Never Ending Love

Ruby has a new beau named Pogo. Their love story has all the makings of a Hallmark movie, or a coming-of-age story, like the 1971 classic movie Harold and Maude. It wasn't love at first sight. 

We are currently staying in Sun City West with Pogo's owner, our gracious host Kim, and the camper is parked in a storage unit nearby. Kim lives in a spacious home with a large outdoor pool and hot tub. Pogo and his brother Duke, a large senior blockhead lab (blockhead being the breed, not a slam on old Duke), run free in her rambling fenced backyard. 

 

This is Duke, a kind old lab who is blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other.

When Ruby and Pogo met there were fireworks, but not the romantic kind.  We didn't plan their introduction well on our first visit in January, which resulted in Pogo wearing a muzzle, a pinch collar, and Ruby spending time in her kennel. This visit we were determined that Pogo and Ruby would learn to get along. 

Like a movie on the Lifetime channel, Pogo and Ruby met in an awkward fashion. They disliked each other immediately, but due to circumstances beyond their control were forced to co-exist. Finally, they realized they liked each other…a lot. 

Their love affair involves dog-play. They bark, bite, yelp, scratch, and bat at each other - usually under our feet - until they are separated or get tired and end up dozing next to each other on the couch. Ruby is an old lady and Pogo is a pup, but it's apparent they have a never ending love.

Happy Valentine's Day from Arizona!

My Insight Into Quartzsite

                                           Cray and I posing in the desert outside Quartzsite.

Quartzsite is a sleepy little desert town in Arizona.

Thousands of people descend upon Quartzsite every winter for a famous two-month long gem show and swap meet, known as the "Desert Phenomenon." To understand Quartzsite you have go there. I've never seen anything like it. There are brick and mortar stores, but the majority of vendors display their treasures in parking lots on tables and shelves, under tents and pop-up shade canopies, on open air tables, and on the  ground. Less organized vendors let their goods spill out of old RV's, trucks, and vans making it difficult to distinguish what's merchandise, personal belongings, and actual trash. 

                                                             Stack it deep, sell it cheap.

                                                    Everything in this store was a dollar.

Quartzsite is a gem show, flea market, garage sale, RV show, farmer's market, swap meet, family reunion, gun and ammo sale, redneck round-up, dog and pony show, hippie-fest, all rolled up into one big package. Imagine throwing this chaos into the middle of the Iowa State Fair.  There are camel rides at Quartzsite and tons of people riding ATVs, but no roller coasters or ferris wheels. Food stands abound and tempt shoppers with State Fair-like foods that included corn dogs, funnel cakes, and giant cinnamon rolls. Simply add the desert's dry gritty dirt and stir.  

                                                       This booth sold sun visors for dogs.

                                               The side of this bus read "Suicide Awareness."

                                  

                                       The famous RV big tent show.

                                                                         A clever sign.

Cray and I camped as guest at a RV Women's (RVW) rally. We joined ninety one rigs and one hundred thirty one women, from all over the United States, at their annual four day dry-camping event. The women gathered in the desert to socialize, shop at Quartzsite, and share information about the RV lifestyle.

The RVW rally was located next to the Beaver rally. Disappointedly, the Beaver rally turned out to be a gathering of conservative rich white couples that owned luxury class A motor coaches each priced around a million dollars. Their loud generators rudely ran day and night.  

                                                          A Beaver luxury motor coach. 

One Quartzsite experience still weighs heavy on my heart. I was drifting around the market with three of my new RVW friends, when I spotted a sign hanging on a blue canopy booth that read "Psychic Readings and Original Art.'" The booth was connected to a cluster of run down rigs with tattered wares spilling out between them to form a courtyard flea market mess. 

Out of curiosity, I wandered over to check out the art and the psychic. The fiftyish year old woman behind the table had a familiar face and a ready smile. She wore a common Quartzsite look: weary and a little shabby around the edges. I instantly sensed she had a good heart, and my my intuition was quickly confirmed when a grubby little girl jumped out of a beat up black truck and ran to wrap her bare arms around the woman's waist.  The woman exclaimed, "I didn't know I was going to get to see you today," and warmly hugged her back. 

The little girl stepped away from the woman and began to relay her remarkable news in a rushed little girls voice, "Guess what? I saw my mom for the first time in five years and she said I could come to visit her in Virginia soon and stay as long as I wanted to and I can even get a puppy! She had to leave but she'll be back in 21 days!" 

