January 30, 2006

January 30, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 227

 

Today was sunny and hot, temperature in the upper 80's ... again. Second day in a row. The locals are complaining that the temperatures lately have been about 10 degrees higher than they should be at this time of the year. Hey ... no complaints from the Canadians !

First thing this morning I took the truck into Knapp Chevrolet in Harlingen, for a new starter. I wanted to wait for the truck, but they obviously didn't want to feel rushed by a waiting customer. They insisted on driving me back to La Feria RV Park. Back at the park, I did my monthly test of our smoke alarm, then took Bo for an obedience training session. Recently I started making the "stay" and "come" situations much more challenging, and Bo has responded superbly. I'm so pleased and proud of him. Good boy, Bo !

I read for awhile, until I fell asleep. Joanne woke me for lunch. After lunch, I read some more, until I fell asleep again. HA HA HA ... nice work if you can get it. I got online, in the trailer, on Wi-Fi, sent and retrieved e-mail, and updated my blog. I can connect to a Wi-Fi signal in the trailer, intermittently. A neighbouring RV must have a satellite Internet connection, but it isn't on all the time. I check a few times a day for the Wi-Fi signal, and usually find it at least once every second day. Late in the afternoon, I had not yet heard from Knapp Chevrolet, so I phoned them. They had just finished replacing the starter in the truck, but could not find any reason why Dee-Dee keeps "eating" starters. I'm extremely disappointed, once again, that no cause for the problem can be found. Oh, well, at least I have another new starter, and at least this time I didn't have to pay for it, and then jump through hoops trying to get a reimbursement. Knapp processed a warranty claim against the "lifetime guaranteed" ( in the United States ! ) starter replaced in Illinois in September, 2004. They sent their shuttle to pick me up and drive me back to the dealership. I picked up the truck, drove back to La Feria, and stopped at the local Mexican bakery to buy bread. They had already sold out of bread for the day. I stopped at El Centro Foods, the local Mexican grocery store, to buy bread and milk.

Back at the trailer, I did today's accounting, and started today's journal entry. I spent about half an hour working on my new magic trick. It didn't go particularlywell today. This illusion is going to be a real tough one to master. We had supper, then watched some TV.

DSK

January 29, 2006

January 29, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 226

 

Today was sunny and hot, temperature in the upper 80's. Pretty nice ! Wore just a pair of shorts all day.

This morning I did regular preventive maintenance, drained the waste holding tanks, and worked on disinfecting the fresh water holding tank. Every 3 months, I disinfect the fresh water holding tank by adding a couple of cups of bleach into the tank, refilling it, letting it sit for a day, then running some of the bleach solution through the hot water tank, and all the plumbing lines. I spent the rest of the morning working slowly on a variety of small cleaning and minor maintenance projects.

After lunch we walked down to the office and bought a newspaper. Usually, Sundays are the only days we buy a newspaper. I took Bo for an obedience training walk. I updated and printed some documents. I downloaded and processed the photos I took yesterday at the Texas Citrus Fiesta parade. We spent the rest of a very warm afternoon sitting outside in lawn chairs, reading the newspaper.

Late in the afternoon we went to the clubhouse to participate in the "sing along", followed by an ice cream social. The sing along wasn't quite what we expected. I don't think we'll be going to any more park sing alongs. We had our bowl of ice cream, then sat around chatting with the couple from Chicago. Ice cream socials are a regular weekly event in most "snowbird" parks, and are a good way to get to know other people staying in the park. This park has a fairly busy social calendar in the upcoming week. I think we'll attend a few of their events.

We returned to the trailer, and had a late supper. I did today's accounting, and started working on this journal entry while Joanne washed dishes. We watched a bit of TV.

DSK

January 28, 2006

January 28, 2006

La Feria, Mission, & Harlingen, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 225

 

Feliz 52nd Cumpleaños to Joanne

 

Today was partially cloudy, very warm, and humid.

Joanne's birthday wish was to spend the day at the Texas Citrus Fiesta being held in Mission, about 35 miles west of here. After regular morning chores, we headed off for Mission, west on Hwy. 83. At Mission we got off the freeway and followed the slow moving traffic, assuming it was all heading for the TCF. We found a place to park, then followed the walking crowd. We came to Conway, Mission's main street, where thousands of people were lining both sides of the street waiting for the big parade. Almost everybody had brought lawn chairs to sit in. We walked for quite a ways down Conway, looking for a good place to watch the parade, somewhere behind the front row of people in lawn chairs. After walking for many blocks, we came to a restaurant that had placed all its dining room chairs out on the curb, and was renting them for people to watch the parade. Best 2 bucks I've spent in a long time ! We had arrived about half an hour before the parade was to begin, and it started an hour late. At least we were sitting for the hour and a half wait. We chatted with the people sitting around us, a couple from Minnesota, and a farming couple from near Morden, Manitoba.

The parade was lengthy, for such a small town parade. It took about an hour and a half to pass by. We were surprised by some of what we saw. There was an astounding military presence, particularly among high school groups, where every local high school had a large contingent of ROTC and JROTC marching cadets. Some high schools still had large marching bands, and large sports teams, and cheerleading squads, but they were all outnumbered by the pimply faced squads of military wannabes. The U.S. has cranked up its "war machine", and it seems like every kid in high school that isn't headed for further education in university is headed for the military. And ( sorry ! ) the kids headed for the military look more like the losers than the winners, if you know what I mean. There was also a large number of Texas Citrus Fiesta Princesses and Duchesses. Each type and sub-type of citrus had a crowned "Princess" or "Duchess". As in ... presenting ... the Duchess of Ruby Red Grapefruit, Melinda Rodriguez ! All these young beautyqueens, each wearing an elaborate gown in the colour of her citrus, and with a sample of her citrus attached to her dress ( I kid you not ), each with a 6 year old male "attendant" dressed in a tuxedo, riding on the back decks of convertibles. Sure were a lot of them ! Only one blonde in the entire bunch. Not too many blue eyed blondes down here at the Mexican border !

When the parade was finally over, we walked about a mile down to where we saw there was a carnival. We thought that was the main venue for the festivities. We were wrong, but didn't realize it until too late. We walked around the little carnival, weren't impressed, then started walking back to where the truck was parked, a couple of miles away. On the way back to the truck, we found a Mexican bakery. How fortuitous ! We bought a dozen assorted large Mexican cookies. As we were driving back to La Feria, Joanne was reading the newspaper article about the TCF, and we realized that the little carnival we were at was not the main venue. We missed the main event, so to speak. Darn !

Back at the trailer, I took Bo for an obedience training session, then rested for about half an hour while Joanne chatted with her sister. I told Joanne I was taking her out for a birthday dinner, and asked her where she wanted to go ? She wanted to go to a barbecue. Barbecue is a noun down here, like Wal-Mart'n is a verb. "Do chew want to go for some barbecue after we're finished Wal-Mart'n ?" I knew of a barbecue restaurant near Harlingen on Business 83, so off we went to Big John's Bar*B*Que. We had a great barbecue dinner, Texas Honky Tonk style. Chew no, some of these places down here seem like caricatures. I expect Clint Eastwood to walk in any minute, wearing a Mexican blanket around his shoulders, chomping on a cigar stub, eerie High Plains Drifter music playing in the background.

After dinner was “the big surprise”. Instead of driving back to La Feria, I drove us into Harlingen, and found the Harlingen Performing Arts Theatre, where my birthday surprise for Joanne was a live theatre performance. I thought tonight’s presentation of Sex, Lies, and The I.R.S. was the worst play, with the worst acting, I have ever seen. With good natured laughter, Joanne disagreed. She reminded me that we once walked out of a performance at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa during the intermission. It was too awful to remain until the end of the play. Fortunately, Joanne enjoyed all of her birthday today, and attending a bad play didn’t dampen that. It was the first time we’ve attended a play in almost 2 years. I miss attending live theatre.

We got back to the trailer in La Feria quite late in the evening. We walked the dog. I did the accounting, then this journal entry.

Happy Birthday, my love !

DSK

January 27, 2006

January 27, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 224

 

Today was partially cloudy and warm.

Like most mornings here, I took my time getting started this morning. After I did regular morning chores, and preventive maintenance, I culled the medicine drawer, reviewing and tossing out medications that aren't likely to be used again. I took Bo for an obedience training session. Once again, he did superbly. I'm so pleased. Every night, I read last year's journal entry from one year ago, out loud for Joanne and me. Last year at this time, we were WorkCamping at C.A.R.E. in Livingston, Texas, and I was beginning to train Bo. My journal entries from last year showed frustration with how difficult it was to get Bo focussed on obedience training. He's come a long, long way in a year. Good, good dog, Bo. I spent the rest of the morning working on backing up all computer files to CD's, a task I do monthly.

We had lunch, then I began to review the batch of incoming mail we picked up at the Post Office yesterday. Reviewing, and taking action on a month's worth of mail is always a fair amount of work. I spent about half the afternoon working on that, then we headed into Harlingen for some shopping. We went to Wal-Mart, of course. While Joanne started shopping, I went to Customer Service to get a refund, get some information on Wal-Mart money orders, and buy a roll of quarters for laundry. I bought Joanne a birthday card, and took it out and hid it in the truck, before joining Joanne. A propos the area we're in, I bought her a birthday card in Spanish.

We did our shopping, then while Joanne waited in the check out line, I went back to Customer Service to buy a gift card. That's how we pay for diesel at Wal-Mart gas bars. If one pays with a Wal-Mart gift card, there is a 3 cent per gallon discount. With the amount of diesel that we purchase, it makes sense to take advantage of that. I got stuck behind a "customer" who was attempting to fraudulently return a television for a refund. The serial number on the TV did not match the serial number on the box. Guess she didn't know that the box had the serial number of the TV contained within when she decided to pull a fast one on Wal-Mart. When I finally got served, I asked another question about money orders before buying my gift card. The clerk keyed information into the system, as if I was making the money order purchase. She said that was the onlyway for her to find the answer to my question. Then ... < fume > there was a lengthy delay while she waited for a Customer Service Manager to come over and clear the cancelled money order purchase from her system, before she could proceed to sell me the gift card. When Joanne walked by, having finished at the check out, I was so fed up with waiting for a CSM to come over to clear the terminal, I walked away in disgust.

