March 12 to 18, 2009 ; Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico to Yuma, Arizona, U.S.A.
Thursday ; Oh, gee ... we have just realized that spring break is starting. Time to get the hell out of here ! Today was sunny and warm. We slept late, and had a slow, restful start to the day. I walked on the beach and took some photos. I exchanged some books at the RV park’s library. I found two chiggers on Bo. HMPH ... he hasn't had chiggers since Veracruz. Maybe chiggers live where there's grassy sand dunes ? We unhitched Lanoire from Harvey so that we could go into town and explore. With a mud flap and a bed rail protector missing from Lanoire, and a shredded and half missing lower skirt on Harvey, and an enormous amount of road grime on both, they look like some kind of refugee RV rig. We took Bo to the beach for some beach doughnut fetch play. The air and the water were both warmer today than yesterday, so he played longer than yesterday. But still he became cold after awhile and didn't want to play any more. We sat on the beach in the warm sunshine until he was dry, which didn't take long.
After lunch we drove into town. I refilled with diesel. We replenished groceries at Super Ley. We drove around exploring. We parked in "Old Town" and walked along the malecon. That's when we realized that spring break is starting. All the vendors were heavily stocked with printed t-shirts reading "Spring Break 2009 Drinking Team, Rocky Point, Mexico". We wandered over to the fish market. Oh, for crying out loud ! The price of shrimp here was more than double that of anywhere else !
We decided on the way back to our RV park that we wanted to buy some barbecued chicken for supper. We stopped at a place with a sign reading "pollo ( poyo ) asado al carbon ( carrBONE ) por llevar ( yevar )". Literally that translates as "chicken roasted on charcoal for taking". While paying we noticed that one of the side dishes available was "ensalada de sopa fria". HUH ? What the hell is "cold soup salad" ? ? ? I asked the woman, in Spanish, using not quite that phrasing. She went over to the cooler and pulled out a tub. Oh ... macaroni salad ! Okay ... we bought a tub of ensalada de sopa fria to go with our pollo asado al carbon. When we got back to the RV park we rehitched Lanoire to Harvey to prepare for departure back to the United States tomorrow morning.
We have just returned from the beach ( at 6:45 P.M. ) where we went to watch our final Mexican sunset. It was another spectacular one, with a clear sky and a calm sea so that the sun flared as it sat on the water. Joanne complained that she was "freezing". The temperature was 66 degrees ( rolling eyes ). In the evening I posted a weekly update to my blog.
Friday ; Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico to Gila Bend, Arizona, U.S.A.
Nine weeks, nine thousand kilometres / five thousand five hundred miles around the coast line of Mexico ! That's about the distance from Los Angeles to New York City and back ! The Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, the Pacific Ocean, and the Sea of Cortez ! Across fifteen Mexican states, from jungles to beaches to desert ! It was quite an adventure ! Farewell, Mexico ! We enjoyed ourselves ( well ... for the most part ) ! Although ... if I never see another ***ing tope ... it'll be too soon ! It was an adventure ... and a country ... of extremes. When Mexico was good, it was SUPERB ! ! ! But when it was bad ... it was HORRIBLE ! ! !
Today was sunny, warm on the Sea of Cortez coast at Puerto Peñasco, hot in the desert at Gila ( Heela ) Bend. This morning when we were ready to depart I wanted to go on the beach with Bo for a final beach doughnut fetch session. Joanne refused to allow it, because she did not want to go "drivey" with a drenched dog on her lap. We departed Puerto Peñasco and headed northeast on Mex 8 to the U.S. border crossing at Sonoyta. When we got to Sonoyta we had to turn south on Mex 2 and drive about 17 miles to the Mexican Migracion office to turn in our tourist visas and vehicle importation documents and have the vehicle importation sticker removed from the truck's windshield. We drove back to Sonoyta to cross into the United States. Within a couple of hundred feet of the American border, we gave away our last CANADA pencil to a little girl. The line up was longer than we expected, but the actual border crossing was as painless as it's ever been. As we drove up to the U.S. Customs & Border Patrol agent's booth, I handed our passports out the window. The agent scanned them as he asked "are you both Canadian citizens ?" I said "yes", he handed the passports back, and said "okay, buddy" as he waved us through. I refrained from pointing out to him that I wasn't his "buddy" !
