Monday, March 30, 2009

We left this morning at a leisurely pace since we were only going as far as Quartzsite today. 

Our first stop was Carl's Jr. In Coachella to get our Breakfast, a couple of Breakfast Burritos.  This has become a ritual over the past several years.  We like to get on the road, and then stop for a few minutes, just long enough to get a Breakfast Sandwich, and then get on our way again.

We continued on to Quartzsite and arrived in at about 11 o'clock.  We were in for quite a surprise when we drove through town.  We had never seen the town this empty before.  Usually when we come through most of the vendors are gone, but this was alarming to say the least.  It looked like a ghost town here.  ALL the vendors were gone except for a couple of permanent buildings near what was once the Main Event.  Everyone was gone from Prospector's Panorama and the Rice Ranch.  All the motorhome dealer's had exited except for a few stray units that hadn't been driven out yet.  This place was empty.

We drove down to  Mile Marker 99, south of town, and left the motorhome on our usual site.  We drove back into town with the car to see if we could find any sign of life around.  There were cars at the Quartzsite Yacht Club, so we stopped there to have something to eat, since it was already past lunch.  It was a good place to stop since we could always have a couple of pitchers of beer anyway.  We did have a couple of sandwiches though.  Sharon had a Cheeseburger and Fries and I had a Philly Cheesesteak and Fries.  They were both very good.

We also stopped at the Chamber of Commerce to pick up our Snowbird Pins but they had sold out this year.  We'll have to pick up two next year when we're here.  We were disappointed that there was nowhere to shop but what are you going to do.

We came back home after lunch since there was nothing to stay in town for.  We unrolled our awning for the first time this year, and sat outside in lawn chairs and had another beer., contemplating the disaster that had befallen Quartzsite.  I think it can be directly attributed to the Motorhome Dealer's that have overtaken the town during the Gem Shows.  It was a major disappointment when LaMesa bought 4 Corners and set up a dealership there.  The town lost about 2 dozen vendors and the Silver Buckle Saloon.  The Silver Buckle was a major meeting place for the town's people.  They also had good food, and of course, cold beer.

We settled in front of the TV, when it started getting cold, after the sun went down.  Besides watching traffic go by on the road is only mildly interesting after a while.  "24" would be on tonight and that was more important anyway.  We ran the generator for awhile tonight so our TV wouldn't crap out in the middle of "24".  We did hang in there until 10, however, until the last dog was hung.  Tomorrow will be another nothing day if all the indications are correct.  Oh well, maybe next year we'll only spend an overnight here on the way to Casa Grande.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

We got a leisurely start this morning since there wasn't much to see in town anyway.  We had a big Breakfast of Scrambled Eggs, Bacon and Biscuits and Gravy before we headed out.

Sharon wanted to stop at the only vendors left in town and they were the permanent buildings left near the Main Event.  There were about 10 vendors that were still open for business and we managed to visit them all.  Sharon got a necklace and earrings and I picked up a Quartzsite T-Shirt.  My Quartzsite T-Shirt stayed home this year because it didn't make the A-List.

After our monstrous day in town we came home and Sharon napped while I tried and failed.  My recliner is broken again and is not conducive to napping.

We had decided before we left town that we would come back later on and have Silly Al's pizza for Supper tonight.  So about 5 we headed back into town to have our Supper.  Silly Al's was relatively busy tonight and this was more people than we had seen in town in two days.  We had our pizza and a pitcher of beer and had been overcharged for the pizza but Sharon straightened it out before we left.  We then silently went to the car for the ride home.  The pizza had been very good and we both commented on the way home.

We settled in front of the Telly for the night and caught a couple of our regular favorites tonight before we felt the need to head for the feathers.  It hadn't been a long day but we were both tired when we hit the rack.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009April Fool's Day

We left Quartzsite this morning and headed toward Casa Grande via Phoenix.  I had decided that we hadn't been through Phoenix in a couple of years and today was going to be the day.  As we got closer to Phoenix I realized that today might not have been a good day to sightsee through Phoenix.  As we drove past the bypass through Gila Bend the construction started.  The new highway into Phoenix will be at least 5, maybe 6 lanes.  It'll be a hell of a road when it's done, but it isn't done until you get a little closer into town.  By the time we hit the finished highway we realized it had been a long time since we've been through here.

We arrived at Desert Shadows in Casa Grande about noon and the line to register was backed up to the gate.  We had never seen it this bad before, for getting in, but what are you going to do.  We managed to get into one of our regular sites today so I guess the park isn't that busy.

We called Jerry and Mary Milan as soon as we got  in and Mary told us they would pick us up for the Elks tonight.  We always manage to go to the Elks and eat with them while we're in town.  We left and took a trip to McD's for a sandwich since we hadn't eaten any lunch yet.

