December 20 to 26, 2007

December 20 to 26, 2007

Yuma, Arizona

Thursday ; Today was a perfect "June 18" day. This morning we drove to the Post Office to < sigh > stand in line and pick up mail at General Delivery. From there we drove to a mall where Joanne picked up a "secret" Christmas gift for me at Barnes & Noble. Then we drove to Mervyn's, a department store chain that we have never been to before, to buy some not so secret Christmas gifts for Joanne from me. Hey ... I'd rather she pick out the right sizes and colours so that I don't have to return them. I don't really like Christmas shopping. I absolutely hate Christmas refunds / exchanges. Then it was over to Lowe's for some hardware I need for one of my many pending projects. I'd better get my butt in gear if I hope to get all my projects completed before our friends from Ottawa arrive in early February for our trip into Mexico.

After a late lunch back at the trailer we went to get Sonny the Cocker Spaniel, and take him and Bo to the dog park. Sonny's owners can't get out much right now. Barry had heart surgery a week or so ago, and now Marty is suffering with a cold. I think I may be headed that way myself. My dental hygienist the other day had a cold, and now I think I may be getting one as well. Mucho gracias, Diana ! ! ! On the way to the dog park we also rounded up Tom, Ruth-Anne, and Emma. Tom and I took the 3 dogs on a pack walk around the perimeter of the dog park. How can 3 little dogs produce that much waste ? ! ? There was a new arrival at the dog park today. Samantha, the 15 year old Cocker Spaniel / Terrier cross from British Columbia. What a sweet girl. But completely deaf !

We went to the weekly "social hour" late in the afternoon, munching on snacks and visiting with Samantha's people, new arrivals from British Columbia. They recognized me from a magic show that I performed in Mesa, Arizona about 2½ years ago. Gee ... Joanne makes great guacamole for a gringo from Canada !

 

Friday ; I was very ill today witha cold. Getting out of bed this morning was the hardest thing I've done in a long time. We went shopping to Arizona Market. I didn't last very long. We bumped into Ernie Webster, an Escapee friend of ours from British Columbia. He was sick with a cold like me. Hang around flea markets anywhere along the Mexican border from San Diego in California to South Padre Island in Texas, and inevitably you'll meet a Snowbird you know. We returned home, I went to bed, and Joanne went out to continue shopping. You go, girl ! I spent the day in bed, sleeping, reading, drinking tea, and eating cookies and drugs. The drugs didn't help much. The cookies were better. HA HA < cough cough > HA !

 

Saturday ; Well, I wasn't quite as ill today as yesterday. I managed to be slightly functional today for a few hours. During the night I was having difficulty sleeping, so in the middle of the night I wrote one and half of my "dog training tips" articles. I finished the second article this morning, so now I've got 2 articles "in the can" ready to go. We went with Tom and Ruth-Anne to look at a new RV park under development. The prices are reasonable, but I think the developer is promising much more than he can reasonably deliver. And we've already had a bit of a taste of that problem at Riverside RV Park Resort in Keremeos, so I'm not all that eager to jump on the bandwagon. The development has barely started, and the developer is promising completion in about 15 months. I think it's going to be more like 36 months. We'll check back on this development in a year. Then we drove to the Foothills suburb east of Yuma and looked at a few lots for sale. Tom and Ruth-Anne seemed interested in the area. I think we'll hold off buying anything this winter. I still want to take a look at a new RV development down on the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico, on the Sea Of Cortez. We returned to Kofa Ko-op, and I spent most of the rest of the day in bed.

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and mild, a bit windy. I wasn't quite as ill today, but I was weak.

This morning while Joanne went to do laundry I wrapped Christmas gifts. Joanne selected most of her gifts from me, but I did manage to buy one "secret" gift. My gift wrapping skills are not great at the best of times, but the gifts I wrapped today, while sick, look like they've been wrapped by a retarded elf !

Bo's friend Sonny is sick with Bordatella / Kennel Cough,an upper respiratory infection, kind of like doggie bronchitis. With all the playing Bo and Sonny have done over the last week, I feel that it is somewhat inevitable that Bo will also end up with it. Bo is very oral, and has "swapped spit" with Sonny, and they shared a toy in the dog park. Bo is going to the vet on Wednesday, so we'll ask about the Bordatella vaccine. Although that might be like shutting the barn door after the horse is gone.

This afternoon I wired the CB radio. Did an excellent job ! And I did my monthly backup of all my computer files. You know, I got this laptop as a ( sort of ) Christmas gift from Iams, the pet food company, 4 years ago, and I still have not yet mastered the process of doing monthly backups. Late in the afternoon we went to the weekly ice cream social, had a bowl of ice cream, then visited. We returned to the trailer for supper and to watch Amazing Race.

At bedtime, Teddy, Bo, and I finished off the last of the cookie exchange cookies. Gee, you wouldn't think one man, one cat, and one dog could eat 36 cookies that quickly, would you ? HA HA HA !

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and warm. Over the last few years we have developed a new family Christmas tradition of spending some time on Christmas Eve and / or Christmas Day in the swimming pool and / or hot tub. One of the benefits of spending Christmas down south. But not today ! The weather was right, but my health wasn't conducive to being in the pool or hot tub. But I am improving. This cold seems to be quite widespread around Yuma. Many people in our RV park have colds right now.

We had a lazy day. Spent time sitting out in the sun, reading. Played with Bo in the dog park. Gave Bo a bath. Joanne made tourtié re for supper, her family's Christmas Eve tradition carried forward to us.

Peace on earth, and goodwill towards men !

 

Tuesday ; Merry Christmas to our families and friends who read my blog.

Well, this was our fourth Christmas "on the road". And it brought something new. We've never before experienced a "desert storm" Christmas. Today was sunny and mild, but very windy. And the desert in and around Yuma is very soft sand, like a beach but without the water. So when the wind blows strongly, the sand blows up and around, not unlike blowing snow during a blizzard. For much of the day, the sand was blowing up and around a foot or two offthe ground, soas people walked their lower legs seemed invisible. And little dogs were invisible ! Occasionally, when it would gust strongly and the sand would blow up to 5 or 6 feet high, all you could see of people walking were their heads.

This morning I prepared a pancake breakfast, our variation on my family's Christmas morning tradition of waffles for breakfast. While cooking pancakes, we unwrapped Teddy's gift for him, and gave him a healthy serving of it. Then we gave Bo his gift, and let him unwrap it himself. Bo is like the proverbial "kid on Christmas morning" when it comes to unwrapping gifts. He was jumping around, all excited, when we began to unwrap Teddy's gift. Bo immediately ripped half the wrapping off his gift, then ran into the bedroom with it to finish unwrapping it on the bed. Bo sure loves unwrapping gifts ! While we ate our pancakes, with good Canadian maple syrup, of course, we unwrapped our gifts. Each of us had managed to buy a secret gift for the other. Joanne bought me a book about Native American culture that an Escapee friend had recommended when she found out I am interested in Native culture. I bought Joanne a Mexican poncho last week while we were down in Los Algodones. Just like the one Clint Eastwood wore in the movie "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly". Now all she needs is a flat topped cowboy hat, and a small cigar clamped in her teeth to complete the look. HA HA HA ! Teddy spent the rest of the day lounging around on a large piece of gift wrapping, his favourite part of the Christmas rituals.

It was disappointing to me to be as ill as I was today. My cold is improving, but the cold medications that I took for the last few days have wreaked havoc on my colitis. I felt really sick for most of the day. But, hey ... it's Christmas ... the show must go on !

One of our neighbours, and Christmas dinner table companions came over to visit and offer Joanne assistance with preparing the turkey. We visited with Marty for awhile, then went to the clubhouse to use our Wi-Fi phone to phone my sister and Joanne's sister and her family. First we phoned my sister Sharon. Then Joanne's sister Lorraine. Lorraine was sick, in bed. We spoke to Doug and the little nieces, Madeleine and Amelia.

We decided to bring our little tiny Christmas tree over to the clubhouse to be a centrepiece for our dinner table. We had a wonderful Christmas dinner. As hostess, Joanne had asked everybody at our table tocontribute one of their favourite "family signature" side dishes, so we had a great variety of traditional and interesting, new ( to us ) dishes. Nine out of ten of the people at our table were very nice < rolling eyes ... snickering >. About 30 seconds into dinner Joanne knocked over Marty's full wine glass < more eye rolling >. After dinner we participated in a group mystery gift exchange. We ended up with a day timer pouch, with a calendar page for each day of the year, a calculator, ruler, address book, etc. You know, just what an unemployed, homeless guy needs < more eye rolling >. And a ... Mexican sun / moon / star zodiac chimes thingy made out of burnished metal. It will probably look quite nice hanging in the huge Douglas Fir tree on our lot back in Keremeos. After the gift exchange, there was a pretty pathetic Christmas carol sing along < even more eye rolling >. All in all, a great Christmas dinner, and a pleasant evening, with old and new friends. Too bad I felt sick as a dog !

Teddy and Bo reeeeeaaaaalllllyyyyy liked their dinner of turkey and gravy !

 

Wednesday ; Today was a gorgeous, sunny, warm day. Another perfect "June 18" day. I wish I had caught my cold one day earlier. Then I would have felt yesterday like I felt today. Much improved ! I could breathe through my nose for the first time in about a week.

Tom and Ruth-Anne brought Emma over this morning at 7:00 A.M.. They were headed for Los Algodones, where Tom had an 8:00 A.M. appointment to have 7 teeth extracted. YIKES ! It was impossible for us to get back to sleep. Bo and Emma love their early morning "pyjama parties". They lie on the bed between us, rolling around on their backs, moaning and groaning, gnawing and licking each other, playing "tug of war" with Bo's new rope and ball toy. Bo had a veterinarian appointment for 11:00 A.M., but the vet's office phoned at 8:00 A.M. to cancel and reschedule. The vet had phoned in sick. Finally Teddy, Joanne, and I gave up trying to get back to sleep, and we all had breakfast in bed. All five of us had muffins and fruit salad in bed.

As I type this, all 3 animals are asleep on the sofa. Poor Teddy ! Now even Emma is using his butt as a pillow. He sure is a laid back cat when it comes to dealing with dogs.

Joanne went Wal-Martin' with Ruth-Anne this afternoon. I took a propane tank to be refilled, and took Bo to the dog park where we played with River the dog and Oslo the7 year old boy. Oslo tired me out and River tired Bo out.

When Joanne returned from Wal-Martin' we trimmed Teddy's and Bo's nails then went to the weekly social hour. We chatted for a long time with a fascinating 79 year old woman with an amazing memory for details, and still a very adventurous spirit. She has lived here in Yuma for over 20 years. When we started talking about Los Algodones she told us all about how to find the illegal gambling places and "houses of prostitution". HA HA HA ! When we started talking about our upcoming adventure of driving to the tip of Baja California, she told us all about her first solo journey to Los Cabos at the tip of the Baja. "Must have been back in '52 or '53 ... drove down there in my 5 speed Saab". HA HA HA ... way to go, girl ! She said that back then the road down the Baja was just a dirt track, used mainly for the Baja 500 road race.

