December 19 to 25, 2010

December 19 to 25, 2010 ; Yuma, Arizona


Sunday ; Well done, Daniel ! Within 24 hours of arriving in Yuma, I found us a very suitable place to rent for the winter, at a very reasonable price !

I had insomnia last night. In the middle of the night I was on the computer, searching for an RV lot to rent for the winter. I found ads for six spots that I thought might be suitable. First thing in the morning we went out to see them. By the time we had seen five of the six, a decision was made. We decided we wanted the first one we had seen. We returned home, I got on the phone, did a bit of negotiating, et voilà … we have a spot for the winter.

Five of the six spots were lots in the Foothills, most of them half of a lot serviced for two RV’s. The sixth one, the first we looked at, and the one we rented, is a site in a full service RV park, very similar to, and very close to, Kofa Ko-op. On Christmas morning we will be moving to Rancho Bonitos on Avenue 4E, just “around the corner” from Kofa Ko-op SKP RV Park. We rented the site from the owners ( or more precisely, the lifetime leaseholders, same as at Kofa Ko-op ), a couple in Oregon who only use the lot for October and November of each year. And their son is the caretaker in the park, which should likely prove to be somewhat helpful. And we will remain there until April 1.

This afternoon we did quite a bit of routine maintenance chores. We put all the parts I scavenged form our dead fridge ( doors, door panels, shelves, door bins, etc. ) on the bargain table. We took Bo for a walk around the perimeter of the dog park. I posted my weekly journal to my blog. We struggled to flip and rotate our mattress, as well as remove, wash, and replace the mattress cover. Easier said than done ! I examined our old converter, to see if there were any parts worth scavenging. There weren’t. And I think the only reason it was malfunctioning was … 12 years of accumulated dirt. It looked like someone had dumped a vacuum bag into the electronic “guts” of the converter. I glue repaired a broken buckle on my fanny pack. Hope it works !

We went to the regular Sunday afternoon ice cream social, then returned home to prepare and eat dinner, and watch the 3 hour long season finale of Survivor.

Monday ; Today was cloudy, warm, and a bit windy.

We spent most of the day out, running shopping errands. First stop was RV Connection for an RV part. Then Barney’s to refill with diesel … before fuel prices get jacked up for the holiday season ! I went to the Sears Auto Centre to meet with the manager to discuss the incident in Fresno, California whereby I and the service manager there had a disagreement about whether or not I was entitled to free tire rotations. The service manager here certainly believes that I am, but he’s going to have to discuss it with his superiors to determine whether he’s wrong, or the fellow in Fresno was wrong. In the meantime, while I went to Sears, Joanne walked over to Goodwill for some thrift store shopping. From Sears I went to Pep Boys for some automotive wiring, which they didn’t have. I picked Joanne up at Goodwill, and we drove to Tipton’s Automotive, where I bought the automotive wiring I needed. We had a very late lunch across the street at Wienerschnitzel. After lunch we headed for Yuma Farm & Home Supply where I bought some wiring connectors that neither Pep Boys nor Tipton‘s had. Then it was on to Harbor Freight Tools to shop for a variety of advertised specials on “guy stuff”. Great stuff, great prices at Harbor Freight Tools ! Final stop was Fry’s for groceries.

Bo had come along with us for our day of shopping, eager to go “drivey”. And he’s such a good dog when it comes to waiting in the truck for us while we’re shopping. Good dog, Bo ! When we got home there was just enough daylight time left for a walk around the dog park perimeter. He made two new friends in the dog park, Patty the Papillon and Inga the … ?

In the evening I did some minor maintenance projects and some online work.

Tuesday ; Today was cloudy with light intermittent rain. It doesn’t rain much in Yuma ! This morning we did some routine maintenance chores. In the afternoon I retrieved, printed, reconciled, and paid our U.S.$ MasterCard bill. WOW … expensive month ! Expensive repairs to Harvey / the fifth wheel trailer ! And I started to feel my annual Christmas season blues < shrug >.

