Saturday, January 20, 2018

Show Day! Drop in Temperatures, Cool Purchases

I woke up on Saturday, Jan. 20th from dreams, what seemed like a bunch in a row. It was just after 7 when I heard Bill rising so almost had to shake my head from the dream state. The dreams were very clear to me and very weird. I’m superstitious enough to believe the old wive’s tale “Friday night dream on a Saturday told, is bound to come true no matter how old”, so I kept them to myself.

This is the way the day started
We had our tea and coffee and read comments on my blog as well as one or two other blogger’s posts. That was all we had time for. We got washed up, had a bite to eat and hopped in the truck. 


We pulled out, George and Suzie followed and Tom and Deb brought up the rear. Today is the first day of the Big Tent Show and we wanted to be early enough to get a good parking spot.
Lots of room in the parking lot at 8:30 but that soon changed
The Big Tent is waiting for business
We arrived before 8:30 and got exactly the location we wanted to park in. I’d grabbed our books and we read for a while. 

Waiting in Black Beauty until 9 am when the show opened
Today, we were on a mission. We’ve been researching generators since a year ago when we saw the brand we like at this show. We wanted to plan so we could pay cash but we also wanted to research other options. Everything depended on the price we got quoted today.

This is why we come here at this time of year

Inside the Big Tent and at 8:30 it is already bustling
We wandered the tent, up and down the 3-huge vendor-filled aisles. We were there for the opening and wouldn’t have it any other way. This year I was going to take advantage of the ‘free’ stuff like I didn’t last year and walked away with quite a bunch of stuff. I even managed to avoid the ‘suck-me-in’ sales pitches with a ‘no thanks, no thank you, already got it!’

The Minute Rice booth
You spin to win a small gadget plus receive a free package of rice
You can check out Bill’s On Our Way post in the next few days to find out what goodies we came home with. After we purchased stuff for the rv, things we’d talked about often, Bill said it was my turn. I didn’t see much I wanted but when I saw these stretch jean leggings, I knew I wanted a couple of pair. Most of mine are very bright with designs.

My new jean leggings
2 for $20
I found something I won’t discuss on here for 3 of our youngest grandchildren. They will love it! When we got back home, I delighted in going through the free stuff and tossing paperwork and bags we didn’t want to keep. Hey! I’m happy too, we both feel that we did great and had wonderful success.

Steve's Smokin' Barbecue is right close to the entrance of the tent

Here is why he gets prime spot and where he gets the name
Chicken anyone?
I tried sitting outside around 2 and that idea was quickly abandoned. Because the 5th wheel sits high off the ground, even when I moved my chair to the front of it, the wind wasn’t blocked enough for me to be comfy enough to read. I moved a chair beside the barbecue and table and that worked for a wee while but when the big clouds began rolling in, that was too chilly. Yes, I know, poor me, only 60F.

La Posa West was sure full when we were headed home 3 hours later

Good  time to get out of there
My FREE haul today
So, I can do what I want so moved inside and we all went up to the bedroom to have a snooze. I might have dozed for 20 minutes and then opened my book while Bill and Clemson slept on. When we heard a tap tap on the door, Bill answered it. Tom was inviting us to have Happy Hour inside at their place. He sweetened the deal by saying Deb was making Beer Margueritas too!


Yum, beer margueritas

A warm Happy Hour inside
So, we made a tea each, because even though they sounded yummy, we were not sure if we would enjoy them. Neither Bill or I enjoy beer……much. We walked over just before 3 and George and Suzie followed soon after. We’ve never been inside their Pathfinder before and it is very nice. We all tried the margueritas, Bill and I had salt on the rim. Oh my! Delightful! No beer taste at all. I jotted down the recipe.

While we were sitting inside chatting, the black clouds spread across the sky to the west and soon we got the 25% rain that was forecast for today. It didn’t last more than 15 minutes, if that, and stopped. At 5 we thanked our hosts and headed home for supper. The sun came out again and gave us a bit of a performance as it said goodbye for the night.
And the end of day nears
Because of the wind, earlier we had decided to have an indoor ‘winter’ type meal. I fried up ground beef and onions, boiled a couple of potatoes, steamed broccoli and nuked some corn in the microwave. While I was doing this Bill started the generator so we could watch Live PD. We enjoy that show and it is only on Friday and Saturday evenings.

