Christmas at Home, Then South to Yuma

 Hi there, welcome back to our story. Our last chapter concluded on Christmas Day while we were still on our lot at the Escapees RV Park in Pahrump. Sunday was pretty much a stay at home day, although I did go out early to get the Sunday paper. I spent several hours in the late morning and early afternoon taking down and storing away all the Christmas decorations in the coach and around the lot. We are planning to leave Pahrump for Yuma in a week, so it is time to start getting ready. We did go to the clubhouse at 2:00 for the ice cream social. After we got back to the coach we just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Monday, December 27^th, was also a stay at home day. We did a few chores and spent some time playing. We went to happy hour at 4:00 and then had dinner afterwards and watched TV until bedtime. Tuesday, the 28^th, was my brother Ken's birthday. He and his wife Susan retired this month and are now going full time in their 40 foot motor home, emulating us. They managed to retire even early than we did since both are still in their mid 50's. We left the coach about 1:00 and went to Johnny's Mexican restaurant for lunch, then to the laundromat to do our laundry. We were done with laundry and back home by about 3:00, so we were able to go to the 4:00 happy hour at the clubhouse. We had some chicken legs that had been in the crock pot all day for dinner, then watched TV until bedtime. Wednesday was a stay at home day. I did some chores around the lot still working on leaving next week. Jackie went to the clubhouse for her weekly Pokeno game. We did happy hour with the group in the clubhouse, then dinner and TV until bedtime.

Thursday, December 30^th, we had a relaxing morning then after lunch we went to an hour-long leadership seminar at the clubhouse. The past few months there has been some friction in the park, mostly between some of the older members and some of the newer, younger members. Fortunately, one of the newer members is an HR consultant who is still working and she offered to put on a presentation to help people recognize the differences in people and learn to work cooperatively and avoid conflict. She did a really good job. We also have a retired HR consultant who has been in the park a few years and is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the park, so he was there helping out as well. It was a very good presentation, similar to the dozens I have had over the years as I worked my way through leadership positions in my careers. After the presentation we did a Walmart run to get some supplies. We did happy hour with one of our neighbors, Scott, rather than the big group since we will be with most of the other people tomorrow at the New Years Eve Murder Mystery party at the clubhouse. After happy hour we went home and had some dinner, then watched TV until bedtime.Friday, December 31^st, the last day of 2021! We had a stay at home day. About 5:00 we went over to the clubhouse for the New Year's Eve party. One of the members of the Co-op is a big fan of murder mystery parties and was putting one on tonight. We have never been involved in one before, but

both Jackie and I were playing parts tonight. I was “Trumpy Gates”, a wealth entrepreneur and Jackie was “Soss Parsley,” my personal chef. After we got to the clubhouse we got some additional information and instructions on what our characters were supposed to do and specific things to say to certain other characters. Other than that we were just supposed to mingle with the other guests as at any cocktail party. It was a lot of fun, although I think, because other than the host, no one else had ever participated in one of these, it was a little less organized than it might have been. For a while I thought I was going to be the one identified at the end as the killer because the story really set up a motive for me. However, it turned out to be someone else. The game was over a little after 8:00, but most of the group stuck around watching television to see the New York ball drop at 9:00 our time. After the New York New Years we went back home and watched a little TV before going to bed. It really was a fun night.

