Gourds & Genealogy, Parks & Partakes

Eats Lately

2009-06-15T19:38:00.000-07:00

15 Jun 2009
Waco, Texas

So, I haven't made many additions to this blog for a while...

Dinner tonight was at a "Tex-Czech" place in West, Texas. No, that's not west Texas, it's West, Texas. As in the town of. It's as close as we could come to an equivalent for George, Washington.

At the Czech-American, I had a combo plate - sausage, stuffed cabbage roll, kraut and friend potatoes/onion. Very good! The best kraut I've had in a long time. All for $9.95. Chris had the pork roast. And a Pilsner bier.

The last meal I recall photographing was in Indianapolis - actually it was Speedway, Indiana - when we went to the terrific English Pub. On our first visit I had deep dish pizza - yummmy! - and on another I had one of the world's greatest Key Lime Pies - a round one.

In between those two visits, we went to the Mexican restaurant in Speedway on Cinco de Mayo, where I found a really good shrimp cocktail.

Also, while we were in the big city, we dined at the Sushi place downtown Indianapolis (Sushi On The Rocks) AND at the Spaghetti Warehouse - of course I had White Clam Sauce.

Taco Trucks Strike Again

2008-11-02T19:29:00.000-08:00

AJ and Irene came to visit and were bored, so we offered to take them out to lunch at one of our favorite Yuma restaurants. So, it's a Roach Coach. Actually, it's "Tio Juan's" - parked more or less permanently along 8th Street. And your point is? We all enjoyed. Now we have to try out the new Mexican seafood place on 4th Avenue that allegedly has fantastic flan!

From 2008 Fall

Do you think I caught anyone with their mouth full of shrimp & calamari cocktail???

From 09 Sep Arizona

A hummingbird from our visit to Lyman Lake...

Obituaries

2008-06-14T09:16:00.000-07:00

Obituaries can be a source of great humor - see this one, for instance...

On the road, again

2008-06-01T17:12:00.000-07:00

La Grande, Oregon

We had planned to stay at the Elks' Club field in Baker City - with a nice price ($0). Turns out it is a ball field, with ball games all weekend. No room to park.

It was sunny for a moment in LaGrande...

So we trundled on to La Grande, where there is a Flying J fuel stop and picked an RV park out of the book. Nice park! Good choice! LaGrande Rendezvous RV - ($26 per night for the 30 amp sites) nice long spots, level and graveled, with grassy in betweens; not a lot of big trees, so the satellite dishes work well; nice management; close to a big new Wal-Mart; and the manager directed us to a terrific hole-in-the-wall joint (Bud Jackson's Sportsman Bar) with fantastic burgers. We went in for a steak, which they also have, but couldn't resist the burgers.

Bud Jackson's street sign.

Boise and vicinity

2008-05-31T18:35:00.000-07:00

In the Boise area, we now stay at the Boise-Meridian RV Resort, which actually is in Meridian, but they want the Boise connection, of course. It's fairly new; we've stayed here since its infancy. Nice flat sites; lots of pull-throughs; no big trees; the park is large enough to almost always have a site available. Each site has a gravel site, with red rock along the utility side - why? - some grass and a small concrete patio. The first row is supposed to be end-to-end sites - and sometimes is, but we usually are assigned one that we just drive thru and take both - the toad left at the back. We just have to remember not to pull too far in when we park at the office, so we can make the turn left into the first driveway. It was a puzzle to find from the freeway the first time - at the Y intersection near Home Depot you go left, then left at John's Auto Repair. See how easy that was?

We formerly stayed at The Playground, which had a terrific location when our grandkids lived practically next door, but went downhill, and now we see is gone. Locust Grove was extended over the freeway at its side and methinks there will be a commercial development on the site.

The old park on Fairview (Fiesta) also closed and was bulldozed for commercial space. There are a couple down by the river we've never stayed in - too many trees, and the kids live on the West side of town.

The Hi-Valley Park up on the bench on the way to Horseshoe Bend is a nice one - again, it's newer, with big-rig kinds of accomodations and ranks high in user reviews. It has a sister park in Caldwell, just 20 miles or so away, that is excellent - The Ambassador - where we've also stayed.