Milk makes Sully vomit. And he’s always trying to stick his face into my glass of milk ! So … the other day when I saw lactose free eggnog in the grocery store, I bought a quart … to share with Sully. HMPH … he doesn’t like it ! Stupid cat !

Wednesday ; Today was cloudy, mild, windy, with intermittent rain. Our plan for today was to go to Los Algodones, Mexico, primarily so I could get a $3 haircut and beard trim. First we drove over to nearby Rancho Bonitos, the RV park we will be moving to on Christmas morning. We had to register in their office as new “residents”, and their office is open only a couple of mornings each week. From there we headed for Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico. By the time we arrived at the border crossing it was raining heavily And the free roadside parking had been eliminated, forcing everyone into the $5 parking lot. I didn’t feel like paying $5 to park, then walking a fair distance in heavy rain just to get a $3 haircut, and then probably have to stand in line for more than an hour to cross back into the United States. I’ll trim my beard myself before Christmas, and get a haircut next week or the week after in Mexico.

We drove to PetsMart to buy some “stocking stuffer” gifts for Sully and Bo. Then we went looking for a bank where we could cash some traveller’s cheques in order to pay our January “rent” tomorrow. And perhaps open an account. We’re going to need a bank account in Yuma. We thought that Sun Bank inside Wal-Mart would be convenient. But … HA HA HA … they wouldn’t cash traveller’s cheques because … wait for it … traveller’s cheques are “too difficult to verify”. We very quickly decided we could not do business with a bank that stupid ! What part of “bank” did you folks not understand ?

Since we were already there we did some Wal-Martin’. Bumped into Santa Claus doing some grocery shopping. Merry Christmas, Santa. He reached into his sack and gave me a candy. I guess because I was a good little boy for wishing him Merry Christmas ? ! It was a bit cool today so Santa was wearing his long pants. When we saw him at Sunday’s ice cream social at Kofa Ko-op he was wearing red velvet shorts with a short sleeved coat. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA … I didn’t even know Santa had red velvet shorts. But … I guess … < shrug > … down here in the desert … HA HA HA !

We drove over to Bank of America. We got some information, cashed some traveller’s cheques, and set up an appointment to open an account. We decided that dealing with a large national bank was probably wiser than dealing with a local “Mickey Mouse” bank. We did a bit of grocery shopping before returning home in time for Joanne to prepare her contribution to today’s social hour / appetizer potluck. At the social hour it was announced that Joe Peterson died this morning. Joe and his wife Kay were the founders of the Escapees RV Club over thirty years ago. I’m certain that when they started, they never imagined that their little “club” would become the support system for over 100,000 RV’ers, mostly full timers and half timers / Snowbirds. There was a sad minute of silence observed at social hour in Joe’s honour.

Thursday ; Well, Yuma is back to its typical sunny, warm weather. This morning we drove over to Rancho Bonitos and paid our site rental for January ( and the last week of December ). From there it was over to Arizona Market Place, the huge flea market nearby. Joanne shops there weekly for fresh produce and I needed a couple of hardware items.

After lunch, a nap with Sully, and a walk around the perimeter of the dog park with Bo, I wrapped Christmas presents. In the evening, while Joanne wrapped gifts, I did online research into periodontists in Los Algodones. I have a gum problem that I think should be dealt with by a periodontist.

Friday ; Christmas Eve ;  Today was a sunny, warm, perfect “June 18” day.

This morning I took my little netbook computer to the clubhouse to use Wi-Fi to make some phone calls. After setting up some appointments I returned home and trimmed my beard. Gee, I was really starting to look like a “bushy”. And probably still do … I’m way overdue for a haircut. I have a periodontist appointment in Los Algodones on Monday, so I can get a haircut at that time. I’m quite impressed that I can send an e-mail to a periodontist in Los Algodones late in the evening on Thursday, and by Friday afternoon … and Christmas Eve at that … I have an appointment for Monday morning.

