Wood Fairies

June 14 -24, 2013 Armitage County Park, Eugene, OR

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RV LIFE:
6/17/13 - Monday: A day of cleaning up and laundry. Yes, even living this idyllic life, there are still chores to do. For such a busy town, I could not find a laundromat close by. I drove about 10 miles and found an adequate, at best laundry. I prefer going to town laundromats instead of the RV parks, because there are usually large dryers. That's the worst part of doing laundry. The small dryers take forever to dry the clothes.
Also stopped at Walmart and picked up some more twine to finish my crocheted sun hat.
While cleaning the RV, I was checking the cabinets of what we can purge and I saw Creme De Menthe.

I must have had this for 20 years! Probably used it for a party drink back in my party hosting days and never used it again. But it's one of those things I have a difficult time throwing out. IF I ever need it for a baking recipe, I don't want to have to buy it again. So how long will I continue to keep it? I think I will have to look up some recipes with this ingredient in it and start making things with it or throw it out!
I think I'll have to try Grasshopper Pie. That sounds good.

6/19/13 - Wednesday: Our neighbors Suzi & Dave have left. I have no one to snoop at through our kitchen window any more! We did not spend much time with them because they were really here to visit their son who was graduating from college. Congrats to Jessie! I think he will be continuing his education in Colorado next. I hope all this work and cost lands him a great career.
What little time we spent with Suzi, Dave and their two great dogs, Sasha & Lewis, were really enjoyable. They are super easy to talk to and not overbearing. It was nice having them as neighbors and still having our own privacy. We hope to catch up with them in their home state of NY or maybe in FL this winter.
Devin & Lyla liked them also!

Lewis & Devin

Even laid back 9yr old Lyla got some action!

Our firewood pile grew! I think the wood fairy or something like that must have passed by. Actually it was Dave. He gave us their leftover wood. We had "gifted" (or gotten rid of) our wood to them while in NM. They returned the favor.

Are these the wood fairies? Or maybe Dave & Suzi in disguise?

Comment from Suzi: "Dave's been called many things in his life, but never a fairy!!!! "Sue
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CRAFTS:
Gwen Slouchy Beret
I love this pattern. I love the results. I love this yarn. Magnolia yarn 70% merino wool 30% silk, by Classic Elite Yarns. It is so nice to be working with decent yarn again. I STILL have more of that damned red acrylic. I'm thinking dog collars for the rest of that yarn.

Didn't this beret turn out great!??  I thought one ball would be enough. It was, but barely! I made the hat a slightly smaller size since I have a small skull. (I was endearingly called "Pea Head", by my co-workers)This was to be a slouchy hat, but, I had to start decreasing early so not to run out of yarn. But I love how it turned out! Some hats I've made, I'm a little embarrassed to wear.  Slouch hats are not my style, although they are currently in style. This hat slouches very little. Just look how beautiful the design turned out. And this silky, soft, nicely sheened yarn was wonderful to work with and really gave this hat a beautiful glow.
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FOOD:
Smellovision! Oh how I wish I could you let you experience the heavenly aroma coming from our Cobb grill! Scott bought a pork shoulder at the Eugene Saturday Farmer's Market and he bought some pork rub. The shoulder has been on the grill about 45 minutes and oh----my----gosh! It smells wonderful! I hope it will taste as good as it smells.
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RV MODS:
We tried to book an appointment for whole RV solar power with AM Solar, who came highly recommended from Wheeling It. Unfortunately for us, they are booked solid until DECEMBER!!! Good for them! Family run & honest business doing well. The estimate we got from them was over $8,000.!!! I was hoping for $5000. tops. When I get a chance, I'll post the estimate.
So Scott has decided to do the installation himself. It won't be "hard wired" (is that the right term) directly into our RV, but it will be close. Scott has been researching and losing sleep over trying to think of everything that needs to be done, in what order, etc. He started drilling holes (eeeeeek!) today. He was happy with his progress.
He bought 2/150 watt solar panels from AM Solar and 2 extra batteries from another business. He's getting an inverter or something like that shipped to AM Solar. Bits and pieces from here and there. Scott seems pretty confident he can do this. AM Solar said that if Scott finishes before we leave, they will check it out for him and make sure it's working correctly. What a great business.
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WHERE WE'RE GOING:
June 25- July 8, 2013 River's End RV Park, Chinook,WA
July 9-17, 2013 Port. Hudson RV Park, Port Townsend, WA
Tentative:
Neah Bay, WA
La Push, WA
Coeur d'Alene, ID

WA, ID, MT, ND, SD, WY, then south for the Winter of 2013/214

The Peanut Butter Saga continues...

