Sunday ; Today was very windy. This morning I did an agility session with Bo.
I improvised some new agility components for him today. Well done, Bo, good dog. He has so much "game".
This afternoon we went to a matinee performance of Yuma Community Theater at the Gila Ridge High School Performing Arts Center. The play was a British farce entitled "Noises Off". It was hilarious ! And performed superbly ! We have seen three plays this winter season, all amateur "community theater" productions. And they've all been excellent. I have been reluctant to attend "community theater" performances ever since we saw a horrible amateur theater production five years ago in Port Aransas, Texas. But this winter has proven me wrong.
As we were returning to our truck after the performance we noticed that the car parked in front of us, with four old women getting into it, had a personalized license plate ; HOPE4QR. HUH ? Why would a car driven by an old woman have a license plate wishing for "hope for queers" ? ! ? OH ! Joanne pointed out to me that it was "hope for a cure". DUH !
Back at Kofa Ko-op we attended the regular Sunday late afternoon ice cream social. Afterwards I visited the park's assistant managers to teach Bob ( at his request ) how to use a multi-meter. In the evening we watched Celebrity Apprentice.
Monday ; Poor Bo ! He has a swollen and very sore front leg and foot today. We think he hurt his leg jumping over our back yard fence yesterday. Today we had to carry him in and out of the trailer, and over the back yard fence into the dog park. He is unable to put any weight on his left front leg and is obviously in a lot of discomfort. Hopefully it's just a strain or sprain of toes and / or lower leg and will be better in a few days.
Late this morning I went out to run some errands. I returned a defective product to Wally's World. I went to Pep Boys and bought a vehicle wash mop. I went to CJ's RV Repair looking for 12 volt coiled wiring. They didn't have any. I think I'll have to buy a 12 volt coiled "extension cord" at a truck stop and cut the ends off to get the coiled wiring I need.
This afternoon we washed the truck. And began slowly preparing for departure on Sunday. It's time to begin cleaning and storing items. Some items go back into storage in the trailer. Some items go back into storage in the Arizona room or shed. Much purging has been done recently so the Sun Oven and satellite dish both fit nicely into their designated spots in the trailer's storage compartments. I installed the new custom made swamp cooler cover. It fits well and will obviously do its job of keeping desert sand out of the swamp cooler. And I did my final landscaping project of this winter season, removing two posts embedded side by side in the front yard, one bearing a large number "5" and one bearing a large number "2". Didn't like 'em !
Tuesday ; Poor Bo ! We were able to ascertain today, after some painful poking and prodding, that his problem is a swollen and severely sore toe. Probably a broken toe ! Today was the second day that he was not able to put any weight on that leg, and he's having difficulty figuring out how to function as a three legged dog.
Joanne's water aerobics friend Eilene invited us over for lunch this afternoon. After lunch and a visit we continued working on cleaning and storing things in preparation for departure on Sunday. The truck storage chest is much more loaded than it was coming south last fall. I seem to have acquired quite a bit of "guy stuff" this winter. Owning a storage shed / workshop will do that ! Our new neighbours John and Jeannie were moving into the very old "park model" trailer next door this afternoon. They were already residents in this park, and are moving from a "bare" RV lot to the "park model" next door.
Wednesday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico
We got up early this morning and headed for Mexico. I had a 10 AM appointment with my periodontist. She was not entirely pleased with me and my gums a few months ago and wanted to see me and examine my gums one more time just before we head north. Today she had some recommendations for me. Doesn't she always ? ! Don't misunderstand. I think very highly of her. While I have reasonably good teeth, I have been battling some gum problems for at least the last five years.
After the periodontist we went for haircuts. Woman's haircut, five bucks. Man's haircut, three bucks, and ... something new ... an additional one dollar for the beard. Rip-off !
HA HA HA ! We went medication shopping, stocking up on ( inexpensive ) Mexican medications. Then we went shopping for chocolate bars and candies. You know ...
HA HA HA ... Nugs, Coconugs, Creminos ... the essentials. And some new ones.
I especially like the little packets of cajeta ... goat's milk caramel ... with a tiny plastic spoon for each little packet. I found Yomi Lala chocolate milk in the large UHT Tetra Paks. They don't need refrigeration. Yomi Lala has become difficult to find in the large Tetra Pak size, so when I found some today I stocked up. We went for lunch to our favourite little restaurant in Los Algodones. We each had tres tacos. Mine were camarón, carne asada, and borrego. Joanne had two carne asada and one pescado. MMMMM ... good ! Joanne bought quite a few packages of different herbal teas and some Zuko fruit drink mixes. By the time we headed back to the border we were each carrying a heavy shopping bag full of stuff. The line up to cross back into the United States today was 65 minutes long < sigh >. The people in front of us and behind us were all Canadians. We had a good chuckle over how much Saskatchewan Roughrider stuff there was for sale in Los Algodones.
We drove back to Yuma and went shopping at Food City, the "Mexican" supermarket, stocking up on Mexican grocery staples. Then ... AHHHHH ... Elvira's Panaderia for lots of pan dulce. Joanne was joking that after a day in Mexico we crossed back into the United States to go shopping for Mexican groceries and baking in Yuma's "Little Mexico".
Back home at Kofa Ko-op Joanne put away all our purchases while I took Bo for a walk. His broken toe is still very painful, and he still needs to be carried in and out of the trailer and over the back yard fence. He still cannot put any weight on his left front foot. Then while it was still hot we headed to the swimming pool to float around, socialize, and cool down. It was pretty hot today, and because I had to see my periodontist I was wearing socks, shoes, and long pants, not my normal attire ! Joanne stayed in the pool a lot longer than I did. After about half an hour in the pool I went bicycling. When I came home I lubricated the slide outs' rubber weatherstripping with silicone spray. Easier said than done. Should've done that a few days ago before I folded the ladder and put it away in the pass through storage compartment with a bunch of other stuff on top of it ! DUH !
In the evening I worked on some financial stuff before we went to cover the pool and hot tub. I volunteered to do that again this week..
Thursday ; Well ... Bo's broken toe is improving daily ... a teensy bit. This morning while he was sleeping on his side, I "blindsided" him by slowly and silently slipping a clipper over the nail of the broken toe and ... SNIP ! YELP ! ! ! Well, sorry Bo, but cutting that nail should reduce your discomfort. Now when he walks that nail doesn't contact the ground. Today he began to very gingerly place a bit of weight on that foot.
Late this morning we went out to run some errands. First stop was Liquidation World, a flea market kind of place where we bought a glass salt and pepper shaker set a few days ago. One of the shakers was cracked so I returned the set today for an exchange. I did get a new set, but not without having a slightly ugly exchange with the woman working there. Some retailers are so incredibly short sighted ! AND ... oblivious to laws governing retailers ! Next stop was a recycling place that we've never been to before. They're the closest recycler to Kofa Ko-op, and they take everything ; paper. glass, plastic, cardboard. We headed east to The Foothills where I bought some SAS Unscuffit ( shoe polish / dye for SAS brand shoes ) at Foothills Shoes. We drove over to our friends Lynn and Mischa to drop off a book we thought Lynn would enjoy reading. She was home so we visited for awhile.
We returned home to Kofa Ko-op where we had a very late lunch ( maybe it was a very early supper ) then set out to the west for more errands. I made my final visit of the season to Harbor Freight. And I think I may have blown my credibility with Joanne. She waited in the truck while I shopped. When I returned to the truck she asked me what I had bought. When I told her my purchases included a magnesium fire starter like they use on Survivor she was ... dumbfounded and not impressed ! Especially when I wasn't really able to answer her question "why ?". Next stop was PetsMart for dog food and treats, cat medicinal supplement treats, and dog toothpaste.
When our shopping was complete we headed across the mall ( we were at Yuma Palms ) to the Village Courtyard area to attend our fifth and final Thursday evening free jazz concert. The Yuma Big Band music was very entertaining. When they played Errol Garner's Misty I was going to invite Joanne to stand up and dance with me, but ... we were both too busy scarfing down ice cream from Stone Cold Creamery. HA HA HA ! The warm weather made for a lovely evening. WOW ... what a huge line up to get into Harkins Theaters to see Hunger Games.
