Happy St. Patrick's Day! A Short Last Stop Near Quartzsite

 Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Saturday, March 14, 2026

I was up and sitting outside before the sun came up over the mountains to the East of us. It is a quiet time even the vehicle noise from US-95 seems softer at this time of the morning.

As the sun makes its way up over the mountains the sky changes
from a bright orange to a golden yellow.

Then slowly as the sun tops the mountain the world 
around us lights up. 

I have sat out many times in different areas and watched this
happen and it is still one of my favorite times of the day. 

 It looked like the mountain spit the sun out into the day.

Then it is over the mountain and begins 
its trip across the sky.

When this happens the desert floor sparkles in the sunlight.

At this point it was time to pack up the motorhome and head into Quartzsite. The person Tom talked to yesterday said, even though they were technically closed someone would be at Discount Solar at 10 o'clock to help us with the issue we were having. Still a little skeptical we drove in and where outside their gate at 9:55AM. We waited 50 minutes, no one came, and then Tom went to top off our diesel before we met in a parking area on Riggles Avenue. By now it was getting close to lunch time so we decided to go and have lunch at the Sunset Grill. We have had  their hamburgers and fries a couple of times in the past and they are without a doubt one of the best we have had. Patsy and Bill were suppose to come out for Happy Hour but we thought lets give them a call and see if they would like to join us for lunch. It worked out that they were available and joined us. So we enjoyed some good food and good conversation with good friends which was a nice way to enjoy our last visit for this season.

A picture of the four of us would have been nice but no that did
not happen but this is the the place.

After lunch I dropped Tom back at the motorhome and he headed back out to Roadrunner. I made one last quick stop at Coyote's Market to pick up some meat before heading that way, also. They really do have a decent selection and good tasting/quality of meat available at their meat counter. We have always been very happy with our purchases there.

I do not ever remember seeing a cloud quite like this one.
Spotted this on my way back to Roadrunner.

We are back out at Roadrunner and set up once again. Sitting out
in the shade looking east we missed the actual sunset.
This was just after it slipped behind the Dome Rock Mountains.

The sleeping Indian in the last of the light.

Looking North.

A little bit of rosy pink looking towards the southwest.

This little guy turned eleven back in January. Today he celebrated with a party with his friends. So Happy Birthday Party Nate. We love you to pieces forever and always

Papa was not really sure about this cake choice....LOL

It was disappointing not to be able to have the solar taken care of today because we had originally planned to leave here on Sunday. When we realized we were not going to make it back to Quartzsite before Discount Solar closed on Friday we were disappointed but accepted the fact that we would have to adjust our plans. It happens and you need to roll with it; life is not always predictable. When Tom called and the guy said come in tomorrow we were nicely surprised because it meant we did not have to adjust our plans. So it really was doubly disappointing to now have to change our plans and it was annoying that we packed up the motorhome and moved for no reason. Plus, we did not understand why anyone would set up an appointment which they obviously were never going to keep. Side note: this became even more obvious when I spoke to someone on Monday. 

Moving on we would enjoy an extra day out at Roadrunner and that is always a nice Plan B.

Sunday, March 15, 2026

I missed the sunrise this morning but I did sit out with my coffee and enjoyed the views.

I started on the passenger side in the sun but it soon became
to hot to enjoy.

So I switched views to the driver's side in the shade
where Tom joined me.

Later in the afternoon we sat out again in the shade.

As the sun was setting I took a walk around 

as it was slipping behind the mountains.

This was our last sunset out here for this adventure.

The Kofa Mountains, where the Palms are, in the last of the light.

The after glow did not disappoint.

It turned a lovely deep orange before fading and giving 
way for the darkness and the quiet of the desert to envelop us.

We enjoyed a wonderful last day parked out in the Roadrunner BLM. It is starting to get hot and by the end of the week they are predicting it will be in the 100's it is time to move on.

Today our daughter waved goodbye to her 30's and said hello to her 40's! We are proud of the woman she has become. It is just hard to believe that she is now 40. Not sure where the years went but I do know they went by way to fast. Happy Birthday, Rachel! Dad and I love you forever. 

This is an older picture but so far
 it is my favorite one of the two us!

Monday, March 16, 2026

We were both up in time to watch the sunrise on this our last morning at the Roadrunner BLM for this our 12th Adventure. I never get tired of watching the sun slowly rise above the mountains and the desert light up around us.

The desert floor sparkles in the sunlight.

One last picture and it is time to go in and get ready to pull out.

I turned and took one last picture of the motorhome 
(with no name) as we left this spot we do enjoy.

Before pointing the motorhome's nose north and heading down AZ-95 we had one last stop. That stop was Discount Solar to find out what was causing the problem with the our solar. To our surprise they were closed but they had one gate open and there were people there. Though after two phone calls and one message they were surprised to see us. The end result was a quick reset and then Tom was shown exactly how to do it in the future if it happens. When I asked for a phone number if we needed help in the next few months, they will be closed over the summer, the gentleman I was talking to gave me that information. When I asked about what happened on Saturday, I will just say, he dismissed me like I did not know what I was talking about because they are closed on Saturday. I was slightly taken back by that because in the past we have gotten excellent customer service from this business. They put the solar system in the Stinger "B" and we were very happy with it and the service so we did not hesitate when we bought this motorhome to make an appointment to have to them put it in this one. No complaints about the quality of work or the solar system. But we/I was disappointed, not in the work, but in how I was spoken to on Monday. I will leave it there. To reiterate this is not a complaint about the job they did or the solar system itself, that we are happy with. It is a complaint about how I was talked to.

We were past Parker when I decided to take some pictures. We have taken this route several times over the last few years and I have posted many pictures. So I decided not to do so today.

