Hi friends, welcome back. Our last
chapter ended on Sunday, February 18th as we ended the
last day of our month long stay in Pahrump, Nevada. Monday, February
19th, was a travel day. We got an early start, heading
out about 9:30, for our 230 mile trip south from Pahrump to Parker,
Arizona. Not only was it a fairly long trip, we also lost an hour
when we go into Arizona. To top it off, it was a pretty windy day,
which made for a long, tiring trip. We arrived at the Parker Elks
Lodge about 3:30 local time and got set up for a one night stay.
About 5:00 we left the coach and went to a local Mexican restaurant
called El Serape. We had been here once before with Peggy and Vernon
about four years ago and remembered the food being good. We weren't
disappointed, the food was very good. After dinner we went back to
the coach, watched a little TV and went to bed.
Tuesday, February 20th, we
packed up and left Parker about 10:30 and continued south to Yuma,
Arizona, about 120 miles. We made a fuel stop at the outskirts or
town, then arrived at the Carefree Village RV Resort around 1:00. We
quickly got checked in and parked in our site for our month long
stay. We are right next door to our friends Peggy and Vernon
Bullock, and just a few sites down from Ray and Suzi Babcock and
Clark and Judy McKay. We have been in Yuma for the last five or six
winters with this group. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting
settled in and set up. We had 5:00 happy hour with our group, which
is the norm when we stay here. About 6:30 the whole group had dinner
in the Babcock's coach with some ham and bean soup that Ray had made.
We also had corn bread and salad. We stayed and talked until about
8:30 when we went back to our coach, watched a little TV and went to
bed.
Wednesday, February 21st, we
left the coach after lunch and went to the laundry to do clothes.
After we were done with laundry we did a Walmart run, then went back
to the coach and put everything away. We again had cocktails with
the group at 5:00, then later had dinner with the Bullock's in their
coach. Peggy made her penne pasta dish, which I love. The Babcock's
went out to dinner, and the McKays went to play bingo at the park.
We talked with the Bullock's until about 8:30, then went back to our
place, watched a little TV and went to bed. Thursday we woke up to a
real wind storm. I had to take down the flags and put the awnings
up. About 2:00 we drove over to a place in the foothills, a
Friday, February 23rd, we
left the coach about noon and drove to the Foothills area and our
favorite little street taco stand, Las Cositas. We have been coming
here for years and they make the best street tacos in Yuma. Vernon
had gone to Algodones, Mexico for some dental work, so Peggy went
with us for lunch. After lunch we ran a couple of errands, then went
back to the coach and stayed in for the rest of the day. I got some
chores done around the coach and at 5:00 we had cocktails with the
group, minus the McKay's who had driven home in their car for a few
days to attend a funeral. After cocktails we and the Bullock's
cooked some burgers on the BBQ and had a nice dinner. Peggy and
Vernon left around 7:30 and we watched TV until bedtime.
Saturday, February 24th, we
left the coach about 11:00 and drove to downtown Yuma for the Lettuce
Days street fair. Turned out to be not such a big deal, mostly food
vendors and community services booths. We walked around in about 15
minutes, then went into Da Boyz Pizza for lunch. We shared a pizza
and had a great lunch. After lunch we went to the mall to do some
shopping. We went to the Verizon store first and upgraded our Mifi
wireless wifi device. We have had our old one about five years or so
and it was not as strong as it used to be. We then went to Kohl's so
Jackie could get a new purse. After our shopping we headed back to
the coach and stayed in for the rest of the afternoon. At 5:00 the
group was together again for cocktails. By 7:00 everyone was gone
and we watched TV until bedtime.
Sunday, February 25th, we
left the coach about 11:30 and drove to the Daybreakers Cafe, one of
our favorite eating spots here in Yuma. I guess it is technically a
truck stop, since it is at the Flying J truck stop, but it has great
food. We had lunch with Peggy and Vernon and Ernie and Andi. After
lunch we went to the Arizona Market Place, which is the big outdoor
sale place. It is not really a swap meet since everything there is
new, but it is a whole bunch of individual booths selling just about
anything you might want. We got a few things, a couple shirts and
some RV supplies. After the swap meet we went back to the coach and
rested for a while before leaving again around 5:00 and going to a
place called the Eatery, another bar and restaurant, where we met our
gang from Pahrump for karaoke and dinner. We had some drinks, a
light dinner and listened to karaoke. It was a long rotation, so I
only got to do two songs. Our friends Dick and Millie, Len and
Debbie, and Linda and CJ were all there. It was a fun night and we
got back home around 9:00. We watched a little TV and then went to
bed.