Salt Lake City RV Parks

2008-05-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

We come through here at least once a year on our trek north, or south. The quantity and quality of parks has come and gone.

We liked the one that used to be out on State Street in Sandy - Quail Run - but heard they closed it down - to make a parking lot, no less. It was tucked down in a little valley off the highway and had very, very tight spots, but it was clean and tidy and had green grass and a great location.

We stayed just once at the one in Draper - Mountain Shadows. Never again. It is a trailer park with a few RV sites. The roads aren't good, the access to sites isn't good, the atmosphere isn't great.

We stayed a number of times at what is now the KOA on North Temple, just west of the State Fairgrounds. Half of it is long-term trailer-park-looking small sites huddled under huge trees. The other half is the itinerant traveler area - lots of nice huge shade trees (not a good thing for we who have multiple satellite dishes), narrow roads, fairly small sites. But, the people are usually very nice, there is a swimming pool that our grandkids loved the one trip we stayed here with them, there is a small cafe on site that has fairly decent food, the gift shop/grocery area isn't bad, and if you work it right, the satellites will work.

This trip we're at the Pony Express RV Resort. It's about 5 miles north of the KOA on Redwood Road, almost to the 215 freeway (exit 28, in fact). Across the 215 is a Flying J truck stop - a small one. This is a brand new park and has good and bad points. We have a 40 foot motorhome - the 40' site is either 39.5, or our coach is 41 - we hang out on both ends. Next time we'll take the 60' lot. They charge more for the bigger sizes, which is okay with me. The person who laid it out did some wrong calculations, in our humble opinions: the roads are paved, but narrow; the sites are concrete pads, including one for the toad, and some grass, but the pads slope at both ends - jacks go way up if they are close to the front or back of your rig. The 60' sites have much more elbow room between rigs than the 40' ones; there is a great kids play area; the clubhouse is nice, and it's clean; the front desk people are all new and not quite functioning as well as they might later - it took forever on a cell phone to just make a reservation.

I spent the week at the Genealogical Library down near Temple Square (with the tulips and pansies in full and gorgeous bloom). The commute into town is 2x the distance from the KOA, but not bad (about 7 miles.) The commute home at 5 pm was very slow, mainly because of the construction on the new interchange with I-215. Maybe that will improve. It would be nice if there was some kind of shuttle into downtown a couple of times a day...

I ate lunch at the Lion House one day - yummy! The group had dinner at Grand America's (not Little America, but Grand America...) cafe one night - nice place, good food. I had a tender, moist turkey dinner with terrific stuffing. We had dinner one night at McGrath's Fish House - yummy fried oysters! Chris had the New Orleans catfish, which was barely visible and tastable under all the shrimp and sauces, but good.

We stopped for dinner one evening at a one-time favorite of mine from years ago - the Rio Grande Cafe in the old Rio Grande Train Depot, which also houses the Utah Historical Society. Unfortunately, the food and atmosphere have gone way down since I was there last. Que lastima! The neighborhood is a bit interesting also -- there is a soup kitchen at the end of the block and lots of street people hanging about. But it was that way before.

On the Road

2008-05-13T08:33:00.001-07:00

Beaver, Utah

Here we are in our Beaver motorhome in Beaver, Utah. Is that great, or what? We're at the United Beaver Camperland, which isn't a bad place, when you consider the 400 mph crosswinds and the beating rain in mid-afternoon yesterday. It was also about 400 degrees below zero, according to the Lord & Master. We dug out the parkas!

The campground appears to be the best one in town - the KOA is next to a feed lot and the other one is mostly trailers plunked down for the long term with little space for overnighting big rigs. The area - from here to Fillmore, Utah - is known for the ATV trails. The Paiute Trail is almost 250 miles of back country made to roam. We've talked for years about coming here to participate, but never done it.

We parked next to a fabulous lilac bush in full bloom. Spring must be close, even in Utah.

I drove through greater downtown Beaver in search of a place with food and found a terrific steak to go at a restaurant near the north end of town (that I can't find on the maps.) It was full of locals. The L&M was happier after his tummy was full. But we plugged in the electric blanket and pulled the down comforter out of the cupboard last night. This was after 95 degrees plus in Yuma and not much cooler in Las Vegas.

