Rick, Deb and Izzy Aboard M/V Broulee and other Wild Adventures. : OK, so I guess we've been busy

Still no excuse, should have found some time to update progress on the room addition in Arizona. Our original plans were to leave AZ on the 5th of January, but because of delays during Christmas and New Years we decided to extend our stay until the 15th. When the 15th came and the flooring was still not in place, we made another decision to FOR SURE leave on the 18th, no ifs ands or buts! With our new deadline looming ahead of us, we worked long and hard to get the final detail items completed.

Exterior shot of new addition completed - plans were just a simple space with a small clothes closet, and a closet to house the washer and dryer - well that was the plan - we never do things simple.

The day before our departure - pretzel man under the park model, wedged between pipes and wheels, connecting the plumbing for the washer.

These pictures were taken the morning of our departure using a cell phone - kind of grainy, but you get the idea. Tongue and groove pine ceiling and wainscot (they wanted it to look more like an "up north cabin", instead of an Arizona room), Pergo flooring and all trim work completed - ready for paint, varnish and window treatments.

View of small closet and a new washer and dryer hidden in the bigger closet.

View looking out the front - 7:00 AM on the 18th, our car is packed and ready to go (Rick and Izzy are actually already in the car - you can see the tail lights - I better hurry, they may leave without me).

What started out as a vision on paper - is now becoming a reality. What a team!

Thanks also to our Job Supervisor (aka/ Mom) and her trusty dog Max, we could not have gotten the job done without them.

. It was not all work and no play, well at least for me. Every morning Izzy and I would take a walk and this is some of the scenery along the way.

Picture taken from the top of Bun Burner Hill. No need for treadmills here.

Izzy was getting better about the cactus and prickly shrubs - every once in awhile we still had to pluck a sticker out of the side of her snout. But, these little hitchhikers were all over the side of the road - just waiting for an unsuspecting Izzy to come walking by and step on them - she didn't have a chance.

What's in your backyard?

Fun to visit other places to see what they have to offer - Bunny and Quail enjoying the buffet line in the back yard. How nice of these people to fatten up the bunnies -

for the Bobcats. These poor guys did not have a good day. Several mornings, Bobcats were sited in our backyard and breezway. This one was discovered near the 14th hole of the golf course - story goes that he was probably chased up the electric pole, electrocuted, then fell and landed on the cable tv lines below.

We also had to deal with Javelinas and Coyotes. Did not see any snakes, not to say they weren't there - just saying, no snake sightings, thankfully.

Javelinas and Coyotes

The Coyotes drove Izzy crazy, howling all night long. That combined with the things that move around in the desert at night make for an interesting sniff fest the next morning. Many mornings she would completely forget that she was supposed to be doing her business. She would catch a scent, bolt for the house with her hackles up, dragging Rick behind her at breakneck speed. She would then spend the next hour peering out at the desert from behind the safety of the door blinds, growling. For Izzy the desert was a scary place with big monsters.

Desert buggies (atv's) and golf carts are the toys of choice here. Organized trail rides out into the desert occur at least once a week. Golf carts are needed for zipping up to the clubhouse or off to the golf course and most homes have his and hers.

Golf cart with a sense of humor.

Evening desert sky - en route to Home Depot. We did most of our material runs at night because it's a 60 mile drive round trip. Price you pay for living out in the desert.

So, once again, we are packed and ready to go - onward to our next adventure, which you might think is east to the boat, but not quite yet - another change in plans.

Poor Izzy - "now where the hell are we going?"

Tempted by an invitation to ski in Colorado, we turned the vehicle north and headed for Pagosa Springs to meet up with Rick's long time friends, Susan and Rich Hampton.

New Mexico scenery (near Gallup) - at least no icy roads this time.

Northern New Mexico, the landscape is flat, flat flat with an occasional outcrop of rock.

Coming into Pagosa Springs - looks like a good day of skiing ahead.

( Sorry, the last couple pics are not very good pictures, they were taken thru the windshield of the car.)

We had a great visit with Rich and Sue Hampton, followed by an incredible day of skiing at Wolf Creek.

Back to Minnesota on the 20th of January with a planned departure of the 24th for our return to Broulee (still in Chesapeake, Va). But, by the 22nd it was pretty clear that a deep freeze was in store for the east coast - hitting hard on Thursday night, down to 18 degrees and staying below freezing thru Sunday. By Wednesday we decided it would be best to fly Rick out to winterize the systems on the boat. When we left in September we had no idea we would not be returning until late January so no winterizing had been done.

Ice skating anyone? View from back deck of Broulee - Friday morning after temps dropped into the teens.

Friday afternnoon - ice and snow storm moved into the area. Broulee is safe, winterized, in a covered slip and now warm - all is good - potential disaster averted.

Broulee on the left - frozen in - undercover, so at least no snow on her.

Barge breaking thru the ice in front of Atlantic Yacht Basin.

Not exactly ideal boating conditions. Can't say we have seen this much snow while boating. Rick flew back to Minnesota on Saturday night. New plans were to leave Tuesday the 29th, but another cold front is pushing thru - strong winds, rain and tornadoes are predicted for the area we will be traveling. Thursday is our next departure date - but we will see.