Monday, February 13, 2012

We left Yuma this morning with a singular plan in mind.  We would get ourselves to Quartzsite and check in at the Brit Rally and reunite with Norm Jones, a long-time friend from England.  It had been at least a year since we had seen him but we manage to get together every year for at least a day or more in the winter.  This year he had picked up his sister Sheila who was planning a short stay with him in the motorhome.

Our short 75 mile trip to Quartzsite was uneventful and we found the Rally knowing where they would be.  Every year they park in the Road Runner area near mile marker 100.  There were only 3 rigs there when we arrived but people would be arriving all day today.  Last night there were 10 in total.

The wind was already whistling pretty good on our arrival and it would continue for most of the day.  We thought that might affect the campfire tonight but we were assured that it wouldn’t.  Go figure.

After arriving, the 4 of us decided to go to the Grubstake Restaurant for lunch.  So we all piled into Norm’s car and drove into town.  The Grubstake is a place that is owned by a British gentleman and the group (the Brits) have been frequenting it for years.  We had the Fish and Chips which was the special for the day.  It was a large chunk of Alaskan Pollock with French Fries and Cole Slaw.  It was quite good indeed and satisfied all of our immediate needs.

After we got back one of the guys offered to take a look at our generator and see if he could determine what was wrong with it.  After a fashion he gave up and said it was beyond him so we buttoned it up and that was that.  I was still hoping that I could obtain a cheap analysis of what’s wrong.

We spent the rest of the afternoon just sitting around talking with the group and when the sun settled in the west it was time for some warmer clothes.  By the time we went inside and took a short nap we awoke to see the flash of the fire being ignited.

The cars had been driven around the fire as a wind break and everybody sat around for a couple of hours.  While we sat by the fire we had these little varmints running around our feet. They were the size of little mice but they had huge eyes and very long tails.  We didn’t know what they were but seemed very harmless.  They were just out looking for food. 

About 8:45 and Sharon and I retreated to the motorhome.  It was a fun time but we had enough of the smoke and wind, aside from the fact that my back was not adjusting to my chair.

By the time we got settled in the motorhome it was about 9 but the wind was still blowing, and I had no interest in trying to set up the dish.  I knew it would be aggravating to set it up and wait for the wind to blow it out of alignment.  We both decided that we would just settle in for a long winter’s sleep tonight.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

We pulled out this morning before the Brit Breakfast to get a somewhat early start.  We swung by Sweet Darlene’s to pick up some Pecan Cinnamon Buns to eat and quickly realized that when Quartzsite did their street renovations they put a curb in front of the Restaurant, so that plan was derailed.

We continued on downtown and turned north on 95 to pick up some LP Gas before we left town.  Our next stop was at Pilot to fill up with gas before we hit California.  The pump was slow and would only put 3/4 of a tank in.  As we pulled out the level of the tank kept going down until it registered at 3/4.

We still hadn’t eaten anything by this time so we planned to stop at Carl’s Jr. at the west exit but it was closed.  So now we were struggling to find something to eat.  We still had no generator so toast or waffles was out of the question.

Because of the poor fill-up at Pilot we decided to stop in Ehrenberg, on the border, and top off the gas tank.  There was a Wendy’s that we could eat Breakfast at in the Flying J.  Unfortunately by the time we got there they weren’t serving Breakfast anymore.  So we reluctantly had a couple of burgers and Fries and headed out west again.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful and we arrived in Desert Hot Springs about 11 o’clock.  We quickly settled into our site at Desert Pools and set out to relax for the rest of the day.  Of course had intended to stop at Catalina today to pick up our mail, and she was off as soon as we were set up.

The wind started blowing today and would continue until Friday, so TV was going to be an irritant all week and it started this afternoon.I did have a little nap this afternoon so it didn’t bother me too much.