We got into the truck, and pulled out of Wal-Mart. As we pulled away, and were discussing our plans for tomorrow, I looked at the fuel gauge, and realized I really did need to buy diesel today. DARN ! I returned to Wal-Mart, and Joanne ran in to buy a gift card while I waited in the truck in the parking lot. < FUME > She was tenth in line behind the lady with the TV, who obviously was not going to be deterred. It took Joanne about 20 minutes to get the gift card. She finally returned to the truck, and we filled up with diesel.

We drove back to La Feria. We stopped at a local RV dealer, who was advertising that they had 5 used one ton diesel dually fifth wheel haulers for sale. I took a look at a couple of them that were extremely appealing. < sigh > I really shouldn't waste our time browsing for a truck in the United States. I know it's too impractical to buy a U.S. vehicle and have it converted to Canadian standards. But in the United States there are real spiffy fifth wheel hauler conversions that just aren't available in Canada.

Once back at the trailer, I did today's accounting, and began to work on today's journal entry while Joanne prepared supper. After supper, I finished working on the batch of incoming mail. It was getting late, but we decided to go to the clubhouse, for me to get online, and for Joanne to do some laundry. While she did laundry, I got online, sent and retrieved e-mail, updated my blog, composed some e-mail responses, and sent e-mail again. When we returned to the trailer just before 11:00 P.M., we decided to take Bo for a "drivey". It was a warm evening, and I thought that late at night, we could just drive slowly around the area surrounding the RV park, with Bo hanging out the window as far as he can. It must be a dog thing ! We drove slowly around the block, and stopped at the carnival operating on the empty lot adjacent to the park. Joanne wanted a funnel cake, as an advance birthday treat. A funnel cake is somewhat like the Texas version of an "elephant ear" or "beaver tail". We shared a funnel cake, slowly wandering around the small carnival grounds, then drove back into the RV park.

DSK

January 26, 2006

January 26, 2006

La Feria, Texas to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico & return

YEAR 2 DAY 223

 

Today was partially cloudy and warm.

This morning after regular chores I went down to the office to pay for another week. Then I phoned Encore Sunshine RV Resort to find out why they had not yet credited my account with the $15 refund. Not surprisingly, I encountered resistance, from "Mary Jane", one of the morons that I dealt with last week when I was trying to get directions. Mary Jane said one of her "managers" wanted to speak to me about last week's incident. Well, Mary Jane, I don't really give a right royal **** that your manager wants to speak to me. I want a refund ! ! ! She was going to have her manager " Michael" phone me. Okay, Mary Jane ... you do that !

We left for a day trip to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. First we stopped at the La Feria Post Office to pick up a batch of our mail forwarded to us here by Sharon. Then we headed south on Hwy. FM506 until it ended at the Rio Grande River. We turned west on Hwy. 281, to Progreso, where we parked, and walked across the bridge to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. We walked around doing comparison shopping on medications at a number of different pharmacies. We made decisions, then made our purchases, at 2 different pharmacies. I bought some substitutions for regular meds of mine, as well as buying some new meds to try, that I had done some Internet research on. I'm determined to solve some problems that have been plaguing me since last summer, when I ended up in the hospital in Kenora.

We had lunch at an interesting looking restaurant. The food was mediocre. Oh, well, win some, lose some. Then we walked around town some more to do some comparison shopping of eyeglasses and lenses. I made my decision, and ordered a new pair of lenses for my existing eyeglass frames. Included in the purchase price of U.S.$45 for bi-focal lenses, was a free eye examination. Gee ... my last pair of lenses, purchased in Ottawa, cost $265. And that did not include the cost of the eye examination. Some things are truly a bargain in Mexico. Dentists and opticians, but for Canadians, not pharmacies. It’s certainly easy to buy prescription medications in Mexico, and a lot cheaper than buying them in the United States, but not cheaper than in Canada.

After buying my lenses, we wandered around, shopping like tourists. We shopped for, but did not buy, some Mexican clothing for Joanne’s little nieces. We bought some Mexican pastries at a bakery. We bought some chocolates at a department store. Oh, boy ... Creminos, which we had purchased once before, a month and a half ago in Los Algodones, and Nugs and Coconugs, which we had purchased a year ago in Nuevo Progreso. We were getting tired, so it was time to head for home. We walked back to the bridge, then across back into the United States. We drove north on Hwy. FM1015 to Mission, then east on Hwy. 83 back to La Feria.

Back at the trailer, I phoned Encore Sunshine RV Resort again. Mary Jane answered. Before I could read her the riot act, she very, very quickly transferred me to Michael. He and I had a brief discussion, and he agreed to process a $15 refund to my credit card. Smart decision, Michael ! Turns out Michael is originally from Winnipeg, having moved here to the Valley about 10 years ago. Yeah, Michael ... I don’t really care, just process my refund, and do it promptly !

I was feeling weak and tired, so I laid down and read for half an hour. Then I spent some time setting up a spreadsheet to track my medication purchases and compare costs between my Canadian purchases and Mexican purchases of prescription medications. While I was at it, I completed my 2005 medical expenses records keeping for income tax purposes. Then I did today’s accounting.

We had supper, then watched some TV, while I worked on this journal entry. It's now 10:20 P.M., and we're watching the weather forecast on the late news. The jet stream cold front is turning northeast, and just isn't going to make it quite this far south. AWWWWWWWWWW ... isn't that a shame ? ! Today's temperature of 78 degrees made The Valley the hot spot of North America.

DSK

January 25, 2006

January 25, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 222

 

Today was sunny and warm.

This morning after regular morning chores, I phoned Sharon and chatted with her for awhile. We had decided a month ago that we should each phone our sisters once a month. I took an empty propane tank out of the propane tank compartment, and put it into the truck, to take it for refilling later. I fixed a minor problem with one of the burners on the stove. We took Bo for an obedience walk, then walked around the perimeter of the carnival that is setting up on the empty lot adjacent to the RV park. We're not sure whether they're actually setting up a carnival, or if they're just setting up for maintenance. The address of the carnival company, on all the vehicles, is here in La Feria, Texas. Maybe the empty lot they're setting up on is their home base.

We had lunch. We drove into Harlingen to get the propane tank refilled. At Hino Gas I found out that while it costs $18 to refill the propane tank at their site, I could have had it done right here in the park for $19.50. They have a propane truck come into the park daily to refill tanks. It doesn't seem worth the time and expense to drive 8 miles there, and 8 miles back, to save a buck and a half. We drove back to La Feria, stopping at Dollar General to pick up a few items. Back at the trailer, I read for awhile, then napped. When I woke, I purged my wallet. Like everything else in this mobile lifestyle, it needs to be periodically purged of unnecessary items.

We went to the park's potluck supper tonight. This park has a busy social activities calendar, to keep their "Winter Texan" residents happy and busy. We enjoyed the potluck dinner, chatting with a couple from Chicago, Illinois, and a couple from Nashville, Tennessee. After dinner, I went online, to verify that the $15 credit / refund from Encore Sunshine RV Resort has been posted to my MasterCard account. It has not. I've given them a week to make the credit / refund. I assume they're not going to, without a fight, that I will be happy to have with them tomorrow ! I checked e-mail, did today's accounting, and started today's journal.

This evening I spent some time working on the most complicated of the new magic tricks that I got for Christmas. It's the second time I've worked on this trick. The first time I worked on it, a few weeks ago, it went poorly, and I felt discouraged. Tonight, after working on it for an hour or so, I demonstrated my progress for Joanne. She thought it was coming along well and showed promise. That was encouraging for me. I'll keep working on it. It's a great illusion.

DSK

January 24, 2006

January 24, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 221

 

Today was sunny and warm, with a light breeze. Texas is windy in the winter.

First thing this morning I received a phone call from Knapp Chevrolet. Their service manager had phoned the service manager at Competition Chevrolet in Alberta. Then he phoned the Engineering Department of General Motors to discuss their ideas for solving my starter problem. The Engineering Department at General Motors essentially vetoes the ideas of the 2 dealership service managers. They feel that "after market" solutions cause more problems that they solve, and they will void any further warranty on my starter if Knapp makes any modifications < sigh >. Knapp will replace the starter on Monday, without any sort of modifications, and they will attempt to determine what is causing this problem to recur < big sigh >.

I did preventive maintenance, refilled the fresh water tank, drained the waste holding tanks, then cleaned and dried out the inside of Teddy's tent, which was a bit wet from the light rain of the past couple of days. I phoned BMO Direct Banking and paid the U.S.$ MasterCard billing. I took Bo for an obedience training session. Great work, Bo ... good dog !

We had lunch, then opened the awning. We were going to try cleaning it with the new awning cleaner we recently bought. When we cleaned the awning in Yuma, Arizona, there was some staining we couldn't get off. We tried the new awning cleaner but it didn't do much better than we had already done. We decided it wasn't worth cleaning the entire awning again for the small amount of improvement. Next I changed the lenses in my glasses. When I got new lenses just before we left Ottawa in June, 2004, I kept my old lenses. The new lenses which I got in June, 2004 are now quite scratched, and are bothering me. I think the scratching is from the clip-on sunglasses I use. I removed the "new" lenses, and replaced them with my "old" lenses. The difference in the prescription between the old and new lenses is negligible, and the old lenses aren't scratched. I might get new glasses or lenses in Mexico when we go down there in a few days. We spent some time sitting outside in the sun, reading. I got sleepy, so I came inside and napped for awhile.

Joanne tried a new recipe for supper tonight, preparing "brisket" which is popular here in the south. It was okay, but making "brisket" must be one of those things that one starts to learn as a child, watching it done by one's "mama". After supper, we watched a bit of TV, and as usual, I did today's accounting and journal entry.

DSK

January 23, 2006

January 23, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 220

 

Today was cloudy and cool, but no rain.

This morning I made a series of phone calls to Knapp Chevrolet a couple of miles down the road, and Competition Chevrolet in Stony Plain, Alberta, about replacing the starter in the truck ... again. I've got the service manager at Competition talking to the service manager at Knapp. They're putting their heads together to try to figure out a solution to the ongoing problem. Tom Livingstone at Competition suggests wrapping the new starter with an asbestos wrap used on headers, secured in place around the starter with large hose clamps. I'm waiting for Knapp to get back to me, to schedule an appointment for later this week. I composed and sent some e-mails this morning. I discovered that I can get Wi-Fi right here in the trailer, but it's not La Feria RV Park's network. It must be a nearby RV with an Internet satellite dish. I took Bo for an obedience walk. He did superbly. Good, good dog, Bo !

