Winter in Yuma, Arizona - Part III

 
Hi there, welcome back. Our last chapter concluded on Thursday, February 10^th, while we were still parked in Yuma, Arizona enjoying a very warm late Arizona Winter. Friday we left the park around 11:00 and drove to a new farmer's market that had started in the Foothills recently. We had seen it on the local news a week or so ago and decided to go by and check it out. It was fairly small and really wasn't a farmer's market at all since the only two of the dozen or so booths that had anything to do with food was a guy selling garden plantings of vegetables and herbs, and a guy selling jerky. The rest were merchandise booths. We spent a few minutes checking it out and left, deciding it wasn't worth coming back to unless it got way bigger over time. After the market we went to El Cositas, our favorite taco stand, for lunch. We had a great meal, then went next door and checked out a place that sells metal art and pottery. Last year we bought a nice metal wall decoration for our shed in Pahrump. Since we have already bought one large metal decoration in Mexico, we ended up just getting a nice metal wind chime that was on sale half off. After our shopping we headed back to the coach and spent the rest of the day in. I had a zoom meeting in the afternoon with one of my committees back in Pahrump, but other than that it was just relaxing. I did a pot of chili for dinner and we watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, February 12^th, we finally had a movie day. We left the coach about 11:30 and drove to the mall to go see a movie in a theater! I think it has been close to a year since we have been to a theater. We went to see Moonfall, a thriller/disaster movie starring Hallie Berry. Anyone who has attended a basic high school science course will know that none of the scientific premises are valid, but it was still a very entertaining movie. The special effects were fun and it was just good to see something on the big screen again. After the movie we stopped at the Penny's store in the mall and picked up a few things that were on sale. After our shopping we headed back to the coach and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing in the coach.

Sunday, February 13^th, Super Bowl Sunday. We went out for a late lunch about 1:00 to a restaurant in the Foothills called Jimmy J's. This used to be called The Copper Miner and was a favorite of ours a few years ago. About two years ago the Miner closed and it reopened as Jimmy J's. We had seen some poor reviews of the place, so we hadn't tried it until today. We should have stuck with our first instincts, as the place was not so good. Jackie had a spinach omelet that they forgot to put spinach in, and they also used canned mushrooms in it. I had prime rib, which was thinly cut and dried out with an au jous which was terrible. Even the straight horseradish was bad. We will not be back. After lunch we went back and relaxed for a while. About 4:00 we went over to the clubhouse for the super bowl party. Initially there were a lot of people there and lots of snack foods. By half time much of the crowd had gone home, although we stayed through the end. We had good seats and the clubhouse has a 60 inch HD TV. It was a decent game and my team, the Rams, pulled it out in the fourth quarter. Yea! I am not a huge football fan, but I have a soft spot for the rams. When I was in high school in Phoenix Arizona had no football team. At that time the Rams were in Los Angeles and I had a very nice blue and gold Rams jacket that I really liked, so I guess I was a Rams fan. When they came back to LA a couple years ago I decided to root for them as much as I root for any football team. The Super Bowl is the only football game I watch all year. After the game we went back to our coach and spent the remainder of the evening with the TV.

