Five Year Anniversary on the Road! 2-15-09

Five years ago today we hit the road to begin our lives as full-time RVers, boy has it flown by; we knew it would, even during those periods when we felt like time had stood still. There were piles of snow all over the place and a storm coming in so we got ourselves out of the mountains quick! Our first week was horrendous and I will save the telling for my book….tee hee, that first week would take up a whole chapter!

In the five years we have been in 30 states and stayed in them all except for Wyoming. We have put on a little over 90,000 miles in that time and watched the price of fuel climb the whole time. Which led to many statements about diesel fuel being junk fuel, cheaper than gas, waits until we decide to hit the road to go crazy…yada, yada, yada. We have had two flats, both on the trailer due to puncture, but really no other mechanical malfunctions. The trailer needed its furnace fixed in Colorado, but that has been the only major problem…leaks fall under the nuisance heading for the most part. We have been really pleased with the truck and the trailer.

We have stayed at approximately 169 different places over the five years. In 2004 we were in California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. In 2005 we spent six months hosting in six different State Parks in Oregon and Washington and spent time in California, Nevada and Arizona.

By 2006 we were wanting to cover some country. At the beginning we were thinking we would head to the east coast and spend two years exploring over there. We left Arizona, spent time in New Mexico and from Colorado we flew to Oregon to see the girls and their families for Seth’s second birthday. Then we went through Nebraska into South Dakota where we stayed over a month, from there we had taken a day trip into Wyoming to see Devil’s Tower and then we carried on into North Dakota.

By this time we were noticing we were getting a little cranky, so we spent a week talking over everything and decided we were getting crankier the farther we were getting from the kids and with the Grandson’s being so young….which are the best years to spend with them before they get busy with school and their own lives we decided we would continue on to the east coast but we would head back before winter.

So the rest of 2006 was a whirlwind tour. From North Dakota we traveled on across the northern most states into Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and into Ohio. We spent a month in Ohio with my sister Lori and her family and then it was eastward ho. We went through Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas (through the panhandle…we felt we didn’t really need to see Texas), back through New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and back to seeing the kids in California and Oregon!

In 2007 where did we head first thing after leaving the kids in California? Well, Texas of course…Houston, so apparently we needed to see Texas after all, because Houston was waaayyyy across to the other side of that big state. We had planned on heading up to Washington for the winter, which we later learned was probably nothing we ever really want to do. So Texas it was, helping out family and then when we were done in Houston we just took our time going across the southern and western parts of Texas and enjoyed the areas we saw…we never went to the Gulf. Then we wandered through New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada, California and Oregon and then decided to see Idaho and Montana.

This past year, 2008, we started out in Nevada for a few months, and then spent time in New Mexico, Utah, California and Oregon.

And here we are back in Arizona. We have spent 3 of our 5 anniversaries here in Yuma…the best place to winter over in a trailer! Last year’s anniversary was in Nevada and the one before that was in Texas.

We are ever thankful that we have been able to, as trite as this sounds, live our dream while we are together and healthy. We hit a few walls over the past five years wondering if we had made a mistake, but during our in depth analysis we always came back to the same conclusion, we would still have made this choice. We could have tweaked a few things…hind sight always being 20/20, but in the tweaking we might never have gone….so as always things always work out for the best.

This next year will be different. We have wanted to find something to do the past couple of years. For us, being retired and jus traveling has been a little boring but to work somewhere along the way tied us down too much to somewhere we weren’t sure we wanted to be for very long. Now the tied down part has been taken out of our hands for now. Our house in Fallon hasn’t sold and until it does it will be our second home. Larry has committed to working for Stockdale Incident Support out of Greenville, Ca. It is mostly seasonal and ties in with what Larry’s business was and involves traveling which we still want to do.

If I don’t want to travel to a fire incident with Larry, I’ll have the house to stay at and not worry about having to haul the trailer to where ever he’ll be. BUT, our direction can change drastically, whether due to our decisions or outside forces so who knows what I’ll be writing about a year from now! I guess you’ll just have to “stay tuned”!

I have no control how these pictures line up in the final posting and they may not fall in the order I will have listed, so hopefully you can figure out what picture is what!

