It's Been Too Long

Tuesday was Grandpa Manning's Memorial Service in Le Mars, Iowa and the service was very nice and complimentary to his long life. I was able to see and catch-up with the Manning family and it was wonderful to be able to spend time with everyone. Thanks to you all for making us feel welcome, letting us see the good-ole-times pictures, eat cake (and more cake) and of course, play basketball. I have to say that it's been a while since I've played - actually I never really "played" for sport (was it that obvious?) but I had a great time laughing with you all!!!

Monica and I spent time with Grandma Manning at the nursing home and although she was sleeping some of the time, she did open her eyes and we were able to tell her we love her. Her beautiful blue eyes were just as I remembered.

I hope all of my cousins, aunts, and uncles that PROMISED to stay in touch, do. :) I'll be upset if not, so watch out! I love and miss you all already, but will see you soon. Take care and thanks again.

From the Valley to the Sky

Matt and I have had a relaxing trip to Palm Springs. We have been staying at the Sky Valley Resort out in Sky Valley (about 20 minutes from Palm Springs) thanks to Mom Mamey for setting it up. We have a wonderful RV site and this park has a hot springs pool that is very nice. We've spent lots of time with Mom and I've had the chance to even see some friends from Figaro's as well.

Mom & I went out to eat one night at a delicious seafood restaurant (and I got my picture taken with the bronze Bono), we went to the Palm Springs Thursday Night Fair in downtown Palm Springs, and we spent time at her condo with Codi and Myeisha, her cute cats. Mr. B loves Mama Donna and had some fun times at Ruth Hardy Park walking through the grass, which is hard to find out in these parts of the desert.

Mom also went with me to meet up with Dave & Debbie Schy, who took us to their favorite restaurant and casino. I even played Craps with a little bit of help from them. Didn't win anything but for the first time playing, it sure was fun! I sort of get the idea, but will need to practice again soon. Thanks to Dave & Debbie for meeting up with us and taking us out. When a chef takes you to his favorite restaurant, you know it must be good and he was right! The pork chops were my absolute favorite! THANK YOU!!!

The next morning, Mom and I met up with Ron & Carol Berger for a fabulous brunch at the infamous Sherman's restaurant. The place is ALWAYS packed with people (a good sign it's great food) and I can see why. I had a plate of salad and fruit that was fantastic. Ron also took Mom and I on a tour of the new Figaro's Pizza Corporate office that is just blocks away from the downtown area and is so classy. There's even a grapefruit tree in the back and the fruit from the tree is delicious. THANKS to Ron & Carol for the treat of lunch. It was great to see and spend time with you.

I've been coming down here to Palm Springs for years and have always wanted to take the Palm Springs Aerial Tram up Mt. San Jacinto. Finally today was the day. Matt and I took the tram up, up, up to the 8,416 foot summit and it was worth the trip. We hiked for a couple of hours and it was like we were in a different area of the country entirely. It was about 55 degrees (a bit chilly compared to the 100 degrees down in the valley) but we took jackets and were well-prepared. Had a nice lunch at the restaurant and climbed around on the rocks. Matt even got to feed a cougar (fake, of course, but it looks real, right?) and hang off the tram (well, the one on the ground...) I definitely recommend the trip up if you're thinking of doing it. But dress appropriately - remember, there was still snow up there today, so it could be if/when you decide to go up too!

I had plans for the rest of the week (sorry Pamela & Brian for having to cancel our plans) and we were planning on staying through Wednesday, however, my grandfather, Milo Manning, passed away yesterday, April 26th in Le Mars, Iowa. He had a long and prosperous life and has many family members that love him dearly, including me who has great memories of time spent with him. I am flying out to Iowa tomorrow to attend the memorial service and funeral on Tuesday. We love you grandpa - you will be remembered with a caring heart always.

I will be back on Wednesday afternoon and from there, Matt, Bailey and I will take off and head towards Arizona. We're on our way to the Grand Canyon and then up into Southern Utah so I'll post once we get to our destination with more adventures, I'm sure. I hope all of my family and friends are doing well... remember it's important to tell people how special they are. Thanks to everyone for keeping in touch and for the kind words for us and our safe travel. We have been treated with open arms everywhere we have been and for that, we are so very thankful!

Our Trip to the Beach

Currently, we're in Desert Hot Springs, just outside of Palm Springs but we took a couple of days and drove over to San Diego to spend time with my aunt Judy and her adorable pooch, Chauncey. They took great care of us with good food and even a trip over to Pacific Beach so we could see the ocean and the tourists that actually do venture into the cold water. We played cards, relaxed on Judy's patio, chatted, and had a nice lunch on the beach. We had a great time.

