Don and Connie Sarver Visit

This past week has brought Don and Connie Sarver to our Augie's RV Park to visit. They have been with family in Albuquerque, NM, and are on their way to Pahrump , NV to visit one of Connie's high school classmates.

We have done quite a bit besides catching up and visiting. We drove through Ajo, AZ, to drive through Organ Pipe National Monument. Beautiful setting, and wonderful views of the mountains and cactus fields. We had lunch at one of the ramadas roofed with ocotillo stalks.

Donnie, Connie and myself under the ramada at Organ Pipe National Monument

Friday Don and I took an ATV ride with several others from the park. It was quite a rugged ride, led by Gila Bend native Ron Martin. Don drove the whole trip and did a masterful job at it. We drove to Red Rock Canyon again, though this time we drove down into the red sandstone wash...it was touch and go for a while, but Don pulled it through. In the wash are several Native American petroglyphs, carved into the 'soft' sand stone walls of the gully.

That night the Park celebrated February birthdays with a baked potato bar and lemon cake dessert. The taters were excellent, huge, and anything you might have wanted to load on them was available.

Today the four of us went out with Larry and Evelyn Rahmig. Don and Connie drove the borrowed Polaris 2-up of Bob and Mary Jo's. We had a very nice ride, to the cross, the red tank well, and the extinct gas station on old highway 80. Cloudy, but not too cool, until a ferocious wind kicked up a bit over half way through the ride.

myself, Ellen, Connie and Don Sarver.

Ride in Vekol Valley, AZ

Phyl Barger and Ellen, and a friendly hedgehog cactus

Wow, we had a great ATV ride trailering out of Augie's RV Park, traveling 29 miles east on Hwy 8. Unloading at the Vekol Road exit, a group of 10 ATVs zoomed south to see a few interesting things.

One of which was a white Dodge pickup truck.

Next, what remained of a veal plant. Concrete flooring, sloped for drainage, most of the main building standing.

Then a little back and forth, trying to find the way to some mines even further south. No luck.

We then drove west through some very beautiful cactus groves--lots of saguaro, ocotillo, cholla, and prickly pear.

A stand of saguaros

Finally arriving at Johnson Ranch, the remains of a once thriving old west ranch. Foundations, water tanks, windmill and troughs. A very pretty setting.

What's left of Johnson Ranch

The white pickup? When we got back to the area we unloaded, a marshal drove up and started asking us where we had gone, what we had seen, etc. He asked if we saw any suspicious people or vehicles. Yes, we saw a white Dodge pickup, off the road by some 75 yards, heading north. Well, the marshal relayed that that vehicle was carrying a drug load, and yes they had the vehicle under their possession, and yes, they confiscated some of the drugs, and No, they do not have the suspects in custody. Whew!!!! We saw a drug run!!!

Red Rock Canyon, Robinson's Roost

Red Rock Canyon

We had a new ride the other day, heading north out of Gila Bend, and arriving at what our fearless leader Ron Brunk dubbed Red Rock Canyon. Beautifully pale red colored soft stone, carved out and eroded by the wind. Fantastic linear patterns of small ridges swept and formed by the wind. This is one of the prettier rides we have had here in Gila Bend.
Ellen, Jeannie Brunk and Coleen Lougee---what a trio!

Rendezvous at Casa Grande

Myself, Ellen, Melita and Howard, l-r

Thursday we had a great time meeting up with Howard and Melita Robinson in Casa Grande. We had a delightful lunch at Mimi's Cafe, enjoying the company for about three hours. The time literally flew by!

Howard and Mel had commissioned me to carve a basswood sign for them. We met the Robinson's in Smith Center KS, at the Excel Factory last spring on the way back to the midwest. It was cool to present the sign to them, and they seemed genuinely happy and excited with it. Mel is from England, and they wanted a thatched cottage image, with the words "Robinson's Roost".

We sure hope to keep up with Howard and Mel in the future. They are at Rincon East RV Park southeast of Tucson. We plan on driving up there from Sierra Vista to visit them at their park sometime in early April.

Valentine's Day came and went....

Hoo boy, we had a great Valentine's Day! The park had a terrific Hot and Spicy Dinner Dance, kicking off with a potluck featuring soft tacos with all the fixin's, assorted salad, side dishes and desserts. Following the dinner, the dance was a ton of fun, with some good 2 step music, and some "belly rubbin' music" as Bob Kowing described it. I danced with Ellen quite a lot, thanks to my Crown Royal Preparation....Nice and romantic.

I guess there were upwards of 70 people attending, and the dance went way late (about 9:30 pm). It was a fun time and the first real party we had here at Augie's. In the works is a plan for a Mardi Gras Party, so we are looking forward to that one too.

Desert Woodcarvers Show, Mesa, AZ

Ellen and I spent yesterday with John and Sharon Leek (next door to us at Augie's Quail Trail, they are from Onamia, MN) with the main goal to see the Woodcarvers Show at the Mesa Convention Center. Ellen and I had gone to this show 3 years ago and enjoyed it immensely.

The displays of wooden creativity were inspiring! All sorts of animals, birds, fish, were carved out of all kinds of wood...some painted, some natural finish. Human faces and figures of all sorts were on display. And then came the part where I buy stuff. I picked out 5 new carving knives, a multipurpose strop for keeping the knives sharp, some ornament blanks for future Christmases, and some good glue for the times I lop off something that is supposed to stay part of the carving.

We bumped into Jackie and Charlie Letsche from Cherokee IA. We met these folks at Val Vista RV Park in Casa Grande 3 years ago, and actually went with them to this very show back then! It was good to visit and catch up.

We had a huge feast at Sweet Tomatoes. Wow, one of our favorite buffets. Talk about food overload...We spent the rest of the day shopping, and did enough of that to manage a Baskin Robbins treat before heading home.

Arizona!!!

My my, I feel pretty neglectful about this. This is like a diary without any pages. I have not posted since we were in Houston, visiting my niece Rachel and her husband Josh. That was in December!!!!!!!!

We are at Augie's Quail Trail RV Resort in Gila Bend AZ---since December 16th. We have celebrated Christmas and New Year's here. We have had a visitor from Fort Dodge, Marsha Storbakken, who stayed for a week. We had a great time.

We bought an ATV in Sierra Vista AZ on the way here, and we have been going on lots of rides. We have added stuff to it, including front and rear brush guards, two extra storage containers, a front basket the width of the front deck, and a dust deflector in the rear. We love it, and truly enjoy exploring with the folks here at Augie's. Marsha enjoyed her ride too!

We have been busy doing lots of stuff here, including exercise groups, games at the clubhouse, Texas Hold'em, and Ellen has been doing some crafts and women's lunches. Just yesterday a group of 18 from the park drove to Apache Junction to enjoy the Arizona Opry, a fun dinner/music show. The show was Rock and Roll, with tons of hits from the 50s and 60s. It was a great show with many of our favorites.