Sunday March 30, 2014

I have not been keeping up my blog very well as I just get tired of writing mostly about uneventful things going on each day.

Over the past 2-3 weeks we have been quite busy. Before Dan and Wanda left we spent several days with them. They ended up staying a week longer than planned but had to eventully leave as the Canadians buy special medical insurance when they come to the US. Their insurance is only good for a set number of days and Wanda and Dan had to be home by the end of March. Received an email last week saying they made it home safe.

Pat and John(Judy and Jan's sister) left on March 22 and Judy, Ken and Jan left on Monday March 24th. We spent a lot of time with them and was sorry to see them leave.

We decided to go ahead and take a trip down to Puerto Penasco, Mexico after the Jackson's left. We all talked about going together next year but since we had little going on this past week decided to just leave the motor home here in Yuma, drive the car down and get a place to stay for a night. Puerto Penasco is known to the American's by the name of Rocky Point. It is located about 3-4 hours from Yuma. Since we had no idea about the driving in Mexico we decided to drive to Gala Ridge, AZ and cut down to Lukesville to cross the border there. That meant we only had to drive 60 miles in Mexico to get there.
        
When we got to Lukesville, we stopped before crossing the border and bought car insurance for Mexico. I believe it cost $59.00 for 3 days. After leaving Lukesville we drove it seemed forever as the road was 2 lane and wound around several mountain ranges. We drove through a part of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Park, which was about the most scenic sights we saw on the trip down. The mountains and low lands were covered in Cactus. One of my favorite cactus is the Ocotillo Cactus, which grows very tall with thin cactus shoots and have a beautiful orangish-red flower at the tip of each cactus shoot. We saw many of these mixed among the organ pipe cactus.

After almost 2 hours of driving we came into Puerto Penasco. Larry had made a reservation online for a hotel and after driving the town a couple of times, one of the fishermen gave us directions to find the hotel. When we got there it was not terrible looking but could not have been a 4-star hotel as advertised on the web. We got the room key and went up to the room and pulled the sheets back on the beds looking for bugs. This is the first thing I do regardless of where we stay. The beds looked clean but the room was just barely adequate. We did not take any of our luggage in and got in the car to drive down to the ocean. We were starved and found a nice little bar and grill called 'The Hut' and stopped for lunch. Larry always has the urge to order something extra ordinary and then complains that he doesn't like it! So true to form, he ordered shrimp in some type of strange sauce. It was like a tomato base but very thin and flavored with Basil, which just wrecked his day! He sat and picked out the little pieces of Basil all during lunch and finally was able to eat the shrimp. Since he never wonders out of the 'box' on his likes and dislikes of food it amazes me that he orders the weird offerings from the menu. I had a chimmachunga which was editable but not the best I've experienced. The only thing that was great was the beer!!!!

The city of Puerto Penasco is quite poor in most spots, however it appeared they had some upper class areas just east out of town and the west side looked pretty new. The majority of the main town was very poverty stricken. I was a little concerned about the area the hotel was located as well and was wondering if our car would be stripped when we came out tomorrow morning.
   View from our Condo of the Sea of Cortez

After we finished our lunch we drove back in an area of new Condo's located on the Ocean front on the Sea Of Cortez,  and Larry wanted to stop to find out if they had rentals available. He went in and ended up renting a Condo for $220. We now have now invested $80 for the original room plus the amount for the condo for 1 night. Oh well, the condo was so beautiful, I could have cared less about the money. We had a 1 bedroom condo, which was really huge, on the 4th floor of the Los Palmos Resort. What an absolutely beautiful resort with probably 4 pools and 2 or 3 hot tubs and was right on the ocean front. The views were amazing!! We had a beautiful covered balcony with wicker furniture and the temperature was perfect the whole time we were there.

We went down to the beach and ended up stopping at the pool side bar for a drink. We sat there enjoying the weather and the beautiful view and a waitress came up to ask if we needed anything. We started talking to her and found that she had been deported from Phoenix, AZ. She grew up in Phoenix, married and had 2 children. Her husband was an American but after their divorce she got stopped by police for running a stop sign and they found she had no legal papers and deported her. What a sad story because she had to leave her children with her mother in Phoenix and she is forbidden to return for 10 years. She was 28 years old and she said she spoke little Spanish which made it hard for her to find a job. She is living with her Aunt in Peurto Penasco and was deported with only the cloths she had on! She talked about how corrupt the Mexican police are and how they find anything possible to put you in jail. We felt so bad after hearing all she had to say but I told Larry I had a feeling there was more to her story than she shared. Regardless, to have to be separated from your children for 10 years is a horrible punishment!!

We decided rather than risking driving back into town for dinner that we would just eat at the resort. We went down to the restaurant and each ordered a hamburger and after ordering soda to drink the waitress came back and brought us each a beer. She told us it was free with our meal but would have been nice to know before ordering the soda. She then brought out a tiny tea cup with something in it. We asked her what it was and we thought she said soup so Larry asked for a spoon. She indicated we just were to drink it from the cup. We started laughing as I don't think there was a spoon small enough to get inside the cup. We drank some of it found it was basically bouillon but when we got to the bottom, there were tiny bits of shrimp in it, which I assume deemed it to be 'soup'. She brought out the hamburgers and fries and when I took the first bite of the hamburger, I thought my lips would burn off and the meat had a really funky flavor!! Larry made my meal complete by saying it was probably ground donkey meat. Needless to say, I didn't finish my meal. Good thing I wasn't that hungry.

We had them make us a coffee to go and went back up to the condo. We sat out on the balcony and enjoyed the beautiful evening. I was a bit surprised at how dimly lit the entire resort was. I did not feel entirely safe walking back from the restaurant even though it was part of the resort. During the day, there were many security guards present and I can only assume they were around after dark but because we could hardly see to walk back, I wasn't sure.

We got up on Friday and ordered coffee and rolls from room service. Took our time relaxing before we checked out. When we left the resort Larry wanted to drive down the ocean a short distance to a camp ground one of the guys from Los Quintas in Yuma had told us about. We drove a short distance and the paved road ran out and was nothing but a sand base to drive on. We found the campground and stopped in the office to find out a few details and ask if we could drive on into the camping area. When we drove in a short ways, we saw a lady walking so stopped and asked if she was staying there and she said yes. We asked her if they liked it and she said it was very safe with security around all day and night. She, her husband and kids had been coming down from Tuscan for many years and she told us a lot about buying food, etc. We noticed when we drove into town on Thursday that there was a Sam's Club and she said a lot of what they buy comes from Sams but that there were several grocery stores that she trusted in town.  She also said that if we followed the road that we came in on we would come into a little village called Cholla Bay. We continued around the RV park and saw that many of the sites faced the ocean and there were many people staying in the campground. We saw about 3 or 4 Tiffin Motor Homes parked facing the ocean.

We drove down to a point on the ocean and through the village of Cholla Bay. Some parts of the village were very poverty looking and then there were many parts that were populated with beautiful expensive homes. Many of the big homes were setting next to very run down poor areas. We stopped and talked to a guy who was getting ready to fish. He was an American and said he spends about 6-7 months each year at Rocky Point. He said he felt very safe being there and loved the winter weather. Where we talked to the fisherman there was a bar that we went in and I bought a Tshirt and beer cozies.

We drove back to Rocky Point and on into town. We went down to the harbor and bought shrimp and scallops from the fisherman. It was past lunch time so I asked the guy we bought the shrimp from where a good place was to eat. He pointed to a very small restaurant across the road but when we drove past, there was no place to park so we drove on into town but saw nothing that looked promising for lunch. We turned around and drove back and happened to find a parking place so we parked and went in to the restaurant the guy told us about. It was called 'The Coffeehaus'. The place was small, very nice and clean and the waitress's were very clean and spoke English quite well. We were looking at the menu when 5 people came in and sat at the table next to us. We realized they were Americans so I started talking to the lady next to me. She said she had lived in Rocky Point for 24 years in a Condo and the other 4 people lived at an RV Park just a short distance from the restaurant. She said everything they served was wonderful but she recommended the BLT. We both ordered the BLT and shared a salad and fries. It was the best BLT I've ever had with maybe the exception of one Leslie made us last summer. The bread was homemade and was just delicious. We talked a lot to the group next to us and the guy gave Larry instructions on how to get back to the Costal Highway which would take us to San Luis Border Crossing and cut our travel time down by more than an hour. He said the highway was a very good road and lightly traveled. He found a local paper at the restaurant that had a map in it to give us.


Before we left the restaurant, we ordered coffees and a piece of homemade streusel which was also recommended by the lady next to us. She also told me I could buy T-shirts and souvenirs just down the street so we drove down and found the shop. I bought the little girls a tank top and Oliver a t-shirt, the girls each a dress that I think they will like and Larry and I a t-shirt. I haggled with the lady and made a pretty good deal on the lot.

