Monday, February 13, 2006
This would be our last day in Yuma and it was going to be a very busy one to say the least. Sharon had decided to make pasties for friends Clay and Jerie Nye and Bob and Bonnie Barr. As soon as she was functioning this morning she got busy on the Dinner for tonight.
When she was finished we got in the car for another liquor run to Mexico. What we thought would be a quick trip in, turned into a chore when we found the vehicle line to Algodones about a mile long and creeping along. After about 45 minutes in the line we finally made to a free parking place on the road rather than have to go into the paid parking lot. So at least we got a break in that respect. We were actually in and out in about a half hour and on the road headed back home toward the campground shortly after that.
We also had to stop at the gas station for beer before we made it back home and as luck would have it Sharon and I were the only ones who drank the beer. But you gotta have beer when you eat pasties but I guess the other folks didn't see it that way.
Sharon hunkered down on the couch after lunch and decided she would take a nap before everyone arrived a little later in the afternoon. I settled in for some Olympics and never did get my eyes to shut.
Bob and Bonnie came over about 3 o'clock and we sat outside and stuck up some serious conversation. It was really nice outside but later it started to get warm. Clay and Jerie arrived about an hour later and we sat outside til about 5:30 when we went into the air conditioning to eat our Dinner and eliminate the little bugs that were annoying us outside.
We had the Pasties, of course, and a Lettuce Salad and then finished up the whole deal with Strawberry/Raspberry Shortcake. The cake was actually a Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake that tasted more like a pound cake. It was all very, very good indeed.
Everybody was gone by about 8:30 after we had all said our good-byes. This may be the last time we'll see Bob and Bonnie to unless we manage something this summer.
I was waiting up for the late version of "24" before I headed to bed tonight and it would be coming on at 10 o'clock. I hung in there until the end while Sharon lasted til about 10:30 before she headed out.
I was ready at 11 to just collapse between the sheets. It had been a longer day than I had anticipated it would be. We don't usually pull this kind of thing on the day before we move to another campground. We'll just have to see tomorrow how this all worked out.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
I was not a happy camper when I got up this morning. I told Sharon if she ever plans a party on the day before we leave again, I'd shoot her. I had all the cleanup outside to do this morning before we left and I didn't dare sit down til I felt better cause it wasn't going to happen. So I just kept right on going. I got everything ready to go and Sharon took a shower. Whoopee ding! Actually she did hide the dishes in the sink and walked to the dumpster. If she's going to plan these parties on the day before we pack up, I want her job the next morning.
We were on the road by about 9:30 having already stopped for gas at Barney's on 95. I was intending to go to Superfuels if Barney's was full, cause the gas is cheaper there, but it's also toward downtown and a little tricky to get to. But I was content to go to Barney's cause the wait at Superfuels would have been a half hour or more.
Our trip over to San Diego was pretty uneventful and we were surprised by a couple of passes that we had to climb over. About 90 miles from San Diego we went from Sea Level to 4100 feet to get over them. It doesn't seem like much unless you're driving a motorhome pulling a car. When we got to San Diego we took an exit only to find the road closed and we were now headed the wrong direction until my navigator found a new way to go and we were almost instantly correcting our route. The rest of the trip to Temecula, and then on to Lake Skinner was a snap. We followed Denny and Sue Gosser's directions right to the campground.
After we got settled into our site we took off for Hemet to retrieve our mail. Hemet was not a good choice to send it to but we had no idea what would have been better at the time. We had assumed that the campground had been closer to Hemet than any other place. We didn't have a problem finding the Post Office, but it took us about and hour and a half to get over and back.
By the time we got back it was time for either cocktails or Dinner and Denny offered to take us to Guadalajara's Mexican Restaurant for Dinner. Sue had to work another half shift at the gate tonight and wouldn't have enough time to go and eat and then get back. So we left and Sue took some rest before going back to work.
The food at the restaurant was absolutely scrumptious. I had a beef Chimichunga and Sharon had Carne Asada. Denny had some kind of combination plate. But there were no complaints from any of us. The food was just damn good and Denny brought back an entree for Sue. We dropped it off at the gate before coming back home.
The only thing on TV when we got home was Olympics so I settled in to watch that. By 9 o'clock I booted up the computer and checked e-mail and then Sharon read her newspaper and checked the weather for tomorrow. It looks we will be getting our first rain of the winter tomorrow morning with a little drizzle in the forecast. I know that the residents of Southern California would like to see a little rain but as far as I'm concerned it can wait, or just rain at night. It had been a long day today by the time we got all our ducks in a row. I'll start to relax tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
We had a little rain earlier this morning before most people got up but I heard it on the roof. By the time the sun came up the ground was just barely wet like we had been hit with a heavy dew.
