Parker, Arizona

This is a test. This is only a test. We've arrived in Parker, Arizona, yesterday. When I got out of the truck to check-in at the office, this is what I could see:

That's the Colorado River there, my friends. The people working in the office have a lovely view, and there were some nice shady spots there, but not for us. We're out by the road, out of view of the water, and far from the park wi-fi. We have a weak cell signal, and so the test is whether I can upload pictures. So let's just see, shall we? (Talking to you, as I write, of course.) Okay...well, a little slow, but it's doable.

So the road was long and straight...and rough! It was interstate a good portion of the way to Parker, but eventually, we were off on a state highway. Apparently it was laid without first scooping up the cow pies along the way. Also, it was lined with yellow desert marigolds nearly the entire stretch.

For a while, we followed behind this rig:

Bertha the Beautiful Bus is preceded by a hashtag, and so I looked her up on Instagram. Sure enough. You can follow along digitally, if you like.

Soon enough, I started noticing the orange mallow, and it was growing in abundance as we went along.

One might think it was trying not to be overshadowed by its pink and lavender cousins back there at Picacho Peak. We pulled into a rest area specifically so I could get a picture of it, and so you can see that the flowers are identical to those we saw earlier...just a different color. And may I just say that there's nothing I like better than belaboring a point.

So there isn't much to say about yesterday. It was hot when we arrived...91 degrees to be exact. The hottest weather we've seen since last summer in Portland. I wasted not a second getting going on laundry because it takes 2-1/2 hours to do a single small load in our little washer/dryer combo. Despite the time involved, I'm very happy to be able to do laundry in the RV. Nevertheless, I took the jeans down to the park laundry to do those, and so I have four loads down, maybe two more to go. Not a bad showing for a late afternoon laundry binge.

Neither of us felt much like cooking, and so we scrounged around in the refrigerator and found the makings for BLT's. Now here's where I'll expose us for the weirdos we are. So...everyone knows what a BLT is, right? But just in case a BLT is completely an American thing, I'll just say it's bacon, lettuce, and tomato. Only, we like to add avocado to ours, which makes it a BLAT. Add an egg, and you'll have a BLEAT. But last night...all credit goes to Mike for this...he decided a slice of Swiss cheese was what was missing. We didn't use egg, and so our sandwich turned into a BLATCH. And that was just what we needed to make the perfect sandwich.

It gave us a chance to use up two sandwich rolls too. It was the RV refrigerator dream dish for using up a lot of leftover stuff that's been rolling around in the fridge for several days. The slice of Swiss cheese was an excellent addition. And as long as we're talking about leftovers, I'll say we served it up with some leftover cucumber salad.

This is a good salad, and it's a good way to use up a half cucumber, half onion, and half a red bell pepper. The recipe is from Cooking Light, and so it's low in calories. Here's how you do it.

Spicy Cucumber Salad
recipe adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:

2 cups English cucumber, thinly sliced
1 cup red bell pepper, julienned
1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce or Hoisin sauce
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Directions:

Combine cucumber, red bell pepper and onion in a large bowl.  Combine remaining ingredients and pour dressing over vegetables.  Toss to combine.  Refrigerate approximately 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

So that was a quick and easy dinner. And now there's acres of free space in the refrigerator, just waiting to be taken up by newly acquired groceries after today's grocery-shopping trip.

The only other thing I have to tell you is that I'm well along on the seventh snowflake.

This is March's OMG, and so I'm feeling confident about getting it finished.

For all that yesterday gave me little to tell you, today's adventure will prove to be action-packed and exciting (cough). Actually, it does sound kind of fun. We're driving into Lake Havasu City. Mike has a prescription waiting for him at the Walgreen's there. As it turns out, London Bridge is just an 8-minute walk from the Walgreen's.

Now, I had forgotten that London Bridge was relocated to Lake Havasu City in the late 1960's. It was news at the time...kind of comical too, if you want to get right down to it. I'd forgotten it was even there until just a few days ago. But here's the story about it: It's the very same London Bridge that was built in the 1830s and formerly spanned the River Thames in London, England. It was dismantled in 1967 and relocated to Arizona. And let me just ask the obvious question: why??

But setting aside my incredulity for a moment, the Arizona bridge is a reinforced concrete structure clad in the original masonry of the 1830's bridge. It was purchased by Robert P. McCulloch from the City of London. McCulloch had exterior granite blocks from the original bridge numbered and transported to America to construct the present bridge in Lake Havasu City, a planned community he established in 1964 on the shore of Lake Havasu. The bridge was completed in 1971 (along with a canal), and links an island in the Colorado River with the main part of Lake Havasu City. So, f*ck a duck. Never in my life did I think I would see the London Bridge relocated to Arizona, but there you go. Today is the day. A red letter day if ever there was one.

After that, we'll visit a quilt shop. Which do you think I want to do more?

And after that, if there's any energy remaining in our old bones, we'll go grocery shopping. It seems a lackluster way to end a red letter day, but that's the plan. Possibly, we'll put off grocery shopping until tomorrow. Just sayin'.

So there you go...that's all that's happening at the Traveling Three Cats Ranch. The sun is up. It's going to be warm. I might even wear shorts and sandals for the first time this trip.