1. Leaving Chester, CA.

2. San Diego (if you look close you'll see a sailing ship, a cruise ship and a battle ship)

3. Gila Cliff Dwellings, NM

4. Gulls in Atlantic Ocean, NC

5. Texas Yucca

6. Clifton, AZ

7. Lake Superior, Upper Peninsula, MI

8. Death Valley, CA

9. Hearst Castle, San Simeon, CA
10. Glen Canyon, Utah

11. Cosmosphere, Hutchinson, KS

12. Lake Okatiibee, Meridian, MS

13. Zion NP, UT

14. Zion NP, UT

15. Hampton Plantation, SC

16. Oregon Coast

17. Vermillion Cliffs, AZ

18. Rattlesnake, NM

19. Grand Canyon, AZ

20. Mt. Rushmore through tunnel, SD

21. Fort Simcoe, WA

22. Devils Postpile, WY

23. State Capitol, Montgomery, AL

24. Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC, Canada

25. Oak tree, Drayton Hall, Charleston, SC

26. Ferry, NC

27. Glacier NP, MT

28. Saguaro cactus, AZ

29. Fall colors, UT

30. Palm Canyon, Yuma area, AZ

31. Carlsbad Caverns, NM

Today's weather here in Yuma was overcast all day...no sunshine...boo hoo. It was a good day to be inside at the computer all day, which is what it has taken to get this post done! The high was 63 and the low was 43.

We both woke with weird feeling tummies this morning and neither of us slept very well, but Larry still did his walk and I did a slow Shred 3, but I did it. Then I put a pot of Cliff Dweller bean soup on to cook and that was pretty much it for us today. I talked with my friend Mary and daughter Andrea on the phone and after we ate our Cliff Dweller soup, which turned out great, we took a little walk. It is dark now...about 6:30 and no wind, but still cloudy...supposed to be like this for a few days...but it beats snow!

Sunny Valentines Day 2-14-09

It is after ten p.m. and my brain is pooped, so I apoligize now for any errors and ramblings I may make.

Today's weather was cool, sunny and only mildly breezy off and on. The low was 47 and the high was 64.

We couldn't seem to get moving this morning...Larry did his stretching, yoga and calisthenics. I get side tracked with the computer...catching up on the news and emails. We walked over for coffee and after we returned I cut up cabbage for coleslaw, made the dressing and mixed it all up...my part of the pot for potluck tonight. The rest of the day Larry did some reading and putsing on the computer; I worked on a new scarf and took some photos of two I just finished.

Around five we grabbed our coleslaw and dinner rolls and headed out for dinner at Don and Linda's. We had a lovely time with them and Mavis, Neil, Stan, Maxine and Nancy (Dave was under the weather and stayed home). Dinner was great, Linda cooked a great roast...these ladies know how to do "supper". Everyone had a great time, we received valentine chocolates and had a stunning strawberry pie for dessert.

After dinner/supper we played cards....Golf...Larry and I had never played...it was pretty easy to catch on to and we all had a lot of laughs. I wish I hadn't forgotten the camera.....I would have had good black-mail material!!! We left to head back home at almost nine-thirty...we felt like such grown-ups staying out so late.....laugh!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentines Day! These roses are for you and they cover both bases...flowers AND chocolate....they are named Hot Cocoa!
They live in Avery Park in Corvallis, Oregon. I took this in June of 2007.

Coffee and Walmart 2-13-09

Today's low was a chilly 43...again and a balmy 66 was the high AND there was no wind. A teeny-tiny breeze sighed around in the afternoon but for most of the morning it was windless which made the sunny cool temperatures feel real nice.

We got a late start this morning, but Larry went out saying he was just going to do a couple laps, but he ended up doing four. We went over for coffee where I showed off my latest creations. Coffee went longer than usual, but no problem...not like we had any appointments...smile.

We decided to go to Walmart, but on the way I needed to go to Jo-anne's...more yarn. While over there we went into the little post office counter at Hallmark and bought some 2 cent stamps in preparation for the postage increase in a few months...plus we just needed some 1 cent stamps too. We don't mail much mail anymore....you can tell when there are two or three price increases in the time it takes to go through a roll of stamps. Not buying rolls anymore!

Heading from the mall to the Pacific Ave. Walmart we made the mistake of taking the 3rd ave. exit off the interstate instead of taking the surface streets. If you are in Yuma during the winter NEVER take the third avenue exit off of Highway 8. It is nonstop trucks and crazy, rude, weird other drivers. We saw some crazy stuff in the 15 minutes it took us to get through the lights there...the cops are missing a huge money maker by not sitting there and ticketing all the illegal stuff going on there...it would keep two officers busy, easily. Too much traffic, badly timed lights and the roadway gets squeezed down because of a bridge over the train tracks and it is a huge trucking corridor.

