April 3 to 9, 2008

April 3 to 9, 2008

Yuma, Arizona to Victorville, California

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and hot. This morning I dropped Joanne off at Arizona Marketplace to shop for fresh produce, and I drove over to RV Connection to buy some RV parts I needed. They only had 2 of the 3 parts that I needed. I picked Joanne up at Arizona Marketplace and we went to Peanut Patch to buy a couple of large tubs of fresh peanut butter. They have very nice peanut butter ! Back at Kofa Ko-op I removed the hub caps, wheel liners, and valve extenders from the truck, in preparation for servicing. After lunch I drove over to Arizona RV and bought the last of the 3 RV parts I needed. Then I took the truck to Fisher Chrysler Dodge to drop it off for servicing tomorrow. Instead of driving me back to Kofa Ko-op, they suggested that maybe there was enough time left today for them to complete the truck servicing. I waited a couple of hours, but they weren't able to complete the servicing this afternoon. They drove me back to Kofa Ko-op.

While I was waiting at Fisher's service department, I went over to the parts department to buy a hub cap to replace the one I lost in the Baja. Geez ... $73 for a teeny little hub cap ! The trailer hub cap and the trailer bearing grease / dust cap that I lost cost about $20 today. So my total losses to Baja's rough roads, topes ( pronounced "toepays" ... big speed bumps ) and topecitos ( pronounced "toepayseetoes" ... little speed bumps ) were a little less than a hundred dollars. Not bad. Could have been a lot worse. I also chatted with another Dodge one ton diesel dually owner whose truck was in for service, because I noticed that his license plate was from Ontario, and it was a commercial truck with an Ottawa phone number on it.

I repaired the onyx wind chimes we bought the other day. One of the cactus figurines was broken on the one I wanted to buy, so the vendor cut a cactus figurine off another set of chimes, and gave it to me to replace the broken one. In the meantime, I had noticed the broken piece on the floor, so I had picked it up, thinking that it might be possible to repair the broken figurine with the amazing glue I bought here in Yuma a few months ago. Tonight I cut the broken figurine off the chimes, and using some fishing line from my fishing rod, installed the replacement. Then I worked on repairing the broken one, hoping that, if successful, I would end up with a spare. The good news is that I was able to repair the broken onyx cactus figurine. The very bad news is that I got some glue and paper towel glued to the dinette table. < sigh > I'm going to have to sand and refinish the area on the dinette table that I damaged.

We administered heartworm and flea treatments to Bo and Teddy. I reconciled the March bank statements. I went to the clubhouse late in the evening to get online with Wi-Fi, update my blog, receive and send e-mail. I find that if I work online using Wi-Fi late at night, when I am the only one using a Wi-Fi network, and no on else is gobbling up bandwidth, I am able to attach photos to my blog without any difficulty at all.

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and hot. Another day of chores. And another day of fighting with Joanne. This morning I installed a replacement dust / grease cap on the trailer. Then I removed all the fittings and connections from my old, leaking 20 foot sewer hose and installed them on a new one. I trimmed my beard. This afternoon we washed the trailer. I took Bo to the dog park. I spent some time relaxing around the pool, reading the newspaper. First time I've read a newspaper in about 2 months. Fisher Chrysler Dodge phoned late in the afternoon to tell me that my truck was almost ready, but asked if it would be okay if they picked me up tomorrow morning instead of today. Sure ... fine. I paid my U.S.$ MasterCard bill by phone. I spent the evening updating and analyzing my investment files.

 

Saturday ; Today was sunny and hot. I was up early this morning, in anticipation of the shuttle driver from Fisher Chrysler Dodge picking me up shortly after 8:00 A.M.. While I waited for his arrival I drained the black waste holding tank, then went over to say goodbye to Erbon and Lorraine who left this morning for the long journey back to Ottawa, Ontario. When I got to Fisher I noticed that they had rotated the tires incorrectly, despite me having provided written instructions and a copy of the correct tire rotation pattern diagram from the truck's maintenance manual ! ! ! ****, it's hard to find good help ! ! ! After they rotated the tires again, correctly, and I paid the bill, I headed for the Post Office to pick up a batch of mail sent by my next door neighbour back home. From there I went to Checker Auto Parts to buy some auto supplies, then to Pep Boys for the items that Checker didn't have. From Pep Boys I went to Lowe's for some hardware, then over to Home Depot for the items that Lowe's didn't have < sigh >. From Home Depot I drove over to Love's to buy a gallon of Lucas diesel fuel additive. By the time I returned to Kofa Ko-op it had been a long, productive morning.

