A Month In Yuma, Part I

Our last chapter concluded on Sunday, January 26^th, when we left Ehrenberg, Arizona and headed south a hundred miles to Yuma, Arizona. We settled into the Caravan Oasis RV Resort in the Foothills area of Yuma, at the east edge of town, for a month long stay. Our friends the Babcocks and the Bullocks area also here and the three of us are all parked in a row at the resort.

Monday, January 27^th, Jackie was up early with Suzie and Peggy and they all drove off for a girl's day in Mexico. We are very close to the border here in Yuma and there is a town called Algodones just across the border that is mostly a medical community, dentists, eye doctors, doctors, and pharmacies. They also have a couple of good restaurants and some shopping, but it is very much oriented towards the thousands of seniors that come to Yuma over the winter, so it is one of the few places in Mexico where we feel fairly safe. The three of our wives stopped at the casino in Winterhaven, California and picked up one more friend of ours, Sharon Minard, who is staying in Pilot Knob, an RV park near there, and the four of them went into Algodones for the day.

While they were gone I spent some time finishing up the decorations outside of our coach. We set up a “party central” area between our coach and the Bullocks' coach with some ground pads, lots of lights and some propane fire pits, so we would have one place to gather for happy hours and any outside meals or other activities. The girls had a good time, did some shopping and had lunch, and everyone was back at the RV park by about 3:00. During the afternoon Clark and Judy McKay also arrived at the park and joined our little group. They will only be here for a week or so though. We had cocktails with group at happy hour, but everyone went back to their own coaches for dinner.

On Tuesday I left the coach about 9:30 and drove into central Yuma to the Sam's Club to try and get the flat tire on the Jeep fixed. I discovered a flat on the car yesterday, just as we were getting ready to leave for Yuma. I had a good spare, so I changed the tire, but now I wanted to get it fixed. I hate driving without a good spare tire. As it turned out, the tire had a small tear close to the sidewall, likely something I drove over on our last day caching in Quartzsite. The tire guy was telling me that it was not repairable. I gave it some thought and decided to order new tires for the car. The ones on it now have about 57,000 miles on them if you combine driving miles plus towing miles, and a couple of them, including the one that went flat, are getting a little thin. I didn't want to just get one or two new tires, so I ordered four new ones, for a cost of just under $800. Yikes. They had to order them in, so it will be towards the end of the week or early next week before I get them.

With that chore done I headed back to the coach and got things set up for the big party we are having tonight. Our friends the Minards, Ray and Curt and their wives Sharon and Del, are leaving Pilot Knob on Wednesday, so we wanted to have one last get together with everyone before they went off on their own schedules. Peggy and Vernon also invited some friends of theirs that had a winter place out here in the Foothills area, so we were figuring on having at least 16 people. Besides me there were a couple of singers in the group, Sharon and Peggy's friend Barbara, so I set up the karaoke equipment on the patio too. The park said we could do it so long as we shut down by 10:00.

Around 5:00 everyone started showing up and I think we ended up with 18 people. We all had cocktails for an hour or so and I played some music in the background. The dinner was a potluck, so there was plenty of food when we started eating around 6:00. Just before 7:00 I started doing karaoke and we sang until about 9:00. There were only the three singers, but everyone seemed to enjoy the music and had a good time. By 9:30 we had everything cleaned up and we were in the coach watching TV. A really fun night with old friends and new.

Wednesday, January 29^th, we left the coach about 8:30 with Peggy and Vernon, headed back north to Quartzsite again. We were in their Jeep this time because I didn't want to drive the 150 mile round trip without a spare tire. We were headed back up there to attend a geocaching event, an annual gathering put on by the Escapee's RV Club geocaching group. We had gone to the event last year too. Last year Ray and Suzie Babcock went with us, the Bullocks were in Florida. Suzie had a toothache and they were headed down to Algodones today so they wouldn't be going to Quartzsite. It took a little over an hour to drive to the event site, which was out in the desert on the BLM land where many RVers boondock in the winter. We met a few people that we know, listened some presentations, and swapped some travel bugs. We were at the event probably two and a half hours, but we had fun.

After the event we stopped at a nice cafe in town for lunch. We ate at the Mountain Quail Cafe in Quartzsite. We had tried to eat here one afternoon when we were staying up in the area, but during the RV show there are so many people in town that the wait times are horrible. This time we were able to get right in and get a table. We just had sandwiches, which were pretty good, although the service was a little iffy, even when the place wasn't busy. After lunch we started back towards Yuma, stopping along the way to pick up some geocaches. We ended up getting eight new finds, one of which represented the 2,000^th find for the Bullocks. Yea Peggy and Vernon! We are always proud of the accomplishments of the Bullocks and the Babcocks in caching because they are both our caching “children,” people that we got interested in the sport and sort of trained.

We got back to the RV park about 4:00 and by 5:00 we were back out for cocktails. We decided to have some hamburgers on the BBQ for the eight of us, plus Peggy's grandson Troy, the new Marine stationed here in Yuma. So we, the Babcocks, Bullocks, and McKays all had hamburgers, salad and some of Ray's leftover baked beans from yesterday, and ate outside. We had a great time again. We finally all went back into our own coaches around 8:00 and we watched TV the rest of the night.

Thursday, January 30^th, was laundry day for most of our group. We and the Bullocks went out after lunch to a coin laundry across the freeway from the RV park and got our laundry done. Ray did his laundry at the RV park. Later in the afternoon we got together for cocktails,but everyone had dinner on their own. We had a light dinner and then watched TV the rest of the evening.

Friday we all left the park about 10:00, all headed for the same place but everyone in their own cars because we wanted to be able to keep our own schedules. We all first drove to the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma so we could get our range passes. The southern part of the military's Barry Goldwater Weapons Range is located just east of the city limits and runs from the Mexican border north about thirty miles, to the Foothills area of Yuma, where we are staying. There are hundreds of caches hidden on the range, with the military's permission, but in order to go on the range you need to get a pass. The pass is free and I always tell everyone the only reason they require you to get one is so you can sign all the waivers that hold the government harmless if you get killed. Some parts of the range are “hot” and still being used, but most of it is open to the public, with passes, and we always like to go out there and cache.

Once we, the Bullocks and the Babcocks had our passes we all drove to the nearby Arizona Marketplace, a big swap meet on the east side of Yuma. We love to shop the Marketplace at least a couple of times when we stay in Yuma. I bought a couple of flags and Jackie bought some visors, but other than that we just walked around and looked at stuff. We got about halfway through the market, which is pretty big, and decided we were hungry and could come back and finish the place next weekend. We and the Bullocks drove to a Chinese restaurant that we have eaten at before, called Yuma Palace, and had lunch. This is a large, very nice menu restaurant, no buffet, and the food has been very good in the past. This time the food was still quite good, but the service was a little iffy, mostly because the kitchen seemed to be overwhelmed. It was slow and the orders came out mixed up. I waited ten minutes after everyone else got their food before mine came. Despite the service the food was still among the best Chinese I have eaten, so we still enjoyed lunch.

After lunch we headed back to the coach for the rest of the afternoon. We got together with the group at happy hour, but didn't stay out too long after sunset as the last couple days it has been cooler. After the sun goes down it gets uncomfortable outside. Everyone decided to do dinner on their own again, so we went back into the coach and watched TV the rest of the night.

Saturday, February 1^st, we were up and out of the house by 9:30 to do some geocaching. We went in our car and Peggy and Vernon took their Jeep because their grandson Troy was going along and it was too crowded for five in our car alone. Ray and Suzie had planned on going out with us too, but Ray said Suzie wasn't feeling well and they were going to pass. With the five of us we headed out to do some caches in the general area of the Foothills and by about 12:30 we had managed to get 20 new finds with no DNFs.

With a good productive few hours of caching we stopped at a fish and chips place in the Foothills for lunch. We had eaten at Mr. Fish before and it was good again. It is good fish, not the best I've ever had, but certainly worth the stop. We had a great lunch and when we were done we did one more geocache before heading back to the RV park. We stopped at a new “travel bug hotel” that had been put out recently. It was a very big metal cabinet that had several dozen travel bugs in it. We traded out a half dozen bugs and Peggy did the same.

We then went back to the RV park and relaxed until cocktail hour. Our whole group gathered again outside, but as with yesterday, didn't stay out much after sundown as it was pretty chilly. We had dinner with Peggy and Vernon and Troy in their coach. We made some rice and beans and Peggy made some taco meat and we had a big taco dinner. Very good food, great company, and a nice evening. About 8:30 we were back in our coach for the rest of the evening.

Sunday, February 2^nd, Super Bowl Sunday. The big game day. We decided not to go anywhere today and our whole group was going to get together outside of Ray's coach for the big game because he was the only one of the group who had an outside TV. We all started gathering about 3:00 or so for pre-game snacks and cocktails. We had a little twenty-five cent a square pool going among our group, but one of the neighbors came over and they had a hundred square pool for a dollar a square and needed some additional participants. Most of our group bought five squares. This pool was going to pay at halftime and final score.

The game started at 4:30 and most of our group were Bronco's fans. Nobody was a big time, die hard football fan, but we all were sort of rooting for Payton Manning to win. I won't go into a lot of detail, because EVERYONE knows what happened. We all just sat there in a deepening state of shock and dismay. Suffice to say, I have never seen a worse football game, let alone a Super Bowl game. It was like the Seahawks were playing a Pop Warner team. There were a lot of Canadians in groups around us and they all seemed to be Washington fans. They were pretty happy. We had a lot of snacks and good food, Judi McKay won the halftime pool on the big pool for $30 and Jackie won our little pool for $6.25. We had a great time with friends, but watched a lousy football game. We finally all broke up and went back to our own coaches around 8:30.

