This is a BIG country. 3,000 miles coast to coast and 1,800 miles north to south. With thousands, maybe millions of miles of highway traversing throughout. It seems unlikely, but those of us who live on those roads seem to 'run into' each other all the time. With no planning, we had two such liaisons this weekend. Of course, email and
maps do help us know where we all are and be able to take advantage.
Joline knew my Mom from previous conferences. She visited Florida in January of 2003 to take me and Mom to the
Prophet's Conference in the keys (yes, that's Mom, me and Joline right in the middle of the first photo). We stayed with her in her 5th wheel, and it was the first time I had seen a
datastorm. I think this is where the idea for Jim's and my current lifestyle first germinated. Thanx Joline! Here's her 5th wheel "Brightwing" boondocked in the desert here in Quartzsite:
and here's Joline:
Joline usually travels by herself, but she is currently on her way to a 6 week trip thru Baja and her friend Marilyn has joined her. They made us a fabulous dinner, and we had a great time catching up. Hey! When you get 3 women together, who needs words when you have hands and facial expressions?
We'll be watching your
Blog, Joline!
The next day we visited
John. We met John at
Life on Wheels when all the Datastorm users had a get together there. John is planning a trip to Alaska this summer and his 'old' Datastorm dish would not be operational north of the Canadian border. So, he got a new one. A BIG one. See that big disk that looks like the moon rising over the top of his rig?
That's his new
'F3' Datastorm Satellite dish.
The combination of this bigger dish (it's 1.2 meters across compared to our .74) and using a different satellite called 'Horizons 1' (our satellite is 'SatMex 5') will give him the ability to get Internet ANYWHERE in North America. Can't wait to watch your website
John to see Alaska. You know, that was our original plan for our first year on the road, but when we learned our satellite dish would not work, we changed our plans.
After our totally techie visit talking about F1's, F3's, satellites, 4020s, 6000s and the like, we decided we wanted dinner to be a true Quartzsite experience so we went to the 'Snowbird Cafe'
Notice how it's a tent structure - cuz it only exists during the 2-3 months of winter season here. John tells us that the rest of the year they provide food services to firefighting crews. The dining appointments were quite elegant, as you can see. And the maitre d' was out of this world!
The food was really very good - as long as you liked corned beef and cabbage or turkey - because that was the entire menu last night! Oh yeah - and a scrumptious peach pie!
Thanx John!
See y'all on the road!
But, this morning is gorgeous, and Odie was very insistent on going for our little hike here. Most places we just take him for a 15 minute walk on his leash, but, here in Quartzsite he gets to run free in the desert and we have a hill to climb. He must know where we are because usually he's quite agreeable about waiting for us in the morning. We have our coffee, read our email, maybe even have breakfast, while he just sits there and patiently waits for his turn to be taken for a walk. Not this morning, he's pawing at our legs, running back and forth and throwing his toys at us.
"Take me for a walk!"
"I wanna go hike to the top of the hill!"
....
"Now!"
Ok, All right. Rin Tin Odie.
Of course, we love the hike too. We are always rewarded with beautiful views at the top.
My task for today is to start spring cleaning. Over a year of living full-time in this motorhome and the cupboards are looking more like trash bins! We've learned a lot about what needs to be where - it's time to empty it all out and rearrange! Let's take advantage of the sunshine while we can.
Driving over it, you can't really tell much.
But, there are some nice walks you can take beside and underneath.
We're here because we're visiting a 
Since we were looking west across the water, I waited till later to take more photos. What a pretty view and sunset.
I snapped a few more photos and went back inside. Jim was outside cooking some steaks on the grill when he said, "Chris, you've got to come out here."
Oh My God .... either the world is coming to an end in one gigantic fire, or this is one of the most spectacular sunsets I've ever seen.
They climb into the searing sunshine.
Brave the dangers of abandoned mine shafts.
Claim rich new lands in the name of the country of their birth.
And, finally, triumphantly, bring home the gold!
It looks so nice and clean and even when he's done!
Till a rambunctious little black dog goes and messes it all up!