Once back in the United States we stopped to have a late picnic lunch in Organ Pipe National Park. We contemplated stopping for the night, but it was too early. We decided to continue north on Hwy. 85 to Ajo ( Aho ). Just after we left Organ Pipe National Park I heard a bit of a thump behind me. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw something fall from the front of the trailer's overhang into the truck bed. I stopped to take a look. It was half of the truck bed rail protector. The double sided tape on the front half of the bed rail protector had let go, the front of the bed rail protector lifted up, and it snapped in half. Well, I guess I now know the expected lifespan of 3M double sided tape ! Now the truck has no bed rail protector on one side, and half a bed rail protector on the other. As if it didn't already look enough like a refugee truck ! When we got to Ajo we decided it was still too early to stop for the night, so we continued north on Hwy. 85 until it reached Interstate 8 at Gila Bend. Phoenix is about an hour northwest of Gila Bend. Tucson is a couple of hours southeast. Yuma is a couple of hours west. We stopped for the night in a very nice, full service, very inexpensive RV park. We pulled into a site and while I hooked up the utilities Joanne went to the office to pay. She noticed as she was walking back to our site that ... Gil's and Maria's rig was in the park. HMPH ... small world ! We did not go over to speak with them, nor did they come over to speak with us, if they even noticed we were here.
I reactivated our U.S. cell phone, with its new Yuma based phone number. A few days ago, I got onto Virgin Mobile's website and "moved" us from La Feria, Texas to Yuma, Arizona. We went for a long walk in the desert with Bo. I like the desert, and I'm glad to be back here. Sunny and hot, but with low humidity. I love it ! The Ocotillo ( Okoteeyo ) have large red blooms on top. The Barrel Cacti have beautiful rose like blooms on them. The Creosote bushes are all covered in little yellow blossoms. I did some Mexico trip accounting. This park has free Wi-Fi so I checked e-mail. Joanne sat outside reading a book until the sun set. Watching the sunset on the desert is almost as nice as watching it set on the sea / ocean. And certainly warmer.
Saturday ; Gila Bend to Yuma, Arizona
Today was a perfect “June 18” day in the desert. HEY ... what happened to the price of diesel ? We refilled with diesel at the service station adjacent to the campground this morning as we departed. The price of diesel was half of what it was when we entered the United States five months ago. We headed west on Interstate 8. WOO-HOO ... what a nice road ! Halfway between Gila Bend and Yuma we came to ... WOO-HOO ... Dateland, Arizona. Our favourite place for date shakes. WOO-HOO ... Bo loves date shakes ! WOO-HOO ... the public restroom toilets have seats on them. God Bless America !
About a mile or so from Kofa Ko-op SKP RV Park the scent of lemons entered the truck. WOO-HOO ... the lemon groves all around Kofa Ko-op were in bloom ! As soon as Bo smelled the lemons he knew where we were going. WOO-HOO ... Bo’s favourite RV park of the many hundreds he’s been to. Kofa Ko-op has a two acre fenced dog park in the desert. He’s allowed to romp off leash in the park with his buddies, old and new. We checked in and got set up in a site. It’s like coming home to be here ! And some day it will be our winter home. After three years we’re now number 49 on their waiting list for a permanent site.
I thought it was somewhat unusual when a couple of Japanese Zeros flew over at low altitude this afternoon. I suppose the Yuma Air Show today had something to do with that. I found out reading the newspaper ( tomorrow ) that they were part of an "Attack On Pearl Harbour" re-enactment featured in the Air Show.
Late this afternoon Kofa had a “visitor appreciation” potluck dinner. The permanent residents / lot leaseholders provided the food. The visitors / short term renters like us just ate. After supper we went for a walk around the park, and to the dog park, I got online and checked e-mail, downloaded and processed some photos from the camera to the computer, watched a bit of CNN, and read my first newspaper in over two months. Joanne began work on “spring cleaning” the trailer. I wonder where all that sand came from ... Bo ? ! ?
