Monday, April 2, 2012

We got off to a leisurely start this morning even though we hit the road by 8:30.  It actually seemed later than it really was.  Our first an only stop this morning was at Carl’s Jr. So I could pick up my usual Loaded Burrito Combo for Breakfast.

After the quick stop for Breakfast we were back on the road struggling to get to the top of the Chiriaco Summit headed for Quartzsite.

It seemed as though the closer we got to Quartzsite, the harder the wind was blowing.  It was gusting pretty hard and we drove through town on B-10 and then turned south on 95 to our usual parking spot at mile marker 99 south of town.  The town looked quite deserted as we drove through, but not as deserted as we actually found once we disconnected the car and came back to do some shopping.  We had never seen the town so abandoned and closed down before.  We could only imagine that this is what it’s like during the summer.  We needed a couple of things for the motorhome and we found them at the RV store which was fortunately still open.

We drove out to the Fire Department and I picked up a T-shirt for my expansive shirt wardrobe.  I had seen a guy in Yuma with a Quartzsite Fire Department T-Shirt and asked him where he got it.  We drove around the rest of the town and we found the Quail Mountain Café which Ken and Pat had told us about in the pool several weeks ago.  It looked like a very nice restaurant and we’ll probably go back there tomorrow for Breakfast.  Our generator isn’t working right so we won’t have a microwave or power at home to cook anything.

We went to Silly Al’s for pizza early today for supper.  We were both hungry since we hadn’t eaten anything since Breakfast.  Silly Al’s Pizza is very good and we usually stop when we come through.  It was just as good as it usually is and we only brought one piece home tonight.

By the time we got back home the wind had started to subside some.  And by the time we started watching TV we had turned the motorhome into the wind and the dish was working just fine.  We figured we’d have enough battery to watch most of the night with the receiver and the TV running off it.  We actually had plenty of power and we watched TV til almost 10:30.  By that time it had been a long day and we were both ready for the padded room.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Sharon got up this morning and turned the furnace on and it ran for a couple of cycles before I got up.  The batteries were still providing us with enough power to run everything.  It was even enough to run the computer on the inverter, while I typed my Journal from yesterday.  I didn’t expect it to provide power or TV this morning so I didn’t even try.

We left our parking spot this morning with the intention of going to the Quail Mountain Café for Breakfast and found it closed on Tuesdays.  We didn’t see the sign on the property,  that announced that yesterday.  So we turned east to head back to Hwy 95 where we would pick up a load of LP Gas for our trip home.  The Cactus Café was also on our way back to the Interstate but we also found that closed when we arrived.  We finally decided to go to McDonald’s for Breakfast.  We knew that wouldn’t be closed and we would have parking for our vehicles.

By 9:30 we were back on the road and heading east toward Casa Grande, Arizona.  It would still be a couple of hours before we arrived.  Just before we turned off on our Hwy into Casa Grande I glanced down at the Gas Gauge and it was teetering toward empty.  I was surprised to see the level because we had never used this much gas from Desert Hot Springs before.  We had almost 3/4 of a tank when we left.  We knew there was a station just as we turn off I-8 toward Casa Grande and we made it there with not much to spare.  I don’t ever cut it that close anymore.  The irony is that the only time we ran out of gas with the motorhome we were on exactly the same route into Casa Grande.

After arrival at Desert Shadows RV Resort in town it didn’t take us long to get set up, hooked up and settle in.  Sharon called Mary and Jerry Milan and Dennis and Mary Ceshker to plan for the next week or so and then went outside to read her book.  I, on the other hand, sat inside in the air conditioning and watched TV for my entertainment.

For Supper tonight Sharon cut up the chicken and put it directly into the rice mixture from our Chicken and Rice that we had the other night.  I knew it would be good and it was.  She also opened up a can of beets to have with it.

We settled in front of the Telly for the night and although there were repeats on, at least they were entertaining.  We still stayed up until 11 and caught a little of Craig Ferguson before we headed off to bed.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

This is our first full day of taking a rest from our vacation.  Our winter is basically over and now it’s time to get ourselves back home.  We’ll take some time here like we usually do and then get ready for the big trip home.  This resort, is unfortunately going to be out of our system next year, so we’ll need to find another spot that we can stop at so that we can visit friends here in Casa Grande.

Desert Shadows seems relatively empty with not much action going on or people going in and out of the park.  That may be the result of their changing hands and dropping out of the system.  We’re parked in our usual spot and there is usually a bunch of people driving right by us to register in the park.  We haven’t seen that in the last two days.

