It is warm here in Vegas now.

The last day of May already. Our son John would have been 51 a couple of weeks ago. Doesn't seem possible he has been gone almost 10 years. Enough of that.
Here is last night kind of okay sunset. Too many heavy clouds to be really pretty. This is looking out from the front of our house towards the west side of town. 

 And when we look out the back towards the Wetlands we can see all the airplanes on approach to Vegas airport. They do not go over us so we can't hear them but sometimes it looks like we are being invaded we can see so many lights in the night sky. When I took this I could see 4 planes - one had just passed and one was too far away for it's lights to show in the picture. You can see the lights from two of them. 

 I got up in time to see the sunrise this morning but there were no clouds so the sky just got yellow and then the sun was up. (Have to mention - yesterday I got in over 10,000 steps - two days in a row.) This morning before it got too hot I walked around the community for about a half hour. This is a reflection in a puddle - a rather large puddle. Not a whisper of a breeze. all day. 

It is now 5:00 and it is 98 degrees out with a feels like 95!!! Tomorrow it will reach or go over 100. We are under an excessive heat warning for the next week. 
Speaking of heat, I mentioned yesterday that our air conditioning was not cooling. I called the home warranty company this morning at 8:00 and to my surprise got right through. And had an appointment with a technical between the famous hours of 1 to 5. So we decided to run a couple of errands while it was still cool out. About 9:00 we had just arrived at Lowe's to return something when the cell phone range. It was the Air conditioning service telling me the technician was at our house, where were we?!?!?! Oops they made a mistake when telling me the time should have told me the equally famous 8 to 12 time. So I told the office we could be home in 10 minutes and would the technician please wait for us. On hold. Back with office - Yes he would. By then we were already in the car and on the road. Thank goodness he'd wait. Turned out we have an older unit one that still uses Freon and the Freon was out, had to be recharged. Guess what? Recharging Freon isn't covered under home warranty. So we had to pay service fee of $65 plus $175 for 3 pounds of Freon. We've since found out we got away cheap. The company the warranty office sends has a set charge for the Freon of $175 no matter how much you need. Other companies charge per pound - $120 per pound! So now we have a nice cool house. Pretty good service this time. 
Worked on my quilt some today. Put together two rows to see how it will look. It isn't sewn - the pieces are just sitting by each other. I still have to buy batting and a backing material and cut way more pieces.

 While I was doing that Bill was outside taking more decals off the Jayco - mainly the JAYCO on the front cap.And he marked all the tiles where they needed to be cut. Here is where he is going to put them. Yes, he took down my food photos. Oh Well.

 And these are the tiles the ones on the right are the way they will go. Got too hot to work out there so we took Hawk back to storage until another time. Remember the detective series Spencer and his sidekick Hawk? Or maybe Freddy the Ford. Or maybe just the RV. 

No cooking tonight - got a roasted chicken at the market and it is huge - the leg has more meat on it than most breasts. 

A walk in The Wetlands

Yesterday a new Veterans Memorial opened here in Las Vegas. This is when they were working on it - I borrowed the picture from the Internet. We hope to go visit it soon. The statues depict soldiers from all wars. War of Independence till now. 
Yesterday morning I thought I got up in time to see the sunrise but it was almost up when I got outside at 5:29. Did manage to get this picture though out over the Wetlands. 

 Had to laugh when I saw all the pigeons sitting on the roof waiting for Bill to come out and feed them. The sun reflected in the window. 

 I took a walk around the community early, before it got hot. Pretty flowers on a plant that seems to flourish here in the heat. 

 And check out these two color roses. Looks like someone has painted them. 

 I cheated and walked back towards home through the short cuts, one being through where the RV is stored. Bill had told me he had taken the decals off the back but I hadn't seen it. He is getting it ready to put up the maps of where we've traveled in an RV. Now we just have to find someone to make the maps. The only ones available are Canada and the USA. 

After I got home we made a short trip out for breakfast and to Wal*Mart for a few things. Put the new short queen sheets on the bed in the RV - Bill brought it over here for a while - they fit really good and the cut down quilt also fits good. Also re arranged some cupboards so they will work better. Then it was time to watch the Indy 500 and the NASCAR 600 (boring.) While watching them I finished the embroidered rectangles for my quilt and started sewing some of the Christmas design strips together. 
Was in bed early for me last night, by 10:30. But between the walk and working in the RV and the house I managed an over 10,000 step day. 
This morning I again got up too late for a good sunrise, later than yesterday. 

