Monday, December 28, 2009HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAX MICHAEL MINDOK

We got up this morning with a "day off" so to speak.  That's usually an indication that Sharon will keep herself busy all day.  So in keeping with the tradition she took off with the laundry this morning while the gettin' was good.

She was back in a few minutes explaining the cost of the credit card which she needed to operate the machines.  Apparently you have to buy the credit card and then add money to it to operate the machines.  Another way for the campground to rip you off.

One of us actually did take the day off today except for helping to take down the Christmas decorations.  We did that after Sharon got the laundry done and we got it all put away.  It only took us about a half hour to get everything done.  Usually we're at a campground where we leave the decorations up over New Year's.  This year we'll be moving on after tomorrow to Quartzsite for a couple of days.  We'll probably be camped on the desert so we won't have hook-ups for the time we're there.

Sharon called our daughter Jessica today and she wasn't at work so she was speculating that she might be gone to the hospital to have her baby.  She called her at home and found her there having some contractions.  They started last night but subsided today after she stayed home from work.  As can be shown by the headline above, our son-in-law Mike called tonight and broke the news that we had a new Grandson..........Max Michael Mindok.  We are both very excited to have him aboard.

We watched TV for the rest of the night and one of us even stitched all night.  Sharon has got to be excited about her flight home, for sure now.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

We had another day planned today with Dennis and Mary and they picked us up at 9:30.  We were soon off to the Red Sage Restaurant in Gold Canyon for Breakfast.  The Hostess at the restaurant was a lovely young lady who toyed with us all the time we were there, including when we paid our bill.  The food was excellent and very reasonable.

After Breakfast we were off to the Queen Creek Olive Mill for a tour of the factory which makes Olive Oil.  They have a wonderful gift shop but almost all of their products, except for the Olive Oil, are bought in from the Napa Valley in California.  The recipes for the products are the Queen Creek's but the actual finished product comes from somewhere else.  The tour, which cost us $5 apiece was pretty disappointing to say the least even though we were provided with all the information about olives that we will ever need.

After Queen Creek we came back to our house and sat and conversated and had a few farewell beverages.  This would be the last time we would see Dennis and Mary until next Summer when they come up to Iron Mountain.  We sat around for a couple of hours until we ran out of cold beer and then they left and Sharon and I got to the chores that would have to be done today.

She took off to the laundry with the sheets from our bed and I went outside and dumped our holding tanks, and filled the water tank.  We would be spending the next couple of days on the desert at Quartzsite with no hook-ups.  We both got our stuff done in plenty of time to watch a little tube tonight before we went to bed.

We had expected to see some pictures from Mike or Jennifer of the brand new Max Mindok in our e-mail today but no such luck.  Grandma is chomping at the bit to get a look at the new little tyke.  And as a matter of fact, so is Grandpa.

We checked e-mail all night but no pictures yet, so we'll just have to wait until tomorrow.  We hung in there until after 10 tonight before we finally gave up the ghost and headed south.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

We didn't really want to get an early start this morning cause we knew we would be driving right through the Phoenix rush hour traffic.  We were ready and rolling by about 9:15 and headed out for Quartzsite.  It would take us about 3 hours to get there and then out travel day would be over with.  Right on schedule we arrived about 1PM after having stopped at Cracker Barrel along the way for Breakfast.  We didn't manage to escape all the traffic through Phoenix, but it only got busy when we hit the I-10 truck route.

In Quartzsite, we headed immediately for the LP Gas Dealers and filled up for the next few days.  With the motorhome ready for the next couple of days, we headed out to our usual spot on the desert at Mile Marker 99, south of town.  It didn't take long for me to get comfortable in my chair and take a little snooze.

When I woke up we decided to go into town and check on our mail and a couple of other things.  They're now distributing General Delivery at the Post Office again between the hours of 10-2.  We'll be back tomorrow morning.

