January 3 to 9, 2008

January 3 to 9, 2008

Yuma, Arizona

 

Thursday ; Today was partially cloudy and mild. This afternoon we invited Tom and Ruth-Anne to join us as we went browsing at Arizona Market. On the way there we stopped at Peanut Patch, the local peanut farm and retail business. Tom and Ruth-Anne had not been there before. Joanne wanted to buy fresh peanut butter. We spent a couple of hours at Arizona Market. I bought some guy stuff and 2 denim shirts. In the Arizona Market was a business that sold articles of clothing, and appliqués. Pick your shirt, or other article of clothing, then pick your appliqué. They apply the appliqué you want, where you want, on what you want. I ordered my shirt, went shopping, then returned for my shirt. The appliqué on the back was not centred. I refused to accept it, and asked them to make me another. They did, then we negotiated a deeply discounted price for the first shirt with the off centre appliqué.

From Arizona Market we drove to Wellton, a town 30 miles east of Yuma. I wanted to see a new RV development there with lots for sale. It was a great new subdivision, with large lots, and reasonable prices. We spent quite awhile there looking around, and asking the developer questions. On our way back to Yuma we stopped to have supper at a KFC Buffet in the Foothills. I can’t digest KFC, and Tom can’t yet eat anything thicker than mashed potatoes with a lot of gravy on them, so I’m not sure we got our money’s worth, but Joanne and Ruth-Anne seemed satisfied.

We returned to Kofa Ko-op where Joanne and I quickly decided, after some discussion, that we were not interested in buying a lot in the Wellton subdivision. A railway track ran a little too close to the development for our tastes. But the real deal breaker for me was the odour from a nearby feed lot. MOOOOO !

 

Friday ; Today was partially cloudy and mild. Joanne started working on waxing the trailer today. She borrowed Tom's power polisher. She liked it and wants one. She didn't make much progress because I kept interrupting her to come and provide me with assistance. I worked on the bed slide project for most of the day < sigh >. It was a two part project. Part one went okay. Part two didn't. Oh, well ! Late in the afternoon Sandy and Peachy came by for a visit. On Monday Sandy will be starting extensive dental work down in Los Algodones, somewhat like Tom's. I wonder if needing extensive dental work is a normal symptom of reaching age 70 ? After they left Joanne and I took Bo and Emma to the dog park for a long play session. Then we went to Albertson's for grocery shopping. WOO-HOO ... Bo got to go "drivey".

 

Saturday ; Today was partially cloudy and warm. This evening it actually rained a little, a rare occurrence here in Yuma.

This afternoon Tom and Ruth-Anne came along with us to an arts and craft fair in “Historic Old Downtown” Yuma. We wandered slowly around the “old downtown” area, browsing. I bought a gift. From there we drove to the Foothills to check out 4 RV parks I wanted to see. We have to select a park to move to for a week when our friends from Ottawa arrive in February. They are not Escapees, and therefore can’t stay here at Kofa Ko-op SKP RV Park. We checked out the four parks, and at least a couple of them are quite acceptable. We also drove over to check out another RV park near Kofa Ko-op. From there we took the “scenic route” on back roads to Cocopah Casino operated by the Cocopah Indian Band. We got a little lost, but had an enjoyable time driving through agricultural areas, looking at fields of different types of lettuce, onions, radishes, date palms, and some crops we couldn’t identify. We wandered around the casino briefly, and checked out their buffet restaurant.

We returned to Kofa Ko-op and took Bo and Emma to the dog park. We met a couple from Tulsa, Oklahoma with Lulu the Schnauzer. They arrived here today. They have been full time RV’ers for less than 2 weeks. HA HA HA ... rookies ! They are filled with anxiety and excitement about their new lifestyle. I took the 3 dogs, and the woman from Oklahoma on a “pack walk” around the perimeter of the dog park. I talked with the woman, trying to give her reassurance and encouragement, much like our friend Sandy did for us when we started out 3½ years ago. I suppose it’s now my turn to “pass it forward” and play “full time RV” mentor.

 

Sunday ; Today was mostly sunny and warm. Just as we were sitting down to eat lunch, Oslo's mother Donna came over for a visit. She was distraught, needed to have a good cry, get a hug, and have some sympathetic ears listen to her woes. They've had a stressful holiday season, their first "on the road". She and her husband Terry have both been sick with a cold and flu, like everybody else around here. She's been having painful dental work done. They're in their sixties and have a seven year old ! ! ! And the final straw was ... they decided to get rid of their dog, River. They took her to the Yuma Humane Society yesterday. We tried to be patient, and listen sympathetically, but ... ! We were hungry, and wanted to eat our lunch, which was sitting on the table already, and we wanted to get back to the work we were doing ... ! And it's difficult to be sympathetic sometimes. We both have strong feelings / opinions about people who get a dog as a puppy, and get rid of it before it's a year old.

Joanne worked on waxing the trailer. I worked on repairing a dinette chair. I employed some "outside the box" thinking to repair this chair ... again ! I guess our dinette chairs are simply wearing out. We took Bo and Emma to the dog park. We went to the regular Sunday evening ice cream social. We chatted with a man from Quebec whom we met on New Year's Eve. His wife did not come to the ice cream social. I think it's because she speaks no English. Joanne conversed with him in French, and I conversed with him in English and French. My French is pretty weak, as is his English. After the ice cream social we returned to our trailer to have supper and watch Amazing Race.

