December 22 to 28, 2013

Sunday ; Sunny and very warm.

This morning I set up the Sun Oven and put three drying racks of thinly sliced Roma tomatoes in to be sun dried. MMMMMM ! It's been about a year since we've had fresh sun dried tomatoes. A few days ago we bought six pounds of Roma tomatoes at Food City, on sale for thirty-three cents a pound. Carol Mae came over to discuss Humane Society fund raising ideas.

This afternoon I did back yard Bo-gility. I did some minor maintenance and "home improvement" projects around the yard and trailer. We went to the storage area and did some work on Elsie the truck camper. We've done a lot of cleaning, minor maintenance, and refurbishments / improvements to Elsie in the short period of time we've had her, in order to make her "ours". And we have a lot more that we want to do during this winter season. I did some cactus gardening in the dog park behind our rear fence, positioning pre-cast concrete tree ring sections around all my plantings back there. We took Bo for our daily walk around the dog park. No one else joined us today, so ... Bo was a pack of one.

Late in the afternoon we went to the regular Sunday late afternoon / early evening ice cream social. We chatted with new arrivals, and new full time RV'ers, from Texas about their interest in visiting Canada next summer. Afterwards we had a late, light supper while watching Downton Abbey on PBS.

Monday ; Still sunny and warm, and forecast to remain that way for at least the next week. Don't ya love Yuma ? ! ? We finished the sun drying of the Roma tomatoes started yesterday, then Joanne put a Hungarian Chicken casserole into the Sun Oven to cook for tonight's supper. It was very good. That recipe is a keeper !

This morning we walked over to the other side of the RV park to give Bo's Christmas gift to Dulce, and say goodbye and wish Merry Christmas to Carol Mae and Larry. They're going to celebrate Christmas "in the desert", a common euphemism around here. There is a clique of people here who spend all holidays boondocking out in the desert, avoiding the large communal dinner gatherings of the RV park.

I continued working on the repair of the corner of the truck bumper that I damaged in Bullhead City a month or so ago. This afternoon Joanne went shopping by herself. "What ... again ?" you might ask ? I watered all my cactus gardens and plantings. Joanne returned home just in time for the daily pack walk. After the pack walk I washed the truck. A nearby, old lemon grove was set on fire a few days ago ( intentionally ... the lemon trees had reached the end of their useful life ) and ash floated over our RV park and settled on everything !

Around 1:15 AM Sully and I were awakened by the sound of coyotes howling nearby. It scared Sully and he came to sleep beside my face, using my cheek as his pillow. After a few minutes of howling the coyotes were silenced immediately following the sound of seven rapid fire shots. Yup ... them semi-automatic assault rifles are certainly effective at blowing coyotes to Kingdom Come. Especially around a populated area like this ! ! ! God Bless America ! ! ! And I say that as only a pinko Canadian atheist can !

Tuesday ; Christmas Eve

AHHHHH ... sunny and warm !

Today I remember my father, who died on Christmas Eve eighteen years ago.

We were up a bit early this morning so we could head to the Humane Society of Yuma. When we signed on as volunteers recently, we chose Tuesday afternoon as our weekly "day of work". But today the Humane Society was closing at noon, so we wanted to get our weekly "work" done this morning.

It was our first day as trained volunteers, me doing "dog walking" and Joanne doing "cat cuddling". We both enjoyed our two hours of "work". I walked six dogs, and named four of them. Tonight I'm stiff and sore from "wrestling" a young, intact male pit bull that was a "puller". I was naming the dogs alphabetically, so by the time I got to him, I was up to "D". I was sorely tempted to name him DORK, but settled on DENNIS. The fifth dog
I walked was a cute little Terrier cross named Santa. Sadly, Santa did not leave on Christmas Eve.

Back at home we had lunch in our Arizona room, as we do most days. It's wonderful to be in there on sunny, warm afternoons. I spent the afternoon puttering around with home improvement work, while Joanne worked in the kitchen, baking for Christmas, and preparing her special Christmas Eve dinner. Upholding her family’s tradition Joanne prepared tourtière ( French Canadian meat pie ) for Christmas Eve dinner. Thank you, my dear.

I'm typing this at 7:15 PM. Supper is almost ready. I've got a Zydeco Christmas album playing in the computer's CD / DVD drive. We've just returned from a long, slow, leisurely walk up and down every road in the RV park, admiring the hundreds of luminaries laid out along both sides of each road and lit at dusk, a Christmas Eve tradition at Kofa Ko-op.

It's a wonderful life !

Wednesday ; Merry Christmas / Joyeux Noel / Feliz Navidad

Well ! ! ! Life may have been wonderful last night ... BUT ...

Today was sunny and warm, as Christmas always seems to be in Yuma, Arizona.

We got a bit of a late start to our day. And ... while preparing our traditional Christmas morning brunch of Belgian Waffles, we had a vicious little squabble. It really soured us over brunch and for awhile thereafter. We finally came to our senses when we went out to the Arizona room to open gifts.

