Desert Rats

We were hungry for lazy, warm sunny days with nothing to do but just enjoy and the desert beckoned. On our way down to Quartzsite, we stopped for one night at Laughlin where Fernie has his favorite poker table at the Edgewater. He didn't break the bank but he made enough to treat me to a movie; no dinner, because I'm dieting (what's new?).


Avatar 3D was playing so we donned the funky glasses and settled in for the experience. Ewwwww! My first feeling was nausea as those huge blue creatures caroused in my personal space. I had to remove my glasses a few times before I became comfortable and familiar with my senses being so spectacularly overwhelmed. When it was all over, I felt exhausted from the experience but a bit disappointed that, though the technology was so amazing, I didn't really connect with the story other than to see the analogy to our own decimation of the rain forests. I certainly wouldn't give it a best picture award but maybe best art/set decoration and cinematography especially when I compare it to Precious which moved me beyond my usual emotional response.

It started to rain that night in Laughlin, a rare occurence and it was extremely annoying. We wanted sunshine! We certainly didn't expect it to continue and our drive down to Quartzsite the next day was sunny again and mild. But the storms in Southern California had to go somewhere and so from our desert perch in Quartzsite, we watched as the black clouds encroached over the mountains and the temperature dipped. But we knew it would pass quickly expecting that by the following day, we'd be back to sunshine. It was not to be this time.


More and more ominous clouds rolled heavily over the skies and the rains let loose in torrents. The second night, the winds blew in; monsoon-like rain and hurricane force winds with the threat of tornadoes. Eeeeek! We stayed inside watching the desert flood, the waters gush down the washes and wind-driven sheets of water shoot across the barren land. Amazingly, we didn't even have to put our slides in being parked in just the right direction and also protected by the RV's around us. We were in a circle of 'wagons' much like the early pioneers and it worked to our advantage. Next morning though, we noticed some other motorhomes didn't fare as well with awnings over their slides ripped and hanging.


Quartzsite's peak is in January when the big RV show is on. Thousands and thousands of grey-haired RVers roll in filling the RV parks and turning the open desert into a temporary city of squatters. The roads can't handle the sudden influx and grid-lock ensues. It's always fun to browse around the myriad of tents and swap meets, that sell everything you could imagine but particularly rocks and gems. Once the weather went back to normal – and it did return to lovely warm sunshine – Fernie and I and our trusty little CRV drove out deep into the desert along rutted trails on a hunt for distant geocaches. We couldn't hear the hum of the traffic on the freeway or see the horde of people. We were all alone and it was so peaceful and serene.


Our hankering for a dog in our life is getting stronger and we envy all those we see walking and playing with their pooches. We started to look online for westie breeders in Arizona even emailing a few and when our friends P&C told us they'd babysit if we went to Europe in the fall, we got even more serious about the hunt. It has to be just right though. We won't buy from pet shops who usually get their dogs from puppy mills; we don't want an older dog – but one about 7 or 8 weeks old; we want to deal with a breeder who has taken care to ensure strong and healthy breeding; and it has to be a westie; and we'd really like to get one on our way home in late March. I don't think it will work out and we'll probably not get one until next year but oh how we yearn.


Yuma is only a couple of hours drive south from Quartzsite but it's so much warmer especially overnight. Our friends, P&C saved us a space at the Cocopah Casino. We miss the open desert but it's the best we can do while in Yuma. We'll be here for a couple of weeks before moving on to Phoenix. Geocaching, swapmeets, lunches with friends, a visit with Fernie's cousin, a walk over the border to Algodones, Mexico and just lazy days in the sunshine.

Tracey's met her Mr. Wright

In the middle of all of this fuss about my health, we checked into the Orleans Hotel Casino in Las Vegas for three nights and picked up Tracey and Harold who flew in on Thursday night, January 14th and had a room right across the hall from us. This was going to be so much fun! I think I was more excited than the bride and groom.

It's such an easy matter getting hitched in 'Vegas'. Friday morning, January 15th, we went downtown to the marriage license bureau and before Fernie and I finished parking the car, they came out waving their license to wed.


As they descended the stairs from the government office, a horde of people who'd been lingering outside converged on them like paparazzi.
“Free limo waiting if you get married at our chapel – we can go there right now” they yelled as they thrust pamphlets in their faces. A long black limo even chased us down the street. But no, it was all arranged - the wedding was to take place at 4:30 that afternoon at 'The Little White Wedding Chapel', a venue where Britney Spears, Frank Sinatra & Mia Farrow, Joan Collins and many more of the rich and famous took their vows.




L&J joined us and a long white limo picked us up from our hotel. There was a bit of consternation when he was late but he'd got stuck in the Friday afternoon rush hour traffic. We shimmied down inside the long tube of a car, kicking ourselves for not bringing champagne when we saw the glittering bar with pink and aqua revolving lights, set with champagne flutes. I wondered if Tracey and Harold were getting nervous and took a few peeks to check them out as they sat back in the rear seat but they looked as cool as could be.


We finally arrived at the chapel and giggled at the 'tunnel of love' and the myriad of photo-perfect spots tucked around the patio and gardens. There were several other weddings happening inside and one group of Hispanics were waiting for a groom who'd gone missing and the bride was hiding out somewhere probably scared that he'd run off. He turned up later on when we were leaving and the grim expressions were immediately erased from their faces and the relieved bride in full white regalia almost ran down the street to the chapel. Several other young couples dropped in while we waited to check out 'how much' a wedding would be.