Friday ; Although limping very heavily Bo has resumed putting weight on his front leg with the broken toe. He has also resumed his "I'll do it myself" attitude, resisting being helped up and down stairs and on and off the bed. We're relieved to see the improvement.
Very hot today ! Temperature in the 90's ! Preparations for departure continue. Joanne went shopping this afternoon. I worked on installing the solid vinyl snap on walls on the Arizona room. This was the first time I installed them. It didn't go particularly well. Some snaps need to be replaced. And ... vinyl does shrink if exposed to desert sun and low humidity for a lot of years ! I used my Harbor Freight reciprocating tool to cut a piece of plywood to serve as a shed window cover. Wasn't really the right tool for the job but ... ! Joanne convinced me to join her in the pool late this afternoon. AHHHHH ... refreshing !
Supper was huge beef ribs, marinated in Liquid Smoke, slow roasted all day in the Sun Oven. MMMMM !
Saturday ; WHEW ! Too hot ! Temperature way up in the 90's ! Time to leave ! Mind you ... we're not heading north when we leave tomorrow, we're heading west ... to a desert state park ! From the frying pan into the fire ?
This morning we went to the clubhouse for the monthly Saturday morning potluck brunch. It was poorly attended because the park is emptying fast. After breakfast we sat and chatted for awhile with a newly arrived couple from northern BC.
This afternoon Joanne worked on doing laundry. I worked on preparing for departure tomorrow, mostly "closing up" the workshop / shed and Arizona room. By mid-afternoon it was too hot to do anything so we went to the swimming pool and floated around and socialized with everybody else in the pool for the rest of the hot afternoon. WHEW ... even the pool is too hot ! Tonight when we cover the pool and hot tub it will be the last time they’re covered until next fall, we think.
Bo's broken toe continues to improve. He is limping less, and putting more weight on that foot. We still carry him out of the trailer and over the back yard fence into the dog park, but he climbs the steps back into the trailer by himself. I guess there's less weight on his sore toe going up the stairs than going down.
Supper was a roast chicken that was in the Sun Oven all day. I love how moist and tender chicken is when done in the Sun Oven.
In the evening I downloaded month end bank statements and investment updates.
I reconciled the bank statements. I'm looking forward to leaving the atrociously bad Wi-Fi service here at Kofa Ko-op. Much of my evening was spent "spinning my wheels" trying to get some online work done.
In anticipation of retracting the slides for travel tomorrow morning Joanne has just moved the pet water dish two feet. Sully is sitting two feet away, where the water dish is "supposed" to be, pouting and complaining loudly. HA HA HA !
DSK
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
March 18 to 24, 2012
Sunday ; Oh, for crying out loud ! This afternoon I was putting something away in a seldom used drawer and found a Christmas gift for Joanne that I had hidden and then forgotten. Merry Christmas, my dear. Enjoy your caviar and minerals facial mud pack.
Today was windy and cold. I did some minor maintenance and repair chores. Joanne did laundry. We went to the ice cream social and chatted with Dave and Maisie. In the evening we watched Celebrity Apprentice.
Monday ; Today started out cloudy and cold, but the sun broke through and it warmed later in the day. We spent the entire day running errands and shopping. We arrived home as the daily pack walk was underway, so I dropped Joanne and Bo at the dog park gate, then parked at home and joined them. Terry and Judy were back today after being away for a couple of weeks. Their dog Spanky behaved very badly today, attacking Gracie the Bichon Frise as she entered the dog park just as the pack walk was ending.
Dave and Maisie left earlier this morning than planned, so we did not get a chance to say goodbye to them. Maisie phoned late this afternoon from Parker to explain their early departure. Late this afternoon we said goodbye to our neighbours Ramon and Sheila who are leaving tomorrow morning.
Tuesday ; Nice weather has returned.
This morning Bo and I went drivey. First stop was RV Connection to buy a new shower head, then Sewmasters to order a custom made cover for the Arizona room's swamp cooler. The cover cost a lot more money than I really wanted to spend, but I suppose the swamp cooler is worth preserving, for resale value if nothing else.
In the afternoon Joanne and I emptied everything out of the trailer's pass through storage compartment, and front trunk. We reviewed, purged, and repacked. The Sun Oven and the satellite dish, both acquired this winter season, take up a lot of space, and some old things had to go to make room for the new. Purging is a regular and necessary part of our full time RV lifestyle.
In the evening we went to Olive Garden for supper. Just because !
Wednesday ; This morning I headed to the Quechan Casino to attend a luncheon seminar on knee and hip joint pain. It was sponsored by a prosthetic knee and hip manufacturer and a local orthopaedic surgeon. Attending a "sales pitch" on medical procedures and products is soooo foreign to me as a Canadian. I learned a few interesting things today. And had a nice free lunch. I was surprised to see five other Kofa Ko-op residents at the seminar. All women !
This afternoon we did an obedience session with Bo. He was unfocused. Well ... no ! He wasn't focused on obedience commands. He was focused on finding the Jackrabbit that he chased in the dog park earlier in the day. Later in the afternoon, on the daily pack walk, we saw the Jackrabbit again. Well, Terry, Judy, Joanne and I saw it. And Spanky saw it and chased it. Bo had his face too deep in a hole to notice.
We went for a drivey to The Foothills to see a used item for sale, but by the time we got there it had been sold. Joanne cooked a corned beef brisket in the Sun Oven today. It was for supper tonight and picnic supper tomorrow. After supper Joanne went grocery shopping. I stayed home and did computer work and read the newspaper.
Thursday ; Spent the morning doing regular maintenance chores and saying goodbye to departing neighbours. The northward migration is underway. Spent the afternoon doing some storage compartment "review and purge".
Today was hot ! This afternoon I started up the Arizona room's swamp cooler for the first time. WOW ... it worked great ! Just like an air conditioner.
This evening we went to the Cocopah Casino double feature drive-in movie night, rescheduled from three weeks ago during Midnight At The Oasis. At that time it was cancelled due to wind about half an hour into the first movie. < sigh > Déja vu ! Tonight it was cancelled due to wind about halfway through the second movie. Oh, well ... at least I got to see the famous car chase scene in Bullitt.
Friday ; This morning we went out to run some errands, stopping at Liquidation Center to buy some items, then over to Sewmasters to pick up our custom made swamp cooler cover. From there we headed over to Wild World Zoo & Camel Farm. Very interesting ! Sort of a "petting zoo" kind of place, but with camels and some other exotic animals as well as the usual assortment of goats and donkeys and mules and geese and ducks. There were two goats born yesterday and two goats born this morning. How adorable !
On the way home we came across a load of "Yuma road kill". HA HA HA ! Sitting on the side of the road was a busted open box that had fallen off a truck, surrounded by clear plastic packages filled with something green. Turned out to be freshly picked parsley. We picked up about a dozen bags and brought them home to Kofa Ko-op where we put them on the clubhouse kitchen's counter, the usual place where park residents leave "Yuma road kill" to be shared.
This evening we went out for dinner to Eat Asian Super Buffet with Terry and Judy who are leaving tomorrow.
Saturday ; This morning we headed to Yuma Park N Swap / Dog Track Flea Market / Swap Meet Los Perros for our final visit this winter season. I succumbed to temptation and bought quite a bit of "guy stuff / junk". From the flea market we headed to Bard, California to have date shakes for lunch at Sun Gardens Date Farm.
After date shakes for lunch ... MMMMM ... we decided, on impulse, to go exploring. We drove north along the west shore of the Colorado River to Laguna Dam, and then Imperial Dam. We crossed over the Colorado River back into Arizona, entering the Yuma Proving Grounds where the military tests all their equipment in desert conditions. AND ... rents a test track to General Motors for them to do their hot weather testing on cars. Now travelling south along the east shore of the Colorado River we stopped at From Farm & Afar and discovered that today was the first day of artichoke harvest. We bought five artichokes ... for one dollar ! Aren't artichokes about $4.59 each in Penticton during the summer ? ! ? We continued southbound on Hwy. 95 back towards Yuma, then turned off to find / explore Mittry Lake. Now that we've seen it we understand why it's a popular boondock area.
