Monday, February 8, 2010

Last night we had a real ripper for a rainstorm here and when we woke up there were huge puddles in the campground.  Puddles that were in some cases 40-50 feet across.

We got a leisurely start today since we didn't really have anything to do except meet Clay and Jerie for lunch at Burgers and Beer.  It really wasn't a rush to get ready since we had planned to meet at 1 in town.

We got to the restaurant before they did and it would only be the four of us today.  By the time we were done we had had 4 Burgers and 3 pitchers of beer.  It was only about 3 o'clock by the time we left the place and agreed to meet tomorrow night at the Eks for Chicken again.

By the time we got home we were up for a short nap before we settled in for TV for the night.  As usual we opted out of supper but managed to find something for ourselves later on tonight.

"24" would be on tonight and I can't wait for it to happen.  It's the only show that I look forward to for 7 days after the last episode.  I think the storyline is a little suspect this year, however, as they have some things happening that are not logical.  But you have to take the good with the bad when you're involved as I am.

We both stayed up until 10 and watched a little of David Letterman before we got tired of his "humor."  It wasn't far to the bedroom after that.  Good night Sweet Prince.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

We were up and rolling early this morning having agreed to meet Terry and Jo-Anne at the casino for Breakfast.  It was the morning for the "tufer" and both Breakfasts only cost us $6.75.  I don't know how that price worked out as a tufer but that's what it was.  By the time we arrived, Terry and Jo-Anne were already at the front of the line and had already paid for us.  We got there just in time to go into the dining room and sit down.

The Buffet wasn't as good as the other casino Breakfasts that we've frequented in the past, but the taste of the food was still very good.  There just wasn't much of a selection of food.

We had a problem with the car this morning as we left for Breakfast.  Half the dashboard was dead including the radio, heater, temperature gauge and gas gauge.  Everything seems to work fine as you turn the ignition past the accessory position, but of course the car doesn't run as bells and whistles flash.

When we got home I started checking fuses before I realized that there were more fuses I couldn't check, than the ones I could.  I made sure we still had headlights so we could still go to the Elks tonight with Clay and Jerie.  We did, so we would still be going.

We sat around watching TV and actually slid into a nap this afternoon while we were waiting to take off for the Elks.  We needed to be on the road at 4:30 in order to make it to the club by 5.  We happened to make it right on time but Clay and Jerie were running a little late tonight.  They called us and suggested that we go in with Gary and Kay.  We opted to wait outside for a while since the ride over with the windows up on the car was ghastly hot.  We can't buy a break.  This morning on the way to Breakfast we were cold and tonight we were too hot.

The food at the Elks was excellent as usual and this was going to be the last time we would see Clay and Jerie for this year.  We sat and had an after-dinner drink before we left for home.  We said our good-byes and doled out our kisses and hugs to carry us over til next year.

We left for home and the car was cold again as expected.  We got home in time to catch a couple of our regular shows on TV and stayed up until 10 before we finally caved for the night.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

I woke up this morning with the intent to get the car to a repair shop and find out what was happening with it.  It really didn't seem like it was a serious problem except for the things that weren't working when it was acting up.  I made a phone call this morning to a repair shop over in the Foothills after Sharon found it in the GPS.  They said they could take a look at it this afternoon after 1 PM.

After Breakfast Sharon took off with the laundry in an attempt to keep it caught up for the next week. By the time she got back I had eaten my lunch and it was time to go to the auto repair shop to find out about the car.  As soon as I started it up everything was working just fine.  Here we go again.  Now I was worried about what was wrong.

I got over to the repair shop and they came out with an analyzer and when he was finished he told me it was probably the ignition since nothing else was showing up on the device.  He told me that it wouldn't leave me stranded and I was happy to hear that, after they quoted me the price of a new ignition module. ($175.00) There was no way that they could do the repair today anyway, so I quickly got back on my way home.

The weatherman predicted rain today and I think all of it fell on me on the way home.  I was literally on one side of I-8 without rain, it rained so hard over I-8 that the windshield wipers couldn't keep up, and the road was dry on the other side.  This place has the weirdest rain patterns I've ever seen.

