The Ouseys in Victoria Page

Weather continues to be hot and sunny. Carolyn says she is getting bored with it. It is actually getting warmer reaching the mid 80's near 30 for the metrically inclined. Makes the evenings nice. The temperature starts to plunge as soon as the sun sets. But that is getting later and with the warmer days the evenings are more comfortable.

Rob and I went out and got some movies to watch this weekend. "The Weather Man" with Nicolas Cage was not appreciated by Carolyn who thought it so depressing that she left half way through. Neither Sue or Rob enjoyed it but stayed through to the end to see if there was any redemption. I thought it was done reasonably well for what is no doubt a depressing movie, of a man, son of a successful father (author) who doesn't appreciate who he is or what he does (weatherman), as his world collapses around him, much of which is his own fault. If you don't need to watch a depressing movie, don't watch this one. We also got "Lord of War" with Nicolas Cage which in many respects was similar to "The Weather Man" in as much as we have another son, father, husband who fails his family, wife, son, this time, because of his obsession with his occupation of selling arms to every sleazebag dictator around the world. As usual a great performance by Cage. The other movie was "Two for the Money" with Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey, both turn in great performances a movie about sports gambling.

Saturday the resort put on a BBQ, and Ice Cream Social with entertainment. They put on the burgers and hot dogs and those attending brought pot luck salads and desserts. So we got to meet more of the other "campers". Quite enjoyable.

I talked to My Mom yesterday. She had an idea of visiting my Brother Jack in Oklahoma to see his new house and see his boys, whom she hasn't seen for some time. So Catherine got busy and arranged for both of them to go. They are both excited about the trip and looking forward to it. I am glad Mother at 87 can still travel and I thank Catherine for taking her down there. They should both enjoy it. They are also planning to come to Vancouver/Victoria in July too. Turning into Jet Setters.

Well off for a bike ride and/or walk. Too much eating.... More exercise needed...
Puff Puff gasp wheeze.
Ta Ta.

Since our trip to Lake Havasu we have mostly stayed local. We have had some friends drop in. Rob and Sue had friends of theirs stay for a couple of days. Tommy and Carolyn. They came in with their Wanderlodge a very nice unit. Rob borrowed Keiths Propane firepit and we sat around outside with our pseudo campfire for two nights. It gets quite nippy out at night even though we get near 80 temperatures during the day. So our campfires end at about 9 pm. (Nothing to do with age) Donny Little and his girl friend Heather dropped in yesterday. They drove in from Las Vegas (4 hour trip)stayed 3 hours and drove back. It was good to see him; Carolyn and I finally got to meet Heather. Nice lady and they make a great couple, both like gambling.

Tuesday, Ken and I went to the driving range to figure out if we still know how to golf and then today we golf 9 holes at the Blythe Municipal Course and found out that we don't know how to golf, at least not as good as we think we should. It was great to get out and enjoy a hot sunny day on the course. We met and golf with a nice couple Mike and Louise of Northern California. They were very patient with us. lol.

Carolyn and Helen went shopping in Blythe and after a half an hour of that came back and knocked back a few Gin and Tonics or at least a couple of strong ones. When Ken a I got back they were in good "spirits". ho ho. We went with them to a Mexican restaurant with the for lunch the other day. El Ranichito, very good Mexican food.

I see from Catherines blog that she and Mom are planning a trip to Tishomingo. Mom and she want to see Jack's new house and visit with the boys. Great idea, Mom and Catherine are excited about it. Must call Mom tomorrow.

Gotta go, for some reason my back is sore. Way too many golf strokes I guess.
Nitey nite.

My goodness, I haven't blogged since Tuesday, I sure thought I had done that more recently. We have been busy with a variety of things. Some of us went to a movie saw "Firewall" with Harrison Ford. Not a bad flick but it did have its incredulous moments. About a 6 out of 10 I'd say. One could wait for the DVD.

I've done some repairs on the rig, and have been doing some walking and biking to compensate for the eating, eating and more eating. Geez we do a lot of that.
Keith and Lee had a couple from Vancouver visit for a few days. Dave and Coleen, and they along with Carolyn, Sue and I went to Oatman Arizona to see Burros. Rob begged off as it was his turn to come down with the cold that is going around. Turned out to be a 220 km trip one way. However, it was quite enjoyable. We went through some country we hadn't seen yet. Like Lake Havasu. Quite a beautiful and thriving resort city. Here is where an entrepreneur bought a London Bridge, and had it shipped and reinstalled over to an Island. Quite an endeavor. He even created the Island by dredging out an area so he had somewhere to put the bridge.

