Hello, welcome back to our story. Our
last episode concluded on Saturday, March 12th with us
having been in Yuma, Arizona for about six weeks, with a little under
three weeks to go.
Sunday, March 13th, is my son Roy Jr's
birthday. Happy Birthday son. Sunday was pretty much a stay at home
day. We read the paper in the morning and did few chores in the
after-
noon. We had an early cocktail hour today, starting at 4:00,
because we were having a group dinner. Half of our group are early
eaters, the other half late eaters. We accommodated the early eaters
tonight. Around 5:00 Ray brought over all the fixings for his
“famous” taco salad, a meal that all of us have had on numerous
other occasions when we are traveling together. The meal was great
and accompanied by bottomless margaritas. We had all kinds of
tequila in the coach and needed to get rid of some, so we provided
the drink for tonight. Around 7:30 everyone went back to their own
places for the rest of the evening.
Monday, March 14th, official
“Pi” day. We were up, showered and out of the house by 6:15, yes
a.m., and headed to the Yuma Regional Medical Center for Jackie's
outpatient surgery to remove the benign lump that was found in her
left breast back in January. We arrived at the hospital at 6:30 and
by 9:30 we were in the car and headed back home. They overdid
Jackie's anesthesia, despite the fact that she tells them to be
careful because she is very sensitive to it. As a result, she was on
the couch in and out of sleep all day. She napped and recovered and
I did a few chores and played on the computer all day.
At 5:00 we had happy hour, although
Jackie didn't join the group. Everyone then brought out the
leftovers from Thursday's lamb feast and yesterday's taco salad feast
and we all had leftovers for dinner. Everything was just as good as
the original and everyone was happy. I did take Jackie a meal of
lamb and salad and she ate that before going back to napping. We
watched TV until bedtime.
Tuesday, March 15th, we had
a stay at home day so Jackie could continue to recover from her
surgery. She was still quite groggy in the morning, but as the day
went on she gained some strength. She said her incision is sore and
sensitive, but does not hurt in a constant, throbbing sort of way.
She got to take a shower this morning and take off the big dressing.
All she has now is a few steristrips on the incision.
We had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon
at 5:00. The Wilson's and Babcock's went to an early dinner at Olive
Garden. They joined us for a short while just before 6:00. After
cocktails we went to the Bullock's for dinner. Peggy made some
chicken Parmesan that was very good. We talked and visited until
about 8:30 when we went back to our place, watched some TV and went
to bed.
Wednesday Jackie was feeling better, a
little sore but not hurting too badly. We went out after lunch to a
couple of stores. It was too hot for caching in the afternoon, so we
just went shopping. We had cocktails with the group at 5:00 and then
afterward the Bullock's came over to our place for dinner. Jackie
made a new dish she got out of a food magazine, rigatoni with chicken
and peppers. It was OK, but if she makes it again it needs some
spices or other ingredients to kick it up a bit, it was a little
bland. After dinner Peggy and Vernon went home and we watched TV
until bedtime.
Thursday, March 17th, Happy
St. Patrick's Day! We had a stay at home day. Got a few things
done, but mostly just relaxed and took it easy. I had a big corn
beef cooking in the crock pot all day and later in the afternoon I
did up the p
Friday, we were up early, showered,
coffee drank, paper read, and out the door by about 8:45. We decided
that the only way we were going to get any caching done was to start
early. The high's for the area are now in the high 80's and low
90's, so it is just too hot for our normal afternoon routine. We
went out caching with the Bullock's in our car and the Wilson's
following along behind us. Ray went to Mexico for some treatments,
so the Babcock's were not able to go caching. We had a good morning,
getting a dozen new finds, and no DNFs, by about 11:30. The six of
us then went to a place in the Foothills area called Mr. Fish. They
have great fish and chips, so we all had a big lunch. Fish, chips,
cole slaw and a bowl of clam chowder. We were very satisfied. After
lunch we all headed back home and stayed in the rest of the
afternoon. We had cocktails at 5:00 and were supposed to have
cabbage soup and corn beef rubens for dinner, but no one was hungry
after the big lunch. We all took our share of the leftovers for our
own refrigerators for use as lunch one day. After cocktails we went
in the coach and watched TV until bedtime.
