December 29, 2005

December 29, 2005

Benson, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 195

 

Today was sunny and warm, with a bit of a wind. It's about 10 degrees cooler in Benson than it was in Yuma because Benson is at a much higher altitude, about 3600 feet.

Late last night a pack of coyotes started howling to one another right outside our trailer. Bo was freaked !

This morning while I had breakfast Joanne went to the office and registered us to stay for a week. I phoned Aamco in Tucson to arrange to have the rear differential leak repaired. Aamco in Tucson is unable / unwilling to do the work. They claim that working on rear differentials is outside their scope. I find that ludicrous for a transmission shop. Removing and replacing a rear differential cover with a new gasket is hardly rocket science. I phoned Aamco in Yuma, to discuss with them how this leaking differential problem is best solved. They agree with me about Aamco in Tucson. I spoke to Aamco in Yuma a number of different times today, as we tried to figure out the best way to deal with this problem.

We went to the clubhouse, where I checked in the yellow pages to verify that there was indeed no Aamco Transmission shop nearby. Joanne checked notices on the bulletin board, and got some information about the New Year's Eve party here. I unhitched the truck from the trailer and we drove into town to pick up our mail. We were expecting 5 pieces of mail at General Delivery. There were three. I surmise that one has not yet arrived, and one had been returned to sender after being held at General Delivery for a month. We were expecting to be here in Benson earlier than this. When we returned to the trailer I phoned Passport America to have them resend our membership renewal package again, this time to Deming, New Mexico. We'll pick it up there late next week. Hopefully the last batch of mail that Sharon recently sent will arrive here in Benson within a week.

During lunch we opened the box of Christmas presents from my sister and her family that was one of the pieces of mail we picked up. Thank you, Sharon, Bud, and Andrea for the very nice gifts. We appreciate your thoughtfulness. I did preventive maintenance and a few other minor maintenance chores. We took Bo for an obedience walk. I very reluctantly went with Joanne to a ballroom dancing class in the clubhouse. We phoned Sharon to thank her for the gifts. While Joanne prepared supper, I downloaded and processed yesterday's photos from Organ Pipe National Park.

My last call from Aamco in Yuma late in the afternoon was to confirm an appointment for me to have the leaking differential problem dealt with 9 days from now in Las Cruces, New Mexico. That's the nearest Aamco heading east.

We had supper, and wasted an evening squabbling.

I just went for a late night walk ( 1:00 A.M. ). Gee ... the position of the Big Dipper in the sky sure seems "wrong" down here.

DSK

December 28, 2005

December 28, 2005

Organ Pipe National Park to Benson, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 194

 

Today was sunny and very warm again.

We started the day by going on the Ajo Mountain Scenic Drive in Organ Pipe National Park. It was a 21 mile driving trail through the foothills of the Ajo Mountains, to view the many Organ Pipe Cacti growing in this area. The trail was a one lane, rough gravel road. It took 2 hours to drive it. We were fortunate enough to see a javelina ( pronounced havileena ), a desert animal that looks something like a large, dark coloured pig.

We returned to the campground, and began to prepare for departure. We hitched up, drove over to the trailer dump station, refilled the fresh water, dumped the grey water tanks, and left Organ Pipe National Park just before noon. We drove north on Hwy. 85 to Why, then turned east on Hwy. 86 towards Tucson. After driving for about an hour, we stopped on the side of the road for lunch. We continued on to Tucson, where we found our way to Camping World. We shopped for some supplies, and a new fluorescent light fixture I want to install over my computer desk. From Camping World, we headed through Tucson to Wal-Mart, filling up with diesel on the way. While Joanne began shopping at Wal-Mart, I found a phone book, and phoned the only Aamco in Tucson. The owner / manager, and "parts guy", had both left for the day. The phone was answered by someone who wasn't able to help at all. I'll have to phone back tomorrow < fume >. I joined Joanne, and helped with the shopping. As we were arriving back at the trailer in the parking lot, we were approached by one of Wal-Mart's roving security people. He had noticed our Manitoba license plate, and came over to chat. He was originally from Pine River, Manitoba.

We fought our way through Tucson traffic, and got back onto Interstate 10 just as it got dark. We travelled about another hour east to Benson, and found our way to Saguaro SKP Co-op. It irritates me immensely that I'm going to have to drive an hour back to Tucson to have the rear differential resealed at Aamco. We found our way into one of Saguaro SKP Co-op's late arrival campsites. While Joanne prepared supper, I hooked up the power, water, and TV cable. I'll take care of the rest of the arrival procedures tomorrow.

We had supper. I did today's accounting and journal. We did a lot, and drove a lot today. I'm tired.

DSK

December 27, 2005

December 27, 2005

Yuma to Organ Pipe National Park, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 193

 

Today was sunny and very warm again.

At the moment ( 6:30 P.M. ) I am sitting at the picnic table, drinking a beer, with a lantern beside the laptop, in our unserviced campsite in Organ Pipe National Park. The sun has just set behind the mountains and is casting an orange glow in the sky. I have a campfire burning beside me, with potatoes baking on it. When they're done, I'll put a steak for me, and a pork chop for Joanne, on the barbecue.

This morning we prepared for departure from Kofa Co-op SKP Park after a 3 week stay. Yuma is one of the nicest places we've stayed in our travels, and is definitely a place we will consider when it comes time to select a "winter home". I did preventive maintenance, refilled the fresh water holding tank, drained the waste holding tanks, then began to hitch up. Joanne took care of departure preparations inside the trailer, then went to the office to pay our bill. Our electricity bill was higher than we expected. This was one of those parks that charges a daily fee, plus metered electricity. Whenever we have that arrangement in the future, I think we should run the water heater on propane rather then electricity. The water heater was the only reason that I can think of that would have caused such high power consumption. We chatted for awhile with the man from Quebec camped across the road from us, then pulled out.

We drove through Yuma to Interstate 8, then got onto the Interstate heading east. After about an hour of driving we stopped at the town of Dateland, which grows, of course, dates. We sampled about half a dozen different types of dates, then selected a bag of Honey Dates, which are slightly smaller, and softer, than Medjool Dates. We bought 2 date milkshakes, and hit the road again. The date milkshakes were so filling, we skipped lunch. We stopped again at the town of Gila ( pronounced "Heela" ) Bend to buy gas and groceries. At Gila Bend we got onto Hwy. 85 headed south towards Mexico. We drove through the towns of Ajo ( pronounced Aho ) and Why before getting to Organ Pipe National Park just north of the Mexican border. We stopped at the Visitor Information Centre to pick up some information before registering at the campground and setting up on our assigned campsite.

This is as far north as Organ Pipe Cacti grow, and is the only location in the United States where they can be found. I'm glad I decided to come here and see Organ Pipes. This park is filled with Organ Pipes, Saguaros ( Sah wharos ), Chollas ( choyas ), and Ocotillos ( ocoteeyos ). There is a warning on the bathroom building to beware of the 6 ( count 'em ... six ) different types of rattlesnakes here. We have our very own personal Organ Pipe Cactus growing in our campsite right beside the trailer.

When I unhitched the truck from the trailer, and moved the truck forward, I noticed some drips on the ground behind the truck. I crawled underneath the truck to take a look, and sure enough, the rear differential is leaking. !)@(#*$&%^ ! ! ! Why can't people fix things right, even when given a second chance to do so ? ? ? ! ! ! I'm going to have to waste more time trying to find an Aamco shop in Tucson or Benson ( not likely to find one in as small a place as Benson ), and have the rear differential resealed AGAIN ! To add insult to injury, a few minutes later when I went to start the truck, the starter failed to engage AGAIN ! I had to tap it with a breaker bar. Just a very light tap is enough to loosen whatever sticks, and the starter engages. I set up our little solar panel to keep the trailer "house" battery charged up. The solar panel was a gift from my sister and brother-in-law, and works excellently to keep the battery charged when we're in an unserviced campsite like this, with intense desert sunshine. Thanks, Sharon & Bud.

We drove back to the Visitor Centre, and went on a short hike around the desert, with a guide book corresponding to the numbered markers along the trail. One of the interesting things I learned was why their thermometer is on a pole 5 feet above ground. It's because the temperature here reaches 175 degrees F. at ground level, but only reaches 118 degrees 5 feet above ground. WOW ! In addition to finding a Cactus Wren nest in a Cholla, we also saw a dead Cactus Wren tangled in and impaled on the needles of a Cholla. I wonder how the hell the poor little bugger managed to screw up like that ?

We returned to the campground as the sun set and the temperature plummeted. It was 82 when we arrived, and the temperature here drops over 40 degrees when the sun goes down. The potatoes are finished baking on the campfire, and the steak and pork chop are almost finished cooking on the barbecue. Just about time to shut off the laptop and go inside for supper.

We had supper, then I did today's accounting. When I went outside to clean and put away the barbecue, I noticed how clear and bright the desert night sky is here. I guess that’s why there is an astronomical observatory nearby.

DSK

December 26, 2005

December 26, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 192

 

Today was another sunny, very warm day.

This morning when I did preventive maintenance, I lay down under the back of the truck to check the air pressure in the spare tire. I noticed a leak from the rear differential cover. Gee ... Aamco in Yuma just drained and refilled the rear differential 2 weeks ago. It sure is hard to find good help, chew no ? ( That's a local Mexican expression. ) I phoned Aamco, told them about the leak, and they told me to bring the truck in tomorrow morning. No ... I'm leaving Yuma tomorrow morning. It has to be repaired today. I'll bring the truck in at 1:00 P.M.. See you then ! I dug the ladder out of the basement pass through storage compartment ( again ! ) and took it into the trailer. I relocated and reattached a Damp Rid container with Velcro on top of the cupboard over the living room window behind the recliner. I put away the ladder and the lawn chairs, then folded and put away Teddy's tent. I dug out my magic tool box and put away 2 of the 3 new magic tricks I received for Christmas. I kept the most difficult one out. I haven't yet tried it. I'm somewhat intimidated by the complexity of it. But ... if I learn to do it, it will be, without a doubt, my best magic trick. Wish me luck. This one will take a lot of slow, meticulous practice. But good magic is like good flying. A magician and a pilot both learn complex, complicated procedures, and practice them over and over until they look easy to an observer. I gave the truck a quick wash to get rid of all the desert dust. Horizontal surfaces like the hood and roof particularly get a thick coating of dust out here in the desert.