Monday, February 26th, we
had a mostly stay at home day. I got some chores and repairs done,
including installing a new power cord on the motor home, turning the
old cord into a 50 amp extension cord, and changing the water
filters. About 5:30 we left the coach with Peggy and Vernon in our
car and drove to Mi Rancho Mexican restaurant and met the Babcock's
and the McKays for dinner. We were all there to celebrate Ray's 70th
birthday! We had a great meal, with wonderful service and had a good
celebration. After dinner we went back to the coach and then all
gathered in Ray and Suzi's coach for an after dinner drink. By 9:00
we were back in our coach where we watched some TV before going to
bed.
Tuesday, February 27th, we
left the coach about quarter after one to take Peggy to her radiation
treatment near the hospital. Vernon was still down in Mexico getting
some extensive dental work done and Peggy didn't have a car. We
dropped Peggy off at the clinic and then we did a few nearby
geocaches, getting two new finds and one DNF. We picked Peggy up and
went back to the coach. At 5:00 we had happy hour with the group in
the Babcock's coach. After happy hour we went to the Bullock's coach
and we did some pork chops on the BBQ for the four of us. We had a
great dinner and were back in our coach about 8:00 where we relaxed
and watched TV for the rest of the evening.
Wednesday, February 28th, my
brother Russ's birthday. Happy Birthday Bro! We left the coach
about noon and went to the taco stand for lunch again. After lunch
we did some shopping at Frys, took that stuff home and put it away,
then went to Walmart for some more stuff. After shopping we hung
around the coach until happy hour, then went to the Babcock's for
cocktails. About 6:30 we went back to our coach, had a light dinner,
then watched TV the rest of the evening. We watched a CD of the new
movie, The Shape of Water, which is an Oscar contender. It was a
kind of fantasy/sci-fi romance that was odd, but interesting and
captivating. I think I actually liked it better than Jackie did. I
think it will win a lot of awards next Sunday.
Thursday, March 1st, was
mostly a stay at home day. We got a few chores done and relaxed.
About 3:30 we left the coach in the Bullock's Jeep and headed out to
the desert just east of the Foothills area for another Howl at the
Moon party. Regular readers will remember that we discovered this
interesting Yuma tradition last year. There is a country music
singer by the name of Kelly Hughes who is from Idaho and spends much
of the year up there doing shows for a living. He and some of his
band come south for the winter and he has been coming to Yuma for
of hours. When the full moon comes over the mountain everyone howls, then the party winds down. Last year we came alone, this year the Bullock's wanted to come. They had a great time too. By 7:30 we were back at the coach and watched TV until bedtime.
Friday, March 2nd, I left
the coach about 10:00 and drove Vernon to his physical therapy
session in the foothills. Peggy had their car at her radiation
treatment. I went back to the coach and got cleaned up and then
around 11:30 we left again and drove to Mr. Fish, a great fish and
chips place in the Foothills, to meet Peggy and Vernon for lunch.
After lunch we drove around a little, looking for a geocache that we
couldn't get because it had been disabled in the last few days. We
went back to the coach and I did some chores in the afternoon. About
3:15 we left with the Bullock's and drove over to the south side of
Yuma for the annual classic car cruise that is part of the weekend
long Midnight at the Oasis Car Show. We have been to this Friday
night cruise now for about six straight years. There are several
hundred cars that participate, the police block off part of 
the
street and the cars parade by on their way to the park where the car
show is. The new Elks Lodge is right on the cruise route, so we park
in their lot and set up chairs on the street. The Babcock's and the
McKays were also out there with us. The cruise was fun, lots of fun
cars to look at and listen to. The cruise was over a little after
six and the eight of us went into the Elks lodge for dinner. We have
done dinners here in the Elks for about three years running now and
always had a great meal. Tonight it was a disaster. The waiter was
very nice, but totally inept. All the orders came out wrong, a lot
of the food was cooked poorly, either over or under, the drinks were
watered down, the whole meal was sub par. This will be our last
after cruise meal at the Elks. After dinner we drove back home and
then watched some TV before heading to bed.