 

DSK

December 13 to 19, 2007

December 13 to 19, 2007

Yuma, Arizona & Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico

 

Thursday ; Yuma to Los Algodones & return

Today was sunny and warm. Whew ... I'm tired. I played tourist guide all day in Los Algodones, Mexico. This was the first time into Mexico for everybody except Joanne and me. This morning we headed to Los Algodones, with Tom and Ruth-Anne in our truck, and Terry, Donna, and 7 year old Oslo following in theirs. A few miles west into California, then a few miles south into Mexico. First destination after parking the trucks and walking across the border was Algodones Optical. Ruth-Anne was getting an eye examination and 2 new pairs of glasses. We left Tom and Ruth-Anne at Algodones Optical and the rest of us went shopping and sightseeing. We returned to pick them up 45 minutes later. Ruth-Anne's eye examination was completed, she had ordered her 2 new pairs of glasses, and had already bought a new purse. HA HA HA ... a fine start to the day. We wandered and shopped a bit more before heading for lunch to El Paraiso, a restaurant Joanne and I have been to before, and like. We had a great Mexican lunch, including a jumbo size Margarita for most of us. Tom and Ruth-Anne were apprehensive about trying Mexican food, but thoroughly enjoyed lunch, as did everybody except Oslo. He refused to eat "strange" food. After lunch we went to Dr. Camacho's office where most of us made appointments for dental examinations and cleanings next Tuesday. Then more shopping. A huge tub of Joanne's beloved Cremino chocolates. Mexican dresses for all of Terry's and Donna's granddaughters. A neat, wooden spinning top toy for Oslo. A new cowboy hat for Terry. A Christmas tablecloth for Ruth-Anne. A Mexican dress for Donna. We picked up Ruth-Anne's glasses. An eye examination, and 2 pairs of prescription bi-focal Sun Sensor glasses ... for $89 ! Tom got his eyeglasses repaired, new nose pieces, and new ear pieces ... no charge ! We got comparison prices at a few different pharmacies. Upon my recommendation, Tom went into 2 walk in dental clinics to get an assessment of his dental needs, and quotes. Tom's dental needs are extensive and complex. I suggested he get a couple of different quotes before we go to Dr. Camacho next week. Dr. Camacho is a bit more expensive than the walk in dental storefront clinics. The second walk in clinic that Tom went to impressed him greatly. Last stop was the Mexican bakery, for a ... ( ahem ) few ... Mexican pastries for me. WOO-HOO ! Oslo wore a fanny pack filled with little candy canes. All day long he was passing out candy canes to children, wishing them Feliz Navidad. What a sweet little guy ! Every time one of us would call him, because he was getting too far ahead of us, or too far behind us, the Mexicans around us would look at us puzzled. Finally one of the vendors explained to us that "Oslo" in Spanish means "do it now !", a command frequently used with children. HA HA HA ! By 4:00 P.M. we were ready to start heading back towards the border. Big line-up ! Took about 45 minutes to get to the head of the line. We got back to Kofa Ko-op about 5:30, just as the sun was setting. Everybody was tired, but seemed to be very pleased with their day in Mexico. Well ... except for Joanne pouting about not being able to find any Nugs Crujiente chocolate bars. HA HA HA !

While we were waiting in line to cross the border back into the U.S., and in response to something less than worldly that Donna said, I laughed and said, jokingly ( sort of ) "Oh, boy ... another American finally comes to the realization that the United States doesn't set the standard for the world." WHEW ... did that ever earn me a lot of dirty looks from the people around us. Sorry ! I had forgotten how sensitive you Americans are about your parochialism. HA HA HA !

 

Friday ; Today was sunny, warm, and windy. This morning we went shopping for my Christmas gift to myself. A full size, wrap around the headlights, chrome, grille guard / brush guard / Toyota pusher for Lanoire. HA HA HA ! I had phoned some truck accessory shops a few days ago, so I knew which two shops I wanted to go to. Well, neither shop had anything near what I wanted at a reasonable price. Guess I'm not getting a honkin' big grille guard for Christmas < sniffle >.

After lunch we went shopping at Arizona Market, the nearby huge flea market. We bought some stuff. I've always thought that the neat thing about flea markets is you end up buying stuff that you didn't even know existed. HA HA HA ! Like Joanne's new batteryless, LED flashlight with the built in generator handle that you pump to fill the battery with power. HMPH ... I should have let her buy the little LED flashlight with the tiny solar panel on it that she wanted when she saw it in Quartzsite. At least then I could have just let the damn thing sit out on the picnic table all day so it would be charged up for night time dog walking. Instead we end up with this flashlight with the little squeeze pump handle that I have to squeeze and pump as I walk the dog at night. HMPH !

We were invited to turkey dinner with Tom and Ruth-Anne at their trailer, along with Lynn and Micha ( Meesha ), the owners of Bo's new best friend, Gypsy. We had a lovely dinner, and I spent a good part of the evening giving Lynn some basic dog training and behavioural tips. Lynn, Micha, and Gypsy are leaving tomorrow morning.

 

Saturday ; Today was a beautiful, sunny, warm day. We sat around enjoying the sunshine. We played in the dog park. I trimmed my beard. Joanne signed up as the hostess for a Christmas dinner table of ten. She went to offer assistance to a neighbour whose husband had heart surgery a few days ago. We visited with neighbours. A perfect "unemployed and homeless" kind of day.

Late in the afternoon I went to the clubhouse to get on Wi-Fi and retrieve updated investment statements. There was a group of about 8 park residents having an exceptionally heated argument that raged on for about 45 minutes, about some minor violation of protocol / courtesy / park bylaws. Those old folks sure can get riled up. Somebody must have missed their nap this afternoon.

I spent the evening working on my investment files.

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm, but a bit windy. I got up in the middle of the night to do something I've never done before. I wrote a letter to the editor of a magazine. That's how miffed I was at an article I read yesterday that I felt exhibited irresponsible pet ownership.

This afternoon we drove to Foothills, a subdivision on the east side of Yuma, to look at RV parks and RV lots for sale. We didn't find anything particularly appealing. We returned to Kofa Ko-op just in time for the Sunday evening ice cream social. After the ice cream social we spent the rest of the evening watching the 3 hour season finale of Survivor. Seeing Todd the gay flight attendant win the million dollars reminded me of a line in a Dire Straits song on the Industrial Disease album. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and warm. This morning Joanne went to see all the people signed upon our Christmas dinner table to schedule a meeting for tonight to discuss and plan Christmas dinner. Each table of 12 has space for 10 people to sign up, with 2 spaces at each table left available for people arriving at the park just before Christmas. GREAT ! That's exactly how Christmas dinner should be planned at Escapee parks. Somebody here should give a lesson to those a******s at Jojoba Hills in California where we spent last Christmas. Of the 10 people signed up at our table, 8 are Canadians, 6 are from British Columbia. Gee ... it seems as if there are more B.C. license plates in Yuma at this time of the year than there are Arizona license plates.

We went shopping this morning. First stop was the nearby peanut farm to buy some fresh peanuts for the cookies Joanne is making for tomorrow's cookie exchange. Then it was off to Wal-Mart. I bought myself a Christmas gift, but couldn't find what I wanted to buy Joanne for Christmas. I don't really like Christmas shopping. Last stop was Albertson's for groceries. Poor Joanne ... she couldn't find her beloved Cajeta ice cream. Guess we'll have to go look at a Mexican grocery store for it.

This afternoon I took a propane tank to be refilled. While I waited for it to be refilled we played and walked with Bo in the dog park. He certainly behaves well off leash when he has a regular opportunity to be off leash.

While I was installing my new CB antenna on the truck, a big stray dog showed up. Great ... just what I needed ! Her tag indicated that her name was Carmel, and it had an address that we thought was local, although the phone number was a different area code. We loaded her in the truck and drove a couple of miles over to East Fifth Avenue. Nope ... no such address. Must be East Fifth Avenue in a different city. We drove back to Kofa Ko-op and I phoned the telephone number on the tag. Got voice mail < sigh >. Left a message, then phoned the Yuma Humane Society. Carmel also had a 2007 Yuma Humane Society tag. It was late afternoon and the Humane Society was closed. I left a message with their answering service, and told them they could send an animal control officer over to pick up Carmel. A little while later, Carmel's female owner phoned. Somewhat of an idiot ! Said she'd be over "soon" to pick up Carmel.

An hour and a half later, I phoned the bimbo. The moron boyfriend answered. "Yeah, we'll be there soon to pick up the dog, Bud". I thought, but didn't say ... first of all, a*****e, my name's not Bud ! And second of all ... and I did say ... what exactly is "soon"? Ten minutes later they showed up in their very old, very beat up pickup truck. The bimbo didn't even get out of the truck. The moron got out and said "Thanks for the help, Bud." I let him have it with both barrels. "My name is not Bud. Do not address me as Bud." That shut him right up ! He unhooked Carmel from Bo's tie out and left. I hate returning nice dogs to stupid people !

We spent the rest of the evening in the clubhouse at Joanne's Christmas dinner planning meeting, first planning Christmas dinner with all the people at our table, then chatting with them.

 

Tuesday ; Los Algodones, Mexico

Today was sunny and warm. This morning before we awoke, Carmel the Husky was back running around Kofa Ko-op. Three people were walking their little dogs early in the morning, and concluded that she belonged to us, since they had seen her tied up to our rig yesterday. They caught her, brought her over, and hooked her up to Bo's tie-out. Imagine my surprise, when I opened the door this morning to take Bo out, and saw Carmel sitting there ! My first thought was that the moron owner had returned in the middle of the night, and "dumped" Carmel. But within moments, three people came over to tell me what happened, proud that they had rescued "my" dog and returned her to me. < sigh > I had to explain ... she wasn't mine !

I had no intention of returning the dog to the moron and bimbo again. Before leaving for Los Algodones, I reported to the park's manager that I had a stray dog tied up to our trailer, and asked that she phone animal control to come pick her up.

We went to Los Algodones, driving there in Tom and Ruth-Anne's truck, with Terry, Donna, and Oslo following in theirs. First destination in Los Algodones was the veterinary pharmacy, about 6 or 8 blocks from "downtown". On the way we stopped at the bakery and each bought a pastry to munch as we walked. At the veterinary pharmacy we bought some heartworm medication for Bo. Donna bought a syringe and parvovirus / distemper vaccine for their dog River. I didn't know one could administer the parvovirus / distemper vaccine to their dog themselves. I asked Donna to allow me to watch her administer the vaccine to River, so that I can learn to do it myself in the future. On our way back downtown I accepted an offer to try a free tacoat an open air restaurant. We returned downtown to buy medications at a variety of pharmacies. Donna went for an eye examination and to order a new pair of glasses. We went to buy some Coconugs chocolate bars. Tom and I each had three free samples of different tequilas. So ... before we even got to lunch, I had a pastry, a taco, and 3 shots of tequila. HA HA HA ! We had lunch again at El Paraiso. We headed for Dr. Camacho's office where we all had dentist appointments. Joanne and I got examinations and cleanings. Donna got an examination and was sent to a neighbouring endodontist because of some kind of root canal problem. Tom got an assessment of his very extensive dental problems and needs. Dr. Camacho's recommendations included work this year, requiring 3 or 4 visits over the next couple of weeks, then completion a year from now. After some discussion with Ruth-Anne, Tom decided that he liked Dr. Camacho and his approach / recommendations better than the other 2 dentists he saw last week, and decided to go for it. His first appointment is for early tomorrow morning. I think the hygienist used dental bleach to clean some stains off my teeth. My lips feel burnt tonight.

