AHHHHH ... Palm Springs ! Temperature in the upper 70's ! Rich old people ! HA HA HA !
Sunny and warm. This morning as we climbed out of the camper to get into the truck to leave the parking lot of the Morongo Casino we got sidetracked. The couple in the Class A motorhome parked behind us were from Thunder Bay, Ontario. They are full time RV'ing newbies. We chatted with them for quite awhile ... too long. We didn't leave until about noon.
We pulled over to the Morongo Casino's Travel Center where we refilled with diesel and freshwater. We drove 20 km. / 13 miles back to Palm Springs where we went to the Palm Springs Dog Park beside City Hall, behind the Palm Springs Airport. Bo loves all dog parks, but especially the Palm Springs Dog Park which is two parks in one. The smaller side is for small dogs and the bigger side is for large dogs. Bo visits both sides, always starting on the small dog side, then finishing on the big dog side. Today ... about twenty minutes in each side.
We drove to downtown Palm Springs to have a very late lunch at Sherman's Deli. MMM ... MMM ... MMM ... MMM ... MMM ! ! ! Once per year Bo gets to visit the Palm Springs Dog Park and we get to eat lunch at Sherman's Deli. Very authentic New York style Jewish deli. I had cold borscht and a hot pastrami sandwich ... of course ! Joanne had sweet & sour beef & cabbage soup and a barbecued meatloaf sandwich. What an amateur ! HA HA HA HA HA ! We finished by sharing a slice of key lime pie.
It was 3 PM by the time we hit the road, eastbound on Interstate 10. It was dark before we even reached Blythe, California. At Ehrenberg we crossed over the Colorado River into Arizona and we arrived at Quartzsite about 6 PM. We drove north on Hwy 95 about seven miles from town to the BLM administered Hi Jolly camping area out in the desert. We found a spot to park for the night and I lit a campfire, our motivation for coming here for a night instead of heading directly to Yuma from Palm Springs. The evening was chilly, but there was no wind and the clear night time sky was filled with stars. We sat around the campfire for a couple of hours before going inside for a late, light supper.
Monday ; Quartzsite to Yuma, Arizona
AHHHHH ... home ! Sunny and warm.
This morning before leaving our campsite in the desert we took Sully outside for some fresh air, then took Bo for a short desert hike. Sully is exhibiting signs of an upper respiratory infection. That's what ended Teddy's life at age seventeen, so I'm very worried about Sully.
We drove south on Hwy. 95 into Quartzsite and drove around the large flea market areas that are just beginning to fill up with vendors. Nothing inspired us enough today to stop and shop. We'll return late in January at Quartzsite's annual peak season. We continued south on Hwy. 95 towards Yuma.
Just before reaching Yuma we stopped to have lunch in the parking lot of From The Farm, a farm gate produce business. Lunch included ... WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO ... our first date shake of the season ! Bo was VERY happy about that ! HA HA HA !
When we reached Yuma we went to Fry's in The Foothills for milk and diesel. We arrived "home" at Kofa Ko-op shortly after 4 PM. Before it got dark we got set up in our site and Joanne began weeding our yard. After it became dark we went to the clubhouse where I got online to retrieve e-mail and MasterCard statements.
I cooked supper tonight, creating a variation of Huevos Ranchero, frying the eggs in Crema Salvadoreña. My Aunt Lena would have been proud of me. It was forty-six years ago that she taught me everything I needed to know about frying in cream. HA HA HA ! I still hope my doctor isn't reading this !
Tuesday ; AHHHHH ... sunny and warm. HELLOOOOO Yuma !
There seems to be so much work to do upon our arrival here that we’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, especially by conflicting priorities. I had hoped to move the fifth wheel trailer from storage to our lot tomorrow, but the neighbour / friend that I asked today to move it for us wasn’t able to do it tomorrow, so ... we did it today. Thank you very much, Tom.
Joanne did quite a bit of work on cleaning our yard which had / has quite a bit of weeds that grew over the summer. And I have posted “no weed spraying” on our lot so that the park maintenance staff don’t use herbicides on our lot. We choose to weed by hand instead of by chemicals, mostly because of Bo and Sully.
Sully definitely has an upper respiratory infection, although it seemed a bit less severe today than yesterday. We have been administering antibiotic eye drops, and a dog & cat cold medication, both purchased in Mexico a couple of years ago.
One of the cacti ... a Cow’s Tongue Prickly Pear ... I planted only three short years ago has grown so large that a few days ago it fell over, roots pulling partially out of the ground. Today I cut off each of its four large arms, and replanted the stubby remains in its original location. After I let the cuts dry for a few days I will replant each of the four arms in my cactus gardens in the dog park behind our rear yard fence.