At lunchtime today we just cleaned up some leftovers in the fridge.  We nuked some hot dogs an then ate the Potato Salad Sharon had made yesterday for Supper.

It was planning on getting quite warm this afternoon and Sharon had threatened to go to the pool if it was too warm today.  But we got a call from Mary and Jerry the other day saying they would be stopping by this afternoon.  But if they didn’t see us this afternoon they would meet us at the Elks Club at 5 tonight.  They didn’t show up this afternoon but then we got a call saying that they would pick us up for the Elks tonight.

They stopped by about 4:45 after picking up prescriptions on the corner at Walgreen’s, and we were off to the Elks for Dinner tonight.

The Elks puts out a pretty good meal on Wednesday nights and when we’re in town we always go with Mary and Jerry Milan.  Tonight was no different and we got a good meal even if it was only “sandwiches” Actually I had a ½ lb. Burger and Onion Rings and Sharon had Chicken Tenders and fries. 

After Dinner we came home and I had to “work the DVR” tonight to be able to watch all our regular shows.  We ad a bunch of repeats on so we deleted those off the DVR while watching the original programming.  We also surfed around and Sharon plopped herself into bed early as I stayed up until 10 before giving up on the night.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

We were up and off with a Breakfast plan this morning early.  We had to get to Golden Corral before 9 o’clock in order to get the senior discount on our meal.  But when we got there we found out that the Breakfast had already been discounted to $5.99, every day, Monday through Friday.  And apparently the price is good until 11 AM.  We sat and at our Breakfast this morning content in the fact we were getting our meal as cheap as we’ve gotten it all winter.

After Breakfast we came straight home even though we should have stopped at K-Mart so Sharon could have picked up a few thing that she needed.

Today was going to be very warm and Sharon has threatened to go to the pool today.  The hot tub is out of order and getting out of the pool is going to be a bear to say the least.  The water evaporates off you so quickly out here that you freeze while you’re trying to dry off.  I may not be too anxious to go to the pool with her.

We didn’t have any specific plans for today so while Sharon sat outside and read her book, I sat inside with the Air Conditioning running and watched TV.  It was entirely too warm for me to sit in the shade and expect to be enjoying myself.

By the time supper rolled around neither of us was hungry for a regular meal so we just scared up some leftovers from the fridge and warmed them up in the micro.  I had leftover Chicken and Rice and Sharon had a piece of Grilled Chicken and Potato Salad.  We were both okay with our pseudo supper even though it wasn’t much of a meal.

Tonight was a great night for TV and the DVR was running full time tonight.  It was all original programming on all different channels.  We didn’t have to surf a bit tonight.  New shows, Missing and Touch were on tonight along with our regular shows.  We had plenty to take us up to bedtime tonight.  We even had a couple of episodes of Impractical Jokers thrown in for good measure tonight.

Friday, April 6, 2012

We were both up relatively early today and Sharon took off immediately with the laundry.  She told me our schedule over the next couple of days and that the heap on the hamper would be overflowing if she didn’t do it today.  So she would be gone to the campground laundry for the next couple of hours and I just sat and waited for her.

Corky and Deb Zimmermann called us while she was gone knowing that we had planned on going to Long John Silver’s for lunch today asking us what time we were going.  But with Sharon at the laundry we wouldn’t be going for at least another 45 minutes or so.  I told them we’d stop over after we left the restaurant.

By the time Sharon got back it was after 11:30 and time for lunch.  It would take us a few minutes to get to LJS’s and get our fish dinner for the day.  The restaurant was busy but very noisy.  Why this place would be any noisier than any other fast food place is beyond me, but it was.  The restaurant is a combination Taco Bell / Long John Silver’s and maybe the tacos are fighting with the fish.  Who knows.

After lunch we drove over to Fiesta Grande Resort on Florence Boulevard which was just a couple of blocks from the lunch place.  We found the Zimmermann’s campsite without too much trouble and found the resort very nice indeed.  A place that we would consider buying something more permanent in the future.

We stayed at Corky and Deb’s for a couple of hours finalizing our plans for Easter Sunday lunch, and checking to see if they wanted to go to the Mesa Market in the morning.  They opted out of the Market but we got our plans settled for Easter.

We got home this afternoon and Sharon went outside with her book and I surfed the website Cranky Ape and found another motorhome that I liked.  I went outside and told Sharon about it just to tease her.  It’s not a good idea to tempt her too much though.

