My Birthday Goodies:

As you may remember, my birthday was last Sunday. I received a lot of goodies, from friends and family, and some from bloggie friends as well. The cupcakes were brought to me all the way from Debbie's Bakery in Denver, Colorado, to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. They were sweet and delicious, and very much appreciated. Thank you Becca and Ken, you know I love you. And be sure and tell little Jessica they were the perfect ones for a birthday.


The fabric squares below were not exactly a birthday gift--I won them in a giveaway from Art Gallery Fabrics. But they arrived in the mail right in time for my birthday and made me feel really special. There are forty 6 1/2 inch squares, all different, and I can just see a quilt in my future, soon, made with them. Aren't they pretty?



The next day, I got some cool stickers and blank note cards from Drama Mama. She is a cool lady who lives in Washington state, and works on a ferry boat. What a neat job she has! Just look at those creative stickies! I can't wait to use them.



As mentioned above, my daughter, Becca and her boyfriend, Ken, came to visit for a week. There will be more about their visit later, but just look at all the goodies they brought me:


Garlic Dipping Oil with seasonings, yummo! This will be good with some home made gluten free bread, I'll have to wait til next week to make it though.



Becca is a knitter. She made me this cute hat. It has an opening in the back, with cutie red and yellow flower buttons, so that I can put my new longer hair in a ponytail and pull it through. It makes me wish a little bit that it was cold enough to wear it already:



See, it looks cute on me, and of course, it is orange, one of my favorite colors. (guess she knew that, huh?)



She took care of me from top to bottom: new Amy Marsh (from Little Women) knitted slippers. I am wearing these right now--no need to wait til winter for warm feet.


My daughter Emily, who lives in Georgia, is sending me a care package with several tubes of my favorite deoderant since I can not find it here to buy it myself. Thanks, Emily, I know it is a weird birthday gift, but I love it that you are sending it to me!

I got lots of birthday cards, from my son and his wife, my mother, my friend Gaelyn. But my favorite card this year is the one in the video below, sent to me from my step-daughter, Becky. It makes me smile every time I open it.

Scenic Sunday

Yet another view of the Grand Canyon from the North Rim. I never get tired of seeing it. I tell people my eyes can't see it enough. This was taken on May 24, 2009.

For more Scenic Sunday photos, click here.

Scenic Sunday

Friday morning, May 22, 2009. The fog was rolling up out of the canyon at sunrise. I had to stop on my way to work and get this fabulous view!

To see more Scenic Sunday photos, click here.

Tomorrow Is My Birthday

and my friend, Gaelyn, of Geogypsy, sent me this birthday card:


She took that picture when we went on our tour of Yarnell, AZ and The Castle there. Isn't it great to have such good friends?

The Night Before

Kathie seems to be very interested in what Susan has to say, while Ace just watches the fire.

Val looks confused, while Bob just looks amused.

Richard looking down at his feet while Mary holds the leash.

Gizmo checking out Richard's feet.

The night before we opened, our department had a cookout at the campground. The campground host cooked us some hamburgers and baked beans. We had a fun time, socializing and getting to know each other better outside of the classroom. It was a great time, and helped loosen us up a bit. Of course, the campground was empty because we were still closed. The gates opened the next day, and we haven't had time to breathe since.

Scenic Sunday

A little oasis in the desert just north of Kanab, Utah on highway 89.

To see more Scenic Sunday photos, click here.

I Think We're Ready, The Park Opens Tomorrow

Finally training is over! It has been three weeks for me--the first week getting everything ready, then two weeks of actual classroom and hands on stuff. Training always exhausts me, because you have to be alert and paying attention all day long. Yesterday when we finished up, we still had a couple of hours, so we drove up to Point Imperial. It is one of the most scenic parts of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Here I am, hanging out at 8803 feet:



The view changes with every step you take. I often wonder how those first people to see it felt when they came to the edge of the canyon:



This is Mount Hayden, one of the most photographed landmarks in the Grand Canyon. Awesome:



We are starting out the season with only 4 on staff--we should have 7, and they are on their way, but when we open the gates tomorrow, it will only be me, Susan, Val, and Mary. They are all just as excited as I am that we're done with the book, and getting on to the real thing.


How many times do I have to say, "I just can't see this enough?" I love this place.

I Won A Prize!

I read a blog called Art Gallery Fabrics. Back on April 30 they announced a giveaway for Mother's Day. To enter, all you had to do was comment on that post saying what would be a perfect Mother's Day for you, but they chose the winners randomly. Yay!

