Sunday ; Today was mostly cloudy and warm. In preparation for departure tomorrow I cleaned hundreds of acorns out of the hitch pin box. WHEW … what busy Acorn Woodpeckers here. When we get to Yuma I am going to have to remove the air conditioning shroud on the roof to clean out acorns, and search for any other spots where acorns might be stashed. I took the computer to the clubhouse and did some online work including posting my weekly journal entry to my blog. Joanne joined me in the library and made a phone call to her sister.
After lunch we went to the clubhouse to see “Art in the Park”, an exhibition of the arts and crafts created by a variety of artists residing in the park. There was some interesting stuff. From there we headed to Oakhurst for the Oakhurst Community Band Christmas Concert. Once in Oakhurst we refilled with diesel then found our way to the high school. WOW … we got lost on the high school campus ! It seemed more similar to a university campus than a high school in a small town out in the middle of nowhere. Finally we found the Performing Arts Center. In a high school ? ! ?
You know, while in the United States every winter, I am proud to brag about the elements of Canadian society / culture that are … superior … to the United States. But … I’m embarrassed by how inferior our education system is in music and sports. The scope and magnitude of high school music and sports programs in the United States are immeasurably greater than in Canada.
The concert was quite enjoyable. The Oakhurst Community Band was like a symphony orchestra without a string section. It was comprised of men and women from high school age to older than us. The program was varied, and included not only some Christmas music, but a recent composition done locally entitled Yosemite Autumn. While introducing it, the conductor was brought to tears. I’m not sure what that was about. That musical piece was enhanced by a slide show of photos of Yosemite National Park.
Midway through the concert was a … HUH ? … cookie intermission ! HA HA HA ! I’ve never been to a concert that had a cookie intermission. The entire audience filed outside the Performing Arts Center where there were tables filled with an endless supply of really good, home baked cookies provided by the Oakhurst Community Band’s Women’s Auxiliary. After the cookie intermission, I felt inspired to increase the amount of donation that I had made when they “passed the hat” at the beginning of the free concert. After the second half of the concert I was inspired to further increase my donation.
After the concert we stopped at Vons for a few groceries and to refill a water jug. Just after we arrived back “home” it began to rain heavily. I hope it stops by morning. I hate preparing for departure in the rain. After supper we watched Amazing Race and the season finale of IRT Deadliest Roads. Way to go, Lisa !
Monday ; SKP Park of the Sierras, Coarsegold to Camping World, Bakersfield, California
Well … a lovely, sunny, warm day ! It took us a long time this morning to get out of SKP Park of the Sierras. While preparing for departure, I kept running into little problems and discovering minor repairs that needed to be done. And … lots of little places on the exterior of the trailer packed with acorns !
I had some “checkout anxiety” because the last time we were leaving SKP Park of the Sierras it took 50 minutes for the office staff to process our checkout. Today the checkout process took just a few minutes.
We headed south on Hwy. 41 to Fresno, then onto Hwy. 99 heading south. We had lunch in a roadside rest area. Some minor electrical problems convinced me that the trailer battery needed to be replaced. At Bakersfield we found our way to Camping World. We verified with the service department that the fridge we ordered was in stock, and that we had a service appointment for tomorrow morning. And while I ordered the fridge last month at a discounted sale price, this month fridge installation is half price. WOO-HOO … fridge on sale and installation at half price ! We bought some items we needed and checked prices on the line of batteries that Camping World carries.
We left Camping World headed for a nearby Wal-Mart to check battery prices, and decide whether to buy a replacement house battery for the trailer at Camping World or Wal-Mart. The nearby Wal-Mart did not have an auto department, so we got directions to another Wal-Mart. At the second Wal-Mart I made a decision to buy a battery there. I removed the old battery out of the trailer and went inside with it to buy a new battery. The sales clerk was going to check the charge level on the new battery I was buying, and offered to check the condition of the old battery I was replacing. Sure … why not ? HUH ? ? ? It checked out as all okay ! I decided to hold off buying the new battery for awhile longer, until I figure out whether the battery is the problem or is there some other electrical problem ?
I reinstalled the old battery … as darkness arrived, making the task a bit difficult. We returned to Camping World where we boondocked overnight in the parking lot.
