Tents and Wind don't mix

Overnight the winds came up with a vengeance.  The poor guy next to us is in a tent and I'm sure he had to hold on with both hands all night.  He said he had no sleep while worrying he would blow away.  As far as I know this guy lives in this tent.  I don't care that the weather is good most of the time, the times when it isn't would make me go looking for something with walls.

I'm not going anywhere

We had planned to start our trek northward today but after looking at the weather forecast we have decided to stay right here until about Sunday.  The first part of our journey north will include some higher elevations and that means possibility of snow and ice and we don't like that stuff anymore.  Flagstaff is not that far north of here and it is snowing there right now.

So Long to Friends and Hello to Friends

SmoHoes with friends

Pat and Harold decided to take Julie to the Grand Canyon today and because we had just been there, we decided to head the other direction and check out Prescott Arizona.  We headed up through Jerome to experience highway 89A, which is the scenic route to Prescott.  I took this nice scenic picture looking down from Jerome over the valley below just for Kyra.  Hope you enjoy it.

A Touch of New Technology

Today was a typical Monday and we had no real plan for the day.  There was no sign of any more mouse activity in the Ponderosa, so I packed up all the traps and put them away.   Hope we don't need them for a while again.

When we were shopping yesterday, we decided to pick up a new microwave for the Ponderosa.  The old one was like a boat anchor and weighed a ton.  It was one of those convection/microwave ovens and in the 3 years we have owned the motor home, we have never used the convection part of it.

Got Him!!!

First thing to check out this morning is the mouse traps.  Yahoo!!!  We got the little varmint.  He must of got greedy and forgot to lick the traps carefully.  Well that makes me happy because mice can make such a mess of everything and they leave poop everywhere.

A Smart Mouse

Saturday started out really nice.  I don't usually get up early enough to see a sunrise, but this morning I sort of  opened my eyes about 6:30 and this is what I saw out my bedroom window.  I reached over and grabbed the phone and took a picture and promptly went back to sleep.

When I finally arose for good I checked all of the mouse traps that I had set the night before and to my surprise everyone of them were licked clean and none of them were sprung.  Remember I had set 6 traps last night so the odds were against the mouse.  But just like in Vegas, sometimes you win, and this time the mouse won.  I will have to re-think my attack.

There's a Mouse in the House

One of the things that sometimes happens when it rains is that a poor wee mouse is driven from the outdoors into the warm dry environment of our house.  Well thats what has happened to us except that we don't believe this guy is wee by the huge sounds he makes.  He is like a bull in a china shop and knocks things over in the pantry and rips and tears at the chip bags with a vengeance.  We heard him  tonight over the sound of the TV so I found  6 mouse traps and set them with a tasty treat of peanut butter.

Rain Rain, go away. Come again another day.

It rained all night off and on and made for quite a soupy mess outside.  The red dirt seems to track in everywhere and makes for steady floor sweeping. One of the things we have to be aware of here, is that it can rain in the desert, and when it does the ground does not react like it does at home.  You can become stranded by either really slippery ground, or if there is enough rain it can wash down the gulches fast and furious and strand you on the other side for a while.   This rain was more of an inconvenience than a danger of any sort.

Checking out Fellow Bloggers

Not much happening around the Ponderosa today.  Everyone went their separate ways to get some chores done and Charlie and I went for a walk.  While on our walk we ran into a couple of fellow bloggers.  The first is a person we have followed for a short while on youtube.  Panda Monium lives in a very unique motorhome and does most of her blogging by video.  We saw the unit first in Quartzsite and then again in Williams.  Now she is here in Cottonwood and I hope to get to talk to her for a while about her travels.  She uses a drone in her videos a lot and I need to learn a few things from her about it.  Stay tuned and I will write more about our meeting if it happens.  In the meantime check out all her travels on YouTube videos at Panda Monium facebook page.

I See the Light

Today started much like yesterday with everyone up to see the hot air balloon appear over the hill.  They load up down in the valley west of us and rise up slowly and float over top of us.  We are not in a position to see the balloon until it comes up over the hill, so it is like watching the sun rise.

Can you make Wine from Fuzzy Strawberries

Woke up this morning to a whishing sound and then silence, then a whishing sound and then silence.  Suddenly I remembered what it was from last year and jumped out of bed and went outside.  A hot air balloon.

On to Cottonwood AZ.

Moving day started out cool but nice.  Susan has been after me to get some more practice with the drone so I got it charged up and did a flight.  I still need a lot of practice figuring out what the best angles are for taking the best pictures.  I also have the ability to play with the exposure in flight but haven't mastered that skill yet.  Here are some pictures of where we were parked this morning near Williams AZ.  It was a really nice setting in the pine trees on the edge of a pasture like clearing.  Reminds us of home on the farm.

Amazon explained

Today we did absolutely nothing of interest to anyone.  I fixed a few things around the Ponderosa, did the dishes and made lunch.  Sue cleaned up our filing system and made an awesome supper.  I could have taken a bunch of pictures of all this but it would have bored you to death.

Grand Canyon trip

We headed up to the Grand Canyon today.  On the way we went by a little air museum called Planes of Fame, that might be interesting to check out on another journey this way.  It is a few miles north of Williams on the way to the canyon.

When we got there, we parked and had a little hike to the rim.  Sue and I were here a couple years ago so we knew what to expect, but Pat had not been here since she was young, and Harold has never been here, so it was interesting to watch them anticipating what they were about to see.