After lunch I worked on removing the glue damage that I had done to the dinette table a couple of days ago. My efforts were not successful. Joanne sanded the dinette table top to remove the damage, then varnished it. Sorry ... and thank you ! The rest of the afternoon we spent washing the truck, a job I've been somewhat dreading. The truck has never been that filthy before. That was the result of quite a few back road adventures in the Baja, on gravel and/or dirt and/or rock trails that would be better described as burro paths than roads ! Oh, well, I guess that's one of the reasons why I have a 4WD dually ... which makes it a 6WD actually. HA HA HA ! Nobody could ever accuse me of pampering Lanoire. And today when we washed her, it wasn't a surprise to discover that there are a few new scratches on her from being scraped through desert brush on those back roads / burro trails. I believe that's called "Mexican pinstriping". HA HA HA !

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and hot. I got an early start to my day because I had a lot of work I wanted to get done. First I tightened all the truck lug nuts, then reinstalled the valve extenders, wheel liners, and hub caps. I replaced a lug nut on the trailer. Then I tackled the fairly large job of removing a trailer wheel to install a new hub cover to replace the one that was lost between La Paz and Ciudad Constitución. I jacked up the trailer, removed the wheel, and installed the new hub cover, which installs from behind the wheel. I reinstalled the wheel, then discovered that the wheel and hub assembly were loose and wobbly. HMPH ... loose bearings ! I removed the wheel ... again, removed the grease cap I had just installed a day or two ago, removed the cotter pin from the bearing retainer nut, and tightened the bearing retainer nut. The bearings were very loose, and I wonder if that was from wear and tear, or did Camping World in Albuquerque do a poor job of reassembling the bearings and hub assembly after cleaning and repacking the bearings about a year ago. I suspect the latter, of course. Now I have a bit of anxiety about whether or not the other three hubs have loose bearings, but I can't disassemble and thoroughly inspect every job that I pay somebody else to do. Well, I could, but I'm already obsessive compulsive enough. HA HA HA ! Finding and rectifying the loose bearings prevented a potentially huge problem from developing while travelling. It's gratifying to find and rectify a potentially huge problem before it becomes one.

When Joanne took Bo to the dog park, she encountered a huge lizard, much larger then the little ones we often see out here in the desert. It was probably an iguana. Spring has arrived in the deserts of the southwest. There is a note in the clubhouse warning to be aware of scorpions and rattlesnakes. Makes me a bit leery of wearing sandals when I walk the dog.

We went out for lunch to Carl's Jr., a hamburger fast food chain, then over to Albertson's for grocery shopping. Back at Kofa Ko-op I read today's newspaper, then napped. Joanne worked on cleaning the inside of the truck. I worked on sealing around some exterior plumbing underneath the trailer with expanding foam insulation. The job went very poorly. I don't know if it was too hot today for the expanding foam insulation, or if I bought a poor quality product. It was like trying to get melting ice cream stuck to the underside of the trailer. The only things this expanding foam insulation wanted to stick to were my hands and clothes ! I've used expanding foam insulation before, and it was messy and difficult to use, but nothing like today.

We went to the park's regular Sunday afternoon ice cream social. There certainly are fewer people here in April than in January and February ! Joanne made a list of the lots with park model homes that are available for sale in the park. We walked around and took a look at all of them, to give us an idea of what might be available to us in this park in a couple of years. We are now no. 72 on the park's waiting list. Today at Albertson's Joanne bought a corned beef brisket and cooked it for supper tonight. It was the first time she's made corned beef. It was very good.

 

Monday ; Los Algodones, B.C., Mexico

Guess what ? Today was sunny and hot again. HA HA HA ! This morning we headed for Los Algodones for our last Mexican shopping trip. We bought a couple of cartons of cigarettes for me, some medication for me, a bottle of "Mexican eggnog" liquor, and obscene amounts of Cremino chocolates, Nugs chocolate bars, CocoNugs chocolate bars, and Mini-CocoNugs chocolate bars. HA HA HA HA HA ! Joanne also stocked up heavily on Zuko drink mixes. They're a powdered drink mix like Crystal Light, but much better in her opinion. And they come in flavours like tamarind that just aren't available in Canadian or American powdered drink mixes. Alas, she couldn't find any Nugs Crujiente ( Crunchy Nugs ) chocolate bars. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! Gee, we now have "must buy before leaving country" lists for three countries. Canadian products we stock up on before we leave Canada, American products we stock up on before leaving the U.S. to return to Canada, and Mexican products we stock up on before leaving Yuma or the Texas Rio Grande Valley where we have easy, regular access to Mexico. And we now travel with the currency of all three countries ! We ended our day in Los Algodones with a lovely, late lunch at El Paraiso, our favourite outdoor restaurant in Mexico. The line up to cross the border back into the U.S. was much shorter and faster than in January and February.

