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 Apparently my calling card was no longer valid.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