Monday, December 5, 2016

We were staying put for a second day today and just catching up on a little shopping. We just sat around this morning and really didn’t do any shopping until this afternoon.

We took the scenic tour to get to Wal-Mart, which translated means we forgot where it was, and drove around til we found it.  We actually asked a girl in another car, stopped at a light, where it was. We only missed it by a couple of blocks.  The parking lot was so busy I couldn’t find a decent parking place.  I had already dropped Sharon off so I just drove around til she came out.

We also wanted to pick up a new sewer hose and Sharon thought she could find one in Wal-Mart.  They used to carry them on the shelf, but this year we haven’t been able to find any RV supplies in Wal-Marts.  So without the GPS or phone, we drove around again looking for RV supplies.  We’ll try again in Deming, our next multi-day stop.

By the time we got back home again it was almost time for Supper.  Sharon had defrosted Stuffed Cabbage Rolls and baby carrots for our meal tonight.  She had them leftover from recent meals from home.  They were still quite good.

We camped out in front of the idiot box for the rest of the night and just relaxed.  We had a couple of our regular shows on tonight and didn’t give it all up until after 10:30.  Before we went to sleep we put the slides in because of the wind.  It just kept getting worse all night.  We put the front slide in earlier when we got tired of listening to the awning flap.  It was making more noise than the sound on the TV.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

It was 27 degrees this morning and the wind was whistling which contributed to the fact it was colder than a witch’s thorax.  Amazingly, the jacks came almost all the way up by themselves.  They only needed a slight tweak today.

We pulled out of the park and stopped at the corner gas station.  Yesterday the price of gas was $1.89 and this morning it rung up for $1.99.  The same thing happened to us several years ago in Galveston, but that time it went up 19 cents.  We figured this fill-up would take us as far as Las Cruces, New Mexico.

This was going to be a driving day today, but we planned on stopping overnight on our way to Deming, NM.  Actually the stop we made was to eat lunch after we pulled off the highway and Sharon made Egg McMuffins.  We got as far as White Sands National Monument with a quarter of a tank of gas on board.  We still needed to climb the Alamagordo hill and make it to Las Cruces.  When we finally came down the other side  we looked for a cheap gas station.  We found one for $1.94.  We’ve been staying under $2 a gallon for gas and we hope that holds.  If it does, this will be the cheapest trip out west in years.

After gassing-up in Las Cruces we decided that we would drive through to Deming.  We wanted to keep our driving days under 300 this year, but this Amarillo/Deming section of the trip is about 448 miles, and we seem to always want to drive the whole thing in one day.  Coming from up north, the last part of the trip puts the setting Sun directly in your eyes for the last 30 miles.  Coming from the east the Sun is at least off to one side for the last part of the trip.

We pulled into the Little Vineyard campground in Deming just before the Sun set about 5 PM.  We settled into our site and got our dish up and running and actually recorded Final Jeopardy which we did not know the answer for.

We had Chili and fresh Cornbread for Supper tonight.  We only had one serving for the both of us and no leftovers, except for the cornbread.  After Dinner I planted myself in front of the television for the night.  It took a little bit to find enough to watch tonight, but it didn’t matter cause I could have gone to bed at any time.  We actually held out until just after 10.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016       HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SHARON (42 YEARS)

We were doing nothing today which suits me just fine.  I can do nothing for several days in a row.  Sharon, however, is another situation entirely.  She couldn’t wait to get the car disconnected so she could go to K-mart and Wal-Mart shopping.  The girl has a hard time just sitting still and she’s always been action-oriented.

After I disconnected the car she took off for parts unknown.  She found out that K-Mart is closing this Sunday which was a surprise.  We wonder now if the one in Desert Hot Springs will be closing also.  Sharon likes to shop there because she still gets her K-Mart discount.

She was gone for a couple of hours and when she got back I was expecting Corn Dogs from Wal-Mart but they only had one left.  So along with the Corn Dog she got me a Bean Chimichanga.  They were both very good and a perfect lunch.

