Welcome back friends. Our last chapter
concluded on Sunday, January 15th when we arrived in Yuma,
Arizona after a month long stay in our old home, Indio, California.
We are staying in Yuma at the Carefree Village RV Resort, a fairly
new resort in the Foothills area. We will be here almost two months.
On Monday I spent some time getting some decorations out in our
patio area. We are currently here with our friends Ray and Suzie
Babcock, but in a couple weeks there will be two other couples
arriving, Peggy and Vernon Bullock, and Clark and Judy McKay. I
always set up what we refer to as “party central” in our patio
area. We also did a Walmart run in the afternoon. About 5:30 we
went over to the Babcock's coach for cocktails and then dinner. Ray
made a batch of shrimp curry over rice, along with a nice green
salad. It was a great meal. We stayed until about 7:30 when we went
back to our coach and watched TV until bedtime.
Tuesday, January 17th, was
another stay at home day. I spent a couple of hours finishing up the
outside decorations, mostly ground lights, and a few other chores.
About 5:30 Ray and Suzie came over to our place for cocktails and
then dinner. Tonight Jackie did a nice meatloaf with mashed potatoes
and broccoli. It was really good. We ate and the sat and talked
until about 7:30 when they went back to their place and we relaxed
the rest of the evening. Wednesday we went out about 11:30 and
headed to our favorite taco stand in the foothills for lunch. The
tacos were great as always and Ray and Suzie met us there to eat.
After lunch we ran some errands, checked out one of the swap meets
and did a Walmart run. After we got back to the coach I did a few
chores and relaxed. We had cocktails with Ray and Suzie but did
dinner on our own. We had leftover meatloaf for dinner. We watched
TV until bedtime.
Wednesday, January 19th, we
were up and out of the coach about 8:00, headed back to the Coachella
Valley so Jackie could have her arthroscopic surgery on her knee.
Her appointment was at 10:30 and it is 170 mile trip back to Rancho
Mirage. We arrived with time to spare, however, the surgeries were
running late and Jackie didn't get into the operating room until
12:30, two hours late. The surgery only took about 45 minutes, but
it was a while before she was awake enough to get into the car to
start for home. Because of the wrap they had on her leg, and the
fact that she had to keep the leg elevated to reduce swelling, she
had to ride lying down in the back seat. We did a quick stop at Jack
in the Box for some food and then were on the road again. Although
we had a lot of rain going up in the morning, the weather on the trip
back to Yuma was clear. We finally got back to the coach at about
7:00 and got Jackie settled on the couch. She is uncomfortable and
in some pain, but we hope it will get better. We watched a little
TV, but went to bed early.
Friday, January 20th, Jackie
is supposed to spend at least 48 hours with her leg elevated for most
of the time, so she is relegated to the couch for the next two days.
She is not feeling too bad, in some pain, but managing OK. We just
stayed home, with her on the couch and me in the Man Cave doing some
work and play on the computer. No visitors today and no cocktails
for Jackie because she is taking a narcotic pain reliever and can't
have alcohol. Saturday we stayed in again. Jackie spent most of the
day on the couch with her leg up and ice on her knee. She did get up
and walk around a little bit. Ray called and said he was going to
Arby's to get some lunch, so he picked up some stuff for us too.
Although I did go out for a little walk, we spent most of the day
inside because it was cold and very windy still.
Sunday, January 22nd, we
continued to stay in so Jackie could recuperate. She is getting
incrementally better each day. Today she took a shower and washed
her hair, which made her feel a lot better. I did a few chores, the
biggest of which took a couple of hours. I installed a new surge
protector for the coach. For those who are not RV owners, one of the
most important things you can do to protect your RV is have a surge
protector on the shore power line that provides 120 volt electric to
your RV. The good ones protect against high and low voltage, surges,
and open neutrals, which in a 50 amp coach like ours can result in
240 volts going through the coach. Not good for electronics. The
first one we bought was an external model that plugged into the power
pedestal and then the coach shore power cord plugged into it. We
bought that a couple months after we bought the coach and it lasted
ten years. It finally gave up a couple years ago and we replaced it
with another external one of the same brand. This one lasted less
than two years before leaking in the recent rains, allowing water
inside and ruining it. This time I ordered a new one from a
different manufacturer and got the kind you wire directly into the
coach, inside the compartment out of the weather. We are now
protected again and I feel much better. Hopefully Jackie will
continue to mend and we can get out of the house a little bit.
Monday, January 23rd, we
took off the wrapping from Jackie's leg and just put a couple of
waterproof bandages over the two small incisions on her knee. She
was able to take a shower, get dressed and we were out of the house
for the first time since Thursday. We went to lunch with Ray and
Suzie at the Copper Miner, one of our local favorites. The food was
great, the service a little slow, but we still had a great lunch.
After lunch we stopped for fuel and then went back to the coach for
the rest of the day. Ray and Suzie came over at 5:30 and we had
cocktails together, again for the first time in five days. Yea!
After they left we watched TV until bedtime.
Tuesday, January 24th we
again got out of house, at least briefly. We left about noon and
drove to a nice Asian restaurant for lunch along with Ray and Suzie.
I said Asian because it had Chinese, Japanese and Thai items on the
menu. Also, it's called Asian Star. The food was very good, the
service not so much. After lunch we ran a couple of errands. I
needed to go to Sprauges, a local sporting goods store, which is
mainly a gun shop, to get another magazine for my new Beretta
handgun, along with a couple other things. After our errands we went
back to the coach and stayed in the rest of the day. Jackie didn't
make much progress today, still says she is in a lot of pain.