June 14 -24, 2013 Armitage County Park, Eugene, OR

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RV LIFE:
We are back in civilization!!! We went from the closest grocery store being 60 miles away to now having multiple choice grocery stores within 3-5 miles! And yet, our park is quite, roomy, and full of grass and shade trees.
We are parked right across the street from Suzi and David . Close enough to be social but far enough for our privacy. Although, I can look out our kitchen window and "spy" on their site if I really want to be nosey. Suzi can't spy on me because our huge pickup truck is blocking their view.
Our first night here, Suzi invited us over for a Gin & Tonic. Suzi's special "Lake drink" (strong!). We had nice conversation and then I headed home and crashed. Next time, I'll make my own wimpy Gin & Tonic.
Good news & Bad news aka PB saga continues....
Since we are back in the land of convenient grocery stores, I stopped by Safeway yesterday afternoon.  Picked up some necessary items such as toilet paper, bread, paper towels, vegetables, both fresh and canned, and of course NATURAL PEANUT BUTTER. Unfortunately, they didn't carry my normal brand, so I only bought one jar, to get me through until I look at another store. Oregon is a very "green" state, which I like. They don't regularly use plastic bags. The grocery store used paper bags at 5 cents charge per bag. Suzi forewarned me, so I was prepared with my reusable bags. Some of them are more sturdy than others. My precious peanut butter was in a flimsy nylon tote. Can you guess what is coming up next? I load my bags of precious cargo into the back seat of the truck. All is good. When I get back home to our site, Scott is mesmerized on the computer, so he is no help unloading the bags. I open the back door and bump, bang, crash, splat!

Oh, woe is me! Why? WHY? Another day without peanut butter is like day without water! Should I borrow a tablespoon of PB from Suzi, my neighbor? I WILL survive this ordeal.
So I'm sure you are all wondering, what I had for breakfast this morning? No worries, no need to say a prayer for me. I had a delicious almond danish pastry thingy, I got from the Farmer's Market yesterday. Shhh, I hate to admit it...but the danish trumps PB!!!! Did I really say that?





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PETS:
Unfortunately, we have to buy another crate. At 9 years old, Lyla has become untrustworthy loose in the RV. I NEVER thought we'd need a crate for her. Scott can say "I told you so." He wanted to bring 2 crates on our trip..."just in case". I said no, one would be fine. Chomp, chomp. I'm eating my words, and I paid for the new crate. We have a perfectly good crate in our storage unit in NJ. I headed for the PetSmart that is only 2 miles from us, as soon as they opened at 9am. I needed to pick up the crate and return before 10am because we were meeting Suzi & Dave to go the the Farmer's Market.
All went well. I got up around 7am. Had my coffee and last piece of white bread and jam, took the dogs to the 2 acre dog park that is a 5 minute walk from our site, went to PetSmart and made it back in time for the Farmer's Market.
Our poor doggies looked really pathetic as we left for the market. Crates side by side and both of them standing hunched over looking so sad at us as we went out the door.
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FARMER'S MARKET REVIEW:
Saturday Market, Eugene, OR (No dogs allowed)
Our rating 5 out of 5
Ever since going to the Santa Fe Farmer's Market, I am in love with this activity. Not only because of all the fresh produce, but there is also usually many other local items for sale. There is usually local honey and artisan breads, as well as food vendors.
The Eugene Saturday Market is huge and crowded. I will many times forego attending a function because I do not want to deal with crowds. They have free high rise type parking, but we weren't sure if our truck would meet the 7 foot limit. So we opted to pay for parking at around $1. an hour. It was worth it.
Some booths were  difficult to get to because they were so popular and people were crowding the table and waiting in line. I kept talking to myself and giving myself encouragement to calm down. This is much easier to do since I'm retired. My time is not so precious, simply because I have a lot of free time now.
We had a boiling hot cup of delicious, strong, but smooth coffee. This was a very popular vendor. They line up all these coffee filters, put a huge scoop of fresh ground coffee in each filter and pour boiling water onto the coffee grinds. Let the water naturally seep through into the cup. I always thought that method was because you couldn't afford a coffee maker. I learned something new! I may have to try that method at home.