THANKS Judy & Chauncey for the wonderful hospitality, BBQ, Bloody Marys, and taking us to the beach. We had a very nice time and if we come back through San Diego, we'll make sure to give you a couple days warning so we can park outside the patio. You just never know.

P.S. I'm patiently awaiting the sweater. You have a few months before it starts to get cold again. :) We love you.

Snake Update

THANKS Dan for doing the research on the snake!

For all you wondering too, it's a:

LONG-NOSED SNAKE Rhinocheilus lecontei

http://www.reptilesofaz.com/Snakes-Subpages/h-r-lecontei.html

Ridin' Dirty

Friday, April 18th (Happy Birthday, Bryan!), Saturday, April 19th (Happy Birthday, Monica!), and Sunday, April 20th we were outside of California City, CA at a CORVA* event. We met up with the Miller family and had a GREAT, FUN, RIDIN' DIRTY weekend!

Darrell, whom we met because he's the good guy that sold us our "sa-weet" trailer, his wife Carleen and kids Jessy, Justin, and Logan and their friends Bert, Julie, and Ben were all out there for the event and were kind enough to invite us out there. They own 4x4'n Ice Cream and sell their ice cream from their quads at these events. Who doesn't love ice cream while riding in the middle of the desert??? GREAT IDEA and GREAT ICE CREAM! They took us out on the awesome trails, even though the entire weekend was windy as all-get-out. Carleen said it best when she said, "I have dirt in places I didn't know existed!" One night was so windy that we thought we'd wake up to find our lawn chairs embedded in someone's windshield, but we survived.

On Sunday, Darrell, Carleen, and Jessy took us to Randsburg. We could ride our quads all the way to this little ghost town and through town. We had a delicious lunch and toured the city to get a look in the fun shops. A lady that made wind chimes even gave us a tour of how she makes them and let us listen to her record player with whispy sounds and all. Then took a ride back to camp, again filling our noses and eyeballs with enough sand to build a sand castle. We can't tell you how nice it was to finally get a shower (I may have had nests of small rodents in the knots in my hair.)

This THANK YOU goes out to our fabulous, but dir-tay hosts, Darrell and Carleen for the invite, breakfast and drinks, 4x4'n Ice Cream ice cream, hats and shirts (we'll wear them with pride,) and for showing us the desert in such a fun way. We've met some great friends and these guys are surely on our list to be friends for the long run. You guys are the best and we had a wonderfully fun time with you. Stay in touch! We hope to spend many more 4-wheelin' adventures with such fun people.

*CORVA = California Off-Road Vehicle Association

This THANK YOU goes to Mama Donna for babysitting Bailey for the weekend. He said he had a great time going on walks, being spoiled by cookies from Petco, and going to the park. Thanks too for doing the laundry. You have NO idea how nice it was to put on clean clothes!!! xoxo

"Here Lizard, Lizard..."

We left Casa Grande, AZ and didn't know how far we'd go, but ended up at Joshua Tree National Park, about an hour outside of Palm Springs. We stayed for 4 nights and had a great time. It was nice to be able to set up our home and actually stay in one place for a while.

The park this time of year is not very busy and the weather was great with a light breeze so it never did get too hot. We hiked the Mastodon trail to Cottonwood Springs and Matt even climbed to the top of Mastodon Peak (great views, he said) and we toured the entire park. Two deserts reside within the park limits: Mojave and Colorado. The Mojave is a higher desert where the Joshua Trees thrive and the Colorado is the lower elevation where there are lots of flowering cacti (ochillo and cholla are my favorite with the orange and yellow buds) and wash areas where, when/if it rains, the area is flooded and the ground is actually quiet green at times.

We took some really cool off-road trails with the truck and one ended up taking us up and up for 3 hours and then into a canyon and then dropped us off at a Rest Area off the freeway. Do you ever see those signs posted at Rest Areas that say, "Federal Land-Do Not Enter" and there is a gate that opens? Well, that is where we came out. We saw views of the Salton Sea, too.

We saw our 2nd Desert Tortoise (1st one I saw in Las Vegas) and 2 different kinds of lizards (but MANY of them!) and that snake. What is that snake anyway? Anyone know? We stayed back - DUH - but got some good shots with the zoom lens (again - DUH). Let us know if you have an answer.

The blimp picture is what Matt saw from our campsite. It made me think of why so many see UFO's around here... see below and tell me what you think.