2012 REVIEW

2012 WILL BE THE YEAR THAT AMY AND PAUL WILL REMEMBER LOSING BOTH THEIR GRANDMOTHERS. GRANDMA RECHSTEINER WAS 84, AND MAGA LOONEY WAS 86. BOTH LADIES LIVED FULL LIVES AND BOTH WERE BLESSED IN A DEATH THAT ENDED THEIR SUFFERING. AMEN.

THE HAPPY CAMPERS SURVIVED ANOTHER TOO HOT SUMMER ON THE LOWER DESERT, AND WE HAVE MADE PROGRESS ON ENDING THAT TORTURE WITH A PARK MODEL PURCHASE IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN ARIZONA.

MARY’S BATTLE WITH WEIGHT LOSS WAS SUCCESSFUL WITH THE LOSS OF 25 POUNDS.

REX IS FINALLY UP OFF HIS ASS, WITH A NEW HOBBY OF SCOOTER RIDING.

WE GOT TO SEE MY THREE GRANDSONS THREE TIMES. ONCE AT SPRING BREAK IN LAUGHLIN, AND AGAIN IN THE FALL AT THE ALBUQUERQUE BALLON FESTIVAL, AND A SHORT CAMPING TRIP ON “THE MOUNTAIN”.

AMY AND I GOT TO SPEND A WEEK ON A ROADTRIP IN WISCONSIN WITH THE OD’S CADILLAC.

WE HAD COMPANY FROM HOME WHEN MIKEY MADE HIS FIRST TRIP TO NEVADA, AND HEATHER CAME TO SPEND A WEEK IN THE SUMMER HEAT.

MARY AND I SPENT TWO WEEKS OF VACATION ON “THE MOUNTAIN”, AND ALREADY HAVE A MONTH PLANNED THERE NEXT SUMMER.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE !!!!

WHAT DID YOU GET FOR CHRISTMAS?

WHAT DID YOU GET FOR CHRISTMAS, REX?

THOSE OF YOU THAT KNOW ME WON’T BELIEVE IT!

 

FOR YEARS I’VE BEEN USING UNCLE NEIL’S LINE, “I’VE ONLY GOT TWO THINGS IN MY TOOL BOX, A PHONE BOOK AND A CHECKBOOK”.

THE TIMES ARE CHANGING. NOBODY USES A PHONE BOOK OR A CHECKBOOK ANYMORE, AND NOW I HAVE A 154 PIECE WRENCH SET.

OF COURSE MY FIRST PROJECT WITH THE NEW TOOLS WAS THIS:

 

 

WTF?

IT’S A JIGSAW PUZZLE, NOW I HAVE TO PUT THE 154 PICES IN THE RIGHT SPOT? JEES SANTA, COULDN’T YOU GRAB THE DISPLAY MODEL FROM SEARS?

TWO DAYS LATER……..

I FINALLY GOT IT ALL FIGURED OUT AND PUT TOGETHER.

THANKS MARY !!!

P.S.  This is a Mary note….the tool box is necessary for Rex to haul his scooter.  An accessory so to speak.  It’s almost as bad as buying a new dress, first comes the dress, then comes shoes, then the proper jewelry, etc, etc.  One thing always leads to another….

Ice

By Uncle Hans

Only about one year in three do we get the conditions right for ice skating on the lake. It is cold, dry, calm (not windy) weather for several days until there is three or more inches of ice. Those conditions yield smooth ice you can skate on. A little skiff of snow in there does not stop the fun, but perfect conditions are without snow, as it gives us that “holy Grail” of conditions: smooth ice like glass that you can see through! You skate along and watch the fish underneath. It is really cool, but that has happened only twice in my “lake lifetime”..............
 

 
.......this year we got a window of skating lasting one day. Then we had some melting and the smoothness that is so necessary was lost........




