January 24 to 30, 2008
Yuma, Arizona
Thursday ; Today was sunny and mild. A few drops of rain fell overnight. This morning Joanne went shopping with Ruth-Anne to Arizona Market. I measured and drilled holes in the Fan-Tastic fan for the MaxxAir vent cover mounting brackets. Then I applied the third and final coat of rubber roof compound around the Fan-Tastic fan. I took Bo for an obedience training walk. Haven't done that in about a month. Not bad ... a little unfocussed on the "stays".
This afternoon I read and napped while Joanne went Wal-Martin'. When she returned we gave Bo a bath. We still haven't given him the semi-annual haircut he usually gets in December. There's been just a few too many cold evenings and nights for him to have short hair. Maybe soon. He'll definitely need to have a haircut before our Baja trip.
After supper I prepared for and rehearsed my magic show for tomorrow evening. It takes longer to prepare a magic show than it does to perform it.
Friday ; Today was sunny and warm, with a bit of a breeze. This morning I installed and caulked the MaxxAir vent cover mounting brackets on the Fan-Tastic fan. This afternoon our neighbours from Riverside RV Park Resort back home in Keremeos, B.C., Gil and Maria, and their little dog Buppy, came by for a visit. First we took Bo and Buppy ( and Emma ) to the dog park for a play session. Then we sat outside in the warm afternoon sun and snacked on tortilla chips and Joanne's great, fresh guacamole while we chatted.
At 5:00 P.M. we all went to the clubhouse for the park's baked potato dinner. Salad and large baked potatoes smothered in a variety of toppings. After dinner I performed a repeat / continuation of my New Year's Eve magic show. Unlike New Year's Eve, tonight my magic skills were sharp, and my performance was flawless. And very well received < taking a bow >. Woo-Hoo !
Tonight’s baked potato dinner was a fund raiser to benefit the “Kofa Kats”. A few years ago this park had a problem with a colony of feral cats. The park rounded them all up, and took all of them except four to the local Humane Society. They took the remaining four of them to a vet, had them spayed or neutered, then set up a cat house on the park’s grounds for them. They are provided food and water daily. They remain semi-feral, and their job is to control the rodent population in the park. Apparently they do a very good job. At the end of my performance I “passed the hat” and everything I collected I donated to the Kofa Kat fund.
Saturday ; Today started out sunny and mild but developed a thin overcast in the afternoon. This morning I installed the MaxxAir vent cover over the new Fan-Tastic fan in the kitchen ceiling, completing the installation of the Fan-Tastic fan. Then we invited Tom and Ruth-Anne to join us at Yuma Lettuce Days in "historic old downtown".
Yuma Lettuce Days is Yuma's annual weekend celebration of local agriculture. The Yuma area farms grow 95% of North America's lettuce in the winter. Mostly Romaine and Iceberg. They also grow other green vegetables like cauliflower, onions, cabbage. I was surprised to learn that there are 345 days per year of growing season here. Only the hottest 3 weeks of August are unsuitable for agriculture, when the temperature is up around 120 degrees. And I was surprised to learn that they grow 3 very distinct crops. In the winter they grow lettuce and other green vegetables. In the spring and early summer they grow a high quality wheat that is mostly shipped to Italy for pasta production, and Sudan Grass which is shipped to Japan to feed their Kobe beef cattle. In the late summer and fall they grow cotton. WOW ... 3 crops per year per farm. No wonder farm land around here costs $28,000 per acre.
Yuma Lettuce Days stretched across about 4 blocks of downtown. There were many vendors and information booths. At one of the vendors I bought a small, light, cheap, really neat denim backpack. I'll keep it in the truck, because we often go places where one or both of us ends up carrying all kinds of stuff. Like all the information we picked up today on some local National Wildlife Refuges, some tourist guides and maps for Erbon and Lorraine, recipes Joanne picked up, etc.. There was "the world's largest salad bar" set up, selling all the salad you could eat for two dollars. We were planning to have a huge salad lunch, but the line-up was about half an hour long, so Tom and Ruth-Anne wanted to go to a local restaurant. Worst food and service we've experienced in a long time. We got a couple of free packets of Yuma lettuce seed. I wantto grow some next summer. Joanne thinks that's futile. It will just be marmot food. We got 4 free tickets to go on a 45 minute bus tour of the local farming area, with narration by a woman from the University Of Arizona. That's where I learned the information I wrote above.
I have given up on trying to buy a spare leaf spring for the trailer at the local Mexican operated leaf spring shop. I sent an e-mail to the manufacturer of the original leaf springs on the trailer, located in Dallas, Texas, asking for their assistance. Wish me luck.
Sunday ; WOW ... when we woke up this morning it was actually raining. Quite a rare occurrence here in Yuma. It rained lightly, intermittently, all day long. That rain should result in spectacular spring blooming in the desert in about 6 or 8 weeks.
The clouds and rain inspired me to have a lazy day. I read a book. I applied for a job. HA HA HA ! Never thought I'd be doing that again ! But I found an intriguing ad in the Yuma County Super Shopper we picked up yesterday at Lettuce Days. An employment ad targeting Canadian Snowbirds from B.C. and Alberta. That's about half the population of Yuma in the winter. HA HA HA ! They are looking for B.C. and Alberta Snowbirds to work for the summer providing ground support to aerial fire fighting teams stationed at airports. When I fly out of Penticton, I see forest fire aerial combat tankers stationed there, so maybe there is an opportunity at the Penticton Airport. I neither need nor particularly want a job, but it's worth finding out more information. Might be an interesting adventure opportunity. They plan to interview right here in Yuma. Unfortunately, they are interviewing starting the day after we leave here in a couple of weeks. Oh, well, if they’re interested in my application, they’ll figure something out. I think it’s obvious from their ad that they’re capable of “thinking outside the box”. My pilot’s knowledge of aircraft systems and aviation might be valuable.