On the road yesterday we fueled next to a guy with a huge flatbed full of beautiful, huge rocks! I admired them and he even gave me one - okay, so it was only a little tiny piece of one. The company mines them from a site near Tonopah, Nevada, he said.

We left Yuma on the 3:10 - or was it the 10:10?

2008-05-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

Las Vegas, NV

We packed up food, clothes, drugs, books, gourds, folders full of genealogy, bird toys, and other such related 'stuff' as we will use during the next 6 months or so. And hit the road in our 40' home away from home. No it's our home - the other one is the 'away from' number.

The Lord & Master did a good job of getting us to Las Vegas with no hassles, no problems, no squeaks from the birds. The boys weren't too excited about the voyage, but they did well - this is their first trip.

We are staying 3 nights at the Oasis RV park - we like it much better than a few years ago. Methinks it has new management, that believes staff should be nice to customers.

Friday night we ate at the Silverton Casino restaurant we like. Not the buffet, not the high-priced dining experience, not the bar, but the really comfortable Sundance Grill. We've stayed nearby often and learned to like their menu and staff. Occasionally they come up with fun new stuff - like the grilled eggplant sandwich I had. Grilled eggplant, grilled red pepper, tomato, lettuce, swiss (or mozzarella) cheese, with a side of fries. Yum.

Today we just hung out. Played computer games. Played with the birds. Washed the front windows. Confirmed reservations at G&B's for Mothers' Day dinner tomorrow. Bought the Lord & Master some new jeans and shirts at his favorite western wear store (Boot Barn.) Bought some new toys and treats for the birds at Petco. Bought a new battery charger and some fly swatters at Wal-Mart.

In the same strip mall with Wal-Mart and Petco was Tokyo Garden - a sushi place. We said "Why not? It's 3 pm; we can count it as either a late lunch or an early dinner. Or just an afternoon snack..." The spicy clam roll wasn't something we'll order again, but the other stuff was very good. The guy behind the counter and the girl out front were very nice. And she brought us green tea ice cream as a dessert treat. It apparently began as a small ball of ice cream, coated with rice cake batter and dusted with powdered sugar. She served it cut into slices, with a couple of toothpicks. I ate them all!

The birds loved their treat and their new swing.

Getting Ready to Get On the Road

2008-05-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

1 May 2008
Yuma, still

We've spent a lazy winter. We didn't accomplish half what we planned. Well, I didn't anyway - sometimes I make more plans than Chris.

He did some nice little fix-its on the coach - new stairs, window shade readjusted, radiator washed, new tires, carpets cleaned, drawers cleaned out... We seldom had Pugs in the storage room this winter - he just sat out. That way the neighbors thought we were real.

I was going to lose 10 pounds, exercise faithfully at Curves, finish the family photo books for the historical library in Springville, scan all my slides into digital, scan all possible documents and get rid of boxes of memorabilia, help Nancy with family history research, continue a couple of lines of my family research, find a new budgie baby, clean out my closets, catalog my books... I found my list the other day. Oops.

But, on the positive side:
-I got some of the photo stuff done - Ella Miner's story. I continued on Grandpa Miner's.
-I scanned a bunch of old scrapbook stuff and THREW THE ORIGINALS AWAY!!!
-I scanned a bunch of Mom's old slides and tossed the originals - this is a mortal sin in my family.
-I helped Nancy with research, but not enough. We found one whole new generation of Norwegians in Wisconsin, Iowa & Minnesota!
-We found lots of new budgies and lost one. We are now down to two new babies - Pancho (hatched in Jan) and Pepe (hatched in Mar). They will travel with us and amuse us. We had to make one trip to San Diego and one to Los Angeles to retrieve them.
-I made a major start on cataloging my cases and cases of books - www.librarything.com is marvelous. And I hooked both Eric and Todd on it - well, Todd's kids anyway. I'm bribing them to enter his books.
-I made a visit to Boise to visit my newest granddaughter.
-I made a visit to Seattle to tend the grandkids while Todd ran the Boston Marathon.
-We visited with old friends and made new ones, including the fun Canucks across the road.
-We went to Casa Grande for the gourd festival for several days.
-I entered some gourds in the county fair and won a ribbon or two.
-I spent lots of time burning, carving, painting - but not enough...