Monday, February 14^th, Happy Valentine's Day. It is also the birthday of one of my granddaughters, Courtney Valentine Harvin. We went out after lunch to Walmart to get some supplies. About 3:30 I went over to the clubhouse to set up my music equipment for the Valentine's dinner dance. About 4:30 we went over to the patio for the cocktail hour then about 5:00 or so everyone went into the rec room for dinner. One of the other residents of the park is a really good cook and had made chicken cordon blue for everyone, along with potatoes, salad and strawberry shortcake for dessert. It was a really nice dinner and we had a nice visit with some of our Yuma friends, mostly from Canada, at our table. After dinner, about 6:15 or so I put on some dance music, but didn't have any takers. After dinner everyone who wasn't helping clean up packed up and left. About 7:00 I gave up and took down the equipment, took everything home and we spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the coach. Tuesday we went out about 1:00 for a late lunch to Mr. Fish, a really good fish and chips place here in the Foothills. We had a nice lunch, then headed back to the coach. I spent the afternoon doing some office work, mostly researching new tires for the coach and finally finding a place her in Yuma that had some in stock. Our tires are almost seven years old, which is the drop dead time for coach tires, regardless of wear. I found a company here in town that will come out to the park so we don't have to take the coach to them. That would be a hassle with all our decorations and stuff. I also didn't want to wait because everyone I talked to said it was really hard to get tires because of the “supply chain” difficulties. The company I found had ten of the ones I wanted in stock, so I didn't want to wait and have someone else come along and take them. About 5:00 I picked up Alvin, a Canadian friend of ours here at the park, and the two of us drove over to Rancho Rialto, another RV community here in the Foothills, to play in their jam session. Alvin plays bass in our session every week and also comes to karaoke to sing, so we have become buddies. This was a much smaller group of players, although the audience was ten times what we get at our park. In addition, they danced to most of the songs. Some of the players were good, some were awful, but that's the nature of jams. What I didn't like was that I was one of the only guitar players who wasn't plugged into the sound system, so everyone else was so loud I couldn't even here my own guitar when I was playing and singing. One good thing was that they had a drummer, which made it really fun to play, almost like a band. The jam ended around 8:00 and we went back to our park. After I dropped Alvin off I went home and we spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Wednesday, February 16^th, I went over to the clubhouse shortly after noon for the weekly jam session. We had a really big crowd of players today so we each only got two songs in. The jam here is actually getting a little too big for just a two hour session. After the jam I went back to the coach and after a brief rest started setting up the sound equipment for the Howl at the Moon block party which had been put on the calendar by the park. People started showing up about 5:30 or so and by the 7:00 moon rise we had a couple dozen people. Not nearly as large as the parties last year, but still fun visiting with people. We stayed outside until about 7:30 when most people had drifted off for home. After the party we watched TV and went to bed. Thursday was a stay at home day. Today was the day the tire store here in Yuma was sending their service truck out to put on six new tires on the coach. I went outside early and moved some stuff around so the tech could access the wheels. I also had to air up the coach and pull up the jacks, and also pull in one of the bedroom slides. The tech showed up about 10:30, one guy, and started working on the coach. By 2:30 he was done and we had six new Michelin tires and five grand less in our banking account. Oh well, we knew going into this life that new tires were on the horizon every 6 years or so. After the tech left I worked a little outside putting things back in place, lowering the coach and leveling, and then fixing what we had moved on the inside. By the time we were done we were tired and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing inside.

Friday, February 18^th, we went out after lunch to the Arizona Market Place outdoor swap meet just to walk around and get fresh air and exercise. After an hour and a half we had not bought anything, but it felt good to be out and about. After the market place we drove back to the Foothills and did some shopping at Frys Food for some stuff we couldn't get at Walmart. Once our shopping was done we headed back to the coach and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing at home. Saturday was a stay at home day. I did some chores around the coach until about 2:00 when I went to the clubhouse to set up for the afternoon's karaoke. We started karaoke at 3:00 with myself and two other singers, the same two who have come to every karaoke session I have done for the last two years. The fourth singer, who was with us three times this year, already left the park headed for home. Other than Jackie we had no audience. While this was disappointing, the three of us nonetheless sang for two hours, individually and in some duets and back-up roles. We experiment with songs we had never done, or had not done in a while. Since we didn't have to worry about anyone from the audience walking out we just sang like no one was listening and had a great time. There is one more session before we leave ourselves to travel around Arizona for a while and then head home. Maybe we will have more participation next week, maybe not, however, we shall sing. After karaoke I put away the equipment and we spent the rest of the evening in the coach. We had some country ribs that had been cooking in the crock pot all day for dinner.

Sunday, February 20^th, I went over to Carefree Oasis RV Resort about 1:00 for their jam session. My friend Alvin went with me, Jackie stayed home as she was not feeling well. The jam today was huge, with at least 30 players and singers, maybe more, and a number of electrified instruments. It took almost two hours just to get through one rotation and with all the people it was difficult to hear and play. It just wasn't fun and at the break we decided to go home. Alvin didn't even bring his bass into the hall because there were already two there, so he just sat in the audience. After I got home we just relaxed for the rest of the day. Monday I was up early and went to the Foothills Eagles Aerie about 9:30 because today was my initiation into the order. Turns out I wasn't alone as there were a total of 62 candidates for initiation today. I later learned that the Foothills Eagles, which is only a couple of years old, is the second fastest growing lodge in all of International Eagles. We waited for the meeting to start at 10:00, and since we were right outside the lodge room, I noticed that it was very similar to the Elks meeting opening. When we got into the room for the initiation the similarities continued. I think all of the fraternal organizations are similar, Elks, Moose, and Eagles, since they are all based on the original model of the Masonic Lodge. The initiation took about an hour after which I got my membership card and headed back to the coach. We the left the park about 12:30 and drove downtown to have lunch with our friends Clark and Judi at Da Boyz pizza. We had a nice lunch and chatted for an hour and a half. After lunch we went out and did some geocachng in the downtown area, getting three finds pretty quickly, including one that we had DNFed a couple weeks ago. While we were at that one we met another cacher, a young guy who looked like he was still in high school. Nice kid, even sent us a message later saying he was glad to meet us. After our caching we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach.