As always, we allowed Bo to open all gifts. HA HA HA ... what a gift opening frenzy he experiences every Christmas. I'm certainly going to miss that when he's gone. He was so enthusiastic about opening gifts that I received a hardcover book as a gift ... and it has dog tooth marks on one corner of the hard cover. HA HA HA ! Slow down, Bo, you're leaving tooth marks on the gifts. HA HA HA HA HA !

Not long after we were finished opening and admiring gifts Joanne had to get dressed and leave for the clubhouse. She was a "greeter" for our park's 3 PM Christmas dinner. I thought 3 PM was a very odd time to schedule Christmas dinner ! I had time to phone my sister and chat for half an hour before I had to get dressed and head to the clubhouse. I was a server, serving turkey and gravy.

The Christmas dinner organizers actually had a strategy for planning dinner at 3 PM. They were trying to combat this park's "eat and run" mentality by scheduling dinner for 3 PM ... and dessert at 5 PM. They mostly failed. How discouraging ... and frustrating ! People finished eating their dinner well before 4 PM ... and most left. Most returned for dessert at 5 PM ... and the clubhouse was almost deserted again by 6 PM. A handful of us remained and chatted for a couple of hours.

You'd think that after this many years spending six months a year in the United States ... we'd have figured out how to avoid to getting drawn into discussions with Americans about their "constitutional right to bear arms" and Canada's universal / "free" health care system. < sigh >

 

Thursday ; Boxing Day ( in Canada )

Still sunny and warm. Except late in the evening. We went for a walk around the park with Bo after 9 PM. BRRRRR !

We spent much of the day visiting with friends and neighbours. Visited Tina and Everett, and their dog Maddie in the morning, then visited Lynn and her dog Windsor all afternoon. In the evening Penny and Paul came over to visit.

We walked Bo in the dog park. I rode my bicycle. I puttered around with Elsie the truck camper a little bit.

Friday ; Sunny and very warm, a really gorgeous day.

Let me tell you the story of my Scarlet Macaws wood carving.

On October 13, 1999, the day after our 25th wedding anniversary, we spent the day browsing in the open air market place in Ocho Rios ( Eight Rivers ), Jamaica. As we entered the market in the morning, a wood carver was just beginning to carve a five foot section of burled Cypress tree trunk. Throughout the day, as we passed by his location about every hour or so, I was fascinated watching the carving develop. It became apparent that he was carving a series of six Scarlet Macaws, large parrot like birds, in the burls of the tree trunk. The more he carved, the more fascinated I became.

Late in the day ... OMG ... the carving was finished, and ... he was painting the birds in the vivid colours that Scarlet Macaws possess. At the end of the day, as we were about to head back to our cruise ship ... he attached a price tag to the finished and painted carving. The paint had barely dried. Yes, yes ... I bought the damn thing ! It was a bit expensive, but ... it did represent an entire long day of work for the artist / carver.

I hoisted the heavy, five foot section of the Cypress tree trunk onto my shoulder and lugged it back to the cruise ship. A few days later I lugged it from the ship to Miami Airport. American Airlines wrapped it in a lot of bubble wrap. Thank you, American Airlines. Back in Canada, at Ottawa Airport, we underwent a lengthy inspection of the carving by Canada Customs, which included X-rays and drilling a long hole up into the bottom of the trunk to ensure that it was solid, and not stuffed with drugs.

It was on display in our living room for almost five years.

In June, 2004, as we prepared to begin our new life as full time RV'ers, I packed the carving into a tall box, filled it with styrofoam popcorn, taped it shut, and hauled it to Winnipeg, Manitoba where it went into storage in my sister's basement for nine and a half years. Thank you, Sharon.

In September 2013, we retrieved it from Winnipeg, Manitoba and hauled it to Keremeos, British Columbia. It was in our way on the entire journey !

In November 2013, we hauled it from Keremeos, British Columbia to Yuma, Arizona. It was in our way on the entire journey ! ! !

Today ... TA DA ... I opened the box, removed the carving, and set it up on display in our Arizona room. And yes, yes ... it's every bit as appealing to me as it was on the day that it was carved over fourteen years ago. Hello, beautiful birds ! Nice to see you again !

Anybody wanna buy a lot of styrofoam popcorn ?

Joanne spent the entire day out shopping by herself ! < scowling >

Saturday ; Partially cloudy in the morning, sunny in the afternoon, warm.

We spent most of the day out shopping, most of it at Yuma Park N Swap, a.k.a. Dog Track Flea Market. Sears for a minute, Salvation Army for a few minutes, Goodwill for a few minutes, then Harbor Freight ... for many minutes ... HA HA HA ... a few minutes at Walgreens and a few minutes at Bank of America before an early ETYS buffet supper at KFC.

Stock market doing well ! Looks like a good year overall for our investments. Unless if the sky falls in the next couple of days. HA HA HA !

DSK

December 15 to 21, 2013

Sunday ; Sunny and warm. And getting warmer over the next few days.

This morning we headed to Wal-Mart. In violation of my "no Wal-Martin' on weekends" rule. Especially applicable on the second last weekend before Christmas ! After
Wal-Mart we went to Wienerschnitzel for a quick lunch. Then across town to Gila Ridge High School for a matinee performance of "Harvey" by Yuma Community Theater.

