Photos to be posted in a few days upon our return to Yuma
Sunday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning we went to Yuma Park N Swap a.k.a. Dog Track Flea Market a.k.a. Yuma Swap Meet a.k.a. Flea Market Los Perros. Joanne bought some cosmetics, we bought some Awesome cleaner to take home to Keremeos, and we bought some produce, including a half dozen of those little tiny Mexican miniature bananas we call Bo-nanas because Bo loves them so much. We had lunch at Carl's Jr., filled up with diesel at Fry's Fuel Bar, then Joanne went into Fry's for a few grocery items while I went to O'Reilly Auto Parts to buy another windshield chip repair kit to keep in the truck ... for the next time we get a rock chip in the windshield. On the way home we stopped at Lowe's. They didn't have what I wanted.
This afternoon I removed the sacrificial anode drain plug from the trailer's water heater and flushed all the scale out of the water heater. I cleaned the anode, inspected it, and decided it would be good for another year. After reinstalling the sacrificial anode drain plug in the water heater I caulked around the new bezel I installed on our old Sun Oven, sealing the new bezel to the oven body. I should have explained to Joanne that she should not pick up the Sun Oven before the caulking dries ... before she picked it up and got her fingers in the wet caulking.
< sigh >
We took Bo for a late afternoon walk around the dog park then went to the regular Sunday evening ice cream social where we chatted with a neighbour's visiting young grandson. He's in ... online school. I didn't know there was such a concept at the grade eight level ! We're such dinosaurs ! Back at home we watched Amazing Race.
Monday ; Sunny and very hot ! It was our intention to go to Los Algodones today to get haircuts and buy medications, but ... Joanne was ill, so we didn't go. She was disabled for the day by some manner of upset stomach ailment.
I watered all my cactus gardens, then did some "year end" pruning. I washed the truck. I did some online work. I did some computer file backup work. I read a book. I napped in the Arizona room. HEY ... it's a tough job, but somebody has to do it !
Tuesday ; Sunny and very hot ... again. For the second day in a row Joanne was disabled by some manner of stomach ailment, a flu virus perhaps.
We have a ( recently widowed ) neighbour / friend who recently purchased a used truck camper. She asked for my help in learning how to install and remove a camper from a truck. So ... given Joanne's inability today ... I recruited Mary Lou to be my assistant to put Elsie onto Lanoire.
Mary Lou and I got the camper put onto the truck, then I left to run a couple of errands before heading to the Humane Society for my regular Tuesday afternoon shift of dog walking. Joanne didn't go because ... she's sick AND ... the Humane Society of Yuma's cat wing is closed and quarantined due to an outbreak of ringworm !
On the way to the Humane Society I stopped at RV Connection and bought a set of bathroom faucet handles. Then I went to SewMasters of Yuma to buy a vinyl cover bag for our Sun Oven. When I came out of SewMasters I looked up and ... OMG ! ! ! The old truck storage chest which
I had mounted on top of the truck camper was hanging over the back of the camper, just about ready to fall off ! My tie down method had obviously failed ! I climbed the ladder up onto the roof of the camper and discovered ... DAMN ! ... the rubber mat underneath the storage chest had blown off the roof ! DAMN DAMN DAMN ! ! ! I tied the storage chest back into place, hoping that it would hold long enough for me to make it home.
I drove from SewMasters all the way back to Kofa Ko-op looking for the expensive rubber mat that was lost. Didn't find it ! DAMN DAMN DAMN ! ! ! Drove from Kofa Ko-op all the way back to RV Connection. There was the mat, on the side of the road just before RV Connection. Damn lucky that heavy rubber mat didn't fly off the roof of the camper and land on the windshield of a car behind me ! I threw the mat into the truck and headed for the Humane Society, arriving a half hour late.
It was hot, and I was upset, so I only walked dogs for an hour and a half, instead of my usual two and a half hours. I was eager to resolve the storage chest tie down problem. Before I left the Humane Society I climbed up on the roof of the camper and tied the storage chest down again. When I arrived home I climbed up on the camper AGAIN and changed the storage chest's location on the camper roof, and modified my tie down method. Wish me luck !
Wednesday ; We were saddened to learn this morning by e-mail that one of our very first, and dearest, Escapee friends died yesterday in Edmonton, Alberta. Tom was a dear man, and we will miss him. Our sympathies go to Ruth-Anne. Tom and Ruth-Anne were one of two couples who were our original "mentors" in the world of full time RV'ing ten years ago. And Tom and Ruth-Anne were the first visitors we had to our new "home" when we purchased our lot in Riverside RV Park in Keremeos seven years ago.
On a more positive note, our congratulations go to Joanne's sister and two nieces who have decided to adopt a ten year old Poodle mix named Sophie. Lorraine said that she found inspiration in our adoption of Sully at age thirteen, and we are proud that our actions set a good example. Hopefully Sophie will be a good "pack member" with their current dog, Macie the Bichon Frisé
.
Today was sunny, but with a very strong wind and blowing sand that obliterated the sky. A desert storm ! Joanne was feeling a bit less ill today than the previous couple of days.
This afternoon I did some spring cleaning in the trailer. Since we did not get to Los Algodones this week for haircuts, I trimmed my beard. It was unruly and uncomfortable. The camper was not sitting correctly on the truck so we removed the turnbuckles, raised the camper up on its jacks, and carefully repositioned the truck underneath, then remounted the camper onto the truck. Lots of work for such a tiny adjustment, but ... the camper will remain on the truck now for over a month, and all the way back home to B.C., so I was being fussy about the accuracy / alignment.
I paid some bills, both here at Kofa Ko-op and online. In the evening, after having supper and watching Survivor, we went Wal-Martin'. I hate Wal-Martin' but if I have to do it, late on a Wednesday evening is as good a time as any. We used the trip to Wal-Mart as a "test drive" for the new location and new tie down method of the truck storage chest on the roof of the camper. Everything seemed secure !
Thursday ; Yuma to Quartzsite, Arizona
Sunny and warm, after a very chilly night.
By the time we were finished morning chores and were ready to depart it was about noon. We left Yuma headed south on Hwy. 95 towards Quartzsite. We stopped at "FROM THE FARM", a local produce farm and market to see if they have any artichokes yet. YES ! HUGE ONES ! A buck apiece ! WOO-HOO ! We'll get some on the way back to Yuma on Tuesday. And we'll get more when we depart Yuma again in two weeks. MMMMM ... fresh, LARGE artichokes for a dollar !
Halfway to Quartzsite we turned off Hwy. 95 at Mile Marker 55 heading northeast into the Kofa Wildlife Refuge, the Castle Dome Mountains, and lovely Castle Dome Peak. After three paved miles and seven miles of rough gravel road we reached Castle Dome Mines / Castle Dome City, a 150 year old silver and lead mining ghost town, now a museum / tourist attraction. We spent about 2½
hours wandering around the town site, viewing the three dozen or so restored buildings filled with artifacts. By then ( 5 PM ) my feet were getting sore ... shouldn’t have worn my new Birkenstock sandals to walk that much over such rough desert terrain ... so it was time to move on, even though we had not yet seen it all. Maybe we'll return for another visit next year ?
We drove back to Hyw. 95 then continued north to Quartzsite. It looks like most of the thousands of flea market vendors in Quartzsite have left for the season, but tomorrow morning we’ll browse a bit before moving on. We continued north through town to the Hi Jolly boondock area at Mile Marker 112 a few miles north of Quartzsite, arriving moments before dusk ( about 7 PM ). Bo and Sully both enjoyed wandering around the desert for awhile before it got dark outside and we went inside the camper to have supper.
Friday ; Quartzsite, Arizona to Laughlin, Nevada
Sunny and hot. We got a late start to the day. Before leaving our boondock campsite out in the desert I dumped our grey waste tank in the arroyo behind our campsite. We headed into Quartzsite for a bit of flea market browsing. Neither of us was too enthusiastic about that today, so we only spent an hour at it, buying just a few small items.
We continued northbound on Hwy. 95. Arizona Hwy. 95, not California Hwy. 95 which is just on the other side of the Colorado River which both states' Highway 95 follows. We stopped in a Safeway parking lot in Parker to have lunch and buy a few grocery items. I also refilled our freshwater tank using a landscaping water spigot I noticed on the landscaped area between the Safeway parking lot and the highway.
In Lake Havasu City we stopped at Home Depot. They did not have the item I was looking for.
I stopped there only because it was right on the highway, making it more convenient to stop there at Home Depot in Lake Havasu City than to go to Home Depot in Yuma.
Hwy. 95 is "interrupted" at Interstate 40. We travelled west on I-40 for ten miles or so, then northwest on Historic Route 66 for another ten miles or so until it reached the continuation of Hwy. 95. Somewhat odd road engineering < rolling eyes >. Kind of like travelling in Mexico. HA HA HA !