Saturday, March 3rd, was
another stay at home day. We got a few chores done, and Jackie spent
a couple of hours working on making sushi for a get together tonight.
Around 5:00 our group of four couples were joined by our friends
Dick and Millie, and Peggy and Vernon's friends Barb and Don, for a
heavy snacks pot luck. Jackie provided some really good sushi and we
had meatballs and other great snacks from the other folks. Although
the weather was great when we started the wind came up about 6:00 and
cut the evening short. Some of us had cocktails in the Bullock's
coach, but we were all done by 8:00. We went back to our coach and
watched another Oscar contender movie, Three Billboards out of
Ebbing, Missouri. I thought this was an excellent movie, although it
had a very harsh portrayal of small town police. I will say it was
riveting and Francis McDormand should certainly win an Oscar for her
portrayal of a grieving mother.
Sunday, March 4th, we left
the coach after lunch to go out and run some errands. We drove to
the west side of Yuma and stopped first at a discount liquor store
near the barrio area. A few years ago we bought some Three Olives
vodka here at a really good price. Three Olives is excellent vodka
and they again had it on sale for $12.99 for the big bottle, a dollar
less than we can get the house brand at Sam's or Costco. You had to
buy a case of six, but that's how we buy the Costco, so no big deal.
We then stopped at Food City for some groceries, and got some
marinaded carne asada and chicken for a cookout later in the week.
We then went to Sam's club and picked up a few things we needed.
After our shopping we stopped at Micheal's so Jackie could look for
some crafty things she needed, then we went home. About 5:00 we had
cocktails with the group. Happy hour ended early, by 6:30 because
all the women wanted to get home for the Oscars. Jackie watched the
whole thing closely, I watched bits and pieces. At least one of the
movies we have seen won Best Picture, Shape of Water, and the
supporting actor and lead actress awards also went for performances
we have seen. After the Oscars we watched a little Saturday Night
Live, then went to bed.
Monday, March 5th, a very
sad day for us. We spent most of the day around the house, but a
little after 2:00 we took our old cat Smokey to the vet to have him
put to sleep. Smokey came into our lives in the spring of 2000 when
we still lived in a real house in Indio, California. I was the
manager of a large homeowner's association at the Desert Princess
Country Club in Cathedral City. My security people came in one day
with a trap that they had put out trying to catch some racoons that
were causing problems. Instead, they caught four feral kittens about
six or seven weeks old. They were all the usual wild and mean feral
cats except for the fuzzy gray one. He would let people pick him up
and hold him and he loved his forehead rubbed. I have always been a
cat person, so I told the staff I was going to take him in. I
surprised Jackie when I drove over at lunch and said, “meet our new
cat.” Since he was all gray we named him Smokey. We took him to
the vet who checked him out, said he seemed to be in good health with
no bugs or issues. We took him back a few weeks later to be neutered
and then again a few weeks after that to have his front claws
removed. Both of our existing cats were declawed in the front.
Other than going out in a carrier for the occasional vet visit Smokey
was never outside.
Smokey got along OK with our two other,
older cats, both female. They weren't buddies, but they tolerated
each other and shared cat boxes OK. By the time we sold the house
and bought our motor home in 2005 the two original cats had passed on
and we had Smokey, who was five, and Fuzzy, who was about 15. We had
taken him in when my dad died in 2002 and my mother had to go to a
nursing home. Fuzzy died in 2006 and Smokey was the only cat until
2012 when we got Benji. Smokey loved the motor home and never showed
any interest in going outside. He didn't like it when we were
driving the coach, but once we parked he was right at home, up in the
windows enjoying the life. About a year and a half ago we noticed
that Smokey was going blind. I think he could see light and shadow,
but that was about it. It didn't stop him from wandering the coach
since he had lived in it for over ten years and had the layout
memorized. About six months ago he started losing weight and got
very skinny. In 2009 we had to take him to the vet for a health
certificate because we were going to be in Canada. At that time he
weighed over 17 pounds. He was a big Maine Coon mix with beautiful,
soft medium length fur. About a week ago he stopped eating and
became very unstable. He was still drinking a little water, but we
could tell he was not doing well. We made the appointment for the
vet for today back last Wednesday, and we really expected that he
wouldn't live long enough to go to the vet. He surprised us. When
we took him in today they weighed him and he was 4.2 pounds, all skin
and bones. He was one month shy of being 18 years old, the oldest
living cat I have ever owned. The vet agreed that he had reached the
end of life phase. We said our goodbyes and the vet took him away.
