Tuesday, August 9, 2016

GlamGirl checking in--here I go again--traveling with the Great and Powerful Oz in the RV.  I joined him here in Flagstaff, AZ, yesterday.  My very kind next-door neighbor, Mary Grimsley volunteered to drive me here.




Having not seen each other since June, it was a very happy reunion.



Sooo, Bob has been staying in a KOA park since he got here (with the exception of a few days early on in another RV park here in Flag--what the natives call this town).  He had warned me that it was a tad funky.  Uh huh.  We are packed in here like sardines.  And not just RV's.  There are people staying in all sorts of tents and, get this--teepees!  Yes, I said PEOPLE ARE STAYING IN TEEPEES!



The inside of these domiciles are actually quite luxurious!  I mean for a TEEPEE!! A nice lady who is camped inside one not 10 feet from our rig (did I tell you that Bob calls his RV The Catfish?--Must be a story there) let us look inside.  Two beds, a lamp, a fan (that she bought herself).  Not too bad for camping--beats a tent.  This nice lady (I THINK she said her name is Carole--her grandson's name is Grayson and her beautiful English Cream dog's name is Buddy.) is taking care of her grandson while her daughter (Grayson's mom) does an internship at Glacier National Park.  Grandma is spoiling her grand baby to death!  But, isn't that what Grandma's are supposed to do? (Well, actually, I wouldn't know--I have only had grand cats--and their parents were so strict that I couldn't even give them treats!)  Buddy (the dog) is beautiful.  I had never heard of a breed called English Cream.  Mary said they are very expensive dogs to purchase.

Last night Mary, Bob, and I went to a favorite restaurant of mine from way back--Black Barts.  It is a steak house.  I have probably been there at least 4 or 5 times in the past.  What makes it special is not so much the food (tho it is perfectly decent)--it is the wonderful young people who wait, serve, and entertain during the course of the evening.  As I understand it, the kids are all performing arts students at the Northern Arizona University here in Flagstaff.   Some of them have excellent voices!

Since Mary was staying until Wednesday, she joined us this morning; and we decided to drive to Williams and see Bearizona--a drive-thru park to view bears, Dall Sheep, wolves, elk and bison in a natural setting.


Unfortunately, most of these animals SLEEP during the daytime.  However there were a few exceptions.  Now, here was the problem:  I AM A RULE FOLLOWER!!  Not so much Oz and Mary.
They are major rules breakers.  The primary rule was to NOT ROLL DOWN YOUR WINDOW UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE!  They rolled down windows over and over to take photos
(and got some darn good photos in the process).  At one point we pulled up to a manned guard shack. The shack was on the side where I was sitting.  The guy made a motion for me to roll down my window.  I did so but informed him that his very own rules ordered me to not roll down my window.  Luckily he saw the humor.  He told us to also lock our  car doors.  I asked if the bears knew how to open car doors.  He said they did.  In my best Yogi Bear voice,  I said, "Smarter than the average bear."  I actually elicited a laugh from the fellow.  Anyway, we survived and lived to tell the tale.



What appears to be a dead wolf next to the road.  He wasn't--just sleeping.



The bears also like to lay next to the road!


The only active bear we saw!

Now back to downtown Williams.  Lunch is in order.  Earlier in the day when we had spotted a barbecue (b/q for the aficionados) place (smoker a smoking--smelled divine!).    So, we found it again.   Cruisers Route 66.   Had a wonderful lunch--Oz had a fabulous rack of baby back ribs.  Mary and I both had pulled pork sandwiches.  They came with a funky little cole slaw that had walnuts in it.  The waitress has to ask everybody who orders the cole slaw if they are allergic to walnuts.  So just leave out the dang walnuts!  They did not add that much to the flavor, anyway.  We also had an interesting starter.  But a note here--wouldn't you think that a menu item that is listed in the "starter" section would be served as a "starter?"  Noooooo--the "starter" came after our main dish was served.  However, it was delicious--battered and deep-fried onion and jalapeno slices.

Alright, closing down for now.  Oh, before I forget--the Great and Powerful Oz allowed me to shower in the RV shower yesterday!  Those of you who followed this blog two summers ago might remember my many adventures with the various RV park showers.  However, having finally obtained the lofty goal of "showering in," I have to say that being able to take a nice hot shower with the water running the entire time (tried to conserve water in the RV shower by turning it on and off during the process--not a procedure Glamgirl appreciates) does have its appeal.  Who knows--I might find the RV park showers more to my liking in the future.  Stand by for more adventures.  We are here for another week then off to parts unknown!  Although Colorado is looking like it might be our next destination.