We made a quick stop at the Snowbird Information Center to pick up our pins for this year and receive bad news.  The Haj Ali (Hi Jolly) parade has been rescheduled for next weekend.  We had planned to stay for the parade and leave on Saturday afternoon or Sunday, but now it looks like we'll be leaving on Friday instead.  Just when you got it all figured out, somebody throws a monkey wrench into the works.  We drove around for awhile just checking out the town and worked up an appetite for Silly Al's Pizza.  Of course, the beer that will chase it down sounded pretty good also.

After Dinner we came back home and plunked in front of the tube for the night.  We needed to run the generator for the TV so that was humming up until 10 tonight.  We actually found a couple of shows that we hadn't seen before, which is quite unusual, since I'm usually glued in front of the TV when the new season begins.  We both stayed up until 10 before we crashed into the bedroom for the night.

Thursday, December 31, 2009NEW YEAR'S EVE

It was a very quiet night last night except for the occasional car or truck going by on the highway.  Without a moon last night the desert was pitch black.  We saw a couple out walking near dusk so I hope they got back to their rig before the night descended.

We got kind of a leisurely start this morning since the Post Office didn't open until 10 and we needed to pick up our mail today.  We had a few Christmas cards in the packet but nothing of any real importance.

After the mail we went shopping.  We started at the tool place at the end of the Main Event.  I couldn't find a thing, except some cutting wheels, that I couldn't live without.  They were 4 for a dollar and 25% off so I picked up 8 of them.  It was a heck of a deal.  After that we drove back to the Main Event cause there were a couple of places that Sharon wanted to stop at.  That took about an hour and then we were driving around again.

It was now about 11:30 and we decided that it would be a good time to take in lunch.  We went to the Grubstake which is a little dive on north 95 still in Quartzsite.  We didn't remember how pricey the food was, so we left there owing $33 for our Burgers and Beer.

After lunch Sharon wanted to stop at Tysons Wells and shop there for awhile and I went back to the motorhome looking for a bathroom.  I was back in about 20 minutes and Sharon was waiting on the road for me.  She found a parking place and anyway I wanted to stop at K-B Tools and just look around.  I didn't find anything so we moved on.  We both wanted to stop at LaMesa RV and check out a couple of motorhomes.  We found a couple of nice ones but nothing we were willing to go in the hole for.  Our shopping day was done and we got in the car and headed home.

I was pooped by the time we got home and I took a nap.  Sharon wasn't far behind me as she was still laying down when I woke up.  I kept as quiet as I could but she woke up anyway.  By this time it was about 4:30 and almost time for Jeopardy anyway.  We had to fire up the generator so the DVR could reset itself.  That took a couple of minutes but it was up and running before 5.

We had homemade Nachos Bell Grande for supper tonight.  Neither of us was real hungry after lunch, so that went down rather well.  Besides when we saw it on the menu at lunchtime we were both tempted to have that instead of our burgers.  This way it worked out all around.

We planted ourselves in front of the TV for the night and watched re-runs.  We ran in the New Year at 10 and then went to bed.  I guess we are now officially old.

Friday, January 1, 2010HAPPY NEW YEAR

We were in no hurry this morning to get on the road.  We would be in Desert Hot Springs in about 3 hours no matter what.  We would also gain an hour on the way over.  We stopped in Ehrenberg on the AZ/CA border to pick up a tank of gas.  The price was actually quite reasonable as compared to California.

We made our usual Carl's Jr. Stop in Coachella before continuing on to Catalina Spa at Desert Hot Springs.  We called Phil and Joyce Bach to see if they wanted to walk out of their park to say hello on our way by, but I guess they were gone to the pool.

We arrived at Catalina about 1:30 and got set up.  The office was closed for the holiday so we'll have to wait until tomorrow to register our site and pay.

We just sat around relaxing for the afternoon and even sat outside for awhile since it was a very nice day.  We checked out the pool and it was 88 degrees which is not optimum, but warm enough.

We had planned on going out for a fish fry tonight at the VFW and we called Corky and Deb Zimmermann before we left, to see if they would home afterwards.

The VFW was closed for the night so we drove downtown to see if we could find a place that might be serving fish tonight.  There wasn't much open tonight but we did find the Sidewinder Restaurant was serving so we went there.  We had been there before and got very good food and tonight was no exception.