Saturday we repeated the pattern from
yesterday, getting ready and out of the coach by about 9:00. Ray and
Gary had gone to an early breakfast and Peggy and Vernon were not
ready to go out, so we were on our own for the day. We went out and
did some more caching in the Foothills, getting another ten new
finds, before we decided to stop for lunch. We went to our favorite
street taco stand in the Foothills and had a fun lunch. After lunch
we went over to the Arizona Marketplace for one last stroll through
the shops. The Marketplace is only open on the weekends and next
weekend, our last here in Yuma this Spring, is Easter weekend. We
bought a few things, a hat and a couple shirts, that were on sale. A
lot of the vendors had tables of clearance merchandise set up trying
to get rid of stuff before the end of season.
After shopping we went back to the
coach and spent the rest of the hot afternoon in the coach relaxing.
We had cocktails with the group, including Peggy's grandson Troy and
his wife Makayla, who joined us for happy hour and dinner. About
6:30 or so we BBQed some hamburgers along with some beans Ray made,
some cole slaw from Peggy and a macaroni salad from Jackie. We had a
great meal and stayed out until almost 9:00, enjoying the great
weather and good friends. We then spent some time with the TV before
heading off to bed.
Sunday, March 20th, Welcome
Spring 2016! We had a stay at home day, coffee, the morning paper
and Sunday shows and the NASCAR race for me in the afternoon. It was
just us and the Bullock's for cocktails as the Wilson's and Babcock's
went out for an early dinner. After cocktails Peggy made Reuben
sandwiches with the leftover corn beef from St. Patrick's Day and we
had the rest of the leftovers from last nights BBQ. After a great
meal we headed back to our coach for the rest of the night.
Monday, March 21st, we left
the coach a little before noon and went to our favorite Mexican
place, Mi Rancho, for lunch. Ray and Suzie met us there and we had
a great lunch. After lunch we went to the surgeon's office for a
follow up on Jackie's surgery. The doctor checked the incision and
found that there was quite a bit of pus in the pocket left by taking
out the lump. He cleaned that out and said other than that the
incision looked to be healing nicely. He said to use some antibiotic
cream and some gauze bandages for a while until it fully closed.
After the doctor's appointment we headed back to the coach. We had
cocktails with the group, but no shared dinner tonight. After
cocktails we went in the coach and watched some TV until bedtime.
Tuesday morning we were up early and
went out to do some geocaching with Ray and Suzie. Ray drove and we
were able to get fifteen new finds, and one DNF, in a couple of
hours. After caching we stopped for lunch at the Day Breakers cafe,
near the RV park we had stayed in the last couple of years. We then
went to Walmart for a few things and headed back to the coach. We
spent the afternoon getting a few chores done around the house.
We had cocktails with the group at 5:00
and about 6:30 we had dinner. We had bought a bunch of beef and
chicken carne when we were in Indio over the holidays, with the
intention of doing a carne night with the group in Yuma. Tonight was
the night. Carne is Spanish for meat, but it is also used as a term
for BBQ and that's how we meant it tonight. I cooked the chicken and
beef on the BBQ and we had rice from Peggy, Beans from Ray, and
tortillas from Gary. It was cool and pretty windy tonight, so we ate
inside our coach. I cooked everything on the BBQ outside, but then
brought it inside. We had a great group dinner as we can get eight
in our coach without too much problem. You don't move around a lot,
but we get it done. By 8:00 or so everyone left to go home and we
watched TV after cleaning up. Another great day with friends.
Wednesday, March 23rd, we
were up and out early again, about 9:00, had headed down to Mexico
with the group. We decided to all go down one last time before our
time here is over. We walked around and shopped for a while and then
all met up about 11:30 or so at one of the restaurant's down there
for lunch. We had a great lunch and then got into a very short line
to go back to the U.S. We were back home by 1:00 and relaxed at home
the rest of the afternoon. We had cocktails with the group at 5:00
and talked until about 6:30. No one was hungry for a full dinner, so
everyone went back to their own coaches for the rest of the night.
Thursday we left the coach after lunch
and went out to do our laundry. After the laundry was done we made a
quick stop at Walmart and then headed home. We did some chores
around the coach in the afternoon and at 5:00 it was happy hour with
the group. The Wilson’s and Babcock's left right after happy hour
to go out and have dinner. We went into our coach with the Bullock's
and had leftovers from the carne BBQ the other night. We had a nice
dinner and Peggy and Vernon went back to their place about 7:30 or so
and we watched TV the rest of the night.
