It’s grouting time for the shower and I’ve been helping the Cowboy. He uses a tapered canvas bag filled with grout to fill the grout lines. I come closely behind him with a rubber trowel, forcing the grout more firmly into the lines and smearing away the excess. It’s definitely a two person job as the grout starts to “set” rapidly. We are more than halfway finished after two days of grouting.
You would think two people could grout a shower in less time but all the other activities/jobs in our lives have to be done also. Walking the pooch, cooking, laundry, happy hours, blog writing, etc. The Cowboy ran some more wiring and even spread more drywall mud.
It’s been sunny and a bit warmer with daytime highs in the upper 50’s. With the abundant sunshine that feels warm. It’s disheartening when I open the weather app on my phone and find it warmer at our Montana home than it is in Arizona. I know the warmer temps in Montana won’t last and there is that white stuff that falls from the sky, but geez could it warm up a bit!
We’ve researched lots of destinations for warmer weather but if you don’t like bugs and humidity Florida and south Texas aren’t options. Too many people in southern California so Arizona it is! There are a few slightly warmer places in Arizona but not enough warmer to matter.
There is always Mexico and we know people still go to Mexico but we just aren’t comfortable with the idea. And it’s not as if we haven’t been–we spent two months in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico one winter. We have friends who own homes in Mexico and they are comfortable. We have friends who are spending the month of February in Mexico. Our friends Beryl and Ainslie are in Alamos right now. Are we missing something?
OK, weather whine over as Sunday our temperature was 72 degrees!! Forecast is for sunny days in the 60’s and by Friday we are back to 49 degrees and rain–so it goes. And by the way, citrus trees don’t grow in climates where it freezes every. single. night!!
So–I bought a new computer, one with Windows 10. Due to this stupid knee of mine, I spent most of Saturday on the couch and used the time to set up the new laptop, a Dell. Last night I was going to be brave and install Lightroom 6 using the DVD when I discovered that the DVD is probably still in Montana. I haven’t searched the motorhome thoroughly but will today–I am fairly certain the DVD is still residing in Montana.
But that wasn’t the only snafu! I bought a computer without a DVD player!!! Walking back into the living room after the DVD search I suddenly had that sinking feeling, picked up the laptop and yep, no DVD player! We purchased it from Costco for a reason–returnable–so back it goes and I am so disappointed on all fronts! I will just keep using my trusty Toshiba with Windows 7 until we head back to Montana where the Lightroom DVD is residing then I will purchase a new laptop, maybe even another Toshiba.
After church the Cowboy, Emmi and I decided to take a well deserved day off after all that grouting! Our first stop was in Bisbee for late breakfast/early lunch at the Bisbee Breakfast Club–always a treat! I had huevos rancheros and the Cowboy had a burger and fries–imagine that!
Always so cool to see these cars parked along Erie Street in Bisbee. And here’s the story about Erie Street–
“Visiting Erie Street is like walking into a 1950s post-apocalyptic landscape. From all that is immediately apparent, it could have been abandoned in a hurry and forgotten for half a century. Rusting cars, trucks, and an old Greyhound bus sit deserted along the street as if their passengers had suddenly vanished (or worse).
Erie Street is most of what is left of Lowell, Arizona, a mining town incorporated into Bisbee in the early 1900s. Much of the town’s residential area was demolished to widen an open pit copper mine. Losing most of its residents caused the commercial district to struggle, and many businesses failed as a result. Today, the street’s special curiosities include a Harley Davidson repair shop with a now-defunct gas pump and Sprouse Reitz Co., a department store that is nearly empty except for a few appliances and a whole pile of mannikin parts.
Despite appearing untouched since its decline, further investigation reveals that Erie Street is continually restored by a vibrant and passionate community of residents and volunteers who want to remember a different America. So although you can no longer see a show at Lowell’s movie theater or pay $0.22 for gasoline, the Lowell Americana Project has made it possible to experience the street as a living snapshot of another time.” From Atlasobscura.com
We took the long way around to Sierra Vista so we could visit Carr Canyon. There are always so many gorgeous photos of Carr Canyon Falls on the Cochise County photography Facebook site. Well, we could see the falls–what remains of the water flowing from the storms over Christmas week but we didn’t get very close. Road was closed for…………….snow/mud/ice!!! We will definitely go back on a warmer spring day and not on Sunday–it was a bit busy to say the least.
The falls were in the shade of the mountain, thus my photos look washed out. It’s a popular hiking destination–the base of the falls and to the top to look over the precipice.
After a quick stop at Home Depot and Culvers for milkshakes we pointed the truck for home. A spectacular day off from house labors!
This photo was shared from the Cochise County and All Its Wonders photography Facebook page. Taken by Arizonan Yeti and shared with permission. The photo was taken on November 30 after all the Thanksgiving week rain.
