Author Archives: normdave

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free…it expects what never was and never will be.” Thomas Jefferson

We travel to Boalsburg to eat and shop in a town that is nearly 200 years old.This is the tavern where we had a nice sit down dinner of soups, salads, sandwich’s and steaks. Built in 1819 by Col. James Johnston and his wife Hannah Bethesda, the Boalsburg Tavern originally catered to town folk andContinue reading “Boalsburg, Pa.”

This is the State College Pennsylvania farmers market. It happens every Tuesday from now till November. They close one whole street downtown for a few hours of good fresh shopping.Just a small sampling of our booty from today’s trip.

“The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” a book by the historian, Gibbon, provides five reasons for the decline of the Roman Empire. Number one, the undermining of the dignity and the sanctity of the home. Number two, higher and higher taxes and the spending of public money for free bread and circuses forContinue reading “America?”

From the Centre Daily Times, Monday, June 1, 2009. “A 7 foot Gumby statue was stolen from a business on the 100 block of North Atherton Street on Sunday while the owner of the store was cleaning, State College police reported. The estimated value of the statue is $250, police say, and it was takenContinue reading “MIA…..”

The Mt. Nittany Inn sits on top of a mountain in Centre Hall Pa. (small hill if you have ever been out west) elevation 1809 feet. I think since being located here the restaurant has burned down twice, the second time was during construction after the first fire. As you can see the view isContinue reading “Nice Place…”

Our beloved step-Dad Bob, Pappy-Bob and known by all his friends as “Hat” went home to be with the Lord. These photos reflect some of his favorite past times. Eating ice cream, with his great-grandson, spending time with his wife Edie, and his favorite flower for one last time here. We will miss him. GodspeedContinue reading “May 12, 2009”

I did some day labor work today helping my Father-in-law with an outside project. Here I am helping my Brother-in-law, Jeff, and as you can see, we are both working hard (really all I did was hold things). It never seems to fail though, when some men are working hard, some women (Norm) are foolingContinue reading “Working, not really…”

“Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul.” [Ps. 103:22]

I was talking to a bus driver today – he ferries people from one side of the airport to the other.  He is a Pakistani man and I asked him what type of hours he worked.  He told me he works 6 days a week, 12 hours a day for 1500 dirham per month!  ThisContinue reading “From our friend in Dubai….”

This is the second time in about three years that a rattlesnake has struck out at Norm as she was riding her quad down the trail.  The first time the snake took a swipe and than crawled quickly off the trail into the bush, but not this one. This snake is bigger than the oneContinue reading “Another Snake Story…”

We decided to go to our favorite firing range and blast away a gallon jug, but stumbled across a native of our desert. Norm would not get any closer than this.Just out in the middle of the day catching some rays. Not in the least bit interested in moving on.That is a face only aContinue reading “Yikes…”

I waited for five days to get just the right shot of the wind that blows almost non stop twenty four seven in Oklahoma. The good thing is it was warm weather even while we walked bent over to keep from being blown over. Poor Leo was actually blown from his wheel barrel while waitingContinue reading “Arizona-Oklahoma-Arizona…”

Leo enjoys two of his favorite activities, watching toons from the back of his motorcycle and driving his new jeep.

Our shower and laundry unit ready to respond.The present chain saw trailer, I understand there is a new one in the works.Just to the left is part of the feed unit. We ate two meals prepared from the unit, both very good.We are now trained and ready to respond to any disaster that might involveContinue reading “We Get Trained…”

We love to go target shooting and I guess we are so excited about it, we always forget to take something. This day we were already on the trail to our target stand when I realized we had forgotten to take a target to shoot at. Turning around, going back home, and picking up someContinue reading “Shooting up the desert”

We were just blessed to have a four day seminar on the creation of the world. Russ Miller and his wife, Jo-Ann have a first class presentation aimed directly at Christians and the attack Darwinism has put on the Word of God. Their web site is http://www.creationministries.org and it is filled with videos and informationContinue reading “Young Earth or Old Earth???”

Norm and I put our school clothes back on and headed for two days of classroom instruction. Beyond belief, at least for me, we both graduated ( yes there are two certificates). The CISM course was very exciting and informative. We now keep discussing how we can use our new techniques in regular conversation soContinue reading “Back to school…”

Here in the desert, water has always been important. It would be interesting to know what time this bag dates back to.Norm and I actually thought about downsizing to save on fuel costs, but after taking a closer look, maybe we will wait for a newer model.This is a nice look at most of theContinue reading “Gold Rush part two…”

My favorite part of Gold rush days is the classic car show. They don’t have a lot of cars, but they are unique. Like the one above, I have no idea what year it is, and it was for sale.I love the old muscle cars and there is nothing like a big block engine.This carContinue reading “Gold Rush Days…”

 use this type of gesture, but I feel like this with our goverment leadership. Do you? Thanks, Blackfive.

On the way to and from Quartzsite we pass through Hope. It looks more like an intersection with a gas station, but it might be more. I don’t want to offend anyone from Hope that might read this. The first sign you see when entering the town and the second one is on your wayContinue reading “Hope, Arizona”

I came across some free PVC pipe and for about five dollars, I made this crude looking target stand to practice shooting. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea for Norm to learn how to shoot a pistol. So, we load up our machines and head out to our local desertContinue reading “Shooting”

The “big tent” and heavy traffic on the way to all the big doings. RV’s of all types dot the landscape. The gang we spent time with.

