February 21 to 27, 2010 ; San Carlos Apache Reservation to Yuma, Arizona
Sunday ; Apache Gold Casino Resort to Gila Bend, Arizona
Well, we departed Apache Gold Casino this morning and headed west on Hwy. 60. The weather was cool and cloudy with intermittent light rain. We contemplated stopping at Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park but when we got there it was cold and raining heavily, like yesterday. We continued west on Hwy. 60 to Florence Junction, then south on Hwy. 79 to Florence, and west on Hwy. 287 to Coolidge. At Coolidge we stopped at a Walgreens. I went inside to buy some earache drops while Joanne prepared lunch in the trailer. After lunch and earache drops we continued south on Hwy. 287 to La Palma and Hwy. 87 to Eloy where we refilled with diesel at Flying J. We headed west on Interstate 10 until the beginning of Interstate 8, then west on I-8 to Gila Bend. At Gila Bend we stopped for the night at Holt’s Shell, a service station with a small RV park, with an exceptionally cheap rate. We’ve been there before, and it’s a great place to stay to be within one easy day of driving to Yuma.
We got the last available site in the RV park. It was the second furthest site in the park from the service station building, so the Wi-Fi signal wasn’t strong enough at our trailer to be functional. And I wasn’t able to get any TV channels using the trailer roof top antenna. Our new TV is digital signal capable, but I think the antenna on Harvey might not be. I’ll have to do some research on that when we get back to Yuma.
I went outside where I could get a stronger Wi-Fi signal, but after a few minutes I decided it was too chilly to work outside. We spent the evening reading the Sunday newspaper.
Monday ; Gila Bend to Yuma, Arizona
This morning we departed Gila Bend and headed west on Interstate 8 to Yuma, arriving at Yuma Palms RV Resort in time for a late lunch. After lunch I napped before setting up in our site. We took Bo for a walk around the resort grounds. It was extremely windy !
Yuma Palms RV Resort is new, still under development. We looked at Yuma Palms RV Resort two years ago when it was still nothing more than plans on paper. Now it’s complete except for the sale of the sites. Their original plans did not call for there to be rental sites, but the developer decided to complete some “model” lots and make them available for rental until they’re sold. While called an RV resort, there are many large homes either being built or already completed. Just like back home at Riverside RV Resort Park, where “RV” in the name seems redundant ! Our site here at Yuma Palms is next door to a home under construction.
The Wi-Fi signal did not reach our trailer so I went to the library to work online. Finally … a really good Wi-Fi signal. Hopefully, enough to support VoIP. I updated my blog. I made arrangements to Skype call the Carlson family later tonight. When I returned to the trailer Joanne was ready to go out to Pizza Hut to pick up a pizza for supper, using a coupon for their Monday night special. I think Joanne is becoming the coupon queen of Yuma. We drove to Pizza Hut in The Foothills, ordered a pizza, then went to Walgreens to buy an advertised special while we waited for our pizza to be ready. Once we had picked up our pizza and were back home we just had time to have a salad before it was time for our Skype call with the Carlson’s.
We had a Skype video chat for almost an hour with Doug. The rest of the Carlson family was … otherwise occupied, I guess. We made tentative plans with Doug to spend Christmas with them in Teacapán, Mexico. We returned to the trailer to eat our pizza and watch the Olympics.
Tuesday ; Well, we’re back in Yuma, where the weather is almost always sunny and warm. We heard from other RV’ers while we were travelling over the last couple of weeks that “the weather in Arizona wasn’t so good this winter”. Well, that certainly wasn’t the case here in Yuma. The southwest corner of Arizona that Yuma is located in seems to be almost immune from whatever bad weather passes through.
This morning I did the 138,000 km. inspection on Lanoire. What a wonderful truck, to have reached this mileage without any repairs required other than routine wear and tear and preventive maintenance. I polished my shoes. After lunch Joanne went to Wal-Mart while I read and napped with Sully and Bo. I printed and reconciled this month’s MasterCard statements. What an expensive month ! We took Bo for a walk then went to the pool and hot tub to enjoy the lovely afternoon weather. This RV park is very large, very new, and very upscale, with two swimming pools and two hot tubs in a beautifully landscaped large courtyard surrounded by the library, a large community hall, a large community kitchen / dining area, exercise facility, laundromat, cards and game room, billiards and pool room, a variety of craft rooms, putting greens, tennis courts, and shuffleboard courts with bleachers. This place is way beyond our price range, except for the half price coupon I got while we were in Palm Springs early in December. The only drawback is … we seem to be right underneath the flight path of low flying military gunship helicopters !
While Joanne barbecued supper I went to the library to do some online work. It’s that time of the month ; to sell some investments, get the money into the bank, pay some bills. After supper we went to the community hall for a free concert by The Treble Clefs, a choir comprised of about thirty ( old ) women from Sun Vista RV Park. WOW … what a stupendous auditorium / ballroom for an RV park ! After the concert we returned to the trailer to watch the Olympics. I also worked on monthly computer maintenance ; disk cleanup, disk defragmentation, virus scan, malware scan, and backup of all files.
Wednesday ; What a gorgeous day ! I spent most of it outdoors.
This morning I started a project that we have been thinking about for at least the last six months. The trailer has an upholstered “headboard” attached to the wall behind the bed and it’s time to refurbish or replace it. I removed it from the wall, and we decided it can be refurbished by reupholstering it. We spent quite awhile patiently removing all the upholstering staples. Boy, those upholsterers aren’t stingy with their use of a staple gun, are they ? ! ? In a flash of inspiration Joanne decided that it might be possible to use the quilted bedcover that came with the trailer as the source of material for reupholstering the headboard. The quilted bedcover is made of the same material as the upholstery on the headboard, and the bedroom window valances. We have no use for the quilted bedcover. It’s been stored underneath the bed since we bought the trailer. I disconnected the park’s TV cable to test whether or not the trailer’s roof top antenna receives the new format digital TV signals transmitted “over the air”. It does !
After lunch and a nap we went to the pool to float around enjoying the lovely sunshine and warmth. Afterwards we took Bo for a long walk around the park, then I went to work online sitting at a table on the pool deck. When I returned to the trailer I discovered a new, “private” Wi-Fi signal reaching the trailer. Must be some neighbour with a router. Great … as long as it lasts I can use Wi-Fi in our trailer. Now that we’re back in Yuma and the weather is so great it’s time to do more barbecuing. I barbecued a large salmon fillet for supper. Hey … Sully quite likes barbecued salmon. He shows very little interest in “people food” but he came over to the dinette table and climbed up beside me when he smelled the barbecued salmon.
As every night recently, we spent the evening watching Olympics, with Sully cuddled between us on the couch. Sully loves his nightly “TV cuddle time”.
Thursday ; We have been RV’ing for 5½ years and have managed to survive without a generator. Most RV’ers consider a generator to be an essential piece of equipment. We have occasionally wished we had one, to increase our boondocking capabilities, but never wanted one badly enough to feel that the expense was warranted. Especially since I’ve always thought that if I ever did buy a generator, it would be a small Honda model. They are exceptionally quiet. But cost about $700 ! Well, today I bought a generator. It’s small, likely quite noisy, but very, very cheap ! It’s a $140 generator that was advertised as a coupon special for $90 ! At that price I couldn’t resist. The cheapest price I’ve ever seen on a generator in Canada, probably comparable to this one, was $200. I’m sure that whoever our neighbours are when we use it will not like the noisiness of it. We’ve certainly never appreciated people who fire up loud generators at 7 AM just so that they can use an electric coffee maker. But we don’t intend to use it very often. And we certainly would not use it early in the morning or late in the evening. It gives us the ability to boondock for more than about two nights at a time, which is the limit of the trailer’s house battery when it’s cold enough to be running the furnace overnight. I don’t like boondocking enough to usually want to do it for more than two consecutive nights, but there have been occasions, like when we visited Julie in her State Park near San Francisco, when we have been without power for more than two consecutive nights. Having a generator allows us to recharge the trailer’s house battery by running the generator. And it might even allow us to watch TV when we are boondocked in someplace like a Wal-Mart or Flying J on a night when we want to watch a particular show, like Amazing Race. Buying a digital signal converter box for our small 12V TV would cost at least half as much as the generator, so I thought the cheap generator was a smarter expenditure than the digital TV converter box.
Joanne has signed up at this resort to attend a water aerobics class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, and a Yoga class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. After she returned from her morning Yoga class we headed over to see the display of RV’s a local dealer brought into the resort this morning for a “coffee and doughnuts” sales presentation. The sales display / presentation was scheduled from 8:30 to 11 AM. As we arrived at 10:30 the dealer’s RV’s were just leaving. HMPH … guess they weren’t getting as much attention / interest as they had anticipated. Darn … I was counting on that coffee and doughnuts for breakfast ! HA HA HA !
We headed out to buy the generator at a discount tool and hardware business called Harbor Freight Tools, kind of an American version of Princess Auto. While there I also bought a small gas can and some 2 cycle oil for the generator. From there we headed over to Barney’s Fuels to refill Lanoire with diesel and fill the small gas can with fuel for the generator. Then it was over to Arizona Market Place to buy lots of fresh produce. We returned home in time for a late lunch.
This afternoon I worked on a project to measure critical dimensions of the truck. I had some of the critical dimensions but felt that I needed a few more. Then I revised the little table of truck and trailer critical dimensions that I had on the computer, printed it, cut it out, and pasted it onto the truck’s dashboard. I took Bo for an obedience session, something that I haven’t done in way too long. Well done, Bo, good dog ! I showed Joanne some of the websites I found when I was doing research on Teacapán, Mexico, where we plan to meet Joanne’s family next Christmas. Joanne went to do some laundry. Sully complained a lot this afternoon, obviously displeased with me because I didn’t nap with him as I usually do after lunch. Sully’s routines are entrenched, and he doesn’t like change !
My goodness ! ! ! Another military helicopter gunship just flew overhead at low altitude ! ! ! It goes on from morning until night, every half hour or so, it seems ! I surely am glad that’s not my tax dollars at work ! Yesterday when one flew over while I was walking Bo I waved at the bunch of Marines hanging out the open side door. They waved back. HA HA HA !
As every evening since our return to Yuma a few days ago, we spent the evening watching Olympics, with a break from the Olympics to watch Survivor. Canada’s gold medal count is impressive !
Friday ; Today was interesting, busy, long day. This morning we headed off to run some errands. First stop was to refill a five gallon water jug. We miss the convenience of having a source of reverse osmosis water right in the park, as was the case at Kofa Ko-op SKP RV Park. Then we stopped at Wal-Mart so that I could dispose of the trailer’s dead old battery. Next stop was the Fry’s Mall in The Foothills. Joanne went to Fry’s to buy some groceries. I went to Checker Auto Parts. They didn’t have what I needed, which was windshield washer anti-freeze. They don’t know what windshield washer anti-freeze is down here. They have windshield washer fluid, which freezes at 32 degrees. I guess I won’t find windshield washer anti-freeze until we’re a lot further north, on our way back to Canada in a couple of months. I walked over to Al’s RV Service to look at something which I decided not to buy after seeing it.
After lunch we worked on reupholstering the bed headboard. It turned out pretty well. Not perfect, but good enough. I tested our new generator. I was very impressed. It’s much quieter than I expected a cheap generator to be.
This evening The Palms RV Resort had a Mardi Gras party in the community hall / auditorium / ballroom, with the Yuma Jazz Band, a 5 piece jazz combo performing. It was great, except … there were only 24 people in attendance. The community hall was set up with cabaret style seating for about 200 around the perimeter of the hall, with a dance floor in the center. When the band took their first break the audience dwindled to sixteen. During the second break, the audience dwindled to four people. I invited the only other couple in attendance to join us at our table, then when the band returned from their break, I invited them to come join us at our table for a drink. I thought it would be embarrassing for them and us to have a 5 piece band perform for 4 people. This RV park seems afflicted with the same apathy malady that afflicts Riverside RV Park Resort back home.