So I guess it hasn't been a bad winter.

New favorite restaurant: Parrish's Bar and Grill - on Fortuna Road near the post office. Great fish and chips, terrific BLTs, wonderful burgers, and nice people.

Gourd in Casa Grande

2008-02-19T06:58:00.001-08:00

This is the Official Illustrated Wuertz Gourds Festival report:

Well, I did 5 gourds in 4 days - non-stop cutting, cleaning, carving, burning, painting.... my poor little fingers are bony! I'll include photos of some of my gourds, plus some festival stuff.

My crushed glass inlay gourd.

The festival is an annual event, held at the county fairgrounds, and sponsored by the local farm - Wuertz [see connection in the sidebar] - that raises and sells bazillions of gourds.

They have a big building for vendors and dealers - full of every tool and toy related to gourds you could ever imagine (and want to possess) - cutters and polishers and sanders and drillers and fancy laces and jewels and ropes and feathers and... It took a long time to get thru it all... I still don't own all on my wish list - but give me a few years. Another hall is for the stuff entered for judging - fantastic imaginations at work. The classes take place in a third unheated building or outside in the elements. On Sunday we (the students) finally picked up all the tables and moved under the roof next to the sheep pens out of the rain - there were no sheep, fortunately.

The weather was terrific one full day and most of another. The other two days it was cold and windy - carving in 4 layers of clothes is difficult! I really learned a lot - in spite of some of the teachers.

-I took Bonnie Gibson's filigree class - great! - but then she always is...
-Did a pine needle rim for the first time - much easier than I'd thought.
-Took a class on crushed glass [inlaid but not polished smooth] that was terrific - but messy!
-The fire lizards was on how to mix and blend leather dyes - I'd have enjoyed this one a lot if the instructor had been better.
-The celtic carving is okay, but tedious. And it was the last day; the attention span was wearing down. Before was officially over, I excused myself, went over and told Chris we could go home if he wanted. He had the engine started about 25 seconds later. But the drive was a challenge - strong winds all the way.

Most classes were 4 or 5 hours each - and many of them were just how-tos - we didn't have time to complete the project on several. I'm very pleased with my glass inlay one. I'll try again on my own on almost all of these class techniques.

It was really terrific having the RV right there in the back lot - the commute to class was a short walk. Chris was sick the first couple of days - a bad cold - and then bored out of his tree the rest. We didn't have an internet connection!!! [Eeeeek!] He did read 4 books - we were smart enough to stop at the library before leaving Yuma.

Bonnie Gibson's work - one of my teachers

Fire lizard class

Outdoor class on a nice day!

Bonnie Gibson teaches us filigree.

Some of the judged entries - the 6 little white round globes are sitting on a large elk (?) antler - really cool!

My pine needle wraps.

Taco Trucks in Yuma

2008-01-05T17:10:00.000-08:00

Well, we discovered you probably should try this on a weekday, on a warm day, on a work day. Not on a Saturday, on a cold day, in the middle of the afternoon.

We had to go to Algadones for new glasses (I lost my good ones somewhere and have been running on an old prescription) so on the way back, we cruised 8th Street - "Hey, it's Tio Juan's!" "Oh, look - it's El Toro Meat Market!" "There's Juanita's!" But none were packed with customers, the workers looked cold and miserable, and we couldn't find El Navarita, with its good Seafood Cocteles.

So we settled for Tio Juans. No tortas, no tacos, only cocteles. Shrimp? Octopus? Combinacion? O Todo? We ordered one with everything and one with shrimp and octopus. We couldn't tell the difference. They were $6.00 each, more than I expected - or $8.00 for the large. (But then I looked at Kirk & Ed's descriptions and Juanita's large is $11.) They were delicioso. Lots of shrimp, lots of octopus, served in an ice cream sundae kind of glass, with seafood juice (? whatever that was), clamato juice, fresh squeezed lime, and tiny chopped cucumbers and onions. But then he tried to charge us for a large one each - I'm not sure they were worth that.

