Hi there, welcome back to the story.
Our last chapter ended on Sunday, April 5th, while we were
still hunkered down in Yuma, Arizona, sheltering in place due to the
COVID19 pandemic. Monday was a chores day. Since we are grounded we
don't get to go out much, but I left the coach about 9:30 to make
another visit to the local Ford dealer. As most regular readers will
know, our car is a 2017 Ford C-Max, which is a plug-in hybrid. The
car comes with a 120 volt charger which plugs into a standard outlet
and then into the car. The commercial chargers you see in parking
lots are 240 volt models that charge the car twice as fast, but the
one that came with the car will do it in about 6 hours, so it works
overnight. At any rate, I have been noticing for the last couple
weeks that I was getting a red “fault” light on the charger. It
usually happened towards the end of the charge period and would reset
when I unplugged the charger and plugged it back in. I did some
research and learned that they had problems with the chargers in the
past overheating, so in 2016 they came out with a new model with a
device inside which would show a fault light if it started getting
too warm, and shut it off if the heating continued. I suspected that
this device was going bad, but it was intermittent. I went to the
dealer fully expecting that they would plug it in, see that it was
working, and say they couldn't do anything without seeing the
problem. I only wanted to get it on the official record that I had
seen a problem because the car's warranty is up at the end of this
year. To my surprise, the service consultant at Alexander Ford here
in Yuma listened and took both the car and charger into the shop and
said they would check it out.
It took two hours, during which I took
a little walk and got a nearby geocache. When the tech came out he
said that their tests had determined that the charger was indeed
going bad and they had ordered a new one under warranty. I was
impressed. They even washed the car. Great service. On the way
home I stopped and picked up a take and bake pizza for dinner, then
went back to the coach. We spent the rest of the day in, getting
some chores done around the coach. We had cocktails and then pizza
for dinner. After Peggy left we watched some TV and went to bed.
Tuesday, April 7th, we
decided we needed to get out of the house for a bit, so the three of
us drove southwest out of the Foothills and down to San Luis,
Arizona. San Luis is one of the three major border towns in Arizona,
the others being Nogales in Central Arizona, South of Tucson, and
Douglas in Eastern Arizona. The Mexican town on the other side is
San Luis Rio Colorado and is in the State of Sonora. We have never
been to San Luis because we don't like to go into the big Mexican
border cities. Algodones is just fine for us for Mexican visits.
San Luis is a fairly big town, almost 40,000 population, with almost
99 percent of the population Hispanic. San Luis Rio Colorado has a
population approaching 200,000. In keeping with our virus protection
protocols we just drove around town, doing some “drive by tourism”
in the area. The downtown ar
out in one of
the them. They got it knocked down pretty quickly. After driving
around San Luis we started back North towards Yuma, doing a little
geocaching in the farming area North of San Luis, near Somerton,
another small farming community. We were able to get ten new finds,
and one DNF in about an hour. One of the finds was number 9,800 for
us! Yea! We are on a quest to hit our 10K finds mark by end of this
year. Less than 200 to go! After caching we headed back to the
coach and spent the rest of the afternoon inside. We had cocktails
with Peggy and Belle, then had leftover ham and bean soup for dinner.
After dinner we went back to our coach and watched TV until bedtime. It was the night of the full moon and had we not been quarantined we might have gone out to the desert for the "howl at the moon"gathering. There is a country singer named Kelly Hughes who is from Idaho, but winters in Yuma. He puts on a free concert in the desert on the night of the full moon during most of the winter months. We have been to a couple and they are a lot of fun. It has been called a "rave for seniors" by some. However, with the virus scare they have been cancelled for the rest of this winter. We did get a picture of the moon coming up over the mountains.
Wednesday, April 8th,
another day in lockup. Today we woke up to a stormy, rainy day. It
rained on and off most of the day, sometimes pretty heavy with some
strong winds. I was chasing patio furniture all day. We didn't go
anywhere but did get a few things done around the coach. We had
cocktails with Peggy and Belle and then Jackie served a big pot of
clam chowder, which was great for the cool, wet day. After Peggy
went home we watched some TV and went to bed. Thursday was a quiet
day. No rain, but we were still grounded. Peggy and Jackie colored
each other's hair in the afternoon and I got some chores done. We
had cocktails with Peggy then dinner at our house. We had leftover
soups, a little bit of the ham and bean and some of the chowder.