Monday, January 3^rd, I left the coach around 10:00 and drove to Sam's Club to get the new tires installed on the Jeep. I feel much better now that I have four new tires on the road and a good spare. After I got back to the coach we went out again to do some geocaching. Peggy came along with us, but Vernon wanted to stay home and get some things ready for their trip back to Redding in a few days. Their grandson Troy, the young Marine stationed here in Yuma, is going back later this week to get married. Peggy and Vernon are going to leave their coach here in Yuma and drive him back for the wedding.

The three of us were able to get a dozen new finds in just a couple of hours. After caching we went back to the coach and relaxed until cocktail hour. We had cocktails with most of the group at 5:00. Clark and Judi McKay had left this morning to drive back to their home in Southern California for some doctor appointments. They too left there coach parked here at the park and will be returning this weekend to stay the rest of the month with the rest of us. After cocktails we gathered in Ray's coach for a dinner of leftovers from the last couple of get togethers. We were back in our coach about 7:30 and watched TV the rest of the night.

Tuesday, February 4^th, we left the coach about 12:30 or so, after lunch, to go out and do some caching. Ray and Suzie went with us and we went out to try and get some special caches that had been put out for the big geocaching event coming up this next weekend. We had already gotten one of the special caches a couple days ago, and today we were able to get eight more of the ten caches. We only have to get the one more between now and the weekend. After caching we stopped at the store for a couple things and then went on home.

We and the Babcocks got together for cocktails about 5:00. Peggy and Vernon were still at the park, but they didn't drink because they were getting ready to leave to drive back to Redding, California as soon as their grandson Troy got off work at the Marine base. Troy got there about 5:30 and all of us waved goodbye as they headed off for Troy's wedding on Saturday. Like the McKays, they left their coach here at the park and just drove home in the car. A little later we got together with Ray and Suzie for dinner. We BBQd some burgers and had some more leftovers from Super Bowl Sunday. We went back to our place about 8:00 and watched TV the rest of the evening.

Wednesday, February 5^th, happy birthday to me! The big 67 and I am still kicking pretty well. We decided to have a stay at home day, and for the most part we did. About 5:30 or so we left the RV park with Ray and Suzie and drove into town to the Outback steakhouse for a birthday dinner celebration. I had a nice big porterhouse steak, Jackie and Ray and lamb and Suzie had fish. All of our meals were excellent and the service was very good as well, plus I got a free ice cream sundae for desert. Yea! After dinner we drove back to the park and had another cocktail with Ray and Suzie before heading to our coach for the rest of the night.

Thursday we left the coach with Ray and Suzie for some geocaching. We got ten new finds in a few hours, mostly around the airport area. We spent a few minutes parked at the edge of the Marine Corps Base, which shares it's runways with the Yuma International Airport, and watched the Marines flying touch and goes with two of it's new FA-35B aircraft. The F-35 is the latest U.S. Military jet and is the first real multi-service aircraft manufactured since WW-II. It is known officially as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and is being built by Lockheed Martin Corporation, and is called the Lightning II. There are three variations of the same basic aircraft, the “A” model for the Air Force, the “B” model for the Marine Corps and the “C” model for the Navy. They are also planning on selling all three variants to friendly foreign nations.

All of the variants have stealth characteristics with the “A” being a basic supersonic air superiority fighter, intended to replace both the F-16 fighter and the A-10 attack aircraft of the Air Force. The “B” model has special engine nozzles and thrust deflectors to make

it a vertical take off and landing aircraft, intended to replace the A-8 Harrier currently in service with the Marine Corps. The “C” model has larger wings and fuselage modifications to accommodate the stress of a tail hook and catapult launch hook for use by the Navy on air craft carriers. This model will replace the older FA-18 aircraft. I have seen a lot of pictures of the plane, but this is the first time that I have seen one flying and we got some really good views of it from only a couple hundred feet away.

There is one squadron here at Yuma Marine Corps Air Station that is flying the new plane and I think they only have three or four them right now. They are still in the process of introducing the new plane and training pilots and ground support crews. The Navy and Air Force variants haven't been started in line service yet, although they are flying in test squadrons around the country.

After our caching we stopped at the same Chinese restaurant that we and the Bullocks went to last weekend and the food was just as good. Thankfully, the service was excellent this time too. After lunch we went back to the coach briefly before going to Walmart with Ray and Suzie for some supplies. After we got back we had cocktails with them before finally settling in for the night.

Friday, February 7^th, our tenth wedding anniversary! Ten years ago today we got married at the Indio Elks Lodge and these have been ten wonderful years with my best friend, my lover, my wife. About noon we left the park and went to a nearby restaurant called Daybreakers to meet with our friends Charles and Jan Alphonso. Regular readers may recall that we knew Jan and Charles from the Indio Elks Lodge and that they sold their place in Indio a few years back and moved to a nice home in northern Mississippi, actually just a couple miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. They have been in Indio for the past few weeks because Jan had some dental work being done that she wanted done by her old dentist. They had stopped to visit with us for a few hours when we were in Ehrenberg, Arizona a couple weeks back.

It turns out that they needed to have some work done on their coach and were using a shop here in Yuma. When Jan found out we were staying just around the corner from where they were having the work done, she called and suggested we do lunch. We had a nice lunch and chatted with them for a couple of hours. When they left to go back and tend to their coach, we went out and did a little shopping nearby and then went back to the RV park. Around 5:00 we got together with Ray and Suzie, as well as Clark and Judi McKay, who had returned from their visit back to their house in Southern California. They had gotten in late last night, just before we went to bed, so we hadn't had a chance to see them yet. We had cocktails and then Ray served us all a nice dinner of shrimp curry and garlic bread. The meal was great, as was the company. We stayed and talked until a little after 8:00 when we went back to our coach and watched TV until bedtime. It was a very nice day and a nice way to celebrate our wedding anniversary with friends.

Saturday, February 8^th, another anniversary of sorts for us. It was on this day in 1998 that I first reconnected with Jackie after not having seen her for more than 20 years. It was that connect that started the journey we continue today. We had a fairly relaxing day, after lunch we went out and ran some errands locally, and then hung around the coach until about 3:30 when we left to drive to downtown Yuma for a geocaching event. There is a big annual caching event scheduled for tomorrow in Yuma, which we will be going to and will talk more about in tomorrows entry. The group putting on the big event always schedules smaller “warm up” events for the Friday and Saturday prior to the big event. We skipped yesterday's “flash mob” event downtown, it seemed too much trouble to drive fifteen miles to an event that would last about fifteen minutes, however tonight's event was a “meet and greet” to be held at a restaurant on Main Street in downtown and they were expecting about 800 cachers to be in attendance. In our six years of caching we have met a lot of cachers, most of whom we only see at caching events, so we wanted to go to this one tonight to see some old friends.

The event, which was to start at 4:30, was being held in a new restaurant in Old Town, called The Standard Bar and Grill. It looks like an old department store that has been converted and the place is very large. The caching group made arrangements for the place to open early so we essentially had the place to ourselves until about 7:00. We got there about 20 minutes before the official start time and there were already a hundred people there. By about 5:00 it looked like they were well over 500, pretty much packing the restaurant. We met a dozen or so caching teams that we knew and had fun seeing them again.

We sat at a table with Russ and Nellie Reichert, who are cachers from Oregon that we met at a geocache in Quartzsite about five years ago. Since that time we have visited with them at there home in Grants Pass, Oregon, and seen them at a couple of events. We last saw them about three years ago, although we keep up with them online. We had a great time catching up with old friends and talking to new ones. The thing about these events is that you are constantly meeting new caching friends. You wear a name tag with your caching name, so someone will see our tag “TravelingHolts” and tell us, “oh, I see your name all the time on caches.” We do the same thing with other cachers.

The food at the restaurant was OK. We had a calamari appetizer that wasn't very good at all, and the waitress actually took that off our bill. My cheeseburger, however, was very good, as was Jackie's Caesar salad. The waitress was very good, despite the huge crowd, and she maintained a good sense of humor through the night. We finally left the restaurant about 7:00 and drove back to the coach. We had a cocktail with Ray and Suzie, and Judi and Clark, but were back in our coach in front of the TV by about 8:30.

Sunday, February 9^th, we were up and in the car with Ray and Suzie by 8:30, heading to a city park near downtown Yuma for the 11^th Annual Yuma Geocaching Event. This event is sponsored by a group known as SWAG, Southwest Arizona Geocachers, and is usually the second weekend in February. Today will be the third one we have attended. Last year the event was officially sanctioned by Groundspeak, the company that runs geocaching.com and is kind of the Headquarters of the sport, as a Mega Event. To be a Mega Event you have to have over 500 participants. Last year there were over 1,200 and they expected about the same turnout this year. The first event in 2003 they said they had 53 participants.

We got to the event, which was in a very nice park just west of downtown and right on the Colorado River, right at 9:00, the official starting time. We set up our lawn chairs in a nice spot in the shade and spent some time walking around, talking to friends, and making new ones. There were also a couple of vender booths set up that we visited. We participated in the poker run, which had you navigate to five locations in the park to pick up a sealed envelope with a playing card in it. After you had found the five caches and collected the cards, you took them back to the booth where they opened the envelopes to see what kind of poker hand you created. We had one pair, nines, pretty much the same as what we had last year, nothing. The event was eventually won with a hand of four aces.