Sunday ; Another beautiful, sunny, very warm day in the desert. This morning we headed out to Arizona Market Place, the local, large flea market, to buy some fresh fruits and vegetables. From there we drove out to The Foothills, the community on the east side of Yuma, to see if the Griers and the Camerons, our neighbours from Riverside RV Park Resort back home, were still here in Yuma. We knew what RV park they were staying in this winter. Well, their rigs were still in the park but neither couple were home. We left notes. Marlene Grier phoned later in the afternoon and we arranged to meet for dinner tomorrow at Famous Dave's Barbecue, our favourite restaurant in Yuma.
This afternoon I disinfected our fresh water tank. I cleaned inside the toilet plumbing with a special water wand cleaning tool. Messy job, but it's got to be done a couple of times a year. Joanne continued cleaning inside the trailer. I removed the broken half of a bed rail protector left on the truck. Hidden underneath it I discovered a dent in the top rear corner of the truck bed rail. The dent wasn't there when I reattached the bed rail protectors a few months ago in the Rio Grande Valley. That means that at some point on the Mexico trip the overhang on the trailer bumped the top corner of the truck bed rail. I guess that happened when the back of the truck was going up over a tope and the front of the trailer was coming down over a tope. Oh, well, it's just another Mexican "war wound" and it will be hidden underneath the bed rail protector when I buy and install new ones. Lanoire certainly isn't a "virgin" truck any more. She's certainly "been around the block" a few times ! And humped over more than a few topes ! HA HA HA ! I spent much of the afternoon washing the truck. I think it was even filthier than last year when we came out of The Baja. We took Bo to the dog park for a play session. HMPH ... at five years of age his stamina sure isn't what it used to be. Hey, Bo, you're middle aged !
At 6:00 P.M. we went to Kofa's regular Sunday ice cream social. And ate so much ice cream we “ruined our dinner” like a couple of kids. Afterwards ... WOO-HOO ... Amazing Race ! I checked e-mail and retrieved middle of the month updated investment data. I exchanged some books at the library.
Monday ; Today was sunny and very warm. We are in errand mode for the next couple of weeks. Today we spent half a day at Wal-Mart replenishing groceries and supplies and ... everything ! I spent half a day shopping for tires for the truck, both by phone and in person, driving to local tire shops. I made my decision where to buy tires for the truck and tomorrow I'll place my order. We played with Bo in the dog park for awhile before heading off for supper at Famous Dave's Barbecue with our neighbours from back home, Terry and Marlene. We had dinner and chatted with Terry and Marlene until very late in the evening.
Tuesday ; St. Patrick's Day
Today was sunny and hot. I spent the morning on the phone. I ordered the truck tires from Sears. I made a series of phone calls back and forth between Goodyear and a local Goodyear dealer to initiate a warranty claim on the one of the trailer tires. I returned a phone call to a member of the Escapee Okanagan Chapter 33 who had phoned and left a message a few days ago regarding the upcoming Spring Rally which Joanne and I are hosting. I phoned our dentist in Los Algodones, Mexico and made an appointment for a dental cleaning and examination for Joanne. I did a phone evaluation survey of our dinner last night at Famous Dave's Barbecue, earning me a free dessert on our next visit. Last night we had a free dessert, earned from a previous visit, and it was large enough that three of us shared it. I got online and paid our hydro bill from back home.
We spent the afternoon washing the trailer. And we didn't finish today ! We washed the front, rear, and one side, leaving one side for tomorrow. Grimy ! We think that the wax we used last time contributed to the problem. The road grime seems to have become embedded in the old, oxidized layer of wax. When we scrub, the grimy wax sort of smears around and becomes a greasy film. I had to remove a large section of moulding underneath the bedroom / front overhang of the trailer. All the screws in the moulding were either stripped or broken right off from twisting and flexing forces. It needs new hardware.
When we became too tired to do any more trailer washing we took Bo for a sunset walk in the dog park. We noticed a newly arrived rig in the park and thought we recognized it. Yes, it was Barry and Jackie, friends from the Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33. We invited them to come over for a visit after supper. For supper tonight I again cooked filete de dorado con gusto Cajun de Daniel. Excellent, as usual ! We'll be disappointed when we finally run out of dorado fillets.