Sharon sat on the computer this afternoon searching for the password for the Wi-Fi here at the campground with no luck.  She was still trying when Mary showed up at 5 to pick us up.  Her intentions were to find the password so she could order prescriptions online.  Not finding the password she tried to order them on the phone., and just got frustrated cause she couldn't change the shipping address over the phone.  She decided as a last resort to use the phone to get online.  She was successful and happy by the time the Milans arrived.

We left for the Elks even though we weren't very hungry.  We were still sated from our burgers at McD's.  But this would mainly be a conversational meeting and not a dining meeting.  We had some catching up to do since we saw them in December.

We got back home about 7 'clock and plopped ourselves in front of the TV for the rest of the night.  There were a couple of good shows on tonight even though they were repeats.  We were both ready for the final curtain call tonight.  While the day hadn't been too trying, at least for me, bedtime couldn't have come too early.  At 10:30 we just headed for the bed without comment.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Sharon took a half of a sleeping pill last night so I didn't see her until almost 10 this morning.  I guess she figured that she wanted to go to sleep earlier at night, cause she doesn't have any trouble sleeping later in the morning.

After Sleeping Beauty arose from her slumber she took off on a walk of the park.  She was back in about 30 minutes and I was already done with the preliminaries of taking a shower and getting ready.  I had already done my Journal and Expense Sheets for the day.

After we both got ready we left to go shopping for groceries at the new Fry's near the campground.  We knew that if we got at least $100 worth of groceries purchased before we leave here we'd get at least an additional 10 cents off a gallon of gas when we fill up.  That'll turn into a few bucks.  We finished up our shopping and the total came to $98 Oh well, we aren't done yet.  We've still got a couple of weeks to get to the right number.

After Sharon got the groceries put away she went outside to sit in the shade of our tree and read a book.  I decided that it would be a good time to print up the newsletter and get it ready to mail out.  It took me a couple of hours to get them folded, stamped and addressed and ready to go.  I've already decided that next year, in order to save money, I'll try to send them all out in pdf's through e-mail.  Some of my recipients don't have e-mail so they will still get them snail mail.  But at least half of the Newsletter can be sent out through e-mail.

I finally checked my recliner to see what was broken on it, and it look like I'll have to order a whole cable to get the lever that's broken.  I called Mobility RV in Forest City, Iowa and ordered the replacement.  By the time it gets here it'll be another $38 again.  Sometimes I get so disgusted with this chair.  But if I throw it out the door I'll have a big empty spot with nowhere to sit.

We had Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad and Garlic Bread for Supper tonight.  It was all quite good and now I have leftovers to eat for lunch.  It was all very good.

We settled in for TV tonight and had a couple of good shows to watch.  There was some original programming on tonight along with some repeats.  It's always possible to surf the non-network channels to find something rather than watch repeats.  I actually found "Dog-The Bounty Hunter" the night before last, and then "Overhaulin'" last night.  Some of them come on later than we're used to staying up.  So it has to be a good show for us to hang in there after 10.

Sharon headed south at 10 and I followed her there after I watched Overhaulin' til 11. 

Friday, April 3, 2009

Sharon was off on her walk this morning as soon as she got up.  She asked me if I wanted to join her but I declined.  I would start walking this morning but at my own pace.  I hadn't finished my Journal and Expense Sheets this morning yet, but when I do, I will start a walking regimen.

By the time Sharon got back it was time for Breakfast.  It wasn't going to be anything special, and we both just fended for ourselves.

After Breakfast I took a short walk around the block that we were parked in.  My back got cramped a couple of times on the way, but all in all it was a pretty painless experience.

By this time it was getting late since we had planned to go to the Harkins Theaters this afternoon at 12:30 to see a show we've seen advertised on TV.  The movie was "Taken" starring Liam Neeson.  We had to hurry to get there on time and we managed to take all the back roads to get there, so we wouldn't miss the beginning.  As we found out after arriving, there was 15 minutes of previews and shorts before the actual movie began.  It was, however, worth the time and effort to see.  This was an excellent action packed adventure, and we were on the edge of our seats through the whole thing.

On the way home we stopped by the Post Office and mailed out the Newsletters,  and by the time we got home it was still only about 2:30 in the afternoon.  We watched TV and Sharon read her book and napped while we waited for suppertime to roll around.

For supper we were going to have Lobster Cakes and Red Potatoes.  The Lobster Cakes we found at the store the other day when we were there.  They actually sounded a lot better than they actually were.  Even though they were made out of real Lobster they really weren't that good and tasted "fishy".  They could only be rated "okay" on the tasty food scale.  Supper was quite edible however.

