Monday, February 2, 2009

We got a leisurely start this morning but we also had some things to do.  First off I tipped over my chair and got the cable that was not working out of it.  We needed to return it to Foothills Furniture Store and get my $38 refund.

After that, we headed to town to the Post Office to pick up our mail.  When we left the Post Office we looked for a Mexican Restaurant that Roy Parent told us about.  He said it was a multi-colored building across from the Post Office.  We had intended to have lunch there this afternoon.  And now we couldn't find the place.  We looked around for about 15 minutes before we finally gave up.

We decided we would go to Lute's Casino for lunch.  Lute's is not a casino, any more, but rather an old-time restaurant.  And actually calling it a restaurant is really a stretch also.  It's an old place with dust hanging from everything on the ceiling, and it serves food.  But they have a special that consists of a burger topped with a grilled hot dog and including cheese and covered with shredded lettuce.  It's quite unique and a hoot to eat.

After lunch we came back home and sat around for the afternoon having done everything on our agenda for the day.

At TV watching time I put my chair back together again so I could view "24"  tonight.  The rest of the night was also good viewing for a change.  It seems like every other night we have nothing to watch except repeats.  I don't remember a year when it was this bad, this late.  Usually it seems that around Christmas there's a load of repeats and then the regular shows come back on with original programming.

Well, in any event we only stayed up until 10 anyway. 

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The day we dreaded has finally arrived.  Today is the day we go into Mexico to get my new glasses.  We actually didn't have to go as far into town as we first realized, as Best Optical now has an office in the first block as we went in.  It was right across from the guys who were spray painting on the corner.  They also have a new time limit for getting the glasses back.  You can now get them in 2 hours after your examination.

We had decided that instead of going back and having to wait for hours to get back into the States again, we would just wait the 4 hours we originally thought we'd have to wait.  So now we only had to wait 2 hours to pick them up.

We weren't really into any shopping while we were here but we did plan on having lunch while we were here.  So we took off for the restaurant while they were making up my "lookers."  I actually paid $115 two years ago for glasses and this year they were only $50.  Quite the difference for 2 years later.

Me and the Mrs. went for lunch and spent $32 on that.  She had a combination plate and I had Shredded Beef Tamales.  We also had a few beers to wash them down.  You gotta have beer with Mexican food.

We were not mistaken about the wait to get back through customs.  It took us an hour and a half.  We've heard it takes up to 2½ hours on occasion.  This can only be construed as a deliberate attempt by the government to keep us out of Mexico.  They don't want us going over for medications and Liquor and not paying the taxes on them.  I wonder how much effect the border bullshit had on the price of my glasses.

When we got home we had 2 messages on our phone from Clay and Jerie.  They were asking if we wanted to go for Chicken at the Elks tonight.  We were kind of hoping we'd have a message from them on the phone.  We had turned the phone off when we went into Mexico, for fear of messages using a Mexican Tower to relay them.  It's quite pricey when that happens.

We would meet the Nye's at the Elks at 4:45 so we left home at 4:30 not realizing we'd run into 5 o'clock traffic at that time.  We didn't make it to the Elks until almost 5 but Clay was waiting at the door for us to announce they had 16 people coming tonight.  He looks like a symphony conductor as he directs everybody to their chairs.

The hostess always manages to find a couple of tables together so that we can all sit within earshot.  The Chicken & Fixin's were delicious again tonight.

When we left we said good-bye to all our newly-met friends.  We decided we'd meet Clay and Jerie tomorrow night at Burgers and Beer for supper.

We got home in time to catch all the shows on TV tonight.  With our East/West networks we can manage to flip back and forth and catch everything we want to watch.

But then, of course, at 10 the electricity to the TV failed and so did we.  Our power packs needed charging, so we plugged them in and went to bed.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Sharon had decided that today would be cleaning day, and she did just that.  My job was to hold up my feet and not moan and groan about the noise the vacuum makes, and .it's a dirty, thankless job, but it's what I do.

By the afternoon it was so warm that we decided to go to the pool for awhile.  We had no idea whether it would be warm water in the pool or if we would be surprised.  As it turned out the water was not real warm but it was comfortable to be in.