From a distance this looked like a large squirrel, then I thought
I could see a lion being hugged. Now it sort of looks like a family.

The road and views as we get closer to Lake Havasu.

We are north of Lake Havasu still on AZ-95 and
the hand is still waving.

We have turned on to I-40 and heading east.

Coming into Kingman
and this is where my phone ran out of time. 

We turned on to Us-93 from here and then onto AZ-68 and made our way to the Tradewinds RV Park in Golden Valley. We will be here for three nights. It is a Passport America Park so the price is certainly right for full hookups. Interestingly we did stay here once before and when we did we were traveling in our 5th Wheel the Crusader.

Whenever we leave Quartzsite we always say the trek East has begun and this year is no different. We will be slowly making our way east, and though our home is on wheels, it is bringing us back to Michigan the place we call home. 

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!

Happy Birthday to Our Daughter!!! Filling In the Rest of Our Time at Roadrunner BLM in January 2024, Part 1 (Two Beautiful Quilts)

Happy Birthday Rachel!!!

Today our beautiful daughter is celebrating her Birthday!
Tom and I have 7 beautiful grandchildren and she is the mother of 3 of them.
We are proud of the woman you have become, Rachel,
and we love you forever and always!
xoxo     xoxo

We are presently In Gulfport, Mississippi.

Before I go any further forward with this blog I am going to take a step back to our time at Roadrunner at the dates below.  This blog is for our memory book. ( This is an FYI for myself:  I wrote three blogs about the 19 days we were there on January 14th and 17th and February 7th.)

January 15th through January 29th 2024

My first picture is a Saguaro we have used as a marker as to where to turn when we park in this general area at the Roadrunner BLM. When we got here in November I was glad to see he was still standing but when we arrived back in January the first thing I noticed is he has fallen apart. Certainly the circle of life but still sad to see him gone.

He was a good marker for our turn for several years.

 

On the 15th we took a ride over to Bouse where we had breakfast Bouse Booster Club with Melissa and Lyle. A short visit but fun. 

Coming out on the East side of the Plomosa Mountains.

The Breakfast was good the company excellent.

Heading back West to AZ-95 then South to Roadrunner.

These Teddy Bear Chollas look like they are dancing.

Happy Hour on the 15th.
Left to Right: Keith, Kim, Ken, Tom, and my chair.

On the 16th we jumped into the "Jeep with No Name" with Kim and Ken and headed over to the Crystal Hill Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. As I recall the only one who found a crystal, or was it two, was Kim. 

Ken and Tom checking out the map at the kiosk.

I believe this is a Buckhorn Cholla

We are down in the wash looking for Crystals.

Well at least Kim, Ken, and Tom are. 
I am taking pictures of them looking...lol

When we got back we had surprise visitors for Happy Hour.
Always nice to have Patsy and Bill join us.
Left to right: Ken, Patsy, Bill, Ken, Kim, my chair, and Tom

Then on the 18th we had a nice surprise Nancy, Kissack Adventures, along with Patsy, Chillin' with Patsy, and Bill, On Our Way joined us for Happy Hour.

Standing in our doorway looking out at the sunrise.

The ride back to our site at Roadrunner

Out site and on the right in the top photo and middle one our
neighbors.  They called themselves "The Beavers" a Motorhome
that several of them owned. They were a large group but pretty quiet.

For some reason I just could not seem to get the whole group in the picture.
So the Top Picture Left to Right: Bill, Patsy, Ken, Nancy, my chair, Kim
Bottom picture on the right add: Ken and Tom

When we decided to sell the house one of the things I had to do was go through my sewing room.  As I started the " fun" project I found a covered basket I had taken from my mom's sewing room several years before and placed in mine. I had opened it at the time and saw it was material but never went through it but now it needed to be done.  In the basket I found a quilt top she had put together but not quite completed along with a lot of cut pieces of material. There was also material for a backing. Plus, there was other quilting material and some fishing panels. We had taken a quilting class together but I never did anything with what I had learned. In all honesty I really do not like matching corners, something a quilter does a lot of, so I never really cared to quilt. Yet it was fun going to class together. I bagged up what I found not wanting to get rid of her work but knowing I did not have the skills to finish it. It went into the storage unit with several other bags of material, I am not a quilter but I am a sewer, I was still not ready to part with. A few years went by and I kept seeing pictures of all the beautiful quilts Nancy makes and I finally made up my mind to ask her if she would be willing to look at what I had and see if she could complete it. She said yes and last year I turned over all the material that had belonged to my mother. Well at least all that was quilting material. Below are pictures that do not do justice to what she returned to me on this day in January of 2024.

Nancy finished this quilt and quilted it

and added pillow shams

The Fishing Panels and the backing she found.

Thank you, Nancy. It means so much to me to have these! You do beautiful work and I love them!

“To me, the beauty of a quilt or a dress lies within the stitches and the thought of the person who made them. When you spend time making something with your two hands, you impart love in a way that buying never can.” ― Natalie

This guy came and drank from our feeder several times.

Sunset on the 19th

After sunset on the 20th

On the 21st we took a ride.

AZ-95

AZ-72

AZ-72

US-60

I-10

US-95

Home!

On the 22nd it rained in the desert.

Puddles and Little Washes in the Desert.

On our way to Silly Al's for dinner with friends.

While standing outside waiting for a table the sun went down
and the sky glowed.

Having Pizza at Silly Al's
Top left: Bill, Nancy, Patsy     Top right: Kim and Sarah     
Bottom left: Keith       
Bottom right: Ken and Kim with their daughter Sarah    

To be continued in the next post.

We are glad you stopped by!

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.