Finally Moving again - Along I-10 from the Phoenix Area to the Coachella Valley

Hi there, welcome back. Our last episode ended on Tuesday, May 12^th when we finally left Yuma, Arizona after a record setting four month stay. We didn't go far, and didn't change climates much, heading 153 miles northeast to Goodyear, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. Wednesday we went out in the late morning, stopped at a Chick-Fil-A for lunch, then did a Walmart run. After our supply run we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the day inside. About 5:30 my brother Ken and his wife Susan came over for a visit. They live in Goodyear, just a couple miles from the RV park. Although they still work, they are going out tomorrow with their new, 40 foot diesel pusher motorhome, for a weekend trip with friends. We sat and talked and had some pizza for dinner. They left around 8:00 and we watched some TV and went to bed.

Thursday, May 14^th, there was a cool front moving though the area so the forecast temps for today were in the low 90's, so we decided to do some geocaching. We left the coach about 12:30 and went out caching. Some of the first caches were in residential areas and then we moved out into the more rural farming and desert areas. We are working this year to get to 10,000 finds by the end of the year and wanted to get number 9900 today. We got to 9897 with eleven new finds and three DNFs, when bad luck struck. Most of our finds were just off the road, so we were parking on the shoulder to get the caches. On the last one we picked up something in the left front tire, because I no sooner pulled away from the cache when the “low tire” warning light came on. It only took a minute for the car to start to feel spongy, so I pulled over onto the shoulder of County 85, which many years ago was U.S. 80 and led from Yuma to Phoenix, way before the freeway. Now it is just a connector road, although it is fairly busy. I checked the tire and it was FLAT. Now, our car is a hybrid with a giant battery under the back area of the car, where the spare tire is normally kept, so it doesn't have a spare tire at all. You get a small 12 volt pump that has a bottle of “fix a flat” gunk that you can pump into a tire. After pumping half a bottle into the tire and not seeing any change I did a closer exam and found that there was a very large piece of metal stuck in the tread of the tire which made a very large hole that the gunk couldn't begin to seal.

So, on the phone to AAA. Of course, AAA doesn't have contract people that do roadside tire replacement or repair, it is strictly a service to bring gas, jump start the car, or tow you. I talk to the AAA service rep, he gets our location, determines the nearest tow service they have under contract, and tell me they are sending him. He is from Buckeye, the next town down the road, but the AAA guy tells me it could take 90 minutes. He then talks to me about where he should tell the driver the car is being towed to. I tell him I have a flat tire that probably can't be fixed, so I need a tire store where I can buy a new tire and have it put on. He tells me that there are a number of tire stores in Goodyear, but they are all more than five miles away, the maximum for free towing with AAA. I say I don't care, I just need to go to a tire store and if I have to pay some I have to pay some. He then comes back and tells me, “Oh, there is a Goodyear AAA Service Center located 9.9 miles from your location. If you get towed to a AAA owned service center the maximum towing is extended to ten miles, so it would be no charge.” I said fine, whatever, I just need a tire. Now he tells me that because of the COVID crisis there rules do not permit anyone to ride with the tow truck to the service center and that we need to provide our own transportation. He didn't seem to care how we did it, only that we couldn't go with the car. Then it was thank you and goodbye. Piss poor service.

In a couple minutes I get a call from the tow truck driver. He is very nice, tells me where he is, which is in downtown Buckeye, and that he is on the way and will be there in 15 minutes. He then told me that when he received the call from AAA they told him the car was going to the AAA Service Center in Goodyear and he asked me what the problem was. When I told him I needed a new tire he said, “well, that AAA Service Center is just a repair facility, they don't sell or repair tires at all.” He then told a story about a recent tow for AAA involving a flat tire where they convinced the car owner to take the car to the AAA center too. When he dropped that car off the owner went in and learned they didn't to anything with tires he was pissed. He got more pissed when the tow driver had to tell him that the AAA service was one pick up, one drop off. If he needed the car towed somewhere else he would have to pay the full price of the tow. The tow driver then offered me several alternatives, one of which was a Firestone Tire store a half block from the AAA service center. I called the store and determined they were open, would be for another couple hours, and had the right tire in stock. When the tow truck arrived I told the driver to take us to the Firestone store.

