One Day More...: March 2016

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Was Deadly Force Necessary?

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we are currently staying near Winslow, AZ. On Sunday police shot and killed a woman over a reported shoplifting complaint.

27-YEAR-OLD NAVAJO WOMAN KILLED BY POLICE

WINSLOW, ARIZONA – Loreal Tsingine, 27, was shot and killed by police on Easter Sunday afternoon in Winslow, Arizona.

She was shot after allegedly threatening officers with a weapon.

An unidentified source told Native News Online, Tsingine had a pair of scissors in her hand and had purchased some beer at the local Circle K. Tsingine was shot five times by Winslow Police Officer Austin Shipley.

The Winslow Police Department would not confirm or deny this claim to Native News Online.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesperson Raul Garcia did not disclose what type of weapon was used in the altecation that left her dead.

Limited information has been released by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The killing by police is being investigated by the Arizona Department of Public Safety Major Crimes District detectives. (Native News)

Obviously all the facts haven't been reported to the public yet, however if the information is correct that she was shot 5 times for threatening with a pair of scissors, my wife and I both wondered why deadly force was necessary.

Aren't police using tasers anymore?

Just one day more...

Monday, March 28, 2016

We'll See Tomorrow

We're on our way home. We left Hope at 9:00 this morning and decided we wanted to stop in Taos, New Mexico this trip, so we took the route through Congress and Yarnell up Rt. 89 to I-40.

What is purported to be a 4 to 5 hour drive took us nearly 7 hours. Two things kept us from making good time. First, the slow going mountain passes near Yarnell and second, the vicious wind. For the most part we had crosswinds 30 - 35 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph.

Our goal was to make it to the Meteor Crater near Winslow to look it over tomorrow. We made it and are staying in a nice RV park near the crater. The wind is still blowing hard and we may have to change our travel plans and stay here another day based on the forecast.

We're in no hurry and had enough driving a high profile vehicle (the pickup camper towing our ATV's on a trailer) in the wind. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Just one day more...

Saturday, March 26, 2016

The Lunatics Are Taking Over The Asylum

More than 25,000 people have signed a petition to allow firearms inside the Republican National Convention being held in Cleveland in July.

Firearms are currently not permitted inside the Quicken Loans Arena, known as "the Q," where the gathering will take place.

The petition, posted Monday on Change.org, sought only 5,000 signatures but has since quintupled, topping 25,000 Saturday afternoon. (USA Today)

Based on the number of fights that break out at Trump rallies, adding guns to the mix should really ratchet it up.

The lunatics (gun nuts) are taking over the asylum (GOP).

Just one day more…

Another Reason To Like Bernie

A bird flew on stage while Bernie Sanders was addressing a crowd in Portland. His response was quintessential Bernie.

Another reason why I like Bernie.

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Sunday, March 20, 2016

Twenty Four Hour Beauty

Argentine Giant Echinopsis Candicans

Also known as the Argentine Cactus. We have a couple of these at our lot in the RV park and once a season they put out huge blossoms. What is unique and amazing is that each flower lasts only 24 hours. From what is normally a nondescript cactus appears beautiful flowers, which start as buds.

Within a couple of weeks the buds continue to grow into pod shapes.

During the day the buds that are about to open display white and they open during the night. And, what a wonderful display in the morning.

In the case of our Argentine there were six buds and just as the first three were dying the other three were opening in the evening.

Twenty four hour beauty has doubled for us this season.

Just one day more...

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Doesn't Get Any Better

Our winter stay in Arizona is coming to an end and in 12 days we will head home to the farm in Nebraska. It has been a great four months with near perfect weather. The desert scenery seems never ending and adds to the enjoyment of drives (videos from our GoPro).

One of the activities we enjoy is the number of ATV trails where we stay.

This is the third year we have stayed at Ramblin' Roads RV Park in Hope. The first time we stayed only a month as we were meandering around Arizona and New Mexico. The second year we stayed a few months and this year we stayed four months. Now we've made a couple of decisions.

We like this park and the area enough that we decided to take advantage of the park's "seasonal" rate which assigns a lot and allows you to stay anytime all year. Essentially, you pay for four months (in installments) and you can come and go as you please. Another advantage is that you can leave your RV in your lot, which is what we have decided to do.

Surrounding view from our lot:

To many RV'ers it seems ridiculous having an RV and leaving it parked in one spot. After all, one reason to have an RV is to travel. We've done just that, starting out with a travel trailer and our current fifth wheel. However, towing a fifth wheel around the country can be a challenge. I don't know how these old guys are able to maneuver big class A motorhomes around. So, we made another decision. We bought a truck camper which will give us much more flexibility to travel, including area trips while in Arizona. It will also make driving to and from Arizona each winter easier, as well as our summer travels.

The truck camper is definitely "cozier" than the fifth wheel, however great for shorter stays. While here we have made trips to Yuma, Wickenburg and Alamo Lake. Next year we will do more traveling with it and who knows, maybe go down into Mexico for a short stay.

That's the condensed version of our winter home. We've had fun and it just doesn't get any better.

Just one day more...