We had packed a lunch this year since the free food provided at previous year's events was not part of this year's event. They had a couple of food trucks in the parking lot, but we packed some chips and sandwiches for ourselves and some friends of ours from Palm Desert, Roy and Darcie. They had driven down and were staying

in a motel, so we told them we would fix sandwiches for them too. The event was over at 2:00, so after all the drawings, of which we won none, we packed everything back in the car and headed back to the RV park.

About 5:00 we went outside to have cocktails with Ray and Suzie and noted that there was an impromptu jam session going on just one coach down from the Babcocks. We took our chairs and went down there were a number of people were playing guitars, singing and having a good time. They asked me if I wanted to sing, so I did about three numbers along with the “band” as backup. We had so much fun we told the group that we would host the event next Saturday and throw in some karaoke too. About 7:30 we called it a night and went back to our coach for the rest of the evening.

Monday, February 10^th, I was out of the house about 7:00 to take Benji, our younger cat, to the vet for some shots and to have his front claws removed. We had tried to avoid doing this with him, but we have been unable to control his clawing and in the limited area of the coach, and with his level of activity, he was starting to really tear things up. He will be staying overnight after the surgery and we can pick him up tomorrow morning.

After lunch Jackie and I went to the Yuma mall to do some shopping and just get some exercise walking around. We went to three or four different department stores, but ended up not buying anything at all. After our shopping trip we went back to the coach and relaxed for a little while before joining the Babcocks and McKays for cocktails. Around 6:30 the six of us went to the Daybreakers, the truck stop restaurant right next door to the RV park, for dinner. The food was excellent as was the service. With a discount coupon we had from one of the local guidebooks, our bill was right at $20 for both Jackie and I for a nice dinner, including a beer for me. I had a hamburger steak dinner and Jackie had an omelet. After dinner we went back to the coach and watched TV the rest of the evening.

Tuesday I went down in the morning and picked up Benji and brought him home. We decided to do a stay at home day because we wanted to be sure that he was going to be OK before leaving him alone in the coach. He seemed to be in pretty good spirits, but he is being very careful when he walks and limps sometimes. I checked his paws a couple times during the day and there was no bleeding and he didn't appear to have a lot of swelling, so I think he will be OK.

Early in the afternoon Peggy and Vernon arrived back at the RV park from their trip to Redding, California for their grandson Troy's wedding. Troy and his new wife Makayla had visited briefly earlier in the day because they had made it back on Monday. They wanted a little extra time to get moved into their new base housing before Troy had to go back to work on Wednesday. We had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon and the rest of the group around five, and then everyone went off to their own coaches about 7:00.

Wednesday, February 12^th, Benji seemed to be recovering well, so we left the coach about 10:00 or so and headed down to Algodones, Mexico for the first time on this visit to Yuma. We had an appointment at our dentist there to get our teeth cleaned and checked and then we were going to meet friends for lunch and some shopping. Our teeth cleaning went well and the exams showed no problems. We went to one of the restaurants in Algodones that we have been to in the past, a place called La Parisio, for lunch. Ray and Suzie were already there holding a table for us. They have been coming down every other day for a couple of weeks now getting some medical procedures done. Shortly after we got there we were joined by Clark and Judi McKay. We had a great two hour lunch, listened to some pretty good entertainment, and then did some shopping. We finally got in line to cross back into the U.S. A little before 4:00 and we were back in the RV park just a couple minutes after five.

We had our little happy hour group with all eight of us and were also joined by Troy and Makayla. We looked at a few of the wedding pictures and heard stories about the wedding and Makayla's family and life. Peggy and Vernon were going to make dinner for Troy and Makayla and the rest of us were still pretty full from the late lunch, so about 7:30 we were back in our coach watching TV.

Thursday, February 13^th, we left the coach about noon with Peggy and Vernon and drove to the Yuma Mall area to have lunch with some friends, Linda and Ernie Ellis. We met Linda and Ernie on our Alaska trip back in 2009, the same trip on which we first met Peggy and Vernon. All of us were on the same 49 day caravan touring Alaska. Linda and Ernie have a home in Folsom, California, near Sacramento, but are on the road most of the year. They have two passions, square dancing and singing with the FMCA Frustrated Maestros Chapter. So they travel around the country, following the square dance competition circuit for part of the year and the FMCA rally circuit at other times. We run across them a couple times a year, but Peggy and Vernon haven't seen them in several years.

We went to Mimi's Restaurant for lunch and had a very nice lunch, spending a couple hours chatting and catching up on our travels. Linda has always been interested in our hobby of geocaching, although I doubt that they would ever take it up because of the amount of time they spend on their other hobbies, she really likes to hear about our caching adventures. So, after lunch, we went out and found two caches that were hidden near the mall so that Linda and Ernie could see us “in action” if you will. After that we drove back to the RV park, pretty much just in time for our cocktail hour with our group. It was a very nice night after a warm day, so we ended up staying outside and talking until about 7:30 or so, after which we went in and watched TV until bed. With our late lunch we didn't do any dinner.

Friday, February 14^th, Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Birthday to my granddaughter Courtney on her 25^th birthday. Not surprisingly, her middle name is Valentine. We left the coach after lunch with Ray and Suzie and drove to the Arizona Marketplace, the outdoor sales area on the edge of town. We were there a couple weeks ago, but didn't get to finish the entire place. We went just to finish up the entire marketplace. Peggy and Vernon also went there and we met them there. After we finished the marketplace we went to the Yuma Indoor Swap meet, closer in town. We hadn't been to this particular swap meet in a couple of years. The six of us walked around for an hour and a half or so before we decided we had enough.

We went back to the coaches to relax for a while. We took our own car and drove to Fry's to get some groceries. Ray and Suzie went with Clark and Judi to one of the local gun stores to look at guns and shoot a few on the indoor range. They are all from California, so they like to come to Arizona where the attitude towards guns is a lot less harsh. We picked up some steaks and had a nice BBQ with the Bullocks. We had some really nice steaks, some sweet potatoes and Jackie made a salad with her homemade Green Goddess dressing. We had a very nice dinner with friends. About 8:00 Peggy and Vernon went back to their coach and we relaxed with the TV the rest of the night.

A nice holiday like Valentine's seems to be a good place to close this chapter and get it published. We still have a couple weeks here in Yuma before we move on to Casa Grande, Arizona. Until the next time, remember that love makes the world go around. I love everyone! I love to be around some people, I love to stay away from others, and some I'd just love to punch right in the face! See ya soon.

RV Rallies and Shows in the Desert

Our last episode concluded on Monday, January 6th, when we moved from the Indian Waters RV Resort in Indio, California, to the Fairgrounds in Indio for the FMCA Western Area motor coach rally. We only move about a mile from the RV park to the fairgrounds, so we were in and parked before noon. After we got setup we went out and did a Costco run to stock up before we leave the Coachella Valley at the end of the rally. There will be no Costco close for a couple of months after we leave here. About 5:00 we drove back over to the RV park and had cocktails and then dinner with the Babcocks and the Bullocks. We were back home by about 8:00.

Tuesday, January 7th, we were up early and out of the coach by 10:00 to go pick up Peggy and Vernon Bullock for a trip to the Living Desert Museum in Palm Desert. The Living Desert is basically the Coachella Valley's zoo and neither Jackie nor I had ever been there despite having lived in the desert for many years. We had been to events there where we were taken into the place and had dinner or cocktails in one room, but we had never actually toured the place.

The Living Desert is quite large, over 1,500 acres, and has a wide variety of animals, although the tend to specialize in those that live in desert climates. They have a North American section and an African section with most of the animals that you would expect. Although some of the enclosures are very large and nice, many of the animals are in the smaller enclosures and cages you would expect in most zoos. They also have a wide variety of desert plants in the park so it also serves as a bit of a botanical gardens as well.

They do have a good tram system through the park that makes getting around easier. You buy an all day ticket and can then just get on and off where ever something grabs your attention. As with most places like this the food was outrageously priced, but at least it was tasty. We ended up being there about five hours and had a really good time. By the time we dropped the Bullocks off at their coach we were bushed and just went home and relaxed the rest of the night.

Wednesday, January 8th, the first official day for the rally. We had a relaxing morning and after lunch we went up to the auditorium to set up our booth for the Chapter Fair. Most FMCA rallies feature a Chapter Fair at the beginning where the various chapters can set up a table to try and recruit members. We set up a table for our Full Timers Chapter, of which I am the current President. We had a few visitors and gave out several membership apps, so we will see how successful we were. We also saw a few fellow Rvers we hadn't seen in a while, which is also typical for a rally. A lot of our acquaintances we only see at rallies.

The Chapter Fair ended at 3:00 so we packed up our stuff and went back to the coach. About 4:00 we left again and drove back over to Indian Waters for dinner with Ray and Suzie and a bunch of our other friends. Peggy and Vernon Bullock had moved from Indian Waters over to the fairgrounds this morning, but they are parked in the handicap area and are not close to us. Ray was making his famous “Fireman's Taco Salad” tonight, a dish that he almost always serves at least once whenever a bunch of us get together.

In addition to us, the Babcocks and the Bullocks, we had Gary and Ramona Wilson come over from their house in Ontario. They had been full time Rvers up until this past summer when health issues forced them to move back into a house and sell their coach. Over the past five or six years we have camped with them many times and always enjoyed their company. We also had Bev and Jerry King at dinner. They are not full timers, but we do cross paths with them frequently, usually at rallies. We also had another couple, friends of the Babcocks, whom we had met once before when we visited Ray and Suzie in Menifee at their house.