Tuesday ; Bakersfield to Victorville, California
Today was sunny and warm, a bit of a tough and unusual day. I got up very early ( 6 AM ) this morning to prepare for our service appointment at Camping World at 8 AM. With very little load on it overnight, just the little 12V fridge, the trailer house battery did not have enough “juice” left this morning to power the water pump. I couldn’t shower, or even flush the toilet, until I went outside in the dark to connect and start the generator < sigh >. I was convinced that it was a mistake not to have bought a new battery for the trailer yesterday evening. I suppose the Wal-Mart’s battery tester device was not meant to test deep cycle RV batteries, just regular automotive starting batteries.
The generator got us through our morning rituals. I disconnected it and put it away in the truck. I unhitched the truck from the trailer. We loaded Bo, Sully, and Sully’s litter box into the truck. I was at the Camping World service desk right at opening time. Dometic fridges come from the factory with the door hinges on the right hand side. We need our fridge to be hinged on the left hand side. I was unwilling to pay Camping World for half an hour of labour
( at $121 per hour ! ) to reverse the fridge doors, but I ordered the door hinge reversal parts kit, planning to do the work myself at a later date, probably after we get to Yuma. Before they took the trailer into the shop I removed the dead house battery. We went into Camping World’s retail store to look for an item and discovered that three items that we bought yesterday afternoon at $10 apiece had gone on sale this morning for $7 apiece. HMPH ! With no hassle at all, they cheerfully refunded $9 to us.
We headed to Wal-Mart to buy a new battery for the trailer. Beside the Wal-Mart was a Walgreen’s. We went inside to look at the weekly flyer of advertised specials. Joanne bought me a Christmas present. And … apparently … I bought one for her. Well … that was the easiest Christmas shopping I’ve ever done. HA HA HA ! On the way back to Camping World we stopped at Albertson’s for some groceries, anticipating that we were about to have a fridge in the trailer. After Albertson’s as we pulled into a fuel bar to refill with diesel, Joanne spotted … WOO-HOO … a panaderia ( Mexican bakery ). We refilled with diesel then went to buy some pan dulce ( Mexican pastries ). OH … a very nice panaderia ! We bought a lot of pan dulce !
We got back to Camping World just as they finished installing the new fridge. Unfortunately they did not have the parts kit that is necessary to reverse the doors from right hand hinged to left hand hinged. I’ll have to obtain that when we get to Yuma. I began to install the new battery before paying the bill, to ensure that the fridge was working properly on propane ( it needs 12V battery power to ignite the burner and operate the fridge using propane ). Joanne was inside the trailer examining the new fridge and discovered that at least one shelf was missing ( based on the display model inside the store ), the shelves were missing the flip up bars ( that the display model had ) across the front of the shelves that prevent products from falling out of the fridge when the door is opened, and a door bin was missing the rubber fingers ( that the display model had ) that hold bottles in place. After some discussion with our service writer he agreed to open and unpack another new fridge box to determine whether parts were missing from our fridge or was it a “new design” issue. He opened a new fridge and … ours was indeed missing a shelf, but the other items that differed from the display model were obviously “new design”. He agreed to give us the missing shelf and then contact the manufacturer to obtain one for the fridge in their inventory that is now missing a shelf. I’m a bit disappointed and miffed at the design changes, but … I guess everybody, including the fridge manufacturer, needs to cut back a bit in this bad economy !
We finished installing the new battery, started and adjusted the fridge, and were ready to hit the road … < sigh > … at noon ! Sully had been in the truck with us all morning, and seemed content, so we decided to keep him in the truck for the afternoon and see how he liked travelling with us in the truck instead of being alone in the trailer.
We headed east out of Bakersfield on Hwy. 58 towards the Tehachapi Pass. We skipped lunch, and munched on a pan dulce instead. Before too long we were on the 16 km / 10 mile long climb up over the Tehachapi Pass. Then … over the top, and … AHHHHH … first view of the seemingly endless Mojave Desert ! Hellooooo, Mojave ! We stopped at a roadside rest area for a bathroom break and to check on the fridge function. Sitting on a picnic table were … HUH ? … two pairs of dress shoes ; one man’s, one woman’s. At first I thought someone had stopped on their way to or from a dressy event, and decided to change to more comfortable shoes, then forgot their shoes on the picnic table. But no, that couldn’t be, because … these shoes were brand new, never worn ! I walked over to the picnic table, looked at the shoes, and they looked … new. I picked them up, examined the outsides, examined the insides, then flipped them over. HUH ? No dirt, no scuffs, perfectly clean soles, no evidence that they’ve ever been worn. New shoes, right out of the box ! HUH ? I decided to take them, and donate them to a thrift shop. Wonder what their story is ? ? ?