In Bullhead City we refilled with diesel at Maverik Fuels, then crossed the Colorado River to the Avi Casino on the Nevada side of the river, a bit south of the city of Laughlin. Bo became very happily excited when we pulled into the Avi Casino's RV boondock parking lot. "HEY ... I've lived here before !" Geeeez, Bo, it's just a casino parking lot ! There was just enough time before it got dark to take Bo for a long walk, and then we went inside the casino to pick up local entertainment magazines.
Joanne is still felling ill.
Saturday ; Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona
Sunny and hot, temperature in the high 80's, low 90's, depending on whose thermometer you believe.
This morning we left the Avi Casino and drove north on Needles Highway from the Avi which is south of Laughlin, through Laughlin to the north side of town, and onto Casino Drive ... "The Strip". We checked in at The Tropicana. We had a coupon for "buy one night, get one night free" in their unserviced / "boondock" RV park.
We checked in, selected a site, then went shopping across the Colorado River in Bullhead City, Arizona. We drove from one end of Bullhead City to the other, stopping at each one of five optical shops looking for replacement nosepieces for my eyeglasses. I don't like the silicone nosepieces on my eyeglasses and I want to change them to hard plastic nosepieces ... which apparently nobody has !
When we reached the south end of Bullhead City ... and the bridge across the Colorado River back into Nevada ... we stopped at a large grocery store to buy a jug of milk, then crossed the Colorado River again, and drove north back to the Laughlin, Nevada "Strip" again.
The Tropicana had an Outdoor Food Fest event on each Saturday in March. Today's featured item was barbecued beef brisket on a bun, with potato salad, corn fritters ( very nice ! ) and apple pie. We had that for supper in their outdoor dining and entertainment venue, Victory Plaza. While having supper we enjoyed listening to the live music of Krisy Thompson.
After supper it was time to head to the Riverside Casino for ... WOO-HOO ... ZZ TOP ! The weather was so lovely we decided to walk the mile or so to the Riverside where the outdoor concert was staged on the roof top of the parkade. "GIMME ALL YOUR LOVIN" ... "LEGS" ... "SHARP DRESSED MAN " ... ! ! ! The classic MTV videos for all their hits playing on big screen TV's in the background ! Even fuzzy white guitars while playing LEGS. I sure was hoping they were going to spin them. HA HA HA ! But I guess that's just an MTV video special effect.
We walked back to The Tropicana and ... there was another live band playing outside in Victory Plaza. We sat down and enjoyed The Kid & Nic Show for about an hour. Wandering through the casino to get back to the RV park we stopped for a few minutes at one of the casino bars to watch another live band called Block Party. Certainly enjoyed a lot of live music today !
In the early 1980's ... yes, yes, more than 30 years ago ... I was in a "car rally" with two friends from work. We wore tuxedo t-shirts and dark, cheap sunglasses, and entered our team as "The Sharp Dressed Men". As we approached each rally checkpoint, we blasted ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man" at very loud volume on the car stereo. HA HA HA ! Not too long after that one of those friends died ... in his early 20's ... of a ruptured brain aneurysm. First time I had a friend younger than me die ! Tonight ... I remember him !
DSK
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Sunday, March 23, 2014
March 16 to 22, 2014
Sunday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning we did some routine maintenance then loaded the fifth wheel hitch head into the bed of the truck. After lunch we headed out towards The Foothills to drop the hitch head off at neighbours of ours from back home at Riverside RV Park Resort. Paul and Kolly will haul our fifth wheel hitch head back home to Keremeos for us. Thank you !
After visiting briefly with Paul and Kolly we continued east towards The Foothills where we ran some shopping errands at Wally's World and O'Reilly Auto Parts.
Before we left home Joanne put a beef stew to cook in the Sun Oven. By the time we returned home, it was done. We had an early supper then attended the regular Sunday evening ice cream social before watching Amazing Race.
Monday ; St. Patrick's Day
Sunny and hot. This morning when I was watering my cactus gardens, little lizards came running from all directions. WATER ! ! ! HA HA HA ! As the weather gets hotter and hotter I guess the poor little guys have to get their water whenever and wherever they can.
This afternoon we puttered around with some routine spring maintenance chores on the trailer. I cleaned the battery terminals. I removed the floor registers and Joanne vacuumed in the ducts. I washed and de-waxed / de-oxidized above the awning line of the trailer.
We went to the park's St. Patrick's Day corned beef and cabbage dinner. It was okay. Certainly not as nice as when Joanne cooks corned beef. And ... < shrug > ... with the colitis flare-up I've been experiencing for the last week or so, I certainly couldn't eat any cabbage.
In the evening we watched MasterChef Canada. Yes, yes, we Canadians certainly are a "kinder, gentler" nation, n'est-ce pas ? But really ... Nanaimo Bar perogies ? ! ? HA HA HA ! Hey, Sharon ... can you spell "pout-rogie" ? HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !
Sorry ... inside family joke !
Tuesday ; Windy ! Dusty ! Warm !
Too windy to do the outdoor chores I had planned for this morning, so I had a bit of a lazy morning. After lunch we went over to our friend Carol Mae's to watch the final episode of last season's Amazing Race which she recorded for us. Thank you Carol Mae. Afterwards we went to the Humane Society for our regular Tuesday afternoon shift of cat cuddling and dog walking.
Today I walked a deaf pit bull. She had a page of doggie sign language attached to her cage door. Who knew ? It was interesting to communicate with a dog in a new way.
After a bit more than two hours of walking dogs I was tired. I went to the cat room to wait for Joanne to finish. She asked for my help to finish up. I was opening cupboards looking for something she asked me to get for her when ... HEY ! All of a sudden, the cat who had been missing since early this morning showed up. HA HA HA ! I guess Meow ( the cat's name ) hid in a cupboard when her cage was being cleaned this morning and spent the entire day hiding in there.
When we got home, I gave Sully his daily blood pressure medication. As sometimes happens when I give it to him on an empty stomach ... he vomited a few minutes later. Then stepped in it ! Oh, Sully ! I had to give him a foot bath. Which resulted in a lot more than just his feet getting wet. Poor Sully !
Wednesday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning I repaired a chip in the truck's windshield. By myself ! Using a windshield chip repair kit I recently bought. And I'm going to buy another one of those windshield chip repair kits to have on hand just in case. They cost twelve dollars. I bought the first one using a five dollars off coupon. And I have another coupon ! The results are as good as ... or better ... that the forty dollar windshield chip repairs I've had done at auto glass shops. My repair today is as good as the repair I had done near Tucson a year ago, and better than the one I had done in Cawston, B.C. about five or six years ago. As a matter of fact, I had a bit of resin left over after finishing today's repair, and I used it to "touch up" the old repair done in Cawston, making it even better than it was.
Late this afternoon Joanne and I "hosted" the Wednesday afternoon "heavy appetizers" / hors d'oeuvres potluck Happy Hour. Small crowd ! The northward migration has begun. Afterwards, during the remaining hour of daylight, we finished the waxing of the upper part of the trailer on the curb side. It has already become too hot to do much outdoor work here between noon and 6 PM.
Thursday ; Cloudy in the morning, sunny in the afternoon, very warm.
This morning we did some annual maintenance chores on the trailer. After lunch Joanne went to run some shopping errands. I disassembled and rebuilt our old Sun Oven using some repair parts I ordered. In the evening we went to another one of the Thursday evening free jazz concerts at Yuma Palms Shopping Center. After the concert we went to PetsMart to buy some dog food, then Famous Footwear to buy me some Birkenstock sandals. YIPPPEEE ! ! ! Afterwards we went for a very late supper to Golden Corral, another buffet restaurant we like to visit once per year.
Friday ; Sunny and hot. I cooked potatoes and eggs in the Sun Oven. Joanne used them to make potato salad for supper tonight.
This morning we went shopping to Arizona MarketPlace, the local, large flea market and browsed through the entire market, buying a few items. This afternoon I finished rebuilding / reassembling our old Sun Oven. Joanne did laundry. I did some minor home improvement projects on Elsie the truck camper. I chatted with neighbours who received their new Sun Oven today, deciding to buy it as a result of my recent Sun Oven demonstrations. That makes two neighbours who bought Sun Ovens as a result of my recent cooking demonstrations. In the evening I worked on bill paying and finances.
Saturday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning we went to a potluck brunch in the clubhouse. MMMMM ... good !
This afternoon Joanne went thrift store shopping. Mercifully ... by herself ! HA HA HA !
I worked on maintenance and spring cleaning chores. AND ... my semi-annual exercise of taking inventory of medications and figuring out what medications I need to buy in Mexico before we leave here. That sounds like an easy chore, but ... it's not. How much meds do we have here right now ? How much is left back home in B.C.? How much should go to the truck camper to travel back home with us ? How much should stay here in Yuma ? How OCD am I really ? ! ? HA HA HA !