We drove back out of town to find our route back to San Luis and finally found the right road or at least it seemed to match the description from the guy at restaurant. None of the road signs are in English so it's a guessing game. We were quite sure we were on the right road so we left town and the road was a wonderful road, very wide and a nice surface for driving.

We drove about 2 hours and many places we could see the ocean along the highway. Other than the beautiful sights of the ocean there was nothing else to see. We met few cars and few cars passed us so I can see where it is not a real safe road but we encountered nothing unsettling until we got to within about 40 miles from San Luis. We came to a Mexican check area and when we stopped, we were questioned in Spanish. We tried to tell the guard that we did not speak Spanish. I believe he said he did not speak English and I think he asked where we had been and he understood Rocky Point. The whole time we were there, he had a smurk on his face like he could blow us away and enjoy it!!! Finally after he rattled on and no one was understanding, he waved us on. I had just a moment of panic after we left. Makes you realize that your life lies in the hands of the Mexican authorities regardless of how careful you are.

We arrived in San Luis Mexico and were shocked at the size of the city. We have been to San Luis, AZ just on the US side of border and it is a tiny, dirty town. The Mexican side is a huge city but also pretty dirty looking. We missed the road to the border and had to turn around and try to find the right street to take us to the border crossing. We ended up going down a one way street the wrong way and when we made a U-turn, the car in line where we made the turn held back and we were able to cut in line ahead of a huge line of cars. We sat in line for probably 20 minutes to cross but when we got to the US side the line of cars going into Mexico was probably 2 miles long. We were very relieved to be back in US. San Luis, AZ is only about 20 miles from Yuma so had a short drive home. I think the trip home was about 3.5 hours verses the trip down of probably an hour longer.

We talked about possibly taking the motor home back down for a couple of weeks to Rocky Point after we leave here on the 5th. We thought about it more and decided to wait until next year. Mike, a guy who is here in Los Quintas goes down with his motor home every year before coming here and we saw many motor homes at the RV Park on the ocean that we visited. Mike says he has never had any problems taking his RV across the border.

Saturday we went into the Farmers Market at the mall and bought tomatoes. We then went to the outdoor flea market as I had a top to exchange and we stayed for a couple of beer and listened to the entertainment. When we came home I cleaned and cooked the shrimp and scallops that we bought at Rocky Point. The shrimp was wonderful but I messed up the scallops as I think I cooked them too long and they were rubbery.

Hank our neighbor from New York State is leaving tomorrow so I walked over to say goodbye after dinner. His son is flying in to Yuma tonight to help him drive home.

Sunday I worked all day on laundry. The weather was really weird today and the wind kicked up the dust so bad that we could hardly see the mountains. It got hot enough later in the day that we had to turn on the air conditioner again. In a lot of ways I'll be glad to go home as the heat is just as bad as the cold.

Wayne and Evelyn who we have been next door to for the past 2 years are leaving tomorrow for home as well as Doris who is across from us. We met Doris the first year we came here. She is from Idaho and Wayne and Evelyn are Canadians. Will be very few people here next week as so many have already left.





 

Monday March 10, 2014

Had our morning walk again this morning. Came home and was so hot I had to shower right away. Larry ran to the store to pick up some items and I worked on my paintings again for awhile.

This afternoon, Judy, Jan and Ken came over to a drink and about 45 minutes later, Dan and Wanda stopped by. Larry and Ken walked over to Ken's place to get more chairs for everyone to set. We only have 5 chairs so we had a very full patio with everyone here. We had a nice time talking and having a few drinks. The Jackson's left and Dan and Wanda told us about a place just up the road where they wanted to go to play miniature golf. They asked if we'd like to go tomorrow and have lunch after.

Tuesday March 11, 2012

We walked this morning and when we got home Dan called to find out if we still wanted to go golfing. He said they would pick us up around 11:15. We both got our shower and waited for Dan and Wanda.

When we arrived at the place Dan had told us about, I couldn't believe how huge it was. We had seen it from the highway many times but didn't really know what it was. It is a big waterpark where they have lots of waterslides, bumper boats, 2 miniature golf courses and also go carts. The inside is huge and they have arcades on one side and a big bar and restaurant on the other. We had such a good time playing miniature golf and found the course to be pretty challenging. Each of us had a hole in one during the 18 holes but on my part was strictly luck. When we finished playing we went into the restaurant and all ordered beer and lunch. Larry had fish, which was not so great, Dan had spaghetti and Wanda and I had fish tacos. Dan liked his spaghetti and Wanda had never had a fish taco so she thought it was pretty good. I was not real impressed with my fish taco but Larry and I have had them from another place in Yuma where they were wonderful. All in all our meals were fine and pretty reasonably priced. We came back to our place and had another beer before they left. I was so wiped out from the sun, food and beer I just wanted to get cooled down and relax. I have been fighting either sinus or a cold now for the past 3 days so haven't felt the best.

Saturday March 8, 2014

Dan asked Larry if he wanted to go to the car show today so he came by about 10:00 to get Larry. I decided to go into Yuma to the flea market held in the parking lot of the mall. This is where we buy our tomatoes from the guy from Summerton, AZ. His tomatoes are to die for and the only ones that are worth bringing home.

Before I went to the market, I stopped at Sally's Beauty Supply and Walmart. Went on to the mall and got my produce and then to Kohl's to return some items. I took a little time and looked around the mall since I don't get much time when Larry's with me. I had the GPS and had planned to try to find a few more of the art displays on my way home but was getting late and I assumed Larry would be home so I came on back. I think I beat him and Dan home by almost 2 hours. I was upset that I didn't go to more of the displays.

I bought paints and a few brushes last week and have been working on a picture for Jan, Judy and Ken and also one for Hank, our neighbor who gave me one of his dessert flower animals that he makes. When I was at Nancy's Art Studio on Friday, I bought some glazing gel from her as Michaels does not have it. It really helps with blending the oils when painting. It is so dry here that the oils get very dry in between times I work on them.  I pretty much have Jan, Judy and Ken's painting finished but still have a bit to do on Hanks.

Dan dropped Larry off and said he and Wanda might stop back for a beer later. Wanda has been sick with something, kinda like flu. She and I were going to go to Mexico this past week but because she hasn't felt well, decided to forget it.

Friday March 7, 2014

Last weekend I ran into a lady at Michaels by the name of Diane Guley. We started talking about paints and brushes and she told me she takes art lessons from a lady named Nancy Worden who has a studio on 49th lane in the Foothills. She also told me about an Art Walk that was going to be held today, Saturday and Sunday and said she was displaying some of her work at Nancy's studio.. I looked it up on the internet and Jan and Judy picked up a brochure earlier this week for me.

This morning Larry and I drove over to try to find some of the places the art was being displayed which was basically at individual's homes or art studios. Again we forgot the GPS and even with a map, we had a horrible time finding the places. The first one we actually found was Nancy's studio where Diane had her art. We walked in and Diane recognized me and introduced us to Nancy. Both Nancy and Diane had their work displayed and they were amazing pieces. Diane does mostly water color now but had worked in oil for several years. I cannot begin to express how wonderful her paintings were. She had portraits of Elvis, Johnnie Deft, Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne. She also had several of cats and dogs and many landscapes. Nancy is also a wonderful artist and mainly had Arizona Art both in oils and water color. We stayed a long time talking to both of them and Nancy told me she would try to work me into her classes next year which I was very excited about.

Nancy gave us directions to several of the other art displays which were mostly all of her students. We found the next display on 49th Drive and 3 of the women from Nancy's studio had art displayed. One of the lady's was Adell Pullen who had both oil and water color. She was an older lady but very interesting. She told me that the water color classes at Nancy's was mainly taught by her. She also told me that Diane Guley has been all over the US taking art lessons for the last 3 or 4 years. It made me feel a little better when I realized she had so much formal training. Adell said she would try to find me a spot in her class next year if possible. I talked to her and the other 2 women about water color and they all said they liked it better than oils. I've always wanted to try water color but have heard it is a lot harder than oil. Will be anxious to give it a try,

We went to about 5 other locations to look at various artist. One guy we met had done a painting of a rose in wine, which was an interesting piece. He jokingly told us it was called 'dip and sip'. He was a very jovial man and we enjoyed his paintings as well. Anyway we were pretty much worn out by the time we came home. It was another hot day so we were ready to get home and cool off.









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Tuesday March 4, 2014

We walked with the Jackson's again this morning. We have been walking about 2 miles a day since we arrived and it still kicks my butt most days. My 'replaced' knee continues to be sore most days when we walk. I keep thinking I just need to get the muscle built up but not sure if it is going to subside or not.