We'll do this again - maybe Tuesday when we go back to pick up the glasses it will be warm and mid-day.

I found a blog with a recipe for the campechanas - seafood cocktails - but it doesn't have the octopus/calamari in it, which could be added. It does have oysters - good idea.
http://armidacooks.blogspot.com/2006/07/campechana-version-20.html

Genealogy Libraries - My Faves

2008-01-04T07:41:00.000-08:00

One of my newsletters had an inquiry to readers recently asking about favorite or best libraries for research. Several of my favorites were listed, which pleased me.

The big ones are a gimme, so I won't even comment. I was raised in the Intermountain West and had grandparents living in central Utah. I've been in the SLC Family History Library since I was a child - I love it when people talk of their yearnings to go there.
http://newfamilyhistory.googlepages.com/home

My husband and I visited the Allen County, Indiana library on one of our trips through the state - we didn't spend near enough time there, but I wanted to see and breathe it. Now they've remodeled - I guess another trip is called for.
http://friendsofallencounty.org/otherdb.php

My favorite cousin is an historical biographer in his spare time; a history professor by paycheck. He's been one of my best instructors on how and where and who when researching. He introduced me to the National Archives - I've actually leafed through the original pay records of Gen. Pershing from 1917 in Northern Mexico during the campaign against Pancho Villa. Now that's a goosebump.
http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/

Preble County, Ohio - It helps the ratings when I have old dead relatives in a place - and find data on them! But Preble County also had one of the primo librarians in the country - she died in an accident just a week before we were there last. The community was in mourning. I don't know how they are doing now, but their record collection is terrific on western Ohio; they were the first library I encountered that would allow you to browse the original document images when you searched on-line; they were helpful, courteous and kind!
http://ohpreble.ohgenweb.net/

El Dorado County Historical Museum - In the late 1990s I became a victim of the Clarksville / Mormon Tavern Cemetery - in a fun way. I met a terrific old gentleman whose family was buried there. He told me the family stories and I decided to publish them - just a little booklet of a few pages and photos, with stories. And then... and then... I met two ladies at the historical museum (Sue and Suzy) who told me to get real. Turns out they had data, information, newspaper clippings, court records, cemetery records, church records, old journal records - we identified names of scores of people buried in the cemetery. They had done some background on who they were and where they came from; I did some more. Eventually, the California Genealogical Society published the book and I still get inquiries about it. http://www.cagenweb.com/eldorado/cemeteries/clarksville.htm Last year an Eagle Scout candidate coordinated with an organization of search & rescue dogs and pinpointed the graves more accurately. http://www.k9forensic.org/ Wow!
http://www.co.el-dorado.ca.us/Museum/index.html

Maysville, Kentucky Historical Museum - again, records of old dead relatives. The people here were extraordinarily nice and helpful! I went away loving them all. And they have more data than even I could copy. I must return; they are very near the Ohio River and the town was badly flooded a few years ago.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~kymcm/

Finding Family

2008-01-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

Seems like I turn over a new leaf every so often, and there - in hiding - is a new relative. Most of them previously unknown and undiscovered by immediate family. My son gives me a bad time about turning up with all these new people.

My latest - now follow along - is the daughter of the half-sister of my husband's mother's younger sister's first husband's first wife... not exactly a close blood relative, but "related" in some sense of the word - I call them Kissing Cousins ("KC") when they turn up.

The background: KC's mother and father had arranged to meet with half-sister "Nan" and her husband Peter, an RAF pilot, in the summer of 1945 at Bath, England. They had seen each other recently in London. Nan and Peter never showed up. They never heard from Nan again, but kept looking. It was wartime... it was England... Mary and husband were trying to get all the ducks in a row to emigrate to the States... Nan may have gone to Nairobi... she and Peter divorced...

Current Status: Last year - 60 years later - just months after her mother Mary's death, the "KC" found some true cousins - children of Nan and Peter. She has talked with them by phone and corresponded. It is a crusade for KC to find her missing aunt, but it is spectacular fountain of information for Peter's kids - both from his marriage to Mary and his next marriage to Kay, which produced four children. Peter died when the youngest was just 3 years old. The children knew very little of him. And now this stranger has popped into their lives with names of grandparents and cousins and aunts.

