Wednesday night was card bingo. You take a deck of cards for every four people. Each person gets dealt 13 playing cards. There is a caller that calls the cards from a deck and the first person who gets rid of all of their cards wins a bingo! Each person will ante before each game. The first three games are a nickel each, the next three games are a dime each, three games of a quarter each and the last game is a dollar! I won a dime bingo. Didn't pay for all my games but still enjoyed playing. They also mix it up by removing all red cards or all black cards, playing with your five best or worst cards. It was fun!
On Thursday we went over to the Cliff Casino. It is fairly small and the minimum bet on most of their penny machines is fifty cents! Ted was very lucky and won enough to cover my losses and buy lunch! He was lucky the entire time and I was unlucky the entire time! They have a Johnny Rockets in the casino and we had lunch there. We both splurged and had a milkshake with our lunch...Susan drinking to her losses and Ted celebrating his wins! They were really creamy and delicious!
The Friday game was Pokeno at the club house at the RV park. There were enough people to have two tables full. It is a bingo type game but played like poker. You have a premade card with five rows of five playing cards on it and you use playing cards (like in card bingo) to call the numbers. In addition to Pokeno (or bingo), you can get a full house, four of a kind, center card, four corners and diagonal Pokeno! We play with pennies and this time I came out a winner and Ted, well not so lucky!
We leave the Valley tomorrow and will spend three nights in Las Vegas. We have plans to visit my former boss David Hawkins and his wife Debbie on Monday. I think it will be pretty warm but should get us ready for the heat in Fresno after we leave Las Vegas!
Game playing..."Ain't Life Grand!"
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Made it to Valley Verde
On Sunday we left the Grand Canyon behind and headed south and a little east. When we got to Flagstaff we hit a thunderstorm with lots of heavy rain. When we turned south we could see blue skies ahead! We are camped at a Thousand Trails campground. We are about 8 miles west of Camp Verde near the town of Valley Verde and Cottonwood, Arizona. Sedona is only about 15 miles away. It is a bit warmer here than at the Grand Canyon. It's been in the mid 90's in the day and high 60's at night.
Yesterday we had quite a rain storm with lots of thunder and lightning and things cooled down. It started just before we were scheduled to go have a little wine and cheese and hear a Sky Med presentation. Both Ted and I had been thinking about a Sky Med type of program because of our traveling, but had not mentioned it to each other. Sky Med is a company that provides medical transportation and more. For example, if something were to happen to Ted or I, we would call 911 and probably have to go by ambulance or by air medical transport to a hospital that will meet our needs. Our insurance may or may not cover all of the costs. We call Sky Med and they take care of what our insurance doesn't. But not only that, if we have to go to another State, they will provide a bonded driver to drive our truck and RV to whereever we are going. They would also fly whoever we require, such as our nephew, to us by commercial airlines. They also provide medical transporation globabally if we are on a cruise or a trip somewhere out of the US. Anyway, we signed up for it for our piece of mind. There were 14 people signed up to attend, but we were the only ones who braved the rain and showed up We brought home two bottles of wine and cheese that he had opened! We also got 2 Dairy Queen gift cards! Such a deal!
Today we drove over to Sedona and had lunch. The red rock in Sedona is unbelievably beautiful. Unfortunately my pictures don't even begin to do it justice.
We walked around some of the shops, Ted bought me a turquois neclace to go with the earrings he got me in Tombstone, Arizona in May. We had a nice lunch and then headed back toward the campground. We made a detour through historic downtown Clarksville and up to mile high Jerome. Jerome was a copper mining town and when the copper ran out the mind just closed down and the town died. Eventually people started coming back and it has a cute little "artsy/fartsy" town. It is built on the side of a very steep mountain with tiny roads and is not a place where you want to have a big truck driving around it!
Tonight we will be playing "card bingo" here at the campground. It is a lot of fun!
Beautiful red rock mountains..."Ain't Life Grand!"
Yesterday we had quite a rain storm with lots of thunder and lightning and things cooled down. It started just before we were scheduled to go have a little wine and cheese and hear a Sky Med presentation. Both Ted and I had been thinking about a Sky Med type of program because of our traveling, but had not mentioned it to each other. Sky Med is a company that provides medical transportation and more. For example, if something were to happen to Ted or I, we would call 911 and probably have to go by ambulance or by air medical transport to a hospital that will meet our needs. Our insurance may or may not cover all of the costs. We call Sky Med and they take care of what our insurance doesn't. But not only that, if we have to go to another State, they will provide a bonded driver to drive our truck and RV to whereever we are going. They would also fly whoever we require, such as our nephew, to us by commercial airlines. They also provide medical transporation globabally if we are on a cruise or a trip somewhere out of the US. Anyway, we signed up for it for our piece of mind. There were 14 people signed up to attend, but we were the only ones who braved the rain and showed up We brought home two bottles of wine and cheese that he had opened! We also got 2 Dairy Queen gift cards! Such a deal!