We started the evening sharing a table with a couple from Portland, Oregon who have been full time RV’ers for about ten years, and a couple from Northern California who have been full time RV’ers for a few months longer than us. When there was just us and the other couple left, and we invited them over, they were from Owen Sound, Ontario. And finally, while the band members were sitting with us enjoying a drink, a late arriving couple arrived, having driven all the way from Palm Springs to Yuma to hear this jazz band perform. That couple were from a suburb of Vancouver, BC. In recognition of the fact that this couple had driven all the way from Palm Springs to hear the band perform, they performed a third set.
We returned to the trailer shortly after 10 PM and watched an hour of Olympic coverage. WOO-HOO … Canada now has the lead in gold medals won ! That’s impressive ! ! !
Saturday ; Every Saturday at noon this RV park has a themed “Burger Bash” luncheon, with hamburgers, free beer, and a live band. Today was Mardi Gras Burger Bash with a band called The Arizona Alligators. They were billed as zydeco, but this far west of Louisiana they wouldn’t know zydeco if it bit them in the ass. The Arizona Alligators was a blues / rockabilly band. It was a pleasant afternoon. And certainly a lot better attended than last night’s Mardi Gras party. We shared a table with a couple from Calgary, Alberta, an old couple from Idaho, and a biker couple from Wisconsin.
Later in the afternoon we gave Bo a bath. We did some online research on Midnight At The Oasis, an annual huge classic car show in Yuma. This year it will be next weekend. And after seeing the information on the website we have decided we would like to attend.
We barbecued pollo asado for supper, our first attempt at the process of marinating chicken in a mixture of fruit juices and achiotte powder. It turned out fairly well for a first attempt. I’m eagerly looking forward to perfecting the technique. We spent the evening watching Olympics. It rained heavily tonight. I hope that doesn’t affect our plan to attend a rodeo in Mexico tomorrow.
DSK
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
February 14 to 20, 2010
February 14 to 20, 2010 ; Picacho Peak State Park to San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona
Sunday ; Valentine’s Day ; Picacho Peak State Park through Tucson to Benson, Arizona
Well, today was a beautiful, sunny, warm, interesting, although minor injury filled day ! This morning we pulled out of the unserviced loop of the campground and drove over to the Barrett Loop where we parked the rig and went for a hike on the Cave Trail. Picacho Peak State Park is known for its great hiking trails. As we hiked up the trail to the cave, once again … ( sigh ) … Joanne stumbled, falling forward onto her hands and knees on the lava rock trail. ( sigh ) She bruised her knee and shredded the skin on it ( sigh ). I vow to force her to use her walking stick from now on, on all hikes we do. I left her sitting there on the trail, feeling a bit nauseous and resting her injured leg, while I continued on upward with Bo until we reached the cave at the end of the trail. She waited for me to return to where she sat then we hiked slowly back down to where the truck and trailer were parked. I tended to her shredded knee. She has fallen and shredded the skin on her knees so often in the last 5½ years of our travelling RV life that I’m surprised that her knees have anything other than scar tissue on them !
We drove the rig over to the Memorial Loop and found a place to park the rig while we went on the Nature Trail. Joanne was determined ! She used her walking stick ! ! ! After finishing the Nature Trail hike we left Picacho Peak State Park heading east on Interstate 10. At Tucson we got off the Interstate and found our way to Camping World to purchase a few RV items, including a new 12 volt heater blankie for Sully. He had inherited Teddy’s old 12 volt heater blankie but it recently gave up the ghost, so to speak. If I was religious, I might think that the heater blankie joined Teddy, keeping him warm in “a better place”. HA HA HA !
On the east side of Tucson we headed north for 10 miles to Saguaro National Park ( East ). A few years ago we had visited Saguaro National Park ( West ) on the west side of Tucson. We pulled into Saguaro National Park ( East ) and found a place to park the rig and have a late lunch. After lunch we drove around the very scenic eight mile long, winding, hilly, one lane wide, one way Cactus Forest Drive. It was a bit difficult to do this drive with the trailer in tow, but hey … I’ve done Mexico ! HA HA HA ! As we drove slowly around the park, I spotted a rare “Crested” Saguaro. At the next possible place to pull the rig off the road, I parked and we walked back so that I could take a photo. When we got to where I could see the Crested Saguaro, Joanne waited with Bo on the side of the road while I traipsed over the desert to take a photo.
Saguaro National Park is filled with Saguaro Cacti, obviously, but also a lot of Palo Verde trees, and many different types of cacti, including a variety of types of Cholla ( pronounced Choya ) Cacti. One of the types of Cholla Cactus is called Jumping Cholla. The spines are razor sharp, and barbed, and the little end segments of the cactus break off very easily. One needs to just brush very lightly against a Jumping Cholla and one of the little cylindrical segments will “stick” in / on you, almost as if it “jumped” at you. The first year we were travelling, I got a Jumping Cholla segment in my knee, having brushed against it while I was taking a photo in the desert. Well … today … while Joanne and Bo were waiting for me on the side of the road … yes, yes … Bo sniffed a Jumping Cholla ! ! ! Instantly a segment of the plant broke off, spines embedded in the tip of his nose. He began to squirm and gyrate around, trying to smack it off his nose with his paw. Joanne quickly scooped him up, and quickly but gingerly knocked it off his nose. Of course, she ended up with a few spine punctures in her hand ! Stupid, ****ing dog ! ! !
We finished our loop around Cactus Forest Drive and left Saguaro National Park ( East ). On our way back to Interstate 10 we came upon a motorcycle accident, arriving just after the Fire Rescue Squad and even before the police arrived. We had to wait awhile while the EMT’s attended to the injured motorcyclist, then loaded him into their ambulance and left. Then we had to wait while the firemen cleaned up the blood and guts off the road !
We continued east on Interstate 10 to Benson, where we checked into Saguaro Co-op SKP RV Park. Their serviced sites were all full, so we had to go into their unserviced boondock area. Darn … no power ! Tonight was the season premiere of Amazing Race. We have a 12 volt TV, but a year ago we failed to get the converter that’s necessary for older televisions to view the new digital TV signals that all American stations now transmit “over the air” for antenna reception. Early in the evening we headed for the clubhouse, for the weekly ice cream social. BUT … we found a TV in the library and decided we would rather watch Amazing Race than eat ice cream and socialize. After watching Amazing Race we decided we might as well watch Undercover Boss as well.
Joanne’s injured knee stiffened up quite a bit overnight. Sully was extremely impressed overnight with his new heater blankie. Overnight one of the trailer’s propane tanks ran out of propane. This morning I took it to the park’s refill station for refilling, then we began to prepare for our outing. Before we were ready to leave, somebody from the office came over to advise us that there was a serviced site available for two days only, and we could have it if that met our needs. It did. We moved from the boondock area to a serviced site, and got set up. By then it was late enough in the morning that we decided to have an early lunch before we set off.
We drove about an hour south on Hwy. 80 through Tombstone to Bisbee. Both Tombstone and Bisbee are true “Old Wild West” towns. We explored Tombstone a few years ago. When we arrived in Bisbee we drove though “Historic Old Bisbee”, found a parking spot, then wandered around town sightseeing and browsing in the many arts and crafts shops and antiques stores. We fell in love with the metal art work in a shop called Metalmorphosis. After visiting the shop twice we bought a large Kokopelli Dreamcatcher metal art piece that we intend to mount on the side of our storage shed back home.
We explored more of the town by truck then headed out of town on Hwy. 90 taking a roundabout route back to Benson though Sierra Vista and Huachaca City. Once back in Benson we stopped at Safeway to buy some groceries before heading “home” to Saguaro Co-op. Joanne prepared the special Valentine’s Day dinner she had planned for yesterday but postponed until today. We had supper while watching Olympic coverage on TV. We spent the evening watching the Olympics coverage. At the same time I worked ( somewhat distractedly ) on downloading and processing my photos of the last few days.
WOO-HOO … Canada won its first ever Gold at home !
Tuesday ; Benson to Willcox, Arizona
This morning we prepared for departure from Saguaro Co-op in Benson. We considered staying another day but decided we would rather head off to explore Chiricahua National Park, then head to Roper Lake State Park for the night. Joanne wanted to explore Chiricahua National Park, and I wanted to see Roper Lake State Park where I tried unsuccessfully last fall to get a WorkCamping / Volunteer Campground Host position for this winter season.
So we hitched up and left. Just as we were leaving town and about to get on the Interstate I remembered that we had a batch of mail to pick up at the Benson Post Office. Recently I had made ( ahem ) new mail forwarding arrangements and had requested that our January mail be sent to Benson. And … sure enough … it was waiting for us there. Picking up our mail from our home mailbox on a daily basis and forwarding it to us once a month isn’t rocket science !
We headed east on Interstate 10, stopping in Willcox to refill with diesel at a TravelCenters of America. From Willcox we headed south on Hwy. 186 to Chiricahua National Park. At the Visitor Center we paid our admission fees and got instructions on where we could drop the trailer while we explored the park by truck, The roads in the National Park are narrow, steep, and winding. Large or long vehicles are prohibited. We had lunch and detached the trailer from the truck in the parking lot of Faraway Ranch, the site of the original homestead in the park. After lunch we went on a guided tour of the Faraway Ranch homestead, settled in 1888.
We spent the afternoon exploring the park by truck, stopping often to take photos. The park is at a high elevation, about 6900 feet ASL. There was snow on the ground in places. The topography is similar to Canyonlands National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park, both in Utah. Lots of rock “columns”, somewhat similar to the Hoodoos in Alberta.
Late in the afternoon we returned to Faraway Ranch’s parking lot to hitch up the trailer and head to Roper Lake State Park. As we were hitching up I noticed a damaged tire on the trailer. One of the tires had a large split in it, with chunks of tread missing. WOW … not many more miles before it would have exploded, likely damaging the fiberglass lower skirt of the trailer … again ! Oh, well, better to have to change a tire on a sunny warm afternoon in a deserted parking lot in a National Park, then in the rain on the side of a busy highway, after the tire explodes and causes damage.
We got the tire changed and headed back towards Willcox and the Interstate. By the time we got to Willcox the sun had set and we were minutes away from darkness. We had another 45 minutes or hour to go to Roper Lake. We would be looking for the State Park entrance in the dark, then looking for a campsite in the dark, and then backing the rig into a campsite in the dark. We learned pretty early in our full time RV’ing life that that should be avoided. Been there, done that ! And we would have to pay the State Park’s full daily camping fee for the privilege of getting into a site in the dark, cooking and eating supper, then going to sleep. We decided to boondock overnight at the TravelCenters of America in Willcox where we had purchased diesel earlier in the day. Which was fine, except … it aggravated me that they had lowered the price of diesel by four cents a gallon from what I had paid earlier in the day.
Wednesday ; Willcox to Roper Lake State Park
This morning we departed the TravelCenters of America truck parking lot and headed into the town of Willcox to find a tire shop. I wanted to have the damaged trailer tire removed from the wheel and replaced with a new, unmounted tire that I have had since last spring as a spare spare. I was hoping that if I showed up at a tire shop right at opening time they would have time to mount the new tire immediately. We found a Goodyear dealer in Willcox but they were not able to do the job immediately and I didn’t want to wait.
