On Road Again

  Hi Folks, It has been a while with all the changes with cyber-land and our "wander-filled" lives.        We left Lava Hot Springs, Idaho heading to Boise to finish work for friends and neighbors of Sue, John's sister.  Had a great time with Sue, Katy, John, Kai, Mia, Rae, Connie, Marian and all the friends of Boise. Kai and Mia especially, with soccer games...

 and holiday dress up!

  Come October we enjoyed another Halloween holiday at Chris and Missy's caring for Panda, Coco, Pete and Nit-nit. As well as the Mustang convertible and the hot tub!  Found a good restaurant with our friend Willie: the Jade.  They actually grow their own greens in front of the building.
We did make a stop back in Lava before going south. Our friend Dee was opening her own shop, Salon Deone, and we made it in time for the opening. Congrats to Dee!

Heading south with Kathryn along for the ride we headed back to Salt Lake. We got a tour with Kathryn and Milan of the Temple lights in Salt Lake.  Millions of lights on the trees, bushes, and buildings. Amazing to see. The Christmas holidays were spent with John's family  in SLC. We had a wonderful time!!

SLC was getting too cold for us, so it was time to head south. On the way through Nevada we made a quick stop in Mesquite to see Shannon, John's cousin, We made it to Rob's in Palm Springs in time for New Years and spent it in the hot tub. Thanks for the hospitality Rob!!  Had a grand time as we met many new friends and went Two Stepping! And it was WARM!

   Couldn't get that close to and not head up to Joshua Tree National Park, a favorite of ours.  While there had the good fortune to met a young couple Patricio and Natalia from Venezuela. Hiked in to 29 Palms Oasis with them and then they treated us to a traditional Venezuelan veggie dinner (they loved being able to stand up while cooking) and concert with Patricio on the hand pan and Natalia on the uke..AMAZINGLY wonderful sound. Their van is tiny compared to the bus. They travel in a 4 wheel drive mini-van. They left Venezuela (the first time) 5 years ago!! Traveling through South America, Central America, western US to British Columbia and back again.  We left them in Yucca Valley as they were heading to LA to see a hand pan maker and then on to Mexico City in hopes of flying to Spain.

  Made it through Phoenix to say hello Fran and Sam, Steve and Heidi and family and meet Fred, Bern's lucky guy.

  Picked up apart time job in Mescal, AZ doing handyman jobs on a ranch. A guy had bought a run down property and is in the process of rebuilding it.  It was the location of World University. Dr. Zitko was the founder and built many of the properties numerous buildings, all of which were in serious disrepair.  We did a lot of roofing before the dramatics of the people became overwhelming.

 

  So we returned to Anna's to repair her leaking roof, and in time for Rex Fowler's (of Aztec Two Step - remember them from Maine way back when?) house concert and viewing of his documentary "Two Hundred Cadillac s."  It is about Elvis and his generous gifts of cars, mostly Cadillac's, to friends and unknown people.  Rex, along with Anna's quartet, played and sang a number of Elvis tunes afterwards.  A really great time and thank you Anna for the hospitality, and Rex for a CD of Aztec Two Step. Another side trip while in Tucson was to Tangue Verde Falls. It is in the Saguaro National Forest. Absolutely beautiful with the big saguaro's everywhere, and many waterfalls along the river. Warm sunny days - heaven!

  As chance would have it, Dave and Alice, friends from Lava Hot Springs were staying in Tucson. They wanted to see Bisbee, AZ., so off we went to show them the funky town. Had fun touring town and tasting the culinary delights Bisbee has to offer.  Thanks to them for the camp site at Queen Mine RV right in town.  Bisbee lives up to it weirdness and wonderfulness.  Found "Whyld Ass Coffee Shop."  An organic, vegan cafe owned by a couple of super guys.  Luckily we made it on Sunday, as it was their last day in Bisbee before moving to Flagstaff to start a new and expanded restaurant! Good Luck to Keith and Ryan!!

 We are now at a campground just outside of Bisbee, heading off tomorrow for Faywood Hot Springs, New Mexico. Then on to Silver City to visit with Susan, my old office mate from Maine, and her husband Mark. Then it's back to Tucson, Maricopa, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Mesquite, Salt Lake, and Lava Hot Springs for the summer!

Til next time, our friends,
Scott and Johnney