The driver, Kevin was very nice and the tow truck was a rollback type with the flatbed rather than a tow hook, which was nice because those hooks can screw up newer cars with all their plastic bumpers and body work. He loaded the car and told us he had no problem with us riding with him, that he never would leave a customer standing on the side of the road in 100 degree heat with no ride. We went to the Firestone store, got a new tire and were on our way by 5:30. What could have been a very bad situation turned out to be just a temporary inconvenience and we got everything taken care of. Needless to say, I am very unhappy with AAA because it was clear that the reps only motive was to get me to a AAA owned facility, because he probably gets a commission for getting a customer. He didn't care that the center couldn't take care of my problem, and didn't care how we got home. I won't be renewing with AAA after 30 years as a member. After we got the tire we went home, had a cocktail and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Friday, May 15^th, Happy Birthday to my lovely bride Jackie! We left the coach about 10:00 and headed towards Flagstaff with the car. About a year ago my son Roy Jr. sold his condo and bought an older 36 foot motorhome and went on the road. A few months ago he got a job as a host at a National Forest Service campground at Lake Mary, about 20 miles south of Flagstaff. For a while he was afraid it all might fall through because of the COVID thing, but last week he called and told me that he was moving in to his site at Lake Mary because the Forest Service was opening everything up in mid May. Since we were in the area we decided to drive up and see him. Since it was about 180 miles from Goodyear to Lake Mary, we decided to make a weekend of it and got a hotel reservation in Flagstaff for Friday night. We got into Flagstaff about 12:30 and stopped at a fast food restaurant for lunch. We called the hotel but they said we couldn't check in until 3:00, so drove to the campground and visited with Roy. The campground is still officially closed for another week, but he met us at the gate and let us in. We sat and talked with him for several hours and had a very nice visit. He seems really happy and doing well in his new lifestyle. We left about 5:00 and drove to Flagstaff and checked into our room at the Quality Inn. The hotel was a bit shabby, more so than I remember Quality Inn's being, but it had a bed and most of the amenities we needed for a one night stay and it was only $40, a bargain now days. We got some take out from the nearby Denny's for dinner, and just relaxed for the rest of the night.

Saturday, May 16^th, we were up, showered and packed up by about 10:00. We stopped at the Sam's Club which was right around the corner from the hotel and put some gas in the car. Then we did some geocaching, getting three quick caches, one of which was number 9900! Yea! We are now at 9901 headed for 10K. After finding the caches we got on the road and headed south towards home. The trip back took about the same as the one up, two and a half hours, and we were in the coach eating lunch by 12:30. After lunch we were finally able to get out to a Super Cuts in Goodyear and we both got haircuts for the first time in a while, two months for Jackie, more like four for me. After the haircuts we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day. We had cocktails and dinner, then watched some TV and went to bed in our own bed.

Sunday, May 17^th, we had a stay at home day. Got the Sunday paper in the morning and we spent the whole day doing small chores and relaxing. After dinner, about 7:30, Ken and Susan came over to say goodbye to us. They are working tomorrow and we are leaving on Tuesday, so we will not see them again this trip. They had gone on a Jeeping trip this weekend and we talked about their trip and our trip to Flagstaff and our adventures with the car on Thursday. After they left we watched some TV and went to bed.

Monday, May 18^th, I went out about 11:00 to take care of some errands. I went to the Firestone store we were at on Friday and had the other three tires replaced. We know that we are going to keep this car at the end of the year when the lease runs out, so I thought it was time to replace the tires. After that I did a quick run to the Camping World store for a couple of things I needed. After I got home we just stayed in for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Tuesday was another travel day. We had the coach packed up and ready to travel by 10:00, heading west about 126 miles to Ehrenberg, Arizona, just across the Colorado River from Blythe, California. It was an uneventful trip with the only stop in Quartzsite to go to the Love's Truck Stop for fuel and to pick up some fried chicken livers at the Chester's Chicken there. We arrived at the Arizona Oasis RV park about 12:30 and got into our spot for our three night stay. After we got set up we just relaxed, watched some TV and then had dinner. We spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Wednesday, May 20^th, we went out after lunch to do some geocaching in the Blythe area. The weather was very nice today, in the mid 80's, so it was a good day to be out and about. We have stayed in this area a lot and have gotten most of the geocaches that are not out in the desert on roads I don't want to take our little car. We did have three caches to find, two north of town on Highway 95 and one out by the Blythe Airport west of town. It took us an hour or so to get the three caches because of the travel time, but we got all three. After caching we stopped at the Albertson's in Blythe for a few groceries, then went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day. Thursday was another stay at home day. Did some chores, watched a movie on TV and generally just relaxed.