We didn't want to be with him at the end and didn't want the body or
the ashes. He will be cremated and sprinkled in the desert. Goodbye
Smokey, we love you and will miss you.
We drove back to the coach, had a good
cry, and stayed in the rest of the afternoon. We did have cocktails
with the group and they were very supportive in our unhappiness. We
even got a kitty sympathy card from Clark and Judy. Peggy made
meatloaf and all the fixings and the group had dinner in their coach.
We went back to our coach after dinner and watched another of the
Oscar movies, Get Out. I thought it was a very odd movie, although
Jackie said she liked it. A lot of symbolism and obscure references
to racism. I guess that's the reason it was considered by the
Oscars. After the movie we went to bed.
Tuesday, March 6th, we left
the coach about 11:00 and drove to downtown Yuma for the weekly
street fair. It is no where near as big as it used to be, about two
blocks worth of booths, but we enjoyed it. I bought some mix to make
salsa and Jackie bought a blouse. I also picked up an old copy of a
book about the Texas Rangers for Vernon. He likes old west stuff and
history stuff and this one was both. After we did the booths we went
into Lutes Casino, an old downtown restaurant, and had lunch with
Clark and Judy, who had also come down to the street fair. After
lunch we walked through a few antique stores before heading back to
the coach. We stopped at Walmart on the way home for some supplies.
At 5:00 we had cocktails with the group and by 7:00 or so we were in
the coach watching TV. Tonight we watched The Big Sick, another of
the Oscar movies. This was a fairly standard romantic comedy, with a
lot of comedy because many of the stars were also comics. I enjoyed
the movie, although it was not Oscar material in my opinion. After
the movie we watched some regular TV then went to bed.
Wednesday, March 7th, we
left the coach about 12:30 and went to do our laundry. By 3:00 we
were back home and had everything put away. At 5:00 we had happy
hour with the group and about 6:30 we and the Bullock's were in our
coach and we had a nice dinner of chicken and beef carne on the BBQ
along with all the Mexican fixings. We had a really nice dinner and
by about 8:30 we were alone with the TV. We watched another of the
Oscar movies, Lady Bird. It was a very nice “coming of age”
story about a teenage girl growing up in Sacramento, California.
Nothing spectacular, but good acting and a nice story. After the
movie we watched a little regular TV then went to bed.
Thursday, March 8th, we left
the coach about 10:30 and went out with the Bullock's in their Jeep
to do some geocaching. We drove east, over the mountain range, to
the little town of Wellton, Arizona. There are a bunch of geocaches
out that way and we hadn't gotten any of them. We spent about three
hours caching and ended up with 16 new finds and no DNFs, our best
caching day in many months. In between caching we stopped at a
little cafe in Wellton called Chuck's Stage Stop for lunch. It was a
small town cafe with very good food. We all had Ruben sandwiches and
they were excellent. We were back at the coach by a little after
4:00. We had cocktails with the group at 5:00 and then the eight of
us gathered in the Babcock's coach for a dinner of shrimp curry. The
food was very good and we had a great dinner. By about 8:00 we were
back in our coach where we watched TV until bedtime. We watched
another of the Oscar movies, this time it was I Tonya, the story of
Olympic ice skater Tonya Harding. The acting was very good, although
the story was a real tragedy. Tonya had a horrible mother and the
whole story revolved around her relationships with her mother and
boyfriend/husband.