The little girl turned out to be a nine year old named Althea. I don't know if the woman was a relative or a friend, but it was obvious she was important. On the table were little rocks with crude splashes of paint on them and a sign that announced they were painted by Althea. I have a nine year old granddaughter paints rocks prettier than mine. Althea's small rocks appeared to be painted by a much younger child, or perhaps they reflected a life lacking color. I was fascinated and sadden by Althea and the story she told. The fact that she was nine years old and hadn't seen her mom in five year, combined with her mother's improbable promises, smelled like disappointment and heartache to me. Althea had the appearance of a child who had been disappointed a lot in her short life. 

I asked her how much she was selling her rocks for and the woman nudged Althea towards me. At first she said one dollar, but quickly change it to fifty cents. As I was digging in my bag for change she said, "You can just have it." I insisted I wanted to pay her, but she stubbornly shook her head no and glanced down at the ground. I don't know what was going on in her head, but I imagined she was sending me a message that she didn't need my money - or my pity - and she could take care of herself. I thanked her for the generous gift and picked up my original Althea Rock to carry in my pocket.

Before I walked away, I asked if I could take her photo claiming I needed it to remember the artist who painted my rock. Surprisingly, she agreed. The grandmotherly woman nodded her head at Althea in approval.  Before Althea walked around the booth for her photo, she instinctively hung the hood of her small pink sweatshirt over her head to hide her brown matted hair.

                                                                             

                                                                          Those eyes.

I turned to look back as I walked away. Althea had taken her place at a tiny desk next to the psychic’s booth and was earnestly painting more rocks. 

Boondocking in the sprawling Arizona desert is a different experience than one shopping in town. Cray and I camped there for eleven days, which was eleven days too long, if you ask me. There is a big learning curve to successfully boondock. We purchased a camper billed as one made for taking off the grid. Our camper has a solar panel, two lithium batteries, and an inverter. The tires are bigger than most camper tires and it sets up high to enable crossing over rugged terrain. The heater is propane, but it still needs electricity to run the blower. The stove is propane and thankfully it does not require electricity. In the end, all we had was the heat from the stove.

 I mistakenly disregarded the advice of a seasoned RVW women who suggested we turn off the water pump and only use our solar lights. By day five we were out of power.  The temperatures at night dropped into the 30's and 40's. We lacked enough power to run the furnace. It was colder in our camper than it was in our rapidly warming refrigerator. On top of being cold, Cray couldn't use her C-PAP at night, which made us both tired and grumpy during the day. 

I wrote in my journal, "There comes a moment in the morning when the ache in my hips becomes worse than my desire to stay warm and I have to get up. The first step out of the warm oasis of covers and Cray's body heat is the worst. The biting cold makes me cuss out loud and the toilet seat feels like a tiny iceberg under my bare bottom. The first relief of the cold comes from the propane stove when I heat water for coffee. Soon the chill lessens in my bones, but never goes away until the sun blazes in the sky and I'm forced to tear off layers of clothes. The rhythm of the desert beats like this: cold, cool, warm, hot, warm, cool, cold, and repeat. 

Eventually, we cut our time in the desert short and opted for the creature comforts of a nearby KOA campground where we plugged into water and electricity and dusted everything off. 

                                                                        Salome KOA

                            The scenery looks much different when we are parked in a KOA.

The dust in the desert is relentless. I hated it. I know hate is a strong word, but honestly, I much prefer green grass, rolling hills, shade trees, large bodies of water. I'll take mud - or even snow- over dust any day. I am a plains woman through and through, my experience camping at Quartzsite solidified that. 

                                                                    Great new friends.

The experience was not all doom and gloom. We met lots of wonderful RV women, made great new friends, and laughed a lot every day. In the evening we often shared a meal with our neighbors, listened to music around the campfire, or played Farkle in the warmth of someones big RV. 

                        Live music.

                                                                          Good times.

The sunrises and sunsets were the true "Desert Phenomena" in my opinion. The stars are amazing at night. I haven't been able to see all the stars in a dark sky since I left my dark hometown of Harvey. I am a natural rock hound and spent hours walking around picking up pieces of quartz to bring home -  much to Cray’s dismay. She thinks we have too much stuff in the back of the truck already. 

                                Beautiful.

Ruby seemed to love the desert. She was able to roam around off leash a little, provided we kept a close eye on her. She jumped into our neighbors camper van one day and made herself at home. A couple RV women threatened to drive away with her and she got lots of attention and love. 

We bathed Ruby in the camper shower at the KOA and the water ran brown. She was like new after her bath, and so was I. In the future we will limit boondocking to three or four days tops and take every precaution to conserve energy.  As for Quartzsite? I'm not sure if I'll be going back.

