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