American Thanksgiving and So Much to be Thankful For

Park Place RV Park

On Thursday, Nov. 23^rd we were all up by 6:45, some of us were earlier than others. 😊 I came down and made my tea. Bill had the furnace on for a cycle or two to warm the floors especially. Later, we turned the Blue Flame on until the outside temperature rose from 46F/7C to 52F/10C. A huge difference, believe it or not! The sky was cloudy but when I glanced outside, it was the most amazing sky and I had to run out for pictures!

When your day starts like this,
nothing will go wrong.
(and it didn't)

Gibbs and I went for our walk and when I got back, we discussed how to move the food from out fridge out to the desert. We have containers from Deb and Tom, wine, dishes, pies, olives and our evening/warmer clothes for end of day. It is all working out, two heads together come up with some good ideas. 😊 Because it will be a warm 75F/24C day, jeans and blankets will go along with us.

Spending a bit of time with my little guy
Notice the change in the sky in the
right hand pictures?

Basically, there wasn’t much else to do so we relaxed. Bill had his shower and I’d had some oatmeal. I don’t generally eat in the morning other than some yogourt but we’d be skipping lunch and having an early afternoon dinner. We’re blessed to have so many friends down here in the southwest. Not only those IN the park, but those we’ve met over the last 7 years in our travels, Canadians and Americans. What better way to celebrate their Thanksgiving Day but together? ♥

This is one of those times when I wished
I had my large Canon camera with the zoom
This is a small red breasted wren (?) eating
from the hummer feeder.

Around 12:30, we had a visitor from down the row. Tony is from Acton, Ontario and this is his first time here in Arizona, having been a frequent Floridian (?). We had a nice little chat but it was time for us to pack things up and head out. What a lovely gathering and the day turned out quite warm with lots of periods of sun. Deb D started warming up the food from Coyote Fresh Foods around 1:45 and I think we were eating by 2:15.

Driving out to Roadrunner,
this looks promising for a get-together

Wow! Lots of delicious food. Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, roasted vegetables, stuffing/dressing, cottage cheese, olives, pickles, coleslaw and rolls. 

Lots of food, we really enjoyed everything!

I seldom do this but I went back for seconds
on the first course! Yummy!

For dessert, of which I had NO room for but ate anyway 😊, we had apple crisp with cream, butter tarts and pumpkin pie with whipped topping. Of course, there was wine as well, of which Bill and I indulged. It was a great meal and the conversation was top notch! I didn't get a group picture but if  you check out Lorne's blog, he got a selfie pix. 

Gibbs was the best little guy.
Off leash all day, he went in the
truck while we ate our meals, not a peep.
Wanted to play with Archie, who thought he was
just goofy, and got a lot of exercise playing
with Tom and Mom. He was ready for home
when we were, maybe a bit before. ♥

Tom had hoped for a fire at the end of the night but the winds were not dying down so it was put off for another time. We said goodbyes around 6:45, although it seemed much later. We’re happy to be down here, counting our blessings every step of this journey. Sharing this Thanksgiving Day with friends, both American and Canadian, is what this life is all about and we are making the very best of it that we can. ♥

A bit of the sunset before and as it dropped behind the mountains.
This is Ivan's truck, a new acquaintance from Alberta
rv'ing in the area. 
Good night y'all!

Thank you for stopping by! Happy Thanksgiving!

Starting the Day off Right, Happy Thanksgiving!

 Quartzsite, AZ

Thursday, Nov. 25^th arrived with us sleeping in. There was no rush to get up and that’s a good thing, since we stayed up last night until 11 watching a movie. We’ve seen it before but is a more ‘realistic’ one and I enjoy the characters. ‘Trading Christmas’ is the name and it is predictable but we enjoyed watching it together. We were both fighting to keep our eyes open though because of all the stupid commercials!