Friday, March 25th, Good
Friday for Christians. We went out to lunch with the group. We were
going to go to the taco truck, but it was closed. I would guess that
the Mexican family that runs it probably took Easter weekend off. We
ended up at the Copper Miner, another cafe we have been to several
times during our stay this year. We all had a great meal and a good
time. After lunch went back to the coach and did some spring
cleaning. We cleaned up some of our storage areas in the bedroom.
About 5:00 we had cocktails with the
group and about 6:30 we had a dinner with the group of shrimp and
grits, Southern style. The Wilson's and the Bullock's were on an RV
caravan a couple years ago that started in Maine and ended in
Florida. At one point as they were passing through the Carolina's or
Georgia, they ate this dish at a restaurant. They got the recipe and
were recreating it tonight. Gary cooked up the vegies and shrimp
with sauce, while Peggy made the buttery, cheesy grits. The meal
turned out great. Jackie made some bread and Suzie brought a salad,
for an entire meal. The weather was perfect again for eating
outside. Another great meal with our friends. After dinner we went
to our own coaches for the rest of the night.
Saturday, March 26th, we
left the coach about 10:00 and drove downtown for the Third Annual
Music on Main festival. Main street in old town Yuma was closed off
for a street fair and several stages were set up for musical acts.
We got there fairly early and there were not a lot of people in
attendance. They did have a couple of jazz bands performing, but we
walked the vendor booths as we listened. There were not very many
booths set up, I think it is a little late in the season and too hot
for a lot of people. After going through the booths we visited a
number of the stores on main street. A little before noon we stopped
for lunch at Da Boyz pizza place on main. I had a sub sandwich that
was outstanding, Jackie had a calzone, which she said was good as
well.
After lunch we headed back to the RV
park for the rest of the afternoon. Jackie made another big batch of mincemeat cookies for the Easter dinner tomorrow. We had cocktails with the group
at 5:00 and talked until about 6:30. After that everyone headed back
to their own coaches for the rest of the evening. We watched TV
until it started acting up again. A couple days ago we noticed that
the TV would start to randomly turn off, then turn on for a second or
two, then turn off again. This cycle seemed to go on forever. I
disconnected everything from the TV and then we went out, leaving the
TV unplugged for a few hours. When I reconnected the power and the
Satellite box it seemed to be working fine, until tonight. Before we
went to bed I unplugged everything again. We'll see in the morning.
We did buy the extended warranty when we bought the TV at Costco
about two and a half years ago. On Monday, if it is still not
working right, we will see how good it is.
Sunday, March 27th, Happy
Easter. We had a stay at home day. The paper was pretty small today
as there were no ads because most people don't shop on Easter.
Jackie made another batch of mincemeat cookies in the afternoon. We
had cocktails at 5:00 and then a little after six we had a nice
Easter dinner for the entire group, including Troy and Makayla, who
came over for dinner. Peggy made a big ham, Ray did scalloped
potatoes, Gary did candied yams, Suzie did a salad and Jackie did a
green bean casserole. We also opened the bottle of champagne that we
got when we won the booze cart at the car show a couple weeks back.
We had a nice toast to friends and our good times in Yuma. After
dinner we chatted until almost 8:00 and then went in the coach and
watched TV until bedtime.
Monday, we went out around noon and had
lunch at Famous Dave's BBQ at the mall. We then shopped for a new TV
for the front of the coach. The old one was still acting up last
night and the warranty company had some hoops we had to jump through
before they would do anything, so we decided to just go ahead and get
a new TV since they were not that expensive. We shopped both Best
Buy and Sam's Club and settled on a new 32 inch Vizio form Best Buy.
It is almost exactly the same size as the one we are replacing, so it
shouldn't be a big problem. After we got home I spent a couple of
hours getting the new TV installed. Putting it in and getting it
hooked up wasn't too big a challenge, but getting it to work properly
with the surround sound system took a while. I finally got it done
by happy hour. We had happy hour with the group and then went into
Peggy and Vernon's coach for a dinner of leftovers from Sunday. We
were back in our place by 8:00 and watched TV until bedtime.
Tuesday, March 29th, Jackie
went with Peggy to get pedicures in the morning and I spent the time
getting all of the lights and decorations taken down and put away.
