Still Wintering in Yuma, Covid comes, Covid Goes

 Hello again. Our last chapter concluded on Saturday, January 30th, while we were still in Yuma, Arizona. Sunday I woke up pretty much sick. I had much the same symptoms as Jackie, slight cough, achy body, tired and listless. We stayed in all day. Monday was more of the same. Late in the day I got the results of the Covid test we took and on Saturday and I am now positive. My luck had run out. Jackie was also positive, but with her I am sure it is just residual from when she was sick as she is feeling pretty much OK now. So we are now officially quarantined for at least two weeks.

Tuesday was a stay at home day. I didn't feel any worse than yesterday, but not better either. Just stayed home and rested all day. Wednesday started out pretty much the same, but by the end of the day I was actually feeling a little better. We had a hamburger helper meal for dinner and for the first time in four or five days I actually had a decent size meal. When I went to bed I was feeling at least 50 percent better. Thursday I seem to continue to improve. I am now getting by with just a decongestant tablet and a couple of Advil every six hours. For dinner we ordered a pizza delivered from the nearby Pizza Hut. Not the bets pizza in the world, but pretty damn good today. I think I am headed in the right direction.

Friday, February 5th, happy birthday to me. Yea, 74! Still feeling about the same, good but not completely well. This damn Covid kicks your ass even when you don't get it bad. We had some nice scampi for dinner, watched some TV and went to bed. Saturday we just stayed home and relaxed. I seem to have plateaued, not getting worse but not better either. Mostly it's the cough and the associated headaches and stomach issues that come from it. We had some salmon on the BBQ for dinner. Sunday was our 17th wedding anniversary. And Super Bowl Sunday! We were both rooting for Brady and were not disappointed in the game. We couldn't go out for a celebration of our anniversary, but we had a nice quiet day at home. Again. Monday was another of our anniversaries, this time the 23rd anniversary of our reunion. We had a nice day at home. I continue to improve a little each day. Everything is pretty normalized except for the occasional cough, which still nags me.

Tuesday, February 9th, was the day that the health department had given me as the probable date I would be over the Covid symptoms. Although I am better, I haven't quite reached that goal yet. I have decided to give myself until Saturday, just to be sure I am not still infectious. After Saturday I am out and about. Did a nice pot of chili for dinner. Wednesday I continue to improve. Had a quiet day at home and actually sat outside for cocktail hour, the first time I've done that in a couple weeks. Even took the car for a five mile joy ride to be sure it still worked. We did some steaks on the BBQ for dinner, a real dinner for a change. Today we also got a call from the Yuma Medical Center that we had appointments for our first Covid shot Friday morning at 10:00. They got both Jackie and I and were also able to get Peggy in at the same time, so we can go together. Millie got her shot a day or two ago, so our whole group will be vaccinated soon.

Thursday was a stay at home day. We were babysitting Belle while Peggy went out on a Jeep run. Didn't do much but some chores around the house. Friday we and Peggy left the RV around 9:30 and headed towards the Yuma Civic Center, which is in Central Yuma. Although the clinic for the shots was at the City's building, the actual event was being put on by the Yuma County Medical Center. It was very well organized and the lines moved along quite well. It was not a drive through clinic, so we did have to get out of the car. Within a half hour we had our shots and were sitting in the recovery area. They keep you there for at least 15 minutes to watch for any serious reactions to the shots. By 10:30 we were out of there and back in the car. We all got the Moderna vaccine, which means we have to get the second shot after 28 days. That means we will have to extend our time here in Yuma by a few weeks or a month, but it if means we get inoculated, so be it. We stopped at El Charro, one of our favorite Mexican places, for lunch. Jackie and I both had machaca, which is wonderful there. Peggy had enchiladas and was a little disappointed. Just this morning the local paper published the “best of” awards for Yuma and El Charro was number one for Mexican food. Our next favorite place, El Rancho, was number two. After lunch we went back to the coach and hung out the rest of the afternoon. We had leftovers for dinner, watched some TV and went to bed.