L to R: Scott-Suzi-Dave-Jessie-Erin

We met up with Suzi & Dave and their son, Jessie and his long time girlfriend, Erin. It's not often that I get a photo of Scott smiling. He looks good, doesn't he? Oh, and just skip over the blonde next to Scott. No, that is not Scott's significant other, but it is someone who'd rather not have her picture taken, so just pretend she's not there.

So many vegetables, so little refrigerator space! We picked up tri-colored string beans, kale, lettuce, mixed greens, golden raspberries, goat cheese, a roast, and pastries. We searched all the booths for fresh peas, but Suzi snatched the last of them and then made a point of showing us how beautiful they are. She really has no sympathy for us. Next week, peas will be the first thing we pick up. Also, next week, we'll pick up our produce, etc first and then we'll walk our purchases back to the truck. We can return to the other section of the market where the crafts and food vendors are. There was so much to see, taste, and buy. Our bags were loaded and so heavy! Scott decided he wanted to check out the food vendors. I'd had enough. I needed to get rid of our loaded bags. But being the good wife I am, I smiled and found a seat in the shade while I waited for Scott to get his root beer float and just cut, home made french fries from The Blazing Chef vendor. You know I've "had it" when I didn't want anything to eat. I took 2 french fries (delicious) and left my overweight bags with Scott and walked around for a while, until Scott finished eating.
And while walking around, I spotted this cool hand made items booth. I refused to buy any unless I had a use for them in the RV.

I bought this itty bitty basket made out of pine needles and walnuts from OR Pine Needle Baskets. See the sliced walnuts on the ends? I am fascinated by making things that you can pick up for free. I'm going to use this to hold wire twist ties as you see above the basket. Damn! $30.00 just to hold twist ties! I'm on a mission to try this craft out myself.
Next week I'll take photos, or you can check out Suzi's blog and her photos of the beautiful bounty of produce.
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WHERE WE'RE GOING:
June 25- July 8, 2013 River's End RV Park, Chinook,WA
July 9-17, 2013 Port. Hudson RV Park, Port Townsend, WA
Tentative:
Neah Bay, WA
La Push, WA
Coeur d'Alene, ID

WA, ID, MT, ND, SD, WY, then south for the Winter of 2013/214

Gin & Tonic

May 31 - Jun 13, 2013 (2 weeks) - Diamond Lake RV Park, Diamond Lake, OR

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RV LIFE:
I could stay here for a long time if only there was a grocery store nearby.

I've been reading Suzi's blog, Beluga's Excellent Adventure. She is currently in Eugene, OR where we are heading next. She's been posting about all the great restaurants they've been too. I think we'll be eating out a lot in Eugene.

While walking the dogs yesterday chilly morning (31°!), I passed the Boyinks 5th wheel.  Hmmm, are they following us in a roundabout way? I saw them visiting when we were in Dead Horse Ranch and here they are in OR in the same park. I'm so glad Scott recently bought a mini baseball club for protection. Yes, I'm kidding about needing protection. But Scott did pick up a fish basher (that's what it was called), that he keeps by the bed. It gives him some sense of being able to protect us.

Back to the Boyinks. The reason I noticed they are here is because they have a vinyl sign on the back of their RV with their name and blog address. I also have vinyl signs on our RV and truck. I think it not only encourages people to check out our blog, but also makes it easier to spot fellow bloggers. I would really encourage fellow bloggers to get a sign made and display it. It really makes it easier for folks to approach you.

We also have this same sign on our rear window of the truck.

This morning around 9:30, we hear Knock, Knock,Knock. Huh? Uh oh! Are we going to be told to not keep our dog out on the tether? Devin has been really good tied outside. I have been awake for 2 hours, but I'm still in my English Setter Flannel jammies. I open the door and lo and behold, it's Mike & Crissa Boyink! I came out so we could talk a while. No shame wearing jammies outside while in an RV park in the morning. Conversation was pretty easy and they are really nice folk. I'm so glad they stopped by. I can add another RV blogger I've met. Very cool!

Tomorrow (Friday), we head North 140 miles to Eugene where I expect a Gin & Tonic waiting for us at happy hour at the Big Beluga! 

Suz, I know you've been following my blog, so you KNOW, my pantry is low. So I will have to "suffer" and opt to have lemon in my gin & tonic instead of lime. I can supply the tonic and Tanqueray if needed.

While looking for a gin & tonic photo, I came across this version of Gin & Tonic. First, I'll have to try some Hendrick's Gin.  Then make this recipe.