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and mild. Emma spent the morning with us while Tom and Ruth-Anne went to Los Algodones for Tom's continuing dental work. Emma and Bo sure enjoy their morning "pyjama parties". Joanne did laundry. I spent most of the morning snoozing and reading. Neither Bo nor I felt well today. This afternoon we left Bo with Tom and Ruth-Anne while we went shopping. They took Bo and Emma for an afternoon of play in the dog park. We shopped at Lowe's for some "home improvement" stuff I needed. We went to a Mexican grocery store looking for some Cajeta flavoured ice cream. They didn't have any, but I did buy some Mexican pastries and a couple of cans of Mexican fruit drinks ; a can of Guava nectar and a can of Tamarind nectar. What's a Tamarind ? We picked up some mail at the Post Office. We went to Albertson's to buy more of the very good shrimp that they have on sale right now.

I watched a huge C-3 cargo plane from the nearby Marine Corps Air Station on an obvious training flight. I'm accustomed to watching Cessnas on training flights, but it was certainly odd to see this big pig of a plane doing steep turn, steep climb, and steep descent manoeuvers rightover our RV park. Gee ... if the kid learning to fly that thing were to stall and spin the pig, he would have dropped right into our RV park. While we were driving to and from our shopping, he was flying touch and go circuits at the airport as we drove by. They were practicing “touch and goes” with a couple of fighter jets in formation taking off and landing with the huge cargo plane. Odd ! I guess they have to learn to take off and land with fighter jets escorting the cargo plane in a tight formation for protection.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and warm. This morning I worked on writing some e-mails before starting some small "home improvement" projects. I am proud of the fact that our 9 year old trailer is in better condition than when we bought it 4 years ago, and is probably in better condition than when it rolled off the assembly line. We have noticed that most RV's begin to look pretty decrepit at about 10 years of age, and some sooner if not maintained well. Joanne continued working on waxing the trailer. I helped with the high parts. Joanne is uncomfortable being high on the ladder. Tom, Ruth-Anne, Emma ( the dog ), Donna, Terry, and Oslo ( the 7 year old boy ) came by to invite Bo to go to the dog park. It's obvious that Oslo is missing their former dog, River. By the time Donna returned Bo a couple of hours later, he was exhausted. HA HA HA ... like the rest of us, Bo's not as young as he used to be.

Late in the afternoon we went to the park's "walking tacos and surprise dessert" dinner. Walking tacos are a small bag of tortilla chips, slightly crushed, cut open, with taco fixings ( lettuce, diced tomatoes, seasoned and cooked ground beef, grated cheese, sour cream, etc. ) poured in and over the slightly crushed tortilla chips. Walk around and eat it right out of the bag with a fork. We've had walking tacos before, at the Similkameen Sizzle pepper harvest festival in Keremeos. After supper, Joanne and I sat and chatted with Donna for most of the rest of the evening.

I worked on the incoming batch of December mail that we picked up at the Post Office yesterday. Oh, good ... Revenue Canada has finally figured out that we ( and our company ) no longer "live" in Manitoba and have "moved" to British Columbia. And it only took them 8 months after we submitted change of address information, both online and by "hard copy" forms.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and very warm. Very nice ! December was a bit too cool to use the outdoor pool. Maybe outdoor pool weather has finally arrived here in Yuma.

This morning we invited Tom and Ruth-Anne to join us on an outing to the Wednesday Farmer's Market. It was a small combination of farmer's market and flea market. I was captivated by a vendor demonstrating a glue product. I bought some, despite its outrageous price. I hope I don't regret it. There have been more than a few occasions when I've wished for a better glue to solve a problem. Hope this is it ! From the Farmer's Market we drove over to the Wal-Mart mall, where we had lunch at Wienerschnitzel. Then ... < sigh > ... Wal-Martin. I hate Wal-Martin'. It's an acquired dislike. I didn't really start hating Wal-Martin' until after we had shopped at 3/4 of the Wal-Marts in North America.

When we returned to Kofa Ko-op I went to the clubhouse with our Wi-Fi phone for Ruth-Anne to use. She was unable to phone Mexico on her cell phone. She phoned Dr. Camacho and made an appointment for tomorrow afternoon to have an examination of the tooth she broke last night. We'll go with them to Mexico tomorrow. We need haircuts and I want to buy something down there. I should suggest to Dr. Camacho that he pay me a finder's fee for all the customers we have sent him. Tom, Ruth-Anne, Donna, Oslo, Sandy, and in a month, Erbon and Lorraine.

Ed and Lori, friends of ours from SKP B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 arrived here today.

I crawled underneath the trailer to examine and identify the suspension components. I want to buy spare suspension components before our trip down the Baja. We have been advised to carry spare trailer suspension parts. I'm not sure which parts are most vulnerable to breakage. Maybe I'll ask Sandy, whom I know has suffered broken trailer suspension parts when they owned a fifth wheel.

 

DSK