I'm baaaaaack!

Didjamissme? I was in Arizona. We pulled in at three this morning and are planning to head out again (hopefully not) next week. I'm so tired of making the 6 hour drive!!!! We're moving to a little He** Hole called Golden Valley Arizona. We spent the week there and my hubbys mom didn't even bother us. We were wondering if she'd decend on us since we were so close but she didn't. Don't get me wrong, my mil isn't horrible but well too much togetherness can warp even the smoothest relationship, right? And you know what they say about family right? Family is like fish, after three days even the best start to stink! Any way I'm hoping to be around for a couple weeks.... my fond dream is two whole weeks in the same place!!!! Love and Hugs, going to read old posts and catch up..... Gayle

Gayle! I'm so glad you're back. I was wondering where you were. I've lived in Arizona for 26 years and I have no idea where Golden Valley is. Welcome to the neighborhood. Connie

I wondered where you were!!! Good to have you back with us Gayle - you've been missed! Dina

Keep us posted on the move, Gayle. My husband did his masters work at Arizona State University in Tempe, and tells me that seeing scorpions and rattlesnakes is commonplace. If I'd visit, I don't think I'd be able to sleep a wink!!! Welcome home! Maureen

Yep, scorpions and rattlesnakes are indeed common place. So common that we ended up doing away with two scorpions and one rattle snake and we were only there fo like ten days. One of the scorpions was actually IN THE HOUSE and it was like 4 inches long (hubby ain't no carpenter! more like two inches in my guess but still big enough!) Then the other was this tiny sick looking thing that crunched satisifyingly under my shoe. Again Hubby says it was like two inches long but we women tend to know better, I mean I was staring it in the face! Not quite an inch long by my guess. The snake was 'small' or so he says. It only had three buttons but to me (funny how it reverses here) it looked like it was 10 feet long and as big around as my arm! It was very dead when I got a look at it, something about it's head being seperated from it's body that did the trick. But come to think of it the body was still moving.... wierd and not at all fun! Golden Valley is off of Highway 40 near Kingman. It's 15 miles to Kingman and about 30 to Laughlin. They have a little motto for the town which holds oh so true: Golden Valley, Arizona Where the wind blows Nothing Grows And the state tree is a telephone pole. Only our house is so far out that we don't have the telephone poles! Love and Hugs, Gayle

OH! I forgot to tell ya'll...... My MIL says that it gets up to 127* in the shade only there ain't no shade! L & H Gayle

I have to honestly say that in the 26 years that I've lived here, I've never seen a scorpion. When my son was 10, we did find some withered up, unidentifiable thing under my son's bed. I have no idea what it was, but I told the kid it was a scorpion that had been living in his room because there were more crumbs and discarded food to live on under his bed than in the kitchen. He's kept his room clean ever since. Gayle - The large black scorpions aren't the ones to worry about. It's the small white ones that are the worst. Rattlers are a different matter. I was hiking on Mt. Lemmon two years ago and stopped for lunch on a large rock. My girlfriend and I were chewing and chatting when I looked to the side and not 15 feet away was a HUGE Western Diamondback. These guys get to be 7 feet and this was the biggest I'd ever seen. If he wasn't 7 feet long, he was darned close. He didn't look bothered by us so we didn't make any sudden moves, finished our lunch and quietly went on our way. He sure was a handsome guy. I've come across Gila Monsters and big tarantulas when camping. We also have our share of poisonous spiders. The Black Widows don't bother me much because the bite is rarely deadly, but the Brown Recluse is a fellow I'd much rather stay away from. I've seen how badly a bite can ravage the flesh. I know a guy who lost his leg from a Brown Recluse bite. Hey the critters may be deadly, but we have no tornadoes or earthquakes. Connie

Oh my gosh you guys... Rattlesnakes, scorpions TARANTULAS (OH I'd pass the heck out if I saw a trantula in the wild) Just pass right out. I hate spiders!!! ICK. Yeah those brown recluses can kill. My uncle passed away becuase of a brown recluse spider. He let his bite go - didnt think it was anything (he lived in virginia with the rattlesnakes and the brown recluse spiders) any rate he had a weak heart and the infection was too great. They are dangerous little buggers for sure!!! My gosh scorpions...ugh...I watch venom er once in awhile and see the people who've been bitten by those rattlers... they just seem like they are everywhere! Elizabeth M