(NOTE: View a larger picture by clicking on the photo(s) above.)
I had indicated previously that we had made 40 moves through 13 states, however, I didn’t tell you which states. The picture of the U.S. map above is on our shower door, which is where we keep our record. Most RVers post their travels somewhere on the outside of their trailer or bus. We don’t feel the need to advertise our travels on the outside, open to the elements. As you can tell, we have stickers of each state to put on the map. The map is one of those removable, peel-off kind that adheres to glass. So now you have a visual to tell where we have been thus far. We only put stickers up for states where we stay for a time, not just those we simply pass through.
This pass Sunday, January 27th, we had an unusual event here in the Arizona desert------ rain. An all-day rain. We even developed puddles. The second picture above shows how the desert starts to “green” after a rain like that. The picture was taken pointing just across the fence of the RV Park, showing an old, abandoned, adobe house. The rain even caused flooding in parts of the Phoenix area. But the rain itself was not the only excitement for the day.
A great many RVers seem to have ATVs known as “quads,” “four-wheelers,” or a variety of other names I suppose. A near neighbor to us was no exception. There was a husband, wife and teenage son in a fifth-wheel. They also pulled a ten or fifteen foot trailer. I’m guessing here, since I didn’t take measurements. Inside the trailer they had two motorcycles and two quads. It had just started raining again, after a brief pause, when the father and son took off in their quads.
We had no idea where they went or why they would go anywhere in such weather. We knew nothing else about their adventure until it was approaching dark. The first thing we noticed was a sheriff’s patrol car, followed by a fire department emergency truck, then a wrecker with the two quads pulled up to the neighbor’s trailer. The son got slowly out of the cab of the wrecker and made his way into the trailer, followed by the sheriff’s deputy and a couple EMT’s. We saw nothing of the father. We could do nothing but wonder what was going on here. The owner of the campground showed up and began to talk to the sheriff’s deputy who had just come out of the trailer. The wrecker immediately took off with the quads, which appeared to be undamaged.
It was not long before we saw an ambulance coming into the campground with lights flashing. It too pulled up to the trailer. Attendants got out and carried a “stabilizing board,” like you would see used on the football field with a serious injury, into the trailer. Another attendant wheeled in a stretcher. Soon, the stretcher came out with the boy wearing a neck and head brace. The ambulance took off. Later, the others left and all was quiet.
We supposed that the father was already in the hospital with injuries. We also figured that the son had later-realized injuries. What happened? We didn’t know until later. They had been riding in the desert when both the father and son flipped their ATV. The father, a rather heavy-set gentleman, was knocked out cold. A hermit, who lived in the desert, happened by and called 911. Go figure, a hermit with a cell phone. The father was taken directly to the hospital. We don’t know the extent of his injuries, but the son returned with his mother about mid-week. He seemed to be OK. Fun sometimes turns into “less than” fun. We also found out that they have no health insurance. The most adventurous we get is bicycles.
Not much news for this week, so I will leave you with another story. Ray, an RVer from Omaha, travels in his motorhome with a talkative but foul-mouthed parrot. One day in a campground near Gila Bend, Ariz., the bird's swearing got to be too much. So Ray grabbed it by the throat and yelled "Stop it!" But only minutes later, the bird was swearing again.
The next day, the bird yelled so loudly that the couple in a big fifth wheel next door stopped by to demand its silence. Desperate, Ray locked the bird in a kitchen cabinet. But it didn't help: the bird kept right on swearing. The next day, the bird was even worse. So, as a last resort, Ray tossed the foul-mouthed fowl into his Dometic freezer. After five minutes, all was quiet. Worried that the bird might be freezing, Ray took it out. "I'm sorry," confessed the suddenly polite bird. "I promise to never swear again." Ray was astonished. He couldn't understand the change in attitude . .. until the bird spoke again. "By the way," it asked, "what did the chicken do?" (Note: A Dometic Freezer is a brand of RV Ice Box with ammonia cooling units.)
This pass Sunday, January 27th, we had an unusual event here in the Arizona desert------ rain. An all-day rain. We even developed puddles. The second picture above shows how the desert starts to “green” after a rain like that. The picture was taken pointing just across the fence of the RV Park, showing an old, abandoned, adobe house. The rain even caused flooding in parts of the Phoenix area. But the rain itself was not the only excitement for the day.
A great many RVers seem to have ATVs known as “quads,” “four-wheelers,” or a variety of other names I suppose. A near neighbor to us was no exception. There was a husband, wife and teenage son in a fifth-wheel. They also pulled a ten or fifteen foot trailer. I’m guessing here, since I didn’t take measurements. Inside the trailer they had two motorcycles and two quads. It had just started raining again, after a brief pause, when the father and son took off in their quads.
We had no idea where they went or why they would go anywhere in such weather. We knew nothing else about their adventure until it was approaching dark. The first thing we noticed was a sheriff’s patrol car, followed by a fire department emergency truck, then a wrecker with the two quads pulled up to the neighbor’s trailer. The son got slowly out of the cab of the wrecker and made his way into the trailer, followed by the sheriff’s deputy and a couple EMT’s. We saw nothing of the father. We could do nothing but wonder what was going on here. The owner of the campground showed up and began to talk to the sheriff’s deputy who had just come out of the trailer. The wrecker immediately took off with the quads, which appeared to be undamaged.
It was not long before we saw an ambulance coming into the campground with lights flashing. It too pulled up to the trailer. Attendants got out and carried a “stabilizing board,” like you would see used on the football field with a serious injury, into the trailer. Another attendant wheeled in a stretcher. Soon, the stretcher came out with the boy wearing a neck and head brace. The ambulance took off. Later, the others left and all was quiet.
We supposed that the father was already in the hospital with injuries. We also figured that the son had later-realized injuries. What happened? We didn’t know until later. They had been riding in the desert when both the father and son flipped their ATV. The father, a rather heavy-set gentleman, was knocked out cold. A hermit, who lived in the desert, happened by and called 911. Go figure, a hermit with a cell phone. The father was taken directly to the hospital. We don’t know the extent of his injuries, but the son returned with his mother about mid-week. He seemed to be OK. Fun sometimes turns into “less than” fun. We also found out that they have no health insurance. The most adventurous we get is bicycles.
Not much news for this week, so I will leave you with another story. Ray, an RVer from Omaha, travels in his motorhome with a talkative but foul-mouthed parrot. One day in a campground near Gila Bend, Ariz., the bird's swearing got to be too much. So Ray grabbed it by the throat and yelled "Stop it!" But only minutes later, the bird was swearing again.
The next day, the bird yelled so loudly that the couple in a big fifth wheel next door stopped by to demand its silence. Desperate, Ray locked the bird in a kitchen cabinet. But it didn't help: the bird kept right on swearing. The next day, the bird was even worse. So, as a last resort, Ray tossed the foul-mouthed fowl into his Dometic freezer. After five minutes, all was quiet. Worried that the bird might be freezing, Ray took it out. "I'm sorry," confessed the suddenly polite bird. "I promise to never swear again." Ray was astonished. He couldn't understand the change in attitude . .. until the bird spoke again. "By the way," it asked, "what did the chicken do?" (Note: A Dometic Freezer is a brand of RV Ice Box with ammonia cooling units.)
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