 
.....our “skating” was a little rusty. It looked a lot like ” walking with very small steps on the ice”...........
See the disturbed snow behind Renee? That is where she “sat and rested” (fell on her ass)
Oh well, we didn’t break anything but had some sore muscles the next day.............
 


By Uncle Hans

A SAGE BRUSH CHRISTMAS

WHEN YOU GROW UP IN THE MIDWEST, SNOW AND CHRISTMAS GO TOGETHER, JUST LIKE PEAS AND CARROTS.  IT’S TUFF FOR EITHER ONE OF US TO FIRE UP OVER CHRISTMAS ON THE DESERT WITHOUT SNOW.

OF COURSE THEY HAVE CHRISTMAS HERE WITHOUT SNOW, AND TODAY’S BLOG (A SCOOTER TRIP) FEATURES PICTURES OF THE DECORATED SAGE BRUSH ON OLD ROUTE 66 ON THE WAY TO OATMAN.

 

OF COURSE IF YOU’RE USED TO A WHITE CHRISTMAS, THE SCENERY IN THE BACKGROUND OF THESE PHOTOS WILL BE MORE INTERESTING THAN THE DECORATIONS ON SOME SAGE BRUSH.

IN THE ABOVE PICTURE, THE RED DECORATIONS ARE ALL RED SOLO CUPS LIKE YOU USED AT YOUR LAST KEGGER.  HOW LONG AGO WAS THAT?  IN THE NEXT PHOTO, THE BLUE IS ALL PEPSI CANS.

 

THE WHITE CHRISTMAS CARD SAYS,

“ T’WAS CHRISTMAS TIME ON ROUTE 66.THE BURROS WERE ALL NESTLED SNUG IN THEIR BEDS, WITH VISIONS OF CARROTS DANCING IN THEIR HEADS.  THEIR STOCKING ALL HUNG ON THE BUSHES WITH CARE, IN HOPES THAT ST. NICKOLAS WOULD SOON BE THERE.”

 

HERE’S HOPING YOU HAVE A WHITE CHRISTMAS AND NOT A SAGE BRUSH CHRISTMAS.

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

Christmas Cookies

By Uncle Hans

Divorce always entails loss, sometimes the losses are small, sometimes huge and irreplaceable things are lost.

Renee lost her Spritz cookie maker, and it looks like it is headed for the “huge and irreplaceable” category.

She looks pretty smug in this first picture. This polished aluminum beauty (her old one was plastic) came from Walmart and looked like a million bucks ($24.00, actual cost)....

 


 
.....but in the down and dirty world of actually making Spritz cookies, this deceptively good-looking gizmo proved to be a dud.....
 




 
......it was stubborn to use, the lever takes a gorilla to push, the dough comes out looking like a bad relief map of Australia instead of a Christmas tree, and no amount of bad language will make it behave.....
 
 

 


 
......we went back to the directions to see if we could find the problem.....
 


 
.....and we DID!!

The fool thing was made in China, but, more importantly, it was designed in Cresco!!
What would you expect from a Spritz cookie maker from Iowa?
 


 
.....these cookies taste great (main ingredient is butter),but they would be the laughing stock of the Trinity Lutheran Church Christmas Cookie Walk.

I mean, do they even have Christmas in Australia? Seriously? It is 100 degrees and usually burning......


 

 

 
By Uncle Hans

Dancing With The Stars

By Uncle Hans

In the weeks before the wedding, the father of the bride got together with the bride for secret dance lessons to play out a huge surprise for everyone at the reception. Who knows how they did it as they live hundreds of miles apart. But here is the video.

Note how the dance starts out pretty normal, then a couple of fancy moves and the crowd comes to life and more and more people are watching. Then everyone is captivated and the pictures are flashing. Kathy is off to the left and totally taken by surprise. You can hear her squealing and laughing. The camera pans over to catch her amazement. Then at the end, she is having such fun and making such noise, the cameraman (me) pans over once again and nearly misses the “dip” at the end of the dance!!

What fun! Congrats to Neil, who always comes up with a surprise to entertain us all!!

