Independence Day Weekend

View of forest from my recliner

The dogs woke me up about 6 (they tried at 5 and I said NO WAY) and so I took them out to do their business.  It's a rather chilly morning in the forest although you get no complaints from me!  It was nice to put on a sweatshirt to take them out.  We arrived here about 5:15 yesterday after a fairly easy drive up.  I-17 was VERY busy, which is typical for the Friday of a holiday weekend but once we got on 260 and 87, we had no problems.  As we were turning onto Forest Highway 3 and arriving at our destination, a truck with flashing police lights sped up behind us and followed us into Clint's Well.  It was meeting an already waiting ambulance.  Soon after, a chopper arrived and someone (not from camp) was loaded into the helicopter and airlifted most likely to Phoenix.  It was quite an experience.  As we were setting up our site, a bunch of campers gathered near us and at first we thought we were the "entertainment" but then we realized they were watching the helicopter drama. 

It took us some time to set up as we were trying to get satellite signal.  We finally gave up and decided to get out the dish and tripod.  Believe it or not, we spent less time setting that up than we did trying to get the automatic satellite to lock in on a signal!  The best part is that, despite looking ghetto with cables going into the RV through our slide-out, we have 2 tuners and can watch one thing and record another.  We don't get that feature with the automatic satellite as the 2nd tuner goes into the bedroom for a 2nd receiver.

I'm sitting here in the recliner, Dennis is still in bed. Both of the dogs are sleeping in their bed.  I have the window open and am looking at the forest.  I can hear the squeal of hummingbirds as they swirl around us.  It's so peaceful and beautiful up here.  There's a chance we may get thunderstorms today and tomorrow but we really don't care.  There's nothing like a forest thunderstorm to cool things of even more, and add to the relaxation of the Glamping experience.

Please have a safe and festive Independence Day weekend.  Remember the freedoms that we all have and the freedoms that some of us are still fighting to get.  Enjoy the 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!

Independence Day 2009

What a great weekend! We left work around 3 on Thursday, grabbed the puppies and jumped in the motor home and car. Dennis drove the RV and the boys and I followed behind in the car. I was worried about towing the car on the sharp curves and mountain grades going up to Mingus Mountain. We encountered a few sprinkles on Fain Road, just outside of Prescott Valley. We got there around 5:45. There were a total of 6 RVs Thursday night. We stayed at the Playground area on Mingus Mountain, hosted by our friends Brandon & Jeremy. The weather was so gorgeous.

Friday we had a nice breakfast. Jeremy's mom Shane and her husband Steve came from Temecula to spend the weekend with us. Steve made bacon and pancakes, and hash browns and Ron & Bob made a nice egg casserole. It was an excellent breakfast! The rest of the day was spent hanging out, setting up the Easy Ups for our group dinners and preparing for our Friday night potluck. Barb & Karen arrived after taking the 'long' way to Mingus Mountain so there are 7 RVs there Friday night. After a nice wine and cheese happy hour hosted by Ron & Bob, we had a fantastic dinner - 2 kinds of pork, salad, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, veggies followed by apple crisp and ice cream. YUMMY!

Saturday we had a red white and blue breakfast, compliments of Jim & Greg. We had blueberry and strawberry pancakes with whipped cream and sausage. Yum! We then put together the smoker that we bought to smoke the meat that Brandon & Jeremy were making for dinner Saturday. Once that was done, Dennis and & went into Jerome with Melinda & Dorian. We wandered in and out of some of the shops there, then went to the Mile High Grill for lunch. It was fantastic! We got back to camp just in time for about 8 or 10 more sprinkles of rain. We played a little Wii bowling, then started happy hour about 4.

Saturday night's dinner was a fabulous smoked brisket, salad, corn on the cob, Parmesan bread followed by peach cobbler made on the dutch oven and homemade ice cream. NUMMY!! about 8:15, several of us headed to the campground down the road to get ready to watch the fireworks. We had 2 vehicles and 11 people going, so we had to make a couple of trips to get everyone there. We were able to see the Cottonwood fireworks from atop Mingus Mountain, which is about 7,700 feet (Cottonwood is about 3,200 feet). It was pretty cool! We also caught a glimpse of the fireworks from Flagstaff at the same time. We then shuttled everyone back to the Playground and enjoyed the fabulous fire that the 3 who stayed back had built and enjoyed.

This morning it was time to pack up to head home. We left the camp about 9. Dennis drive the motor home and was having trouble with large moths that had taken up residence in our motor home over the weekend. At one point going down the hill, he pulled over and started swatting them. In all, he encountered about 10-12 moths that somehow got into our motor home while up there. We stopped at Cordes Junction before getting on I-17 to use the dump station and put some gasoline in my car. I-17 was moving surprisingly well for Sunday of a summer holiday weekend. We got home about 11:30 and got everything unloaded. We then stopped at Safeway to fill up the motor home before taking it back to storage. After getting everything put away, we were back home by 1. We've been relaxing ever since.

The weekend was a dog weekend. We had 12 dogs at the camp. Everyone got along well. Our boys had a BLAST on Friday chasing a tennis ball with Haas and Diva. They got SOOOO dirty! We had to give them a bath Friday afternoon! They really enjoyed it! Jeremy and Brandon had their 3 dogs Daisy, Peggy and Joey. Jim & Greg had Haas and Diva. Shane & Steve brought Molly and Zeus. Melinda & Dorian brought Pat and Henry. And Ron & Bob brought Sedona. Karen and Barb left their dogs at home and enjoyed a weekend without them! But....our little lovers gave them some attention.

We hope everyone had a fantastic Independence Day weekend. We sure did. Happy Summer! I've attached a couple of pictures from the weekend. Have a great week!