Little rumors of Nan's existence pop up in family stories. Someone recalls seeing her in a grocery store in Iringa, Tanganyika Territories after the divorce... Someone says she was married again, but he might not have bothered to divorce the prior wife... Someone thinks she may have had more children... There are clues, but no body.

I find it incredible that no one bothered to document anything in the family. I'm compulsive - it must be on paper somewhere. How could they not ask their mother about details??? and then remember them??? But they didn't. They apparently didn't even know for sure if their dad was in the Army or the RAF, let alone where they lived and what happened to their half-siblings' mother. And now Kay is dead also. How sad. Perhaps the KC will eventually put the puzzle pieces together and at least be able to say where Nan died. Maybe not.

Nan and Peter were married in the UK, Kay and Peter in Africa; children were born in the UK and in Africa and again in the UK, some settled in Canada and the U.S. The challenges in finding records at all has been time consuming and frustrating. None of the families are close and clingy - barely to the Christmas card stage - so communication has been difficult.

I pushed my husband's family into some documentation of their parents' early lives - fascinating lives in Poland, Russia, Iran, Palestine, East Africa and finally the UK, Canada, the US and Australia. Mum and Kay had been closed-mouthed about the details - the War and its effects was still painful to talk of, even after all these years. The third survivor of the six children died when he was in his 50s. But the children, grandchildren and now great-grandchildren had no idea of what a victory it was for any of them to have survived, until we wrote up some of those stories.

Out of My Gourd

2007-12-31T20:05:00.001-08:00

A couple of years ago I ran across Old Friend/Former Boss Garry, who now is an artist. He burns, carves and paints Old Dead Gourds. (He also makes money at it.) He works very diligently on a daily basis, also. His enthusiasm and ability rubbed off on me almost instantly (if Garry can do this, I can!) I started a collection of Old Dead Gourds and the tools to burn and cut and chop them. I finally found a craft I really, really enjoy! I don't care if I'm never very good - and I will never match Garry's level - but it is a wonderful feeling to do something that feels good, and one where I'm pleased with my results. Actually I'm improving slowly, but that's beside the point. I'm having fun!

We bought an old beater trailer this winter and fixed it up as a workshop, which gives me my own space to go "create." I'm taking classes from the experts - Bonnie Gibson, for instance - and will immerse myself at the Wuertz Gourd Festival in Casa Grande next month, with class after class.

My latest two creations are my favorites, so far. Of course most of the time this is true on any new one. So I constantly have new favorites. I call it instant gratification.

The Cave Ladies is based upon a Dyan Mai Peterson book, The Decorated Gourd: Beautiful Projects & New Techniques, a really terrific collection of works with excellent easy-to-follow directions. Check Amazon.com for availability.

The Cave Ladies is a gift for one of my terrific daughters-in-law. The gecko is for a good friend - she likes kokopellis and geckos, so the other sides are kokopellis.

Restaurants in Yuma - Our Faves

2007-12-30T07:51:00.000-08:00

We eat out at least a couple of times a week - we like to try new stuff, we enjoy most food. Yuma is full of FLOPs in the winter (Friggin' Little Old People) and many of them are not into spicy foods. We are. Mexican is about the only choice we have for spice. Our Indian restaurant isn't as good as it used to be. The most favorite-ist restaurant for FLOPs often turns out to be The Golden Corral - we don't eat enough to make it worthwhile. We were sad when the great Basque restaurant closed.

Julieanna's Patio Cafe: Great place with good food, a terrific patio, fantastic birds - located over by the hospital. Mostly like a California-style restaurant & cuisine. Reminds us of the Bay Area. You see more locals in reasonable clothing than ORFs (Old Retired Farts) in their cut-offs and tank tops.

Famous Dave's: What can I say? It's terrific bbq food and nice people. Located by the mall.

Lute's Casino: A Yuma tradition - it's in Old Downtown and is a classic Dive. A huge one. Prices are low, food choices aren't great, but the hamburgers are terrific. The tri-tip sandwich is recommended. The onion rings are worth the visit. See the sidebar link for a great review of it - covers it well.