                                                                    Leaving Quartzsite.

A Small Dog With a Big Presence

This trip has proven that no matter the size of our living quarters, Ruby takes over the space. She has to be wherever we are. When we get out of her sight she barks, she always wants to be close to her “pack.”

 

Ruby is crowding Cray’s feet, a common occurrence, we dutifully compromise our comfort for hers. 

Here she is casually napping on the bed. Look at all that room…until we go to bed and attempt to position our legs around her. If we nudge her with our feet she gives off a low growl, as if to say “I’m not moving, you are.” 

Ruby even determines what restaurants we eat at.  They must have an outdoor patio that allow dogs. We don't eat out often, but when we do Ruby usually gets a bowl and a snack.

The campground where we are currently staying has a fun little dog park. I wanted Ruby to go up and down the ramp, but she won’t even look at it. Maybe, if I had some highly desirable treats, like the ones she got at Kim’s house, I could train her to do it.

Kim is a gracious host. We had so much fun staying at her lovely Sun City West home. Kim is originally from Des Moines and we have both known her for years. Kim and I reconnected when I worked as the RN for the Spinal Cord Injury Clinic at the Des Moines VA Hospital. Kim is the Executive Director of the Iowa Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America. 

Kim LOVES dogs and cats. She is particularity fond of her 9 month old dog, Pogo, who has a lot of energy and personality. Pogo and Ruby got off to a rough start and we had to keep a close eye on them. Pogo just wanted to play, but grumpy-old-lady Ruby was having no part of it. Pogo ended up wearing a soft muzzle, a pinch collar, and a leash for quick corrections.  However, it probably should have been Ruby since she was the bitchy one!

Kim took us to a nearby golf course to eat at the Crooked Putter for all you could eat fish and chips. The food was really delicious. We also had the best server,  Kim’s good friend Denise. She is another transplant from Des Moines that we just happened to know from the Drake Diner. Such a small world. 

Denise, her partner Angela, and their two super awesome dog’s: Rider & Putter. It appears that all of Kim’s Sun City West friend’s play golf, pickle ball, and dominoes. Actually, I think everyone in Sun City West golfs, judging by the number of golf carts on the road.  I also ran into Nancy, a wonderful woman who worked at the VA the entire time I was there. She is one of the few people there that always eager to help you and she did it with a smile. Nancy currently goes back and forth from Iowa to Arizona every six months. I can see why people love to live in Sun City West. The taxes are low, since there are no schools in over 55 senior communities. 

Kim’s giant-old-lovable-half-blind dog Duke.

Kim’s cat that lives in a larger body named Butters

Kim’s secretary, Peanut, who probably hates me. Once, I locked her in the closet. Another time I shut her up between the front door and the screen door - overnight! Seriously, I felt so bad. 

Above is a photo of the campsite that our friend Pam posted on Facebook. Word is that you can be as close to other campers or as far away as you want. Quartsize is THAT huge. Oh, and it’s dry camping. Fortunately, we have solar and we are about to put our off-the-grid camping skills to the test!

This is a photo from Quartzsite taken by a camper this very morning. Now, that’s the what I’m talking about.

Cray and I are preparing to travel to Quartzsite, Arizona tomorrow. It’s about a 3 hour drive from our current location in Picacho. We are going to camp near our new friend Pam from Las Cruces and her RV buddy’s from Colorado. Quartzsite is the home of the largest RV rally and gem show - I imagine it to be like ‘Sturgis’ for campers. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Cray surprised me with a helicopter ride to celebrate my 60th birthday today. I rode up front and I was kind of like the co-pilot….well, maybe not, but I did feel pretty darn special.

There were hikers on the very top of Camelback Mountain in the distance. Chris, our helicopter pilot, said the last part of that hike involves pulling yourself up the rocks to reach the top. I won’t be doing that. 

Thumbs up! We are getting ready to board the helicopter.

Look at all those trails! Chris said they are for biking, walking, and horseback riding. No ATV's?

We flew over bazillion dollar houses. Lifestyles of the rich and famous - does anyone really need a forty thousand square foot home?

The pilot had the largest black bear ever shot in Arizona on display in his hanger. Personally, I think it’s pretty sad, but the bear did make a good photo-op. I look like I am swallowing my tongue. 

We stopped to photograph this sculpture designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built years later by one of his esteemed students.

Tonight, we are grilling steaks and playing dominoes with our friend Kim and our new friend Angela. I received tons of birthday wishes from all my friends and family. I am so blessed!

                         Happy Birthday to Me!