The couple ahead of us were renewing their vows ten years after – the woman decked out in solid black. There was an ATM machine conveniently placed in the front office and it obviously only spat out twenties. It was well used when the 'grooms' realized that everyone – and I mean everyone – had their hands out.


Tracey and Harold were taken in hand, their paperwork checked and completed, a white boutonierre was placed in the lapel of Harold's suit and a lovely little white rose corsage given to Tracey. Fernie was called over to sign as witness and we were ushered into the teeny little chapel. There were three rows of red velvet lined pews holding no more than six in each row.


A dear little old lady sat at the organ in the back and asked what kind of music they'd prefer “country? traditional?......”. They looked perplexed but chose traditional.


Fernie and I sat on one side and L&J on the other – and the ceremony began. It was so extremely cute and surprisingly touching. Before we knew it, wedding bands were exchanged, promises were made, they were pronounced husband and wife and a kiss sealed the deal. With that, the photographer who'd snapped proliferately throughout the ceremony told us to follow him into the other room for more photos. Then there were photos outside under the arch, in a grotto and in the Tunnel of Love.



Before he was done, the photographer made sure to tell them that the organist had done a mighty fine job and a monetary token would be appreciated. When Harold crossed her palm with gold, the organist made sure to suggest that the photographer was so good that they would certainly want to reward him too. They had been told of the pastor's fee in advance and what would be an acceptable tip for the chauffeur.


That was it .... it was all over. So easy, so stress-free. And we all piled back into the limo which took us back to our hotel where we'd left a couple of bottles of champagne chilling on ice. It didn't take us long to polish them off and we all went out for a scrumptious dinner at the Cortez Room at the Goldcoast. Afterwards, the newlyweds continued to party it up long after we headed off to bed, staying out until the early morning hours.


The rest of the weekend passed in a blur of food, cocktails, gambling and entertainment being oh so lucky to obtain 60% off tickets to Bette Midler at Caesar's Forum. Can you believer $45 tickets? That tiny performer can still command the monstrous stage with her huge personality. It was a wonderful weekend!

My Blood is Boiling

We'd only been home three weeks from our Australian sojourn but were eager to head south once Christmas was over. This year, the weather cooperated with mild, showery days; no snow, nor wind, nor ice to contend with. We were so excited to get back into Maggie and hit the road but there was a special event we were rushing down to in Las Vegas – our daughter, Tracey was getting married.

We soared down Interstate 5 stopping at our usual haunts. It's a routine now; first night Chehalis, Washington, then Seven Feathers Casino in Southern Oregon, Rolling Hills Casino in Corning, California but then we added a new stop – Harris Ranch just off the freeway in southern California.


It's a massive working ranch and they've built a truck stop and a rambling Spanish-styled hotel and restaurant. Of course their specialty is 'beef' and Fernie just had to have some. We chose the pub-like restaurant rather than the family one and were seated in front of a gigantic roaring fire. It was chilly enough outside that we enjoyed the warmth. Fernie declared his steak 'the best he'd ever had'. Our next stop was Bakerfield, then Primm, Nevada and finally Las Vegas where we once again pulled Maggie up outside our friends' house (L&J who were with us in Australia).

I had been feeling kind of crumby on the drive south. We'd eaten out in Chehalis and the next night in Oregon with friends who'd driven up from Rogue River to see us and my tummy was rebelling. So it was back onto Nexium to stop the acid boiling. But to further the aggravation, the glands in my neck swelled up and my tongue and gums became ulcerated and seemingly too big for my mouth. Some other bothersome details that I won't mention made me feel just awful and kept me up all night. So when we got to Las Vegas, I went to a clinic to find out what ailed me. It turned out that thankfully I just had a urinary infection and 'thrush' in my mouth instead of what I dreaded, 'diabetes'. Never search the internet for what's wrong with you. But horror of horrors, the doctor's face got very serious when she was taking my blood pressure – it was 'over the top'. I was sure I was going to die right there on the spot. Of course, those that know me well are not surprised to hear that I did over-react which probably sent my BP even higher. With warnings to follow a low-salt diet and prescriptions in hand we rushed over to Costco to get a BP monitor and buy the assumedly expensive medications needed to bring my BP down and curtail the multi-infections. The meds turned out to be dirt cheap. Antibiotics, a medicated mouth wash and the BP drugs totalled about $12. So what's this fuss the Americans are making about their expensive prescription drugs. I was also sent to the lab for full blood work and got the results the next day – all fine.

The next few days, I took my meds and my BP religiously but it was difficult to watch salt intake – we were in Las Vegas for gawd's sake. Yikes! It wasn't going down. So back to the doctor's again to find that my new BP monitor was faulty. Back it went to Costco and I bought the more expensive one – the Cadillac of BP monitors. In the meantime though, the doctor told me I could come into their office daily and the nurse would take my BP gratis. But it still didn't go down sufficiently. Fernie was ready to cart me back home again where doctor's visits are free. It wasn't until we left Las Vegas, I'd finished the antibiotics and we stopped eating out in restaurants that it plunged back down again and now it's too low. Now, I'm faced with slowly lowering the dose until it evens off to 'normal'.