In the evening I again worked on bill paying and finances.
DSK
Sunday, March 16, 2014
March 9 to 15, 2014
Sunday ; Sunny and hot.
This afternoon was Bo's agility class "graduation". The class started nine weeks ago with nine dogs. It ended today with only five dogs. The "final exam" was a difficult agility course with seventeen components. Bo completed the entire course off leash, with only one "fault". And I don't think it was his "fault". The final component was the "broad jump" a triple hurdle with each of the three hurdles slightly higher than the one before, forming a 45 degree, rising "broad jump". Before starting I told the instructor that
I thought it was set too high for Bo. She disagreed. It was the seventeenth and final component. Bo was so tired by then that his back leg clipped the third and highest hurdle, knocking the bar down.
For a very short legged, ten year old dog .. WELL DONE, BO ! Only one dog did better than Bo, his buddy from here at Kofa Ko-op, the year and a half old, part Border Collie, Zona. I declare Bo to be the silver medallist. HA HA HA !
We attended this evening's ice cream social. There is much anxiety about the upcoming Escapees Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally starting on Tuesday. The Spring Rally is being held right here at Kofa Ko-op, and is a 30th birthday party for both Kofa Ko-op and Chapter 7.
This evening we watched Amazing Race and Downton Abbey. WHAT ? It's the end of Downton Abbey season 4 already ?
Monday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning we headed out for a long day of shopping errands. First stop was Historic Downtown Yuma to sign up for a date farm tour next weekend. Next was Food City to buy some food for the upcoming Escapees Roadrunner Chapter 7 Spring Rally. Over to Harbor Freight for some guy stuff ... WOO-HOO ! Lunch at Burger King. More Spring Rally food purchases at Smart & Final. Last stop was some personal grocery shopping at Albertsons.
Late this afternoon we gave Bo a bath. We packed some clothes in the truck camper. Joanne diced a lot of tomatoes for tomorrow's dinner.
Tuesday ; Sunny and hot again.
This morning I opened the box of the new Sun Oven that I bought a couple of months ago. I had not yet opened it because we were planning to bring it home to Canada, and leave the old Sun Oven here. But ... I am conducting a Sun Oven demonstration tomorrow and Thursday, using both Sun Ovens both days. I unpacked the new Sun Oven, and cleaned it, then set it out in the sun with a pot of vinegar inside. Over the next couple of hours the vinegar boiled and steam cleaned the inside of the Sun Oven. Meanwhile, Joanne baked a cake in the old Sun Oven, then cleaned that one to be ready for my cooking demonstrations.
In the afternoon we went to the Humane Society for our regular Tuesday afternoon shift. WHEW ... 2½ hours of walking dogs really tires me out. Some of them are such "pullers". By the time we returned to Kofa Ko-op the Roadrunner Chapter 7 Spring Rally had commenced.
We attended the very well attended communal taco salad dinner. Then we attended the very poorly attended "campfire" on the south patio. There has been much "resistance to change" in having this spring rally here at Kofa Ko-op instead of boondocking out in the desert on Ogilby Road as in the past. Hope the next few days aren't filled with drama and turmoil !
Wednesday ; Sunny and hot.
Had to be up too early for me, to attend communal breakfast. Afterwards I conducted a Sun Oven cooking demonstration, using both of our Sun Ovens. I cooked a cake, eight "hard boiled" ( baked ) eggs, and baked two large sweet potatoes. For half the day struggled with a colitis flare-up due to last night's communal dinner. Should have known better !
Joanne prepared a contribution to tonight's communal potluck "progressive" dinner. "Progressive" means ; appetizers on pool patio, progress to salads behind clubhouse, progress to entrees on south patio, progress to desserts in clubhouse.
Watched Survivor this evening. The "brains" tribe seem dumb as rocks !
Thursday ; Partially cloudy in the morning, sunny in the afternoon, very warm.
This morning I hooked up my laptop computer to the large screen TV in Kofa Ko-op's clubhouse and presented a video on Continuous Chest Compression CPR to the Escapees Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally. Following that I set up our two Sun Ovens and conducted a solar cooking demonstration for the second day in a row. That was made difficult by the partially cloudy conditions that existed until about 1:30 PM.
Joanne spent much of the afternoon assisting with the preparation of tonight's communal Miner's Stew dinner. After dinner I led a street clean up effort. Many years ago Kofa Ko-op "adopted" responsibility for cleaning E. County 17th St. from Ave. 3E to Ave. 4E. That effort was led by an old friend of ours who died three years ago. Since his death, the cleanup responsibility has fallen by the wayside. I have decided to pick up from where he left off. I led a group of fifteen people on a one hour clean up of the road. We cleaned a lot more roadway then initially planned, in less time than planned. Well done, everybody.
And so ended this year's Escapees Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally.
Friday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning we headed to The Foothills for some shopping errands. By the time we were finished it was time for lunch. We had a coupon, and a recommendation, for Round Table Pizza, way over on the other side of town. We drove all the way over there and ... first of all ... Joanne tripped on their uneven floor as soon as she entered their door. Scraped knee, bruised hip, friction burned palm of her hand. Secondly ... terrible food, terrible service, and did I mention ... TERRIBLE FOOD ! Never again ! ! !
Early this evening we headed to Marine Corps Air Station ( MCAS ) Yuma for the Twilight Air Show. Tomorrow is the big, annual MCAS Air Show, tonight was the twilight "mini-show". Very unusual ! A jet powered glider ( can you spell "oxymoron" ? ) spewing pyrotechnics, a jet fuel powered race car ... zero to 400 MPH in nine seconds ... a fabric winged ultralight spewing pyrotechnics, and finally, a helicopter spewing pyrotechnics. I'll bet that none of those was thought up by a woman. HA HA HA !
Saturday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning we were supposed to attend a date grove tour that we had been eagerly looking forward to all winter, and for which we made reservations about a week ago. But ... < sigh > ... a few days ago I received an e-mail notification / invitation to a dog behaviour seminar at the Humane Society of Yuma, conducted by a French Canadian dog behaviourist. I opted to attend the seminar. Joanne went on the date grove tour with her 93 year old water aerobics friend Eilene. I hope to be able to attend that date grove tour next winter.
After the dog behaviour seminar was over I spent about ¾ of an hour "cat cuddling", despite being neither "trained" nor "authorized" to do so, and about another ¾ of an hour walking a couple of dogs.
In the afternoon I completed the difficult task of getting the old truck storage chest / tool box up onto the roof of the camper, and getting it temporarily "mounted" up there to haul stuff back home in about a month.
In the evening we went to dinner at Olive Garden, one of the restaurants we like to visit here once per year. Nice dinner ... good food, good service, reasonable prices.
DSK
This afternoon was Bo's agility class "graduation". The class started nine weeks ago with nine dogs. It ended today with only five dogs. The "final exam" was a difficult agility course with seventeen components. Bo completed the entire course off leash, with only one "fault". And I don't think it was his "fault". The final component was the "broad jump" a triple hurdle with each of the three hurdles slightly higher than the one before, forming a 45 degree, rising "broad jump". Before starting I told the instructor that
I thought it was set too high for Bo. She disagreed. It was the seventeenth and final component. Bo was so tired by then that his back leg clipped the third and highest hurdle, knocking the bar down.
For a very short legged, ten year old dog .. WELL DONE, BO ! Only one dog did better than Bo, his buddy from here at Kofa Ko-op, the year and a half old, part Border Collie, Zona. I declare Bo to be the silver medallist. HA HA HA !
This evening we watched Amazing Race and Downton Abbey. WHAT ? It's the end of Downton Abbey season 4 already ?
Monday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning we headed out for a long day of shopping errands. First stop was Historic Downtown Yuma to sign up for a date farm tour next weekend. Next was Food City to buy some food for the upcoming Escapees Roadrunner Chapter 7 Spring Rally. Over to Harbor Freight for some guy stuff ... WOO-HOO ! Lunch at Burger King. More Spring Rally food purchases at Smart & Final. Last stop was some personal grocery shopping at Albertsons.
Late this afternoon we gave Bo a bath. We packed some clothes in the truck camper. Joanne diced a lot of tomatoes for tomorrow's dinner.
Tuesday ; Sunny and hot again.
This morning I opened the box of the new Sun Oven that I bought a couple of months ago. I had not yet opened it because we were planning to bring it home to Canada, and leave the old Sun Oven here. But ... I am conducting a Sun Oven demonstration tomorrow and Thursday, using both Sun Ovens both days. I unpacked the new Sun Oven, and cleaned it, then set it out in the sun with a pot of vinegar inside. Over the next couple of hours the vinegar boiled and steam cleaned the inside of the Sun Oven. Meanwhile, Joanne baked a cake in the old Sun Oven, then cleaned that one to be ready for my cooking demonstrations.