Long play ! And not a very good one. And not performed particularly well by the actors. Shades of Port Aransas, Texas's community theater !

Joanne drove home from Gila Ridge High School to Kofa Ko-op, her first time driving the truck with the camper on. We arrived home in time to attend the regular Sunday late afternoon ice cream social. We visited briefly with some new arrivals from the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia.

I cooked pickerel for supper, then we watched the three hour finale of Survivor. While cuddled with Bo and Sully on the sofa, doing "TV time", I discovered a lump in Bo's "armpit". It was an embedded, festering desert grass "quill". We pulled it out of the lump with tweezers. OUCH ... sorry, Bo, I know that hurt. As soon as the quill was out, the lump began to drain blood and pus.

Monday ; Sunny and very warm.

I did a Bo-gility session. I watered my flower beds / cactus gardens. I did more camper maintenance and improvements. Joanne cooked some chicken thighs in the Sun Oven, to use in making chicken enchiladas for supper tonight. We visited with a neighbour in our Arizona room.

This afternoon Joanne went to the Christmas cookie exchange. Last night and this morning she baked three dozen peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, her favourite. She took them to the clubhouse, and along with thirty-five other women, exchanged cookies, returning home with three dozen assorted home baked cookies. MMMMM !
I loooove Christmas cookie exchanges !

We took the camper off the truck. A few days ago I arranged to have a site in this park's storage area. Once the camper was off the truck, Joanne went shopping by herself.

I've wasted at least a couple of hours tonight attempting to get some online work done, and failing. As in previous years, the Wi-Fi service to this RV park, and surrounding neighbourhoods, is HORRIBLE ! ! ! ! ! It's the most frustrating aspect of living here for the winters !

Tuesday ; Bard, California

Still sunny and warm. Late this morning we headed out with our new friends from Connecticut, Bill and Lynne, and their little black Pomeranian, Windsor. Destination ; Bard, California. Objective ; date shakes ... and free lettuce. HA HA HA !

We drove in their car out of Yuma heading west on Interstate 8 across the Colorado River into California, then north a few miles through the lettuce farming area to the date farming area. We stopped at a couple of lettuce fields that had been harvested yesterday or earlier this morning, and "gleaned" some "leftovers", the lettuce heads left unpicked by the pickers / harvesters because they were too large or too small. On the way to the date farms we picked a couple of heads of Romaine lettuce, and on the way back we picked some heads of multi-coloured artisan lettuce.

We went to Sun Gardens Date Farm, our "usual" place for date shakes, only to discover that is was closed and for sale. HMPH ! We drove a short distance further to Imperial Date Gardens where we all enjoyed date shakes. Especially Bo ! And ... HA HA HA ... Joanne and I really enjoyed watching Bill and Lynne and Windsor discover the joy and wonder of date shakes. Windsor got one lick of date shake ... and his eyes just about bugged out of his head. HA HA HA ... looked like a case of a Pomeranian with instant glaucoma ... HA HA HA !

Back at home we all visited for the afternoon in our Arizona room.

After our daily dog pack walk Joanne went shopping by herself. I did a tiny bit of work on the truck camper, then worked online, paying bills and reconciling bank statements. When Joanne got home she made a fresh salad while I baked potatoes and barbecued a sirloin steak. MMMMM ! That would be one of the "buy one get two free" sirloin steaks she bought yesterday. We had supper while watching Swamp Pawn, one of our new favourite TV shows.

Wednesday ; Partially sunny and totally warm. HA HA HA !

This morning we decorated for Christmas. Finally ! We're running a bit behind schedule. And we put up some lights this year. First time putting up Christmas lights since ...
< thinking > ... December 2003 ... ten years !

In the afternoon we went to the Humane Society of Yuma for volunteer training.
I trained to be a "dog walker". Joanne trained to be a "cat cuddler". While undergoing my training, I had an opportunity to walk an unnamed dog. And ... as one of the privileges of being a dog walker ... I got to name her. Hello, Bonnie !

In the evening I did some online research and discovered that the fridge in the truck camper is subject to the recall of 2008. DARN ! The retrofit has not yet been done on Elsie and will have to be done.

Thursday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico

Sunny and very warm, another beautiful day, until ... it just started raining lightly ( at 10:15 PM ).

Late this morning we headed for Mexico, about half an hour away, first west into California, then south into Mexico. First stop was Dr. Camacho's office to make appointments for dental cleanings and examinations for both of us, and a periodontal examination for me. It was a bit of a struggle to overcome "resistance to change". I have been seeing Dra. Esther Estolano, a female periodontist for a few years. Her periodontal practice is in nearby San Luis Rio Colorado, but she does periodontal consultations at various dentists' offices in Los Algodones by pre-arrangement. BUT ... Dr. Mr. Camacho and Dra. Mrs. Camacho ... our husband and wife dentists, now have a new periodontist in their practice ; their recently graduated daughter, the new / second Dra. Camacho. I made an appointment for a periodontal examination by the younger Dra. Camacho, despite my reluctance to give up Dra. Estolano.