After I got back home we just sat around and watched TV until it was time for us to meet Terry and Jo-Anne at the Olive Garden for their Anniversary Dinner tonight.  They were bringing 4 other people along with them, all Canadians.  It turned into a very friendly group to have dinner with, although the wait staff served us 4 dinners that were cold.  They were all sent back to the kitchen to be recooked or heated, and Sharon's was one of them that was recooked.  So her Dinner came about the time that everybody was almost finished eating.  So she took about half of it home with her.  They "comped" her dinner and we only got charged for mine.  I guess that was as good as we could have expected.

We got back home about 8 but tonight I had recorded all our regular shows so we sat down to watch them when we settled in for the night.  We never did get to watch all of them before we ambled off to the bed and our night of rest and recuperation.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

We hustled this morning and got on the road as early as was possible.  We didn't actually get up early   Yesterday was the "get ready to go" day but it was raining and I had already dumped the holding tanks on Wednesday so we just picked everything up water and all and put it away.

Last night at Dinner we talked about going to the casino for Breakfast this morning but Terry and Jo-Anne were leaving early so we scrapped that plan.  We found out when we arrived at Catalina Spa in Desert Hot Springs that they were only 45 minutes ahead of us on the road.  But we had an extra 22 miles to travel to get out to their campground at Pilot Knob.

We came up past the Salton Sea on Highway 111 and were very surprised to see how many very wet areas there were alongside the road.  It had rained in this area but usually the water just soaks right into the desert, and here it was still very wet.

As we came into the valley we realized that we were both hungry enough to stop before we got to Catalina so we pulled into the Flying J Truck Stop over in Thousand Palms.  There's a McDonald's right next door and a short walk away.

Dick Smith, a friend of Phil and Joyce Bach's, from Martinez, California, greeted us as we pulled up to our campsite. He left almost immediately and said he'd see us later.

As we got to the office to register and pay, Terry and Jo-Anne were there, and we invited them over when they were finished.  We picked up our mail in the office and headed home.  Terry was still talking to the Wi-Fi Guy when we left, and Jo-Anne followed us out.  Terry came about 5 minutes later when he found out that we were gone.

They stayed over at our "house" long enough to have a coke and a beer and then it was almost time to go to the pool for the afternoon.

When we got to the pool which is 1 site away from us, everybody was there except the Browns and Parents, but they arrived shortly afterward.  While we were in the pool we decided that we would go out for Dinner to the Elephant Bar tonight.  We had been there a couple of times last year and enjoyed it very much.  We asked Dick and Linda Smith if they wanted to go with us and they accepted.

Terry and Jo-Anne picked up Dick and Linda at 5 and swung by here and we took our own car.  It took us quite a while to get a table at the restaurant because they were extremely busy. But we eventually had a very nice Dinner, with excellent food, and exotic drinks, for  the 6 of us.

We got home about 8 in plenty of time to catch a few of our favorite shows which I recorded earlier.  It didn't keep us up any longer than 10:30 however.  A half hour past our bedtime was plenty of TV.

Friday, February 12, 2010 

We were up this morning with grocery shopping on our minds.  Sharon also had walking on her mind-----------for her and me.  I wasn't too keen on the idea but after she left I decided to walk around the block.  I made it about ¾ of the way around before I needed to stop and rest my back.  By the time I got back I was in pain as I suspected.

Terry and Jo-Anne stopped over and we sat and had coffee for about a half hour.  They left and headed out for a walk down Corkill to Dillon and back.

After Breakfast and showering we hit the road for town to catch up on some grocery and Valentines card shopping.  We also needed to get the car washed before we headed back to the campground.

Sharon went to the grocery store and I went to the bakery to get the essentials we needed.  After getting back in the car we went to the car wash in State Brothers parking lot on ly to find we had a choice between $12 and $8 to wash the car.  We left and headed down the street to the automatic wash for $5.  It was a bit of a rig-a-ma-roll but we finally the  car washed, but it was not a good job.  Maybe cause the dirt was caked on from Yuma.  We'll have to clean it up when we get back home.