Friday, March 9th, the
local guy that we are having re-cover our sofa came at 9:30 and
picked up the couch. For the next week and half or so we will have
to use a lawn chair in the living room. We left the coach after
lunch and went out to run some errands. We first went to the Arizona
Marketplace and walked around for a couple hours. We bought a few
little things, nothing major. After the Marketplace we stopped at
Sam's Club again to exchange a pair of jeans that I had bought on
Monday that didn't fit like I wanted. We also bought some meat that
they didn't have when we were there Monday. We then went to Kohl's
and shopped for an hour or so. Jackie had a bunch of coupons and
emails from Kohl's with discounts and we ended up getting two shirts
for Jackie and one for me that had a total list price of over $70.
With the sale prices and all the discounts factored in we paid just
under $17. Yea, score! After Kohl's we went back to the coach and
put everything away. At 5:00 we had cocktails with the group, then
about 6:30 we went back to our coach and Jackie made chili relleno
for us and the Bullock's. We had a great dinner and talked until
about 8:30, after which we watched some TV then went to bed.
Saturday, March 10th, we got
up early because our plan was for us and the Bullock's to drive about
80 miles east on I-10 to El Centro, California, for the annual air
show. This old Naval Air base is the winter home for the Blue Angels
flight demonstration team and they always do the first show of their
season there. When we still had the house in Indio we used to drive
down almost every April. However, when we got up it was overcast and
sprinkling and the weather for El Centro was the same. After some
discussion we decided to not go since none of us wanted to be outside
in the rain watching airplanes. We did drive with the Bullock's to
the Day Breakers truck stop for breakfast and then went back to the
coach for the day. It sprinkled on and off for much of the day, but
by happy hour it had cleared up. We had cocktails with the group and
then had a nice dinner at the McKay's, with Clark providing a big
batch of BBQ tri tip as the main course. We had a great dinner, then
went back to our coach and watched the last of the available Oscar
movies, tonight being Darkest Hour, the story of Winston Churchill's
ascension to Briton's Prime Minister during the early years of WW-II.
This was not Jackie's kind of movie, but I enjoyed it and I could
see why Gary Oldman got best actor for his portrayal of Churchill.
After the movie we watched a little TV then went to bed.
Sunday, March 11th, was a
stay at home day. I got a number of small chores done around the
house, as did Jackie. We had cocktails with the group at 5:00 and
then watched TV for the rest of the night. Monday was a caching day
for us. We went out and did a bunch of caches in the farming area
south of the Marine Corps base and were able to get 37 new finds, and
no DNFs, in about three and a half hours. Our best afternoon of
caching in a long time. We had cocktails with the group at 5:00 and
then everyone was on their own for dinner.
Tuesday, March 13th, my son
Roy Jr.'s birthday. We left the coach about 9:30 and drove to
Algodones, Mexico, for the day. We did a little shopping and got our
teeth cleaned and examined. After the dentist we went to lunch at El
Alamo, one of our favorite local restaurants. We met our friends Dick
and Millie there. We had a nice lunch, then shopped for another hour
or so before heading back across the border. The line today was
quite short, only about 15, 20 minutes at the most. At 5:00 we had
happy hour and then the group had dinner, tonight's main course being
Ray's taco salad. It was great, as always, and we had a good time.
By 8:00 we were in our coach watching TV until bedtime.
Wednesday, March 14th, we
went out after lunch to run some errands. Our first stop was in a
vacant lot across the street from the Marine Corps Base. The morning
paper had posted an article that the Blue Angels demonstration team
was going to do a “fly by” of the Marine base at five minutes
before 2:00. We got there about ten minutes early and took up
position along with several hundred other cars. Right on time we
spotted the six plane diamond formation approaching from the west.
They swung around the south side of the base and came right up along
the runway at about a thousand feet elevation, decorative smoke on.
We got some good pictures. They only made the one pass, which was,
according to the paper, a “thank you” for inviting them to the
MCAS Yuma Air Show this coming weekend. They couldn't make it, but
on their way from El Centro to Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, the
site of their next show, they did the fly by here. Yea! After the
fly by we drove downtown to the NAPA auto parts store so I could buy
an air cleaner for the coach. They had to order th.
