductions were given as we exchanged what type of writing each of us is doing along with our future goals.

On January 21, 2010, the writers group met at the fire pit in Boomerville and quickly adjourned to the Miller RV because of the wind and spitting rain. Jaimie spoke to us about the new

e-book, which is a guide for beginning fulltimers that she and Alice are writing. George read us his short story, which he named “The Prospector.” After rolling up the carpets, and bringing the slide- in inside the RV, Terry took photos of the windblown and damp group. You can see the difference the slide out makes since we had much more room with the slide out expanded.

Later in the afternoon, the worst storm that hit the area in 20 years, pelted rain and wind throughout Quartzsite. Our weather gauge measured 3.84 inches of rain in one hour. Wind gusts up to 80 MPH were reported in the little desert town. Fortunately, Boomerville received only a lost windsock, a missing front rug and a torn topper over a slide-out RV.

The storm was also a blessing since we didn’t have dust and in March the cactus will have more flowers in bloom.