At Oatman, a very old western town whose only reason for existence (like tombstone) is to cater to Burros and tourists. Saloons, and tourist traps abound. The burros come to town everyday to feed and the residents and tourists cooperate by feeding them hay pellets, carrots and the like. Occasionally they block off the street and have a shoot out with period costumed cowboys. Sort of like a poor boys version of Shootout at the OK corral. The Burros were the highlight. They were various colours, from standard grey to white to piebald.

Of course we did a stop at Walmart at Lake Havasu, a short stop, miraculously, and then headed for the Blue Water Casino for supper at Parker. They had a good Buffet for a reasonable price where we had a good meal. Well except for Sue who wanted to have a go at the one armed bandits, while we ate. Afterwards we joined her for awhile but Sue was the only one ahead by all of $8.00 plus an additional $8.00 she save by not eating. All in all we had a long but enjoyable day.

Back at the Ranch (ie River Breeze) we now have a Spa that doesn't work. Rob went into it one night and the next day it was broke. The need a new part, a relay, it is on order and should be up and running on Tuesday. The pool to say the least is a dead issue as far as this month is concerned.

Friends of Rob and Sue arrived today in their Wanderlodge. Tommy Two Shoes and Carolyn. They got here just in time for Robs Birthday tomorrow. Burgers, hot dogs and such to celebrate. Happy Birthday Rob.

Nitey Nite.

Well we are enjoying particularly warm weather. Of course we are at an altitude of 250 feet as opposed to 4000 feet in Benson. That is worth a dozen or so degrees F warmer by height alone. Still gets cool enough to sleep well at night though.

I see Catherine continues to do a fine job of blogging and yesterday we had a 45 minute discussion using Skype. From computer to computer it not only is free but clear as a bell, and with speakers on we could have a group discussion. She had some computer questions, and since we each had a computer in front of us it was easy to answer the questions by doing. Besides that we had a good talk about wide ranging things. She is going to keep the trailer in Gimli for now, and she is going up to Gimli for what would have been their Anniversary on the 17th of Feb. They both loved it there.

Chelsea has blogged again, and it is a must read. Funny funny it is. Way to go Chelsea.

Rod and Karen left today so we had a big dinner for them last night. Helen made a wonderful Paella, which is a Spanish dish with Rice, pork, chicken, seafood (shrimp, clams, octopus, squid) and spicy sausage and Spanish spices, done on a big pan on a BBQ. Wow was it scrumptious. I had to go on another bike ride today to work some of it off.

We took Keith and Leigh's laptop to a shop in town and it only took 5 minutes for me to want to strangle the girl that was spouting off nonsense. I suggested we leave and I would work on it. They were not picking up wifi and now they are. The store wanted $65 to $140 to fix it and all it was was spyware. I loaded an Anti Spyware program, namely Ad Aware, it cleaned up nicely and WiFi started working.

Anyhow, she (the so called expert) is not on my valentines list. lol

Hope you all had a good day. TaTa

Helen and Ken went off to see

When we left Benson we headed for Picacho Peak and stayed there for two days. We have been there for a week the last two years and really like it. We stopped mainly this time to visit Ron Wong. He is a friend of Rob and Sue, but we got to meet him and the Wong family a couple of years ago. We went to his birthday party last week and he invited us to dinner at the guest Dude "White Stallion Ranch". Steak dinner, BBQed outdoors on giant BBQ's. Excellent meal and surroundings, check the site. Unfortunately Carolyn had a little flu bug or something, she had a sore throat and upset tummy, so she begged off. She has been feeling better, but not 100% yet. Helen has been suffering something similar too.

We got to River Breeze yesterday, and today we drove around the local area. The resort is right on the Colorado river and is very nice. Grassed lots, and many services included phone, unfortunately the pool is closed due to repairs, but the hot tub is working. We have WiFi which is good and we will be here a month. Ehrenberg, Arizona is nothing much, and Blythe, six miles away has some stores and essentially that is where we have to go to do our shopping. No Walmart though, but enough other places to shop. They have a cinema complex, so we should be able to get in a couple of movies.

We have a mini rally going on here as some of Rob and Sue's friends are here as well as, us, Ken & Helen, and Rob & Karen.

Chelsea has taken over Noni's blog, and has blogged recently, see Noni/Chelsea's blog on the left. OK Rachel, take over your Moms Blog. Heehee.

