I Stand Corrected!

Well the weather in Prescott was wonderful and our space was settled in the pines with a quick walk down to the lake, so we were happy. 

We arrived about 3:00pm and two of the rigs in our group had already arrived, so it was nice to meet them. 

This is the part where I stand corrected.  Tracy was reviewing the blog and noticed that I said that we were going to be boondocking for the first time.  Tracy said that we were not boondocking because we were staying in a campground, we were dry camping.  

I couldn't argue with her because I knew she was right and Mike, of Mello Mike's RV & Off-Road Adventures acutally confirmed what she was saying in his recent blog post about boondocking. 

Iris did great pulling the hills up to Prescott with the tin can in tow, it was like we were not towing anything and we were able to maintain 55mph even on the toughest grades.

The batteries and water lasted all weekend long and we both were able to even get a quick shower.  The only problem that we encountered was that the pilot light blew out on the refrigerator and we didn't notice the check light until the next morning, so all of our food was at 70 degrees when we got up Saturday morning and we had to throw it all out.  Luckily, there was a WalMart close by our campgound, so we were able to get replacements easily. Now Tracy and I look at that light everytime we walk by the refrigerator.

Here are some pictures from our time at Lynx Lake, it really is a wonderful campground and is an easy ride up from the Valley. 

View from our site

Lynx Lake...Beautiful!

Squirrels in the trees

Our site

Bike race in Prescott...25 miles!

Biking Bar?

Great weekend

We did have a great weekend and it was so nice to get to the cooler weather, it was over 100 here in Phoenix today.  Thanks for the visit, have a great week and safe travels!        

On The Road Again!

Things are starting to heat up here in Arizona, so it is now necessary to go farther away when wanting to camp and escape the heat.

We have reservations at Lynx Lake in Prescott AZ this weekend with three other couples who will be meeting us up there tomorrow.  Lynx Lake has no hookups, so we will be boondocking this weekend for the very first time, wish us luck! 

I know that many of you reading this boondock often, so I won't whine too much, but this weekend should be very interesting with no electricity and only limited water for showers (hey everyone needs some alone time).  

We don't know two of the couples we are going with, so we hope to establish some new friendships over this weekend, while enjoying the cooler weather in Prescott.  

We will be pulling our Suzuki Sidekick for the first distance trip, so that we can explore the area once we arrive.  I will let you all know how that works out when we get back.  

So we are excitedly packing for what we hope will be a great weekend and hope to hit the road around noon tomorrow, as long as Tracy can sneak away from work.  

I noticed that we picked up our 80th follower, but I don't see any information for them, so I can't welcome them aboard by name.  I am presuming that they joined anonymously, but I may be wrong. Anyway, thanks for joining our adventure and thanks to all of you for stopping by for a visit.  I hope your weekend is safe and enjoyable!

In The Paper...Update!

Thanks for all of the positive comments regarding my FIL's article about his and Sarah's Spring Break trip to Hong Kong.  I apologize that I could not provide a link to the article in the AZ Republic as several of you requested and it is still not available as of today.  

I just received an email that USA Today Online picked up the article and although it doesn't have the nice picture like the AZ Republic, it does have the text. So for those who are interested, here is the link and enjoy!

USA Today Article.

Thanks for stopping by and have a safe and enjoyable week!

In The Paper!

Tracy was so excited to see today's AZ Republic newspaper. She quickly went to the Travel section and searched the pages. She was so excited when she found the article that her Dad had written about his recent adventures over Spring Break with our daughter Sarah in Hong Kong!

I had no idea that he had submitted an article, so I was sure surprised when I saw it. He did a great job capturing the wonderful time they had together. Papa, as our daughters call him is a pretty cool guy and they sure enjoy spending time with their grandparents. I sure hope Tracy and I are as cool for our grand kids when we are blessed to have them.

Hope your weekend is going great and thanks for the visit!

Exhausted!

I can't believe that it has been a week since I last posted, but I can tell you that it has sure flown by.  We live in a cul-de-sac and have adopted the tradition of having neighborhood get togethers several times during the year.  

Well it was our turn this last weekend and I couldn't believe the amount of work that went into preparing for the event.  We planned to spend most of the time outside since the weather has been wonderful, so that meant that I had to get the yard in tip top shape.  

Our lot is over 3/4's of an acre with grass, fruit trees and lots of dirt, which becomes a constant battle to keep on top of the weeds.  I took Friday afternoon off and mowed, raked, weeded and trimmed trees until I thought I was going to collapse.  

Everyone showed up at 4:00pm on Saturday and we had a great time visiting, playing horse shoes and ladder golf.  It was great to catch up with everyone, but I was sure glad when the group started heading home about 8:30pm. Of course I forgot to take any pictures of the big event, but it was fun none the less.

Still undefeated at ladder golf

Wish that was a picture of my shoes!

Tracy and I both commented that we don't know how people who entertain regularly do it, but we are good for another four get togethers before it is our turn in the roatation again.  

We did get great news this weekend from our daughter Sarah who applied for an Art Scholarship through ASU and was selected to receive $3,000.  We encouraged Sarah to apply, even though it included a long application, letters of recommendation and her art portfolio, which all took some time to put together.  She was concerned that she would be one of many who applied and probably wouldn't have much of a chance. Well, that was not the case and we are so proud of her!

That along with her Regent's Scholarship from ASU should enable her to finish up her last two years without incurring any debt or needing to apply for student loans.  We didn't do a very good job of planning for our daughter's education, so we have been so blessed that they received academic scholarships!