We did the Walmart thing and then headed back home, got everything put away and then went through the mail we received from Ukiah today. The rest of the evening was spent on the computer, having a few conversations with my sister Lori, and Larry and I talking about what we think we want to do when we leave here. That changes daily!

I forgot the camera again, there are carpets of purplish flowers everywhere since the rains!

Repeat 2-12-09

Today was pretty much a repeat day. The low was 48 and the high was 65 with wind.

We did our laps...Larry did 5, and I did 2. Walked over for coffee, where I worked on a scarf while visiting and then it was just a lot of the same old same old all day. I was working on the computer most all day. After dinner...which you might remember we usually do early, we took the laundry up and got that done for another week.

Here is a quote I saw the other day:

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...
it is about learning how to dance in the rain."
Vivian Greene

Something to think about and try!

Cool and Great Dinner 2-11-09

Today was a quiet day. It was a cold 43 this morning...again,... we hung out under the covers waiting for the furnace to take the chill off before we did our workouts. I did my Shred 2, but it was one of those days where it was tough to get through...Larry did yoga and stretching and a bazillion jumping jacks. He stole those from my Shred workout, but we forget the good old fashioned standbys and jumping jacks are a great fullbody, cardiac exercise. I remember as a kid my Mom watching Jack LaLane and he was always doing jumping jacks.

So after I recovered from my workout we went over for our coffee visit and then it was back home. Larry ran out and filled up our water bottles and dropped something at the Post Office. I spent a lot of time on the computer today. We didn't have water for a couple hours today for some reason...but we always have our water tank for back up.

The high was only 63 and it seemed a cool 63 today...some days 60 can seem warmer than 65...depends on the humidity and the breezes.

Later we walked over to Dave and Nancy's for dinner...which was great and Jim and Dorothy were there too. It was another pleasant evening in Yuma.

Fixing the Window 2-10-09

I keep forgetting to share with you our resident lizard. He lives at the base of our palm tree and usually stands guard on a rock or this piece of paver, we see him most every sunny day.

This morning was cold...43 and the high was only 62, but it didn't get windy. Larry left for his walk and did recon. while I was getting ready...it was La Mesa donut day around 8:30. He did two laps while I was getting ready and then we walked up to the clubhouse.

It was cold, but with no wind and the sun being out it wasn't too bad. La Mesa RV brings a few RV's into this park, serves donuts and coffee and hopes to sell something. Today was a large 5th wheel, a class A and a class C motorhome. We like to look, the prices are lower than what we were seeing three years ago, and then, also they would bring about 6 rigs...times have changed.

After we left we went up to the office to mail something and then we did two laps. Then it was off to CCC (Canadian Coffee Circle) and we had a nice visit.

Larry decided to pull and recaulk our leaky window. So while he was prepping I cleared away everything from the dinette area so he could work. There are a bazillion screws holding the window in. After the window was out we found good news and bad news...the good news was we couldn't see any water damage and the bad news was we couldn't see any water damage. Meaning we didn't find the definitive answer to our leak. With trailers it is hard to tell where water is traveling from. So Larry put the sticky caulk stuff all around the window and put some extra in a few spots for good measure and put it back in. We won't know if it worked until the next rain storm...probably in Oregon.....smile! We can always count on rain there!

After we got everything put away and all cleaned up we headed off to Applebee's for dinner. Lots of traffic out there today and we noticed gas prices going up. Diesel jumped up two cents and gas went up a dime. Took a walk after we got back to settle our dinner and that was pretty much our day.

Windy & Cold 2-9-09

Today was a cool one; the low was 50 and the high was 63. Larry took off with one of our propane bottles to get it filled and when he returned he took his walk. I walked over for the Canadian Coffee Circle, we all needed light jackets today...the wind was brisk, but the sun was out. Larry showed up after his walk. We visited for awhile and then headed back home.

It was too cold and windy to spend any time outside, we took a walk up to the clubhouse after dinner and that was about it for our outdoor time. It started clouding up and got wicked black to the north, but other than a few drops it hasn't rained much at all today.

I spent most of the day on the computer. I am working on getting my scarves listed on my Etsy site. I got three up there so far, seven more to go. It should get easier the more I do it...there is that learning curve. To find my specific shop the address is http://www.artbyvalerie.etsy.com/.