We headed east on Interstate 10, then north on Hwy. 191 to Roper Lake State Park. There were only two campsites available in the State Park. We got set up in a site, did our weekly application of OraVet gel to Sully and Bo, then I replaced a burnt out license plate light bulb on the truck before we set off to do some exploring of the park. Near our campsite was a path to the Day Use Island in Roper Lake. We wandered over there with Bo, enjoying the warm sunshine and lovely setting of the day use picnic area and beach on the island. Back at our campsite Joanne took Sully outside to allow him to explore a bit. He enjoyed wandering around, spending more time outdoors than he usually wants to. He even contemplated climbing a Mesquite tree. HA HA HA … Sully, at your age, I think your climbing days are behind you.
We headed into the nearby town of Safford, and the adjacent town of Thatcher, looking for a tire shop and the Mexican restaurants in the two towns that comprise the majority of “The Salsa Trail”, a marketing ploy, I guess, by the local Chambers of Commerce. We dropped the old tire and wheel, and new tire, at Big “O” Tires in Thatcher, then went for lunch to El Charro, a restaurant in old downtown Safford. Oh, my … what wonderful Mexico / New Mexico food ! We’re far enough east in Arizona that we’re close to New Mexico, and this restaurant’s food was somewhat of a fusion between Mexico and New Mexico. Joanne had Chalaca, a pork and green chile dish served in a baked masa ( corn meal ) “bowl”. We have had taco salads served in baked tortilla bowls … we even make those ourselves … but we’ve never had a baked masa bowl.
After lunch I wanted to wander around town a bit while I smoked a cigarette. We found the Mi Casa ( My House ) Tortilla Factory. We went inside to take a look. The lady behind the retail counter in the front asked if we were interested in seeing tortillas being made in the factory in the back. YES ! It was very interesting to see tortillas made. And then … she asked if we wanted a sample, hot and fresh off the production line. YES ! I hadn’t expected that a plain, unadorned tortilla would taste that good, especially right after a big lunch, but … it did ! Needless to say, we bought a package of fresh harina ( wheat flour ) tortillas. We picked up the new tire mounted on the wheel at Big “O” Tires and headed back to Roper Lake State Park.
I needed a nap ! Yesterday tired me out. After I napped we walked over to the campground’s natural stone hot tub fed by a mineral hot spring. AHHHHH … very nice ! Afterwards I sat outside at the picnic table in our site and began to review the batch of mail we had picked up in Benson yesterday. Joanne went for a walk with Bo over to Day Use Island. When she returned she asked me to walk back to Day Use Island with her to see the many types of birds on Roper Lake. We grabbed our binoculars and ambled over. The sun had just set and it was becoming dusk. On Day Use Island is a huge gazebo picnic shelter with a large cupola on top. Sitting on top of the cupola was … WOW … a Great Horned Owl. Very impressive bird !
As we walked back to our campsite in twilight, and came to a fork in the trail, I said to Joanne “tournez à droite ( “turn right” in French ), por favor ( “please” in Spanish )”, then commended myself for speaking two languages at once. Joanne’s response was “well … I would have been really impressed if you had said ‘tournez à droite, por favor, Babycakes’ ”. HA HA HA !
Thursday ; This morning Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and we set off for Dankworth Pond, a day use sub-section of Roper Lake State Park a few miles from the main section of the park. Dankworth Pond is a small man made lake, originally used for catfish farming, and fed by an artesian hot spring. We went on a hike about 3 miles long, around Dankworth Pond and then up to a mesa where there is an archaeological site of an Apache village from the Archaic period. Since we were the only vehicle in the parking lot and it was obvious that we had the place to ourselves we took Bo off his leash for the hike. Without a doubt, Bo covers 15 miles on a 3 mile hike ! HA HA HA ! After the hike we had a wonderful picnic lunch then spent some time soaking our feet in the artesian hot spring.
After we returned to the campground I napped for awhile, then we went to soak in the mineral hot springs natural stone “hot tub” in the campground. Late in the afternoon we headed to Day Use Island hoping to see the Great Horned Owl again. He wasn’t there today. We brought our Sibley Field Guide To Birds ( thank you, Erbon & Lorraine ) to do some bird watching. We’re not very adept at positively identifying birds but we did positively identify at least one unusual specie, a Red Naped Sapsucker.
I barbecued supper then worked on the photos I took over the last few days. I worked on the computer while sitting on the sofa with Sully asleep cuddled against my leg. Every evening Sully wants to sleep cuddled against my leg on a knit throw ( thank you, Ruth-Anne ) we have on the sofa. We call it his “TV cuddle time”. He’s such a sweet fellow !
Friday ; Roper Lake State Park to Apache Gold Casino Resort, San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona
Tomorrow we want to visit Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park. So today we wanted to go to an RV park near there. Our original plan was to go to the campground at Lost Dutchman State Park, but Joanne did a bit of travel research yesterday and decided we should check out the RV park at Apache Gold Casino Resort as we passed it on our way to Lost Dutchman State Park. Apache Gold Casino Resort is even closer to Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park than Lost Dutchman State Park is.
This morning we departed Roper Lake State Park. It’s definitely worth a return visit ! We headed north on Hwy. 191 to Safford, then through Safford and Thatcher and west on Hwy. 70. A few hours later we were on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. We stopped at the Apache Gold Casino Resort to check out their RV park. We decided to stay. The rate was reasonable, and there was cable TV and Wi-Fi. We got set up in our site, had lunch, and I went for a nap with Bo and Sully.
When we checked in at the RV park we were given a voucher for a coupon package in the casino. We went inside the casino and picked up our coupon packages. Each of us received a coupon for $1.00, redeemable at any casino cashier cage, and a coupon for a free drink. The dollars are obviously meant to be spent at the casino. But we just considered our free $2 as a reduction in the RV park fee, making it even more reasonable. We went to the bar and each had our free drink.
I spent the rest of the afternoon working online, getting caught up on e-mail, banking, and investments. Late in the afternoon we took Bo for a walk. We attracted a motley crew of free roaming “rez dogs”. Oh boy, Bo was thrilled to form his own pack, just like when going for walks in Mexico. But, as in Mexico, he was envious of the other dogs’ off leash, free roaming lifestyle. HA HA HA ! We spent the evening watching the Olympic coverage on TV.
Saturday ; Well, what a disappointing day ! I first learned of Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park about six years ago, six months before we began full time RV’ing, when I was looking for our first WorkCamping job. At that time they were looking for WorkCampers / Volunteers. I have been interested in visiting it ever since. Today was to be the day.
This morning the temperature was mild, and there were clouds far off in the distance. Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and we headed off to Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park, about an hour away. We headed west on Hwy. 70 to Globe, then west on Hwy. 60. By then time we arrived at Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park the temperature had dropped about 30 degrees, and it was raining heavily ( sigh ). We sat in the parking lot for awhile contemplating whether or not to go in. No … it was far too cold and wet ( sigh ). We drove “home” to Apache Gold Casino Resort, stopping in Globe to buy groceries at Safeway and refill Lanoire with diesel.
The Wi-Fi signal in the casino resort’s was not working today, so we went to the casino to use Wi-Fi, have our daily free drinks and get our daily free two dollars. We hitched Lanoire to Harvey in preparation for departure tomorrow. Joanne did a load of laundry. We spent the evening watching Olympics.
DSK
Sunday ; Valentine’s Day ; Picacho Peak State Park through Tucson to Benson, Arizona
Well, today was a beautiful, sunny, warm, interesting, although minor injury filled day ! This morning we pulled out of the unserviced loop of the campground and drove over to the Barrett Loop where we parked the rig and went for a hike on the Cave Trail. Picacho Peak State Park is known for its great hiking trails. As we hiked up the trail to the cave, once again … ( sigh ) … Joanne stumbled, falling forward onto her hands and knees on the lava rock trail. ( sigh ) She bruised her knee and shredded the skin on it ( sigh ). I vow to force her to use her walking stick from now on, on all hikes we do. I left her sitting there on the trail, feeling a bit nauseous and resting her injured leg, while I continued on upward with Bo until we reached the cave at the end of the trail. She waited for me to return to where she sat then we hiked slowly back down to where the truck and trailer were parked. I tended to her shredded knee. She has fallen and shredded the skin on her knees so often in the last 5½ years of our travelling RV life that I’m surprised that her knees have anything other than scar tissue on them !
We drove the rig over to the Memorial Loop and found a place to park the rig while we went on the Nature Trail. Joanne was determined ! She used her walking stick ! ! ! After finishing the Nature Trail hike we left Picacho Peak State Park heading east on Interstate 10. At Tucson we got off the Interstate and found our way to Camping World to purchase a few RV items, including a new 12 volt heater blankie for Sully. He had inherited Teddy’s old 12 volt heater blankie but it recently gave up the ghost, so to speak. If I was religious, I might think that the heater blankie joined Teddy, keeping him warm in “a better place”. HA HA HA !
On the east side of Tucson we headed north for 10 miles to Saguaro National Park ( East ). A few years ago we had visited Saguaro National Park ( West ) on the west side of Tucson. We pulled into Saguaro National Park ( East ) and found a place to park the rig and have a late lunch. After lunch we drove around the very scenic eight mile long, winding, hilly, one lane wide, one way Cactus Forest Drive. It was a bit difficult to do this drive with the trailer in tow, but hey … I’ve done Mexico ! HA HA HA ! As we drove slowly around the park, I spotted a rare “Crested” Saguaro. At the next possible place to pull the rig off the road, I parked and we walked back so that I could take a photo. When we got to where I could see the Crested Saguaro, Joanne waited with Bo on the side of the road while I traipsed over the desert to take a photo.
Saguaro National Park is filled with Saguaro Cacti, obviously, but also a lot of Palo Verde trees, and many different types of cacti, including a variety of types of Cholla ( pronounced Choya ) Cacti. One of the types of Cholla Cactus is called Jumping Cholla. The spines are razor sharp, and barbed, and the little end segments of the cactus break off very easily. One needs to just brush very lightly against a Jumping Cholla and one of the little cylindrical segments will “stick” in / on you, almost as if it “jumped” at you. The first year we were travelling, I got a Jumping Cholla segment in my knee, having brushed against it while I was taking a photo in the desert. Well … today … while Joanne and Bo were waiting for me on the side of the road … yes, yes … Bo sniffed a Jumping Cholla ! ! ! Instantly a segment of the plant broke off, spines embedded in the tip of his nose. He began to squirm and gyrate around, trying to smack it off his nose with his paw. Joanne quickly scooped him up, and quickly but gingerly knocked it off his nose. Of course, she ended up with a few spine punctures in her hand ! Stupid, ****ing dog ! ! !
We finished our loop around Cactus Forest Drive and left Saguaro National Park ( East ). On our way back to Interstate 10 we came upon a motorcycle accident, arriving just after the Fire Rescue Squad and even before the police arrived. We had to wait awhile while the EMT’s attended to the injured motorcyclist, then loaded him into their ambulance and left. Then we had to wait while the firemen cleaned up the blood and guts off the road !
We continued east on Interstate 10 to Benson, where we checked into Saguaro Co-op SKP RV Park. Their serviced sites were all full, so we had to go into their unserviced boondock area. Darn … no power ! Tonight was the season premiere of Amazing Race. We have a 12 volt TV, but a year ago we failed to get the converter that’s necessary for older televisions to view the new digital TV signals that all American stations now transmit “over the air” for antenna reception. Early in the evening we headed for the clubhouse, for the weekly ice cream social. BUT … we found a TV in the library and decided we would rather watch Amazing Race than eat ice cream and socialize. After watching Amazing Race we decided we might as well watch Undercover Boss as well.
Monday ; Gee, today was President’s Day, a U.S. national holiday. Darn ! I was planning to pick up our forwarded mail at the Benson Post Office today. Joanne wanted to make a day trip to explore Bisbee and area.