Came home and showered and got a call from Wanda and Dan Nelson wanting us to come over early this afternoon for drinks and then go to eat with them tonight. We left home about 3:45 but had a hard time finding the street where they have their RV parked. This town is the craziest place I've ever been in the way they name their streets. There is no rhyme or reasoning to the naming sequence. There is a street, avenue and lane for almost every street. They were located on 45th lane and of course we found everything but 'lane' in our search. We forgot to bring our GPS and I was trying to use the Navigator on my phone to find the right area. I have a hard time using it at times. We finally found the right street and had no problems finding the lot they were parked on. Also in the 'foothills' they have lots located in the middle of residential areas that are set up for RV's and the owners rent them quite cheaply. Dan and Wanda are paying $75 a week plus their electric verses $595 a month here and we also pay our own electric. The place they are parked is beautiful. It's all landscaped with stone and concrete all around the RV so it is so much cleaner than the gravel lot we are parked on here in Las Quintas. Next year we plan to try to find an RV lot rather than pay the prices here since we really don't use any of the facilities within the park.

We sat and had drinks and talked for almost 3 hours. We have always enjoyed being with Dan and Wanda. We met them last year when they were parked on the lot next to us here in the park. They are from Kamloops, Alberta, Canada. Wanda and I have kept in touch for the past year and I so enjoy her. Dan is just a very funny guy and makes a point of knowing everyone he comes in contact with. Last year when they were here, he was here more than home. He loves to set and talk and drink beer. Larry and Dan get along wonderfully and Wanda is also great to talk with.

We left their place about 6:45 and decided to go to Parish's Bar for dinner. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed our meal.

Monday March 3, 2014

The weekend was cool and rainy and we didn't do much. Saturday I decided to return the acrylic paints I bought and buy the water mixable oils the lady told me about on Friday. I came home and painted off and on Sat and Sun. Wanda and Dan Nelson, friends from B.C. that were parked next to us last year stopped over and we sat outside and had drinks. They stayed about 2 hours and had a really nice time. We made plans to go over where they have their RV Parked on Tuesday and then go out for dinner.

This morning we walked with Ken, Judy and Jan and then showered and left to run errands. We spent most of the day in Yuma and came home about 3:30. We had a big lunch at Olive Garden and as we were bringing in our groceries Jan came over to ask if we wanted to go with the to Lin's, the Chinese Restaurant  for dinner. We both kinda groned as we were so full from lunch. We finally told her we would go and would pick them up around 6:00.

We all went into Yuma and were able to get right into Lin's to eat. They are always so busy there are people standing outside waiting. We all ate too much and were miserable when we got home. We sat out on our patio for awhile and then Jan and Judy said we were going to go get Bev, another friend in the park and go to Pat's to steal one of her outside urns and take it back to Bev's. This was to be a joke because this morning we told Bev she needed something more to set in front of her park model. We picked up Bev and all snuck over to Pats and when we got there the blinds were barely closed and we could see her in kitchen doing dishes. We kept it very quite and took the urn to carry back to Bev's. The stupid thing was so heavy it took all four of us to carry it and we kept having to set it down for awhile to rest. I thought sure we were going to drop and break it before we got it back to Bev's. We went in for awhile to rest and have a drink and we were laughing thinking about Pat noticing it was missing tomorrow.

Came back to our place and sat to talk for awhile and were still laughing about how upset Pat was going to be when she noticed it was gone. We have to go to Mexico early tomorrow morning so I will miss the big uproar no doubt.

Tuesday February 25, 2014

We left home about 8:45 this morning for dental appointments in Los Algodones. Larry had a 9:30 appointment with the Endondontist and I had a 10:00 with Dr. Garcia, the Periodontist for a cleaning. I love the way he cleans my teeth and charges me $45. I pay $160 to see Dr. Cusack in Peoria and his hygienist does a terrible job on my cleanings. Dr. Garcia does an ultrasonic cleaning and my teeth feel wonderful when done.

I walked down for my appointment and arrived about 9:55. Dr. Garcia was not even in the office yet but the office gals where there and I told them I was there for appointment. I sat for more than an hour before he showed up. This is one thing I do not like about seeing him as he seems to always be late coming in when I have a morning appointment. He does teach at one of the colleges so I cut him a little slack because of that. He did a wonderful job again on my teeth again so was worth the wait.

I walked back to Dr. Gaspar's to see if Larry was finished. The office girl told me he had already left to go to  Dr. Castro's. Dr. Gaspar placed a post in his tooth and Dr. Juan(who works for Dr. Castro) is going to prepare the tooth for a crown today. I walked over to meet him and when he was finished we went to have a beer and sandwich at the bar where Pepe entertains. Brenda our favorite waitress waited on us. We had our sandwich and a couple of Pacifico beers and listened to the music for an hour or so. When we went to get in line for the border it was getting quite long. I think we waited almost an hour to get out of Mexico.

We headed home and turned on the air conditioner. It gets so hot in the afternoons we normally run the air for about an hour or more just to cool down and then when the sun starts going down it cools down considerably.

I have been so bored with writing my blog this year. Don't know why I seem to no longer enjoy it and have skipped several days to the point I can't remember what has been going on by the time I make myself sit down to write. So for anyone reading this I apologize for the boredom.

Friday February 21, 2014

Yesterday was basically a cleaning and laundry day. We walked with Ken, Judy and Jan and then stopped at their place and visited for awhile before heading home for our day of work.

Friday we walked again with the Jackson's and stopped for coffee at their place. Pat came over and we visited with her for quite sometime. We came home and cleaned up and went into the Indoor Flea Market as Larry wanted to pick up some books at the bookstore at the market. We had lunch at In and Out Burgers, one of my son-I-law's favorite burger places. We picked up some groceries and got home about 3:00. Jan and Judy wondered down for awhile after dinner to visit.

Saturday morning Jan called and said they were not going to walk today so we decided not to walk either. Doesn't take much to convince us! We got ready and went to the Saturday Farmer's Market at the mall in Yuma. After picking up a few items, we exchanged a shirt for Larry and looked around for rugs for motor home. We decided to drive down to Somerton, AZ and have lunch at the Main Street Café. We ate there last year and it was very good. When we got to Somerton, the restaurant was not open. I couldn't believe it was closed as they have been doing a lot of advertising on TV lately.

We drove back into Yuma and passed a restaurant near 'Old Town' that looked interesting. The name was something like Copper Mine Bar and Grill. We decided to try it for a change. Well all I can say is you never know till you try a place but be assured, once was enough. The food was just ok but the atmosphere was like walking into a nursing home. Drab and furnishings must have been from early 50's. Our waitress acted like it was a pain for her to wait on us. There were other normal looking people eating there and they must have been regulars as everyone seemed to know them and were very friendly with them. We must have had the look of 'out of towners' or whatever but we did not feel welcome. So we marked that one off the list.

Came home and turned on the Air Conditioner as it got very warm today. About 3:30 every day it almost becomes unbearable with the heat. It is so cold in the mornings that I have long pants and a sweatshirt on and it takes till almost noon to warm up and then it feels like it goes from 0 to 90 degrees within about a 3 hour time frame! I guess that's typical of the dessert! We should be use to it by now.

Sunday was absolutely a kick back day for me. Larry was so bored he started waxing the RV. We had it washed and waxed when we were in Los Cruces about 3 weeks ago but he can see some smearing on the side panels so it gives him a reason to re wax. Jan told him about some wax at the flea market that he picked up either on Friday or Saturday. He messed around most of the day on the one side of RV.

I went to Walmart to pick up some items which took me an hour and a half because it was so crowded. I should have gone early this morning as the place is crawling with people after 8:00am everyday. I hate going there but needed some items that I couldn't get at grocery store.

Jan and Judy came down this afternoon and brought the blanket they made for Oliver. They are such amazing people and are always doing something for someone! The blanket is very cute with bears in blue and brown. Leslie and Pete basically decorated Oliver's nursery in brown and blue so will look great in there. I walked home with them as they bought fabric to make 2 more quilts for each of Jan's granddaughters. They also finished another quilt for another granddaughter that they wanted me to see. They make such pretty quilts and I wish I had an interest in learning how to quilt.

Came home a fixed dinner which is pretty much the sum of my exciting last few days.

Wednesday February 18, 2014

Judy, Jan and Ken went to Mexico this morning so Larry walked but I stayed home. I got a shower and we went to the Wednesday flea market  at the church down the road from RV Park. We haven't had a chance to go yet since we arrived and it's always a little different from the regular markets.

We looked around for awhile and I bought some cute hair items for the granddaughters and we bought fresh bread from the bakery. We left and stopped over at the dollar store, which is a new one that opened this year. I was rather surprised at how big it was and they carry fresh produce and many grocery items.

When we left Larry was hungry since he didn't have breakfast. We ended up stopping at Parishes Bar and Grill for lunch. The food is always very good but their prices are a little on the high end. We had dinner there last week and one of my favorites is their French dip. Today I just ordered a hamburger and Larry had Philly Beef. Was a good meal and had Pacifico Beer, which they have on draft.

We came home and took a short nap. Judy and Jan came over and Larry walked over to visit with Ken. Was a relaxing evening and the weather seems to be cooling down tonight. Maybe we will have a couple of pleasant days before the heat returns for the weekend.