Gin, Tonic, Cucumber, Rosemary

And here's an even better idea, since I love cucumber and dill!

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RV MODS: 

We are considering setting our RV up with solar panels. Scott has been on the internet for two days researching. He found a blogger, Handy Bob's Solar, who has been boondocking with solar for 10 years. I've been wanting them for a while, but never thought Scott would consider them. He won't stay in Walmart parking lots, truck stop parking lots, or even at Harvest Hosts wineries and farms, so why would he boondock without the safety of being in an RV park? Well, he probably wouldn't boondock alone. He is thinking of all the nice quiet, spacious campgrounds we miss out on because there are no hook ups.

All around Diamond Lake RV Park are even more beautiful and almost empty campgrounds. Sites are large enough for big rigs, but no hook ups.  So now Scott has the itch for solar energy. Yeah!

I've avoided reading blogs of RV'rs who boondock all the time, since I never thought we would. Now I will have to review them again. I'll also have to review past Wheeling It blog posts. I skipped over their reviews of boondocking sites. Some sounded sooooooo wonderful, but I never thought we would be able to hang out there.

What REALLY got me the itch was when we walked through City of Rocks RV Park in New Mexico. Some really cool sites even our 35' Fifth Wheel could fit into. With the rocks around as a natural awning, this would be wonderful place to boondock! City of Rocks does have a decent W&E area, but it is a typical couple of rows of sites along side each other. 

We saw an RV with those portable suitcase type solar panels. I thought maybe we could at least do that...Scott agreed...until...he started researching. If we're going solar, we should go all the way. This RV is our HOME, not just a vacation home. So we want to be as comfortable as possible, even when boondocking. We want to be able to use all of the RV, not just certain areas powered by portable solar panels. So now our plan is to solar energize the whole rig! Or, maybe not. Now Scott is thinking of going simple with the suitcase solars again.

We're heading to Eugene tomorrow where there is a company, AM Solar nearby that comes highly recommended for all things RV solar.

Because we are now seriously thinking, two or three solar panels on the roof, we will also need more batteries, an inverter, etc. The batteries and inverter are the REAL expense. Before committing to this I had to ask Scott if he planned on RV'ing for at least a couple of more years. He said yes! Good! We're both still thinking along the same lines. I don't want to spend all this money to just settle in a house in a year. I think Scott doesn't want to settle in a house because we may never travel again. Once we get a house, I will start fostering dogs again, maybe more than one at a time. I will probably foster little critters also, like guinea pigs or rabbits also. That will make it difficult to travel.

Feel free to comment or email me (njnomore at gmail dot com) with suggestions, tips, or resources about solar purchasing, installing, living.

Since that wasn't a real mod that we've done, here are just a few photos of some of the little things we'd modified to make our RV more efficient.

3M Command strips and museum/earthquake putty are an RV'rs friend!

Dog figurines never come off the molding on the slide. They stay put with museum putty. Photos stay put with 3M Command strips.

Our dogs that have passed are held up  with 3M strips. All the dog memorabilia stays there by quilting straight needles stuck into the fabric. We never take any of these down.

Kitchen utensils take up way too much room in what little drawer space we have. Picked up this sliding hook thingy at the Dollar store.

More kitchen gadgets are hung up with cup hooks.

 No space wasted. The pipes under the kitchen sink hold our colander which is light, but bulky.

A wire shelf is attached above where the pots and pans are, and holds odds & ends

Another dollar store item . This sticks to the inside of the cabinet door. It holds coffee pod packets, spice packets, dry salad dressing packets, etc.

Again, the inside cabinet doors. Silicone collapsible measuring cups and funnel, plus measuring spoons all hung up with hooks. You just have to make sure you space them so they do not hit the shelving and prevent the door from closing.

 Lucite wine glass holder from Camping World installed under cabinet. The black thing between shelf and glasses is a piece of foam which prevents the glasses from moving around during travel.

Rubbermaid storage containers

 Throw out your old tupperware. I don't know about the new tupperware, but my 25 year old tupperware did not stack or pack into cabinets well. Think square/rectangle. Round is a big no-no! I started out with Oxo storage containers (below) and at first thought they were great. But after a year's use, I do not like them. The lids are supposed to be a vacuum seal, but if you pick up the containers by the lid, they pull off. PIA to clean the lids also.  I have since begun converting to Rubbermaid storage containers (above). I LOVE them! They fit nicely near each other, they fit well in my RV cabinets, the lids are easy on easy off, similar to a tupperware lid. They come in a variety of sizes so space is not wasted on the wrong sized container. I purchase mine at Walmart.