We walked across town to Farmacia Safari, the veterinary pharmacy, and bought Heartworm medication for Bo. We walked back “downtown” and had lunch at our “regular” restaurant in Los Algodones. Joanne had dos tacos pescados y dos tacos carne asada ( two fish tacos and two seasoned diced beef tacos ) ... she was hungry !
I had uno taco carne asada, uno taco camaron ( shrimp ), y uno taco chivo ( goat ).
I wanted borrego, but they were out of lamb, so the owner suggested I try chivo.
< shrug > Okay, sure ... I’ve never had goat meat before.

After our late lunch we went shopping for eyeglasses for me. We visited a couple of different optical shops, I made my decision on which shop I preferred, selected two pairs of ( free ) frames, one for regular glasses, one for sunglasses, and made an appointment for an eye exam in two weeks on the same day as our dental appointments. The eye exam is free / included in the cost of the glasses. The frames are “free” / included in the cost of the glasses. My regular glasses ... trifocal and SunSensor / Transitions ... will be $129. My sunglasses ... trifocal and dark tinted ... will be $59. Good deal !

Next stop was one of the larger farmacias in town to buy an assortment of medications, then next door to buy Creminos, mini-Nugs, and mini-CocoNugs ... Mexican chocolates and chocolate bars. We walked back to the border crossing, where ... GADZOOKS ... no line up. No waiting ! We were back home at Kofa Ko-op just in time for the daily dog pack walk at 4 PM.

While we have often bought "street food" while travelling in Mexico, we've never had an opportunity to do so in Los Algodones. But today ... while we were having lunch, a man came into the restaurant with a cooler filled with his wife's ( still hot from the oven ) fresh baking. We bought three bags of her baked goods ... at two dollars a bag. As I type this at 11:30 PM, I'm eating a large piece of cinnamon coated, brown sugar "stuffed" pan dulce ... literally "sweet bread", and dinking a large glass of egg nog. Good night !

Friday ; Started out cloudy and warm, became sunny and very warm. After lunch Joanne put a pot of ratatouille in the Sun Oven to cook for supper.

Joanne went shopping by herself again this morning. One of the very few things I don't like about Yuma is ... it provides her with apparently endless shopping opportunities !
I suppose there are worse flaws in a wife than chronic shopping, n'est-ce pas ? Especially since her shopping usually results in very little money spent. One can only spend so much at the Salvation Army. HA HA HA !

I puttered around with minor maintenance on Harvey the fifth wheel trailer and Elsie the truck camper. And I did some gardening.

In the evening ... BAH ! ... HUMBUG ! ... I hate wrapping Christmas gifts !

Saturday ; Sunny and warm.

This morning we went shopping to Arizona MarketPlace, the local large flea market. My main objective was to comparison shop for a radiant infrared ceramic brick heater, or "Blue Flame" heater for the truck camper. We also bought some tools and hardware and household supplies.

As we drove down Avenue 4E from Kofa Ko-op to Arizona MarketPlace there was a dead cat on the road, obviously a recent kill. It's disconcerting enough to see somebody's pet lying dead in the middle of the road, even more upsetting if it gets repeatedly run over and mangled. I stopped, put on gloves, and moved the carcass to the side of the road. Rest in peace, little black kitty.

After lunch at home we went out to run some errands and do some thrift store shopping, and grocery store shopping.

Tonight we went on the YCAT ( Yuma County Area Transit ) Christmas lights tour of two Yuma neighbourhoods with outstanding Christmas lights and decorations,  55th Street in The Foothills, and Candy Cane Lane in central Yuma. After an early dinner at home we drove to Historic Downtown Yuma where the tour started. Like last year, the first time this tour was done, the wait for tickets and boarding was over an hour. Not very impressive, in that YCAT learned nothing from last year's experience to improve their efficiency this year. AND ... < sigh > ... I was suffering from an ulcerative colitis flare up tonight, with cramps and nausea for about twenty minutes of every hour. It really put a damper on my ability to enjoy the outing, especially standing in line for over an hour while feeling ill.

DSK

pics of truck camper interior ... because my sister is e-mail attachment impaired !

December 8 to 14, 2013 ; Aguanga, California to Yuma, Arizona

Sunday ; Aguanga to Valley Center, California

Today was a little bit nicer weather than yesterday. Partially sunny and cool.

This morning we puttered around with Elsie a bit before leaving Jojoba Hills SKP RV Park in Aguanga. We have named the truck camper Elsie ... LC ... Lance Camper.
I disconnected, repositioned, and reattached the front tie down turnbuckles.

As we departed Jojoba Hills, we were subjected to the most dangerous, most life threatening, bone headed manoeuver by another driver we have experienced in almost ten years on the road ! It just adds to our prejudice that the only thing wrong with beautiful Southern California is that it is populated entirely by assholes ! And I really don't want to have my life ended by one them in an automobile accident !

We drove west on Hwy. 79 back to Temecula where we spent much of the day shopping. PetsMart, Sports Authority, Sprouts ( a green grocer ), Wal-Mart, PetsMart again, Wal-Mart again, Auto Zone. and Albertsons. Mid-afternoon we headed out of Temecula, southbound on Interstate 15 back towards San Diego. A bit north of San Diego we headed up into the hills on country back roads to find Valley View Casino where we planned to have dinner in the buffet restaurant, to celebrate the purchase of Elsie, then boondock overnight.