Tom and Ruth-Anne eat their meals much earlier than Joanne and me. By the time we were ready to leave Los Algodones, they wanted supper. It was too early for Joanne and me, but we sat and munched on some appetizers while Tom and Ruth-Anne had supper. Driving back to Yuma, all I could do was keep thinking “I sure hope that there’s no Husky tied up to our trailer when we get home”.

Carmel was gone when we got home. Good luck, sweet girl.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and warm. Well, of course ... it's Yuma !

Early this morning Tom and Ruth-Anne brought Emma over to spend the day with us while they went to Los Algodones for the beginning of Tom's dental work. The bed seemed a bit crowded this morning with Teddy, Bo, and Emma all in bed with us. Bo and Emma were playing. Teddy was looking disgusted with 2 dogs playing on the bed. I gave up trying to get back to sleep.

I installed my new CB radio this morning. Mounted but not wired. The beauty of this lifestyle is that I can turn the installation of a CB radio into 3 days of work. HA HA HA ! One day to install the antenna, one day to mount the radio, and one day to wire it. This afternoon we went to the park's cookie exchange. What a great idea ! A dozen people each signed up to bakeand bring 3 dozen cookies. Then each person got three of each kind of cookie to take home. Oh, boy ... 3 dozen assorted home made cookies for me and Teddy ! HA HA HA ... Teddy loves cookies. At the cookie exchange I mentioned that I was a juggler and magician. Guess who's now the headline entertainment for the New Year's Eve party ? ! ? HA HA HA !

One of our neighbours recently had heart surgery and is having a bit of difficulty getting out with their dog, Sonny. We took Sonny and Bo over to the dog park for a play session, and were joined by Emma and River. And Oslo. What would a doggy play session be without a 7 year old boy to lead the fun ? After an hour of play, all the dogs were tired. Oslo wasn't !

Got a fly in the trailer this afternoon. I tasered it with my new electronic bug zapper tennis racket. HA ... take that ! After supper we went Christmas shopping ... to PetsMart ... with Bo. Sheesh ! And you thought Christmas shopping with children was a challenge ? !

 

DSK

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December 6 to 12, 2007

December 6 to 12, 2007

Quartzsite to Yuma, Arizona

 

Thursday ; Quartzsite to Yuma, Arizona

Whew ... some days just have more than their fair share of "excitement". Today started out overcast and cool in Quartzsite, and ended up sunny and warm in Yuma.

This morning the trailer battery was dead. It's almost 2 years old. Previous experience has shown us that the life of an RV battery seems to be 2 years. Boondocking for just 1 night, the battery has always been okay, particularly if the truck remains attached to the trailer, so the trailer is actually operating on 3 batteries ; one in the trailer and two huge diesel truck batteries in the truck. But we detached Harvey from Lanoire to go shopping, and we spent 2 nights boondocking near Quartzsite. Two nights on just the trailer battery was a bit too much for an "old" battery. This morning there wasn't enough left in the battery to power the jacks to raise the front of the trailer enough to hitch the truck. I had to bring the truck alongside the trailer and use booster cables from the truck battery to the trailer battery to raise the front of the trailer enough to hitch up.

We left Quartzsite and headed south on Hwy. 95 to Yuma. Bo was very excited to arrive at Kofa Ko-op SKP RV Park, his favourite RV park of all. Must be the 2 acre fenced dog run here. He loves running off leash on the soft desert sand. Most desert is like gravel, but here, around the Imperial Sand Dunes, the ground is soft sand. About 15 minutes after we arrived, and just as we were sitting down to a late lunch, there was a knock on the door. Tom Huggard ... and Emma the Scottish Terrier ! Tom and Ruth-Anne Huggard are friends of ours. We first met at an SKP Ontario Chapter 18 rally 4 years ago, our very first outing with Harvey the trailer just after we bought it. They now live in Alberta. Joanne and I finished lunch quickly, then walked with Tom and Emma over to their trailer to say hello to Ruth-Anne. We chatted with the Huggards for awhile.

Just before the park's weekly Thursday afternoon social hour I returned to our trailer and Joanne took Bo and Emma for a walk. I entered our trailer. The kitchen faucet was running slightly. The sink was full. There was water all over the counter and floor < sigh >. I cleaned the mess as quickly as I could. In the meantime, Joanne had taken Bo and Emma for a walk to the dog run. As she opened the gate to the dogrun, there was a small Sidewinder Rattlesnake under the gate. Oblivious, Bo and Emma both charged into the dog run, running over the Sidewinder. The snake began to slither sideways as Bo's and Emma's leashes yanked Joanne forward. As she was being yanked through the gate she inadvertently kicked the poor little Rattler, who curled up into a ball, raised its head, and struck. Good thing Joanne was being yanked forward. Good thing it was a little baby snake !

I'm typing this late at night, while watching the late news and weather on TV. It looks like southwest Arizona is about the only area in all of North America that is not receiving either heavy rain or heavy snow tonight. HA HA HA HA HA !

 

Friday ; Today was sunny, warm and windy. Yuma is often windy. I bought 2 items today that caused Joanne to declare the "official start" of the new winter season. I bought cheap, fresh avocadoes for guacamole, and cheap, fresh lemons for my Diet Cokes. Lemons are so cheap here and in the Texas Rio Grande Valley I can't bring myself to buy lemons at "regular" prices elsewhere. I spend half of each year depriving myself of fresh lemons for my Diet Cokes. Buying lemons at 20 for a dollar prevents me from being willing to pay 55 cents for a lemon !

This morning after unhitching, we figured out how to extend and retract the slides manually, and extend and retract the front jacks manually. I guess it’s about time ! Bo wants to go to the 2 acre fenced dog run about every 2 hours. Today he made friends with Gypsy, a 9 month old female mutt. She’s a bit larger and has longer legs than him, so she can knock him over in the sand and jump on him. And her age gives her an advantage in energy. She actually tired him out. After romping and wrestling in the desert sand, Bo looked like a dirty mop. He’s overdue for a haircut.

We went to the nearby Arizona Market, the larger of Yuma’s 2 flea markets, to buy fresh produce. From there we drove to Famous Dave’s BBQ Restaurant to make arrangements for the Escapee B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 inaugural Snowbird Luncheon I am hosting there on Tuesday. We went to the main Yuma Post Office and picked up the batch of November mail that our next door neighbour, Stu, had forwarded to us. We drove to Walgreen’s and finally bought a U.S. cell phone. But I’m going to return it for a refund. I found a better price at Wal-Mart. Just before doing our Wal-Martin’ we had lunch at Wienerschnitzel, a fast food place that we found coupons for yesterday in the local “White Sheet”, a local Bargain Hunter type publication. Interesting, good food ! And with the coupons ... cheap !

I’m still fascinated by watching the kids from the Marine Corps Air Station ( MCAS ) near our RV park practice flying circuits in fighter jets. They make each turn in the circuit by banking at 90 degrees. I should try that in a Cessna. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

 

Saturday ; Today was sunny and warm. It was forecast to be raining today, but the forecast was wrong. Maybe a forecast of rain is just wishful thinking on the part of the weatherman ? Hey ... it's pretty dry here in Yuma ! After completing some minor chores this morning I took Bo to the dog run. He met Emma and Gypsy, both known to him, and River, a new dog to him. Surprisingly, he seemed too tired to romp with them. Gypsy was especially disappointed that he wouldn't romp and wrestle like he did yesterday. HA HA HA ... she tired him out so much yesterday he didn't want to play with her today. You must be getting older, Bo !

After lunch we took Tom and Ruth-Anne over to Bard, California, about 15 minutes north of Yuma, to have date shakes at Sun Gardens Date Farm. Yes, in one of those strange quirks of geography, the southeast corner of California is north of the southwest corner of Yuma, because of the twists and turns of the Colorado River, which is the border between California and Arizona. MMMMM ... we all love date shakes. Large for me and Joanne, small for Bo ... and Emma ... and the date farm’s scruffy little poodle. I didn't think I should have to share Bo's date shake with a scruffy little dog that lives right on the date farm, but ... Joanne and Ruth-Anne thought the poor little thing looked skinny and needed more nourishment ! I'm not sure that sharing Bo's date shake was really what the scruffy little mutt needed.

On the way back we stopped at Arizona Market. Ruth-Anne wanted to buy some produce. Tom and I browsed though guy stuff. Tom bought some tool stuff. I bought some hardware stuff for a home improvement project I have in mind. My list of projects to do is getting large. Guess I'll have enough to keep me busy for awhile. Driving back to Kofa Ko-op we passed a flock of sheep in a field. Bo loves barking out the window at farm animals and making them stampede away. Not that hard to accomplish with sheep. Back at Kofa Ko-op we went to the clubhouse to use our Wi-Fi phone to phone our next door neighbour back home, Stu. He's flying to San Diego on Monday, then driving all the way across California over here to Yuma to join us for our luncheon on Tuesday. Joanne and I chatted for awhile with a couple from Ontario who arrived here today. In the evening, I worked on the batch of November mail we picked up at the Post Office yesterday.

 

Sunday ; This morning was overcast and cool, with a few drops of rain. Happy Anniversary, Bo. We got Bo 3 years ago today, in Summerdale, Alabama.

Joanne went flea marketing with Ruth-Anne. I did some minor chores around the trailer, then went to the clubhouse with the computer to pay some bills online. I took Bo for a romp in the dog run. Gypsy was there. They play well together. Bo and Gypsy together dug a big hole in the desert. Bo's chin was sticky from eating a date shake yesterday. So now his chin is all coated with sticky sand. Sheesh ... he's a filthy little dog again. Gypsy's owner told me that they were taking Gypsy to a groomer to have her nails trimmed and anal glands expressed ( emptied ). I offered to do both of those for her ... at no charge, of course. She declined. She seemed to be skeptical about my abilities. Okay ! Suit yourself ! Although I'm puzzled by why she would trust a total stranger, who charges her money, but wouldn't trust a total stranger, who doesn't charge money. I went to see a woman in the park about an ad she had on the bulletin board advertising a "Fantastic Fan" brand RV roof vent fan for sale. Her husband had recently died and she was selling "stuff" in their garage. Well, her husband had obviously installed the Fantastic Fan roof vent fan in their RV, and had put the regular roof vent that he had removed off their RV into the Fantastic Fan box. I tried to explain to the woman that what was in the box was a regular $30 roof vent, not the $160 Fantastic Fan. She didn't understand, and seemed annoyed at me, or distraught at the recent death of her husband, or whatever !

Joanne did laundry. One of my Las Vegas t-shirts was ruined by its first washing. Now I know why they were 4 for $10 ! Ruth-Anne baked some date cake with the dates she bought yesterday, and brought me a couple of large pieces. I love date cake. And we never have any, because Joanne doesn't like it. We went to the park's regular Sunday evening ice cream social. I chatted with a couple who travelled to the tip of Baja Californiawith Baja Winters, the caravan company that we're going with. They were very happy with the experience.

