(If you decide that you'd like to try Office Tools, be sure to tell them that Kim from MDI sent you; we get credit!)
Every time, going over Hoover Dam, I look for the big horn sheep but I've never seen them.
Until now!
I made Dad pull over so I could whip out my camera. There were about 15 all total. I don't think I got any fair winning photos, but I did get photographic PROOF that
I'VE SEEN THE SHEEP!
They were really hard to spot the second they stopped moving.
And, this is the new scary bridge that will re-route the traffic off of Hoover Dam. I don't think I'll EVER go over it -- to scary.
Dad & I had lunch in Boulder, NV. That is a really neat place! And we shopped at Goat Feathers -- Dad got Mom a bell and I bought Alvin a silver fork to make wind chimes out of.
For Memorial Day, we went to Tucson to visit Nana & Papa. Papa just got a new dog: Mollie. She's a yellow lab, about a year old. She's a total goof ball! She and Lily got along okay although Lily didn't think much of her.
Mollie the dog.
And, Alvin got to help Papa install a new water purifier. Lily helped. Aren't you glad that isn't YOU under the sink with the whole world "helping"?
Hey, I just got word of a GREAT Coupon Code for Trek Light Gear! Trek Light Gear offers hammocks, ultralight compact nylon hammock. Our portable hammock is perfect for camping backpacking and travel. Eco Tote Reusable Bags.
The Chino Valley Chamber had their annual fund raiser. They do a "casino night" which is always a lot of fun. I didn't win any "money" and I certainly didn't win any raffles. Last year, I got a pool pass from a friend (he won it and gave it to me)
Fun. Especially watching the college kids deal cards.
I wanted to take a moment to let you know about the recent improvements to EatStayPlay.com:
Printable driving maps are available. I've put the link on all of our pages to a printable driving map. The maps are being offered through Google Maps. These use either the GPS coordinates or the attraction name.
The addition of GPS coordinates to Arizona attractions. My team of 4 high school students and I have put GPS coordinates onto the Arizona attraction pages. No, not EVERY page has coordinates, but we've filled in everything we can for campgrounds, lakes, state and local parks, museums, and more. If you have the GPS coordinates for an area, be sure to email them to me and I'll get it updated!
The GPS coordinates allow us to link to Google Maps and to local geocaches. What is a geocache? Visit http://www.EatStayPlay.com/Geocaching to find out more!
New and improved store. We've partnered with Amazon.com to bring you camping gear. Items are being added all the time and I'll be adding fishing and hiking equipment soon. When you purchase something from the Amazon.com after visiting our store, EatStayPlay.com gets a small percentage of the sale. We get this commission even if you don't actually buy camping gear. So, if you need to pick something up from Amazon.com, please be sure to visit our store first and help us out!
Help EatStayPlay.com
Now, all of these new changes and additions will take time and operating capital -- that's business speak for moolah, cash, money, the green stuff, etc. So, here's how you can help:
Buy something from us: I have expanded the product section of EatStayPlay.com. You know that we already offer EatStayPlay.com tee-shirts through CafePress.com. One of our top sellers is the Fishing Princess tee shirt.
Donate your money:
The website operations are bare bones: I've cut expenses, I don't take a salary, and I write checks every month from my personal bank account straight to EatStayPlay.com.
Here's what your money will be used for:
Student researchers to put GPS coordinates onto our attractions, starting with campgrounds. More GPS coordinates means better printable maps and easier to find geocaches.
Added information about camping (both private and public campgrounds) in more states. This means that I need to have money to pay the researchers who find this information and get it up on the website.
So, if you like EatStayPlay.com and if you want to help me continue to make these updates, then I'm asking you to donate just $10.00. (More is good too, but I'm really just asking for $10!) Even a few bucks can really help offset the costs of keeping us up and running.
Link to us Spread the word! You can find banners promoting EatStayPlay.com at EatStayPlay.com/Banners that you can put on your website, blog page, etc. I've also got text links that are perfect for emailing, putting on Facebook, Twitter, etc. The more people who know about us, the better off we are!
Donate your time & services: Can you write up something about your city or your favorite place to go? Do you have great photos that you want to share? I can't pay you, but I'll give you credit and it'll help me a lot! To find out what I need, go here.
In my constant search to find ways to pay the EatStayPlay.com bills, I've stumbled upon Google AdSense. We USED to have this on the site years ago and recently re-added it.
(Is re-added a word?)
Basically, I put Google ads on all my pages and when somebody clicks on it, I get paid. I saw on a site a few days ago the heading: "pay the bills" over the AdSense ads. I think this is a GREAT idea -- I mean, TELL people why you've got ads on your page! Encourage them to click!
Yesterday I found something called AdSense for domains. Basically, you take a domain that you're not using and let Google put ads on it. Well, I don't technically have any domains that I'm not using at the moment so I registered two new ones:
They're both up with Google. So, if people GO to those sites and then click on a link, I'll get paid. I've heard that you can make 3 times the revenue from domain AdSense as you can from on-site AdSense. Of course, that person didn't tell me what his domains/keywords are...
Still, I thought I'd post this to my blog and see what people think of the domains, keywords...
And, ask all of you: go to those sites and CLICK ON SOMETHING!