Once back home at Kofa Ko-op we invited Carol Mae to bring Dulce for a pack walk with Bo. Or more precisely, a pack walk without Bo. The last few days while we walk around the perimeter of the dog park, Bo frantically and obsessively sniffs and digs rodent
and / or lizard entrance holes in the sand. Must be spring time ! And his terrier instincts have kicked in really hard ! After the pack walk and a visit with Carol Mae we went over to have a farewell visit and a glass of wine with Everett and Tina, and their big old dog Max.
DSK
Today was windy and cold. I did some minor maintenance and repair chores. Joanne did laundry. We went to the ice cream social and chatted with Dave and Maisie. In the evening we watched Celebrity Apprentice.
Monday ; Today started out cloudy and cold, but the sun broke through and it warmed later in the day. We spent the entire day running errands and shopping. We arrived home as the daily pack walk was underway, so I dropped Joanne and Bo at the dog park gate, then parked at home and joined them. Terry and Judy were back today after being away for a couple of weeks. Their dog Spanky behaved very badly today, attacking Gracie the Bichon Frise as she entered the dog park just as the pack walk was ending.
Dave and Maisie left earlier this morning than planned, so we did not get a chance to say goodbye to them. Maisie phoned late this afternoon from Parker to explain their early departure. Late this afternoon we said goodbye to our neighbours Ramon and Sheila who are leaving tomorrow morning.
Tuesday ; Nice weather has returned.
This morning Bo and I went drivey. First stop was RV Connection to buy a new shower head, then Sewmasters to order a custom made cover for the Arizona room's swamp cooler. The cover cost a lot more money than I really wanted to spend, but I suppose the swamp cooler is worth preserving, for resale value if nothing else.
In the afternoon Joanne and I emptied everything out of the trailer's pass through storage compartment, and front trunk. We reviewed, purged, and repacked. The Sun Oven and the satellite dish, both acquired this winter season, take up a lot of space, and some old things had to go to make room for the new. Purging is a regular and necessary part of our full time RV lifestyle.
In the evening we went to Olive Garden for supper. Just because !
Wednesday ; This morning I headed to the Quechan Casino to attend a luncheon seminar on knee and hip joint pain. It was sponsored by a prosthetic knee and hip manufacturer and a local orthopaedic surgeon. Attending a "sales pitch" on medical procedures and products is soooo foreign to me as a Canadian. I learned a few interesting things today. And had a nice free lunch. I was surprised to see five other Kofa Ko-op residents at the seminar. All women !
This afternoon we did an obedience session with Bo. He was unfocused. Well ... no ! He wasn't focused on obedience commands. He was focused on finding the Jackrabbit that he chased in the dog park earlier in the day. Later in the afternoon, on the daily pack walk, we saw the Jackrabbit again. Well, Terry, Judy, Joanne and I saw it. And Spanky saw it and chased it. Bo had his face too deep in a hole to notice.
We went for a drivey to The Foothills to see a used item for sale, but by the time we got there it had been sold. Joanne cooked a corned beef brisket in the Sun Oven today. It was for supper tonight and picnic supper tomorrow. After supper Joanne went grocery shopping. I stayed home and did computer work and read the newspaper.
Thursday ; Spent the morning doing regular maintenance chores and saying goodbye to departing neighbours. The northward migration is underway. Spent the afternoon doing some storage compartment "review and purge".
Today was hot ! This afternoon I started up the Arizona room's swamp cooler for the first time. WOW ... it worked great ! Just like an air conditioner.
This evening we went to the Cocopah Casino double feature drive-in movie night, rescheduled from three weeks ago during Midnight At The Oasis. At that time it was cancelled due to wind about half an hour into the first movie. < sigh > Déja vu ! Tonight it was cancelled due to wind about halfway through the second movie. Oh, well ... at least I got to see the famous car chase scene in Bullitt.
Friday ; This morning we went out to run some errands, stopping at Liquidation Center to buy some items, then over to Sewmasters to pick up our custom made swamp cooler cover. From there we headed over to Wild World Zoo & Camel Farm. Very interesting ! Sort of a "petting zoo" kind of place, but with camels and some other exotic animals as well as the usual assortment of goats and donkeys and mules and geese and ducks. There were two goats born yesterday and two goats born this morning. How adorable !
On the way home we came across a load of "Yuma road kill". HA HA HA ! Sitting on the side of the road was a busted open box that had fallen off a truck, surrounded by clear plastic packages filled with something green. Turned out to be freshly picked parsley. We picked up about a dozen bags and brought them home to Kofa Ko-op where we put them on the clubhouse kitchen's counter, the usual place where park residents leave "Yuma road kill" to be shared.
This evening we went out for dinner to Eat Asian Super Buffet with Terry and Judy who are leaving tomorrow.
After date shakes for lunch ... MMMMM ... we decided, on impulse, to go exploring. We drove north along the west shore of the Colorado River to Laguna Dam, and then Imperial Dam. We crossed over the Colorado River back into Arizona, entering the Yuma Proving Grounds where the military tests all their equipment in desert conditions. AND ... rents a test track to General Motors for them to do their hot weather testing on cars. Now travelling south along the east shore of the Colorado River we stopped at From Farm & Afar and discovered that today was the first day of artichoke harvest. We bought five artichokes ... for one dollar ! Aren't artichokes about $4.59 each in Penticton during the summer ? ! ? We continued southbound on Hwy. 95 back towards Yuma, then turned off to find / explore Mittry Lake. Now that we've seen it we understand why it's a popular boondock area.
Once back home at Kofa Ko-op we invited Carol Mae to bring Dulce for a pack walk with Bo. Or more precisely, a pack walk without Bo. The last few days while we walk around the perimeter of the dog park, Bo frantically and obsessively sniffs and digs rodent
and / or lizard entrance holes in the sand. Must be spring time ! And his terrier instincts have kicked in really hard ! After the pack walk and a visit with Carol Mae we went over to have a farewell visit and a glass of wine with Everett and Tina, and their big old dog Max.
DSK
Sunday, March 18, 2012
March 11 to 17, 2012
Sunday ; This morning we picked up Joanne's water aerobics friend Eilene and we headed off for Lettuce Days. We spent the entire day there, including going on a 45 minutes guided bus tour of local agricultural fields. The tour guide was ... poor. The weather was sunny and hot, nice for an event like Lettuce Days. We ate a huge, fresh salad lunch. We watched a cooking demonstration and "won" a plate of the prepared meal in a lottery draw. It wasn't great ! We watched an ice carving exhibition. We watched a fruit carving exhibition. We wandered around the many vendor booths, sampling their wares and getting a lot of "freebies". Artisan lettuce mix, leeks, onions, celery, some fruit products from Dole, pens, bottles of water, various other miscellaneous swag.
We had parked a fair distance away, and taken a shuttle bus to the grounds. When we were ready to leave, around 3:30 PM, we returned to the shuttle bus stop ... and waited about 45 minutes for a bus service that was supposed to run every 5 or 10 minutes or so. We finally discovered ... at the same time that the Yuma Visitors Bureau found out ... that the bus service contracted to provide shuttle service until 5 PM had stopped operating at 3:30 PM. I wasn't happy ! The Visitors Bureau wasn't happy ! I walked to where the truck was parked, then drove back to pick up Joanne and Eilene. The Visitors Bureau refunded our admission fees.
We had parked a fair distance away, and taken a shuttle bus to the grounds. When we were ready to leave, around 3:30 PM, we returned to the shuttle bus stop ... and waited about 45 minutes for a bus service that was supposed to run every 5 or 10 minutes or so. We finally discovered ... at the same time that the Yuma Visitors Bureau found out ... that the bus service contracted to provide shuttle service until 5 PM had stopped operating at 3:30 PM. I wasn't happy ! The Visitors Bureau wasn't happy ! I walked to where the truck was parked, then drove back to pick up Joanne and Eilene. The Visitors Bureau refunded our admission fees.
We arrived back at Kofa Ko-op just in time for ice cream social. I volunteered to be a "dipper" ( server ) again. Afterwards I went for a bicycle ride at dusk.