Monday February 17, 2014

Yesterday we basically did nothing. Relaxed most of the day. Brenda and Gordon came over for drinks and a visit later in afternoon. They are leaving tomorrow morning and driving up to Vegas for 3 or 4 days and will leave from there for home.

When we got up Gordon was packing up and hooking up the 5th wheel to leave. We walked over and talked a few minutes to say goodbye.


Judy, Jan and Ken have friends here from BC for the weekend so we walked by ourselves today.  After walking we came home and spent another day doing basically nothing.  Judy and Jan came over later tonight to visit. Said their friends left this morning to go back to Powell River. They are neighbors of theirs and the guy was the one that Ken took a fishing trip with last year.

Tuesday morning we stopped and picked up the group to walk and after our walk we showered and drove into Yuma. I cannot believe that I did not bring one swimsuit with me, which I realized about 4 or 5 days ago when the girls were going swimming. I thought I'd look for one in Yuma. I really hate buying one as I have so many at home. I looked several places and they either didn't have anything I would buy or so expensive, I wouldn't pay the price. I'm thinking I might ask Larry's sister to grab one when she comes to check the house and stick it in the mail. Otherwise, I won't be swimming. Yuma is so limited on selection as there is not that many places to shop much unlike when we are in Mesa.

Before we left the mall, we had lunch at Olive Garden. We basically had soup and salad but did order a shrimp appetizer along with the rest. We waited about 15 minutes and our waitress came to our table to ask if the manager had stopped to talk to us. She said she placed our appetizer order 16 minutes ago and still did not have it. The manager came over to apologize and told us she was not going to charge us. We thought it a little strange as we have waited much longer for food at other places in the past. They must be trying to increase business or whatever. Anyway we had a nice meal and as always were very full when we walked out.

We headed back home and when we walked in it was pretty hot inside so the air conditioner went on once more. I believe the forecast is for cooler weather by tomorrow or Thursday. It has been unseasonably warm since we arrived. Hate to complain as the people at home are shoveling and freezing!

Saturday February 15, 2014

I was going to walk this morning but Larry said he thought Jan and Judy were gone so he went to walk with Ken and I stayed home.

I decided it was past time to do a color on my hair. It was so bleached from the sun and very, very gray!! I'm sure if I quite coloring it I would have snow white hair as I've had so much gray since I was 30, I just haven't let it go long enough to find out the real color!! I put the color on my hair and pick up around the RV while the color processed. I got a shower and felt like I was 20 years younger after covering the gray. It's amazing how much better I feel with a new color job!!!

Went over to Gordon and Brenda's to visit for awhile. I was going to go on to talk with Judy and Jan but realized today was Saturday and I wanted to run into Yuma to the small farmer's market at the mall. Last year we bought tomatoes from a guy from Sommerton, AZ which is about 10 miles south of Yuma. They were amazing tomatoes with so much flavor. Every time we have bought tomatoes here, they have tasted like Styrofoam until we found this guy. After buying the first time from him, we went back each week but found he was not always there. Today we walked the line of produce but didn't see him but when we turned around to go back we found his table. We ended up buying several tomatoes from him and he had samples of his small cherry tomatoes which were also very good so we bought a carton of them as well. Last year we met a lady who is also from Sommerton and she makes homemade salsa. Her name is Annabelle and we saw and talked to her many times last year. I saw a table with her salsa on it and ask if she was not there and the lady said she was downtown selling at the festival. We drove on down to the historic part of Yuma where they were holding the festival but did not find Annabelle. We decided to eat a late lunch at Lutes Casino which we have eat at several times. The line to get in was pretty long but we waited as we knew from past visits that they move pretty fast.

We got our table and I ordered a Tri Tip Sandwich and Larry had a Pastrami Reuben. We ordered a couple of beer and it was so cold it tasted wonderful. When our meal came we ordered another beer and a different waiter brought it to our table and instead of draft beer, he brought us bottles. We said 'oh well' and poured them in our glasses. We had drank less than half of the 2nd beer when our regular waiter came with two draft beer. He said they were on the house since they brought bottled beer by mistake. OMG I looked at the two glasses setting in front of me wondering how I would drink all of it. By the time we left, both Larry and I drank both of our beer and felt like they could roll us out into the street.

We walked around awhile longer and listened to the music before leaving. Never did see Annabelle so will have to look for her next week as there is another festival downtown on Saturday.

We stopped at Walmart to pick up a few items and headed home. It was so hot when we walked in that we turned the air conditioning on. The high today was officially 89 per the weather on TV and it broke a record for today here in Yuma. I think we are to have another few days of hot weather before we get a break about midweek.

Friday February 14, 2014

Received a call from Leslie this morning wishing me a Happy Birthday. She and Pete gave me my gift early before we left for Arizona. She knew I had an appointment for a manicure and pedicure and made a special trip to the nail salon and left a beautiful bouquet of flowers for me and paid for my manicure and pedicure. They are so thoughtful and so is my other daughter, Taylor. I could not ask for better daughters than what God has blessed me with.

Leslie said they were having some problems with Oliver sleeping and that he was up a lot during the night. She thinks he is having some problems with colic. She talked to the pediatrician about it and she thinks she needs to cut some of her dairy intake from her diet. She says Oliver has days that all he wants to do is nurse which has to wear her out. He is gaining weight pretty rapidly now so I assume he is just growing. She said he weighs 10.2 lbs, I believe.

Judy and Jan asked me to go garage sale shopping this morning so I walked over to meet them at 8:00. We went down Frontage Rd to the church where they normally have the Wednesday Flea market. When we got there we could not find a place to park as I believe the whole town of Yuma was there already. It was a huge garage sale but mostly the normal junk. I did buy some extra stainless steel spoons for the RV as we seem to only have two. I have no idea where the others have disappeared. I also bought a clock and a couple of sharp knives for the RV. Jan found some more custard cups to go with the 3 she bought at the sale we went to last week. Pat, Judy and Jan's sister, John her husband and the boy they keep were there so we found them and all looked for awhile longer. There was basically nothing else that I felt I couldn't live without.

We came back to the park and had coffee with Evelyn, who is our neighbor and Pat and John. Judy, Jan and Ken gave me a cute birthday card and also Pat and John. I received two birthday cards from Taylor, Kyle and the girls and also two valentines that the girls made for me. Taylor and Kyle also sent me a gift card for Red Lobster, which I always enjoy!! I received a birthday card from Jerry and Jan Twedell as well. I couldn't get anything done most of day because someone was posting birthday wishes on Facebook. I think I had over 80 birthday wishes posted. It's amazing to realize how many wonderful friends and relatives I have.

Larry and I went over to the outdoor Flea Market for awhile this afternoon. He bought some shoes to wear inside and some electrical things to try to fix our electric cooler. The connecter on the cooler melted and it no longer works on power. We have been having to keep ice in it for the beer. The Flea Market never changes--same vendors with the same merchandise. After so many trips there over the years it becoming very boring. We sat down and had a beer and listened to the music for awhile and headed home.

Gordon and Brenda came over for drinks and a visit. They will be leaving on Monday of next week. We will miss them as we've enjoyed getting to know them. They are going to Las Vegas for a few days before heading home.

When we came inside it was getting late again for dinner. We ended up having soup and sandwiches for dinner.

Thursday February 13, 2014

Taylor called this morning and we had a nice conversation. It is hard for her to have a conversation most of the time with the granddaughter's demands on her time. She said it was still very cold at home and I felt bad to tell her how hot we had been since arriving in Yuma. I by no means was rubbing it in about the heat, only that both Larry and I have had a hard time coming from the chilling cold of Illinois to the heat of Arizona. It has been unseasonably warm since we arrived. We have actually had to run the air conditioning at various times because it is so unbearable. It's amazing how it cools down at night and requires a jacket most evenings and gets so hot during the day that we cannot find clothing cool enough.

After we talked to Taylor, we went over to the Jackson's for our morning walk. We have been trying to walk most mornings and Judy and Jan walks with me and Ken and Larry walk together. Makes the walk more enjoyable to have someone fun to share it with. Over the past 2 years Ken and Larry pretty much were the only ones who walked routinely. I have been so lazy about exercise since having all my knee problems and I have decided I really need to push myself a little more. I have noticed since walking daily that my 'new' knee has been sore. I keep thinking it will ease some as I work up to the exercise.

We came back to the Jackson's and all sat on the deck and had coffee. It was starting to warm up considerably by the time we came home. Larry and I sat on the patio for sometime to cool down as there was a light breeze and was quite pleasant. My plans for today were to clean inside. I haven't done much cleaning since leaving home other than vacuuming occasionally. I bought a mop that is similar to a swifter but has a place that I can fill with my own cleaning solution. I don't like the swifter solution as I think it leaves a residue that just makes the dust and dirt stick to the floors after using. I filled the mop with vinegar water for mopping.