Burgers & Beer: Yummy burgers of many varieties! This turns out to be a chain - 5 of them from here to Indio. Burgers are either 1/3 lb or 1/2 lb - your choice! Prices are reasonable. Yuma's remodeled/rebuilt this year - we haven't been to see the changes yet.

India House: We loved this place when it first opened - like being back in London, where the owners came directly from. No atmosphere, but great food. Now one partner has returned home and things are sliding, like service and food. We return because we really, really like Indian food, but we may have to drive to San Diego or Phoenix for our fix.

In the old days we called them Roach Coaches: Now I have to really start researching this topic. I found a fantastic blog on eating that covers some of Yuma - it is offset by my niece's group blog on non-eating, so the calories shouldn't stick? "Ed from Yuma" has "researched" all the mobile truck eateries - Chris & I are on a mission now to find and try them! Ed and Kirk say go. http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2007/06/yuma_taco_truck.html

RV Parks We've Liked - subject to constant revision

2007-12-27T14:31:00.000-08:00

As we travel, we usually don't make reservations ahead - we call it living dangerously. And believe me, this is about as dangerous as our humdrum little lives get. We've been doing this long enough to have found some favorite parks and/or ones we would never return to - the ones that make for good stories, y'know?

The Good:
-Red Rock RV Park, Henry's Lake, Idaho
http://www.8004redrock.com/index.htm
We stayed here a couple of years ago with some Beaver friends and really loved it. Off the beaten track (5 miles to the highway) but just down the road from a great fishing lake and a weekly rodeo at the youth camp. It's close to Yellowstone and the great fly fishing of Island Park & southwestern Montana.

-Brickyard Plantation Golf Club & RV Park, Americus, Georgia
http://www.brickyardgolfclub.com/RV%20Park.htm
This campground is mostly in the middle of nowhere. Nice long, wide unadorned grassy spots. Few amenities, but that's okay. No trees to block the satellites. An egret ate in the nearby pond each day. Most campers are golfers - at $5 per day! Small bathhouse with single washer/dryer & a book-trading area. It's near Andersonville Prison and Plains - Jimmy Carter's home - we didn't see Jimmy.

The Bad:
-Rainbow Lake, Rexburg, Idaho
http://www.passport-america.com/campgrounds/united_states/idaho/rexburg/rainbow_lake_and_camground/Default.asp
The sites are side-by-side - mostly large, mostly level, mostly grassy, with no amenities unless you count trees. Those trees in the middle of pull-through sites definitely counted; most sites had water/elec hookups & were aligned N-S so our satellites worked. Had to sign ourselves in at the "office." At the P/A price this would have been almost a decent place to stay; at Good Sam rates, it was way too expensive.

New Beginnings

2007-12-27T09:41:00.000-08:00

I've blogged for years and love it - it's a journal of where we are and what we're doing. This one is a new try in a new format.

One focus will be on my Gourds - I burn, carve, paint and create with gourds - in very amateur fashion. This is a fairly new hobby and I love doing it. It is very relaxing and makes me feel good. (Photo: beginning stage of the newest creation - stay tuned for further improvements and colors.)

A second major time-filler in my life is Genealogy - I research, compose, scan, and swear at old dead relatives. We manage to fit in visits to libraries, cemeteries and seminars across the country. (Photo: Great-uncle Will - he was in the Army during the Spanish-American and First WWs. We just found his son last year - that was cool!)

The Parks part of the title is where we live much of the time - in our 40-foot Beaver motorhome. We've been doing this off and on, full-time and part-time for 8 years. We still enjoy the lifestyle and we've traveled most of the country, plus a huge hunk of Canada - but still have many thousands of miles to go up there. (Photo: Pugs, Frog and Toad. Frog doesn't travel well and gets left in locked storage in Yuma. Toad follows us everywhere.)

Last is Partakes - we like to eat and do it often, daily, even. As we travel, we find new and great places to indulge our cravings. I'll try to share these with you. For instance, in Yuma in the winter, one of our favorite dives is what we all call The Purple Coyote - Tuesday and Thursday nights margaritas are only $1.00! And the Mexican food is not bad - there's a lower cost Senior Menu to save even more. (Photo: El Cafe de Coyote - the color isn't quite true)