Bo and I started our day with a Bo-gility session. Well done, Bo, good dog ! I worked on routine maintenance chores until lunch time. After lunch I unpackaged and tested my new little generator, the one I got a couple of days ago in exchange for the fuel leaking one I bought on Black Friday. This one seems to be just fine. I hope !
Joanne and I spent the rest of the afternoon working on ... and finishing ... the trailer bed slide fascia reupholstery project. Finally ! Tough job ! Much more complicated and difficult than we had expected when we started the project. Oh, well ... < shrug > ! We're both satisfied with the finished result.
We went on the daily pack walk, then to the weekly ice cream social. Had supper, watched Shipping Wars and Downton Abbey.
Monday ; What a perfect "June 18" day ... brilliant sunshine, temperature about 77° F. / 25° C., low humidity. Joanne cooked Beef Carbonnade in the Sun Oven today.
Both of us were feeling better today. Not healthy, but better. It's about time ! This morning we worked on disassembling, cleaning, and reassembling the trailer kitchen's Fantastic Fan and the roof vent and MaxxAir cover over it. First time this winter that I've been up on the trailer's roof. HMPH ... some work is needed up there !
This afternoon Joanne went Wal-Martin' by herself. I napped then worked on assembling and testing all of the components of the air compressor starter kit I recently bought at Harbor Freight. We went on the daily pack walk. After we finished the pack walk, our friends Bill and Liz spent another half hour or so in the dog park trying to convince their little dog Riley to return to them so that they could go home. How odd ! Who can figure out "dog logic" ?
One ( of three ) of my Ocotillo ( cactus ) has just sprouted leaf buds, after lying dormant and appearing dead ever since I ( trans ) planted it two years ago ! SHEEESH ... it has taken two years for it to overcome "transplant shock". Does this mean spring is arriving here in Yuma already ?
We extend our sympathy to our friend Julie whose father has just died.
Tuesday ; Sunny and warm. We're both feeling better, although not yet healthy.
This morning Joanne took her friend Eilene to a doctor's appointment. I did some annual maintenance chores on the trailer. And chatted with friends / neighbours. This afternoon we went to the Humane Society for our weekly shift of dog walking and cat cuddling. We returned home just in time for the daily pack walk. As soon as that was over we went out to run some errands, shopping at Lowe's and Albertson's. We had been planning to go out for dinner, but I was feeling too weak and tired. We returned home for a simple supper and an evening of watching TV ... and coughing !
Wednesday ; Sunny and warm. First time in two weeks that I have felt healthy ! Unfortunately, Joanne is not there yet.
After a late breakfast we headed out to The Foothills to run some errands. First stop was Cactus Propane where I dropped off one of the trailer's propane tanks for recertification. Both of the trailer's tanks need recertification, but I wasn't sure if the tanks needed to be empty during recertification, so I took in only the one that is currently empty. Next I dropped Joanne off at the "99¢ Only Store" and I continued on to The Foothills residential area. Earlier I had phoned about an ad in the local "White Sheet", a bargain / classified newspaper. I was heading to see a used, portable, oil filled radiator style heater for sale, to heat the trailer's living room. I bought not only the radiator style heater, but also a ceramic element, tower style heater. Yes, yes ...
I should have bought just one of the two, but ... old people can never have too many heaters, can they ? HA HA HA ! And that cold spell a couple of weeks ago was brutal !
I returned to the "99¢ Only Store", picked up Joanne, and drove across the street to Fry's, to refill with diesel at their fuel bar. Their badly designed, and horribly overcrowded fuel bar ! I'm glad I decided to refill with diesel before putting the camper onto the truck. We returned home and ... put the camper onto the truck ! It went smoother than usual, although I did make one serious mistake. And I had made a similar mistake in the past ! I am angry with myself ! I need to revise my "procedures checklist" to ensure that I do not repeat this mistake.
We went to the clubhouse for a communal turkey soup supper. The turkey soup was made from the Christmas dinner turkey carcasses. It was awful ! The turkey soup was inedible, to both of us, although it did not seem as if anyone else thought so. As I lifted the first spoonful to my mouth I detected a rancid odour ... and did not eat any. Joanne had a few spoonfuls and thought "it tasted funny". Yeah ... that's called "rancid", my dear ! I can't explain why we found it inedible, and everybody else seemed to think it was just fine.
In the evening, Joanne did laundry, and I downloaded, printed, reconciled, and paid our monthly MasterCard billing. We watched episode three ( I think ) of the miniseries "The Book Of Negroes" on CBC.
Thursday ; Sunny and warm. Joanne slept very late this morning, hoping that would accelerate her return to good health. It didn't really seem to work.
Today we worked on preparing for a three and a half day trip to Quartzsite and Palm Springs. We loaded stuff into the camper and prepared the camper for use. Joanne did some "spring cleaning" in the trailer. I did computer maintenance and backup. Shortly after 5 PM we left for "downtown" Yuma, to attend a dinner theater performance at Yuma Art Center. When we returned home after the performance ... with a stop at Rally's to buy some decent food ... I sent an e-mail to the Yuma Art Center. I hope seeing my blog address at the bottom of my e-mail ignites their curiosity and inspires them to read this blog entry ;
The play was mediocre ! The meal service began half an hour late ! The service staff were ... and I'm being generous here ... poor ! But most importantly ... that was the worst meal that I've ever had to pay for ! ! ! ! ! The management of the Yuma Art Center should truly be ashamed of themselves !