Tuesday, February 22^nd, 2/22/22! Today was an errands day. We left the coach about noon and drove to the Foothills Moose Lodge for lunch. They have a pretty decent lunch menu and the food is not too bad. After lunch we stopped at the thrift store next door to drop off some donations, then went out to do a couple of geocaches. Because of today's date geocaching.com was providing a virtual souvineer for getting two caches on today's date. The souvenir was called “Deuces Wild” for obvious reasons. We quickly got the two caches we needed and saw the souvenir appear on our stats page. After caching we went to Walmart for a few things, then headed back to the coach. We spent the rest of the day relaxing. I did go outside and take the covers off of our pop up canopy because there were wind warnings and poor weather for the next week. Since we are leaving in less than two weeks everything will be coming down soon anyway. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach.

Wednesday, February 23^rd, we woke up to a damp Yuma day. It had rained much of the night, although not very hard still enough to get the ground soaked. We pretty much had a stay at home day. A little after noon I went over to the clubhouse for the jam session. It was a good session, a little smaller than others this year, but probably because of the weather. Jackie stayed in the coach and did some rock painting. The jam was finished about 3:15 and I went back to the coach. Although the rain had stopped and the skies cleared somewhat, it was still cool and the winds came up again. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach relaxing. Thursday was another stay at home day. It was cool and windy, so we decided to do laundry today. We spent a few hours in the early afternoon shuttling back and forth across the street to the park's laundry. After we were done with our clothes we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing in the coach.

Friday, February 25^th, we left the park about 12:30 and went to the Asian Star restaurant for a late lunch. This used to be one of our favorite Asian places in Yuma, but last year, because of Covid, they were only doing take out, so we didn't go. We wanted to try it again this year before we left. The food was quite good, but the service was very poor. I don't think it was a shortage of staff, they seemed to have a lot of servers, but just inattention and slow out of the kitchen. We also had an additional ten minute wait when the server dropped her tray, with our food on it, as she was coming down the aisle. We will probably go back, but I hope the service improves. After lunch we went to Sam's Club for some supplies. After Sam's we headed back to the coach and put everything away. About 5:30 we left again and drove to the Eagles Aerie here in the Foothills for karaoke night. Since I just joined the Eagles, Jackie wanted to see the Aerie, which is what the Eagles call a Lodge Hall. There was a long rotation, close to 30 singers, most of whom were pretty good singers. The sound system left a lot to be desired and because the room was so large, with an active bar on the other end, it was pretty noisy. I probably won't be back often. At least the drinks were fairly inexpensive. We left after the first rotation concluded, about 8:15, and went back home where we watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, February 26^th, I spent a couple of hours in the early afternoon starting the process of tearing down and putting away some of our outside decorations. Today I took down the popup canopy and windscreens, packed them up and got them stored under the coach. About 2:00 I went to the clubhouse and got set up for the last session of karaoke this season here in Yuma. We started at 3:00 and had the same three singers, although today we at least had a couple of people come into the clubhouse and listen. We were finished about 5:00, after which I packed up the stuff and took it back to the coach. Since this was the last session I also had to put all the equipment back in it's various hidey-holes in the coach. We had dinner then watched TV until bedtime. Sunday we left about noon and drove to the Cocopah Casino, one of the local Indian casinos, to do some gaming. We met our friends Clark and Judi there for lunch, which turned out to be in a food court since their regular coffee shop was still closed due to Covid. After lunch, which really wasn't too bad, we gamed for a couple of hours. After gaming, and losing a little bit of money, we drove back to the coach and stayed in for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Monday, February 28^th, Happy Birthday to my brother Russ in Las Vegas. We left about 10:30 and drove downtown to the Golden Corral Buffet restaurant for another MASA lunch. MASA is the organization we joined some 15 years ago which pays for emergency medical transportation. They hold luncheons at which they explain the program and try to sell new memberships, but they also welcome existing lifetime members. This is the first one we have gone to in Yuma and the presenter was Chuck, the same guy who puts on the programs in Pahrump, which we attend a couple of times a year. He was a bit surprised to see us, but he did recognize us. The lunch was OK, Golden Corral not being one of our favorite places, but they did have some pretty decent fried chicken livers. After lunch we headed back to the coach and spent the rest of the afternoon doing chores. I got our Income Taxes done and submitted, so we should be seeing a refund in the next month or so. Yea! We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the coach.