We had assumed that Sue would be off today but when they came over later in the morning she was working a 2-6 shift. They had planned on taking us on the Grand Tour today and now it looked like Sue would be working and Denny would be conducting the tour.
I had a bowl of soup for lunch cause we were going to eat just enough this afternoon to hold us over til 6 and then go out to eat with Denny and Sue.
We left right after lunch and drove to the Diamond Valley Lake viewing point but it was closed today so continued on to the Marina on the other end of the lake. The wind was howling and there were whitecaps on the lake. It was a little chilly there to say the least. However, the view was spectacular. Diamond Valley and Lake Skinner are connected lakes. The water is pumped up from the Colorado River to roughly about a 1000 feet above the surrounding landscape and then passes through Diamond Lake and Lake Skinner on it's way to San Diego for domestic purposes. So they allow no body contact in either of the lakes, although boating, with motors, and fishing is allowed. From Diamond Lake we headed over to Hemet where we stopped at In-and Out Burger for a little holdover until Dinner, and then on to Lake Perris in Perris. We also looked around for about a half hour for National RV who make the Tropi-Cal, Dolphin and Sea Breeze motorhomes. We finally found them on the way home.
By the time we made the round robin and got back home it was about 5:30 and in enough time to sit down and relax for awhile before we went out for Dinner. Sue's replacement was late coming back so we didn't leave for Dinner til about 6:30. They knew a little Italian place called Fillippe's that served a great special. We had one family special and it was enough Lasagna, Spaghetti and a Pizza to fill us all up. The three of them had salads and we also had a basket of bread, and of course a couple of carafes of vino. We were ready to come back home.
The girl that Sue had been waiting for at the gate still hadn't shown up by the time we got back.
We settled in front of the TV for the rest of the night having opted out of playing dominoes. By 9 we were on the Internet, checking our e-mail, and deleting the one from Phil that was hanging our system. We were both up til about 11 before we finally headed for the bed and nite nite.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
We were up and excited this morning and intending to go to the Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California. The trip presented itself when we knew we would be in Temecula for this week. Where we're at is only about 65 miles from the library. We're taking Denny's advice and not leaving too early in order to avoid the "parking lot" that's going to occur on the I-15/91 intersection. So we'll take our time to get out of here and leave about 9:30. By the time we got to the intersection I think we caught the end of the jam and we got off one exit early and drove around it. By the time we got back on the freeway we were flying again and got to the library with no further problems.
The library was pretty compact but laid out very nicely. It's composed of the library, Birth House, East Wing Replica and the Grave sites of the President and First Lady. The grounds are meticulously manicured and even in the winter months display the beauty they must have during the summer.
On the way back we were looking for a KFC and a K-Mart store that we could get off the freeway, and get back on, without wasting too much time. We didn't want to get caught up in the traffic on the way back either. Apparently the order was a tall one as we didn't find that combination til we got back into Temecula. No problem. At least we were back home and avoided the traffic in the process.
After we finished eating we asked for directions for the K-Mart. We got the Spanish version of course. We knew generally which direction to go so we headed out. As luck would have it we drove right to the store. We couldn't find everything we were looking for so we needed a grocery store which we found in the same mall.
We picked up the rest of what we needed and we were back on the road again back to the campground. We arrived home about 3:30 and had avoided the traffic all day. We were both thinking of what a nice day we had today and when I brought it up Sharon said she was just thinking that.
We were both pretty tired from the day long journey and just settled into a comfortable position in our chairs. Both Denny and Sue stopped over to check on how our day went. We told them both that the day had turned out exceptional.
For the rest of the night we settled in for Olympic coverage. Among NBC, USA, CBC and MSNBC we were switching back and forth all night. There was even a little nap in my future that I scooped up and used tonight.
By 10 we were looking at each other trying to figure out which of us was going to make the break for the bedroom first. Sharon actually made it to bed first, but I made it to sleep first, I'm sure. Although my eyes were closed so I couldn't see who won.
Friday, February 17, 2006
We got a leisurely start this morning after having had a full day yesterday. We ate our Breakfast and just sat around for awhile before Denny and Sue made an appearance and suggested we do some wineries today. Since we were in the heart of wine country here in Temecula we though it was a great idea. So it was decided that we'd make the tour this afternoon after lunch.
Denny and Sue had a group meeting with the rest of the campground staff at noon today so we would just have lunch and then just wait for them until they were done. They came back about 1:30 and by 2 we were on the road and touring. There's something like 27 wineries in the 10 miles from the campground back to the I-15 Interstate. We only stopped at about a half dozen spots because of the time factor since they would be closing at 5 PM. Most of the bigger wineries we stopped at, wanted $10 for tastings but we thought that was quite pricey so we just continued on. The three that we tasted at were sister wineries Van Roekel and Maurice Car'rie and the independent Baily.
