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!

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!!

Who would have thought…?

Who would have thought we would drive 40+ miles to a BAR!  That’s a long way when you are not drinkers, wouldn’t you say?  Even if we were, we wouldn’t drink and drive...

                             

Well are you curious yet?

You see we heard about this bar in the middle of NOWHERE, so us being us we had to check it out.  Well, along with a few other friends ;)  There are no signs off Hwy 95 that tells you were to turn, nor have we even seen any advertisement about this place, but it is WELL HEARD OF.  Oh wait; there is a sign about half a mile down the dirt road!  LOL, like that is going to help you out much!!  Actually, I guess it does…. At least you know you are on the right dirt road and let you know whether or not to travel the 5 miles down the dirt road. Nellie E Saloon aka “DESERT BAR” is nestled back into the Buckskin Mountains and only opens on Saturday & Sunday (high noon to dust) from October - March. 

We and another couple, Mark & Christine, rode our motorcycles – save on gas and change up the ride a little bit. Which for us; it was a bit of a different ride, since we not accustomed to bumpy dirt roads on the bike (yet) – land cruiser aka “toy”, sure deal!!   Actually it was nice to be on the bike, however Deb was a bit sadden once we started seeing ALL the off-road trails we could have explored – oh well, we will save that for another day!!

Desert Bar

Outdoor bar & grill

Horseshoe cactus - How many horses do you think it took?

Pray or Get Married in this unique church

Andy & Renee with Hard Rain Band

Okay band followers, “Andy & Renee” are one of those bands.  I could have listened to them all day long, as they played a variety of rock. Actually Renee was in the Philippines, so Patty filled in perfectly. Go HERE for more information.

They even have helicopter rides from the bar - what a view it must be!

Want additional information on the "Desert Bar", we've done the research for you. Click "Desert Bar".

After the bar; who would have thought we would end up in Lake Havasu City, AZ - another 40+ miles north. 

We have already been there a couple of times with different people, but remember the other couple that rode their bike to the bar, well they had not.  The road up to LHC is spectacular as it curves thru all the mountain ranges and can view various water spots along the way, so we are always willing to go again.

Of course “The London Bridge” is the main attraction, plus they wanted to take the boat over to the casino to check out the lake.  None of us are much on giving our money to the casinos, so we grabbed something to drink (non-alcohol) and watched the ducks while waiting for the next boat. We had not taken the boat before; as each time we went to LHC it was during the week and basically had the place to ourselves, never saw the boat running.  Apparently that is not true for the weekend, as there were plenty of people buzzing around; not only on land but by water too.  While enjoying our boat ride, we even got to see some of the miniature replica lighthouses that are scattered around the lake.

After a quick bite to eat; it was time to hit the road again, as we had a bit of a ride ahead of us (back to Quartzsite: 80+/- miles) and the sun was disappearing quickly.  This means; get ready for a cold ride – just think 60 degrees with about 80-90 miles an hour of wind hitting you!!!  THAT’S PRETTY DARN NIPPY!!!!!  

All back – safe and sound, maybe next time you can come along for the ride!!  

Collage of our trip.  This blue heeler is not our Max, but couldn't pass up taking his picture with is life jacket :))

 

“On the road again, I just can’t wait to get on the road again” – well rumor has it; our next trip might be finding a fossil bed?  

Stay tune; but for now 10-4 good buddy! =)

Sneak Peek Into Our World….. Part IV - Mines & River

Time to wrap-up our day in the back country, glad you stopped by!

Mining Caves; let’s go check it out!  The sign said; “enter at your own risk”, so we had no choice, but to go…Right?  After all we do like to push the boundaries!!!

Hoping Max doesn't fall into the mine

Then on to see where the road dead ends…     Who would have ever guessed – Bill William River National Wildlife Refuge?  Yes, a river out in the middle of a desert, and it had water!!!

A wetland oasis, protecting almost all that is left of the original cottonwood and willow forests that once lined the lower Colorado River.  To get more information about Bill William River NWR click here.

This area of the river was about 40 miles downstream from the main NWR, but it was good enough for Max.

Awe, I'm in heaven!

This is so FUN, here I go again

Palm trees, who would have thought?

Mountains, Trees, Sun = awesome day

Well, this ended our day in the back country, as we had about a 40 miles trek to get back to camp.  Hope you enjoyed a sneak peek into our world!

