Fresh blanket of...leaves?

We've had a very enjoyable and relaxing week at Page Springs so far.  When we arrived on Saturday, the tree next to our site was still pretty full of leaves and losing a few each day.  Well, last night the temperature got down into the 20's and the wind kicked up.  When we got up this morning, there were about 6-8 inches of leaves on the ground from our tree.  There are virtually no leaves left on the tree.  I took this picture after I brushed the leaves off of the Jeep.

Today, we went into Sedona and revisited a few trails that we did back in February with our old Jeep.  Broken Arrow is the most challenging and was a lot of fun.  There's a section of the trail called "The Steps" that is VERY treacherous.  We scraped on the skid plates several times on the way down but made it safely to the bottom.  We then did Soldier's Pass, which is a little more tame.  Both trails were hopping with hikers, bikers and people paying WAY too much money for the Pink Jeep tours.  We joked that we should have taken on a few tourists when we stopped at Barlow's to air down.  We could have paid for our gas for the day!

Lisa and Patrick are coming down tomorrow from Munds Park to hang out and enjoy the beauty of Page Springs.  We are looking forward to one final day of relaxation and fun.  It's back to the Valley on Sunday.  We are very glad that we chose this option for our week of vacation!  It's been tons of fun and very relaxing.

The picture above is of our camp site after the leaves fell.  Enjoy!

Page Springs

We arrived safely to Page Springs this morning.  We left home about 8:45 and arrived before 10:30.  It was a beautiful drive, very "fall" like with little traffic.  Once we got to the top of Verde Valley the wind picked up.  It was a fun drop down the hill!  It took us a while to get situated on the site so that we could level and try to get satellite with the self-tracking satellite on the roof.  We failed at getting satellite.  It's a good thing we brought our portable satellite dish with tripod!  The park has cable, so we hooked that up for the TVs in the bedroom, front of the coach and outside and ran 2 cables from the portable dish, through the slide out by the TV and into the back of the DirecTV box.  Now we can watch one thing and record another!  Or record 2 things and watch something that's already recorded.  We are living large!

We took our time getting set up.  I did the outside stuff while Dennis mopped inside and got the inside put together.  We didn't mop when we left Bisbee because it was going into service for 2 weeks.  It got pretty dirty while there!  We are ready for our guests tomorrow (Jimmy and the dogs) and have most of our holiday decorations on display.  I coined the phrase Thanksmas.  We have some Thanksgiving decorations and some Christmas decorations up.  Thanksmas.  :)  It's very comforting in here!  We got some LED rope light and put it behind the slide outs on the top.  It puts off a very nice and inviting glow towards the ceiling. 

It's been a relaxing day.  We haven't done much.  We had Tony Roma's ribs for dinner.  I also fried some potatoes - haven't had those in a while!  We are now sipping on some cocktails enjoying the warmth from the heater!  It's supposed to get cold here tonight and possibly rain tomorrow.  We do have Internet, but it's very slow so I don't stay on it too long as it's very frustrating!  Feel free to call or e-mail.

I've uploaded a picture that I took of our camp site.  It's beautiful here with the falling leaves, flowing creek and cool temperatures.  Have a great Sunday everyone! 

Vacation time!

Dennis and I are officially in relaxation mode!  Today was our last day of work for 10 whole days!  We have the motor home all packed up to head north in the morning.  We are going to Sunrise Resorts Page Springs which is between Sedona and Cottonwood.  The RV Park is right on Oak Creek, so we'll get to listen to the creek flowing all week.  This will be the first time we've had a week off in a couple years and our longest trip ever in the RV.  We are both excited about leaving in the morning!