We came back home about 3:30 to get ready for Dinner tonight at Burgers and Beer.

We left for the restaurant about 4:30 for a 5 o'clock meeting with Clay and Jerie.  We managed to make it on time tonight as opposed to last night when we were 10 minutes late.  Clay and Jerie would be late tonight because they were entertaining friends and they left as we were on our way over here.  We got a call from Jerie informing us that they would be a little late.  We had a very nice Dinner tonight with the Nyes and of course the food was excellent.  I had a Grilled Onion Burger tonight which was absolutely fabulous for the onion lover in me.  I was very disappointed with the Pancho's Burger that I had in Palm Springs a couple of weeks ago.

We got home tonight while it was still light out.  It was the first time in a long time that we actually got home early, from somewhere.

Our course we managed to camp out in front of the TV for the night.  Sharon was reading the last few pages of her last book.  She'll have to find another book or some cross-stitch to do for the rest of the winter.

We folded up our tents about 10 and went swiftly to the darkest room in the hacienda.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

We were off this morning to the Buffet Breakfast at the Cocopah Casino near San Luis Rey.  When we left the casino the other day without eating, we vowed to come back and have Breakfast some time this week.  When we arrived at about 9:10 we walked right into the Dining Room since there was no line to get in.  We weren't too impressed with the selection of food even though what they had was good.  They had the basic selections of Breakfast items and they also were making omelettes to order.

On the way home we stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up a few items and groceries.  I stayed in the car and listened to the radio since Sharon only had a few items to pick up.  I didn't see the reason to even bother to go in. 

We came home after our stop at Wal-Mart.  We weren't home long before we left to go back to the Yuma Marketplace so I could finish browsing through the tool warehouse.  I couldn't finish it the other day and I wanted to go back one more time so I could see if there was anything I needed before we finally left for the year.  We still have the Mesa Marketplace to go to before we leave for the summer, but I didn't want to leave any stone unturned.

We didn't have anything formal for Supper tonight.  Sharon didn't cook since neither of us was hungry.  I had some leftover Shrimp Creole and Sharon had a salad.  I don't do salad unless someone holds a gun to my head.  Later on I had a Double-Deck PB&J.

We settled in for our usual form of entertainment except for one little exception.  As mentioned last night Sharon finished up her last book and had no reading material.  A Jigsaw puzzle made its first appearance tonight.  It will be spread over the table for the next few days.  I've been offered a spot at the table but I opted out.  She even offered the side of the table where I could watch TV.  Nahhhhh!

The puzzlemaker and I only stayed up until 10 and then made our way to the snooze chamber.

Friday, February 6, 2009

We had a whole planned today that would get longer as we actually started executing it.  We left home this morning at 9:30 and headed toward the Peanut Patch for their 10 o'clock tour.

The "tour" was actually the owner of the business giving a talk about how they used to grow peanuts at the "patch" but had to discontinue several years ago to save the other crops in the area.  It seems that the peanuts were bothered by the white fly which fed on the green leafy parts of the plants.  So the peanut growers discontinued their cops to save the other agriculture in the area.  We did learn several things about the peanut though.

After the Peanut Patch we came home for lunch and then headed off to Castle Dome Ghost Town which is located about 25 miles north of where we're camped.  On the way we got a call from Terry and Joanne Bertamini.  They were ahead of schedule and were coming into Yuma today.  They couldn't get into their campground a day early so they were going to the VFW in Yuma.  We actually just passed the VFW and wondered if they were coming in by way of Quartzsite.  By the time we hung up the phone we were passing them on the road.  I recognized their motorhome as it zipped by us before we could honk and wave.  Sharon had to call them back and tell them that we just saw them go by us.

We continued on our journey to Castle Dome, making plans to stop on our way home.  Castle Dome is an interesting concept.  It's a collection of mining shacks and building that have been collected from a 100 mile radius and relocated at Castle Dome.  They're arranged in a little town that contains about 50 buildings of every shape and size, and every configuration.  We were there for a couple of hours before we managed to see every building.

