Paddymac
Paddrick (Paddy) Joined: November 3rd 2006
Logged in: January 30th 2012
Logged in: January 30th 2012
Many of my "wildscapes" images are offered for view and sale at my online gallery; NW Exposures. And I enjoy writing about our travels and photo safaries.
Travel Blog Posts
20120128_1web
Within a few days, we will be concluding a two month stay at Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort in Casa Grande, Arizona. This is our third snowbird adventure, traveling in a 5th wheel trailer to southern Arizona for the winter. Our homestead in Washington State recently has been hit with both a snow storm (3 feet), followed by an ice storm! How sweet is that? During the past two months, we have enjoyed the hospitality of friends Dave and Mare in Chandler, Arizona who have had us to their home two times for smoked barbecue and fixings. Like me, Dave is a master chef with the Black Diamond dual chamber smoker; a fire box and a smoke chamber. We drive up and stay at the Red Roof Inn because after a great meal and libation, ... read more
Moon Over Casa Grande
Lawn Bowling at Palm Creek The new year has arrived and we are thriving at Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort in Casa Grande, Arizona. Nan’s birthday was January 3, and we celebrated with a savory dinner at her favorite Mexican restaurant. I’ve earned two of the new 1012 championship “mugs” for lawn bowling. Feeling feisty in her 69th year, Nan signed up for lawn bowling lessons. After lessons and an extra day practice session, she signed up for competitive play the afternoon of Friday, January 06. Nan has stepped up to lawn bowling so that I will have a partner in the mixed doubles tournament to be held in a couple of weeks. How sweet is that? Early next week, I’ve arranged to have the 5th wheel washed down, polished and spruced. We don’t want ... read more
Shaddy with Santa
Wow; it’s 2012. How did that happen? We realize that we have more new years in the bank than we have ahead, especially being mindful that my Uncle Henry’s journey through life recently ended. I enjoyed visiting him via Skype during his last year. Our little Shaddy was groomed on New Years Eve, and is looking spiffy. We celebrated his 13th birthday in early December. What a joy he is to us. He posed for a photo with Santa to celebrate the season. We grilled shrimp on the barbee for dinner on New Year’s eve. The Trail Boss fixed up some baked ‘taters and sautéed tasty zucchini. We washed it down with some deliciously smooth 2007 Bell Chardonnay that was gifted to us by friends Diane and Phil, who know their way around Napa Valley. We ... read more
Casa Grande Site
Yep; we’re in Casa Grande, Arizona. We have been here a week; and what a week it has been. The same day we arrived, on December 1, we took our sweet Shaddy to the vet; his vet in C G; the same one we took him too last year when we were here. We were worried about him on account of his yelping in pain from time to time. It turned out to be impacted anal glands. They were expressed, he was given a prescription and ointment, and he is doing fine now. Nan has gone to the Woodworking Group a couple of times. She is the only female in the group, and the only chip carver. She likes the group because the members shy away from religion and politics. What’s left? Sports! I’ve been active ... read more
Palms Creek Pond01
We arrived in Casa Grande around noon on Thursday, December 1. The drive from Yuma featured desert views, which to our surprise included cotton fields. There was a bit of blowing dust in the air, but visibility was good enough to drive on I-8 to our destination. As soon as we registered and set up at Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort, we headed to Shaddy’s vet in Casa Grande. For the past couple of days, he has been yelping from time to time about pain in his anus. The doctor did a thorough check, expressed his glands and checked for areas of pain. He did not have a fever and did not express pain in other areas. She prescribed prednisone to be taken orally, and an ointment to be applied twice a day locally. Since ... read more
Shadow Hills01
PreScript. Dear friends, there seems to be a glich in making posts to my Travel Blog. It is adding some kind of formatting that makes the message a challenge to read. So sorry. We spent Monday and Tuesday nights in Indio CA at the Shadow Hills RV Resort. Last Monday, we left Orange Grove RV Park after an overnight stay in Bakersfield, CA. While in Bakersfield, we treated ourselves to dinner from Popeye’s Cajun Fried Chicken. Make mine hot and spicy. The Trail Boss (TB) opted for a fried shrimp poorboy. I had a side of dirty rice with my chicken and a buttery Popeye's biscuit. On Wednesday, We had a tough drive through the highway construction near San Bernardino on our way to Indio. I’ve already made an adjustment to our route on Delorme’s Street ... read more
Hello from the road, friends and family. We left the homestead on Wednesday morning and made a hard day’s drive to Sutherlin, Oregon. We arrived with only diesel fumes in the tank, and filled up our 30 gallon tank with 30.1 gallons of fuel. Close shave. We spent the night at Highway Haven with a PassPort American discount of 50% Thursday, we drove through the mountain regions of southern Oregon and northern California. We arrived at Mountain Gate RV Park north of Redding, just in time to sign up for a turkey dinner, with all the sides. Today, we drove south on I 5 to Flag City RV Resort which is just east of Lodi CA. As is our practice, after three days of driving the rig, we stop for two nights wherever we land. So, ... read more
On Monday morning, we left Mesa and drove to Indio, CA where we spent the night at Shadow Hills RV Park. Tuesday morning, we hitched up an headed to San Bernardino where we turned north to climb into the highlands and onward to Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield, CA. This Wednesday morning we set out for Lodi, CA where we will stay two nights a Flag City RV Park. After three days of driving, we like to chill and stay at a location for two nights before moving on. Here is our location: url=http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=38.11362,-121.3889&ll=38.11362,-121.3889&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1Flag City RV Park We may do some wine tasting in and about Lodi tomorry. Folks around here seem to grow grapes just about everywhere; back yards, side yards, and yes, in some front yards. Our membership in Passport America gives us ... read more
Bow Wave 01 GRP
My friend Dave and I went on a photo safari today to the Riparian Preserve in Gilbert, Arizona. We are both curb side photographers, and were favored by the board walk with railing at water’s edge by a duck filled lake. The fowl entertained us with acrobatic flybys, take offs and landings. The preserve is a 110 acre park organized into various vegetative zones that range from marshlands to native riparian and upland vegetation areas. Almost 200 species of birds have been identified in the preserve, as well as all sorts of critters from fish and amphibians to jack rabbits and coyotes. So, during this winter snowbird trip to southern Arizona, I’ve enjoyed photo shoots with two of my online photographer friends; TJ when in Tucson, and Dave in Gilbert / Mesa. And I’ve bagged some ... read more
Daves Bodacious Babybacks01
Boy howdy folks! I met my friend Dave a few years ago on an online bbq group, where we discovered that we both smoked food using a Black Diamond dual chamber smoker. We shared information, methods and techniques with each other and formed a nice friendship. Last year during our first snowbird adventure to Arizona, Dave and his lovely wife Mare had us over to their house for a delicious dinner. And this year, during our second snowbird trip to the area, Dave went all out and smoked up some bodacious babyback ribs for yours truly on his Black Diamond. And being a true cowboy gentleman, he grilled up a filet of salmon for my bride who does not eat red meat. Dave has raised the bar on graciousness. And to top it off, there was ... read more