We had cocktails and chatted and really enjoyed the evening. The taco salad was great as usual and everyone got their fill. When the night got a little chilly most of us went into Ray's coach and talked until about 8:00 when everyone drifted off to their own homes. We went back to our coach and watched TV the rest of the night. A great evening with friends.

Thursday, January 9th, we left the coach about 10:00 and went down to the events area to go through the vender tents. The venders opened for the first time this morning. About 1:00 we paused for a lunch break, buying some junk food at one of the food court venders. We happened to run into Ray and Suzie and Jim and Sally at the food booth, so we had lunch with them. After lunch we went back and spent another couple hours walking through the coach displays. They had quite a few coaches on display this year, many more than in the last few years. Of all the coaches we went through, even the high end luxury brands, we only found one that had a floor plan we liked and it was a half million dollar Dynasty by Monaco.

We didn't buy much at the venders, even on the second round through the tents. I got some water filters I needed and we had some certificates from FMCA for recruiting that we spent on a tee shirt for me and a cook book for Jackie. About 3:30 we left the vender area and went over to Peggy and Vernon's coach where we had parked our car. They are in the handicap area which is very close to all the activities. We picked up our lawn chairs and, along with Vernon, walked over to the parade route to get ready for the rally parade. Peggy was still shopping.

The Western Area of FMCA always has a parade as part of their annual rally and every year there is a different theme. Last year was The Big Top, so everything was circus related. This year's theme was Dogpatch, so everything was hillbilly. A lot of the Western Area chapters participate in the parade with floats and costumes and they really seem to enjoy themselves doing it. The parade last a little less than a half hour and was pretty funny. There were some great floats and costumes, really funny stuff. After the parade we stopped in with Peggy and Vernon and had a cocktail before we drove back to where we are parked and spent the rest of the night in our coach. We were pretty tired and didn't feel like going to the evening entertainment, which was a musical trio that we have seen before at other rallies.

Friday, January 9th, I was up and working early to replace the house batteries in the coach. For those not into RVing, most larger motorhomes have two sets of batteries. The chassis batteries, which are usually normal 12 volt automotive batteries, or in the case of a diesel pusher like ours, two large truck 12 volt batteries, start the engine and operate the headlights, taillights, and other normal automotive functions. The other batteries are called the house batteries and operate all the 12 volt systems inside the coach itself, interior lights, appliance control boards, and other functions related to the house part of the coach. In larger RVs like ours there can be an inverter which converts 12 volt DC to 110 volt AC for the outlets in the coach when you are not plugged into a power pole. Because this inverter function draws a lot of current, most larger coaches have multiple 6 volt deep cycle batteries, wired in such a way as to provide 12 volt power. In our case we have four house batteries which are the same as those found in golf carts.

We still had the original house batteries in our coach, which were now eight and a half years old. I take care of the batteries, checking the water and connections often, but that is still a long time for house batteries. Four or five years is the norm. I finally decided I needed to replace them and had worked through our friend Barry Cohen to buy some new house batteries from a company that Barry's brother works for a battery wholesaler. I got a really good deal on some top line batteries for about a hundred dollars each, quite a bit under retail.

I was out of the coach by 9:30 and took the old house batteries out of the coach and loaded them in the car. They are really heavy, close to a hundred pounds each, but I got it done. I drove down to the gas station in Indio where the wholesaler had dropped off my new batteries, and traded them out. Because of the value of the lead in the batteries, and environmental concerns, they really charge you through the nose if you don't return the old battery, or the “core” as they call it. I took the new batteries to the coach and by 10:00 had them installed and everything working again. I hope that these will serve us as well as the originals did.

After I got cleaned up from my mechanic work we left the coach and went out to do some shopping. After shopping we stopped at Cactus Jack's in Indio for some lunch and to meet with our friend Barry Cohen for lunch. I wanted to give him the check for the batteries to give to his brother, but we also wanted to see him one more time before we left the Coachella Valley on Sunday. We won't be back here until March. We had a nice lunch and visited with Barry for about an hour or so before heading back to the fairgrounds.

Once we got back to the fairgrounds we walked around the vender area trying to get donations of products or little gifts that we can use when we do our Full Timers Chapter rally this summer in Oregon. A lot of the venders will give you little things to put in the “goodie bags” for the rally participants. We gathered up quite a bit of stuff on our first run through the tents. After the venders closed for the day we headed back to the coach and just relaxed the rest of the night. I was pretty tired after being busy all day and enjoyed just chilling.

Saturday, January 11th, the last full day of the rally. We left the coach about 10:30 and went down to the events area to get set up for our seminar. Jackie and I agreed to put on a Full Timers seminar at the rally. The Full Timers Chapter always puts on a 90 minute seminar at all of the FMCA conventions, the big rallies. To my knowledge they have never done one at one of the seven area rallies that go on around the country every year. While we were at the Beat the Odds rally in Pahrump back in October we met a lady who happened to be the seminar coordinator for the Western Area rally. We talked about doing a Full Timers seminar at the Western Area rally and a few weeks after Pahrump she called me and said they had a cancellation and would I like the spot. We agreed and now we have to do a seminar.

We were pleased to see the fairly small room packed with people when we got ready to go at 11:00. There were a couple of other members of the Chapter there including Jim and Pat Goetszinger, and Ray and Suzie Babcock. Jim told me later he counted nearly 90 people in attendance. Jackie and I did a tag team type presentation and shortened the original 90 minute talk into about 45 minutes to leave time for questions. We had a number of questions and most everyone stayed until the end of the seminar. All in all I think it was a success. We had a bout 30 people sign up for more information and a couple of people joined the chapter as new members.

After the seminar we spent a couple of hours making one last pass through the vender areas as well as going through a couple more of the coaches out in the coach display area. We went back to the coach about 3:00 or so and rested until just before 5:00 when we left and drove to a Chinese restaurant in Indio to have dinner with friends. It was us, Ray and Suzie, Jim and Sally, and Bev and Jerry King. The Bullocks were going to come, but they were having some work done at their coach which hadn't been completed yet, so they had to stay there. The dinner was very nice with some great conversation. The food was good, to me not the best I have had, but at least it was menu and not a buffet.

After dinner we went back to the fairgrounds and since it was only about 6:30 we decided to go to the evening entertainment, a rock and roll group called the Boomerama Blast and were supposed to be doing 50's, 60's and 70's music. Since that was our era we thought it would be fun. We sat through the closing ceremonies for the rally as they gave out awards for the parade and other things and then the group came in. It was three guys and a gal, all from Sedona Arizona. The three guys played guitar and the gal was a singer and beat on a box she was sitting on and banged a tambourine. No drummer, no bass player, just three lead/rhythm guitars. They all played sitting down, so they looked like a high school jazz quartet and they had very little personality. The three guys were decent guitar players, but the singing was pretty iffy in most songs. People started leaving after the second song and we finally left about half way through. Not the best choice to entertain for a group that is predominately baby boomer age. We know and like the music and like to hear it played well. We went back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the night.

Sunday, January 12th, moving day. We were packed up and ready to leave the fairgrounds by about 9:30, heading for Ehrenberg, Arizona, about a hundred miles east of Indio, just across the Colorado river from Blythe, California. When we went to hook up the car for the trip the transfer case would not go into neutral and displayed an error message on the dash. Not good. This meant we couldn't tow the car until we took it to a dealer to get it fixed. I had read about this problem a few weeks ago on some Monaco chat group sites. Back in the summer we received a recall notice from Chrysler about having to do a minor reprogram of the transmission computer. The recall was required by the Feds because of complaints about the electronic transfer cases slipping into neutral by itself and causing the car to roll away when parked. With a four wheel drive the car will move even if the transmission is in park if the transfer case is in neutral. That's the reason you can tow these vehicles with all four wheels on the ground, know as “four-down” towing.

We had the recall done in October when we were in Pahrump and didn't think any more of it until a month or so ago when I started reading on the blogs about many, many Jeep owners not being able to shift their transfer cases after getting the recall done. Digging into the matter, it seems that the actual cause of the problem with the transfer case was a circuit board that was breaking. When it broke it would sometimes actuate the solenoid that pulled the neutral lever, shifting the case into neutral. The Feds made them do a recall, but only required that they address the complaint issue, the cars go into neutral and roll away. Chrysler did that with a cheap, software fix that disabled the functions of the transfer case if it detected a fault. So instead of having to spend a couple hundred dollars to replace the circuit board, they spent a couple dollars to do a quick update in the computer. When the board fails later, the owner is now saddled with the expense of fixing the problem. Typical big business action.

Anyway, we are now victims of Chrysler's scam, so Jackie had to drive the 100 miles from Indio to Blythe, following behind me in the coach. There is a Jeep dealer in Blythe, so I hope we can get the problem fixed while we are there for our two week stay. I also hope that our extended warranty on the car will pay most of the cost of the repair, which I understand can run close to a thousand dollars. Yikes.

We got into Ehrenberg about noon even with me stopping to get fuel for the coach and to fill the propane tank. We are parked right next to Peggy and Vernon Bullock, who will be traveling with us for the next couple months. We are here for two weeks before moving on to Yuma and are looking forward to a relaxing and fun time. After we got all set up we didn't leave the park, just rested. Peggy and Vernon came over for evening cocktails and dinner and Jackie fixed chili relleno casserole again, which was great. Everyone loves that dish. They left about 8:00 and we watched TV the rest of the night.