I had lunch, then left for Aamco. While the technician was working on my truck, I walked into the shop yard ( many automotive service businesses here work on vehicles outdoors ) to find out what the problem was, and how were they going to solve it. It seems that when they changed the rear differential fluid 2 weeks ago, they didn't have the correct gasket in stock to reseal the rear differential cover, so they reused the old gasket, hoping it would be adequate. It wasn't. They still didn't have the correct gasket in stock today, so they resealed the rear differential cover with a silicone sealant, like a liquid gasket. They assure me that is a very common way to reseal a rear differential cover. I have to assume that a national chain of transmission shops knows what it's doing. On the way back to Kofa Co-op, I stopped to fill Dee-Dee with diesel, in anticipation of our departure tomorrow. HMPH ... the price of fuel has just increased here. I wonder if that's just for the holiday season ? ! ?

Joanne wasn't in the trailer when I got back, so I put Bo's training collar on, and we went off for an obedience session, and to "find" Joanne. We found her at the laundry building. Good dog, Bo. I did today's accounting, and began work on today's journal entry. I wrote some e-mail. I spent about 45 minutes trying my new magic trick. I was able to understand the concept. My attempts at execution were a dismal failure. I even had to recruit Joanne to assist me. Two hands weren't enough. I was a bit disappointed that I had to reveal the "magic" to her. Even with her assistance, I failed. It's going to be a long, arduous road from understanding the concept, to execution. Oh, well. I'll keep trying, and hopefully will be able to get it. I'll try not to get discouraged and give up, although I did do that once many years ago with an expensive magic trick that I just couldn't master. When one purchases a magic trick at Houdini's Magic Shop in Las Vegas, the purchaser is taken into a back room, and the trick is demonstrated by a staff member. Obviously, the staff member who demonstrated this for me made it look easy. I sat outside and read until the sun set, enjoying our last afternoon in Yuma. Joanne undecorated the little Christmas tree we bought when we arrived in Yuma. We've decided to keep it. I helped her put it into storage.

We had supper. Joanne baked cookies while I did some trip planning. We were planning to go to Casa Grande tomorrow, but I've decided at the last minute that I want to go to Organ Pipe National Park. We've seen Saguaro Cacti, but we've never seen Organ Pipe Cacti. I want to go.

DSK

December 25, 2005

December 25, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 191

 

Merry Christmas

 

Turn your speakers up for this. <http://www.reuters.hu/card_dom/index_content.html> With thanks to E.D.

We realized the other day that this travelling lifestyle precludes us continuing some old family Christmas traditions. We've decided we are going to establish some new traditions for ourselves. We can't continue the long held practice of my family, of having waffles for breakfast on Christmas Day. We'll establish a new tradition of having fresh fruit salad for breakfast on Christmas Day, and another new tradition of going out for a waffle breakfast on new Year's Day. So, this morning we had fresh fruit salad for breakfast, then began opening out gifts. We let Bo start. We gave him his wrapped gift, and laughed uproariously at the result. He grabbed the gift, jumped up on the couch, and proceeded to methodically tear the wrapping paper off his new tug toy, Lambie. We laughed and laughed. He obviously has unwrapped gifts before. We didn't know that. Last year we got him shortly before Christmas, and I guess we didn't have any wrapped gifts for him last year. Next was Teddy. He doesn't unwrap his own gift. We helped him. We opened our own gifts to each other. I got a Navajo sweater purchased at the Pow Wow we went to in Pahrump, Nevada, and 3 new magic tricks from Houdini's Magic Shop in Las Vegas.

After opening gifts, we phoned our sisters, and wished family members a Merry Christmas. We cleaned up the wrapping paper which we left all over the floor for Teddy to play with. I took a short nap while Joanne prepared our contribution to the communal Christmas dinner. She made a wild rice dressing. Wild rice is ridiculously expensive down here, so it's not likely anyone else will contribute anything with wild rice. We have lots of wild rice, purchased last summer between Winnipeg and Kenora, likely the cheapest place in North America to buy wild rice.

When I woke from my nap, I went outside to do preventive maintenance. The sun was shining brilliantly, and the temperature was 82. I changed into a bathing suit and headed for the swimming pool. AHHHHH ! ! ! Floating around a pool heated to 86 degrees, on a sunny, hot Christmas day. One of the best Christmas Day experiences I've ever had. I returned to the trailer, showered, and dressed for the Christmas dinner in the clubhouse at 3:00 P.M..

We went to the communal Christmas dinner. It was nice, but not quite as "family" feeling as last year at Rainbow's End in Livingston, Texas. Last year seating was at tables of eight. This year seating was at long tables, making it feel a teensy bit institutional to me. Sort of like the wealthy, old folk version of a Union Mission Christmas dinner. I performed one of my new magic tricks twice after dinner. I had only practiced it a bit this afternoon, and my execution was still a little rough around the edges, but I still managed to pull it off. I even got an invitation to perform a magic show on New Year's Eve, but we're not staying here that long. After dinner we chatted for awhile with a Vietnam veteran, discussing the U.S. "involvement" in Iraq. Suffice to say he and I don't see it the same way. God bless America !

We returned to the trailer as the sun was setting, and changed into bathing suits. We went to the pool and hot tub for a twilight dip. Joanne sat in the hot tub, and I floated around the heated pool on a couple of foam floaties. Eventually, as the air got cooler, I joined her and another couple in the hot tub. We chatted with them for a long time. They're from California, and have been full timing 2 days less than us. They "left home" on June 20, 2004. Finally, about 8:00 P.M. we reluctantly returned to the trailer, to feed Teddy and Bo. I downloaded and processed a couple of photos I took this morning, did today's accounting, and worked on today's journal entry.

DSK

December 24, 2005

December 24, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 190

 

I sadly remember my father, who died on Christmas Eve 10 years ago.

Today was intensely sunny, with temperature in the low 80's. Don't you hate when Christmas Eve is this stinking hot ? ! ? HA HA HA HA HA < SNORT SNORT > HA HA HA < SNORT > HA !

I had another lazy, slow start to a lazy, slow day. This morning after sleeping in, I drained the waste holding tanks and refilled the fresh water tank. This should have been done tomorrow, but I didn't want to do it on Christmas Day. Then I closed the awning, into the travel position. I reviewed yesterday's incoming e-mails, and composed responses. We spent some time doing trip planning, and researching RV parks in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas ( "The Valley" in RV'er parlance ) where we will likely spend a few weeks or a month. I bought a newspaper, and spent much of the day sitting outside reading it.

We took Bo for a long obedience training walk, and off leash play session in the fenced dog run area.. After an obedience walk in the hot sun, he was too hot to want to play much. I brought Teddy along in his sling carrier. We stopped to chat with a resident couple, and visit with their cat. I wanted to ask the man about his really interesting fifth wheel hauler truck bed insert. Teddy, hanging on my side in his sling carrier, hissed at their cat when the woman lifted her to be nose to nose with Teddy. Stupid cat ! Then Bo approached their cat, sniffing at her nose. Since she was declawed, I had no concern when she started batting Bo hard on his face with her front paw. Bo, likewise, had no concern. He just stood there continuing to sniff as this cat smacked him repeatedly across the nose. Stupid dog ! How do I end up raising such sweet but stupid animals ? ! ?

We had lunch, I wrapped Joanne's gifts, then we spent the afternoon sitting outside reading the newspaper, enjoying the wonderful weather. Teddy spent the afternoon in his little cat tent. Teddy and I both are becoming very enamoured of Yuma's climate. As the sun set, we took Bo for another long walk, followed by a tennis ball play session. Yesterday, luminaries ( small paper bags partially filled with sand, and a tea light candle on top of the sand ) were placed at the front corners of each site. Tonight at dusk they were lit, to burn throughout the evening. Apparently this is a Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve tradition at this park. Yesterday when I first noticed a luminary on the corner of our site, I shuddered with the memory of our first assignment at YMCA Of The Ozarks 14 months ago. For Hallowe'en we placed and lit a couple of hundred of these kinds of luminaries along the hilly road from Trout Lodge to Triangle Y Ranch.

While Joanne prepared our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of tourtiere, I did today's accounting and started today's journal entry. She had a bit of pie dough left over, and was going to throw it out. No way ! I made little Medjool date filled perogies with it. HA HA HA ! Well, not really perogies, I guess. More like puff pastries.

We had supper, then tried, unsuccessfully, to find something to watch on TV. I refuse to watch "It's A Wonderful Life", perhaps the worst movie ever made, in my humble opinion. While Joanne watched some other mindless Christmas movie, I brushed Bo. What a gorgeous looking fellow, for about 10 minutes.

DSK

December 23, 2005

December 23, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 189

 

Today was mostly sunny and warm. There was a bit of high, thin cloud in the afternoon. Another day of wearing a t-shirt and shorts.

I had another late, slow start to the day. After regular morning chores and preventive maintenance, we started cleaning the trailer awning. We spent most of the day cleaning it, mostly unsuccessfully. When we went to Wal-Mart later in the day we bought some special RV awning cleaner. We'll work on cleaning the awning using that when we stop for a few weeks in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

When we finished working on the awning late in the afternoon, I thoroughly cleaned the barbecue, then we took Bo for an obedience training walk. He did extremely well. Good dog, Bo. When he does well, I reward him with a play session. When we got back to the trailer, I jumped on the bed with Bo, and began to rough house play. I yanked his tug toy Foxy away from him, and rolled away. He leaped over me to get Foxy, smashed me in the mouth with his head, and split my lip. Thanks, Bo. Just what I wanted for Christmas ... a fat lip. Joanne thought that was a fair trade, since on this date last year I had him neutered. HA HA HA !

We decided to go to Wal-Mart to buy some groceries. Well, actually, I desperately wanted some potato chips. And we didn't want to have to go grocery shopping again before we leave here on December 27. On the way back to Kofa Co-op we stopped at Cocopah Casino to check it out. We wandered around the casino, and took a look at their restaurant, pondering whether or not to return on Monday for their lunch buffet.

We had supper, then watched a bit of TV. Joanne wrapped gifts while I went to the clubhouse to get online and update my blog. When I returned from the clubhouse, there were some gifts from Santa Claus under our tree. I told Joanne that wasn’t possible, since Santa Claus doesn’t come until Christmas Eve. Apparently I was wrong. Joanne tells me that because of the very warm temperatures here, Santa has to come to Mexico ... and American cities along the Mexican border, like Yuma ... a day early.