Back at Kofa Ko-op we spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool, chatting with a couple from San Diego and a couple from the west coast of Washington. The Washington couple will be starting for home tomorrow. The San Diego couple will be heading for Wyoming and Montana soon. Time for all good little RV'ers to start heading north. It's getting too hot down here in the desert. HA HA HA ! After the pool we took Bo to the dog park. Joanne wanted to show me the large iguanas she had seen in there yesterday and earlier today. I didn't see any ! Yes, dear, I believe you < rolling eyes >. Really, I do ! There were iguana tracks all over the dog park. Little paw prints and lines in the sand from their dragging tails.

I spent the evening reviewing the February and March batches of forwarded mail that I picked up at the Post Office the other day. And it's obvious that our January batch of mail was lost ! It seems as if once per winter we lose a batch of forwarded mail. Not very impressive performance by whichever country's postal service loses my mail ! ! !

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and hot, becoming a bit windy around supper time. This morning Joanne continued cleaning the interior of the truck. I continued working on my expanding foam insulation project. Now that the mess had dried, I was able to trim off the excess with a hacksaw blade, and the job turned out okay. I did some other minor maintenance, we had lunch, then set off for another Wal-Mart trip. We got ourselves well replenished and ready to resume travelling. I refilled with diesel on the way home. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the pool and hot tub, then took Bo for his last play session in the dog park. No ... I still didn't see any iguanas. Yes, dear, I believe you ! I exchanged some books in the park's library. We dropped off some items on the bargain table. Joanne did laundry. I got online and got caught up on e-mail. We're ready to travel !

 

Wednesday ; Yuma, Arizona to Victorville, California

Today was sunny, warm, and windy. This morning before departing Kofa Ko-op I phoned Forbidden Fruit Winery in Cawston, B.C., a few miles from our home in Keremeos, to make reservations for their May 3 picnic. They have sold out of all their 2006 production of fruit wines and ice wines, and are unveiling their 2007 production of wines and ice wines with a picnic on their lovely grounds on the banks of the Similkameen River. We prepared for departure, drove to Love's to adjust the air pressure in all the trailer tires, and headed west on Interstate 10. And so began our spring "migration" north.

We crossed the Colorado River and entered California. We got off the Interstate at Holtville to go into town to stock up on pan dulce / Mexican pastries. Since we were a few miles off the Interstate in Holtville, Joanne suggested we take "back roads" north, then west, and bypass the Interstate freeway and traffic in El Centro. We drove north on Hwy. 115, then west on Hwy. 78 to Brawley. We got onto Hwy 86 and drove northwest along the Salton Sea until we reached Interstate 10 near Palm Springs. We refilled with diesel at Flying J in Thousand Palms, an eastern suburb of Palm Springs. We continued west on I-10 through Palm Springs. Joanne suggested we turn north and once again take "back roads" to avoid the freeway traffic during rush hour on the east side of Los Angeles, through Riverside and San Bernardino. Seemed like a good idea ! The distance might be a bit further, but it would probably take less time, and would certainly be less stressful than driving through Los Angeles suburbs on the freeways during rush hour. We turned off I-10 and headed north on Hwy. 62. I made an obscene gesture as we passed Guide Dogs Of The Desert where we had an unpleasant and unsuccessful WorkCamping job 15 months ago. We followed Hwy. 62 north, then east, from the SonoranDesert over the San Bernardino Mountains, through Yucca Valley and alongside Joshua Tree National Park, to the Mojave Desert. The Yucca Palms and the Joshua Trees are in bloom. Very lovely ! We turned north on Hwy. 247 and followed it north, then west until it reached Hwy. 18. We followed Hwy. 18 west until it reached Interstate 15 at Victorville. We drove about 5 miles south on I-15 and found our way to Wal-Mart where we boondocked for the night.

We drove a very long distance today, but that was my plan. It was our first day of the northward journey, I was rested, and wanted to drive a long distance, then just stop for the night at a Wal-Mart parking lot. We had supper, then did some planning of our travels for the next few days. We decided we want to go see Sequoia National Park and adjacent King's Canyon National Park, then spend a few days at the Escapee park in Coarsegold, California.

 

DSK