Tuesday, March 1^st, we went out about 11:30 and drove to Walmart so Jackie and I could both get haircuts. There is a hair salon in the Foothills Walmart with a gal that Jackie really likes. She has cut Jackie's hair for the last couple of years when we are in Yuma. We both got our haircuts and then walked next door to a restaurant called A Touch of Thai. We had tried this place two years ago, right after they opened, and were disappointed and we haven't been back. Recently Jackie noticed that the Yelp ratings were quite high, so we decided to give it another try. We are glad we did as the food was excellent and the service was good as well. I had a coconut milk type of chicken soup that was outstanding. Jackie had a curry dish that was very good as well. The only drawback for the place is they didn't have any beer. I like Thai beer when I eat Thai food. After lunch we walked back to Walmart and did some shopping. Once we were done with our chores we went back to the coach and put everything away. I then spent a couple of hour outside doing some more cleanup and prep work, getting ready to leave in a few days. We did some burgers on the BBQ for dinner, then watched TV until bedtime. Wednesday was pretty much a stay at home day. The mobile propane truck stopped by this morning and refilled our propane tank. Like all petroleum products, the price of propane is way up, over $120 to fill the tank with just over 25 gallons. I know there is a premium attached for mobile service, but it is still getting expensive. I went to the clubhouse shortly after noon for the jam session. We were down to about 18 players, but it was a fun session. I will miss these weekly practice opportunities. Our friends Clark and Judi came to listen to the jam and stayed and visited for a little while afterwards. After they left we just hung around the coach for the rest of the afternoon and evening. I did go out and get some KFC for dinner, after which we watched TV and went to bed.

Thursday, March 3^rd, we left the coach about 11:00 and drove to our favorite Foothills taco stand for lunch. Clark and Judi met us there and we had another great taco lunch. After lunch we drove to Albertsons, closer in to the center of Yuma, to pick up a few things we couldn't get at Walmart or Fry's. For some reason neither of these groceries carried much in the way of Asian foods. Neither had water chestnuts or chow mien noodles, which I thought was very odd. Albertsons at least carried the stuff, but there was only one can of water chestnuts left. Fortunately, that was all we needed. After shopping we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening around the coach. I finished up the early packing of the coach, the only things left now are those things that go in the car when we get ready to leave. Friday was a stay at home day. We did some chores around the coach and at 3:00 went over to the patio at the clubhouse for a concert by an Elvis tribute artist. They guy's name is Danny Vernon and he claims to have won a number of awards for his tribute show. Vocally he is a very good match to Elvis, visually a little less so, but still puts on a very good show. He did a two hour show that was fun and entertaining. After the show we went into the clubhouse for the annual Resident Appreciation dinner which is sponsored by the owners of the park. There is an investment group which owns this park and four others in the Foothills area of Yuma, as well as one in Wellton, over the hill. It was a good dinner with pulled pork, chicken, beans and other side dishes. By 6:30 we were done with dinner and back in the coach. We spent the rest of the evening catching up on our TV shows.

Saturday, March 5^th, our last full day here in Yuma this season. We went out about 1:00 for a late lunch at El Charro Mexican cafe. This is probably our favorite Mexican place in Yuma. After lunch we stopped a couple of stores to pick up some little things we needed, then went back to the coach. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach. We are now just a little over three weeks since we last published, and we have reached the end of our Yuma Stay. This marks an excellent time to close out this chapter and get it published. Until next time, remember that it matters less where you’re going, than who you have beside you on the trip. See ya soon.