Still Loving the Desert

Tuesday morning I was awakened to Gina saying,"rise and shine" to me even before the sun was up. We have been having such wonderful sunrises and Gina wanted to enjoy her coffee while watching the sun come up. Well, at 6:15 we were sitting outside enjoying our coffee together waiting for the sun to rise. It was just a tad bit chilly at 48 degrees. The wind was blowing which only made it seem colder. Needless to say there wasn’t a great looking sunrise due to a lot of clouds. Still know complaints here as we enjoyed our morning outside with each other. We decided to go back inside since the wind was blowing about 25 mph with gusts much stronger.

A Wonderful Backdrop

Later that evening Gina was itching to get outside and I kept telling her that the wind was blowing too much and that it was cold. Finally around three o’clock Gina said, "she didn’t care how much the wind was blowing, she was going for a walk". Thankfully the wind had died down a little by this time. We walked through one of the many dry creek beds around here. While walking we were treated to two roadrunners and I was amazed that I was able to get a photo of one. Them little suckers can sure move fast.

He's moving so fast that if you look close both feet are off the ground


Wednesday's Sunrise

Today would be a day for a little shopping so we decided to drive to Parker. Parker is a town about 25 miles north that has a small Wal-mart and grocery store. We needed to pick up a few items and Gina had not been there yet.

OLD GLORY greeting us as we entered Parker

We headed out around noon and made stops at Wal-mart and Safeway. While Gina was in Safeway I refilled eight gallon containers with Reverse Osmosis water for our drinking water. By the time I finished loading the water in the truck Gina was walking out. We then began to make our way home.

Our home awaits us out in the land of nowhere

After the groceries were unloaded and put away, we walked down to Mike and Janna’s for dinner. We enjoyed an outstanding dinner consisting of steak, garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed asparagus, salad and homemade bread. For dessert we were treated to strawberries and angel food cake with whip cream on top. Janna you outdid yourself again as the food was excellent. It’s such a pleasure to spend time with friends. After we made it home we watched a little TV before we said good night to each other.

Today found us waking up early again anxious to watch the sun rise. Never in our lives, at least that I can recall have we woke up so early every morning feeling so refreshed and eager to start the day. Gina spent the morning rearranging our clothes while I hung up a new TV with a built in DVD player in our bedroom. We then went to dump our trash and get propane. After which we drove to where Jim & Ellie were parked before they moved to where they are right now. The area is beautiful and we might move over there next week. This way Gina will not have to walk as far in search of those special rocks. While we were checking out the area, Gina did come home with her first Geode. The hole inside is not very big but nonetheless it’s Geode.

Gina's Baby Geode

This made her day and together we decided to go back there tomorrow and hike up and around the area known as the Four Peaks. We finally made it home and I used my Dutch oven for the first time. I made Mexican cornbread. It could have cooked a few minutes longer. However, it still tasted great. Jim came over to get some and then we brought Mike and Janna some.


Tomorrow is a special day for us, as we’ll be celebrating our 28th Wedding Anniversary. I feel so blessed that God placed Gina into my life. Not only is she a wonderful wife, she’s my best friend. I love you and wish for many more wonderful and fun filled years with you!!


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

The Desert & Its Majestic Views

Monday morning found me sticking my head out the door and seeing the sky on fire as the sun was rising. Really it was just another magnificent and gorgeous morning here in the desert.

Look at this view God gave us to wake up to

The rain and hail we had here yesterday looks like it brought new life to the desert. The green seems just a little brighter and the flowers are blooming.

Jim stopped by early this morning and picked up our trash since he was driving into Quartzsite to do laundry and a few other errands. Thanks Jim.

We took Angel and Zoey for a long walk this morning, which they seemed to enjoy. As we were walking back we ran into Ellie walking Mr. Bojangles and Jasmine. She and Gina discussed going for a walk. So when we got back and after Ellie had dropped her babies off she and Gina set out for their power walk. This was good for me since I wanted to take a little nap while they were gone. Ok, it wasn’t really a nap it was a get back in bed and sleep. When I woke up and looked at the clock it had been over two hours and I felt great. When I walked outside I saw Gina and Ellie coming back and as they got closer I could see Gina had a rock in each hand as she was walking. She informed me they were substitutes for her dumbbells. She then started telling me about the area that they walked to and that she wanted take me there this afternoon.

Cactus Blooming


This cactus almost looks out of place since it's all alone


Here's Ellie looking for that perfect picture


Look at these colors, The desert is alive

I put some pork country style ribs on the grill to pre cook before I put them in a pot of white beans cooking on the Coleman stove outside. A little after twelve o’clock Gina and I went for a walk with a hammer with us. She decided that she wanted to break open some rocks to see if they held any surprises. We didn’t quite make it to where she wanted to take me. However, she still found some nice rocks that once they were broken apart just sparkled. Finally, around four o’clock I was able to convince her that we needed to start heading back home. Of course once again our bags were filled with rocks.

