Remember our Cocktail Contest and Irwin's delicious submission?
His table and cocktail were a true crowd favorite.
He sent this newspaper article proving it is even more popular in Canada that here at Sandpipers...in fact they want to make the Caesar the
Official Cocktail of Canada.
I know the print is to small to read here, but I can give you the (secret) recipe!
It's 1,2,3,4!
One ounce of vodka
Two dashes of hot sauce
Three dashes of salt & pepper
Four dashes of Worcestershire
Top with Clamato juice
******************************
The drought has broken, or at least we finally got some rain.
Almost 3/4 of an inch fell a couple of days ago and cooler air has moved in.
Nights in the 60's and last night, the 50's.
We are delirious with joy!
******
We are scouting the park for an area to develop a community garden.
Who is interested?
Gloria discovered the Edinburg Parks program where
they rent a small plot for a year.
Water and compost are provided by them, but it is a
drive of maybe 10-15 minutes to get there.
So we started thinking about having a spot here on the grounds,
and Karen & Jay came on board with the idea.
***
Ideally it would be out in the field however...biggie!...no water.
We are observing several spots where there is water available, but it occurred to me...just how many of you would be interested in a small plot to grow vegetables during the winter season?
We are thinking raised up, smallish plots, water nearby, a compost heap or bin, at least 6-8 hours of sun...what else? Ideas?????
It would help if we knew just how many gardeners would like a plot.
Send in comments or emails NOW!
*************************************
Latest from the leader....
Hi Everybody!
We've landed in Tempe (Phoenix area) for a couple of weeks of catching our breaths and also catching up with some friends that we have known since childhood (at least my wife has).
We visited the Fort Davis historic site and spent a few hours going back in time to see what military life was like back in the 1860's to 1880's.
From there we headed to the MacDonald Observatory for a full afternoon and evening of space exploration and fun. We listened to lectures on the sun, the solar system, stars, spectroscopy and a whole lot more. We saw the sun through a special telescope, then visited the 102 inch and monster 433 inch telescopes. They didn't let us look through them though... :(
With more information than my brain could absorb, we took a break for dinner, then attended another outdoor lecture about the night sky and what could be seen.
We actually saw the space station as it passed overhead just about nightfall. Our lecturer this time had a really cool laser pointer (I found out later it cost $600!) that reached WAY out into the night sky.
All we needed was the right sound effects and it could have been a light saber. Following this, we were taken to several telescopes that had been either set up or opened up for our use. We saw Saturn and its rings and moons, of course our moon, distant stars through the 30 inch scopes, and so much more.
By the way, the temperatures in the RV park were over 100 that day, but up in the mountains, it remained in the 50's to low 60's. Seemed almost cold at night.
From there we drove to Carlsbad Caverns and spent a day underground (56 degrees) to escape the outside temps of 100+ again. We took a couple of self guided tours through this huge underground complex and were totally awed by the size, scope and beauty of this natural wonder. After a quick dinner, we were back outside the cave entrance at dusk to hear a lecture on bats, then watched as over 100,000 Mexican Freetail bats exited the caverns in a continuous counter-clockwise spiral as they headed off to feed during the night. This exit flight continued well after full dark when we could no longer see these little critters. By the way, each bat eats half of its own weight in bugs each night.
The trip from there to Tempe was quiet and uneventful - just the way we like it. Here we are staying in a very nice park that is a combination of park models and rv's interspersed. The park models out number the rv's many to one, but since the residents of them are almost all "snowbirds", the park models are closed up for the summer and the population in the park is very low. We did end up by ASU (Arizona State University) Wednesday night to visit one of our favorite pizza places and were astounded by the police presence and crowds. It wasn't until we saw the news later that night we realized that we had driven right past Sun Devils Stadium and the crowds we saw were there for the commencement exercises and President Obama' appearance.
For the next couple of weeks, we will be quite sedentary, enjoying the local food, visiting friends, perhaps catching the Biosphere, and enjoying (?) the 100+ temperatures here also.
From here we plan on heading to Henderson (Las Vegas), then explore Utah a bit (?) and then on to Denver. This is always subject to change based on our whims and fancies.
Hugs,
Jon and Donna
I just love Round-up! 
Now the garden just looks like a bunch of bedraggled bushes in a field of dead grass.
Left my mark, though.
I don't have a picture of it. It WAS sitting right here working mightily on this pile of branches...but...but...Jay touched it. 
I hope I get feedback on this.....
Mel wishes to thank everyone for their cards
'Bout time. The land is parched! 
I'm going to fix up Abby with a seeing eye dog harness so he can get around.
We'll start with the coolest and most fun sport we all love...water volleyball!