We stopped at K-Mart and picked up our cards and then headed home for lunch.  By the time we finished lunch it was time to go to the pool.

The water in the pool today was almost too warm, but who's complaining.  We had some jerk in the pool today that was kicking and splashing water all over the place and Terry confronted him.  The women in the pool don't care to have water splashed all over them.  We think the guy had been drinking and that was why he was acting like an a___hole.  We all wondered if the confrontation was going to come to blows or not.  It didn't.

We got back home and Sharon whipped up some Shrimp E'toufee' for supper tonight.  She had also picked up Chicken Egg Rolls at the store to go with it.  The two don't go together but they're really good.  We always put them together and they turn out quite complimentary to each other.

The Olympics opening ceremony would be on the telly for the night and we would watch it, cause we are olympic junkies.  The opening was just entertaining as all get out.  We were glued to the set as we watched it til the end.  There was a couple of things that I didn't understand but the whole thing was quite beautiful.  We stayed up until about 11:30 tonight.  It was well past our bedtime.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

We got up this morning with nothing to do for the day.  Sharon took off on her walk and complained about me not going, but I was still hurting from yesterday.  I am well past the argument of no pain, no gain.

I spent the morning catching up on all the shows I had taped yesterday, since I had watched the Olympics last night.  I only had a couple of shows to watch but it took a couple of hours.

By noon the Olympics were back on and I started watching them again.  I watched Ski Jumping and for the next two hours I never heard mention or seen a US athlete.  I don't know what the hell NBC is doing, but even if they don't win I want to know how the U.S.finished.  I know for a fact we had ski jumpers competing.  If this is the way they plan their coverage, I can always something else for the next couple of weeks.

At two we headed for the pool and an afternoon of floating and conversating.  We didn't see Terry and Jo-Anne all day today but someone said they went to the College of the Desert Flea Market.  We left the pool early cause Sharon was off to church and then she would pick up KFC on the way home for supper.

She got back home about 6:30 and the Olympics were still on, so we watched them while we ate.  In fact the short track speed skating was on and Sharon likes to watch Apollo Ohno skate.  He picked up a Silver in a fluke finish that took out two Koreans just before the finish.

We watched the Olympics until they were finished for the night, and then watched a couple of episodes of Cops, and still managed to climb into the rack before 10 o'clock.  Life is good!

Sunday, February 14, 2010Happy Valentine's Day

When we got up this morning we both forgot it was Valentine's Day and the cards had not been signed yet.  We quickly remedied that problem and everybody was happy again.

We got up this morning with a plan.  It wasn't a plan to go anywhere, however, it was a plan to have a big Breakfast which I had agreed to cook.  After Sharon got up she went for her walk and I got the stuff ready to have our Breakfast.  By the time she got back I had already started the Hash Browns and the Gravy was made for the Biscuits and Gravy.  This was a plan that was definitely coming together.  After the Scrambled Eggs with Ham and the Biscuits were done, Sharon cooked up some Sausage that we put in the gravy and then we sat down to a delicious Breakfast.  We even had some leftovers that can be reheated tomorrow morning or the day after.

By the time we got up from the table the Olympics had already started again on TV.  I had to rest my Breakfast before I settled in and did my dishes.  Sharon is always Johnny-on-the-spot with the dishes so she left them in the sink til I got around to them.

We pretty much watched the Olympics all day today with the possible exception of when we went to the pool for the afternoon.  I did have the DVR set to record them though while I was gone, and by the time we got back home I could just through all the superfluous stuff to get to the meat of the competition.

We got invited over to Terry and Jo-Anne's tonight for Dinner.  They were having Deli chicken with mixed vegetables and Bake Potatoes.  It was all very good and we had various desert Breads to finish off the meal.

We stayed until about 8 and then we drove back home.  We had more Olympics on tape that we had to zip through before we went to bed.  We watched most of the pairs Figure Skating before the end of the tape.

We were ready for bed by the time we finally went.  We were tired from Ski Jumping, Cross Country, Moguls and Figure Skating.  It had been a long day.  I'm getting too old for all this activity.