We had lunch. I spent much of the afternoon doing online research, on ulcerative colitis, proctitis, and medications. I've run out of some of my medications. I'm running very low on others. We're going to go down to Mexico later in the week, and I'll buy some prescription medications, but not all of my meds are available in Mexico, under the brand names that I use. I’m doing research online to determine what substitutions to make. In the Mexican pharmacies, prescriptions are not necessary. Just walk up to the counter, ask for Questran, por favor, and away you go ! In Mexico, most prescription medications are available on an “over the counter” basis. We gave the trailer a quick wash and rinse, to get rid of all the desert dust before it bakes on hard. We went for a ride, into Harlingen, to find the Encore Sunshine RV Resort that we couldn’t find the other day. We found the resort, about 2 blocks from where we got lost, and had phoned them for directions. We drove around the resort, and I satisfied myself that cancelling our reservation, and not staying there, wasn’t a great loss. We drove back towards La Feria, stopping at Knapp Chevrolet on the way, just to take a look around. Before pulling into La Feria RV Park, we stopped at the local grocery store to refill 4 jugs of drinking water. The local price for a gallon of drinking water is 15 cents.

I downloaded and printed our U.S.$ MasterCard statement, and printed some of the health and medication information I found online. While Joanne prepared supper, I reconciled the U.S.$ MasterCard statement. We had supper. While watching TV after supper, I worked on today’s accounting, and journal entry.

DSK

January 22, 2006

January 22, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 219

 

Like yesterday, today was cooler, temperature in the mid 60's, cloudy, and intermittent light drizzle.

This morning we headed into Harlingen to replenish groceries and supplies at Wal-Mart and H-E-B. Harlingen is a medium sized city about 8 miles east of La Feria. Bo wanted to go "drivey", and since the temperature was cool, and he would be okay to stay in the truck while we shopped, we brought Bo along. We found the Wal-Mart, and did our shopping. I returned for refund, without a receipt, a battery cable that I bought about a year and a half ago, up in Indiana or Michigan. Pretty liberal refund policies at Wal-Mart ! From Wal-Mart we went over to the nearby large H-E-B. This will be our grocery store of choice while we're in this area. It has an in-store bakery, and deli. Throughout this area along the Mexican border, we keep seeing ads for the sale of "Barbacoa". At H-E-B they were advertising the sale of fresh Barbacoa on Saturdays and Sundays. There was a table set up, staffed by a woman, with a large crock pot of fresh, simmering Barbacoa, for sale either in a sandwich, or in a bulk container to take home. Looked interesting. Smelled interesting. We accepted her offer of a sample. Tasted interesting. I asked her what exactly was Barbacoa ? Oh ... barbecued, shredded, beef ... tongues and cheeks ! Oh ! Well ! Moving right along ... ! However, one must give credit to Mexicans for using more parts of animals, more efficiently, with less waste, than we gringos. They have some specialties, like Menudo, and Chorizo, and Barbacoa, that use the less appealing animal parts, to make things that are very popular in the Mexican culture. When we walked by the bakery, I became fascinated watching a woman make fresh tortillas. She loaded little balls of dough into a glass front oven with a spiral conveyor. A roller flattened the little balls of dough into flat circles, and deposited them on a spiral conveyor that slowly turned in the oven. Halfway down the spiral conveyor, the little circles flipped over. At the bottom of the spiral conveyor, the cooked tortillas came out of the oven, puffed up like balloons, and travelled up a cooling conveyor, where they deflated, and dropped into a basket, ready to be packaged. They were in the oven for maybe 2 minutes, cooking perhaps a minute on each side, then they cooled and deflated within a half minute or so. I guess I stood there watching, with my jaw hanging open, like a little kid, for so long, that the bemused woman offered me a fresh tortilla as a sample. She handed me a hot tortilla right off the cooling conveyor, as it was deflating and travelling to the basket of finished tortillas. It was great ! We bought a package of 10 freshly made tortillas for $1.49.

We returned to the trailer at La Feria RV Park, put away our grocery purchases, and had a very late lunch. Sandwich wraps made with fresh tortillas that had been baked within the last hour ! I read today's newspaper for awhile, then fell asleep for an afternoon nap with Bo. When I woke, I had Joanne help me dig out some old income tax returns, so that I could check on something. Then I dug out the printer, printed and reconciled the Canadian dollar MasterCard statement. I did today's accounting, then started work on today's journal entry while Joanne prepared supper.

One of the interesting, and amusing things about the United States, is what a litigious society it is. Joanne found a notice in the newspaper, of a class action lawsuit that affects us. We owned and used a Motorola StarTac 3000 cell phone for about 5 years, and in that time we had to replace the antenna twice. A class action suit was brought against Motorola, successfully alleging that the antennas on Motorola StarTac cell phones were a flawed design. In losing the suit, Motorola has been required to reimburse StarTac cell phone owners from $15 to $25 upon proof of antenna replacement. I wonder how many people actually will have proof that they changed the antenna on their cell phone ... 5 to 7 years ago ? Certainly not me !

We had supper, and for dessert, we had pecan pie, made with our freshly shelled pecans. One of the more interesting components of this travelling lifestyle, in my opinion, is eating strange, new foods, and eating fresh foods. The difference in taste between a lemon bought at Farm Boy in Orleans, Ontario, and a lemon picked off a tree while I’m walking the dog in Yuma, Arizona, is astounding !

DSK

January 21, 2006

January 21, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 218

 

Today was cooler, temperature in the mid 60's, cloudy, with intermittent light drizzle.

This morning I worked on composing some e-mails. Main one was to Eric Pryor, our accountant in Ottawa, regarding 2005 personal and corporate income tax matters. I did preventive maintenance outside, then worked on installing a new fluorescent light fixture over the dinette table. It's the same as the one I installed recently over my computer desk. It uses less energy than the 4 bulb incandescent fixture that was over the dinette table. We weren't really able to use that light when we boondock, because of its high energy consumption. Joanne spent most of the day on cleaning projects. Travelling across the desert for the last month and a half left a lot of dust in cupboards and drawers. I did a brutal cull of my hard copy investment records. I've been hauling around about 6 years worth of hard copy financial statements and records. This lifestyle doesn't have room for hard copy of records going back that far. I culled my records down to keeping only those from 2006. Now that's culling, n'est-ce pas ? HA HA HA !

We had lunch. I read, then napped, one of my joys when we're staying in one place for awhile. I took Bo for an obedience walk. Good work, Bo. I washed the truck. I gave Bo a bath. He's a lot easier to bathe when his hair is short, like it is now. I started work on today's journal entry. I went to the clubhouse to get online. I tried to retrieve both my MasterCard statements, but the U.S.$ MasterCard statement wasn't yet available. I guess because today was a Saturday. I'll have to retrieve it on Monday, I guess. I did retrieve the Canadian dollar MasterCard statement. I was very pleased to see that the 2005 "cash back" credit was for $166 ! The "cash back" option is much better than our previous Air Miles premium. There was a new WorkCamping For Charities job posted on the WorKamper website. WorkCamping For Charities is the only WorKamper web page where we can find assignments in the United States. As Canadian citizens visiting the United States, we can only take unpaid "volunteer" assignments. The new job posting is for FestiVELO de Charleston, a week long family oriented bicycle rally event in and around Charleston, South Carolina next December. I sent an e-mail requesting more information.

After supper, I sat on the sofa, and shelled the bag of pecans we bought recently at a road side stand. Once they were shelled, we were surprised by the large volume of pecan meat there was. Joanne used about half of it to bake a large pecan pie while I watched a bit of TV.

DSK

January 20, 2006

January 20, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 217

 

Today was sunny and very warm, temperature in the mid-80's. The news and weather people on the local TV channel are excited about the "cold front" that's blowing in over the next 3 days or so, driving the day time temperatures all the way down to the mid-60's ( snicker ) and bringing a 20% probability of rain. Apparently the locals are desperate for some rain. The humidity rose throughout the day, so that by evening, it was 87 %, making it feel quite muggy.

Our first few days here in the Valley will be mostly devoted to getting caught up on chores and projects. This morning we got a late start, because we didn't have to hitch up and drive anywhere. I did preventive maintenance, then set up Teddy's tent. Ever since Yuma, Teddy has been demanding to be outside a lot, often dashing out the door of the trailer when we open it, running down the entrance steps, and doing "floppies" as soon as he's off the steps. I did some work on cleaning and polishing shoes. Now that we're finally off the dusty desert, maybe I can keep my shoes clean. Joanne spent much of the day slowly dealing with a lot of laundry. I did a "purge" of the truck console storage area between the seats, and a large Rubbermaid tote I have mounted in the bed of the truck between the "tool" storage chest and the fifth wheel hitch. Every six months or so I need to do a purge of areas that are becoming overcrowded. This mobile lifestyle does not permit hoarding of stuff that isn't used regularly. I try to adopt the approach that if I haven't used something in over a year, it should be discarded.

We had lunch. I read a book, then napped for awhile. After napping, I tackled the job of replacing the MaxxAir roof vent cover with the new mounting hardware I bought at Camping World yesterday. First Joanne cleaned the grime off the MaxxAir cover. Then I hauled a pail of soapy water up onto the roof, and cleaned the grime off the bedroom roof vent that the MaxxAir cover was over. Yuck ! Finally, I installed the new mounting hardware, and reinstalled the MaxxAir cover. Joanne continued working on laundry, and I took Bo for an obedience training session. I continue to increase his challenges, and he continues to respond well. Today I made him "sit & stay" on the road beside a trailer where a Schnauzer was tied up. I walked 100 feet away, forcing him to hold the stay, and ignore the other dog. Good dog. Did that twice. Good, good dog, Bo ! I needed to retrieve e-mail, and update my blog, so I went with Joanne to the clubhouse. While she worked on laundry, I tried repeatedly to connect to the park's Wi-Fi. They told us when we checked in that it hasn't been working properly. I made about 2 dozen attempts to connect to Wi-Fi over about a half hour period. About half were unsuccessful. About half were successful, for 10 or 20 seconds. One attempt was successful for about 5 minutes. I finally got disgusted, pulled out a phone cord, and got online with a dial up connection, which I will do from now on here. I did what I needed to do in about 10 or 15 minutes on the dial up connection, after wasting much more time than that with their lousy Wi-Fi. While I was trying to use Wi-Fi, there was a steady stream of people walking by the table I was sitting at in the clubhouse, looking over my shoulder, seeing me attempt to use Wi-Fi, and grumbling about the Wi-Fi system in this park not working, on an ongoing basis. I don't understand business owners who do nothing about an ongoing problem that is annoying their patrons.