Apparently the shopping trip was too much for the old girl cause she had to take a nap this afternoon.  She got that funny look on her face and then headed for the bedroom.  I, on the other hand, just settled back in my chair and watched TV for the afternoon.

When she got up she made us a lovely anniversary Dinner.  We had Spaghetti and Italian Sausage, Salad, Garlic Bread and we washed it all down with a little Carlo Rossi Sangria.  It was very special cause we usually have Rigatoni  when we have Italian food. Later on we had dessert from a Dutch Apple pie covered in Whipping Cream.  It was all very nice.

We opted for our usual entertainment for the night.  Camped out in front of the TV.  There wasn’t much on but we surfed our way through the night til about 10:30.

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Our second full day here was going to be a fun one.  We’ll meet up with Dave and Joyce Zuzelo and go for lunch with them today.  Dave said they’re plans were to stop over at about 10:30 and pick us up to go and see they’re house they just built.  We had been there last year but it was basically just a shell when we were there.  One of the features we did see last year was a huge (45') RV garage attached to the house.  Since last year the house is now better than 95% finished with a horseshoe pit and Bocce Court, but unfortunately they sold their beautiful motorhome. Soon to be replaced with a travel trailer.

The house is a magnificent structure, filled with innovative features, that appears to very comfortable to live in.  It’s an outstanding piece of work built exactly to their specifications.  We were very impressed indeed.

We arrived at the restaurant, the Adobe Deli around noon and it was also a piece of work.  It was about10 miles out of town to the east and had we driven there by ourselves, we couldn’t have found the place.  It looks like and old warehouse that you have to walk around back and through a fenced-in area before you even SEE the entrance.  We went inside and the place was filled with taxidermy and extremely unusual items hanging from everywhere, much like Lute’s Casino in Downtown Yuma.  The food was excellent, however, and Dave and Joyce treated us to lunch.  The sandwiches were the apparent specialty of the house at the time we were there we toured the restaurant but Sharon and I had Chicken Rolls which sounded much better.  They were a rolled up chicken mixture and then deep fried and cut in half on a deep bias which made them look like little boats.  Quite good indeed.  While we waited for our food, we toured the restaurant, which only got more bizarre as we walked along.  This was a place to write about for sure.  We sat and talked after eating for at least an hour, maybe longer.  The waitress couldn’t have been nicer.

After we left, we came back to the motorhome and talked for at least another hour or so.  It had ben a fantastic day and Dave and Joyce left for home about 4 PM.

I was certainly right about the fun day we knew we were going to have today.

All that was left was to check our entertainment for the night.  We knew it would be on the DVR cause the network will end its programming at 9.  And we did have movie called “Everest” to watch and carry us up to 10:30.  It was the story about an expedition that while reaching the Summit, didn’t make it back down “in tact.”  It was in the form of a docu-drama based on a true story.

PERSONAL NOTE TO: Phil McCrakin

I see you signed my Guestbook but didn’t leave your e-mail address.  Here’s your answers to the questions.  Society has determined that I’m entitled to 90 meals per month.  I don’t write about all of them, but people ask if we eat “out” a lot, and for them I try to write about some of them.  We’ve even been asked for recipes on some of the stuff Sharon cooks.  We are on the road for approximately 6 months during the winter.  TV is my entertainment medium, however, we just came from Branson where we took in two live shows.   I don’t choose to discuss my vote in the last election.

Friday, December 9, 2016

We woke up today wanting to clean up a few things that have bugged us for a couple of days.

First off I wanted to get the Gray water dumped before the tank fills up.  Our last dump was in Amarillo and we’ve got a few showers and dishes in the tank.  I also wanted to track down an elbow, for the incoming water, that has gone bad over the last couple of days.

While I was off looking for the fitting, Sharon had decided that she would catch up on the laundry today.  I started out at Wal-Mart. No luck.  Then on to Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber Yard.  No luck.  They recommended Tractor Supply. No luck.  They recommended True Value where I managed to find it.  It wasn’t the same as the one I had, but the one I had was broken.  By the time I found it, I had pretty much driven the scenic tour all over town.

When I got my new fitting I put it on and filled the water tank.  We filled it up at home but that water has long been replaced.  And now physically we’re ready to leave on Sunday.  I’ll dump the Black water tomorrow afternoon.