DSK

December 22, 2005

December 22, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 188

 

Today was sunny and very warm. I was working outside in the afternoon wearing shorts.

I got a late, slow start to the morning. We went to Arizona Market Place, the local flea market, to buy a backpack purse for Joanne that she saw and liked when we were there last week. It will be another one of my Christmas gifts to her. We took Bo along. Last week we saw that many people wander around the flea market with their dogs. Taking Bo into crowds of people is a good training exercise. We realized that the first time we had him in a crowded place, at Lake Louise. We bought the purse, and some produce. Just as we arrived back at the trailer, a rig from Quebec was pulling into the boondock area across from our site. We wandered over to chat with them. Well, Joanne chatted, I mostly listened. I can't really hold my own in a fast flowing conversation in French. Until their arrival, we were the only Canadians here. However, it's noticeable when driving around Yuma, that there are almost as many license plates from B.C. and Alberta as there are Arizona license plates. Yuma has a permanent population of 80,000, with 95,000 winter visitors.

We had lunch. I read until I fell asleep for awhile. So what else is new ? HA HA HA ! When I woke, I changed into shorts. The afternoon was too hot for long pants. We went outside and cleaned the trailer wheels with bug & tar remover. We had neglected to clean the wheels when we were cleaning the rest of the trailer. Then we decided to open the awning. Yuck ! It was all wet, and had mildew on it. I guess we haven't opened the awning since before we arrived at West Hawk Lake in May. We couldn't open it at West Hawk Lake because of a tree right beside the trailer. Tomorrow we'll have another big job, cleaning the awning. It should be opened and dried after it rains, but we're rarely in one place long enough to justify opening the awning. We sort of forget it exists. We should have opened it, dried it and cleaned it sooner. The next door neighbour offered me some grapefruits. I didn't know Joanne had just bought some earlier today. I accepted them, and offered some Medjool dates in return, although Medjool dates and grapefruits are hardly a fair trade. I guess we came out on the losing end of that trade. Oh, well. We took Bo for a long walk at dusk, just to enjoy the great weather.

I did today's accounting, and started work on today's journal entry. I received some e-mails with feedback that my Christmas card attachment couldn't be opened, because of the ".wps" extension that my word processing software uses. I experimented, and tried to resave it with a ".doc" extension. I will resend it and hope that works. I barbecued a Jack Daniel's Bourbon steak for supper. Great ! We watched a bit of TV, then I went to the clubhouse to get online. For the last couple of days, including tonight, I have had a great deal of trouble getting online and retrieving e-mail. After multiple attempts tonight, I went back to the trailer to get online through the cell phone, to see if the problem is my computer, or something else. I had no difficulties signing on, and getting e-mail, through the cell phone, so I don't think the problem is in my computer. A couple of days ago, somebody changed the phone cord in the clubhouse. Maybe that's the problem ? Tomorrow I'll try signing on in the clubhouse, using my own phone cord.

DSK

December 21, 2005

December 21, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 187

 

Today was sunny and very warm. The forecast for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is for temperatures in the low 80's. Woo-Hoo ... I can hardly wait !

I spent most of today in bed, feeling slightly ill. I'm having a bit of a colitis flare-up, and as is often the case, it's left me feeling weak and tired. I'm hoping I can get things settled down within a few days. The last time I had a flare-up was in August, and it put me into the hospital in Kenora for 3 days. This morning I got up, fed Teddy and went back to sleep. I had to get up a few minutes later, when Teddy got sick. I guess we shouldn't have fed him those old, dried up Pounce treats we found at the back of the cupboard yesterday. I cleaned up that mess, walked Bo, and went back to sleep again. I slept until almost noon.

After showering, and having lunch, I went outside to do preventive maintenance. Today was a lovely, sunny day, and more of the same is expected for the next week. I repaired a dinette chair that had loose screws. I lay down on the bed, and read a book until I fell asleep, sleeping for most of the afternoon. When I woke, I took the laptop to the clubhouse, got online, and retrieved the MasterCard statements. Darn ... I inadvertently used my Canadian dollar MasterCard in Utah to buy gas, so my Canadian dollar MasterCard billing is more than I expected. I'll need to have some funds transferred from my investments to my Canadian bank account before I pay MasterCard.

By then it was time to get dressed for the Christmas party / pot luck dinner. We went to the clubhouse, had a communal pot luck dinner, then watched some goofy Escapee entertainment, and sang Christmas carols. When we returned to the trailer, I printed the MasterCard statements, and Joanne's letter to her friend, Arley. We watched the finale of The Apprentice : Martha Stewart. Joanne helped me reconcile the MasterCard statements. It's a lot easier when I don't make mistakes, like I did in the last month, using my Canadian MasterCard in the United States, and completely losing a transaction from a grocery store purchase in Mesquite, Nevada, that I thought Joanne had paid in cash.

It was such a nice, warm evening. We went for a long walk with Bo late in the evening.

DSK

December 20, 2005

December 20, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 186

 

Today was sunny and warm.

This morning I did preventive maintenance, then drained the waste holding tanks and refilled the fresh water holding tank. Last night I purchased and downloaded McAfee Virus Scan. This morning I configured it, and scanned my computer for viruses. Somewhat to my surprise, it identified ten infected files that Norton Anti-Virus failed to detect. Since I received this laptop 2 years ago as a "Christmas gift" from the Iams Pet Food Company, I have been using Norton Anti-Virus. My subscription to Norton Anti-Virus recently expired and I decided to give McAfee Virus Scan a try. I reviewed a batch of e-mail I retrieved last night and composed some replies. Sharon phoned to advise that in my mail there was a demand for payment of $41.20 from Autopac, for late payment fees and interest. My last vehicle insurance remittance was late, and they assessed me a late fee of $20 on each of the truck and trailer, and $1.20 interest. I really hate paying late fees of any sort. I have arranged for timely payment of all accounts while travelling, with the exception of Autopac. The problem is that the vehicle registrations and insurance, and driver's licenses, require signing before payment. Sharon receives them in the mail, forwards them to us, I sign them and send payment. There's not enough lead time for all that mailing back and forth. We'll have to devise a better method for dealing with Autopac. I went to Watch Hospital to pick up my Rolex. They did a very nice cosmetic job while repairing the locking winding stem. They polished and buffed the crystal, case, and bracelet. Looks like new. However, for the price of a Rolex repair, I could buy about 16 Timex watches, and just throw them away when they stop working. Joanne did laundry while I went to pick up my watch. I took Bo along for the ride. He's been feeling "drivey" deprived.

Having my watch repaired was the last item on our errands and projects "to do" list. We're ready again for a period of extended travel. We had lunch. I cleaned the desert sand off my black leather shoes yet again. I read for awhile, then took a long nap. When I woke, I sat outside and read some more. I took Bo for an obedience training walk. He really did well. It took pretty much a year, but he really does understand what we expect of him, and he delivers. Good, good dog, Bo. Joanne spent the afternoon composing a long letter to Arley, her friend at C.A.R.E. in Livingston, Texas, where we "worked" last January. I did today's accounting, and worked on today's journal entry. We had supper. I spent some time updating some computer records. We watched some TV.

I think we're going to spend the next week doing a whole lot of nothing, to atone a bit for all those years as retailers, when we each worked about 100 hours in the week preceding Christmas.

DSK

December 19, 2005

December 19, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 185

 

Today was sunny and warm. The forecast is for even warmer temperatures over the next few days, in the high 70's or even low 80's. Am I dreaming of a white Christmas ? I don't freakin' think so. Merry Christmas ! ! ! HA HA HA !

This morning I wasn't feeling well, so I asked Joanne to get up and take care of the regular morning chores that I usually do, and I stayed in bed for a couple more hours. Later in the morning, I went to the office to inquire about buying a lot / share in this park. The cost is quite reasonable, although they have a waiting list that is 8 or 9 years long. Perhaps by next summer we'll have a better idea of our long term plans, and maybe we'll decide to get onto the waiting lists of some of these really nice Escapee parks. I went over to see a lady that we were talking to last night at the ice cream social. She's a middle aged woman from California, travelling full time, alone, in a Lazy Daze Class C. She was having problems with her cable TV connection not working. I spent awhile checking connections and wires, then discovered that she didn't have the TV antenna / cable power booster turned on. She didn't know it existed. Problem solved. I phoned a local GM dealer to discuss the possibility that the ongoing starter problem might be related to worn out ignition keys and / or a worn out ignition cylinder, and the anti-theft sensor in the ignition is malfunctioning. They thought that was definitely a possibility, and quoted me the cost of a new ignition cylinder, and new keys cut using factory key codes. After the phone call, I thought about it and decided I should have a new ignition cylinder installed, and new keys cut using the factory key codes.

We had lunch, then set off to run some errands. First stop was the local metal fabricator to pick up my custom cut and drilled piece of aluminum diamond plate. Of course, they hadn't even started the job by the time I arrived, so I not only had to wait around while they did the job, I helped them do it. Shops down here run by Mexicans have a fairly laid back attitude towards customers being in the shop, even helping out. From what I could see of their work habits, they also have a fairly laid back attitude towards safety, as well. That might explain why the foreman walks with such a pronounced limp. From Arellano Fabrication, we headed for the Post Office. I needed some stamps. When I went into the Post Office, I took a number for service. My number was 64. They were serving number 34. Oh, gee ! I went into the lobby, and found a stamp machine. I needed a 60¢ stamp for a postcard to Canada. The machine only sold domestic 37¢ stamps. Fine ... two domestic stamps, overpaying by 14¢ , was preferable to waiting in line for 30 customers to be served ahead of me. From the Post Office, we drove to Wal-Mart. I dropped Joanne off at Wal-Mart, and drove to a nearby GM dealer, not the same one that I spoke to on the phone. I went in and had a lengthy discussion with both their service department and parts department about the starter problem, and theories to solve it. Well, their idea and opinions are quite different than the first GM dealer. The GM dealers don’t seem to be particularly adept at problem solving. However, they'll be quite happy to replace any one of a few $150 parts, with $400 worth of labour involved, with the faint hope that the intermittent starter problem will be solved < huge sigh >. I decided to do nothing, until the problem is less intermittent / more frequent. I'm not eager to spend large amounts of money chasing after an intermittent problem that could possibly be caused by any one of a number of different components. I returned to Wal-Mart, and helped Joanne with the shopping. We returned to Kofa Co-op, and put away the groceries. I wasn't going to install the aluminum plate until tomorrow, but Joanne was eager to get it done, as the idea to install a stone guard plate was hers. We installed the plate onto the lower front of the trailer. The job went well. It looks good, and will function well as guard to protect the fibreglass from stone chips. We took Bo for a long walk, just as the sun set. The temperature here in the desert plummets when the sun sets. When we started the walk, it was quite warm. Fifteen or twenty minutes later, it was quite cool.

