Fun in the Sun with Ray's Strays

We have been so busy having fun I haven't had time to post much.... but let me see if I can do this as briefly as I can and still tell you everything. First of all, here we are parked in the desert.

Here are members of our group....

This is Mike and Sherri and their new puppy Jackson. Jackson is pure pup and Sydney will have nothing to do with him.... too much energy for the old boy.

This is Ray and Millie, originally from Massachusetts but full timers now.

And these are the newbies for this year Rick and Joann. This is their first time in Quartzsite.
We had another couple that we had met in Orlando, Shari and Joe join us for a few days but they ended up buying a new RV and leaving for California before I got their photo.

Some of the activities we've done so far are....
 Harassing the dealers... where we look at all the RV's for sale. We found a modified bus for our friends Wendy and John. The sign says the owners will trade for a house... now that's a deal. The bus, when new, was probably worth 3/4 to a million dollars.

We visited all the Flea Markets, Swap Meets and the Gem and Mineral Shows. There are at least 10 different areas filled with vendors.

The RV show started Saturday and we have been in the big tent twice and plan on returning this coming Saturday (the day before it ends) to check out price reductions. There is everything and anything you may want for your RV.

We went to Silly Al's for pizza.... a tradition for us.

And of course..... 4 wheeling. Here we are off roading enjoying the desert.

Here is John taking this picture... he climbed up on some rocks and got a pant leg full of cactus needles for his trouble.

Some of the desert road we drove....  you can't see the dipsy doodles but believe me they are there

Stop for a potty break.

You can't help but want to go and enjoy the day when it starts like this every day!

I forgot to explain..... all over the area, groups gather annually. They erect signs and symbols to let other members know where they are. We decided this year that we needed a "Title" for our little rag tag group........ Ray's Strays is winning so far. Any other ideas?

Trip to the Q

Just a short note about our trip to Quartzsite AZ.... On Thursday we got ready to leave Medina Lake Texas, which means we put breakables away, secured others, washed the front windows and various other tasks we routinely perform. Friday morning we put in the slides, pulled up the jacks and moved to a level open space to hook up the jeep. After checking lights and tow bar extension, I entered the RV and to my surprise, imprinted on the front window was the outline of a bird. I asked John if he heard one hit the windshield when he moved the RV, but he said no. We decided that our trip would be guarded by the Holy Ghost. All the way to Arizona we did not wash the window. What do you think..... would you have washed it away?

Well it worked! As we were traveling down the road I remembered that I didn't check to make sure the steps retracted all the way. Not thinking, I opened the door window and stuck my head out to look. Say goodbye to my glasses.... blew right off my face. I yelled and John pulled over to the side of the road. Now a 39 foot motor home does not stop on a dime... so there was quite a distance from where the glasses went flying and where we stopped. We walked back and found them unharmed on the shoulder of the road. We made it to Quartzsite in 3 days with no other problems.

Rude Lunch Guest

Our first week and a half  at Medina Lake was quite cool but the following weeks warmed up to a comfortable 68 to 72 degrees during the day. One afternoon I decided to have my lunch outside. I wanted to get my ration of sunshine for the day. John had a late & LARGE breakfast so he didn't want lunch. I made myself a wonderful salad and sat in a chair outside. Before I had the opportunity to eat more than 3 bites...... uninvited company arrived. The lady was interested in checking out my lunch.

I was polite and willing to tolerate her curiosity, but when she decided to invite herself to partake of some of it...  I put my foot down.... "No, I said"...."Go away"

Lo and behold... I couldn't believe what she did. Talk about being a rude guest....

SHE STUCK HER TONGUE OUT AT ME

I bet she doesn't get invited to many affairs around here.

Last day at the preserve..... tomorrow we're off to Quartzsite. We figure it will take 3 to 4 days to get there, depending on how quickly John gets tired and how the coach does with the Tums we fed it.

Happy New Year !!

We welcomed 2012 in at the activity center here at Medina Lake, Texas. There were about a hundred people.... all ages. The youngest was a 14 day old baby.... the oldest .... probably wouldn't tell you.
The band was different from last year and they performed a lot of songs they wrote.... which nobody knew. But we danced and toasted the new year with Melba and Lonnie from Washington State. Wine and cheese, good company, music and black-eyed beans and cornbread at midnight.... who would ask for more.
To all our friends and family, we wish you health, happiness and safety in the new year 2012.