While I was at Wal-Mart I picked up lunch for the two of us.  I absolutely love their Corn Dogs, and I tasted one of their Chimichangas the other day, and picked up 3 of those also.  Sharon was still gone to the laundry when I got back.  I ate the 3 Corn Dogs

and she had a Chimichanga when she got back.

We both spent the afternoon just relaxing in front of the tube.  Sharon actually took a nap in her rocking chair.  It was a short one and the first time that’s ever happened.

We had Patty Melts and Fries for Supper tonight.  The Fries were leftovers from the Adobe Deli from yesterday.  The Fries reheated nicely in the frying pan.  It was all very good.

Tonight would be taken up with our usual form of entertainment.  We’re still having a problem programming our night so we can last to about 10:30.  With the networks stopping at 9 we need to find some shows for the other hour and a half.

Saturday, December 10, 2016

We got most of our “stuff” done yesterday so we really had nothing to do today.  Later this afternoon I’ll dump the Black water and we’ll be finally ready to hit the road for Benson, Arizona.

Since we were pretty much done with our “get ready to go” chores we figured we’d go out for lunch today.  We haven’t been to the Si Senor Mexican Restaurant yet and thought we’d go there today.  We got in touch with Dave and Joyce Zuzelo and asked if they were interested, but they already had plans for lunch.

We got to the restaurant and a bunch of youngsters were having a birthday celebration for one of their friends.  They probably ranged from 10-13 in age and were quite noisy.  We sat in the opposite end of the restaurant which was somewhat quieter.  It didn’t bother our lunch much though.  The food was very good and we love that we get a free Sopapilla at the end of the meal.

After we came back home we just sat around for a while before Sharon took off for church.  While she was gone I went outside and dumped our Black water and disconnected all our utilities except the electric.  I like to do that the day before if possible cause it leaves less to do in the morning.  Besides if there’s any problems they’ll occur with plenty of time to correct them instead of at the last minute.

I had the leftover Spaghetti and Sausage for Supper tonight.  Sharon didn’t seem too interested in eating, so I just heated it up for myself.  I think she had some Cottage Cheese and Blueberries later on.

We had one of those nights tonight with hardly anything to watch on TV.  So we settled on a movie from the DVR called “The 33.”  It was about the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners a few years ago.  After we had watched it, we were almost sure we had seen something similar before tonight.  We lasted til 10:30 tonight without much surfing to get us through.  If we can only do that every night.  We’ll be crossing another Time Zone when we enter California and we need to deal with that problem when we get there.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

When she got up this morning, Sharon suggested that she make Egg McMuffins for Breakfast, before we get on the road.  Since we only had about 200 miles to drive, I also thought it was a good idea.  We wanted to get to Benson before the Packer game started today, and it would be the second game so we had plenty of time to get there.

After Breakfast we discovered we had a stubborn jack that refused to retract.  It took about 20 minutes to finally get it up so we could take off.  After we got on the road the trip was pretty uneventful.  Our only stop on the way was at the Texas Canyon Rest Area about 17 miles from Benson.

We arrived in Benson, Arizona at Valley Vista RV Resort, at about 1:30 and got hooked up, with the dish up and working almost immediately.  We were ready for the Packer game.  I think every Packer fan is hoping they mop the floor with the Seahawks having endured a couple of disappointments in previous seasons.

After we got set up today Sharon wanted to go and pick up something for Dinner tonight.  So she left and came back with a Deli Chicken and a frozen pizza.  She managed to get back to see the game with the score 7-3.  But after that, the Seahawks had a very bad day.  I’m sure that thousands of Packer fans were enjoying the day immensely, including us.

We decided to have the Chicken For Dinner tonight along with some frozen Garlic Mashed Potatoes and gravy.  It was quite good and Sharon easily threw it all together.  We finished off the meal with a couple of small pieces of Apple Pie with the end of the canned Whipped Cream.

We had some favorite shows on tonight so we were camped out in front of the tube for the night.  We managed to retire at our usual time after the programming ran out.