We drove about an hour south on Hwy. 80 through Tombstone to Bisbee. Both Tombstone and Bisbee are true “Old Wild West” towns. We explored Tombstone a few years ago. When we arrived in Bisbee we drove though “Historic Old Bisbee”, found a parking spot, then wandered around town sightseeing and browsing in the many arts and crafts shops and antiques stores. We fell in love with the metal art work in a shop called Metalmorphosis. After visiting the shop twice we bought a large Kokopelli Dreamcatcher metal art piece that we intend to mount on the side of our storage shed back home.
We explored more of the town by truck then headed out of town on Hwy. 90 taking a roundabout route back to Benson though Sierra Vista and Huachaca City. Once back in Benson we stopped at Safeway to buy some groceries before heading “home” to Saguaro Co-op. Joanne prepared the special Valentine’s Day dinner she had planned for yesterday but postponed until today. We had supper while watching Olympic coverage on TV. We spent the evening watching the Olympics coverage. At the same time I worked ( somewhat distractedly ) on downloading and processing my photos of the last few days.
WOO-HOO … Canada won its first ever Gold at home !
This morning we prepared for departure from Saguaro Co-op in Benson. We considered staying another day but decided we would rather head off to explore Chiricahua National Park, then head to Roper Lake State Park for the night. Joanne wanted to explore Chiricahua National Park, and I wanted to see Roper Lake State Park where I tried unsuccessfully last fall to get a WorkCamping / Volunteer Campground Host position for this winter season.
So we hitched up and left. Just as we were leaving town and about to get on the Interstate I remembered that we had a batch of mail to pick up at the Benson Post Office. Recently I had made ( ahem ) new mail forwarding arrangements and had requested that our January mail be sent to Benson. And … sure enough … it was waiting for us there. Picking up our mail from our home mailbox on a daily basis and forwarding it to us once a month isn’t rocket science !
We headed east on Interstate 10, stopping in Willcox to refill with diesel at a TravelCenters of America. From Willcox we headed south on Hwy. 186 to Chiricahua National Park. At the Visitor Center we paid our admission fees and got instructions on where we could drop the trailer while we explored the park by truck, The roads in the National Park are narrow, steep, and winding. Large or long vehicles are prohibited. We had lunch and detached the trailer from the truck in the parking lot of Faraway Ranch, the site of the original homestead in the park. After lunch we went on a guided tour of the Faraway Ranch homestead, settled in 1888.
We spent the afternoon exploring the park by truck, stopping often to take photos. The park is at a high elevation, about 6900 feet ASL. There was snow on the ground in places. The topography is similar to Canyonlands National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park, both in Utah. Lots of rock “columns”, somewhat similar to the Hoodoos in Alberta.
Late in the afternoon we returned to Faraway Ranch’s parking lot to hitch up the trailer and head to Roper Lake State Park. As we were hitching up I noticed a damaged tire on the trailer. One of the tires had a large split in it, with chunks of tread missing. WOW … not many more miles before it would have exploded, likely damaging the fiberglass lower skirt of the trailer … again ! Oh, well, better to have to change a tire on a sunny warm afternoon in a deserted parking lot in a National Park, then in the rain on the side of a busy highway, after the tire explodes and causes damage.
We got the tire changed and headed back towards Willcox and the Interstate. By the time we got to Willcox the sun had set and we were minutes away from darkness. We had another 45 minutes or hour to go to Roper Lake. We would be looking for the State Park entrance in the dark, then looking for a campsite in the dark, and then backing the rig into a campsite in the dark. We learned pretty early in our full time RV’ing life that that should be avoided. Been there, done that ! And we would have to pay the State Park’s full daily camping fee for the privilege of getting into a site in the dark, cooking and eating supper, then going to sleep. We decided to boondock overnight at the TravelCenters of America in Willcox where we had purchased diesel earlier in the day. Which was fine, except … it aggravated me that they had lowered the price of diesel by four cents a gallon from what I had paid earlier in the day.
This morning we departed the TravelCenters of America truck parking lot and headed into the town of Willcox to find a tire shop. I wanted to have the damaged trailer tire removed from the wheel and replaced with a new, unmounted tire that I have had since last spring as a spare spare. I was hoping that if I showed up at a tire shop right at opening time they would have time to mount the new tire immediately. We found a Goodyear dealer in Willcox but they were not able to do the job immediately and I didn’t want to wait.
We headed east on Interstate 10, then north on Hwy. 191 to Roper Lake State Park. There were only two campsites available in the State Park. We got set up in a site, did our weekly application of OraVet gel to Sully and Bo, then I replaced a burnt out license plate light bulb on the truck before we set off to do some exploring of the park. Near our campsite was a path to the Day Use Island in Roper Lake. We wandered over there with Bo, enjoying the warm sunshine and lovely setting of the day use picnic area and beach on the island. Back at our campsite Joanne took Sully outside to allow him to explore a bit. He enjoyed wandering around, spending more time outdoors than he usually wants to. He even contemplated climbing a Mesquite tree. HA HA HA … Sully, at your age, I think your climbing days are behind you.
We headed into the nearby town of Safford, and the adjacent town of Thatcher, looking for a tire shop and the Mexican restaurants in the two towns that comprise the majority of “The Salsa Trail”, a marketing ploy, I guess, by the local Chambers of Commerce. We dropped the old tire and wheel, and new tire, at Big “O” Tires in Thatcher, then went for lunch to El Charro, a restaurant in old downtown Safford. Oh, my … what wonderful Mexico / New Mexico food ! We’re far enough east in Arizona that we’re close to New Mexico, and this restaurant’s food was somewhat of a fusion between Mexico and New Mexico. Joanne had Chalaca, a pork and green chile dish served in a baked masa ( corn meal ) “bowl”. We have had taco salads served in baked tortilla bowls … we even make those ourselves … but we’ve never had a baked masa bowl.
After lunch I wanted to wander around town a bit while I smoked a cigarette. We found the Mi Casa ( My House ) Tortilla Factory. We went inside to take a look. The lady behind the retail counter in the front asked if we were interested in seeing tortillas being made in the factory in the back. YES ! It was very interesting to see tortillas made. And then … she asked if we wanted a sample, hot and fresh off the production line. YES ! I hadn’t expected that a plain, unadorned tortilla would taste that good, especially right after a big lunch, but … it did ! Needless to say, we bought a package of fresh harina ( wheat flour ) tortillas. We picked up the new tire mounted on the wheel at Big “O” Tires and headed back to Roper Lake State Park.
I needed a nap ! Yesterday tired me out. After I napped we walked over to the campground’s natural stone hot tub fed by a mineral hot spring. AHHHHH … very nice ! Afterwards I sat outside at the picnic table in our site and began to review the batch of mail we had picked up in Benson yesterday. Joanne went for a walk with Bo over to Day Use Island. When she returned she asked me to walk back to Day Use Island with her to see the many types of birds on Roper Lake. We grabbed our binoculars and ambled over. The sun had just set and it was becoming dusk. On Day Use Island is a huge gazebo picnic shelter with a large cupola on top. Sitting on top of the cupola was … WOW … a Great Horned Owl. Very impressive bird !
As we walked back to our campsite in twilight, and came to a fork in the trail, I said to Joanne “tournez à droite ( “turn right” in French ), por favor ( “please” in Spanish )”, then commended myself for speaking two languages at once. Joanne’s response was “well … I would have been really impressed if you had said ‘tournez à droite, por favor, Babycakes’ ”. HA HA HA !
After we returned to the campground I napped for awhile, then we went to soak in the mineral hot springs natural stone “hot tub” in the campground. Late in the afternoon we headed to Day Use Island hoping to see the Great Horned Owl again. He wasn’t there today. We brought our Sibley Field Guide To Birds ( thank you, Erbon & Lorraine ) to do some bird watching. We’re not very adept at positively identifying birds but we did positively identify at least one unusual specie, a Red Naped Sapsucker.
I barbecued supper then worked on the photos I took over the last few days. I worked on the computer while sitting on the sofa with Sully asleep cuddled against my leg. Every evening Sully wants to sleep cuddled against my leg on a knit throw ( thank you, Ruth-Anne ) we have on the sofa. We call it his “TV cuddle time”. He’s such a sweet fellow !
Tomorrow we want to visit Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park. So today we wanted to go to an RV park near there. Our original plan was to go to the campground at Lost Dutchman State Park, but Joanne did a bit of travel research yesterday and decided we should check out the RV park at Apache Gold Casino Resort as we passed it on our way to Lost Dutchman State Park. Apache Gold Casino Resort is even closer to Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park than Lost Dutchman State Park is.
This morning we departed Roper Lake State Park. It’s definitely worth a return visit ! We headed north on Hwy. 191 to Safford, then through Safford and Thatcher and west on Hwy. 70. A few hours later we were on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. We stopped at the Apache Gold Casino Resort to check out their RV park. We decided to stay. The rate was reasonable, and there was cable TV and Wi-Fi. We got set up in our site, had lunch, and I went for a nap with Bo and Sully.
When we checked in at the RV park we were given a voucher for a coupon package in the casino. We went inside the casino and picked up our coupon packages. Each of us received a coupon for $1.00, redeemable at any casino cashier cage, and a coupon for a free drink. The dollars are obviously meant to be spent at the casino. But we just considered our free $2 as a reduction in the RV park fee, making it even more reasonable. We went to the bar and each had our free drink.
I spent the rest of the afternoon working online, getting caught up on e-mail, banking, and investments. Late in the afternoon we took Bo for a walk. We attracted a motley crew of free roaming “rez dogs”. Oh boy, Bo was thrilled to form his own pack, just like when going for walks in Mexico. But, as in Mexico, he was envious of the other dogs’ off leash, free roaming lifestyle. HA HA HA ! We spent the evening watching the Olympic coverage on TV.
Saturday ; Well, what a disappointing day ! I first learned of Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park about six years ago, six months before we began full time RV’ing, when I was looking for our first WorkCamping job. At that time they were looking for WorkCampers / Volunteers. I have been interested in visiting it ever since. Today was to be the day.
This morning the temperature was mild, and there were clouds far off in the distance. Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and we headed off to Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park, about an hour away. We headed west on Hwy. 70 to Globe, then west on Hwy. 60. By then time we arrived at Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park the temperature had dropped about 30 degrees, and it was raining heavily ( sigh ). We sat in the parking lot for awhile contemplating whether or not to go in. No … it was far too cold and wet ( sigh ). We drove “home” to Apache Gold Casino Resort, stopping in Globe to buy groceries at Safeway and refill Lanoire with diesel.
The Wi-Fi signal in the casino resort’s was not working today, so we went to the casino to use Wi-Fi, have our daily free drinks and get our daily free two dollars. We hitched Lanoire to Harvey in preparation for departure tomorrow. Joanne did a load of laundry. We spent the evening watching Olympics.
DSK
Sunday, February 14, 2010
February 7 to 13, 2010
February 7 to 13, 2010 ; Yuma to Picacho Peak State Park, Arizona
Sunday ; This morning I bought a Sunday newspaper, something I haven’t done in a long time. And then … we pretty much blew off the rest of the day lounging around, lazily reading the newspaper. Until we fell asleep for the rest of the afternoon. HA HA HA !
We got up in time to attend the weekly ice cream social. My good deed for the day was to solve a dilemma amongst two people at our table. A woman at our table had a photo in her camera that a man at our table wanted a copy of to send by e-mail. They didn’t know how to get the photo from her camera to his computer. Well, DUH ! I got my computer, downloaded the photo from her camera, then sent it to him by e-mail. Problem solved ! Many of the “older” crowd that we hang with lack basic computer skills. Speaking of “hanging with the older crowd” … today at the ice cream social Joanne discovered that her new friend Dorothy has grandchildren that are only five years younger than us. HA HA HA ! We gotta get us some younger friends !