Monday, January 13th, we left the coach after lunch and drove into Blythe to do our laundry. The park has a laundry room, but we do two weeks at a time and don't like to tie up all the washers in the smallish laundry rooms that RV parks have. There is a fairly nice laundromat in town and we got all our clothes done in a couple of hours. After laundry we drove back to the park and did a few things around the coach. Later in the evening we had cocktails and dinner with Peggy and Vernon again, this time in their coach. Vernon cooked some kielbasa on the grill and Peggy made beans and macaroni salad. Another great meal with friends. We went back to our coach about 8:30 and stayed in the rest of the night. We are still getting used to the time change. We lost an hour going into Arizona, but we are only a hundred yards from the border, so we still feel like we are on Pacific time, and the skies still look like Pacific time.

Tuesday, January 14th, I left the coach about 9:30 and drove into Blythe to have the Jeep dealer look at the transfer case situation and get it fixed. After about 90 minutes the service writer came out and told me that there is a fix to the problem, but that parts were not available. He had no idea when the part might become available, but did tell me that he had one other customer who had been waiting a month. Fortunately, our car is drivable since the transfer case is “stuck” in the normal high range. For those people I have heard about who's got stuck in neutral or low 4wd, they are out of luck. They cannot use their vehicles at all. I would guess we will end up having to deal with the Jeep dealer in Yuma after we move there in two weeks.

After the dealership I went back to the coach, had lunch, and then Jackie and I went back into town to the grocery store. After our shopping we went back to the coach and stayed around the coach doing chores and such for the rest of the day. We had cocktails with the Bullocks, but dinner on our own and then watched TV the rest of the night.

Wednesday we left the coach about 10:30 to go out and do some geocaching with Peggy and Vernon. We have cached this area quite a bit over the last few years, and there is not a big caching community out here. As a result, there were very few caches that were close to Blythe, everything was scattered and miles outside of town. Nonetheless, we went out to clean up a few of these. We ended up driving probably a hundred miles in total and managed to get six new finds before we finally quit about 2:30. Not a real good hourly average, but we had fun. The Bullocks ended up with eight finds, because they had not cached in the area for a while, so there a couple we stopped at that were new only for them.

After caching we went back to the coach and chilled out for a while before cocktail hour. We had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon on the patio about 5:00 and later BBQed some steaks on the grill. Jackie made some wasabe cole slaw and Peggy made potatoes. We ate at their place and had a really good time. We went home about 8:30 and watched TV the rest of the evening.

Thursday was, for the most part, a stay at home day. We did go out around noon for lunch in Blythe at one of our favorite little Mexican places, Garcia's. It is not a very big place, maybe a dozen tables and booths, but the service is great and the food is very good. We met Peggy and Vernon there and a very nice lunch. After lunch we made a quick stop at the nearby dollar store, then drove back to the coach. Peggy and Vernon had a few other errands to run in town. Jackie and I did some chores and spent the rest of the day in the coach. We had cocktails with the Bullocks at 5:00, but didn't have any dinner since we were full from the big lunch.

Friday, January 17th, we left the coach about 10:30 with Peggy and Vernon in our car, and drove to Quartzsite, Arizona. I have talked at length about Quartzsite in other blog entries since we come through here every Spring. It is a small town of a few thousand people much of the year, but starting in December it swells to a hundred thousand as thousands of RVs come into the area. There are dozens of RV parks in and around Quartzsite, but the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land surrounding the town hosts the majority of the RVs, which just camp our there without utilities, boondocking, as it is known to the RVers. There are not as many in recent years as there were say ten years ago, but there are still many thousands who come to spend all or part of the winter in the Arizona desert.

We come to the area this time of year because the third week of January is when Quartzsite is home to the RV show, where they set up a huge white tent, as big as a football field, where hundreds of venders sell their RV related wares. The show opens on Saturday and runs all week, and we will probably be driving in for that later in the week. Today's trip was to meet some friends for lunch and then do some geocaching.

Some friends of ours from the Sacramento area, friends we actually met thorough Peggy and Vernon, are camping in the desert north of Quartzsite. We have camped out there on a couple of previous occasions, but decided to stay in a real RV park this year. Curt and Sharon Minard, Curt's brother Ray and his wife Del, Curt and Ray's mother Millie, and another couple were all going to meet us for lunch at a place called the Grubstake, on the north end of town. The Grubstake is famous for their fish and chips and is a very popular place in Quartzsite. We have eaten there many times over the last ten years and really liked the food. Two years ago the place changed owners and, in our estimation, the quality of the food and service have gone downhill badly. Last year we Jackie and I went there and, although the fish we had was excellent, the service was awful. We decided we would give it another try since everyone in the expected party had eaten there before and liked the place.

We arrived in town a little early, so we did a couple of geocaches in town before going to the restaurant. When we did arrive we found that the rest of the group had just arrived and were in discussions with the wait staff about seating. There were eleven of us in the group and we wanted to push two tables together to accommodate the large group. The staff was adamant that this was not permitted and we would have to break the group up to sit at different tables. Now keep in mind, we were there early and there were no other customers in the restaurant at the time. The lady who said she was the manager actually got angry at us for wanting to move the tables and when asked, would you like us to leave and go somewhere else, she responded yes. That was really shocking to us, but we did all walk out, get in our cars and drive down the street to another restaurant. I would guess that they probably lost a couple hundred in revenue by being stubborn about moving tables.

We ended up at a place called the Quartzsite Yacht Club, a funky little bar and grill on the main street. We had never been there before, but some of our group had been. Most of us still ended up with fish and chips and we had a great time. Our server was the son of the owner and was both gracious and entertaining. We were able to pull tables together to accommodate our group and we had a wonderful lunch. I would have to say that the fish and chips were probably not as good as what we used to get at the Grubstake, but the way we were treated there negates any thought of ever going back.

After lunch the four of us said goodbye to the rest of the group and headed off to do some geocaching. We will probably see most of the group again in a few days, either here in Quartzsite when we come for the show, or in Yuma in a week or so. We did our geocaching on a dirt road that ran northwest of town, out to an old mining site. We did what is called a power trail, which is a series of caches, hidden by the same person, most of which were only a tenth of a mile or so apart. The series was called Quarry Quest, because the road led to an old quarry, and they were numbered A through Z, but using the military phonetic alphabet, i.e., Quarry Quest Alpha, Baker, and so on through Zulu. We also picked up one additional cache which happened to be along the same road, giving us a total of 30 caches for the day and bringing Jackie and I to the milestone of 6,100 finds. Yea! We got the last cache at about 3:30, so we left the area and headed back to the coaches in Ehrenberg.

We later had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon but no dinner. A little before 7:00 we went down to the clubhouse for karaoke night. We ran into several other couples there that we knew, most from other stays in RV parks over the years. We had a great three hours of karaoke, with a fairly small rotation of only seven, so I got to sing about six songs. Peggy and Vernon even came down for a couple of hours. We got back to the coach a little after ten, watched a couple TV shows and went to bed. A great day, lunch with friends, a lot of caching with friends, and then karaoke with friends. Life is good.

Saturday, January 18th, we had another stay at home day. Got a few things done around the coach, wrote some emails regarding the Jeep problems, and generally relaxed. We had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon and then dinner in our coach. Jackie had a crockpot recipe going most of the day with beef and broccoli. It was pretty good, kind of Asian in character. Peggy and Vernon went home around 8:00 and we watched TV the rest of the evening.

Sunday we had Peggy and Vernon in the car with us and were on the road by 10:30, headed north to Parker, Arizona. Parker is a smallish town on the Arizona side of the Colorado river and represents the only place to cross the river between I-10 at Blythe and I-40 at Needles. It is also where the railroad line crosses the river. Although Parker is about the same size as Blythe, it is more vibrant and active because that stretch of the Colorado is a prime water recreation area. There is also a big Indian casino in town and it is the closest place with a Walmart to where we are staying.

Parker is about 45 miles from Ehrenberg on a decent two lane road that runs up through the middle of the Colorado Indian Nation. It took us about an hour to get to Parker and our first stop was the El Serape Mexican restaurant. We first discovered this place about three years ago when we came up here, also with Peggy and Vernon, to shop at the Walmart. We thought the food was wonderful and we wanted to go back. Peggy and Vernon have been here a couple times since their first visit and said they have never been disappointed. The restaurant did move to a new location, but they had been to that place too, so they knew were it was.

As before, we were not disappointed by the food. It is pretty standard Sonoran Mexican fare, but spiced up a bit and very tasty. It is also very authentic, with all white cheese and no shredded yellow stuff. It was a Sunday and the place was fairly busy, but I did think the service could have been better. The waiter was not friendly and not very attentive. Had to flag someone down to get more water, chips, salsa, that sort of thing. But I would still go back and give it a good recommendation based just on the food. The original had been to meet several other friends there, but yesterday everyone else opted out, so it was just the four of us.

After lunch we headed off to our true destination and reason for coming to Parker. Peggy and Vernon wanted to “introduce” us to The Desert Bar. They had been taken there by friends a couple of years ago and they wanted to take us out there for the experience. The bar is only open Saturday and Sunday, and only from noon to sundown. It is located on the site of an old copper and gold mining claim in the Buckskin Mountains north of Parker. It is six miles on a dirt and gravel road from Arizona 95, which runs along the river, and the road runs right into the mountains, climbing up hillsides, dropping down into canyons, and running along ridge tops. Since you can only go about 15 or 20 mph without shaking your teeth loose, it seems like the six miles takes forever. Finally you turn a corner and drop into another canyon, and there on the hillside in front of you is a very strange sight.