Oxo storage containers

Under the storage containers are sliding panels that I installed into the pantry cabinets. They were formally just very deep cabinets. There was no way to reach my arm all the way to the back and try to figure out what was back there.

There are other mods in past posts. Just click on the label in the left column that says "mods".

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CRAFTS:
Finished Treads, fingerless gloves that will keep my hands warm while on the computer.

This was a fairly easy pattern in which I learned a couple of new techniques with this project. I learned how to knit in the round with two circulars. You tube is a great resource for learning knitting techniques. Here's a video for knitting on two circulars. Once I got the hang of it, I like it a lot!  I've knitted in the round with the magic loop method, which is fine, but a little more awkward to do. I don't like knitting in the round with double pointed needles. That just seems too cumbersome. I can see me using this easy two needles in the round method often.  You do need to have two sets of the same sized circular needles though, which I do have. I have a set of Knit Picks Harmony Circulars, a set of Knit Picks Zephyr Acrylic Circulars, and Knitter's Pride Dreamz circulars set. I never knit with straight needles.
With this fingerless pattern, I also learned how to make a thumb gusset, (which is not a finger?). Making the thumb was surprisingly easy. I may have to try to make some real gloves.
Side note: Is a thumb a finger?
What a controversial subject. I've seen some very heated answers. There are a number of ways of thinking.
Not a finger:
1. A thumb is not a finger. It is an opposable digit.
2. A thumb is not a finger because a finger has 3 joint and a thumb has only two.
3. A thumb is not attached to the fingers.
I feel sorry for all those parents that state their newborn is healthy and normal with 10 fingers and 10 toes. I guess that means their child has no thumb? or has 6 digits on each hand?
Yes a finger:
1. 10 fingers=
Two thumbs- very important in holding items. Also the thumbs up sign I use for our deaf dog, Lyla meaning "Good Girl".
Two index fingers, or pointers- Don't you point that finger at me!
Two middle fingers- New Jerseyans need that finger to drive a car!
Two ring fingers- I always kept my left ring finger a "virgin" until my first "pre-engagement"(friendship) ring.
Two little fingers or pinkies-How else could we "pinky swear"?

From Wiki Answers: Why is the little finger called a pinky?
Answer: Derived from a Dutch word 'pink' relating to 'small' and ultimately from a Indo-European word 'Penk e' referring to 'five' the fifth finger
There are many, many resources on the net to learn to knit, or to learn new techniques. Here's just one with a slew of knitting videos-Knit Freedom.
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WHERE WE'RE GOING:
June 14 -24, 2013 Armitage County Park, Eugene, OR
June 25- July 8, 2013 River's End RV Park, Chinook,WA
July 9-17, 2013 Port. Hudson RV Park, Port Townsend, WA
Tentative:
Neah Bay, WA
La Push, WA
Coeur d'Alene, ID
WA, ID, MT, ND, SD, WY, then south for the Winter of 2013/214

Who done it?

Mar. 28 - Apr. 10, 2013 Dead Horse Ranch State Park - Cottonwood, AZ

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PETS:
What a mess! This is what we came home to after visiting with fellow bloggers David & Suzi of Beluga's Excellent Adventure.

So? Who done it? Was it the butler? the maid? Maybe a bear? More likely one of the resident dogs left behind while we went visiting. Well? Which one? The calm, well behaved 9 yr old or the wack-a-doo, goof ball 2 yr. old?  Well since we've been crating the 2 yr. old for fear of getting into trouble, it HAD to be our sweet, calm, we thought well behaved 9 yr old English Setter, Lyla. She has done this 2x's recently. Well duh for us not putting the garbage in the shower or bathroom. We are very disappointed in our little "angel". Maybe we'll have to start crating her and leaving Devin loose.

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UPDATES:

I have been using Bloglines for a couple of weeks now and am very happy with this program to replace Google Reader. I find it very simple to use and easier to organize than Google Reader. Try it, you may like it.

Sir Basset: In my post of 3/10/13, I spoke of our beloved mascot, Sir Basset having been blown over in the wind and breaking. Not only was he broke, my heart was broke also. I'm happy to say that with some Epoxy glue and some Great Stuff Big Gap Filler, Sir Basset aka Humpty Dumpty has been put together again.  He's not perfect, but is still up for the responsibility of mascot.

