March 24, 2005

March 24, 2005

Imperial, California

DAY 279

 

Today was partially cloudy, very windy, with a few minutes of light rain in the afternoon.

This morning I went to a seminar on diesel engine air filters and their maintenance. It was more comprehensive than it sounds, covering not only the air induction systems of diesel engines, but the turbo-chargers and exhaust systems as well. I came back to the trailer at noon for lunch, then while Joanne went to a seminar on RV maintenance for women ( dummies ? ) I puttered around the trailer. Despite showering in the fairground's shower facilities for most of the week, I managed to fill the bathroom grey water holding tank this afternoon. And our fresh water supply must be getting quite low, because the electric water pump is starting to gurgle. We'll have to wash our hands in the kitchen sink, and use water sparingly. We'll be leaving tomorrow about noon, and will have a full bathroom grey tank, and probably no fresh water, until we get to wherever we're going to spend tomorrow night. There's no dumping station, or water refill station here on the fairgrounds.

Mid-afternoon, I took Bo for his daily obedience training session, and he did great again. Good dog ! I met up with Joanne after her seminar, and we headed over to the main building for the Escapade closing ceremonies. Afterwards, I went over to the media building to use Wi-Fi. I thought the Wi-Fi service was going to end at 6:00 P.M. tonight, but they've extended it until noon tomorrow, so I'll be able to get e-mail and update my blog one more time before we leave. We wanted to send an e-mail today to a cousin of Joanne's who lives in California, to see if perhaps she and her family are interested in having us come over for a short visit. They are just south of San José, so they're in the general vicinity of the route that we plan to take heading north. Joanne and her cousin Susan don't really know one another, so I don't know if Susan and her family are really interested in having a pair of total strangers come by for a visit. Some families ( not mine ! ) subscribe to the theory that "blood is thicker than water".

Joanne decided that since we were low on water, we shouldn't dirty any more dishes than necessary, so we should go out for supper. HUH ? Did you follow the logic of that ? She seems to be quickly becoming a candidate to join the Escapees women's group called the LEO Club. That's the "Let's Eat Out" Club, a very popular group amongst Escapees women. HA HA HA ! We went to a local Mexican take out restaurant. The menu board above the counter was in Spanish, and might as well have been in Greek. We bought a couple of combination plates, not having a clue what we were getting. While we waited for our food to be prepared, we became mesmerized by their pastry display case, and ended up buying a half dozen assorted Mexican pastries. Gee ... Mexicans sure can cook great Mexican food. HA HA HA HA HA ! Supper was great ! So was dessert ! The population of Imperial and neighbouring El Centro are 78 % Mexican. And that's just the legal ones ! HA HA HA HA HA < SNORT SNORT >.

We watched the second half of The Apprentice as we ate supper, then headed out for Oso’s Cantina, the Escapade’s final evening wrap up party. Recorded music by a DJ, dancing, visiting, and saying farewell to old friends and new. We stayed late, because Joanne was on the clean up crew, her final volunteer assignment. Marcel and Louise from Montreal won the award as the Escapade attendees from furthest away. I was somewhat surprised by the lady from Tampa, Florida, who was certain that she was from further away than Montreal. Get a map, lady ! Even the woman from Alaska immediately conceded that Montreal was further from Southern California than Alaska.

DSK