I swept the floors with a broom first and collected enough sand for a sandbox! It's hard to believe how much gets tracked into the motor home.  I followed the sweeping with the vacuum before I started mopping. My new mop has a reusable cover and by the time I finished, I didn't think it would ever come clean after washing. While I was cleaning, I started on laundry and worked most of the day catching up on it. When it is so hot, we go through a lot of clothing so it piles up fast.

I finally finished with my cleaning and was so hot and dirty feeling I couldn't wait to take a shower. I finished with my shower and Gordon and Brenda came over for awhile and we sat outside and talked for about 2 hours.

Maggie and Scott, the couple parked next to us who came from Phoenix to work for the park, came home and I gave them some of the vegetables that we got from our farm tour on Tuesday at the University of California. They are a nice couple but I think the park is giving them a raw deal. Maggie was promised a job in the park office and they told her they could not use her until October!! Then Scott told me tonight that the park is only giving him 2.5 days a week of work. He worked for LeMesa RV as a service technician before and plans to try to pick up some work doing RV Repairs. I feel sorry for them as they obviously need jobs. Maggie told me that she is going to try to start a cleaning business to clean the inside of RV's. They have distributed some fliers to advertise. She told me she would give me a free cleaning if I would spread the word about her cleaning business. I laughed and told her she was a day late offering me a free cleaning as I worked my rear off just today cleaning inside. She laughed and said it doesn't stay clean forever so when I'm ready she'll be over.

We came in rather late for dinner so we ate leftovers fro dinner last night.

Wednesday February 12, 2014

We left for Algodones at 8:15am as our dental appointments were at 9:00. We arrived right at 9:00 and the office girls gave us big hugs and we showed pictures of my grand kids and her children. I feel so terrible as I can never remember her name but she is just a sweetheart! She told me I was to see Dr. Castro today. I normally see Dr. Juan whom I really like as well. I asked if Dr. Juan was still there and she said yes. I think the reason I'm now seeing Dr. Castro again is because last year I talked to Dr. Castro and told her the reason I'd been going to Dr. Juan is that she's so busy I can never get an appointment with her. Every time I went in to see Dr. Juan last year, she would come into his room to say hello to me. She is also a sweetheart but sometimes drives me nuts as she is always saying 'Thank You Miss Carol', like 50 times during an appointment. I do really love her though. We only sat a few minutes when they called me in. I talked to Dr. Castro about putting facings on my front teeth to get rid of the white spots but she said my teeth were so strong, she did not want to remove the top surface to do the facings. She said she could drill the white areas and place a bonding on them but they would pick up stains and discolor. We talked a lot about it and I decided to leave them as is.

Larry went in to see Dr. Castro next. He has a tooth that he knew needed work so when Dr. checked it she sent him to Dr. Gaspar, the Endodontist. He took xrays and found he had a root canal on tooth but it did not go completely down to bottom of the apex of the root. Dr. Gaspar redid the root canal and then sent us to Dr. Garcia, the Periodontist that did our implants. Dr. Garcia cut the gum away from the tooth at the gum line and then we went back to Dr. Gaspar. He made Larry an appointment to come back February 25 to have a post placed in the tooth and the same day he goes to Dr. Castro to prepare it for a crown. By the time he finished with all the dentist, it was 12:30 so we went to the pharmacy to fill a couple of prescriptions. After the pharmacy, we went to have lunch and a few beer at our favorite bar. Brenda, who is the sweet little Mexican waitress from last year gave me a big hug and kiss and said she was so happy to see me. She waited on us and I didn't see our 1-armed waiter from last year around. I asked Brenda about him and she said he moved to San Luis, which is a very poor place. I told Larry I bet they let him go at the bar because the other male waiter that works there is a real 'ass' and I don't think he liked the other guy. Last year there was some nastiness from the male waiter that is still there. I can't stand him to wait on us as he has such a nasty personality. We drank beer till about 3:00 and Larry went up to check on how long the line for the border crossing was. He came back and told me we needed to go as it was not very long. We only waited about 30 minutes to get across. Judy had told us that the Border Guards had been moving people across at a much better pace this year. Normally with the number of people lined up today we would have waited an hour and a half at least.

We came home and then Larry ran over to Al's RV to find out if our water softener part had come in yet, got a haircut and paid for another month here since it looks like we will be staying to get his dental work completed. While he was gone, I read for a short time before falling asleep. About 6:00 we went down to Parrish's Bar for dinner. Came home and felt good to just sit and relax.

Tuesday February 11, 2014

We all left at 8:30 this morning for El Centro going to the University of California Farm Extension Tour. We rode with Brenda and Gordon, Ken, Judy and Jan took their car and Pat, John and Eddy rode in their car so we had a caravan driving over.

We arrived at the U of C at about 9:15 California Time. We went on in and found our seats for the opening talks. They always make something with their produce for our sampling and today they made Hummas and it was very good. We then went to a classroom and they gave a presentation of the farming procedures in California and Arizona. This is always very interesting as they explain how the farmers order their water which is delivered through canals from the Colorado River. They talk about the migrant workers and showed the type of machinery used to harvest different produce.

We came back outside to the eating area and had a wonderful salad for lunch. Several of the people who work at the university entertained us with music while we ate. After dinner we loaded onto wagons and they took us out on the farm explaining all the test projects they are working on. They have cattle that they feed test foods and then keep data, including testing the contents of their stomachs. They took us by a plot that will be used for organic crops and the plot takes 7 years to go through the 'soil cleansing' process before they can plant.

We stopped at a couple of plots that they allowed us to pick fresh produce to take home. We picked red and white radishes, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage. They had carrots, celery and some type of greens, which we did not bring home.

We rode around the farm on the wagons for about 2 hours and then came back again to the outdoor lunch area and had ice cream sundaes. We left about 3:00 to head home. Before we got back on the highway, Ken wanted to take us to the hot springs in Holtville. They had been there last year and wanted to show us where it was. We stopped there and they had a couple of small concrete pools that had about 20 people crammed into them. I told Larry when we left, they would have to hold a gun on me to put my body in that water because there must be every disease imaginable floating in the water! There is a big 'boondocker' area across the road where RV's are parked in the sand with no water or electrical. I'm sure the people in the hot springs pool hadn't bathed for several days!

We left there and drove back to the Foothills and went to dinner at Applebee's with Gordon and Brenda. By the time we finally got home, we were worn out. The day was very warm and very long so we turned on the air conditioning in the motor home and I went to bed quite early.

Monday Feburary 10, 2014

We went into Yuma today to pick up some items at Sam's. We had lunch and went back to The Foothills and stopped at the RV Parts Store to get light bulbs for some overhead lights in motor home.

We came home and unloaded everything and I called the University of California Farm Extension to make reservations for Brenda, Gordon, Judy, Jan, Ken, Pat, John, Eddy and Larry and I to go over for the farm tour. Larry and I did the tour about 2 years ago and really enjoyed it! When I called they had the rest of the week open so I went ahead and made the reservation for tomorrow as we have dental appointments in Los Algodones on Wednesday.

I went over to tell Brenda and Gordon but Judy and Jan were gone when I walked over there so I told Ken but told him I'd bring the directions over later.

Brenda, Gordon and Ken came over for 'Happy Hour'. I made margaritas for everyone but Ken as he wanted beer. We all sat around until probably 6:30 and everyone left for home. I asked Larry what he wanted for dinner and he decided we could have left over from last night. That works out really good for me as I really was not looking forward to cooking this late.

After we ate dinner, I walked back over to see Judy and Jan. We talked for a long time and since I forgot to take the directions for our trip tomorrow, they came over here to get them. We decided to leave at 8:30 tomorrow morning, however, I think we will be plenty early as it does not start until 9:30 California time. It is just east of El Centro which is only about 60 miles from Yuma and they are an hour ahead of us in time. If we are early I'm sure we can get in whenever we arrive so better early than late I guess.

The weather was pretty warm again today. It was probably 82 but still warm to me after the cold we came from. By Saturday of this week they are forecasting 92!! Not sure how I'm going to handle that!

Sunday February 9, 2014

Today is laundry day whether I want to do it or not. Have a week worth of dirty cloths as I have not done laundry since we left home. I had to run the washer through a clean cycle since it has not been used for awhile and was getting dirty cloths together to wash when Judy, Ken and Jan came over to go for our walk. I decided to stay here to work on laundry so Larry walked with them.

I talked to both Leslie and Taylor today. Leslie said they enjoyed their trip to Taylor's but the traveling with the dogs and baby was not fun. Oliver gained 4 ozs while they were gone so he is now 9 lbs 12 ozs. Today he is 4 weeks old which does not seem possible. Taylor said they all enjoyed their ski trip to Utah last week and that Addison is really into skiing. I think she is a little more aggressive than Morgan just because of her personality. She reminds me more of Leslie every day. Leslie was always so daring in everything she did as a child.

