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Published: February 8th 2011
This is just some of the RVs at
Quartsite. Many many more were parked in the desert among the shrubs. Nope, not my cup of tea!February 6
(Phoenix Christian School)
So much has happened since I last blogged that I hardly know where to begin! Let me start with a health update~~thank you to the people who have inquired about our health. This flu, and I use that word loosely, because the doctor called it bug~~and we paid for that professional summation~~was an upper respiratory infection, and we coughed and sneezed and blew our noses for three weeks. There was comfort in the fact that all six of us were experiencing the same symptoms, because at least we knew no one would die from it….unless we all did. But we’re all well now, and the other six stayed well.
Two of our daughters, Sara and Megan, came to visit! What a thrill it was for us to have them around. I think it’s because they missed us so terribly, but the comment was heard that they just came to defrost! (They are from Montana and Minnesota!) Whatever, at least they were here. We toured and ate fresh fruit and laughed ate fresh fruit and talked and ate more fruit! Both the girls went home with hives. And with suitcases that included oranges!
On
Some of the cacti are over-achievers.
Some are just tiny, but this one thought he was in the Redwood Forest! Friday we toured The Mystery Castle; it’s a native stone castle, consisting of 18 rooms, and 13 fireplaces. The builder, Boyce Gulley, died in 1945, and left it to his wife and daughter, who lived in Seattle, and had never seen the house. The daughter lived in it until November of 2010, when she, too, died. You’ll have to look at the pictures to get any idea of Gulley’s imagination. I took a lot of pictures of the different rooms, but when I look at them it’s hard to see what all is going on, so I’m not going to post many of them. The builder used natural materials for it, which include stones, petrified plants, and broken pieces of glass. It sounds very mishmash, and I’m doing a poor job describing it, but it was remarkable.
We also made a day trip to Sedona, about 90 miles northwest of here; it has the most beautiful red rock formations. We were there six years ago, and although the town has grown quite a bit, it’s still amazing to look at. We poked through the gift shops (unique gift shops!) and ate at one of the sidewalk cafes. Wonderful day
The Mystery Castle.
I couldn't get a shot of all three floors, but this gives you an idea of what it looked like. and so much fun to have our girls to share it with!
Bob and I drove to Quartzsite to visit an RV extravaganza; it’s a town of 4,000 people, but during the months of November through March they figure there are more than a million people there. The main attraction, besides meeting other RVers is the many rock vendors~~collectors and rock hounds looking and selling decorative and unusual rocks. The main attraction for two weeks is the Big Tent, which is more than 55,000 square feet (did I say Big?!) and has around 300 vendors selling RV everythings. Just plain crazy! Not only are the RVs parked all around the town, but many of the rigs are just parked in the desert next to a shrub….dirt and all. They don’t have any hookups (duh) but trucks come around to dump them and fill them. When we’re at that kind of place, I always wonder how something like that gets started. How did the campers decide to stop at this little town smack dab in the desert, with nothing around it for miles. And miles. And miles.
I have lots more to tell, so it won’t be long
Kind of a funky Christmas Tree!
but that's not why I included it. It's the skeleton of a cactus. It's just a wooden tree with cactus skin on the outside! The Mystery Castle had several chairs made of cacti skeletons. (their term, not mine!) Notice that this whatever-it-is is two stories tall. before I post again. Have a good week.
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Sara!
non-member comment
What a great long weekend we had with you guys! And so cool to be able to picture where you are right now and where you'll be next month! I notice your blog didn't include any comments regarding the traumas Dad suffered while we were there :) The picture of Megan and I goofing while Dad's diligently picking oranges pretty much sums it up! The picture of the brown air made my eyes burn :) I sure love you guys!!