Those 70ish Girls

It’s Monday morning at the Brick House. Murdo Girl is in the Oblong Office enjoying the peace and quiet. Life is good. Being Next Pres hasn’t been easy, but things appear to be calming down and coming together. She stands to stretch her legs before continuing to work on her “State of the Murdo Address.” Yes, The Brick House is the people’s house and Murdo Girl intends to make the Murdoites proud. The rest of the nation will stand up and take notice! Oh.. some might say it’s but a pipe dream, but Murdo Girl knows one thing for sure. If Washington ran like Murdo runs, there would be order in the streets again. Never mind that other than Otis, the only lawbreakers in Murdo have been members of her Cabinet. Two are currently in the Jones County Jail.

A noise outside interrupts Murdo Girl’s ruminating. What? Is that a bus pulling up out front? Who is that getting off? It’s Yram.

Within a couple of minutes Yram has made her way to the Oblong Office.

Murdo Girl: Has it been two days already? I can’t believe it’s been two days already. So you’re out of jail? How did you happen to get on that bus?

Yram: Yes Next Pres. They let me out of The Big House and I took a bus to The Brick House. You know when you’ve done your time, they give you $2.00 and a one way bus ticket. Thankfully, my clothes still fit me or I would have had to wear standard issue clothes. I’m not sure what they look like, but they sound pretty drab.

Murdo Girl: You weren’t in The Big House Yram. You were in the Jones County Jail. I’m going to have a talk with Barney about the bus rides and money. That comes out of my jailhouse budget.

Yram: Does that mean I’ll have to give the $2.00 back? I’m totally rehabbed MG. From now on I’m doing things by the book. No cutting corners. There is one little problem though..when you’re a crack up interviewer like I am, sometimes you have to teeter on the edge, push the envelope a little, ruffle a few feathers.

Murdo Girl: You’ve got that part down. Where is Jerry? He must be out of jail too. Did you two get all of your apology letters written?

Yram: Gee, I don’t know MG. When those doors slammed behind me, I never looked back. Hey..I just figured something out. That’s why they call it the slammer! I will say there’s nothing like that first breath of fresh air once you’re on the outside.

It could be that Jerry joined up with the other prisoners and rioted. Some of them took their tin coffee cups and ran ’em across the bars of their cells, which made a big racket. Deputy Fife was getting all twitterpated.

Murdo Girl: Yram, there were 3 prisoners..you, Jerry, and Otis. I have to get back to writing my speech. I want copies of all the letters of apology on my desk by noon tomorrow. I don’t care who writes them. We must implore all those who have a restraining order against you to drop them, and it won’t be easy. Your job is on the line Yram.

Yram: Okey Dokey Next Pres. I’ll get right on it. Right after I see who’s hanging out in the employee lounge.

Murdo Girl: I swear that Lav and Yram share a brain. Speaking of Lav..I haven’t seen her the last couple of days. It isn’t like her to not to be lurking around. (Murdo girl is talking to herself.)

Meanwhile things appear to be a little tense in the employee lounge. Lav is sitting in the far corner nursing a mocha latte. Everyone seems to be blatantly staring at her.

Lav: Why don’t you draw a picture it’ll last longer.

Sherri the Photographic drawer: I am. Could you move your chair a little to the right? The lighting is better.

DM: This is going to change the way the whole world looks at you Lav.

PICO: You no longer fit the image of a Next Vice Pres.

A I: You want me to fly ya somewhere Lav? Maybe you should get out of town for awhile.

Treason: Since I’m Press Secretary, I should make sure we get out ahead of the local news on this. The Murdo Coyote will have a field day. It could be fun!

TC: Just lay it on me Treason and I’ll town cry it! 

Carol the singer: It reminds me of that song, I did it My Waaay. Maybe it’s because that’s the only song I know.

About that time, Yram walks in.

Yram: Yikes!

Meanwhile,  Jerry is in the Oblong Office talking to Next Pres Murdo Girl.

Jerry: I thought you might want to take a look at one or two of the letters Yram and I wrote in preparation of her apology tour. She has to deliver them in person right? There are 6 restraining orders, that we know of. She got rid of the house arrest with time served.

Murdo Girl: Pick one and read it to me Jerry.

Dear Mr. Lindquist,

I’m really sorry that I crashed your party, ate all of your wedding cake, and drank all of that really good punch. I just wasn’t myself that night. I didn’t really refuse to leave, and for the record it was Lav’s big idea to sit in the red convertible and watch the burning of the M all night. I only recall being asked to leave twice, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t think you meant it. 