By Jeopardy time neither of us was hungry for supper so we just snacked on peanuts and coke while we watched and played the show.  Afterwards I just settled in with the remote and the DVR and taped enough to get us to 10 o’clock.  Friday is usually a pretty good night for TV if you can record the off channels for later watching.

Sharon took off early tonight but I hung in there until 10 before I also called it a night.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

We were off early this morning headed to Mesa to the Mesa Marketplace.  We usually hit the place twice a year ad right now we can find the best prices because it’s the last weekend it will be open.  At least that’s what the sign at the market said.

We stopped at McDo0nald’s to pick up a couple of Breakfast Biscuits and Hash Browns as soon as we got on the road.  We ate on the way knowing that it was going to take us about an hour to get there anyway.

And true to form we drove up to the market about 9:30 ready to hit the shops.  The guy that rents the scooters had moved to an entirely different area and it took some asking to find him.  Of course I went partially ballistic when I knew where he was at and there was no handicapped parking in that area.  We actually lucked out when Sharon dropped me off and then went and looked for a parking place.

The scooter rental was $8 per hour and extra for each quarter-hour after that.  We managed to get through the entire market in 2 hours even with all the shopping that we did.  I think we spent more today than we had since we bought our living room lamps here a few years ago.  Except for a couple of “toy items” for Stella and Max I managed to find a couple of things that I had been looking for all winter, and had no luck.  I attribute that to the lousy Flea Markets we’ve experienced every time we went out this year.

After the Market we stopped at In-N-Out Burger for lunch and the restaurant was absolutely insane.  It was so crowded with people we almost opted to go somewhere else.  But an older couple offered us their table and I sat down while Sharon got the food.  The line waiting to be served was out the door from the time we arrived until the minute we walked out the door to leave.  We offered out table to another couple around our age and they were very appreciative as we were.

After lunch, we headed over to Dennis and Mary Ceshker’s for an afternoon visit.  We got the impression that they didn’t want to go to the market so we never talked to them about it.  Of course we heard about it as soon as we got there.  Oops!  But I don’t think they were that upset.

We stayed the entire afternoon visiting and catching up.  We had seen them in December so we only had a few months to catch up on.  But apparently we had a lot going on since December cause we stayed til about 6 o’clock before we left.  We’ll see them again on Tuesday when they go to Mexico for the Dentist and then stop at our place on the way back.

On the way home we decided that we both were a little hungry and decided to stop at Subway for a sandwich on the way home.  Whew, three meals out today.  That never happens to us as a general rule.

By the time we got home the TV schedule was in full swing and the DVR had to be set to record the shows coming on late tonight.  It took until 11 to get all of our show watched tonight.  We did have a couple left over that we’ll catch up on tomorrow.  The DVR is a godsend that keeps you from being tied down to the TV.  I like to watch a lot of things on the tube and I don’t like missing them.  With the DVR I don’t have to.

Sunday, April 8, 2012HAPPY EASTER

Sharon was off to church this morning to complete her Easter duties and I stayed at home and Cleaned the kitche4n and did the dishes from yesterday.  We don’t usually have dishes leftover from the day before but last night I told Sharon to let tem go and I’d do them in the morning.  I took care of them while I watched my Sunday morning shows on TV.

She stopped at Walgreen’s on the corner and picked up a couple of things on her way home.

By the time she got home and settled in for about an hour it was time for us to take off for Golden Corral to meet Corky and Deb for Dinner.  I fully expected it to be very busy at the restaurant but it really wasn’t that bad.  It was busy but not overly so.  We had a nice lunch and it took well over an hour for Corky and Deb to finish eating.  He can really put it away.

After we got home we sat down and formulated our plans for the trip home.  It seems like we’ll be going roughly the same way as Corky and Deb only a couple of days behind them.  We’ll probably catch them and pass them up, at some point, but where is a good question.  We had originally intended to swing back through San Antonio again on the way home, but then we decided to go through Branson and see a show or two on the way.  So we’ll probably leave here early, later on this week.

By suppertime neither of us was hungry having eaten a full meal at 1 o’clock this afternoon.  Although later on Sharon had bowl of cereal and I finished up the second half of my Jambalaya Soup.  It was just enough to fill us up and keep us for the rest of the night.

We settled in front of the tube for the night and even had a couple of pre-taped shows that would carry up til 10 tonight.  Sunday is not really a good night for TV but when you’ve got the tape back-up we always manage to get through it.