In the afternoon we went to the Humane Society for our regular Tuesday afternoon shift. WHEW ... 2½ hours of walking dogs really tires me out. Some of them are such "pullers". By the time we returned to Kofa Ko-op the Roadrunner Chapter 7 Spring Rally had commenced.
We attended the very well attended communal taco salad dinner. Then we attended the very poorly attended "campfire" on the south patio. There has been much "resistance to change" in having this spring rally here at Kofa Ko-op instead of boondocking out in the desert on Ogilby Road as in the past. Hope the next few days aren't filled with drama and turmoil !
Wednesday ; Sunny and hot.
Had to be up too early for me, to attend communal breakfast. Afterwards I conducted a Sun Oven cooking demonstration, using both of our Sun Ovens. I cooked a cake, eight "hard boiled" ( baked ) eggs, and baked two large sweet potatoes. For half the day struggled with a colitis flare-up due to last night's communal dinner. Should have known better !
Joanne prepared a contribution to tonight's communal potluck "progressive" dinner. "Progressive" means ; appetizers on pool patio, progress to salads behind clubhouse, progress to entrees on south patio, progress to desserts in clubhouse.
Watched Survivor this evening. The "brains" tribe seem dumb as rocks !
Thursday ; Partially cloudy in the morning, sunny in the afternoon, very warm.
This morning I hooked up my laptop computer to the large screen TV in Kofa Ko-op's clubhouse and presented a video on Continuous Chest Compression CPR to the Escapees Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally. Following that I set up our two Sun Ovens and conducted a solar cooking demonstration for the second day in a row. That was made difficult by the partially cloudy conditions that existed until about 1:30 PM.
Joanne spent much of the afternoon assisting with the preparation of tonight's communal Miner's Stew dinner. After dinner I led a street clean up effort. Many years ago Kofa Ko-op "adopted" responsibility for cleaning E. County 17th St. from Ave. 3E to Ave. 4E. That effort was led by an old friend of ours who died three years ago. Since his death, the cleanup responsibility has fallen by the wayside. I have decided to pick up from where he left off. I led a group of fifteen people on a one hour clean up of the road. We cleaned a lot more roadway then initially planned, in less time than planned. Well done, everybody.
And so ended this year's Escapees Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally.
Friday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning we headed to The Foothills for some shopping errands. By the time we were finished it was time for lunch. We had a coupon, and a recommendation, for Round Table Pizza, way over on the other side of town. We drove all the way over there and ... first of all ... Joanne tripped on their uneven floor as soon as she entered their door. Scraped knee, bruised hip, friction burned palm of her hand. Secondly ... terrible food, terrible service, and did I mention ... TERRIBLE FOOD ! Never again ! ! !
Early this evening we headed to Marine Corps Air Station ( MCAS ) Yuma for the Twilight Air Show. Tomorrow is the big, annual MCAS Air Show, tonight was the twilight "mini-show". Very unusual ! A jet powered glider ( can you spell "oxymoron" ? ) spewing pyrotechnics, a jet fuel powered race car ... zero to 400 MPH in nine seconds ... a fabric winged ultralight spewing pyrotechnics, and finally, a helicopter spewing pyrotechnics. I'll bet that none of those was thought up by a woman. HA HA HA !
Saturday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning we were supposed to attend a date grove tour that we had been eagerly looking forward to all winter, and for which we made reservations about a week ago. But ... < sigh > ... a few days ago I received an e-mail notification / invitation to a dog behaviour seminar at the Humane Society of Yuma, conducted by a French Canadian dog behaviourist. I opted to attend the seminar. Joanne went on the date grove tour with her 93 year old water aerobics friend Eilene. I hope to be able to attend that date grove tour next winter.
After the dog behaviour seminar was over I spent about ¾ of an hour "cat cuddling", despite being neither "trained" nor "authorized" to do so, and about another ¾ of an hour walking a couple of dogs.
In the afternoon I completed the difficult task of getting the old truck storage chest / tool box up onto the roof of the camper, and getting it temporarily "mounted" up there to haul stuff back home in about a month.
In the evening we went to dinner at Olive Garden, one of the restaurants we like to visit here once per year. Nice dinner ... good food, good service, reasonable prices.
DSK
Sunday, March 9, 2014
March 2 to 8, 2014
Sunday ; Gila Bend to Yuma, Arizona
Partially cloudy, warm.
Before leaving Holt's Shell in Gila Bend this morning we refilled the freshwater tank and dumped the grey and black waste holding tanks. We headed west on Interstate 8, back towards Yuma.
On impulse we decided to take a side trip when we saw signage to the Painted Petroglyph site on BLM land about 100 miles east of Yuma. That short detour ( 11 miles in each direction ) made us late for Bo's agility class < shrug >. He didn't mind. An hour is too long for him anyway. The petroglyphs were interesting. And it was particularly interesting to me that the Hohokam Indians of Southern Arizona painted petroglyph images of turtles that were identical to the Indian petroglyph images of turtles in Whiteshell Provincial Park in Manitoba, Canada, thousands of miles away.
At the turn off the Interstate onto the road to the petroglyph site there was a brand new ( four month old ) massively huge solar power farm, built by a company from Spain. Very impressive ! Tonight I sent them an e-mail inquiring about the possibility of a tour.
We stopped at a roadside rest area to have lunch. We stopped at Dateland to buy date shakes which we put in the freezer to have as a late night snack while watching Amazing Race tonight. As we left Dateland I realized we would be late for Bo's agility class at 3 PM, so ... in accordance with Interstate 8's speed limit I drove the rest of the way back to Yuma at 75 MPH ( 120 km./hr. ) ! Quick, but not very good fuel mileage with that large a truck camper at that speed !
We arrived at the agility class about half an hour late. Today's new component was a large "A-frame". No problem for Bo. Again the class ended with each dog running an entire agility course with more than a dozen components. Bo did extremely well, completing the entire course without being on a leash, with no "faults". However ... he still does not really "get" the point of weave poles. I had to lead him through and around the weave poles by leading him with a favourite treat right in front of his nose. HA HA HA ... well done, Bo, good dog ! But a Border Collie, you're not !
We returned home to Kofa Ko-op just in time for the regular Sunday late afternoon ice cream social. After supper we watched Amazing Race. And had date shakes !
Monday ; Sunny and warm.
We've returned to normal every day life ; chores and errands, socializing, enjoying sunshine and warmth, long walks in the dog park, "home improvement" projects, mostly on the truck camper. In the evening I did February's month end investment updates and analysis. Good month in the stock market ! I paid some bills, juggled some funds around from here to there.
We should go out to celebrate Joanne's first Canada Pension Plan payment !
Tuesday ; Mardi Gras
Sunny and very warm. HEY ! I just realized, a little late ( at 10:30 PM ), that today was Mardi Gras.
Late this morning we headed out to run some errands before going to the Humane Society for our regular Tuesday afternoon shift of dog walking and cat cuddling. First stop was Bank of America where I had to do some banking that required counter service ... for the second time this winter. And for the second time this winter, I ran into hurdles that the Bank of America has imposed on Canadians trying to do routine banking transactions. For the second time this winter I had to demand to see a manager, and throw a bit of a hissy fit to get them to use some basic common sense.
I should NOT have to produce a passport to do routine banking when I have a Bank of America bank card ... for an account held at that branch, a BC driver's license, and an Arizona state issued identity card ! ! ! When did society lose the ability to use common sense ? ! ?
We went to Fry's to buy a few grocery items before having lunch at Rally's. More frustration ! I used a coupon for a free Big Buford burger. So ... the cash register rings in the Big Buford burger at $4.19, then the coupon registers as minus $3.99. That's not free ! That's a burger for twenty cents. That's not really the problem. The problem is ... two ... count 'em ... TWO ... staff members were unable to comprehend that $4.19 minus $3.99 does not equal free. Both of these staff members did not seem capable of grade two arithmetic ; $4.19 - $3.99 DOES NOT EQUAL ZERO ! ! ! It took ANOTHER hissy fit, and a manager's intervention, to resolve the issue. And I was stubborn NOT because of the twenty cents, but BECAUSE YOU MORONS DON'T GET THAT
$4.19 - $3.99 DOES NOT EQUAL ZERO ! ! ! ! !
< WHEW > Take a deep breath, Daniel !
After lunch we headed to the Humane Society. Two and a half hours of walking dogs soothes me ... calms me. Thank goodness !
Wednesday ; Sunny and hot.
My normal "get out of bed" time is 8:30 AM. So I consider it "ungodly" to arise at 5:30 AM like I did this morning so that we could leave at 7 AM for the 7:45 AM "get on the bus" time for the Field To Feast Tour, an extremely popular agricultural tour held three times a week from the beginning of January until the end of March. It's booked months in advance. It was somewhere around Christmas that I bought tickets for today's tour.