When the girl's were done with pedi's they called and Vernon and I
drove over to meet them at the taco truck for lunch. We had a good
lunch and then went home so I could finish up my cleaning up project,
as well as do the finishing touches on the TV install. I was done by
late afternoon and we relaxed the rest of the day. We had happy hour
with the group, but didn't stay outside too long as it had turned
cool and breezy today and when the sun went down it got too chilly.
We went in and spent the night watching TV.
Wednesday morning we were up early and
out of the house before 9:00 to meet some friends of ours who
happened to be in town. Yesterday Jackie heard from Bob and Diana
Beatty and learned that they had arrived in Yuma for a Fleetwood
Coach rally at Fortuna Del Sol, one of the RV resorts in the
Foothills area. Bob and Diana are full timers and members of the
Full Timers Chapter. It has been over a year since we saw them. We
had breakfast at the Copper Miner and had a great time talking and
catching up on their travels. They are going to Alaska this year, so
we spent quite a bit of time talking about RVing up there. They had
to leave a little after 10:00 to go back to their rally activities,
but we had a great breakfast with them.
After breakfast we drove over to the Yuma County Fair, which just started yesterday. We enjoy going to fairs, mostly just to get to see all the animals. We spent a couple of hours walking around the fair, looking at the exhibits, the vendors, and the animals. We like the rabbits and guinea pigs, and also the lambs and goats. It was not a really big fair, but it was fun for a few hours. We had happy hour with Peggy
and Vernon because the Wilson's and Babcock's had gone out for an
early dinner. After cocktails we went in and watched TV until
bedtime.
Thursday, March 31st, our
last full day in Yuma. We hung around the coach all day, doing a few
odds and ends getting ready to travel tomorrow. We have to be up and
out really early tomorrow because we are having new tires put on the
coach around 7:00 before we start towards our next destination, Casa
Grande, Arizona. Early in the afternoon we were visited by Bob and
Gloria Baron, some friends of ours from our pre-full timing days in
Indio. It turns out they are also at Fortuna Del Oro with the
Fleetwood Coach rally. The sat and talked with us for an hour or so
before returning to their rally. We had last saw them in December
when we went to a Christmas party at their house in Indio.
We had cocktails with the group at 5:00
and about 6:30 we had a last supper of sorts with the whole group.
Peggy made a pot of ham and bean soup with the bone and leftovers
from Easter. Gary made some cornbread to go with it and we had a
great meal. Everyone leaves Yuma tomorrow. Peggy and Vernon are
going to Casa Grande with us tomorrow, but the Babcock's are going to
Indio and then on to home, and the Wilson's are heading to
Cottonwood, Arizona. After dinner we went into the coach and watched
TV until bedtime.
Friday, April 1st, we were
up at 5:00 a.m. and had the coach packed up and headed out of the RV
park just after 7:00. We drove a few miles down the road to Redburn
Tire company where they mounted up four new Michelin tires on the
back of the coach. We had put on two new steer tires in January at
the rally in Indio, so we now have all six tires new and good for
another six or seven years. The problem with RV tires is that they
age out at seven years max, but still have a lot of tread. However,
you don't want a blowout on an RV so, you buck up and get rid of
tires that look perfectly good. Boo!
It took the guys about 90 minutes to do
the tires and we were on the road about 9:30 or so, headed east from
Yuma towards Casa Grande, Arizona, about 170 miles. We stopped for
lunch in Gila Bend and arrived at the Sundance RV Resort in Casa
Grande about 1:30. This is our first time staying at this resort.
We normally stay at the old Western Horizon's resort, but we picked
up an offer of two weeks for the price of one at the rally in Indio,
so we thought we would try it out. It seems to be a very nice park.
We got parked and setup in a couple of hours.
The Bullock's are a few sites down from
us and are also here for the two weeks, although they are going out
for a few days to Tucson to visit friends. They came down for
cocktails at 5:00 and then we had dinner in our coach. Jackie made a
chili relleno casserole and we had a great meal. They went back to
their place about 8:00 and we watched a little TV until bedtime.
This marks the end of our two month
Yuma stay and also a good place to close out this chapter of the
blog. We will post again when we leave Casa Grande in a couple
weeks. Until next time, remember that an intelligent person learns
from his mistakes, a wise one learns from the mistakes of others.
Have fun and stay safe. Bye for now.