While Joanne prepared supper, I fed the animals, walked Bo, did today's accounting, did some planning, and started today's journal entry. After supper, we watched some TV, Joanne washed supper dishes, and I finished up this journal entry.

DSK

January 19, 2006

January 19, 2006

Falcon State Park to La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 216

 

Today was sunny and very warm. The afternoon was quite windy, which is pretty common in this part of Texas.

This morning we prepared for departure, hitched up, and pulled out of our campsite. We drove over to the recreation hall / snack bar. I exchanged some books at the book exchange table in the recreation hall, then we had a meeting / interview with the woman in charge of the snack bar. We applied for a WorkCamper position as snack bar attendants next winter. The meeting went well. From the rec. hall we drove over to the park's dump station, where we drained the waste holding tanks. We headed out of Falcon State Park, heading south on Hwy. 2098 a few miles until it reached Hwy. 83. We took Hwy. 83 southeast into the town of Roma. We stopped at a Mexican bakery, and while Joanne went inside to stock up on Mexican baking, I returned a phone call to my sister. She had phoned earlier. Joanne had the cell phone, and while she was walking the dog, Sharon called, but the call was dropped. Sharon and I discussed some mail issues.

From Roma we continued southeast on Hwy. 83 into the Rio Grande River Valley, known locally as "The Valley". We stopped at Camping World in Mission, and while Joanne prepared lunch, I went inside to buy some supplies I needed. We had lunch in the Camping World parking lot, then continued down into The Valley on Hwy. 83. We stopped to refill with diesel at a Conoco station just before Harlingen, then headed for Sunshine Encore RV Park, the large RV resort I had made a reservation at yesterday. Their directional map in the Passport America directory left a lot to be desired, and a block or two from the park, we got lost. I phoned the park to ask for directions, and spent a long time on the phone with an idiot who kept putting me on hold, and wasn't capable of directing us from where we were to the park. She gave me another phone number to call, explaining that she was just the reservation office, and I should phone the park front office. I was a bit miffed, but phoned the front office. I got another idiot, who was also incapable of directing us the last few blocks to the park, and repeatedly put me on hold. Finally I had enough. I told her to cancel our reservation, and refund my deposit, as I wasn't interested in doing business with them. She put her supervisor on the phone, as if that would somehow change my mind. It didn’t ! We backtracked about 5 or 6 miles to an RV park in La Feria that we had stayed at last year. It was where we were going to go after 3 days at the big resort in Harlingen.

We checked into La Feria RV Park. I waited in the truck for half an hour while Joanne registered. Apparently the front office was having computer problems. It didn't do much to improve my mood. We got parked in our assigned site, set up, and unhitched. We took Bo for an obedience training session. We left to go look for a grocery store. We found a medium sized grocery store in La Feria, but when we went in and started to shop, I decided I wanted to go to a larger store. That one in La Feria was a small Mexican grocery store without a fresh bakery or deli. We drove back on Hwy. 83 to Mercedes, about 5 miles away, where we found an H-E-B, a large chain grocery store. We bought some groceries, but I still didn't like that grocery store either. Still no fresh bakery or deli. Tomorrow we'll ask at the front office where we can find another large grocery store.

We drove back to the trailer at La Feria. Joanne made supper, while I set up the computer, and downloaded and processed some photos I took this morning. After supper, I did today's accounting, some planning, and worked on today's journal entry.

DSK

January 18, 2006

January 18, 2006

Falcon State Park, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 215

 

Today was sunny and warm, with a warm desert wind.

This morning I made some phone calls. First I phoned an RV resort down in "The Valley" to check on site availability and make a reservation for tomorrow. This is a huge RV resort with over 1000 sites. I want to see what it's like to stay at one of these massive RV parks, which are like a small town unto themselves, with a couple of thousand residents. The discounted Passport America rate is valid only for the first 3 days, so I made a reservation for 3 days only. The Passport America directory says this resort's discounted Passport America rate is available for the first week, while the woman on the telephone said it is valid for only the first 3 days. I considered complaining to Passport America about this resort refusing to honour what they advertise, but decided I've got better things to do. Next I phoned Sharon, to tell her where to forward our next batch of mail. Then I phoned my cousin's husband, Bruce, in Thunder Bay to advise him of the same thing. Bruce manages our investment related mail for us, while Sharon handles everything else. I usually make these advisements by e-mail, but I don't currently have e-mail access, and I needed to get the message to both of them immediately, to ensure that our mail arrives before we leave the area. Good luck on your upcoming cancer surgery, Bruce. Our best wishes are with you. We spent the rest of the morning exploring this large state park, by road. We also left the park, and drove over to the nearby dam, but stopped and turned around just before we drove onto the bridge over the dam. The other side of the bridge is Mexico, and we didn't want to drive over the dam, take a look, turn around and come back, then have to deal with re-entry into the United States, especially since we weren't carrying our passports with us.

For lunch we decided to walk over to the snack bar. Last night and this morning we discussed, and decided to apply for a WorkCamper position in the snack bar for next winter. Joanne thought it was good form to eat there at least once, prior to applying. Good idea. We had lunch there, then sat around for the entire afternoon chatting with Jack and Sharon, and another WorkCamping couple who were working today. Jack and Sharon had the day off. The other couple, who were working today, are Escapees. We chatted withthem about our stays at various Escapee parks, and our WorkCamping job at Escapees C.A.R.E. a year ago. We were hoping that the woman we need to apply to would return from her shopping trip into Roma, but she hadn't returned by late afternoon. We'll stop at the snack bar tomorrow as we're leaving, and see her then.

I saw a scorpion for the first time today. Quite oddly, it was in the urinal of the men's washroom in the recreation hall where the snack bar is. I wasn't absolutely certain that it was a scorpion. Tom, the Escapee who was working the snack bar today, came into the men's room and verified for me that it was indeed a scorpion. Joanne came into the men's room to see it as well. HA HA HA ! Joanne's first viewing of a scorpion ... in a urinal in a men's room. Another odd thing today ... there was a bat hanging on the outside of one of the snack bar's windows ... during daylight. Tom removed it and returned it to an area out behind the snack bar where there seems to be a bat colony. He thinks it was out in daylight because it was old and dying.

This is an area very popular with birders. We're not all that interested in birds, but we couldn't help but notice a bald eagle flying overhead today, as well as the many green jays in the tree beside our campsite.

We walked back to the trailer late in the afternoon, and took Bo for an obedience training session. Then I worked on a repair job that I've been procrastinating dealing with. I removed some stripped screws from the moulding on the lower front edge of the living room / dinette slide, and replaced them with slightly larger screws, to which I applied some Thread Locker. The screws had stripped and come loose due to travel vibration. I've never used Thread Locker before. I hope it keeps the screws tight, and stops them from vibrating loose.

I spent the evening updating my investment files with the data I downloaded almost a week ago. Better late than never. The data that I had was as of January 13. The first 2 weeks of 2006 were very strong in the markets. A very pleasant start to the new year for those of us who live off our investments. I also did today's accounting and journal.

DSK

January 17, 2006

January 17, 2006

Laredo to Falcon State Park, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 214

 

Happy 7th Birthday to Joanne's niece, Madeleine.

 

Today was sunny and warm. The desert storm wind was still blowing this morning.

We prepared for departure, hitched up, drove over to the trailer dump station, dumped the waste holding tanks, and headed out of Lake Casa Blanca State Park. We drove though Laredo, stopping at Wal-Mart's gas bar to fill up with diesel. We headed south out of Laredo on Hwy. 83, still following the Rio Grande River and Mexican border. Today we encountered lots of "Mexican passing". The vehicle being passed moves over halfway onto the shoulder. The passing vehicle straddles the centre line. The oncoming traffic is expected to also move over halfway onto the shoulder, or risk a head on collision. It's actually quite civilized and efficient, but it takes some getting used to.

We drove to Falcon State Park. It is where the Falcon Dam on the Rio Grande River creates a large man made lake known as Falcon Reservoir. Our WorkCamping friends from YMCA Of The Ozarks started a WorkCamping job here 3 days ago, and we wanted to visit them. We arrived at the park, registered, got settled into our assigned site, and had a late lunch. After lunch we unhitched, and drove over to the park's recreation hall, where Jack and Sharon Board are WorkCamping at the snack bar. They were just finishing up their day at the snack bar. We visited with them for awhile at their rig, parked behind the recreation hall with the other 3 WorkCamping couples that comprise the snack bar staff. It was getting late in the afternoon, and Jack and Sharon invited us to join them for dinner at a restaurant in the nearby small town of Roma. We took Bo back to the trailer, then rode with Jack and Sharon in their truck to Roma.

We had an excellent dinner in a small, very authentic Mexican restaurant. We ordered a fajitas platter for 4, and it came with far more food than 4 hungry gringos could possible eat. And the Dos Equis beer was ice cold, served in a frosted mug. It was necessary. I dipped my first tortilla chip in the salsa, ate it, and needed to guzzle beer. WHEW ... hot salsa ! My eyes actually watered. We ate slowly, and chatted. We drove back to Falcon State Park, and once back in our trailer, we phoned Madeleine to wish her a happy birthday. Our brief conversation with her was somewhat incomprehensible. Sometimes it's hard to have a meaningful conversation on the telephone with children that age. When we finished our conversation with her by asking to speak to her mother or father, she said "okay" and hung up.

I did today's accounting, and journal entry. We went to bed early, feeling exhausted and demoralized by our squabbling of the last few days.

DSK

January 16, 2006

January 16, 2006

Laredo, Texas & Nuevo Laredo, Mexico

YEAR 2 DAY 213

 

Today was sunny and very warm, temperature 86 degrees. Late in the afternoon, we had another desert storm. They blow up quickly, and the wind is severe, but there's no precipitation.

We spent another miserable day of fighting, making each other angry, and hurting each other. Very, very disagreeable !

This morning I drove to the park entrance station to pay for another night, then drove over to the nearest service station to adjust the air pressure in one of the truck tires. I phoned U.S.P.S. to get some information to help me figure out where I should have my next batch of mail sent. I got the ladder out of the pass through storage compartment, and lubricated the rubber weather strip moulding around the bedroom slide. The bedroom slide has been binding when it's being retracted lately. I took Bo for an obedience training session. We walked down to the fishing dock on Lake Casa Blanca.

