Hi there, welcome back. Our last
chapter concluded on Sunday, February 8th, about halfway
through our month long stay in Yuma, Arizona.
Monday, February 9th, we had
a fairly relaxing day, going out after lunch to do some shopping.
About 5:00 two couples from the Full Timers Chapter of FMCA that are
in Yuma for a few days, Mike and Darlene Neighbours and Patty and
Billy Cantarini, came over for a pot luck dinner. Almost all of our
group here knew Patty and Billy because we were all at the Full
Timer's Chapter rally in Oregon last summer. Most of the group also
knew Mike and Darlene. We had cocktails and talked for a while and
then everyone brought out the food. Jackie made taquito casserole
and Peggy made lasagna. The rest of the group had other dishes and
we had a great dinner. The night was very pleasant and we ended up
sitting outside and chatting until after 9:00 when the two visiting
couples left to go back to their own RV parks.
Tuesday, February 10th, we
were up and out of the coach about 10:00, with Peggy in the car too,
and headed for Algodones, Mexico for a day of shopping and teeth
cleanings. Algodones was very crowded today since the weather was
great, with lots of old folks down there. I think on many winter
days the retired people outnumber the Mexicans in town by two to one.
After all three of us got our teeth cleaned we went to one of the
restaurants for lunch. We were supposed to meet the rest of our
group at the restaurant at 1:00, but we never found them. You can't
use U.S. phones down there because of the cost, so we just had lunch
with the three of us.
After lunch we spent some time shopping
and finally got in line to come back across the border around 3:30 or
so. While the girls waited in line I went out and got two geocaches
which had recently been placed in Algodones. It took a little over
an hour to get across, which is about normal, and we were back home
by a little after 5:00. We had cocktails with the group and by
6:30 we were relaxing in our coach watching TV.
Wednesday, February 11th, we
spent most of the day around the coach. We left about 2:30 and drove
to the Escapee's RV park on the south side of Yuma to visit with some
friends. We first met Bonnie and and Ken Weopke a couple years after
we started full timing and for a lot of years would cross paths with
them at rallies and RV parks. A few years back they got a lot at the
Escapee's park in Casa Grande and, although they still lived full
time in their RV, they didn't travel as much. Last year they moved
to the Escapee's park in Yuma and got a park model, so they no longer
live in their RV, although they do plan to travel some. They also
had some friends there, John and Suzanne Budovec. Although they are
members of the Full Timer's Chapter, we don't know them from there.
We remember them from our travels with the Palm Springs RV club way
back before we sold our house. We had a lot of mutual friends and
spent several hours catching up and chatting. About 5:00 we left and
headed back to the RV park for cocktails and dinner with our group.
Thursday, February 12th, we left the
coach after lunch and made another visit to the Arizona Marketplace
to walk around and do some shopping. We bought a couple little
things, but mostly just enjoyed the nice weather and checked out the
merchandise. After the Marketplace we stopped at a new farm and
ranch store, Cal Ranch, that just opened in Yuma. They have a little
bit of everything from guns to chickens to clothes. We then stopped
so Jackie could get her hair cut before heading back to the coach.
We had cocktails with the group and then did a little Mexican fiesta
with the whole gang. Jackie made chili relleno and Peggy made
enchiladas. After dinner we watched TV.
Friday, February 13th, we
left the coach about 10:00 and drove down to Algodones again, mostly
just to have lunch with some of the group. The Babcocks were already
down there getting some medical treatment and Peggy and Vernon took
their granddaughter in law Makayla for her first trip to Mexico. We
shopped for a little while and then all met for lunch at one of the
nicer restaurants down there. After lunch we shopped a little more
but were back in line to go home by 1:15 or so. Because we left
early the line out was very short, it only took us a few minutes to
get out and back to our car.
We stopped at Sam's Club on the way
home for some supplies and then joined the group for cocktails at
5:00. A little later we had a BBQ with all of the group except Clark
and Judi who went out to the movies and dinner. Most of the group
had lamb but I had a steak. Jackie made some asparagus that we had
bought in Mexico and Ray made a pot of mashed potatoes. We had a
great meal and stayed out until about 8:00 when everyone wandered
back to their own coaches.