My prize is 40 (forty) 6 1/2" squares in an assortment of all her collections of fabric. I can hardly wait to receive my squishy in the mail. It will be so much fun to make a quilt using those precut squares of her gorgeous fabrics! I'll post some pictures of the fabric as soon as I get it.

Who Are You?

I have been wondering who it is that comes here to read the drivel that I write. My stat counter tells me there are almost 150 hits a day on this little saga of mine. I would really like to know who you are and what keeps you coming back.

If you have never commented on my blog, would you mind either leaving a short comment to let me know what it is you like about my blog, or email me at (fabgrandma@gmail dot com) if you would prefer not to comment. My curiosity is killing me.

Scenic Sunday

The Grand Canyon North Rim from the Transept Trail on June 7, 2008.

For more Scenic Sunday photos, click here.

I Really Do Work With A Bunch Of Turkeys!

It's Friday, and I have been in training all week. Part of the week, I was the student. Part of the week, I was the instructor. Either way, training is always exhausting to me. On top of that, I have also been doing tasks outside of the classroom---cleaning, organizing, straightening of the entrance station; last minute things to get the campground kiosk and the entrance station ready for opening day, which is Friday, May 15th.


One of my tasks today was to ride out to the entrance station with the campground host to unload a pickup truckload of wood for our wood stove out there. We use it as our heat source on cold mornings. The weather here has been unseasonally warm, and very warm compared to last year. This time last year, we still had snow on the ground. It was below freezing every morning. We had to wear our winter coats every day.




This year, though, it is warm and sunny and gorgeous. Just the right weather for courting. Just look at that guy! There were a couple of girls out there too, but they ran for the woods as soon as they saw our truck. Not Old Tom, though. He was really strutting his stuff, right down the middle of the road like he owned the whole place. OK, so he DOES own it, we are the intruders here, but he was making it clear that it was his and we could just wait.



Just look at him. He took his sweet time going across the road. He puffed up his chest feathers, and spread out his tail, and made a LOT of noise. At times, he would turn around to look straight at us, and hiss (or croak, some awful noise), just to let us know just who was boss.


He finally got over to the side of the road, but just look at that self-assured, high stepping strut! I only wish I had a video camera, because he did look like he was doing a little dance, The Turkey Trot, maybe. He dipped, and fluffed his feathers, and turned around in circles.


After he got to the other side of the road, he was not finished. He didn't run off immediately looking for the girls. Oh, no! He wanted to intimidate US and show off for THEM, showing them how brave he was.



Finally, we slunk off down the road, and let him think he was The Bomb! What a treat for a tired old lady on a Friday afternoon!

I'm Not Having What You Would Call Good Luck With Ordering Online

Back in February, I ordered some gluten free stuff from an un-named company, who took For. Ev. Er. to get my products to me. I did get them in good shape, but it took from February 11th, the date I placed the order, until March 3rd to receive. I said never again from that company.



When we arrived at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on April 26th, to begin working again, I decided to order some things from Amazon.com. The package was delivered in good time, less than a week, actually, which is amazing because of where we live right now. But, when I opened the box of Amy's Tomato Bisque Gluten Free Soup, more than half of the cans were bent.



I don't eat foods that are in bent cans, especially if they contain tomatoes. I was always taught that it was not a good idea to do that.


I went online to do a return, and found out that Amazon does not take returns on groceries. So, I sent them an email, telling them that I have to eat a gluten free diet, that I live in a remote area, that I ordered this product from them so I would have something to eat for my lunches, but that the order was received damaged. They replied that they are sending a new case, free. That sounds like good customer service to me.

I Don't Think The Trailer Is Level...

Settleing In At The North Rim

We arrived here last Saturday in the afternoon. We set up the trailer and rested on Sunday. I started working on Monday morning. For this week, there was just me and my lead (supervisor), Kathie, here. Training starts tomorrow, but we were busy all last week getting things ready. It was my job to make copies, tons of them, to make the training manuals.

When I finished making the training manuals, the two of us went through all of them to make sure they are all the same. They were, thank goodness.

Then, I went over to the campground to clean and stock the campground office. The building was new last year, and has lots of cabinets and drawers in it. Last year, none of them were labeled, so I took a couple of hours to making labels and attaching them to all the drawers and doors. Now we will be able find things quickly!

The next task was to inventory the signs at the various bulletin boards around the campground, and make new ones. Printing was pretty quick, but the laminating took a while as there are lots of signs.

