Boondocking in Arizona

Friday and Saturday found us preparing to leave Camp Pendleton and to prepare for boondocking (camping without hookups) in Arizona. It’s so hard to believe that we have been here for six weeks with Thomas. We have really enjoyed our time with him. We made one final run to the commissary since we knew we wouldn’t be at another one for awhile. Thomas fried catfish Friday night for his final home cooked meal while I fried fresh French fries. Thomas pack up all his stuff and got it moved Saturday. I woke up early Sunday morning since our goal was to pull out at nine o’clock. Needless to say we did pull out until 11:30. It was hard saying bye to Thomas because we’re going to miss him. Gina and I would like to thank our friends for keeping him in your daily prayers and have been humbled by all the comments and emails letting us know how thankful they are for men like Thomas and that they will keep him in their prayers.

Our Marine

Our goal today was Quartzsite, Arizona to go boondocking. Neither Gina nor I really knew what to expect but we were going to give it a try. As we traveled through California there was a lot of snow covered mountains.

The view through California


The snow covered moutains were beautiful


More snow


A Very Welcoming Sign

We passed the Arizona welcome sign around four o’clock which meant we only had 17 miles to Quartzsite. The problem was once we got there was trying to figure out where to camp. We didn’t have a lot of daylight left so we didn’t have a lot of time to go searching for the perfect site. As we were driving down a road we found a man walking and we stopped to ask him a few questions. God must have put him there for us as he not only provided us with great information but he went and got his truck and gave us a ride around the area north of Quartzsite to look for a site. We found a spot and got the trailer setup right as the sun was setting. I must confess that the area to park your camper around here is so large that it’s overwhelming.

Good Morning Arizona (Now this is a backyard)

We woke up this morning and I brought Gina her usual coffee in bed. I told her it was beautiful outside. She then decided to go outside and enjoy her coffee in the solitude of the desert. She didn’t stay sitting down long before she was out looking for rocks. She didn’t even finish her coffee. That how excited she was by seeing so many rocks. While she was looking for rocks John came over and asked us if we wanted to ride into town with him and his wife. I would like to thank John & Nancy for educating us about Quartzsite and giving us a tour around the town this morning. It is people like them that make this lifestyle so enjoyable. After we got back from our tour of Quartzsite we decided to take a hike out in the desert. Really Gina was looking for that special rock.

Gina couldn't walk more than a few steps before she was picking up another rock


She's posing in her new backyard


Gina waving at me to wait up


This group of cactus was all by themselves and looked really neat

We ended up hiking about five miles and Gina collected about 25 pounds of rocks which I carried back for her. After we got back I got online to read some blogs and I read that Jim and Ellie moved and decided to extend their boondocking. Our cell phone service where we are parked was poor but I managed to get in touch with Ellie and told her where we were and she told me where they were. I told Gina and we decided to go see them. We no sooner got on the road and they were passing us as they came to find us. We both pulled off on to the side of the road and after we exchanged our hugs we followed them back to where they were parked. I’m glad they found us as I do not know if I could have found them. We chatted with them for a couple of hours and then decided to head back and move our trailer over here next to them. Now, normally that would have been easy. However, there were some special rocks that Gina had to have but was going to wait until we left later on. By moving today forced her to go back and find them and get them loaded in the truck. While she did that I got the inside and outside all packed up and then got the truck hitched up. We set two records today. We left a campsite at the latest time ever (4:45 in the evening) and it was our shortest travel day (12 miles). We got to our new site a little after five o’clock and Jim and Ellie invited us over for dinner with their friends Mike and Janna which by the way they got Ellie hooked on this boondocking thing. Not only is Ellie enjoying boondocking but Gina seems to like it too so far. I know it’s only been one day but she is surrounded by rocks and she has not stopped smiling all day. She’s acting like a kid in a candy store. John our friend wrote us an email telling me that it was a good thing I had a big truck since I would be needed it before we left here. It was also John and Brenda that wet my appetite for wanting to come out here. They both made it sound like paradise and I must agree, it is an amazing backyard and is everything that ya’ll said it was.

After we got set up we went over to Mike and Janna’s and enjoyed dinner of pinto beans and sausage along with jalapeno pepper and Gina brought over some Louisiana style red beans & sausage with rice. It was a fantastic meal and hit the spot. Then Janna provided us with ice cream and raspberry topping for desert. After dinner we chatted for a while before we heaed back home. Mike and Janna are a wonderful couple from Montana and we're looking forward to getting to know them more along with visiting Jim & Ellie. They are both wonder couples and encourage you to check out their blogs. Here are links to their blogs: Jim & Ellie’s and Mike & Janna’s.


Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

Welcome to Hollywood

"Welcome to Hollywood, What's your dream??? Everybody has a dream." This was the opening and closing line in the movie "Pretty Woman". As for Gina and I we are living our dream by traveling this great country of ours.

