Mar. 28 - Apr. 10, 2013 Dead Horse Ranch State Park - Cottonwood, AZ
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RV LIFE:
Have you ever woken up in the morning and couldn't remember where you are?
That happened to me this morning. I just couldn't place what the RV park looked like. Am I in Deming? Maybe Tucson? Oh yea, Cottonwood. Plenty of areas to walk the dogs.
That's just part of living the nomadic life.
My philosophy is no news is good news! RV life has been going smoothly. No satellite problems, no computer problems, no RV problems, etc. Ahhhh. No complaints. Which leaves not much to blog about. I AM NOT COMPLAINING! I don't want something bad to write about.
We have been full timing for almost 2 years! It doesn't seem that long. I still feel like we have a "home" to go back to, but we don't. Which doesn't bother me...it's just weird!
It has taken me this long to settle into this lifestyle. I am truly relaxing. I'm finally starting to cook again, although I seem to have lost my patience for anything with more than 5 or 6 ingredients and anything that involves a lot of watching and stirring. Scott is normally the cook in the family. But he tends to cook a lot of beef. I'm tired of red meat. I like chicken breasts, he likes thighs, which I don't like. We are learning to cut recipes down so there is very little leftover. So maybe I'll start adding some EASY recipes to future blog posts. We'll see. Speaking of food...
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FOOD:
I have some raspberry jam that is just blah. I'm sure it can be used in a recipe. Any ideas before I throw it out? I need the space in the fridge for things I like.
I made Beef Fajitas, but was disappointed. I marinated it for 8 hours, but the skirt steak didn't seem to soak up the flavor. Anyone try the fajita seasoning packet? Is that good? How about your fajita recipe?
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RV LIFE:
Spent a couple of hours casually planning our itinerary. The USA is just too huge! I can see how people full time for many years. We'll be heading to California in the second half of April. I personally just want to get through this state. It reminds me of NJ. There are plenty of pretty places and touristy stuff, but way too expensive for my taste. My goal is to get through California and then start to really relax again in Oregon & Washington. I'm happy to say, that I'll be able to attend the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, OR. If you're not into sheep, wool, or crafting, this probably wouldn't interest you. My main reason for trying to plan ahead was to make sure we'll be near Eugene, OR at the end of June. Looking good! I'm very excited to go to this knitter's dream event. Just what I need...more yarn so I can knit more items that need to be hand washed. But oooooh, the yarn is so soft and beautifully dyed!
Any other crafters going? I'll be dragging my husband to this, unless I find a knitter, spinner, weaver, etc. to go with. Shirley? Terri? Want to make a trip to Oregon?
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SIGHTS:
Early Spring in the SW is wonderful. The desert is starting to green up, what little it does. But at least there is some color. The cactus bloom, but I still miss a beautiful English Garden.
I've been spending hours outside. The sun is shining, the temperature is moderate. We don't need to even bother looking at the weather channel, since it's always sunny and no rain.
Montezuma Castle:
Our rating 2 out of 5
This is a 900 year old cliff dwelling. Because of it's fragile state, visitors can't really get close to it, so why bother?
This is part of the Nat'l Park Service and there is a really nice picnic area, where many families were enjoying a picnic.
Picnic tables were beneath this tree. Notice my new sun hat? I wear it every day. I don't know how I lived without it! So much more comfortable and cooler than a baseball hat, plus blocks the overhead sunlight. I picked the hat up at the Arizona-Senora Desert Museum. Nice to pick up a souvenir that is practical.
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FAMILY:
My Dad called this morning. I'm sure he was bored. My Mom has had cancer on her nose and it keeps coming back. It is past the point of just freezing off small spots. She now has to undergo radiation treatment and hopefully that will do the trick. Otherwise, they'll start cutting away at her nose. There are nose prosthetics that are amazing, but it's still the thought of her knowing what is underneath and the PIA of having to deal with it.
I'm not into praying, but for those out there that are, my Mom would really appreciate your prayers for healing.
So while Mom was having her radiation treatments, Dad was waiting. He was bored. So he called his daughter.