Saturday, February 14th,
Happy Valentine's Day! Happy birthday to my granddaughter Courtney
who is 26 today. She is living in Arkansas and expecting a baby in a
few months. Our current plans will have us visiting in Arkansas
towards the end of summer so we will get to see my newest great grand
baby.
We left the coach after lunch and drove
into Yuma to the civic center where the annual Yuma Square and Round
Dance Festival is going on. We have some friends, Linda and Ernie
Ellis who are BIG square dance aficionados and are in town for the
festival. We met Linda and Ernie on our Alaska trip back in 2009 and
cross paths with them a couple times a year at rallies and in RV
parks. We spent about 90 minutes watching the dancing and visiting
with Linda and Ernie during the breaks in the action.
After the square dancing we drove to
the nearby Yuma Elks Lodge to see their new place. The old lodge,
which we have visited on many occasions, was located on 24th
Street across the street from the big medical center and hospital. A
couple years ago the hospital announced plans for a major expansion
and bought the land the Elks lodge was on. Over the last summer the
lodge moved into it's new building on 32nd Street and this
was our first visit to the new place. They did a great job with the
renovation and it appears they have as much room as they did in their
old building. They have a great bar with an outdoor wing, a big
dining room and a dedicated lodge room that is very pretty.
Everything in the place is new, furniture, fixtures, the works, so I
would guess they got a pretty penny for their old property. They do
share the building with the YMCA, but there is still plenty of
parking for the Elks.
We had one cocktail and then headed
back to the RV park. We had cocktails with most of the group at 5:00
and then did another group dinner with most of us doing chicken on
the BBQ. The meal and conversation was great and about 7:30 we went
back to our coach for the rest of the night.
Sunday, February 15th, we
had an easy day at home. I did our income taxes for last year, did
some filing and shredding of last year's stuff, and got a few other
chores done. We had cocktails at 5:00 with the group. The
Babcock's, McKay's and Calzada's all went out to eat while the rest
of us had a hamburger BBQ. We had a great meal and conversation but
were back in our coach by 7:30.
Monday, February 16th, Happy
Presidents Day. We went to our favorite taco stand for lunch with
the Bullock's, Peggy, Vernon, Troy and Makayla. Troy had the day off
from the base because of the holiday. After lunch they went out to
do some sightseeing and we went across the street to do our laundry.
We later had cocktails with the group and then went back to our coach
for a quiet evening.
Tuesday we woke up about 5:00 and
noticed that the shore power to the coach was off. We had lost power
last week and the park thought they had it fixed, but now it was off
again. We ran the generator for a while to heat the water and make
coffee and charge the batteries. After everything was charged up we
left the coach about 10:30 or so and headed out for some shopping and
lunch.
We stopped at a shoe store in the
Foothills area that was having a big sale. Jackie got a couple pairs
of shoes she liked and I got myself a new tee shirt. We then headed
to downtown Yuma for the Tuesday farmer's market on Main Street.
When we got there we met up with Peggy and Vernon and Pat and Tammy,
as well as Makayla, who all gone down for the market too. We first
went into Lute's Casino, a restaurant on Main Street, for lunch. The
food was only fair at best, but the atmosphere is kind of fun and
unique. After lunch we walked around the fair for a bit and then
headed home to check on the power situation. The power was back on,
so we left again to do some geocaching in the Foothills area. We
were able to get eight new finds and one new DNF. After caching we
headed back to the RV park and had cocktails with most of the group
at 5:00. After happy hour we went back to our coach for the rest of
the night.
Wednesday, February 18th, we
left the coach about 10:30 and drove to a couple of the big churches
here in the Foothills area that have Wednesday morning farmer's
markets. Between the two places we spent about an hour and a half
looking around and buying a couple of little things. We then met
Peggy and Vernon for lunch at a place near the RV park called Da Boyz
Pizza. It is mostly pizza and sandwiches, but is pretty highly
rated. I had an Italian sub that was very good. Jackie had a
chicken parm sandwich which she said was a little bland, but OK.
The Bullock's had pizza and the first one they brought was not cut
very well and it fell off the elevated stand and got a bit mangled
when Peggy tried to get a piece loose. Although the pizza was fine
to eat the waitress put in an order for another and they got a new
whole pizza to take home.