Spring has arrived here in the desert. Our back yard and / or the dog park are filled with geckos, roadrunners, hummingbirds, and Monarch butterflies migrating northward.
We spent much of today preparing for departure tomorrow morning, and for Thursday at the SKP Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally out in the desert off Ogilby Road about 30 miles or so northwest of Yuma. Thursday is our "big day". We are conducting a solar cooking demonstration in the morning which will result in brownies for dessert after supper, and a Cajun cooking class in the afternoon which will result in gumbo for sixty people for supper.
I installed some solar lights I had purchased on Saturday at Harbor Freight. I took Bo on today's pack walk. I bicycled. We visited with and said goodbye to Dave and Maisie. We're leaving tomorrow morning for the rally and they will be gone by the time we return on Friday. Their poor cat Bernie is staying at the veterinarian's overnight tonight for further painful work on the abscess on her forehead. Poor kitty. I hope she's better soon. Having just been through a somewhat similar experience with Molly ( Kaydee ), we are sympathetic to Maisie's dilemma of how difficult it is to have to hurt the cat intentionally when she drains the cat's abscess.
Tuesday ; Kofa Ko-op to SKP Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally
This morning we prepared for departure and left Kofa Ko-op about 11 AM. We stopped at Barney's to refill with diesel. GEEEEEZ ... the price of diesel has skyrocketed ! And we came to the realization that it happens every year in Yuma in mid-March, just as the winter visitors / Snowbirds begin their northward migration. Talk about opportunism !
We drove about 15 miles west on Interstate 8, then about an equal distance north on Ogilby Road. When we stopped at a railway crossing on Ogilby Road waiting for a train to pass, I was looking around and saw what I thought was a small cemetery off in the distance in the desert. I pulled off the road and went over to investigate. It was indeed a very small cemetery, with 15 to 20 grave sites. The grave sites were just mounds of rocks, as is often the case in old desert cemeteries. Each site had a small wooden cross, made out of two small pieces of very old weathered wood, assembled with baling wire. No markings of any sort, no names, no dates. In the middle of the desert, many miles from anywhere. I wonder what stories it holds ?
We arrived at the rally site, parked, and registered for the rally. The rally site is about a half a mile off Ogilby Road, in the desert, nothing but sand and sagebrush as far as the eyes can see. Pretty views of the mountains off in the distance. I took Bo for an afternoon walk in the desert. WOO-HOO .... big lizards to chase ! We spent the afternoon socializing in chapter 7's big "tent",and more socializing in the evening around the campfire. During the late afternoon "minute to win it" games session, I went back to the trailer and napped with Sully and Bo. Joanne and I took Bo for a late afternoon pack walk in the desert with Carol Mae and Dulce. We discovered a large barrel cluster cactus, like a bunch of barrel cacti all squished together. We've never seen a barrel cluster cactus before. And the blooms on it had opened into fluffy blobs like cotton balls. Very interesting and unusual. Brilliant desert sunset this evening.
I took Bo for long walks in the desert a few times today. One of those walks was an obedience session. This afternoon I napped with the animals again briefly. WOO-HOO ... two naps in one day. Much of the afternoon was spent socializing in the shade of chapter 7's large "tent". I abstained from participating in the group "silly games", a ubiquitous part of all Escapee rallies, it seems. The evening was spent around a campfire listening to one of the chapter 7 members sing and play the guitar. Joanne spent much of the evening cooking chicken and beef in our trailer to reduce the workload tomorrow for our Cajun Gumbo cooking class / dinner preparation.
Thursday ; Another beautiful, sunny, hot day out in the desert at the SKP Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally. Today was "our" day. After a communal breakfast was chapter 7's annual general meeting. Following that was our Sun Oven / solar cooking demonstration. While "showing and telling" we baked the final tray of brownies for tonight's dessert. And we provided samples of dehydrated pineapple chunks which I had done over the last couple of days out here in the desert, and sun dried tomatoes which we've been doing at "home" for the last two months. There was a high level of interest from the audience, and the demonstration / exhibition went very well.
Later in the afternoon we prepared for our 4 PM Cajun cooking class, which resulted in gumbo for sixty people, with brownies and ice cream for dessert. While I conducted the "cooking class", Joanne actually did the cooking. And to fill the times while actual cooking was taking place, I told stories. History stories. The history of the Cajuns. The history of Mardi Gras. The history of zydeco music.
We did great ! The Cajun Gumbo ( two types ... chicken & shrimp, and chicken & beef sausage ) was excellent ! My "history stories" were very entertaining. The brownies and ice cream were a great finish to a wonderful meal. Well done, Daniel & Joanne ! One of the women attending this rally is a Creole from Louisiana. And she taught us how to convert our gumbo into gumbo filé. Thank you very much, Brenda.
After supper was chapter 7's huge charity auction. Joanne and I did not attend most of it. We were cleaning up after supper. The warm evening ended with a lovely campfire.
We spent the morning socializing around the campfire with other chapter 7 late risers / late departers. The early ones were firing up their diesels and departing at 6:30 AM ! We left the rally site shortly before noon and a few miles away drove off the paved road onto a dirt trail to go to the Tumco mine site, a gold mine that ceased operating over 100 years ago. I wanted to see if it was potentially a good day outing for next year's rally. It was a short dirt trail, but extremely difficult to drive towing a 30 foot fifth wheel trailer. And then there was a hike to the mine site. We decided we were too tired, hot, and hungry to go on a hike across the desert, so we headed home. We'll return next winter to explore it on a day trip outing.
When we returned home we discovered ... what a great big giant ****head I am ! Before leaving for the rally Joanne moved all our food from the trailer's fridge to the shed's fridge to make room in the trailer's fridge for the food for the rally. And there already was quite a bit of food in the shed's fridge even before she moved the contents of the trailer's fridge. So ... every ounce of food of ours was in the shed fridge. And as we departed for the rally on Tuesday morning ... I turned off the power to the shed ! ! !
No power to the fridge for three hot days. Everything spoiled, and blood leaking from meat packages in the freezer to the fridge compartment below ! What a mess to clean. Sorry, Joanne !
Our friends Dave & Maisie are still here at Kofa Ko-op. Their cat Bernie had to stay in the veterinary hospital for four days. Poor kitty. The abscess on her forehead is still draining, although there has been some improvement.
I decided tonight that I have a bit too much of a backlog of work to do to attend tomorrow's huge, annual MCAS Air Show. This afternoon while I was taking a brief rest, sitting in a plastic patio chair, a fighter jet and two World War II "war birds", all three in very tight formation, flew overhead, rehearsing for tomorrow. I watched them approach, and fly over at low altitude, then leaned back to watch them behind me, until ... CRACK ... I broke the back of the plastic patio chair. Yeah ... story of my life !
This afternoon I built a small cactus garden in the northwest corner of our lot. In it
I planted the Blue Barrel Cactus Dave gave me a few days ago. Next season I will expand the size of that garden.
After supper we went over to visit with Dave and Maisie, and Bernie the recuperating / healing cat.
DSK
Monday, March 12, 2012
March 4 to 10, 2012
Sunday ; Beautiful weather ! This morning I did an agility session with Bo. We don't have an agility course here like I the one I built on our summer lot in Canada, so I improvise with on and off folding chairs and on and off and over the back yard fence, and on and off the "toadstools" in the back yard, and so on. HA HA HA ... well done, Bo, good dog !
This afternoon Terry and Marlene, our friends and neighbours from back home at Riverside RV Park Resort, came over for lunch. They visited with us for the afternoon.
This evening we attended the regular Sunday ice cream social. I volunteered to be a "dipper", an ice cream server. After I finished my serving duties and eating a bowl of ice cream for supper we visited with a couple from Ottawa, Canada, where we last lived in a "bricks and sticks" home. Afterward we went over to visit our friends Bill and Liz who are leaving tomorrow to begin slowly heading north towards their summer home. Their dog Riley is a member of "the rat pack", the "founding members" of the daily pack walk. Their summer home is on an island off the coast of Vancouver, BC. No hydro on the island. Their electricity comes from solar panels and / or a generator. No roads or vehicles on the island. They take a water taxi to Vancouver and back whenever necessary.