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and warm. I felt quite ill today, with a sudden and severe flare-up of colitis. I was planning to tackle a fairly large home improvement project today, but felt too ill. I decided to tackle a much smaller job. I installed a new exterior light fixture I purchased in Quartzsite. First I took our Wi-Fi phone to the clubhouse and made some phone calls. Then while I was working on the exterior light fixture Tom, Ruth-Anne, and Emma came over for a visit. We visited for awhile. That slowed down my project. It's hard to work on a project and visit at the same time. Having Tom "supervise" my work slowed me down even further. And being ill certainly slowed me down as well. I took the entire afternoon to remove the old light fixture and install the new one. Ruth-Anne and Joanne took Emma and Bo to the dog park. All the dogs in the RV park get to know one another quickly, and they all enjoy the 2 acre dog park. Bo and Emma romped with 3 other dogs. Joanne exhibited her dog handling prowess by taking 5 dogs for an off leash pack walk around the dog park. In the evening we did our Christmas decorating. We have a very small Christmas tree, and we decorate it with a few very special old ornaments we kept from our previous "brick & stick" lifestyle, and some special new ones we have acquired since we began RV travelling. Bo got so excited when he saw his Christmas jingle collar that he fell off the chair. When we were finished decorating, we were very pleased with the results. We don't have a lot, but each Christmas item evokes a memory of a special person or place.

There is a lot of military air traffic around here because of MCAS, the Marine Corps Air Station. Today while I was working on the light fixture, an unusual aircraft flew overhead. It had short, stubby wings, with a huge propeller at the end of each stubby wing. I had never seen anything like it before. Then I realized ... it was a VTOL ! The short stubby wings can rotate to a vertical position, putting the propellers above, like a helicopter, and it can take off and land vertically.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and mild. We hosted the first, and from my perspective, the last, Escapee B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Snowbird luncheon, at famous Dave's Barbecue Restaurant. In addition to Joanne and me, and 5 of ourpersonal friends, the luncheon was attended by one Chapter 33 member. Yes, count 'em ... one ! ! ! ! ! I suggested and hosted this inaugural Snowbird Luncheon for Chapter 33 because at the spring rally they were complaining that they were tired of doing the same old things the same old ways, and they needed fresh ideas from the new members. Yeah, well ... I guess some people can talk the talk, but don't want to walk the walk ! There were at least 10 couples at the spring and fall rallies who said they would be in the Yuma area at this time. To say that I am miffed would be an understatement.

Tom and Ruth-Anne attended. Today's luncheon was actually one of the reasons they headed to Yuma from Alberta. After Christmas they're moving on to other places they would rather be. Ron Webster and Karen Patton, neighbours of ours at Riverside RV Park Resort in Keremeos attended. They spend their winters in the Yuma area. We invited them last summer. And our next door neighbour at Riverside, Stu Murray attended. He drove from Keremeos to Penticton, flew from Penticton to Vancouver, then Vancouver to San Diego, then rented a car and drove across California to Yuma. Way to go, Stu ! His career was in the airlines, and so he can fly almost free. Attending our luncheon was a good excuse for a short winter holiday for him. And it probably won't cost him much, if anything. When he arrived in Yuma last night, he went to Cocopah Casino ... and got pretty lucky. About $500 worth of lucky ! Way to go, Stu !

After lunch we went to Walgreen's to return the cell phone I bought there the other day, then over to Wal-Mart to buy the same cell phone at a lower price. To make a long story shorter, the morons at Wal-Mart have an entire display set up of Virgin Mobile limited edition blue colour phones, that can't be sold because of some computer glitch with the SKU of the blue phones. But, of course, the morons don't remove the blue phones from the display. They allow customer after customer to incur delays at the cash register when the blue phones won't scan in, then even longer delays while a Customer Service Manager waddles over to unsuccessfully try to resolve the matter, then even more delays while she waddles over to the electronics department to consult with the department manager, who is quite aware of the problem, which cannot be resolved. HOW MANY MORONS DOES IT TAKE TO FINALLY FIGURE OUT THAT THE BLUE PHONES NEED TO BEREMOVED FROM THE DISPLAY ? ? ? ? ? < taking a deep breath > I finally bought a black phone.

Back at Kofa Ko-op we took Bo to the dog park for a long play session with Emma, Sonny, River, and an apparently tireless 7 year old boy named Oslo ( "like the capital of Norway", he explains ). Oslo is travelling with his full time RV'ing adoptive parents, a couple obviously old enough to be Oslo's grandparents. Oslo is the last in a line of 11 children they have adopted. We sure meet interesting, unconventional people in this full time RV'ing lifestyle.

I spent the evening activating and programming our new cell phone. Sheesh !

 

Wednesday; Today was sunny and warm. First thing this morning Joanne tracked down what hotel our Keremeos next door neighbour, Stu, was staying at, and invited him for supper. I spent the rest of the morning in the clubhouse, with the Wi-Fi phone and the computer. I made a vet appointment for Bo for an annual physical exam and vaccinations. I made reservations at an RV resort in Hemet, California in February for ourselves and our friends from Ottawa who are joining us on our trip into Baja California, Mexico. Then I made reservations at the KOA in San Diego, where the Baja Winters caravan group is gathering for our journey into Baja California. I did some Mexican vehicle insurance research. Canadian and U.S. vehicle insurance is invalid in Mexico. One has to purchase Mexican vehicle insurance to take a vehicle into Mexico. I spent a long time trying to resolve a software corruption problem with my Internet Explorer. < sigh > I finally had to download a new version of Internet Explorer. ****ing computers !

This afternoon I took a propane tank to be refilled at the propane refill station here in the park, adjacent to the dog park. And I took Bo along for a romp while I waited for my propane tank to be refilled. WHEW ... Bo romped with a variety of dogs for 2½ hours ! And for the first time in his life, he was truly, completely exhausted. Bo doesn't have the stamina of the one year olds. HA HA HA ... you're no longer the highest energy dog in the park any more, Bo. I finally took him and the propane tank home when Stu arrived. Joanne made fresh guacamole ( she makes great guacamole ) and we sat outside drinking beer, and eating tortilla chips with fresh home made guacamole, enjoying the warm afternoon sunshine. Nice life ! We had a nice dinner and visit with Stu.

After Stu left, Joanne played around with programming phone numbers into our new cell phone, and I reviewed our medications to figure out what we need to buy tomorrow in Los Algodones, Mexico. Too bad Stu has to return to San Diego tomorrow, and couldn't join us on a day trip down to Mexico. Our little group is growing. In addition to Tom and Ruth-Anne, we're going to be joined by 7 year old Oslo ( Ozzie ) and his parents, Terry and Donna.

 

DSK

November 29 to December 5, 2007

November 29 to December 5, 2007

Las Vegas, Nevada to Quartzsite, Arizona

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and cool again. After another long, tiring day of walking around "the Strip", I have decided that I'm too tired to participate in Saturday's world record setting Las Vegas Great Santa Run. But I certainly would like to witness the start of the event before we leave.

Since the places we wanted to visit today were all around the middle of "the Strip", we decided to find a different place to park than the MGM Grand. Easier said than done, with a one ton diesel dually. We ended up parking in the oversized vehicles parking lot of The Mirage. We walked through The Mirage and caught the free tram to Treasure Island. We walked through Treasure Island, then crossed Las Vegas Blvd. to The Venetian. Through The Venetian, then through Harrah's to Imperial Palace. We spent quite awhile touring the Imperial Palace Auto Collection, a large museum of amazingly restored automobiles, from fairly current models back to the 1920's and even one or two earlier. And most of them are for sale. I particularly liked Al Jolson's 1928 Mercedes Benz, on sale for $1,450,000 !

We walked back to The Venetian, and wandered slowly through the Grand Canal Shops. The Venetian, Grand Canal Shops, and adjacent St. Mark's Square are all amazingly authentic reproductions of Venice. The only things missing were the pigeons that are in the real St. Mark's Square in Venice ( been there 3 times ). We watched some entertainers in St. Mark's Square. Musicians, singers, jugglers, stilt walkers, and very good human statues. I'm not usually impressed by human statues. We walked back across Las Vegas Blvd. to The Mirage in time to see the 6:00 P.M. volcano eruption. Viva Las Vegas ! ! ! We contemplated having supper at The Mirage, but we were getting quite tired and decided just to return to the trailer for a light supper, and to watch Survivor.

 

Friday ; Today it rained all day. First rain we've had since leaving home a month ago. This was the first day long rainfall that Las Vegas has had in over a year. And it showed ! Traffic was snarled. And the streets and hotel driveways were filled with large, deep puddles. Out here in the desert, they don't design roadways with gutters and storm sewers. There's no good way for the water to "disappear".

We were planning to leave tomorrow morning, but we've decided to stay until Sunday. If we left tomorrow morning, we would have to get up very early and prepare for departure before going to see the Las Vegas Great Santa Run, then hurry back to depart before the RV park's check out time. We've decided to stay another day, take things easy, get some chores done, and recuperate from our 4 days of walking around Las Vegas, before getting back out on the road.

We procrastinated going out this morning, hoping the rain would ease up. It didn't. We drove to the Rio, which is not right on "the Strip". We parked in their garage, and went in looking for their free show "Masquerade In The Sky". We thought we had about an hour to kill until the first of the day's performances. We played penny slots. Joanne lost $1.00. I won 50 cents. A total cost of 50 cents for an hour of entertainment for each of us. Not bad ! Turns out our guide book had the show schedule wrong, and the next show was 3 hours later. HMPH ! We took the shuttle bus from the Rio over to Caesars Palace. We walked from Caesars Palace over to Bellagio, our favourite Las Vegas place.

We found our way to Bellagio's Conservatory. The Conservatory was being set up with their Christmas season displays, so we were unable to walk through, although we could view it from the periphery. The Christmas season displays were almost complete, and not surprisingly, they were ... simply stupendous. The last time we were in Las Vegas, 2 years ago, the highlights were Bellagio's Conservatory, and Bellagio's Dancing Fountains. The same holds true on this visit. After viewing the Conservatory, we found our way outside ( easier said than done in Vegas ) to watch a performance of the Dancing Fountains. WOW ! ! ! One of the advantages of the weather was that there were very few people outdoors to view the Dancing Fountains. However, we did get severely splashed by a taxi driving by. C'est la vie !

We walked back over to Caesars Palace and walked around The Forum Shops. The only interesting store was FAO Schwartz, the New York based upscale toy store. Great stuffed animals, especially the different breeds of dogs. Too bad we don't have any really young nieces or nephews to buy Christmas gifts for. We caught a shuttle bus back to Rio, and went to see the Masquerade Show In The Sky. Well ... they certainly spent enough money on this production, but ... it just wasn't really all that good. Elaborate ... expensive ... but not all that good. C'est la vie !

We returned to Main Street Station RV Park, had a late supper, then I walked over to Main Street Station Hotel & Casino across the street to use the Wi-Fi signal there.

 

Saturday ; The Las Vegas Great Santa Run

HA HA HA HA HA ... what a great event !