I did today's accounting, and started today's journal entry. Joanne went to the office to ask if the local towns of San Luis Colorado, and Calexico, in Mexico are as tourist friendly as Los Algodones. We were planning to make another day trip into Mexico tomorrow. The office people told Joanne that neither town is really a tourist friendly area like Los Algodones. Maybe I'll just spend all day tomorrow sitting outside in a lawn chair, reading a book. Haven't done that since West Hawk Lake.

We prepared supper together. Joanne prepared a salad while coaching me through a new omelette recipe. I seem to have more success with egg dishes than she does. We had supper and watched a bit of TV. Dessert was from yesterday's visit to Imperial Date Gardens. A fresh, juicy Medjool date, stuffed with a pecan, and rolled in coconut. MMMMM ! It was a nice follow up to the Medjool date covered in chocolate that I had earlier as a snack. I went to the clubhouse to get online, send and retrieve e-mail, update my blog, and research anti-virus software.

DSK

December 18, 2005

December 18, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 184

 

Today was cloudy and cool. We've been on the road for a year and a half, travelling over 49,000 kilometres.

This morning I did some travel accounting and records keeping ( see above ). Then I did a bit of minor maintenance on the propane tanks. We set off for a visit to Imperial Date Gardens in Bard, California, about 15 miles northwest of Yuma. We drove through Yuma, across the Colorado River into California, then on Hwy. S24 alongside lettuce farms in the Bard Valley to Imperial Date Gardens. The "gardens" are a large grove of very tall Date Palms. Quite attractive. First thing we did when we got there was buy a date milkshake to share as we shopped in their retail outlet. It was delicious ! We bought 2 types of honey, some date butter for making milkshakes, date pastries, and of course, a bag of their fresh Medjool dates. MMMMM ! We drove back to Yuma, and stopped at Fry's for some groceries.

Back at Kofa Co-op we had lunch. I bought a Sunday newspaper and read it for awhile before falling asleep for an afternoon nap. In Canada the huge newspaper of the weekend is Saturday, but here in the United States it's Sunday. When I woke, we went outside, got the ladder out of the "basement" pass through storage compartment, retracted the slides, and finished up the cleaning and waxing of the trailer by doing the areas over the slides. We forgot about those areas the other day, and had already folded and put away the ladder. I did today's accounting, then started working on today's journal entry.

Joanne got a roast started, then we went to the park's regular Sunday evening ice cream social. Afterwards, while Joanne finished preparing supper, I wrote postcards. We send 5 post cards every 3 months, to the last two PET VALU stores we owned in Ottawa, our Ottawa doctor, Joanne's breast cancer exercise class, and friends who own a PET VALU store in Kingston, Ontario, the Malleys.

We had a great, traditional Sunday night pot roast dinner. We watched a bit of TV, and read the newspaper. When Joanne was finished washing dishes, the kitchen grey water tank was full. I went out late in the evening and drained it. It usually requires emptying only every 5 days. It was filled a day early.

DSK

December 17, 2005

December 17, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 183

 

Today was sunny and cool.

This morning I got the printer out, and printed the investment data updates that I downloaded last night. The we headed off for another morning of flea market shopping at Yuma Park & Swap. It was a larger flea market than Arizona Market Place, but not quite as organized and civilized. We bought a few small items, and some produce. Gee ... at this flea market, locally grown lemons are 20 for a dollar, and grapefruits are 10 for a dollar.

We were listening to our Cajun Christmas CD in the truck as we drove around yesterday and today. I had forgotten how much we like Cajun music, although this Christmas CD is not the best example of Cajun music we've heard. There are a few very catchy tunes we've been singing along with. "I'm standing in lie, waiting to see Santa Clow" Cajun phonetics mine. We returned to the trailer at Kofa Co-op and had lunch. I read for awhile, then napped. When I woke, I gave Bo a bath. He certainly doesn't stink, here in the desert, like he did after being in the cold rain for a few weeks on Vancouver Island. I did today's accounting, started today's journal entry, downloaded and processed a couple of photos, then began working on updating the investment files.

I had another starter "failure to engage" today. It might be my imagination, but I think I detected a looseness in the ignition when I turned the key, and the starter failed to engage. My ignition keys are very worn. I wonder if it's possible that the worn key is failing to engage a tumbler in the ignition cylinder that closes the starter relay or something ?

I helped prepare supper. After supper I continued updating and analyzing the investment files. The stock market has performed well over the last couple of weeks. Looks like our investments will have overall good growth for the year. No need to hang the keys up just yet.

DSK

December 16, 2005

December 16, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 182

 

Today was sunny and cool.

This morning we headed off to spend a few hours shopping at Arizona Market Place, a large flea market close to Kofa Co-op SKP Park. It was somewhat like Quartzsite, but more organized and civilized. I bought a pair of clip on yellow driving lenses. Joanne finally bought a metal tea pot. She has been shopping for just the right size of metal tea pot for a year and a half. She also shopped for, but didn't buy, a new backpack purse. I think that before we leave I'll probably return to buy a 12 volt fluorescent light fixture to replace the incandescent fixture over my computer desk.

We returned to the trailer for lunch. While Joanne prepared lunch, I took an empty propane tank to the park's propane refill area to have it refilled. After lunch I made phone calls to local metal fabricators, to find out availability and price of a piece of aluminum tread plate. I'm going to install a piece of aluminum tread plate on the lower front of the trailer, as a stone guard. It was Joanne's idea. The metal shop that I chose was quite close to Kofa Co-op, so I drove over there to verify that the material was what I wanted, and to place the order. I want it custom cut to fit, and holes drilled for mounting it to the trailer. It's easier to have them drill it than for me to try to do it myself with the pathetic rechargeable drill that I have. From there we drove to The Peanut Patch, a local peanut processing and sales business. We wanted to go on one of the scheduled tours of their peanut processing facility, but they don't give tours in December ( ? ! ? ). We browsed around their retail shop, but nothing interested us enough to buy. We returned to the trailer. Joanne went to do some laundry. I started reading a new book. Before it got dark, we trimmed the animals' nails. First Bo, then Teddy. Minimal fussing ... good dog and cat !

I did today's accounting, and started today's journal, before we had an early supper. After eating very quickly, we rushed off for tonight's special entertainment in the clubhouse. A group called "Cookie Cutters", from another nearby RV park. My goodness ! A group of about a dozen old women, dressed in Santa hats and strange costumes, performing music on Jew's harps and kazoos, and acting silly. I couldn't help but think ; I quit my job for this ? ! ? When the performance was finally, and mercifully, over, Joanne took me on a walk around the park to see Christmas decorations. It's surprising how elaborately some people can decorate trailers and motorhomes.

While Joanne washed dishes, I went to the clubhouse to get online to retrieve investment data. It's time for me to do my mid-month updating.

DSK

December 15, 2005

December 15, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 181

 

Today was cloudy and cool.

This morning after preventive maintenance, I drained the waste holding tanks and refilled the fresh water tank. When staying in one place, like we are here, I have to drain every 5 days. That's about the capacity of the kitchen grey water tank. I removed the birch bark biting art from the dinette window sill, and tightened up some loose screws in the mounting frame. Vibration from travelling seems to slowly loosen most screws in the trailer. I spent the rest of the morning measuring, cutting, filing, and installing the new moulding in the bedroom. I'm happier with this section of moulding than the previous one. I took Bo for an obedience walk, then downloaded and processed a couple of photos I took yesterday of lemon trees right outside the entrance gate of Kofa Co-op SKP Park. Joanne spent the morning continuing to clean and wax the trailer.

We had lunch, then I read and napped, with Teddy and Bo cuddled beside me. When I woke, I went outside and worked with Joanne on the trailer cleaning and waxing. At dusk, I came inside, to work on preparing and sending Christmas cards. When I went to my Christmas card file ... it was empty. Darn ! I guess I used up all our Christmas cards last year. I considered running out to Wal-Mart or Walgreen's, but decided against it. I decided I would compose an electronic Christmas card this year, in keeping with how we do most of our communications in this mobile lifestyle. I sat down at the computer and goofed around for awhile until I had something that I thought was acceptable. I attached it to an e-mail, and addressed it to family and friends, to be sent later. Wish me luck. I hope it works. I'm not exactly a techno wizard.

I started today's journal entry, and did today's accounting, before going outside to set up the barbecue. Joanne made potato salad, and I barbecued one of the steaks we bought the other day. We bought a package of prepared steaks, sealed in a marinade of honey and Jack Daniel's Bourbon. Very, very good. We're going to buy more. We watched the 2 hour finale of The Apprentice. I was disappointed in the outcome. It left a sour taste in my mouth.

DSK

December 14, 2005

December 14, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 180

 

Today was sunny, warm, and a bit windy.

This morning after I showered, Joanne wanted some help with lymphedema massage. The result of helping her was that I ended up falling asleep again until almost noon. Oh, well.

I did preventive maintenance, did a minor repair to the folding door between the bathroom hallway and the bedroom, and fixed Joanne's SKP name badge. The maple leaf with the Escapees logo fell off her name badge. I reattached it with double sided foam tape. While Joanne prepared lunch, I took Bo for a short obedience walk.

We had lunch, then left for shopping at Wal-Mart. On the way to Wal-Mart, I refilled Dee-Dee with diesel. The price of diesel seems to be coming down. Today I paid $2.279 a gallon. I've paid as much as $3.299 in California. We did our Wal-Mart shopping, including buying a kitschy little artificial Christmas tree. We returned to Kofa Co-op, and before it got dark, Joanne did a bit more cleaning and waxing of the trailer, and I did some paint touch up on the tailgate. When I bought the truck, I replaced the original tailgate with a V-notched, louvered, 5th wheel tailgate. Its paint job leaves much to be desired.