Restoration Cowboy Style 
Very few laptops these days seem to come with a CD drive! Before you take back the laptop you might check if you can even find one with a CD at a price you are willing to pay. You can get an external CD drive for pretty cheap (watch for sales, mine was about $25 at office max). They plug in via usb and so far mine has worked just as well as an internal one- the only problem is remembering to take it with you!
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As I said above to Sue–good grief! I am so not techy and now my readers have pointed me in a direction that I can keep my new, sleek, lightweight laptop–thanks so much!!! You guys are smart!
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OK a couple of things. I have found that laptops with built in dvd players are dinosaurs and cost accordingly. An external dvd player is about 20 bucks. I bought one with my last laptop. Next, cold deserts. We have found that if we stay in Desert Hot Springs/Coachella Valley area it is almost always a lot!!! warmer than points south and west in Arizona, so it might be a bit crowded, but you could head that way for a break at least… Yuma area is usually pretty warm as well, at least a lot warmer than you are there in your world. sigh. Sorry about the Lightroom thing, what a bummer. Can I lend you mine for the install? I’m not sure how that works, but if it does, I’ll send you my discs, if I can find them. Not sure how the serial number would work since it is registered to me. The sooner you can get up and running on Windows 10 the better. It’s a pain, but I no longer even notice anything. Works great. Take care and stay warm!
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Oh good grief! Now I have to tell the Cowboy he was right once again!😆He mentioned an external drive and I wasn’t even aware they existed–shows you how techy I am!! I seldom use a DVD drive so now my thought is, “of course, why clutter up a sleek, lightweight laptop with a seldom used DVD drive.” I love the people who comment on this blog–you guys are smart!!!
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I hope the Bisbee Breakfast club in Bisbee is better than the one near us on Sunrise in Tucson. We tried it twice and both times it was awful.
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Ed, the one in Bisbee has always been good for us and a lot of other RVers. So sorry to hear the Tucson one isn’t good!
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Get the serial number from your Lightroom. You should be able to find it in Settings. Then go to new computer to Adobe Lightroom site. Find the download button for your version of Lightroom. Enter the serial number when it asks and it should download just fine. Keep track of number should for some reason you need to download it again.
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Its under Help, System info.
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Yep, found System Info but I’m not seeing anything labeled “serial number.” Your suggestions are so appreciated! I hate to have to ask Lonn to go to our house and search for that disc as I can’t for the life of me remember what I did with it!!
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It’s at the very top.
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Couldn’t find it on my System Info page Sally. But I finally did find it by logging in to Adobe and searching for products I had purchased–success!!
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It is really surprising that computers don’t come with CD drives any longer. Hope you can get one with the necessary drive. Can’t wait to see the bathroom and all your other hard work.
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I just read your reply to my last comment. I was happy to supply you with some warmer weather! It has been nice to warm up. We were actually quite warm on yesterday’s hike. Today was wonderful!
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Thank you so much Pam for bringing the warm weather! Now could you do something about the snow in the forecast for Friday??? 🙂
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Janna, I did notice our weather here in Tucson doesn’t look real great starting Friday either. Darn! I’ll see what I can do for you!!
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OK–I’m glad to know you are on it!
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Did you check out some of the other comments Pam–I just need a portable DVD drive and I can keep my cool new computer! Let us know when you want to come this way and we will round up those folks who live over in Tombstone!
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Did you know you can upgrade that old computer and keep all your personnel stuff maybe even that program on the Microsoft upgrade site for free. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
I used the first option a couple times even on a real old computer. Any problems just keep restarting the computer until it fixes itself.
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I understood the website to say I would have to buy Windows 10 in order to upgrade my older computer–should have installed it for free when Microsoft was offering that option years ago! Rick Doyle (a former blogger from Canada) told us all to do so–but I ignored his advice as I was so comfortable with Windows 7 and concerned about the automatic updates which couldn’t be turned off. We were traveling more then and using a Verizon jetpack and limited data–those automatic updates were a problem so I procrastinated. This computer is at least eight years old, runs slowly at times, does strange things and it’s time to replace this dinosaur.
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Husband bought a new lap top without a DVD player. He bought an external player for a little of nothing. (We can’t remember crap) and it works great.
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I’ve ordered a DVD player but may send it back if I can get Lightroom loaded using just my serial number instead of the disc. We will see.
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Your tile is gorgeous! You make a great team. Glad you can keep the new computer…we also have an external drive on the MacPro. We have never made the drive to Bisbee. Thanks for sharing the info as I do hope to get there one day!
Gay
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We love the shower tile and how it looks! Bisbee is a cool town–a little too crowded for the Cowboy on a beautiful, sunny winter afternoon!
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