I just want to take a minute to take note of all of the things we are thankful for.  We are thankful that we both have loving, supportive, caring and sharing families.  We think of you all more than you could possibly know.  And we miss you when we aren't together.  We are thankful that we both are gainfully employed and can enjoy the things we love to do such as go RV'ing, drink nice wine and spend time with friends.  We are thankful that we've met a lot of new friends this year and grown closer to the friends we've known for a while.  We're thankful for our two little white bundles of joy who keep us on our toes every day and bring so much love and happiness to our lives.  We are thankful that we live in the Valley of the Sun and can enjoy 330 days of sunshine each year.  And most of all, we are both very thankful for our good health. We continue to improve our health every day so that the other things that we are thankful for are still attainable. 

We will no doubt have Internet service at Page Springs and will upload pictures as we have time between all of the relaxing, eating, drinking and relaxing.  We hope that everyone has a happy, safe, and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday.  And remember, take time to stop and smell the roses while you can. 

Much love to all!  Rodney & Dennis

Jeep pictures and Video 10-9-10

Get your "Dune" on at Little Dealer Little Prices - Phoenix RV Lifestyle | Examiner.com

Get your "Dune" on at Little Dealer Little Prices - Phoenix RV Lifestyle Examiner.com

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Brother Boy and Drama playing

The boys were wound up this morning so I decided to take some video. This is "play" for them. It may sound mean but for those of you who haven't seen it in person, it's how they "wrestle" with each other. They do show teeth but they never bite. It's fun for them, and it's great exercise. It's fun to watch them play cat and mouse. Enjoy the video!!

Destination: West Clear Creek Wilderness - Phoenix RV Lifestyle

Destination: West Clear Creek Wilderness - Phoenix RV Lifestyle

Girls weekend

I was the honorary girl at Girls Weekend with Lisa, Judy and Ruthanne at Lisa's cabin in Munds Park.  We had a fantastic weekend while our guys stayed at home taking care of our dogs. :)  We had a lot of fun together, making some fantastic food, drinking some incredible wine and singing some BAD karaoke.  We also experienced a fun Jeep ride on Saturday.  We had perfect weather, although we had hoped for rain that never came. 

We learned that there was a big storm in Phoenix Saturday that knocked out the power in our neighborhood and Lisa's neighborhood.  It's too bad we didn't get any of the rain up in Munds Park!  Take a look at our photo album to see some of the things that we did, cooked, ate, and drank.  Have a great week!

Jeeping and Luau at Clint's Well

Weekend at home

Having the RV means we spend about as many weekends away as what we spend at home.  So when we are home, we have to make the most of it.  This weekend at home was no different.  Friday after work, we went down to Tempe to do one final collection at the Laundromat before our friends returned home from their 3 week road trip in their RV.  We took the boys with us and they really enjoyed exploring the Laundromat.  They didn't pee on anything, I promise!  On our way home, we stopped by Chino Bandito and picked up some dinner.  When we got home, we had dinner, then each had a cocktail.  We then proceeded to both fall asleep watching a movie on TV.

Saturday it was early rise thanks to the dogs.  About 7, we decided to start working out back.  It's been a while since we power-sprayed the pool deck and patio and the bird poop was getting gross.  So Dennis worked on that and I picked up dog poop, pulled the pods off of the cat's claw vine on the wall (they turn into nasty pool-clogging things when they dry up and fall off), trimmed the tree and checked all of the irrigation heads on the plants.  We then power-sprayed the mats from the RV in the driveway.  They look brand new now! 

After cooling down from the power sweat that we both worked up, we got showered and headed out to run errands.  We went to Bell Honda to get the oil changed in my car and looked at the new Honda Insight hybrid in the show room.  We then went to Discount Tire to price out tires for the Jeep.  WOW!  Expensive!  Then we headed to Five Guys for a late lunch.  On the way home, we took a detour to Home Depot at Carefree Highway to get some wire to support out tree and some other things.  The last stop on the way home was at Circle K to get lottery tickets and rent a few movies from the Redbox.