There is a compound there with a ramshackle looking group of buildings, built on and into the hillside, what looks like a fairly nice house, and a church, or at least the front of a church. The church is actually just a facade, like a movie set piece. And then there is the parking, a half dozen graded areas all up and down the hill, surrounding the compound are hundreds of vehicles, mostly Jeeps and other 4wd vehicles, and a lot of ATVs and motorcycles. There are a few regular street cars there because the road is passable for any vehicle if you take your time, but it is clearly a place for people who like to come out to the desert and play.

The official name of the bar is the Nellie E. Saloon, but everyone who knows of it calls it the Desert Bar. Ken Coughlin, founder of this saloon, built the Desert Bar at the site of an old copper mining camp in he bought in 1975. Although all remnants of the original camp are gone, the spirit remains. One of the parking lots is located directly on the site where the original mining camp once stood. At first, the saloon was a three-sided enclosed room, not much bigger than a small storage shed. Today, while maintaining its Old West character, Coughlin has expanded it substantially.

The inside of the saloon now boasts many vintage and one-of-a-kind features. Its windows are made out of old glass refrigerator doors, the bar stools are hand welded steel, and the ceiling is made of stamped tin. The compound is completely off the grid with it's own well and solar power. It is so far into the mountains there is no cell service, no internet, no contact with the outside world. It is cooled by some cooling towers that works like a swamp cooler without a fan. By wetting the pads on top, cool air falls, creating a refreshing airflow. The saloon also has horseshoe pits and a bridge to get from the parking lot to the saloon. There are also two entertainment stages.

Another novelty stands outside of the saloon. What appears to be a “church” rises from the desert floor, reflecting sunlight from the well-aged patina of its copper roof. However, upon closer inspection one learns the church is more of a facade than an actual structure. There is no inside area. Constructed of solid steel with walls and ceilings made from stamped tin, plaques in the church bear the names of people who donated money to help build it. But no actual services are held here. It simply provides a picture perfect backdrop with “Old West” appeal.

When we got there, about 1:30 or so, there was a live country band playing on one of the stages and probably about a thousand people wandering about the place. The crowd varied from little kids to senior citizens and everybody seemed pretty happy. We all got drinks at the bar and then browsed the tee shirt selection. Can't come to a place like

this without getting the shirt, and I bought a couple. After shirt shopping we wandered around the various levels and areas, mostly outdoor in nature, taking pictures and taking the whole experience in. We then found a table and sat for a while, listening to the band and people watching. We finally decided we needed to get on the road about 3:00, so we went out to the parking lot and took the six mile trip back to civilization. As always, the trip back didn't seem as long as the trip out. We tried to do some geocaching on the way out, but the caches were too far off the road and there was no easy route to them.

We also tried one cache once we got back on the pavement, but we couldn't find it. We decided we needed to get to Walmart and then home because the Bullocks' dog Belle had been inside all day and would soon need to potty. We did a quick Walmart run and were back home at exactly 5:00. We had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon and were also visited by some old friends from Indio, Charles and Jan Alphonso. We met the Alphonso's through the Indio Elks several years before we sold our house. They had joined the Elks camping club and also had a house in the same country club in which we lived. Since we went full time we have crossed paths with them from time to time and stayed in touch through email and Facebook.

They sold their place in Indio a couple years ago and moved to a rural area in northern Mississippi, just south of Memphis, Tennessee. We have never been to their place out there, but have seen pictures and it looks very nice. They were out in Indio this winter, visiting friends and having some dental work finished up, and they decided today to drive into Quartzsite for the RV show. When they learned we were staying in Ehrenberg they said they would stop by on their way back to Indio. We have not seen them in a couple of years, so it was fun to catch up with them and listen to some of their stories. They had a cocktail and stayed about 90 minutes before heading back to Indio. They were only driving their car, so it was only about a two hour trip from Indio to Quartzsite. After they left we went into the coach and watched TV the rest of the evening.

Monday, January 20^th, MLK Day. No parades scheduled in Ehrenberg, AZ. This was a stay at home day and we both got a few projects done. I spent a few hours in the afternoon going through all my closets and drawers, getting rid of old clothing and such that I don't use or need anymore. I have to do this about every two years or the storage gets to overflowing. We had cocktails and dinner with Peggy and Vernon tonight, Peggy made a big pot of spaghetti and meat sauce. Very yummy. After dinner we watched the tele until bedtime.

Tuesday morning we left the RV early, about 10:30 or so. We drove into Blythe to drop off the clothes cleaned out of my closets yesterday. There is one thrift shop in town, so they got the stuff. After that we drove into Quartzsite and met a group of friends at Silly Al's pizza place, another of our favorite eating spots. We met the Bullocks there along with Ray and Suzie Babcock and Clark and Judy McKay. The Babcocks and McKays are boondocking in the desert near Quartzsite. We had a great lunch with leftover pizza to take home.

After lunch we went to the big tent for our first run through the venders. There are about 800 venders that come out and set up booths in the big tent during the ten day RV show. Everything from RV parks and resorts to cleaning supplies to repair parts, you name it there is probably at least one person selling it in the tent. We spent a couple hours walking around checking out stuff. After we were done shopping we headed back home, stopping on the way to visit with the Babcocks and McKays at their campsite. We only stayed there about a half hour before heading home for our own cocktail hour. We had drinks with the Bullocks, but didn't have dinner other than some leftover pizza when I got hungry later in the evening.

Wednesday, January 22^nd, we were out early again, about 10:00 with the Bullocks in the back seat and headed into Quartzsite for some more shopping. Our destination this morning was an area known as Tyson Wells and is a large outdoor sales area with several hundred venders. We spent about two hours walking through, buying a few odds and ends, mostly stuff for hiding geocaches. For instance, I found some inexpensive magnets which are great for putting on containers that you want to hide on metal objects. The Bullocks bought a couple throw rugs for their coach and some other small stuff too.

After shopping we went to get some lunch. We stopped first at Carl's, but there was a long wait and not enough seating. We decided to go back to the Quartzsite Yacht Club, which was also crowded, but at least we could sit and have a beer while we waited. It did take quite a while to get waited on, but the burgers we had were outstanding and the beer was good too. After lunch we went out for some quick caching before heading back to the coach. We only had time to do five caches that were in town, but it is five new finds for the stats. One of the caches was very interesting. It was at the home of a retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant who has put together an ad hoc military museum right in the middle of a residential part of Quartzsite. He has dozens of military uniforms, some dating back to prior to WW-II, and hundreds of other interesting items, and not just Marine Corps stuff, although there is a bias in that direction. We ended up spending about 20 minutes there after finding the cache, talking to the Gunny and looking around at his stuff. Another example of things caching can take you to. We would never have seen this place were it not for geocaching.

After caching we went back to the coach so Peggy and Vernon could let Belle out to go potty. We had cocktails with them at 5:00 and by about 7:00 we were back in our coach. No dinner again because of the late lunch, so we just relaxed with the TV until bed.

Thursday, January 23^rd, Jackie and I left the coach about 10:30 and drove into Quartzsite to visit the big tent one last time. We are trying to gather stuff, trinkets and donations, for our Full Timers Chapter rally this coming July in Oregon. We were able to get enough bags from KOA to use as “goodie bags” for the rally and we are trying to get other stuff to put into them. Most of the venders tell us to send them an email and they will then decide whether to give us something for the rally.

We browsed the tent for about two hours before quitting and grabbing a quick bite at one of the food stands. We then did a little geocaching around Quartzsite, ending up with nine new finds. About 3:30 or so we headed back home, made a quick stop at the grocery store and then back to the coach. We had cocktails and dinner with the Bullocks. We BBQed lamb chops for Jackie, Peggy and Vernon and I had a nice T-bone steak. I don't much care for lamb. Dinner was great and we sat and talked until almost nine when we decided to go home. Another great day in the desert.

Friday, January 24^th, we left the coach about 10:00 with Peggy and Vernon to do some geocaching. We cached in an area just south of Quartzsite in the desert where there were a couple of cache series' laid out. All of the caches were only a tenth or two of a mile apart and we worked parts of two different series' as well as a couple of other caches that happened to be close. All of the trails and roads were pretty well traveled and easy to navigate, so time between caches was minimal. We finally quit about 1:30 because everyone was getting hungry, but in that time we managed to get 32 new finds, a great caching morning.

After we cached we went to find a place to eat. We stopped at one restaurant in Quartzsite, but there was an hour wait, even after two in the afternoon. We decided that most anyplace in Quartzsite was likely to be that way, so we just headed back towards home, crossed the river and ate at a place in Blythe called Steaks and Cakes. It's a cafe, but the food was pretty good. I had a big burger and fries with some clam chowder and I had no complaints. Everyone else had minor complaints, the toast was late and not cooked enough, the fish was a little overdone, that sort of stuff, but overall the place was good enough that I would go back.

After our late lunch we went back to the coach and relaxed until just before 7:00 when we went down to the clubhouse for karaoke. It was pretty much the same rotation as last week, with only six or seven singers, so I got in about seven songs before they closed it down around 10:00. For the most part it was a pretty good batch of singers too, so it was enjoyable listening to the singing. When we got home we watched an hour of TV to unwind, then off to bed.