As I sit here typing my journal this morning there are Hot Air Balloons flying overhead. Our count is about 9. Even though we had rain last night, the sun is shining and it is a very clear day out today. So far since we've been here it's rained 3 times but always at night. So we don't see it, except for the damp ground in the morning.
After the wine tour we went to a Restaurant called Pat and Oscar's and had Dinner. We had Chicken and Ribs, except for Sharon who had Chicken Wings, and the food was delicious. They also had Bread sticks that were "out of this world" good. We were at the Restaurant for about an hour before we headed back home.
We were content to just sit and watch TV after we got home since Sue had stayed at the gate to help out the girls that were there. We watched Olympics until "Numbers" came on and I opted to watch that instead of Figure Skating. We turned the TV back to Olympics after that show was over and watched it until 11 when we decided it was time to fold up our show and take it on the road. Another day well spent.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Today would be a resting day to catch up on things. I say that because we don't have a thing planned and it looks like we'll be spending the day at home. The first thing when I got situated in my chair I broke the cord in the Day/Night Shade next to me. That'll be fun trying to get that damn thing fixed.
It rained last night and we thought that it was pretty well finished for the day until it started again. It rained until about 11 and then the sun came out to show it's smiling face. It stayed out even while the wind decided it was going to make an appearance today. Of course the temperature cooled off and made it not only a "jeans" day, but also a "jacket" day. The weather has continually deteriorated since we've been here in Temecula. I think we'll have to get back to Desert Hot Springs before the weather is going to improve.
Denny and Sue stopped over and invited us to a BBQ this afternoon with her daughter Rhonda and her husband Dave. They would be feeding a couple of the staff tonight also. We stayed in and watched Olympics most of the afternoon until it was time to go to Denny and Sue's and then made ourselves a drink and headed over.
When we got there Sue was in full tilt cooking up a storm. We would be having London Broil, Tri-Tip Steak, Chicken, Potato Salad, Brussel Sprouts, Beans, Artichokes and finally a Strawberry Angel Food Cake and Apple Strudel. More food than is available at a buffet and all of it very good. We stayed after eating for about an hour or so before we finally meandered home, stuffed to the gills. It almost felt like a nap as I settled into my chair, but Sharon requested the computer to read her newspaper and check e-mail before I could shut my eyes.
We both lasted until 10 tonight before we ran out of Olympics and ran out steam for the day. Sharon made it to the bedroom first but I was not far behind. Since we hadn't done anything today we had no reason to be tired except that we're old.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
This was the first Sunday Sharon missed church since we've been gone this year. She didn't think she'd have much luck finding the church in town. I got up and watched my Sunday morning political shows and almost got through all three before the people on George Stephanopoulus's show were too much for me.
Denny and Sue were both working today. Denny went in early and would work all day, and Sue would go in at 2 and work until 6. We had planned on playing Mexican Train tonight after they both got out of work.
We watched the Daytona 500 for most of the afternoon after it started. It was a brief respite from the Olympics. The US Team has been having some hard luck over the past few days and losing out on some Gold Medals. But that's nothing new and it seems to happen every four years. We can't win them all or the other countries would have no reason for showing up at all.
Sharon finally defrosted the Cornish Game Hens that have been out of the freezer 3 times. They made it to the table tonight for our Dinner. It was the multi-colored pepper version that she had in the "wings" waiting for us. No pun intended.
We had the Hens, along with the leftover Potato Salad from yesterday and a couple of pieces of Garlic Toast. We also had some Old Fashioned chasers to follow the chickens down.
Denny and Sue came over about 6:15 or so and we commenced the Domino Game. Before the game started we had to weed out some of the goofy rules that always accompany a game with "strangers." It's not a real problem except that everybody who plays Mexican Train always has their own version of the rules which are never in the rule book. But after a while we got the rules straight and finally got the game under way.
Denny and Sue left about 10 after having played 2 games with Double-Nines. I didn't win and I don't care who did, but it was a fun time anyway. I'm just a poor loser.
After they left I sat down to watch Grey's Anatomy and Sharon laid down to watch the backs of her eyelids. We both had been "nipping the nectar" while we played dominoes tonight. One of us can handle his liquor better than the other one.
We got a phone call from Jessica at 3:30 this morning telling us that Gram's Lifeline went off and they were on their way over there. She called us back saying that everything seemed to be okay but she fell again on her way to the bathroom. We'll evaluate what we'll do over the next few days.