Migraine Headaches

By Heather

I have suffered from Migraine headaches most of my life, which has had a major effect on day to day living. Most of the medications over the years have not helped for any relief and some have even made them worse. About 5 years ago my mom sent me some information on how Botox has helped relieve migraines for many sufferers. I asked my Neurologist about this and he didn’t think I was to that point, not that I was getting any relief from anything we tried over the previous 30 years. So after suffering a few more years I finally consulted a different Neurologist, Who had been giving Migraine patients Botox for 10 years with much success. Well sounded good to me and when do we start??

For the last year and a half I have been getting Botox injections every 12 weeks.

This is the Botox fresh from the pharmacy. About $2000.00 worth.

The Botox is injected into muscles on my forehead, temples, back of the neck and back of the head.

First thing they do is ground me to a machine that the needle is attached to, which makes noise when inserted into the muscle.

Once I am grounded we start in the forehead.

There are 8 injections over the entire brow area.

Then he moves to the temple area

And the back of the head and neck

The whole process from start to finish takes about 20 minutes. I do need to arrive about 20 minutes early so they can order the Botox. They will not order it until I  arrive otherwise it goes to waste and it is not cheap. It takes a couple of days for it to absorb in completely and it lasts 12 weeks. I do have to say that the first treatment didn’t help at all, and debated doing it again, but he did say it may take a couple before I get the full affect.

I am so glad I did continue, my headaches were gone! When I first started this we did it every 13 weeks but that last week I started to have headaches again so that’s why we are at 12 weeks.

I couldn’t believe the difference! I went from having a headache every day, where just the severity of them varied, to having no headache at all.

One last note, with the HIPPA Laws in place today, having someone take my own picture for me having this done is not allowed without all the proper forms filled out in advance. My Doctor, however, said he just wouldn’t notice my niece with the camera.

By Heather

DAVIS DAM

THERE ARE FOUR DAMS ON THE COLORADO RIVER. THE MOST FAMOUS OF COURSE IS THE HOOVER DAM JUST OUTSIDE OF LAS VEGAS WHICH FORMS LAKE MEAD.

UP RIVER THERE IS THE IS THE GLEN CANYON DAM WHICH FORMS LAKE POWELL. THERE IS ALSO THE PARKER DAM WHICH FORMS LAKE HAVASU.

WE HAVE OUR OWN DAM ON THE COLORADO RIVER HERE IN OUR VALLEY, CALLED DAVIS DAM, AND IT FORMS LAKE MOHAVE.  DAVIS DAM IS 70 MILES DOWNSTEAM FROM HOOVER DAM AND CONTROLS THE WATERS OF THE RIVER AND MAKES ELECTIC.

OVER THE YEARS I’VE BEEN ON TOP OF THE DAM FOR A LOOK AROUND, BUT THERE ISN’T MUCH TO SEE. ON A RECENT SCOOTER TRIP I FINALLY FOUND THE DAM FROM THE BOTTOM.  THOUGHT YOU MIGHT ENJOY A FEW PICTURES.

Originally called Bullhead Dam, Davis Dam was renamed after Arthur Powell Davis, who was the director of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from 1914 to 1932. The United States Bureau of Reclamation owns and operates the dam, which was completed in 1951.

Davis Dam is a zoned earth fill dam with a concrete spillway, 1,600 ft (490 m) in length at the crest, and 200 ft (61 m) high. The earth fill dam begins on the Nevada side, but it does not extend to the Arizona side. Instead, there is an inlet formed by earth and concrete. At the end of the inlet, there is the spillway. The power plant is on the side of the inlet, perpendicular to the dam. This is a very unusual design. The dam's purpose is to re-regulate releases from Hoover Dam and facilitate the delivery of Colorado River water to Mexico. Bullhead City, Arizona, and Laughlin, Nevada, are located just below the dam along the river. Davis Camp is also nearby. Bullhead City was originally a construction town for workers building the dam.