So how about it Mr. Lindquist? Drop that dumb old restraining order, or at least drop it down to 250 ft instead of 500. I can’t even see that far. Mr. Applebee is going to kick around the idea if dropping it to 300 ft instead of 500. I still won’t be able to attend any football games, but life is all about compromise.

Yours very truly,

Yram Sicnarf

P.S. Your Philip’s 66 party was a real gas.. (Get it? gasoline station/gas.)

Coming up…Why is everyone staring at Lav? Will Yram’s apology tour get her closer to her goal..(of 250 ft)? Will the Queen quit scowling? Is she posing as a Green Beret? These people are wearing me out!

 

 

 

 

On Saturday morning, before we left the Walmart parking lot, I called at least ten RV parks hoping to find a spot reasonably close to the Northern Rim of the Grand Canyon. When I was close to giving up, the voice on the other end said, “Let me look, but I think I can help you.” I couldn’t believe my ears when she came back on the line and said the words I thought I would never hear again. “Yes, we have one spot open and I think it’s just what you need.” She was right. We enjoyed a pretty drive and arrived in Kanab, Utah about 4:00 that afternoon. Our next surprise, was that Kanab boasts of being in the heart of the parks. It’s close to so many things  to see, we’ve decided to stay four nights here. Today, was the Grand Canyon.

 

I made Kip back up on a narrow, winding road so I could get a picture of this Aspen tree. I think the white trunk with the fall leaves made for a pretty contrast with the surrounding trees and the blue sky.

Below are the pictures I took with Kip in them.

Here are the ONLY pictures he took of me.

When we got back to the RV park, Kip handed me his cell phone and said to look at the pictures he took. He thought I might like to use some of them. They were pretty good until I got to these two. I said, “These are terrible.. and they’re in front of a dumpster!” He’s still laughing..says he doesn’t remember taking them. This is the last time I’ll wear twinsie sweatshirts with him!

Sammie watching for cars while I took a picture…Sammie and Patti all tuckered out. No, the cat didn’t go.

It really was a fun day. We went to the Southern Rim of the Grand Canyon last year and it was spectacular. The Northern side is less commercialized, and for all you hikers, there are tons of hiking trails to explore.

Tomorrow we’re going to Bryce Canyon and Zion State Park. I will tell you all about the personality of the town of Kanab in another post.

Have a great day!

We got a pretty early start yesterday morning and drove to Monument Valley in Arizona. Once we got out of New Mexico and into Arizona, the landscape changed from barren desert and sagebrush to towering, beautiful, sandstone buttes. All made by wind and water.

Monument Valley is a Navajo Tribal Park on the border of Northeastern Arizona and Southern Utah. It was the setting for many of director John Ford’s Western Movies. The first was in 1939. The name of the movie was Stagecoach and of course it starred John Wayne.

The drive to Monument Valley…from New Mexico to Arizona, gradually got awesome. Please note the water tower in the 1st photo.

Monument Valley..You will probably see lots of pictures of the same background…one of me and one of Kip. The dogs will be in both.

Kip is really looking forward to our home for the night. We are staying at a beautiful RV Park located on the shores of Lake Powell.

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Later that same day

I was unable to make a reservation at the beautiful RV park on the shores of Lake Powell. We didn’t have cell service all day and I forgot it was the week-end. That’s the danger of not knowing  when you’re going to get somewhere.

It’s called Boondoggling 101..or..You Never know Who You’ll Run Into At Walmart.

We called everywhere within a 50 mile radius, but there was no room at the inn. I suggested we go to the Walmart we had seen on the way into Page. We needed a few things, and we could stop and figure out what to do. We noticed there were several very nice RV’s in the parking lot. Then we noticed they had their levelers down and the slide-outs were out. We found a pretty good spot and set up. We have a generator, and a fresh water tank, so we were good to go and feeling very grateful.  There was no cable TV, but you never can find everything you want at Walmart. I’m kidding of course. I will never say a bad thing about Walmart again. This morning we counted 31 other RV’s who had camped out in the parking lot.

We found a spot this morning and made a reservation for two nights. We’re on our way there now. The plan is to set up and take the Jeep to the Northern Rim of the Grand Canyon tomorrow. We might see Zion National Park on Monday.

I hope all is well with all of you!

 

It’s the end of the fifth day of our odyssey, and we’re having fun. We’ve had to tweak things here and there and every day surprises happen. I will say this, if it weren’t for GPS, no one would ever see us again. Today, I had a Good Sam’s GPS, a tablet, an Internet hotspot, my phone, and of all things, an Atlas in my lap. In spite of all these navigators, I still got us on the wrong road. I’m convinced it was the map that confused me.

I have however, done my usual great job of finding us the nicest RV parks. On two occasions, I got us the last spot with the full hook-ups we need. Taos was especially fun and the drive up into the mountains and back down was spectacular.