Saturday, January 25^th, was a stay at home day. I spent a good part of the day doing a cleaning job on the storage bays under the coach. I generally do a complete review of everything we have stored under the coach about every two years. In most cases, if there is something under there we haven't used in two years it gets tossed. I got rid of a number of things today and cleared up a lot of space down there. In two years it will fill up again, that always happens, but for now I am happy. I also spent an hour or so putting stuff away in preparation for our departure from Ehrenberg tomorrow. Jackie got some inside chores done also.

In the evening we had cocktails and dinner with Peggy and Vernon. Peggy made some tacos and some rice and beans and I made a pot of red chili. We had a great Mexican meal with friends. We went back to our coach about 8:30 and watched TV the rest of the night.

Sunday, January 26^th our day to head for Yuma. We had the coach pretty much packed up and ready to go by about 10:00, but I discovered that one of the rear tires on the Jeep was nearly flat. I couldn't find any nails or anything, but I didn't want to just air it up and then have Jackie have to drive it a hundred miles on the highway. It took me about 45 minutes to get the tire changed, mostly because I have to completely unload the back storage area to get to the tools and the spare tire. We were ready to go by 11:00 and we were out and on the road.

The trip was about 92 miles and Jackie had to drive again because the Jeep is still not fixed. We can't get it into neutral to tow, so she has to follow. The trip was pretty uneventful and took about two hours. We arrived to find the Bullocks, who had left about an hour before us, parked and pretty much hooked up. Our other friends Ray and Suzie Babcock are parked next to them. All three of us are staying in Yuma at the Caravan Oasis RV Resort for a month.

I spent a couple hours getting hooked up and setting up some of the outside decorations. Jackie and Peggy went out to get haircuts. When she got back to the coach we had cocktails outside with everyone. Ray and Suzie wanted us to go out to dinner, but we were too tired. Peggy and Vernon had their grandson Troy over to visit. He is a Marine stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station here in Yuma. We had a nice chat, him being a new, less than a year, Marine, me an old timer. About 6:30 we went into the coach, had a light dinner, and then relaxed with the TV the rest of the night.

Our arrival here in Yuma marks a good point to close this chapter of the blog. We will probably get another one online in a couple of weeks. Until the next time, be safe and happy and enjoy everything life has to offer. Bye.

The Holidays in the Coachella Valley

We closed our last chapter on Saturday, December 14^th while we were staying at Desert Pools RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs, California. We have been here in DHS a little over two weeks.

Sunday, December 15^th was a relaxation day. We had the Sunday paper in the morning and then spent the rest of the day alternating between some light chores and being on the computer. Monday we decided to buckle down and do some more geocaching, we are still trying to reach 6,000 finds and also set a new “best year” for 2013. When I did the cache list this morning I noticed that there was a brand new cache listing for a cache down in Palm Springs. We don't get to many FTFs (first to find) because we don't jump up early and the morning and run out to get them. We have about a dozen to our name for the five years we have been caching. But, here was one sort of dropped in our laps, so we headed there first. Sure enough, we were the first to find. Yea. After that we got seven more caches, ending up with a nice even eight new finds for the day. We are now within ten of the 6,000 mark. After caching we stopped at Walmart and picked up some groceries before heading back to the coach, where we stayed in the rest of the evening.

Tuesday, December 17^th, we were up very early and were both dressed and out of the coach by 8:00. We have our annual doctor's checkups next week and both had to go to the lab to get some blood drawn for tests. We made appointments at a lab in Palm Springs, but when we showed up at 8:30 we found our that their computer system was down and they couldn't do any tests. We left disappointed and drove into Cathedral City to the Chrysler/Jeep dealership to have the car serviced. That ended up taking way longer than we anticipated and we didn't get out of there until about 11:30. Once we were done with that we headed home and stayed in for the rest of the afternoon.

We did go down to the clubhouse at 6:30 for the Texas Hold'em game. Jackie broke even, I lost all of my $5 buy-in over the course of the two hours of play. I couldn't get a decent hand to save my life. I did win a couple of pots, but I lost some big ones by coming in second place. Oh well, that's why it's called gambling.

Wednesday morning we left the coach about 10:00 and once again tried to get our lab tests done. This time we went to the Rancho Mirage office of the lab company. Their computers were finally back online, so we were able to get our tests done quite quickly. After our tests we drove into Palm Desert and met our friend Barry Cohen at the Cactus Jacks restaurant for lunch. He just returned from a three week trip to see his daughters, one in Denver and one in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The daughter in Arkansas also has his only granddaughter. We talked a lot about his trip and also a lot about how he is dealing with his wife Colleen's passing, now about six months ago. Colleen was one of Jackie's best friends and we have been really close with the Cohen's since I moved out here in 1998.

We had a wonderful lunch and great conversation, and we finally left about 1:00 so I could go back into Rancho Mirage for an appointment with my dermatologist. I have been doing annual appointments with my dermatologist since I went on Medicare because of my 2009 bout with melanoma. I have been really careful with watching my skin since that time. He gave me a good looking over, a full body check, and only found a couple of areas on my face that he was a little concerned about. If anything they were per-cancerous basil cell spots, but he sprayed them with liquid nitrogen to burn them off and said they were nothing to worry about at this time. Once we were done with my doctor we headed back to the coach and stayed in the rest of the day and evening.

Thursday, December 19^th, we left the coach about 12:30 and drove down into Palm Springs so I could get the MRI on my knee. That appointment took about 45 minutes, after which we went out and did a couple of geocaches in the Palm Springs area. We found two new caches, including one that we had done a DNF on two years ago. We then drove back up to DHS for the rest of the afternoon. We had a nice dinner of pot roast, which had been cooking in the crock pot all day, then went down to the clubhouse for Texas Hold'em. Both Jackie and I pretty much broke even tonight. I lost a quarter and I think she lost a buck. We then went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime. Friday was another stay at home and relax day. I did go and sit in the hot mineral water tub for a while, which made my tweaked knee feel better.

Saturday, December 21^st, we were up and out of the coach by about 10:30 or so and headed for Palm Desert and the College of the Desert street fair. We try to get to this large street fair at least once or twice on each of our winter visits to the Coachella Valley. We didn't buy much, I got a tee shirt, Jackie got some lipstick, but we had fun walking all the booths and looking at stuff. My knee was aching, but didn't hurt too bad. It took us about two hours to walk the whole fair, after which we drove to the Elephant Bar in Palm Desert for lunch.

The Elephant Bar, or E Bar as it's known, is one of a national chain that used to be pretty good. If this one in Palm Desert is any example, they have gone down hill. The food was fair at best. Jackie had lamb shanks which were very fatty and her rice and veggies were cold. I ordered a Philly cheese sandwich, which was tasty but didn't have a lot of meat and was very sloppily built. The service was poor too. Our waitress was very non social, and didn't seem really interested in being a waiter. I ordered the French onion soup and it had not arrived yet when she brought both our entree's. I asked about the soup and she was almost snippy when she said, “it's coming.” I said, “well, soup usually comes before the meal,” to which she said simply, “sorry.” The soup finally came a few minutes later and it was clear she went into the kitchen and rushed it because it wasn't as hot as it should have been. The cheese was barely melted. All in all, it was not a good experience and is probably the last time we will be at the E Bar.

After lunch we went out to do some caching in Palm Desert. We were able to get nine new finds in a couple of hours, including the one that put us over the 6,000 finds milestone. Yea! Now we only have to get about ten caches or so before the end of the year to set a new high for total caches in a calendar year. After caching we drove back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the evening. Sunday was mostly a leisure day, but I did spend a couple hours in the afternoon getting all the outside decorations and stuff packed up and ready for our travel tomorrow.

Monday, December 23^rd, we were ready to travel by about 10:00 or so and headed out of Desert Pools and started southeast to Indio and the Indian Waters RV Resort in Indio. The trip was only about 27 miles, so Jackie just drove the Jeep down there. We were registered and parked in our spot by 11:30. After a quick lunch I put the Christmas decorations back up on the coach so we would look festive, and then we went out to do some quick shopping. We stopped at Costco for a couple things, and then went to Walmart for some groceries.

After shopping we finished putting the house together for our two week stay here at Indian Waters. This used to be a Western Horizons park, but it sold a couple of years ago. The new owner still gives really good rates to WHR members, only $14 a night, which is almost free compared to other RV parks in the Coachella Valley. About 5:00 we took our cocktails down a few coaches to visit with some old friends, Jay and Donna Blumenthal. We know Jay and Donna from our FMCA affiliations. Jay was a big wig in FMCA for many years and we struck up a friendship with them several years ago. They have now settled into “snowbird” mode, staying in their native New York during the summer and then driving out here in the Fall, where they stay at Indian Waters for about five months. We had a good time catching up with what they have been doing for the year and we ended up staying until after 7:00. We finally went back to our coach, had some dinner and then watched TV the rest of the night.

Tuesday, December 24^th, we went out after lunch for a little while to do some geocaching. We found three new caches, along with getting one new DNF, before going back to the coach. We quit caching early because we needed to change clothes and get food ready for the Christmas dinner tonight at the park's clubhouse. Jackie was making sweet potatoes in the crockpot for the dinner. The park was providing the meat and then everyone attending was bringing a side dish.

We went down to the clubhouse for dinner about 4:30 or so. Jay Blumenthal was playing the piano and doing Christmas carols. He recruited me to lead the singing, so I took the mike and we sang carols for about a half hour. Not too many other people got involved, they were too busy visiting at the tables, but it was still fun. They finally started serving about 5:30 and the food was plentiful and tasty. They had both ham and turkey and just about any kind of side dish you could imagine. We had some very nice people at our table and had a good time visiting. We even worked on recruiting a new motor home traveler to FMCA. We finally left around 7:00 and went back to the coach for the rest of the night.