Since then we drove 1133 miles on 10.6 gallons of gas, for an average
MPG of 114.7. Gotta love this car! We headed back to the Foothills
and I dropped Jackie off at the nail salon for a pedi and I went to a
local auto glass place to get an estimate on tinting the windows on
the new car. For what ever reason it didn't have any tint on the
windows, despite being a top of the line model. After talking to the
auto place and making an appointment for Friday, I went to Walmart
and did some shopping. After I was done there I went and picked up
Jackie and we headed back to the coach. At 5:00 we had happy hour
with the group and after cocktails everyone was on
it for pick up tomorrow. We then went by Sam's Club to put gas in the car. This is only the second
time we have put gas in the new car since we bought it in late December. The last full up was January 8
Thursday, March 15th, we
left the coach about noon and drove downtown to go to the movies. We
went to see Annihilation staring Natalie Portman. It was a sci fi
mystery story that was very interesting, and visually beautiful, but
really kept you thinking. I thought it was a very good movie. After
the film we went back to the coach and relaxed for a bit. At 5:00 we
had happy hour with the group and then we all had leftover tri tip
sandwiches, with cole slaw and some other goodies. I made up some au
jus so we could have French dip sandwiches. We ate and talked until
about 8:00, after which we went back to our coach and watched TV the
rest of the night. Friday morning I was up and out by 8:30 to take
the car to the auto glass place to get the windows tinted. It took
until noon, but they did a good job. The tinting really makes the
car look nice and it will be cooler inside too. After they were done
I picked up Jackie and we went to our taco stand for some tacos. We
then did a quick Walmart run and went back to the coach for the rest
of the afternoon. At 5:00 we had cocktails and then around 6:30 or
so we did hamburgers on the grill. We had a fire pit to take off the
chill while we ate. Our whole group was there and we had burgers,
beans, cole slaw and veggies. It was another great dinner and by
8:00 we were done and back in our coach for the rest of the night.
Saturday, March 17th, Happy
St. Patrick's Day, the day everyone is Irish. About 8:30 Ray, Clark
and I went to the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station for the annual air
show. The girls had no interest and decided to stay home. It took
about an hour in traffic to finally get on the base and parked. We
then spent about four hours walking around, looking at military
equipment and aircraft, visiting vendor booths and booths set up by
the various squadrons represented in the displays. I got a couple of
tee shirts, including one from VMA-214, the Black Sheep. This
squadron is currently based here in Yuma and flies the AV-8 Harrier
jet. Back in 1969 the squadron was based at MCAS El Toro where I was
a Marine Sergeant and the supervisor in the radar shop that fixed the
radars on VMA-214's planes. At that time they were flying A-4
Skyhawk jets. We also watched some really cool flying demos
including the new FA-35B, the new vertical take off and landing jet
for the military which will eventually replace the Harriers. They
also flew the MV-22 Osprey vertical take off and landing transport
plane, and one of the Harriers. We had a really good time and left
the base about 1:00 or so and went back to the RV park. We didn't
stay for the flight demonstration team, which was a private, civilian
unit flying little jets. We would have stayed had it been the Blue
Angels or the Air Force Thunderbirds.
Since it was St. Patrick's day everyone
planned a big corn beef and cabbage feast for this evening. Three of
us, including me, were cooking corn beef and cabbage all day in slow
cookers. We all got together at 5:00 for cocktails and had a good
time. Our friends Millie and Dick also came over. However, about
6:15 the winds picked up to a horrible level and we ended up
canceling the group meal outside. We went in our coach with just
Dick and Millie and the other six went into the Babcock's coach for
dinner. We had a very nice dinner with Dick and Millie, but missed
everyone else too. They left around 8:00, after which we cleaned up
and then watched some TV until bedtime.
Sunday, March 18th, the
winds, which blew all night long, finally died at daybreak. We left
the coach about 11:00 and went to the Arizona Market Place for one
last look before we leave Yuma. Bought a couple of small things that
were on sale. Other than that we had pretty much a stay at home day.
Got a few chores done and did some relaxing. We had cocktails with
the group at 5:00 and then we had dinner with Peggy and Vernon.
Peggy made a Mexican style casserole with a bunch of left over stuff
she had. By 8:00 we were back in our place watching TV. Monday we
were up early and on the road back to Algodones, Mexico by 9:00.