We watched the President's news conference and then the southern California news came on...bad, snowy cold weather all across through there and with Pat and Mike leaving this morning Larry called to find out how their day went. Mike took highway 8 to San Diego which he hoped would be the best one to avoid the bad weather, but there is a 4,100 foot pass almost to San Diego and it had snow on it and it was snowing as they went through. Mike did not enjoy it...hopefully Pat was in the back somewhere not watching (they have a big Class A with a toad, carrying el froggos)! They had bad rain going north. They made it to their destination fine though...Santa Maria, Ca.

There was a lot of snow in the higher elevations of Arizona today too. I missed the name of the lake, but there is a lake that is full around Phoenix somewhere and they were letting water out of it. There are several states that would like to be able to have that problem.

Cool day 2-8-09

Today's low was a chilly 46 and the high was a whopping 64. The sun was out, but by late afternoon the clouds were scudding through again and now...late evening the wind is kicking up pretty good.

It was a slow motion day for me today...like I'm moving slower than time is actually passing. But oh well, so I was just getting dressed after doing my morning Shred around ten a.m. At least I did my exercises, but with the high humidity it took a lot longer to cool down etc. After that the day just slipped away.

We headed over to the local pizza joint at 3:30 to join Pat and Mike and friends for their leaving Yuma for another year gathering. The eight of us had an enjoyable time grazing through all the food put before us. Pat and Mike are pulling out early tomorrow and heading for California. We'll hook up with them again in Nevada some time this spring after we all get done gallivanting around all over the place. They live about an hour and a half from us.

After we got back from our food fest we took a little walk, ran into a few friends along the way and got back before dark...it was really cooling off. The moon was up and looking pretty full already.

Rain, Rain, Rain 2-7-09

We started our day pretty much as usual. This mornings low was 55. Larry left for his walk and I did my Shred 3 workout.

Larry was gone a lot longer today because he stopped up at the clubhouse to attend a meeting of park residents and the owners and management. I had showered and had my peanut buttered whole wheat english muffin before he returned. He of course had quite a few stories to tell, but bottom line was there are a lot of inconsistencies in the way this park is run and the owners just talked and distracted the people away from the issues...classic politics. Their justification for not doing upgrades to important things like phone systems, cable etc. was this is the best park around and everyone should just be happy to be here (my summation of what I was hearing)...their answer was they would look into it.

We went over to Lawrence and Gwens to help them with a problem they were having with the computer. They are from Saskatchewan way over on the eastern edge of the Province. It takes them three days of hard driving to get here to Yuma. After they finished getting the computer whipped back in shape Lawrence and Larry went off to watch model airplanes. I don't know what I did all day...the day just kind of slipped away from me.

Today winter paradise got a nice cleaning. We had rain off and on all day from about ten a.m. on. It poured rain several times to the point that little rivers started flowing all over the place. Then when the rain stopped after a short time they were dried up and gone. Sadly our stupid window over the table started leaking again. Larry will be pulling the window out and resealing it before we leave Yuma. The problem with a moving house, caulkings bake in the sun and then twist and pull rattling down the road.

The high today was only 61 and then after dark it got colder than this morning's low. I think we'll be firing up the electric blanket tonight!

Shopping and Laundry 2-6-09

Larry got up and headed out for his walk. I got up and did Shred 2. The breeze was out of the south again today…nice. After our wheat muffin with peanut butter we walked over for the coffee group…everyone was at Dave’s. We had a nice visit.

Then we left for home and our busy day. We loaded the laundry and the empty water bottles in the truck. Then we stopped at the water filling station and got the bottles filled up. Then it was on down to the Arizona Market Place. Crowded today. We bought a Queen sheet set of 700 thread count with 4 pillow cases for 18.50. I also bought some pumpkin and sunflower seeds and a book store is closing on Sunday so all their books were 1.00 and I bought 2 of those. Then we found the shop that we could get new yellow lens caps for our trailer lights and looked for the knob we need, which we couldn’t find today. Larry found a new belt for $5 and I think that was it.

Then it was on into Yuma to Walmart to get the things that I had been compiling on my list. It is much easier to shop here then the new store in the Foothills which is always crazy packed with people. There was a lot of traffic getting back, but once we got midway between the market place and home it thinned out a bit.

