Coffee & Quilts

If it's Tuesday, then it must be coffee and donuts day at the park.  Sometimes we have RV vendors, insurance salesmen, SKYMED or some other group sponsor the donuts, but lately it's mostly been the park supplying the donuts.  I like it that way best since I don't have to listen to sales pitches.

We also have a lucky buck drawing and split the pot between two lucky winners.  We won once a few years ago, but have been contributing to other people's fortunes since then.  Today was no exception, we didn't win anything.  

The ladies at the park use the hall for their quilting group after the coffee group departs.  They work on various projects like Project Linus blankets for children in the hospital and also for their own interests.  Gerry is working on her first personal quilt and also Linus blankets, so it keeps her busy.  

Once a year the ladies put 6-7 quilts up for a raffle in order to earn money to purchase needed supplies.  They have gotten great response to the raffles and collect enough money to keep them going for the next year.  These are some of the quilts in the raffle this year and Gerry had her eye on the yellow, blue and orange quilt.  Once again, she didn't have the winning ticket.  They actually had 5 quilts, a prayer shawl and two aprons, plus 18 crocheted pot holders/dish cloths in the raffle.  26 prizes and not one winning ticket.  Oh well, it goes for a good cause.

Quilt made from hand drawn pattern.

 The group enjoying the coffee and donuts.  You have to get there early in order to grab an apple fritter, so we settled for cinnamon rolls.

The ladies quilting group photo.  Getting them to pose for the photo was like herding cats.  This was the best shot I could get of the group.  Gerry is the tallest lady and they put her in the back row on the left.

Steve couldn't wait to try on his new apron and was quite pleased it had tools and such on it.  He sure was one happy guy.
 

It was another beautiful day here in Tucson with nice warm weather and a slight breeze to keep it comfortable.  Gerry and I sat outside for a "happy hour" drink and hated to go back inside and have dinner.  She had prepared a pork roast in the slow cooker yesterday and we heated it up for dinner.  Superb!

That was our day, how was yours?

Still here, but nothing going on.

Not much interesting happening around here the past few days.  We did go out to dinner at Rancho Rustico which is a local Mexican restaurant Sunday.  Our neighbors Frank & Jan were dining there also with their son and daughter-in-law.  It seems that a number of park members frequent the restaurant since every time we go there, we run into someone from here.  We had a nice meal and called it a night.

We arrived home after one of our favorite t.v. programs, "The Amazing Race", had started.   We were able to fill in some of the blanks of what had happened and enjoyed watching the balance of the show.  We haven't decided on favorites yet, so were not emotional about the couple who had been eliminated.  It is always interesting watching where their travels take them.

The weather has continued to be great except for some high winds on Saturday.  That is typical for Tucson in the spring time and we are used to it.  Just tie everything down and hold on.

We took advantage of the slow time around here and rearranged some cabinets in the motorhome.  It seems that we are always stuffing things into spaces that are too small and it was time to throw out some things we no longer needed.  I also worked on making more space in the outside bins and that worked out very well.  

We have been discussing our travel plans for the summer and haven't firmed up anything yet.  We do know we will be back at the cabin by the first of August, but it's what we do between now and then that is up in the air.  Some events out of our control may dictate we stay out west a little longer than usual.  Nothing serious, but things that have to be taken care of.

We gave some Christmas Cactus cuttings to our son Larry a couple years ago and he has nursed the plant along.  It decided to blossom this week and we received a picture today.  Always nice to see the plant children grow up.

That is our exciting story, what is yours?

Geocaching

Warning for those not interested in geocaching you can stop reading here.

First, what is geocaching?  The following is taken from www.geocaching.com.

Geocaching 101

Welcome to the geocaching community! If you still have questions after reviewing this information, we recommend that you search our Help Center or ask a question in the geocaching Forums.

The Game

What is geocaching?

Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.

How is the game played?

At its simplest level, geocaching requires these 8 steps:

1. Register for a free Basic Membership.
2. Visit the "Hide & Seek a Cache" page.
3. Enter your postal code and click "search."
4. Choose any geocache from the list and click on its name.
5. Enter the coordinates of the geocache into your GPS Device.
6. Use your GPS device to assist you in finding the hidden geocache.
7. Sign the logbook and return the geocache to its original location.
8. Share your geocaching stories and photos online.

There are many other levels to the game. Keep reading the guide to learn more!

What are the rules of geocaching?

1. If you take something from the geocache (or "cache"), leave something of equal or greater value.
2. Write about your find in the cache logbook.
3. Log your experience at www.geocaching.com.

What do I need to go geocaching?

The only necessities are a GPS device or a GPS-enabled mobile phone so that you can navigate to the cache, and a Geocaching.com Membership.

Where are geocaches located?