We got on the bus at Yuma Visitor's Center and were taken to a University Of Arizona research farm to pick vegetables. Two bags for each person. One bag with a card inside instructing you what to pick, and one bag for you to pick whatever you want. The bag with the card inside, filled with what you were specified to pick, went on to Arizona Western College, to be used in the preparation of a vegetarian lunch by the students in the Culinary Arts program. The other bag we got to fill to the brim with whatever we wanted ! I picked a lot of sweet peas and snap peas. I haven't had "fresh from the garden" peas since my teenage years working on my Aunt Lena's farm during the summers.
Since Yuma's Lettuce Days had been this past weekend, we had a celebrity chef on our bus. A "local boy made good" who was one of the featured celebrity chefs at Lettuce Days.
We left the research farm and were driven around for a couple of hours to various farms, with narration by one of Yuma's more prominent ( and wealthy ! ) farmers. Very interesting and well done agricultural tour. Around noon we arrived at Arizona Western College and were treated to our vegetarian lunch prepared by award winning culinary students. Lunch was ... good ! I expected stupendous ! And while the entire experience was ... good ... I didn't think it was quite worth what it cost.
After lunch we were returned by bus to Yuma Visitor's Center. On the way home we stopped briefly at Lowe's, and we also went to find a free RV sanitary dump station that Joanne had found listed online. At home Joanne sorted and cleaned the two large bags of freshly picked vegetables of every imaginable sort. We had so much we gave some away. Then Joanne prepared her contribution to tonight's "potato bake" communal dinner. I'm not really a fan of the concept of making a meal of a baked potato with toppings.
Late in the evening we watched the second episode of Survivor. We missed the first episode last week.
Thursday ; Sunny and hot. I guess spring has arrived !
This morning I did some "home improvement" work on Elsie.
This afternoon Joanne went to Lotus Day Spa in The Foothills for a manicure, pedicure, mini-facial, and hair style, a birthday gift from her sister. I worked on the storage chest removed from the truck bed when we bought the truck camper. I want to use the storage chest to haul some stuff back to Canada, but it needs some modifications / refurbishment before I can ( temporarily ) mount it on the roof of the camper.
This evening we went to see a "foreign art film" at Historic Yuma Theater. It was a "dark comedy" made in Belgium. It's interesting to see a foreign film and get a taste of what is humorous in other cultures.
Friday ; Sunny and hot. Cooked a beef pot roast in the Sun Oven today. MMMMM !
Got a late start to my day. Late in the morning I headed to The Foothills for some shopping errands. Stopped at Southwest Exchange and bought four cake pans for the Sun Oven, for our Sun Oven cake bake lottery at the upcoming Escapees Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally. Next stop was Tractor Supply Company to buy a thick rubber mat intended for use in horse stalls. I'm going to use it underneath the truck's old storage chest / tool box when I temporarily mount it on the roof of the truck camper to haul stuff back home to BC. Next was Al's RV Service & Supply to buy some needed items at their monthly 15% off everything sale. Also known as Al's RV monthly "doughnut day". Free doughnuts while shopping. My lunch today was two doughnuts. HA HA HA ... thank you for lunch, Al's RV Service & Supply.
I drove to the far end of The Foothills to find Yuma Optical Supply, the only optical shop listed in the Yellow Pages that does eyeglass repairs. I want to buy some hard plastic nosepieces for my new glasses. The silicone nosepieces that are on the new glasses
I bought recently in Mexico bother me. Silicone is similar enough to latex that it flares my allergies. I arrived at Yuma Optical to find ... an empty shop with a "for rent" sign in the window. When I phoned the listed number, I got a message from the owner advising that he has decided to retire. < sigh > Guess I should have phoned before driving all that way out there.
Back at home we took the truck camper off the truck. I did another "home improvement" project on the truck camper, mounting AA battery operated LED reading lights over the bed. After supper we went Wal-Martin'.
Saturday ; Sunny and hot. Joanne baked a Saskatoon pie in the Sun Oven today. We'd better use up the rest of those Saskatoons pretty soon ! We picked them at home at Riverside RV Park last July !
This afternoon Joanne took Bo for a walk in the dog park. She returned without him. He was lagging, as he often does at this time of the year, searching for, digging for, chasing lizards in the desert. I told her to just come back over the fence into our yard, in a minute or two he would follow, climbing over the fence into the yard and returning to the trailer door.
Well ... a minute or two later, that's exactly what he did. Head held high, tail wagging, very proud of himself. With a dead Desert Rat in his mouth ! GEEEEZZZZZ, BO ! ! !
This evening we went to a four hour outdoor music concert, in conjunction with Midnight At The Oasis, the annual classic car show in Yuma. Tonight's three bands were ;
DSK
Partially cloudy, warm.
Before leaving Holt's Shell in Gila Bend this morning we refilled the freshwater tank and dumped the grey and black waste holding tanks. We headed west on Interstate 8, back towards Yuma.
On impulse we decided to take a side trip when we saw signage to the Painted Petroglyph site on BLM land about 100 miles east of Yuma. That short detour ( 11 miles in each direction ) made us late for Bo's agility class < shrug >. He didn't mind. An hour is too long for him anyway. The petroglyphs were interesting. And it was particularly interesting to me that the Hohokam Indians of Southern Arizona painted petroglyph images of turtles that were identical to the Indian petroglyph images of turtles in Whiteshell Provincial Park in Manitoba, Canada, thousands of miles away.
We stopped at a roadside rest area to have lunch. We stopped at Dateland to buy date shakes which we put in the freezer to have as a late night snack while watching Amazing Race tonight. As we left Dateland I realized we would be late for Bo's agility class at 3 PM, so ... in accordance with Interstate 8's speed limit I drove the rest of the way back to Yuma at 75 MPH ( 120 km./hr. ) ! Quick, but not very good fuel mileage with that large a truck camper at that speed !
We arrived at the agility class about half an hour late. Today's new component was a large "A-frame". No problem for Bo. Again the class ended with each dog running an entire agility course with more than a dozen components. Bo did extremely well, completing the entire course without being on a leash, with no "faults". However ... he still does not really "get" the point of weave poles. I had to lead him through and around the weave poles by leading him with a favourite treat right in front of his nose. HA HA HA ... well done, Bo, good dog ! But a Border Collie, you're not !
We returned home to Kofa Ko-op just in time for the regular Sunday late afternoon ice cream social. After supper we watched Amazing Race. And had date shakes !
Monday ; Sunny and warm.
We've returned to normal every day life ; chores and errands, socializing, enjoying sunshine and warmth, long walks in the dog park, "home improvement" projects, mostly on the truck camper. In the evening I did February's month end investment updates and analysis. Good month in the stock market ! I paid some bills, juggled some funds around from here to there.
We should go out to celebrate Joanne's first Canada Pension Plan payment !
Sunny and very warm. HEY ! I just realized, a little late ( at 10:30 PM ), that today was Mardi Gras.
Late this morning we headed out to run some errands before going to the Humane Society for our regular Tuesday afternoon shift of dog walking and cat cuddling. First stop was Bank of America where I had to do some banking that required counter service ... for the second time this winter. And for the second time this winter, I ran into hurdles that the Bank of America has imposed on Canadians trying to do routine banking transactions. For the second time this winter I had to demand to see a manager, and throw a bit of a hissy fit to get them to use some basic common sense.
I should NOT have to produce a passport to do routine banking when I have a Bank of America bank card ... for an account held at that branch, a BC driver's license, and an Arizona state issued identity card ! ! ! When did society lose the ability to use common sense ? ! ?
We went to Fry's to buy a few grocery items before having lunch at Rally's. More frustration ! I used a coupon for a free Big Buford burger. So ... the cash register rings in the Big Buford burger at $4.19, then the coupon registers as minus $3.99. That's not free ! That's a burger for twenty cents. That's not really the problem. The problem is ... two ... count 'em ... TWO ... staff members were unable to comprehend that $4.19 minus $3.99 does not equal free. Both of these staff members did not seem capable of grade two arithmetic ; $4.19 - $3.99 DOES NOT EQUAL ZERO ! ! ! It took ANOTHER hissy fit, and a manager's intervention, to resolve the issue. And I was stubborn NOT because of the twenty cents, but BECAUSE YOU MORONS DON'T GET THAT
$4.19 - $3.99 DOES NOT EQUAL ZERO ! ! ! ! !
< WHEW > Take a deep breath, Daniel !
After lunch we headed to the Humane Society. Two and a half hours of walking dogs soothes me ... calms me. Thank goodness !
Wednesday ; Sunny and hot.
My normal "get out of bed" time is 8:30 AM. So I consider it "ungodly" to arise at 5:30 AM like I did this morning so that we could leave at 7 AM for the 7:45 AM "get on the bus" time for the Field To Feast Tour, an extremely popular agricultural tour held three times a week from the beginning of January until the end of March. It's booked months in advance. It was somewhere around Christmas that I bought tickets for today's tour.