At Four Corners we turned south onto Hwy. 395. As we approached Victorville around 4PM we realized that if we kept going, we were going to get to the Los Angeles eastern suburbs of San Bernardino and Riverside right at rush hour ! I wasn’t up for Los Angeles suburban rush hour on the freeway today. I was too tired ! We stopped at Victorville and boondocked in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
Sully travelled well with us all day in the truck. All of our previous electrical problems disappeared with the installation of the new trailer house battery. The new fridge ... seems to have an intermittent overheating problem. And, yes … I did have a galleta ( Mexican cookie ) at bedtime.
Wednesday ; Victorville to Desert Hot Springs, California
Well, I’m feeling a little more hopeful now ( at 9:30 PM ) but a few hours ago ( at 6 PM ) I just wanted to crawl into bed and cry.
Today was sunny and hot ! I love the Mojave Desert ! We decided this morning we would prefer to cross the desert to get to Palm Springs / Desert Hot Springs than drive through the urban congestion of San Bernardino and Riverside. The desert route might be a few more miles, but probably less time. And certainly more scenic and less stressful. We left the Wal-Mart parking lot in Victorville this morning and headed a few miles north on Interstate 15, then east on Hwy. 18, east and south on Hwy. 247, then west and south on Hwy. 62 to Interstate 10 at Palm Springs. A few miles east on
I-10 and … Desert Hot Springs on the north side of the Interstate and Palm Springs on the south side.
We arrived, checked in, and got set up in a site at Caliente Springs, a very expensive but luxurious RV resort on the Desert Hot Springs side of the Interstate. We had lunch, I had a well deserved brief nap with Sully, and we went into Desert Hot Springs to buy some groceries. First stop, though, was the Post Office to pick up a batch of mail forwarded from home. We went to Stater Bros., one of my favourite grocery stores anywhere ! And I bought a jug of Arnold Palmer Tee, one of my favourite grocery products anywhere ! Arnold Palmer Tee, available only in Southern California, is a blend of iced tea and lemonade. We returned home laden with groceries to restock our new fridge to find …
AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH … our 1½ day old fridge was dead ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
I hardly know what to say ! The LED display on the fridge was showing an E3 error code. Turning it off for a few minutes and turning it back on would not solve the problem. I got online, and spent much of the evening working on the problem. First I warranty registered the fridge purchase. Then I searched for a local Dometic warranty repair location. I found a local RV mobile service technician that is a registered Dometic warranty repair service. I sent him an urgent e-mail and he responded within a couple of hours. He’s coming tomorrow around noon ! That calmed my anxiety a bit. I sent an e-mail to Dometic advising them of the situation. In the meantime … we brought the little 12V truck fridge back into the trailer and … once again … transferred the food from the dead RV fridge to the little 12V truck fridge.
In the evening we watched Survivor and the MythBusters episode with special guest Barack Obama.
Thursday ; Some days I just want to scream at the world “WHY ME ? ? ?” Much of today was dedicated to dealing with the fridge problem.
Today was sunny and very warm. Very nice weather here in Palm Springs / Desert Hot Springs. I was able to successfully restart the fridge early this morning. I dealt with the batch of forwarded mail we picked up at the Post Office yesterday. We took Bo to this RV resort’s fenced dog park / dog run. On the way there we took some garbage to the dumpster. HUH ? ? ? There was an unopened bottle of white wine from Idaho sitting beside the dumpster. How bad can Idaho wine be ? ! ? HA HA HA ! I guess somebody bought two bottles, and after drinking the first decided that the second should be discarded. We took it !
Around noon the Dometic factory authorized warranty repair service technician arrived. He recommended that the fridge’s heat sensor and associated fused wiring be replaced. He phoned Dometic for authorization. < SPUTTER > Not only did Dometic refuse to authorize that repair, they refused to pay his $65 service call fee ! ! ! Their position was that since my trailer was mobile, I was obligated to take it to a service facility, not use a mobile service, despite the fact that this local mobile service technician was a Dometic authorized warranty repair service and ….
< SPUTTER > … I only called him because the Dometic website referred me to him as the nearest Dometic authorized warranty repair service ! ! ! ! ! I paid his $65 fee ! And so far, both Dometic and Camping World refuse to reimburse me !
