Holiday Activities

Even though there was no snow or evergreen trees, residents of the RV park did lots of decorating and made the holidays festive. We enjoyed a potluck dinner on Christmas day with about 80-100 of our newest old friends.  A New Year's Eve party is also planned.  And, there's a rumor that Elvis will make an appearance to entertain us in January!

Dairy in the Desert

Shamrock Farms Farm Tour near Stanfield, AZ was our first planned field trip for this season.  Started as a family business some 90 years ago with 20 cows and a model T milk delivery truck, the dairy farm is now home to approximately 10,000 cows and delivers 47,000 gallons of milk per day. We went by tram around and through the dairy operation, seeing the cattle feeding lots, the milking parlor, and the "nursery" for newborn calves.
The feeding areas were designed with ventilation and huge fans to keep the cows comfortable, even during the hottest months. The milking parlor was in full operation while we were there: they milk about 8000 cows twice a day, 200 cows at a time. We watched the cows enter single file and find their stanchion.  Workers cleaned the udders and attached the milking machines.  Once 4 gallons of milk was collected from each cow, the milkers fall off, the cows are released and leave the parlor.  Then another group of cows enter...the collected milk is cooled and hauled out in large tank trucks.  Processing, pasteurizing, and bottling is done at another site.

Shamrock Farms is one of the only dairies in Arizona to offer organic milk. A separate group of about 2000 cows are maintained following regulations for organic production. One requirement is that organic milk producing cows must roam and graze in pasture.

Snowbirds Return to Arizona

We have completed another successful trip to Arizona, where we will again spend the winter months.  Travel this year took us on our familiar route South...staying overnight in Osceola, Iowa;  Emporia and Liberal, Kansas. Our stay in Liberal was extended to two nights due to gusty winds and the threat of tumbleweed attack...this small one even got us in the RV park...We did some sightseeing in Liberal, which didn't take too long. They do have a museum and replica of Dorothy's house (as in Wizard of Oz) complete with Muchkins, but we decided to pass on that.
   From there it was on to Santa Rosa, New Mexico, then Deming, NM for the next night.  On a "shortcut" from Santa Rosa to I-25 South (attempting to avoid Albuquerque) Gene earned another RV Drivers Merit Badge for maneuvering 13 miles of rough, narrow, lane-changing road construction without hitting even one orange cone!!
   We left Deming, NM and arrived in Casa Grande, Arizona the next afternoon.
The RV park is quiet yet, still awaiting many snowbirds to arrive...but it is warm and sunny here, and we quickly changed from Minnesota turtlenecks and jeans, to t-shirts and shorts.