We got on the bus at Yuma Visitor's Center and were taken to a University Of Arizona research farm to pick vegetables. Two bags for each person. One bag with a card inside instructing you what to pick, and one bag for you to pick whatever you want. The bag with the card inside, filled with what you were specified to pick, went on to Arizona Western College, to be used in the preparation of a vegetarian lunch by the students in the Culinary Arts program. The other bag we got to fill to the brim with whatever we wanted ! I picked a lot of sweet peas and snap peas. I haven't had "fresh from the garden" peas since my teenage years working on my Aunt Lena's farm during the summers.
Since Yuma's Lettuce Days had been this past weekend, we had a celebrity chef on our bus. A "local boy made good" who was one of the featured celebrity chefs at Lettuce Days.
We left the research farm and were driven around for a couple of hours to various farms, with narration by one of Yuma's more prominent ( and wealthy ! ) farmers. Very interesting and well done agricultural tour. Around noon we arrived at Arizona Western College and were treated to our vegetarian lunch prepared by award winning culinary students. Lunch was ... good ! I expected stupendous ! And while the entire experience was ... good ... I didn't think it was quite worth what it cost.
After lunch we were returned by bus to Yuma Visitor's Center. On the way home we stopped briefly at Lowe's, and we also went to find a free RV sanitary dump station that Joanne had found listed online. At home Joanne sorted and cleaned the two large bags of freshly picked vegetables of every imaginable sort. We had so much we gave some away. Then Joanne prepared her contribution to tonight's "potato bake" communal dinner. I'm not really a fan of the concept of making a meal of a baked potato with toppings.
Late in the evening we watched the second episode of Survivor. We missed the first episode last week.
Thursday ; Sunny and hot. I guess spring has arrived !
This morning I did some "home improvement" work on Elsie.
This afternoon Joanne went to Lotus Day Spa in The Foothills for a manicure, pedicure, mini-facial, and hair style, a birthday gift from her sister. I worked on the storage chest removed from the truck bed when we bought the truck camper. I want to use the storage chest to haul some stuff back to Canada, but it needs some modifications / refurbishment before I can ( temporarily ) mount it on the roof of the camper.
This evening we went to see a "foreign art film" at Historic Yuma Theater. It was a "dark comedy" made in Belgium. It's interesting to see a foreign film and get a taste of what is humorous in other cultures.
Friday ; Sunny and hot. Cooked a beef pot roast in the Sun Oven today. MMMMM !
Got a late start to my day. Late in the morning I headed to The Foothills for some shopping errands. Stopped at Southwest Exchange and bought four cake pans for the Sun Oven, for our Sun Oven cake bake lottery at the upcoming Escapees Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally. Next stop was Tractor Supply Company to buy a thick rubber mat intended for use in horse stalls. I'm going to use it underneath the truck's old storage chest / tool box when I temporarily mount it on the roof of the truck camper to haul stuff back home to BC. Next was Al's RV Service & Supply to buy some needed items at their monthly 15% off everything sale. Also known as Al's RV monthly "doughnut day". Free doughnuts while shopping. My lunch today was two doughnuts. HA HA HA ... thank you for lunch, Al's RV Service & Supply.
I drove to the far end of The Foothills to find Yuma Optical Supply, the only optical shop listed in the Yellow Pages that does eyeglass repairs. I want to buy some hard plastic nosepieces for my new glasses. The silicone nosepieces that are on the new glasses
I bought recently in Mexico bother me. Silicone is similar enough to latex that it flares my allergies. I arrived at Yuma Optical to find ... an empty shop with a "for rent" sign in the window. When I phoned the listed number, I got a message from the owner advising that he has decided to retire. < sigh > Guess I should have phoned before driving all that way out there.
Back at home we took the truck camper off the truck. I did another "home improvement" project on the truck camper, mounting AA battery operated LED reading lights over the bed. After supper we went Wal-Martin'.
Saturday ; Sunny and hot. Joanne baked a Saskatoon pie in the Sun Oven today. We'd better use up the rest of those Saskatoons pretty soon ! We picked them at home at Riverside RV Park last July !
This afternoon Joanne took Bo for a walk in the dog park. She returned without him. He was lagging, as he often does at this time of the year, searching for, digging for, chasing lizards in the desert. I told her to just come back over the fence into our yard, in a minute or two he would follow, climbing over the fence into the yard and returning to the trailer door.
Well ... a minute or two later, that's exactly what he did. Head held high, tail wagging, very proud of himself. With a dead Desert Rat in his mouth ! GEEEEZZZZZ, BO ! ! !
This evening we went to a four hour outdoor music concert, in conjunction with Midnight At The Oasis, the annual classic car show in Yuma. Tonight's three bands were ;
- Missing Links, a Monkees tribute band
- Surfin' Safari, a Beach Boys Tribute band
- and Winter Dance Party, a tribute to Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, and Buddy Holly.
DSK
Sunday, March 2, 2014
February 23 to March 1, 2014
Sunday ; Sunny and very warm.
This afternoon I finished the installation of the television in the truck camper, designing, fabricating, and installing a nylon strap restraint system to securely hold the TV and its swing arm mount during travel. Joanne did laundry.
We attended the fifth of seven weekly agility sessions at the Humane Society of Yuma. Bo did great ! At the end of today's class each of the eight dogs completed an entire agility course circuit. Bo is the shortest leg dog in the class, and the oldest, and ... it was a very warm, sunny afternoon, so ... he didn't complete it quickly ! But I'm proud of him. Well done, Bo, good dog !
This evening we attended the regular Sunday ice cream social, then watched the season premiere of Amazing Race.
Monday ; Mostly sunny and very warm. Joanne cooked chicken chile verde in the Sun Oven today.
This morning she took our recycling to a local recycling center while I got a slow start to my day. I slept poorly because of knee pain, an ongoing problem. After she returned we went to the storage area in our RV park and mounted the truck camper onto the truck.
I originally typed that as "mounted Elsie onto Lanoire" but it sounded ... dirty ! HA HA HA !
This afternoon Joanne packed clothes and food into Elsie. I fabricated a TV cover from some surplus sun screen material that was left in our shed by the previous owner. Now the new flat screen TV I installed in Elsie has a cover to keep out dust and protect the screen from getting scratched.
When I went for my daily bicycle ride at dusk I met old friends of ours from the Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33. They arrived yesterday and are in this park's unserviced boondock area because all the serviced sites are occupied. I invited them over to visit with us in our Arizona room after supper.
Tuesday ; Yuma to Gila Bend, Arizona
Cloudy, humid, very warm.
We were up early this morning to leave the RV park at 9 AM for a group tour of a local goat farm. It was a very interesting tour. I bought some goat cheese. Joanne bought some goat milk soap.
This afternoon we finished our departure preparations and left home about 1:45 PM heading for the Humane Society for our regular Tuesday afternoon dog walking / cat cuddling shift starting at 2 PM. We were finished at the Humane Society at 4:30, headed over to The Foothills to run some errands, buy some groceries, refill with diesel, and were on Interstate 8 heading east by 5:30 PM.
MMMMM ! ! ! Date shakes at Dateland. We bought two large date shakes and put them in Elsie's freezer to be dessert following tonight's supper. We drove as far as Gila Bend, arriving there about 7:30 PM. As before, we stopped for the night at Holt's Shell in Gila Bend. We had supper ( MMMMM ... fresh sushi from Fry's in The Foothills for me ) and then date shakes for dessert. Warm evening, everybody was happy, life is good !
Onward to the next adventure !
Wednesday ; Gila Bend to Phoenix to Oak Flat Campground in Tonto National Forest, Arizona
Sunny and very warm, even at the 4000 foot elevation of Tonto National Forest. Why are our animals getting so sick on these short camping trips we're taking ? Last time it was Sully. This time it's Bo who was very ill, vomiting about half a dozen times this evening, moaning and whining and shivering. Poor Bo. Hope he's better by tomorrow morning !
We slept in late this morning, getting a late start to the day. Before leaving Holt's Shell in Gila Bend we dumped Elsie's shower waste holding tank and refilled the freshwater tank. From Gila Bend we headed east on Hwy. 238 through the Sonoran Desert National Monument ( National Park ). Very scenic ! At Maricopa we turned north on Hwy. 347 into the metropolitan Phoenix area.
We spent the day shopping in Phoenix and surrounding urban area. First stop was Camping World in Mesa to buy a few RV items. HEY ! There's a couple of discontinued model folding chairs, marked down from $16 to ... < BLINK BLINK > ... four bucks ! Only two left. Just what Elsie needs, for sitting around campfires in state parks. Bought 'em !