Friday, May 22^nd, we had another travel day. We left fairly late, at least for us, about 11:00, because we were only going 103 miles west to Indio, California. We arrived at Indian Waters RV Resort about 12:30, picked up our packet and got parked. This resort, like the last two we have been at, is totally non-contact. No office visit, no in person registration. After we got parked I ran to the nearby In N Out to pick up burgers and fries for lunch. After we ate we finished setting up. We just stayed in today as we were tired from packing up and setting up again in the heat. We watched some TV and went to bed. We will be here in Indio for a week. Of course, most readers will know that Indio was our home before we went full time in 2005. Our old house is only a mile or so from the RV park.

Saturday, May 23^rd, for the most part it was a stay at home day. I did some chores and repairs around the coach and we relaxed. About 2:30 we left and went out to have our first sit down inside a restaurant dinner in two months! Yesterday Riverside County announced that the State of California had given permission for the County to enter into Phase 1 reopening, which among other things, means that dine in service is again allowed in the county. Of course, we had to check to see if our favorite place, Cactus Jacks was going to open and when Jackie called we found that they had already opened. Yea! We arrived and found that they were taking precautions, half the tables and bar stools were removed to allow for distancing and all the staff were wearing masks. They even required you to have a mask to come in, although you could take it off once you were seated. Kind of hard to drink and eat with a mask on. We saw several of our friends for the first time in nearly a year, including George, the owner of the restaurant, Kevin, one of the bartenders, and our good friend Barry Cohen, who works as a greeter and general helper. We had a couple of drinks, sat at a bar, had a nice dinner, it was great. After our early dinner we went back home and just relaxed in the house until bedtime.

Sunday, May 24^th, was forecast to be the last day of reasonable temperatures for the rest of the week, reasonable being high 90's, low 100's. After lunch we went out to do some local geocaching. Although we have cached a lot in the Coachella Valley over the years, even still have two of our own caches hidden here, there are still a lot we haven't found. The Valley has a very active caching community, albeit less so in the summer, so there are always lots of caches. We went out for a couple of hours and were able to get a dozen new finds, along with one DNF, before we got too hot. Even the DNF was actually gone because we know the cache owner and Jackie sent him a message when we couldn't find the cache. He described what it was supposed to be and we told him that we found one part, but no cache. After caching we headed back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day. After cocktails and dinner we watched some TV and went to bed.

Monday, May 25^th, Happy Memorial Day. For the most part this was a stay at home day. However, we did accept an invitation to visit with some old friends of ours, Bob and Gloria Baron, for happy hour at their house. We knew Bob and Gloria from the time when we still had the house here in Indio. They were members of the Indio Elks Lodge and the Elks RV group, the Desert Drifters. In the early 2000's they also bought a house in the same country club that we lived in, the house they still live in today. It is one of those houses that has the large, RV garage attached. Bob and Gloria are one of the few people we still stay in frequent contact with because they are also members of FMCA and several chapters to which we belong. We left the RV park and drove to Indian Palms Country Club about 5:30. After we got in the gate we drove past our old house on the way to the Baron's place. Our house still looked pretty much the same as it did when we moved out 15 years ago. We got to the Baron's and had a very nice visit. We had some cocktails and Gloria had some snacks. As it was just the four of us we had a good time talking about a lot of things. We finally left around 9:00 and went back to our coach. We watched TV and relaxed until bedtime. This was our first real visit with anyone other than Peggy since the Corona thing hit and it was nice to get out for a change.