A Medina Christmas

Once again we find ourselves at Medina Lake in the hill country of Texas at Christmas time. We will be here until the 6th of January when we head for Quartzsite Arizona to reunite with friends we have met along the way over the past 3 years.
But first let me tell you about our journey here. Our plans were to spend 5 nights on the road at various Wal Marts between Texas and Florida. We left Wachula (South Central Florida) and made it to Perry ( North West Florida) before John was ready to stop driving. The second day we got as far as Crestview Fl, when John needed to stop. He said that there was a vibration in the coach that he felt when accelerating up hill. I felt a slight vibration and thought it was a wheel out of balance or low tire. John believed it was a problem with the motor....so.....we made some phone calls and found a place in Gulfport Mississippi that was willing to see us as soon as we arrived the next day. They ran a complete diagnostic test on the motor (things are all done via computer these days) and it showed no problems with the motor, so they checked the tie rods (what ever they are) and also found nothing. John asked them to change the air cleaner and gas filter as he still believed the problem to be with the motor. They had to order the air cleaner and had it over-nighted so they could install it the next day. There was a WalMart less than a mile away.... lucky us. 2 parts, 4 hours of climbing all over the coach and $501.00 later, we were back on the road by 2PM. John declared things were better, so we hoped to get back on schedule. The fourth day and about 200 miles later the vibration reappeared, but not as bad, so we made it to Hammond Louisiana. We over- nighted at a rest area in Texas our last night and arrived at Medina safe and sound. Since we have been here John has presented his problem to several RV "experts" staying in the park. We have put an additive in the gas tank in hopes that it is "bad gas" (Tums for the RV). John still wants to find a Cummins Repair shop on our way to Arizona and have it checked again.
Meanwhile.... here at Medina.... not much has changed. See. ...

It is much colder here than in Florida. We had to break out the sweatshirts and sweaters. The highs are in the 50's during the day and low 40's at night.
One of the first things we did was go 100 miles south to see our friends Millie and Ray, who are working at an oil field outside Kennedy Texas. They guard the gate, keeping track of who comes and who goes. We spent the afternoon with them and had a delicious corn beef dinner before returning to the park. They look good....

While we were visiting with Millie, John asked if she would cut his hair... but he still wants a pony tail. She is willing to work with it when we get to Quartzsite. My hope is that the scissors slip and it goes away. Here is a picture John took of himself in the bathroom mirror with his long hair.

I have decorated the house for Christmas. We had to buy a Christmas tree as my pine cone tree got squished when we repacked items from the old coach to the new. Here is one that will stay with us for a few years...

While in Orlando, Sue taught me to make these neat snow flakes.... so I hung 3 in the front window and 2 outside on the mirrors. I put sparkly things on them, but you can't see them in the photo.

The stockings are hung by the fireplace and Sydney is waiting for Santa to come.

John and I, as well as Sydney wish all our family and friends a very Merry Christmas and a safe and healthy New Year.

Peace River...Wauchula

Before I forget again, I must tell you about John's recent purchase. While in Orlando, I told you about the Monday Flea Market journeys we made to Webster. Well, I forgot to tell you about John's purchase..... a carrier. Yes, a carrier for a scooter, motorbike or cycle. The fact that we don't have one with us did not deter his determination to acquire it. "What if we find exactly what I want.... I wouldn't have a way to get it home!" So from here on in we are sporting a carrier on the back of the jeep. Here it is off the jeep because he had to paint it while we were here. I had to help him lift it to put it back on the Jeep and it weighs a ton.

Okay, now that I have that off  my chest.....  on to the Peaceful River. This is the first time in this area for us, and we both really like it. I should have booked more time here.... if I had only known. Here is a picture of the peaceful Peace River that flows right through the resort.

There are a few signs however that could give you pause before heading down the nature trail..... but they didn't deter me and Syd on our morning walks.

