Hi there, welcome back. Our last
episode ended on Tuesday, May 12th 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 14th, 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 15th, 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 16th, 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 17th, 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 18th, 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 20th, 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 22nd, 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 23rd, 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 24th, 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 25th, 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 26th, 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 29th, 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.