We found the casino, got parked in the bus parking lot where RV’s are allowed to boondock overnight, then I did my first minor repair / improvement to Elsie. And sustained my first Elsie related handyman injury ( rolling eyes ) ! I cuddled with Sully in bed for awhile before we went for dinner. Sully seems to really like the truck camper, especially the over cab bed. Go figure ! We thought he was going to be very resistant to change regarding the new camper.

This casino buffet's feature item is lobster. The good news is ... the meal was pretty good. The bad news is ... it costs $33 per person ! The best news is ... we got two freebies to the buffet when we joined their player's club. Thanks for the $66 meal !

 

Monday ; Valley Center, California to Yuma, Arizona

Sunny and cold !

This morning we left Valley View casino and headed back towards Interstate 15 on a succession of country roads, following a different route than the one we took from the freeway to the casino yesterday. We refilled with diesel. We stopped when we saw a large dog park, and we took Bo for an impromptu romp. He played nicely with Francois the Afghan and Charlie the Dandie Dinmont Terrier. Yes, indeed ... welcome to Southern California and the "high rent district" up in the hills around San Diego.

Once back on the freeway we headed south into San Diego. WOO-HOO ... Trader Joe's ! We bought quite a bit at Trader Joe's as we always do when we get an opportunity to shop there. We had lunch in the mall parking lot then continued south into San Diego until reaching Interstate 8 heading east to Arizona.

A bit east of San Diego there is a forty mile stretch of ascent to, and descent from, the Tecate Divide. It's always windy there. Today ... the winds were extremely severe. And hitting the highway at an angle, a crosswind. It was SCARY ! I thought the truck and camper might tip over ! It reassured us of the merits of a dually which is near impossible to tip over due to the stability of the width of the dual rear wheels. It didn't tip, although it did feel like it was going to a few times, but ... the winds were so severe they caused the camper to shift within the box of the truck.

When loaded into the truck there is only a couple of inches clearance on each side of the camper's body to the truck's wheel wells. Today's wind caused the camper to shift right over against the wheel well on the passenger side of the truck, then twist slightly so that the front of the camper was a bit over towards the passenger side of the truck and the rear of the camper was a bit over towards the driver's side of the truck. We stopped at the rest area near El Centro and spent about an hour removing the camper from the truck, and then reinstalling it again, properly centered within the box of the truck. We dumped the grey and black waste holding tanks at the rest area as well, our first time dumping Elsie's waste holding tanks. We pulled out of the rest area at dusk and we were soon driving back to Yuma in the dark.

It was Joanne's idea to stop at Holtville to buy a burrito at Holtville Taco Shop, to share for supper when we got home. Excellent idea !

Tuesday ; Sunny but cold. BRRRRR !

We puttered around with Elsie the truck camper today, doing a bit of cleaning and maintenance, and showing it to quite a few friends and neighbours who were interested. Joanne cooked supper in the Sun Oven, and baked our first loaf of bread in the bread maker I bought last Friday. I set up the bread maker in the Arizona room, so when the bread was baking, the pleasant fragrance was evident throughout our yard.

Wednesday ; Sunny, a bit warmer. Almost mild.

Another day spent puttering with Elsie, Joanne doing cleaning, me doing minor maintenance. Dog sat Spanky today, as Terry and Judy are gone for two days to Las Vegas. In the evening, we made a quick shopping trip to Albertsons and Walgreens in between having supper and watching Survivor.

Thursday ; Sunny and mild.

This morning I went with Carol Mae to the Humane Society of Yuma to present them with the funds we raised at our fund raising luncheon last week. We presented them with funds sufficient to sponsor ( pay the adoption fees for ) one dog and one cat ... monthly for the next year ! Well done ! Carol Mae deserves almost all the credit.

We made the presentation, took the obligatory PR photos, then met with the Humane Society's volunteer co-ordinator to discuss our participation in their volunteer program. Carol Mae and I toured the dog adoption wings, and then the cat adoption room where we informally participated in some "cat cuddling" with their senior "cat volunteer".

I made some maple syrup glazed candied salmon in the Sun Oven today, and served it as "amuse bouche" before dinner tonight with Carol Mae and Larry. We invited them to come over tonight for an authentic Ukrainian perogy dinner ... very competently prepared by my wonderful non-Ukrainian wifey. Well done, Joanne, thank you.

Friday ; Sunny and warm.

Joanne spent much of today cleaning inside the truck camper. I spent much of today puttering with minor maintenance on the truck camper. In the afternoon I went shopping to Yuma Nursery Supply and Fisher Dodge. Bought a little plastic piece I broke on the truck. TEN BUCKS ! ! ! In the evening we gave Bo a bath. Late in the evening I bought some Christmas gifts online. Gifts for ... me ! HEY ... it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it. HA HA HA !

Saturday ; Sunny and warm. Joanne baked a cake in the Sun Oven.

Today was another day mostly dedicated to cleaning and minor maintenance of the truck camper. After our daily dog pack walk we spent a few hours in the Arizona room chatting with neighbours who dropped by for a visit.