We had lunch, then set off to explore Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, across the Rio Grande River. We drove to the World Trade Bridge, parked nearby, and walked across into Mexico. We spent about 2 hours exploring Nuevo Laredo. It's a much larger city than the other Mexican towns we've visited, and we didn't find anything particularly interesting about it. Of course, that might just be a function of the fact that we were squabbling mercilessly the whole time.

Just as we got back to the trailer, a violent wind storm blew up. I could hear the roof vent cover on the bedroom roof vent making a noise. I climbed up on the roof of the trailer, to find that 2 of the 4 mounting brackets on the roof vent cover had broken. I removed the roof vent cover. It was difficult, and dangerous, to be climbing on and off the roof repeatedly, getting tools, and working on the roof when the wind was blowing so hard, but I didn't want the roof vent cover to rip right off the roof.

I read a book for awhile. We had supper. I did today's accounting and journal entry.

DSK

January 15, 2006

January 15, 2006

Del Rio to Laredo, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 212

 

Today was partially cloudy, and warm. The evening was particularly warm.

This morning we prepared for departure, hitched up, and left Buzzard Roost RV Campground & Saloon. We drove through Del Rio to Wal-Mart. While Joanne went inside to do a major replenishment of groceries and supplies, I unhitched, and took the truck in to their Tire & Lube Express for an oil change and lube. When that was done, I hitched up again, then joined Joanne inside. When we were finished shopping, we drove over to their Murphy's gas bar and refilled with diesel. By the time we pulled out of Wal-Mart's parking lot, we had been there over 2 hours < sigh >.

We drove southeast along Hwy. 277, stopping for lunch at a rest area. After lunch we continued on Hwy. 277 to the town of Quenada, a pecan farming area where we stopped at a road side stand run by a couple of children selling fresh pecans. A girl about 10, and her brother, a couple of years older, explained the different types of pecans to me, showed me how to open the shells, and how to remove the membrane from between the nut halves. My ignorance about pecans seemed to be a great amusement to them. Joanne drove for awhile. That went so poorly, it started us squabbling and sniping, and that continued for the rest of the day. How unpleasant ! ! !

About 20 miles outside of Laredo, Hwy. 277 met Interstate 35, which we took into Laredo. In Laredo, we turned onto Hwy. 59 heading east, looking for Casa Blanca State Park. We missed the park, and drove well out of Laredo before we phoned the park, and found out it is right inside Laredo. I guess the state park was developed on the edge of the city, and the city expanded around it. We turned around, headed back to Laredo, and found our way to Casa Blanca State Park just as it turned dark. By the time we registered and got parked in our site, it was dark.

While Joanne prepared supper, I did today's accounting and updated the truck maintenance records. We had supper. I did today's journal entry.

DSK

January 14, 2006

January 14, 2006

Big Bend National Park to Del Rio, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 211

 

Today was mild, with a high, thin overcast layer of cloud. It's the first overcast day we've had in a long time.

This morning we prepared for departure, hitched up, and pulled out of Rio Grande Village RV Campground. We drove about 20 miles to Panther Junction, and stopped to buy some diesel. I didn't want to fill up, because the price of fuel at the only service station in Big Bend National Park was high. We bought $20 worth of diesel, then headed north on Hwy. 385, heading out of Big Bend. It was about 40 miles to the park gate, then about another 30 miles to the first town, Marathon. Big Bend National Park is one of the largest U.S. National Parks, and one of the least visited, due to its remoteness. At Marathon, we filled up with diesel. Oh, for crying out loud ... diesel was more expensive at Marathon than it was at Panther Junction in Big Bend !

At Marathon we got onto Hwy. 90 heading southeast. We stopped for lunch at a road side rest area.. After lunch, Joanne drove for an hour or so, to Langtry. We've agreed that she should drive an hour or so a day, to increase her driving skills. Handling a one ton diesel dually, with 30 feet of trailer behind it, at speeds in excess of 100 km./hr. is pretty challenging. Here in West Texas, the distances between places is so vast, that even the two lane undivided highways have a speed limit of 75 M.P.H.. A long day of driving across miles and miles of nothing but scruffy looking desert brought us to the city of Del Rio.

We pulled off the highway, and checked into Buzzard Roost RV Campground & Saloon. Yes, yes ... a campground with a honky-tonk. Welcome to Texas ! We got set up in our site, Joanne went off to so some laundry, and I did today's accounting. We had a late, simple supper, then we both composed some e-mails. There is Wi-Fi here. I sent and retrieved e-mail, and updated my blog. I did today's journal entry, then read for awhile before going to sleep.

DSK

January 13, 2006

January 13, 2006

Big Bend National Park, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 210

 

Today was, as usual, very sunny and very warm. Overnight, we had a real West Texas desert storm. Exceptionally high winds, but no precipitation. The power to the campground was knocked out. The wind was severe enough to rock the trailer, and Teddy and Bo were both terrified. Yesterday's high temperature was 83, and yesterday's low was 36. Isn't that an amazing variation ? !

This morning I crawled underneath the truck to see if there was a heat shield between the starter and the engine. There was. I was so disappointed. After talking to the service manager at the Stony Plain, Alberta GM dealer the other day, I was really hopeful that the heat shield would be missing, and that would be the cause of the ongoing starter problems. Now we're back to having no reasonable explanation for this ongoing problem.

I went to the campground office, paid for another night, took Bo for an obedience session, then we left for another day of exploring Big Bend National Park. We drove about 20 miles to the main Visitor Centre at Panther Junction, the main crossroads in the park where the north / south road intersects the east / west road. We checked out the exhibits in the Visitor Centre, asked some questions of the Park Ranger on duty, and requested information on the National Parks Service V.I.P. ( Volunteers In Parks ) Program. He gave us a V.I.P. Program Information Kit. They welcome applications from outside the U.S., for their International V.I.P. Program. I think we'll apply for a National Parks Service Volunteer position next winter in some nice, warm, southern National Park. Maybe Death Valley in California. Joanne really liked Death Valley. Maybe here.

From Panther Junction we drove to the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Trail. Once there, we had a picnic lunch, then hiked the trail. It was a very interesting interpretive trail, with small plaques identifying and explaining typical desert plants. We learned a lot. There is truly an astounding amount of different types of desert plants, trees, and cacti, even though many of them appear quite similar, especially from a distance, or while driving down the highway. The temperature was warm, and we enjoyed a leisurely hike around the desert. Frequently, a small plane passed overhead at low altitude. It even waggled its wings at us. It was obviously a border patrol plane. We think the United States spends entirely way too much money trying to keep Mexicans in Mexico.

We drove back to the campground, put on bathing suits, and drove to the hot springs nearby. Hot Springs Road was a couple of miles of a one lane gravel trail, marked as not suitable for motorhomes, vehicles with trailers, or dual wheeled vehicles. WHAT ? NO DUALLIES ? I didn't come this far just to be deprived of an opportunity to soak in hot springs, so down Hot Springs Road we went, Joanne at the wheel. YIKES ! We didn't get too far down Hot Springs Road when we mutually decided we should change drivers. Getting around the curves meant having the rear dually hip inches from scraping the rock face on one side, with the opposite side front wheel inches from falling over the edge, plummeting Dee-Dee into the canyon. I took a couple of photos of Dee-Dee on Hot Springs Road. Joanne suggested I should send them to my sister, so she can have nightmares. HA HA HA !

We spent a long time in the afternoon soaking in the 105 degree hot springs. They bubble out of the side of the mountain, into a small pool, which then spills into the Rio Grande River. I was surprised to see that the Rio Grande River here was no more than about 100 feet wide. On the opposite bank, in Mexico, was a peddlar, willing to come across to sell to the tourists in the hot springs. Apparently his wares include carved walking sticks, dogs, and drugs. Eclectic selection of merchandise, n'est-ce pas ? We chatted away the afternoon with people ranging in age from a young man celebrating his 23rd birthday today, to a 71 year old RV'ing couple, with everything in between. It was a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon, soaking in the hot springs, talking with a variety of people from different places. A couple of young women from a university in Minnesota were here as V.I.P.'s, earning a credit in their Environmental Studies program. One of the young men offered me a beer ( illegal at the hot springs ), which I accepted. Finally, as the sun disappeared behind the mountain, and the temperature began to cool rapidly, we hiked back to the parking lot, to head for "home".

While Joanne prepared supper, I worked on yesterday's and today's photos. We had supper, then I did today's accounting and journal entry. We're a little bit tired, stiff and sore from yesterday's tough hike into Santa Elena Canyon, but soaking in the hot springs helped.

DSK

January 12, 2006

January 12, 2006

Big Bend National Park, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 209

 

Today was intensely sunny, very warm, with a warm Texas desert wind.

This morning when Joanne came in from walking Bo, she told me to get up, get dressed quickly, and rush outside with the binoculars. There were 5 javelinas foraging about 200 feet away. WOW ! Late in the afternoon we came across a group of 4 deer ; 2 does and 2 fawns. The white tail deer down here in Texas are different. The underside of their tails are bushy, with long white hair. It looks like a big white cheerleader pompom when they lift their tails. As we pulled back into the campground at dusk, there was a coyote trotting alongside the campground road.

This morning we set off for a day of exploring Big Bend National Park, by road, and by hiking trail. By the end of a long, tiring day we had driven over 200 miles, and hiked many miles. And we only saw about 2/3 of what we wanted to see. What a huge park. Welcome to Texas ! We're going to stay another day, to finish our sightseeing.

We drove about 60 miles to see Santa Elena Canyon. We parked in the lot at the trailhead, and had lunch before setting off for the long hike into the canyon. A short distance from the parking lot we came to Terlingua Creek, right where it meets the Rio Grande River. We walked along the creek quite a ways looking for a place to cross it, to get to the canyon hike. The first place I tried to cross, the water was deeper than my shoe. The next place I tried to cross, it was muddy. Finally we found a place where we could cross by stepping carefully on stones, without stepping in water that was deeper than our shoes. The hike into Santa Elena Canyon, following the Rio Grande River, was much longer, and more difficult, than we had expected. But the views in the canyon were worth it. On the side of the canyon we were on, it's Texas. Across the river, the other side of the canyon is Mexico. We hiked into the canyon as far as the trail went, then hiked back out. Whew ! I knew I should have gone back to the truck for my hiking stick, when I remembered it, just after we started the hike, and we were only a few hundred yards from the parking lot. My knees aren't as young as they used to be.