After dinner Peggy went home and we watched TV until bedtime. Friday
we had another day of expected rain. We mostly stayed home and
dog-sat Belle because Peggy went out on a Jeep run with some friends
of hers. We did go out and do a Walmart run in the morning and then
did our laundry here at the RV park in the afternoon. Peggy got back
in time for cocktails and then after cocktails we had a nice dinner
of chicken curry that Jackie made. After Peggy went home we watched
TV and went to bed.
Saturday, April 11th, the
weather cleared again, although it was a little chilly. Although it
was another stay at home day, I did go out by myself briefly in the
morning to drive to the Ford dealer and pick up my new charger for
the car. The old one was having issues and they replaced it under
warranty. We spent another day in the house doing chores, today
cleaning out a couple more closets. We had cocktails with Peggy and
Belle, then did some chicken on the BBQ for dinner. After Peggy left
we watched TV until bedtime.
Sunday, April 12th, Happy
Easter. We had a stay at home holiday. Spent most of the day
relaxing. After our 5:00 happy hour I did two racks of ribs on the
BBQ for a non-traditional Easter dinner. The three of us had ribs,
coleslaw and baked beans for dinner and it was wonderful. After
dinner the girls played some cards, then after Peggy went home we
watched some TV and headed to bed. Monday we left the coach about
11:30 with Peggy and drove to the mall on the other end of town. We
went through the drive through at In N Out and picked up lunch, which
we had to eat in the car in the parking lot as the dining room was
closed. It was still a great lunch and the first outside food we
have had in a month. After lunch we drove to rural farming area
southwest of town to do some geocaching. We are fortunate that there
are a large number of geocaches in the rural areas. They are not
very challenging, mostly just caches for the numbers, but at least we
were outside on a nice day and not around any other people. In a
couple of hours we were able to score 20 new finds with no DNFs.
After caching we headed back home, stopping at KFC on the way to pick
up some more coleslaw. We had cocktails at 5:00 and then a repeat of
last night's dinner with leftover rib and some more beans and
coleslaw. The girls played some more cards, then Peggy went home and
we watched TV until bedtime.
Tuesday, April 14th, still
on lockdown. Had a stay at home day. Had cocktails at 5:00 and then
dinner for the three of us. I made a tuna casserole for us and it
was pretty good. After dinner the girls played some cards, then
Peggy went home and we watched TV until bedtime. Wednesday we had
another stay at home day for the most part. About 5:30 the three of
us left and drove to another RV park a couple of miles west to visit
with my brother Ken and his wife Susan, who had just come down to
Yuma from their home in Goodyear, Arizona, for a brief visit. Ken,
who is my youngest brother by 20 years, and Susan have been RVing for
about ten years now and have always told us that they want to go full
time as soon as they can retire. They just moved up from a mid-size
trailer to a 40 foot Newmar Kountry Star diesel pusher motor home.
They have only had it out a couple of times and wanted to take it on
a little longer trip to work out any bugs. We were anxious to see
it. When we got to the RV park we got a tour of the new coach. It
is about the same size as ours, and the exterior is similar, mostly
grey and silver. The interior is all tile and grey leather and the
coach has one of the new full length slides on the drivers side,
which really gives the impression of open space. They really have a
coach now that can accommodate an easy full time lifestyle. Susan
has a couple more years before she can retire, so they have time to
get into the rhythm of the motor home. We sat and talked for an
hour, but then left so they could rest after their travel day. They
will be here for about five days. After we got home we had dinner at
Peggy's, she made a chicken and linguine dish with a mushroom cream
sauce that was quite good. After dinner the girls played some cards,
then we went back to our coach and watched TV until bedtime.
Thursday, April 16th, we
went out after lunch with Peggy and did some more rural geocaching.
Again we were able to get 20 new finds, and no DNFs, in a couple of
hours. After caching we went back to the coach, did a few chores and
relaxed. We had cocktails at 5:00 and then did some pork chops on
the BBQ for dinner. After Peggy went home we watched TV and then
went to bed. Friday we stayed at home. Mid afternoon Ken and Susan
came over to spend the day with us. We sat outside and talked for
most of the afternoon and had an enjoyable time. At 5:00 we did
happy hour and then around 6:30 I did some burgers and brats on the
BBQ for dinner, along with beans, mac salad and coleslaw. Another
great dinner, although it got a little windy and cool towards the
end. Peggy went home after dinner and Ken and Susan came in our
coach and visited for another hour or so. After they left to go back
to their coach we watched a little TV, then went to bed.