This morning there were no clouds for the
sun to push through
Ignore the time, my camera wasn't set

I never walk alone when the sun has risen

So, today, we got up around 7:30 and I went for a 25-minute walk around the near vicinity. It was a cool 48F/9C but I bundled for it and walked briskly. 😊 I circled our area and found where we parked in our group in 2020. It has a motorhome in the middle right now but maybe it will be open for us in January. We’ll miss the large group of friends we’ve had in the past but we’re hopeful that a few at least will be here.

to the gang of 2019/20
This is our spot, where the Class A is

It'll be a guess whether he leaves it empty for us to return
to 
If not, we'll find another spot

I had my tea when I returned and as the sun rose higher in the sky, it heated things up a bit. That darn wind had returned so it wasn’t exactly warm for our 10 o’clock Happy Hour. We all found a spot on the patio mat where we were comfortable and we enjoyed conversation for an hour and a half. Nice to see Lorne and Sue and great too that Gayle and John joined us. ♥

Another example of what campers are doing
This one is different

As is this one
Everyone does what they can do with what means they have

For those who have never been here,
this is what it is like
Not desert sand, but rocky sand
You drive in and just park anywhere
Lots of spaces right now - January might be a whole lot different

It was close to noon when we came inside and I made pancakes for lunch. I’ll need to do much more walking if we continue to eat like this! After dishes, we did some online stuff and Bill went up for a snooze, Gibbs curled up under my chair and I went outside to the heat of the day. Give me my sunshine! I read, I dozed and visited with Gayle for a bit.

This is our little Canadian corner
Friends, Judy and Gary from Alberta, back left
us in the middle
Gayle and John on the right 

The winds weren’t as gusty today so they were very welcome in the hot sun. The day went by slowly and because Bill had plans with the boys for 6, we had supper earlier. If it wasn’t for the residential fridge, we would have been fine, but Bill turned the genny on briefly while I cooked my veggies in the microwave. We had wieners and beans as well, cooked on the stove. It was a poor man’s meal, fitting, ha ha, and it was good. 😊

By the layers worn in these pictures
you can see who is getting the wind

But the sun was wonderful

After dishes, I took Gibbs out and Bill and John left to pick Lorne up and any of the other guys at his site who wanted to go. They were headed to the Quartzsite flying club for night flying. We went last year and it was a treat to see the radio-controlled planes’ lights when you could see nothing else in the pitch black sky. This was a quiet day and I enjoyed it very much.

A saguaro near us

Supper tonight was thrown together
rather quickly

Gibbs watches Bill turn the generator off

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American friends, near and far. I hope you are having an awesome day. We are very grateful to call y'all our friends, whether we've met you or not. 💓💕💕💖

A beautiful sunset
I'm sure there will be many
Notice, the dust is minimal tonight. 😍
Good night!

Thank you for stopping around. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Ridge

Happy Thanksgiving! 

On Sunday, Oct. 10^th we were able once more to take our time getting up and moving. I love these mornings! Today is Thanksgiving Sunday for Canadians and we are invited to a family celebration at my sister’s home near Chatsworth. For the morning, we just stayed indoors with our tea and I had a bowl of cereal while Bill had some toast by 8 o’clock. The big meal was going to be around 2 pm. I believe this is the most popular day for Thanksgiving celebrations. 🍗🍁

Gibbs finds his niche on Daddy's shoulder

I had a blog post to finish from Saturday, no surprise lately, so I did that and then we printed off documents regarding cross border travel. Yes, we have found ourselves one (or two) steps closer to getting ourselves to Arizona. A shipping company, in Ingersoll, in conjunction with a air service, has our information and we are waiting to hear back from them with details.

I like this spot for him
It gives our shoulders a rest

It is looking positive that this is what we are going to be doing. Having our rig (Black Beauty & the Suite) driven across from Canada to the U.S. and flying across to meet it. More details will follow as they become clearer. 😊 We are happier about the whole scenario and feeling much relief. We do have some samples of the forms to be filled out so wanted to print them off as an example. (All private details on the documents will remain private).

3+ lbs. of carrots

Once that was done, I began peeling, cutting and cooking carrots in Madame IP. I offered to take them to the meal. Also, my contribution would be dressing/stuffing so I cheated and cooked 4 boxes of Stove Top Stuffing. We needed to feed as close to 21 mouths as possible. 

We took North Line west to catch Hwy 6
It was a nice change

We all had a rest and for me, that meant reading my letters from Willie book. I’m sure I dropped off for a few minutes too.