That is it for now, I noticed that we have another new follower, but they did not identify themselves, so I can't welcome them aboard by name, but thanks for joining us, whoever you are.  

Thanks for stopping by for a visit, I hope your travels are safe and enjoyable!

Great Weekend/Small World!

Tracy and I had a wonderful weekend at McDowell Mountain Regional Park.  We were able to spend what will probably be our last local camping weekend, in our favorite spot in the park.  

Although it was warm and the wind kicked up in the afternoon, we were able to keep cool by keeping the door and windows open and by running our fantastic fans. 

View from our site

On our way to the park, we saw what appeared to be a three foot rattlesnake crossing the road.  Needless to say, there was no off the pavement hiking this weekend for Tracy, which was fine by me.  

Lots of wild flowers

A coyote lurking...do you see him?

Oh the sunsets!

Sandie, of Where Are The Dixons Today? said that their friends Ginny and Mickey would be camping in the park and that we should look them up.  Sandie described their rig, so we planned to locate it once we arrived.  

Low and behold, we backed into our spot and looked directly across the street, to see a rig just as Sandie had described it and a personalized license plate that read "Gin Mic", could it be them?

Sure enough it was and we had a great conversation with them about their six years as hosts at McDowell Mountain Park, including following the fire that threatened to destroy the park many years ago.  What a great couple with lots of wonderful life experiences, it is no doubt to us why Sandie and Jim enjoy their company so much.  We hope to connect with them again on one of our future trips.

Warm and windy here today, a wall of dust is heading up from the south and we are glad that we are back in our sticks and bricks for the week.  

I have been enjoying reading the  blogs of Al and Kelly, Rene and Jeanette, Trent and Teresa, Rick and Paulette, George and Suzie and others as they make their treks toward Canada.  Safe travels to you all and thanks for sharing your adventures with us.  

Thanks to all of you for stopping by, enjoy your week and be safe out there!

Excellence...Really?

We are excited to be heading out this weekend to camp at McDowell Mountain Park for what we hope will be a good amount of exercise along with some rest and relaxation.  

As many of you may remember, I purchased a Thetford 27 gallon portable tank to use for our grey water back in February.  Since purchasing it, I haven't gotten a chance to use it.  I was out getting Iris ready for this weekend and noticed that the rubber strap holding the hose in place had already disintegrated and the hose was hanging out about 2 inches.

Although this is not a big issue and I was able to fix it with a bungee cord that I had from another project (see Tracy, good thing I save these types of things) I just found it odd that in two months, things are already starting to fall apart.  

Broken Already?

Fixed!

I visited the Thetford Website and this appeared on their flash page..."With over 40 years of experience, our family of companies has a global reputation for excellence. Thetford is a name you can trust, and a company you can count on." Hum, don't know that I can contribute to their "global reputation for excellence"...just say'in.

So hopefully nothing else will fall apart before I get my first chance to use this new tank this weekend.  

Thanks for all of the nice Birthday wishes and I really do like my new TV Ears...thanks Tracy.  Hope you are all doing well, thanks for the visit and be safe out there!

A Wonderful Day!

Yesterday was my Birthday and it was sure a great one.  The day started out with notes from my wife wishing me a happy day throughout the house and even in my car.  She even had a balloon waiting for me on the workbench in the garage when I returned home from work. 

I had many great Birthday wishes from family and friends through Facebook along with text messages and Birthday cards.

The day finished with dinner and dessert at Oregano's.  Tracy and I both agreed that we ate way too much, but we managed to eat an entire cookie and ice cream, just couldn't resist.

Yum!

Tracy bought me a new set of TV ears, which is actually a gift for her as much as it is for me.  Let me explain...the older I get, the louder the TV gets and Tracy gets tired of listening to my reality and cop shows. So this enables me to hear everything, while keeping the house perfectly silent for her.  It is a win/win.:-)

Got my ears on!

Thanks for all of your input about my conundrum regarding the name of our blog.  We received everything from it doesn't matter, be happy to add 50+ to the title.  I need to take a closer look at it, but I kind of like the 50+ idea. Thanks again for all of the great responses!

We continue to enjoy this wonderful weather and can't wait to get out camping at McDowell Mountain Regional Park this weekend.  It is supposed to be in the 90's, so we may be giving the AC a workout.  

We hope your week is going well, travel safely and thanks for the visit!

Conundrum!

I hope that you and your families all had a safe and enjoyable Easter weekend.  Based on your blog posts, many of you enjoyed some wonderful Easter meals and probably ate way too much, just like I did. 

Well it’s hard to believe that I started our blog over a year ago after enjoying your blogs for many months.  When I started the blog, I figured I would get it up and running and would probably shut it down after a few months. I have to say that I have enjoyed it so much and have made contact with such great people, that I would find it very hard to stop my blogging activities now.  

Here comes the conundrum…When I named our blog “Adventures of a 50 year old!” I really wasn’t thinking about what would happen when I turned 51.  Well that day arrives tomorrow and I am not sure what to do with the title of our blog, if anything.  

I know that several people have their 29^th Birthday for many years, so maybe I just leave it alone and celebrate 50 for the next few years.  I also thought that 50 could stand for the entire decade, for which Tracy didn’t agree.  So, I need your feedback on what I should do, if anything to address this conundrum.  

Thanks in advance for your ideas and I want to wish many of our Canadian friends God speed and safe travels as they start to make their trek back to Canada over the next few days and weeks.