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
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