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!

INVASION Upon The Desert

Us on top of "Q Mountain" over looking town - sea of white is mostly RV tops

This quaint town has a population of 3800 full-time resident, however it starts growing in September when the snowbirds come rolling in.  The winter season (September – April) is when this town really grows with over 2 million visitors.   Well, this last week the desert got invaded when hundreds of people and their rigs took over, it wasn't too bad up to this point.  What’s all the excitement? All this just to partake in the 45^th Annual POW WOW, Rock & Mineral Show (Jan 18-22), The BIG Sport  -RV & Travel Show (Jan 21-29) and the Classic Car Show (Feb 4 & 5), so we will be glad when we get the desert back to ourselves!!  

We didn’t make it to the POW WOW, but we will try to attend the RV & Travel show tomorrow.  Wish us luck….

~Poor Camper ~

This poor man in the center

Now you can barely see him, as he got completely surrounded

 

The poor man that owns this Class C RV had a nice place to himself, where he would sit out and watch cars and people pass by, however got invaded upon by this RV group.  Deb  was curious if he was expecting his company, after speaking with him found out he wasn't, nor did they even speak to him before circling him.   The BLM rules states to allow 15 feet from ones camper – not too sure that happened  here! :(

 

 Time to dump "black tank" and get  fresh water?

Dump Line - about 12 deep, usually 3-4

No more 24 hour service - hopefully we will get it back in a couple of weeks.

There are many of groups that invaded the BLM land, however we got REAL LUCKY as our area is still VERY PEACEFUL! ;)

Good times ~ more around the corner....

Footprint embedded in the rock?

Footprint in the rock, hmm...who's was it?

Footprint embedded in the rock? 

 Oh we had to go find it, so we got the general area from the seasoned veterans, meet up with Jim and Barb, and off we went to find the footprint. 

Deb stepped on and over the print before Jim spotted it.

Hmm... could this once have been sand? After all this land was once water.

"Footprint in the Sand" ~ Mary Stevenson, 1936

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,

“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”

The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

Now, It's time for you to get out and enjoy a walk. Train yourself to see the details of your life the way a photographer looks for the details of a scene. But don't stop with what you see: use all your senses to become a connoisseur of events and details... Don't keep your appreciation of detail to yourself, but share with others. Can't wait to hear from you! ;o)

Tell next time - Happy Trails....

Merry Christmas To All

The holiday's are a time to spend with family and friends, reflect back on memories, play games, watch football and of course eat, eat, eat and then take a nap. :)  However, sometimes it just doesn't work out that way, so you improvise and do the next best thing, which is exactly what we had to do this year.


You see; we are sitting in the middle of the desert outside Quartzsite, AZ so it would be a long drive back to Texas or Oklahoma to be with our families.  And of course, our families couldn't get out to us either, so we meet several of our new desert friends at Blue Water Casino in Parker, AZ to feast on the all you can eat buffet.  Although we didn't gamble, Jerry did find a nice shirt to purchase for his bride. Sorry no pictures, maybe at a later time.


Once back to the rig, it was time for a nap - at least for Jerry, as Deb and Max played outside.  Actually Max decided to catch a little lizard and oh well, you can imagine the rest. Later in the afternoon, we decided to take a walk and let Max run a little down the wash, as we usually like to do each evening, however this turned out a bit different this time.  Deb twisted her ankle coming out of the wash, and of course we were still about an 1/4 of a mile from home. She was a good sport and was determine to walk home instead of letting Jerry go get the truck.

One fat ankle, guess that will slow her down a bit

It has been a great day, as we are blessed to be healthy, be surrounded with good people, wake up to many text and e-mails, and a chance to talk to most of our family members.

So we will leave you with a few Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness.  To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart.  To a customer, service.  To all, charity.  To every child, a good example.  To yourself, respect.