WE MADE IT~Quartzsite-AZ

We pulled stakes in wet and rainy WA State, Tuesday afternoon; and headed for the sunshine :-)

Pulling stakes Tuesday afternoon; a novel to read until we travel through new territory.

Clive Cussler; I like reading his books.

We chose the route through Nevada.

Holland hadn't been through most of the route's territory (he always drove freeway when possible), and I hadn't been through this leg of the road trip in 9-1/2 years - at one point of our adventure, I had Holland laughing when I pointed to the garishly painted 'Area 51' building, and told him how shocked I was to realize there was "active business going on in broad daylight" in the pink {cathouse} tacked onto the Area 51 Alien Center, when we (Bob, me, and our granddaughter Alyna) stopped in there to grab a sandwich on our way to see her new baby brother, in Vegas ;-)

But when I'd been this way before with Bob and Alyna, we had driven over the Blue Mountains in Oregon, through a bit of Idaho, and on into Vegas-NV - changing drivers along the way: we made the trip in 18 hours and were dead tired when we arrived.

The route Holland and I took started out & ended differently as we took different highways towards a different destination.

But that alienating pink cathouse was planted in the middle of both routes :-(

Heart-shaped cloud overhead, as we drove through Wilsonville-OR. I love the way Elohim shows me His love for me every step of my new life journey :-)

Crossing a foggy Pass in the Tahoe area.

The NV landscape following the foggy Pass, was covered with blooming sage bushes.

I laughed when I spotted this hill - it looked like a Naturistic bellybutton. LOL!

2:08'noon - we were liking the sunny warmth ;-); there was a fresh dusting of snow along the mountainous ridgeline.

A mining site along the Nevada route, coming into Luning.

Luning-NV elevation.

Luning-NV Info:

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luning,_Nevada)

Strange little dirt 'bowls'.

More snow-dusted mountain tops.

Tonopah Mining Park-NV.Tonopah Mining Park: (https://www.tonopahminingpark.com/)

We decided to 'push through' .. as far down the road as possible before pulling over and catching a few zzz's.

Joshua Trees dotted the landscape …

Joshua Tree Info:

(https://blog.tentree.com/10-facts-about-the-incredible-joshua-tree/)

Amargosa Valley-NV: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amargosa_Valley,_Nevada)

Area 51 Alien Center-cathouse; Amargosa Valley, NV

 Amargosa Valley-NV evening temperature; we slept for 2 hours in a graveled truck lot, kitty-corner a bit from the Area 51 Store-cathouse. 9:06 PM

Quartzsite early morning temperature; we crashed in a graveled lot and slept for 6 hours. 3:10 AM arrival time.

We finally made it!

We were on the road for 26 hours & 1,800 miles … from Washington State to Arizona State, (we took a brief 2 hour siesta in Nevada - mentioned above).

LOVE waking up to sunshine! We all like this site, but we may move along, further towards the mountains.

This adventure has been 8 months in the making, But, we are here now … and Bleu is enjoying his time out of the 4x.

The weather is wonderful!

 We are gonna like this new environment; temperature as I'm shutting down to go to bed tonight.

TIME TO GO

Road Trippin' [Red Hot Chili Peppers - Lyrics]: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EFabG19TT4)

Tonight is our last night here, enjoying the soothing effects of the coastal PNW. I'm not a water person … but Holland is, and David has been kind and generous in allowing us to spend a relaxing month on his beach property - I've known David most of my life in WA State (a 57-year friendship); and it makes me happy that he has also accepted my husband Holland in open-handed friendship :-)

Morning text; I wish spell-check would stop rewriting my script!

All week long we've been getting ready to pull stakes and hit the road: we have two destinations in mind to set up over the winter months - if one place gets too busy with full-time RVr's doing what we are doing (or the weather dips lower in temperature than we want it to be) … we'll hook Liberty to Betsy, and move to the next destination where the temperature will be guaranteed much warmer ;-)

We have pretty much done what needed to get done before heading South for the next 6 months.

This morning, holding tanks were pumped.

Holding tanks were pumped out …

And I've been working on handcraft designs all month, too. I like working with my hands. I like creating with my hands and yarn what I envision in my thoughts. I like sharing some of my designs - one way I like to share, is doing Blog Hops; I've been doing & enjoying the Hops for decades.

I am not doing Craft Bazaars anymore, and this is one way other's can enjoy my designs.

This afternoon, I saw that one of my designs had been featured halfway around the world, on a crafter's Blog :-)

My design was featured on 'Craft Schooling Sunday' Blog.