Before

 

Broken

Spray foam needs sanding and black paint

 

He looks pretty good from the front. Plus when he holds our sign, his sensitive, scarred areas will be covered.

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RV LIFE: 

When I read that David & Suzi of Beluga's Excellent Adventure, were going to be at the same campground as us, I had to decide whether I forge ahead and try to meet them, or do I just covertly do a walk by. I really enjoy their blog. They are +(plus) rated by me. Oh hell, we'll only be in the same campground for one day. We could put up with them for that short a time. So I put on my "big girl panties" and emailed Suzi.

I have a love/hate relationship with meeting fellow bloggers. Both Scott & I are introverts and basically loners. Scott 5x's more so than I am. I do like to socialize here and there, but then I get my fill and NEED some alone time. When I mention to Scott that I contacted a blogger and we're going to meet, he slumps, makes a face and makes me feel like I'm an idiot. We didn't get married until we were 38 yrs old, so I am used to doing things on my own. So there Mr. Party Pooper!

I'm so glad we got together. Upon their arrival, I did walk by with my dogs, to introduce myself. Well we stood there talking and talking and talking. Finally had to stop and meet up later for cocktails.
I was excited to meet their black Standard Poodle, Lewis. Many photos of him are posted running around and playing.

I stopped by their site (only about 100 feet away) around 4:30pm and Suzi asked me if I wanted a "lake" drink or a regular drink. Huh? You've got some splainin' to do.

Dave & Suzi like to have a Gin & Tonic at happy hour. Somehow they knew I liked Gin & Tonics. They must have cram studied my blog. They limit themselves to ONE drink, but that one drink holds a wallop! They would drink Gin & Tonics while sitting out on their lakeside property in NY. Thus "lake" drink. Since I had to make a good impression, I stuck with a regular drink. One drink and I feel pretty good and more sociable. Anything more and I could become too talkative.

I met Lewis and Sasha. Both are sweet, sweet dogs.

Suzi, Lewis, David

Oops, maybe I did have too much to drink. I cut off their heads! 

Conversation was easy and really enjoyable. The company of not only humans, but canines also was great. After about 45 minutes - an hour, Mr. Unsociable aka Mr. Party Pooper aka Scott aka Hubby, made an appearance. More chatter. More petting of the dogs. 

The sun is going down, it's getting cool. Suzi brings out a hoodie for me. I KNEW I liked her. Thank you. Much better. But we've been visiting for about 1.5 hours and that's enough for me. Hurry up Scott and finish your drink so we can go back home. Nope, both Suzi & Dave invited us to come in for more conversation. I said I was planning on leaving, but they had us x-penned in, so we had no choice. (That is sarcasm, I'm glad we stayed). 

Their rig was much too clean and unlived in. But they defended their neatness by stating, they just arrived that day, with no time to settle in yet. Their black lab, laid his head on my lap while I while sitting on the couch. I had to let him do that since he was allowing me to sit on HIS dog bed (couch). 

Great time, great people. I hope we meet up again and I'll be sure to ask for the "lake" drink! And even Mr. Downer said he really enjoyed himself and would like to do it again.

Catch me before I faint!

Our time is ending here in Cottonwood, AZ. We have really enjoyed our time here. Beautiful weather, beautiful sights, interesting towns, good restaurants, lots of hikes.

We finally saw some green after too much time in the desert. Cottonwood is part of the Verde (Green) Valley. All along the Verde River is greenery, lush trees and GRASS. Then hike up to higher elevations and we're back to rocks and dirt with just dots of green here & there. But the view is beautiful.

Of course Devin loves being near any water so he can splash and cool off.

The temps have dropped the last couple of days here. See what arrived in the morning?

Snow on the mountains by Jerome

From our campground, Jerome looks like a little "hobbit" town snuggled into the side of a mountain. See the "J" on the mountain? I think that is very cool. J for Jerome. There is also a C for Clarkdale by their town also.

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SIGHTS: Speaking of Jerome, AZ

Our rating 4 out of 5

A quick history. Jerome was originally a settlement of the Yavapai Indians. In the 1870's, copper mining was taking over and starved Native Americans out and built stucco structures in the town of Jerome. Very sad, how the Indians were pushed out of THEIR land. (Stay tuned for politically INcorrect Pet Peeve in my next post).

