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