Saturday, January 1, 2022, Happy New Year! Today was a stay at home day. I spent several hours getting stuff moved from the shed to the motor home and getting stuff packed under the coach. We are now about 90 percent ready for leaving Tuesday morning. We didn't go to the clubhouse for happy hour today, just relaxed at home for the afternoon and evening. Sunday was a relaxing day. I went out first thing in the morning for the Sunday paper. We went to Terrible's Roadhouse Casino for lunch about 11:30, meeting our friends Tom and Phyllis for a goodbye lunch before we left for Yuma. After lunch we gamed for an hour or so before heading back to the RV park. After we got home we just chilled in the coach for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Monday, January 3^rd, we went out after lunch to run a few last errands, picking up mail and so forth. I did a few last things around the coach and we are pretty much ready for tomorrow. We had Millie over for dinner, some KFC. Tuesday was our first travel day in a while. Today was a long day, 198 miles to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. For the most part it was an uneventful trip, the weather was great, it was cool out, so no overheating issues, even up the hill to Las Vegas, and very little traffic. We did make one stop to take on propane before arriving at the Havasu Falls RV Resort. The trip was a little over 4 hours, so we were beat, plus moving into Mountain time meant we lost an additional hour. We had a pot roast in the crock pot, so dinner was ready. Off to bed early for more travel tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 5^th, we were up and on the road a little after ten, this time going 152 miles to Yuma. Again the trip was very uneventful and almost relaxing. We stopped for fuel when we got into Yuma, then arrived at the Sunset Palms RV Park in the Yuma Foothills area about 1:30. We got settled into our site, the same site we had last year, which is right across the road from the clubhouse. I am already on the schedule for karaoke this Saturday. We got the basics inside the coach set up today, tomorrow is outside day. We will be here for two months, then on to some rallies in the Tucson area. Weather here is great, with temps in the 70's during the day for the foreseeable future. Yea! Thursday was a stay at home day. I spent a couple of hours working outside, setting up some of the things we need for our stay. About 3:00 we went over to the patio outside the clubhouse for a concert by one of the local bands, The Dependables. We saw them play last year and they are a lot of fun. Pretty good musicians, and very good entertainers. The concert ran until about 5:00, after which we went back to the coach for cocktails and then did some burgers on the BBQ for dinner. We then watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, January 7^th, we left about 11:30 and went to have street tacos at our favorite little taco stand in the Foothills for the first time this trip. The place and the people were the same and the tacos just as good as ever. After lunch we drove into town to Sam's Club for some supplies. Sadly, one of the things we most came to get, Sam's Member's Mark American Vodka, was not available. We talked to a couple of people but no one knew when, or even if, they would get any in. We may have to find a new source of vodka. After shopping we headed back to the coach and put stuff away. I went outside and did some more decorating, putting up some of our decorative lights, and by cocktail hour I was relaxing inside the coach. We had a rotisserie chicken we picked up at Sam's for dinner, then watched TV until bedtime. Saturday I thought I was going to be doing karaoke in the clubhouse in the late afternoon, however around lunch time Dotty, the activities director, came over and said she had forgot to post any notices, so we would wait until the 22^nd to do the first one. This freed up our day, so we had lunch then drove to the Arizona Marketplace, the big open air market near the airport, to do some shopping. The marketplace still hasn't recovered from the Covid issues of the last couple years and they have less than a third of the vendors they had back in early 2019. We met our friends from Pahrump, Len and Debbie Forrest in the center mall area listening to the country band playing there today. They came down in mid-December and will be here until late March. They used to stay in an RV park right next door to ours, but they now have a spot on a private RV lot on the other side of the freeway. We finished our shopping, only buying a couple of things, then headed back to the coach. We spent the rest of the day relaxing. After dinner we watched TV and went to bed.

Sunday, January 9^th, was a fairly quiet day. I didn't have to go out any further than the patio to get the Sunday paper as when we are in Yuma we subscribe to the local paper. It's a small paper, but it's good to keep up with what is going on locally. After lunch we went out to do a Walmart run, but other than that it was a stay at home day. We had cocktails at 5:00 and did some fish on the BBQ for dinner. After dinner we watched some TV and then went to bed. Monday I had a late morning Zoom meeting with the Board of the Military Vets Chapter of FMCA. I am the current Vice President of the chapter. The meeting ran about a half hour, after which we had lunch. After lunch we left and drove to the mall to do some shopping. We stopped at Kohl's because Jackie wanted some new tops. After Kohl's we went to the Bed, Bath and Beyond store in the same strip mall. The store here in Yuma is one of several dozen that the company is closing around the country. We didn't find too many bargains, although the store does appear to be cleaning out. We then stopped at the local music store so I could look for some guitar picks. While I was doing that Jackie went to the Dollar Tree next door. Once all our shopping was done we headed back home. We had cocktails and then dinner, then spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Tuesday, January 11^th, I left about 10:30 to take the car for it's oil change and service. With our little C-Max hybrid you don't have a set, 3,000 mile service interval like with most cars. The car has a monitor that keeps track of how much the gas engine is used and comes on when it reaches the recommended number of miles. No matter what, however, you have to get the car serviced at least once a year. Since we spend most of our driving time on electric, the service notice hadn't come on, but it had been a year since the last service. The Ford dealer here was good, got me in and out in about 90 minutes with the car service, tires rotated and everything important checked out. I drove back home and we spent the rest of the day relaxing in the coach. Jackie made a nice meatloaf for dinner, we watched some TV and went to bed. Wednesday was a stay at home day. I went to the jam session at the clubhouse about 12:30 and got back to the coach around 3:00. It was a fun session, a couple dozen players, including a clarinet and a couple of electric bass players. So many people that you only got to do two songs as the lead, but it is fun to learn new stuff playing backup to others too. After the jam I did go out to the nearby hardware store to try and find a part for the shower, but I wasn't able to find what I needed. The shower still works, I just need to remount the faucet on the wall. We had leftovers for dinner then watched TV until bedtime.

