Follow a follower with custofriend

What are the odds that in the middle of the desert you will find someone that follows a blog of someone you know, and at the same time you will be with a custofriend or is it a frientomer?

Monday, February 28th, 2011 – This weekend was a little colder. Not too bad – nothing like Kansas or God forbid, Minnesota, but in local terms, mid 50’s is pretty cold winter day. We spent most of our weekend catching up with work, and roaming around the campground capturing the desert beauty around us, in particular the fascinating sunsets. (There is a rumor there sunrise is pretty too, but I never got to see one. Is it real?)
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 – We decided to spend most of the day today hiking in one of the parks around. My Friend/Customer (Can I call him Oren?) is going to join us today so we are actually the three of us. I went bed yesterday after 1:00am, and this morning I had a conference call at 8:00am so I didn’t have much sleep. I will pay for it later today, I know that. By 9:00am I was ready, and Oren was already on his way.
Patti doesn’t feel the best in the last few days. I think she has a “flair” with her Lupus, but with all the pain she decided to go anyways. I think she is brave, and her positive attitude is amazing!
Looking at the map – there were two options around us. The first one was Picacho Peak state park. One of the reviews said that although the place is great, it is a little strenuous, and with Patti’s flair we didn’t think it is the best idea.
The other option was San Tan Mountain Regional Park. A nice desert treasure with cacti flora, giving a first hand experience and close look at the Sonoran desert. We arrived the park by 11:00am, parked our cars (it is a self paying parking – $6 a car) and decided on our trails for the day. Our planned trail goes through the Gold Mountain and closes in a loop of about 4 miles. Hat on, Vest – on, Walking stick – on, camera –  on, ready to go!

Shortly after we started our hike we met a very nice couple at the bottom of the gold mountain. They told us about other beautiful attractions in the area, and then the tough question comes – Where are you guys from? Well, we are full timers, we live in an RV. This time, we did not need to give any more explanation. They knew exactly what we are talking about, and were thinking of doing it themselves. They are the “Anonymous” followers of Al’s blog The Bayfield Bunch, the one from Thunder Bay in CANADA (That’s how they describe themselves). They are completely up-to-date with the blog, and it was kinda weird and funny talking about the house Al wants to buy in AZ, and where he is now, and they never even met him… They also follow Donna and Stu (2 Taking a 5th) and Laurie and Odel (Semi-True tales of our life on the road), so they are in the loop We stayed a little longer and had a nice chat with Chris and Lorna Ball – about RVing, about Arizona and the places around and all the blogs and bloggers we know.
On the way we named all the cacti that we know. The Saguaro, the Ocotillo, the barrel, and the meanest of all the Hurtsalot. (Pronounced Hurts-a-lot). We told Oren that this last species actually jumps on you and sucks your blood. We told him it really happened to us in NM and CA. Of course he did not believe us. Until.. it happened again. a branch of hurts-a-lot jumped on him and stuck to his leg. Not a good feeling but it was funny how the unbelievable happened. See?
When we came back to the car, Patti was very sore. We decided to eat late lunch/early dinner together, so iPhones and Androids are turned on, and Trip Advisor becomes the application of Choice. The first choice was a steakhouse, but that was too expensive. Second was Mexican, so that fell too. Third came a restaurant named Joe’s BBQ Grill downtown Gilbert, some 15 minutes away. This is an American cuisine, cafeteria style serving ribs, pulled beef, baked potato and the like. The food was good, but not amazing, although the décor in the restaurant was cool – a John Deere parked in the middle and a farm atmosphere.
Had a great company and an interesting time together. Said goodbye to Oren and drove back home, tired and happy (and Patti was sore too)

Tomorrow – I am going to work at Oren’s Company’s office. Haven’t worked in an office for ions. Not that I miss it, but some people still believe in that concept … Thursday is our anniversary, and still we are not 100% sure what we are doing. Shortly after that – we are planning to move west towards CA around my kids that I miss so much. One day at the time.
Exhausted tonight, so I am going to bed early. Thanks for following along, and see you in couple days or so, OK?