Monday ; Baked a loaf of bread in the Sun Oven today. It's for serving tomorrow when we have visitors. Preparing this loaf was easier than the last one. Up the learning curve !
We spent most of the day out running errands and shopping. Albertsons for advertised specials on groceries. Fry's for advertised specials on groceries. O'Reilly Auto Parts for truck fluids. Recycling place to dump recyclables. Food City for advertised specials on groceries for the Cajun meal we're preparing at the Chapter 7 Spring Rally out in the desert off Ogilby Road next week. Lunch at a taco truck near Food City. WOO-HOO ... Bo goes shopping ! PetsMart for dog food and dental spray to try on Sully. We can't brush his teeth any more because of feline absorptive lesions on his gums. Refill with diesel at Baron's Fuels. GEEEEZ ... a hundred and twenty-seven bucks to fill the tank ! Smart & Final for ice cream and shrimp for the Cajun meal and Sun Oven demonstration at the rally. Home just in time to join the pack walk already underway. Small pack ... Spanky ( Terry & Judy ) and Riley ( Bill & Liz ) both left today.
Showed Sun Oven to neighbours Bob & Frieda. Went on a bicycle ride. Stopped to view swarm of bees on neighbour's shed. YIKES ... kind of scary looking ! Chatted with park's new assistant managers. Barbecued supper. Joanne went to do laundry while I worked on computer. Got a picture of Molly ( previously Kaydee ) via e-mail. Looks good, hair growing fast !
Tuesday ; Another beautiful, sunny, hot day. It became very windy late in the evening.
Our friends and neighbours back home at Riverside RV Park Resort, Rick and Debbie, arrived today. They are slowly on their way home after their first winter as RV’ing Snowbirds. They spent the winter at La Peñita de Jaltemba in Mexico. They left home a few days before we did. And except for a nightmarish first day that turned into three days in Pendleton, Oregon dealing with a truck problem ( should’ve bought a Dodge ! ), their winter went very well. And they loved Mexico. They will be returning next winter. They arrived here at Kofa Ko-op just before lunch. We spent the entire day visiting with them. We were really glad that they had a great winter in Mexico and are enthused about returning. There is so much negative ( and largely unwarranted ) propaganda here in the United States about Mexico it's nice to see that reality is quite positive. Most of our American friends don't share our opinion that Mexico really isn't so bad, and certainly no worse / more dangerous that many places in the United States. I tell Americans that downtown Detroit is an awfully ugly place at 2 AM ( been there ! ), but that doesn't discourage me ( or anyone else ) from travelling through Michigan in an RV ! The negative bias towards Mexico was reflected in the occupancy statistics of the La Peñita RV Park that Rick and Debbie stayed at. A one hundred and twenty-four space RV park occupied by one hundred and eighteen Canadian rigs and ... six American rigs !
It was wonderful having Rick and Debbie here for a day of visiting. They will be leaving early tomorrow morning to head to Palm Springs for a week with their daughter there.
Wednesday ; This morning I attended the tenth and final Tai Chi class. My knees are grateful that it was the final class. Afterwards I went home and napped. We had planned to go out for date shakes with Dave & Maisie, friends from the SKP BC Okanagan Chapter 33, but it was too cold and windy for date shakes today.
This afternoon we drove out to The Foothills where I bought a used Star Choice satellite dish and tripod. So next winter we will bring our Star Choice receiver in the rig and have our Canadian satellite TV service wherever we are. While in The Foothills we did some Wal-Martin'. Back at home I inspected and cleaned the used satellite dish and tripod. Our Riverside RV Park Resort neighbours Terry and Marlene dropped by for a few minutes to pick up Terry's cap which he accidentally left here when they visited recently. Bo and I went on the daily pack walk. I did some painting on the shed rear window trim. I went bicycling. Our BC Okanagan Chapter 33 friend Dave joined me. His $600 bicycle looks surprisingly similar to my $10 bicycle.
Thursday ; Another beautiful, sunny, hot day. This morning I disassembled and stored the Star Choice satellite dish and tripod components. Gee, before we leave here to head north we're going to have to rearrange things in the trailer storage compartments. The satellite dish and its components and the Sun Oven are both going to take up quite a bit of room. Joanne went shopping. I sealed around the shed rear window's new trim with silicone caulking. The old trim had caulking around it and even that didn't stop desert dust from somehow finding its way into the shed around the window. Then I painted the trim.
I had other work projects to do but just then our friend Dave showed up. He was bearing gifts. A cactus for my gardens and a water bottle and holder for my bicycle. Well, thank you very much, Dave. Dave helped me install the water bottle holder on the bicycle and then he visited with me until it was time for Bo and I to leave for the daily pack walk.
Joanne returned home while Bo and I were on the pack walk. We left to go to the Thursday evening free jazz concert at Yuma Palms Shopping Center. Tonight's performers were the High Society Dixieland Jazz Trio from San Diego. Very entertaining ! As we were returning to our seats from buying ice cream at a nearby shop, we found ... Dave and Maisie. Well ... hello ! After the jazz concert, when we returned to Kofa Ko-op, Dave and Maisie came over and visited with us in our Arizona room until late in the evening.
Friday ; Well ... sunny and hot again ! Today I painted the shed rear window trim, then painted the caulking around the outside perimeter of the trim, then applied caulking around the inside perimeter of the trim, around the outer edge of the window. After fussing and fiddling with it a lot, I declared the job finished. Until ... while showing it off to Joanne later in the afternoon we discovered a bug hole in the new wood trim. A termite or some other bug had eaten its way into the window trim, or perhaps had eaten its way out of the window frame through the new wood trim. Either way, there was a new hole in the trim. DARN ! I patched the hole with wood putty and will have to paint it tomorrow. And I hope the bug is gone, and not in the wood.
This afternoon I did some online computer work. We took Bo on the daily pack walk.
I rode my bicycle. We went to the Kofa Ko-op Burger Bash late this afternoon. It was a bring your own hamburger patties and salad or dessert potluck. Dave and Maisie attended, and were at our table. Over dinner and afterwards we visited with Dave & Maisie, and Ray & Kathy.
Saturday ; B-B-B-B-BAD TO THE BONE !
Another sunny, hot day. Went thrift store shopping this morning. Met Dave and Maisie at Sears parking lot and headed across Colorado River to Bard, California for date shakes. MMMMM ! Picked some leftover oversize Romaine lettuce in a recently harvested field. Stopped at Harbor Freight and spent way too much at huge parking lot sale. Dropped Dave and Maisie at their car in Sears parking lot and we headed home.
Dave and Maisie took their cat into the veterinarian again this morning. Second visit in the last few days. Cat has huge abscess on forehead, right between the eyes. Probably poked herself in the forehead on an agave plant in the RV lot that they are in. Today vet put drain in forehead. Poor kitty !
Finished painting and caulking and fussing and patching bug hole and painting shed rear window trim project today. Sold two folding dining room chairs we discovered in shed when we took possession of lot 52 last November. Joanne's idea to sell them. Good idea. Very expensive folding dining room chairs ... probably from previous owner's motorhome ... netted enough proceeds to buy yard swing. Maybe ! I want a swing, Joanne doesn't.
Went to see George Thorogood & The Destroyers blues rock concert at Quechan Casino tonight. Very b-b-b-b-bad to the bone !
DSK
This afternoon Terry and Marlene, our friends and neighbours from back home at Riverside RV Park Resort, came over for lunch. They visited with us for the afternoon.
This evening we attended the regular Sunday ice cream social. I volunteered to be a "dipper", an ice cream server. After I finished my serving duties and eating a bowl of ice cream for supper we visited with a couple from Ottawa, Canada, where we last lived in a "bricks and sticks" home. Afterward we went over to visit our friends Bill and Liz who are leaving tomorrow to begin slowly heading north towards their summer home. Their dog Riley is a member of "the rat pack", the "founding members" of the daily pack walk. Their summer home is on an island off the coast of Vancouver, BC. No hydro on the island. Their electricity comes from solar panels and / or a generator. No roads or vehicles on the island. They take a water taxi to Vancouver and back whenever necessary.