Tuesday, May 26^th, we had a stay at home day. The valley is in the grip of an early heat wave with temps in the 110's, so we just stayed inside and tried to keep cool. I did go out to get some pizza for dinner. After dinner we watched TV and went to bed. Wednesday we left the coach after lunch and went to the laundromat to do our clothes. After we were done we went back to the coach, put everything away and relaxed for the rest of the day. Thursday was a shopping day. We went out after lunch and did a Walmart run, then took that stuff home and put it away. Then we went to Costco for some supplies. After our shopping we stayed home for the rest of the day and evening.

Friday, May 29^th, another travel day. Today was supposed to be hot, so we got packed up and out of the RV park early, about 9:30. We weren't going far, only about 55 miles west to Silent Valley, our membership RV resort in the mountains below Banning, California. We arrived at Silent Valley about 11:30 and quickly found a great spot. This resort doesn't assign spaces, it's first come, first served. Another reason why we left early, so we could arrive as those who were going to leave today were just leaving their spots. It worked out because we got a great spot right on the main road near the Village Center, where the restaurant, bar, store, laundry and office are located. We have had this spot in the past and it made us very happy to get it again. We got set up and moved in and spent the rest of the day just relaxing. It is at least 15 to 20 degrees cooler up here at 3,500 feet than it was in Indio at 0 feet. We are going to be here at least 20 days before moving on, hopefully, to Santa Maria, California. Of course, all that depends on how quickly California “opens up” from the shut down orders.

Our arrival here marks a good point to close out this chapter and get it published. Until next time, stay safe and healthy, pray for our country and somehow manage to still have fun. See ya.

Finally, the Last Two Weeks in Yuma Arizona - Time to Move On

Hello again. Our last chapter ended on Sunday, April 26th while we were still hunkered down in Yuma, Arizona, dodging the COVID pandemic. So far, so good. Monday was another stay at home day. I spent a little bit of time helping Peggy get her coach ready to travel. She has decided that she is going to head home to Northern California rather than stay another couple of weeks with us. She has some friends who live in Washington state and have a winter home here in Yuma, Don and Barbara. They have decided that with the early heat they are going to leave tomorrow and head back to the Northwest. Since Peggy's destination is along the same route, she asked if she could tag along and they said sure. She met them some years ago on an RV caravan along the East coast, so she is used to traveling with them.

We had cocktails at 5:00 with Peggy and Belle, our last for a couple months, and then dinner. Our original plan was to order some chicken livers from the local Chester's Chicken place, but it turns out they are closed due to the virus. So, we ordered pizza and salad from Da Boyz, a local Italian place right around the corner from us. I went and picked it up and we had a nice dinner of pizza, calzone and salad. The girls played some cards and then Peggy went home. We watched some TV and went to bed. Tuesday morning Peggy was packed up and on the road by 8:00. I got up early to help her with some of the hookup issues and sent her on her way. After Peggy was gone we did our laundry at the park and by early afternoon we were all done. We spent the rest of the day inside, staying cool in the 100 plus temps and relaxing. We had our first cocktail hour with just the two of us. Unfortunately, we did hear from Peggy in the late afternoon and it turned out she had some coach issues near Hesperia, in the high desert north of San Bernardino. It seems that something came off the road and knocked a hole in the plastic radiator overflow tank. This set off alarms and she was able to stop the coach before it overheated or damaged anything. However, it also meant she was stranded. The last we heard the coach had been towed to a shop and she was at a motel in Hesperia. We feel really bad for her and Belle. We watched TV for the rest of the evening and then went to bed.