Meanwhile, the volunteer camp host was busy splitting wood from trees that fell over the winter for us to use in our wood stove out at the entrance station:


Doing all that stuff involved a lot of walking around. Our office is about a hundred yards from the admin office, and every time I had to make copies, or print in color, or use the laminator, I had to walk over there and back. Walking around the campground taking inventory of things was another long stroll, too. Combine all that walking with getting used to an altitude of over 8800 feet, and I was pooped out at the end of every day!

(A stand of Aspens near the group sites in the campground)

On Friday, when all the campground stuff was as done as we could get it, Kathie and I drove out to the entrance station to start the process out there. The entrance station is 10.5 miles from our office. We had been hearing co-workers from other departments telling us about seeing a couple of turkeys out at th 7 mile marker on Hwy 67, so we both had our cameras with us, ready if we saw them. Sure enough, we DID run into a couple of turkeys out there on the side of the road, just not the ones we were looking for:

(Fabgrandpa and Harry)

Finally, the week was over, and I had two days off, Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday, I did all the laundry, cleaned the trailer, cooked dinner, and read part of a book I found in the library here. Silent Witness by Mark Fuhrman is the story of Terry Schiavo's death. It is very interesting, written by a retired homicide detective.

Today, we got up very early and decided to drive down to Jacob Lake, about 45 miles away, to have breakfast, but the main reason for the drive was because it was such a beautiful day. The sun is shining and there are fluffy white coulds floating by. We saw a few deer, but I still did not see the turkeys. On the way back, the combination lock on the gate was messed up and wouldn't open. I was going to drive back 5 miles to the nearest pay phone and call for help, but I passed a law enforcement ranger who stopped, and he had a key to let us in. Hooray for that!!!

The rest of the afternoon was spent baking. I made some blackberry and some strawberry muffins, with real fruit in them:

Also, a dozen Kinniknick rolls:


I should be set for a week or two on breads. I am also thinking about making one of those yummo Lemon Cakes. It sure would taste good!

Scenic Sunday

I took this photo today in the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona on Hwy 67, on the way back up to the North Rim. We drove down the plateau to Jacob Lake for breakfast, just because it was a gorgeous day.

For more Scenic Sunday photos, click here.

We Have Arrived

A balanced rock in Marble Canyon

Just wanted to come by here and let you all know we arrived safely at the Grand Canyon on Saturday afternoon. The wind died down a bit in the morning, so we left Flagstaff. Everything was fine until we rounded the bend in Marble Canyon, and were in a head wind. It was blowing about 45 miles per hour, and made it feel like the brakes were on. I have never experienced anything like it! That was the worst of it though, for about 20 miles, then it was fine the rest of the way. The trip up the plateau went smoothly.


There was one tree blown over and lying in the road, but we went around on the other side with no problem. There was not nearly as much snow on the ground as last year when we got here.


The weather has been warmer, too. I started working on Monday, after sitting on my behind all winter long. Let me tell you, with the high altitude (8800 ft) and the lazy winter, I am wiped out when I get home! Add to that the 15 pounds I gained over the winter, and well, I have to get into better shape. My pants are way too tight! Training the newbies starts this coming Monday. Can't wait to meet all the new co-workers. It is going to be another fun season, I just know it.

I had ordered our telephone service way back on April 14th, with a requested installation date of April 24th, our planned arrival date. When we got here on Saturday, the 25th, the phone wasn't working. Repair service told me there was "trouble on the line". So when they sent someone out, they discovered they had installed the service at the wrong address. They fixed all that yesterday, so now I have my telly and am back on line. Yay! But why on why can't a telephone service get it right???

Scenic Sunday

This is just one of the many beautiful rock formations we passed on our way up to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon yesterday. It is at Marble Canyon on Highway 89A in Arizona. These cliffs are HUGE! There a few houses at the base of the cliffs, that look so tiny next to them.

Click here to see more Scenic Sunday photos.

Time To Confess: 55 Days Since The Last Big Shopping Trip

Way back on February 27 was the last time we made a big grocery shopping trip. I had made a personal goal to post a recipe for what we ate for dinner every night until the next time we shopped, but as you know, THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. I am not so good at sticking with the program on things like that, but I DO enjoy this budget thing. It helps me stay somewhat on a grocery budget when I have to publicly report how well or how bad I did with a goal.

So, here are the results of this last venture:

Wal-Mart and Frye's 2-27: $416.33
in-between trips thru 4-20: 222.35
-------

total grocery bill 55 days $ 638.68

That comes out to $11.61 per day, or $81.62 per week. Not as good as I wanted, but not as bad as it could have been. We bought a ham for $10.00 the week before Easter; I bought some chard, artichokes, asparagus, and avocados at various times when we were out. This also includes shopping at some small stores that had high prices.