COLORADO RIVER HERITAGE GREENWAY PARK AND TRAILS

THIS NEW RECREATION AREA OPENED A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, AND IT WAS TIME TO TAKE THE SCOOTER AND CHECK IT OUT.

THE SIGNATURE LANDMARK OF THIS NEW PARK IS THE PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE ACROSS HWY 168.

 

OBVIOUSLY PLANNED AND FUNDED BEFORE THE DAYS OF FISCAL CLIFFS, AND THE ECONOMIC WOES OF NEVADA.  I’M JUST GUESSING, BUT PORK BARREL POLITICS AND HARRY REID COMES TO MIND.

THE TRAIL STARTS AT THE BRIDGE AND GOES A COUPLE OF MILES ALONG THE NEVADA SIDE OF THE COLORADO RIVER.

THE PATH IS WIDE AND PAVED THE WHOLE WAY. LOT’S OF BIKES, STROOLERS, AND DOGS.  THE KIND OF HIKE GRANDMA JEAN WOULD HAVE JUST LOVED.

A PERFECT SCOOTER TRIP, SUNSHINE, AND STEPS ON MY PEDOMETER.

KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL

OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE (A SCOOTER TRIP) ON THE DESERT JUST OFF ROUTE 66 AN OLD KOREAN WAR VET BUILT A VETERANS MEMORIAL, MOSTLY BY HIMSELF, WITH CEMENT AND THE ROCKS LYING ABOUT.

YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU’LL RUN INTO OUT ON THE DESERT.

Chicken Ranch

By Uncle Hans

Our city girl Renee is being "countrified". Last year she helped a neighbor to bottle feed an orphan calf, which was quite satisfying and fun. This year it is chickens. Jason across the street got a dozen chickens and built a little coop. He asked Renee to look after them for the deer hunting season, when they planned to be away. Here she is picking eggs............

.........then a patient of mine needed to find a home for two hens and a rooster that she could no longer keep. Renee negotiated a new home for them at another neighbor's.............

.......of course, that means she gets to help take care of them, which brings a big smile...........

............her favorite is the rooster, he is a beauty, but she is scared to death of him so far..................

By Uncle Hans

SCOOTER RIDING

MARY SAYS SHE’S TURNED INTO A “SCOOTER WIDOW”. THE WEATHER HERE HAS BEEN PERFECT FOR SCOOTER RIDING AND THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN UP TO.  SOMETIMES I REMEMBER TO TAKE THE CAMERA AND USE IT, AND SOMETIMES I DON’T.

THE WHEELS TURN MOST DAYS, EVEN IF IT’S JUST A RUN TO THE STORE OR BANK.  OFTEN I HEAD EAST UP TO ROUTE 66 AND STOP AND WALK OUT ON THE DESERT FOR SOME EXERCISE.

OF COURSE THE BOUNDRY CONE IS IN A LOT OF MY PHOTOS.

THESE SHOTS WERE TAKEN GOING WEST ON ROUTE 66 TOWARD GOLDEN SHORES AND TOPAC.

THIS IS A DIRT BIKE PARADICE, BUT MY HONDA SCOOTER IS BUILT FOR THE PAVED ROADS, NOT DIRT TRAILS.

THE RUN ENDED AT HOOCH’S WHERE THE 50 CENT TACOS ON MONDAYS ARE NOW 75 CENTS.

THE SCOOTER IS DOING JUST WHAT I INTENDED.  IT’S GOT ME UP OFF MY BUTT AND MOVING.  I’VE HAD MY PEDOMETER IN MY POCKET FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS WITH THE GOAL OF WALKING 10,000 STEPS (5 MILES) A DAY, AND ALTHOUGH I’M NOT WALKING 35 MILES A WEEK YET, I’VE BEEN AVERGING OVER 25 MILES A WEEK WITH NO PROBLEM.

I LOVE MY NEW RED SCOOTER !!!