We won't be back to visit them until Mar of 2014. It's difficult to balance living your own life, traveling the country in an RV, and still seeing family and friends. Our parents are getting older. Will they be around in March of 2014? I sure hope so. Will I regret not spending more time with them in their senior years? Spending more time with them, means staying in Florida, then I miss out on our travels around the country. We too are also growing older and may not want to do this in our senior+ years. Of course we love our parents, but I love MY life also and do not want to spend it in Florida (my parents) or in New Jersey (Scott's parents). Guilt is an emotion that has to be kept in check or it can take over your life.
I left the Christian/Baptist lifestyle partially because it seemed all that was taught is how you should live and how we don't live up to it. So my life was just a guilt trip of not being as good as I should, not spreading "the word" as I should, etc. I have enough "shoulds" in my life without adding religion to it.
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PRODUCT REVIEW:
Keen Clearwater Sandal
My rating 4 out of 5 Higher rating if sole was a little more padded/comfortable.
Hey Cozy Girl! I too just recently bought a pair of Keen sandals.
They were highly recommended by Sharon & Miriam, who are Doris' humans.
I've been looking for an excuse to post this beautiful photo of Doris. She was Devin's playmate while we stayed at The Kingdom in NC.
Back to Keen. As Cozy Girl said in her post, they are easy to get on and off because of the elastic laces.
I like that they are close to a shoe, but so much cooler and can be worn without socks. They are sturdy enough for some light hiking, and although not a walking shoe, they are comfortable enough to walk a couple of miles in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have you ever woken up in the morning and couldn't remember where you are?
That happened to me this morning. I just couldn't place what the RV park looked like. Am I in Deming? Maybe Tucson? Oh yea, Cottonwood. Plenty of areas to walk the dogs.
That's just part of living the nomadic life.
 |
| Just thought this was a cute sign. |
We have been full timing for almost 2 years! It doesn't seem that long. I still feel like we have a "home" to go back to, but we don't. Which doesn't bother me...it's just weird!
It has taken me this long to settle into this lifestyle. I am truly relaxing. I'm finally starting to cook again, although I seem to have lost my patience for anything with more than 5 or 6 ingredients and anything that involves a lot of watching and stirring. Scott is normally the cook in the family. But he tends to cook a lot of beef. I'm tired of red meat. I like chicken breasts, he likes thighs, which I don't like. We are learning to cut recipes down so there is very little leftover. So maybe I'll start adding some EASY recipes to future blog posts. We'll see. Speaking of food...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FOOD:
I have some raspberry jam that is just blah. I'm sure it can be used in a recipe. Any ideas before I throw it out? I need the space in the fridge for things I like.
I made Beef Fajitas, but was disappointed. I marinated it for 8 hours, but the skirt steak didn't seem to soak up the flavor. Anyone try the fajita seasoning packet? Is that good? How about your fajita recipe?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RV LIFE:
Spent a couple of hours casually planning our itinerary. The USA is just too huge! I can see how people full time for many years. We'll be heading to California in the second half of April. I personally just want to get through this state. It reminds me of NJ. There are plenty of pretty places and touristy stuff, but way too expensive for my taste. My goal is to get through California and then start to really relax again in Oregon & Washington. I'm happy to say, that I'll be able to attend the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, OR. If you're not into sheep, wool, or crafting, this probably wouldn't interest you. My main reason for trying to plan ahead was to make sure we'll be near Eugene, OR at the end of June. Looking good! I'm very excited to go to this knitter's dream event. Just what I need...more yarn so I can knit more items that need to be hand washed. But oooooh, the yarn is so soft and beautifully dyed!
Any other crafters going? I'll be dragging my husband to this, unless I find a knitter, spinner, weaver, etc. to go with. Shirley? Terri? Want to make a trip to Oregon?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
SIGHTS:
Early Spring in the SW is wonderful. The desert is starting to green up, what little it does. But at least there is some color. The cactus bloom, but I still miss a beautiful English Garden.
 |
| Our former yard in Neptune, NJ |
Montezuma Castle:
Our rating 2 out of 5
This is a 900 year old cliff dwelling. Because of it's fragile state, visitors can't really get close to it, so why bother?