A pretty fall drive no matter which way
we go

Last night, or rather the wee hours around 4 am, Gibbs was awake and restless so I was awake with him, opening windows to cool him down. It felt stuffy up there and yet the rain was first blowing in my window so I couldn’t open it until it stopped. That should explain why I was so tired. Back to today! We were dressed in our ‘close to finest’ (figure of speech) and left Gibbs in charge.

This is a funny picture that I just had to include
A chickadee or wren got caught inside the gazebo
so John and Alaena had to rescue it so some of us
could eat in there 💗

He probably would have been fine and he as definitely welcome, but we would be able to relax and enjoy the day better with him at home. We knew he’d be fine here too. Rain was a possibility but after arriving, it was obvious that it would be an outside day for a lot of us. Perfect! 😊 I’m sure our hosts, Gayle and John, were relieved about the weather. There was a lot of food as is always the case. Way more mashed potatoes than necessary but you just never know, do you?

Their large kitchen was accomodating

My dressing turned out mushy for some reason (because I was making it for others!)  but Gayle and I blended mine with her homemade batch and it was perfect and delicious. 

Bill, my niece's hubby made this delicious squash soup

Unfortunately, she put my glazed carrots into the microwave just before eating time to warm them and they were forgotten – completely. LOL Too much on everyone’s minds, I guess, and it wasn’t until we were packing up dishes that I wondered what happened to the dish. Ha ha, it was a great laugh!

Dessert
Bill (nephew) also made the cheesecake
(ps - he is a firefighter so cooks for the crew a lot)

The 'young'uns' enjoyed the raft in the pond

The adults just visited and enjoyed the lovely
day

Pepper is a 9 yr. old cockapoo
but he doesn't like other dogs so I'm glad
our rambunctious little Gibbs didn't come 😌

He is very stocky but loves to play
ball just like our little guy

We said our goodbyes around 4 and headed for home. Other than forgetting my water bottle, it was a great time with family. My children had other commitments so I was sad not to see them today. Back home, neither of us were hungry for a supper meal, for obvious reasons, so we just had a sliver of cherry pie, watched some tv and went to bed at 11. That was Sunday and no blog got even started until now.

we took the opportunity for a picture
Happy Thanksgiving fellow Canadians!
good day!

Thank you for your patience and for sticking with me!

Happy Thanksgiving to our American Buddies, Exploring the Community, Havasu Homes and the Heat Goes On

On Thursday, Nov. 23^rd we were late risers, up at 7:30. Whoa! Sleeping in like that is unusual for us but that is okay, we are not on a schedule, we are retired! So, we had our tea and coffee after opening up blinds and letting the glorious sunshine in. Another gorgeous 85-degree day coming at us. What a great Thanksgiving Day this is for everyone, something in itself to be grateful for.

In case you were curious about the flag
George was born in the U.S.A. and rose in Canada

We had a few things to take care of on our laptops and then at 9 I headed out for a walk before it got too warm. Too warm? Ha ha I kill myself! I see a lot of  Neighbourhood Watch signs around the area and didn’t want to be reported as being ‘suspicious’, me and my camera. So, this morning I donned my winning T-shirt “Fowler Strong” so people would accept me without concern. 

Be prepared, more Havasu house overload so skip them pictures if you wish.

I received a couple of Happy Thanksgivings and Good Mornings as I scooted out Kibbey, down Griffin and another street I can’t recall onto Palo Verde Road. Keeping the lake in sight at all times, I was quite assured I wouldn’t get lost. As I skimmed back onto this street, I walked past the lane to see if my little fleet footed buddies were out squabbling this morning. Nothing, no bunnies either. 

What an impressive front lawn display

At 9:45 Clemson and I were sitting outside while Bill finished his washing. The back side shows a bit of streaking simply because the sun was drying it too quickly but it is 75% better than it was when we pulled in. 

Now both vehicles are clean and Bill has put the hose back in place where he found it. Clemson is certainly enjoying the new smells and when not on the leash, even though he can’t go far, we need to keep an eye on him as he roams the property.