Geocaches can be found all over the world. It is common for geocachers to hide caches in locations that are important to them, reflecting a special interest or skill of the cache owner. These locations can be quite diverse. They may be at your local park, at the end of a long hike, underwater or on the side of a city street.

Are there different types of geocaches?

Yes. There are currently over a dozen "cache types" in geocaching, with each cache type being a different variation of the game. See the full list of Geocache Types.

  
I have been picking up a geocache here and there lately and have skipped the ones nearest to the RV park.  Today Gerry and I got a late start looking for the caches and since there was a very bad wreck on Kolb Ave, the diverted traffic overwhelmed the road we were on.  Then there was an accident in the merge lane of our road and that made it even more difficult to get around.

The nice thing about geocaching is that there are many out there and I just switched to another area to search for them.  The first cache was in the desert about 200 yards away.  I set off looking for it and found the cache quickly and signed the log.  The next cache nearby was very difficult to get to and I approached it from the wrong side of the highway and it was at the end of a difficult climb.  I decided I didn't have any business searching for this one and called it a DNF.  (Did Not Find).

By this time the traffic was becoming impossible so we had to drive further out.  We managed to find a cache where we dropped off a travel bug and then found another cache behind a small cemetery.  The next caches were quite a way off the highway and the path was through some tough cacti.  We decided to save them for another day and I tried to talk Gerry into stopping for Happy Hour at a local water hole, but she held firm and we came back to the motorhome.

We didn't find that many caches, but I walked more looking for them than I have in the past couple years.  Slowly, my walks last longer and hopefully the healing in the knee will continue.  

That was our exciting day, how was yours.

Hello from our Christmas Cactus

Gerry has two Christmas Cactus that have grown too large to take with us in the motorhome so we have put them in a foster home.  Actually, we left them with our daughter Barbara to care for since she loves flowers so much.  I hope she is able to relinquish them when we get back to North Carolina this summer.

She sent Gerry an email this morning with a letter from Gerry's cactus flower.  

 Hi Mom, I was so busy at Christmastime to send you a Christmas bloom message. They're taking such good care of me that I was so busy with the festivities!  But now on this Ash Wednesday, were both reflecting & it's a wonderful day to send a blooming message!  My sibling is a bit shy and a bit of a later bloomer but sends best regards as well. We hope our cheery message puts a smile on your face today!
Love your favorite cactus!  ( not to be confused with all the granddaddies out there).  Oh by the way ... Our foster Mom says hi, too!🌵🌺

This is what my younger sibling looks like in all her glory.

 

Thanks Barbara for taking such good care of the Christmas Cacti.

This is my 900th posting and I am happy that it is such a bright and cheerful one.  It's hard to believe that I have written this many over the past 3-4 years.  Time sure does fly by when you are having fun.

 

The Center Of The World - Felicity, CA

We passed by the center of the world on our trip back from California.  About 8 miles west on I-8 is an unincorporated town that bills itself as the Center of the World.  Since there are only three people there, it isn't that well known.  

The following website describes the town and it's founder very well.  Check it out for all the information.

Church on the Hill <======  Dbl click here.

The All American Canal runs from Yuma west and at the point below it is about 1/4 mile from the Mexican/US border.  The border fence is clearly visible from I-8.

Wikipedia Source
The All-American Canal is an 80-mile  long aqueduct, located in southeastern California. It conveys water from the Colorado River into the Imperial Valley and to nine cities. It is the Imperial Valley's only water source, and replaced the Alamo Canal, which was located mostly in Mexico. The Imperial Dam about 30 miles northeast of Yuma, AZ on the Colorado River, diverts water into the All-American Canal, which runs to just west of Calexico, CA before its last branch heads mostly north into the Imperial Valley. Five smaller canals branching off the All American Canal move water into the Imperial Valley. These canal systems irrigate up to 630,000 acres  of good crop land and have made possible a greatly increased crop yield in this area, originally one of the driest on earth. It is the largest irrigation canal in the world, carrying a maximum of 26,155 cubic feet per second .  Agricultural runoff from the All American Canal drains into the Salton Sea.

The All American Canal runs parallel to the Mexico California border for several miles. With over 500 people having drowned in the canal since 1997, it has been called "the Most Dangerous Body of Water in the U.S."

The large Imperial Dunes are very popular with the ATV crowd and there are usually a large number of RVs parked there with all the toys they bring along.  It is quite a large area with a lot of space to run the ATVs on.  Looks like a lot of fun.

The border fence shows up as the dark shaded area in the lower half of the picture below.  It sure is close to the interstate highway and freedom for those who illegally cross over the border.

We breezed by this area on our way back and didn't have time to stop and check it out further.  Previously we spent a few days in Yuma a couple times and did the sightseeing thing.  It is an interesting town and overrun with snowbirds in the winter, especially with Canadians trying to escape their harsh winter.

Now that you know where the center of the world is, are you going to visit it?