It's been a relaxing month.

It's been a friendly month.

It's been a creative month.

It's been a rewarding month.

But it's time now to go find the sun ;-)

MOD SWIFFER WET JET MOP PAD

Swiffer Wet Jet Mop

I like my Swiffer jet mop pads a lot better than the plastic backed Velcro adhesive ones :-)

MOD Swiffer Jet Mop Top; original design - I discovered while scrolling through old Blog posts yesterday, that there was no written pattern!

They slip onto the plastic mop head easily - and the drawstring keeps them in place until you remove the pad: disposable pads can bunch up and actually fall off the plastic head, despite the Velcro adhesive strips ... plus, the boxed disposable pads are expensive :-(

My designed cotton jet mop pad will last for years; and it can be tossed into the washer & dryer. I crocheted a newer mop pad yesterday to replace the first pad I ever made, because the stitches were too tight, and that made it a hassle to get on and off the mop head; but the other two pads slip right on and off with ease.

MOD Swiffer Jet Mop Top - the 1st one I made; 2019.

I first designed and used this Swiffer jet mop pad June 4th, 2019 ... but neglected to write the pattern down (widow brain fog); so, I had to figure it out, and revise it, the other day. To the best of my knowledge, the following pattern is correct.

Or at least, workable ;-)

You can make as many mop pads as you please: I have three, because I currently live in a 44 ft. 5th wheel - washable floor space is not massive, but I like to use a fresh mop pad for every section (upper bedroom/bathroom, livingroom/kitchen, back bunkroom/bathroom).

This pad can be worked using one color throughout - or by using two colors (I used two colors).

***************

MOD SWIFFER JET MOP PAD

Materials:

Cotton yarn - 1 skien MC; or 1 skien EA of MC & CC

#H size crochet hook

Scissors

Tapestry needle

Terms Used:

ch = chain

sc = single crochet

EA = each

ct = count

sl st = slip stitch

dec = decrease

tog = together

EO = end off

With two strands of yarn together, ch 31.

Start of currant Jet Mop Pad.

Rows 1 - 12: Sc across foundation chain - work 11 more rows sc; after row 12, drop the extra strand of yarn and continue work with a single strand.

Row 13 - Working corners: Sc in each sc, making 3 sc in EA corner sc (*15 sc, 3 sc next sc, 33 sc, 3 sc next sc* around piece: 108 ct.)

3 sc in corner sc.

Row 14: Sc in each sc, making 2 sc in EA corner sc (*15 sc, 2 sc in next 3 corner sc, 33 sc, 2 sc in next 3 corner sc around piece*: 120 ct.)

2 sc in EA of 3 corner sc's.

Row 15 - Decrease row: Sc in each sc, making dec in EA corner (*17 sc, dec 3 sc tog next sc, 37 sc, dec 3 sc tog next sc* around piece: 113 ct.)

Corner sc decrease; dec 3 sc together.

Rows 16 & 17: sc in each sc.

Side sc's will fit easily over Swiffer Jet Mop.

First drawstring openings - begin at right back corner: ch 2, *skip 1, sc next st* for a total of 18 ct. sc.

Drawstring loops along edge mop pad top.

Next row: ch 18 and attach ch to opposite side of work; EO

Center Drawstring loop foundation.

Next row - working backwards across foundation ch: attach yarn at the EO spot, and work as follows (*sc, skip 1, sc* across); EO

Center Drawstring loops.

Second drawstring openings: count 10 sc from first drawstring opening EO spot, and attach yarn in next sc. Work as follows - ch 2, *skip 1, sc next st* for a total of 24 ct. sc; ch 18 and attach ch to opposite side of work.

Next row - working backwards across foundation ch: do not cut yarn - just turn, and work as follows (*sc, skip 1* across); EO

Mop Pad ready for drawstring ...

Drawstring: ch 4 & join to first ch with a sl st.; ch 85 loosely - count backwards 4 sc & join with a sl st. EO

Beginning of drawstring.

Ch drawstring length, & end as begun ...

Weave in all loose ends; and then weave drawstring through drawstring loops.

This Swiffer mop top will easily slide over the mop head; tie in place by pulling drawstring to wrap mop top securely around plastic mop head.

MOD Mop Pad slipped over Swiffer Jet Mop top.

Easy fit; cotton yarn does shrink, but there will be enough ease to slip easily over mop top. It won't be so loose after washing & drying.

There will be some shrinkage after washing and drying, but just pull on it a bit to loosen it up :-)