Bill came out to join me watching the birds and the bunny eat. 

Seeing how we were both up we decided to take a walk in the wetlands behind our house. Very good decision. Got in 6500 steps. Some pictures from there. A map of the trails of the area. We live about where the gray  dot with the red dot next to it is on the bottom left corner. It's amazing to walk through here and see all the green and water. 

 One of the many creeks. 

 This was more like a pond. 

And the waterfall.

 Just some fast moving water. 

 We saw lots and lots of rabbits and a few ducks. 

After our walk we ran a few errands - Bill wants to tile one wall in the RV so we picked some out at Lowes. Then home for the day - made it into the high 90's today. And our AC seems to be not working like it should be. Of course it is a holiday so have to wait until tomorrow to call about getting it fixed. 
Got tired of watching war movies so I took a short nap and sewed a little on my quilt. Need to get the iron out next and too hot for that. 

Walking, quilting, working and watching TV.

We've had a busy productive last two days. 
Yesterday morning I managed a walk before it got too hot. Did almost two miles. I noticed that the park has added three brand new homes. Or I should say are in the process of adding them. One of them - kind of put together. I like the front porch idea. Will have to keep checking on them to see how long it takes to put them together. Sure didn't take long to take one apart. 

Also saw these pretty plants while walking,. The cactus are all done blooming till next year. Don't know tree is but it sure is pretty. 

I keep thinking I want to put some plants in around our lot, but I'm not a very good plant mama. When we took our vacation the other day I forgot to put my two pots of geraniums in the shade AND forgot to water them before we left. Of course while we were gone the weather was in the high 90s. But they seemed to take it in stride as they are getting ready to bloom again. Also this bush is really pretty, it seems to bloom most of the summer here. 

Speaking of summer here - by Monday it is supposed to be over 100 - so I guess summer has finally arrived. Until then  we've been below average. Yesterday was 87, not too bad. Unless you had to walk a ways in it. Bill took the jeep into the mechanic. It has been making loud thunking sounds since we came home from Mexico. But was driving fine. Did fine on our trip but noise was getting worse. Good think Bill took it in. The front axle is broken. If he had of put it in 4 wheel drive we'd probably still be stuck in the desert somewhere. Get it back middle of next week.
Bill had his phone with him and tried calling me to pick him up. For some reason the calls didn't go through and he ended up walking home. OVER THREE miles. He is still recovering!If we were still in Indiana he couldn't walk 300 feet. So good to see him so much better. 
For dinner last night I fixed a Rachel Ray recipe. Zuccini pasta. Very, very good. No meat in it but really tasty. But I made way too much. We'll be eating it for a week! Think I'll freeze some for one of those frequent nights I don't feel like cooking.
FYI - have you seen a picture of Goldi Hawn lately - she looks fantastic and she just turned 70!
So on to today. A couple of days ago we bought a chandler for over the dining table, tired of eating in the dark. Bill put it up today. Looks great and now we have light. 

Notice the Memorial Day/Fourth of July table settings. I love my embroidery machine. Which segs me into what I did today, besides watching two different sports on TV at the same time. I wanted to watch practice, qualifying and a NASCAR race but didn't really want to waste the day so I found the Christmas wall hanging I'd started last fall and did some more work on it. It will have 12 embroidered rectangles in it surrounded by different Christmas patterned material.  Some of the embroidery. 

I only have one left to do but the sewing machine was getting hot and both the soccer game and car race went into overtime so I had to watch them...Sewing and watching TV.

This is the quilt pattern. 

After I post this I'll finish the last embroidered piece. The NASCAR turned out great. The soccer game...well the team we don't really like won in over time kicks. 

Went to a soccer Game in Vegas

Had a very different evening last night. Our son gave us tickets to a soccer game at Sam Boyd Stadium (just down the street from us.) The New York Cosmos vs the La Liga (Spanish league) team SD Eibar.  Was tied 2 - 2 at end of regulation time so it went to kicks to break the tie. The Cosmos ended up winning by one kick. Hate to see a game end that way. 
Hadn't heard of La Liga Woprld LFP Challenge before so looked it up. 

