January Adventures with Judy & Larry Mann

Our fun with cousin Judy and Larry continued for three and a half weeks....when they left Quartzsite at 9:30 in the morning on Wednesday, January 20, we took a nap!!!! Below are pictures and web sites showing how we entertained them and how they entertained us.  As always, if you double click on the picture, you will see a larger image.

We went to the Desert Bar and

Blue Water Casino.....I'm almost positive that with all our stops at Casinos from Las Vegas to the California desert, Judy and Larry came out ahead.....they were very lucky on the slot machines. Tony tried taking videos but was reprimanded by a Casino employee. We did manage to get some video and a picture.

We took the ATVs out to friends (Dan and Jeanne and Linda and Mike) for a BBQ. After much trial and error, Judy was successful in getting a picture of a humming bird. Unfortunately, the road runner we saw was too fast for us to get his picture.

Judy and Larry spent one afternoon in our motorhome watching the cattle sale at Platte Valley Livestock in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. We had two video cameras set up to record the sale and had fun watching Judy and Larry's expressions and note taking. Three phone calls from Larry to the sale barn in Scottsbluff insured that the video stream worked better throughout the sale.

They had a vested interest in this sale....we assume the sale was good for them because they took us out to dinner afterward at Tony's favorite Quartzsite restaurant ~ the Grubstake, where you can get fish and chips very similar to how Tony remembers them in UK. We think it is one of Larry's favorites now also.

Going to the vendors in Quartzsite was always entertaining. Most retired RVers have dogs ~ some in baby strollers, some small, some large ~ most are regulation size according to Tony ~ 18 inches long, 12 inches high, 8 inches wide ~ these two poodles are wearing sun glasses and visors. Interesting vendor was the flag store.

Going to Blythe, California, became a favorite of Larry's. He was told about a grocery store there that sold chicken feet....that wasn't all they sold...pig's feet and cow lips were a couple other items that were disgusting to us. Larry bought chicken feet for $2.00 and said he had $10.00 worth of fun with them.

Judy shown eating the chicken feet. Tony wouldn't even try them, and Mary had nightmares about them that night. See the video here to view the entertainment. A private joke quote from Larry ~ "they even make good sammiches"!!!

A couple of evenings were spent around the fire at Butch and Mary's....one time a spaghetti dinner was included (Mary's specialty). Judy left early and came back out in her Nebraska Husker PJs.

One evening we went to the Quartzsite Yacht Club and then back again to see the "Hot Country" group.

Another day was spent in the fields around Blythe, California, and to see the Sandhill Cranes at the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge. Larry (white western hat guy) walked all the way out to the field workers to talk with them. See Tony's video of this event. Larry came back with three free heads of lettuce ~ the lettuce is cut and packaged (complete with bar code) on the site. Then lettuce heads are taken to be refrigerated before sending directly to grocery stores. We found the fresh lettuces lasts a lot longer than those we buy in the grocery stores.

Picture is of Judy in the fields (shows the neat rows). Another trip to fields down near Yuma yielded a sack of leaf lettuce....but before we could go out in the field, we had to put on "helmets" according to the supervisor. "Helmets" ended up being hair nets.

A trip to the Quartzsite infamous book store resulted in some pictures (one of them cropped)(Judy, Paul, Sharon). Tony didn't even get out of the car. Larry wanted to take the book store owner (Paul) over to the car to meet him but decided against it.

This is a sign outside the book store.

Another humorous sign outside the book store advertising for the main street laundromat.

All four of us took a trip to the Yuma vendors....Judy and Larry covered most of the entire 40 acre area (1000 vendors)....and after four and one-half hours, came back to the car where Tony and I had been able to catch a nap. Next we went to the Imperial Sand Dunes in California, a short side trip to what will be our next camp site in California on Ogilby Road in the California desert. And also a side trip to the Quechan casino and Felicity, the official center of the World.

A trip to Algodones, Mexico was a day full of entertainment. Tony, Judy, and Larry got their shoes polished. Unfortunately Larry's shoes were suede boots ~ they never looked the same after that event! We went to the dentist office and the eye doctor ~ they were in the same small building about ten feet wide and 40 feet deep. We were there on a Mexican holiday ~ January 6th ~ so we were invited to have free bread (made in the shape of a wreath) a couple of times during the day.

This picture shows Larry in a Walmart parking lot in Parker on another excursion ~ Larry is taking off his "suede turned leather" boots to cool off his feet.

While getting the shoes shined in Mexico (right next to the police station) we had a little fun with the local policeman.

He was willing to pretend to arrest Larry for our photo session while Larry's boots were being "shined".

Sharon and Judy with the local policeman during Judy's shoe shine.

We went to the "Chewing Gum Museum" in Quartzsite. None of us knew that this many types of gum even existed.

A little humor at the campsite with Tony's parking sign "Parking for English Only ~ all others will be towed".

This picture caught at the Parker casino parking lot.....sure looked as if this person had traveled a lot of miles in this "cadillac".









 Another weird vehicle seen at the Quartzsite vendors

One of the many motor home sales lots has a free breakfast every morning....all four of us went a few times....and did manage to walk through many of the new RVs there....luckily, so far, Tony hasn't convinced me we need a new motor home, although Larry was certainly trying to help him find one. The picture is of the front of an Allegro motor home used as a reception desk at the "free" breakfast.

We went to about five geocaches while Judy and Larry were here. This is a picture of Tony's first lesson to Judy about handheld GPSs before starting to look for the first geocache. An ATV ride to the Quartzsite golf course was an experience for them....since there is not a blade of grass anywhere on the course.

Cousin Janice and Archie arrived at the Desert Palms RV Park in Salome, Arizona, about the middle of January. All four of us went to visit them for an afternoon and an evening meal cooked by Janice. Picture is of Janice, Judy, and Sharon.

The 27th annual RV Show in the 69,000 square foot big tent full of over 450 vendors opened January 16th. We went there many times. When Janice and Archie came to Quartzsite, Tony and Larry took them to the tent on the ATVs and then came back after Judy and I. Larry and Judy took all six of us to the Grubstake for one last fish and chips meal for him before he left for home. We had a great evening. Janice and Archie headed back and we spent the rest of their last evening in our motor home with Butch and Mary. One of the new things we saw this year was the "Cooldownz"....clever idea. Another is the non-slip mat for GPS, cell phones, etc. And...of course, a better pop can lid than the last one I bought down here!!

Earlier in the week, Larry made so much fun of Butch's brightly colored T-shirt. The next thing he knew, he had one laying on his camper steps. Larry modeled the shirt the next day, but we labelled it "unapproved".

Unfortunately toward the end of Judy and Larry's stay at Quartzsite, their pick-up quit working. Tony towed it back from the local grocery store. It took three days for the very minor repair so they could get on their way home.

While waiting for the pickup repair, we made one more side trip to Parker to the Blue Water Casino, and a non-scenic drive through "Wyatt" Earp, California and Lost Lake Resort before ending up in Blythe to check on the status of the pickup.

This doesn't nearly cover the laughs we had with Judy and Larry....but hopefully I hit all the high spots.

Yesterday was Tony's birthday and he had a lot of attention throughout the day.....emails from many, a skype call, other phone calls, several people over for ice cream and cake, and a few more later in the evening for more ice cream and cake. He really appreciated all the attention. THANKS to everyone. Now, a day later it is raining like crazy and no chance of letting up. This may be our best chance to see a flash flood, but not really wanting to get out in all the rain.

Stay tuned for another episode as we continue the 2010 travel blog.