Monday, February 7, 2011

We were on the road early again this morning without having had Breakfast.  We wanted to get to the ARCO AM/PM station in town where the gas was at $2.97 a gallon.  We knew that the gas in California was over $3 a gallon and we even saw it for $3.59 in Brawley.  Fortunately our Breakfast problem was solved by a Carl’s Jr. right next to the gas station.

We experienced a weird series of 7's today and thought it might be too much of a coincidence.  We were at pump #7, on the 7th of February, and the change at Carl’s Jr. Was $7.77 We decided it might be a good day to hit the casino with the change from Carl’s Jr and put it in a machine with 7's on it.  On the way to the Quechan Casino we also saw a billboard with Breakfast at the Quechan for $7.77.  It seemed like the stars were lining up in order.  The actual attempt at winning a load of cash in the machine at the casino was a total bust.  Go figure.

We took highway 86 back up to the Coachella Valley and realized why we take the eastern side down past the Salton Sea.  The eastern side is much more scenic as the road passes alongside the water.  Even though it’s only 2-lane it’s a much prettier ride.

We arrived in Catalina Spa about 1 o’clock having gained an hour crossing the time line on the Arizona border.  We called Ron and Ev Muster when we got in, wanting to go over and see them immediately.  My call went to voicemail so I called Terry and Jo-Anne Bertamini to arrange our trip to Quartzsite on Thursday, and to see if they wanted to go to the Casino for Breakfast tomorrow morning.  They said yes on both counts so I called Norm Jones, the person for our visit on Thursday.  He seemed to think that he’ll be in Quartzsite for sure on Thursday in the Roadrunner area.  If not he’ll call us on Wednesday.

I tried calling Ron and Ev again on a different phone and they answered.  They were home and we decided that we’d go over there right away.

We sat and talked and drank beer all afternoon until we came home for supper at about 6.  We had quite a bit of catching up to do since we hadn’t seen each other for a few years.  We’ve kept in touch through e-mail but haven’t seen each other.  We had a very nice visit and they’ll be coming with us to the Casino tomorrow morning.

After Supper tonight we just relaxed in front of the TV for the night.  I even took a little nap while watching the backs of my eyelids.  It had been a very busy day for me and the Mrs. today.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

We were off this morning to the casino for their Buffet Breakfast.  We stopped by the Sands RV Resort and Picked up Ron and Evelyn on the way and we would meet Terry and Jo-Anne there. We all had a good time and Terry might have even had his fill of coffee.

After Breakfast we decided to take Ron and EV on a short tour through Palm Springs.  We went down Palm Canyon Road until we got to Gene Autry Trail and then turned for home.

We dropped Ron and Ev off at home and we went back to our own hacienda.  It was time for a quick nap but sleep never came.

I watched a couple of hours of American Chopper re-runs while Sharon knitted her way to our usual pool time.  The wind was blowing today and by the time we got to the pool there was noone there.  It seemed strange since it was such a nice day and the campground was full.  We found out why the park was full by the conversation in the pool when people started showing up.  Apparently the manager was over at Quartzsite passing out coupons for 5 days of camping for $99.  So the park will still be crowded for another week or so.

By the time we left the pool the people from Michigan were all in the pool.  Apparently they all went to Almar Acres for the soup today.  They have “soup or burger” day every Tuesday.  One week is soup, the next is burgers.  The people who have been there rave about both.

For Supper tonight Sharon took some leftovers out of the freezer.  We had Stuffed Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes and corn and it was still very good.

After Supper we camped in front of the tube for the night even though tonight was Karaoke night in the Upper Clubhouse.  I just didn’t feel like going and Sharon can take it or leave it.

We hung in there until our usual bewitching hour.  We had to watch some of our taped programs tonight to get us through, but we enjoy those shows anyway.  We watched a new show tonight called Chicago Code which was pretty good.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Another nice day looked like it was blooming today even though we had a little wind blowing today.  Today is Taco Wednesday and we are planning to go with Ron and Ev about noon.  We got a phone call suggesting that they meet us over there. We left at our usual time and waited for a half hour for them to arrive.  Just before we ordered our food Terry and Jo-Anne arrived but they had just had Breakfast at IHOP and weren’t ordering food.  But he doesn’t drink beer and doesn’t like “Mexican” food anyway.  Terry had coffee and Jo-Anne had a beer while they were there.

We left the VFW fully intending to go to the pool today.  Our mistake was to sit down and get too comfortable.  We ended up taking a nap for the rest of the afternoon.  We woke up about 4 and knew we had slept right through pool time.  If we had napped any longer we would have gone right through suppertime also.  It really didn’t matter cause neither of us was very hungry to eat anyway.  We did manage to choke some food down anyway.

We got a call from Norm Jones tonight asking if we were still planning on going to Quartzsite tomorrow.  We are still going and in fact we discussed it at the VFW today.  We will drive over to the Bertamini’s at Outdoor Resorts, in the morning, and then we’ll leave from there.  I think we’ll probably stop at Bristol Farms for Breakfast on our way out.

We settled in for our usual entertainment again tonight.  We camped out in front of the TV and then surfed our way to the final curtain.  We actually made it to 10:30 tonight before we folded the tents.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

We were up early this morning as we were intending to drive to Quartzsite to visit with Norm Jones for a couple of hours.  Norm is an old friend that we met at Winnebago 10 years ago.  He was with his wife Sue whom he lost this past year around Christmas.  Over the past couple of years they met Terry and Jo-Anne so we are on our way over to their place where we’ll go over with them.