LFP WORLD CHALLENGE is a program created in 2014 by LaLiga with the support from the Government of Spain the Higher Sports Council (CSD) and the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade 

It is an initiative that aims to bring together the best professional clubs around the world to raise internationally the image of Spanish football, spread the values of the Brand Spain and Spanish companies, as well as create opportunities through cultural and business events taking advantage of the synergies in the activation of a sports event of the highest international nature.

The overall program is divided from the following sub-brands and events:

LaLiga WORLD. A series of friendly matches among the most popular local clubs and the most representative teams from LaLiga.

And so that is why they were playing New York. La Liga is the league that Barcelona plays for so we've seen Eibar play on TV several time.
The before game fanfare. 

The teams coming out with the children. A tradition Children looked excited. Lots of families with kids wearing soccer shirts in the audience. 
Cosmos in white, Eibar in red/blue shirts. . 

Photo with officials. Refs didn't take any crap. Yellow cards came out quickly. 

Didn't take any pictures of playing. Just not light enough and no one stood still long enough for me to focus. Did take a short video. 

I think I prefer watching on TV where the cameras keep track of the action and the announcers say what is going on. Bill keep pointing things out to me that I didn't even see. But then he knows the game. I was just thinking that the last live soccer game I saw was over 51 years ago when I watched Bill play in San Pedro, CA before we were married. At that time I had even less of a clue what was going on. He made a goal during that game. 
About half way into the first half the wind picked up and it got kind of cool. At least it didn't rain. They were playing on AstroTurf that had been watered just before the game. We asked one of the grounds keepers why and he said it was to protect the players if they fell and skidded. The wet plastic wasn't as rough as dry plastic. Okay!
Bill is taking the Jayco to a window tinting place to put a strip on the top of the windshield as the reflection from the cabover is very distracting. Then he'll bring it home and we'll do some more re arranging before putting it back. Today is a NASCAR day so I'll be watching out there while working. We ordered some "short queen" sheets so hope they fit better. If they do the job will order a couple more sets. Couldn't find ones with rounded bottom corners though. While cutting the quilt down I also cut the blanket down. 
Now I need to rearrange some cupboards.
While Bill was gone and before NASCAR worked outside pulling weeds - wouldn't think they could grow through the rocks but they do. Also blew all the stuff/leaves etc. off the back patio. The wind sure makes a mess.
Windows tinted in RV and now Bill has the Jeep at the mechanic to try and figure out what all the thunking and clanking is when we go over bumps. Something loose or something breaking???

More from Arches and Canyonlands

Some more pictures from Arches National Park and Canyonlands. They are such pretty places. Another panorama view at Arches
The pictures are bigger if you click on them. 

 This is Delicate Arch from a good distance. It is the Arch that is on Utah's license plates. We did not hike out to it. Just used zoom.

 One of the Window Arches. Lots and lots of tourists there.

 This was at the visitor center. Can you imagine some not so bright parent picking up their child who is wearing shorts and plopping him down on the ram to take a picture. OMG 

 Just some of the pretty flowers blooming all over the high desert. 

 Looking out over one of the canyons.

 Another look without tree there. I can't get very close to the edge...

It is 1:00 and I've already taken my 1 1/2 mile walk. And we've gone out to breakfast, gone to DMV to get duplicate licenses ( took us less than 15 minutes in office), gone to AAA and picked up maps, gone to WalMart to get Bill a couple pairs of shorts and a couple shirts. Checked at a window tinting place and made an appointment for the RV and stopped at CVS to pick up my prescriptions. I've gone from 5 pills a day to two a day for my blood pressure. No less dosages just higher doses per pill.  And tonight we have tickets for a soccer game at Sam Boyd Stadium. Time to take a nap.

Busy getting nothing done.

