Monday, December 31, 2018
We were off to downtown this morning after a brief Breakfast. It would be our last shopping “look” for this year. At least in Quartzsite. The wind was blowing this morning and the temp was not conducive to shopping. We decided to just drive through the Rice Ranch and see if we wanted to stop for anything. And as a matter of fact we spotted a light bulb place and pulled over. We wanted to replace the bulbs in the light fixture over the table. We have the regular yellow incandescent light coming from the bulbs that are in the fixture, and we’d rather have them shining the white light instead. We found the bulbs we wanted and continued on our way. Our next stop was for lunch at Burger King, and it was busy. We barely found a place to park. On the inside it was as busy as the parking lot, but I found an empty table and went and sat down. We had a couple of Whoppers and some fries and we were on our way out again. The next stop was at the Big Market to see if they had Miller 64 beer in cans. No such luck. The Roadrunner Market had the beer but it was in bottles. Sometimes you just can’t “buy” a break. Next was the Quartzsite Snowbird and Tourism office to look for my 2018 Snowbird Pin. It was closed so I might have to look for it on our way back through in the Spring. The weather didn’t improve all day today and we even had a couple dribbles of rain. Nothing that amounted to anything. We came back home and had all kinds of grief with the TV tonight. We couldn’t hardly get any channels to come in uninterrupted. We now have DirecTV calling us to offer help to get it fixed. I think we’ve thoroughly exhausted all our options with them. We still watched what TV we could for the night before we headed off to bed. It was around 10:30 when we turned off the generator and turned on the Inverter.Tuesday, January 1, 2019 HAPPY NEW YEAR
HAPPY NEW YEAR After a bout with sickness last night, we were off this morning moving to Desert Hot Springs, California. We got a leisurely start leaving about 10:30 and getting right on the road. Our first stop was at the Flying J in Ehrenberg, AZ about 20 miles down the road, to top off our LP Gas. It didn’t seem like we used that much during our stint on the desert but our gauge was down to a third. It was about a 10 minute stop and then we were back on the road. We don’t usually buy fuel or LP in California because of the price, but this year we’ll have to bite the bullet. The office was closed when we got to our campground, Vista Grande RV Resort. We knew what site we were going to be in so we just went to our site and got settled. Our neighbors Bob and Neila were outside the coach waiting to say hello after we got leveled. What a nice gesture. They said they recognized us from two years ago. As soon as we got hooked up we left to see Henry and Arlene LeDuc, friends from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Canada. We’ve been friends for quite few years now. Almost too many to count. We stayed over at their campground for a couple of hours before we came home. After getting home we called Phil and Joyce Bach, friends from Martinez, California up in the Bay area. We found out that they’re not coming over for Taco Wednesday at the VFW. They have other plans. Nobody has other plans on Taco Wednesday. Oh well. We watched TV uninterrupted tonight. It’s the first time since we left home that we could watch all the shows that we had taped. Will wonders never cease. We had plenty to watch tonight since Oak Island had a two hour show on tonight. They still didn’t find anything but God knows they’re trying. I’d Ike to have the money they’re spent on this dry hole so far. We gave it all up about 10:30 and sailed off into the sunset.Wednesday, January 2, 2019
We were up early this morning and just waiting for Taco Wednesday for the first time this year. We’ll meet Arlene and Henry Leduc at the VFW around noon today. We arrived a little early thinking it was going to be busy today but the parking lot didn’t seem to be busy at all. This was unusual to say the least. But as we got inside we realized that the Back Dining Room was dark and the lights were off. We asked if the room was closed and the answer was no. So we sat in the back and ordered our beer to drink. We met and hugged all the regular waitresses who warmly welcomed us back to the desert. The only one we missed was Daisy. People said she’s having her knees operated on but will be back again. We sat and conversed for awhile while we drank beer before we ordered lunch. Since the place wasn’t very busy, our food came almost as soon as we ordered it. A new menu item this year is Fish Tacos and while I was a little leery today I may order it next week. We’ve had them before at home and I love them. We left the clubhouse and Henry and Arlene were invited over to see our motorhome. We bought it after they left for home two years ago, and last year we were gone to Florida for the Winter. They stayed for a couple of hours and just long enough to have 2-3 more beers. We had another nice conversation while they were here. After they left we got around to our usual night’s entertainment. TV until bedtime. And if there was a snack or two mixed in that wouldn’t be bad either. We did have some leftover chicken legs and pizza for Supper but we made it through the night without having to fill our stomachs again. I guess we had had enough with the Tacos and leftovers.Thursday, January 3, 2019