DSK

December 1 to 7, 2013 ; Yuma, Arizona to Aguanga, California

Sunday ; Mostly sunny and warm today. Just enough cloud cover to prevent Joanne from baking a cake in the Sun Oven. She had volunteered to bake a cake for the ice cream social this evening. She had to bake it indoors.

I started my day with a Bo-gility session. Well done, Bo, good dog ! I hooked up our satellite dish cable today. I had cancelled our satellite TV service for the month of November, while we travelled from B.C. to Arizona. After getting set up all we could receive on our TV was ... the channel guide, the weather channel, and ... the Shaw Direct "fire log" channel. HUH ? Where's all the rest of my channels ? Can the rumours be true ? Has Shaw Direct disabled their service south of the Canadian / U.S. border ? Why would they do that ? Don't they want my money for the next five months ? I sent an e-mail to "Technical Support". Wish me luck !

This afternoon I removed the storage chest from the bed of the truck. I had to grind off the four mounting bolts. Tough job ! Good thing I bought a grinder at Harbor Freight two days ago on Black Friday. I'd like to speak to the a*****e in Kingston, Ontario who installed the storage chest in the back of the truck 7½ years ago, and his moronic choice to use carriage bolts instead of hex head bolts ! ! !

At tonight's ice cream social I made an announcement about the upcoming tour of the Humane Society of Yuma Animal Shelter on Thursday, and the fund raising luncheon afterwards. Joanne and I are involved in the organization and execution of both.

Monday ; Sunny and warm. Went out this morning to run errands. First stop was Bank of America to get a certified cheque to pay for the truck camper on Saturday. More complicated than it needed to be. Outrageous service fees ! Next stop was Smart & Final to buy food for Thursday's fund raising luncheon. Food for about 80 people ! Last stop was ... WOO-HOO ... PetsMart, Bo's first visit of this winter season. And ... < sigh > ... another new food for Bo. The "winter season" food we have been feeding him for the last two winters is no longer available. And never was available in Canada. Hence him having a "winter food" and a "summer food". Despite the pet food industry having made us as financially comfortable as we are today ... it pisses me off !

This afternoon I continued the truck camper preparations / modifications to the truck, relocating the truck to trailer / camper "umbilical cord" and seven pin wiring plug. Easier said than done. Can't believe that I've used my new grinder twice since I bought it just a few days ago. Maybe my "Liquid Wrench" days of dealing with seized nuts and bolts are over ? HA HA HA ! Repaired a minor leak in the kitchen sink plumbing. Just a loose plumbing fitting caused by road vibration. Shouldn't be experiencing any more of those in the now "retired" fifth wheel trailer ! Joanne did a lot of laundry tonight. I ordered tickets to an upcoming play / live theatre performance.

Our satellite TV service now seems to be working fine. Got no response to my e-mail to "Technical Support", but ... the problem is solved.

Tuesday ; Sunny and very warm again.

This morning Joanne took her elderly friend Eilene shopping for a bathing suit. And they were gone all day ! While I was preparing my lunch I dropped a Corel plate into the sink ... and it shattered ! What a mess ! After an early lunch I went to Special 1 Truck Accessories to have TorkLift truck camper tie downs installed on the truck. Special 1 Truck Accessories did a very good job at a very reasonable price. On the way home from Special 1 Truck Accessories
I stopped at Yuma Nursery Supply and bought a dozen sections of precast concrete tree ring. After the daily dog pack walk I unloaded them from the truck. All eleven of them. HUH ? ? ?

Wednesday ; Sunny and warm, chilly in the evening.

I continued working on preparing for the pick up of our new ( to us ) truck camper on Saturday. Joanne spent the afternoon in the clubhouse, working with Carol Mae, preparing food for tomorrow's fund raising luncheon following the Humane Society tour. Mostly they were baking tortillas in moulds to make taco salad bowls, and dicing twenty-five pounds of tomatoes.

We attended the regular Wednesday late afternoon potluck social hour, then spent quite awhile chatting with new friends. Afterwards we watched Survivor. I set up and configured the new printer I bought on Thanksgiving evening. This is the second year in a row that I have purchased a new printer on Thanksgiving evening for less money than the replacement cost of the two ink cartridges inside the printer.

Thursday ; Sunny and mild, chilly in the evening.

This morning I led a ( smaller than expected ) caravan of cars from Kofa Ko-op SKP RV Park to the Humane Society of Yuma for a tour. Joanne remained at Kofa Ko-op to work on preparing the luncheon.

The tour went well. First there was an audio-video presentation followed by a tour of the shelter facilities. Given that about seventy people had signed up for the tour and luncheon, I was extremely disappointed that the tour group comprised twenty-seven people !

We returned to Kofa Ko-op for the fund raising luncheon. Attended by sixty-seven people ! Where the hell were all these people when we were on the tour ? ? ? ! ! !

The good news is ... the meal was great, and the fund raising goal was achieved.

The bad news is ... that goal was reached on the basis of two significant donations and one huge donation ! The other sixty or so people's donations didn't amount to a hill of beans ! And the luncheon revenues barely covered the luncheon costs. Maybe. Hard to tell. Accounting didn't exactly follow GAAP !

