The dogs and I took a trip to Capital Reef National Park last week. What a beautiful place! The colors of the rocks are amazing.. According to legend, Butch Cassidy had a few hiding places there. I can understand that. There are tons of little canyons and high cliffs.
It always amazes me how the colors and layers appear. Water and earthquakes are powerful forces of nature. Seeing trees and bushes growing out of rocks is also a strength I love seeing. Where there is a will, there is a way
Over all, it was a great little side trip. The park doesn’t have nearly as many visitors as Zion or Bryce. People are very friendly and polite. And the gift shop has fresh baked pies! I had peach. It was wonderful and the crust was just right! There was also a recreation of a Morman settlement. The flowers were also starting to bloom.
Today, we went up to the canyon just above the RV park. We have had a lot of rain in the past few days. Between that and the snow melt, the stream is full and going over its banks in some places.
We ran across this shelter. Its hard to tell how long it has been there. The roof seems to have been redone recently. I don’t think anyone was in it. But then again, I didn’t go look.
That’s about it for now. I hope all the moms had a great Mother’s Day!
Wow, a few days short of a year since I have been here. And what a year it has been. I really didn’t plan on staying put for that long. Life just kept happening. Then winter so I decided to stay put.
The last year in a nutshell. I got another dog. Gypsy is reactive and very protective as Jackie found out. She takes a long time to warm up to people. I was hoping that by getting another dog, she will not feel as pressured to be protective. She has gotten better but still has some issues.
Mom fell on March 7 and broke her femur right at the hip. She had surgery and was in the hospital for a couple weeks. From there, she went to a rehab for another couple weeks. She is doing well and getting stronger. She has rehab in her house 3 to 4 times a week.
My son, Kevin, got a job. I still am not entirely sure what he is doing but he works for the company that bakes bread for Wonder and Natures Own. He is working on an assembly line checking quality on packaging, maybe! He has had a few issues with anxiety and panic attacks. I have been able to back off and let him deal with issues. It has brought us closer. He has felt comfortable enough to call me in the middle of the night to talk things out. And I have learned to keep my mouth shut unless asked for my opinion. Big win for both of us.
Kaileen is still Kaileen. Still working at Walgreens. They have both dealt well with their Dad’s death and moving on with life. Hard to believe it has been a year.
I started traveling again on 4/14. The dogs and I headed back to Utah. Our first stop was Cedar City. We camped at a state park with no hook ups-no electricity, water, or sewer. It was a beautiful, huge stop and we were there for a week
Milage when I left Nevada
I am now in Monroe Utah with full hookups. It is so pretty here. I think I will be here for a couple more weeks.
Time to end this for now. I will add some more later. Happy May Day!
It has been a rough couple weeks for the Neuhauser/Foster clan. Two weeks ago, my sister in law’s mom home burned down in Reno. Her brother plugged the engine block of his truck into the garage. It has been very cold in Reno. Not sure what happened but it shorted out somehow and started the house on fire. Both Cathy’s brother and mom ended up in ICU. Cathy (sis in law) and her sister made the decision to remove Mary from the ventilator last Friday. She passed within the hour. Her brother is still in ICU but seems to be improving slowly.
Henry passed away on 4/25. He has been ill and in pain for so long that it is a blessing but still a shock and not easy. The kids are doing well. They have both been expecting it. I was in Utah when it happened. I talked to him that morning. He was angry and hurting and in a lot of pain. He had a procedure done that afternoon. His heart just couldn’t take any more. I honestly believe he was ready to go. He had been in the hospital for almost a month and in and out since the beginning of the year.
Gypsy and I packed the trailer up that night and headed out first thing Tuesday morning. It took about seven hours, the longest I had pulled the trailer by myself, but I did it. I am now back in Pahrump at the same park I spent most of the winter. I will be here for a couple months. I will probably make some changes in my traveling. I learned that I am not sure that I don’t want a real base. I like the thought of having a place to go to when I want to go “home”. So, my future may look somewhat different than the past few months have looked. I am still going to be traveling but there will be times that I will be hanging out in Vegas with my kids. We have talked about the logistics. I am not the mom. I am another roommate. I do still plan on traveling months at a time though. The trailer will be in storage at times. And I am ok with this.
I can’t have a post and not have any pictures. These are from Bryce National Park and other places in Utah.
I left Pahrump on 3/3 and headed to Kingman. Spent the night at a winery called Desert Diamond. I belong to a group called Harvest Hosts. They are businesses all over the United States. I pay a yearly rate and then can stay overnight for free. Well, not exactly free. We are expected to buy something at whatever kind of business it is. Desert Diamond is a winery/distillery. They also sell flavored olive oil and basalmic vinegar. I probably spent more than I would have paid for a site but it helps small businesses and I get something I use.