Today we drove over to Sedona and had lunch. The red rock in Sedona is unbelievably beautiful. Unfortunately my pictures don't even begin to do it justice.
We walked around some of the shops, Ted bought me a turquois neclace to go with the earrings he got me in Tombstone, Arizona in May. We had a nice lunch and then headed back toward the campground. We made a detour through historic downtown Clarksville and up to mile high Jerome. Jerome was a copper mining town and when the copper ran out the mind just closed down and the town died. Eventually people started coming back and it has a cute little "artsy/fartsy" town. It is built on the side of a very steep mountain with tiny roads and is not a place where you want to have a big truck driving around it!
Tonight we will be playing "card bingo" here at the campground. It is a lot of fun!
Beautiful red rock mountains..."Ain't Life Grand!"
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Still at the Grand Canyon!
We are still enjoying the Grand Canyon. Yesterday we took the shuttle to the Market Plaza and had lunch at the Yavapai Lodge cafeteria. We looked around the gift shop before heading over to the canyon! We walked around the Village, the Kolb bookshop and then decided we needed ice cream! We sat on the porch at the El Tovar and ate our ice cream watching two Hopi Indians do their native dance and play the flute in their native costumes! All that and the Grand Canyon backdrop to boot!
We took the shuttle back to the campground before the rain started and then jumped in the truck and headed out of the park to the Imax Theatre. They are showing the "Grand Canyon Movie". We had not seen it before. It depicts the trip Powell took 277 miles down river through the canyon with a group of boats. I think three of the boats made it. One group got off the boat after a bad rapid and never made it out. One boat was lost in a rapid. The pictures of the canyon are breathtaking and definitely worth the price of admission (especially at the senior rate...lol)!
This morning we've been a little lazy! We saw a doe at the campground and I took a picture of her:
It really is a doe, the first picture looks like she had horns but it is just the bush on the side of the road! Usually we see lots of deer here but not this trip.
We are going over to the Market Plaza and probably a last view of the Canyon in a few minutes. We leave here tomorrow and will go south to Verde Valley which is south of Flagstaff. We hope it will be cool there. We've had beautiful weather here at the Canyon. Can't remember if we have good cell service there or not!
Wildlife, canyons and ice cream..."Ain't Life Grand!"
We took the shuttle back to the campground before the rain started and then jumped in the truck and headed out of the park to the Imax Theatre. They are showing the "Grand Canyon Movie". We had not seen it before. It depicts the trip Powell took 277 miles down river through the canyon with a group of boats. I think three of the boats made it. One group got off the boat after a bad rapid and never made it out. One boat was lost in a rapid. The pictures of the canyon are breathtaking and definitely worth the price of admission (especially at the senior rate...lol)!
This morning we've been a little lazy! We saw a doe at the campground and I took a picture of her:
We are going over to the Market Plaza and probably a last view of the Canyon in a few minutes. We leave here tomorrow and will go south to Verde Valley which is south of Flagstaff. We hope it will be cool there. We've had beautiful weather here at the Canyon. Can't remember if we have good cell service there or not!
Wildlife, canyons and ice cream..."Ain't Life Grand!"
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Yippee, we are at the Grand Canyon!
We made it to Towaoc, Colorado and the Ute Mountain Campground and Casino. We spoke to the campground about hosting a Traveling Supreme gathering there. I think it will be a good location for three nights to see Mesa Verde, the Canyon of the Ancients and more. We will then move on to Monument Valley. We have lots of planning to do!
We went over to the casino and gambled a while. We took a break to have dinner. Ted was down and I was up. After dinner we gambled a little more. Ted came out a winner and I was a loser! You just never know!
We left yesterday morning and made it to the Grand Canyon. We love it here. It is so beautiful and we feel so serene that is until we had to get fuel! Today we went to the Village to get the fuel, $4.70 per gallon for diesel...yikes! I think we will take the shuttle everywhere!
Then we went to the rim for lunch at the El Tovar Hotel. It is such a beautiful hotel and we had a delicious lunch. After lunch we looked around the gift shops and then parked ourselves on the El Tovar porch. It was sunny and perfect. We had a glass of wine and watched the weather change drastically! The clouds rolled in and the wind started blowing and it started to rain. Our view changed several times right before our eyes! We had a delightful time!