After the ice cream social, which was very poorly attended because of the Super Bowl, I watched the last quarter of the Super Bowl, then we watched the premiere episode of Undercover Boss. WOW … that promises to be a great series.
Monday ; This morning after routine chores I spent quite awhile playing my Arpa Magica / Magic Harp from Mexico. Just like when I was a child, playing the accordion, I procrastinate a lot getting started practicing my musical instrument, and then when I finally get started I really enjoy it. We took Bo for his daily long walk around the dog park. We brushed Sully and administered his daily blood pressure medication. I’m looking forward to when we have the right dosage ascertained, so I can prepare the mixture concentration differently, and we won’t have to administer as much fluid as we do now ; two syringes full !
This afternoon we took Sully to the veterinarian again to have his blood pressure checked. Finally … his blood pressure is lowered to an appropriate level so his medication dosage is correct. We bought enough medication to last about 6 months. Another $46 vet bill bringing our total expenditure on veterinarian services to about $1000 in the last month ! And that’s U.S. dollars !
Back home at Kofa Ko-op we went to the dog park to fly my kite, but there was no wind. So … we went and spent the rest of the afternoon in the swimming pool. “Chatting” with three Americans about politics and religion ! And the “war” in Iraq and Afghanistan ! Suffice to say that Canadians’ views are different than Americans on all those intertwined issues ! Geeeeez, can you spell … no … I’d better stifle myself !
For supper we decided to have a pizza, using a discount coupon at Pizza Hut. We took Bo for a “drivey”, and went to Pizza Hut to pick up a take out pizza. Bo has been confused and envious about why we have been taking Sully for “driveys” and Bo hasn’t been allowed to come along.
Tuesday ; Happy 6th birthday to Bo
This morning I used my relatively new netbook computer, relatively new portable CD / DVD drive, and new software that I hadn’t used before to copy a water aerobics CD for Joanne. New hardware and new software resulted in me stumbling around a bit, but I eventually got it done. I did some online research to educate myself on the differences between different format types of CD’s and DVD’s. I sent birthday greetings to my sister. I did an online survey that took longer than I had expected. I should know better ! I did some accounting and downloaded some Windows updates. And there went the morning !
This afternoon I read and napped while Joanne went to Wal-Mart. I took Bo to the dog park. We walked around the perimeter of the dog park and then I flew my kite for awhile. Great kite flying day ! I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to create sheet music for my Arpa Magica for a tune that Joanne likes, Greensleeves. It was a slow, tedious process. I’ll finish tomorrow. I had to learn to play sections of the tune “by ear”, then record the notes, then copy them onto sheet music. And the “sheet music” for the Arpa Magica is not “regular” sheet music. I had to cut and line the music sheet by hand, part of why it was slow and tedious.
We spent the evening watching a 1939 movie, The Roaring Twenties, starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart.
Wednesday ; Happy 61st birthday to my sister Sharon
In the middle of the night we had a thunderstorm, with lightning, heavy rain, and hail. Bo and Sully were afraid. Bo burrowed under the covers. Sully cuddled into my armpit. It was our plan to go to Mexico today for a bit of shopping. But this morning the sky was cloudy, threatening more rain, and the temperature was cool. And I wasn’t feeling well, with a bit of a colitis flare up. So we decided to postpone our trip to Los Algodones.
We had a quiet, lazy day. I played around on the computer a bit. I read and napped. Late in the afternoon we went to the regular Wednesday afternoon heavy appetizers potluck social hour. My palate must have been off. None of the food seemed very appealing to me. I brought home a few large lemons. Kofa Ko-op is surrounded by lemon groves. A local farmer dropped off a large bin of lemons at the park. They were rejects because they were too large. Joanne commented that down here lemons are like zucchinis back home. You can’t give them away fast enough. After Happy Hour we went for a slow walk around the dog park with Bo. The sky had begun to clear by late afternoon.
Every Wednesday evening Kofa Ko-op transmits a movie on the park’s TV cable system. Tonight we watched Snow Dogs, a family comedy movie about dog sled racing in Alaska. It held a bit of special interest for us because two of the Malamutes in the film were from a kennel in our neighbourhood when we lived in Cumberland, just outside Ottawa.
Thursday ; This morning we headed to Mexico for a day of shopping. First priority in Los Algodones was to stock up on some medications. We went to the four farmacias that I know from experience will have the best prices, and I got prices at each for the medications I wanted. One farmacia had the best price on three of the four medications I wanted and they agreed to price match on the fourth. Next purchase was a couple of cartons of cigarettes, duty free, of course.
We went for lunch to our favourite little outdoor taco restaurant. I had uno taco camarón y uno taco carne asada. Joanne had the plato de pollo asado ( grilled chicken plate ). I had one of her three pieces of chicken. We have had pollo asado before in Mexico and always liked it. Pollo asado is chicken cooked on a barbecue, it’s red coloured, and has a unique spicy flavour. While we were eating lunch the restaurant owner came out of the kitchen with a large bucket of chicken in a marinade, to put more chicken on the half barrel barbecue in front of the restaurant. I didn’t realize that pollo asado was marinated before barbecuing. I asked the friendly restaurant owner what was in the marinade bucket. He said it was pineapple juice, orange juice, peach juice, and achiotte ( ashee YAH tay ). I didn’t know what achiotte was. He told me I could buy it at the nearby mercado ( grocery store ). We walked over to the mercado and found achiotte in small boxes and large boxes. It was a red powder, resembling paprika. The small box said there was enough of the red powder inside to season 10 pounds of meat. The price sticker said $8.50. That seemed like a lot to pay for a small box of seasoning, but … spices are expensive, I supposed. When I got to the checkout I realized this small mercado’s prices were in pesos, not American dollars. The price was eight pesos and fifty centavos, about seventy cents.
When we got home I Googled achiotte. Achiotte powder, what we bought, is the ground up seeds of the achiotte tree, found in Central and South America. So … mix up some achiotte powder in the three fruit juices, marinade the chicken overnight, barbecue slowly, and … pollo asado ! So … that’s how the Mexicans do it !
Joanne wanted a new backpack purse. So we browsed through Los Algodones looking for the perfect backpack purse. When Joanne found what she wanted, I kicked into negotiation mode. I wanted to get rid of some leftover Mexican money, so the price I negotiated for Joanne’s purse was … twenty American dollars, eight pesos, and fifty centavos. HA HA HA ! Got rid of the last of our Mexican money, I thought. When we got home, Joanne found two pesos ( about 15 cents ) at the bottom of her purse. Oh, for crying out loud ! ! !
On our way back to the border crossing we stopped at The Purple Store to buy Yomi Lala, Nugs, and Coconugs. They were out of stock of all ! Had to console ourselves by settling for a large tub of Creminos. HA HA HA ! The very long line up to return to the United States, which in previous years would have been a 2½ hour line up, took only 35 minutes today thanks to the new Customs & Border Patrol building.
On our way home we stopped at Yuma Palms Shopping Center to buy some Glucosamine treats for Sully at PetsMart, then refilled Lanoire with diesel at Baron Fuels. At home we took Bo and Sully to the dog park, then spent the last little bit of the afternoon in the swimming pool. This evening we watched the 2 hour season premiere of Survivor.
We recently bought 25 of the pills that Sully requires to lower his blood pressure from the veterinarian. We wanted to buy more today in Mexico to avoid running out next summer and having to incur more veterinarian charges in Penticton. The pills were available in Mexico in bottles of 100. So let’s see … we now have 125 pills, each pill makes eight daily doses, so … we have about a 3 year supply. Sully, you’d damn well better live for 3 more years ! HA HA HA !
Friday ; We are leaving tomorrow to spend 10 days exploring State and National Parks in Southern Arizona before they close most Arizona State Parks later this month due to budget shortfalls. This morning we headed out to do some shopping in preparation for leaving Yuma. First stop was Arizona Market Place for Joanne to buy some produce. Then over to Walgreens to buy some advertised specials. Last stop was Albertsons to stock up on some groceries.
After lunch and a brief nap with Sully and Bo ( Sully certainly loves napping with me in the afternoon ) we began to prepare for departure tomorrow morning, putting things back into their travel storage spots. I took a bottle of Summerland Sweets Apricot Syrup ( from near our home in the Okanagan Valley in BC ) to our next door neighbour to thank him for the use of his computer when we first got here, and the loan of some tools when I was changing the truck’s brakes. I went to the library and replenished my inventory of “dime store” adventure mystery novels to read. We spent the hottest part of the afternoon floating around in the swimming pool. We took Bo for his final walk of this season around the perimeter of Kofa Ko-op’s dog park. He met and played with a new arrival, Domino, a ten week old female Boston Terrier puppy.
We hitched Harvey to Lanoire, then Joanne went to do some laundry while I finished up some pre-departure chores then worked on my computer until it was time to begin watching the Olympic Opening Ceremonies on TV.
Saturday ; Yuma to Picacho Peak State Park, Arizona
Well, after eight very pleasant weeks we left Kofa Ko-op this morning. After four years on the list we are now no. 34 on their waiting list for a lot. It will probably be three or four more years before we get a lot there. We’re looking forward to that being our “permanent” winter home. Bo was ecstatic about leaving. In Bo’s mind the best parts about our travelling lifestyle are arriving and leaving. HA HA HA !
We headed east on Interstate 8. Just before noon we reached Dateland, Arizona. WOO-HOO … the best date shakes anywhere ! After reading my blog recently my sister sent me an e-mail admonishing me for only giving Bo a yogurt, peanut butter, and banana parfait for his birthday. She felt that for a birthday he should get a date shake. Okay, Sharon … today Bo got a belated birthday date shake. And not just any old date shake. A Dateland date shake ! ! ! They don’t get any better than that ! Bo was very pleased with his date shake. As were we with ours. HA HA HA !
We continued east on Interstate 8. At Casa Grande I-8 merged with, and ended, at Interstate 10. At Eloy we stopped at Flying J to refill with diesel. Lowest price on diesel so far this winter season. Shortly after that we reached our objective for the day, Picacho Peak State Park. The serviced loops of the campground were full, and there were only a few sites left in the unserviced loop. Shortly after our arrival the last few sites in the unserviced loop were filled, and the entire campground was full. With the State Park campgrounds being so full, I wonder why they have to close them due to budget shortfalls ? ! ? We got set up in a site just in time to join a Ranger led guided hike to learn about Saguaro Cacti. We took Bo on the hike. He thought it was boring. Too much standing around listening to the Ranger explain things.
We got back to our trailer just a few minutes before sunset. We rushed to change the trailer house battery before it got dark, removing the old battery and installing the spare we had. It became obvious yesterday evening and this morning as we were preparing for departure that the trailer house battery was on its last legs and wouldn’t hold a charge any more. Not surprising because it’s two years old, and that seems to be the life of the trailer house battery, in our experience. The spare was given to us by a neighbour back home at Riverside RV Park Resort. It was slightly used, and we don’t know its age. But it’s obviously in much better condition than the one that we removed. The one we removed has a two year warranty. Of course, that warranty expires in six days ! Obviously there’s not much point in returning it to Wal-Mart and making a warranty claim. The warranty allowance would probably be something like fifty cents.
DSK
Sunday ; This morning I bought a Sunday newspaper, something I haven’t done in a long time. And then … we pretty much blew off the rest of the day lounging around, lazily reading the newspaper. Until we fell asleep for the rest of the afternoon. HA HA HA !
We got up in time to attend the weekly ice cream social. My good deed for the day was to solve a dilemma amongst two people at our table. A woman at our table had a photo in her camera that a man at our table wanted a copy of to send by e-mail. They didn’t know how to get the photo from her camera to his computer. Well, DUH ! I got my computer, downloaded the photo from her camera, then sent it to him by e-mail. Problem solved ! Many of the “older” crowd that we hang with lack basic computer skills. Speaking of “hanging with the older crowd” … today at the ice cream social Joanne discovered that her new friend Dorothy has grandchildren that are only five years younger than us. HA HA HA ! We gotta get us some younger friends !