On the way home we stopped at the VFW to see Terry and Joanne.  We had never been to the VFW here before but it was a really neat place with live music every day and a huge covered patio on the back of the building.  They've got seating for about 150 people and I'm sure at times fill them all up.  We had a couple of pitchers of beer before we decided that we'd go for Chinese Food over on Pacific Avenue. 

We took our car and headed out to EAT.  That's the name of the place.  It's a Chinese Buffet called EAT.  You gotta love the Chinese.  Simple and direct.  The food was good and now we've found a Chinese food place here.

On the way home Terry invited us in for a beer and we decided to take him up on it, even though we didn't need it.  We were there for another half hour before we loaded up the car and headed home.  This had been quite the day for a change.

We managed one show on TV before we headed off to bed.  My leg was aching when I got up at 1 and put a patch on it. Too much activity today, I guess.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

We had some rain today for the first time since we've been out here.  It was kind of an on and off thing that would go on all day.

We didn't have anything planned today except to get ready to move tomorrow.  Sharon took off with the laundry to get that caught up for the next week, and I was waiting for the rain to subside so I could go out and dump the tanks.  It was just barely sprinkling but I really didn't want to get wet doing it.  When it finally stopped I went out and started dumping, only to have it start again and I got wet.  Go figure.  But I've been wet before.

Sharon got done with the laundry just after lunch and by that time I was also done with the tanks.

We sat around in the afternoon watching TV and listening to the rain hit the roof.  How exciting.

Sharon was off to church this afternoon, and when she got back we were off to Golden Corral to meet Terry and Joanne for Dinner.  We had planned to meet a week or so ago but then they came into town a day early.  After Dinner we sat around and talked almost until the lights started going off.  Actually we were back home again by 8 and sitting in front of the tube.

Besides not having much to watch on a Saturday night, except for Cops, the rest of the shows were repeats including Dirty Jobs on Discovery.

We did, however, manage to hold ourselves together and stay up until 10 before the curtain dropped and the audience went home.  No audience, no us.  Nite, Nite.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

We got on the road a little late this morning because of a dead battery.  I suspected that we might have some trouble, so right after I took my shower I tried to start the engine and found the battery dead.  We have this trouble every now and then and I usually check it a couple of days before we leave, if we've been sitting for a couple of weeks.  We left about 10:30 Arizona time and arrived in Desert Hot Springs about 12:30 PM.  We gained an hour as we came across the border.

When we got to the Imperial Dunes we spotted the Border Fence that's being erected.  It was the first time that we've seen it.  We didn't see anyone trying to jump it, however.

We came up the  West side of the Salton Sea today.  With the sun shining brightly and the combination of the brown desert, the green palm trees and the blue of the water it was very pretty indeed.  We've come up that way before but I guess I've never seen it like I did today.

We were hungry when we got to Thousand Palms so not having a place to park, we disconnected the car and Sharon went back to McD's to pick up some lunch.  I continued on toward Catalina and stopped on Corkill Rd. Before going into the campground.  We ate our Quarter Pounders and then headed off again toward Catalina.

We found a site almost immediately and settled in to it.  Sharon took off for the office to pay for the site and buy Wi-Fi for the next 2 weeks.

Phil and Joyce Bach stopped over for awhile and we sat and talked about our adventures and gossip for the past two weeks.  After a while we decided that it was time for the pool so we all headed over.  It had turned cold and windy outside but the pool water was nice and warm.  Roy and Maryann Parent were there but Terry and Diane Brown were not.  We stayed for a couple of hours before we came back home for Supper.

Sharon was making Spaghetti, Salad and Garlic Bread for supper tonight.  After that Phil and Joyce were coming over for Dominoes.  We haven't had time to play since our times together this year have been abbreviated.  In fact we'll only be together for 4 days before they head back home to Martinez.  They were trying something different this year by staying here longer and then not coming back in March.  So they're almost at the end of their stay.

They came over at 7 for Dominoes and we had a good time.  Phil was beating us all to a pulp before the last hand, when I went out by surprise, and pulled a victory from the jaws of defeat.  We went through a bunch of Chocolate covered Peanuts and raisins during the tense two-hour game.

When they left we watched a repeat of CSI New York and then headed for the feathers for the night.  It had been an all-around nice day.