When Barry and Jackie came over Joanne served fresh strawberries with Con Leche ( Leshay ) on them. Con Leche is a Mexican version of sweetened condensed milk, served as a topping on fruits, or filling for pan dulce / pastries. Of course, at our last large grocery store stop in Mexico, Joanne stripped the grocery store's shelves of all their small squeeze bottles of Con Leche. HA HA HA ! We visited and chatted with Barry and Jackie until late in the evening. They are here just for tonight, and are leaving tomorrow morning to begin their slow trek north back to Canada.
Wednesday ; Today was sunny and hot, with a light breeze bringing the strong fragrance of lemon blossoms into the park. The air was filled with migrating Monarch butterflies.
This morning Joanne worked on making a "heavy appetizer" for this afternoon's social hour / heavy appetizer potluck. Twice when we bought pollo asado in Mexico, it came with a stack of 40 small corn tortillas. We prefer wheat flour tortillas to corn tortillas, so we had 80 corn tortillas we didn't particularly want. Joanne cut them into quarters and baked them into tortilla chips today. She also made a cream cheese and broccoli dip to go along with them. I spent the morning doing minor maintenance, as usual. It's amazing that with the number of screws on the trailer that came loose, stripped, sheared, or fell out, that the trailer didn't just fall apart, like something out of a cartoon !
This afternoon we finished washing the trailer. WHEW ! I lubricated all the weatherstripping around the trailer slides with dry silicone lubricant spray. We went to the late afternoon social hour / heavy appetizer potluck. We chatted with a man from Washington, near Seattle, and a couple from Vernon, B.C.. Afterwards we went to the pool to cool down a bit. It was pleasant, but not very cooling. The pool temperature was 94 degrees. The intense desert sunlight heats up the pool. We collected all our unwanted items and took them to the bargain table, a feature found in all Escapee parks. A place to deposit unwanted items and perhaps find wanted items. And as we dropped off all our unwanted items, we did find a couple of wanted items.
DSK
Thursday ; Oh, gee ... we have just realized that spring break is starting. Time to get the hell out of here ! Today was sunny and warm. We slept late, and had a slow, restful start to the day. I walked on the beach and took some photos. I exchanged some books at the RV park’s library. I found two chiggers on Bo. HMPH ... he hasn't had chiggers since Veracruz. Maybe chiggers live where there's grassy sand dunes ? We unhitched Lanoire from Harvey so that we could go into town and explore. With a mud flap and a bed rail protector missing from Lanoire, and a shredded and half missing lower skirt on Harvey, and an enormous amount of road grime on both, they look like some kind of refugee RV rig. We took Bo to the beach for some beach doughnut fetch play. The air and the water were both warmer today than yesterday, so he played longer than yesterday. But still he became cold after awhile and didn't want to play any more. We sat on the beach in the warm sunshine until he was dry, which didn't take long.
After lunch we drove into town. I refilled with diesel. We replenished groceries at Super Ley. We drove around exploring. We parked in "Old Town" and walked along the malecon. That's when we realized that spring break is starting. All the vendors were heavily stocked with printed t-shirts reading "Spring Break 2009 Drinking Team, Rocky Point, Mexico". We wandered over to the fish market. Oh, for crying out loud ! The price of shrimp here was more than double that of anywhere else !
We decided on the way back to our RV park that we wanted to buy some barbecued chicken for supper. We stopped at a place with a sign reading "pollo ( poyo ) asado al carbon ( carrBONE ) por llevar ( yevar )". Literally that translates as "chicken roasted on charcoal for taking". While paying we noticed that one of the side dishes available was "ensalada de sopa fria". HUH ? What the hell is "cold soup salad" ? ? ? I asked the woman, in Spanish, using not quite that phrasing. She went over to the cooler and pulled out a tub. Oh ... macaroni salad ! Okay ... we bought a tub of ensalada de sopa fria to go with our pollo asado al carbon. When we got back to the RV park we rehitched Lanoire to Harvey to prepare for departure back to the United States tomorrow morning.