I set up the little Christmas tree, and decorated it with the few Christmas ornaments that we have. I kept four airplane ornaments acquired over the years, given to me as gifts, and we have two YMCA Of The Ozarks ornaments given to us as "thank you & farewell" gifts at the end of our first WorkCamper job last year at YMCA Of The Ozarks in Missouri a little over a year ago. While Joanne prepared supper, I did today's accounting, walked Bo, and started today's journal entry.

UH-OH ! Bo found his Christmas gift. Joanne was looking for something in a cupboard. She took stuff out of the cupboard and placed it on the bed, including Bo's Christmas gift, his favourite retriever toy, "Foxy". He found it on the bed while Joanne was rummaging through the cupboard. He is so pleased to have a new Foxy. He hasn't had a Foxy since last spring when we returned to Canada. We couldn't find a Foxy in Canada. I guess we'll have to get him something else as a Christmas gift, because he surely isn't going to give up his new Foxy now !

We had supper, then watched The Apprentice : Martha Stewart. I composed and saved an "assistance request", then went to the clubhouse to get online and post it to one of the GM 6.5 turbo diesel forums.

DSK

December 13, 2005

December 13, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 179

 

Today was sunny and warm. This morning we were remembering, not particularly fondly, how frazzled our lives as retailers were in the 2 weeks preceding Christmas. My most vivid memory is of unloading truck loads of 40 lb. bags of cat litter, in freezing rain. Now, we're in the desert, unemployed and homeless vagabonds, the sun is shining, the temperature is in the 70's ... Merry Christmas ! HA HA HA !

This morning I did preventive maintenance, then cleaned my black leather shoes. In some areas of the desert, the ground is like gravel. Here it's like sand. Just a few miles west of Yuma are the Imperial Sand Dunes, where the original Star Wars was filmed. My shoes are always dusty from walking Bo out in the desert surrounding the RV park, multiple times per day. While I cleaned my shoes, Joanne took Bo for a short obedience training walk. Then we left for a morning of errands. First stop was Performance Truck & RV where I was returning to get more information on some of the diesel engine performance enhancement products I had discussed with them yesterday. My highest interest was in a "Superchip", a hand held computer device that downloads a selection of programs into the truck's operating computer "chip", overriding and replacing the factory settings in the truck's computer. They had not yet contacted the manufacturer to determine if a "Superchip" device is available for the GM 6.5 litre turbo diesel. I told them I would return later in the afternoon on our way back home. Next stop was Watch Hospital where I dropped off my Rolex watch for repairs. It has needed repairs for a couple of months. I've been waiting until we're someplace where there is a Rolex repair depot, and we're staying long enough to have the watch fixed. Watch Hospital can have my watch repaired in a week. From Watch Hospital we drove to "old downtown" Yuma, to the farmer's market that is held there every Tuesday, on the pedestrian mall on old Main Street. We bought lots of fresh vegetables and fruits. Gee ... locally grown lemons, oranges, and grapefruits are mix & match, 8 for a dollar ! When we were finished shopping at the farmer's market, we found our way to Home Depot. I wanted to buy a new section of moulding to replace the moulding I bought and installed in the bedroom last week. I've decided I'm unhappy with the moulding I selected last week. A bad choice, and another 9 bucks goes in the garbage ! C'est la vie ! While we were at Home Depot, Lorri phoned to chat with Joanne. They chatted briefly while I selected and paid for a section of moulding that I'm happier with. We then drove to the 99¢ Mart we were at the other day, to stock up on some stuff that I bought there that I think is a good buy. While I went into 99¢ Mart, Joanne went into the adjacent Mexican grocery store, Del Sol. She wasn't able to get all the groceries she needed there, so we went down the street to another grocery store, Fry's. We bought the rest of our groceries, then headed for home. I stopped again at Performance Truck & RV. Superchips are not available for the GM 6.5 turbo diesel, but they're going to check if other manufacturers of similar products have a model available for my truck.

I thought it rather odd that both Performance Truck & RV, and Watch Hospital, are owned by Canadians. After a long morning of shopping and errands, we returned to Kofa Co-op and had a late lunch in the trailer. I read and napped while Joanne continued working on cleaning and waxing the trailer. When I woke, I joined her, to clean and the wax the high sections. Next I tried to repair the zipper on her purse that broke earlier today. I failed. I guess this purse, which I bought her as a Christmas present a year ago in New Orleans, has just about reached the end of its useful life. When the sun set, we went inside the trailer and did a bit of day trip planning, for the next week or so. I am working on today's journal entry while Joanne is preparing supper. I saw a vendor preparing fajitas today, on a barbecue, at the farmer's market. Following my "guidelines", Joanne is trying to replicate them.

We had supper, then watched the 2 hour finale of Amazing Race. Too bad. The family of obnoxious boors won. I finished up the evening by doing today's accounting.

This park is beside MCAS, the Marine Corps Air Station. They are conducting some manner of war games exercise this week. Frequently there are large helicopters and fighter jets, flying in formation, screaming overhead at low altitude.

DSK

December 12, 2005

December 12, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 178

 

Today was warm, with a high, thin layer of cloud.

This morning after preventive maintenance, I set off for Aamco Transmission to have the seals replaced in the truck's oil filter adaptor. On the way there, I stopped at Checker Auto Parts, and exchanged the wrong fuel filter that I got in Wickenburg, for the correct one. It turns out that the one that they sold me in Wickenburg wasn't really the wrong one. It's just not the one that I wanted to change. Apparently my truck has 2 fuel filters. The one that I was returning was an in line metal fuel filter. I don't even know where it goes on the truck. The one that I wanted to change, as per the recommendation in the truck's owner's manual, is a fuel filter / water separator paper cartridge type filter. From Checker Auto Parts I went to Aamco Transmission, and waited while they removed the oil filter adaptor, replaced three o-ring seals inside, and reinstalled it. While I waited, I made some phone calls. I phoned another diesel engine specialty shop to ask some questions, for comparison to the information I got at Performance Truck & RV when I phoned them last Friday. The shop I phoned today was neither as helpful, nor as knowledgeable as Performance Truck & RV. I phoned a couple of watch repair shops to find out if they are authorized Rolex watch repair depots. My Rolex watch needs repair. Both of the shops I phoned are Rolex repair shops. I’ll probably take my watch tomorrow to Watch Hospital. When Aamco was finished, I drove to Performance Truck & RV. They are a diesel truck and RV specialty shop, specializing in diesel engine performance enhancement products and services. After 2 years of owning a truck with a diesel engine, I’m still pretty much a diesel neophyte. I spent about an hour there discussing exhaust brakes, performance enhancement computer chips, performance enhancement exhaust systems, and performance enhancement air intake systems. They were very friendly, and really enthusiastic about diesel engine performance. When I discussed my chronic starter problem with them, they recommended I post a question / problem on one of the GM 6.5 litre diesel engine online forums. They provided me with 2 web addresses. They suggested that perhaps other people with the same engine have experienced the same problem, and may have ideas on how to solve it. I'll give it a try in a couple of days.

I returned to Kofa Co-op. We had lunch, then discussed staying here another month. Joanne really likes it here, and wants to stay. She went to the office to register for another month, but wasn't able to. They have a quota system for long term rentals, and are at their quota of month long rentals. We discussed it further, and decided to stay for 2 more weeks, and leave right after Christmas. I went to take a nap, while Joanne continued working on cleaning and waxing the trailer. When I woke, I went outside and installed the new fuel filter. It didn't go particularly well, but I got it done. I spilled more diesel fuel on the gravel driveway. Now there are 2 areas on the driveway that I've spilled diesel fuel on. I'm not very pleased with myself about that. I shovelled some clean gravel from another area of the driveway onto the 2 diesel stained areas. I applied another coat of varnish on the new cove moulding on the stairs.

I did today's accounting and began to work on today's journal entry while Joanne prepared supper. We had supper while watching an Elton John concert in Las Vegas on TV. Elton John is a big deal in Las Vegas. While we were in Las Vegas we saw an Elton John retail shop in one of the hotels. I wouldn't have thought it possible that you could fill an entire store with Elton John merchandise, but it is ! While Joanne washed dishes, I walked Bo, and continued working on today's journal. We watched some TV, cuddled up on the couch trying to overcome the effects of an afternoon of bickering and sniping at each other.

DSK

December 11, 2005

December 11, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 177

 

Today was sunny and warm, with a high thin layer of cloud, so the sunshine wasn't as intense as usual.

This morning after preventive maintenance I phoned MTS to pay the phone bill, but bill payment by phone isn't possible on Sunday mornings. Hmph ! I started work on my project to replace the pine quarter round on the stairs with oak cove moulding. I removed the pine quarter round, measured the oak cove moulding, cut it, filed it where it needed to be filed to fit around the stair nosing and vertical trim on the side, and installed it. That was a time consuming job, and took up the entire morning.

We had lunch, then I phoned MTS again, and paid the phone bill. Joanne went outside to continue working on cleaning and waxing the trailer. I read for awhile, then napped. Teddy and Bo joined me. They love napping with me in the afternoon. When I woke, Joanne asked for help cleaning and waxing the highest parts of the trailer. She is afraid to go as high on the ladder as I do. I cleaned and waxed the top of the front of the trailer, then applied the first coat of varnish to the moulding I had installed this morning. I took Bo for an obedience session. We worked while walking to the fenced dog run area. I took Bo inside the fenced dog run and took him off leash. I had never attempted off leash obedience training before. Bo is usually quite unruly when off leash. Today he actually stayed calm, focussed, and obedient while off leash. Amazing ! Good dog, Bo, very good dog ! We returned to the trailer, and I began to work on today's journal entry.

Late in the afternoon we went for a dip in the hot tub. It was nice. We haven't been in a hot tub in a year and a half. I also went into the swimming pool. They keep the pool here heated to 86 degrees, and the hot tub to 101 degrees. I like my hot tub to be hotter than that, but I guess hotter than that would be risky for the older residents here. These Escapee parks are populated by a pretty old crowd. We quite often find when talking to people in Escapee parks that they have children older than us.