The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge just outside of Taos. A gigantic crack in the earth, caused by volcanic activity. It is a long way to the bottom.

These pictures were taken at Taos Pueblo, which is the only living Native American community designated both a World Heritage Site and a National Historic Landmark. Native Americans still live in the community of adobe houses and stores.

The picture on the top left is a Church built in 1619. The Church was destroyed twice. The first was the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. The second time was in 1847 when an uprising against US occupancy was led by Native and Hispanic forces. Governor Charles Bent was murdered. The US Calvery was sent for retribution. The people hid in the Church thinking they would be safe there. It was bombed by canons and over 100 local Pueblo men, women and children were killed. They never rebuilt the church. Instead they buried them all where they died.

The other photo is of Kip in the Courtyard of the San Geronimo Church built in 1850. It is a Catholic Church that still serves for Sunday mass.

The little adobe houses all have horno structures outside. They’re used for baking and heating. You can’t see it very well, but Kip is standing by one. We ate the best apricot pie I’ve ever put in my mouth. It was like a fried pie in shape, but it was baked by a cedar fire in a horno. The crust was light and flaky. We also bought some homemade choke cherry jelly.

The Red Willow Creek serves as the main source of water for the community.

Most of this I know because Kip told me. We all went on the guided tour, but Sammie and I had to excuse ourselves because she wouldn’t stop crying. We got bored waiting so we practiced taking selfies.

These were taken in the town square. The merchants sell everything from beautiful Indian jewelry, to sculptures, to T-shirts. There are several art galleries there as well. Kip and I settled for a Taos T-shirt. I wanted the doll, but I couldn’t afford even one of the feathers on her head. The bronze is called Lincoln’s Union. The figures on each side have women’s faces, but the bottoms depict a Union and a Confederate soldier.

The beautiful drive I was telling you about. We have had great weather. It’s been warm enough during the day, and cool at night.

We’re now in Farmington, New Mexico. Tomorrow we head for Arizona. We’re on our way to the North side of the Grand Canyon. I’m worried Sammie will cry again. Maybe we’ll be the only ones there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s actually the beginning of day 4, and we’re in beautiful Taos, NM. We decided to bypass Santa Fe, (since we were there last year), and spend more time here and the Grand Canyon. We’ve covered 752 miles without much sightseeing, so we’re really looking forward to today. I’ll blog about it tomorrow with pictures.

We stayed in Santa Rosa, NM Monday night and the drive to Taos was mostly uphill. The fall colors were beautiful.

We’ve had a couple of RV issues, but nothing serious. We love our home away from home.

You know the definition of camping is don’t you?

“It’s when you spend a lot of money to go live like a homeless person.”

Kip is vacuuming and Interrupting my train of thought, so I’ll have more on the travels of “See Ya” later!

 

Sammie on the left, and Patti on the right, started getting a little nervous 2 days before we left.

Our first day is in the books and we did okay. We finished packing the RV, loaded up the 3 dogs and a cat, hooked up the Jeep and boogied. We drove 315 miles, which was a good distance considering we didn’t leave until after 10:00.

We stopped at an RV park in Snyder, Texas. This is not a pretty place. However, there is a water tower close by so I’ll snap a picture when it starts getting light out this morning. It sure won’t be a scenic one like all of you have been sending me. Here are two pics I snapped yesterday. I don’t think it’s going to work to take them out the window of the motor home.

It’s not true that all water towers look alike. Some are beautiful and some are ugly. These are ugly.

The animals and Kip soon fell into the routine that worked well for us last year. I am having to relearn everything. There are a lot of things to do when setting up at night and we each have assigned tasks. In the morning, we put our little house back in order and hit the road again.

It’s 400 miles from Snyder to Santa Fe, NM. I don’t know if we’ll make it all the way today. We plan to spend 2 nights and see the sights we missed when we were there last year.

You can’t see it in this photo, but Kip is setting up a plant watering system he found online last year. It has little tenacles (on timers) that you poke down in the dirt. It will water your plants as often and as much as you want while you’re gone The water is in a bucket sitting in the sink. We use one system for 3 plants. It worked great when we were gone for six weeks last fall.

You might recognize the golden retriever in the picture. We call her Cyndie, but some call her Pearl.

This plant is a hoya vine. Kip’s Grandmother brought the original plant from Germany many years ago. Most of our family and some friends have vines grown from slips off this one. We brought this plant with us when we moved to Texas from Colorado in 1986. It was the only plant that didn’t freeze in the moving van. It gets beautiful, fragrant flowers on it at different times during the year.

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LESSON OF THE DAY: Must improve water tower recognition. Practice relearned skills such as turning on the TV.