After the ice cream social, which was very poorly attended because of the Super Bowl, I watched the last quarter of the Super Bowl, then we watched the premiere episode of Undercover Boss. WOW … that promises to be a great series.
Monday ; This morning after routine chores I spent quite awhile playing my Arpa Magica / Magic Harp from Mexico. Just like when I was a child, playing the accordion, I procrastinate a lot getting started practicing my musical instrument, and then when I finally get started I really enjoy it. We took Bo for his daily long walk around the dog park. We brushed Sully and administered his daily blood pressure medication. I’m looking forward to when we have the right dosage ascertained, so I can prepare the mixture concentration differently, and we won’t have to administer as much fluid as we do now ; two syringes full !
This afternoon we took Sully to the veterinarian again to have his blood pressure checked. Finally … his blood pressure is lowered to an appropriate level so his medication dosage is correct. We bought enough medication to last about 6 months. Another $46 vet bill bringing our total expenditure on veterinarian services to about $1000 in the last month ! And that’s U.S. dollars !
Back home at Kofa Ko-op we went to the dog park to fly my kite, but there was no wind. So … we went and spent the rest of the afternoon in the swimming pool. “Chatting” with three Americans about politics and religion ! And the “war” in Iraq and Afghanistan ! Suffice to say that Canadians’ views are different than Americans on all those intertwined issues ! Geeeeez, can you spell … no … I’d better stifle myself !
For supper we decided to have a pizza, using a discount coupon at Pizza Hut. We took Bo for a “drivey”, and went to Pizza Hut to pick up a take out pizza. Bo has been confused and envious about why we have been taking Sully for “driveys” and Bo hasn’t been allowed to come along.
Tuesday ; Happy 6th birthday to Bo
This morning I used my relatively new netbook computer, relatively new portable CD / DVD drive, and new software that I hadn’t used before to copy a water aerobics CD for Joanne. New hardware and new software resulted in me stumbling around a bit, but I eventually got it done. I did some online research to educate myself on the differences between different format types of CD’s and DVD’s. I sent birthday greetings to my sister. I did an online survey that took longer than I had expected. I should know better ! I did some accounting and downloaded some Windows updates. And there went the morning !
This afternoon I read and napped while Joanne went to Wal-Mart. I took Bo to the dog park. We walked around the perimeter of the dog park and then I flew my kite for awhile. Great kite flying day ! I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to create sheet music for my Arpa Magica for a tune that Joanne likes, Greensleeves. It was a slow, tedious process. I’ll finish tomorrow. I had to learn to play sections of the tune “by ear”, then record the notes, then copy them onto sheet music. And the “sheet music” for the Arpa Magica is not “regular” sheet music. I had to cut and line the music sheet by hand, part of why it was slow and tedious.
We spent the evening watching a 1939 movie, The Roaring Twenties, starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart.
Wednesday ; Happy 61st birthday to my sister Sharon
In the middle of the night we had a thunderstorm, with lightning, heavy rain, and hail. Bo and Sully were afraid. Bo burrowed under the covers. Sully cuddled into my armpit. It was our plan to go to Mexico today for a bit of shopping. But this morning the sky was cloudy, threatening more rain, and the temperature was cool. And I wasn’t feeling well, with a bit of a colitis flare up. So we decided to postpone our trip to Los Algodones.
We had a quiet, lazy day. I played around on the computer a bit. I read and napped. Late in the afternoon we went to the regular Wednesday afternoon heavy appetizers potluck social hour. My palate must have been off. None of the food seemed very appealing to me. I brought home a few large lemons. Kofa Ko-op is surrounded by lemon groves. A local farmer dropped off a large bin of lemons at the park. They were rejects because they were too large. Joanne commented that down here lemons are like zucchinis back home. You can’t give them away fast enough. After Happy Hour we went for a slow walk around the dog park with Bo. The sky had begun to clear by late afternoon.
Every Wednesday evening Kofa Ko-op transmits a movie on the park’s TV cable system. Tonight we watched Snow Dogs, a family comedy movie about dog sled racing in Alaska. It held a bit of special interest for us because two of the Malamutes in the film were from a kennel in our neighbourhood when we lived in Cumberland, just outside Ottawa.
Thursday ; This morning we headed to Mexico for a day of shopping. First priority in Los Algodones was to stock up on some medications. We went to the four farmacias that I know from experience will have the best prices, and I got prices at each for the medications I wanted. One farmacia had the best price on three of the four medications I wanted and they agreed to price match on the fourth. Next purchase was a couple of cartons of cigarettes, duty free, of course.
We went for lunch to our favourite little outdoor taco restaurant. I had uno taco camarón y uno taco carne asada. Joanne had the plato de pollo asado ( grilled chicken plate ). I had one of her three pieces of chicken. We have had pollo asado before in Mexico and always liked it. Pollo asado is chicken cooked on a barbecue, it’s red coloured, and has a unique spicy flavour. While we were eating lunch the restaurant owner came out of the kitchen with a large bucket of chicken in a marinade, to put more chicken on the half barrel barbecue in front of the restaurant. I didn’t realize that pollo asado was marinated before barbecuing. I asked the friendly restaurant owner what was in the marinade bucket. He said it was pineapple juice, orange juice, peach juice, and achiotte ( ashee YAH tay ). I didn’t know what achiotte was. He told me I could buy it at the nearby mercado ( grocery store ). We walked over to the mercado and found achiotte in small boxes and large boxes. It was a red powder, resembling paprika. The small box said there was enough of the red powder inside to season 10 pounds of meat. The price sticker said $8.50. That seemed like a lot to pay for a small box of seasoning, but … spices are expensive, I supposed. When I got to the checkout I realized this small mercado’s prices were in pesos, not American dollars. The price was eight pesos and fifty centavos, about seventy cents.
When we got home I Googled achiotte. Achiotte powder, what we bought, is the ground up seeds of the achiotte tree, found in Central and South America. So … mix up some achiotte powder in the three fruit juices, marinade the chicken overnight, barbecue slowly, and … pollo asado ! So … that’s how the Mexicans do it !
Joanne wanted a new backpack purse. So we browsed through Los Algodones looking for the perfect backpack purse. When Joanne found what she wanted, I kicked into negotiation mode. I wanted to get rid of some leftover Mexican money, so the price I negotiated for Joanne’s purse was … twenty American dollars, eight pesos, and fifty centavos. HA HA HA ! Got rid of the last of our Mexican money, I thought. When we got home, Joanne found two pesos ( about 15 cents ) at the bottom of her purse. Oh, for crying out loud ! ! !
On our way back to the border crossing we stopped at The Purple Store to buy Yomi Lala, Nugs, and Coconugs. They were out of stock of all ! Had to console ourselves by settling for a large tub of Creminos. HA HA HA ! The very long line up to return to the United States, which in previous years would have been a 2½ hour line up, took only 35 minutes today thanks to the new Customs & Border Patrol building.
On our way home we stopped at Yuma Palms Shopping Center to buy some Glucosamine treats for Sully at PetsMart, then refilled Lanoire with diesel at Baron Fuels. At home we took Bo and Sully to the dog park, then spent the last little bit of the afternoon in the swimming pool. This evening we watched the 2 hour season premiere of Survivor.
We recently bought 25 of the pills that Sully requires to lower his blood pressure from the veterinarian. We wanted to buy more today in Mexico to avoid running out next summer and having to incur more veterinarian charges in Penticton. The pills were available in Mexico in bottles of 100. So let’s see … we now have 125 pills, each pill makes eight daily doses, so … we have about a 3 year supply. Sully, you’d damn well better live for 3 more years ! HA HA HA !
Friday ; We are leaving tomorrow to spend 10 days exploring State and National Parks in Southern Arizona before they close most Arizona State Parks later this month due to budget shortfalls. This morning we headed out to do some shopping in preparation for leaving Yuma. First stop was Arizona Market Place for Joanne to buy some produce. Then over to Walgreens to buy some advertised specials. Last stop was Albertsons to stock up on some groceries.
After lunch and a brief nap with Sully and Bo ( Sully certainly loves napping with me in the afternoon ) we began to prepare for departure tomorrow morning, putting things back into their travel storage spots. I took a bottle of Summerland Sweets Apricot Syrup ( from near our home in the Okanagan Valley in BC ) to our next door neighbour to thank him for the use of his computer when we first got here, and the loan of some tools when I was changing the truck’s brakes. I went to the library and replenished my inventory of “dime store” adventure mystery novels to read. We spent the hottest part of the afternoon floating around in the swimming pool. We took Bo for his final walk of this season around the perimeter of Kofa Ko-op’s dog park. He met and played with a new arrival, Domino, a ten week old female Boston Terrier puppy.
We hitched Harvey to Lanoire, then Joanne went to do some laundry while I finished up some pre-departure chores then worked on my computer until it was time to begin watching the Olympic Opening Ceremonies on TV.
Saturday ; Yuma to Picacho Peak State Park, Arizona
Well, after eight very pleasant weeks we left Kofa Ko-op this morning. After four years on the list we are now no. 34 on their waiting list for a lot. It will probably be three or four more years before we get a lot there. We’re looking forward to that being our “permanent” winter home. Bo was ecstatic about leaving. In Bo’s mind the best parts about our travelling lifestyle are arriving and leaving. HA HA HA !
We headed east on Interstate 8. Just before noon we reached Dateland, Arizona. WOO-HOO … the best date shakes anywhere ! After reading my blog recently my sister sent me an e-mail admonishing me for only giving Bo a yogurt, peanut butter, and banana parfait for his birthday. She felt that for a birthday he should get a date shake. Okay, Sharon … today Bo got a belated birthday date shake. And not just any old date shake. A Dateland date shake ! ! ! They don’t get any better than that ! Bo was very pleased with his date shake. As were we with ours. HA HA HA !
We continued east on Interstate 8. At Casa Grande I-8 merged with, and ended, at Interstate 10. At Eloy we stopped at Flying J to refill with diesel. Lowest price on diesel so far this winter season. Shortly after that we reached our objective for the day, Picacho Peak State Park. The serviced loops of the campground were full, and there were only a few sites left in the unserviced loop. Shortly after our arrival the last few sites in the unserviced loop were filled, and the entire campground was full. With the State Park campgrounds being so full, I wonder why they have to close them due to budget shortfalls ? ! ? We got set up in a site just in time to join a Ranger led guided hike to learn about Saguaro Cacti. We took Bo on the hike. He thought it was boring. Too much standing around listening to the Ranger explain things.
We got back to our trailer just a few minutes before sunset. We rushed to change the trailer house battery before it got dark, removing the old battery and installing the spare we had. It became obvious yesterday evening and this morning as we were preparing for departure that the trailer house battery was on its last legs and wouldn’t hold a charge any more. Not surprising because it’s two years old, and that seems to be the life of the trailer house battery, in our experience. The spare was given to us by a neighbour back home at Riverside RV Park Resort. It was slightly used, and we don’t know its age. But it’s obviously in much better condition than the one that we removed. The one we removed has a two year warranty. Of course, that warranty expires in six days ! Obviously there’s not much point in returning it to Wal-Mart and making a warranty claim. The warranty allowance would probably be something like fifty cents.
DSK
Sunday, February 7, 2010
January 31 to February 6, 2010
January 31 to February 6, 2010
Sunday ; What a lovely day ! This morning I puttered around with some outdoor chores while Joanne slept late. She wasn’t feeling well today. I took Bo and Sully outdoors to enjoy the fine weather. I went to the clubhouse to do some online work because the Wi-Fi system in the park will be down for maintenance tomorrow. I retrieved month end investment and banking data, and paid the MasterCard bill. I updated my blog.