Next we drove back along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to the ghost town of Castolon. We bought a couple of soft drinks in the old General Store and Post Office that the National Parks Service operates as a small convenience store and souvenir shop. We walked around the old, abandoned village, seeing old buildings, inside and out. From Castolon we continued along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, stopping next at the Sam Nail Ranch. There was a short hike across the desert, to an oasis and old homestead farmed by Sam Nail and his wife, in the 1930's. It's difficult to imagine trying to subsistence farm on this fairly useless west Texas desert land, even with a small oasis. There were 2 windmills on the property, one of which was still working slightly, pumping a very small amount of water up from the well dug underneath it. Water was dripping out of a pipe, into a dirty, little puddle. It seemed as if every bird within 50 miles was there lining up to get a drink. From the Sam Nail Ranch we drove to the Chisos Basin Road, then up that road into the Chisos Mountains. At the end of the road, we parked, had a bit of a snack, then hiked a short distance to the Chisos Basin Window View, to watch the sun set in the basin, between 2 mountains. We were fairly high up in the mountains, so it wasn't the only sunset we saw today. After driving out of the mountains, and back onto the flat desert, we were able to watch the sun set again. Wow ... 2 sunsets in one day. As it got dark, we drove back towards our campground at Rio Grande Village.

Once back at the trailer, we walked a jubilant Bo, who was very excited to see us after being left in the trailer all day, and fed a starving Teddy, who had missed his lunch time meal. Teddy really hates to miss a meal. While Joanne prepared supper, I cleaned the Terlingua Creek mud, and desert dust off my shoes, then replaced the bedroom closet door latches. The ones I bought the other day in El Paso were better quality than the ones that were on there now, which I had purchased in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. We had supper. Joanne washed dishes while I worked on today's accounting and journal entry. We both realized how very, very tired we were. I'm typing this at 9:15 P.M.. Joanne is falling asleep on the sofa. Bo's asleep on the sofa. Teddy's asleep on the swivel rocker. I seem to be the only one still awake. Well ... not for much longer !

DSK

January 11, 2006

January 11, 2006

Van Horn to Big Bend National Park, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 208

 

Today was sunny and warm. We realized today that we haven't experienced rain since Oregon, or maybe Northern California. That was 2 months ago.

This morning we prepared for departure and left El Campo RV Park ... & Chapel ! DARN ! First thing I noticed this morning was that one of the two chrome wheel trim rings I bought yesterday was missing. DARN ! It seemed to fit properly, and I thought I had installed it securely on the trailer wheel. We went down the road a few blocks to fill up with diesel at Love's, then drove back into the small village of Van Horn to buy a few items at Dollar General. There were 2 things noticeable about the village of Van Horn. There was a visible, obvious religious influence, and the town was dying. Much of the "downtown" was boarded up, and what wasn't boarded up were self proclaimed churches, missions, shelters, chapels, etc.. Strange little town.

We headed southeast on Hwy. 90 through the desolate west Texas desert. Useless desert lands with long distances between towns. Last year we ran out of gas in west Texas ... twice. This year we're a little paranoid about filling up with diesel to avoid that happening again. We stopped at Marfa for some luncheon meats for lunch. Marfa is a non-descript little town whose claim to fame is the mystery lights in the vicinity. We're not clear on all the details, but it's something about inexplicable mystery lights out in the desert at night. Shortly after Marfa, out in the middle of nowhere, we passed some kind of a research establishment with a large blimp tethered to a tower, and satellite dishes all around. A few miles later we stopped at a road side rest area for lunch. I could see the blimp was now high in the sky, but not going anywhere, so I don't know if it was still tethered, or flying freely. On the desert ground at the rest area there was a perfectly laid out small animal skeleton. It was the size of a small dog. At first I didn't know what it was. Then a short distance away, I saw a carcass of a large jackrabbit, so I guess the skeleton was also a jackrabbit. The desert is unforgiving.

As I'm typing this late in the evening, Bo and Teddy are lying together cuddled on the sofa. Teddy is licking Bo's head, and Bo seems to be quite enjoying it. Odd couple !

After lunch we continued southeast on Hwy. 90. A few miles later there was another research establishment, with a whole bunch of satellite dishes. A few miles later a military fighter jet flew over us at high speed, low altitude. Strange things going on in the desert !

Joanne drove from the rest area to Marathon. At the town of Marathon we stopped and refilled with diesel again. At Marathon we turned south onto Hwy. 385 leading into Big Bend National Park, and there are no towns or services for a very long distance. We entered Big Bend National Park, and about an hour later arrived at the only serviced campground in the park, at Rio Grande Village. There isn't really a village. It's a small campground, and a small store.

Behind our campsite is the Rio Grande River. Across the river is Mexico. The park is named after the "big bend" in the river. We're deep in the trough of the "U" shaped "big bend", and so Mexico is actually to the east of us. There are unusual "cautions" here in the campground. It is illegal to wade across the Rio Grande to purchase anything from Mexicans on the other side of the river trying to sell stuff. If they wade across the Rio Grande to sell stuff on this side, the goods are illegal. Don't leave cats or dogs tied up in your campsite. They will be eaten by coyotes or javelinas. SHEESH !

We got set up in our site, then took Bo for a short obedience walk. I took Teddy out for a short walk also. For the last month, he has wanted to come outside many times a day, for a few minutes, to do "floppies" in the desert. He flops over onto his back, and squirms around, like a dog doing a "happy dance". He's like a chinchilla taking a dust bath. He started this when we got to Yuma.

I barbecued for supper. The evening here is warmer than the last few nights in New Mexico. I did today's accounting, and journal entry, while Joanne did dishes and planned our exploration of Big Bend National Park tomorrow. It's currently 9:35 P.M., Teddy and Bo have both gone to sleep, and Joanne and I are having difficulty keeping our eyes open. Guess it's going to be an early night tonight.

DSK

January 10, 2006

January 10, 2006

Las Cruces, New Mexico to Van Horn, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 207

 

Today was sunny and warm. It was an interesting day of problem solving adventures.

We were awakened this morning by the phone ringing. It was a call from General Motors in Oshawa, phoning in response to my e-mail yesterday. Not surprisingly, they were not much help. A few minutes later the phone rang again. It was the service manager from the GM dealer in Stony Plain, Alberta, also phoning in response to yesterday's e-mail. I had sent the e-mail to him as well as to GM Of Canada. We had a discussion about the ongoing starter problems. I told him what my theory was. He disagreed. Based on my description of the symptoms, he feels that the problem is one of heat damage to the starter. He asked if my truck has a heat shield between the starter and the engine. I don't know. He was going to do some research to find out if my truck is supposed to have a starter heat shield. He phoned back a short while later, to confirm that my truck should indeed have a starter heat shield. He thinks my problem might be that the heat shield is missing, and perhaps has been since before I bought the truck. He wants me to take the truck to a GM dealer within the next couple of weeks to have the starter replaced, and to check if the heat shield is missing or damaged. He wants to co-ordinate with whatever GM dealer I go to in Texas, and with GM Of Canada. I am impressed with his helpfulness, and hopeful that we may finally be able to solve the starter problem once and for all.

We prepared for departure and headed out of Las Cruces, driving east on Interstate 10. While we were driving, the phone rang again. It was Lorri. Amelia ( Joanne's 4 year old niece ) wanted to talk to us and be reassured that we were okay. She was worried about the coyotes getting us. I mentioned in a blog entry recently that there were coyotes right outside the trailer. Joanne explained to Amelia that the coyotes couldn't get to us inside the trailer. As soon as we crossed the border from New Mexico into Texas, we stopped at Camping World on the west side of El Paso. I bought a fluorescent light fixture to install over the dinette table, and some closet door latches for the bedroom. We drove through El Paso on the Interstate, and on the other ( east ) side of El Paso we stopped at Flying J to fill up with diesel, and have lunch. While I was filling the tank, Joanne noticed a large screw head embedded in the outside rear tire on the driver's side.

After filling the tank, I pulled over to the side of Flying J's lot, parked, and we had lunch in the trailer. After lunch < sigh > we changed the tire. Unhitch the trailer, get the spare tire out from underneath the truck, jack up the truck, remove the rear wheel < sigh >, install the spare, lower the truck, put everything away, and hitch up the trailer again. An hour and a half of hard, physical labour. But ... I must be getting better. The first time I had to change a rear dually tire, including unhitching and rehitching the trailer, 16 months ago, it took 2 hours. The tire with the screw in it was not flat, but it seemed unwise to continue driving on it. We decided it's better to solve problems on our terms, rather than deal with unplanned roadside problems. We exited the Interstate and drove into El Paso to find a tire repair shop. Before we found one, we found a Checker Auto Parts, and I went in to buy some ThreadLocker I need. I asked them for a referral to a nearby tire shop, and they directed me to Oasis Tire about a block away. Oasis Tire was next door to a Mexican Bakery, ( how fortuitous ! ) so while I got the tire repaired, Joanne bought Mexican pastries in the bakery, where the woman behind the counter spoke no English. The same was true of the service men in Oasis Tire. Only the woman behind the front counter in Oasis Tire spoke English. I was stunned when I found out that the six huge, assorted Mexican pastries Joanne bought cost $2. While I was watching the tire being repaired, I noticed that they had an assortment of used hub caps and chrome wheel trim rings. The trailer was missing 2 chrome trim rings. They helped me find 2 chrome trim rings for the trailer that fit and matched.

By the time all this was finished, and we left El Paso, it was late afternoon. And ... when we crossed the border from New Mexico into Texas, and El Paso, we passed into another time zone, so we "lost" another hour. We drove another couple of hours east on I-10, to Van Horn. It turned dark shortly after we left El Paso. We arrived at El Campo RV Park & Chapel ( HUH ? ), and got set up on a site. While I reset all clocks and watches, Joanne prepared supper. After a late supper, Joanne went to do a load of laundry while I worked on today's accounting and journal entry.

It seemed like a long, hard day. Mind you, that's relative. I wasn't unloading trucks in freezing rain.

DSK

January 9, 2006

January 9, 2006

Las Cruces, New Mexico

YEAR 2 DAY 206

 

Today was sunny and mild, with a strong, cold wind.