Fortunately for the event, the rain had stopped and the sky had cleared by this morning. Just before we left for the Las Vegas Great Santa Run, Joanne took Bo for a bathroom walk to the dog run adjacent to the RV park, beside the hotel / casino parking lot. Bo couldn't concentrate on the business at hand because he was distracted by all the Santas walking by on their way to the event. HA HA HA ! The event's registration, start and finish lines were on Fremont Street, a couple of blocks from our RV park. We walked over ... and ... HA HA HA HA HA ! Thousands and thousands of Santas ! Santas as far as the eyes could see ! Big Santas, little Santas, canine Santas, white Santas, black Santas, Oriental Santas ... even a Santa rock band performing. HA HA HA ! I'm really glad we stayed to see this. We regret leaving Bo behind in the trailer. We should have brought him along. He would have loved it. We milled around, mingling amongst all the Santas, taking photos, watching the official start, led by Siegfried & Roy. We watched the first arrivals at the 1 mile finish line, back at the start line. We wandered a couple of blocks over to watch the first arrivals at the 5 mile finish line. HA HA HA ... cheap Santa suits don't stand up all that well over a 5 mile run by serious runners. Tomorrow is the Las Vegas marathon, and it appeared as if a fair number of today's Santa Run 5 mile early finishers were marathoners warming up for tomorrow. We treated ourselves to a couple of Krispy Kreme doughnuts on our way back to Main Street Station. Hey ... watching all those Santas run left us hungry. HA HA HA !

While Joanne did laundry I took our Wi-Fi phone over to the casino where there's a Wi-Fi signal, to do some banking by phone and phone my sister. Walking across the parking lot I found a discarded Santa hat with a press pass attached. I took it back to the trailer for Bo. He really enjoyed destroying it. HA HA HA !

 

Sunday ; Las Vegas, Nevada to Cattail Cove State Park near Lake Havasu City, Arizona

Today was sunny and mild. From Las Vegas we will be somewhat following the Colorado River all the way down to Yuma, Arizona. When I walked Bo at 7:00 A.M. this morning Las Vegas marathon runners were streaming by. We departed Main Street Station RV park and headed south on Fremont Street until it became Boulder Highway. We followed Boulder Highway through the Las Vegas suburbs of Henderson and Boulder City to run errands. First we filled up with diesel ... bio-diesel, actually. Don't often see bio-diesel. Then refilled a propane tank. Then refilled water jugs. Then found an Albertson's and stocked up on groceries. After finishing those errands, we headed over to Interstate 515, heading for Hoover Dam. I wanted to see Hoover Dam. Just before the dam, we had to stop at a Homeland Security checkpoint. Very friendly, professional and efficient Homeland Security anti-terrorist agent searched all exterior storage compartments and interior of RV before allowing RV to cross over Hoover Dam. HMPH ... maybe he can give lessons to that p**** border guard at Nighthawk crossing from B.C. to Washington.

Hoover Dam was impressive. Except for the exorbitant parking fee, and entrance fee to visitor centre. Didn't stop ... just drove over. Stopped shortly after for lunch at Willow Beach on Colorado River. WOO-HOO ... first time Bo has had lake or river to romp in since Deschutes River in Oregon almost a month ago. Joanne was annoyed at me for allowing Bo to go into the Colorado River. Thinks lake / river romping makes him stink. Hey ... he's a dog !

From Hoover Dam we followed Arizona Hwy. 93 southeast to Kingman, then turned onto Interstate 40 heading south, then west. Turned south onto Hwy. 95 to Lake Havasu City. Joanne wanted to see Christmas lights on London Bridge. Yes ... that London Bridge ! It was carefully "demolished" in London, England, brought to Lake Havasu City in Arizona, then rebuilt. Go figure !

On outskirts of Lake Havasu City, found our way to Lake Havasu State Park. Campground has just recently closed for renovations. HMPH ! Drove another 15 miles south on Hwy. 95 to Cattail Cove State Park. Nice state park, although a bit expensive. Tomorrow we'll unhitch, then go into Lake Havasu City late in the afternoon to see London Bridge Christmas lights display.

I think we may have crossed time zones when we drove across Hoover Dam over Colorado River from Nevada into Arizona. Will have to check that tomorrow morning. Today's Las Vegas newspaper reports that yesterday's Las Vegas Great Santa Run had about 8000 Santas.

 

Monday ; Lake Havasu City

Today was sunny and warm. We got a lazy, late start to the day. We went for a hike with Bo to see the campground and surrounding area on the shores of Lake Havasu. Fifteen miles south of us is the Parker Dam on the Colorado River at Parker, Arizona. The backing up of the Colorado River for 30 miles forms Lake Havasu, from Parker, 15 miles south, to Lake Havasu City, 15 miles north. The Colorado Aqueduct also starts near Parker, and travels completely across California, providing drinking water to the Los Angeles area. So don't piss in the lake, Bo ! HA HA HA ! After hiking around the campground and area we drove into Lake Havasu City and found our way to Havasu RV Resort, a local RV park with lots for sale. A few months ago I requested information from them, and what they sent me excluded pricing information. So we wanted to see the resort and get pricing information. We picked up pricing information, and took a look at the development. While we were looking at a lot, a couple from Penticton noticed our B.C. license plate and came over to chat. Nice resort, reasonable pricing, but the Lake Havasu area fails to appeal to us. But it gives us good pricing information for comparison purposes.

We drove around Lake Havasu City, sightseeing, and looking for cheap diesel. HA HA HA ... we found it ! We were killing time until dusk when we drove over to see London Bridge, and the "English Village" area adjacent to London Bridge. Lots of "poetic license" in calling the area an "English Village". Hey ... it's Arizona ! I guess one has to make allowances. HA HA HA ! We wandered around, and over London Bridge, taking photos at dusk, and more again after dark when all the Christmas lights were on. Okay ... London Bridge ... Christmas lights ... can we go eat at In-N-Out Burger now ? HA HA HA ! Can you tell I failed to be impressed ?

 

Tuesday ; Cattail Cove State Park, Arizona to Blythe, California to Quartzsite, Arizona

Eeeeeuuuuuwwwww ... rough night ! Must have got a touch of food poisoning at supper last night. Now I know why they're called In-N-Out Burgers !

Today was sunny and warm. Our plan for today was to drive to Blythe, California, to see Rancho Ventana RV Park. Three of our neighbours at Riverside RV Park Resort in Keremeos own lots at Rancho Ventana, so we wanted to see it. We had a late start to the day, leaving Cattail Cove State Park and heading south on Arizona Hwy. 95 to Parker. We turned west on Hwy. 62 and crossed over the Colorado River into Wyatt Earp, California. Our next turn was supposed to be south on California Hwy. 95. A while after crossing into California, we had to stop at a California Agricultural Inspection Station. The agent wanted to check all our fruits and vegetables. She was particularly interested in an orange we had. Apparently California does not want any "foreign" fruits or vegetables, particularly citrus, brought into the state by road travellers. About 45 minutes after leaving the inspection station, and miles and miles of endless desert, we realized we were far beyond the turn off to California Hwy. 95. Darn ! The California Agricultural Inspection Station obscured the turn off to Hwy. 95. This is the second time in our travels that we've missed a turn off because of a California Agricultural Inspection Station. Joanne was really miffed ! Since we were "lost" we figured we might as well stop for a late lunch. We just pulled off the road into the desert.

After lunch we continued west on Hwy. 62 until we reached Hwy. 177, about 42 miles further west than Hwy. 95. We turned south on Hwy. 177, then east on Interstate 10 at Desert Center, heading to Blythe. Altogether we drove about 90 unnecessary miles because of missing the turn to Hwy. 95 ! At Blythe we found Rancho Ventana RV Park, and drove around. We expected two of our three neighbours from Riverside would already be in the park, but we only saw one of the neighbours' rigs there. We contemplated staying overnight in a Passport America park in Blythe, but decided to continue on to Quartzsite, Arizona. When Interstate 10 crossed from California back into Arizona, we stopped at Flying J to refill with diesel. Best price so far ! While at Flying J I decided to browse for a CB radio and antenna. Flying J has a large assortment of CB radios and accessories. I bought a CB radio and antenna kit. I was planning to look at the flea markets in Quartzsite and Yuma for a CB radio and antenna, but the prices at Flying J were so good I didn't think I would find anything much better at the flea markets. And I was certain of that after making the purchase. The $38 antenna kit I bought scanned into the cash register as $20. Okay by me !

We continued east on I-10 to Quartzsite. Three miles south of Quartzsite on Arizona Hwy. 95 we stopped for the night, just as it turned dark, at "Hi Jolly" campground, one of the many free BLM ( either "Bureau Of Land Management" or "Boomers with Lots of Money" ... take your pick ) campgrounds around Quartzsite.

 

Wednesday ; Quartzsite, Arizona

Well, the annual gathering of flea market vendors in Quartzsite, and congregation of RV's on the BLM campgrounds in the desert surrounding the town has begun. The BLM lands are not really campgrounds. Just ... desert ! Pull off the highway, set up your solar panels, and you're done. At the peak of the season in late January, there will be thousands of vendors, and literally hundreds of thousands of RV's around Quartzsite. At the end of January each year is what started it all ; the annual Quartzsite Gem & Mineral Show. It has evolved into far more than a rock hound show. There are RV dealers with temporary sales lots, many RV parts and supply dealers, and flea market vendors selling stuff you never even knew existed.

After unhitching, then setting up our little solar panel ( thank you, Sharon & Bud ), we headed into town for an afternoon of flea marketing. We bought a lot of stuff, none of it absolutely essential to our existence. But, hey ... that's what Quartzsite is all about. We bought some tools I needed ( well, that's subjective ), some RV stuff, and some banged up food stuff ( dented cans and crushed boxes ) from a salvage vendor. Now I know where all those dented cans of dog and cat food went that we refused to accept over the years as pet food retailers.

 

DSK

November 22 to 28, 2007

November 22 to 28, 2007

Pahrump to Las Vegas, Nevada

 

Thursday ; Happy American Thanksgiving

Today was sunny and mild, temperature in the mid 50's. The "Merkins" were complaining about what a cold day it was. HA HA HA ! The local radio station ( 95.1 KNYE ... in the shadow of the Valley Of Death ) started playing Christmas songs in earnest today !

We went to the park's Thanksgiving "turkey dinner" luncheon. Walking with our next door neighbours Glen and Rosi to the clubhouse, we stopped to knock on the door of another neighbour, Cindy. She is a single woman living and travelling in a small "Hi-Lo" trailer, with ... wait for it ... 1 large dog, 3 small dogs, and 2 cats ! When Rosi knocked on Cindy's door, some "misunderstanding" took place inside. All we heard was barking, growling, snapping and snarling from dogs, and screaming from Cindy. Rosi rushed into the trailer, with me right behind. When Rosi knocked on the door Sassy the Schnauzer and Bella the French Bulldog had rushed at the door from opposite ends of the trailer, and all hell broke loose at the door. Sassy sustained a bite puncture wound on one front leg, and Cindy got 2 bite puncture wounds in her hand trying to break up the scuffle. I told Rosi to go ahead with Joanne and Glen to the clubhouse, Cindy and I would be along in 10 minutes or so. The biggest challenge was getting Cindy calmed down. Once I got her calmed down a bit, we tended to Sassy's minor bite wound. This is not the first time Bella has bit Sassy. It's too bad that Cindy can't ( won't ) realize that Bella should go to another home, for the sake of the other 3 dogs, particularly Sassy, who always ends up on the losing end.

Thanksgiving "dinner" was nice. Good food, well organized event attended by about 120 people. Thanksgiving dinner no. 4 for us this year. HA HA HA ! Over dinner we chatted not only with Glen, Rosi, and Cindy, but a couple from Leduc, Alberta seated beside us. We knew it was time to leave when some old cowboy got up and started playing the guitar and singing cowboy songs.