At suppertime we had leftover Tator Tot Casserole along with fresh Cauliflower and Beets from the Holtville Farm Tour.  Sharon didn’t think it was much of a supper by I disagreed with her.  In any event, before the dishes, she got busy making a Drunken Monday Bread (pre-made biscuits, Brown Sugar and raisins) for us.  We had at least half of it fresh out of the oven.  Yum, Yum!

The rest of our night was pretty tame as the wind finally died down by the time the regular programming started.  It was still spotty but at least we could watch it anyway.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

We awoke this morning to quite the wind blowing today.  It appears that today will not be good for watching TV at all.  The forecast is also for it to continue for the next couple of days.

Our first full day back today and we are already answering a Breakfast date with Terry and Jo-Anne Bertamini.  They called yesterday and told us they would pick us up this morning because they had to come over to go to Blair Station anyway.  Blair Station is the local RV store in Desert Hot Springs.  It’s a pretty good place to pick up “parts” for broken appliances.

They were here by 9:15 and we took off for the Cottage Too to have their special Breakfast.  It’s quite a good Breakfast for a very reasonable price.  Of course we’d break the bank with the amount of coffee we would be drinking.  Terry likes to stick around and drink coffee.

We were back home again by about 10:30 cause Terry wanted to pick up his part and get going fixing his toilet.

After we got home it wasn’t long before it started raining.  It never rains here, but when it does, we seem to get plenty of it.  And today was no exception.  The wind blew and the rain fell all day today and into the evening.  I thought we would have a miserable time trying to get TV tonight but the wind must have changed direction from yesterday when our dish was not receiving.  We lost our signal in the afternoon but by nightfall we were watching again.

Sharon whipped up Chicken Kiev for Supper tonight.  She also threw in Creamed Corn, Fried Potatoes and a salad for herself.  It was the first home-cooked meal we had in a few days.  We’ve been eating leftovers, but they were also cooked by Sharon, so I guess it hasn’t been that long since we had a meal at home.

We settled in front of the TV for the night, after the wind settled down a bit, and we could get a signal on the dish.  For the rest of the night we had no problem with the dish and I didn’t go to bed until 11 after watching everything I had on tape.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Another sunshiny day presented itself this morning even the temperature wasn’t commensurate with the sunshine.  It’s having a hard time this week getting above 60.

Sharon was off on her walk and I settled in behind the computer to write my Journal and to work on the Newsletter.  I spent at least a couple of hours writing a new story for the Newsletter about our trip to the UC Research Center in Holtville, CA.

After lunch, which was Ground Pickle and Bologna sandwiches we decided that we’d make a trip over to see Corky and Deb Zimmermann at Desert View Campground.  Corky bought a remote control car some time ago and then he and his friend set up a race track to compete on.  When we went over Sharon and I got a chance to drive the car and it was quite fun.  The area that the track is in  is also used for horseshoes and croquet.  They’ve incorporated it quite cleverly around the hoops and poles.

After our stint on the racetrack we went back to the 5th wheel and sat and talked for awhile. After a while the wind got a little nippy so we went inside. We had a couple of drinks and made some plans for next week at the Elks Club.  We don’t normally frequent the Elks Club except in Casa Grande with our friends, the Milans.  We’re not members so we need to go with friends.

By the time we got back home Sharon got real busy making our supper.  I got busy making the Guacamole Dip and she made the Tacos.  It has been a while since we’ve had “home-made tacos” for supper.  They were quite good.

After Supper we settled in front of the tube for the night.  There were quite a few of our regular shows on tonight so we were entertained until we folded up our tents.  When 10 rolled around we were ready to call it quits.

Friday, February 17, 2012

We got up this morning with no plans for the day except to meet Terry and Jo-Anne and Dick Smith for Happy Hour at the Jackalope later this afternoon.

Sharon kept herself busy today working on a new jigsaw puzzle, and I had no wind today so the TV was up and running just fine.