Wednesday, Christmas Day. Merry Christmas everyone. This is Jackie and I's 15^th Christmas together. As always we shared cards in the morning. We don't do gifts, just cards. Since we already had Christmas dinner last night we decided that we would have lunch and then go do some geocaching. It was a great day for caching, high 70's, clear skies, and hardly anyone on the streets. No muggles at all in any of the commercial areas we cached in. We ended up after a couple of hours getting ten new caches, and one DNF. We also broke our record for most number of caches in a calendar year. Last year, our previous best year, we had 1,368 and we finished the day at 1,376. Yea! And still six more caching days before the end of the year. After caching we went back home and relaxed the rest of the night.

Thursday, December 26^th, we left the coach after lunch and drove to our doctor's office in Palm Desert for our annual checkups. We were both quite pleased with the results of our lab tests and checkups. Other than some of the physical stuff I have, like the tweaked knee and the floaters in my right eye, my heart and other internals are working just fine. All my labs are in or very close to the normal range, as are Jackie's. That's the kind of doctor news you like to get.

Later on in the afternoon we went with a group of people from the RV park, about eight couples, to a local restaurant, the Cliff House, for happy hour. The Cliff House is in Palm Desert and is a very nice place with a great view of the valley. We were there a couple hours and met some very nice people who happened to be at our table. They are full timers like us, having been on the road about a year longer than us. We only had a couple of drinks and an appetizer at the Cliff House and when everyone left about 7:00 we stopped at Cactus Jack's restaurant to visit with George, the owner. We decided to stay and have dinner there, like in the good old days when we lived in the valley and were in Cactus Jack's several times a week to eat. We finally got home about 8:30 and just watched TV the rest of the night.

Friday, December 27^th, we left the coach around noon and drove to Mario's, an Italian restaurant in Indio, to meet with some geocaching friends of ours, Roy and Darcy. We have known them for several years and we went to a holiday caching event put on by them back a few weeks ago. We wanted to have a chance to be able to visit with them one on one, so we set up a lunch. We had a good time, sharing caching stories and talking about future plans. They will be coming to Yuma in February for the big annual event there, so that will likely be the next time we see them.

After lunch we went back to the coach for a while before heading over to the clubhouse at the resort for Friday happy hour about 4:30. Jay Blumenthal had his keyboard set up and was playing and singing, along with a couple of other guys who had brought guitars. After a while I joined the group and sang a couple of songs too. We stayed with the happy hour group, visiting with other RVers and having a good time, until about 7:00 when the group broke up and we went back to the coach for the rest of the night.

Saturday, December 28^th, we left the coach after lunch and went out to do some geocaching. We went into the desert area north and east of Indio for some caches, and ended up finding five new caches. There were a lot of people out in the desert shooting guns, I guess they were the Christmas guns or something. After caching we stopped at Winco for some groceries before heading back to the coach.

Around 6:30 Shane Ryan, Jackie's Godson, came over to visit and have dinner. Shane was about four when I moved out here and now he is 19 and is six foot four. He barely fits in the motorhome. We had a nice time catching up with him and talking. Jackie made a wonderful dinner of chicken enchiladas and we had a great meal. Shane left about 8:00 or so and we just watched TV the rest of the night.

Sunday was a relaxing, stay at home day. Read the paper, did a few chores, but mostly enjoyed the nice day. Monday we had to do laundry, about three weeks worth, so we left the coach after lunch and drove to the local laundromat. After we were done with the clothes we stopped at the grocery store and then headed home. By the time we got home our friends Peggy and Vernon Bullock had arrived at the park. We knew they were coming today and we found that they were parked just one street over from us in the park. We did a quick hello and then left them to get set up. We got together with them at happy hour and had cocktails while we caught up with them since the last time we saw them. We last saw the Bullocks at their 50^th anniversary party in July back in Mineral, California. We stay in touch by phone and email, but we still had a lot to talk about. Jackie fixed a chili relleno casserole for dinner and we had a great dinner. They left for their coach about 8:00 and we watched TV the rest of the night.

Tuesday, New Year's Eve, the last day of 2013. I started the day by going to a doctor's appointment at 11:30. This was the followup with orthopedic surgeon about my knee. He told me that the MRI confirmed that the inside meniscus of my knee was torn, and also that I had some wear and tear and a tiny bit of arthritis, buy nothing to get worried about. Since I got the cortisone shot a couple weeks ago the knee has not been bothering me nearly as much. We talked for a bit and I finally decided that I would not have any arthroscopic surgery right now. I decided to wait and see if the bad pain comes back or if the knee gets better over the next month or so. I can always come in for the surgery when we get back into the area in March.

After the doctor's visit I went back to the coach and loaded up the music gear and took it down to the clubhouse for New Year's Eve. For the third year in a row we are the entertainment for the New Year's Eve party at Indian Waters. I got everything set up and working by about 3:00 and then went back to the coach to rest and change clothes for the party. Jackie had helped decorate the room for the party.

At about 4:30 our friend Barry came over to go to the party with us. This is his first holidays without his wife Colleen, so he was a little down. We went to the party about 5:00 and I played music for about an hour while everyone visited and ate dinner. About 6:00 I started doing karaoke and got the party started. There were only a handful of people who wanted to sing, besides me, but we still had a good time. I would stop every once in a

while and do some dance music and contests just to keep things hopping. We kept this up until 9:00 when we watched the ball drop in New York. For these parties we always do the East Coast New Years because most of this crowd don't want to be up until midnight local time. After the ball drop we did another hour or so of music before quitting a little after ten. I left the equipment to be picked up in the morning, went back to the coach and headed to bed. We had a pretty good crowd and I think most everyone had a good time. Good close to the year.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014, Happy New Year! I left the coach about 9:00 or so and went up to the clubhouse to disassemble the music stuff and bring it back to the coach. By about 10:30 I had everything put away and cleaned up. After lunch I spent another hour or so cleaning up and putting away all the Christmas decorations inside and outside of the coach. By mid-afternoon I was all done with my cleaning chores.

We had cocktails with the Bullocks in their coach about 5:00 and then later we BBQed some nice steaks and ate dinner over there. We had a great dinner and went back to our coach about 8:30 or so with a nice New Year's dinner under our belts. We finished the first day of the year watching TV.

Thursday we went out caching with the Bullocks after lunch. We were able to get eleven new finds, along with one new DNF, on our first day of caching in the new year. After caching we went back to the coach and relaxed for a while. About 6:00 we picked up the Bullocks and drove to Cactus Jack's for dinner. Peggy and Vernon really like Cactus Jack's and always like to have dinner there at least once when they come into town. Vernon had lamb and Peggy had prime rib, both specialties of the house. I had the beef ribs, as usual, and Jackie had the seafood platter. Jackie's was the only dish that was not, in my estimation, up to par. The fish was kind of overdone and tasteless. We still had a great dinner and didn't get home until after 8:00. Great dinner with great friends.

Friday, January 3^rd, Jackie left about 11:00 to go to the doctor's for her annual mammogram. Peggy went along with her and the two of them made it a shopping and “girls day out.” I got a couple of chores done around the coach. They came back about 4:00 and Jackie had bought a new lamp for the table next to my chair. Peggy and Vernon came over about 5:00 for cocktails and then we BBQed some hamburgers and put some fries in the oven for dinner. We had a great meal and when they left about 8:30 or so we watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday we went to Walmart after lunch and then did a few chores around the house. Our friends Ray and Suzie Babcock checked into the park while we were at the store. They are also here for the rally, but they are staying in the RV park, not at the rally. About 5:00 the six of us got together in Peggy's coach for cocktails and then dinner. We had a nice salad and Peggy made her penne pasta dish that everyone loves. We visited until about 8:00 when we went home and watched TV for the rest of the evening.

Sunday the six of us left the park about 10:00 and drove to the College of the Desert for the street fair. We had been there a couple of weeks ago, but the other two couples wanted to go and we are always up for a walk around the swap meet. We were finished about 1:00 and then the six of us went to a Mexican restaurant in La Quinta for lunch. We went back to the park after lunch and stayed around the coach for the rest of the afternoon. We got together with the group for cocktails at 5:00, but didn't have any dinner because everyone was still full from lunch. We were back in our coach about 8:00 again.

Monday, January 6^th, was moving day. We had the coach packed and ready about 10:00 and finished the difficult 1.7 mile journey to the fair grounds about fifteen minutes later. We headed over there to attend the FMCA Western Area rally, which will be going on all week. It took the parking crew a while to get us parked, but we were in and pretty much set up by noon. About 1:00 we left to do a Costco run. We needed to stock up because when we leave Indio next week we will not be near a Costco for about six weeks. When we got back from the store we stayed around the coach and finished getting set up. We have a spot fairly close to most of the activities at the rally, and we have 30 amp electric, so we don't have to run the generator for power. About 5:00 we left the fairgrounds and drove back to the Indian Waters for dinner with the group. The Bullocks are coming into the rally, but not until Wednesday. We had dinner at the Babcocks and had mostly leftovers from the dinner on Saturday. Again we were back at our coach about 8:00 and watched TV the rest of the evening.

This marks a good point to get this chapter published. It has been about three weeks since our last post. We will be here at the rally for a week and then moving on into Arizona. Until the next time, work on your happy and enjoy life. As George Bernard Shaw said, “We don't stop playing because we grow old; We grow old because we stop playing.” Bye for now.