The next day we set out for Camp Verde AZ, our new home for 2 weeks. It was a really pretty drive but I40 leaves much to be desired.
Gypsy and I spent a lot of time exploring the back roads around Camp Verde. Gypsy isn’t comfortable around a lot of people yet so we didn’t do many hikes. We went up in the mountains so I could let her run. She loved it. She spent a lot of time running around the truck.
We drove around Sedona. Dogs aren’t allowed on most of the hikes. One park won’t even let dogs ride in cars. I did get some great pictures but there were just way to many people for either one of us!
My future house
Another trip up in the mountains. Gypsy wasn’t afraid of the snow.
This is from the first week in Camp Verde. I will post the second week in a couple day.
Happy New Year!! I hope the new year is bringing you everything you want and need!
It was a quiet one for us. I think we were asleep by 10 PM.
Mike and Astrid went back to Northridge on Thursday. It was a good two weeks. The weather finally cooperated on Tuesday and Wednesday. Mike ended up staying two extra days. We went to Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and spent some time in Death Valley.
Ash Meadows is the largest oasis in the Mojave Desert. Springs just pop out of the desert. There are several species of fish that don’t exist anywhere else. They have adjusted to water that can sometimes reach 95 degrees. The water in these pools is called fossil water. It comes from melted ice from the last ice age.
I want to go back and explore some more. They have some really nice self-guided tours.
It also contains one little section called Devils Hole. It is made up of two holes in the mountain. I think they are connected. It is at least 500 feet deep. The bottom has never been found. It also contains rare fish. The water level changes. I didn’t get very good pictures. Both entrances are fenced in for security.
Something else I found really cool were the markings on the rocks. I imagine they came from the ice during the ice age moving across them. I can’t even imagine how old they are and what they have been through – ice age, volcanos. Plus this part of Nevada was covered in water for millions of years, actually most of Nevada was after the ice age.
The next day we headed back to Death Valley. When I was in the area in November, I was more north so this time we went to the south.
Donte’s Point is 5475 ft in elevation. I have been higher but not in a place that was right on the edge. I wanted to walk out more but my head was telling me NO!!! It was a beautiful view though
This is Telescope Peak elevation 11049 ft.
Then we headed down to Badwater Basin. It is at the bottom of the Dante’s Point pictures. The elevation there is 282 feet below sea level. This is the lowest point in North America. It is covered with salt.
This is salt and yes I did taste it!
I saw this rock in November but didn’t get any pictures of it. My guess is that it was formed by the ice and volcanos too. Hard to tell from the pictures but it is as tall as I am. The face reminds me of a cross between the elephant man and ET.
I almost forgot….look what I got for Christmas!
Well, I was trying to insert some pictures of me shooting but for some reason they aren’t showing up in my feed. Yep, Mike gave me a gun for Christmas. and who said romance is dead!!
It is getting late so I will end this post with a few pictures, including my new Love, Gypsy
I was going to wait until sometime in February to get a dog but for some reason, I googled “rescues near Pahrump.” This little one caught my eye.
She just looked so sad. The description read that she was very shy and just needed some treats and to be told that everything is all right. Well don’t we all!!
It was a few days before I could go see her and when I did, my heart just went out to her. She was cowering in the back corner of a pen that was used to hold dogs when meeting potential adopters. There was a lot of noise and confusion. It was 12/22 and in a thrift store. Lots of stressed out, over sugared people. I took her outside for a little walk. She was really nervous and kept hiding behind me when anyone approached us. She already trusted me. I couldn’t leave her there. So she came home with me.
Meet Gypsy
Soon after coming home, still scaredEars are more perkyShe and Astrid playing in my Mom’s yardShe has her spot on the couchAstrid
We are slowly finding our way. She doesn’t like to lead. She will not walk out of the trailer ahead of me, even on a leash. She is really nervous when eating. She acts like someone is going to take her food. But she trusts me. Those dark, deep eyes do not miss a thing. She never stops moving unless she is sitting next to me or sleeping. She was called Rosie in the shelter but already knows her name is Gypsy. She is starting to learn how to play. She and Astrid decided to play keep away with a tennis ball at 2 o’clock this morning!
She is my present to me! I hope you all get something just as special during this holiday season.
Merry Christmas!!
Clouds cutting off the top of the mountains at sunset.
I was on my way back home yesterday and stopped at a little convenience store to get a soda. As I was leaving, I saw the moon just starting to come over the mountain. No one was behind me so I just sat at the stop sign and took some pictures.
This took place in a span of 10 or 15 minutes.
I love being out in the middle of nowhere with almost no light polution.
Here are a couple more pictures after I got back to the park.
