Canadian Potluck, Bloggerfest, Happy Hour - Social Fun Never Ends!

The new day dawned for me at 6:30. I got up, got dressed and came downstairs to wait for the actual daylight. I caught up on the blog postings that I didn’t get to last night. I slipped out the door at 7:25 for my walk. Today was 4-mile morning because I went to the front entrance to return the Stephen King book. The cover was in pretty rough shape so I taped it up and left it in better condition than how I found it. It is just shy of 2 miles if you stop at the office building.

Colour me Pretty has to be the name of this photo

And to the west, not to be outdone

As I headed back, I chatted with my little brother's double, asking me about the signs being still up. I’ll bet if I asked him, he is from Alberta. Ha ha.  Not only did he look like him, (handsome as all get out) his mannerisms and voice were Michael. 

Good morning sunshine!

Me and my shadow made it to the front entrance

I enjoyed a great walk back yet darn I forgot my sunglasses again! It was 47F/9C and very little wind and I had layered down a bit so I wasn’t so hot upon my return. It worked out well with just one long sleeve top, my neck scarf, a windbreaker and my vest. Oh, of course my fingerless gloves helped too.

I love this cactus "Peace brother!"

Deb D. one of those 'just because I liked it' pictures
It is cool to see the grass growing around it

The green trunk of a Palo Verde tree

Back home, Bill was up and before I made my tea to join him, I hopped in the shower. I’ve been negligent or lazy and my hair was in quite a state! Then I had a tea. Clemson needed to go out so we walked around a bit until he was satisfied. Bill felt hungry so had a piece of toast while I prepared the cooler bag for today’s adventures. It starts off with the Canadian Potluck in Quartzsite at 11 and we are to bring one dish for 8, our drinks and place servings. Done, done and done.

QIA building

At 10:15 we hopped in Rob’s truck and he drove to the QIA. Bill and I had never been there before although we did know where it was located. We were greeted at the door by guess who? A Canadian! The whole room filled up with Canadians by 12 noon, 196 to be exact. 

Fun to play even though they weren't winners

We signed in, paid a $3 donation and bought 50/50 tickets before finding a seat with our 6 other friends. I couldn’t believe the food that piled up on the tables. If you consider that each couple brought a dish, you end up with at least 90 dishes. Before they started calling tables to be served, Sonja started us all on a rendition of O' Canada. 

Our placemats  with the words to O' Canada if you needed them

When our table #5 was drawn we lined up and were served hot potato, roast beef and gravy and then helped ourselves down the row of homemade dishes. My plate was full but not overflowing and I was comfortable with the amount of food I took. Then I kind of went overboard on the desserts. There were just too many to pass up and I always go for the homemade creations. My Apple/Blueberry Crisp went over well with only crumbs left to bring home in the dish. Good! That was encouraging!

Two tables of cold food dishes and one against the wall with hot dishes

Our Travel buddies

Pat and Rose
Long time friends

We left there after door prizes and 50/50 draws were finished. Kim was the only lucky one from our group who won a prize. Yay Kim! The money they took in for the 50/50 draw was $600 so a nice haul for the 2 winners. It was interesting that Albertans claimed the most participants attending, with B.C. second. We claimed third with 42 guests from Ontario present today. That is almost double last year’s attendance. By a show of hands, you could see where people from your province were sitting.

From the left: Kim, Ken, Bill (my chair)
Across from me, Rob, Pat, Rose, George, George, Suzie

Usually after a buffet meal, I look at the picture and I groan because I'm full
This picture makes me hungry all over again - it was excellent and just the right amount

The only thing I might suggest is that they group the people from the same province together, unless of course, you were with a group of friends from mixed provinces. Hmm, that wouldn’t work. We all had a great meal and a wonderful time. 

Bloggerfest with probably half the participants of the previous 2 years we've attended

 From there we drove back to La Posa South to attend the Bloggerfest at the Ramada. Hoping for the Social Hour to continue, we grouped our chairs in the warmth of the sun. In my humble opinion, and I think a few others, this event has run its course.

Aside from our group of 14 there were only 6 other people in attendance. Hmm, we could almost have had the same discussions at Happy Hour. It was nice to meet Ed and John and I’ll see if I can locate Ed’s blog on Rick’s sidebar. I do think maybe the time has come to put Bloggerfest to rest but I certainly can’t speak for anyone else. The whole circle introduction has grown old for us, no offense intended, just my opinion. If you've never been, you would enjoy it, I'm sure. 

The first hour of Happy Hour, the winds were very strong

So, we just stayed until it died down

We left there within the hour and drove back to our sites. It was 3:15 so time for our real H.H. With the winds whipping around at 20 mph, Bill and I took our chairs to sit on the patio at Rob and Pat’s unit. I noticed Ken and Kim’s chairs were out in the circle so brought them over as well. I’m sure that was a ‘nod’ that I got from Kim through their coach’s window. George, Suzie, Tom, Deb, George and Rose joined as well. Because most of us had no need for supper tonight, (and thanks to Deb's little nibblers) we overstayed our welcome until 6 when we took ourselves off home.

The night sky started out like this after sunset

The sky to the west tonight was gorgeous. Oh wait, turn around! The east, north and even the south sky was in full blown competition. I just went in circles snapping a picture of the changes. Such are the sunsets in the Arizona desert.

And then it did this

To the southwest

Back to the east

This has been a very social day and a really great one. We have such a fun group here. I hope you have enjoyed your day wherever you are and whatever you did. Bill and I topped Saturday off with a dish of Tillamook White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl ice cream adorned with nuts and sugar free caramel sauce.

And while busy looking the other way, the north sky produced my finale
Good night everyone!

I want to thank you for stopping by and if you’d like to leave a comment, I would enjoy reading it.