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 12th, 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 2nd, 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 3rd 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 5th, 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 7th, 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 9th, 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 12th, 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.