Battery troubles

For quite a while now we have been having some problems with our chassis batteries.  Sometimes we would have to use the boost button to start the engine especially after we had operated the slides which run off the chassis batteries.  I have procrastinated on doing anything about it because I didn't want the expense of new batteries.  Well the last couple times we have tried to start the Ponderosa it was a no go and we would have to start the generator to get enough power into the batteries to start, so I said enough is enough.

More Canadians Eh?

Woke up this morning to some chilliness outside and a layer of frost on the lawn chair.  Thermometer shows -1C outside and 9C inside.  These are the days we heckle each other to see who is going to get up and turn on the kettle for coffee.

We got our Kicks on Route 66

We headed down the road again today and decided to keep with the Route 66 theme.  It is a quiet road with some nice country to see.  Its like a break from the Interstates but does take a bit longer.  Time is not a factor for us so we like the back roads.

Don't tell me it can't be done!!

Today we decided at morning Happy Hour to do some exploring around the area.  We were told there was an interesting hole in the mountain right beside where we are parked.  Sure enough.  Upon closer inspection it is a hole that has been used over the years for a shelter and looks like at one time it had a door cemented in it.  There is probably a story behind it.

Chloride Murals

Today was moving day.  We said "seeya later" to Kyra because we hope to hook up with her again in a week or so after she gets some routine maintenance done on her rig.  We didn't get a real early start because we had morning Happy Hour before hitting the road.  We stopped to de-sewer and water the rigs and took our time because both P&H and us needed to really flush the tanks good because its been a while.  Nice to do that once in a while to keep anything from building up.  Kingman AZ is our proposed destination today.

Somethings burning

Today was a really warm day at Lake Mead.  Lots of people are starting to come here for the weekends now and there is lots of boat traffic on the lake.  This must be quite a busy spot in the summer for everyone to come and play in the water.

Spring has Sprung

Today we can feel the heat starting to rise around Lake Mead.  Spring is coming fast in these parts and what they call spring is like our summers back home.  Because we are Canadians we relate to Celsius temperatures rather than the foreign heat (Fahrenheit) used down here.

Divas

We have been at Lake Mead for quite a while now so are starting to repeat the things we do.  It seems like after about 10 days at one place, it is time to move on to see new things.  Charlie and I can only walk the same road so many times and it becomes a chore instead of an adventure.

Thats our compound on the the top of the hill.

While the girls were in Las Vegas shopping yesterday Susan bought some bed sheets at a place called Holy Sheets.  One of the things they do there is give you free tickets to the show "Divas" which is playing in the Linqs (old Imperial Palace).

Where did the water come from?

Today was another of those odd job days.  Charlie and I started it out with a walk down to the water.  There are usually some boats around and fishermen trying to catch the big one.  It was no different today.

Goodbye Kevin and Rhonda

It got fairly chilly last night.  Harold said his thermometer said 3C at 6:00 this morning.  I had to kick on the furnace for a while just so we couldn't see our breath. Charlie looked cold in the middle of the night so Sue covered him up and he stayed that way until morning.

How to Sell a Tire

Up at 7:30 am and coffee on the deck with all the neighbours.  We have noticed that the mountains to the west of Las Vegas have some snow on them.  I think they got a little more snow last night as well.  It was a great morning with the sun shining and only a light breeze.

Did some chores and hauled some water and then noticed the back tire on the Jeep was low so started the Ponderosa to get some air to pump in it, and Harold and Kevin and I headed into town to get it fixed.

A Dust Storm

The girls had some things to do in town today so the boys took the opportunity to stay home and do nothing.  We did go for a walk down to the water but the wind was terrible and blew dust so hard that it hurt our legs when we were outside.  Good day for inside things (like naps).

Sue has been researching the new AT&T Mobley internet device that is out and is convinced that this will be the system for us.  It is way cheaper than the Verizon we now have and has just as good of coverage.  It still will be no good for us in Canada but we can just revert back to our MTS internet there and supplement with our Rogers plan on our phones.  If you want to see some good information on this go to Technomedia's Blog and read up on it.  This is what they do for a living so they know what they are talking about.  Any how that is what Sue went to get in Vegas.  You can see it on the AT&T web site as well.

Fixit Day

Today was a day to hang around the Ponderosa and get caught up on a bunch of projects.  It was electrical day today.  I love to tinker around with all things electric and see what gadgets I can hook up to make lights blink and things whistle and whirr.

Valley of Fire

Today we tried out Harolds new Drip coffee maker.  This one uses propane to work.  It would be an ideal unit for anyone that tents or doesn't have access to any power.  The boys put it all together and got it out on the table and screwed on a little propane bottle.

Kids fly back to Manitoba

This is the day that Kaitlyn and Grace fly home.  It has been 17 days since we picked them up in San Diego and time has just flown by.  We had a nice morning Happy Hour today with everyone enjoying the warm sun.  Lots of happy conversation about everything that we have done, and some planning what we will do in the next week while Kevin and Rhonda are here.

Back with Pat and Harold

It is starting to warm up slowly.  We sat outside for a while in the morning and then had to do some chores around the Ponderosa.  Kaitlyn and Grace will be leaving us tomorrow so it is time to chase down all of the things that are hiding in every nook and cranny of the Motorhome.  Gramma and Grace went for a little hike while Kaitlyn cleaned up.