The wind had picked up this afternoon to 40 mph gusts but it wasn't bothering the satellite dish very much.  I think we are parked in exactly the right direction so the wind doesn't affect us.  This is without a doubt a good thing. 

Sharon stayed up until 10 with me before she headed to bed.  I found something on TV that I wanted to watch and stayed up until about 10 to 12 watching it.  It was The Actor's Studio with Dave Chappelle.  It was an interesting interview even though it was a little weird.

By the time I went to bed Sharon said "I'm still awake."  I heard her sleeping when I came through the bedroom door so I must have woke her up.  It didn't take me long to check out.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

It's "Patio Sales in the park day" today.  There hasn't been too much activity in any of the parks this year so we don't expect too much to be happening here either.  I went for my walk before Sharon got herself going, and was back before she even moved off the couch.  I was planning on going with her on her walk by taking the scooter.  Besides she would take in the Patio Sales at the same time.

The Patio Sales were pretty much what I expected this morning.  There were probably 10 people who had stuff out in the whole park.  As usual we didn't find anything we couldn't live without.  But I gave Sharon quite a "Walk-out" on the scooter.

We don't have the password yet for the Wi-Fi here so we surfed the Internet quite a bit today and took care of business as well as downloading our e-mail.  Sharon  tried to read her newspapers but they weren't up yet.  She sent an e-mail to the Daily News at home, like that's going to make a difference.

After Sharon got back and sent out her e-mails, and ate lunch, she grabbed up the laundry and was gone for the next couple of hours.  I dropped her off at the laundry room and came back home to eat lunch.  After a couple of hours I stopped over at the laundry room, to see how close she was to being done, and she said she'd be fine walking back.

The wind was still blowing today from yesterday's forecast but it wasn't as strong.  It was still gusting but it was more like a strong breeze than anything else.  We hear that New York had high winds today of 38 MPH.  Give me a break, that's only a natural breeze out here.  The winds haven't affected the dish so far so let it blow.

Sharon finished up the laundry about 2:30 and it was slowly being too late to do anything constructive today.  Besides Michigan State was playing the University of Connecticut.  During the game for a while it looked like Uconn was going to run away with the game but Michigan came back and led at the half.  Michigan dominated in the second half even though the score didn't show it.  I was happy for Tom Izzo, the coach of the Spartans, who is from Iron Mountain.

Sharon informed me that I was fending for myself on the "tons of leftovers" in the refrigerator, for supper tonight.  I didn't mind and she knew it.  Leftovers are one of my favorite food groups.

We watched TV for most of the night tonight.  Even though Saturday is typically not a good day for TV, we managed to surf a couple of good programs.  We both lasted only til 10 tonight.  Sharon had a couple of beers hoping she'd be able to sleep better tonight.  At least go to sleep faster.  I, on the other hand, have been sleeping fairly well since I got over the problems from my broken leg.  I was taking sleeping pills and pain relievers every night.  In any event, we both went horizontal together tonight.  She was pretending to snore as I climbed into bed.  I told her she was faking and she laughed.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Sharon was off to church this morning as soon as she got up. 

I was off on my walk while she was gone.  It didn't take long for me to complete my walk.  It doesn't go very far.  After I was done I just waited for her, knowing that we would be having a big Breakfast when she returned at 10.  By the time she returned the NASCAR race at Texas Speedway was already in progress.  We don't usually watch the races but there wasn't anything else on TV at the time.  And it's better to watch something, rather than nothing.  At least that's my theory.

When she returned I started cutting up onions and sweating them in the frying pan while she cut up some Red Pepper and then we tossed the potatoes that we had for Supper the other night into the pan.  Sharon decided she wanted Fried Eggs, and I decided on Scrambled.  The Breakfast was absolutely wonderful.

We just sat around watching the race after Breakfast.  It seemed to have taken an unusual amount of time for it to finish, but I guess that's how long a 500 mile race is.  I didn't finish until late in the afternoon today.

When 5 o'clock polled around we busied ourselves getting ready to go out to the Holiday Inn tonight with Jayce Dale and her friend Ann for Karaoke.  They would be having it from 6 until 10 tonight.  When we got there the place was almost empty but it soon "filled up" At least it seemed like everyone in the place was singing.  There must have been 30 different people crooning tunes.  We didn't hear a bad singer in the place.  I managed to belt out about 4 tunes when my turns rolled around.  It was actually a very good time.  It had been at least 3-4 years since I had done any Karaoke in the past.  By the time 10 arrived we had had 3 pitchers of beer between the two of us and we were ready to head home.

We jumped into the sack as son as we got home, and I had a completely miserable night.  I think the beer affects my leg negatively.  It was hurting and it wouldn't go away.  I was awake for a couple of hours before I finally drifted off to slumberland.