 

Friday ; Today was sunny, cool, and windy. The "Merkins" are freezing ! Today, the day after Thanksgiving, is known in the United States as "Black Friday". It's the day that retailers' "books" move from the "red" to the "black". It's the second largest shopping day of the year. Almost all retailers open at 4:00 A.M. with specials that only last until 11:00 A.M., or until stock on hand runs out. Yesterday's newspaper was stuffed with a lot of flyers, with exceptionally good prices on advertised specials. Yeah ... if you want to camp overnight out in front of the store to buy one, of the inventory of two per store, laptop computers that is regularly priced at $750 but is on sale for $300.

We went to the Post Office today to mail a small package to Canada. Parcel postage rates are much cheaper in the U.S. than in Canada. Why is that ? ! ? We went to Wahlgreen's to buy another 16 chocolate bars. HA HA HA ! We gave Bo a bath. My goodness, he was filthy and sticky. Remind me not to let him run into the Deschutes River next year. Or not to let him eat his own date shake, with his entire face shoved into the large foam cup to get at the bottom. His muzzle and face became sticky from the date shake, then covered in dust from the desert. What a grubby mutt he was ! We went to the Christmas tree lighting at the Nugget Casino across the street at 6:00 P.M.. There's something incongruous about fan palms decorated with Christmas lights. We watched the outdoor lighting being turned on, then went inside to watch the lighting of the huge tree in the lobby. We had hot chocolate and cookies. We chatted with Santa. Which reminds me ... I'm considering participating in the Las Vegas Great Santa Run. Over 4000 people, all dressed in Santa suits, will run, jog, or walk a mile, to get the event into the Guinness World Records for largest gathering of Santas. HA HA HA ! Participants pay $45 to get a Santa suit and a goodie bag worth $100.

 

Saturday ; Today was sunny and mild. I spent the entire day on a maintenance project, and didn't really accomplish much. It was kind of discouraging.

This morning I phoned 1 of the 2 Camping Worlds in Las Vegas to make a service appointment for Monday afternoon. Their service department was booked up for the next 2 weeks. I phoned the second Camping World, in Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas. They were able to give me an appointment for Tuesday afternoon. So we'll probably stay here in Pahrump until Tuesday morning. We were planning to leave Monday morning.

I spent the rest of the day working on aligning and lubricating the piston and guide channels for the bed slide. We removed the bed. I dismantled the entire bed frame assembly to get at the bed slide mechanisms underneath. The problem seems to be one of poor engineering and manufacturing. Harvey is a 1998 Cardinal by Forest River. That was the first year that Forest River installed bed slides on their fifth wheels. They obviously had not yet perfected all the engineering and manufacturing issues with bed slides. I got the piston aligned and lubricated. I had a lot of problems with the alignment of the piston. I got the guide channels lubricated. But I wasn't able to get the bed frame properly mounted and aligned. I'll need to buy some hardware and make some modifications to the mounting of the bed frame to the slide base, to try to prevent ongoing recurrences of the bed slide alignment problems that have plagued us since the first day we've had the trailer. < sigh > By the time I got everything put back together, it was supper time.

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and cool. Today's project was to try to fix the day / night shade on the window behind our bed. Another unsuccessful project ! We had that shade restrung last summer in Penticton, when a string broke. The work done in Penticton was very poor. I'm going to have to have the shade restrung again, probably while we're in Yuma < sigh >. We visited with our neighbours, and gave them a bottle of peach syrup from Summerland, near our home in Keremeos, for being such wonderful neighbours while we've been here. They gave us their newspaper every day after they finished with it, some books to read, some chocolate cake Rosi baked, Glen lent me his drill and ladder, they "sponsored" us as their "guests" for part of our stay here, getting us a cheaper rate. Their friendliness almost makes up for the rudeness and ignorance we encountered at tonight's weekly dinner and ice cream social. We sat at a table for 6, with 2 couples who knew each other. They ignored our presence at their table, leaving us to eat in isolation. They were 2 younger "trailer park trash" couples with what I think were Arkansas accents. They likely live here full time. Their behaviour was inconsistent with that of travelling RV'ers. We don't often encounter that sort of ignorant unfriendliness in RV parks, but occasionally. One of the highlights of this lifestyle is meeting and talking with new people from all over North America at RV park social activities. We trimmed Bo's dew claws, and administered flea treatments to Teddy and Bo. And, of course, we watched Amazing Race.

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and warm. I had a rather lazy day, doing a few chores, mostly reading a book. Joanne was very productive today. I did a minor repair on the dinette window blind. I dusted the truck. Dusting a truck, with a "California duster" is a distinctly desert activity. Even though we washed it a few days ago, it was coated in desert dust. I cleaned dog nose marks off the inside of the truck windows. Gee, Bo ! Joanne washed laundry. She cleaned the inside of the trailer. She cleaned the sticky white blobs off the insides of the rear wheel wells of the truck. Tough job ! I must have driven over freshly painted road lines. She did some Wal-Martin' while I refilled water jugs and refilled with diesel. I wrote some e-mail. I went to the clubhouse to get on Wi-Fi, check e-mail and phone messages, check investments, check bank balances, etc..

< huge sigh > We've lost about $100,000 in the stock market in the last few months. It's hard not to worry about it.

 

Tuesday ; Pahrump to Las Vegas, Nevada

Viva Las Vegas ! What a bizarre place !

We left Pahrump this morning heading east on Hwy. 160 " over the hump" ( the Spring Mountains ) to Las Vegas. On the outskirts of Las Vegas we stopped at a PETCO to buy pet foods. We found our way to Camping World in Henderson. The high speed, congested, urban traffic on the freeways in and around Las Vegas made for a stressful drive with the truck and trailer. The driving styles and habits in Las Vegas are almost as bad as Los Angeles or Montreal.

The trailer's fridge has been misfiring on the propane function which we use whenever we have no electricity. I had the fridge inspected, cleaned and adjusted today at Camping World. I was able to watch the technician do the work, to learn how to do it myself in the future. While entering the trailer at Camping World, I stumbled on the steps into the trailer as I was opening the door, smashed my knee into the bottom corner of the door, and punctured a hole in the knee of a new pair of jeans < sigh >. I did some comparison browsing of new RV water pumps and CB radios while at Camping World.

We drove from Henderson to "downtown" Las Vegas, to the RV park adjacent to, and operated by, Main Street Station Hotel. Joanne's efficient navigating made a stressful driving experience a little easier. We checked in and got set up in our site, then headed out for an evening of exploring Freemont Street, the "old" Las Vegas "Strip". We walked through Main Street Station Hotel, stopping to use our Wi-Fi phone inside the hotel to phone Joanne's sister, to check on how her father-in-law is doing after his quadruple bypass surgery a few days ago. Main Street Station Hotel is obviously the original Las Vegas train station. They have retained many of the design features of the original train station. It's quite stunning. Like something out of a very old movie. Well, except for the endless slot machines.

"Downtown" Las Vegas, the "old" Strip, is centred on about a 6 block stretch of Freemont Street, about a 2 block walk from Main Street Station. We walked the length of Freemont Street, with me shooting photos frequently. I was somewhat slack jawed by the neon lights ! At the "end" of Freemont Street, we stopped to have dinner in a Szechuan buffet restaurant at the El Cortez Hotel & Casino. After dinner, we slowly walked back the length of Freemont Street, stopping to watch the Freemont Street Experience free stage shows performed each evening. Somewhat like busking, but with Las Vegas style. We wandered through a few of the casinos, but they all look pretty much the same. We bought some souvenir t-shirts, 4 for $10. HA HA HA !

For 4 blocks of Freemont Street, there is a high, arched canopy ceiling over the street, filled with 12½ million tiny coloured LED lights, capable of projecting images, like a giant, 4 block long overhead TV screen. Every evening there is an exhibition of this "VivaVision". Hard to keep one's mouth shut, and breathe through the nose, when watching a 4 block long overhead TV screen. Las Vegas has turned me into a " mouth breather" . HA HA HA ! Too bad that the "show" was all "Rah, rah, we're number one, God Bless America" stuff.

When we got back to the trailer, I discovered something that really frosted my cake ! When we bought 4 t-shirts for $10, paid by credit card, I was required to produce photo ID. Of course, I produced my driver's license. Because the clerk saw that I was Canadian, he coded something into their credit card machine which converted the purchase into Canadian dollars, at a terrible "rip-off" exchange rate. And I was using a U.S. dollar credit card. So this jerk converted my purchase into Canadian dollars, at point of purchase, and MasterCard will convert it back into U.S. dollars, because it's a U.S. dollar MasterCard, with an "upcharge" for a foreign currency transaction. So I get ripped off twice ! Especially by the merchant ! Good thing it was a small purchase ! I've never had that happen before. Guess I'll have to be more careful !

Joanne had an interesting fortune cookie at dinner tonight. Her fortune was "Remember three months from this date. Good things are in store for you." Well ... 3 months from this date is the day we begin our Baja California Mexico caravan journey.

And this morning ... HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ... we finally figured out a particular word to an old song that we have been singing along to on the radio for about the last 35 years. Three Dog Night's "Well I've Never Been To Spain" played on Pahrump's 95.1 KNYE ... "In The Shadow Of The Valley OF Death" ... great catch phrase, n'est-ce pas ? We had to travel the highways and byways of North America for 3½ years to "get" the reference. The line is "Well, I headed for Las Vegas ... only made it out to Needles ... in California ... not Arizona ... what does it matter ?" Of course ... Needles ... been there ... on Interstate 40, just before crossing from California into Nevada and turning north towards Las Vegas !

Tonight we were reading some Las Vegas tourist guide books we picked up. Did you know ... one can rent a handgun in Las Vegas ? ! ? “Hey, Vinny ... I forgot my piece ... let’s go rent one before we meet up with OJ at that memorabilia show”. HA HA HA < SNORT SNORT > HA HA HA HA HA ! Yessiree, Bob, God Bless America ! ! !

 

Wednesday ; Today we remember Toby Cat, who died 3 years ago up in the Ozarks of Missouri. We miss you, little friend.

Today was sunny and cool. Whew ... a long, tiring day of exploring "the Strip".

We started today's exploring by driving to Circus Circus at the north end of "the Strip". Inside Circus Circus we wandered around until we found the Midway. A seemingly endless, indoor carnival midway. What a neat place to visit with children. We found our way to the Midway Stage, to watch the free circus acts. We caught the tail end of some high wire / trapeze performers, then a very good juggling clown, followed by an unusual pole balancing act. I wonder how circus performers even dream up some concepts, let alone perform them ?

From Circus Circus we drove to the south end of "the Strip", and parked at the MGM Grand parkade. We walked slowly down the long stretch of retail shops leading from the parkade to the hotel and casino. I browsed in Houdini's Magic Shop, but wasn't inspired to buy any magic today. We wandered around the MGM Grand until we found Studio Walk. Gee, inside the Las Vegas massively huge hotels and casinos, it's almost impossible to know whether it's day or night, what time it is, where you are, and where you're going. I guess they design them that way quite intentionally. Once we found the Studio Walk mall, we found our way to CBS Television City, where Joanne wanted to attend a special screening of future television show pilots, as members of a "survey" audience. We were hoping that the show we would preview would be good, but we got to watch and critique a real stinker of a show called El Capitan.