Saturday, February 13th, we ended up having a stay at home day because Jackie was having some reaction to the shot from yesterday. She had a rough night and was kind of achy and out of sorts. Sunday, Happy Valentines Day and happy birthday to my granddaughter Courtney. We left the coach, just Jackie and I, and went out to brunch around 12:30. After brunch we went to the Arizona Market Place, the outdoor shopping mall, and walked around for an hour. The only thing I bought was another “Old Guys” tee shirt from a friend of ours who has a booth in the market. We then went home and relaxed for a while. We had dinner at Peggy's with Millie and Peggy made spaghetti and meatballs. It was pretty good stuff. This was the first time we have all been together for 3 or 4 weeks. After dinner we went home and watched TV until bedtime.

Monday, February 15th, Presidents Day. We had a stay at home day. We did our laundry and some other chores, but basically stayed home. For dinner we had some pork chops on the BBQ and had Peggy over. Millie's birthday is tomorrow and her kids surprised her by showing up in Yuma this morning, so she is busy with them. Tuesday we left around 11:15 and drove to the taco stand for lunch, our first tacos in about three weeks or so. Peggy met us there for lunch. After lunch we went to a “yard art” store that was next door to the taco stand. We are looking at decorations for our shed in Pahrump. We didn't buy anything today, but did find a couple of things that would work. About 2:30 our friend Len came over and he and I spent an hour playing guitars. We had a good time, the first time we have played together since leaving Pahrump. About 5:00 Len and Debbie came back for our happy hour on the patio. Today was Millie's birthday and her kids were scheduled to leave around 4:00 to head back to Salt Lake City, but we later found out that they couldn't get out until Friday because of weather delays around the country tying up the airports. We had BLTs for dinner, watched some TV and went to bed.

Wednesday, February 17th, I went to the jam session at the clubhouse for the first time in over a month. They had shut down the clubhouse for a couple weeks prior to my getting sick, and then I couldn't go for several weeks after they reopened. I was only able to stay for the first hour of the jam because Jackie finally had an appointment to get an eye exam and new glasses after her cataract surgeries. She had one a couple weeks ago but had to cancel because she was sick. After a couple hours she had her glasses on order and we went into Albertson's, which was right next door, to get a few things we couldn't find in other stores. After shopping we headed back home and had cocktails on the patio with Peggy and Millie. Around 6:30 Jackie served chili relleno casserole for the four of us. By 8:30 we were alone and watched TV until bedtime. Thursday we went with Peggy to Mr. Fish, our favorite fish and chips place in the Foothills. After lunch we dropped Peggy off and did a Walmart run. After our shopping we went home and spent the rest of the day in the coach. We had cocktails on the patio and Millie's son and daughter joined us for a while. The are due to leave tomorrow if the airlines are back on schedule. We had leftovers for dinner and then watched TV until time for bed.

Friday, February 19th, we stayed at home for most of the day, doing some chores and relaxing. About 4:30 we left, along with Peggy and Millie, and drove to the Yuma Elks for dinner. Friday is prime rib night and everyone was in the mood for prime rib. We had a cocktail and a nice dinner. Their prime rib is only $16 and you get a nice piece, along with a salad, potato and veggie, so it is a nice dinner. After dinner we drove home and were in our jammies by about 7:30. We watched some TV and went to bed. Saturday was a stay at home day. Around 2:00 I took my equipment over to the clubhouse to do karaoke. The park's social director asked if I would do it and told me she actually had some people coming to sing. We started karaoke at 3:00 and we actually had six people in the rotation,including me and Len and Debbie Forrest. I had called them to let them know we were doing karaoke, which they love to do and haven't been able to do a lot of because of Covid We actually had a fun two hours. By 5:30 I was packed up and enjoying a cocktail. We and Peggy had dinner, lamb for them, a steak for me. After Peggy left we watched some TV and went to bed.

Sunday, February 21st, we had another stay at home day. I spent a couple of hours installing a new thermostat for our A/Cs and furnaces. The old one was very hard to see and I found a new one that had a larger and brighter display and was also Bluetooth compatible, so I can control it from my tablet. It was a little too large to fit into the old space, so I had to do some carpentry work to install it. Jackie made a big pot of clam chowder and we had both Peggy and Millie over for dinner after our normal happy hour. The chowder was excellent. After they both left we watched some TV and went to bed.

We are now about three weeks into this episode and it is time to get it published. As with the last one, there are few photos simply because we haven't been doing that much. Now that we are both well again that may change some. Until next time, ponder the words of author Shauna Niequist. “When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.” See ya soon.