Monday ; Baked a loaf of bread in the Sun Oven today. It's for serving tomorrow when we have visitors. Preparing this loaf was easier than the last one. Up the learning curve !
We spent most of the day out running errands and shopping. Albertsons for advertised specials on groceries. Fry's for advertised specials on groceries. O'Reilly Auto Parts for truck fluids. Recycling place to dump recyclables. Food City for advertised specials on groceries for the Cajun meal we're preparing at the Chapter 7 Spring Rally out in the desert off Ogilby Road next week. Lunch at a taco truck near Food City. WOO-HOO ... Bo goes shopping ! PetsMart for dog food and dental spray to try on Sully. We can't brush his teeth any more because of feline absorptive lesions on his gums. Refill with diesel at Baron's Fuels. GEEEEZ ... a hundred and twenty-seven bucks to fill the tank ! Smart & Final for ice cream and shrimp for the Cajun meal and Sun Oven demonstration at the rally. Home just in time to join the pack walk already underway. Small pack ... Spanky ( Terry & Judy ) and Riley ( Bill & Liz ) both left today.
Showed Sun Oven to neighbours Bob & Frieda. Went on a bicycle ride. Stopped to view swarm of bees on neighbour's shed. YIKES ... kind of scary looking ! Chatted with park's new assistant managers. Barbecued supper. Joanne went to do laundry while I worked on computer. Got a picture of Molly ( previously Kaydee ) via e-mail. Looks good, hair growing fast !
Tuesday ; Another beautiful, sunny, hot day. It became very windy late in the evening.
Our friends and neighbours back home at Riverside RV Park Resort, Rick and Debbie, arrived today. They are slowly on their way home after their first winter as RV’ing Snowbirds. They spent the winter at La Peñita de Jaltemba in Mexico. They left home a few days before we did. And except for a nightmarish first day that turned into three days in Pendleton, Oregon dealing with a truck problem ( should’ve bought a Dodge ! ), their winter went very well. And they loved Mexico. They will be returning next winter. They arrived here at Kofa Ko-op just before lunch. We spent the entire day visiting with them. We were really glad that they had a great winter in Mexico and are enthused about returning. There is so much negative ( and largely unwarranted ) propaganda here in the United States about Mexico it's nice to see that reality is quite positive. Most of our American friends don't share our opinion that Mexico really isn't so bad, and certainly no worse / more dangerous that many places in the United States. I tell Americans that downtown Detroit is an awfully ugly place at 2 AM ( been there ! ), but that doesn't discourage me ( or anyone else ) from travelling through Michigan in an RV ! The negative bias towards Mexico was reflected in the occupancy statistics of the La Peñita RV Park that Rick and Debbie stayed at. A one hundred and twenty-four space RV park occupied by one hundred and eighteen Canadian rigs and ... six American rigs !
It was wonderful having Rick and Debbie here for a day of visiting. They will be leaving early tomorrow morning to head to Palm Springs for a week with their daughter there.
Wednesday ; This morning I attended the tenth and final Tai Chi class. My knees are grateful that it was the final class. Afterwards I went home and napped. We had planned to go out for date shakes with Dave & Maisie, friends from the SKP BC Okanagan Chapter 33, but it was too cold and windy for date shakes today.
This afternoon we drove out to The Foothills where I bought a used Star Choice satellite dish and tripod. So next winter we will bring our Star Choice receiver in the rig and have our Canadian satellite TV service wherever we are. While in The Foothills we did some Wal-Martin'. Back at home I inspected and cleaned the used satellite dish and tripod. Our Riverside RV Park Resort neighbours Terry and Marlene dropped by for a few minutes to pick up Terry's cap which he accidentally left here when they visited recently. Bo and I went on the daily pack walk. I did some painting on the shed rear window trim. I went bicycling. Our BC Okanagan Chapter 33 friend Dave joined me. His $600 bicycle looks surprisingly similar to my $10 bicycle.
Thursday ; Another beautiful, sunny, hot day. This morning I disassembled and stored the Star Choice satellite dish and tripod components. Gee, before we leave here to head north we're going to have to rearrange things in the trailer storage compartments. The satellite dish and its components and the Sun Oven are both going to take up quite a bit of room. Joanne went shopping. I sealed around the shed rear window's new trim with silicone caulking. The old trim had caulking around it and even that didn't stop desert dust from somehow finding its way into the shed around the window. Then I painted the trim.
I had other work projects to do but just then our friend Dave showed up. He was bearing gifts. A cactus for my gardens and a water bottle and holder for my bicycle. Well, thank you very much, Dave. Dave helped me install the water bottle holder on the bicycle and then he visited with me until it was time for Bo and I to leave for the daily pack walk.
Joanne returned home while Bo and I were on the pack walk. We left to go to the Thursday evening free jazz concert at Yuma Palms Shopping Center. Tonight's performers were the High Society Dixieland Jazz Trio from San Diego. Very entertaining ! As we were returning to our seats from buying ice cream at a nearby shop, we found ... Dave and Maisie. Well ... hello ! After the jazz concert, when we returned to Kofa Ko-op, Dave and Maisie came over and visited with us in our Arizona room until late in the evening.
Friday ; Well ... sunny and hot again ! Today I painted the shed rear window trim, then painted the caulking around the outside perimeter of the trim, then applied caulking around the inside perimeter of the trim, around the outer edge of the window. After fussing and fiddling with it a lot, I declared the job finished. Until ... while showing it off to Joanne later in the afternoon we discovered a bug hole in the new wood trim. A termite or some other bug had eaten its way into the window trim, or perhaps had eaten its way out of the window frame through the new wood trim. Either way, there was a new hole in the trim. DARN ! I patched the hole with wood putty and will have to paint it tomorrow. And I hope the bug is gone, and not in the wood.
This afternoon I did some online computer work. We took Bo on the daily pack walk.
I rode my bicycle. We went to the Kofa Ko-op Burger Bash late this afternoon. It was a bring your own hamburger patties and salad or dessert potluck. Dave and Maisie attended, and were at our table. Over dinner and afterwards we visited with Dave & Maisie, and Ray & Kathy.
Saturday ; B-B-B-B-BAD TO THE BONE !
Another sunny, hot day. Went thrift store shopping this morning. Met Dave and Maisie at Sears parking lot and headed across Colorado River to Bard, California for date shakes. MMMMM ! Picked some leftover oversize Romaine lettuce in a recently harvested field. Stopped at Harbor Freight and spent way too much at huge parking lot sale. Dropped Dave and Maisie at their car in Sears parking lot and we headed home.
Dave and Maisie took their cat into the veterinarian again this morning. Second visit in the last few days. Cat has huge abscess on forehead, right between the eyes. Probably poked herself in the forehead on an agave plant in the RV lot that they are in. Today vet put drain in forehead. Poor kitty !
Finished painting and caulking and fussing and patching bug hole and painting shed rear window trim project today. Sold two folding dining room chairs we discovered in shed when we took possession of lot 52 last November. Joanne's idea to sell them. Good idea. Very expensive folding dining room chairs ... probably from previous owner's motorhome ... netted enough proceeds to buy yard swing. Maybe ! I want a swing, Joanne doesn't.
Went to see George Thorogood & The Destroyers blues rock concert at Quechan Casino tonight. Very b-b-b-b-bad to the bone !
DSK
Sunday, March 4, 2012
February 26 to March 3, 2012
Sunday ; Whew ... hot day ! Washed the truck ! I guess everybody is unfortunate ( read that "stupid" ) enough to buy one black vehicle in their lifetime !
As we were enjoying our ice cream at tonight's ice cream social, our Escapee Okanagan Chapter 33 friends Jackie and Barry arrived at Kofa Ko-op. After the ice cream social they came over and visited with us in our Arizona room for a couple of hours.
Also at tonight's ice cream social, there was a surprise presentation. One of the residents was surprised by his son showing up to present him ( the father ) with a military Bronze Star which he had recently been awarded ... for an act of bravery which took place during the Second World War on this date 67 years ago ! WOW ! ! !
