One Special Day….

What a special day it was for Deb.  After all, it was her birthday, so shouldn’t she be treated like a “Queen”!!

Deb likes the local pizza parlor – “Silly Al’s”, so why not have a pizza party for her.  After extending the invite to our desert friends, it developed into much more than either of us could have imaged.

 

Her morning started out on the right foot – you see she fully enjoys the simple things in life – so when the hummingbird arrived to feed off the ocotillo cactus she was delighted.  Plus she had a text message from her friend Holly from back home.

After our morning walk, she was taken out for breakfast.  A day off from the kitchen and Jerry didn’t make a mess in her kitchen either. =)

She received phone calls, text messages, and a lot of Facebook messages throughout the day.  That in its self-made her feel pretty darn special – she gives a BIG thank you to all the wonderful people!!

Once we got to the party; she was showered with hugs, birthday wishes, cards, presents, cake, and even the bill accounted for. WOW – it was as if the “Queen” had just rolled in town!!!!   Actually, it was a bit of overwhelming to her (actually both of us) as to how generous everyone was for the occasion.

 

Then the pizza started coming out, so it was time to get down to business – there was a lot of pizza to eat - after all Jerry ordered three of them.  Plus we still had the cake to eat.

Why use a plate - that's Deb's hand finishing up her piece.

 

What a delicious cake – it was like strawberry shortcake with butter cream icing.  Sorry, no picture of the inside, but it had a layer of fresh strawberry in the middle.

Deb had to show off her new things and give a special shout out ~~~ Patty crochets the hat, Jan made the bead bracelet, and Jerry found the pendent rock, which Patty made into a necklace for him.  Other special thank you goes out to the group for the cake, to Shelly for picking up the tap for the pizza, and Glen for one of his bon-fires.

A GREAT WAY TO END A PERFECT DAY!! =)))

 Oh did we mention – How wonderful our desert friends have been to us this winter?   Well – it’s worth mentioning it again – THEY ARE A WONDERFUL GROUP!!  Thank you for being a part of Deb’s birthday celebration!

Camp Fire, Hot Dogs, and Pies

Everyone’s time in the desert is winding down, so everyone is trying to use up their firewood.  Glen and Jan invited everyone over Tuesday evening for a camp fire, which Glen really knows how to have a bon-fire!  Sorry no fire picture :(

Don't you think that stack can make a pretty mean fire?

While sitting around the fire; George mentioned he needed to have a fire to use up his wood before leaving too.  Quickly it turned into a hot dog roast, Jan had homemade chili, so now we have chili dogs, and then Deb mention coconut pie… you guessed it…. desert was covered too.  So now we just needed to wait for Saturday evening to get here.

Saturday became a very busy day for Deb, as she was in the kitchen all day.  After our three mile walk; it was time to get busy - Deb started the coconut pie, while trying to cook breakfast at the same time.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t such a good ideal, so breakfast got put on hold until the pie was cooked.  

While eating (standing up), she had started on the chocolate pie – guess she didn’t learn her lesson from the previous pie. You just cannot do both at the same time, as pies take your undivided attention!  And eggs just really don’t taste too good cold!!

Finally, both pies were completed – but that wasn’t enough… she then decided to make some more lemonade syrup.

Sorry, nothing left to share - LOL

Shortly after the cooking was done, we got a call from another one of your new friends – Ed. They (Ed and his dog Paco) want to come by for a visit, as they were heading back to Vermont the next day.  

We have meet some great people in the desert this year and looking forward to seeing them again in about 7 months.

Question for ya: What’s your favorite dessert?

     ~Ours: Jerry - Chocolate pie / Deb - German chocolate cake

Guess Max had a hard day too!


Cheers, hope your day is filled with love, laughter, and many blessings!

Are we covered?

WOW!!! We never think this will happen to us… at least we sure hope not!! 

Since we sold our brick and mortar home - we lost some of the coverage we had on our home owner’s policy - it was time to make sure our coverage needs are met completely.  Not only are our needs important, so is the price!! 

Are we getting the best price for the needs?  Soon that question was answered --->>> NOPE!!  

After talking with Progressive Insurance; we decided they offered the best coverage at the right price. They offer a full-timers policy - much like a brick and mortar home policy – such as contents and visitor injured while at our camp site.  And we even got to put a whopping $244 in our pockets!!!  

Now that we have the serious stuff taken care of we will leave you with a little humor……..

RV Emergency    ~ curiosity of the jokeshop.org

A motorhome broke down along the freeway one day, so the driver eased it over onto the shoulder of the busy road. He’d never had an RV travel emergency before so he had to improvise.
He jumped out of his driver side door, walked around his rig and opened the door to the coach itself. Out popped two men in trench coats.
The men stood behind the motorhome and immediately opened up their coats, exposing themselves to the passing traffic. The result was one of the worst pile-ups in the road’s history.
Later, when questioned by an angry highway patrolman why he put two deviates along the side of the road, the RVer replied, “I was broken down, so I just used my emergency flashers!”

Travel safely; protect yourself, and enjoy the journey!

 
 

Mexican Dentist

Here is Dr. Geraldo Castillo, aka Dr. Jerry (Left) and his brother Roy, also a dentist is on the right.  Courtesy of frugal-retirement-living.com

Last week we made the trip to Algodones, Mexico to have our teeth cleaned… as many Americans do.  Although we could’ve just gone to any dentist ~ we preferred to get a referral from our friends Jim and Barb… they had just returned from having some work done.  The work was top notch and cost us $40 each... Woo Hoo!!  We all know it would've been much more in the states.

