March 22 to 28, 2015

Sunday ; Sunny and very hot ! Joanne cooked beef stew in the Sun Oven.

This morning I drove out to The Foothills to buy a coupe of advertised specials at Southwest Exchange, a flea market / guy stuff kind of store. On the way there, northbound on Araby Road, I drove over / hit and killed a desert rat, sort of a desert version of a prairie dog. DARN ! On the way home, southbound on Araby Road ...
I drove over / hit and killed another one ! WHAT THE **** ! ! !

This afternoon we washed the truck. It's getting very difficult to get any work done here, temperatures in the mid 90's in the afternoons. Today was the first day of our week long volunteer "job" as the Welcome Committee. Only one new arrival today. And now the Welcome Committee has its own golf cart. We took Bo for a brief "drivey" on the golf cart. He has been coveting a golf cart for the entire eleven years of his life. HA HA HA !

Mid-afternoon when I took him out into the dog park to relieve himself, he spied a couple of large lizards running away. HA HA HA ! He gave chase, they turned ninety degrees after running about five feet, Bo ran full speed straight ahead for about a hundred feet. He stopped, looked around puzzled, then began to dig under a bush. HA HA HA ... you get 'em Bo ! I went back inside the air conditioned trailer when the hole got big enough to swallow him up. He gave up digging and came home twenty minutes later. I have never seen his tongue hang so far out of his mouth while panting. Geez, Bo ... you're an idiot ! Go drink some water !

Late in the afternoon I went to the scrap wood pile in our storage yard and brought home five pieces of firewood which I split in our backyard. It's for a campfire a few days after we leave here on April 2. SHEESH !   I quit working about 5:30 PM. My deodorant quite working a few minutes before that !   I had to shower before going to the ice cream social. After the ice cream social we went for a sunset pack walk with Marilu and Sammy the Australian Shepherd.

Monday ; Sunny and hot. You know, almost every day I type "sunny and hot" and it comes out "sunny nad hot". I wonder how many more thousands of times I can make that typing error ? ? ? Joanne cooked a corned beef brisket in the Sun Oven for supper tonight.

This morning we took a large load of recycling to the local recycling place. I'm pleased that we make that effort. We divert a lot from landfill to recycling ! Too bad Yuma ( in general ) and Kofa Ko-op ( specifically ) do not support recycling. From the recycling place we headed to the upholstery business with our Arizona room vinyl wall panels to have them install new snaps.

Just before having lunch I watered my plants and gardens. Everything is blooming, or leafing, or sprouting new growth. Bo went into the dog park and chased large lizards into holes, then dug very large holes trying to get at them. I thought it was a reasonable way for him to amuse himself. Joanne disagreed ! We put away the dog agility components that we had set up in the dog park behind our yard. We lubricated the trailer's slides. We soaked in the pool. AHHHHH ! ! ! No new arrivals today so ... no Welcome Committee work to be done.

We did some return home trip planning. We walked Bo around the dog park. More precisely ... Joanne and I walked around the dog park while Bo dug holes trying to catch lizards. I went bicycling at sunset.

Tuesday ; Sunny nad hot. See ... I told you so ! Joanne baked two lemon loaves in the Sun Oven today for tomorrow's potluck dinner.

This morning I went over to see a neighbour who is selling two motorhome roof top storage pods. I measured them, then climbed up onto the roof of our camper to see if one of them would fit up there. It wouldn't. Darn !

This afternoon we went to our regular Tuesday afternoon volunteer shift at the Humane Society. When we returned home ... there was a Fire / Rescue truck parked in front of our lot. And an ambulance was arriving. Our neighbour across the street who was diagnosed with lung cancer about a month or so ago needed help. He's been suffering terribly lately. The ambulance took him away. We hope he can now get better care. The U.S. health care system is truly confusing to us.

