A Winter Vaca...

February 12, 2025

Cocopah RV Resort

Yuma, AZ

...but first a quick catch-up from the oasis.

The start of another wonderful day...

Lucy enjoyed a very nice play day at the Doggie park in Green Valley.  

Quail Creek Dog Park in Green Valley. This is the side for small pups.

It's a huge park divided in half to separate big and little dogs.  There were only a couple of other pups there. Lucy ran and ran and chased and chased...it's so much fun to watch her socializing and having a good time.  

Taking a break under the shade pavilion...

Lucy loves ice and one of those wonderful warm, sunny days we were enjoying our rockers on the patio.  Before I knew it, she jumped on the table and turned my water  glass (thank goodness for Tervis) over and just helped herself.  Now I add ice to her water bowl if we are sitting outside.  

Lucy is always a good helper, 

Dad needs my help with the hose reel...

and loves to play fetch.

So focused on Joe and the ball...

I planted some flowers.  I just love our little kitchen table garden especially with the afternoon sun shinning in.  It's my favorite time of year because I don't have to shut the blinds to keep the heat out.

So on Monday, February 10th, we loaded up the bus and headed west.  

It's Lucy's first RV trip and we are happy to report so far so good.  She sat with me all the way and watched the world go by.  It is so amazing how puppies adapt.  to what ever we throw at them.  She sat like the sweet little pup she is all the way to Cocopah RV Resort in Yuma. 

Our last trip to Cocopah was in February 2014.  My how the time flies !  Monday night we joined Carol and Ronnie and Don (his better half, Jan, wasn't feeling too good) for pizza.  Lucy went for little while and then we took her home to her crate for a nap.  Good friends just seem to have "this thing" when they meet up that wipes out all the time passed in-between visits.  The conversation and laughter just flows like we had seen them last week.  Life is good that way ! 

Lucy has already made friends at the puppy play area.  It's a huge 2.5 acres of green grass nestled within the residential area and not fenced in so we haven't let Lucy off-leash yet. 

This is Daisy...Lucy also met Keva and Lexie and their humans who are all so nice to our very active 5 month old puppy.   

 This morning, our walk was along the Colorado River.  The path has been greatly improved since we were here 11 years ago.  It is so peaceful and so pretty to walk along the river...one of my favorite things to do while here.  

We also spent time at the pond in front of the RV Registration office.  We saw lots of birds this morning. I photographed a few and my favorite was a Snow Goose.  

These beauties migrate to and from their breeding grounds in northern Alaska and Canada.  They are strong fliers, walkers, and swimmers.  The male and female mate for life. The female chooses a nest site sheltered among vegetation in the willows and rocks or small shrubs.  Being close to snow melt when breeding presents a challenge to find a dry spot and the female sometimes makes several decisions only to change her mind.  These geese are vegetarians with a hearty appetite.  In fact their two favorite activities are eating and sleeping.  

So until next time...

HAPPY TRAILS !

Happy Just Being Home...

January 31, 2025

Corona de Tucson 

So the first title for the blog was "Content", but I changed it because I didn't want to confuse anyone that there was actually any subject matter written here today.  It is more about being content...a state of peaceful happiness kind of content. We have been pretty much homebound the last few weeks...not homebound because we were sick or had to be, but homebound by choice.  We both love being home, wearing comfy clothes, doing absolutely nothing or doing what we absolutely enjoy.  It's our own comfy place...quiet, calm, warm, safe, and peaceful.  

We did have a couple of Lucy destinations.  Last week we went to McDonald Park, a new to us park to walk with Lucy on the trail.  

Barney's human mom said he would love to play!

But when we arrived, there was the cutest golden doodle in the fenced in doggie park and Lucy was too excited to go on a walk.  Chasing was the game of choice.  The only other puppy Lucy has played with is Ozzie and we were happy for her to socialize.  Of course the first thing we did when we got home was a bath for Lucy...she was filthy !

Lucy LOVES baths ! 

Lucy also had a spa day...a bath, a haircut, and a pedicure.  She looked so dang cute in her little pink bows and was so happy to see us when we picked her up. 

Other than that I had two biopsies at the dermatologist and Joe had a great report from the cornea specialist.  Joe's eye has completely healed and the bandaid contact is gone, and he has decent peripheral vision.  

So back at the oasis, we have enjoyed a hodgepodge of weather patterns...it was freezing, hailing, windy, snowing, rainy, and sunny warm weather all blended in to the last two weeks of January.  

I tried a few new recipes.  My favorite was a one pan baked salmon and fingerling potatoes, sweet peppers and cherry tomatoes.  Quite yummy !

The veggies (coated in a little olive oil) goes on one side of the pan with the salmon (rubbed with a little olive oil on both sides) on the other side...it cooks about 25 minutes and I served the salmon on top of the veggies for dinner.

Joe's favorite was Crack Chicken Soup.  It was yummy too !  I had to look up why it is called Crack and it's because it can be addictive...duh!  A weird blend of ingredients...a packet of ranch seasoning mix, with other spices, spinach, heavy cream and cream cheese, and I cheated and used a rotisserie chicken. It is topped with crumbled bacon and sharp cheddar. 

I did experiment with chicken quesadillas.  Rotisserie chicken with sautéed mushrooms, spinach, mozzarella and sharp cheddar cheese topped with sour cream and avocados.  We have actually had them twice...so easy!  

We have had a few winter visitors...this sweet little Ladder-back female...

and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

So January is a memory...a very nice memory for us.  Lucy is growing like a weed weighing in at 12.8 pounds and a nice combination of playing and cuddling at 5 months old.  She is still testing the waters which is sometimes frustrating and sometimes very funny for us. But one thing is for certain...we sure do love her !

 

She loves to sit and watch the birds.

Until next time...

McDonald Park

HAPPY TRAILS!