Beautiful night but very cold. It is just after 11 am and the temp is 42 degrees. It got down to 28 last night. It has been that way for the past 4 or 5 days. I was worried about my pipes freezing but I guess my four seasons package is working. I haven’t had any problems. The four seasons package is one of the reasons I bought this trailer. I do still want to get a heated hose though. It will keep the hose from the outside faucet to the trailer from freezing.
I went to Las Vegas on Friday. I still need to get the Toyota licensed. By the time I got back to Pahrump at about 11:30 am, DMV wasn’t taking anymore customers. Made the trip for nothing. Well, not for nothing. I got to see my kids. They are doing so well. Kaileen seems to enjoy her new store. They have her working more hours. Kevin’s transfer still hasn’t come through. They are still working on it but he is starting to look at other options. He is getting settled in but I think he is starting to get a little bored. He has turned into his sister’s driver. He called the other night and wanted to know how to turn on the defroster for the windshield. It is amazing how much I do automatically. I had a heck of a time trying to tell him which buttons to push and dials to turn.
So I ended up taking the Toyota back to Vegas and will go back with Mike one day next week. I will keep the Toyota overnight and head to DMV first thing in the morning.
The kid’s house is only about 1 1/2 hours from here so two round trips in one day wasn’t awful. I got to enjoy another beautiful sunset.
I had to scrape the windshield when I left that morning. I hadn’t had to do that in many years. I should have remembered to warm up the truck!
I have been doing some decorating here. I have never owned my own home so this is a new experience for me. I added some peel and stick contact paper to the refrigerator. It is for countertops so hopefully it will last awhile. If I get tired of it, I can change it. It isn’t as dark in the back corner with the marble front.
Pardon my mess
I also want to take the valances off the windows. They are dark and look old fashion. I tried to take them down but found out the window shades are attached to them. So I had to put the one I took down back up. I am going to get new shades for all the windows, only 5 windows but all different. So that project is put off for a week or so.
Ugly and dark
This is my murphy bed
What’s behind the curtain? My bed!
I always though Murphy beds were so cool and now I have one. It takes no time to set up plus there is room to store stuff when I am traveling. You can’t see in the picture but there are cubbies on both sides of the bed to use as a nightstand. It has a couple plug ins to charge my phone and watch. There is also enough room to hold whatever people put on a nightstand – water, a book etc. I have learned to open it up about an hour before I climb into it. The heat doesn’t get into that section with the bed closed. It is COLD between the sheets!
It was really rainy a couple days last week, so it snowed in the foothills
Mike and Astrid will be here tomorrow. They are coming for the holidays. Mike is bringing my bike. It will be nice to have it here. And nice to have them here as well.
Just a couple personal notes. Frank Smith, congratulations on your retirement! Enjoy the next chapter of your life! Mike’s brother’s father-in-law died last night from cancer. My prayers go out to Kenny, Teena, and the rest of the family. Fuck cancer!
Merry Christmas my friends. I hope the New Year brings nothing but Peace Joy and Happiness!!
Big News!! I am officially a Nevadan again! I am waiting for my Nevada driver license. I already have the plates for my truck and trailer. Next week I should have the Toyota done. It only took 3 1/2 hours to get everything done. I was fine with that. It took me all day just to get the trailer done in California. The funny thing was that DMV renewed my old Nevada dl. Like the past 35 years in California didn’t exist. The tv show Dallas keeps coming to mind. lol.
Mike and I went 4 wheeling. We had a great time but I must admit, I get nervous on some of those “roads”. I grew up with my Dad taking us on the same kind of roads. You would think I would be used to it.
About 10 years I downloaded an app for geocaching. It is kind of like a treasure hunt. It got quiet after Mike and Astrid left the Saturday after Thanksgiving so I gave it a shot. It was fun. I found 5 hidden objects in the area around Meadview. I went to places that I probably wouldn’t haven’t have taken the time to go to. I will continue with geocaching. Maybe start looking for the harder one or setting up my own caches.
I left Arizona on 12/1. I know I will be back there at some point. It was just such a nice place. It reminded me of the place in Nevada that I grew up. Everyone was so friendly but not pushy friendly.
So here I am back in Nevada, Pahrump to be exact. I will be here a couple months I think. I stayed at my mom’s house for a couple days. I moved into the RV park yesterday. I have been dealing with stuff for/with her since I got here so not too many pictures.
Can you see my neighbor? More quail!
I had to back into the space at the RV park. Backing up a trailer attached to a truck is backwards. I have backed up at the storage lot but not in an RV park. This place has people that lead you to your spot. He was REALLY helpful and patient with getting me in the spot. This place is more fancy than I am used to. The spots are all level concrete pads. They have people that come around to collect the trash everyday.