After lunch Jackie and I went out to do
some more geocaching and we were able to get 14 new finds and one DNF
in a few hours. We went back to the coach and then had cocktails
with the gang, a little smaller gang since Pat and Tammy and Jim and
Sally had all left to go home. Since we had such a big lunch we
didn't have any dinner and just watched TV until bed.
Thursday, February 19th, we
left the coach after lunch and drove to the mall to see the movie
American Sniper. Vernon went with us because he wanted to see the
movie but Peggy wasn't interested. We met Ray at the theater where
he went after he got back from his medical work in Mexico. The four
of us got our popcorn and went in to see the movie. This movie has
gotten a lot of buzz and I can see why. It is based on a true story
and is able to be both a good action war movie that portrays what our
troops are running up against in the Middle East, but also an
outstanding portrayal of the toll war and killing takes on those who
have to do it. I am eternally grateful that I was able to serve my
country and my community as a “hired gun” for seven years as a
Marine and 28 years as a Sheriff's Deputy and never had to be in a
position to have to take a life. If this movie and it's star, Bradly
Cooper, are shunned by the Oscars this weekend I will be very
disappointed.
After the movie we went back to the RV
park and chilled for a while before having cocktails with the three
other couples that our left of our group. We again skipped dinner
and just had some snacks while watching TV. This time it was mostly
the giant box of popcorn we ate at the movies.
Friday, February 20th, we
had a stay at home and do chores day. I got a pretty big job
finished today, finally. Two years ago we had our coach remodeled
inside, which included new carpeting in part of the front area and on
either side of the stairwell. Later that year we got our new cat,
Benji, who was six months old. He decided that the sides of the
stairwell made a great scratching post and he pretty much shredded
the carpet on the sides of the stairs. Late last year we got our
hands on some of the extra carpeting from our remodel. Peggy and
Vernon went up to Oregon for some work on their coach and stopped at
the shop where we got the work done and picked it up for us. I
finally got around to replacing the bad carpet. Jackie did some
cleaning and we made a quick run to Walmart for supplies.
At 5:00 we had cocktails with the
group. The happy hour included a "Changing of the Flower" ceremony. The "flower" is this odd looking bead flower that was given to Jackie by a friend in the Coachella Valley just about the ti
Saturday, February 21st, we
left the coach after lunch and picked up the Bullock's to go down to
the Hank Days celebration. The Foothills area always celebrates Hank
Days in February in honor of the man who originally owned most of the
land which is now the Foothills residential area. They advertised a
parade, car show and farmers market area. When we got to the venue
we saw that the car show never came off, there were no cars to see.
Since we were in the area we spent about an hour and a half driving
around the Foothills area looking for signs regarding RV lots for
rent. We are looking to try and get one of the RV lots, which have
two full hookups, for next year when we come down here. We are
getting tired of Caravan Oasis, the park in which we have stayed the
last three years. We wrote down a lot of numbers on a lot of
possibilities. We then headed back to the coach and relaxed until
cocktail time.
We had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon
at 5:00 and then we had a rib BBQ. We had bought some ribs at Frys a
couple weeks ago and we cooked up a couple racks tonight. Vernon is
an excellent pork rib BBQ guy, so he got to cook the slabs. We had
ribs with cole slaw and beans and had a wonderful meal. We sat and
talked until about 8:30 when we headed back to our coach and watched
TV until bedtime.
Sunday, February 22nd, we
were up and out of the coach about 9:15 and headed out for a day of
desert geocaching with Peggy and Vernon. We went out in their new
Jeep Wrangler, a “real” Jeep, and headed for the desert northeast
of the Yuma valley. There is an area of old mines and abandoned
towns called Castle Dome and there are a lot of geocaches. We packed
a lunch and took the dog so we wouldn't have to worry about hurrying
back to the RV park.
We geocached our way into the area on a
gravel road and stopped for lunch at a “ghost” town called Castle
Dome City. It is a private area that the guy runs as a museum. He
wanted ten dollars a person to tour, so we skipped that. We had our
lunch at a little picnic area and then headed back out of the area,
picking up a few more geocaches along the way. We ended up with 29
new finds for the day, a very good day of caching. One of them was
another milestone, 6,800 finds. Yea! We were back home about 3:00.
We had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon, but went back to our coach
around six because everyone was beat from the day's activities. We
watched the Oscars and then went to bed.