Monday ; Today was sunny and warm, but became windy late in the day. More friends of ours from the BC Okanagan Chapter 33 arrived here at Kofa Ko-op today ; Robert and Sharon. Our next door neighbours for the last couple of months left this morning. Goodbye, RD the dog. Within a couple of hours of their departure we had new next door neighbours.
Today I worked on a variety of minor maintenance projects. Except the one that turned out to be not so minor. One of my planned projects was to scrape, sand, and / or otherwise prepare for painting the trim on the shed's rear window. While doing that I realized that the wood was rotten, either from 27 years of intense desert sun and / or termites. I removed the old window trim. Easier said than done ! I will need to buy new wood, cut it, install it, and paint it.
This afternoon Bo and I went on a pack walk with Carol Mae and Dulce. AND ... we invited Pat and her beagle Patches. So ... now Dulce has experienced a pack walk ... off leash ... in a pack of three. Way to go, Dulce. That's a lot of progress for her !
Our Chapter 33 friends Jackie and Barry visited briefly this afternoon. They would like to join us on Saturday night when we go to the Midnight At The Oasis classic rock concert featuring two old groups ; Grass Roots and Paul Revere & The Raiders.
I spent an inordinate amount of time transferring my "contacts" phone list from our old Virgin Mobile cell phone to our new TracFone cell phone, then setting up "International Calling" services on our account on the TracFone website < sigh >.
Tonight on PBS we watched the blues concert performed last weekend at the White House, then a documentary on the great old jazz and blues artist and band leader Cab Calloway. Didn't know the President and First Lady were blues fans.
AND ... the highlight of my day was ... ordering tickets for the upcoming George Thorogood and The Destroyers concert at the Quechan Casino. WOO-HOO !
Tuesday ; This morning Joanne went to her first meeting as a new member of the laundromat committee. Once per week the laundromat committee meets to count the money emptied out of the washers and dryers. Last week's meeting was cancelled so this week there were two weeks worth of laundromat revenue to count. All quarters !
A thousand bucks ! ! !
We spent much of the day shopping and running errands. Lowe's, Dollar Tree, Walgreens, Food City, Rally's, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Fry's, Albertsons. Back home in time for the pack walk. Then while Joanne painted a salvaged end table I sanded our sofa table. Joanne varnished the sofa table while I went for a bicycle ride. I barbecued supper and we watched TV until it was time to cover the pool and hot tub. We volunteered for that job again this week.
Wednesday ; Went to my Tai Chi class first thing this morning. Attendance has dwindled from about thirty the first week to nine today, the ninth week. Cooked a chicken in the Sun Oven for a picnic supper tomorrow evening. Finished removing the shed rear window trim. < sigh > Last piece of wood trim was not cooperative ! Spent a long time adjusting bicycle front gear derailleur. Now have gears 3, 8, and 13 of 15. Actually I would be quite satisfied with just those three gears. Nevertheless I will work on the rear derailleur in a couple of days. Made a Sun Oven bread dough recipe. Looks strange ! Has to rise for nineteen hours.
As we walked Bo in the dog park around noon today we saw ... a roadrunner ... scurry across the desert and ... HEY ... hop the fence into our back yard. Where do you think you're going, little roadrunner ? ! ? Stay away from the Sun Oven with the good smelling roast chicken in it ! By the time we got back to our rear fence it had hopped over the side fence into the neighbour's yard, and from there it headed out to East County 17th Street. Bye, little roadrunner. They're so funny !
Went on the daily pack walk. Bill, Liz, and their dog Riley came over for a visit after the pack walk. Went for a bicycle ride while Joanne did some painting and varnishing. While I was gone Okanagan Chapter 33 friends Robert and Sharon came over to visit. They're on their way slowly back to BC after a winter in Mexico. After their visit we had a late supper, Joanne made the first phone call on our new TracFone, and we closed the pool and hot tub.
Thursday ; Today I baked a loaf of bread in the Sun Oven. It was goooood ! ! ! The preparation process wasn't without challenges, but we liked the bread so much I want to do it again and again until I ascend the learning curve enough that it becomes not so difficult.
This morning we headed over to the Yuma Visitors Bureau to buy three tickets for the upcoming Lettuce Days and three tickets for the agricultural tours that are part of it. Joanne's friend Eilene will be coning with us. From the Visitors Bureau we headed to Wally's World to buy some hardware I needed for the shed rear window trim replacement project.
This afternoon I worked on that project, cutting the wood and installing it. Joanne prepared a picnic supper and off we went to the Midnight At The Oasis Drive-In Movie at the Cocopah Casino. WOO-HOO ... Bo's never been to a drive-in movie. We didn't bring him last year. We got to the drive-in movie site, got parked, and began to eat our picnic supper as the first of two movies began. It was a bit windy and the inflatable movie screen kept being bent over by the wind. Within half an hour of the first movie starting ... the organizers cancelled the evening. A bit prematurely in our opinion. The wind always dies down as the evening progresses. We assumed when they shut down the movie and announced the cancellation that refunds would be given on our way out. Such was not the case ! I think there's going to be a lot of complaining about that, and the organizers, a local service organization / charity, really shot themselves in the foot tonight.
Friday ; A few days ago a resident of Kofa Ko-op was walking his dog in the desert nearby when he was apprehended by Customs & Border Patrol Agents. HA HA HA ! They were conducting an investigation. During the night an ultralight aircraft had made a drug drop. And the only thing the Customs & Border Patrol agents found was the empty bucket. Apparently it's become quite common for drug smugglers to fly drugs across the border from Mexico using ultralight aircraft flying very low and under cover of darkness, with buckets of drugs suspended beneath the aircraft. The park resident is a retired law enforcement officer, so after convincing the agents that he was just walking his dog in the desert, he schmoozed with them for awhile, and as a result we had a seminar this morning in the clubhouse conducted by Customs & Border Patrol. Joanne attended. It was too early for me, I stayed in bed with the animals. Now the old folks in this park are all cranked up about hearing 2 cycle "lawnmower" type engine sounds and imagining that it's drug smugglers in ultralight aircraft. The only fly in that ointment is ... everybody and his dog in the neighbourhood surrounding the RV park has either an ATV or a dirt bike or ... whatever ... and the sounds of "lawnmower" type engines are a pretty regular occurrence. Except for when they're drowned out by the sound of military fighter jets screaming by overhead which is an even more frequent occurrence.
Today was very windy. That forced postponement of any outdoor work projects. So ...
I worked on the computer, and paid bills, and snoozed with the animals. Joanne went shopping. On today's pack walk, as the group came around the dog park heading towards our lot, Bo and the rest of the dogs ran far ahead to have a drink of water at "the oasis", the water bowl I put out behind our back fence before each day's pack walk. Unbeknownst to me until a few minutes later, our neighbours across the street Ramon and Sheila were just returning home at that moment. In their Dodge truck. With the Cummins diesel engine. That Bo recognizes as the sound of our truck. OH, BOY ... MOMMY'S HOME ! He jumped over our fence from the dog park into our yard, ran through our yard ... ran across the street ! ! ! ... and as Sheila opened her truck door, Bo jumped in wagging his tail. HEY ... IS MY MOMMY IN HERE ? ? ? WILL YOU TAKE ME DRIVEY ? ? ? < wag wag > Bad dog, Bo !
Saturday ; The wind has gone and the beautiful weather has returned. This morning Bo and I went on a pack walk with Dulce and Carol Mae. I baked some eggs in the Sun Oven.
This afternoon we had visitor after visitor after visitor. Eventually we ended up hosting "Happy Hour" with three other couples from Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33. And all eight of us went to the Midnight At The Oasis rock concert at Desert Sun Stadium featuring two old rock and roll groups. First was The Grass Roots, a rock and roll group from the late sixties / early seventies, and then Paul Revere & The Raiders, a group from the sixties.
DSK
As we were enjoying our ice cream at tonight's ice cream social, our Escapee Okanagan Chapter 33 friends Jackie and Barry arrived at Kofa Ko-op. After the ice cream social they came over and visited with us in our Arizona room for a couple of hours.