I love the rim of bright light around the small cloud
When supper was ready, I must say that I enjoyed it very, very much! It is one of the simplest meals and one of my favourite to prepare knowing that it is basically a healthy meal of many food groups. Oh, the dairy is supplied by the butter I add to my potatoes and veggies. See? Healthy! 


Mom used to make this a lot when we were kids and I always loved it.

We hadn’t eaten much all day, just poor planning I guess, but we were plenty full when we finished eating. Just enough room for the last two pieces of rhubarb pie. With dishes cleaned up I sat at my laptop to write my post and then settle for the night. This was another great day and I hope yours was the same.
Good night from the desert of Quartzsite


Thank you for stopping by. I’d love to hear from you!

12 comments:

  1. It was a fun day, getting the freebies hoary hours withe fiends and a tasty indoor meal tonight. Nice change of pace .

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    1. It was a fun day. Ha ha I think the beer margueritas hit you harder than you think!

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  2. Wow, that's a crowded tent. Glad you enjoyed your time there and the 'free' stuff was interesting as well. I often wonder if the 'free' gimmick works well.

    Glad you enjoyed Happy Hour, sounds like a good time. I've found that if I sit in front of the tires it often times breaks the wind enough to allow me to enjoy the outside. I've also found that sometimes a blanket over the back of the chair stops all those annoying drafts.

    Great pictures as usual. I think dinner looked wonderful.

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    1. The free gimmick doesn't work for me. I just take the free stuff! :D
      We had fun at the show today but lots of 'bum bumping'.
      Good idea, I'm usually too lazy to grab the blanket and end up staying inside.
      Dinner was wonderful!

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  3. Great photos as always. You collected lots of goodies. This is our first winter south. The past 5 were on the BC Coast. (aka Wet Coast) We arrived Wednesday & are off Plomosa Rd with a small group who own similar rigs.

    Yesterday morning, we drove into town to stop at a few vendors & check out parking options for today. As soon as we were on the overpass, I decided I'd rather be back in the desert. I knew the town would be extremely busy but I just wasn't into dealing with it. We'll head for the big tent early Monday morning.

    We're loving our little corner of the desert. There wasn't a single drop of rain here. But we got the clouds & wind. It was too cold outside for this Canadian. Lol. A few clouds made for a pretty orange sunset. Last night your area had a better sunset than here. Amazing that a few miles makes such a difference.

    I laughed when I read that you bought a generator today. We also made a generator purchase today right out here in the desert.

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    1. Thank you Jody, nice to hear from you! Welcome to the south! Sounds like you are enjoying Plomosa Rd. My sister camps there a lot when she is down.
      We don't mind the crowds at the show, we have come to expect it. It is before and after the show sometimes we want to just get out of there!
      Beautiful sunsets here for sure, and they seem to change by the minute!
      Ha ha too funny. We now have our old one for sale unless we take it home to sell.

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  4. Just have to tell you that as much as I love your postings and read you every day, your dishes ie: plates, do not show off your meal very nicely, not pretty.

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    1. Ha ha too funny! As long as they taste good, I guess, and they usually do!

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  5. Girl you cleaned up on the freebies! Good job!! I also have bad dreams (nightmares mostly), but have never heard of that little ditty. I guess I better be careful when talking about them, or that guy named John will get eaten by a hippo!!

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    1. ha ha, yes, please save John!! Mom used to repeat that ditty to us for years.

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  6. I had never heard the Friday dream saying, but I'll remember it from now on..spooky! The tent looks very crowded but you got some nice goodies out of it. Curious? What's the blue one? Looks like a pan cover? Never had a beer margarita, but sounds like they were a big hit! Nice and cozy even though it was cool. Your dinner looked awesome..nice comfort food! Tell your hubby he needs to get on his blog, or you'll have to spill his stuff! haha..we're wondering (well Ken is) what happened with the macerator and what did you buy! Beautiful sunset once again!!

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    1. Yes, remember that especially for the bad dreams. I know I've had some GOOD dreams on a Friday night and woke up telling someone in the hopes it would come true. I can't recall if they did or not!
      The blue one is a pop out sun shade for your windshield and the small blue thing is a new pooper scooper which we needed! I told the guy at the spinning wheel that I wanted that prize and even though I got something else, he gave me what I wanted. :)
      I'll get on Bill's case, probably today he'll write. ;)

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