Heat wave

my favorite vegetation in the desert is the
Ironwood tree, in the spring they get these
dusty lavender blossoms, otherwise the rest
of the year they just sort of look dead.



Mesquite and Palo Verde trees grow all over
the desert as well, they look very similiar but
the bark of a mesquite tree is rough and the
bark of the Palo Verde tree is smooth and
green.


Don't know what these little pink things are
called but the hummingbirds love them.


These look like daisies but they aren't. I don't
know what their called.




Well, its certainly hot, but that's nothing really new when you live in the desert.
Its like this every summer, which is why I dream of the day I can leave for
the summer and come back when its over. Three years to go.
It will be nice to say good bye to this type of vegetation

Happy 4th of July

4th of July with all its pomp and circumstance and
here I am sitting at home. I don't really care for
big crowds so I prefer to watch all the festivities
on tv and out my window where I can watch the
local fireworks from the casino on the indian
reservation. It becomes quite a challenge in my
household actually, as my two girls Gracie and
Pixie get really scared of all the booming. Its not
as bad as it used to be but its bad enough to make
the little dogs run for a hiding place and tremble.



They normally don't buddy up like this but
hey, when in doubt and feeling insecure......
grab a friend!!!!!!!
I tend to just turn the tv up a little more and
pretend like its nothing when I hear the boom.
I do peek out the window though and watch
the fireworks shoot up in the air.
Hope everyone had a very happy 4th!

Living in a Fifth Wheel

Here it is, my 2001 Cameo Carrie-lite, 29'
parked in a retirement community where I
live full time.

I can't imagine living in a stick/brick home
anymore, from now on my home will always
have wheels. Purging and getting rid of stuff
really wasn't that hard. I just asked myself
"why do I need this?" I sold, gave away and
threw away a lifes collection of just stuff.
Things that I once found to have emotional
ties to, just didn't exist anymore. It was time
to move on.

Its a living

I started driving a schoolbus in 1989, 21 years now
behind that big wheel. No one ever got rich driving
a schoolbus, but hey, somebody has to do it. I've
really enjoyed being behind that big wheel and I've
had some great kids over the years, and some not
so great too. But all in all the worse part of my job...
fueling and cleaning that big bus. The one in the
picture has a 100 gal tank and I usually had to fill
it twice a week. Cleaning....well, lets just say the
little darlings can be quite messy with their snacks
and gum even though things like that are against
the rules.
When school starts I plan to switch to a little mini-
bus, many folks refer to it as a "short" bus. I will
transport special needs students. I will probably
transport maybe a half dozen or just a few but in
most cases there is a bus aide to help with these
type of students.

Then and Now

Then










Now


I have just a few more years until retirement. I am so looking
forward to it. Working on my list of places to visit. Although I
just love Colorado and I'll take a few trips up that way to visit
friends and such, there are so many other neat places to go see.
Over my lifetime I've been through most of the states in the
US except the middle northern part. I was 10 years old when I
took a road trip with my grandmother from N Hollywood CA to
Bangor Maine. We traveled through the south, into Oklahoma,
up through Kentucky and Tennesee, the Carolinas, Virginia and
Washington DC, New York and up into Maine. I remember a lot
of it and I definately learned how to read a map. I was the chief
navigator on that trip. I chuckle today over everyone having a
GPS and when people ask me what kind I have, I tell them I
have one mounted between my ears, a little bit above the
shoulders. Yes, it gives us a chuckle, but when I get ready to
actually hit the road, I'll have a good GPS for real.