We have just returned from the beach ( at 6:45 P.M. ) where we went to watch our final Mexican sunset. It was another spectacular one, with a clear sky and a calm sea so that the sun flared as it sat on the water. Joanne complained that she was "freezing". The temperature was 66 degrees ( rolling eyes ). In the evening I posted a weekly update to my blog.
Friday ; Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico to Gila Bend, Arizona, U.S.A.
Nine weeks, nine thousand kilometres / five thousand five hundred miles around the coast line of Mexico ! That's about the distance from Los Angeles to New York City and back ! The Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, the Pacific Ocean, and the Sea of Cortez ! Across fifteen Mexican states, from jungles to beaches to desert ! It was quite an adventure ! Farewell, Mexico ! We enjoyed ourselves ( well ... for the most part ) ! Although ... if I never see another ***ing tope ... it'll be too soon ! It was an adventure ... and a country ... of extremes. When Mexico was good, it was SUPERB ! ! ! But when it was bad ... it was HORRIBLE ! ! !
Today was sunny, warm on the Sea of Cortez coast at Puerto Peñasco, hot in the desert at Gila ( Heela ) Bend. This morning when we were ready to depart I wanted to go on the beach with Bo for a final beach doughnut fetch session. Joanne refused to allow it, because she did not want to go "drivey" with a drenched dog on her lap. We departed Puerto Peñasco and headed northeast on Mex 8 to the U.S. border crossing at Sonoyta. When we got to Sonoyta we had to turn south on Mex 2 and drive about 17 miles to the Mexican Migracion office to turn in our tourist visas and vehicle importation documents and have the vehicle importation sticker removed from the truck's windshield. We drove back to Sonoyta to cross into the United States. Within a couple of hundred feet of the American border, we gave away our last CANADA pencil to a little girl. The line up was longer than we expected, but the actual border crossing was as painless as it's ever been. As we drove up to the U.S. Customs & Border Patrol agent's booth, I handed our passports out the window. The agent scanned them as he asked "are you both Canadian citizens ?" I said "yes", he handed the passports back, and said "okay, buddy" as he waved us through. I refrained from pointing out to him that I wasn't his "buddy" !
Once back in the United States we stopped to have a late picnic lunch in Organ Pipe National Park. We contemplated stopping for the night, but it was too early. We decided to continue north on Hwy. 85 to Ajo ( Aho ). Just after we left Organ Pipe National Park I heard a bit of a thump behind me. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw something fall from the front of the trailer's overhang into the truck bed. I stopped to take a look. It was half of the truck bed rail protector. The double sided tape on the front half of the bed rail protector had let go, the front of the bed rail protector lifted up, and it snapped in half. Well, I guess I now know the expected lifespan of 3M double sided tape ! Now the truck has no bed rail protector on one side, and half a bed rail protector on the other. As if it didn't already look enough like a refugee truck ! When we got to Ajo we decided it was still too early to stop for the night, so we continued north on Hwy. 85 until it reached Interstate 8 at Gila Bend. Phoenix is about an hour northwest of Gila Bend. Tucson is a couple of hours southeast. Yuma is a couple of hours west. We stopped for the night in a very nice, full service, very inexpensive RV park. We pulled into a site and while I hooked up the utilities Joanne went to the office to pay. She noticed as she was walking back to our site that ... Gil's and Maria's rig was in the park. HMPH ... small world ! We did not go over to speak with them, nor did they come over to speak with us, if they even noticed we were here.
I reactivated our U.S. cell phone, with its new Yuma based phone number. A few days ago, I got onto Virgin Mobile's website and "moved" us from La Feria, Texas to Yuma, Arizona. We went for a long walk in the desert with Bo. I like the desert, and I'm glad to be back here. Sunny and hot, but with low humidity. I love it ! The Ocotillo ( Okoteeyo ) have large red blooms on top. The Barrel Cacti have beautiful rose like blooms on them. The Creosote bushes are all covered in little yellow blossoms. I did some Mexico trip accounting. This park has free Wi-Fi so I checked e-mail. Joanne sat outside reading a book until the sun set. Watching the sunset on the desert is almost as nice as watching it set on the sea / ocean. And certainly warmer.