On our way back into the park we stopped and got our laundry going and then drove on to the trailer and got everything put away. Then it was a matter of eating and finishing the laundry. That was our busy day. The wind came up later, but not as bad as was predicted. The high was 74 and the low was 52.

I forgot to mention yesterday that for the first time in over 4 years we saw diesel below gas prices...woo hoo...not far enough of course. Diesel was $1.89 yesterday.

Los Algodones Shopping & Fun 2-5-09

Today’s low was 50, and the high was 81. The wind was coming out of the south today…very unusual.

We got ourselves up and moving…our ride was due to arrive at 9:30. We had tried to go to Mexico with Mike and Pat the last time we were down here, but the day we went there was a VERY long line of traffic just getting off the freeway exit to Los Algodones and we just decided to turn around. I can’t remember what was going on or if that was normal, but we decided waiting in lines all day wasn’t what we really wanted to do then.

So anyway we hit the parking lot on the American side at 10 and walked over. It isn’t as crowded down there this year, at least today it wasn’t. Mike being of Mexican descent speaks Spanish which is useful and Pat knows the ropes really well so we had great tour guides! Pat led the way and plowed us through all the hawkers to their favorite Purple Pharmacy where we stocked up on medications for a disgusting fraction of what one pays in the U.S. I think it is criminal what our drug companies charge! I wonder why we never hear about their profits like we do for the oil companies.

Then we did a little browsing…I wanted a Mexican blanket, which I found and then it was off to our Cousins’ favorite restaurant, El Rancherita. It was the CLEANEST restaurant I think I have ever been in, which would surprise most people I think…AND the bathroom was cleaner than even some homes I’ve been in too! I’ve never seen a cleaner public bathroom…EVER. Amazing. The food was great and after horrible twisting of our arms we joined Pat in having a Margarita…we figure, when in Rome, I mean Mexico….how could we not! The national drink!? Mike had this very small beer. The food was really good and so were the Margaritas….I hardly ever drink alcohol…the occasional glass of wine with family or friends, so one Margarita is about my limit, but I think someone refilled my glass, I was fine, not tipsy, but fine.

After lunch we had one more stop to make and then it was off to the Customs line. My cousin knows her stuff, we got into the line by the bathrooms next to the Colorado River and she said it would be about an hour and she was almost dead on. You get to know the people in line with you. They have shade cloths up and benches along the way which makes it nice. You get to shop too because while in line you are a captive audience and the Mexican men and women walk up and down the line trying to convince you to buy one more thing! Mike bought a crazy welcome statue of three frogs stacked up holding the welcome sign, its made out of resin or painted clay…I’m not sure which…I didn’t get a picture darn it. Apparently it was a price Mike couldn’t refuse. Pat and Larry were trying to say frog in Spanish with Mike…it is la rana, but in my wise way I piped up and said el froggo worked for me. Cracked them up…I have my moments.

Well, Larry is engaged in conversation with the couple behind us. I spot a young man heading for the line with a large metal sun wall hanging…I have been wanting one but didn’t look too hard for one while in the shops. Pat says ask what he wants for it…I hesitated, so she asked and he said 120 dollars…Pat said nooo, too much,…thirty, she says. The guy almost fell over…no, no, no…he started telling us all about it…blah, blah, blah, and then he said 80 dollars. We said no, too much, so he asked what do we want to pay and Pat said 50…he said no, so we said okay and turned our backs on him…told him too much, but he reached out and touched Pat’s arm to get her attention and she said no, no, it was up to me, so he asked me what do I want to pay….he still didn’t like 50, so I said 60 and he said okay. It all took longer than my telling it but you get the picture.

It is really pretty and there are sun ray line cut outs in the center and there is a glass face off centered and there is a light fixture in it so when plugged in it will light up, it is about 30 inches across; so I get out my 60 bucks and pay the man and then tap Larry on the arm and say, hold this please! He was oblivious to the whole transaction being in conversation with the couple behind us, so he was surprised to be the holder of the sun! It was funny. Later on the guy found us in line and tried to trade me for a different sun…Pat figures I got a good deal…I bet the one he was trying to trade me didn’t have the light fixture. I am really happy with my purchase; it is well made and very pretty.

We talked to the K9 customs guy…he was really nice and his dog was from Czechoslovakia, a beautiful German Shepherd…it is neat watching those dogs work and they love working. The dog would get a little impatient with his handler for standing still too long.