I worked all day trying to get laundry caught up and it was so hot, I couldn't get cooled down. There was a little wind so I sat outside off and on but couldn't decide if it was cooler inside or out. Later this afternoon Larry was outside talking to Gordon and when I walked out, Larry told me someone stole our lighted Palm Tree. When I looked at Gordon, I could tell he was up to no good. I asked Larry if he had searched Gordon's RV for the tree and Gordon started laughing. He is a character and always up to no good! The next thing I knew, the palm tree was back in front of the motor home. He said he wanted one for himself but couldn't talk the guy at the flea market into a lower price. After it got dark, we realized the top part of the tree is not lighting up so I can't wait to inform Gordon that he broke my tree and he now has to buy two trees, one for me to replace mine. Ha!

Last night we had another motor home pull in to the empty site on the other side of us. Before I went back inside after hassling with Gordon, the lady came over and introduced herself. Her name is Mattie and her husband is Scott. She said they were from Phoenix and were here as camp workers for our park. She is going to be working in the office and Scott is going to work maintenance. We talked for a long time and she said they had been managing a RV Park up by Paxton, AZ. They are fulltime RV'ers and have been doing camp work for quite sometime.

Came in and cooked dinner and finally got the last load of wash in the dryer. I really hate having to spend all day working on anything especially laundry when it's so hot. Not quite hot enough to turn on the air yet but I suspect next week may be the breaking point.  

Saturday February 8, 2014

We left about 8:30 for our walk and stopped at the Jackson's to see if they wanted to walk. We all walked today quite alot through the park. When we came back to their place we all sat and had coffee and talked for a long time. Pat called Jan to say she wanted to go to the garage sales again. I came home and grabbed my purse and went back over and we all left to go to the sales just down the road from our RV Park. Basically if they had anything worth looking at it was long gone by the time we got there. Nothing but junk everywhere we went and the only thing I bought was 3 paperback books. Jan found some cute glass custard bowls and some glasses but I think that's about all any of us bought. We had a good time laughing and being crazy. I love being with them as it is like we've known each other forever.

When we came back, Jan brought out a quilt that she and Judy were working on when we all left last year. They had finished it and it was really nice. They are so particular about matching the seams and it was sewn perfectly. They also showed me a blanket they are making for our new grandbaby, Oliver. They made me a blanket last year for my birthday that had cats in the print. The one they are making for Oliver has teddy bears in brown and blue, which is what Pete and Leslie painted his nursery so it will be perfect. They are such thoughtful people and I just love them like they are my real sisters!

I came home about 2:00 and Larry was here. He has been complaining about his ring finger hurting and I didn't realize how tight his wedding ring is. He talked to Ken this morning to find out if he had any type of tool to cut it off but Ken didn't. After I got home, he said he was going to go to the Urgent Care Clinic across the road to find out if they could cut his ring off and if not maybe check with the fire department. When he went to Urgent Care, they said it would be pretty expensive as they would have to charge him for an office call and then would have to call someone in with the tools to cut it. The office girl told him to wait and she walked in the back and when she came back she said there was an EMT guy in the office and he said he would cut the ring for Larry. The EMT brought out a special tool that they use specifically for cutting and quickly cut through the ring for him. Larry was getting ready to pay him and he told him there was no charge. So a very lucky afternoon!

The group from the park who went on the Mexican Cruise came home around 4:00pm. Wayne, that we parked next to last year, came over to say hi and talked awhile. Linda Ferguson that is across the street that we also know was part of group and she stopped to talk. Both Wayne and Linda said the trip was too long but Wayne's wife, Evelyn, thought it was wonderful. Evelyn is like a 'trophy' wife as she is about 15 years younger than Wayne. So I guess each had different thoughts about the trip but in general, I think they enjoyed it.

Jan gave me book twenty of the Janet Evanovich series that I've been reading over the past several years. Last year, Jan started reading them and I bought her a couple of the books in the series at the flea market. They had actually found book twenty, which is a hardback book, at either the flea market or garage sale which was surprising since it has not been out for long. I had been wanting to read it but I always wait until they print them in paperback. 

Our neighbor that is parked just a couple of sites down is quite a character and we know him from our previous times here in the park. His name is Hank and he is from New York State. He is probably between 75-77 years old but is full of energy. He is a boat builder and owns his own business in NY. He was married for 50 years and his wife died 5 years ago. He has told me how lonely he is since she died and how much he loved her. He is of Dutch origin and has two adult sons. One of the sons works with him in the business. I think it was Friday night we were talking with Gordon and Brenda when Hank came home and we saw he had a lady with him. Hank is pretty tall, probably 6 foot or more and when the lady got out of his truck she was so tiny we all kinda laughed at the difference in their size. I later said something to Judy and Jan to find out what they knew as they hear all the park gossip. Judy said they knew he had a girlfriend but nothing more. When Gordon and Brenda was here, Hank came by in his truck and I stopped him to say hello as we hadn't talked to him since we got here. He shared with me that he was in love and her name is Reba. She lives at one of the RV Parks just down the road from ours. She is from Arkansas he said and I asked him how she felt about coming to NY with him. He laughed and said her daughter told her she hoped she was not going to become a 'Yank'. Anyway he was on his way down to her RV Park as they had a dance going on last night. I am so happy for him as he is such a sweetheart. We all laughed at him so much talking about her and the fact he never danced until he met her. He said she is the most fantastic cook he's ever known and that is part of what he loves about her. I laughed at him and told him a man is always thinking of his stomach!

Gordon and Brenda stayed and had drinks with us and we sat around and talked till after 6:00. Brenda said she hadn't planned anything for dinner so I asked if they wanted to go over to get a Pizza at  Da Boys Pizza which is just across the highway. We all went over and they really liked the Pizza. We had gone several times with Jan, Judy and Ken last year and liked the pizza a lot. It was probably 8:30 when we got home and we had a nice time.

Today the weather was a little warmer and the forecast for the rest of next week keeps climbing and forecast for Friday next week is to be almost 90 degrees. This is real torture after coming from sub-zero temps at home. Don't know if I'll adjust to the heat or not as I've already been pretty uncomfortable!

Friday February 7, 2014

We were up for a couple of hours and left to take our walk. We saw Jan & Judy were gone with the car but stopped to see if Ken was home to go with us for our walk. We knocked but no answer so we went ahead without him.

Later in the day, Judy said her, Jan and Pat (their other sister)took off early to garage sale shop but Ken was home when we stopped. He must have been in the back and didn't hear us.

Yesterday when we got here, Larry tried to hook the water softener up but could not get it to work. This morning he took the softener over to Al's RV Supply to try to find out what was wrong with it. We bought the softener last year at Al's. When he came home he said the tube inside had cracked from the cold weather. I guess we made a big mistake by leaving it stored in the motor home, even though it was well drained before we stored it away. Al said they would order a part and repair it when part came in. I asked Larry how much he estimated but he didn't even ask as he said we needed it repaired. The softener was not that expensive when we bought it so I hope we do not pay more to have it repaired! 

We ran some errands in the afternoon and bought a few groceries. We came home from running around and  really didn't do too much but relax. We spent some time talking with Gordon and Brenda who are parked in the site next to us. I really like them both . Gordon is onery and likes to joke a lot. I think they are only staying for another two weeks. I hate meeting people that we enjoy and then having to say goodbye. Guess that is part of being an RV'er

Thursday February 6, 2014

We left Las Cruces early this morning around 7:15. The weather was nice with a few clouds and sun but still pretty cool as the wind was still blowing pretty strong.

We made good time getting to Las Quintas in Yuma and arrived around 3:30. We found our site which is #173 and is right next door to the site we stayed in last year. There is a couple parked in our spot from last year and they are from Canada--Oh what a surprise, since the majority of RV'ers here and in Mesa are Canadians. We met them and their names are Gordon and Brenda and seem to a be pleasant couple. He told Larry he is 77 and they just purchased their 5th Wheel RV before this trip. Gordon said they first went to Mesa and ended up spending one night there and left because of the traffic and congestion. He told us he gets really nervous pulling the RV in the traffic. They are only going to be here another 2 weeks or so and then heading back to Canada.

It did not take me long to realize that I was overdressed for the weather here as I had a sweatshirt and long pants on. By the time I was outside for 20 minutes I had to start stripping off the sweatshirt. I sent the girls a text to tell them we arrived safely and told them I was sweating already. Leslie sent me back a text saying if her arm was longer, she'd reach out and slap me silly. Along with her text, she sent a picture of the temperature gage in the car which read 1 degree. I also got a text from Taylor expressing pretty much the same. Taylor said Leslie, Pete and Oliver were on their way up to their house to stay a few days. I cannot believe that Oliver will be 4 weeks old on Sunday already! Time goes too fast when they are little!

Ken Jackson, our Canadian friends that we have spent so much time with over the past two years, came over to help Larry get the Motor Home parked. He is such a great guy and we just love spending time with him, Judy his wife and Jan which is Judy's sister that lives with them. The women were over at Frye's grocery shopping when we got here but came over with their other sister Pat, whom we also know from before. They are all such funny people and we just laugh so much when they are around. Judy and Pat are such smart asses(in a fun way) and Jan is the sweetheart but between the three of them it is always a good time! Judy told us their son Alan was going to be on the BBC News tonight at 6:00 so wanted us to come over to watch.