After lunch I started reading “99 Days To Panama”, the book I bought for Joanne as a birthday gift. She was not yet ready to start reading it, so I’m going to read it before she does. It’s a fascinating story, the journal of a couple who travelled with their dog in their RV all the way from Texas to Panama through Mexico and Central America. Joanne wasn’t feeling well enough to want to walk around the dog park or go to the swimming pool. Alas, I had no choice but to take a long nap with Sully and Bo. HA HA HA !
We went to the regular Sunday evening ice cream social, then back at the trailer we watched a DVD movie on the computer. Flight Of The Phoenix was the last of the DVD movies we had received as a Christmas gift from my sister a few years ago. We only had a few days left before the 60 day free trial period of our DVD movie player software expires. I’m a bit perturbed that the portable CD / DVD drive that I bought requires software at additional cost to function as a DVD movie player.
Monday ; Well … I’m reluctant to declare a competent medical professional incorrect, but … Sully is not blind ! I will concede that his pupils are always fully dilated and unresponsive, but … Sully is not blind ! We have watched his actions closely for the last couple of weeks, and … Sully is not blind.
This morning we headed out for some shopping errands. Bo came along. I dropped Joanne off at Wal-Mart and continued on to Yuma Palms Shopping Centre. First stop was Best Buy where I took my computer in to have a “geek” look at the VGA expansion port and advise me what cable I would need to connect the computer to the TV. The expansion port on my computer mates only with a Hewlett Packard “dock” which has a regular VGA port as well as a couple of additional USB ports. Remind me never to buy a Hewlett Packard product again ! From Best Buy it was across the mall to PetsMart. WOO-HOO … Bo loooooves shopping ! After buying dog food and a cat slicker brush we headed back towards Wal-Mart, stopping at Baron Fuels to refill Lanoire with diesel. At Wal-Mart I went inside to buy the double sided tape I need for the TV installation, check my blood pressure, and find Joanne. Then home for lunch.
After lunch I read more of “99 Days To Panama”. I napped. We went to the dog park with Bo. Joanne did some Mexico map and guide book research. She had pulled out the map and guide book to find Bucerias where our Winnipeg friends Shirley and Darcy had recently vacationed. I continued, but did not finish, working on the installation of “ travel restraints” for the TV. Sully was ecstatic about being brushed with his new slicker brush. Makes me believe he probably had been regularly groomed with a slicker brush by his previous owner, and misses it.
In the evening I printed our bank statements and investment account updates and reconciled our bank statements. I’ll work on the investment updates tomorrow.
Tuesday ; The temperature is getting hot. It seems as if spring is arriving. As a result of work done yesterday there is now a strong Wi-Fi signal that reaches our trailer. Previously the signal was good only at the clubhouse. With a strong signal at the trailer I spent quite a bit of time online today. I trimmed my beard which took longer than usual. I was using a new ( to me ) Remington trimmer with multiple attachments that I picked up recently from the bargain table. The results were very good. Last night while barbecuing supper the barbecue’s propane tank ran out. Today I took the little tank to the park’s propane refill station. I glue repaired one of my shoes. And I completed the installation of my television travel restraint system. It should be more than adequate for travel in Canada and the United States. I’m not sure if any TV restraint system in an RV is adequate for Mexico’s roads. Maybe next winter we’ll find out.
I continued reading “99 Days To Panama”. I’m captivated by this journal of RV travel through Central America. And then, of course, I napped. Because we had Wi-Fi in the trailer Joanne got caught up on reading and sending e-mail. We spent time outdoors with Bo and Sully. Sully enjoys wandering around our site on warm, sunny days. That pretty much means he enjoys wandering around outside any day. HA HA HA ! We took Bo for his regular daily walk around the dog park, but we went too early. We usually go late in the afternoon, as the sun is setting. Today we went in mid-afternoon, and the desert sun was just too intense ! I did research on satellite Internet systems for RV’s. Joanne experimented with an idea she had for her contribution to tomorrow’s heavy appetizer social hour.
I spent the evening updating my investment files. What the hell happened to the stock markets in the last few weeks ? ! ?
Wednesday ; This morning I phoned about an ad in The White Pages advertising a used Hughes Satellite Internet system. I’ve been contemplating buying an Internet satellite system. But after having a discussion with the seller … no, I don’t think so ! Today we did the second weekly application of Bo’s and Sully’s OraVet plaque prevention gel. Seems to be working okay so far. I took Bo for an obedience training session, something I’m not doing nearly often enough. Nevertheless he did very well. Good dog, Bo.
This afternoon we took Sully back to the veterinarian to have his blood pressure checked now that he has been on medication for a couple of weeks. ( sigh) His blood pressure is still too high, and the dosage will have to be increased. Followed by another visit to the vet in a couple of days for another BP check. At 32 bucks per visit, I hope we don’t have to repeat this “trial and error” process too often !
We went to the Wednesday afternoon heavy appetizer social hour. Joanne made an interesting appetizer. She cut fresh tortillas into 6 little triangles each and baked them in muffin pans into little baked “taco shells” then filled them with our Riverside RV Park Resort neighbour Betty’s homemade pickle and tomato relish. They were a big hit. After the social hour we took Bo and Sully to the dog park.
( scratch scratch ) Gee, I trimmed my beard too short yesterday.
Thursday ; We got up early this morning and headed out for El Centro, California, about an hour west of Yuma on Interstate 8. Our RV park had arranged a “Farm Smart Tour” at the Desert Research and Extension Center, an agricultural research farm operated by the University of California.
Once at the farm we received welcoming greetings then set off for a guided tour around the farm. As a group we drove around the farm sitting on hay bales on large wagons pulled by tractors. The farm, and the research done by Master’s and PhD candidates, was very interesting and educational. We learned, among other things, that the farm is growing a type of Durham wheat for Canadian Wheat Growers in Alberta. The research of this type of wheat would take seven growing cycles, seven years in Canada. But with the assistance of this research facility the research time is cut in half to 3½ years. Canadian Wheat Growers grows a crop in Alberta during the summer. They ship the seeds down here in the fall and the research farm down here grows a crop during the winter, then sends the seeds back to Canada in the spring. One of the things that the research farm has done that I found very interesting was … they have developed the ability to produce carrots in 5 different colours. HA HA HA … for no reason other than there is a demand for more colour in salads. HA HA HA HA HA … God Bless America !
We stopped at a large field of assorted vegetables, were each given a large bag … the size of a “green garbage bag” … told to go out into the field and … pick whatever we wanted ! WOW … we picked cauliflower, Romaine lettuce, Iceberg lettuce, beets, Swiss Chard, scallions, broccoli, radishes, cabbage, and Daikon radishes. We returned to the farm’s main buildings for a wonderful, incredibly fresh salad lunch. The huge fresh salad was dressed with a freshly made onion dressing created by the farm. After lunch we went to another building for an afternoon of audio-visual presentations on farming in the Imperial Valley. Before we left the farm they served us ice cream in special plastic drinking glasses that change colour when cold. The glasses, with the farm’s logo on them, were for us to keep.
Joanne and I drove to Holtville, the next town over from El Centro. We always take the opportunity to stop in Holtville to buy wonderful pan dulce at the panaderia in town, and great, huge burritos at Holtville Taco Shop. Once back at Kofa Ko-op we took Bo for a walk around the dog park, then Joanne started sorting, cleaning, and packaging our two huge bags of vegetables before preparing another huge fresh salad for us to have with our burritos for supper.
Friday ; This morning I slept late then puttered around with miscellaneous routine chores and errands including doing a small repair on the floor in the trailer.
This afternoon we took Sully back to the veterinarian to have his blood pressure checked … again ! It’s lower, but still needs to be lower. We’re going to have to adjust his medication dosage and take him back next week to check his blood pressure again !
This evening we went downtown to the Mardi Gras Block Party. Joanne invited her water aerobics friend Eileen to join us. Eileen is pretty interesting. She has travelled all over the world, both with her husband and as a widow. She’s been to Estonia, Norway, Egypt, India …. Antarctica two years ago at the age of 86 ! ! ! We’re not sure why today was the Mardi Gras Block Party since Mardi Gras isn’t for another few weeks. The event was a bit disappointing, but that’s okay, we were only there to eat some Louisiana food for supper. HA HA HA ! We each had a bowl of gumbo. I also had a bowl of jambalaya, then we shared a serving of three beignets.
Saturday ; It rained lightly and intermittently today.
WOO-HOO … Bo loooooves dog parties ! This morning we headed off to find Yuma Bark Park where the 2010 Yuma Pet Expo was being held. Well … Bark Park is right behind Wal-Mart on Pacific Avenue. From now on, instead of having to endure the agony of shopping at Wal-Mart, I’ll just take Bo to Bark Park while Joanne does the Wal-Martin’. Bark Park is a large municipal park that has been designated an off leash dog park. Today leashes were required because of Pet Expo. There were quite a few vendors of pet products. We bought Bo a new bandanna for his upcoming 6th birthday. And we told him ( snicker ) that the Pet Expo was his birthday party. HA HA HA ! The Humane Society of Yuma had animals from their shelter available for adoption. The City of Yuma was selling dog licenses and offering low cost vaccinations. It was good to see many people lined up to buy licenses and get their dogs vaccinated. We visited a booth from Arizona Game & Fish where an older gentleman was exhibiting a Gopher Snake. We have Gopher Snakes back home in Riverside RV Park Resort and it was interesting to learn about them. The female snake he was exhibiting was about 6 years old, and quite large. In the wild they don’t usually get to live that long. Large birds, like the Bald Eagles around our RV park at home, eat them. That probably explains why the Gopher Snakes at home are never more than a couple of feet long. The snake on exhibition today was accustomed to humans, and curious. While she was sniffing / tasting the back of my hand with her long, darting tongue, a nearby little girl about 8 years old or so was recoiling in wide eyed horror. HA HA HA ! Bark Park had an agility tunnel and an agility hurdle. Bo certainly showed up a lot of other dogs whose owners were trying to convince them to either jump the hurdle or go through the tunnel. BO … OVER … zoom ! BO … TUNNEL … zoom ! Good dog, Bo, well done !
After the Pet Expo we went to Albertsons for a few groceries then the Salvation Army Thrift Shop. Today was a 50% off sale on clothing. I bought a great pair of cargo pants for $2. After lunch, I read and napped with Sully and Bo. While I was napping Joanne’s friend Eileen brought over a plate of freshly made date cookies to express her appreciation for being invited to the Mardi Gras Block Party last night. Joanne did laundry. I finished the minor repair to the trailer floor that I started yesterday. I fixed the broken zipper on Joanne’s purse.
While I was sitting at my desk working on the computer there was a very loud “BOOM” outside. My first thought was that a trailer’s propane tank had exploded. I rushed outside, looked around, and saw a puff of smoke over the dog park. OMIGAWD … my next thought was that it must have been a misguided shot from the nearby military firing range where they explode things, blowing up the desert. I rushed through a neighbour’s yard to the dog park fence but couldn’t see anything except a dissipating puff of smoke. One of the neighbours said he thought he saw someone toss a huge firecracker into the dog park. Firecracker ? ! ? More likely a stick of dynamite !
WOW ! ! ! I just stepped outside, at sunset, after a few minutes of light rain, and there was a spectacular double rainbow over the dog park. On the “main” rainbow the full arch was visible, from ground to ground. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a “full” rainbow before. Certainly have never seen a rainbow over the desert before !