First thing this morning I took the truck to Aamco Transmission to have them replace the rear differential cover gasket. This was warranty work, arranged by Aamco in Yuma, Arizona. The truck wasn't going to be ready until after lunch, so they drove me back to the trailer at Sunny Acres RV Park. I phoned MTS to discuss some charges on my October cell phone bill. Some of the calls I made in Abbotsford, B.C. were picked up by a cell tower in Bellingham, Washington, and I was billed for U.S. roaming charges. Until November 1 my service plan was only for calls made in Canada. On the same 2 days that some of my calls were routed through Bellingham, Washington, some of them also routed through Abbotsford, B.C., where we actually were. MTS could offer no explanation why some of the calls routed through Abbotsford, and some routed through Bellingham. They cancelled half the U.S. roaming charges. I guess that left me half dissatisfied !

We took Bo for an obedience training session, but the wind was so strong, and so cold, it was a short session. Just as we sat down to lunch, Aamco came to pick me up. They drove me back to their shop, I picked up the truck, and returned to the trailer to finish eating lunch. After lunch, we went off to do some errands. First stop was a propane refill station, to refill an empty propane tank. Next stop was a Post Office to mail Madeleine's birthday gift. We returned to the trailer, to reinstall the propane tank, and drop off the dog. We left for a sightseeing drive around some of the older parts of the city of Las Cruces. Joanne had read in a tourist magazine about the old adobe houses in the older sections of Las Cruces, so we went to see. After a bit of sightseeing, I stopped at a couple of specialty hardware stores looking for some hard to find screws that I needed. The first hardware store didn't have what I wanted, but the second one did. Then we stopped at a specialty food store Joanne had read about that sells New Mexican gourmet specialty food items. We bought a few gifts. Then we drove around for quite awhile looking for a large grocery store. We had difficulty finding one, which was odd. It's usually very easy to find large grocery stores on the main arterial streets of a city. We stopped at a Wal-Mart and I checked how long was the wait foran oil change. It was about 2 hours, and I didn't want to wait that long.

Twice today the starter failed to engage, so when we got back to the trailer, I composed a lengthy letter to GM Of Canada, telling them about the chronic starter problems of Dee-Dee, and requesting their assistance and guidance. I phoned GM to get their e-mail address, and was told I had to go to their website and use a "contact us" link. The form on the "contact us" link wasn't long enough to accommodate my letter. I phoned them back. They said to send as much of the letter as the link would allow, mark it "more to follow", then repeat until my entire letter was sent. It took 5 submissions to send the entire letter. GM must have a department of people whose jobs are to find ways to annoy their customers !

I did today's accounting and started today's journal entry while Joanne went to do some laundry. Then we went out to dinner to Cici's, a chain of all you can eat pizza buffet restaurants. Their food is great, and their prices are cheap. We had been to a Cici's in Livingston, Texas a year ago. When Joanne saw an ad for Cici's here in Las Cruces, she wanted to go.

When we returned to the trailer after dinner, Joanne wanted to watch a movie she had picked up in the clubhouse when she went to do laundry. Lost In Translation. Odd movie ! By the time the movie was finished, Joanne seemed to be suffering from food poisoning. She hasn’t had much luck with buffets lately.

DSK

January 8, 2006

January 8, 2006

Silver City to Las Cruces, New Mexico

YEAR 2 DAY 205

 

Today was sunny and warm again. Apparently this area gets 350 days a year of sunshine. Sounds like my kind of place.

This morning we prepared for departure, hitched up, and left Silver City RV Park. Before we left Silver City, we stopped at Wal-Mart to replenish groceries and supplies. We headed out of Silver City southbound on Hwy. 180. Halfway to Deming we stopped at City Of Rocks State Park, just to see it. We had heard a lot about it. It's a strange phenomenon. Out in the desert, all of a sudden there's a huge collection of massive boulders, larger and taller than large houses.

A few miles past City Of Rocks State Park, we stopped at a road side rest area to have lunch. The sun was shining brightly, and I suggested we eat lunch outside at one of the sheltered picnic table. Each picnic table is within a small shelter, because of the intense desert sun. We started to eat our lunch, but inside the shelter, in the shade, the strong wind felt chilly. We returned to the trailer. It's odd that out in the sunlight it feels warm, but as soon as you're in the shade, the wind makes it feel cool. There were signs posted all around the rest area to beware of rattlesnakes. I've seen signs like that before in the southwest desert, and I find it slightly amusing, and slightly disconcerting.

After lunch, Joanne drove. Her driving on a two lane undivided highway is very stressful for both of us. We continued on Hwy. 180 back to Deming, where we were a few days ago, then turned east on Interstate 10. Joanne continued to drive on the Interstate, until almost at Las Cruces. We changed drivers just outside Las Cruces. While finding our way to Sunny Acres RV Park, we passed the Post Office, a propane refill station, and Aamco Transmission. Great ! We need to go to all three tomorrow. We registered at Sunny Acres RV Park, got set up on our site, and unhitched. We rested for awhile before going for a walk around the park, checking out the facilities.

At Wal-Mart earlier today, I started the grocery shopping while Joanne refilled some water jugs at the water refill machine outside the store, so she didn't see some of what I put in our grocery cart. She just commented as she put away today's grocery purchases that the little jar of chili powder that I bought today does not look at all like the little jars of chili powder we purchase in Ottawa or Winnipeg. I guess New Mexico's version of chili powder is different than Canada's. Not surprising, since we're not very far from Hatch, New Mexico, the undisputed chili pepper capital of the world. We drove through Hatch last year. It was interesting to see huge bunches of chili peppers, hanging on their vines, drying in the sun. There are so many varieties of chili peppers available locally, that the produce sections of local grocery stores usually have 6 or 8 feet of shelf space dedicated to varieties of fresh chili peppers. Joanne is reading a recipe out loud to me as I type this. It’s in a local magazine, and is a recipe for New Mexican Apple Pie. It includes, amongst other ingredients, like apples, half a cup of mild green chili. HA HA HA !

It took both of us working together to dig out a cactus needle which was deeply imbedded in my thumb for the last few days. I got a cactus needle in my thumb the other day, and pulled it out with tweezers, but evidently the end of it broke off deep under the skin. It’s been bothering me, and getting worse every day. I did today's accounting then started today's journal entry while I barbecued some beef sausages for supper, and Joanne made fresh potato salad. After supper we spent the rest of the evening reading the Sunday newspaper and watching TV.

DSK

January 7, 2006

January 7, 2006

Silver City, New Mexico

YEAR 2 DAY 204

 

Today was sunny and warm again.

This morning after fixing the bedroom roof vent crank handle, and regular preventive maintenance, we set off to find the University Of Western New Mexico, to attend the 3rd Annual Red Paint Powwow. We found the university nearby, about 8 or 10 blocks from our RV park. It's a beautiful campus. What a great place to go to school.

The Red Paint people are Apache. Their annual powwow is primarily a dance competition, but like other powwows we've attended, it's a celebration of singing, dancing, drumming, visiting, and eating. We were surprised to learn of how many different types of native dance there are. Most of the dance styles are characterized by the type of clothing worn, or the "instruments" brandished. Gourd dancing, grass dancing, fancy dancing ( elaborate feather costumes ), jingle dress dancing, fancy shawl dancing. The Apache people were warriors, so their dances and music are more aggressive than the Navajo styles we saw at the Pahrump Powwow in Nevada a month or so ago. Some of the local Apaches at the powwow are descendants, and still bear the family name, of Geronimo. The Native self deprecating humour was evident in the number of comments by the MC of the festivities and scheduled dances being on "Indian time". The fine print disclaimer in the program reads "The Red Paint Powwow Committee is not responsible for any additional incurred expenses, injury, theft, inclement weather, bad choices, or divorce". HA HA HA ! I participated in an Apache Round Dance that the audience was invited to join. For lunch we had an Indian Taco, which was Indian Fry Bread with chili and salad fixings on it. We were careful to order it with "green" chili, which is milder than "red" chili. We learned that at Deming a few days ago. We walked around the vendor area, and bought some gifts for ourselves and others.

We returned to the trailer late in the afternoon. I took a nap. Joanne did some cleaning. When I woke, I took Bo for an obedience training session. Joanne prepared supper. I worked on yesterday's Gila Cliff Dwelling photos. I cleaned and lubricated the dog clippers.

We had supper, then returned to the powwow. The evening dance competitors were wearing even more brightly coloured and decorated costumes than they had earlier in the day, and most of the men’s faces were painted. One of the featured dances of the evening was in honour of an elderly woman, prominent in the local Apache community, who died a few days ago. It seemed to be a funeral / spirit dance. It was scary, and moving. We watched the dancing until quite late in the evening. On the way back to the RV park, I stopped to fill Dee-Dee with diesel. Back at the trailer, I finished up today's accounting and journal entry.

We're both really glad we came here for this powwow. It was a very interesting experience.

DSK

January 6, 2006

January 6, 2006

Deming to Silver City, New Mexico & Gila ( pronounced "Heela" ) Cliff Dwellings

YEAR 2 DAY 203

 

Today was sunny and warm again.

My first job this morning was to replace the latch on the bedroom closet door. Joanne broke it this morning. Fortunately, I carry a spare. Joanne went to the office to pay our bill, and get some documents of mine three hole punched, while I hitched up and prepared for departure. We pulled out of Dream Catcher RV Park, heading west for a few miles on Interstate 10, then turning north on Hwy. 180 towards Silver City. At Silver City we found our way to Silver City RV Park, registered, and set up on our assigned site. While Joanne prepared lunch, I got the trailer unhitched and set up.

We ate lunch quickly, then set off for Gila Bend National Forest, and the Gila Cliff Dwellings. It was about a 45 mile drive on Hwy. 15, a narrow winding mountain road. The drive took 2 hours. I was sleepy after lunch, so I drove about halfway, and Joanne drove about halfway. It was a good learning experience for Joanne to drive Dee-Dee on a difficult mountain road. To get to the cliff dwellings, we had to hike about a mile, steeply uphill, at an elevation of about 7800 feet. Oh, my aching lungs ! The cliff dwellings were constructed about 1280 A.D. by the Mogolló n people. The dwellings are rooms built within caves on cliff faces. Quite amazing ! This is one of only four places in the world where ancient cliff dwellings are intact, and can be entered.