Talked to David Brown who is a security guard here in the RV Park. Anything you want to know he can tell you. I like hearing the news but he personally drives me nuts! His wife, Cynthia, and I became good friends 3 years ago and I love her and we correspond between our visits here. This is their permanent residence and they live in the park all year. Cynthia is originally from Ohio and about the greatest person I've ever met, just can't figure out where she picked up David!

David told me that Wayne and Evelyn, the couple we stayed next to last year, are on a Mexican Cruise for a week with 5 of the other couples we know from the park. They should be back I think this weekend. We enjoyed meeting them last year as well as several of their friends.

After the Jackson's left we worked around the Motor Home getting everything unloaded and hooked up. Larry ran over to the RV Store to pick up a new filter for our water softener and when he hooked it up, he could not get it to work. So he will have to go over to Al's RV tomorrow to find out what's wrong with it as that is where we purchased it last year.

We walked over to the Jackson's to see Alan on newscast. When they did the interview,  it was about him selling a house he owns for $1.00. The stipulations for purchasing for a dollar is that the new owner must move the house off the property at their expense. Al has two large lots that he wants to build rental units on but has to get rid of the house first. He said he has had 60 applicants already and is sorting through the as he want to give it to a needy family who can come up with the money to move it. They showed a picture of the house and it is a really pretty house even though it is old. It will include all the furnishings to the buyer. It was an interesting broadcast and Al said his teenage son told him he could up the price to two dollars and double his profits! Ha! Judy and Ken are really close with Alan and his family. They have one other son, Gary, who also lives about 2 hours away fro them. Judy, Ken and Jan are from Powell River, which is an Island above Vancouver. We've seen several pictures of their property and it is really a beautiful place. Would love to travel up some summer to see them.

We came back home and I fixed Shrimp Scampi and a salad for dinner. We still have a lot to do to get settled tomorrow but calling it a day for now.

Wednesday February 5, 2014

Up at the usual 5:30 hour to feed our demanding cats! What really upsets me is that as soon as they eat their morsel of moist food they go back to bed and sleep the rest of the day!

The mobile washer showed up this morning right on time at 9:00. It is 35 degrees right now so I'm glad someone else is doing the wash job today. It is not as warm here as normal but then looking at the temperatures in Yuma, I think they are having a bit of cool weather as well. It is forecast to be in the 60's all week there.

Received an email from my brother Gene today. He said they only got about 2 inches of snow last night but was very slick. I think they got rain on top of the snow. Larry's brother called today and said Peoria got about 4 inches of snow. I think this was a lot less than forecast. The weather here today was pretty cool considering their normal temperatures. I think it got to 40 or 45 but the wind was brutal making it pretty cool. We plan to leave for Yuma tomorrow morning. It is a little over 500 miles from here so will be a long day of driving.

The mobile washer finished up with the motor home and car. They washed and waxed it all and it looks wonderful. They spent over 3 hours working on both and did such a nice job that we gave them an extra tip. I was outside talking to the older guy this afternoon and told him how nice it all looked and as we were talking it started spitting rain and a little white stuff mixed in. I told him that I assumed as soon as they got it cleaned, we would get rain. He said if so, he would come back and touch it up. The rain was very short lived and really was nothing more than a few drops off and on so hopefully we'll get to Yuma with clean vehicles. All we contend with there is the dust as they have very little rain.

After the guys left we took the car off the hauler and made a trip to Walmart to pick up some grocery items. We had a much more balanced meal tonight for dinner.

Tuesday February 4, 2014

As promised by the weatherman, we received about 2' of snow overnight. We closed everything up and got ready to go, however we debated as the roads did not look good. We decided to give it a try as I looked at the weather radar and it looked like we would run out of the snow not far from Amarillo.

We left Amarillo about 8:30 and headed down Route 27 toward Route 60. When we got on Route 27 the road was packed with ice in the left lane. The right lane was better as there had not been so much traffic on it so we tried to drive in the right as much as possible. There were many accidents along the way so we had to keep slowing down from the creeping speed we were already going. I'm thinking Texas does not know what salt is. We saw a few snow plows but did not appear they were spreading salt.

About an hour out of Amarillo the roads cleared a lot and looked as though they had not received quite the snow that Amarillo received. We traveled on for a distance and ran out of snow totally. We drove until about 3:30 when we reached Las Cruces, NM. We always make this our last stop before the final trip to Yuma as the weather is normally warm enough to de-winterize the motor home.

We called the KOA in Las Cruces, which is where we stay when here, and reserved a site for tonight. Our car and motor home are so terribly dirty so I asked the KOA if they had the name of a company that would power wash both. They gave us a phone number so I called and made an appointment for tomorrow morning at 9:00am. After talking about it, we decided to stay both tonight and tomorrow night just to have a chance to relax a little. It is 513 miles from here to Yuma so will be a full day of driving when we leave here to reach Yuma.

We got to the KOA and found our spot. Hooked up everything and I took a while to clean some. The motor home is always so dirty from setting so just makes me feel better to at least take a top layer off.

When we got here I looked at the car and could not believe it was mine. It is filthy as you can see in the attached picture. I don't think I've ever seen it so bad. I can't wait to get it washed!



We raided the freezer and cupboards for dinner. We really don't have a lot of food yet so we ended up with soup and pizza rolls--WOW you have to be hungry to eat this crap! Hopefully tomorrow we will have time to get a few more supplies. I had several things in the freezer at home prepared to bring for cooking along the way but we forgot to grab them on the way out. Oh well we both just keep getting bigger and bigger so a little less food should be good, however tonight's meal was not healthy or low cal!

Monday February 3, 2014

We got up early again this morning, around 5:30. That is about as late as the cats allow us to sleep as they must have their spoonful of moist food at the crack of dawn!

The weather was clear and it felt fairly warm considering the posted temperature was 13 degrees. The wind was not blowing so was pretty nice. We got everything closed up and ready to leave in record time and needed fuel. Larry decided to drive back about 4 miles to a truck stop that we saw coming into town last night. We fueled up and grabbed breakfast and left the truck stop the way we came in. We were driving for about 15 or 20 miles before realizing we were on the wrong route! In order to find an area to turn around, we probably drove another 3 or 4 miles. We headed back toward Joplin and found Rt 44. So our early morning start ended up being a lot later due to our sightseeing tour around the Joplin area.

We drove all day and the weather stayed nice. The sun was out off and we did not have snow which was a very good thing. We got to Amarillo, TX around 3:30 and decided to try a new RV Park. We normally stay at a small park called Overnight RV. We found a really nice park named Amarillo Ranch RV Park which was about 4 miles beyond where we normally stay. When Larry registered, the desk clerk told us we should try out The Big Texan Steakhouse. We knew about the place from previous trips through Amarillo but we have never eaten there. They advertise a 72 oz steak and if you can eat it as well as the sides of a potato and salad within an hour, your dinner is free. If you don't finish it, the cost of your meal is $72. We decided to have the desk clerk make us a reservation for 6:30. The steakhouse sends a car out to pick you up and then returns you to your residence.

We both showered and dressed and were ready when a big Cadillac with a huge pair of steer horns on the hood pulled up to the motor home. The guy jumped out and opened the door for us just like in the movies!!! He drove us to the steakhouse and during the ride gave us the history of the place. It once sat on Route 66 but when the road was closed, they moved to a place in Amarillo. They have the restaurant, a motel with a swimming pool shaped like the state of Texas, and horse stables for people traveling with their horses.

The restaurant itself has two bars, a gift shop, and an area where they house a rattler snake for viewing--like I would walk within 50 feet of it!! Snakes freak me out to the point of nightmares! They also had a fudge shop in the restaurant as well as live entertainment. When we arrived, they seated us right away. We looked over the menu and each ordered steak, Larry got a sirloin and I ordered a petite fillet. The service was very good and friendly but when they brought our salad, it looked as though some of the vegetables had been frozen. It was ok but not the best. When our steaks came and I cut into mine for the first taste, I was amazed at how tender and favorable it was. I am not a real steak lover but I have never had a steak this good. Larry's was very good as well but we shared a taste of each others steak and his was nothing like mine. I will truly say I have never had a steak so wonderful. The rest of the meal was just so so but I would return just for the steak.

The entertainment consisted of two old men, one played guitar and sang, the other came equipped with hearing aids and oxygen tubes in his nose and he played the fiddle. As we were eating our meal, the two older guys came to our table to sing. There was another younger man who played the bass but he was obviously on break when they came to our table. The guy who sang didn't do too bad a job but we asked for a couple of songs and I'm pretty sure he didn't know all the words so made up his own. Ha!