This is part of the Nat'l Park Service and there is a really nice picnic area, where many families were enjoying a picnic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FAMILY:
My Dad called this morning. I'm sure he was bored. My Mom has had cancer on her nose and it keeps coming back. It is past the point of just freezing off small spots. She now has to undergo radiation treatment and hopefully that will do the trick. Otherwise, they'll start cutting away at her nose. There are nose prosthetics that are amazing, but it's still the thought of her knowing what is underneath and the PIA of having to deal with it.
I'm not into praying, but for those out there that are, my Mom would really appreciate your prayers for healing.
So while Mom was having her radiation treatments, Dad was waiting. He was bored. So he called his daughter.
We won't be back to visit them until Mar of 2014. It's difficult to balance living your own life, traveling the country in an RV, and still seeing family and friends. Our parents are getting older. Will they be around in March of 2014? I sure hope so. Will I regret not spending more time with them in their senior years? Spending more time with them, means staying in Florida, then I miss out on our travels around the country. We too are also growing older and may not want to do this in our senior+ years. Of course we love our parents, but I love MY life also and do not want to spend it in Florida (my parents) or in New Jersey (Scott's parents). Guilt is an emotion that has to be kept in check or it can take over your life.
I left the Christian/Baptist lifestyle partially because it seemed all that was taught is how you should live and how we don't live up to it. So my life was just a guilt trip of not being as good as I should, not spreading "the word" as I should, etc. I have enough "shoulds" in my life without adding religion to it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PRODUCT REVIEW:
Keen Clearwater Sandal
My rating 4 out of 5 Higher rating if sole was a little more padded/comfortable.
Hey Cozy Girl! I too just recently bought a pair of Keen sandals.
They were highly recommended by Sharon & Miriam, who are Doris' humans.
 |
| Doris |
Back to Keen. As Cozy Girl said in her post, they are easy to get on and off because of the elastic laces.
I like that they are close to a shoe, but so much cooler and can be worn without socks. They are sturdy enough for some light hiking, and although not a walking shoe, they are comfortable enough to walk a couple of miles in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Response to Comments from 3/27/13 post:
Subject: What animal? Thanks to
Tammy from It's Good to be Us
Susan from Travel bug
Judy from our motorcycle days.
They all suggested Prairie dog, which I believe is correct.
Subject: Philadelphia Indulgence. Thanks to
Tammy from It's Good to be Us for suggesting spreading it on graham crackers. Sounds good!
Subject: What animal? Thanks to
Tammy from It's Good to be Us
Susan from Travel bug
Judy from our motorcycle days.
They all suggested Prairie dog, which I believe is correct.
Subject: Philadelphia Indulgence. Thanks to
Tammy from It's Good to be Us for suggesting spreading it on graham crackers. Sounds good!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WHERE WE'RE GOING
Apr. 11 - Apr. 17, 2013 Trailer Village - (Part of Grand Canyon Park), AZ
Apr. 18 - Apr. 24, 2013 Meteor Crater RV Park - Winslow, AZ
Apr. 18 - Apr. 24, 2013 Meteor Crater RV Park - Winslow, AZ
NV, CA, OR, ID, WA, MT, ND, SD, WY, then south for the Winter of 2013/2014
Might try the jam instead of grape for those tiny meatballs. NICE shoes....we're twins! The knitters dream in OR - SWEET!
ReplyDeleteAhh, you're right. I've seen recipes with jam in pasta sauce also. Just adds a touch of sweetness. I'll add a little to this and a little to that. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi, Just found your blog. I like it as it is different from most. I have tried the seasoning packets and LOVE them. Look for the Mesquite! I use it on so many things, from meat to pasta. Really good.
ReplyDeleteI had trouble last year remembering where we were staying. I kept thinking I was in Ohio when I was in Illinois. It was so confusing.
ReplyDeleteI was raised Catholic. Is that why I feel guilty all the time? LOL
I hope the treatment works for your Mom.