As we were heading back to the campground we saw a group of people pulling over and this is what they were seeing, a small herd of Elk! There was one buck and several does and even a couple of babies! The "big daddy" laid on the ground while everyone took pictures and then decided enough was enough and headed off! There is a lot of green grass all around the area for them to munch on. We've been to the Canyon five or six times and this is the first time we've seen Elk up close and personal!
Enjoying everything that makes it the "Grand Canyon"..."Ain't Life Grand!"
We went over to the casino and gambled a while. We took a break to have dinner. Ted was down and I was up. After dinner we gambled a little more. Ted came out a winner and I was a loser! You just never know!
We left yesterday morning and made it to the Grand Canyon. We love it here. It is so beautiful and we feel so serene that is until we had to get fuel! Today we went to the Village to get the fuel, $4.70 per gallon for diesel...yikes! I think we will take the shuttle everywhere!
Then we went to the rim for lunch at the El Tovar Hotel. It is such a beautiful hotel and we had a delicious lunch. After lunch we looked around the gift shops and then parked ourselves on the El Tovar porch. It was sunny and perfect. We had a glass of wine and watched the weather change drastically! The clouds rolled in and the wind started blowing and it started to rain. Our view changed several times right before our eyes! We had a delightful time!
As we were heading back to the campground we saw a group of people pulling over and this is what they were seeing, a small herd of Elk! There was one buck and several does and even a couple of babies! The "big daddy" laid on the ground while everyone took pictures and then decided enough was enough and headed off! There is a lot of green grass all around the area for them to munch on. We've been to the Canyon five or six times and this is the first time we've seen Elk up close and personal!
Enjoying everything that makes it the "Grand Canyon"..."Ain't Life Grand!"
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
On the road!
We left Chsma and our Traveling Supreme friends behind this morning. We were down to 5 Rv's from 10 and then there were 4! We are in Colorado and will settle tonight west of Cortez at an Indian casino campground. We have research to do! No laughing, we are checking it out as part of a gathering we have committed to host next year! We will probably do a little gambling as well!
Tomorrow we will head over to the Grand Canyon for 4 nights.
Scenic drives..."Ain't Life Grand!"
Tomorrow we will head over to the Grand Canyon for 4 nights.
Scenic drives..."Ain't Life Grand!"
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Shopping in Chama
On Thursday we went downtown Chama to do some shopping. They have a ladies shop that really has a lot of cute things, mostly for ladies! I got two new pair of really cute sandals, a cute top and Ted got a great looking t-shirt!
Chama was a boomtown in the early 1880's. The town encouraged the industrious and the disreputable alike! The building of the railroad caught the attention of miners, loggers, engineers and contractors. Of course that brought saloons, gambling, moonshine stills and the ladies! There was also cattle and sheep ranching. There is a huge Indian history prior to the 1880's in the Rio Chama Valley to the current day as well!
Thursday evening a group of us headed back to the Cliffview Restaurant for dinner. The food is great with a nice rustic ambiance. The view of the Brazos Cliffs is amazing.
The group that went to dinner from left to right: Irby and Judy, Gail and James, Martha and Bill, Ida and Les, Linda and Polk and Ted and I! Les and I fed the deer again after dinner. This week there were only does around to feed!
Driving home from the restaurant, I happened to catch this sunset picture:
We put up our hummingbird feeder because they are in abundant up here. We have one that is very territorial and keeps the others away. He seems pretty happy with the sugar water! It's fun to watch.
Yesterday Ted and I went in to Pagosa Springs, Colorado (about 45 miles from Chama) for lunch. After lunch we drove west a few more miles to see Chimney Rock, the home of some Puebloan Indians. The clouds had gathered so we did not do the hike out to the rock but did tour the 1/3 mile "Great Kiva" trail. It was built around AD 1084 using sandstone and adobe mud and covered with adobe plaster. It was over 40 feet across and mostly above ground. They would have used a ladder to climb up into the kiva and another ladder back down in it. The Kiva is a structure used for social gatherings, meetings and religious ceremonies. I am pictured in front of the Kiva. In the lower middle picture is the "pit house" or family dwelling. There would have been walls of the same construction supported by four log posts and a ladder entrance. There was also a small ventilation shaft which is almost always on the south side of the building and would have had a vertical "Deflector Stone" to deflect the incoming air around the interior to distribute heat and funnel the smoke up through the ladder hole entrance in the center of the roof!