Next we headed for Trader Joe's. HEY ! There's a Cici's Pizza. We haven't been to a Cici's Pizza in ... < thinking > ... five years ! Since Texas ! We like Cici's Pizza, a buffet restaurant. We decided to stop for a late lunch. The hostess advised us that the senior's lunch buffet price was six bucks apiece. Great ! However ... on Wednesdays ... the Early Bird senior's dinner price ... starting in one hour ... is ... wait for it ... three bucks ! WOW ! See ya in an hour, sweetie !
We went to Trader Joe's ! Where we spent a lot of money, as we always do at Trader Joe's, buying exotic, gourmet, and specialty food items, snack foods, junk foods, and twenty-five cans of Sully's beloved Trader Joe's Tuna Cat Food. Hope he lives that long ! HA HA HA !
We returned to Cici's Pizza for a very late lunch / very early supper. MMMMM ! ! ! As good as we remembered. That was a lot of pizza ( and soup and salad and pasta with sauce and garlic bread and brownies and cinnamon buns and apple pie pizza ... ) we ate for three bucks ! HA HA HA ! We headed to an outlet store mall to shop for Birkenstock sandals for me at a Famous Footwear store, the same chain of footwear stores where I bought my last pair of Birkenstock sandals, in Laughlin, Nevada. HMPH ! Famous Footwear no longer carries Birkenstock sandals in "wide" width. Maybe I'll have to order a pair online ?
As we headed out of the Phoenix area we stopped at Fry's. While Joanne ran into the store for one grocery item, I refilled Lanoire with diesel. We headed east on Hwy. 60 into the Superstition Mountains. A few miles after the city of Superior we turned off the highway to find Oak Flat Campground, a National Forest Service unserviced campground in Tonto National Forest. No services ... and no charge ! Nice campground, nice scenery, high dessert, in boulder mountains.
I'm very eager to get online to verify that Joanne's very first Canada Pension Plan payment was deposited to our bank account today. YIPPPEEE ... if everything worked as it was supposed to !
Thursday ; Oak Flat Campground to Cholla Campground, Tonto National Forest
Sunny and warm. Most of the day was wasted, lost to vicious bickering and the baggage that goes along with it ! ! ! Bo has never been sicker than he was last night and overnight. Twelve hours of hourly vomiting. What a rough night for him and us !
This morning we left Oak Flat Campground and drove to Wal-Mart in Globe where we bought some anti-nausea medication for Bo. By the time we administered it he had already stopped vomiting a puddle of bile on an hourly basis, bit was still very ill. He slowly improved throughout the day, so that by nightfall he didn't seem ill anymore, just extremely weak. I scrambled some eggs to feed him for the next day or two, and he was eager to eat a bit of scrambled egg. Poor Bo, hang in there, you'll be better soon.
We headed north on Hwy. 188 into Tonto National Forest. We stopped to get some information at the Visitor's Information Center, and had lunch in the parking lot. We continued north, stopping at Cholla Campground on Roosevelt Lake. Cholla Campground is a large campground with 206 sites, all unserviced, but the campground has solar powered shower buildings.
Friday ; exploring Tonto National Forest
Well ... we drove over 260 km. / 160 miles today exploring Tonto National Forest. Some of the day was sunny. Some of it was cloudy. We even had a few droplets of rain. When we left Cholla Campground at an elevation around 2100 feet, the temperature was 74 degrees. Mid-afternoon, along the Mogollon Rim, at an elevation over 7600 feet, the temperature was 41 degrees. Upon arrival at Windy Hill Campground at 6:45 PM, again at an elevation around 2100 feet, the temperature was once again 74 degrees.
When we pulled out of Cholla Campground late this morning we stopped at the trailer dump station. It's open ... four hours per day ... twice per week ! HUH ? And ... there is a dump ... < sputter > ... but no freshwater refill ! HUH ? ! ? Sometimes ya gotta wonder ... what was some bureaucrat in Washington thinking ? ! ?
We headed north on Hwy. 188, along the western shore of Roosevelt Lake stopping to explore each picnic site and campground we came to. We stopped at a church and refilled our freshwater tank from a water spigot on the side of the building. When we stopped to have lunch along the Roosevelt Lake shoreline Bo was even feeling chipper enough to briefly play beach doughnut fetch. HA HA HA ... well done, Bo, good dog. First time you've ever played beach doughnut fetch in the desert, isn't it, Bo ? HA HA HA !
He started the day feeling weak, but regained his strength ... and spirit ... as the day progressed. I fed him five small meals of scrambled egg with a bit of his regular kibble mixed in. Based on his mystery illness of Wednesday, and Sully's mystery illness of a month ago, we think we may be bringing viruses home on us after our work at the Humane Society. We're going to take more precautions to reduce that risk.
We drove north on Hwy. 188 through Punkin Center, and north on Hwy. 87 to Payson. We turned east on Hwy. 260 and stopped at three National Forest campgrounds, all closed for the winter season. At Forest Road 512, also known as the Young - Heber Road, we turned south on the "From the Desert to the Tall Pines Scenic Byway", travelling its 67 mile length in reverse. Most of the 67 miles were rough gravel road, providing a good test of the truck camper's ability to get us "off the beaten path", one of the main reasons why we bought it. Forest Road 512 became Hwy. 288 at the lovely, "old west" town of Young in Pleasant Valley. When we reached the end ( actually, the beginning ) of the From the Desert to the Tall Pines Scenic Byway when Hwy. 288 ended ( began ) at Hwy. 188 we turned north and once again followed along the shoreline of Roosevelt Lake until reaching Windy Hill Campground, arriving just at dark.
It was a pretty good day, made even better by our successful efforts started first thing this morning to "make peace".
Saturday ; Windy Hills Campground, Tonto National Forest to Gila Bend, Arizona
It began to rain heavily overnight, and it's still raining heavily as I type this in the laundromat of Holt's Shell in Gila Bend, at 9:30 PM.
It's too bad that the "flamers" who send me nasty messages because they take exception to something I've said in my blog years ago don't have the courage to send their nasty comments with their name attached . They always hide behind "anonymous".
This morning we departed Windy Hill Campground and headed south on Hwy. 188 back to Globe, then headed west on Hwy. 60 through Superior to Florence Junction. South to Florence on Hwy. 79, west on Hwy. 287 to Coolidge, we stopped to refill with diesel at the Safeway fuel bar, then had lunch in Safeway's parking lot. South on Hwy. 87 and west on Hwy. 287 to Casa Grande where we spotted ... WOO-HOO ... a Whataburger ! Didn't know there were any Whataburgers this far west, thought they were only in Texas and New Mexico ! We bought some burgers to put in the fridge and have for supper later tonight. Very disturbing to both of us to see a drug addled hooker who looked to be about 15 years old in the Whataburger, mooching.
Made brief stops at PetsMart and Dollar General before heading out of Casa Grande, west on Hwy. 84 through Stanfield, until reaching Interstate 8, then west on I-8 to Gila Bend where we once again hunkered down for the night at Holt's Shell. My computer battery was almost out of power, so after supper I decided to kill two birds with one stone by going into the laundromat to work on the computer, plugged into a wall outlet, recharging the battery, and using the free Wi-Fi to retrieve e-mail. Had to share the space with the two wet, homeless guys and one dog sleeping in the laundromat to get out of the rain.
DSK
This afternoon I finished the installation of the television in the truck camper, designing, fabricating, and installing a nylon strap restraint system to securely hold the TV and its swing arm mount during travel. Joanne did laundry.
We attended the fifth of seven weekly agility sessions at the Humane Society of Yuma. Bo did great ! At the end of today's class each of the eight dogs completed an entire agility course circuit. Bo is the shortest leg dog in the class, and the oldest, and ... it was a very warm, sunny afternoon, so ... he didn't complete it quickly ! But I'm proud of him. Well done, Bo, good dog !
This evening we attended the regular Sunday ice cream social, then watched the season premiere of Amazing Race.
Monday ; Mostly sunny and very warm. Joanne cooked chicken chile verde in the Sun Oven today.
This morning she took our recycling to a local recycling center while I got a slow start to my day. I slept poorly because of knee pain, an ongoing problem. After she returned we went to the storage area in our RV park and mounted the truck camper onto the truck.
I originally typed that as "mounted Elsie onto Lanoire" but it sounded ... dirty ! HA HA HA !
This afternoon Joanne packed clothes and food into Elsie. I fabricated a TV cover from some surplus sun screen material that was left in our shed by the previous owner. Now the new flat screen TV I installed in Elsie has a cover to keep out dust and protect the screen from getting scratched.
When I went for my daily bicycle ride at dusk I met old friends of ours from the Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33. They arrived yesterday and are in this park's unserviced boondock area because all the serviced sites are occupied. I invited them over to visit with us in our Arizona room after supper.
Tuesday ; Yuma to Gila Bend, Arizona
Cloudy, humid, very warm.
We were up early this morning to leave the RV park at 9 AM for a group tour of a local goat farm. It was a very interesting tour. I bought some goat cheese. Joanne bought some goat milk soap.