After lunch we went shopping. We drove to the Flying J in Thousand Palms to refill with diesel. And refilled with diesel at the Valero across the street from Flying J. On the way to Trader Joe’s we stopped to shop at the Goodwill Thrift Shop. I love Palm Springs thrift shop shopping. I bought two pairs of pants ! Today was “all pants on sale for $3.99” day. Minus my 10% senior’s discount, of course. WOW … a hundred bucks worth of pants for $7.18 ! HA HA HA ! The only thing I love more than Palm Springs thrift shop shopping is shopping at Trader Joe’s. Especially just before Christmas ! We bought quite a bit of Trader Joe’s specialty grocery products. Like chocolate coated sugar cookie “stars”. And chocolate coated marshmallows. And a one pound chocolate bar. Notice a theme developing there ? ! ?
We returned home and went to “take the waters”. This resort has stupendous mineral hot pools. As do all the RV parks and hotels / spas in this area. The water comes out of the ground at about 140 degrees and gets cooled before being piped into the first and largest hot pool. It’s a bit cooler as it flows into the second hot pool. And a bit cooler as it flows into the third hot pool. Then a bit cooler as it flows into the warmest swimming pool. And a bit cooler as it flows into the second and third swimming pools. Finally, it flows out to be used for irrigation of the golf course.
I spent quite awhile around supper time on the phone and sending e-mails dealing with the fridge. It failed again around 5 PM ! ! ! That’s it … I’ve had enough ! Especially after paying a $65 service fee for essentially nothing ! Talk about adding insult to injury ! I advised Camping World and Dometic that I demand that the fridge be replaced. Not removed, diagnosed, repaired, and reinstalled. REPLACED ! Is there any part of that that you don’t understand ? ! ?
After supper we headed downtown for “Village Fest”. Every Thursday evening downtown Palm Springs is closed to vehicular traffic, and it becomes a huge, outdoor shopping mall filled with arts and crafts and foods and … stuff … for sale. I felt Bo should be treated to an evening at Village Fest. Palm Springs is very dog ( and gay ) friendly, and many very well dressed dogs can be seen at Village Fest. Joanne has always felt that Bo looks like some kind of Alabama refugee ( well, actually, he is ! ) at Village Fest with his usually ratty looking bandana wardrobe. SO … HA HA HA … this year, she has been saving a brand new CANADA bandanna for him to wear to Village Fest. But … to no avail. This is Palm Springs. Even the pig being walked around Village Fest wearing a harness and sweater was better dressed than Bo. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! ! !
Friday ; Today was sunny and hot again. Well, there have been a lot of phone calls and e-mails back and forth between me, Dometic ( the manufacturer of the fridge ), and Camping World ( the retailer and installer of the fridge ). Whether they are indifferent by choice, or just plain stupid,
I can’t even get a sensible response out of Dometic, let alone a satisfactory one. Camping World, on the other hand, is putting effort into resolving this problem in a way that salvages for them a long term customer. I recall from our own days as retail business owners that sometimes it takes the retailer to solve the problems created by the indifference or stupidity of the manufacturer.
This morning I received a sensible e-mail response from the Service Manager at Camping World in Bakersfield, where we bought the fridge and had it installed … only three short days ago ! ! ! It seems like an eternity ago ! Then I received a phone call from the General Manager of Camping World in San Bernardino where we will be heading to on Sunday to have the fridge replaced ( or possibly, although not very likely, repaired ) Monday morning. His attitude and approach calmed me down a lot !
We headed across the Interstate to Palm Springs for Bo’s annual visit to the City Of Palm Springs Dog Park. WOO-HOO ! He recognized where we were and where we were going when we turned the corner at Palm Springs City Hall. Upon our arrival there were no dogs on the small dog side of the park, and only two dogs on the large dog side of the park. Bo’s always thought that if you can’t run with the big dogs … go home ! HA HA HA ! Almost immediately he became BFF with Silas the Giant Schnauzer. Silas’s female owner, a woman about our age, was from Chilliwack, near Vancouver, BC. She was born and raised in Lima, Peru, and has spent more than half her life living in or near Vancouver. While Bo and Silas romped and romped and romped with the many dogs that came and went, we chatted with the woman. She’s been in Palm Springs for 4½ months on a work assignment which she has just completed. She’s fallen in love with Palm Springs, and doesn’t want to return to Canada and winter.