That's it for now blogmates. TaTa

Some good reading at the Prairie Dog Blog. Catherine is an excellent writer and is currently has some delved into some ideas of just how much do you know your loved ones. I am finding her words comforting while I deal with the loss of Dennis. Maybe you will too. I am sure it is therapeutic for her too.

Yesterday we went to the Kartchner Caverns. I didn't realize that they were a relatively new discovery. The Big Cave Tour (which is the one we took) was opened 1988. The caves were only discovered in 1974 and the cave explorers who found it kept it a secret for many years so that it would remain protected before opening it to the public. This way they could control access and keep the cave in its pristine condition. It is an active, alive cave system. Most the formations are still actively growing. The tour was guided, the guide was excellent and I highly recommend to anyone to include this in your travel itinerary. Unfortunately they didn't allow cameras, so I didn't get any pictures. There are two tours and we will do the other one next time we are this way.

We BBQ'd some steaks for dinner, mmmmmm, after which I went to the observatory for an evening of viewing the stars. Carolyn and the girls went for another sit in the hot tub. The viewing included: Andromeda Galaxy, Clown Galaxy, Saturn, Moon, Orion galaxy and a couple of other minor celestial bodies. They have a 16 inch Meade Reflecting Telescope with dome, very nice setup. We could see at features of the moon in detail. It was a half moon so we could look along the Terminus, which is the line between day and night on the moon. The craters show very well in stark relief along that line. Saturn was also spectacular with its rings, and we could even see four of the major moons of Saturn. I enjoyed it very much.
Today will be mostly getting ready to move on to Picacho Peak RV Resort for two days then on to Ehrenburg.

Take care all, Ta Ta.

We were at Tombstone on Friday. Quite a quaint town. Tourist trap in some respects, but an official heritage site. A gold rush town where the "shootout at the OK Corral" occured, and which they re-enact several times a day. The main street is a typical old time western town, see picture. They have stagecoach tours of the area. We went through the cemetary and say many graves 80% which died in 1882, a bad year for some reason.

Saturday we went to visit Robs buddy Ron Wong. It was Ron's birthday so we all went to the Flying Phoenix Chinese food restaurant. There was about 35 attending. Great chinese dinner. He also invited us to the White Stallion Ranch for BBQ steak dinner next Thursday night. It was good to see Ron and family after two years. Wonderful people. We had a good chat with Francine Wong and with Cathy the Wongs secretary.

Today Rob, Ken and I went to the PIMA air museum. 4 hangers full of aircraft with 70 acres of aircraft outside. Dennis would have really enjoyed the place too. I thought of him a lot as I wandered amongst the aircraft.

Still haven't been to the observatory. Ken and Rod went two nights ago and said it was quite good. It has been cloudy the last two evenings so I am waiting for a clear night.

Helen has come down with a bad sore throat, which has developed into a stuffy head. She should be back to her normal self in a couple of days.

Tomorrow 6 of us are goint to the Kartchner Caverns, that should be enjoyable. I always enjoy caves, and these are supposed to be quite good.

I see Catherine blogged again. Good show. Good to hear from you. Catherine, say hi to Mom and tell her I'll call in the next day or so.

take care all. Ta Ta

Catherine is continuing the Prairie Dog Blog. Good on you girl. It will be great to see it continue, and like you say, keep his spirit alive.

We arrived at the Butterfield RV resort yesterday. So did everyone else. Sue and Rob, Ken and Helen, and their friends, Rob and Karen. Helen was vibrating with excitement at having an internet connection. She suffers withdrawal if she is kept from it for a few days. Well!! OK some others here do too. Hmmmmm. Wonder who? Yeah Rob thats it, Rob.

The sun continues to shine, however, it is not doing much for the drought conditions they have. Really they could use some, no, lots of rain. However, it seems that the Northwest is hogging all the rain. Thats all I hear from up there: Enough already!!!.

There is an small observatory here, but we have to get an orientation briefing before we can use it. I'll be checking that out today. Also a day to wash the rig.

Catherine, glad to hear you are reconsidering selling the trailer. Yes it takes a bit of work to maintain it, but nothing you couldn't handle. You and Dennis loved going to Gimli and it would be a shame for you to continue that. There are probably a lot of people up there that could help you and if you got any questions I might be able to help too or point you in the right direction. There is tons of info on the internet too.

It was so clear last night you could almost touch the stars. It was quite cool. Benson is in a mountainous area and we are at 3,600 feet. It got down to 32F (0 C) last night. Well must go find out about this observatory and gaze at the stars.

Toodle do.