The weather today was clear and sunshiny but not really warm.  It would only reach into the high 60's today which was quite unusual for this time of year.  The earlier part of this winter seemed to get into the 70's almost every day with the sun making it seem like it was almost warmer than that.

By the time Happy Hour rolled around we thought we would be sitting outside at the Jackalope so we dressed warm, thinking the sun would be going down while we were there.  We arrived at the Restaurant at 3 and for some reason they had experienced a power outtage and were closed.  We said our hellows to Dick and then quickly decided to go to the Elephant Bar for Happy Hour instead.  Besides the food is quite reasonable at the Elephant Bar during Happy Hour and the drinks are half priced.  So if you can find something to eat on their limited menu, the fancy drinks are quite luscious.

We were back home again in time to catch our regular shows on the west networks.  A very good feature of having east/west networks on the schedule.  We can usually catch our regular shows no matter what time they are on.

We sat up tonight watching the tube until 11 o’clock and Sharon had a chance to actually finish her puzzle.  She got done before the bewitching hour arrived and we both headed south at 11 tonight.  Although we really had nothing to do today, we were still quite busy to say the least.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Our plan for today was to go to the “College of the Desert” Flea Market with Terry and Jo-Anne and Dale and Barbara, friends of theirs.  With our luck this year we’ve pretty much struck out at the Flea Markets that we’ve attended.  We had two markets in Yuma that were disappointing and we only spent overnight in Quartzsite.  And I actually wanted to see if I could make it through the market at the College.  It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been over there and it’s a bit bigger now, even though it’s laid out better.

We arrived a little after 9:30 and we went to the Food Court to have Breakfast and coffee. I was the only one to have anything to eat but I was hungry.  After awhile Terry and I started walking around.  While I needed to stop frequently to rest my back and leg, I think I could have gotten through the whole fair given at least another hour or so.  I think I got through about half with just a few brief rests along the way, and I really wasn’t tired enough to quit for the day.

On the way home we rode the shuttle to get back to the car.  It was much easier than having to walk all the way.  We left the parking lot headed toward In-N-Out Burger in Thousand Palms.  We were both getting a little hungry and instead of having a sandwich at home we stopped for a burger.

We sat around for the rest of the afternoon until Sharon got ready and took off for church.  By the time she got back I was comfortably settled into my TV watching position for the night.There wasn’t much on TV tonight that we hadn’t seen before, but we did find a couple of old episodes of Cops that we hadn’t.  Everything else was repeats except for one show that we’ve been watching regularly.  The repeats and the stuff on tape were enough to get us to 10:30.  We weren’t much interested in staying up much later anyway.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

We got a call from Terry and Jo-Anne this morning asking us if we were interested in going to the Cottage Too for Breakfast today.  It kind of caught us by surprise since we were with them yesterday and no mention was made of Breakfast this morning.  We didn’t however, let it sway us, and off to the Restaurant we went.  We had our usual “special” and 4 cups of coffee, and by the time we left our kidneys were floating.

As soon as we got home Sharon took off with the laundry to get that caught up for the next week.  By the time she got back she was sweating and complaining of possible “low blood sugar” so I checked her out.  She was at 73 which didn’t seem to me to be too low, but then I need to be in the 60's before it affects me.

After she got everything settled she laid down and took a little nap for herself.  I was trying to watch TV with the wind blowing the dish around and not having a very easy time of it.  The receiver kept resetting itself all afternoon.  After a while I lost interest in watching anything but kept it on for the background noise.

By Suppertime neither of us was very hungry so we just fended for ourselves for the night.  I managed to fry up a Bratwurst with Caramelized Onions and a little bit of Fried Potatoes.  I think Sharon fixed herself a bowl of cereal for the night.

Tonight the wind finally calmed down so the dish was responding but there really wasn’t anything on.  We watched “60 minutes” early and for the rest of the night surfed until 8 and then watched a movie with Will Smith called “I am Legend.”  It was a little weird but it took us to 10:30 rather easily, and by that ime we were both ready for the feathers.