Starting from the lower left, Maude, behind Maude is Donny, “The Dude,” Walter, the nihilist with the missing toe, and Bunny. Always remember, “The Dude Abides!”

We spend a few days in the desert near Quartzsite Arizona. This is a ride we took on the first day, about ten miles south from our camp to the foot hills

We had to get a new TV before the DTV dead line. I know, we did not really have to get one, we just wanted one. A couple of reasons we went with a new TV, first the old one weighed a ton, and second we wanted to make another place for Norm to putContinue reading “Home Improvent pt. 2”

Two to three times a week Norm and I take a walk in the desert. We each carry two bottles of water, some survival gear and travel around three and half miles in a little over an hour. The terrain is split between level and hilly. Every time we go for months now, we haveContinue reading “Walking…”

Our home improvement projects got off to a great start by chucking the inside of our sofa sleeper. I had several ideas floating around in my head on how to proceed. None of which we used. I have to give all the credit to my Father-in -law for the final design and how well itContinue reading “Home Improvement…”

“Though you hear nothing, He is speaking. Though you see nothing, He is acting. With God there are no accidents. Every incident is intended to bring us closer to Him.” Max Lucado

These church doors were hand painted by our friend, Julie. She not only paints on all kinds of surfaces, among those are rocks (we have a few), but also plays keyboards, and sings in the choir at her church. Julie and her husband, Bob, always keep us entertained.

Our neighbor did tell us what type hawk this is, but I can’t remember. The hawk has been around our house for a couple of days now and looks really tough. Thanks to Max for the photo.

We found this guy next to one our favorite walking/quad trail. 

Only in the desert? No, it did not snow here, this snow is from Arizona, from Flagstaff. The two responsible for Mr. Snowman are seen above, Leo the little and his great uncle Jeff. The snowman came ready to assemble, minus his two eyes. The finished Mr. Snowman below stood proudly for about an hour.

“Location, location, location!” I hear that is said a lot in real estate. This is a shot of the neighbors (Norm’s parents) yard. This must be done to keep tomato plants from freezing. I thought we lived in the desert? You can call it an eye sore if you want, but the veggies all tasteContinue reading “12/22/08”

I went to the Department of motor Vehicles yesterday and a funny thing happened. I was the only customer in the building! I have been in DMV’s in Pennsylvania, Florida (Pan handle), West Virgina, Florida (south), Colorado, Oklahoma, South Dakota and now Arizona. I have a prior history with the DMV’ s across our greatContinue reading “Arizona Department of Motor Vehicles…”

“Calories are meant to be consumed, not counted.”  Garfield the cat

This is sunrise as seen from our front door. I am not normally up this early, but it was worth it. We were blessed with a double rainbow. The second one is hard to see in the photo.

Some people should just keep their thoughts to themselves.. I hope this person was completely humiliated by this complaint…. Noise Complaint at Luke AFB, AZ Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its planes, forgetting that it was there longContinue reading “If this is true, we live in a sad world…”

Now that I have some free time on my hands, I thought I would try doing some things in the kitchen. It seems that my Dad and my Father-in-law both started cooking and baking more after they retired and so I will try to keep the tradition going. There are so many more options toContinue reading “Cookies…”

We were both bummed and excited about finally getting back on the road after our extended stay in Oklahoma. We sure miss our grandson, who by the way, wanted to come with us, but both his parents are real “sticks in the mud” types and said no. I know, what was wrong with those two!Continue reading “It’s about time…”

A veteran, whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve – is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a check made payable to “The United States of America, for an amount up to and including my life.” That is honor, and there are few too many people in this countryContinue reading “Veterans Day…”

Norm told me Leo was looking for the valve cap off our trailer spare tire that I was on the ground filling. I said “He won’t find it in my ear!” As we started our preparations to leave Oklahoma for Arizona, Leo was a big help. We have been squatting (my name for being inContinue reading “Pre-Launch Inspection…”

Most people will not believe it, but the weather was cold, wet and windy here in Oklahoma and we had our grandson with us. What to do? We did something that was not available to us when our children were his age, we went to the mall, specifically we went to the play area insideContinue reading “The Mall…”

No, that is not a can of beer in Norm’s hand. She would never drink a beer when she could have a V8! Leo wanted to go with us on our road trip to Pennsylvania, but he couldn’t find his riding boots or his helmet. We kept forgetting to get a balloon, so Norm madeContinue reading “Road trip…”

I tried to remember the date of this Case model tractor. I think it was in the thirties or forties. This is a 1941 Studebaker. The sign read that the Studebaker company, at that time, was the richest automaker in the country.

This Indy car is from the fortieth running of the Indianapolis 500 race. A fellow from Oklahoma won in this car.The 2 upper outlaws look like they don’t have a clue. I think Norm looks a bit better then I do, but neither of us look as bad as the fellow in the lower right.Continue reading “Oklahoma History Center….”

STand and Never YIELD!!! – From the Battlefield in Viet Nam to Tower 2 on 9/11Posted By Blackfive[This is an annual post. Please sign the petition at the end of the post. Thank you.]“Men of Cornwall stop your dreamingCan’t you see their spear points gleaming?See their warriors’ pennants streamingTo this battlefield.Men of Cornwall stand yeContinue reading “From Blackfive.net”