Last evening, we shared a really great bottle of wine while watching The Crazies.  It was an OK movie, but one that's been done so many times before.  Then, it was The Fourth Kind.  Train wreck!  It was a dramatization of actual events, so they kept inserting actual documented footage which made it really confusing.  About 10, the boys and I went to bed and Dennis followed about an hour later.

This morning, Dennis let the dogs out, then while out there, took a dip in the pool.  He got them in with him, too.  After he dried them off, he brushed them and I finally woke up.  The rest of the day has been spent watching movies and TV.  We watched From Paris With Love which was pretty good.  It was very bizarre watching Jonathan Rhys-Meyers aka King Henry VIII from The Tudors put on an American accent.  I liked the movie. 

We're getting ready to head outside and finish up the projects from yesterday aka fold up the RV mats, put the patio back together and maybe go for a dip in the pool.  The rest of the day will be relaxation, talking to my folks on the phone, and going to bed early.  We may have to run out and get some groceries since there seems like there is NO food in the house. 

We hope everyone has a great week.  Next weekend, we're off to Clint's Well.  Take care!

The boys

The boys are being extra cute this morning. I was trying to take a picture with the computer webcam but ended up taking video instead, so I went with it. It's very short, but I love the Drama shake at the end!

If you are getting this via e-mail, you'll need to go to www.rodneydennis.com to view the video.

Have a great weekend!

Independence Day is upon us

Summer is flying by!  It's nearly July and we haven't even been in the pool yet.  Crazy, I know.  We are looking forward to a 3-day weekend in the pines this weekend.  We leave Friday after work in the Jeep to head up to Sunrise Resorts at Clint's Well for the long weekend.  It'll just be us and the boys, so we are looking forward to some fresh mountain air, some rest and relaxation and perhaps a little Jeeping. 

I'm happy to share that I had my first post-40 colonoscopy on Friday and my results were normal.  No polyps.  Everything looked great.  I'm very happy about that!  I'm waiting on my insurance company to agree to pay for the genetic testing that I'm having done to pre-screen for Lynch Syndrome.  I'm hoping for favorable results from that testing as well!  I'm very thankful for our friends Lisa and Marilyn who were my transportation to and from the colonoscopy which allowed Dennis to take the training class he signed up for weeks prior to me scheduling my colonoscopy. 

We've been having some challenges with Drama scratching his neck open until it bleeds.  We've had him to the vet twice for it in the last few weeks.  He went back today for a follow up visit and our biggest challenge is to keep him from scratching his neck.  We also have to keep his nails trimmed so that they don't do so much damage when he does scratch.  He's such a drama queen when he's injured.  I think he loves all of the attention he gets when he does it.  Poor baby.  We've had to keep them in the crate during the day because he wears the 'cone' and he can't get out the doggy door with the cone on.  So, we just crate them.  We don't like having to do that, but it's what is best for him.  A picture of the boys - with Drama in his pretty blue cone - is attached.

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Independence Day weekend.  Enjoy!

CellPhoneShop deals

Click on the CellPhoneShop link above for great prices on cell phone accessories, batteries, power cords, car chargers, etc.  Here are some coupons you can use as well:

10% off $10 or more expires 8/15/10:  Grad5
20% off $25 or more expires 8/15/10:  Grad2
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This merchandise is quality and inexpensive.  Thank you for your business!

We are at 7,500 feet in the pines at Mingus Mountain.  It's gorgeous up here.  We arrived around 6:20 last evening, 10 minutes later than we would have if it weren't for the motorcycle accident that was being cleaned up on one of the last 15mph curves before we turned off onto the dirt road.  It wasn't a fatality but the guy was taken by ambulance to the hospital.  The sad part is that it looked like a bunch of older men who had no business riding motorcycles at their age and condition - especially on the steep, mountain curves of Highway 89A.  We are planning to stay until Tuesday morning.  There are 5 rigs here right now, more are expected to arrive today.  It's going to be fun!