Today we were going down to get eye exams and new glasses. We got
our eye exams and ordered our glasses, then went around and did some
shopping. We also got one geocache in Mexico, our first down there
in a few years. About noon we met the McKay's and Babcock's at one
of the Mexican restaurants and we had a very nice, long lunch with
lots of beer and margaritas. After lunch we went and picked up our
new glasses, did a little more shopping and then got in line to come
back to the U.S. The line took about an hour, but we were back home
by about 3:30. I had cocktails with the group at 5:00, Jackie was
tired and stayed in. Since we had such a big lunch we didn't have
dinner, just watched some TV and went to bed early.
Tuesday, March 20th, the
first day of Spring! Yea! We left the coach around 11:00 and drove
downtown to the farmer's market. After the market we met the McKay's
and Bullock's at Da Boyz pizza for lunch. We all had pizza and had a
very nice lunch. After lunch we ran some errands, stopping at a
couple of stores so Jackie could pick up a few things. We dropped
some stuff off at the Salvation Army and stopped at the Humane
Society to drop off a dozen cans of squishy cat food. The squishy
stuff was Smokey's thing until he got so sick he stopped eating.
Benji has no interest, so we thought we would donate it to the
shelter. After our errands we went back to the coach and relaxed
until happy hour. We had happy hour with the group, but no meal. We
had some leftover pizza while we watched TV, then went to bed.
Wednesday, March 21st, our
last full day in Yuma this year. For lunch Jackie went with Peggy
and the Babcock's to a sushi restaurant. I am not too big on sushi,
so I went with the McKay's to Mr. Fish in the foothills. I had the
shrimp and chips basket and it was very good. Just before we left
for lunch the upholsterer delivered our re-covered couch. The fabric
looks good, the craftsmanship of the upholstery leaves a little to be
desired. Some of the folds are not real good and the fabric is a
little loose in places. Since it is our last day we didn't have a
whole lot of choice and it really does look a lot better than it did
before. It took me an hour or more to get the couch secured to the
slide because I had trouble finding the right holes for the screws.
I finally got it done and then spent another couple hours cleaning up
all the outside stuff and putting stuff away in preparation for our
departure tomorrow.
The Bullock's are traveling with us
tomorrow and when Vernon went to start his coach this afternoon the
batteries were dead. His coach batteries are OK, but the engine
batteries died. They are the original batteries and he has a 2006
coach, so I guess he got his monies worth out of them. He had one of
the local RV service guys come out and they replaced the batteries.
We had cocktails with the group, but no dinner. Peggy and Vernon
came over to our coach after happy hour and we had some time with
just the four of us. We will be traveling together tomorrow and for
the next couple of weeks. The Babcock's and the McKay's are staying
in Yuma another week and then going to their homes. After Peggy and
Vernon left we watched some TV and then went to bed.
Thursday, March 22nd,
another travel day. Another problem for the Bullock's today. One of
their slides wouldn't come in. It was just dead. They had the motor
replaced last month by one of the local RV service guys, so they
called him. He came out and found the problem was a loose connector
on the motor. Oops. We got everything packed up and left around
10:30 and the Bullock's were close behind. We were going 175 miles
from Yuma to Casa Grande, actually an RV park in Arizona City, which
is just outside of Casa Grande. The Bullock's had to stop for fuel
before leaving Yuma, but they caught up to us just before we got to
our destination, the High Chaparral RV Park. We are going to be here
for three nights before heading up to Prescott, Arizona. We got in
about 2:30 and by 4:00 we were set up and relaxing. Peggy and Vernon
are parked right next to us. We had cocktails with them and Peggy
made dinner with the Mexican casserole leftovers from a few days
back. After dinner we watched some TV and went to bed.
Our departure from Yuma is a good place
to close out this chapter and get it online. We will be spending the
next month in various places in Central Arizona, Casa Grande,
Prescott, Camp Verde, Ehrenberg, and Lake Havasu City. Until next
time, and as the new Spring begins, I leave you with the words of the
late, great, Robin Williams. “Spring
is nature’s way of saying, "Let’s party!"” Party ON!
See ya soon.