We saw turtles, cranes, herons, turkey buzzards but no alligators or snakes. We met such nice people here.... Irma, Bill, Patty, Dennis who stay here all winter. We saw Steve and Betty Ball again, they followed us from Orlando. Not really.... they stopped here on their way to spend the winter in the keys.
John and I visited Solomon's Castle a short distance toward the coast. Harold Solomon is an artist that bought a piece of property and built a "castle" from things thrown out by others. He recycles junk into art and part of his castle is a studio showing his pieces. He also built a "Noah's Ark" type boat in the moat around his castle. The boat is a restaurant. Mr Solomon was in his studio when we visited and we had a nice talk. Here are some castle and boat pictures.

Florida is the winter home of more than just snow/ sun birds. The Lippizon Stallions train nearby and the public is asked to come to the trainings to provide "real life" conditions for the horses. So today we sat and clapped and hollered for 2 hours watching these big beautiful horses perform. We were able to go into the barns and pet them. We also roamed the farm and saw the females used for breeding. What a neat thing.

They are born brown or black and don't turn completely white until they are 7 years old. The more dark colors... the younger they are. They are so powerfully built and they are all stallions. There were a few times when 2 of them were ready to go at each other. The handlers.... all females, by the way..... work very hard at maintaining decorum between the horses during the performances.

As powerful and head strong as they are, they are well trained. Here are the next generation of Herrmanns.... owners/operators of the stallion business. They are 2 and 3 years old.

I hope we plan another visit here as there is much more to see.... but we are due in Texas in a few days, so tomorrow we hit the road again.

Orlando...again

For some reason, John is taking us to many of the places that we have already visited. We were here at the Orlando Thousand Trails last year and here we are again. John says that he doesn't like the "big city" atmosphere since we are so close to Orlando, but technically we are closer to Kissimme and Clermont than we are to Orlando. There are orange groves less than a mile away, but we hear the Disney fireworks every night being only a few miles from Magic Kingdom. The sand hill cranes are still here but not as abundant and noisy as last year. We had a gopher turtle home near us so I fed it lettuce every day. My neighbor Sue and I called him Tommy.

We traveled 40 to 50 miles every Monday, so John could peruse the Webster Flea and Farm market. This place is huge and you could buy just about anything. Look at the colors of these birds one of the vendors was selling. They were beautiful.

There is even entertainment. This guy played the blues very well. We listened while munching on hot dogs.

Last year my sister Patty and her husband Pete bought a double wide trailer in a park in DeBary, which is north of Orlando. We traveled the 60 miles from where we were to see them. We got a guided tour of their winter digs and area. We ran across an art festival in DeLand (a near by town) and enjoyed looking at the wares of the juried artist. On Thanksgiving day we traveled back to have our meal with them and some other friends. John got to do his delayed picture taking again.

Here is Pete, Patty, me, John, Pam, Donna and Sam. The food was great and the company exceptional.

We had some good neighbors while in the park. On one side was Sue and Mel Thomason from Washington State. Sue is a retired nurse, like me, and we spent several days crafting together. They are traveling with 2 dogs and 2 cats.  On the other side was Steve and Betty Ball from Virginia. Steve and John found several small projects to do together. Betty is a quilter.

John and I went to Downtown Disney with Patty and Pete to see some of the Christmas decor. Here is the lobby of the Grand Floridian. The tree was almost 3 stories high.

This is a ginger bread house made out of real ginger bread. They used over 800 pounds of flour.... Patty and I ate some of it.... not very tasty. I think they were going for stability instead of taste.

We saw some awesome things in Downtown Disney. One of them was this statue made completely from Lego's. There were many great ones but this one caught my eye. It stood well over 12 feet high and 12 feet wide. Every inch is Lego's... how they got the fire to stay like that I'll never know.

We leave Pa in the winter to get away from the snow and cold , right? What do we do? Go to Florida and participate in the City of Celebration's Christmas Tree lighting and First Snowfall of the season. Yes, I said snowfall. It snows at 6, 7, 8, and 9PM every night in Celebration until January.

See.....

They had ice skating, and roaming carolers also.

Even though we had been in this area before , we found lots to do and enjoyed ourselves. Next we are going further south to another Thousand Trails situated next to the Peace River in Wauchula.