Please say a prayer for the family of Officer Travis Murphy, Phoenix Police Officer, who was killed in the line of duty on Wednesday morning.  He was 29 years old and leaves behind a wife, a 2 year old and a 2 week old child.  Travis used to be one of my team members at Wells Fargo right after he was out of college and before he joined the police academy.  He was shot and killed while investigating a report of shots fired.  It's very tragic.  He was a good kid and very brave for joining the police department. 

Please have an enjoyable and safe Memorial Day weekend.  Watch out for the crazies!!

Rodney & Dennis

Busy travel season

It's Tuesday night and I'm watching Lee and Crystal battle it out on American Idol.  Very exciting!  I think they will both be successful, but I believe Crystal will win the competition.  She's having a much better night tonight. 

It's been an amazing week.  My birthday on Monday was awesome.  My team surprised me with great decorations for my cube.  Then, about 11:15, they all came together to sing Happy Birthday to me and gave me a Costco cake (my favorite!).  My California partner in crime and a my leadership team took me out to lunch at Chili's.  When I got home, Dennis and I went to dinner at Claim Jumper.  It was a great day and a very memorable 40th.  THANK you all for your part in the perfection!

Tonight, one of my vendors was in from Texas and we went out to dinner at Aunt Chilada's.  It was so good.  I haven't been there in probably a year.  It rocked!  Their Chambord margaritas are awesome! 

Tomorrow we're picking up the motor home to bring it to the house to cool the fridge, then we're going to Happy Hour for my friend and former co-worker Ken who is moving back to Oregon from Phoenix.  We'll pack some things into the motor home as well.  Thursday is our last day this week and month.  We'll finish the motor home pack up on Thursday and then Friday morning, we are heading up to Mingus Mountain.  We plan to stay there until Tuesday morning.  We are camping with 10 other RVs for a total of about 22 people.  It should be fun and relaxing.

I hope that everyone has a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.  If you haven't already, check out the CellPhoneShop link above for cell phone accessories including wall chargers, car chargers, plastic covers, leather cases, bluetooth devices, etc. all at unbelievably low prices.  Don't pay Sprint or Verizon prices - go to CellPhoneShop via our site. 

Take care, and thanks for reading!

Update to format

I updated the format of this page.  Please let me know any feedback that you have.

I also want to draw attention to the CellPhoneShop banner/link above.  Dennis and I have used this store numerous times to purchase cell phone accessories.  Their prices are extremely low and the merchandise is of good quality.  Wall/car chargers are about $3 each, snap-on plastic cases are about $9, batteries are <$10 and they also sell Bluetooth products.  Shipping is about $5 so you want to make your order count!  Merchandise arrives in about a week, directly from China.  We joined their affiliate program, so we receive commission on purchases that we refer to the site.  You can't have too many wall chargers.  We each have one at home, one at work and one in the motor home.  Stock up and never have a dead cell phone battery!  They are literally 90% less expensive than the ones you buy from Sprint or Verizon and they work just as well.  You can order based on phone model. 

Have a great week. 

Is it the middle of May already?

Wow, it's hard to believe that today is May 16th.  This year is going by so quickly.  Before we know it, Christmas will be here.

George and Geraldo came from Ohio to visit this past week.  We enjoyed their visit.  They left yesterday morning to go home.  We've spent the last day and a half recovering from all of the drinking we did Thursday and Friday evenings! 

We have a busy summer ahead of us - at least for the next few weeks!  I am travling to San Jose on business this week leaving Tuesday and coming home Thursday.  Dennis is going to get the RV ready so that we can hit the road Friday after work.  We are heading up to Sharp's Creek, which is on the Mogollon Rim between Payson and Show Low.  We are camping with a bunch of friends.  It'll be fun, as it's supposed to hit 100 this weekend in the valley!

For Memorial Day weekend, we're heading to Mingus Mountain.  We are leaving Thursday after work and staying until Tuesday morning.  It'll be a nice long weekend.  It'll be dry camping, but it'll be fun.  We should have great weather up there! 