Also at tonight's ice cream social, there was a surprise presentation. One of the residents was surprised by his son showing up to present him ( the father ) with a military Bronze Star which he had recently been awarded ... for an act of bravery which took place during the Second World War on this date 67 years ago ! WOW ! ! !
Monday ; Today was sunny and warm, but became windy late in the day. More friends of ours from the BC Okanagan Chapter 33 arrived here at Kofa Ko-op today ; Robert and Sharon. Our next door neighbours for the last couple of months left this morning. Goodbye, RD the dog. Within a couple of hours of their departure we had new next door neighbours.
Today I worked on a variety of minor maintenance projects. Except the one that turned out to be not so minor. One of my planned projects was to scrape, sand, and / or otherwise prepare for painting the trim on the shed's rear window. While doing that I realized that the wood was rotten, either from 27 years of intense desert sun and / or termites. I removed the old window trim. Easier said than done ! I will need to buy new wood, cut it, install it, and paint it.
This afternoon Bo and I went on a pack walk with Carol Mae and Dulce. AND ... we invited Pat and her beagle Patches. So ... now Dulce has experienced a pack walk ... off leash ... in a pack of three. Way to go, Dulce. That's a lot of progress for her !
Our Chapter 33 friends Jackie and Barry visited briefly this afternoon. They would like to join us on Saturday night when we go to the Midnight At The Oasis classic rock concert featuring two old groups ; Grass Roots and Paul Revere & The Raiders.
I spent an inordinate amount of time transferring my "contacts" phone list from our old Virgin Mobile cell phone to our new TracFone cell phone, then setting up "International Calling" services on our account on the TracFone website < sigh >.
Tonight on PBS we watched the blues concert performed last weekend at the White House, then a documentary on the great old jazz and blues artist and band leader Cab Calloway. Didn't know the President and First Lady were blues fans.
AND ... the highlight of my day was ... ordering tickets for the upcoming George Thorogood and The Destroyers concert at the Quechan Casino. WOO-HOO !
Tuesday ; This morning Joanne went to her first meeting as a new member of the laundromat committee. Once per week the laundromat committee meets to count the money emptied out of the washers and dryers. Last week's meeting was cancelled so this week there were two weeks worth of laundromat revenue to count. All quarters !
A thousand bucks ! ! !
We spent much of the day shopping and running errands. Lowe's, Dollar Tree, Walgreens, Food City, Rally's, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Fry's, Albertsons. Back home in time for the pack walk. Then while Joanne painted a salvaged end table I sanded our sofa table. Joanne varnished the sofa table while I went for a bicycle ride. I barbecued supper and we watched TV until it was time to cover the pool and hot tub. We volunteered for that job again this week.
Wednesday ; Went to my Tai Chi class first thing this morning. Attendance has dwindled from about thirty the first week to nine today, the ninth week. Cooked a chicken in the Sun Oven for a picnic supper tomorrow evening. Finished removing the shed rear window trim. < sigh > Last piece of wood trim was not cooperative ! Spent a long time adjusting bicycle front gear derailleur. Now have gears 3, 8, and 13 of 15. Actually I would be quite satisfied with just those three gears. Nevertheless I will work on the rear derailleur in a couple of days. Made a Sun Oven bread dough recipe. Looks strange ! Has to rise for nineteen hours.
As we walked Bo in the dog park around noon today we saw ... a roadrunner ... scurry across the desert and ... HEY ... hop the fence into our back yard. Where do you think you're going, little roadrunner ? ! ? Stay away from the Sun Oven with the good smelling roast chicken in it ! By the time we got back to our rear fence it had hopped over the side fence into the neighbour's yard, and from there it headed out to East County 17th Street. Bye, little roadrunner. They're so funny !
Went on the daily pack walk. Bill, Liz, and their dog Riley came over for a visit after the pack walk. Went for a bicycle ride while Joanne did some painting and varnishing. While I was gone Okanagan Chapter 33 friends Robert and Sharon came over to visit. They're on their way slowly back to BC after a winter in Mexico. After their visit we had a late supper, Joanne made the first phone call on our new TracFone, and we closed the pool and hot tub.
Thursday ; Today I baked a loaf of bread in the Sun Oven. It was goooood ! ! ! The preparation process wasn't without challenges, but we liked the bread so much I want to do it again and again until I ascend the learning curve enough that it becomes not so difficult.
This morning we headed over to the Yuma Visitors Bureau to buy three tickets for the upcoming Lettuce Days and three tickets for the agricultural tours that are part of it. Joanne's friend Eilene will be coning with us. From the Visitors Bureau we headed to Wally's World to buy some hardware I needed for the shed rear window trim replacement project.
This afternoon I worked on that project, cutting the wood and installing it. Joanne prepared a picnic supper and off we went to the Midnight At The Oasis Drive-In Movie at the Cocopah Casino. WOO-HOO ... Bo's never been to a drive-in movie. We didn't bring him last year. We got to the drive-in movie site, got parked, and began to eat our picnic supper as the first of two movies began. It was a bit windy and the inflatable movie screen kept being bent over by the wind. Within half an hour of the first movie starting ... the organizers cancelled the evening. A bit prematurely in our opinion. The wind always dies down as the evening progresses. We assumed when they shut down the movie and announced the cancellation that refunds would be given on our way out. Such was not the case ! I think there's going to be a lot of complaining about that, and the organizers, a local service organization / charity, really shot themselves in the foot tonight.
Friday ; A few days ago a resident of Kofa Ko-op was walking his dog in the desert nearby when he was apprehended by Customs & Border Patrol Agents. HA HA HA ! They were conducting an investigation. During the night an ultralight aircraft had made a drug drop. And the only thing the Customs & Border Patrol agents found was the empty bucket. Apparently it's become quite common for drug smugglers to fly drugs across the border from Mexico using ultralight aircraft flying very low and under cover of darkness, with buckets of drugs suspended beneath the aircraft. The park resident is a retired law enforcement officer, so after convincing the agents that he was just walking his dog in the desert, he schmoozed with them for awhile, and as a result we had a seminar this morning in the clubhouse conducted by Customs & Border Patrol. Joanne attended. It was too early for me, I stayed in bed with the animals. Now the old folks in this park are all cranked up about hearing 2 cycle "lawnmower" type engine sounds and imagining that it's drug smugglers in ultralight aircraft. The only fly in that ointment is ... everybody and his dog in the neighbourhood surrounding the RV park has either an ATV or a dirt bike or ... whatever ... and the sounds of "lawnmower" type engines are a pretty regular occurrence. Except for when they're drowned out by the sound of military fighter jets screaming by overhead which is an even more frequent occurrence.
Today was very windy. That forced postponement of any outdoor work projects. So ...
I worked on the computer, and paid bills, and snoozed with the animals. Joanne went shopping. On today's pack walk, as the group came around the dog park heading towards our lot, Bo and the rest of the dogs ran far ahead to have a drink of water at "the oasis", the water bowl I put out behind our back fence before each day's pack walk. Unbeknownst to me until a few minutes later, our neighbours across the street Ramon and Sheila were just returning home at that moment. In their Dodge truck. With the Cummins diesel engine. That Bo recognizes as the sound of our truck. OH, BOY ... MOMMY'S HOME ! He jumped over our fence from the dog park into our yard, ran through our yard ... ran across the street ! ! ! ... and as Sheila opened her truck door, Bo jumped in wagging his tail. HEY ... IS MY MOMMY IN HERE ? ? ? WILL YOU TAKE ME DRIVEY ? ? ? < wag wag > Bad dog, Bo !
Saturday ; The wind has gone and the beautiful weather has returned. This morning Bo and I went on a pack walk with Dulce and Carol Mae. I baked some eggs in the Sun Oven.
This afternoon we had visitor after visitor after visitor. Eventually we ended up hosting "Happy Hour" with three other couples from Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33. And all eight of us went to the Midnight At The Oasis rock concert at Desert Sun Stadium featuring two old rock and roll groups. First was The Grass Roots, a rock and roll group from the late sixties / early seventies, and then Paul Revere & The Raiders, a group from the sixties.
DSK
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)