DSK
Sunday ; What a lovely day ! This morning I puttered around with some outdoor chores while Joanne slept late. She wasn’t feeling well today. I took Bo and Sully outdoors to enjoy the fine weather. I went to the clubhouse to do some online work because the Wi-Fi system in the park will be down for maintenance tomorrow. I retrieved month end investment and banking data, and paid the MasterCard bill. I updated my blog.
After lunch I started reading “99 Days To Panama”, the book I bought for Joanne as a birthday gift. She was not yet ready to start reading it, so I’m going to read it before she does. It’s a fascinating story, the journal of a couple who travelled with their dog in their RV all the way from Texas to Panama through Mexico and Central America. Joanne wasn’t feeling well enough to want to walk around the dog park or go to the swimming pool. Alas, I had no choice but to take a long nap with Sully and Bo. HA HA HA !
We went to the regular Sunday evening ice cream social, then back at the trailer we watched a DVD movie on the computer. Flight Of The Phoenix was the last of the DVD movies we had received as a Christmas gift from my sister a few years ago. We only had a few days left before the 60 day free trial period of our DVD movie player software expires. I’m a bit perturbed that the portable CD / DVD drive that I bought requires software at additional cost to function as a DVD movie player.
Monday ; Well … I’m reluctant to declare a competent medical professional incorrect, but … Sully is not blind ! I will concede that his pupils are always fully dilated and unresponsive, but … Sully is not blind ! We have watched his actions closely for the last couple of weeks, and … Sully is not blind.
This morning we headed out for some shopping errands. Bo came along. I dropped Joanne off at Wal-Mart and continued on to Yuma Palms Shopping Centre. First stop was Best Buy where I took my computer in to have a “geek” look at the VGA expansion port and advise me what cable I would need to connect the computer to the TV. The expansion port on my computer mates only with a Hewlett Packard “dock” which has a regular VGA port as well as a couple of additional USB ports. Remind me never to buy a Hewlett Packard product again ! From Best Buy it was across the mall to PetsMart. WOO-HOO … Bo loooooves shopping ! After buying dog food and a cat slicker brush we headed back towards Wal-Mart, stopping at Baron Fuels to refill Lanoire with diesel. At Wal-Mart I went inside to buy the double sided tape I need for the TV installation, check my blood pressure, and find Joanne. Then home for lunch.
After lunch I read more of “99 Days To Panama”. I napped. We went to the dog park with Bo. Joanne did some Mexico map and guide book research. She had pulled out the map and guide book to find Bucerias where our Winnipeg friends Shirley and Darcy had recently vacationed. I continued, but did not finish, working on the installation of “ travel restraints” for the TV. Sully was ecstatic about being brushed with his new slicker brush. Makes me believe he probably had been regularly groomed with a slicker brush by his previous owner, and misses it.
In the evening I printed our bank statements and investment account updates and reconciled our bank statements. I’ll work on the investment updates tomorrow.
Tuesday ; The temperature is getting hot. It seems as if spring is arriving. As a result of work done yesterday there is now a strong Wi-Fi signal that reaches our trailer. Previously the signal was good only at the clubhouse. With a strong signal at the trailer I spent quite a bit of time online today. I trimmed my beard which took longer than usual. I was using a new ( to me ) Remington trimmer with multiple attachments that I picked up recently from the bargain table. The results were very good. Last night while barbecuing supper the barbecue’s propane tank ran out. Today I took the little tank to the park’s propane refill station. I glue repaired one of my shoes. And I completed the installation of my television travel restraint system. It should be more than adequate for travel in Canada and the United States. I’m not sure if any TV restraint system in an RV is adequate for Mexico’s roads. Maybe next winter we’ll find out.
I continued reading “99 Days To Panama”. I’m captivated by this journal of RV travel through Central America. And then, of course, I napped. Because we had Wi-Fi in the trailer Joanne got caught up on reading and sending e-mail. We spent time outdoors with Bo and Sully. Sully enjoys wandering around our site on warm, sunny days. That pretty much means he enjoys wandering around outside any day. HA HA HA ! We took Bo for his regular daily walk around the dog park, but we went too early. We usually go late in the afternoon, as the sun is setting. Today we went in mid-afternoon, and the desert sun was just too intense ! I did research on satellite Internet systems for RV’s. Joanne experimented with an idea she had for her contribution to tomorrow’s heavy appetizer social hour.
I spent the evening updating my investment files. What the hell happened to the stock markets in the last few weeks ? ! ?
Wednesday ; This morning I phoned about an ad in The White Pages advertising a used Hughes Satellite Internet system. I’ve been contemplating buying an Internet satellite system. But after having a discussion with the seller … no, I don’t think so ! Today we did the second weekly application of Bo’s and Sully’s OraVet plaque prevention gel. Seems to be working okay so far. I took Bo for an obedience training session, something I’m not doing nearly often enough. Nevertheless he did very well. Good dog, Bo.
This afternoon we took Sully back to the veterinarian to have his blood pressure checked now that he has been on medication for a couple of weeks. ( sigh) His blood pressure is still too high, and the dosage will have to be increased. Followed by another visit to the vet in a couple of days for another BP check. At 32 bucks per visit, I hope we don’t have to repeat this “trial and error” process too often !
We went to the Wednesday afternoon heavy appetizer social hour. Joanne made an interesting appetizer. She cut fresh tortillas into 6 little triangles each and baked them in muffin pans into little baked “taco shells” then filled them with our Riverside RV Park Resort neighbour Betty’s homemade pickle and tomato relish. They were a big hit. After the social hour we took Bo and Sully to the dog park.
( scratch scratch ) Gee, I trimmed my beard too short yesterday.
Thursday ; We got up early this morning and headed out for El Centro, California, about an hour west of Yuma on Interstate 8. Our RV park had arranged a “Farm Smart Tour” at the Desert Research and Extension Center, an agricultural research farm operated by the University of California.
Once at the farm we received welcoming greetings then set off for a guided tour around the farm. As a group we drove around the farm sitting on hay bales on large wagons pulled by tractors. The farm, and the research done by Master’s and PhD candidates, was very interesting and educational. We learned, among other things, that the farm is growing a type of Durham wheat for Canadian Wheat Growers in Alberta. The research of this type of wheat would take seven growing cycles, seven years in Canada. But with the assistance of this research facility the research time is cut in half to 3½ years. Canadian Wheat Growers grows a crop in Alberta during the summer. They ship the seeds down here in the fall and the research farm down here grows a crop during the winter, then sends the seeds back to Canada in the spring. One of the things that the research farm has done that I found very interesting was … they have developed the ability to produce carrots in 5 different colours. HA HA HA … for no reason other than there is a demand for more colour in salads. HA HA HA HA HA … God Bless America !
We stopped at a large field of assorted vegetables, were each given a large bag … the size of a “green garbage bag” … told to go out into the field and … pick whatever we wanted ! WOW … we picked cauliflower, Romaine lettuce, Iceberg lettuce, beets, Swiss Chard, scallions, broccoli, radishes, cabbage, and Daikon radishes. We returned to the farm’s main buildings for a wonderful, incredibly fresh salad lunch. The huge fresh salad was dressed with a freshly made onion dressing created by the farm. After lunch we went to another building for an afternoon of audio-visual presentations on farming in the Imperial Valley. Before we left the farm they served us ice cream in special plastic drinking glasses that change colour when cold. The glasses, with the farm’s logo on them, were for us to keep.
Joanne and I drove to Holtville, the next town over from El Centro. We always take the opportunity to stop in Holtville to buy wonderful pan dulce at the panaderia in town, and great, huge burritos at Holtville Taco Shop. Once back at Kofa Ko-op we took Bo for a walk around the dog park, then Joanne started sorting, cleaning, and packaging our two huge bags of vegetables before preparing another huge fresh salad for us to have with our burritos for supper.
Friday ; This morning I slept late then puttered around with miscellaneous routine chores and errands including doing a small repair on the floor in the trailer.
This afternoon we took Sully back to the veterinarian to have his blood pressure checked … again ! It’s lower, but still needs to be lower. We’re going to have to adjust his medication dosage and take him back next week to check his blood pressure again !
This evening we went downtown to the Mardi Gras Block Party. Joanne invited her water aerobics friend Eileen to join us. Eileen is pretty interesting. She has travelled all over the world, both with her husband and as a widow. She’s been to Estonia, Norway, Egypt, India …. Antarctica two years ago at the age of 86 ! ! ! We’re not sure why today was the Mardi Gras Block Party since Mardi Gras isn’t for another few weeks. The event was a bit disappointing, but that’s okay, we were only there to eat some Louisiana food for supper. HA HA HA ! We each had a bowl of gumbo. I also had a bowl of jambalaya, then we shared a serving of three beignets.
Saturday ; It rained lightly and intermittently today.
WOO-HOO … Bo loooooves dog parties ! This morning we headed off to find Yuma Bark Park where the 2010 Yuma Pet Expo was being held. Well … Bark Park is right behind Wal-Mart on Pacific Avenue. From now on, instead of having to endure the agony of shopping at Wal-Mart, I’ll just take Bo to Bark Park while Joanne does the Wal-Martin’. Bark Park is a large municipal park that has been designated an off leash dog park. Today leashes were required because of Pet Expo. There were quite a few vendors of pet products. We bought Bo a new bandanna for his upcoming 6th birthday. And we told him ( snicker ) that the Pet Expo was his birthday party. HA HA HA ! The Humane Society of Yuma had animals from their shelter available for adoption. The City of Yuma was selling dog licenses and offering low cost vaccinations. It was good to see many people lined up to buy licenses and get their dogs vaccinated. We visited a booth from Arizona Game & Fish where an older gentleman was exhibiting a Gopher Snake. We have Gopher Snakes back home in Riverside RV Park Resort and it was interesting to learn about them. The female snake he was exhibiting was about 6 years old, and quite large. In the wild they don’t usually get to live that long. Large birds, like the Bald Eagles around our RV park at home, eat them. That probably explains why the Gopher Snakes at home are never more than a couple of feet long. The snake on exhibition today was accustomed to humans, and curious. While she was sniffing / tasting the back of my hand with her long, darting tongue, a nearby little girl about 8 years old or so was recoiling in wide eyed horror. HA HA HA ! Bark Park had an agility tunnel and an agility hurdle. Bo certainly showed up a lot of other dogs whose owners were trying to convince them to either jump the hurdle or go through the tunnel. BO … OVER … zoom ! BO … TUNNEL … zoom ! Good dog, Bo, well done !
After the Pet Expo we went to Albertsons for a few groceries then the Salvation Army Thrift Shop. Today was a 50% off sale on clothing. I bought a great pair of cargo pants for $2. After lunch, I read and napped with Sully and Bo. While I was napping Joanne’s friend Eileen brought over a plate of freshly made date cookies to express her appreciation for being invited to the Mardi Gras Block Party last night. Joanne did laundry. I finished the minor repair to the trailer floor that I started yesterday. I fixed the broken zipper on Joanne’s purse.
While I was sitting at my desk working on the computer there was a very loud “BOOM” outside. My first thought was that a trailer’s propane tank had exploded. I rushed outside, looked around, and saw a puff of smoke over the dog park. OMIGAWD … my next thought was that it must have been a misguided shot from the nearby military firing range where they explode things, blowing up the desert. I rushed through a neighbour’s yard to the dog park fence but couldn’t see anything except a dissipating puff of smoke. One of the neighbours said he thought he saw someone toss a huge firecracker into the dog park. Firecracker ? ! ? More likely a stick of dynamite !
WOW ! ! ! I just stepped outside, at sunset, after a few minutes of light rain, and there was a spectacular double rainbow over the dog park. On the “main” rainbow the full arch was visible, from ground to ground. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a “full” rainbow before. Certainly have never seen a rainbow over the desert before !
DSK
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