Tuesday, April 29th, we needed to get out for a while, so after lunch we got in the car and took a drive. We basically drove north of Yuma to the Martinez Lake/Laguna Dam area just to do some sightseeing. It was still very hot, just over 100 degrees, but we did do a few geocaches. For the whole trip we managed five new finds and one DNF with no heat stroke. We drove past Laguna dam into California and just continued down the rural roads until we found our way back to Interstate 8, just on the California side of the river. We continued on the freeway until we got back home. Our entire trip was a about three hours and we went 55 miles. It was nice to get out of the house. We did hear from Peggy who told us that the shop had found the part and she hoped to be back on the road by Friday. On the negative side, when the tow truck lifted her coach to take it to the shop they tweaked the body and broke a large crack in the fiberglass sidewall near the rear. Of course, the driver claimed they weren't responsible for any damages, which is bullshit, but no point in arguing with the driver, he is expected to say that. We had cocktails at 5:00 and then did some ahi tuna on the grill for dinner. We watched TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, April 30th, we had mostly a stay at home day. I did go out at lunch to get some money at the ATM and then picked up lunch for Jackie and I at the Del Taco just down the street. Went through the drive through, picked up the food and went home where we had lunch. It was really good. It has probably been more than a year since I had Del Taco, my favorite fast food Mexican. We spent the rest of the day inside doing some chores and relaxing. We had cocktails at 5:00, but no dinner as we had eaten too much at lunch. We watched TV until bedtime. Nothing new from Peggy. She is still hoping that she will be fixed by Friday and can start for home. She talked to her insurance agent and he said that the damages might be covered by insurance since the initial damage was caused by a road hazard. Fingers crossed because it's going to be pricey.

Friday, May 1st, MAY DAY, MAY DAY! Did you know that the use of may day as a distress call came about in England in 1921 when a senior official at a London airport asked his staff about coming up with something to call for help that pilots and ground controllers could easily remember and understand. Since much of that airport's traffic at that time was between Paris and London many of the pilots were French. One of the staff suggested the French word m'aider, which means “help me” and when pronounced sounds much like “may day.” By 1927 it had officially replaced “SOS” as the universally accepted distress call. Now you know the rest of the story.

We had another quiet day. I spent an hour or so starting to take down some of our decorations and lights. We are leaving on the 12^th, a little less than two weeks from now, and we have a lot of stuff out. No need for lights and decorations as we are some of the last people in the park and have no one around us to look at our lights anyway. We had cocktails at 5:00 and then did take out from our favorite fish and chips place in the Foothills, Mr. Fish. The dinner was great and boy were there a lot of people wanting fish today. There were 20 people waiting when I arrived. Everyone was outside as the dining room was closed, but everyone was respectfully distanced and friendly. The food was great and after dinner we watched some TV and went to bed. We did hear from Peggy and learned she got her coach back and was starting out on the road in a couple days when the winds in the high desert settle down a little.

Saturday, May 2^nd, we left the coach about 1:00 or so and drove to the mall area near downtown to go to the Dollar Store. We had a few things we had to return. Back three months ago, when we still thought we were going to rallies in March, Jackie and Peggy had been assigned to do the table decorations for the Monaco Rally. They bought $100 worth of stuff from the dollar store. When the rally was canceled Jackie was fortunate enough to be able to sell the bulk of the stuff, mostly plastic table cloths, to the Escapee's park in Pahrump and recoup most of the money. A couple things Jackie kept and we were only left with 16 glass bowls that they were going to use as the base for the decorations. The Dollar Store does not do refunds, but they will do an exchange, so today we put on our masks and went to the store and exchanged the 16 bowls for a bunch of little stuff that we do use, like shower caps (to cover bowls, not heads) and some decorations for the coach. Even though it had been over three months the store had no issue doing the exchange. After shopping we went back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the day. I finally went down to the pool at the park for the first time and splashed around a bit to cool off, and I did a little more cleanup of our outside decorations. We had cocktails at 5:00 and then did some pork chops on the BBQ for dinner. We watched TV and went to bed.

Sunday, May 3^rd was a stay at home day. I spent a couple of hours finishing cleaning the majority of the decorations and getting everything stowed away. About the only thing left to put away when we leave in a week or so is the BBQ. We had cocktails 5:00, then dinner and TV for the rest of the night. Monday, Star Wars Day! (May the fourth be with you) We were up early and headed for Walmart by a quarter to eight. There are a lot less people there in the morning hours than afternoon. We were able to finally score some hand sanitizer as well as toilet paper and paper towels. Still no Clorox wipes, but we will get along. After shopping we went back to the coach, put everything away and relaxed the rest of the day and evening.

