We are SO BLESSED... and SO LUCKY!

This is a picture of the driver's side tires on our 28' enclosed car trailer. We packed up my Tahoe full of clothes and office stuff and Christmas presents and then drove it inside the trailer for our trip home. A couple of weeks ago we ordered new tires from the local Beatty Tire shop, but the wrong kind came in and they didn't reorder or something... ANYWAY... we made an appointment in Las Vegas to get four new tires at 4:00 p.m. Long story, short, we left late and then had to drive slower than we expected. It was amazingly windy and the trailer really seemed to be swaying easily. At one point I suggested stopping to check the tires, but Jeff pointed out that we were on a tight schedule. We continued on, calling the tire shop and they graciously agreed to take care of us as long as we arrived before 5:00 p.m. At 4:50 p.m. we go stuck in 0-5 mph traffic due to an accident on the 95, and called the shop to let them know they were off the hook... We then made the decision to stay at the Mirage since we were hungry and we knew they had good parking for the beast of a trailer. As we made our way through town, people starting honking at us and pointing toward the trailer... we knew something was up, but continued on to the Mirage, thankful that we knew how to get there. Little did we know how EXTREMELY fortunate we were...

After greeting the Mirage Security Guard with a smile of relief, we proceeded into the special over-sized lot to park. When Jeff got out to see what was up, this is what he saw....

We felt God's special protection... and we feel so lucky to be alive and well... we will NOT be leaving Las Vegas until we are able to get our four new trailer tires. YIKES! 'cause we'd probably still be out there! LOL! We figure the tire probably shredded 60 miles out of Vegas when I wanted to stop and check the tires... just as well we didn't We checked in to the Mirage, which was buzzing with Saturday night activity! We were given another room on the 24th floor... love it... and after settling into the room had dinner at their Buffett. YUM! After dinner we went to the Sports Book Bar (???) and watched the National Rodeo Finals on three HUGE big screens... there were cowboys everywhere! It was fun to be there for awhile with the crowds so enthralled with the rodeo. When we went back up to the room I was taking pictures of the Strip and got this one of me by accident... pretty cool, huh?

This morning it's beautiful outside... and we can see the dolphins from our room... almost like being in Mexico! (NOT)!!! I must get on with the project of finding tires... what an adventure!

Moving out for now...

We are packing up to go home for Christmas (via Las Vegas for tires; Camarillo for a service truck; and Fresno to find a spot to call "home" for the next job)! Jeff is at the yard taking care of stuff and I am getting ready to go crazy in the apartment packing our clothes and office paperwork. We're leaving the "bones" of the apartment for when we return in a month or so. I found another geode this morning... it's bigger, but not perfect, and the "stuff" is bubbling out of one end. It's almost yam shaped. I don't have time to post a picture of it today. I feel very emotional about leaving Beatty... there is something very nice about living here. It's so relaxing in so many ways! Hope you're all well... love you!

Snow in Beatty... a little bitty bit!

My biggest geode yet...

I'm sick... with a miserable cold!

Wow... back "home" in Beatty... with a cold that is rotten. I sure enjoyed seeing everyone, and just enjoyed truly the best granola I've ever had! Thanks Mom! Enjoyed playing cards with Greg, Janet, and Eli... and they even conspired to allow me to win! Such nice kids... NOT... I won fair and square!!! Went up to a new restaurant for lunch at Emigrant Gap exit; the food was fantastic but it was a bit cool and a bit slow. Really good food, though. Picked up another 100 rocks or so yesterday afternoon, and found my BEST and BIGGEST geode so far. It's about 2 inches wide... fun! Well, time to work... with this cold and all... hope everyone has a great week!

Happy 52nd Birthday to ME!

It's a cold, beautiful morning in Beatty, Nevada! I'm happy to be 52... it's a strange age that's starting to sound a little bit OLD! Still waiting to grow up and be mature... my friend Paula sent this Cat in the Hat on Aging poem... and I LOVE IT! Too funny... hope you enjoy it also! I'm grateful that the poem really doesn't apply to me yet, by the way... but someday... AHHHH!

No new job for ME... Jeff get's a hair cut...

Last night... the before shot after a LONG day working outside in the wind at Owen's Lake...

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.... he's never had a cut quite like this one... sorry honey... but I do love you!

I've never cut hair with clippers before... and Jeff's hair has NEVER been quite so short!

Rhyolite Angels at Sunset and Amazing Rock Maze!

It was really beautiful late today... so I zipped out to Rhyolite to try for some pictures... these are the Angels of Rhyolite.

This is a rock maze... and I want to duplicate it in our front yard! Wouldn't it be awesome... wait... amazing? I have collected hundreds of rocks, both small, medium, and large to create a fountain at home, but I really like this maze and want to do it! I love finding beautiful rocks... and have a special hiking stick/rock picker that makes it SO much easier to pick them up.

Terry Fator in Las Vegas!