For the weekend after Memorial Day, we're taking the motor home down to Tempe to camp out in front of Jeremy & Brandon's house to do more training on the laundromat.  Then, the 2nd weekend in June we are heading up to Flagstaff for a 3 day weekend staying at the KOA.  On our way home from Flagstaff, we will likely take the motor home to Clint's Well and leave it for the rest of the summer. 

We hope to escape the heat as many weekends as possible this summer.  We hope everyone enjoys your summer, too!  Take care! 

Further down the Spillway at Blue Ridge Reservoir

This video is further down the spillway as it falls into the river. It was a gorgeous day today, the temperature fluxated from 69 to 74 depending on the elevation. It was sunny and windy. It was nice to see the lake at capacity. Enjoy the video!

Jeep trip to Blue Ridge Reservoir

We Jeeped to Blue Ridge Reservoir today with some friends. The lake is at capacity and slowly overflowing the spillway. It was very neat. I took a couple of videos today with my phone. Enjoy!!

Pre-paid Cellular

This is shameless, but I want to plug our pre-paid cellular plans.  I firmly believe this is the best deal on the market.  Lightyear Wireless offers unlimited talk, text and web for $59.99 per month using the Sprint 3G soon to be 4G network.  When you purchase one of our phones, the first month of unlimited service is included in the cost of the phone.  At the end of the month, you have some options.  You can renew for another month of unlimited service.  Or you can renew for a month of a different plan (300 minutes for $30, 200 minutes for $20 or 1,000 minutes/1,000 text messages for $34.99).  Or you can not renew since there is no contract.

You can set your account up for auto-renewal every month, you can visit the web to renew or you can call customer service to renew.  Lightyear Wireless will send you a text message a few days before your current month of service to remind you to renew.  It's very simple!  And because there's no contract, you can choose to not renew at anytime, then reactivate later.

Another great product we have is pre-paid high-speed internet using a MiFi device, capable of providing WiFi service to up to 5 devices at the same time.  Service is $69.99 per month and when you purchase in April, you get your 6th month of service free.  That comes out to $58 per month plus the cost of the MiFi device, which is $255.  Because it's prepaid and there is no contract, you can discontinue anytime by simply not extending your service for another month.  $69.99 gets you 5GB of data for the month.  You cannot exceed 5GB.  If you reach 5GB before the end of the month, you can extend for another 5GB or month for $69.99.  It's very simple.  No Contact.  No Deposit.  No Credit Check.  It's a beautiful thing!

Please visit http://www.cobaltbluewireless.com/ to check out our other Wireless Services, Dish Network, DirecTV, local and long distance service and even an International calling plan as part of Lightyear Wireless service.  For $9.99, you get 1,000 minutes of international calling to 96 countries.  You must have Lightyear Wireless service to take advantage of $.01 per minute talk to 96 countries.

Don't renew your cell phone contract without calling me first! 

Interested in learning how you can earn income every month when you and your friends pay their wireless bill?  You can also earn bonuses, incentives and wireless credits for signing up other Lightyear Wireless reps.  Visit http://www.trylightyear.com/ and watch the 23 minute business presentation.  Then call me and I can answer any questions you have and get you started as a direct sales agent running your own wireless business.  This is a great opportunity, and we are delighted to share it with family and friends!

I hope everyone has a great week!

New Venture

Dennis and I recently made the decision to join Lightyear Wireless as direct sales representatives. Lightyear has partnered with Sprint and Verizon to provide wireless services directly to customers at very competitive rates. The difference is Lightyear doesn’t pay for marketing – direct sales reps are engaged instead. We are very excited about the possibilities for this venture. We have taken our LLC and registered a DBA. Our company name is Cobalt Blue Wireless. Our formal name is VENDZILA LLC dba Cobalt Blue Wireless.