I also have to say, that we had about 1/4 of the ham left, as well as the ham bone; some tilapia; and a couple of other things that could have made about 6 more days of meals. I would have stretched it out that far if we hadn't been getting ready to go to our job at the Grand Canyon. So, what do you think? Good or bad?

Flagstaff, Arizona

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a drive, and that is just what we did. It was 143 miles from Cactus Ranch to J & H RV Park in Flagstaff. The trip was pretty much uneventful. The sky was so blue, with puffy white clouds. This is the first view of the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff from I-17.




We pulled into J & H RV Park around 1:30 p.m. and set up the trailer. We had forgotten about the higher elevation of the area--it's around 7,000 feet. By the time we got done, we were worn out, huffing and puffing. This is the same park we stayed in last year when we were on our way up to the canyon. We like it because the sites are very level pull-throughs, and it is pretty. However, is is $40 a night. That's us, in the trailer between two motor homes.



The sunset yesterday was beautiful, again. This is looking out toward the San Franciso Peaks:




Today was a busy day. It started out with breakfast at our favorite Flagstaff restaurant, Miz Zips. They serve breakfast all day for a pretty good price, and their coffee is good. I like places that will serve me eggs any time I want them. It's just not right not to. It always seems like a penalty to me for sleeping late when a restaurant closed up the egg carton at 10 a.m. Anyway, Miz Zips is on Route 66, that famous highway. I just like the idea of eating my eggs on Route 66.

After breakfast, I got a haircut, a manicure, and a pedicure. The girl did a good job on my hair. she only took off about a half inch, and cut some bangs. I had wanted to just let it grow all one length, but the front was growing funny, with just a little bit that was too long to be bangs, but too short to stay back with a hair band. So, I went ahead and cut the bangs, "fringe" to my English daughter-in-law. It looks ok. Keep in mind it was a windy day and I let it air dry instead of using a blow dryer on it, and I didn't have a brush in the truck:



After all that was done, we went to the game store for Fabgrandpa, and to Joann Fabrics for me. You know I had to get my fabric fix. I got five coordinating prints in chocolate browns, teal blues and creams, for a project I want to work on. Can't wait to get started on it.

Next, we went to Wal-Mart for a stock up of toiletris, paper goods, and part of the grocery list. It took quite a while, but we did get about half of the planned shopping done today. Then we went home and unloaded the truck and put everything away, ate some lunch, and took a nap. A looonnng nap.


When I woke up, I offered to take FabGrandpa out to dinner, so he suggested the Swadhe Thai Restaurant in the old town part of Flagstaff. Yum! I am ready for thai food anytime. I ordered Woon Sen Soup and Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice. The soup had those clear bean thread noodles, chicken, and bok choy, and was delish. And what can I say about the fried rice except, if you have never had it, you do need to try it.



He ordered Won Ton Soup and Spicy Seafood Fried Rice. The waiter asked him "How spicy do you want your rice?" They have from 1 to 5 on the spicy side, so he ordered "3". It was so hot it made his whole head turn red, and it had squid-y, octopi looking things in it, along with the shrimp and scallops. I told him to never order "seafood" in a Asian or Italian place, you just never know what you are going to get. He ate it though, and said it was good.


Here is the sunset we saw when we walked outside to go home:


Tomorrow, there's more shopping to do. The last time we did a big shopping trip for groceries was on February 27, so it is about time.

Oh, Mah Holy Hell!, Y'all!!! or Telephone Troubles, The Resolution..

When I hung up the phone from talking to Verizon's customer no service department on Saturday, I was less than happy with the experience. The person I spoke with had offered to credit 50% of the $188.75 roaming charges that were on my bill from my trip to California. That's roaming in MEXICO. When I told her that would be unacceptable, and asked to speak to a supervisor, she said someone would call me on Monday. And I thought, "yeah, sure" but I told her, "Yes, that is what I want."

So, yesterday when was at the laundromat, my cellphone rang, and do you believe it was Verizon? The very same person I spoke with on Saturday told me she had discussed my bill with her supervisor and they had agreed to take off 100% of those pesky roaming charges. Just like that. No further discussion, begging, pleading, or letter writing required. I thanked her very much.

But then, it made me wonder why put those charges on there to start with. I think maybe there are a certain percentage of people who just pay the bill, no questions asked. And there are probably another certain percentage of people who make the call to ask for a credit, and the first line person offers 50% credit, and they are happy with that, and pay it. And Verizon laughs all the way to the bank.