We went to the pool and floated around for awhile, cooling off. We took Bo for a walk around the dog park. No ... we walked around the dog park, Bo dug holes ! We went out for dinner with our friend Marilu. She treated us to dinner at Copper Miner Kitchen. All you can eat beef rib night. WOO-HOO ! Beef rib bones for Bo and Sammy the Australian Shepherd.

Wednesday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico

Sunny nad hot. Aw, geeeeezzz ... again ?

WHEW ! Busy day ! My day started with a phone call to my gastroenterologist in Penticton BC to make an appointment for an office visit and a colonoscopy, an annual event. Late this morning we headed for Mexico. Just before reaching the border we headed off into the desert of the Quechan Indian Reservation, to the remote pet cemetery where we buried Sully. After burying him a week and a half ago we bordered his grave site with concrete curbing, and now would like to slowly create a "rock garden" over his grave. So today we placed a Similkameen River smooth rock from home in BC and a Jeffery Pine large cone from SKP Park of the Sierras in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California on top of his grave site < sigh >. More next year, Sully.

We drove to and parked in the large parking lot at the border, and walked into Mexico. First stop was my dentist / periodontist where I had another dental cleaning and periodontal examination. Next stop was our favourite little restaurant / taqueria where we had a quick lunch of a couple of tacos each. HMPH ... price increases ! We walked across and to the edge of town to the veterinary pharmacy where we bought one of the two pet medications I wanted. They didn't have the other. On the walk back into town we stopped at a panaderia and bought a lot of pan dulce. WOO-HOO !

Back into town I went for a haircut and beard trim. HMPH ... price increases ! It's now four dollars for the haircut and an additional dollar for the beard and moustache trim. No additional charge for the eyebrows. HA HA HA ! We went to the "Purple Pharmacy" and I bought some medications I wanted for me. Last stop was "Hector Shrimp" where
I bought ten very large shrimp ... one pound of shrimp ! The line up to cross the border back into the United States was fifteen minutes long.

On the way back home we stopped at Action Auto & Home Upholstery and picked up our Arizona room's modified wall panels. We arrived back home about 4:15 PM and while Joanne prepared to attend the 5 PM potluck dinner I rushed off to play "Welcome Committee" to today's four new arrivals. Well done, Daniel. I visited all four arrivals in forty-five minutes and arrived at the potluck only a few minutes late. AND ... three of the four new arrivals accepted my invitation to attend the potluck dinner and join us at a table. Very well done, Daniel !

At 6 PM we rushed off again, this time to "host" the daily pack walk, attended by the only one of today's arrivals that had a dog. After two laps around the dog park, and more time just standing around chatting, we returned home around 7 PM without Bo who was somewhere out in the dog park, digging in lizard holes. At 7:30 PM ... already dark ... an annoyed Joanne said we had to go out into the dog park and retrieve him !
I didn't think there was a problem. And obviously neither did Bo. Nevertheless, Joanne and I walked around the dog park in the dark calling for Bo until he returned to us, obviously hot, tired, thirsty, and very pleased with himself. Sorry, Bo ... apparently we're both in the dog house ! HA HA HA !

In the evening we watched Survivor and Catfish. I peeled and packaged my large shrimp.

OH ! I almost forgot ! We almost died today ! ! ! After leaving Kofa Ko-op this morning, as we were driving northbound on Avenue 3E towards Interstate 8, suddenly ... and instantly ... we were enveloped in a dust cloud ! Instant zero visibility ! ! !  I rapidly stopped the truck and within a few seconds visibility returned. A very large utility trailer had become detached from the pickup truck that was coming towards us just before it reached us. The utility trailer ... luckily for us ... veered to the right, and onto the sand shoulder, instead of veering left into our lane and hitting us ! It skidded through the sand and came to a stop ... upright ... on the soft sand shoulder across the road, adjacent to my side window. The truck that had been towing it was stopped behind us. Close call !

Thursday ; Sunny AND hot. HMPH ! So there !