Wednesday, January 25th,
another stay at home day. I went down to the laundry here at the
park after lunch and did our laundry. After I got done I came back
home and did a couple of chores. Our friends Peggy and Vernon
Bullock, who went to Quartzsite for a week after the Indio rally
instead of coming here, arrived and parked next to us. We had
cocktails with the Babcock's and Bullock's at our coach at 5:30 and
about 7:00 Jackie served a great dinner of chili relleno with rice
and beans for the six of us. We had a great meal and about 8:00
everyone went back to their own coaches and we watched TV the rest of
the night.
Thursday, January 26th, the
Babcock's left early, about 8:00, and drove to Quartzsite for the
day. Jackie didn't feel like going anywhere because her leg still
hurt, so we just stayed home. I had to take the Babcock's dog,
Casey, for a couple of walks, and I did a few chores, but mostly we
just relaxed. At 5:30 we had cocktails with the Bullock's at our
coach. Ray and Suzie were tired from their trip, so they didn't come
over. After cocktails we cooked some burgers on the BBQ and had
dinner at our place. Peggy and Vernon left about 8:00 and we watched
TV until bedtime.
Friday, January 27th, we
left the coach about 9:00, once again headed 170 miles back to the
Coachella Valley for the follow up appointment with the orthopedic
center regarding Jackie's surgery. No rain on the trip today, so it
was pretty routine. Today Jackie saw the doctor's PA, who is much
more personable and helpful than the doctor was. He read the
doctor's surgical report and explained to Jackie that the reason she
was having more pain, and taking longer to heal than other people who
has talked to is that her surgery was more complex than normal. It
seems that in addition to having a larger than expected tear, her
meniscus was also folded under and had some other defects due to
arthritis. This resulted in the surgery requiring more moving the
knee around and just generally more trauma than normal. He suggested
exercise, gave her a prescription for a different pain medication,
and also gave her an order for physical therapy. We will get that
done in Yuma. After the doctor we stopped for lunch and then Jackie
got a haircut. We still were able to get back to the coach before
6:00. We didn't have any company as we were beat, but we had a
cocktail and relaxed with the TV the rest of the night.
Saturday, January 28th, we
went out after lunch and ran a few errands, including a trip to
Walmart. Jackie did pretty well walking around Walmart, although it
did start hurting towards the end. After we got home we relaxed a
bit and then went over to the Bullock's about 5:30 for cocktails and
dinner. Peggy made a pot of spaghetti sauce and we had a great
spaghetti meal. We stayed and talked until about 8:00 when we all
went back to our own coaches for the rest of the evening. Sunday
morning we had our usual coffee and Sunday paper. We had lunch in
the coach then left to drive to the Arizona Market Place, a big
weekend swap meet here in Yuma. We wanted to get Jackie to get some
exercise on her leg, but not enough to cause real pain. She was able
to walk two of the isles before she decided she had had enough. We
will do the others next weekend. After the Market place we did a
quick run to Fry's for a couple of things, then headed back to the
coach. On the way back we came across a flock of sheep that had been moved to field alongside the main highway, not an uncommon sight in winter here in Yuma. About 5:30 we went over to Peggy and Vernon's for cocktails
and to say hi to their Marine grandson Troy and his wife Makayla. He
is a sergeant stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma. We
visited for a half hour or so before leaving and going back home to
BBQ some chicken for dinner. After dinner we watched TV until
bedtime.
Monday, January 30th, we
went out after lunch to visit a physical therapy center here in the
Foothills area to set up an appointment for Jackie. Last Friday the
doctor gave her an order for six weeks of PT. After our visit there
we did two geocaches, our first caches in several weeks. Yea! We
then headed back to the coach and spent the rest of the day home. I
did a number of small chores around the coach and Jackie did a few
things inside. At 5:30 we had cocktails with the Bullock's and
Babcock's outside for the first time since we got here. It has
finally warmed up a bit and the wind died down, making it possible to
sit outside. Yea again! After cocktails everyone went back and had
dinner on their own and spent the rest of the evening at home.
Tuesday, January 31st, I was
out early, about 8:30, to pick up Vernon, who had to drop his Jeep
off at the dealer for some work. Jackie and I left again about
11:30, with the Bullock's, to go to lunch at another of our Yuma
eating spots, Chicken on the Run. As the name would imply, they
specialized in chicken. We mostly go there because a number of our
group love chicken livers and gizzards, which this place has in
abundance. The Babcock's met us there and the six of us had a good
lunch. The food has been slowly going downhill for the last few
years and for the most part, it wasn't much better today. Vernon
liked his fried chicken, and my Reuben sandwich was good, but the
livers and gizzards everyone else had were overcooked and not so
good. This may be the last time we go to this place. After lunch
the guys went back to the coaches for the afternoon and the girls
went out for pedi's. I did a couple of chores until the girl's got
back. We had cocktails outside with the group at 5:30 and then had
dinner on our own again. We then watched some TV until bedtime.
The end of January marks a good spot to
close out this chapter and get it published. We will be here in Yuma
until the first week of March, so we will publish again in about
three weeks. Until next time, I leave you with this suggestion. At
the end of the day shouldn't life ask us "Are you sure you want
to save the changes?” See ya soon.
