our cross country rv adventure

Monday, 12/26/05:
I am attaching a couple of pictures from Laughlin, NV from last week. I lost my $30.00 quickly, Jim lost less than me, but as usual the casinos were the winners.
We had a very nice Christmas day yesterday, hope you all did as well. The day was in the mid 70’s and sunny. Seven of us got together for a ‘pot luck’. The women provided the food. Larry & Marsha live diagonally behind us and have been married for 2 years. Larry is one year older than Jim and Marsha is one year older than me. Frank & Charlene who ‘hosted’ the dinner are our neighbors to the right. Frank is 69 and Charlene is 57 (also one year older than me). Vince has always been alone…he lives to the right of Frank & Charlene and I have no idea how old he is. We went over about 1 pm, dinner was at 2 pm and we drank, ate & chatted, then ate & drank some more until sunset (a little after 6 pm). Then Larry decided to build a bonfire at his place….so we picked up our chairs and moved over there and sat around the bonfire….chatting and laughing and drinking some more, until all the wood that he had was burned. We had a great day! I am attaching several pictures of Christmas day at Frank & Charlene’s RV, so that you can see what Christmas looks like in the desert.
This morning after a thorough cleaning of the RV (I did a lot of cooking yesterday), we went to pick up some more fresh water and dumped some gray water. Then, after lunch, we went for our daily bicycle ride (that I missed yesterday, though Jim did bike into town to pick up the Sunday paper).
Early tomorrow morning we will head out to the Laundromat then back home for lunch, then out for our afternoon bike ride.
Nighttime temps out here are warming up some, usually between 45 & 50…but last night didn’t drop below 58°!!!
Hope you all have a WONDERFUL New Year!!!!

Wednesday, 1/4/06
Things have been pretty quiet around here lately. Since we arrived, hummingbirds have been attracted to the red (Good Sam) decals on our back windows. I have been looking for one of those feeders that attaches with a suction cup to the window. I finally had to purchase a small hanging one that Jim attached to our ladder with a small dead tree branch. The hummingbird came immediately after it was hung up and we now enjoy his company every breakfast, lunch & dinnertime and sometimes in between. There are other hummingbirds around, but he keeps chasing them away. Of course, the very next day, we found a vendor that actually had the feeders that attach to the window (I bought that one too).
Jim has been pretty sick for the last 3 days or so…(flu like symptoms)..so we are trying to stick around camp. Also, we went for a bike ride through the desert the other day…the sand was hard and hat lots of rocks imbedded. It was a very bumpy ride, and I think it must have aggravated the disc in my back…because I have had pain in my lower back and left leg ever since. In addition, Jim got a flat tire on his bicycle….he put in a brand new tube…but that was flat the next day (?), so it looks like we won’t be riding for a few days (at least not until my back is better). STILL Jim got fidgety the other day and we took the truck to Yuma, Az (80 miles away)….along the way we had to pass the Army ‘Yuma Proving Grounds’…there were displays of tanks etc, so we stopped. Jim wanted a picture of himself in front of a tank….so I am attaching that. We also passed the Paradise Casinos…..HA!! Jim never passes a casino…so we stopped for a ‘look’. There are two casinos, they border AZ & CA…..you pass through the AZ casino into a courtyard where there is a sign that says ‘Welcome to California’…then you walk into the CA casino. We didn’t stay long…my leg was really hurting…and fortunately (unfortunately)…Jim lost his ‘allotted’ money very quickly. There were impatiens blossoming around the trees outside the casinos…so I took a picture of them (also attached). We are supposed to stay ‘home’ and recover today….but it’s just after 10 am, and Jim is already outside ‘puttering’! Don’t know when I will get to the library to post this. Oh….I keep forgetting to mention…the library is the
Police Dept/Courthouse/Library and you actually have to walk through the courtroom, while it is in session to get to the Library! Good-bye for now.
Linda

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