Saturday ; Gila Bend to Yuma, Arizona
Today was a perfect “June 18” day in the desert. HEY ... what happened to the price of diesel ? We refilled with diesel at the service station adjacent to the campground this morning as we departed. The price of diesel was half of what it was when we entered the United States five months ago. We headed west on Interstate 8. WOO-HOO ... what a nice road ! Halfway between Gila Bend and Yuma we came to ... WOO-HOO ... Dateland, Arizona. Our favourite place for date shakes. WOO-HOO ... Bo loves date shakes ! WOO-HOO ... the public restroom toilets have seats on them. God Bless America !
About a mile or so from Kofa Ko-op SKP RV Park the scent of lemons entered the truck. WOO-HOO ... the lemon groves all around Kofa Ko-op were in bloom ! As soon as Bo smelled the lemons he knew where we were going. WOO-HOO ... Bo’s favourite RV park of the many hundreds he’s been to. Kofa Ko-op has a two acre fenced dog park in the desert. He’s allowed to romp off leash in the park with his buddies, old and new. We checked in and got set up in a site. It’s like coming home to be here ! And some day it will be our winter home. After three years we’re now number 49 on their waiting list for a permanent site.
I thought it was somewhat unusual when a couple of Japanese Zeros flew over at low altitude this afternoon. I suppose the Yuma Air Show today had something to do with that. I found out reading the newspaper ( tomorrow ) that they were part of an "Attack On Pearl Harbour" re-enactment featured in the Air Show.
Late this afternoon Kofa had a “visitor appreciation” potluck dinner. The permanent residents / lot leaseholders provided the food. The visitors / short term renters like us just ate. After supper we went for a walk around the park, and to the dog park, I got online and checked e-mail, downloaded and processed some photos from the camera to the computer, watched a bit of CNN, and read my first newspaper in over two months. Joanne began work on “spring cleaning” the trailer. I wonder where all that sand came from ... Bo ? ! ?
Sunday ; Another beautiful, sunny, very warm day in the desert. This morning we headed out to Arizona Market Place, the local, large flea market, to buy some fresh fruits and vegetables. From there we drove out to The Foothills, the community on the east side of Yuma, to see if the Griers and the Camerons, our neighbours from Riverside RV Park Resort back home, were still here in Yuma. We knew what RV park they were staying in this winter. Well, their rigs were still in the park but neither couple were home. We left notes. Marlene Grier phoned later in the afternoon and we arranged to meet for dinner tomorrow at Famous Dave's Barbecue, our favourite restaurant in Yuma.
This afternoon I disinfected our fresh water tank. I cleaned inside the toilet plumbing with a special water wand cleaning tool. Messy job, but it's got to be done a couple of times a year. Joanne continued cleaning inside the trailer. I removed the broken half of a bed rail protector left on the truck. Hidden underneath it I discovered a dent in the top rear corner of the truck bed rail. The dent wasn't there when I reattached the bed rail protectors a few months ago in the Rio Grande Valley. That means that at some point on the Mexico trip the overhang on the trailer bumped the top corner of the truck bed rail. I guess that happened when the back of the truck was going up over a tope and the front of the trailer was coming down over a tope. Oh, well, it's just another Mexican "war wound" and it will be hidden underneath the bed rail protector when I buy and install new ones. Lanoire certainly isn't a "virgin" truck any more. She's certainly "been around the block" a few times ! And humped over more than a few topes ! HA HA HA ! I spent much of the afternoon washing the truck. I think it was even filthier than last year when we came out of The Baja. We took Bo to the dog park for a play session. HMPH ... at five years of age his stamina sure isn't what it used to be. Hey, Bo, you're middle aged !
At 6:00 P.M. we went to Kofa's regular Sunday ice cream social. And ate so much ice cream we “ruined our dinner” like a couple of kids. Afterwards ... WOO-HOO ... Amazing Race ! I checked e-mail and retrieved middle of the month updated investment data. I exchanged some books at the library.
