March Madness

For most folks, March Madness refers to college basketball.  Here in Quartzsite, it refers to line dancing.  Yep, all our dance lessons culminate into one big annual dance party.  Over 100 men, women, and even some teenagers (not to mention this stuffed rat), from beginners to dance instructors, hailing from Quartzsite, Parker, Blythe, Salome, Brenda, and  as far as Sun City and Ajo, converged recently at the QIA for a full day of dancing, food, and camaraderie.

Before arriving at Quartzsite three seasons ago, I always thought line dancing accompanied only country western music.  Au contraire, mon frère.  Turns out most line dances are adaptable to all genre of music.  From ballads, to sock hop 50s, to Cruisin’ 60s, to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, there’s a line dance for that!

Our thanks to Vernine and Maggie, the kindest, most patient, nurturing, fun-loving dance instructors around!  They are miracle workers who can make chicken sh** look like chicken salad!

We danced our little hearts out, and had a blast doing it.  We thoroughly enjoyed sharing the fun-filled day with our Quartzsite dance class members, and were enthralled with watching the gracefulness, poise, and talents of the more advanced dancers from other areas.

Dad and yours truly Boot Scoot Boogying!

Our Level 1 Dance Classmates

Some of Level II Class of 2017

Tabby, too, experienced some March madness, although nothing to do with dance.  Her madness was directed at my folks for hauling her to the veterinarian for an ever-dreaded exam and rabies vaccination.  Unfortunately, the closest veterinarian office (in Blythe) informed Mom their appointment schedule was booking at 4 weeks out, which was beyond when Tabby’s prior vaccine expired.  So, after seeking reviews of alternate veterinarians, Mom made an appointment at Novak Animal Care in Lake Havasu.  Insult upon injury for Tabby.  Not only was she perturbed about going to the vet, now she had to travel 1.5 hours each way to get there!  So not fair.

Of course, once she arrived, she was a little angel of mercy and very well behaved—nothing like my Cousin Bailey, whose veterinarian has to either sedate her or put a towel over her head to avoid being torn to shreds (Yes, my Aunt Laurie has a devil cat on her hands)!  Mom, quite satisfied with the caliber of services and reasonable charges, was glad she brought Tabby to Novak’s, and highly recommends them.  Obviously, Tabby did not share the sentiment.  

At least we all enjoyed viewing the cool, crisp waters and magnificent sunset along the Colorado River.

More madness came our way, this time in the form of an 
unexpected visitor.  Three seasons we have actively searched with no success, peaking into holes and burrows as we hike in various parts of the desert, hoping to see a slithering snake.  So just imagine our surprise to find one right outside our door!   Dad had his head in the storage box working on the generators, I was in the kitchen making myself a cheese sandwich for lunch, and Mom was finishing up her weekly phone call with Aunt Maureen while putting stuff away in the rig’s outside storage compartment.  Suddenly, she’s screaming uncontrollably, running up and down the rig stairs.  There’s a rattling snake!  Cool!  Fortunately for Mom, he was on our gray outdoor carpet, so he was easy to see.  When he moved an inch or two to the side, he blended right in with the earth and rocks.  Once Mom gained her composure, she found watching this sidewinder as cool as Dad and I did, albeit from a safe distance.  I'll be adding some videos to my youtube station this weekend, so you can check them out as well.

Sidewinder sitting on our gray carpet

He's moved off the carpet and blends in nicely with the earth and rocks!

March has brought some crazy weather.  We had almost a week of 90+ temps.  Then a thunderstorm blew through Wednesday evening, leaving us with a magnificent sunset, colorful rainbows, and much more comfortable and cooler daytime temps of mid 70s.

We have been blessed with beautiful sunrises as well. Wednesday's was so spectacular, Dad ran outside in his Tidy Whities to snap a photo, reminiscent of "Walter White" (played by Bryan Cranston) in the very first episode of "Breaking Bad", complete with RV parked in the desert and camera in hand.

The Sunrise from our "Back Yard"

Like basketball's March Madness, we, too, are headed to the finals on April 1--it will be our last morning here at Quartzsite.




Well, I've got to run.  So much to do before we leave.  Speak to you soon!