I spent the afternoon doing some maintenance projects, including rewiring the trailer battery with heavier gauge wires and lugs. It was a very pleasant day to be working outside. I wanted to get the trailer battery rewiring job done before we leave this site because there is a work bench with a vise on it behind the storage shed on this site. I needed the vise to crimp the heavy lugs onto the wires. I also disassembled and cleaned the insides of the cooling unit on top of our little 12 volt fridge. The amount of work that it has done in the last month or so is probably equivalent to many years of “normal” use for this little fridge.

At dusk we returned to the clubhouse with the computer to make a Christmas phone call to Joanne’s family. No answer ! Joanne prepared tourtière ( French Canadian meat pie ) for supper, her family’s traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Thank you, my dear !

After supper we went for a walk around the park with Bo, because the park had placed and lit luminaries along the road at each site, a Christmas Eve tradition here at Kofa Ko-op. WHEW … time to lose some weight ! WHEW … time to tell my doctor I need a cardiovascular checkup !

Saturday ; Christmas Day ; Kofa Ko-op to Rancho Bonitos

Merry Christmas / Joyeux Noel / Feliz Navidad

What a gorgeous Christmas Day in Yuma. Bright sunshine, 74 degrees all day long, no wind. Pretty typical for Christmas Day in Yuma, actually. This morning we prepared for departure, left Kofa Ko-op SKP RV Park, and drove north on South Avenue 4E for about 2 miles to Rancho Bonitos Co-op RV Park. We got set up in our new site, and our home until April 1.

Because we had to move this morning we did not have our traditional Christmas morning breakfast. And ever since we began travelling … seven Christmases ago, we have not had my family’s traditional Christmas morning breakfast, which had become “our” traditional Christmas morning breakfast. Because we haven’t had a waffle iron in the trailer. Until now ! ! ! WOO-HOO … Joanne bought me a waffle iron. So tomorrow morning, we will resume having waffles for Christmas breakfast, albeit delayed by one day.

Gift opening time ! We allowed Bo to open his two gifts first. And each Christmas, for seven Christmases now, he has become more and more adept at opening gifts. And more and more enthusiastic about it ! So … perhaps unwisely … this morning we allowed him to “help” us unwrap all of our gifts. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA … way to go, Bo ! The more gifts he unwrapped, the more frantic and frenzied he became. Must be somewhat like letting a little kid eat too much sugar ! BO … RELAX !

After cleaning up the gift wrap mess, we got dressed for Christmas dinner and headed back to Kofa Ko-op SKP RV Park for Christmas dinner. We went early, and took the computer, planning to use Wi-Fi to phone our families. We had a wonderful Skype video chat with Joanne’s family before it was time for dinner. What an excellent pronunciation of Feliz Navidad by nine year old Amelia. Too bad she couldn’t be wishing us that at the Mazatlán airport today, as had been the plan earlier this year < sigh >. Kofa Ko-op prepared turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, and dressing. All other side dishes and deserts were contributed potluck style. It was a pretty good dinner, but not the best communal / potluck Christmas dinner we’ve had. We were seated at a table of twelve, including a Canadian couple from Kingston, Ontario. After dinner and socializing, we phoned my sister and her husband. No answer !

We returned to Rancho Bonitos, and fed Bo and Sully their Christmas turkey dinners, so to speak. It was a pouch of soft morsel dog food in gravy. Sully got the gravy, Bo got the meat, everybody was happy. We went for a walk around the park, Joanne with the dog, me carrying the computer, searching for an unsecured Wi-Fi signal. There was one near the trailer of the park’s caretaker, also the son of the owner of the lot we’re on. He had already advised me that it would be okay to use his Wi-Fi signal. But I would like to have Wi-Fi right at our trailer, if that can be possible. Next week I will phone Qwest, the local Internet Service Provider to see if I can get Wi-Fi for three months.

   DSK