From the MGM Grand we crossed Tropicana Ave. to the Tropicana, then crossed Las Vegas Blvd. to the Excalibur where we caught the monorail to Mandalay Bay. At Mandalay Bay we wandered around trying to find our way to the Four Seasons. We finally had to ask a hotel security guard for directions. He walked us through the Mandalay Bay and steered us to the Four Seasons. I felt a bit like a hick farmer from Kansas. “Golly, Ma, have you ever seen so many bright lights ?” But we certainly didn't look like the only slightly "lost" tourists around. At the Four Seasons we found the 2 things Joanne wanted to see there. The huge, elaborate Gingerbread Village. WOW ... what accomplished pastry chefs ! And the Teddy Bear Village. A fireplace lounge in the hotel completely filled with ... lots and lots of different types and sizes of Teddy Bears ! All provided by the FAO Schwartz Toy Company. You've got to hand it to Las Vegas. It's a town that certainly fosters big thinkers and dreamers.

We walked back through Mandalay Bay and rode the monorail back to the Excalibur, then walked back to the MGM Grand. As we walked through the MGM Grand on our way to their parkade we stopped at the lion enclosure to watch the antics of a couple oflions. Gee ... theyact just like huge versions of Teddy. Slow moving, none too bright felines.

I've been wearing a knee brace on my wonky right knee to reduce the discomfort of long days of walking. Saw an attractive, long legged blonde hooker wearing a knee brace on her left knee. Couldn't help thinking "Hey, Baby ... wanna rub knee braces ?" HA HA HA !

 

DSK

November 15 to 21, 2007

November 15 to 21, 2007

Pahrump, Nevada

 

Thursday ; Today was another sunny, hot day out here in the Mojave Desert. This morning we spent quite awhile chatting with our very friendly next door neighbours, then went into town to run some errands. After lunch back at the trailer, we spent most of the afternoon floating around the pool, in the hot tub, and sauna. AHHHHH ... another hard day at the office. HA HA HA ! Late in the afternoon we went to run more errands. I shopped at a CB radio shop. We are going to have to buy a CB radio for the truck, for our trip down to the tip of Baja California. The caravan company we are going with requires all their participants to be equipped with a CB radio. I will return to the CB radio shop on Saturday morning when they have a used equipment "swap meet" in their parking lot. I also went into a pawn shop to look for a CB radio. I've never been in a pawn shop before. How interesting ! I bought stamps and a sympathy card. We found out, by e-mail from a former employee, that the 9 year old son of the couple who bought PET VALU 234, our store in the Westgate Shopping Centre in Ottawa, has died. How tragic, to lose a young child ! Our deepest sympathies go out to Irena and Sergei.

 

Friday ; Oh, for crying out loud ! I've just realized that I've been spelling desert wrong for the last 2 weeks. Not only in my blog, which I can correct, but in a bunch of e-mails that I've sent. You'd think that I'd know how to spell a word that I've used so frequently in the last few years ! What an idiot !

Today was a teensy bit cooler, temperature in the low 70's, with a thin overcast sky. A bit too cool for the pool, without the intense desert sun.

This morning I went to the clubhouse for the park's weekly cinnamon bun breakfast. MMMMM ... freshly baked, home made cinnamon buns straight from the oven. I brought a cinnamon bun back to the trailer for Joanne. Aren't I a wonderfulhusband ?

We went to see Seibt RV Resort, an RV park with lots for sale. We're not at all interested in purchasing an RV lot in Pahrump, but we intend to do some browsing for RV lots in theYuma area, and we wanted to get some information on RV lots for sale here, for comparison. WOW ... what an upscale RV resort ! Facilities and landscaping reminiscent of the all inclusive resorts in the Caribbean we've been to. Developed by a man from Las Vegas, with Las Vegas grandeur. And ... to our very great surprise, the lot prices were ... reasonable.

We went for haircuts. This afternoon we worked on modifications to the wedges that we use under the edge of the living room / dinette slide to secure it when it's in the retracted position, for travel.

This evening after supper we went across the street to the Nugget Casino to see a free concert by Hotel California, an Eagles tribute band. We didn't know what to expect of a tribute band, but these guys were great ! Their music was faithful to the original Eagles. Their set opened with Life In The Fast Lane, closed with, of course, Hotel California, and in between they played all the early 70's Eagles' hits, including everything on the Hotel California album. When I closed my eyes, I was certain that I was listening to Glen Frey and Don Henley. Listening to the concert evoked memories of about 1972, in high school, on late night dates with Joanne, parked along the Red River on Lyndale Drive, listening to Hotel California play on the eight track. Sitting in the casino tonight, listening to the music, I didn't know whether to cop a feel or spark a doobee. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

After the concert we registered to become members of the casino's player's club, just so that we could be eligible for their "2 for 1" buffet dinner special on Wednesday night. The casino issued us "player's cards" with complimentary $3 loaded on them for slot play. So ... like the big spending Canadians that we are, we found some penny slots, and each loaded $1 into a slot machine. We played for about half an hour, until my free $1 became zero, and Joanne's free $1 became $3. HMPH ! She always wins. I'm a loser ! We'll probably return tomorrow night to see another Hotel California concert, and play slots until my $2 and her $5 are gone.

 

Saturday ; I was quite ill today with a colitis flare-up, impeding my ability to function, and enjoy the day. We got up very early in order to go the electronics swap meet where there was supposed to be a fellow selling used CB radios. He wasn't there when we arrived at 9:00 A.M.. We returned home, I read and slept for awhile, then wereturned to the swap meet at 11:00 A.M.. Mr. Used CB Radio had not shown up at the electronics swap meet today. What a waste of my time ! We went to Petrack Park to attend the 9th annual Pahrump Social Powwow. We had attended the 7th annual Pahrump Social Powwow 2 years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We both enjoy attending Indian Powwows whenever possible. I only lasted about an hour at today's powwow before I felt so ill we had to return home.

We had lunch, and I slept for half the afternoon, hoping that would make me feel better. Late in the afternoon we went back to the powwow for about another hour. We returned to Preferred RV Park to attend the annual Casino Night. First was a light dinner, then a couple of hours of casino games, played with Monopoly money. Joanne lost most of her money playing "high / low" craps, and I lost most of my money playing Blackjack. We did, however, win a door prize of dinner for two at the Nugget Casino buffet. Great ... we were planning to give it a try anyway.

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and hot. I was still pretty sick today. I made pancakes for brunch today, partially because we were planning to have a very early supper, so it made sense to have a late breakfast / early lunch. I did some minor maintenance / modification projects this afternoon. I walked around with my camera taking some photos of the RV park grounds, the casino across the street, and the surrounding mountains. We spent some time in the pool. I abandoned Joanne at the pool, to return to the trailer because I was feeling so ill. We went to the park's regular Sunday afternoon dinner and ice cream social. After dinner and ice cream, we sat in the clubhouse lounge and chatted for a couple of hours with our friendly next door neighbours, Glen and Rosi Webb, full time RV'ers for the last 6 years. We returned to the trailer in time to watch Amazing Race.

 

Monday ; Another hot, sunny day. Might be the last one for awhile. The weather is forecast to be cooler for the next few days. Today we washed the truck. What a lot of road grime it picked up during our first couple of weeks of travel. Somewhat surprising, since all our driving days were dry. I thought it only picked up a lot of grime from driving long distances on rainy days. I think a lot of the road grime was from driving across dusty desert, with hot sun baking the grime on. While washing the truck today I discovered a paint blister on the roof. HUH ? Is that what happens to black trucks sitting in the Death Valley sun ? The roof gets so hot the paint blisters ?

We spent much of the afternoon floating around the pool. As the sun set, we walked across the street to the Nugget Casino parking lot to use our Wi-Fi phone, then walked to Walgreen's Pharmacy. We haven't yet bought a U.S. cell phone. We've been getting by with our Wi-Fi phone. I don't think we're going to buy a U.S. cell phone until we get to Yuma, Arizona.

We went for supper to the Nugget Casino buffet, using the gift certificate we won at the RV park's Casino Night a couple of days ago. WOW ... are we ever bloated ! We haven't yet found a casino buffet that we didn't like. Well ... except for Joanne getting food poisoning at the buffet at Harrah's in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. But, hey ... I enjoyed it ! HA HA HA ! After supper at the Nugget's buffet, we played penny slots for about an hour and a half. My winnings / losses were zero. Joanne's winnings were $4.00 ! Doggone it ! How come she always wins and I don't ? ! < pout pout pout >

Late in the evening we went to Wal-Mart ( open 24 hours, of course, as are most Wal-Marts in the U.S. ) to buy a wiper blade to replace the one I broke while washing the truck.

 

Tuesday ; Pahrump, Nevada to Tecopa, California and return

Today was sunny and very warm. This morning Joanne went to pick up the 2 freshly baked loaves of bread she ordered from the woman in the park who bakes bread for sale. I installed the new wiper blade on the truck. You'd think replacing a wiper blade would be a relatively easy task for a reasonably intelligent man, wouldn't you ? ! ? < gritting teeth >

We invited our next door neighbours Glen and Rosi to join us on a day trip adventure to China Ranch Date Farm, about an hour southwest of Pahrump. We drove out of Pahrump heading west on Hwy. 372 which became Hwy. 178 when we crossed from Nevada into California. At Shoshone we turned south on Hwy. 127. At Tecopa we turned southeast onto Furnace Creek Road leading to China Ranch Date Farm. The last few miles to China Ranch Date Farm the road was gravel, through high walled, narrow canyons. China Ranch Date farm is built around a desert oasis. We're always surprised when we get to an oasis in the desert. Endless miles of scruffy nothingness, and then all of a sudden ... lush foliage.

We toured around the gift shop, then bought date shakes, date nut bread, and date cookies. Large date shakes for me, Joanne, Glen, and Rosi. A small date shake for Bo. WOO-HOO ... Bo looooooooooves date shakes ! ! ! What a silly dog. As much as Bo loves date shakes, he couldn't quite finish an entire one. And he seemed to have a bit of an upset tummy tonight. Maybe next time we'll just let him share some of ours. After drinking ... or more like eating ... our date shakes, we went for a hike through the date farm, taking photos and munching on dates we picked off trees. China Ranch Date Farm was a little different than other date farms we've been to. Many of the trees were pruned so that the clusters of dates were growing low enough to reach. And all the clusters of dates not yet ripened enough to be harvested were "dressed" in old articles of clothing, to prevent birds from eating the dates.

On the way back to Pahrump we stopped to look at what was at one time a cave dwelling of some sort. Kind of like what you would expect a hermit to live in. We saw an old door on the side of a canyon wall. We stopped and got out to take a look. It was a padlocked door leading into ... well ... the side of a small mountain. And nearby there were some barred window openings in the rocks that we could peek into. Inside was ... a cave dwelling. A large room in a cave. A door, a couple of windows, a hole in the top of the cave functioning as a chimney. Weird ! I also stopped to take a look at an unserviced airstrip out in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Why is there a little air strip out in the middle of nowhere in the Mojave Desert ?

We found out tonight that my sister's mother-in-law has died. Our deepest sympathies go out to my brother-in-law, Bud.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and a bit cooler than it has been, temperature in the 60's.

How come the cheapest price I could find on a turkey for Canadian Thanksgiving was $1.79 a pound, right at the turkey farm in Keremeos, but here in Pahrump, turkeys are ... wait for it ... 39¢ a pound at Albertson's ? Gee .. that even beats last year's price of $5.00 for turkeys up to 10 pounds that we found in ... wherever we were for American Thanksgiving last year.