< shrug >

Friday ; Sunny ! Cold !

This morning we headed to The Foothills, to shop at the Helping Hands Super Yard Sale, an annual fundraiser at the Gila Mountain United Methodist Church. I was shopping for tools. Joanne was shopping for ... I don't know ... whatever the hell she endlessly shops for, I guess. By the time we arrived about 11 AM, all the good stuff was sold. I bought a bread maker machine.

We went to Fry's in The Foothills. I refilled with diesel, then we went inside to shop for groceries. MMMMM ... Fry's in The Foothills has a sushi bar. I bought some sushi. On the way back to Kofa Ko-op we stopped at Westwind Golf Resort & RV Park to visit briefly with a neighbour from back home at Riverside RV Park Resort in Keremeos, B.C.

CRACK ! WHAT ? ? ? Another rock chip in the windshield ? ! ? What the **** ? ! ? That's the fourth time we've sustained damage to the truck's windshield, three times in the last year ! Because we're leaving tomorrow morning to go pick up the truck camper, and we'll be gone for a few days, and a cold spell is starting, and we were worried that the new rock chip is going to "spread" into a long crack across the windshield due to cold weather, we drove to a local windshield repair shop to have it immediately fixed. The windshield repair shop owner came out to look at the truck, saw the irreparable damage caused to the windshield a few months ago in Saskatchewan, and talked me out of paying $39 to have today's crack repaired, convincing me that it's time to replace the windshield because of the Saskatchewan damage. At a cost of $150 ! Which seems reasonable. And Joanne bought on quickly, because she's tired of having to look out the windshield through the Saskatchewan damage. Okay ... sometime this winter we'll have the windshield replaced.

Back at home I chatted with a neighbour about cactus gardening. She gave me some cactus cuttings, and advice. We met with Carol Mae to "dissect" yesterday's Humane Society tour and fundraising luncheon. We went on the daily dog pack walk. And most importantly, we prepared for the road trip to go pick up the camper.

Saturday ; Yuma, Arizona to Aguanga, California

AHHHHH ... nice truck camper ! ! !

This morning we left Kofa Ko-op and headed west out of Yuma on Interstate 8, across the Colorado River and into California, heading for San Diego. Before we reached San Diego, the weather got ugly. Cold temperature, heavy rain, low clouds at times becoming fog, zero visibility. We stopped in San Diego to have the picnic lunch Joanne had prepared, but ... HEY ... an "IN N OUT BURGER". MMMMM ... haven't been to an "IN N OUT BURGER" in a couple of years. Picnic lunch will keep until tomorrow !

After lunch at "IN N OUT BURGER" we headed north out of San Diego on Interstate 15, about an hour to Temecula where we met David, the owner / seller of our truck camper, in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Of course, as soon as we began to remove the truck camper from his truck and install it on ours, it began to rain again. Cold rain ! We removed the truck camper from David's truck, installed it on ours, took care of payment and paperwork and ... WOO-HOO ... we had our "new" 1997 Lance Legend 990 truck camper.

We left Wal-Mart, and Temecula, heading east on Hwy. 79 about 20 miles or so to Jojoba Hills SKP RV Park at Aguanga, arriving just before dark. We filled the camper's fresh water tank and parked in a boondocking / unserviced site for overnight. We examined the truck camper, brought in the bedding and food from the truck to the camper, then had supper. BRRRRR ... cold evening !

We were very pleasantly surprised when Sully managed to get himself up onto the over cab bed. That was one of our main concerns about getting a truck camper ; the difficulty / inability of both Sully and Bo to get in and out of the over cab bed. Even though Sully did manage to get himself up onto the bed ... once only, he couldn't seem to do it a second time ... he and Bo will both need "pet helper steps". I think we might go to PetsMart in Temecula tomorrow and buy some.

 

DSK

November 24 to 30, 2013

Sunday ; AHHHHH ... sunny and warm. HELLOOOOO Yuma !

We started this lovely day with a back yard Bo-gility session. HA HA HA ... very well done, Bo.
Up and down, on and off, our back yard concrete toadstools, patio chairs, back yard fence, walk along the top of the fence, jump onto the swamp cooler, and then onto the barbecue table ... HA HA HA !

I set up our ( not so ) portable solar panels and connected them to the trailer. I filled my bicycle tires with air, rode about ten feet, and ... BLAM ! HMPH ... the desert summer heat certainly does cause rubber products to deteriorate ! Blew the rear tube AND tire. And upon inspection ... the front tire is looking pretty "iffy".

We removed all of the Arizona room's snap on vinyl walls. AHHHHH ... lovely ! Bo went inside the Arizona room and ... "HEY ... my Kong" ! He spent a long time playing happily with his "lost" Kong. HA HA HA !

We went to the ice cream social, then returned to the trailer to watch Amazing Race and for me to cook ... wait for it ... pickerel cheeks, bought in Winnipeg when we were there in September. MMMMM ! ! ! We haven't had pickerel cheeks since before we moved from Winnipeg to Ottawa on January 1, 1988, so ... twenty-six years !