It is said that Algodones has more square feet of dental space than any place in Mexico, maybe the world.  You will be approached by hawkers with cards for various dentists when you cross the border... The good dentists, including ours, do not advertise like this...they don't have to, they work on mostly referrals.  We would highly recommend Dr. Jerry… as we will be visiting him again when returning back to Arizona next year.   Sharing our experience is greatly appreciate by Dr. Jerry, however  we don’t get any special treatment or referral discounts on our services.

Just like any other town in Mexico... You will be approached by people selling stuff and pointing you to dentists, pharmacies, and optical shops... Businesses that resort to such advertising should tell you something about those businesses.   If you need other services; we would highly recommend asking Dr. Jerry or other respectable service provider.

If we had to drive across the border the hassle might offset the savings... it can take a car longer to get through the customs and immigration.   Border security and dogs check every vehicle ~~ NOT A BAD THING! =)  It’s much easier to park on the US side… pay the $5… and walk across. No delay whatsoever, for pedestrians...but coming out could be a different story in the winter time with all the part-time visitors to Arizona.   However, there is a work around for that too…..

Pedi-taxi....Five buck --> bets the long lines

 

If you are in the area and need some dental work… contact Dr. Jerry…. he handles all aspects of the business… don’t be shocked when he answers the phone.

Holistic Dentistry

US Phone: (928) 503-8406

Cell Phone:  011 52 (658) 119-3489

Office Phone: 011 52 (658) 517-7299

E-Mail: Holdent_Dr.Jerry@hotmail.com

Address: 261 Ave B, Suite 3

(Algodones Pharmacy Complex)

Los Algodones, B.C. (Mexico)

Hmmm…. Lemons!!!

Being in the right place at the right time…  It’s a wonderful thing… well maybe not sometimes, as it’s not always in your favor ~ LOL =)).   

                                    Don’t you feel that way sometimes?

For Deb; she was glad we were!   Why?  Well, she had received a recipe for the perfect lemonade from Jan, so she couldn’t wait to get to the store (not really any farmer's markets here) to buy some lemons.   Before we could get to the store it appears the lemon trees produced an abundance of lemons this year, which we were asked if we wanted some.  Guess it’s true… good things happen to those who wait ;o) 

If you like lemonade, you will want to make this “lemonade syrup”.  The perfect lemonade, as you have control on how strong or weak your lemonade will be every time.

                             A little trivia for you…..  

                    Do you know how many varieties of lemons

                    there are available? 

  Lemonade Syrup

2 c. Sugar or Honey* 

1 c. Water (use 1/4 cup less for every cup of honey*)

1 c. Fresh lemon juice with pulp (4-5 large lemons)

1)               Make simple syrup by boiling sugar or honey and water for about 5 minutes

2)             Let cool ~5-10 minutes and add lemon juice

3)             Store in covered container and refrigerator

When ready for a glass, just add as much or little of the syrup to a glass of cool water.

Note: you could freeze a portion if you don’t drink lemonade often or reduce the recipe.  * Deb made the syrup with 1 part sugar and 1 part honey to reduce the white sugar and it was delicious.

I’m sure there are all kinds of ways to mix lemonade to create a nice spring or summer drink.  I like raspberries as it adds a nice hit of color to the lemonade.  Or maybe make yourself an Arnold Palmer ~ half ice tea and half lemonade

                        

                                What’s your creation?

Have you given much thought on what else you can do with fresh lemons?  Much to our amazement, lemons have a lot of usages; not just for drinks and/or cooking.  They are VERY healthy for your body – health issues, detox and beauty, use as a cleaner, and so much more. 

To get a great education on lemons; we would recommend you check out this site. 

We are having beautiful weather in the desert– mid 80’s with slight breezy, so think it’s time to make some more lemonade.  It will go perfect with our BBQ potluck dinner today!  Don't you think!?!

Happy Hump Day Everyone!!

Spring is in the air….

Spring is in the air here in the Arizona desert; plants are blooming, citrus trees are producing their fruits – grapefruit and lemons, and people are starting to head out to their next destination.  

 

As we try to nail down our next destination; we are staying quite busy trying to make sure the rig is all set to roll when the time comes – probably at the end of March.  

~Jerry has finished up our solar project (if there is such a thing); as you may recall we started that process back on our Living off the grid blog.   We had a Samlex 2000 watt inverter installed, so we can just plug and use our 110v appliance…. SWEET – no more having to run the generator, plus we got a nice night light out of the deal ~ LOL =).  

~He also got the pleasure to put in a new radiator in the “toy” aka Toyota Land Cruiser, however we can’t complain- after all it did have its 38 year old original radiator in it.

The old one...

 ~Plus we did a little remodel project to our rig.  Before leaving Texas, we decided to take out the dinette in order to put a chair in for Deb.  So we decided to add some cabinets in order to gain some storage that we had lost.

Deb has been having fun learning how to make some new recipes like the perfect lemonade, fresh yogurt, jam and a new version for potato salad.  She just hopes there is time to try her luck at fresh bread and cinnamon rolls.    

 Just image how wonderful the rig would smell!!!!   

        IS YOUR MOUTHWATERING YET?  

 Deb’s sure is; as cinnamon rolls are just one of her weakness – ice cream being the biggest!!  :D   Must give a HUGE shout-out to Jan for all her time and great recipes!!! Thank you.

                            Where is all the time going?

Oh, we hope we haven’t miss lead you ~ as it has been far from All Work and No PLAY… it’s actually been right the opposite!  That’s why we chose to live this lifestyle after all!!! ;o)   Recently we have got to enjoy looking for fossils in the rocks,  had several camp fires and eating with great friends.

We would like to send a BIG congratulations to Deb's nephew on his first child.   Braden, welcome to our family!!  

Sunset during a sand storm

What do you enjoy most about the "Spring Time"?