This morning we installed the Arizona room's repaired / modified vinyl wall panels. They fit well. Good job, Action Auto & Home Upholstery ! Joanne went shopping. I did chores around home.

Kofa Ko-op had no arrivals today. No Welcome Committee work for us today. We spent part of the afternoon floating around the swimming pool. With many other hot people ! At suppertime we went out with Laszlo and Gayle, first to Yuma Palms Shopping Center for a free jazz concert, then on a food truck "crawl", an annual activity for Joanne and me. The free jazz concert in the outdoor courtyard of the mall featured high school jazz bands. Afterwards we went for a late dinner to an El Salvadoran food truck for papusas then a Mexican food truck for tacos. Real tacos, not gringo tacos.

Friday ; Joanne left very early this morning ( middle of the night, from my perspective ) on a day trip to Palm Springs and back. She offered to keep a neighbour company, and help out with the driving, for a neighbour who had to take a visiting family member to Palm Springs airport to catch a flight home.

Sunny and very hot, temperature near 100 degrees. This morning I puttered around with routine maintenance chores and end of season departure preparations. After a late lunch I went to nap, and I awoke when Joanne returned home at 3:30 PM. I didn't expect she would be back from her trip to Palm Springs that early, but as soon as our neighbour Darlene dropped her sister off at the Palm Springs airport for her noon flight, Darlene and Joanne began driving back to Yuma. WOW ... Palm Springs and back in nine hours. Those old women sure can drive ! HA HA HA !

I had a careless / clumsy day today resulting in two minor accidents and injuries. The first mishap resulted in a cut chin and bruised jaw, and the second resulted in a scraped and bruised hand.

We had two new arrivals today. After doing our Welcome Wagon shtick I went to the pool for awhile. Joanne just wanted to rest in the air conditioned trailer. Just before dusk we took Bo for a walk around the dog park. And Joanne made him come with us. No more lizard digging ! < whispering > She was SOOOOOO crabby this afternoon and evening. HA HA HA !

Saturday ; Sunny nad ( !*@&#^$% ) very hot, temperature 99 F, 37 C.

We started our day by attending a potluck brunch in the clubhouse. Ate too much ! Afterwards we repositioned a neighbour's new trailer on their lot. Cathy and Jim recently bought a new travel trailer, and the dealer's delivery person positioned it unsatisfactorily on their lot. They have a lot very similar to ours, with a large, stand alone Arizona room on it. To be in compliance with this park's side yard set back requirement, the entire length of the trailer had to be positioned within four inches of the Arizona room wall. Not a problem for my trailer handling skills. With Joanne's careful guidance by "walkie talkie" radio I slowly repositioned the trailer within 2½ inches of the Arizona room wall. We parked it then levelled it. A job very well done, even if I do say so myself. Cathy asked for help with the sewer connections, and I discovered that she needed three new sewer hose fittings, so ... off to Al's RV Service & Supply in The Foothills we went.

I bought the sewer hose connections, then we headed north out of The Foothills on Hwy. 95 towards Quartzsite to From The Farm, a local farm with a farm gate sales outlet, to buy some large, freshly picked artichokes. WHAT ? ! ? They're not ready to harvest for another ten days ? ? ? HMPH ! ! ! We had to console ourselves with a large date shake that all three of us shared. Bo was VERY happy about that ! HA HA HA ! Last date shake of the season, Bo.

We returned to Kofa Ko-op, completed the sewer connections on the neighbour's new trailer, then set off for today's Welcome Committee duties. Three new arrivals today. We visited the new arrivals then went to the swimming pool to cool off. WHEW ... hot day ! After the pool we took Bo for a pack walk, joined by one of this week's new arrivals with his large black dog, Georgie.

We gave Bo a bath. We had a late, light supper, then went Wal-Martin'. HMPH ... I hate Wal-Martin' on weekends. Fortunately, Wal-Mart was not crowded tonight. Perhaps because of the temperature.

DSK