Tuesday, May 5^th, Cinco De Mayo. The day when everyone is Mexican for a while. Cultural appropriation at it's best, and I don't say that in a bad way. I don't think there is any problem with enjoying and celebrating traditions from other cultures. We had a stay at home day, played some cards, watched a dumb horror movie, and just relaxed. For dinner we did some carne asada on the BBQ, along with rice and beans and instead of our usual vodka we had margaritas! After dinner we watched some TV and went to bed. Un día muy agradable y relajante. Buenas noches. Wednesday we left the coach early, about 9:00 and went to the nearby Frys grocery. We got most everything we needed yesterday at Walmart, but we didn't have any steaks in the freezer and Fry's has good meat, and today was senior day, 10 percent off for seniors. Yea! We got a couple packs of the top sirloin steaks that were on sale, and also scored a pack of disinfecting wipes, the first we have seen since the hoarding started a couple months ago. They were store brand, not Clorox, but just as good. After we got back we put everything away and just relaxed for the rest of the day.

Thursday, May 7^th, was another stay at home day. Relaxed around the house for the entire day, trying to stay cool in the 104 degree heat. Made a meat loaf for dinner. Friday we took another driving tour just to get out of the house. Our first stop was our favorite street taco place. Although they are not allowing people to sit, in conformance with the executive orders in place, they are taking phone orders to go. We ordered our food, then sat in the car in the parking lot and had a nice lunch. This was our last chance to eat tacos here until we return in December. After lunch we drove north on Highway 95 out of the Yuma area, then turned west and drove across the Army'sYuma Proving Ground to the community of Martinez Lake. This lake is one of several along the Colorado River created by the Laguna Irrigation dam downstream. The community was formed in 1958 as a fishing village and is still primarily a vacation place. It has a wide variety of housing, from really old trailer parks and RV parks to huge new homes on the bluffs overlooking the water. We drove around

for a half hour or so, looking at the area, then headed back. Although California is right across the river, there is no road access here and all of the surrounding area on the Arizona side is part of the Army base. After our tour we headed back to the coach and spent the rest of the day relaxing. We did get one geocache on the way back home. We had leftovers for dinner and then watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, May 9^th, we had another stay at home day. Did some chores and just stayed cool as we could. Did some burgers on the BBQ for dinner. Sunday, Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. Another stay at home day. Did some steaks on the BBQ for dinner, then watched TV and went to bed. One more full day here, then we finally ride. Monday was our last stay at home day, at least in Yuma. We did our laundry in the morning and I spent some time in the afternoon putting the last of the outside stuff away and doing some checks on the coach in preparation for our travel day tomorrow. The coach has been sitting for four months, so I needed to check the oil and coolant, the tire condition and pressures, and the batteries, to be sure everything was OK and there would be no surprises when I started the coach tomorrow. Everything was OK – yea! We had cocktails and dinner, watched some TV and went to bed.

Tuesday, May 12^th, I can finally say we had a travel day! We had the coach packed up, closed up and car attached and were on the road by 9:30. We wanted to get an early start because even though the forecast temps were back in the high 90's, it was still hot and we wanted to beat the worst heat. We are headed northeast to Goodyear, Arizona, a western suburb of Phoenix. Still the desert, so still hot, probably close to what Yuma is, but at least it's a change of scenery. Plus, the Arizona Governor partially reopened the State yesterday, allowing restaurants to do inside service again, with some restrictions. They also opened hair and nail salons. Yea! We had an uneventful trip of 153 miles and arrived at the Cotton Lane RV Resort about 12:30. We have been to this park a number of times and knew just where to go for our spot. They have “no contact” check in where they tell you what spot you are in and you call them with your credit card when you get parked. None of the facilities are open, but except for maybe the pool, we don't usually use them anyway. We like to stay here because my brother Ken and his wife Susan live in Goodyear, just a couple miles from the park. After we got parked and set up we just relaxed for the rest of the day.

We have reached a great spot to close out this chapter and get it published. We are finally moving again after a long, four month stay in Yuma. Until next time, wash your hands, cover your face and stay away from me! Bye for now.