Arizona!

I can't believe that nearly 6 months has gone by since my last post. Our summer trip ended with a whimper rather than a bang, and I never got around to updating it. To make a long story short, once we got over the Cascades and into central Washington, the trip stopped being as much fun. We were back in Utah-like weather and scenery--very hot and dry, so we figured we might as well just head home. The two highlights of those last few days were visiting my friend, Jo, in Moses Lake, and stopping at the Oregon Trail national Historic Site--one of our favorite places to visit.

This year we are wintering in Arizona instead of Mexico. The ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel we need for the motor home is still not widely available in Mexico but hopefully will be next year. We had considered spending a few weeks in parts of Mexico we could get to and back on one tank of fuel--San Felippe or Puerto Pinasco--but the price of Mexican car insurance made us change our mind. It just isn't worth itunless your'e going for the whole season. Hopefully next year.

The above picture is not a hotel or an Italian villa. It's my brother Jeff's house he is building in Dewey, AZ (just outside of Prescott). And yes, it's as big as it looks. The master suite is almost as big as the main floor of our house! Jeff is putting in a wine cellar in the basement and asked Steve to build the wine racks and cabinetry in it. We spent several days pondering the possibilities and drawing up some rough plans. The next step is for Jeff to get the wood and gather tools. We'' head back there in a couple of weeks for Steve to get started.

Today is Saturday. We left Prescott (pronounced Pres-kitt, not Pres-cot) on Thursday and drove through the mountains to the infamous Quartzsite. It is just as barren and desolate as I remembered it, except now there are thousands of RVs camped here. Everyone is here for the big RV show, which opens today. It's supposed to be one of, if not THE largest in the world. We will attempt to check it out this afternoon. Yesterday, we wandered through the two big swap meet areas in town. I was impressed by the sheer amount of, well, crap, we saw. T-shirts, hats, license plate holders with cutesy sayings, cheap kitchen gadgets, cheap tools, interspersed with the occasional New Age music or cosmetic booth. And rocks. And beads. And more rocks. And more poorly made junk that we didn't want or need.Steve was supremely bummed out--he had expected great finds and great deals. Hopefully the actual RV show will be better.