Thursday, January 13^th, was laundry day. We are parked directly across from the park's laundry, so we are able to just run back and forth across the street to do the laundry. We started in the mid morning and by lunch time we were done. We had a Zoom meeting with one of the groups at the Escapees park in Pahrump, which took about an hour. After the meeting we ran a couple of errands and were back by cocktail time. We had some crab mac and cheese for dinner, then watched TV until it was time to go to bed. Friday we left the coach about 11:30 and went out to lunch at El Charro, a very good Mexican place not too far from downtown Yuma. After lunch we did some geocaching for the first time in a while. We were able to get three new finds, and two DNFs, in a little over an hour. After caching we headed back to the RV park and spent the rest of the evening inside.

Saturday, January 15^th, we had a stay at home day. We did a few chores around the house and at 3:00 went over to the clubhouse for another concert on the patio. The group this time was a local one called Blu-Reys, which we had also seen last year at this park. There are several groups and entertainers that make the rounds of the Foothills RV parks during snow bird season. After the concert we went home, had cocktails and did some steaks and scallops on the BBQ for dinner. After dinner we watched TV and went to bed. Sunday we had our usual relaxing morning with the Sunday paper and coffee. After lunch we made another trip to Sam's Club to pick up vodka. When we were there a week ago they were out of their own brand, Member's Mark American Vodka and no one could say when they would get it in. It is half the price of the premium brands they sell and just as good. It is very much the same as the Costco American vodka we normally drink. Yesterday Jackie called the store and they told her they had the vodka back in stock, so we went over there today, braved the Sunday crowd, and got two cases so we will be good for a couple of months. After San's we stopped at Sprouts, an upscale market similar to Trader Joe's, to get some scallops and a ended up with a couple other things as well. After out shopping we headed back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Monday was mostly a stay at home day. We did go out for a late lunch at Day Breakers, a nearby truck stop restaurant that we like. We ate a big, late lunch because tonight is the Howl at the Moon Block Party here at the park. We did one of these last year and everyone enjoyed it and a number of people wanted to do it again this year. Tonight is the full moon for January, and here in Yuma they have a tradition of having a big desert party on full moon nights. We have been to a couple of them, where a thousand or more people may come, but lately we have been doing smaller ones closer to home. I set up the music in front of our coach, which is on the street where the party was held. We started about 4:00 and didn't have much of a turnout until closer to 5:00, I guess when people got done with dinner. By the time the moon came up around six we had maybe 40 or 50 people in the street having a good time. Not as big as last year, but still fun. The party broke up around 7:00 or so, but we sat out on the patio with two other couples until almost 9:00. After we went in we watched a little TV then went to bed.

Tuesday, January 18^th, I spent an hour or so cleaning up outside after last night's party, putting away the sound equipment until I need it again on Saturday. After lunch we went out to Walmart so we could get some supplies and Jackie could get a haircut. After our errands we headed back home and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing. Wednesday I went to the jam session at 12:30. There were only about half the number from last week since a lot of people are nervous about the latest Covid outbreak. For the first time we had an accordion player, which was interesting but impossible for me to follow with the guitar. After the jam ended around 3:00 we went out to run some errands. We stopped at a small boutique mall just a few blocks from the RV park in the Foothills to see an old acquaintance. I got a message on Facebook a couple weeks ago that the mall was owned and operated by Bebe Shockey. Bebe was married to Dan Shockey, with whom I went to the Sheriff's Office academy in 1970. Dan and I never actually worked together, he followed a different career path, but we were acquaintances for about 20+ years. I knew Bebe from occasional social gatherings of MCSO personnel over the years. Dan died a few years ago and another SO friend told me about Bebe now living in Yuma. Her store was just closing so we didn't have time to visit very long, but she did remember me and when I saw her I remembered her as well. We will try to get together again before we leave here. After our errands we went back home and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing in the coach.

It has now been over three weeks since we published our last episode, so it is time to close this one out and get it online. Until next time, remember that friends are people who know you really well and like you anyway. See ya soon.