We returned home, had lunch, and went into Desert Hot Springs for more thrift shop shopping. First stop was the Post Office. When we were there two days ago to pick up our batch of forwarded mail from home, I told the postal clerk I was looking for only one piece of mail, a 9 x 12 XpressPost envelope from Canada. I had forgotten that I was expecting one other piece of mail, a letter sized envelope. With a $5 bill in it ! From Petco. For filling out an online survey. Well, Petco … that’s the way to do it ! Everybody … and his dog … HA HA HA … wants customers to fill out surveys. Like our time is free ! Forget that ! Petco’s doing it right ! You want me to fill out your survey ? ? ? Okay … five bucks !
We shopped in a couple of thrift stores. I bought another pair of pants … and a brand new, never used, … never even assembled … egg poacher. Hey … I like Eggs Benedict. And we bought Hollandaise sauce yesterday at Trader Joe’s. The Hollandaise sauce cost more than the egg poacher. HA HA HA ! We went to Glossy, Joanne’s favourite swim suit shop. As is almost always the case when we go there, Joanne bought another swim suit. Glossy specializes in mastectomy swim suits, and has a good selection and great prices.
Yesterday as we walked across the Trader Joe’s parking lot, I could see … because of the way the setting sunlight was hitting the front of the truck … that the tubular metal frame of the truck’s radiator was … HA HA HA … packed with acorns. Today, after I took a picture, Joanne used dental tools to remove all the acorns. HA HA HA !
We gave Bo a bath. He hasn’t had a bath since rolling on a dead salmon at Mabel Lake almost a month and a half ago. PHEUW … what a stinky little dog ! Before preparing supper we went to soak in the mineral hot pool for awhile. AHHHHH ! ! !
This morning we went to the Christmas Craft Fair here at Caliente Springs Resort. We browsed through all the displays set up around the clubhouse and pool patio, but didn’t buy anything. We headed for downtown Palm Springs to shop at Revivals, our favourite thrift shop. It redefines “thrift shop”. It’s very upscale, selling designer clothing and upscale home furnishings as well as “regular” thrift shop offerings. It’s operated by a gay men’s organization. Free AIDS testing every Saturday ! Joanne found a lovely pink knit top, priced at $4, brand new, never worn, still bearing the retailer’s price tag ( Talbots ; $48 ). I bought a Christmas stocking for Joanne for fifty cents. On the way out the door there was a magazine rack. I picked up … HUH ? … a bunch of gay Christmas gift catalogues. Didn’t know there was such a thing ! HA HA HA … guess Bo’s not the only redneck in the family !
Before leaving downtown we went for lunch at Sherman’s Deli. From my perspective, the highlight of any trip to Palm Springs ! Sherman’s is an authentic New York Jewish deli. Their food is soooo good ! A tray of deli pickles and sauerkraut to munch on while waiting for your food. Sweet & sour cabbage ( & beef ) soup. A hot pastrami sandwich on sourdough for me … oh, my goodness, my mouth is watering again as I type this. A chopped liver and egg salad sandwich on rye for Joanne. Boston cream pie. Astoundingly good service from a waiter that we have seen there in previous years. In other words, a career professional waiter, not a teenager with a few weeks of experience who will be moving on in another few weeks. A waiter who notices things like … he ordered soup, she didn’t, … better bring two spoons because there’s no doubt she’s going to ask to try his soup.
After lunch … on Sherman’s patio, temperature today in the mid 80’s … we drove out of downtown and east towards suburbia. We shopped again at Revivals, at their “suburban” location. It wasn’t as good as the downtown store, and is slated to be closed down at the end of the month. From there it was over to PetsMart for some pet Christmas gifts, then to Wal-Mart
< sigh >.
Back at home we trimmed Sully’s and Bo’s claws, then went to the hot pools for our daily “taking the waters”. As much as I disbelieve “hocus-pocus”, I’m convinced that there is some sort of therapeutic value to soaking in hot mineral waters. Within 15 minutes of soaking in the hot pool, my left hand was “loosened up” after being cramped and crippled by arthritis since I awoke this morning. I prepared Eggs Benedict for supper, using my new egg poacher, and Trader Joe’s Hollandaise sauce. Well done, Daniel ! ! !
No comments:
Post a Comment