Jerome ended up having two devastating fires within a year or two and it was just too much to rebuild again and Jerome became just about a ghost town.

Today, it is a funky, artsy town and I would think is surviving on tourism. Jerome is less than 1 square mile with just over 300 residents. The streets are narrow and one way only. You can get quite a workout walking from one street to the next with many stairs in between.

View from the Asylum restaurant, which is 1 mile elevation.

Since this was considered a ghost town at one point, the tourism really plays up to that theme. There are haunted ghost tours, rumors of ghosts in buildings, restaurants, etc. 

At the entrance of a restaurant

There are plenty of artists here and Indian Art, as well as some good restaurants. 

View from Jerome

Streets of Jerome

  

Being a retired US Postal Worker, I'm very interested in old and odd Post Offices. Jerome's PO did not disappoint. It looks like they still use combo locks Post Office boxes. I didn't see any key slots. 

There is no home mail delivery in Jerome. All mail is delivered to Post Office Boxes.

My home away from home.

Above is the old "cash book", which is the accounting book. I worked in the Finance Dept. of the USPS for 5 yrs. I actually used a "cash book", only by my time it was just slightly more modern, but still very similar. During my time in the Finance Dept. they were just starting to use computers. I didn't even know what "menu" meant in computer terms.  My supervisor refused to use the computer or even a calculator! That was around 1990. Damn, I'm old!

It's worth a day trip to window shop and stop in for lunch or dinner.

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RESTAURANT REVIEW:

Haunted Hamburger, Jerome, AZ

Our rating 4 out of 5

Very small place. We walked in and the bulk of the dining area is the bar. You also walk right into view of their cake display. Huge cakes and huge slices to tempt you to order dessert.
Tables over in one corner and very loud atmosphere. Luckily it was a fairly nice day, maybe a little cool, but nice enough to sit outside on the covered deck. Overhead heaters helped keep us warm. The wonderful view of the mountains also distracted us from any chill.

Service was good, but abrupt. But there were only two waitresses and it was busy at lunch time.

Hubby ordered 1/2 rack of ribs which came with veggies and steak fries.  I ordered the special which was Meatloaf sliders.

RIBS: Very good. The bbq sauce was good, but not sure if it was homemade. Ribs were smoky and tender. A nice touch was the small bowl of warm lemon water supplied to clean your hands of the sticky bbq sauce. This meal also came with a basket of bread and whipped butter. The bread was excellent. Crispy crust and soft centers.

STEAK FRIES: Average. Tasted frozen put in deep fry.

VEGGIES: Now, this was the highlight and showcased the potential of the chef. Shoestring sliced zucchini  yellow squash and carrots. Grilled & seasoned, with still a crunch to them. Excellent! 

MEATLOAF SLIDERS: Thick slices of good meatloaf with "frizzled" onions, cheese and bbq sauce. Excellent. The frizzled onions were excellent. Just like really good skinny onion rings. Could have done without the bbq sauce. The mini rolls were very good also.

CARROT CAKE: We took this to go. Excellent. 3 - 5 layers of rich, moist carrot cake with cream cheese icing. Icing in between all the layers and of course on top. I especially liked that the icing was not smeared on real thick. It was the perfect balance of cake and icing.
Either the owner or manager was walking around a making sure everything was ok and taken care of. You could see he was keeping an eye on things, but he was also friendly and made us feel very welcome.

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BUSINESS REVIEW: 

Knit 1 Bead 2, Jerome, AZ

My rating 5 out of 5
What an unexpected surprise! In this little less than 1 square mile town of Jerome I find a great yarn shop! A pretty good selection for such a remote area. I ended up spending $70. just on yarn, but ohhhhh, the yarn!

The clerk (owner?) was very nice without being pushy. Answered my questions and suggested pattern combos with the yarn I purchased.
Many sample pieces on display were cool to see that I only saw photos on Ravelry.
There are also lots of polished stones and jewelry making supplies.
There is open knitting on Thursdays. Too bad I'm leaving for my next adventure on Thursday morning.

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 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. 25, 2013 (Tentative) Calizona RV Park, Needles, CA

Apr. 26, 2013 (Tentative) Sierra Trails RV Park, Mojave, CA

Apr. 27 - May 5, 2013 (Tentative) Sequoia RV Ranch, Three Rivers, CA

NV, CA, OR, ID, WA, MT, ND, SD, WY, then south for the Winter of 2013/2014