So the story of our Journey begins again.
After a long "vacation" from blogging I decided it was time to get back in the "game". Mostly because this is our journey and we do want to remember it when we get old...LOL
No, I will not be going all the way back in time to when I stopped blogging to catch up, my memory is not that good, but I will be inserting pictures here and there along the way from the past.
We are parked out on BLM Land, Roadrunner to be exact, near Quartzsite, Arizona and my restart into Blog Land will be our arriving here. Well sort of I think I will start each blog in real time and then go back.
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Today was a day to watch the constantly changing sky around us. We had rain overnight and as I write this a little after 2 o'clock there is the rumble of thunder in the distance and the rain has started to fall. The kind of drops that softly pitter\patter on our roof. Out the window off to the southwest I can see lighter sky not blue just lovely white clouds coming our way.
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When I opened the door to take these first pictures this morning
I could smell the creosote in the air. It is a smell that only comes out
after a rain here in the desert and it is a pleasant scent. |
I went out several times before the rain started. There were moments of white fluffy clouds with blue sky peaking out and dark ominous clouds hanging over the mountains all beautiful.
As I continued writing and added the above pictures the rain continued to come down with more intensity and the sky turned from dark clouds with some white to shades of grey.
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| The mountains almost disappeared behind the mist. |
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These were the last pictures I took today.
The sun was trying to shine through the clouds to the west
and there was spots of color in the the east.
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Tom took these as the sun would have been making its way
behind the Dome Rock Mountains. |
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| The clouds picked up some nice color as the the sun was setting/ |
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| The last little glow of light to the north of us. |
If you are a cloud watcher, and I admit to being one, today was a wonderful day to do so the they kept moving and changing quickly. We had rain on and off throughout the day but I am sure all the plants in the desert where happy to see it come down.
I learned a little bit about the lie we tell ourselves tonight. The one that the RV will be easy to find in the desert after dark because we have driven in so many times. I had a late pedicure appointment in Quartzsite and it was dark when I headed home. This was the first time I ever drove in to our site by myself after dark. I made it but it is a whole different experience.
About the pedicure, I had an appointment at Tippie Toes Nails Spa with Deena the owner. If you need or just want a pedicure I would say give her a call she does an excellent job. I personally have already booked my next appointment.
Friday, October 31, 2025
After spending a week at the Pilot Knob RV Resort in Winterhaven, CA , just west of Yuma, AZ, we eventually headed north on US-95 towards Quartzsite. Before leaving the Yuma area we had the delightful fun of replacing our refrigerator. The Norcold which was nothing but trouble from the beginning died while we were parked at Pilot Knob. When our Dometic died seven years ago the only thing we could find in stock was a Norcold so not wanting to wait a month we decided to go with it. That was not our best decision. Nine months later that one died. After several phone calls the company reluctantly sent a new one and that one lasted six years but it was nothing but trouble. For one thing ice constantly built up in the refrigerator part and then water would back up and fill every opening including the crisper. I finally just kept everything in plastic bags. Not to mention if I put one container on top of another one what ever was in that top container would most likely freeze. Not all the time but probably 80% of the time. I must admit when it died I almost rejoiced except for the cost of its replacement but it is so worth it to have a working refrigerator.
Enough bad stuff. Well except for the engine overheating problem but we have had the radiator checked out and we, meaning Tom, has a good idea about what is going on. So fingerscrossed we have a solution. More later.
As we were going by the road to the Yuma Proving Grounds I was ready to take the picture, which I have taken and posted several times. But there was no sign and no big guns. I was so surprised I missed taking a picture of the nothingness.
Then I googled: What happened to the guns and sign at the road to the Yuma Proving Grounds
The iconic Big Guns at the Yuma Proving Grounds have been temporarily removed for road construction. The M1 240mm howitzer, which has stood since 1963, was moved to make way for improvements to Highway 95. The howitzer is expected to return to its prominent display after the completion of the road construction project, which is set to be completed in the summer of 2026.
Mystery solved.
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The Tethered Aerostat, a large, unmanned, helium-filled blimp
operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection was flying. |
One of the first thing we noticed as we rode along was how green everything looked. It was nice to see leaves on the Ocotillos. |
Then we started seeing the beautiful and majestic Saguaros
along with the Teddy Bear Chollas. |
It was later in the day when we finally arrived at our spot and parked the Stinger "B" for our first desert boondocking of this Our 12th Adventure.