We went to the regular Sunday evening ice cream social. We chatted with Lynn and Micha who have returned here to Kofa Ko-op with their dog Gypsy. We met them here when we first arrived early in December. We also chatted with a man from the B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33, who has no recollection of ever meeting us before, despite the fact that we were camped beside him for 3 days last spring at the Chapter 33 Spring Rally in Summerland, BC., and despite the fact that I performed a magic show at that rally. Some people ... ! !
The woman who ruined my New Year's Eve magic show with her medical emergency had another medical emergency again during the church service in the clubhouse this morning. I'm glad she didn't attend my magic show again 2 nights ago !
Monday ; Happy 54th Birthday to Joanne. “A mi Amor en su cumpleañ os”.
Today was sunny and warm. Tom and Ruth-Anne went to Los Algodones early this morning for dental appointments, so Emma came over for another doggie pyjama party. Teddy is disgusted when he's trying to snooze at the foot of the bed and Bo and Emma are playing on the bed. I'm on Teddy's side. I also find it hard to sleep when 35 pounds of dogs are jumping on and off me.
This afternoon Lynn and Micha invited me to bring Bo and Emma to the dog park for a play session with Gypsy. The dogs romped, we took them for a long "pack walk", then Lynn and I did an obedience session with Bo and Gypsy. Emma isn't obedience trained.
Tom's, Ruth-Anne's, and Sandy's dental ordeals continue. Tom and Ruth-Anne met Sandy and Peachy at the dentist's office in Los Algodones.
I took Joanne for her birthday dinner to Famous Dave's Barbecue. We were joined by Tom and Ruth-Anne, Lynn and Micha, and Sandy and Peachy. On the way to Famous Dave's, We stopped at Wal-Mart for me to buy a birthday cake. I had them write "Feliz Cumpleañ os Mi Amor" on the cake. HA HA HA ! We had a very pleasant dinner and long evening of chatting with friends. Sandy and Peachy had been dropped off at the restaurant by friends, so we drove them back to their RV park.
MAN OH MAN OH MAN ! ! ! If I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes, I wouldn't have believed it ! Aerial crop dusting ... at night ! ! ! YIKES ! ! ! An "Ag-Cat" crop duster was spraying fields along the road to Sandy and Peachy's RV park. Flying about 5 feet off the ground, spraying the crops, then yanking up and over the utility wires at the end of the field, turning around at a 90 degree angle of bank about 20 feet off the ground, clearing the utility wires by inches, then dropping down to 5 feet again to continue spraying. IN THE FREAKIN' DARK ! When I first saw the plane, he was flying towards me with his bright lights shining at me ... I thought it was a large tractor trailer truck bearing down on me ... driving across a lettuce field ? ? ? HUH ? Then his lights abruptly pointed upwards and he flew over the utility wires and road that we were driving on. HUH ? ? ? ? ?
Tuesday ; Today was sunny and warm. Once again < sigh > I spent half a day on the phone trying to find a spare leaf spring and mounting tie plate for the trailer. I finally succeeded ... hopefully ! After many phone calls, I found a place in Phoenix that has what I need. I sent an e-mail to Erbon asking him to pick them up for me in Phoenix on his way out here to Yuma. While I sat in the clubhouse making phone calls, Joanne went Wal-Martin'.
Erbon phoned this afternoon. He and Lorraine are in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They are willing to go pick up my parts on their way here to Yuma. Hallejuhah ! Perhaps my "trailer spare suspension parts" ordeal is coming to an end. We took Bo and Emma to the dog park for a long play session. Joanne phoned her sister and had a long chat. And Tom's dental ordeal finally seems to be coming to an end soon. Poor guy has been through about a month of misery getting teeth pulled and partial dentures made and fitted.
Yesterday at the restaurant Micha and Peachy were discussing the use of Google Earth. So tonight I downloaded and learned to use Google Earth. WOW ... HA HA HA ... KEWL !
Wednesday ; Today was sunny and mild, a bit windy at times. I've been suffering a mild colitis flare-up for the last few days. Joanne has been "encouraging" me to take it more seriously. Today my colitis flared up considerably more severely. I guess I should have listened to her.
This morning we drove out into the desert about 15 miles west of Yuma to pick up Gil and Maria. They had invited us to join them for a day trip to the hot springs near Holtville. We picked them up, then headed for the hot springs about 50 miles west. We spent some time soaking in the very hot mineral waters, then drove into the little border town of Holtville. We had lunch at Gil's and Maria's favourite little Mexican taco stand. MMMMM ... best burritos we've ever had. We found a Mexican bakery in town. WOO-HOO ... Daniel gets pan dulce ( dullchay ) ! The Mexican term for pastries is Spanish for "soft bread". We drove Gil and Maria back to their boondock camp out in the desert and visited briefly before returning to Kofa Ko-op.
At the moment ( 10:25 P.M. ) we're watching the national weather report on the late news. BRRRRR ... we sure are glad to be here in Yuma.
DSK
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