This afternoon we finished our departure preparations and left home about 1:45 PM heading for the Humane Society for our regular Tuesday afternoon dog walking / cat cuddling shift starting at 2 PM. We were finished at the Humane Society at 4:30, headed over to The Foothills to run some errands, buy some groceries, refill with diesel, and were on Interstate 8 heading east by 5:30 PM.
MMMMM ! ! ! Date shakes at Dateland. We bought two large date shakes and put them in Elsie's freezer to be dessert following tonight's supper. We drove as far as Gila Bend, arriving there about 7:30 PM. As before, we stopped for the night at Holt's Shell in Gila Bend. We had supper ( MMMMM ... fresh sushi from Fry's in The Foothills for me ) and then date shakes for dessert. Warm evening, everybody was happy, life is good !
Onward to the next adventure !
Wednesday ; Gila Bend to Phoenix to Oak Flat Campground in Tonto National Forest, Arizona
Sunny and very warm, even at the 4000 foot elevation of Tonto National Forest. Why are our animals getting so sick on these short camping trips we're taking ? Last time it was Sully. This time it's Bo who was very ill, vomiting about half a dozen times this evening, moaning and whining and shivering. Poor Bo. Hope he's better by tomorrow morning !
We slept in late this morning, getting a late start to the day. Before leaving Holt's Shell in Gila Bend we dumped Elsie's shower waste holding tank and refilled the freshwater tank. From Gila Bend we headed east on Hwy. 238 through the Sonoran Desert National Monument ( National Park ). Very scenic ! At Maricopa we turned north on Hwy. 347 into the metropolitan Phoenix area.
We spent the day shopping in Phoenix and surrounding urban area. First stop was Camping World in Mesa to buy a few RV items. HEY ! There's a couple of discontinued model folding chairs, marked down from $16 to ... < BLINK BLINK > ... four bucks ! Only two left. Just what Elsie needs, for sitting around campfires in state parks. Bought 'em !
Next we headed for Trader Joe's. HEY ! There's a Cici's Pizza. We haven't been to a Cici's Pizza in ... < thinking > ... five years ! Since Texas ! We like Cici's Pizza, a buffet restaurant. We decided to stop for a late lunch. The hostess advised us that the senior's lunch buffet price was six bucks apiece. Great ! However ... on Wednesdays ... the Early Bird senior's dinner price ... starting in one hour ... is ... wait for it ... three bucks ! WOW ! See ya in an hour, sweetie !
We went to Trader Joe's ! Where we spent a lot of money, as we always do at Trader Joe's, buying exotic, gourmet, and specialty food items, snack foods, junk foods, and twenty-five cans of Sully's beloved Trader Joe's Tuna Cat Food. Hope he lives that long ! HA HA HA !
We returned to Cici's Pizza for a very late lunch / very early supper. MMMMM ! ! ! As good as we remembered. That was a lot of pizza ( and soup and salad and pasta with sauce and garlic bread and brownies and cinnamon buns and apple pie pizza ... ) we ate for three bucks ! HA HA HA ! We headed to an outlet store mall to shop for Birkenstock sandals for me at a Famous Footwear store, the same chain of footwear stores where I bought my last pair of Birkenstock sandals, in Laughlin, Nevada. HMPH ! Famous Footwear no longer carries Birkenstock sandals in "wide" width. Maybe I'll have to order a pair online ?
As we headed out of the Phoenix area we stopped at Fry's. While Joanne ran into the store for one grocery item, I refilled Lanoire with diesel. We headed east on Hwy. 60 into the Superstition Mountains. A few miles after the city of Superior we turned off the highway to find Oak Flat Campground, a National Forest Service unserviced campground in Tonto National Forest. No services ... and no charge ! Nice campground, nice scenery, high dessert, in boulder mountains.
I'm very eager to get online to verify that Joanne's very first Canada Pension Plan payment was deposited to our bank account today. YIPPPEEE ... if everything worked as it was supposed to !
Thursday ; Oak Flat Campground to Cholla Campground, Tonto National Forest
Sunny and warm. Most of the day was wasted, lost to vicious bickering and the baggage that goes along with it ! ! ! Bo has never been sicker than he was last night and overnight. Twelve hours of hourly vomiting. What a rough night for him and us !
This morning we left Oak Flat Campground and drove to Wal-Mart in Globe where we bought some anti-nausea medication for Bo. By the time we administered it he had already stopped vomiting a puddle of bile on an hourly basis, bit was still very ill. He slowly improved throughout the day, so that by nightfall he didn't seem ill anymore, just extremely weak. I scrambled some eggs to feed him for the next day or two, and he was eager to eat a bit of scrambled egg. Poor Bo, hang in there, you'll be better soon.
We headed north on Hwy. 188 into Tonto National Forest. We stopped to get some information at the Visitor's Information Center, and had lunch in the parking lot. We continued north, stopping at Cholla Campground on Roosevelt Lake. Cholla Campground is a large campground with 206 sites, all unserviced, but the campground has solar powered shower buildings.
Friday ; exploring Tonto National Forest
Well ... we drove over 260 km. / 160 miles today exploring Tonto National Forest. Some of the day was sunny. Some of it was cloudy. We even had a few droplets of rain. When we left Cholla Campground at an elevation around 2100 feet, the temperature was 74 degrees. Mid-afternoon, along the Mogollon Rim, at an elevation over 7600 feet, the temperature was 41 degrees. Upon arrival at Windy Hill Campground at 6:45 PM, again at an elevation around 2100 feet, the temperature was once again 74 degrees.
When we pulled out of Cholla Campground late this morning we stopped at the trailer dump station. It's open ... four hours per day ... twice per week ! HUH ? And ... there is a dump ... < sputter > ... but no freshwater refill ! HUH ? ! ? Sometimes ya gotta wonder ... what was some bureaucrat in Washington thinking ? ! ?
We headed north on Hwy. 188, along the western shore of Roosevelt Lake stopping to explore each picnic site and campground we came to. We stopped at a church and refilled our freshwater tank from a water spigot on the side of the building. When we stopped to have lunch along the Roosevelt Lake shoreline Bo was even feeling chipper enough to briefly play beach doughnut fetch. HA HA HA ... well done, Bo, good dog. First time you've ever played beach doughnut fetch in the desert, isn't it, Bo ? HA HA HA !
We drove north on Hwy. 188 through Punkin Center, and north on Hwy. 87 to Payson. We turned east on Hwy. 260 and stopped at three National Forest campgrounds, all closed for the winter season. At Forest Road 512, also known as the Young - Heber Road, we turned south on the "From the Desert to the Tall Pines Scenic Byway", travelling its 67 mile length in reverse. Most of the 67 miles were rough gravel road, providing a good test of the truck camper's ability to get us "off the beaten path", one of the main reasons why we bought it. Forest Road 512 became Hwy. 288 at the lovely, "old west" town of Young in Pleasant Valley. When we reached the end ( actually, the beginning ) of the From the Desert to the Tall Pines Scenic Byway when Hwy. 288 ended ( began ) at Hwy. 188 we turned north and once again followed along the shoreline of Roosevelt Lake until reaching Windy Hill Campground, arriving just at dark.
Saturday ; Windy Hills Campground, Tonto National Forest to Gila Bend, Arizona
It began to rain heavily overnight, and it's still raining heavily as I type this in the laundromat of Holt's Shell in Gila Bend, at 9:30 PM.
It's too bad that the "flamers" who send me nasty messages because they take exception to something I've said in my blog years ago don't have the courage to send their nasty comments with their name attached . They always hide behind "anonymous".
This morning we departed Windy Hill Campground and headed south on Hwy. 188 back to Globe, then headed west on Hwy. 60 through Superior to Florence Junction. South to Florence on Hwy. 79, west on Hwy. 287 to Coolidge, we stopped to refill with diesel at the Safeway fuel bar, then had lunch in Safeway's parking lot. South on Hwy. 87 and west on Hwy. 287 to Casa Grande where we spotted ... WOO-HOO ... a Whataburger ! Didn't know there were any Whataburgers this far west, thought they were only in Texas and New Mexico ! We bought some burgers to put in the fridge and have for supper later tonight. Very disturbing to both of us to see a drug addled hooker who looked to be about 15 years old in the Whataburger, mooching.
Made brief stops at PetsMart and Dollar General before heading out of Casa Grande, west on Hwy. 84 through Stanfield, until reaching Interstate 8, then west on I-8 to Gila Bend where we once again hunkered down for the night at Holt's Shell. My computer battery was almost out of power, so after supper I decided to kill two birds with one stone by going into the laundromat to work on the computer, plugged into a wall outlet, recharging the battery, and using the free Wi-Fi to retrieve e-mail. Had to share the space with the two wet, homeless guys and one dog sleeping in the laundromat to get out of the rain.
DSK
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