After supper we went grocery shopping to Albertsons. How wonderful to be back in the land of cheap groceries. Four cases of soft drinks for $8.88 ! A turkey for $8.17 !
Well ... how unusual. Sully and Bo are snoozing on the sofa ( at 10:30 PM ) and Sully is using Bo’s butt as a pillow.
Wednesday ; Sunny and warm.
WOO-HOO ... WOO-HOO ... WOO-HOO ! ! ! ! ! I have just verified that my very first Canada Pension Plan payment has been deposited to our bank account ! I'm now "officially" retired. HA HA HA !
We both worked long and hard today on "arrival" chores ; truck camper, trailer, yard, shed, Arizona room. With lots of distractions visiting friends and neighbours. We walked Bo around the dog park. We went to the late afternoon Social Hour / appetizer potluck ; visited with old friends and made new friends.
Thursday ; American Thanksgiving
Sunny and very warm ! That's why we're here !
We didn't get much done today because the park's communal Thanksgiving Dinner was mid-afternoon. I had to be at the clubhouse at 2:30 PM to prepare for my job as a server. Thanksgiving Dinner was very good, as usual. We spent quite awhile afterwards chatting with new friends, from Kamloops, B.C.
Friday ; "BLACK FRIDAY"
Sunny and very warm, temperature 83° F / 28° C, very low humidity, very nice !
Today we fondly remember Toby, our first cat, who died ten 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 !
And on that note ... Sully's upper respiratory infection seems to be getting no worse ... nor any better. After four days of administering "jarabe para las molestias respiratorias" / syrup for respiratory discomfort we have now begun to administer Ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic. AND ... < sigh > ... while giving him the "syrup" a few days ago, which he strongly resists, I think he may have aspirated some into his lungs < big sigh >. So ... while trying to cure him / keep him alive, I may have inadvertently "caused" pneumonia. Time will tell. At this point in his life ... 18 years and 2 months ...
I think any little ailment can / will prove to be fatal.
Today did not go as planned. We had planned to go Black Friday shopping as soon as possible this morning. But our morning routines did not go smoothly, and before we could even shower, brush teeth, etc. we had unexpected visitors. Who stayed until about noon < sigh >. We had a quick lunch and headed out. I dropped Joanne off at the "99¢ Only Store" ( that's its name ) and continued around the corner to Harbor Freight and Staples. WOO-HOO ... I scored the little generator I wanted ... for $88.88 ... as well as a small air compressor, two cordless drills, and a five pack of work gloves. I bought a couple of printer ink cartridges and a label maker tape at Staples, then returned to the "99¢ Only Store" to pick up Joanne.
At home we discovered that she made a slight error as she picked up two cans of a product. She looked closely at one can as she picked up two cans. One of the cans ... was spicy jalapeño frijoles refritos / refried beans. With lard ! Really ? ! ? Did you think Mr. Colon and his ulcerative colitis were going to be pleased with spicy jalapeño refried beans ? ! ? With lard ? ! ? Hope the food bank appreciates them ! HA HA HA !
Back at home we took Bo for a walk around the dog park, and did some more "arrival" chores. At dusk some neighbours / friends came by and asked if we wanted to join them on an ATV outing in the desert. Joanne said "no" ... I said "yes". Off we went ! Tearing around in the desert towards the Mexican border and back for about an hour, at dusk and in darkness on a big ATV. Very dusty ... very noisy ... very smelly. How "Merkin" ! HA HA HA ! My friend / neighbour wants to go out again in daylight so he can take his pistol and do some target practice. < shrug > God bless America !
In the evening I worked online. Paid our November MasterCard billing. YIKES !
Saturday ; Sunny and very warm. Well ... DUH ... it's Yuma !
Got up early this morning to prepare for Kofa Ko-op's park wide "yard sale". I priced and displayed on a table in front of our lot the dozen or so items that we no longer require. Some of them we never did require ! Why do we have them ? Sold one item for five bucks. We walked around the park viewing all the junk everybody else was selling. Spent $5.25 ! Net proceeds for the day ... minus twenty-five cents. Story of my life ! ! ! Late in the day put remaining items ( HMPH ... that's all except one sold ! ) on bargain table in clubhouse. Good riddance !
Picked up a filthy barbecue for free ! Works just fine ! Needs to be cleaned. Will name it Bupkis Barbecue II . Bupkis Barbecue I is in Keremeos. HA HA HA !
Spent the day working on arrival chores ... still ! Camper, trailer, Arizona room, yard and gardens. Examined and diagnosed a dog injury for a neighbour / friend. Napped with Sully, who seems improved today. Let's be hopeful ! Walked around seven acre dog park perimeter twice. Bo completed first lap ... then jumped over fence and went home. Refused to walk around dog park second time. Guess he's getting old, maybe arthritic already ?
DSK
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