Yes, there's rocks in that backpack

As we were walking back Jim called to see where we were and to invite us over for dinner. Ellie had whipped up a pot of homemade chicken and vegetable soup. We said we would be right over once we got back. We dropped off our rocks and then walked over to Jim & Ellie’s. Mike and Janna were already there. We visited for a little while before we ate. Janna had made some more homemade cornbread to go with the soup and the leftover chili from last night. All of the food tasted great and this is for you Janna. You can keep on making your cornbread everyday if you want to, as it tastes great.

Around eight o’clock we walked back home and Gina viewed all of the pictures she had taken during the day with Ellie while I watched a little TV. She then joined me in bed around eleven o’clock where we told each other just how much fun and exciting it’s been out here thus far and are looking forward to many more days in sceneries like this. We kissed and said our good nights and we cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings.


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

Our First Week of Boondocking

Thanks Ellie for this Great Picture


Our new campsite

We’ll we have been out here in the desert of Arizona for a week now. It has been wonderful except for my laptop crashed and died. Which is the reason for not updating the blog. Now Gina has a macbook and I use a pc. I have trouble using a mac. However, until I can get to a best buy or some other electronic store I will have to use Gina’s mac to keep the blog updated.

To say Gina loves it out here is an understatement. She has spent almost all day of everyday looking for rocks. We both had different visions of what the desert would be like and we were both wrong. Where we are located is mostly rocky terrain verse sandy desert. Gina loves rocks and is having a blast looking for those special and unique rocks. We have even been taking hikes up in the mountains. Gina is learning to be selective in the rocks she collecting. She even went so far the other day by purging some of the rocks she first collected. She is now looking for big rocks instead of smaller ones. On one of our hikes we carried two rocks back with us over two miles. I carried a 62 pound rock and she carried a 38 pound rock. That's 100 pounds of rocks between us and it's definitely a great workout program. That kind of workout will not happen everyday but we had fun doing it. On our journey back I was startled by a snake. Now try jumping with 62 pounds on your back. I went one way and he went the other. Now let me explain about that rock. Gina didn't ask me to carry it, quite on the contrary she said it was too heavy. However, I insisted on carrying it since it caught my eye first and we both thought it was beautiful and would look great in our garden. John Brown, you're right it is a good thing I have a big truck since I am sure it will be loaded down with rocks for our return trip to Louisiana.

Sun rising over the desert


View out of our front door


Gina is thinking to herself (so many rocks how do I ever choose?)


View from the mountains (our trailer is down there somewhere)


Another view from one of our hikes


A close up shot of the rocks on the mountains


Gina's vivid imagination told her this looked like a Triceratops

For our nights we have gotten together for dinner at either our house or Jim & Ellie’s. Gina cooked a big pot of chicken & sausage gumbo that we ate for two nights and then Jim & Ellie grilled chicken and pork one night along with a fruit salad that tasted great. Gina then made taco soup for one night and last night we were treated to homemade chili at Jim & Ellie's.

Mike and Janna our new friends from Montana


Jim and Ellie

Saturday morning Gina spoke with Janna and Ellie and they all decided that we would be taking a road trip to Wickenburg, Arizona. We left at a little after twelve so our first stop was lunch. Janna & Mike took us to a great little Mexican restaurant called Anita's. The food was delicious. We then took a walk around town to see all of the painted bronze statues.

Water tower in Wickenburg, Arizona


Mike & Janna with their friends Jerry and Caryl


Us posing with one of the bronze statues


Jim & Ellie taking their pose


Janna, Ellie and Gina


The Jail Tree


Gina taking time to smell the flowers


A gold prospector


Gina getting sweet with Buckshot Babe (another bronze statue)

Mike & Janna then took us to an area west of town that you can boondock at. It is another beautiful area.

How about this view for your backyard?


Or maybe this one?

From there we drove over to Escapee's North Ranch located in Congress, Arizona. Our good friends Mike and Pat have a lot there and they spend a few months there every year. They are there right now except for this week as they went down to Yuma, Arizona to set up a pressure pro and power tank booth at Nick & Terri's Gypsy Journal Rally. Both Jim & Ellie and us wanted to see about the RV park there since we are both thinking about staying there after we leave here.
After which we headed back toward our little paradise in the desert. Once we got back we took Angel and Zoey for a walk until it got dark. We decided we would watch a little TV since I put our DirecTV dish up this morning. We haven't watched TV this week since for the most part we have spent every evening with Jim & Ellie and Mike & Janna. I knew that Sunday the forecast called for 70% chance of thunderstorms so I figured we would be inside for the day and watching TV would be on the agenda.

The first of many clouds moving in Saturday evening

To end this entry I would like to tell everyone that our electrical system which includes the solar panels is performing magnificent, exceeding all of my expectations. It's doing so well that we are able to run our refrigerator on electric verse gas.


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