They would have eaten the pinon tree pine nuts (3,000 calories per pound), maize, beans, berries, roots and seeds, raised turkeys, and hunted big and small game. They don't know why they left but everything was burned purposely. It could have been the hard life here, weather, drought or disease. No way of knowing.
Last night was cards for the ladies and Mexican train for the men. Ted and I both lost, but I was actually very close in "Screwie Lewie" and "Liverpool Rummy"! Lost both in the last hand, and yes I know what close means!
Shopping, history and gatherings (in no particular order!)..."Ain't Life Grand!"
Chama was a boomtown in the early 1880's. The town encouraged the industrious and the disreputable alike! The building of the railroad caught the attention of miners, loggers, engineers and contractors. Of course that brought saloons, gambling, moonshine stills and the ladies! There was also cattle and sheep ranching. There is a huge Indian history prior to the 1880's in the Rio Chama Valley to the current day as well!
Thursday evening a group of us headed back to the Cliffview Restaurant for dinner. The food is great with a nice rustic ambiance. The view of the Brazos Cliffs is amazing.
The group that went to dinner from left to right: Irby and Judy, Gail and James, Martha and Bill, Ida and Les, Linda and Polk and Ted and I! Les and I fed the deer again after dinner. This week there were only does around to feed!
Driving home from the restaurant, I happened to catch this sunset picture:
We put up our hummingbird feeder because they are in abundant up here. We have one that is very territorial and keeps the others away. He seems pretty happy with the sugar water! It's fun to watch.
Yesterday Ted and I went in to Pagosa Springs, Colorado (about 45 miles from Chama) for lunch. After lunch we drove west a few more miles to see Chimney Rock, the home of some Puebloan Indians. The clouds had gathered so we did not do the hike out to the rock but did tour the 1/3 mile "Great Kiva" trail. It was built around AD 1084 using sandstone and adobe mud and covered with adobe plaster. It was over 40 feet across and mostly above ground. They would have used a ladder to climb up into the kiva and another ladder back down in it. The Kiva is a structure used for social gatherings, meetings and religious ceremonies. I am pictured in front of the Kiva. In the lower middle picture is the "pit house" or family dwelling. There would have been walls of the same construction supported by four log posts and a ladder entrance. There was also a small ventilation shaft which is almost always on the south side of the building and would have had a vertical "Deflector Stone" to deflect the incoming air around the interior to distribute heat and funnel the smoke up through the ladder hole entrance in the center of the roof!
They would have eaten the pinon tree pine nuts (3,000 calories per pound), maize, beans, berries, roots and seeds, raised turkeys, and hunted big and small game. They don't know why they left but everything was burned purposely. It could have been the hard life here, weather, drought or disease. No way of knowing.
Last night was cards for the ladies and Mexican train for the men. Ted and I both lost, but I was actually very close in "Screwie Lewie" and "Liverpool Rummy"! Lost both in the last hand, and yes I know what close means!
Shopping, history and gatherings (in no particular order!)..."Ain't Life Grand!"
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Having a good time in Chama!
We are having a lot of fun with the Traveling Supremes group here in Chama. The official rally ended on Monday. I had a little bout with altitude sickness but feeling a lot better now thankfully!
Had a pedi and mani and lunch in Pagosa Springs, Colorado with Gail yesterday. It was fun getting to know Gail better and just relaxing! We've been having wonderful potlucks at night with the group.
Tonight the campground put on a hot dog roast/pot luck and invited the whole campground. Our whole group participated plus a lot of other people. Food was good and we met some new people.
After dinner the ladies have been playing cards and the men Mexican Train. Ted and I haven't done to well but it's been fun!
Ted and I have "volunteered to host (or hopefully co-host) a rally next year! It's pretty scary because the rallies have really been fun, puts a lot of pressure on us! What if no one signs up!!!!
We are here until next Tuesday..."Ain't Life Grand!"
Had a pedi and mani and lunch in Pagosa Springs, Colorado with Gail yesterday. It was fun getting to know Gail better and just relaxing! We've been having wonderful potlucks at night with the group.
Tonight the campground put on a hot dog roast/pot luck and invited the whole campground. Our whole group participated plus a lot of other people. Food was good and we met some new people.
After dinner the ladies have been playing cards and the men Mexican Train. Ted and I haven't done to well but it's been fun!
Ted and I have "volunteered to host (or hopefully co-host) a rally next year! It's pretty scary because the rallies have really been fun, puts a lot of pressure on us! What if no one signs up!!!!
We are here until next Tuesday..."Ain't Life Grand!"
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