Max had enough fun for one day... guess the swimming made him tired

Until next time, Peace. =))

Sneak Peek Into Our World…..Part III - Slot Canyon

Glad you came back to check out Part III of the adventure!

Slot canyon?  We couldn’t resist… 

And even found some to hike into….

                                                                                                                                                                                  

Sneak Peek Into Our World….. Part II- Wheelin'

We are asked all the time about our hobby – “wheelin” or better known as off-road (4 wheeling = ATVs).   For some people; they think it’s anything off the blacktop or a bumpy dirt road, however for us it’s – “where’s the road”?    So what group do you fit into?

The following videos are in real time taking off our iPhone, so please excuse the annoying parts, as there are no pros here. Max will start whining every time something gets close to “his” truck, and voice very loudly (bark, bark) as they get too close.  If you listen closely, you will even hear they got TOOOO CLOSE (as we cringe)!!!

We’ll give you a sneak peek into our hobby. 

We had 3 videos, however we could only post 2 due to the size of them. First video is heading up the mountain and the second one took us to a turn around spot, as the third one was the decent down the mountain.  Personally, we are a bit upset it was too big, as it has some stunning views.  Oh well, now we know! =)

Stay tune more is coming....

Sneak Peek Into Our World…..Part I - Gibraltar Mtn Wilderness

As mentioned in our “Happy Heart Day” post, we enjoyed our day in the back country, actually in the Gibraltar Mtn. Wilderness. An 18,790 acre playground for us, which is located about 10 miles northeast of Parker, Arizona in La Paz County.  More information and to get directions click here.

The wilderness consists of rugged volcanic rock dissected by deep, sandy washes and rocky canyons. The eroded volcanic tuff beds contain many alcoves and caves.

The area presents an interesting challenge for hiking and horseback riding. Varied topography, steep canyon walls, and colorful strata make the area attractive for rock climbing, day hiking, sightseeing, photography, and off-road adventures.

Jerry doing a little metal detecting, wishing for GOLD ;)

Max on the hunt - what's in that hole?

Small barrel cacti

Ripple Mountain

These are just a few pictures we wanted to share, however we have much more to share.  Be sure to check out Part II, III, and IV to see how we spent our Valentine's Day.

Arizona Sites

We will be adding to the slideshow, so keep checking back. You can double click on the slideshow to enlarge the pictures.

Pianist Proud of His Organs

“Being yourself results to freedom and peace.”

Who would have known Deb would meet a well-known renowned pianist in Quartzsite, AZ.  Paul Winer; local owner of "Reader's Oasis Bookstore", stompin' boogie-woggle and blues musician, actor in Hollywood, comedy sharing the circuit with then an up-and-coming comic named Jay Leno, and one of the first Chippendale's.  

After just a brief conversion with Paul, Deb quickly found out his first love is with his music. He played concerts and clubs for 25 years (1965-1990) as “Sweet Pie” to over one and half million people in the Northeast States and Coast to Coast in Canada, and recorded an album in 1971. Paul preformed two shows (2 p.m. & 7 p.m.) with Ralph “Mr. Tub” Martin (washtub bass) and Will Pirone (Paul’s original blues-harp player from the early 1970’s) on January 24, 2012 at the Quartzsite Improvement Association (QIA), so Deb got us tickets for the 7 p.m. show before they were sold out.  See Paul held his first sold out concert in Quartzsite this past January (2010) at the QIA. Over 900 people showed up, many of whom had to stand outside to see the show since the hall only holds 760. We must say it is a one-of-a-kind, kind of show.  

Oh, let’s go back to the bookstore for a moment….  Paul started his bookstore with 2 boxes of his mom’s paperbacks in a tent and now has a full retail bookstore. However, it’s NOT your typical bookstore!!  Why you might ask?!?   Well, he’s known for his lack of clothing, which you can click here to read the full article.  

“If books were clothing – I’d be called “Well-Dressed” ~ Paul Winer 

Deb, Paul, and Barb outside the bookstore

It was a cool day when Barb and I went to the bookstore, so Paul had a bit more clothes on.  Usually its just his "jewels in a pouch" and flip flops.

I was once afraid of people saying, “Who does he think he is?” Now I have the courage to stand and say, “This is who I am.”  Amen!