We spent Saturday and Sunday night over in the Las Vegas area... had fun poking around Hoover Dam Saturday after buying a closed car trailer to use as a portable shop in Boulder City. Stayed at the Hacienda Casino and had a lousy $10 special anniversary Rib-eye steak dinner. Oh well... the room had a nice view and the casino was almost smoke free! Sunday we drove around with our new beast of a car trailer (24' long) until we decided to ask the Mirage if they had oversize parking available... they did... and after dropping off the trailer it was much easier to just drive around Las Vegas not doing much of anything but looking around! When we checked into the Mirage I asked the girl at the front desk for the "most romantic room available if at all possible." She put us on the 25th floor overlooking the strip... it was amazing! Thank you so much to the front desk person! She also sent up a bottle of (horrible) champagne... it was the thought for sure! We saw Terry Fator perform... he's the ventriloquist who does impersonations also... HE WAS AMAZING AND AWESOME AND SO GREAT! We were in row 2 on the aisle in the first two seats. Terry Fator won America's Got Talent in 2008... and seriously... he is worth the money. Great show... enough babble... hope all of you are well!

Beatty Burros! FINALLY!

Well, tonight after playing Turkey Bingo to support the Beatty Volunteer Fire Department we were heading for the Sourdough for a bite to eat when I saw one of the wild burros heading into the park! Right through the gate! I quickly grabbed my camera, and tried to get a shot, but he was too quick. I hopped back into the car and began stalking the burro... determined to get a picture! He left the park and headed down the street... QUICKLY!


He was really moving along...

He went down an alley... and I drove right behind him... and when he dashed around the corner there were three more burros... pulling trash out of this dumpster and EATING it... as you can see if you look closely! Now we know why there is always burro poop around the dumpsters... we thought people were just sloppy when they dumped the manure!

It didn't take long for the group to head down another alley which was NOT accessible to me... and we are really livin' large now that we've seen the burros of Beatty!

Happy Birthday Janet

Happy 20th to niece Janet! LOVE YOU!

Day of the Dead in San Francisco

Belated post... many thanks to Rich and Chris for "googling" and talking me into the right area! I was stopped by a policeman just a couple blocks from the park... and "had" to watch the entire parade go by right in front of me! It was amazing! There were thousands of people, and yet I was able to find Julie, Gay, Greg, and Iris in the throngs! Amazing!

The group plus one... don't know if he was with them from the beginning or a "new" friend from the parade!

Note: I have Grandma Irene Towle's black felt hat on my head... long story... but it was with me so I wore it and thought of her!

Greg and Julie inside the altar... it was truly beautiful... when I left Greg was playing his guitar and singing with Iris... so special!

Feeling Great!

Wow... I feel so good it's amazing. Spent yesterday afternoon napping and relaxing, went to bed at 7 p.m. last night and got up at 8 a.m. today. Nice lazy day today! Took the bandaging off and everything is good. It's a little tiny bit sore... but no worse than a scratch! Yay! Really happy to be home enjoying the gorgeous fall colors and crisp air... back to Beatty in a couple days!

Surgery

This morning I had a mass removed from what I would call my armpit (the surgeon swears it's still part of the breast). After surgery the report was "99.99% certain it is benign" straight from the doctor. Yay! Yay! and Yay! I can hardly stay awake to type this... love you all... Jen is here... good to have here...

Home for a visit~

Yup... home. Ahhhhhhhh...

Beatty Days!

I am so lucky! I got to be a Judge for the Beatty Days Parade! It was fun and I wore my Judge Ribbon and button all day (the ribbon is blue and was blowing in the wind in this picture). The other Judges were Renee (pronounced Ree-knee), a lady who lives 10 miles north of Beatty on a ranch, and the REAL Judge in Beatty, Gus (I forgot his last name). It was really, really, really fun. Oh, these are my new glasses that go dark and light by themselves. Quite handy!

Carolyn getting a big kiss from one of the bikers... she drove into the motorcycle only area just for fun!

Red eating Bar-B-Q for lunch... it was YUMMY!

I like this flag bearer, who served in the Navy a LONG time ago. He was wearing his own original uniform. Pretty impressive!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hope everyone has a frightfully nice day....

Another GREAT nephew or niece on the way!

Yippee! I'm going to be a Great Aunt again next June! Congratulations Brian and Sarah... such exciting news! Why hasn't anyone else been blogging this news??????

WIND IN BEATTY, NEVADA!!!!!

Yesterday afternoon I went to town...

and could NOT believe the dust...

blowing all over the place! I did walk 1/2 mile with my hoodie sweatshirt tight around my face!

This morning when I looked outside this was all that was left of my neighbors American Flag!

It is TRULY incredible to experience this much wind!

Titus Canyon

Greetings all... for the record, I took 258 pictures today... LOL... and didn't even know it was a competition until the day was over and Rich made a smart remark about making sure he had taken more pictures than me! Hee Hee Hee... I won! The drive was truly amazing and beautiful... Jeff drove through Titus Canyon and then I drove through Death Valley. It was a great day!

We stopped to take this picture... it was truly this close!

Richard looking good...

Dad looking good...

AMAZING rocks surrounding the road!

Richard climbs Mt. Richard...

This is the view from our Beatty apartment... and Rich decided he was going to "take a little walk to the top of the mountain" yesterday morning... He left with his camera and cell phone (but no water we found out later).

After a couple of hours (and a couple phone calls saying he was okay) we drove out to the base to give him a ride back! CRAZY MAN!