Travels with Twinkles: Gems, minerals, a wedding and the rodeo

January 27- February 2, 2014:

We received disturbing news from my daughter Jessica in Florida about my granddaughter Mallory who had to have emergency appendix removal surgery on Saturday evening. The surgery went well but the appendix was somewhat ruptured and she will be in the hospital for a while dealing with the infection. It seems to me that the doctor who did the original diagnosis on her illness totally missed the call. Jessica eventually took Mallory to an Urgent Care facility, who would not do anything, then to the hospital ER where they sat for hours to see a doctor which resulted in immediate emergency surgery. A real horror story, but by weeks end she is recovering.

I checked out the RV roof seam sealing this week, that's always a thrill. The RV dealer had cleaned and recaulked all the roof seams and it appears good, but I kind of wonder what lies under all that new caulk. I moped it again and applied another coat of roof UV protective coating, just to feel better. I then removed the spare tire and mounting bracket, next to remove the bumper and get it rewelded. It seems that most of the heavy electrical stuff like the Convertor, Invertor, transfer switch and electrical circuit panel wiring is installed under the bed in this RV. It makes me a little nervous sleeping over all that stuff. I want to take a look, see if all the connections are tight and if there is a surge protection devise. I don't expect to find one, so that could become another potential project.

I went downtown to "LaCocina" on Wednesday night for a couple of hours to see Lana Rebel and Kevin Mayfield who are sort of like modern day hippies, who play a fun interesting mix of tunes and have a music shop in the "Old Town Artisans" complex where LaCocina is located.

Lana Rebel and Kevin Mayfield

I played wedding photographer on Friday afternoon for a new campground couple, Gary and Karen, a bit out of my comfort zone. We have been friends of Gary and Karen since coming to Desert Trail last winter. It's a little scary having the potential to screw up someones memories of the big day, but it went pretty well. It was a nice service attended by many from the campground.

Karen and Gary

Mt. Zion Lutheran Church has an inspiring mountain view

The great sunset on Friday evening couldn't be missed.

Could not resist the great cloud formation

Or the sun beams

Or the blazing sunset

Friday evening was another really excellent concert at the campground with a long time singer songwriter originally from Texas, Steve Spurgin. He was the total package, good guitar player, good voice, funny, good stories and great songwriting.

Saturday morning I was awakened by the sound of raindrops on the roof, something we haven't heard in a month now. It didn't amount to much, just enough to wet the ground. Good news was that we didn't see any water leaks in the RV roof.

The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is now underway, it goes on for two weeks and is one of the largest shows in the country. We had gone to this many years ago when Twinkles was in the bead world. It's a must see attraction in Tucson. The quantity of exotic rocks, gems, minerals, fossils, petrified wood and dinosaur bones is pretty amazing.

They even have fozzilized Turtle turds

Those are big feet !

Twinkles is checking out this gem stone for size

Have a hankering for some shark teeth ?

Our TV reception here is poor that when I do watch TV, the choices are very limited. One channel that somehow comes in strong is "Me-TV" which shows old classic reruns and "B" movies that sometimes are actually a relief from todays crappy sitcom and reality shows. Saturday night after an exciting "Star Trek episode I watched the "Tarantula" about a mad science experiment gone wrong where a tarantula grew to 100 times normal size and was going around killing animals and people. This movie took place in Arizona making me think back to a few months ago when we were seeing real Tarantulas.

Sunday was a ride to Sells, Arizona to the Tohono o'odham Indian Rodeo. Sells is in the middle of the Indian reservation and all the rodeo participants are required to be native Americans. It was a three day event with the final round of competition on Sunday to determine the winners. The spectators were at least 90% indian, I really felt like a minority. It was the usual rodeo announcer and clown, they all sound the same, with an excess of corny jokes and antics. I naturally love any rodeo, but this was extra good due to the natural setting, the closeness to the action and especially because it was all Indian. They also had a Pow Wow going on, a fair midway filled with rides and lots of authentic Indian and Mexican food vendors.