Monday ; Today was sunny and very warm. We are in errand mode for the next couple of weeks. Today we spent half a day at Wal-Mart replenishing groceries and supplies and ... everything ! I spent half a day shopping for tires for the truck, both by phone and in person, driving to local tire shops. I made my decision where to buy tires for the truck and tomorrow I'll place my order. We played with Bo in the dog park for awhile before heading off for supper at Famous Dave's Barbecue with our neighbours from back home, Terry and Marlene. We had dinner and chatted with Terry and Marlene until very late in the evening.
Tuesday ; St. Patrick's Day
Today was sunny and hot. I spent the morning on the phone. I ordered the truck tires from Sears. I made a series of phone calls back and forth between Goodyear and a local Goodyear dealer to initiate a warranty claim on the one of the trailer tires. I returned a phone call to a member of the Escapee Okanagan Chapter 33 who had phoned and left a message a few days ago regarding the upcoming Spring Rally which Joanne and I are hosting. I phoned our dentist in Los Algodones, Mexico and made an appointment for a dental cleaning and examination for Joanne. I did a phone evaluation survey of our dinner last night at Famous Dave's Barbecue, earning me a free dessert on our next visit. Last night we had a free dessert, earned from a previous visit, and it was large enough that three of us shared it. I got online and paid our hydro bill from back home.
We spent the afternoon washing the trailer. And we didn't finish today ! We washed the front, rear, and one side, leaving one side for tomorrow. Grimy ! We think that the wax we used last time contributed to the problem. The road grime seems to have become embedded in the old, oxidized layer of wax. When we scrub, the grimy wax sort of smears around and becomes a greasy film. I had to remove a large section of moulding underneath the bedroom / front overhang of the trailer. All the screws in the moulding were either stripped or broken right off from twisting and flexing forces. It needs new hardware.
When we became too tired to do any more trailer washing we took Bo for a sunset walk in the dog park. We noticed a newly arrived rig in the park and thought we recognized it. Yes, it was Barry and Jackie, friends from the Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33. We invited them to come over for a visit after supper. For supper tonight I again cooked filete de dorado con gusto Cajun de Daniel. Excellent, as usual ! We'll be disappointed when we finally run out of dorado fillets.
When Barry and Jackie came over Joanne served fresh strawberries with Con Leche ( Leshay ) on them. Con Leche is a Mexican version of sweetened condensed milk, served as a topping on fruits, or filling for pan dulce / pastries. Of course, at our last large grocery store stop in Mexico, Joanne stripped the grocery store's shelves of all their small squeeze bottles of Con Leche. HA HA HA ! We visited and chatted with Barry and Jackie until late in the evening. They are here just for tonight, and are leaving tomorrow morning to begin their slow trek north back to Canada.
Wednesday ; Today was sunny and hot, with a light breeze bringing the strong fragrance of lemon blossoms into the park. The air was filled with migrating Monarch butterflies.
This morning Joanne worked on making a "heavy appetizer" for this afternoon's social hour / heavy appetizer potluck. Twice when we bought pollo asado in Mexico, it came with a stack of 40 small corn tortillas. We prefer wheat flour tortillas to corn tortillas, so we had 80 corn tortillas we didn't particularly want. Joanne cut them into quarters and baked them into tortilla chips today. She also made a cream cheese and broccoli dip to go along with them. I spent the morning doing minor maintenance, as usual. It's amazing that with the number of screws on the trailer that came loose, stripped, sheared, or fell out, that the trailer didn't just fall apart, like something out of a cartoon !
This afternoon we finished washing the trailer. WHEW ! I lubricated all the weatherstripping around the trailer slides with dry silicone lubricant spray. We went to the late afternoon social hour / heavy appetizer potluck. We chatted with a man from Washington, near Seattle, and a couple from Vernon, B.C.. Afterwards we went to the pool to cool down a bit. It was pleasant, but not very cooling. The pool temperature was 94 degrees. The intense desert sunlight heats up the pool. We collected all our unwanted items and took them to the bargain table, a feature found in all Escapee parks. A place to deposit unwanted items and perhaps find wanted items. And as we dropped off all our unwanted items, we did find a couple of wanted items.
DSK
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