Once we got up to the customs room we zipped right through, all three counters were open. Larry got held up, but the guy was admiring the sun and asking Larry what he paid for it…funny. On to our car and back home. We were back by 2:30.

Then it was siesta time…full tummies and margaritas….sleepy! It was another warm day, but after we got home the wind started kicking up, but still from the south, so we were able to keep our door open in spite of the wind. After our little snooze Larry went outside and I got busy on the computer with emails and getting this entry written before I poop out for the day.

One of our Albertan friends came by on his bicycle, Jim Stewart and he sat and visited with Larry for awhile. Larry loves getting their opinions of their government versus ours and learning more about their government and their countries issues. Most all in this group we have gotten to know are farmers so it is also interesting learning about an industry that we really haven’t had much contact with in our lives. We’ve learned a lot about grains, fertilizers, harvesting, cattle, planting and it is all fascinating to us.

Jim left just around sunset and I was still composing, but we decided it would be good to take a little walk, which we did…the breeze and the sun having set made it cool. Our weather is supposed to start turning tomorrow and we have a chance of rain on the weekend. It is just after seven and I am about finished with this entry. Now I just have to download the camera, edit the photos and then get this all uploaded. I’m glad I started early or you would have gotten the abbreviated, I’ve forgotten everything, I’m too tired version….LOL!

No Wind 2-4-09

Today's high was 81 again and the low was 52. It was NOT windy today, still most of the day which made it a truly gorgeous, stunning day here in sunny Yuma. Larry took 5 laps today and I did my Shred. Then we went over to visit with the Friends and then it was just relax and enjoy the weather the rest of the day. Neither one of us really felt like going anywhere today, so we didn't. Tomorrow we are going to Mexico, this weeks big field trip!

Haircut and Fried Chicken 2-3-09

Today's high was 81 and the low was 54. Larry did his laps, half way through he ran an errand with a friend and after he got back he finished his walk. I went over to Little Canada and had coffee and conversation, Larry showed up after his walk.

I decided to go get my hair cut at one of those quick places at the mall. There was no waiting and my hair was cut,....it'll get me by until I get back to Fallon and can get something closer to what I wanted done by someone who really likes cutting hair and knows what they are doing and I'll just leave it at that.

Then I just worked on my current knitting project, read a little and then it was time to walk up to the office to catch our ride. We went for fried chicken dinner with Mike and Pat at the Elks Club again and Joe and Becky were there too. It was all wonderful again. We had Mike drop us off at the office again so we could walk back down to our trailer...had to work off some of our dinner.

The sunset was really pretty because there were some clouds floating around, I didn't have my camera with me. So just another lovely winter day in the desert.

Electricity and Hot dogs 2-2-09

Today's low was 55 and the high was 78. It was breezy most of the day again.

It must have been a planetary line up or something but I was out of bed at 8:15 today AND I did three laps today with Larry.

I spent some time waiting for the light to get right and then set up and photographed the ten scarves I have ready to get posted on the website. Then I had to spend time editing the photos and I still have to re size them and I have to come up with descriptions for each scarf and prices.

Later we took a walk and I left a pile of books up at the clubhouse library and Larry walked on to check the mail. He came back with our electric bill for the past month. It is WAY expensive down here...they charge the highest price for electricity we have seen in almost five years of traveling the country. Three years ago we were here for three months and paid 98 dollars for our electricity. Our one month here was $50 for electricity. We average about a dollar a day, so these prices are ridiculous. Somehow they are charging more for electricity in here than the power company actually charges, hmmm. We haven't used our electric heater here at all and we always turn our hot water heater off at night, for our month in Pahrump with running our little heater day and night because it was sooo cold our electricity cost $66. Here we are paying a lot more and using less.

The one thing that makes staying in this park (that I seem to complain about a lot) tolerable is our Canadian friends. They are all just a super bunch of people. Tonight we went over for a good old fashioned weanie-roast on long forks over the campfire. We feel honored to be included. Everyone brings their chairs and drinks and whatever they have to add to the table of food...starvation is never an issue with this group! It is amazing how quick they all can throw a gathering together. It is fun being able to sit out under the stars in February and not have icicles hanging off of the trees and body parts.

Quiet and Crystals 2-1-09

Today's low was 48 and the high was 76...it seemed to take awhile to warm up today. Larry left for his walk and I was still in bed. It was a quiet day for us today. We took a lap together after it had warmed up and another little stroll after dinner. We didn't care about today's famous football game, but we could tell by the yells from nearby gatherings when a team scored.