We went to the regular Sunday evening ice cream social. At 6:30 P.M. it's designed to be "after dinner", but for us it's before dinner. We're still a couple of hours out of synch with everybody else, I guess. Yesterday we were asked twice why we didn't attend the 7:30 A.M communal breakfast. The people asking the question seemed quite surprised that our response was that 7:30 was too early for us to be up and about. At the ice cream social, newcomers to the park were introduced. Besides us, there was an elderly couple who met on September 26, got married on October 26, bought a motorhome, and hit the road on November 26. WOW ... I wonder if they have a big encore planned for the day after Christmas ?

After the ice cream social, we returned to the trailer to have supper and watch the 3 hour finale of Survivor. We made nachos for supper. I bought all the necessary ingredients the other day, including nacho cheese sauce, which I've never seen in a grocery store before. Hey ... when in Rome ... ! I'm going to the clubhouse now, to send and retrieve e-mail, and update my blog, before going to bed.

DSK

December 10, 2005

December 10, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 176

 

Today was sunny and very warm.

This morning for breakfast we shared a couple of large Mexican pastries we bought yesterday in Los Algodones. I did preventive maintenance, changed the air filter on the truck, then refilled the trailer's fresh water tank and drained the waste holding tanks. Joanne started working on rearranging the bedroom closet, and discovered that the closet bar was loose and needed repair. She removed most of the clothes from the closet, and I crawled in to reattach the loose bar. Many of the screws had worked loose and fallen out from vibration during travel. Next job was to install the new fuel filter on the truck. I followed the instructions in the owner's manual carefully. First step was to drain any water that the fuel filter had filtered out of the diesel fuel. I put a little plastic food container under the "water in fuel" drain valve, and opened the valve. I started the engine. I waited and waited for diesel fuel to come out of the drain valve, as per the instructions. The engine ran for about 30 seconds, and I was becoming concerned about no diesel fuel coming out of the drain valve. AH, SHIT ! Diesel fuel was pouring out underneath the truck, onto the driveway. I immediately shut off the engine. There was a huge puddle of diesel fuel soaking into the gravel driveway of the site we're parked on. I'm sure the absent owner of this site will be thrilled with that when he returns ! Sorry ! The owner's manual wasn't very clear about where the water / diesel fuel was going to come out of, when the drain valve was opened. Now I know. I closed the drain valve and moved on to the next step. I removed the engine / turbo cover, and found the fuel filter housing. I removed what I thought was the top retaining ring. The filter wouldn't come out of the housing. Hmph ... what I thought was the retaining ring was actually the air bleed valve. Fine. I removed the correct retaining ring. I pulled the filter out of the housing. WHAT ? It wasn't the same as the new one I bought at Checker Auto Parts in Wickenburg. DAMN ! They sold me the wrong filter ! I couldn't find a fuel filter listing in the Fram filter reference book at Checker Auto Parts, so I went to the front counter. A clerk checked in a computer, then sold me this particular fuel filter for my truck. It's not the correct filter <SIGH>. I reinstalled the old fuel filter, and put everything back together. There's a Checker Auto Parts here in Yuma. I'll have to go there on Monday and exchange this wrong filter for the correct one. Assuming that there won't be a problem exchanging a part purchased in another city.

While I was doing all that, Joanne began to work on using bug and tar remover to remove road grime off the back of the trailer. She worked on it all day, finishing late in the afternoon with an application of a spray wax on the rear of the trailer. Gee ... an entire day to do just the rear of the trailer. That road grime and acid rain oxidizes and bakes on real hard in the desert sun.

We took a break for lunch, then I began to work on the moulding we bought for the bedroom. I removed the old vinyl moulding that ran along the top of the wall, over the slide, where the wall meets the ceiling. I measured carefully, cut, filed, and cleaned the moulding. I decided to install it temporarily, using 6 small squares of Velcro. The moulding completely fills the space between the ceiling and the top of the slide. I'm concerned that if the slide moves at all upward as it begins to retract into the travel position, the moulding will impede its ability to retract. If so, I'll have to trim the moulding down a bit along its entire length, or buy a narrower moulding to use. By using Velcro to install the moulding against the wall, if the slide moves upwards at all as it begins to retract, the moulding should simply pull off the wall. If after a few cycles of retraction and extension, there is no problem between the top of the slide and the moulding, I'll remove the Velcro and reinstall the moulding permanently.

I decided that was enough work for today. I read for awhile, then took a long nap. I had earned it. When I woke, we took Bo for an obedience walk, then set up Teddy's tent beside the trailer. Every time we've opened the door in the last few days, Teddy dashes outside and flops around on the driveway. He seems to really like the climate here, so we set up his tent to allow him to be outdoors. We went to the clubhouse and bought a newspaper. I sat outside reading the newspaper until the sun set. I came indoors, did today's accounting, and started this journal entry.

I set up the barbecue, and barbecued a steak for supper. I haven't barbecued much lately, mostly because it gets dark so early. But today's warm temperature and sunshine inspired me. We had supper, then watched a bit of TV. It wasour plan to finish off the evening with a dip in the park's hot tub, beside the swimming pool. As I was getting ready to go to the hot tub, at 9:15, Joanne decided that she was too tired, and it was too cold ( temperature ion the high 40's ). What a wimp ! I went to the hot tub by myself, only to discover that it was closed for the night. Darn ! Maybe I'll go tomorrow afternoon, while the sun is still shining and it's warm outside.

DSK

December 9, 2005

December 9, 2005

Yuma, Arizona to Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico & return

YEAR 2 DAY 175

 

Happy 1st Anniversary, Bo.

 

Today was sunny and warm. I should just cut and paste that to save myself the trouble of typing it on a daily basis. HA HA HA !

This morning while I did preventive maintenance Joanne phoned the Post Office to find out if it is possible to redirect our mail from Benson, Arizona to here. Sure ... no problem ... costs $1.00. That increases the likelihood that we will decide on Monday to stay here for a month.

We set off for a day trip to Los Algodones on the Baja California peninsula of Mexico. We were told that it's 20 miles to Los Algodones. It's actually closer than we thought. What we didn't know was that more than half of that was just getting through Yuma. Once on the other side of Yuma, it was only a few miles to the California border, then another few miles into California we turned south for a mile or so, and we were at the Mexican border. We parked in a gigantic parking lot, and walked across the border into Los Algodones.

First we found the dentist's office where we had appointments later in the afternoon. Then we went into a couple of different pharmacies to get prices on the prescription medications we were looking for. Four prescriptions medicines for me and one for Teddy. After all we had heard about the low prices in Mexico for prescription medications, we were disappointed to find that 2 of the 5 prescription medications we wanted weren't available in Mexico, 2 were more expensive in Mexico than in Canada, and one was cheaper. We bought a year's worth of Teddy's medication, for about 2/3 of the price in Canada. We noticed another customer complaining that the prices were more expensive in Mexico than back home in Alberta. I guess the savings on prescriptions are significant for Americans, but not for Canadians. I wonder why prescription medications are so much more expensive in the U.S. than in Canada or Mexico ?

We wandered around the town, running the gauntlet of hawkers. It was mostly filled with dentist's offices, pharmacies, and opticians, as well as shops selling tourist type stuff. We bought a gift, and a Christmas table cloth. We went into a nice restaurant for lunch. Joanne ordered herself a $2 Margarita. It was huge ! I ordered an entree with a name I didn’t recognize. It was time for an adventure. I don’t know what the hell it was, but it sure was good ! After lunch we wandered around, shopping some more. We went into a grocery / liquor store. They were giving out samples of different liquors. I sampled a straight shot of tequila. AY CARUMBA ! I quickly sucked hard on a piece of lime. Joanne bought a tub of chocolates. I saw a young man in front of me buy a package of cigarettes. They cost $1.00 ! ! ! I couldn’t resist trying them. I bought a pack. I smoked one just before supper. YEEESH ! ! ! They should sell them as a smoking cessation aid !

The commercial district of Los Algodones is 5 blocks square. In those 5 square blocks there are 350 dentists ! We went to one of the larger dental offices, recommended to us by residents here at Kofa Co-op. It was the same as a dentist's office in Canada. There were 2 dentists, 7 hygienists, and a receptionist. A cleaning and examination were U.S.$40, about $47 Canadian, for the same service that costs $175 in Canada ! At the smaller, one dentist offices, set up in 2 small rooms, about a 100 sq. ft. reception area and a similar sized dental office, examinations and cleanings are U.S.$20 ! ! ! I was pleasantly surprised by a few things. The equipment and techniques are more “high tech.” then our dentist in Ottawa, who was quite “upscale”. The hygienist worked faster than I’m used to. They stick precisely to their schedule. We arrived, and were ushered in to examining rooms at exactly 2:30. The hygienist was finished with me at 3:10, the dentist arrived to conduct an examination, and I was out in the reception area by 3:15. Joanne was finished ahead of me and was already paying the bill.

We walked around town a bit more, stopping at a bakery we had seen earlier. I picked up a tray, and tongs, and wandered around the self serve bakery, loading up my tray ... and I do mean loading. I’m a baking junkie. Joanne and I were stunned when the cashier loaded up a large bag with my cookies and pastries, and said the bill was ... wait for it ... $4.00 !

We walked back across the border into the U.S., to where our truck was parked. We drove back to Yuma, stopping to pick up some information at the Tourist Information Centre, stopping at a very upscale RV resort to get a brochure and rate sheet, then drove around, exploring the area near the Kofa Co-op SKP Park.

When we got back to the trailer, we took Bo and Teddy for a walk. Teddy seems to really like being outdoors here. Warm temperatures, low humidity, lots of sand and gravel to flop over in. I worked on today’s accounting while munching on a big Mexican cookie. We had supper, then I worked on this journal entry while Joanne washed dishes. I read last year’s journal entry from this date, out loud. This is the anniversary of the day we got Bo. It’s been a long year ! HA HA HA ! Sorry, Bo ... I’m kidding. We’re very glad to have Bo.

DSK

December 8, 2005

December 8, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 174

 

Today was sunny and warm. Ho-hum ! I type that every day lately, don't I ?