After viewing the Gila Cliff Dwellings, we decided to return to Silver City by a different route, known as the Trail Of The Mountain Spirits Scenic Byway. South on Hwy. 15, then southeast on Hwy. 35, then southwest on Hwy. 152 to Hwy. 180, and west on Hwy. 180 back to Silver City. The route took us through New Mexico's high desert, through small mining towns, high plains ranch lands, and forests. We haven't seen forest since California. I was surprised to learn that here in New Mexico's high desert, the temperature variation between day time highs and night time lows, is 60 degrees ! Yikes !

It was dark by the time we got back to Silver City, and Teddy's supper was late ! MEOW ! Joanne prepared supper while I set up the laptop, did today's accounting, and downloaded today's photos to the laptop. I'll process them tomorrow. After supper we watched a bit of TVwhile I worked on today's journal entry.

DSK

January 5, 2006

January 5, 2006

Deming, New Mexico

YEAR 2 DAY 202

 

Today was sunny, but cool and windy.

This morning I did some online research, then phoned the Good Sam RV Club to get some information. Once again, the Good Sam RV Club fails to deliver, for about the third time. We're not very impressed with them, and will not likely renew our membership when it expires. We headed into town to run some errands. First stop was the Post Office. We picked up the Passport America renewal package we were expecting at General Delivery, and bought some stamps. Then we drove back and forth across town to 4 different automotive supply stores looking for the best price on a gallon of Lucas diesel fuel additive. We returned to Napa Auto Parts, where it was the cheapest, and bought a gallon of Lucas. From there it was over to Wal-Mart to replenish groceries and supplies. While shopping at Wal-Mart we bumped into Hans and Peta Arends, friends of ours from Escapees Ontario Chapter 18. We last saw Hans and Peta about a year ago in Livingston, Texas. They were just arriving in Deming, and were shopping at Wal-Mart even before they checked into Saguaro RV Park here. From Wal-Mart we went to Amigo's, a Mexican food wholesaler of some renown locally. We wanted to buy some of their Mexican take-out specialties, but all their foods contained pork, which I can't eat. Disappointed, we bought some Mexican cookies and pastries.

We returned to Saguaro RV Park, put away our purchases, and had a very late lunch. While Joanne put away our purchases, I baked some taquitos for lunch. After lunch, I took Bo out for a training session. Good dog, Bo, well done. I did today's accounting, then we went to today's social hour. We were expecting to chat with Hans and Peta. Hans showed up an hour late, having not noticed that they had crossed a time zone this morning while driving from El Paso, Texas to Deming, New Mexico. Peta did not come to social hour, as she was feeling a little ill. We chatted with Hans for awhile, then walked back to their rig with him, so we could say hello to Tucson, their Keeshond. I'm quite fond of Tucson, who was named for where they adopted him many years ago. Hans and Peta showed us their new Roadtrek 20 foot Class B van conversion. They recently sold their huge fifth wheel and diesel pickup. We are surprised by how many of our Escapee friends are downsizing their rigs. Sandy and Peachy also recently sold their large fifth wheel and truck, and now travel in a 28 foot Class C motorhome.

Hans and Peta came over to our rig to see our new flooring, and say hello to Bo. We chatted for awhile, then I walked them back to their rig to examine a bump on Tucson. They weren't sure whether it was a wood tick or not. No, it wasn't. It's a blood filled benign tumour / cyst, a common growth on older animals. No wonder Tucson gets vicious when Hans tries to remove the "tick". I lent our dog clippers to them to give Tucson a trim.

We had a late supper. I did today's accounting, then spent much of the evening finishing up with the batch of incoming mail. I also finished up, printed, and filed all my 2005 investment records.

DSK

January 4, 2006

January 4, 2006

Benson, Arizona to Deming, New Mexico

YEAR 2 DAY 201

 

Today was sunny and warm again.

I started my day by returning a phone call to my investment broker in Ottawa. Roger and I discussed some changes I wanted to make to our investments. Roger talked me out of it. I guess that's why he gets the big bucks. HA HA HA ! Joanne went to pay for our one week stay, while I worked on preparing for departure. We departed Benson, heading east on Interstate 10.

We stopped for lunch at a rest area near the Arizona border with New Mexico. We pulled into the rest area behind a car with Manitoba license plates. While Joanne prepared lunch, I took Bo for a walk, and chatted with the driver of the Manitoba car. It was a family from Winnipeg, returning to Winnipeg after visiting parents / grandparents who are wintering in Tucson. After lunch, and shortly after crossing into New Mexico, we stopped for diesel in Lordsburg. We arrived in Deming around 3:00 P.M. and got ourselves settled into Dream Catcher SKP RV Park.

As we were getting set up in our site, we got a visit from Bob and Helen Boville, friends of ours from Escapees Ontario Chapter 18. We attended Dream Catcher's daily social hour, and chatted with a couple who are travelling east to west, and are heading for where we've just come from. After social hour, I took Bo for an obedience training session, working mostly on difficult "stays". He did great. Joanne and I did some short term trip planning, figuring out where we're going and what we're doing for the next week or so.

While Joanne prepared supper, I printed some documents, prepared some documents to send to our accountant, and put the finishing touches on my 2005 investment records. After supper, I did today's accounting, and tried to get onto Dream Catcher's Wi-Fi. They have been having some troubles with their Wi-Fi system, and getting online is a "hit or miss" proposition. I finally managed to get online briefly, but not long enough to accomplish what I wanted.

DSK

January 3, 2006

January 3, 2006

Benson, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 200

 

Today was sunny and warm again.

This morning when I went to shower, I couldn't get any hot water. There was barely a trickle coming out of the shower when the hot water tap was turned on. I went to the shower building beside the office to shower. My theory was that the plumbing out of the hot water tank must be clogged with minerals. The water at Yuma had a high salt content. When I returned from showering, I phoned BMO Direct Banking and paid both MasterCard accounts by phone. Then I phoned Good Sam RV Club to sort out some matters pertaining to our membership in the Good Sam Fulltimer's Division. We got in the truck and drove into Benson. I dropped Joanne off at the small mall in town. She wanted to shop for a birthday gift for her niece. I went to the Post Office, bought some stamps, posted some mail, and picked up the last batch of incoming mail from Sharon at General Delivery. From the Post Office I drove to a nearby water refill kiosk and refilled 4 jugs of drinking water. I picked up Joanne from the little mall. She couldn't find what she was looking for. We drove to another nearby small department store. Still no luck finding what she wants to get Madeleine for her birthday. We returned to Saguaro Co-op.

I decided to flush out the hot water tank, hoping that would solve the problem. Joanne helped me remove the sacrificial anode drain plug, and flush out the tank with a special little RV hot water tank flush wand I bought at the Spring Escapade. Some mineral deposits flushed out, although not as much as when I flushed out the hot water tank at West Hawk Lake last summer. I resealed and reinstalled the sacrificial anode drain plug. The problem seems solved. I guess there were salt deposits in the tank, blocking the lines out.

I reviewed today's batch of incoming mail while Joanne prepared lunch. We were waiting for Joanne's driver's license renewal in this batch of mail. After a late lunch, Joanne went off to do laundry, and I went outside to do a long, challenging session of "stay" with Bo. He did great. My previous error was in following every "stay" with a "come", so he would only hold the stay until I walked about 50 feet away, then he would start to follow me in anticipation of a "come" command. Now I make him stay, then I walk around in all directions, up to a couple of hundred feet away, and return to where he is sitting, forcing him to hold the "stay" the whole time. Now he's understanding that "stay" doesn't just mean stay until I'm 50 feet away, then come. Good dog, Bo. I trimmed my beard. Four weeks since I got a haircut in Yuma. Good ... only 4 more weeks until I can get another haircut to fix this Mexican haircut I got in Yuma. I did today's accounting, and continued working on the incoming mail. Most importantly, I got Joanne's driver's license renewal prepared for return.

Joanne returned from doing laundry just in time for us to walk down to the clubhouse for daily social hour. HEY ... there's Sandy and Peachy McGeachy, from Ontario, and Don and Nancy Griffin, from Alberta. We sat at a table with our Canadian friends, who had arrived earlier today. After chatting with them for an hour and a half, I invited them over for an impromptu pot luck dinner. I offered to barbecue steaks, if they would provide salad and potatoes. I barbecued our last six Jack Daniels marinated steaks. Nancy prepared potatoes. Peachy brought vegetables. Sandy contributed wine. Joanne made a salad. We ate supper, drank wine, and reminisced until late in the evening. We don't really know Don and Nancy all that well, but Sandy and Peachy have been good friends for a year and a half. It was really wonderful to see them again.

Late at night, I went to the clubhouse to get online. It was my last chance to retrieve my investment data with an effective date of December 31.

DSK

January 2, 2006

January 2, 2006

Benson, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 199

 

Today was sunny and warm again.

My first task this morning was to take an empty propane tank for refilling. Like many SKP parks, Saguaro Co-op has a propane refill service on site. The refill schedule here is Mondays and Thursdays at 10:00 A.M.. After getting the propane tank refilled, I did preventive maintenance, then drove over to their maintenance building to adjust the air pressure in one of the truck tires. Like most SKP parks, Saguaro Co-op has a high pressure air compressor available for adjusting air pressure in large truck and motorhome tires. Back at the trailer I refilled the fresh water holding tank, then drained all the waste holding tanks. I wrote some cheques, paid some bills, and composed some e-mails. I did a "stay" obedience session with Bo. He's getting better. We set up outside to give Bo a haircut. Giving Bo a haircut took quite a bit longer than I had expected, but the results were better than I had expected. The last time I gave him a haircut, at West Hawk Lake, which was also the first time I gave him a haircut, it wasn't as good as today.

We had a late lunch. I read the newspaper until I fell asleep for an afternoon nap. When I woke, I took the laptop to the clubhouse to get online. I sent and retrieved e-mail, updated my blog, and retrieved my December bank statements. I returned to the trailer, and Joanne wanted to go to Safeway for a few items for supper tonight. Oh, boy, Bo gets to go drivey. We drove to Safeway and bought the groceries Joanne needed. We got back to the trailer just at dusk, at 6:00 P.M.. Teddy wasted no time upon our return in letting us know that it was time to feed him. Poor Teddy worries when we're not home at his supper time. I did today's accounting and started today's journal entry.

After supper, I baked some cookies ( yes, yes, I baked some cookies ). We watched some TV and I continued to work on the batch of incoming mail.

DSK