We’d love to share this opportunity with our family and friends. We are building a team of representatives to do the same thing we’re doing – recruit others to join the sales team and sell Lightyear products via an online, national web store. You can visit our web store at www.cobaltbluewireless.com. The best value in the market is the Lightyear pre-paid plan. For $59.99 per month, you get unlimited talk, text and web on Sprint’s 3G, soon to be 4G network. With no contracts, you are free to cancel at anytime. Phones are reasonably priced and include the first month of unlimited service. And if you join our team as a Lightyear Wireless rep, you can get paid for being a customer. You also have the ability to earn residual monthly income on the wireless bills of your customers and all customers of representatives that you recruit, down to 8 levels.

In addition to excellent wireless plans and phones, we also have the ability to offer DirecTV, Dish Network, local phone service, Voice over IP service, long distance phone service, cable TV service, mobile broadband service and an international calling plan through the wireless service.

Lightyear Wireless is owned by parent Lightyear Network Solutions, a full-service communications company founded in 1993. Lightyear handles network traffic, data traffic and billing – all you do is sell the service. Each month when your customers pay their bill, you receive a commission based on a percentage of their bill. That’s residual income for as long as they are a Lightyear customer!

We would be your sponsor to answer all of your questions and get you started. We have support upstream to answer questions and help you be successful. If you’re not successful, we’re not successful. We want you to join our team!

Check out these links for more information:

http://www.trylightyear.com/ (20 minute video presentation)

http://www.cobaltbluewireless.com/ (or web store)

Call Dennis or me if you have questions and we can help you join. Visit our store if you’d like to purchase wireless products, including a pre-paid broadband internet device capable of providing wireless access to up to 5 devices at the same time. We are ready to be successful together!

Dennis 602-369-9058
dennis@cobaltbluewireless.com

Rodney 602-318-4853
rodney@cobaltbluewireless.com

We look forward to hearing from you!!

Jeeping in Sedona

It's a beautiful Sunday morning in Verde Valley.  We've been here since Friday evening with Jeremy & Brandon next to us.  The weather has been absolutely perfect!  Yesterday, we headed to Sedona to find some Jeep trails.  After stopping at Barlow Jeep Rentals for some advice, maps and to let air out of our tires, we headed to the first trail.  Soldier Pass was a pretty easy trail, less than a mile long.  But we still managed to find some mud.  There's nothing more beautiful than red mud on the side of a green Jeep!

After enjoying the scenery, we headed across town to the Broken Arrow trail.  This one is just over 4 miles and was a little more challenging - especially on the way out.  This one is heavily used by the local Jeep tour companies and we saw no less than 5 Pink Jeeps while we were at the end of the trail, or Chicken Point as it's called.  While there, we enjoyed the scrumptious lunch that Jeremy made for us.  The ride back was the best part as there's a part of the trail called "The Steps" which were extremely challenging.  We scraped bottom in a few places!  On the way out of town, we stopped back at Barlow to air our tires back up.  They were so friendly and helpful there.  If you are ever in the mood to rent a Jeep in Sedona, I highly recommend using them.

Our Jeep performed very well and we had a great time.  When we got back to camp, the puppies were SO excited to see us.  We left them at home so that they could sleep and we could enjoy the Jeep ride!  In the morning, I had put a pot roast with potatoes, carrots and onions in the crock pot, and it smelled delicious when we got back.  We hung out outside until it got too chilly, then we moved inside and had dinner.  It was a great end to a fantastic day!  Today, Jeremy and Brandon are leaving us, but we are planning to stay until tomorrow.

I've posted some of our pictures from yesterday.  There are a few more on my Facebook page.  As soon as I figure out the most efficient way to get my pictures from my phone to the computer, I'll put them in a Picasa album.  Have a great week!!

Healthy Dog Biscuits - Banfield

Healthy Dog Biscuits - Banfield

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RV Lifestyle 101: How do I find and equip an RV tow vehicle?

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Quartzsite, Arizona – everything for your RV and more in one zip code

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