As we were finishing our meal, the waitress told us that they had two people that were going to do the 72 oz steak challenge. They have a table placed on a riser in the middle of the restaurant where they sit when they do the challenge. The waitress also told us that if you order the 72 oz steak without doing the challenge, the price is $200 rather than $72. WOW! I know I don't like steak that well! We stayed around for awhile to see that the challengers were a guy and gal probably in their mid 30's. Don't know if they did it or not as we left after they started eating. We looked around the place for awhile and then went out for our ride back to the RV Park. I had a great time  having drinks with my new Mexican friend. I posted a picture of us setting in the bar enjoying each others company.


We had a good time. I told Larry I would consider this our anniversary dinner since the weather was so nasty on our anniversary we didn't go anywhere. I just wanted to clarify that so he did not think he was celebrating my birthday early. Ha!

In checking the forecast, they are calling for 1-3 inches of snow for Amarillo for tonight. Guess our luck may have just ran out for great traveling weather.

Sunday February 2, 2014

We had planned to leave for Arizona yesterday but when we got up it was snowing so bad we quickly changed our plans. It snowed all day and we probably got another 5 inches of snow during the day.

Pete was working on Larry's PC so we went to pick it up Saturday afternoon. Oliver was awake and I was able to hold him and play with him for a short time. He is either eating or sleeping most of the times I've been there to see him. He does love to eat and wears Leslie out wanting to nurse often. He is such a cutie and so cuddly but I just don't get enough time to have him to myself as I am always taking a number with his father being first in line!

When we left Pete and Leslie's we went over to One World and had a sandwich before we went home. We have most of the food packed up to leave and I really didn't want to dig through boxes to try cooking a meal. I love excuses that prevent me from cooking!

We got up early this morning and found the weather to be better than we had expected. The roads appeared to be pretty clear so we decided to leave for Arizona today. They are predicting a big snow storm on Tuesday and it sounds like it is coming from the Southwest up through Texas. We decided if we could get going today we might miss the snow as it moves in.

We loaded the rest of the items into the car and took it over to the storage lot where the motor home is parked. When we got there the lot had not been plowed and we almost got the car stuck trying to get in. We decided there was no way to load the car onto the dolly with the snow so deep so decided to hook the dolly on motor home and drive over to the parking lot for the county on 116 to load. When we got there the lot was plowed nicely and we had no problems getting the car loaded.

By the time we had everything loaded to leave it was around 9:00. We drove all day and the roads were clear and we didn't have wind to contend with.  We drove to Joplin, Missouri and parked for the night at Walmart. We ran the Gen Set so we had power and heat. Since it is too cold for the RV Parks to have the water on at the sites, there was no reason to pay for an RV Site for the night.

Monday January 27, 2014

It's been a long time since I've updated my Blog! I didn't realize how long until I looked at my last post of April 2013.

Much has been going on in our family in the past 9 months. When we returned home from Arizona in April, Larry went in for his normal checkup by his family doctor. The office called a few days later and wanted him to come back in to talk to the doctor about is blood test. The doctor told him he was concerned about his white and red blood counts and wanted him to see a doctor at the Illinois Cancer Center here in Peoria. After seeing Dr. Lou at the center, he was told he has Smoldering Multiple Myeloma. She explained it but I'm not totally sure I understood it. It is a cancer that affects the formation of the red blood cells within the bone marrow I believe.

We talked about his diagnosis for a few days and decided to ask Dr. Aguawal, his family doctor, if he felt going to Mayo's would be a good idea to find out what they felt about it.  His doctor felt that it would be a good thing to at least hear what they had to say. The doctor scheduled the appointment and about 3 days later Larry had a sore spot in his elbow and by the next morning it started getting red and was swelling. He called and went into see his doctor. He said that he had an infection from a small puncture in the elbow, which Larry had no idea how that came about. Within 2 days his arm was huge and very hot to the touch. He had been taking very strong antibiotics for about 3 days so he called the doctor again and ended up seeing Dr. Adams, which is my doctor but in the same practice. Dr. Adams gave him another antiobotic to take along with his current one and said if not showing improvement by noon the next day, which was Friday, to go into ER as they would admit him and get him on IV's to attack the infection. We called Mayo to move the appointment time as we were scheduled to be there on Monday. They moved him to Thursday of the following week.

Friday came and his arm still felt warm but not hot as it was before. We waited for him to get a couple more doses of antibiotics before deciding whether he needed to go to ER. By 4:00pm the heat had gone out of his arm and it looked as though the swelling was subsiding. We left for Mayo's in Minnesota on Wednesday and by then his arm was pretty much back to normal.

Our visit to Mayo's was amazing. It is the most organized and friendly place I have ever been. They did many test on Thursday and sent Larry home with a bag to collect his urine. We returned early on Friday morning to drop off urine and for him to get a PET and CTSCAN. At 1:00 we met with doctor again and she pretty much what we heard at the Cancer Center here in Peoria, however, she did much more explaining and when we left we felt much better about what we knew than before.

So, basically, Larry has continued to have blood test at the Cancer Center about every 6 weeks. They are watching him very carefully and to date has not suggested he start any active treatment, which we are thankful for.

About the same time the issue was going on with Larry's cancer, he started having back problems as well. His back got so bad he couldn't function. He saw his family doctor and they ordered a MRI and gave him pain pills. After MRI the doctor called and told him he had a herniated disk and sent a request to the neurology doctor for an appointment. We waited over 6 weeks just to get a call from the doctors office. They said his name was on the list and one of the doctors would be reviewing his records and would call back. We waited almost 2 weeks to hear from them again. At that time they told him to see one of the neurologist regarding a pain injection. Another 10 days before he was able to get in for a shot. After the injection, his back settled down and so far he has had no further problems. Hopefully that will continue. I jokingly told everyone I am trading him in for a newer model as he seems to go from one problem to another!

Larry and his brother Art spent a week in September in Canada on a fishing trip and caught enough fish to bring their limit home. Larry kept asking me to go but I felt he and Art probably would enjoy the trip more.

Larry also wanted me to go on a trip on the motorcycles to Charleston NC. It was only about 3 week before Leslie's baby shower was planned so again I told him I had too much going on to leave. I told him to call his friend Wally Zukas and when he called Wally was excited to go. He left home late on a Monday and rode 6 hours to reach Wally/s house in Marion IL. They then left Tuesday morning on the trip south. They were gone almost a week and when he started the ride home the weather changed to cold sleet and snow. He did not have enough clothing and when he arrived home on Saturday night late, he was frozen.

I have been having problems with my throat for quite awhile so I saw Dr. Hendricker with Midwest ENT Group. After scoping my throat he told me I had several polyps and probably could benefit from having them removed. I took a couple of medications for about 2 months which didn't help. When I returned to him in November, he decided I should have them removed. He completed the surgery and I could not talk for 3 days and then I slowly got back to my normal talking over about a 3 week period. I just returned for my final post op appointment and he said all was fine. I no longer have the raspy voice and my voice is pretty normal after the healing process. I am really happy I decided to have the surgery.

We had Leslie's baby shower on November 16th and since it was a combined shower with Pete's family, it ended up being quite large. She got many nice things and everyone seemed to enjoy the time together.

We sold our timeshare on Anna Maria Island in September but we had 1 week left to use for the year. I asked Larry if he wanted to go which was a definite 'NO'. I decided rather than to waste the week I'd ask my long time friend Sandi to go. She was excited to go and found she had enough frequent flyer miles for both of us to fly directly into Sarasota which is only about 20 miles from the Island. We flew out on Saturday December 7th and flew home the following Saturday on the 14th. We had a nice time and the first few days were very hot and humid. After Wednesday, the air cooled and it was beautiful. I think we ate at every seafood restaurant within 25 miles of the condo. If nothing else, I think we gained 20 lbs.

Leslie went through a long 9 plus of pregnancy and we had a new grandson on January 12, 2014. He was born via C Section after she was in labor for almost 48 hours. He was 9 lbs 4 ozs, 19.5 inches long and looks like a clone of his father, Pete. Pete named him and had the name picked out for sometime before he was born. His name is Oliver Joseph. Pete's middle name is Joseph and he chose Oliver just because he likes the name I guess. He is such a sweetie! Leslie had so many problems before the delivery and about 3 hours after getting settled in her room, she started hemorrhaging. They worked on her for several hours trying to get it under control then gave her transfusions as she lost so much blood. A very scarey time for all of us! She was a real trooper through all the issues and I was very proud of her.

They came home from the hospital on Tuesday January 14th and Oliver was very fussy for the first 2 days as he was not getting enough to eat. She and Pete took him to the breast feeding center and they suggested they supplement his feedings until she started getting more milk. They also worked with her regarding the nursing. The lactation nurse came to the house on Thursday night to check on Oliver and told Leslie she could stop down at the breastfeeding clinic and pick up a scale to weigh him. Currently he is doing very well on his weight gain. He gained 1.4 lbs in less than a week.



Well these are just a few of the happenings over the past 9-10 months. There are many more that I'm sure was forgotten