Before we left California we wanted to take a tour of Hollywood. So Thursday morning we drove up to Hollywood. Here are but a few pictures from our trip. As always if you want to see more pictures just click on any photo and it will bring you to our picasa photo album and then you can see all of the pictures. Here is a direct link to the Hollywood pictures.

The famous Hollywood sign


The plaque explaining the history of the sign


Looking down Hollywood Blvd


Monument at the beginning of the Hollywood "Walk of Fame"

Just to give you a little informaton, there are currently 2,401 stars on Hollywood Blvd and Vine Street. As of 1978 it cost each recipent 25,000 dollars of their money to have a star. They only add 24 stars each year.

I couldn't pass up this star of Ronald Reagan


The view of downtown LA from Hollywood Hills


One of the Streets in Beverly Hills that is lined with Palm trees


The view looking down Rodeo Drive


One of many luxury stores on Rodeo Drive


The Hotel used in "Pretty Woman"


I swear that when I walked by Marilyn I thought she was real and I just had to have my picture taken with her. What they can do with wax is amazing!

Marilyn Monroe's star


The Kodak Theatre

The Acdemy Awards (Oscars) will be held here on March 7th. They were already setting up the road with bleachers and the fences to keep back.

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

This is where there are almost 200 handprints and footprints of movie stars in concrete going all the way back to 1927.

Gina placing her hands on Judy Garland's hand imprint

Capital Records


This is the building used in the films Ghostbusters and Superman


The house from "Father of the Bride"

Gina said the movie made the house look much larger.

The sign letting you know that you're in Beverly Hills


Greystone Mansion

The grounds around the mansion is now a public park. However the house is closed to the public. A lot of movies and TV shows have been filmed here. The house is used for special functions like fundraising dinners.

The Beverly Hillbilly's home


The last home of Lucille Ball


Here is the sign for Bel-Air

We learned that rich people live in Hollywood Hills. Very rich people live in Beverly Hills, Extremely rich people live in Bel-Air and only the richest live in Holmby Hills. Now to us there were big houses in each area. However, we both agreed we wouldn't trade our 396 square foot mobile home for anything that we saw. We like our large backyard (it's always changing)

This is a new house under construction. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what movie it will be in??


This is the house used in Dr. Suess.

There are no angles in this house, it's all curves.

What would Hollywood be without expensive cars.

How about this Bugatti Veyron? Base price is 1.7 million U.S. dollars and for that you can own a car that boosts a top speed of 253 mph at almost 1,000 horsepower.

I hope you all enjoyed our tour of Hollywood. We had a great time seeing all of the sights. We decided early that the only way we could see everything was by taking a tour. There was no way we could have seen everything on our own. We got a really great deal, two for one. That's my kind of price. There was only eleven of us on the van so it was a small group. We were the only US citizens on the tour. All of the other passengers were either from Canada, Germany or UK. Gina and I had a great time on the tour. After we finished the tour we continued our walk down Hollywood blvd taking pictures of stars on the sidewalk and taking in all of the sights around. We finally decided that it was time to say goodbye to Hollywood. It was an interesting day to say the least. Here is a direct link to the photo album with all the stars Walk of Fame

Hopefully this will be our last blog entry in California as we intend to head for Arizona Sunday morning. We're not sure where. But I can tell you that where ever it is Gina will be hunting for rocks. It's hard to believe we have been here in California for six weeks. We have enjoyed our time here with Thomas. However, it's time to move on.

Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

Thomas's Week in the Field

I wanted to add these pictures in my last entry. However, I thought thirty pictures was enough.

Thomas was in the field last week as we were out sightseeing. This was his first training exercise in the field. Here are some of the pictures he took while he was out there.

Thomas's home for a week


His home from a different angle


The Radio gear he operates

More importantly the two antennas. His job for the week was to sit on top of the mountain and ensure the radio equipment stayed operational for the ground troops down in the valley.

Thomas the Marine with a mouth full of sunflower seeds


His view looking west toward the Pacific ocean


The playground


Thomas taking a nap with his Iphone


Thomas looking down on the clouds as they roll in


Clouds now surround the mountain


Another view as the clouds roll in


Still looking down at the clouds


Thomas waking up to a beautiful sunrise

Thomas had a great view on top of the mountain all week and here is one of the better sunsets.

Since Gina and I have been here at Camp Pendleton we have gained a new appreciation for what the Marine Corps does for our great nation.

It's hard to believe that today is Thursday and we only have two days left here before we say goodbye to Thomas and head to Arizona. We have enjoyed our time here with Thomas and have met a lot of wonderful fulltimers. I hope everyone has enjoyed these pictures as much as we enjoyed our son sharing them with us. If only you all could have seen the excitment he had while he told us about his week in the field.

Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with