Monday ; Sunny and warm. That's why we're here !

This morning I drove all over Yuma, shopping for truck camper tie downs. I knew what brand
I want, I was just getting quotes. I also bought a bicycle tire and tube to replace yesterday's blow out. After a late lunch and a brief nap we took Bo for our daily walk around the seven acre dog park, where we were joined by his old friend Spanky, and a new friend Maddie. WOO-HOO ... a pack walk !

At dusk we headed for Wal-Mart on Pacific Avenue. Earlier in the afternoon we stopped at
Wal-Mart in The Foothills, but the parking lot was so full we decided to defer our Wal-Martin' until evening. After finishing at Wal-Mart we went to "EAT Asian Super Buffet" for supper. MMMMM ! Lots of great sushi !

 

Tuesday ; Sunny and warm. Just enough occasional thin cloud to slightly screw up Joanne's use of the Sun Oven today. She baked potatoes and baked a cake in the Sun Oven, but supper got cooked indoors.

I ordered the TorkLift camper tie downs for the truck today. I replaced the blown bicycle tube and tire. My bicycle is functional again. I did some cactus garden cleanup and pruning. OUCH ! My cactus gardens are looking very good ! I did lots of chatting with neighbours. We did a "twice around the dog park" pack walk with a pack of five dogs.

Wednesday ; Sunny, mild, windy.

Joanne went shopping by herself today. I stayed at home and puttered with chores and gardening. Late in the afternoon we went to the regular Wednesday "heavy appetizer" potluck social. Spent quite awhile chatting with full time RV'ing "newbies" from Connecticut about getting dental work done in Mexico. In the evening we watched Survivor.

Thursday ; American Thanksgiving

Today we fondly remember Toby, our first cat, who died nine years ago on this date while we were WorkCamping at YMCA Of The Ozarks Trout Lodge in Missouri. My goodness, it doesn't seem that long ago !

Today was sunny and warm. I used the Sun Oven for the first time this season ( Joanne used it a few days ago ) preparing Sun Oven dried, maple syrup glazed, candied salmon. MMMMM !
I continued gardening work, cleaning up in the desert / dog park behind our back yard fence.
I have a cactus garden in the dog park behind our rear fence, stretching across the fifty foot width of our lot. I cleaned out all the desert grass growing back there, about a twenty foot wide swath across our fifty foot lot. A thousand square feet of hoeing and raking. Much more work than
I thought it was going to be ! After a bit of work I took off my shirt. A bit more work and I changed shoes and socks for sandals. A bit more work and the jeans were changed for shorts.

Late this afternoon ( too early for dinner for me ! ) we attended communal Thanksgiving Dinner in the clubhouse. Good food, good company. Afterwards we headed out for our second annual Black Friday shopping trip ... on Thanksgiving evening. For the second year in a row, Black Friday shopping started at 6 PM on Thanksgiving evening.

WOW ... Wal-Mart learned a lot from last year's Thanksgiving evening fiasco ! They staggered their specials this evening, some at 6 PM, some at 8 PM. We walked in the door at 8 PM for three of the 8 PM specials. We had a printer ( $29 ) and TV ( $75 ) by 8:05 PM ! Joanne headed to the cash registers and I went looking for the third item, an HDMI cable. By the time I found it and returned to the cash registers at 8:15 PM Joanne had finished paying and was waiting for me.
I paid for the cable, we were checked by Security as we approached the exit doors, we were in the truck and pulling out of the parking lot by 8:25 PM ! ! !

We went to CVS Pharmacy, and Walgreens ... then another Walgreens, for a few small items. We were home before 10 PM. Bought a $5.99 package of batteries on sale for $4.99 plus 37¢ taxes, used a $4.99 coupon, and paid ... 37¢ ! ! !

Friday ; Sunny and very warm. AHHHHH !

 I just discovered ... via Twitter ... that Keremeos, B.C. is experiencing freezing rain. AWWWWW ... how sad ... < snicker >.

Today we went out for much more Black Friday shopping. Bought lots, spent lots. Trying to blend into the American culture by engaging in rampant consumerism. HA HA HA !

Had smoked Lake Winnipeg Goldeye for supper tonight. < frowning > It wasn't very good after being frozen for a couple of months.

Saturday ; Sunny and warm.

This morning we headed out to Yuma Fairgrounds to see a dog show. We sat and watched for half an hour or so. We've never been big fans of dog shows. Or dog show people. Way too serious ! And ... apparently unaware ... or uncaring ... of how devoid of fun a dog show is for the dogs. Geeeez, people ... they're dogs. Take them outside and play with them ! ! !

We ran errands. Banking. Grocery shopping. Thrift store shopping. Flea market shopping.

Back at home we went on the daily pack walk around the dog park. We visited with Carol Mae, planning next Thursday's Humane Society Tour and fund raising luncheon. We planned our trip to go pick up our new ( to us ) truck camper. The seller phoned today to discuss a delivery option. He must bring his wife to a medical appointment halfway to Yuma from where they live near San Jose. So ... Joanne and I will pick up the camper in a week near Temecula, California.

DSK