This first picture illustrates how things get done here in Yuma...one or two people do the work surrounded by many supervisors...watching someone work is a spectator sport here.

The second picture will test your eyesite and if you are able to enlarge the picture you will find 5 goldfinches in the tree.

The last pictures are of my new crystals that I bought in Quartzsite last week. The quartz is 8.5 inches tall and the amethyst is about 5 inches across.

Haircut and Groceries 1-31-09

Today the low was 55 and the high was 77. It was a beautiful day with a gentle breeze that visited a few times over the course of the day but never lingered very long.

Larry did yoga this morning...I basically ignored all that healthfulness and puttered on the computer, washed my hair and worked on getting presentable for the day. We later took a lap and found a notice in our mailbox about the price increases in the park next season.

When we first came here in December '04 it was $350 a month, this year it is $490 a month and next year it will be $520. You would think that people would quit raising their prices with the economy the way it is, but these owners seem to be of the mind to charge as much as they can get away with. It would be different if they provided a lot of services and beautified the sites, but they don't really go out of their way to make it about their customers. Their attitude is more...we should be happy that we "get" to stay here. It is convenient to stay here to be closer to our friends, but we want to find somewhere else to stay if we make it here again next winter.

The wind was almost non-existent today so we were finally able to cut Larry's hair, it has been a month and he starts getting annoyed with it after about two weeks, but we can never seem to get on a two week schedule...mostly we get busy doing other things or the weather doesn't co-operate. We cut his hair outside...I would have cut it in the wind, but he didn't like that idea....hey, it would have been different I'm sure. He hates hearing me say "oops" when I have the clippers in his hair...tee hee.

After dinner we took a little stroll and found some of our friends lurking about so we sat and visited for awhile. Just before dark we decided to go get groceries and get our water bottles filled up. It was a good time to go, the store wasn't very busy.

I unpacked the crystals I bought in Quartzsite and I need to try to get a good picture of them, they are really pretty.

Gone to the Bahamas 1-30-09

Today's high was 75 and the low was 54. It was windy again though which kept it feeling cooler.

I think my "muse" is gone to the beach in the Bahamas soaking up the sun, not finding the words tonight.

We had a visit from friends Don & Linda and then later we went out to the Corral cousin's place.

Ineptness and surprises 1-29-09

Today the low was 47 and the high was 72. It was windy too. Larry did his laps and I did my Shred 3 again.

Larry got to spend time on the phone clearing up a mess with the water company at the house in Fallon. He talked to someone before we left about putting the account in vacation mode; no problem he was told, he paid the current bill and the minimum that was required during vacation mode for the period of time we would be gone. Taken care of he thought. So what do we get but a past due bill.

I'm telling all of you out there, that no matter what someone tells you, you need to follow up and not assume something has been done properly. Customer service doesn't seem to exist, Larry was told, our fault we didn't pay our bill so basically too bad. They took absolutely no responsibility for their failure to do what they told us had been done. We have seen this lack of follow through and lack of service in so many different service offices, it is very sad and annoying. Used to be you just knew it was taken care of, but NO longer. It has been 5 years and the DMV still has our address wrong...we just gave up.

We've decided the next place we own is going to be on a well and septic system so we can eliminate a couple of utilities!

We did our laundry today and got a surprise. We were getting ready to move on Monday because we were told that this site had been rented out for Feb & March, but one of the ladies from the office saw us walking and asked if we were still interested in staying another month, the site was available so we said yes. We wanted to stay here in Yuma at least another month so that was great.

That was pretty much our day and it is supposed to start really warming up again tomorrow, hope so and hope the wind stays light.

Sunny, but cool 1-28-09

Today's high was 67 and the low was a chilly 43. It was sunny, but breezy, though not as windy as yesterday.

Larry did his laps after doing his yoga. We went over for the morning coffee meeting, it was a full porch today. There was a craft show in the park today so I went and scoped that out.

We didn't do too much today. Dave stopped by to see if Larry could help him with a computer problem, so we went over to his place...two blocks over and Larry got it all figured out. Then we got to see the pictures Nancy had taken on their trip to Belize which they had just returned from. What a beautiful country.

We will be leaving this park on Monday...so we are looking for another place to stay for February...it is much busier down here right now, but if we don't find something I guess we'll hit the road...no we don't know where yet.