Monday, February 23rd, we
left the coach around noon with a couple who were parked across the
street from us. Dan and Roxie are vendors with a booth out at the
Arizona Marketplace. They stay at Caravan Oasis for the season and
sell on the weekends. They are a very friendly couple and have
joined our group several times for cocktails. They had expressed an
interest in geocaching, so we told them we would take them out,
introduce them to the sport, give a few hints, and see how they liked
it. Our first stop was lunch at the taco stand. Unfortunately, our
regular stand was closed for an emergency of some kind, according to
the sign. We went to one of the other stands in the same parking lot
and got tacos. They were OK, but not nearly as good as the one's at
our regular place.
After lunch we set out to do some
geocaching in the Foothills area. We got Dan signed up on
Geocaching.com and got a geocaching app downloaded on his phone. We
spent a couple hours out caching and we were able to get ten finds
and Dan and Roxie got their first finds. I must say they seemed to
really enjoy the hobby and were very enthusiastic. We will monitor
their progress and see if we have new converts. We had cocktails
with Peggy and Vernon and Troy and Makayla, and Dan and Roxie came
over for a little while too. We then had dinner with the Bullocks.
Peggy made her penne pasta recipe, which is one of my favorites. We
stayed and talked until about 8:00 when we left and went back to our
coach for the rest of the night.
Tuesday, February 24th, our
last day in Yuma. I spent some time in the morning taking down
outside decorations and getting ready for our departure tomorrow.
About noon we drove to the Asian Star restaurant, near the Marine
Corps Base, for lunch with the Bullocks. This was our first time at
this restaurant and the food was good. The soup was bland, but the
orange chicken was very spicy. It is not a buffet, but the lunch
portions are very big and we left quite full. After lunch Peggy and
Vernon went off to run some errands and so did we. We stopped at a
couple of stores and then fueled the car before heading for the RV
park. Fuel is quite a bit cheaper in Arizona than it is in
California, so we wanted to make sure the car was full before we left
Yuma in the morning. After we got back to the coach we relaxed for
the rest of the night. Peggy and Vernon went to spent the last night
with the grandkids at the base, so we were all by ourselves.
Wednesday, February 25th,
time to move on. We were packed up and ready to travel by 10:00.
After a quick stop for fuel we were on the I-8, headed west to El
Cajon, California, a suburb of San Diego. The trip was about 165
miles and went pretty smoothly. We arrived in El Cajon at the
Vacationer RV Park about 1:30 our time, but now 12:30 local because
of the change in time zone. Of course, this will only last until
Sunday when daylight savings kicks in again and California goes ahead
an hour, even with Arizona again.
We are only here for three days, so we
didn't set anything up outside except for the sun shades. The park
is nothing to rave about, lots of permanent residents who have some
unkempt spaces, but it is close to town and only for three days. We
relaxed for the afternoon and at 6:00 we took Peggy and Vernon and
went out for some dinner. We went to an Italian place called Verona
Italian Bistro just a mile or so from the RV park. The place had
great reviews, but when we got there only one other table had people.
However, one of the guys at the table told us not to worry, the
place had the best food in town. The food was very good. Vernon and
I both had beef stroganof and both the girls had a lemon chicken
special. We also had some calamari and some bread sticks. I also
had a bowl of Italian onion soup that was nothing like French onion,
but very good nonetheless. We left full, happy and with some
leftovers.
After dinner we drove about six miles
to the next town over, La Mesa, to visit Jackie's brother Dennis at
his apartment. He lives in a very large high rise apartment complex,
and complex is the word of the day. After we got parked in the
underground garage Dennis had to come down and guide us up to his
apartment. We probably could have found it, but it was a very
circuitous route from the parking area. His apartment is a one
bedroom and is small, but not tiny, certainly big enough for a single
guy. Nicely equipped kitchen and washer and dryer in the apartment.
He has it decorated nicely and it looked very comfortable. The four
of us sat and chatted with Dennis for about 45 minutes before leaving
and driving back to the RV park.
Our departure from Arizona marks a good
point to close this chapter and get it published. We will be in El
Cajon for three days and then about 50 miles north in Menifee for
another 11 days. Then the rallies start. Until the next time,
remember the words of Will Rogers. “Good judgment comes from
experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.” See ya
soon.