Woke up yesterday morning to discover Microsoft updating my PC to Windows 10. WTH?  Bill had already discovered that if we just Declined the update the system would revert back to what ever version of Windows we'd been using. Good thing. I have some old programs that I use all the time that wouldn't work with 10 and there are no newer versions of them. I just had to pay to keep my Office program working for another year. What a crock. Hopefully it worked, won't know until June 1st when it will either keep working or won't. 
Got two medical tests done yesterday and today have a regularly scheduled doc's appointment for yearly physical. Sure hope he has heard how a couple of the tests turned out. 
Beautiful day here temperature wise but the wind is blowing like crazy. Everything has a fine layer of dust on it. But, if I don't touch the furniture or move anything I can't see the dust. Works for me. 
We still haven't received our new driver's licenses. We were at the DMV on April 19th. And our temporary ones expire on June 3rd. I tried calling the DMV - put on hold, would have to wait 29 minuets for a representative. So hung up. Maybe we'll drive over there and ask What's Up? Next time I called got a busy signal. 
Well I finally got a hold of the DMV - our licenses were mailed a month ago. They have not got here! So tomorrow we have another appointment at the DMV to get "replacement driver's licenses" I sure hope they are a different number. The lost ones are the "extra secure ID ones." The ones we practically had to give blood to get. Now if the USPS ...
We went to family doc today and now I have another test, but not until September. All of these doctor appointments are making me SICK! And he didn't give me results on anything, have to see the specialists that scheduled them. Oh well.
Fixed a yummy dinner. Chicken breasts browned then simmered in lime juice and rose wine with zuccini, green pepper, onion and fresh tomatoes. Seasoned with salt, coarse pepper, garlic powder and rosemary.  Served with noodles with herbs and garlic.  
Went to Wal*Mart and got a toaster oven for the house so we can put the small one in the RV. Also had to get printer ink. Why is it so expensive? Bill found some cargo shorts he likes. $10 cheaper than the exact same ones on Amazon. 
That's about it for us today. 

Home and Away

We've been keeping busy since we've been home. Yesterday I spent in my sewing room watching NASCAR and modifying the quilt we bought for the bed. There is no way to tuck it in on the sides where the pillows are. That is where the slide is and it is right up tight against the mattress. so I cut part of the quilt off. Also cut a big strip off of one side as it was too wide. This is what it looks like now. I also angled the bottom corners as the bed has round corners - grrr.  We took it down to the RV yesterday afternoon and it fits perfectly. No more ugly bunching up. 

Tomorrow we'll order some "short queen" sheets for the bed. As our old ones first needed replacing and second don't fit very well. Also bought a cable so if we are someplace where there are a lot of trees and the park has cable we'll be able to watch TV. One thing at a time. 
Was really disgusted with the NACAR All-Star race last night. What a farce. They need to rethink their rules. What a mess, the drivers, the crew chiefs and the announcers were confused about what was going on. 
Today we watched a soccer game. in the 30 minute overtime Barcelona finally scored the winning goal for the Copa del Rey. The other team committed 31 fouls against Barca. 
After the game Bill started cooking some Bueñuelos. - they are kind of like fritters. 

Apple ones

 Banana ones

 Cooking them in hot vegetable oil.

 A plate full of apple ones sprinkled with sugar. YUM - we'll freeze a lot of them. They are good snacks when traveling. 

I also renewed my Office 365, decided not to do it for all the computers, just renew it on my laptop. Until I'm forced into it I'll just keep it on the laptop that runs Windows 8.something. 
Tomorrow I have two doctor appointments. One for an ultrasound - that I have to drink 30 oz of water for. Yah right! And one in the afternoon to be poked and prodded. Then another one on Tuesday with our family doctor. Maybe he can tell me why my pinky finger is numb - bothers the heck out of me when I'm typing. I have Dupuytren's Contracture - (The condition affects a layer of tissue that lies under the skin of your palm. Knots of tissue form under the skin — eventually creating a thick cord that can pull one or more fingers into a bent position.
The affected fingers can't be straightened completely, which can complicate everyday activities such as placing your hands in your pockets, putting on gloves or shaking hands. [and spreading anything on bread.]
Dupuytren's contracture mainly affects the ring finger and pinky, and occurs most often in older men of Northern European descent.). None of the other bent ones are experiencing numbness. Well my Mom who also had it was Swedish but neither of us are men. Just lucky I guess. So enough of that. 
I have more pictures from our vacation but this is getting too long...so another day. 

Home in Vegas now

This was our trip. 1045 miles. Our biggest expense this time was campgrounds. We basically had to take what we could find. But that's okay. We accomplished what we wanted to do - see how we like the new RV. Mixed emotions about it. 

Balancing rocks. 

So much to do when we get home even from short trips. Finally got Jayco back in storage yard. Weather here has cooled off. Will be in low 80s and high 70s for a week or so. Love that. 
I have two doctor appointments on Monday and we both have one on Tuesday. I am getting real tired of all theses tests and no answers.