We love the look of these tile roofs

He must feel the heat too and after 30 minutes chooses to be let inside where it is cooler. I sat and finished a second tea with my book and the sun was very hot at 64F. There is hardly any breeze but what there is, we are grateful for either in sun or shade. 

If you tip your head at this one, I'm laughing
I was trying to be discreet taking my pictures, not actually laying on my side

We’ve started making up a grocery list but won’t venture out to the stores today. We know some are open but can wait to get the few urgent items until Friday or Saturday. I know, they will still be busy but hopefully not the grocery stores so much.

These are one and the same house but I wanted
you to see the originality

When we get to Bullhead City, into Ridgeview, we’ll have a better idea of what we need for food stuffs. Then when my sister arrives, we can sit together and plan meals for around home and shop together, getting what we need. The routines on both sides will be out of whack but we are all willing to go with the flow and we are not inflexible.

They are all beautiful but I think each one has an original take on what
they were expecting from their architect
Notice the stone pieces to make this one look more archaic

As we were sitting at the table, I saw a row of five or six quails running along the cement fence and then flying up to the roof of the garage behind us. I didn’t have time to get my zoom lens on so my blurred photo is the best capture I got. 

A blurred picture of the quail running across their roof

With a good start on the list, I went outside with my book for half hour. Once the sun was too hot I moved into the shade provided by the Suite and Bill soon joined me with his book. A half hour turned into an hour and a half.

this little skinny fire hydrant make me chuckle

The day meandered along like this, nothing exciting going on. I’m sure there are many Thanksgiving dinners being prepared and many family gatherings under way. That is exactly as it should be and how it was for our Canadian Thanksgiving celebration in October. Our dinner tonight is nothing related to tradition, instead convenience is the name of our game plan.

again same house in both pictures
What you see from the front, looks like

3 garages and very little living space

Look again, this is a side view. It's huge!

The book I started reading this morning is called Hunter’s Moon and it is written by Randy Wayne White. Tonight, at 6 pm I’m half way through it. What does that tell you? Yes, it is another good book. 

I'm engrossed in it

When the boys went inside, I finished a chapter, tipped the lounger back and closed my eyes. I never seem to ‘sleep’ outside in the elements but I know I slipped off into a couple of dozes. The sun wasn’t as hot as it was earlier and it felt wonderful.

Some have lovely high garages for their rv's

I’m sure Rose and George realize how quiet it is living in this area of the city. At least so far, after just 2 days, I must say that there is hardly any traffic on this street, no loud outside noises (other than the neighbour’s dogs when they start) giving an awesome peacefulness. 

Each one is original in some way

After saying that, we can’t help but wonder if there is a military base or gun club in the not too far distance. This afternoon, or maybe late morning, we thought we heard muffled repetitive shooting. Also, some families were shooting off fireworks. Still, not annoying by any means.

Yes, even a pink one
MB and Pat - haven't seen a purple one yet but I haven't given up!

So, earlier I mentioned our supper. We had fried Tilapia fillets, French fries in our fryer and leftover dressing. The dressing is the closest thing to a typical Thanksgiving dinner. 

Our Thanksgiving feast didn't taste at all like turkey!

I added olives and grape tomatoes to my plate and we were just as grateful for this meal as any of you were for yours. I’m sure ice cream for dessert is in order.

this yard is a work in progress

same house
See what I mean by original?
A little patio built over a boat! = Wet bar?

Something screwy is going on with our living room satellite box this afternoon. The tv keeps going off and on and yet the bedroom connection seems fine. We know Oscar is not anywhere near so Bill is trying many things and I'm sure he'll figure it out. I only mention it because if it continues into the next day or two, you’ll understand when I detail the box going through a window. Ha ha, no, just kidding. 

Anyway, I have a good book to read and we have the bedroom tv to watch if we wish to.

And this is the place who is behind Rose and George 

It has been another lazy hazy day of sum……what? Winter, I mean. We’ve enjoyed it. Rose and George will return tomorrow and we have made some temporary plans with them that I hope come to fruition later in the day. I hope you’ve had a great day too.

the sun sets under the edge of our awning

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you for checking in with us. I love to hear from you!