We arrived at the Bertamini’s about 9 and we headed out to have Breakfast at Bristol Farms before we took off.  We all had the Denver Omelette and as usual it was very good.  We were on the road by 10:30 and headed east to Arizona.  We arrived at Quartzsite at about 12:30 which was 1:30 Arizona time.  It was nice that Norm hadn’t eaten lunch yet.  He said he knew we would probably want to go out to eat, so he waited for us.

We left and decided on the way to town to go to Silly Al’s for pizza.  We ordered a large and a small which was enough for all of us.  We were at the restaurant for about an hour or so by the time we got our food and ate it.  We left to head back to the LaPaz Valley to Norm’s campsite.  It was at Mile Marker 98.5.  We stayed for about another hour until the time when the group had their welcoming party. We left and said our good-byes just as the party started.

It took us another couple of hours to get back to the Valley from Quartzsite.   On he way we discussed attending the Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons show at the Fantasy Casino in March.  We decided that since Terry and Jo-Anne were going, we would go with them.  So we stopped at the Fantasy Casino and picked up our tickets on the way back.

Today was Terry and Jo-Anne’s Anniversary and they were going out to eat to celebrate.  We decided to go with them.  We first thought we would go to Mimi’s Café, and then decided on Marie Callendars.  They thought they knew where the restaurant was but, alas, not the case.  We drove through Palm Springs without finding it, and then drove back to find a place called Coco’s Restaurant.  We knew where Coco’s was because we saw it on the way through originally.

It took us the better part of 90 minutes before we got our food and ate it.  Sharon and I thought the food was quite good, but Terry wasn’t happy with his steak and Jo-Anne said she was OK with hers.

We drove back to Outdoor Resorts to retrieve our car and then go home.  We got back about 8:30 and collapsed in front of the TV.  It had been a long day for sure. We were very glad we went and got to see Norm again.

We watched TV until 11 tonight before we finally headed out to the padded room.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Sharon was off to Curves this morning for her daily workout.  She doesn’t make it every morning but she certainly tries to get there.  She’s usually gone for about an hour or so by the time she drives over there, exercises, and then drives back again.

When she got back we started making arrangements to have the Musters and Bertamini’s over for supper on either Saturday or Sunday.  We also needed to find out what time the Musters wanted us over tonight for Dinner.  Sharon found out that either night was fine for both of them.

She took off for the grocery store to shop for the Dinner.  We were planning on having Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Potato Salad for sure.  It won’t be much but more like a social get-together thing.

After lunch we took off for the pool.  We needed to get that in since our visits to the pool have been a little sporadic.  Today was such a nice day we didn’t want to miss.  We were at the pool a little early today so not many of our friends were there.  They started showing up after we got there however.  The water in the pool was quite warm today but we never complain since we don’t want it much cooler.

By the time we got home it was time to go to Ron and Ev’s. For Dinner.  We got there about 5 but we didn’t eat until about 7.  Ev had a couple of mini-disasters while preparing Dinner.  Everything worked out fine in the end, however, and it was all very good.  We had New York Strip Steaks, foil wrapped Grilled Potatoes, salad and sour dough Bread. 

We got back home again about 8 and camped out in front of the TV for the next couple of hours.  We had most of what we regularly watch on tape tonight.  They took me nicely to my bedtime.  Sharon went to bed when we got home.  She was all done for the night early.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

We were trying to formulate a plan today since we got up to have the Musters and Bertaminis over for Dinner.  It seemed as though today or tomorrow was fine with both of them until we set it up.  And then the Musters had a problem with tomorrow.  So we reset it for tonight.  I had already started cooking the Pork Roast for the Pulled Pork Sandwiches.  We would also have Steakhouse Beans and Potato Salad.

Sharon whipped up a bunch of leftovers for lunch today, and by the time we finished eating it was time to go to the pool if we were going to get that in today.  We needed to be out of the pool by 3:30 so we’d be ready for our guests tonight.  The pool was almost too warm today since the weather was very nice.  It would be nice to have a witch that you could adjust when you got in so that the pool was the ideal temperature depending on the weather every day.  Man, that would be dream come true and not possible to achieve.

Terry and Jo-Anne arrived at about 4 and Ron and Ev were right behind them.  We sat down to have a few cocktails before Dinner.

The Pork Sandwiches, Potato Salad and Beans were all very good, and everybody complimented us on the food.  It really was very good.

We sat around for the rest of the night just talking and swapping stories.  It was very comfortable conversation and everybody joined in as it should be.  Around 10, everybody as group, decided it was time to go home.  The party broke up and we headed for bed right on time.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

When Sharon got up this morning she was off to church in town.  I put in an order for Apple Fritters from the bakery next to Stater Bros.  I call it the Chinese Bakery but I don’t know if it’s Chinese or not.  The people who work there are Chinese for sure., thus the term “Chinese Bakery.”  The baked goods are definitely the kind that we Americans like quite a bit.

While Sharon was gone I took another antihistamine for the allergy that’s been affecting me, and I took another nap during her absence.  These OTC antihistamines are really knocking me for a loop but that might just be the allergy that’s doing it.

We had 1½ leftover Pork Sandwiches from our Dinner last night and I had that for lunch today.  We still had leftover Pork but we ran out of buns.  The Pulled Pork tastes much better on buns than it does on bread.

After lunch we watched TV for a couple of hours before it was time to go to the pool.  By the time we got there the hooks, benches and tables were all gone because  there were so many people in the pool.  We managed to double-up on a single hook.

The water in the pool was too warm today and we heard that they’re keeping it warmer for the people exercising in the morning.  But with the weather getting warmer and warmer every day, it’s just too warm in the afternoon for the rest of us.

We got back home about 4 and watched a couple of shows we had taped from last night.  We were home in time to watch 60 minutes at it’s regular time.  We certainly had enough to watch tonight to get us to the nite, nite hour.