I did have an issue when I was setting up yesterday at the RV park. I hooked up to the city water and water started spraying from behind the connection to my trailer. I had problems disconnecting in Arizona so I thought it might have been the hose. I grabbed another hose but the same thing happened. I found an RV mobile repair guy that works with the park. He came over today and fixed it in about 10 minutes. In trying to disconnect in Arizona, I somehow unscrewed the connection behind the main one. Easy fix for him. He did ask me if I had a 90 degree elbow fitting. Amazingly, I did. It will take some of the strain off the connection when I disconnect. So I put it on. I did have water last night though. I was able to put water into the fresh water tank.
A friend asked me yesterday how I was doing being retired. The question caught me off guard. Of course retirement it good but I know what he meant. He knows me way to well. Still working on finding the balance between staying too busy and not busy enough. I don’t remember where I saw this but it struck a cord… It is also perfect for my friend/sister/daughter. You just finished 12 rounds of radiation. I am so proud of you and the way you handled it, the strength and poise you showed. I love you lots and am looking forward to our travels.
I was hoping I would be better about keeping this up to date but…. Always a work in progress.
I left Beatty and Nevada last week. Exploring Death Valley and that end of the state was great. Even growing up in Nevada, I had never spent much time in that area.
This was an interesting display outside of Rhyolite Nevada. The white ghosts represented The Last Supper. Of course, I had to walk the labyrinth. It was my Sunday meditation.
These are various pictures of the Rhyolite area.
I also went to Ubehebe Crater.
With that, my two weeks in Beatty were over. I headed back to Pahrump. 11/15 was my mom’s 80th birthday so I spent the night at her house. We went to dinner with some friends of hers. Had a great time.
The next morning I was on my way to Meadview Arizona. I did stop in Henderson to see the kids and drop a few things off. I am so proud of my kids. They are living their lives….all without my help!! Who would have guessed..
I am falling in love with this little town in Arizona. It is about 15 minutes from Lake Mead and probably 30 from the west side of the Grand Canyon. I might come back here after I get all the relocation stuff done in Nevada next month. It will be a decent place to wait out the winter. It can get down to freezing at night but usually in the 50’s or 60’s during the day. The people are very friendly. The place is very community oriented. And it is beautiful!
The first night I was here, I heard some birds in the Joshua Tree next to my truck. It was full of quail. I would have never seen them.
Mike and Astrid got here on Saturday. I must admit, it has been nice having the company. We went down to the Colorado River on Sunday. I had been warned about cattle on the roads since I got here on Tuesday but hadn’t seen one even off the highway. We finally saw some by the river.
We went into Kingman yesterday to do some shopping. There is a Dollar Family store and a Gas and Grab here but that’s about it. So as much as I don’t like Walmart we picked up a few things there and went to Tractor Supply. I think that is my new favorite store. It has a little bit of everything. I had been looking for a thermometer with a clock on it. I found one there that also shows the outside temp and will give you a forecast. Kind of cool. Plus I found a few things to do some upgrades on the house. (still haven’t decided what to call her – house, home, trailer, Proper name?)
Today has been a lazy day. I put up some led lights in the kitchen, organized a few drawers. There are three open cubbies in the bathroom. It has another one on the bottom but it is closed off. We removed the cover and found some more storage. Always a good thing.
I wanted to go to Titus Canyon yesterday. I stopped at the description sign but unfortunately didn’t read the whole thing. Off I go on this dirt road. It became very narrow and steep. I decided to turn around and go back. I passed a few people and thought it was weird. No one acknowledged that I was going the opposite way. I met several people on the road. Finally someone told me it was a one way road and I could get a ticket if a ranger caught me. Oops. Lesson learned. Look at the description sign closer, (it was there) and look at a map.
Titus Canyon/Death Valley National Park
After I avoided the Rangers, I went to Obehebe Crater. It is about 2000 years old and very cool.
A couple days ago I went to Artist Palette. It was beautiful I hate that I can’t get true color with my phone.
These mountains were on the same section of road. I must have been hungry. They remind me of blondie brownies.
I am finding out that rv living is not all glamorous. I had to deal with a poop pyramid in my black tank. But I took care of it and didn’t make a mess Yay, me!!.
I did nothing today but watch tv. I felt guilty and a little hard on myself at first but then realized this is my home. I would be doing the same thing in my apartment. Its ok to do nothing. I did get my bathroom reorganized. I am still trying to find places for things. Every time I clean or organize, more stuff gets thrown away or donated. It has been hard but I haven’t bought a single t shirt.
One more full day then it is off to Mom’s (Pahrump) for her 80th bday and after than, Arizona (Meadview) for two weeks.
Retired and Traveling 