This morning I did preventive maintenance, took some measurements in the bedroom for the moulding I want to install, then we headed off for Aamco Transmission. We dropped the truck off at Aamco, then walked next door to get haircuts. We both had haircuts, then set off walking and exploring the area we were in. Yesterday we got a coupon for a new Mexican restaurant, opening today, in the area that we were in. We found it, and decided to go in for an early lunch. The woman at the transmission shop recommended a local Greek restaurant, but we're 20 miles from Mexico, in a city largely inhabited by Mexicans. Why would I want to go to a Greek restaurant ? When I want a good Greek restaurant, we'll go to Greece ! HA HA HA ! We had lunch, then continued exploring the area by foot. We shopped at "99¢ Mart" and bought a whole bunch of stuff. The dollar type stores in the southern U.S. give a lot more "bang for the buck", so to speak. Most of the items we bought would be $3 to $5 each in Canada. We went into a large Mexican grocery store, to use their washrooms. Joanne persists in asking for "the washroom" down here. They don't understand the term. Down here they're called rest rooms ... or even easier for them to understand ... bañ os.

When we returned to Aamco to pick up the truck, the owner of the shop said they had a problem getting my truck to start. So what else is new ? We had a discussion about the truck's history of starter problems. He doesn't think it's directly a starter problem. He thinks it more of an electrical system problem ; a starter solenoid or ignition switch problem. He has experience, as a mechanic, solving this same sort of problem in older GM trucks with gas engines. He's uncertain if the problem is the same in the diesel engines, but he's steered me in a problem solving direction that I need to explore further. He also identified the cause of an oil leak I first noticed a month or more ago, but was unable to identify. We discussed the problem, and solution. I made an appointment to return on Monday to have them repair the leak at the oil filter 90 degree adaptor. The oil filter on a 2 wheel drive GM truck hangs downward. On a 4 wheel drive truck, the oil filter had to be rotated 90 degrees due to the drive line to the front. My truck is leaking heavily at that adaptor, and needs new o-ring seals there, that he will have to order from a GM dealer. I'm becoming more convinced that dealing with independent mechanics is preferable to dealing with the GM dealer service departments. From Aamco we drove to Lowe's and exchanged the moulding I bought yesterday for a narrower one.

We returned to the trailer at Kofa Co-op late in the afternoon. I phoned a local diesel engine specialty shop to discuss having an exhaust brake installed. The price is much more than I had expected, so I need to give it some thought. I also discussed this persistent starter problem with them, and they have some ideas. I'll probably go there on Monday to discuss both matters more thoroughly. Joanne and I did some trip planning, figuring out our travel plans for the next month or so. We both had thoughts on that, and realized today that we weren't "on the same page". Figuring out where to spend Christmas required a bit of discussion and planning. Picking up our next batch of mail, in Benson, Arizona also had to be figured out. We need to pick up our mail in Benson some time between now and Christmas, but we don't necessarily want to be in Benson for Christmas and / or New Year's. Joanne likes it here in Yuma a lot, and would like to stay here a month. That's not really feasible, but "back tracking" to return here might be, after going to Casa Grande and Benson. I sort of hate back tracking, though. Must be a "guy" thing.

While Joanne went off to do some laundry, I updated the truck preventive maintenance records I keep in the computer, did today's accounting, and worked on today's journal entry. I took Bo for a walk, and a run, then we went off to "find" Joanne at the laundry room. Bo loves "tracking". Silly, little Terrier ! Joanne prepared supper, and we ate supper, while watching Survivor, then The Apprentice.

DSK

December 7, 2005

December 7, 2005

Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 173

 

Today was sunny and warm.

I've just sat down to begin working on this journal entry, and accounting, while Joanne prepares supper. I'm drinking Diet Coke with the last of the Kentucky Bourbon I bought about a year ago, with chunks of fresh lemon that were growing on a tree 10 minutes ago. I walked Bo out of the park, and across the street to the lemon grove. I picked a fresh lemon off a tree in the grove, a felony crime here in Arizona. This park is surrounded by citrus groves, oranges, lemons, and limes. Signage indicates that the groves are owned by Sunkist. I walked across the street to the lemon grove because I had never seen a lemon tree up close. I reached for a lemon, and ripped my thumb on a thorn. Who knew that lemon trees have big thorns ? Joanne is angry at me for committing a felony crime. HA HA HA !

Despite my intentions to sleep late, I woke early this morning, thanks to Teddy wanting to eat, and Bo wanting to be walked. I spent the entire morning working on a series of time consuming minor maintenance projects, cosmetic touch ups and improvements in the trailer. We had lunch, then I took a short nap. After I napped, we headed off for an afternoon of shopping and errands. First stop was Lowe's, a home improvement store like Home Depot. I bought a section of oak cove moulding to replace the pine quarter round on the stairs in the trailer. I also bought a section of oak stair rail moulding to use over the bed, on the top of the bedroom slide, to hide some shoddy workmanship by the manufacturer. The stair rail moulding is too wide, so I'll have to return it tomorrow for a narrower section of moulding. Next we went to Walgreen's, a large pharmacy chain, to buy some advertised specials, mostly chocolate bars and Christmas chocolates. From there we went to find the Aamco Transmission shop that I have an appointment at tomorrow morning. I wanted to be certain of where it was, so that I wouldn't be late for my appointment because I got lost looking for the place. There was a hair stylist shop across the street from Aamco Transmission, so Joanne went in and made appointments for haircuts for both of us tomorrow morning. Finally, we headed for Wal-Mart, for replenishment of groceries and supplies. Yuma is a fairly easy city to navigate. The streets run east / west, and the avenues run north / south. They're all named numerically, and are identified as north, south, east, or west. Makes things easy to find. Kofa Co-op SKP Park is on East 17th Street, between East 3rd Avenue and East 4th Avenue.

We returned to the trailer, and while Joanne put away our purchases, I walked Bo and fed the animals. We had supper, then watched The Apprentice : Martha Stewart. I continued working on the computer while Joanne washed dishes. While handling wood mouldings at Lowe's, I got a wood splinter embedded deeply into my finger. It took us some time to dig it out ! Our last task of the day was to inventory our prescriptions, to determine what prescription medications to buy, and how much, in Mexico on Friday.

DSK

December 6, 2005

December 6, 2005

Quartzsite to Yuma, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 172

 

Today was sunny and warm. Aren't they all, here in southern Arizona ?

My neck was feeling much better this morning, although other parts of me are bruised, stiff and sore from my fall yesterday. My hot rocks stayed hot for about 7 hours. When we went to bed last night, I put the hot rocks inside the pillow case of my barley hull pillow. They heated up the barley hulls, and I slept on a warm pillow, which I think helped my sore neck.

This morning we prepared for departure, hitched up, left High Jolly boondock camping area, and drove into Quartzsite to buy the specialty tool I should have bought yesterday, but didn't. The High Jolly camping area is named after some prominent citizen of Quartzsite's past. He was a camel driver from India, with a name that the locals couldn't pronounce, something like Hoisjoli. He became known as High Jolly. We drove to the market area on Kuehn Street, where I thought I had seen the tool I wanted. I was wrong. We drove to the other area I thought it might be, at a market area on Main Street. Found it. Bought it.

We headed out of Quartzsite, south on Hwy. 95. We drove through the Yuma Proving Grounds, where the U.S. military "proves" things, I guess. Like they can blow up big holes in the desert with bombs ? ! ? We followed Hwy. 95 south until it reached Interstate 8 right at Yuma. We found our way through Yuma to the Kofa Co-op Escapees Park. When we arrived, the office was still closed for their lunch hour, so we had lunch in the trailer, waiting for the office to re-open. This park is usually full, so we weren't sure we would be able to get a spot here. When we passed by here in March on our way to Spring Escapade in California, the park was full and we didn't get to stay here. When we phoned here a few days ago, they were full. Today they had a few vacant sites, so we took a site for a week. We registered, got escorted to our site, backed in and got set up.

Our first order of business was to find a dentist in Mexico and make appointments for cleanings and examinations. We got a referral from the park office. I tried to phone the dentist, but got a message that our cell phone service wouldn't allow calls to Mexico. I took an old calling card I had, went over to the clubhouse, and tried using a pay phone. Apparently my calling card was no longer valid. I got it a few years ago from American Airlines, when they bumped us off a flight from Miami, Florida to San Jose, Costa Rica. I returned to the trailer, and phoned Manitoba Telephone Systems. They couldn't help me, unless I was in Manitoba. The problem was with whatever cell phone service provider's network I was roaming on down here, either Verizon or Sprint. Apparently my North America service plan doesn't include Mexico. Apparently the cell phone companies define North America as only Canada and the United States ! I finally managed to contact Sprint, and they connected me to the phone number I wanted to dial in Mexico. I made appointments for Friday afternoon.

We are in the southwest corner of Arizona. California is about 20 miles west. Mexico is about 20 miles south. The dentist is in Los Algodones, Mexico, specifically the Baja California province of Mexico. We will drive to the border, park, and walk across into Mexico, like most tourists do. Our automobile insurance is not valid in Mexico.

I spent the rest of the afternoon making phone calls to, and researching, transmission shops, both here in Yuma, and down the road in Phoenix. We'll be in Casa Grande next week, an hour or so south of Phoenix. I was initially leaning towards going to a Cottman Transmission shop. There are none in Yuma or Casa Grande, but there are some in Phoenix. After many phone calls, both local and to Phoenix, I decided to go to an Aamco Transmission shop here in Yuma. I want the transmission purged, the fluid changed, the filter and gasket changed, as well as changing the fluids in the rear differential, the front differential, and the transfer case. Quite a bit of preventive maintenance. The bill will be somewhere in the vicinity of $300.

I took Bo for an obedience walk. He didn't do very well at first, until I got angry at him. That focussed him better, then he did very well. When we got back to the trailer, I realized that he seemed to be not feeling well. He didn't want to eat supper. His face seemed warm, and his nose was dry and hot. I guess poor little Bo Dog isn't feeling well today. Maybe that's why he seemed unfocussed at the beginning of our obedience walk. While I was out with Bo, Joanne was chatting with the park's official greeter who came by to say hello, provide information and chat. A bit of a change from the lack of recognition of visitors we experienced at North Ranch SKP Park in Congress a few days ago.

While Joanne prepared supper, I did today's accounting, and worked on this journal entry. We had supper, then watched Amazing Race. Later in the evening, I was reading a local classified ads newspaper. I found an interesting ad, written in Spanish. "Dos Burros, $16 por los dos". HA HA HA ! I asked Joanne if she wanted me to buy her a pair of burros for sixteen bucks. She said "sure ... I've already got a stubborn cat, a stubborn dog, and a stubborn husband. Just what I need ... a pair of burros !" HA HA HA HA HA !