I am not normally so cynical about things like this, but dang it, 50% of that bill would have been almost $95.00. That is a lot of money out of the customer's pocket and into Verizon's, just for using your cellphone service in an unfortunate location. And their TV ads, the "Can you hear me now" ones, as well as the newer ones that tout their "network", what a crock. Those adds make you think you can get service anywhere you go. I was sitting in a deck chair, at the beach, in a well populated town, and couldn't make or receive a call.

And to be honest, I didn't even try to use my cellphone because IT actually told me I was roaming, and I was afraid those charges would accrue. But when I tried to use my internet wireless card, no such message was received. That wireless card was picking up three bars, but when I tried to connect, it was very, very slow--it took me OVER AN HOUR to get to my g-mail account to try to read my email. That was the only time I tried to use it, the rest of the time I went to the coffee shop. So, for ONE HOUR of internet usage, that was incredibly slow, I was charged $188.75.

So, now that my rant is over, the point I would like to make here, is that if you are traveling near the border, either with Mexico or with Canada, and you use your cellphone, pay attention to your next bill. You could be roaming in devious territory.

Scenic Sunday

This is the entrance station at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The photo was taken on May 9, 2008. The park opens on May 15th each year. I was there because this is where I work. I am a seasonal park ranger there. I just love my cubicle!

For more Scenic Sunday photos, click here.

Oh, Mah Holy Hell!, Y'all!!! or Telephone Troubles, Again...

(Sorry, Hotfessional!, but this situation calls for the use of that bit.)

My vacation to California is coming back to haunt me! Remember how I told you that I couldn't get a signal in our motel room, and I had to go to the coffee shop to get online? I got my Verizon bill today and DANG! they are charging me $188.75 for roaming in Mexico. Even though I never once used my phone in Tijuana, and I certainly didn't take my computer over there and get online. And I just used the wireless card in the room the first night to try to get online but it took just about an hour to get to my g-mail account. Just look at this:


Global Roam - Mexico kilobytes -- 37,750 37,750 188.75
Total Roaming $188.75
Total Usage Charges $188.75

Their customer no service department actually told me that since they could not determine where the usage originated, they could only offer me a 50% credit. And of course I said "That is unacceptable." The supervisor was not in today and will be calling me back on Monday. Then she jabbered on about how I could have set my account to have alerted me to there being roaming charges being accrued. Which I had no idea I could do, since I was not going to a foreign country, I was only going to California. Like she was trying to make it MY fault that I was being charged ridiculous charges for roaming in Calfornia.

Just as information, I walked into the Verizon store in National City, California while we were at Best Buy, which was right next door, and talked to one of their people. He told me not to worry, that if I got roaming charges on my bill they would take them off. But, he didn't note my account that I asked the question. So, I guess Verizon thinks I am lying about not using my service in Mexico--at least that is what they implied. There WILL be follow-up.

Just Stuff

This was the view from the gas station the other day. It's funny to me because it looks like the cowboy is trying to capture the elephant.

We've been busy cleaning out every bin and cubby hole in the place. I tossed out clothes I haven't worn in a year, old socks, old medicines. Donated some books and magazines to the rec room here at the campground. Shredded old papers and filed some stuff that needed keeping. Paid the tax bill. Found a can of soup in the pantry with an expiration date of May 2003!!! That got tossed, along with a jar of pickled beets that I have no idea where they came from . Just a little bit more to do, and we'll be ready to go.

On Monday, we'll go to the Wash Tub one more time to do laundry, stop by the bank, and fill the truck with fuel. We'll be so ready to go! We'll be heading out on Tuesday morning, headed for Flagstaff. And just in the nick of time, too:

The weather forecast for next week here in Wickenburg:

Sunday: 93 degrees (F) 34 degrees (C)

Monday: 98 degrees (F) 37 degrees (C)

Tuesday: 100 degrees (F) 38 degrees (C)

HOT! HOT! HOT!

One Week To Get Ready To Go

We talked to the boss man at the job yesterday, and finalized a return to work date, so we will be rolling down the road in just one week from today.

The plan right now is to leave here on Tuesday morning, and go as far as Flagstaff. We'll spend two nights there so we can stock up the pantry and get some needed supplies, then we're off to the North Rim again. We should get there on Friday afternoon. I can hardly wait!

Scenic Sunday

Snow at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. This was taken last year on April 26. To see other photos from Scenic Sunday, click here.