Friday ; Yuma to Quartzsite, Arizona
Sunny and warm during the day. Chilly night out in the desert near Quartzsite.
This morning we prepared for departure and left Kofa Ko-op about 11 AM heading north out of Yuma on Hwy. 95 to Quartzsite. We arrived in Quartzsite about 1 PM. This week is the annual Quartzsite Sports, Vacation, & RV Show, a.k.a. the Big Tent Show, with a large number of vendors inside a very large tent ( 69,000 square feet ), selling RV related products and services. Finding a parking spot was difficult. We had a quick lunch in the camper then headed into the big tent. By 3 PM we were finished. From
3 PM to 5 PM we shopped at the seemingly endless Tyson Wells Sell-A-Rama, the nearby flea market area. We needed nothing. We bought lots of stuff ... mostly "guy stuff" ... about thirty bucks worth ... at about a buck an item !
At 5 PM most of the vendors were closing so we walked back to the truck and drove out of town, continuing north on Hwy. 95 a few miles to the Hi Jolly short term camping area on BLM land. There are thousands and thousands of RV's boondocked out in the desert around Quartzsite ! Many of them spend the entire winter out here. I don't get it. Why would one buy a million dollar Prevost motorhome ... then boondock / "dry camp" out in the desert with no services, flushing the toilet only when absolutely necessary, and showering as seldom as possible ? ? ?
We found a spot to park ... beside a nice stone fire ring ... then went for a walk with Bo around the desert as the sun set. Joanne went inside the camper to prepare a salad for supper while I prepared a campfire to cook supper. As I was preparing a campfire, Robert and Sharon, friends of ours from the Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33 in British Columbia walked by. HUH ? WOW ! Small world ! HA HA HA ! Actually ... this is not the first time we have run into Robert and Sharon while travelling. We bumped into them a few years ago while boondocking overnight in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
Joanne had packaged chicken thighs, potatoes, onions, and carrots in two foil wrapped packages. I cooked them to perfection on the campfire. Well done, Daniel ! After eating supper we sat around the campfire warming ourselves until our small quantity of firewood was gone.
Saturday ; Quartzsite, Arizona to Palm Springs, California
This morning we headed back into town to continue browsing at the Tyson Wells Sell-A-Rama flea market areas we did not see yesterday. HMPH ... traffic jam coming into Quartzsite this morning. How can there be a traffic jam into Quartzsite, Arizona ? ! ? Summer population ... a few thousand. Winter population ... hundreds of thousands ! Some estimates put the January population at near a million ! ! ! Finding a parking spot near the flea market was very difficult today !
We browsed for a couple of hours, buying nothing until reaching the final "store", a grocery salvage outlet selling dented boxes of dry groceries ( like Hamburger Helper and Rice-A-Roni ) and products slightly beyond their best before dates, at deeply discounted prices. We spent about thirty bucks there ... at about a buck an item ... for grocery items with regular prices up to about five bucks. I bought six packages of "beyond best before date "garden seeds at three for a dollar, each package regularly priced at about two dollars. If they don't grow in my garden next summer ... < shrug > ... I guess that's two bucks down the tubes !
Around 1 PM we returned to Elise to have lunch, and shortly before 2 PM we departed Quartzsite, heading west on Interstate 10 towards Palm Springs. We stopped in Blythe, California to refill our freshwater tank at a municipal park. We stopped at a freeway rest area to dump our grey water ( shower waste ) tank. Around 4 PM I began to feel sleepy so we stopped at another rest area so that I could nap for awhile.
Since we were only going to be in California ( PST ) for about two days we decided to stay on Arizona ( MST ) time. So ... we arrived in Palm Springs about 6 PM. We found our way to ... and found a parking spot suitable for overnight boondocking at ... Aqua Caliente Casino. Aqua Caliente is Spanish for "hot water". You know ... because of all the underground hot springs ! DUH ... why did you think it was called Palm Springs ?
While Joanne prepared supper in Elsie the camper I went into the casino to get our tickets at the box office. My Christmas gift to Joanne was ... tonight's performance of the 70's / 80's rock band STYX at Aqua Caliente Casino. After picking up the tickets at the box office I sat down to play a penny slot machine for about half an hour.
WOO-HOO ... winnings of $1.03 in half an hour ! HA HA HA !
We had supper then went back into the casino for the show. We played a nickel slot machine for a few minutes before the show. The casino's show venue was excellent ! The STYX show was excellent ! During the performance of their hit song "Come Sail Away" it was a good thing that their Canadian keyboardist and vocalist Lawrence Gowan was able to hit that high note. Because the goof sitting right behind me sure as hell couldn't ! HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !
We played penny and nickel slot machines for another half hour or so after the show, increasing our net winnings up to a total of ... < insert drum roll here > ... $4.78 ! ! ! WOO-HOO ! HA HA HA !
DSK
No comments:
Post a Comment