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Looking towards the Dome Rock Mountains as the sun sets
on our first night parked in one of our favorite places. |
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Looking to the south we can see the last of the sun's rays on the
Palm Canyon and to the east on the Sleeping Indian. |
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The sun has slipped behind the mountains and soon the
total darkness of this peaceful place will encircle us.
We are happy to have arrived and look forward to the days ahead. |
Saturday, November 1, 2025
I was up and out the door for our first sunrise. As you can see we were not totally set up. No patio area and no chairs. Not long after their were chairs and coffee looking out at the view.
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| The sun coming up on our first day boondocking in the Sonoran Desert. |
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When I turned back after taking the pictures of the sun rise
the Stinger "B" and the Jeep with No Name looked wonderful
parked in this place with the sun's rays on them. |
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| The views around us as the sun came up on our day. |
Today was filled with the setting up our space for our time parked out here. Tom worked outside setting up our Patio Area and I worked inside. The first thing on my agenda was moving everything from the coolers into the refrigerator. We had turned it on when we arrived and this morning it was wonderfully cold inside. I did not have much hope for our freezer food but to my surprise most of the meat was still frozen solid. I had thought I would be spending most of the day cooking the meat from the freezer and then refreezing it. But we only had some sausages and hot dogs totally unthawed and Tom grilled them and I refroze what we did not have for dinner. So all in all it was a good day.
Sunday, November 2, 2025
The sun was up several hours before us this morning and the picture below was the only one I took today.
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| Took this while we sat and had our coffee this morning. |
We went to 11:30 Mass at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Quartzsite this morning. Then later in the afternoon Patsy and Bill came out for our first official Happy Hour of this season. I failed to take a picture but Patsy brought her cute tripod and set up it up to take one. She
Monday, November 3, 2025
Today was pretty much a do nothing type of day. We slept in and then sat out and enjoyed our coffee. You may notice a pattern emerging of what our morning consist of but what can I say it is how we enjoy starting our day.
While we were sitting out to our surprise a very tiny sort of silver in color snake went slithering by. It is the first time we have ever seen any type of snake near where we were parked.
After spending some time googling we are pretty sure it was a Western Threadsnake.
Western Threadsnake
(Rena humilis)
Order: Squamata
Family: Leptotyphlopidae (blind snakes)
Other common names: worm snake
Spanish names: culebra
Distinguishing Features
This small snake, which is about as thick as a pencil lead on average, reaches a maximum length of 16 inches (40 cm). It is usually pale brown, pink, purplish, or beige with a silver sheen. The hard, shiny scales on the underside are similar in appearance to those on the back, except lighter in color. The head and tail are blunt, with a spine at the tail tip. Vestigial eyes appear as spots under the head scales. Teeth are lacking from the upper jaw.
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| It was not very big and it looked silver in the sunlight. |
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A little later while we were still sitting outside we watched
a Goodyear Blimp go by. |
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| Later we watched the moon rise |
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| and the sun set on what had been a lazy sort of day in the desert. |
Tuesday, November 4, 2025
There was no more putting it off today we needed to take a ride over to Parker to visit the Walmart and pick up a few needed groceries. We did take a detour across Plomosa Road to Bouse where we turned left onto AZ-72 which took us into Parker.
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| Saguaros on the side of the Plomosa Mountains. |
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| More majestic Saguaros. |
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Even after the Saguaros have died there is beauty in them.
I know what I see what to do see?
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Some Ocotillos still had their tiny green leaves while others
are losing their green color and they will soon be bare of leaves.
Still my favorite desert plant. |
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| Later back home we watched the moon rise |
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and the sun set.
Another good day in our journey. |
Wednesday, November 5, 2025
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This is a collage of the two different hummingbirds who
have been coming into the feeder. |
My research says the one on the left is a male Anna's Hummingbird. I think the one on the right is a female of the same species or a young male. I have not been able to get a clear enough picture to put in the Merlin Bird ID so for now it is just a guess.
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The moon rising was partially covered by clouds
tonight but still beautiful. |
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Then the few clouds that were in the sky made for
a wonderful afterglow. |
I feel this blog getting lengthy so I will stop here for today. I do have an FYI for my blogger friends I may have been out of the world of blogging and not making many comments but I have been reading your blogs and sharing with Tom what you have been doing. I cannot explain what happened and why I quit writing and commenting. I do know once I stopped it was hard to start again. For all of us who blog it is our own special Journey and for me it is about our memories so today I begin anew.
If you have enjoyed the pictures I have put out there
or the words I have added that makes me smile.
If you have time to leave a comment they are always special to read.
No matter what I am glad you stopped by!
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