We went to Preferred RV Park's monthly luncheon today. Cheap, decent food, good company. This park has a nice, active social calendar. Lots of activities involving food. HA HA HA ! This afternoon I did some more minor maintenance on the trailer. I find that if I jump on minor maintenance problems as soon as I become aware of them it keeps the trailer in excellent condition. We visited with neighbours. One of our neighbours got a 14 month old Standard Poodle a few days ago from a breeder. Rex has lived his whole life so far in a kennel, so needs a lot of socializing. We went shopping ; Wal-Mart, Albertson's, water jug refills, Walgreen's. We've been stocking up this week on chocolate bars on sale at Walgreen's. Sixty-nine cent chocolate bars for twenty-five cents, limit eight. So we go every couple of days and buy 16 chocolate bars. HA HA HA ! We should be able to get enough chocolate bars to last until we can stock up on Nugs and Coconugs in Mexico. HA HA HA !

 

DSK

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November 8 to 14, 2007

 

 

 

 

November 8 to 14, 2007

Topaz Lake, Nevada to Pahrump, Nevada

 

Thursday ; Topaz Lake, Nevada to Death Valley National Park, California

As we entered Death Valley National Park about 4:30 P.M. the sun was just setting behind the mountains. The temperature was 81º . As we got set up in our campsite about 2 hours later, in the dark, the temperature was still 79º ! And this is November ! No wonder people die here in the summer !

This morning before leaving Topaz Lake Lodge, the casino where we boondocked ( dry camped ) last night, we refilled with diesel and propane. We continued heading south on Hwy. 395. We crossed from Nevada into California where we had to stop at a state inspection station. The officer asked if we had any produce . HUH ? ? ? Yeah ... we've got produce, but it was all purchased a few days ago in Yreka, California. Okay ... go ! Apparently California doesn't allow produce from other states into California ? ! ? We drove by the east side of Yosemite National Park, but did not enter. We had visited Yosemite previously. We drove by the east side of King's Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park. Both of those parks can only be entered from the west side. We refilled with diesel ( again ! ) at Lone Pine. It was another long day of driving, and again we drove further than we had intended. We turned east onto Hwy. 136 heading for Death Valley National Park. It was a long, difficult climb up and over the Inyo Mountains. We began to see occasional Joshua Trees and Yucca Trees. AHHHHH ... the Mojave Desert, at last. It was a looooong descent down into Panamint Valley, then a looooong climb up and over the Panamint Mountains, and a looooong, looooong descent down into Death Valley, from over 5000 ft. ASL to below sea level. About 4 miles from Stovepipe Wells Village I shifted into neutral, and coasted the last 4 miles down, reaching about 120 km./hr. or about 75 MPH. HA HA HA !

When we arrived at Stovepipe Wells Village there were only a few sites available in the campground. The campground host told us that normally there's only about a half dozen rigs in this campground, but this week there's about 125 rigs here ! The other 3 campgrounds within Death Valley National Park are all full ! We have arrived here during the Death Valley California 49'ers Annual Encampment. HUH ? It's an annual gathering of RV'ers, ( loosely ) celebrating the crossing of Death Valley in 1849 by wannabe miners heading for the gold rush in the mountains west of here. Most died crossing Death Valley, hence the name. This annual gathering is a week long event of cowboy music, cowboy poetry, and ... who knows ? ! ? What the hell is cowboy poetry ? ? ?

Friday ; Death Valley : Stovepipe Wells to Mesquite Spring

Today was another typical Death Valley winter day. Daytime temperatures in the high 80's, night time temperatures in the mid-50's. I noticed that when the sun went down, the temperature dropped 20 degrees in 20 minutes ! The sky was overcast in the morning, which is a bit unusual for Death Valley.

This morning before leaving our campground at Stovepipe Wells I went over to the Death Valley California 49'ers Annual Encampment stage area to get some information on the organization and their events / activities. On the stage was a cowboy playing an accordion, singing cowboy songs and yodelling. Not exactly my cup of tea ! We headed a short distance northeast, then turned northwest heading for Scotty's Castle at Death Valley Ranch. Scotty's Castle is a huge, elaborate residence built by a wealthy couple, and their con man friend, in the 1920's. Now it's sort of a National Parks museum. We wandered around the buildings and the grounds for a couple of hours. During that time, about 3 drops of rain fell. I guess that's what's considered a rainfall in Death Valley, which receives about an inch and a half of rain annually.

I find it interesting that every ten or twenty miles on the roads through Death Valley, there is a large tank of water with a faucet on the bottom, a "radiator water" refill station.

We drove over to the campground at Mesquite Spring where we spent the night. It was a very nice, very remote, unserviced campground in a beautiful desert setting surrounded by mountains. I liked it ! Wehad a campfire tonight. After it had been burning for awhile, I took a "hot rock" from the ring of stones surrounding the fire and placed it on the back of Joanne's stiff neck and top of her spine. My cheap Ukrainian version of a spa treatment. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! Actually, it was very pleasant. I tried it myself.

Every winter down south I'm a bit surprised by the change in the position of the constellations in the sky. Tonight the Big Dipper was sitting completely flat on top of the mountain, looking like a pot on a stove.

 

Saturday ; Death Valley National Park, California to Pahrump, Nevada

Gee, we’ve crossed the border between California and Nevada about half a dozen times in the last few days. This morning we departed Mesquite Spring campground heading southeast along the west side of the Amargosa Mountains. Near Stovepipe Wells we rejoined Hwy. 190 heading southeast, following it through Furnace Creek and out of Death Valley National Park. We continued east on Hwy. 190 crossing from California back into Nevada again. At Death Valley Junction we got onto State Line Road heading for Pahrump.

At Pahrump we checked into Pair-A-Dice, an Escapee RV Park. We were hoping to spend at least one and probably two weeks here, but today they only had one site available for 4 days. Hopefully, in four days another site will be available. If not, I guess we're moving on.

This afternoon I had a well deserved long nap followed by a long hot shower. I felt tired and grubby. When we're boondocked / dry camped without electricity or water, as we have been for a few days now, we go to sleep very early, get up very early, and have very short showers.

I remember the first time we visited Pahrump 2 years ago. It was our first time in Nevada. On the road to Pair-A-Dice RV Park, there is a spiffy looking brothel. It was odd seeing a brothel for the first time, openly advertising their "services". Welcome to Nevada !

 

Sunday ; Remembrance Day ( Canada ) / Veteran's Day ( U.S. )

This morning, as we always do at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, we observed a minute of silence to "remember". Lest we forget ! This practice is not part of the Americans' observance of Veteran's Day.

Ever since LaPine State Park in Oregon about a week ago there has been evidence of a mouse in a kitchen cupboard. I kept hoping the movement of the trailer during travel would inspire it to leave. Apparently not ! Last night I set a mouse trap under the sink. Yup ... there was a mouse ! Maybe more than one, based on how cleanly the peanut butter was licked off the trap. Like ... "oh, boy, my buddy tripped the trap, and is now dead, but at least now I can lick off all the peanut butter". I'll set the trap again tonight.

This morning we walked over to one of the two fenced dog run areas at this park. One of them has a bunch of posts and various sized tires partially embedded in the ground. Joanne wanted to show me the "Bo-gility" routines she has been working on. HA HA HA ! Good work, Bo !

This afternoon, after unhitching Harvey from Lanoire for the first time since we left home, we ran errands and replenished groceries and supplies. We found diesel for the lowest price since entering the U.S.. We had lunch at a new subway chain called Port Of Subs. We spent a long time Wal-Martin' < sigh >. I hate Wal-Martin'. We shopped at Albertson's, a grocery chain. We went to three different RV parks to check them out. We refilled all our water jugs. We were completely out of drinking water. We had difficulty finding a water refill machine in Oregon or California. But no problem finding water refill machines out here in the desert. And it still pisses me off, every time I pay 15¢ for a gallon of water, which is the price anywhere in the desert, from here down to the Mexican border, that I had to pay $4.99 for a gallon of water in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada, a few years ago. Why is water more expensive than automotive fuel in a Canadian National Park ? ! ?

We have decided to stay in Pahrump until immediately after the Thanksgiving weekend. We’ll move to at least one, and maybe even two other RV parks here in Pahrump before we leave. We'll head to Las Vegas on Monday, November 26. In the meantime, we will stay in Pahrump for Thanksgiving, and the 9th annual Pahrump Social Powwow next weekend. We attended the Pahrump Social Powwow 2 years ago, and really enjoyed it. The Pahrump Social Powwow is a Navajo and Shoshone celebration of Native dancing, music, and food.

Welcome to Nevada ! Not only are there billboards advertising the brothels, but the grocery stores have slot machines !

HEY ! ! ! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE STOCK MARKET IN THE LAST 2 WEEKS ? ? ? ! ! ! I retrieved my investment data this evening for the first time in 2 weeks. I'm not pleased !

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and warm. This morning I worked on replacing the moulding on the lower front edge of the trailer that had been smashed and damaged by a rock that we drove over a week or so ago.

This afternoon we went to watch a movie at the clubhouse. Every Monday afternoon they show a movie in this RV park. Today's movie was Ratatouille. Great ... that was a movie we were interested in seeing.

After the movie we went to Social Hour, held in this park on weekdays only. And poorly attended. This is one of the less impressive Escapee parks. Social Hour only on weekdays. Poorly attended. Ice cream social only once every 2 weeks. No pot luck dinners in the month of November. Not much of a social calendar at all, actually. At Social Hour we chatted with a couple from northwest Oregon. The woman had been born in Vernon, at the north end of B.C.'s Okanagan Valley. We chatted with a travelling single woman from Portland, Oregon. And a man originally from Toronto, Ontario.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and hot. For most of today I puttered around with some minor maintenance chores, and Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi system here is really poor, and I have spent a lot of time trying to send and retrieve e-mail, retrieve phone messages, update my blog, etc.. It seems as if the poor Wi-Fi situation isn't confined to just this park. The other RV parks we went to yesterday also commented that they are experiencing Wi-Fi problems. Poor Wi-Fi seems to be a problem throughout Pahrump.

We took Bo for his daily "Bo-gility" session. He loves it. We wonder whether we can design and construct a dog agility course at Riverside RV Park next summer. We went to Social Hour. Once again ... and this is not unusual ... we were the last to leave after Social Hour. Gee ... if you're going to go to daily Social Hour ... might as well be sociable ! If you don't want to be sociable ... stay home !

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and hot. First time I've worn shorts in a couple of months.

This morning we prepared for departure from Pair-A-Dice SKP RV Park and moved "across town" to Preferred RV Resort. It's a larger park, with nicer amenities. Nice pool and hot tub ! After getting set up in our site, and having lunch, we took Bo for a long walk around the park, then Joanne and I headed for the pool and hot tub. AHHHHH ! ! !

This afternoon I could receive 2 Wi-Fi signals, but only intermittently. I couldn't get a good signal on either the computer or the Wi-Fi phone. One signal was the RV park's, and the other one was from the casino across the road. After supper I drove around with the computer in the truck, trying to find the best possible location to get a good Wi-Fi signal. Got a good one in the employee parking lot of the casino. So ... here goes a blog update.

 

DSK