After we got done, we checked on the church schedule and then drove over to Corky and Deb's for awhile.  Even though we had a hard time finding the campground but we finally made it, just before we had to call Corky for directions.

We sat and talked at their place for an hour or so while Sharon and I had a couple of beers.  It was nice seeing them again since we hadn't seen them since last year.  We live about 75 miles apart in the summer but neither of us got a chance to visit this past year.

We got home about 8 and settled in front of the tube for the rest of the night.  It didn't take long to get to 10 and the retiring hour.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

We spent the morning just settling in to being here.  It always seems like this is the end of our journey when we finally get here even though it isn't.  We still have a trip to Yuma in a few weeks and back again.

I made myself some Egg McMuffins for Breakfast this morning which I hadn't done in at least a few weeks.  I was doing it on a regular basis when we were still at home this year.  I guess I just lost interest in the most recent past since we've been on the road.

Sharon took off with the car and went grocery shopping for awhile.  We didn't have much to pick up, but I think she wanted to browse through K-Mart while she was gone also.  At least that's what she told me when she got back, the little vixen.

After lunch we just sat around til it was time to go to the pool.  The thermometer on the pool said it was 88 degrees but it was warmer than that.  The water was delightfully in the 90's which was just fine with me.  I almost hate to get in the water when its below 90, so I was in 7th heaven.

Sharon left the pool before me cause she wanted to check and see if our mail was there.  She managed to get there just as they were closing the office, and picked up the mail that was there.

By the time I got home she was making burritos for supper.  We had a mixture of Pork and Beef from home that was frozen when we left and she just defrosted that for supper.  The burritos turned out excellent and she had made a half dozen out of the mixture so we'll have a couple for leftovers for lunch some day.

Saturday is not a good night for TV so we managed to surf the channels to find something to watch for the night.  We actually found a couple of Dirty Jobs shows on Discovery which we hadn't seen before.  Sometimes its just good to surf.

We only lasted tonight until our usual bewitching hour and then the stage went dark and the actors went home.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

This was going to be typical Sunday today as Sharon took off for church as soon as she got up and ready, and I stayed home as usual.  While she was gone I cooked us a delicious Breakfast although she didn't show up for it.  When she got home she informed me that she had gone to K-Mart to pick up a few things.  I ate without her, and the Eggs, Bacon, Hash Browns and Toast were quite good indeed.  I saved some of the Bacon and Hash Browns and she flung a couple of Eggs in the pan for her Breakfast, and everybody was satisfied.

Corky and Deb stopped by with Jack and Rosann Derlein and they had a couple of beers and prodded me into leveling out the motorhome at that very instant.  Sharon and I were both outside with the intent to re-position the motorhome on this uneven site.  I had to get out 8 blocks to get the rear end up in the air further.  Jack decided that I needed to do it "right now," while I was content to do it after they left.  Jack won out.  Sharon drove while we positioned the blocks and it came up nicely.

By the time it was leveled out, and the group moved on, it was time to go to the pool.  The water in the pool was not as warm as it was yesterday but it was still a very comfortable temperature.  It was only a degree or two cooler but it was still hovering around 90.  We were over there for a couple of hours before we dragged ourselves out of the hot tub and came back home.

Sharon had decided that we would have Patty Melts for supper tonight.  I asked for a "no french fry" night so she made sliced Fried Potatoes instead, and our sandwiches turned out very good.  She got the meat for the burgers in Quartzsite and they were quite dry so the meat must have been very lean.  She usually likes to buy 80-20 but in Q there really isn't much to choose from.  The taste of the burgers was excellent, however.

Our TV is now coming on another hour earlier so the DVR is going to be handy to record shows that we can watch later on.  Having all your shows over by 8PM is unnerving to say the least.  So we'll use the DVR to push them back at least another hour.  Tonight I hadn't recorded anything so we were surfing by 8 o'clock.  Consequently we were ready for bed by 9 but had to sit up watching crap to get there.  I'll have to do better tomorrow.