Saturday, April 19th,
another day in lockdown. We had a quiet, stay at home day. Got a
few chores done, but mostly relaxed. We had cocktails with Peggy and
Belle, then Peggy served an Asian chicken dish for dinner. It was an
new recipe for her, but it came out pretty good. After dinner we
went back to our coach and watched TV until bedtime. Sunday Jackie
and I left the RV park after lunch, drove over to the park where Ken
and Susan are staying, and picked them up for an afternoon of
COVID-safe geocaching. We got Ken and Susan interested in
geocaching about seven or eight years ago and they are still caching.
We went in our car since they have a new Jeep Wrangler that is
lifted and setting on big tires, making it too high for Jackie to be
able to get in and out of easily. We drove to the farm country
southwest of Yuma and started caching. In a couple of hours we were
able to get 25 new finds, along with a couple of DNFs. After caching
we went back to the Foothills and dropped Ken and Susan off at their
coach. We went back to ours and after a little rest I drove to KFC
to pick up dinner for everyone. Ken and Susan drove over to our
place a little after 5:00 and we had happy hour and sat outside and
talked. About 6:30 we had dinner after which Peggy left and went
back to her place. Ken and Susan stayed and talked until about 8:30
when they left for home. We watched some TV and went to bed. Ken
and Susan are leaving to go home tomorrow. They actually have jobs!
Our plans are to go to Goodyear, Arizona, for a week after we leave
here in May, so we should see them again in just a few weeks.
Monday, April 20th, Happy
Anniversary to my brother Ken and his wife Susan on their 24th
anniversary. We had a stay at home and relax day. Didn't do much of
anything until happy hour. Drinks with Peggy and Belle, then dinner
at Peggy's. She made a cheese and sausage pasta dish that was very
good. Had a nice meal and went back to our coach about 8:00. We
watched a little TV and went to bed. Tuesday was another shelter in
place day. Stayed in and around the coach all day. Had our usual
happy hour and then dinner at our place for the three of us. Jackie
made pasta and calamari in a cream sauce. Very good dinner. The
girls played some cards, Peggy went home and we watched TV until
bedtime.
Wednesday, April 22nd, we
needed to get out of the house, so about 10:00 the three of us got in
our car and drove East to Wellton, a small farming community in
Eastern Yuma County. It was only 23 miles from the RV park, but it
was a rural, desert community with about 3,000 population. We did
some geocaching there, getting eleven new finds in a couple hours.
We had lunch at a Jack in the Box drive through, did a little
sightseeing, then by 1:30 we were headed back over the mountains to
the Yuma Foothills area. We were back home by 2:00 and relaxed for
the rest of the day. We had cocktails at 5:00 and leftover pasta for
dinner at Peggy's house. After we got home we watched TV and went to
bed. Thursday was a stay at home day. Did a few chores but mostly
relaxed. Jackie made chili relleno for dinner. After dinner we
watched TV and went to bed.
Friday, April 24th, we left
the coach about 9:00 with Peggy and drove to Sam's Club to do some
shopping. We wanted to get there early to beat the crowds and also
the heat. The triple digit temperatures are starting this week in
Yuma. We got our supplies and headed for home. After we got the car
unloaded we stayed in for the rest of the day. We had cocktails with
Peggy and Belle, then had left over chili relleno for dinner. After
Peggy went home we watched some TV and then went to bed. Saturday
was mostly a stay at home day. We did go out to Frys after lunch to
do some shopping, but other than that we stayed in for the day. We
had cocktails at 5:00, then did some steaks on the BBQ for dinner.
The girls played some cards and then after Peggy left we watched some
TV and went to bed.
Sunday, April 26th, was
another stay at home day. Today was the hottest day yet, about 103,
so we stayed in except for our morning walk. We had cocktails with
Peggy and Belle, then did some hamburgers on the BBQ for dinner.
After Peggy left we watched TV and went to bed. Today marks another
three week mark for the blog, so it is time to close it out and get
it published. Until next time, stay safe and pray we can all start
to enjoy whatever we like to do again soon. See ya.