We made a plan yesterday at the VFW to have Breakfast at the Cottage today. The Cottage is our favorite place to have Breakfast in Desert Hot Springs. We’ve been going there for years since we’ve been coming out here. Sharon wanted stop at K-Mart after Breakfast so we decided to meet Henry and Arlene at the restaurant. We got to the restaurant right at 9:30 and Henry and Arlene had already arrived. They waved us over to a table in the back room and we responded. I quickly glanced around the room after we sat down to see how many of the waitresses I recognized, and two or three of them looked very familiar. The server who waited on our table welcomed us back having recognized us from two years ago. Sharon changed her mind about stopping at K-Mart on our way home since she figured she wanted to just mosey around the store for awhile. She’s a former employee whose been looking for a K-Mart to shop at since we left home. She loves K-Mart but can’t find one that’s open except for Desert Hot Springs. I came home and she took off with the car heading back into town. She was there for a couple of hours before she got back. She not only went to K-Mart but a few other places while she was gone, including the Chinese bakery. So you know there were a few doughnuts making their appearance today. After getting home, she fixed up our Supper. It was leftover Ravioli from the Olive Garden in Casa Grande, AZ. Sharon put them in the freezer when we came home and were having them tonight. She also put together a salad and cooked up some Garlic Toast. It was very good indeed. After Dinner we settled in front of the TV. Jeopardy is still not recording and a couple of other shows also didn’t record tonight. But we had enough to get us to 10:30 when the lights went out for the night.Friday, January 4, 2019
We were going to have another official “do nothing” day today, except that Sharon always finds something to do. Today she decided she was going to take care of the overflowing laundry hamper. It could have waited but then she’d have to sit around doing nothing. That ain’t her. By the time she finished up with the laundry she suggested we go to the pool today. I was game since it has now been two years since we’ve been in a pool. We never even got close to a pool last year when we were in Florida, Alabama and Mississippi for the winter. We left for the pool about 2:30 and Bob and Neila Lowe were already in the pool. They’re our new neighbors from British Columbia, Canada. We met them two years ago when we spent a couple of months in this park. The pool was actually very warm but not too warm. I would guess it was around 90 degrees instead of the 92 it usually is. We stayed for a couple of hours and finished up our afternoon with a stint in the hot tub. Before they left, Bob and Neila invited us over to play Mexican Train Dominoes for the night. After we got home Sharon whipped up our Supper for tonight. We were having Fish Sticks, Fried Potatoes and a Salad, without lettuce. We sat down to eat about 5 and then cleaned up the dishes before we went over to the Lowe’s at 6:30. We played a single game of Double Twelve Mexican Train and finished up about 9:30. We sat around and talked for about a half hour afterward. We had a great time and a great conversation. Bob and Neila are a fun couple.Saturday, January 5, 2019
The temps for the last couple of days have not been very warm even though we went to the pool yesterday and it was very enjoyable. The next couple of days are going to be the same so we may not see the pool for a couple of days. I don’t think we’ll be sitting outside with friends over the next few days either, since the cold weather is something that we all are trying ro get away from. For the time being, however, Sharon had a pile of laundry that needed ironing. The pile has existed since the last time she did the laundry. She spent most of the afternoon ironing shirts and tops and occasionally taking a break. I spent most of my afternoon watching TV and working on my Newsletter. I had forgotten about it for about a week and needed to get it sent out. Even though I seem to be writing about the same things over and over again there is always a different angle to each story. Besides it was never intended as an “Educational Product” but rather as a Journal for our family and friends who want to know what we do in the winter. When they lose interest they can just delete it from their computers. In any event I worked on it for most of the afternoon while I sat in front of the tube. Our DVR is still working sporadically and we never know if we’re going to have a recording or not. Sharon keeps writing texts to DirecTV but whether they’re working or not, who knows. We still haven’t recorded Jeopardy since we started having problems. But now we’ve managed to watch it “live.” For the last month the networks have been replaying their re-runs so the DVR is not that important. We stayed up late tonight until 11 catching up on those re-runs. Go figure.Sunday, January 6, 2019
Sharon was up and off to church this morning early. She gave me a phone call telling me that the “Tamale Ladies” were not at the church this morning. When the ladies are there we usually get enough Tamales for our lunch on Sundays. Sharon did some shopping at the grocery store before she came back home this morning. I had already decided that we’d have to move the motorhome in order to dump the holding tank. We’re too far away from the sewer and the sewer hose is running uphill to the drain. And everyone knows that s____ doesn’t run uphill. Gray water runs uphill but not the other. So we unceremoniously moved the motorhome closer to the sewer so we could take care of the waste water. It probably took us about 20 minutes to get all that accomplished, but now we’re set for the next couple of months. Later on this afternoon Sharon got started on our Supper for the night. We were having pasties, the great Northern Michigan Pasta Fazula with a crust. For anyone whose ever had them, they were absolutely delicious. We settled in front of the idiot box for the night and Sharon was doing it with a book in hand. She likes to read about the Amish people. And true to form that’s what she was reading again tonight. I, on the other hand, was just content to sit and watch the boob tube and be satisfied.