While I'm typing this, we're watching the local news and weather on TV. The newscasters and weatherman are complaining about the cold spell blowing through here. Today's high temperature was only 67 degrees. HA HA HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA HA HA HA ! ! !

DSK

December 5, 2005

December 5, 2005

Congress to Quartzsite, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 171

 

Today was sunny and warm.

This morning I took the computer over to the modem cubicle, got online, retrieved e-mail, and updated my blog. I wanted to be completely up to date before we headed off to boondock at Quartzsite. I did preventive maintenance, then began preparing for departure. I drained and flushed the waste holding tanks, and refilled the fresh water, before hitching up the trailer to the truck. I removed an empty propane tank from the propane compartment, and Joanne took it to the park office to have it refilled while she paid our bill for 5 nights in the park. I told her to leave it at the office, and I'd pick it up when she returned to the trailer, but she brought the filled propane tank back with her. A full propane tank weighs about 56 pounds. I thought that would be too much for her to walk with, from the propane refill station back to the trailer. I was wrong.

We left North Ranch Escapees Park, heading north on Hwy. 89 to Congress, then southwest on Hwy. 71 to Hwy. 60 at Aguila. We took Hwy. 60 southwest until it reached Interstate 10. We got onto I-10 heading west, to Quartzsite. We found our way to the "High Jolly" camping area on the BLM lands about 3 miles north of the town of Quartzsite. We drove around on the desert until we found an area we liked, then parked, unhitched, and set up.

Quartzsite is a small town in the desert that is like Mecca for the RV world. Every winter, primarily in January, hundreds of thousands of RV's converge on Quartzsite, boondocking in the desert for miles around the town. All the land around Quartzsite is BLM land, and boondock camping is allowed. Thousands of vendors also converge on Quartzsite, turning it into sort of the world's largest dollar store / flea market.

We had lunch, then I took Bo for a walk before we set off for town. I was walking him along the edge of a "wash" / arroyo / dry creek bed. The bank gave way when I stepped on it and I fell. As the bank crumbled under me, my feet shot out sideways, I flipped, and smashed my head on the side of the bank before tumbling down into the "wash". Bo was stunned and just stood there on the bank looking down at me. "Go for help, Lassie ... go for help." I twisted my wrist and knee, but worse of all was my twisted neck. The knee and wrist stopped hurting after awhile, but the sore neck remained.

We drove into Quartzsite for an afternoon of browsing through the many stalls and booths, in many different market areas in town. December and February are not quite as active as January in Quartzsite, so many vendors still have not arrived, but there were still many for us to shop at. I bought some specialty tools. A reputation of Quartzsite is that many vendors are selling stuff that you either didn't know existed, or didn't know you needed / wanted until you saw it. That's true ! As a matter of fact, I regret not buying something I saw today, and intend to return tomorrow to buy it, if I can remember where I saw it.

We filled up with diesel at Love's, paying the lowest price since we crossed into the U.S. on November 1. We returned to the trailer parked out in the desert. While Joanne prepared a pizza for supper, I started a campfire beside the trailer, just as the sun set. We sat beside the fire for awhile before having supper. I had the bright idea to use my "hot rocks" from B.C. as a heating pad for my stiff neck. I placed them beside the fire for a few minutes. I touched one, and it was still not too hot to pick up. I picked it up, and placed it on the side of my sore neck. YOW ! I guess that side was much hotter then the side I touched. Now I have a sore, and burnt, neck !

We had supper in the trailer, then went back outside to sit by the fire. Teddy and Bo joined us. Teddy loves fires. The sky was incredibly clear, and the stars were brilliant. The desert night air was cold. I heated my hot rocks, placing them right on the coals as the fire burned down. We came inside, and while Joanne washed dishes I did today's accounting. I went back outside, retrieved my hot rocks from the coals, wrapped them in an old towel, and I'm now sitting at the table typing this, with my feet on the towel wrapped hot rocks. Very nice. After they cool down a lot, I'll put them under or beside my pillow, and lie down on them. I'm a bit worried about the injury to my neck.

DSK

December 4, 2005

December 4, 2005

Congress, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 170

 

Today was sunny and warm.

Last night while reading the newspaper, Joanne found something rather amusing in a Christmas gift guide section. Dreaming of a white Christmas ? In Phoenix ? No problem ! For only $150 per ton, minimum order 2 tons, a company called Arizona Iceman will deliver "snow" and blow it into your yard. HA HA HA ! Did you know ... ? A ton will cover a 24 square foot area with 1½ feet of snow. The snow doesn't kill grass, although the grass will turn yellow for a week or so. HA HA HA HA HA ! ! ! Hilarious !

After breakfast and preventive maintenance, we left for Wickenburg, about 12 miles away. Congress is closer, only 4 miles away, but is too small to have a big grocery store. In Wickenburg I stopped at Checker Auto Parts and bought an air filter, a fuel filter, and a hood deflector for the truck. We found a large grocery store called Bashas'. While Joanne went into the grocery store, I went to Ace Hardware and bought 5 feet of 5/16 I.D. tubing, necessary for installation of the fuel filter. I've never installed a diesel fuel filter, but the truck's owner's manual has detailed instructions. Wish me luck. I also refilled 5 one gallon containers of water at the water refill machine outside the grocery store. I find it ironic that drinking water here in the desert is 20¢ to 25¢ a gallon, while in Lake Louise, Alberta, it's $3.99 a gallon ! ! !

We drove back to North Ranch SKP Park, put away the groceries, and had lunch. While Joanne did some interior cleaning of the trailer, I installed the new hood deflector on the truck. Then we washed and waxed the front, and washed the rear of the trailer. We ran out of the bug & tar remover / wax that we use. A wash with soapy water isn't enough to remove the road grime and acid rain oxidized on the trailer. Our new folding ladder works great. I took Bo for a long walk, finishing with a short obedience session.

I did today's accounting and started today's journal entry while Joanne got supper ready to put into the oven. While supper cooked, we went to the park's regular Sunday evening ice cream social. This is a regular feature in all Escapees parks, and is a weekly meet and greet function. Long term residents and short term visitors mingle over a bowlof ice cream.

We were disappointed at this park's lack of sociability towards visitors. Every other Escapees park we’ve been at makes a point of having newcomers / visitors introduce themselves, and then the long term residents make a point of being inclusive. Not here. Too bad.

We had supper, read the newspaper, watched a bit of TV, and went to bed early.

DSK

December 3, 2005

December 3, 2005

Congress, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 169

 

Today was sunny, warm, and a bit windy.

This morning after showering, I prepared pancakes for brunch. I read for awhile, cuddled in the sunlight on the bed with Teddy and Bo. Joanne joined us in the cuddle, and we all fell asleep for a long nap. When we woke, I took Bo for a walk, then Teddy. Lately Teddy has been wanting to go outside daily, to roll on the desert sand and gravel ground. He seems to enjoy flopping around, having a sort of dust bath. Silly, old cat ! I returned the movie to the library, then went to the modem cubicle to get online, check e-mail, and update my blog. I trimmed my beard. We were going to drive into the nearby town of Wickenburg, so that we could both have haircuts, but we both had haircuts last winter in Wickenburg. They weren't great ! We decided to wait until we get to Yuma, to have haircuts. I took Bo for an obedience walk, then took Teddy for another "flop around in the dirt" walk. I washed the truck. It gets very dusty driving across the desert. Joanne did some interior cleaning in the trailer, then baked some cookies.

I bought today's newspaper, and relaxed, reading it while Joanne prepared a great wild rice and chicken dish for supper. After supper we watched a documentary on the 30 year old British comedy, Fawlty Towers. We loved that show. We spent the evening relaxing, watching TV and reading the newspaper.

We were going to leave here tomorrow, but we’re enjoying the rest and relaxation, so we’ve decided to stay another day. Tomorrow we’ll go into Wickenburg and buy some groceries, then maybe wash the trailer. We’ll head for Quartzsite on Monday.

DSK

December 1, 2005

December 1, 2005

Congress, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 167

 

Today was sunny and warm.

This morning after showering at the park's clubhouse, I did preventive maintenance, then checked all the truck and trailer tire air pressures with the new tire pressure guage I bought yesterday. One truck tire needed air. I unhitched the truck from the trailer, then connected water and sewer to the trailer. When I went to start the truck, the starter failed to engage again, and I had to tap it with my long breaker bar. That's the fourth failure since it was replaced a couple of months ago. I guess I'll be having the starter replaced ... again ... before too long. And having to deal with the complications of making a warranty claim with GM Canada for warranty work done in the United States.

We had lunch, then I took the truck over to the park's maintenance garage to adjust the pressure in the tire that needed adjustment. We took Bo for an obedience walk. He did very well, although we noticed today that he obeys me slightly better than he obeys Joanne. I would like him to consider us as equal Alpha dogs, but evidently he thinks I'm more Alpha dog than Joanne is. Fine, as long as he doesn't revert to thinking he is Alpha dog, which he did when we got him a year ago. Joanne did some laundry, and cleaning in the trailer. I moved all my magic and juggling stuff from the shoe box it was stored in to the new tool box I bought the other day for it. I rearranged and Velcro tie wrapped all the cords and cables hanging inside a bedroom cupboard, running through a hole in the side of the cupboard to the little 120V / 12V bedroom TV, and the cell phone charger. I mounted the Navajo sand painting I bought the other day, using Velcro. Looks very nice. Wal-Mart and Velcro ... life support systems for RV'ers. HA HA HA ! I did a backup of all the files on the laptop, to CD's. I went to the modem cubicle on the outside of the clubhouse, and got online. I sent and retrieved e-mail, retrieved my November bank statements, downloaded current investment data, and sent an inquiry to a potential WorkCamper job in Texas for January and / or February.

I have just returned from walking Bo ( 6:00 P.M. ). What a lovely view. The sun has just set behind the mountains in the distance. The sky is pink over the mountains. The thin layers of clouds over the mountains are glowing pink. The multi-armed Saguaro Cactus at the entrance to the park is silhouetted against the mountains in the background. While Joanne prepared supper, I did today's accounting, then dug the printer out of the basement storage area and printed all the documents I had downloaded today. We had supper, and watched Survivor. After supper we watched The Apprentice.

DSK