Saturday - January 19, 2008

Today was another nice sunny day, but it was a real laid back day.

We didn’t go any place nor did we do anything exciting, John did his usual bike ride and I went for a long walk – how thrilling! Around 4:30 I headed over to the laundromat and hooray, it wasn’t busy so I managed to get the laundry done. I talked to my mom, sister and our two daughters today so that was the high point of the day, I look forward to my weekend chats with family so am happy.

Although it was a quiet day it was very enjoyable, and so ends another wonderful day of retirement and we look forward to another great day tomorrow.

Friday - January 18, 2008

Today was sunny but still cool, the high was only in the mid 60’s. This morning John headed out to get propane, he had our tank and the fellow next door’s tank but when he got to the propane place there was a huge lineup and he figured he wouldn’t get done and back in time for me to go for my pedicure so he just came home.

Janet & I had appointments at Wal Mart for pedicures so John dropped me off and then went to Superfuels to get propane there, the lineup wasn’t very long and the guy there can run the tanks through a lot faster than the fellow at the other place so it didn’t take long to get the tanks filled. The fellow filling the tanks had an aluminum tank for sale for $85, it was recertified in 2004 so is good for 6 more years before having to be recertified so John bought it, they normally run about $400+ so he figured he really scored.

Janet and I got our pedicures then I decided to get a manicure, the price for both is $30, that is a lot less than the price of a pedicure at home so a good deal. Janet and I were both pleased with the service and the pedicures/manicure so I will be sure to go back there before we leave Yuma.

We went down to the rec hall for the horse races at 4 p.m., it is a first for the park and the room was packed and everyone had a good time. John picked two winners and I got one so we ended up with a profit of $0.25 by the time it was over! They are having another race on February 8th so we will have to plan on attending as it is a good time. We came back and had a burger for dinner, now it is a bit of TV before hitting the sack. And so ends another wonderful day of retirement and we look forward to another great day tomorrow.

Thursday - January 17, 2008

Wow, what a windy night it was last night – I kept hearing things rattling and the wind blowing most of the night but by early this morning it had settled down. Even though the wind wasn’t bad today the temperature didn’t get above 60F, so it was a fairly chilly day.

We got to Janet & Dave’s about 12:30, as planned, to go to Costco at El Centro California. Janet & Dave had been there a couple of weeks ago and Janet had bought new glasses so had to go pick them up. John and I let our Costco membership expire a few years ago so today we enjoyed wandering around one for the first time in a long time. I picked up a couple of things – Aveeno Cream was a good deal, but with not a lot of storage in a RV Costco isn’t the place to shop!! After that we stopped at a mall with a Staples as Dave wanted to check there for something so Janet and I went into K-Mart and I found the cooler bag I have been looking for, so I was happy. Janet got a couple of things so it was another successful stop, then we stopped at a new mall as the guys wanted to check out Best Buy. That was the end of our shopping expedition, it was straight home from there and was almost 7 when we got back to their place and John and I headed for home.

The drive to El Centro is through an area of sand dunes, very boring scenery but the ATVers love it and there were quite a few RV’s dry camping out in the desert. Janet and I were saying that with yesterdays wind it must have been a horror show out in the desert, the RV’s would be full of sand and dirt – not my cup of tea. Closer to El Centro are the vegetable fields and it looks a little more civilized.

When we got back I made a quick supper of linguine, sauce and shrimp and it is now time for a bit of TV or reading before heading for bed. I am having trouble keeping my eyes open so I don’t think it will be long before I am all snuggled nice and warm in bed. And so ends another wonderful day of retirement and we look forward to another great day tomorrow.

Looking Thru the Fence

Old Car

Museum with Dome in Background

Sonia at Museum

Diner

Organ in Church at Museum - Notice the Pedals

Wednesday - January 16, 2008

This morning I called my mom and as luck would have it my sister-in-law answered the phone, they had just come in from seeing the doctor re my mom’s cataracts so Carol was able to fill me in on the details. Mom is scheduled to go for a pre-op on February 1st with surgery on the 12th so here’s hoping all goes well. Mom is 90 and has never had surgery in her life so god willing all will go well for her and she will be able to see again as right now she is pretty well blind in one eye. Can you imagine being that age and never having had surgery – how wonderful!!

The weather forecast was for a cool, windy day today but this morning was sunny, pleasant temperature wise and the wind was very light. We picked up Sonia and Jim about 11 to go to Castle Dome Museum which is about half way to Quartzsite. We drove into Martinez Lake on the way to have lunch, there is a small restaurant at the marina and the hamburgs were very good. When we came out after lunch the wind had picked up and was out of the north, the sun had disappeared and it was downright chilly – so much for a wrong forecast! Thankfully we keep our nylon jackets in the truck but I did wish I had put on jeans rather than capris.

The museum is about 12 miles east off Highway 90 and the first two miles are paved road then it is a washboardy gravel road – nice ride. The museum is very interesting; a couple from Washington State have assembled a number of buildings from the surrounding abandoned mining areas and created a small town there. They have a lot of information about the life, times and people who lived and mined in the area and it is an interesting place to visit; the museum includes a saloon, bar, hotel, church, jail, theatre, a 50’s diner, general store, dressmaker’s shop, bordello, miner’s cabin, mine shafts and equipment etc. We spent a couple of hours there and thoroughly enjoyed it but Sonia and I agreed that it would have been a hard life out there in the desert but certainly thousands of people did it. At one time a local school had 17 children in attendance so I guess there were also a number of families living in these mining towns. It was also interesting to learn that a lot of names we heard mentioned on last week’s Yuma walk, including local merchants, ship captains etc. also owned mines in the area.

After we dropped off Jim and Sonia we stopped and picked up a roast chicken for dinner, that with some fresh hot crusty bread and a salad made a quick but delicious dinner.

Tonight I am doing this with one eye on the computer and the other on Law and Order, a bit more TV and it will be time for bed. And so ends another wonderful day in our life of retirement.

Tuesday -January 15, 2008

Today was a perfect day – warm, sunny and just a light breeze, great golfing weather.

There were 40 people out for golf today, the biggest turn out yet this season. John and I lucked out as I drew a 5 and he had an 8 so we weren’t too far from each other when playing, it is a real pain when one of us draws an ace and is the first team off and the other draws a 9 or 10 so is one of the last ones to tee off, a lot of waiting when that happens. We both had a good day, some good shots and some bad ones, but a good time was had by all and that is what counts. They have a hole in one pot, it costs $1 to join and that is all you pay until someone gets a hole in one then the pot would have to be replenished. We paid a buck each the first time we played last year, figured that if you aren’t in you won’t win! Today Jim, the fellow who organizes the scramble, mentioned the hole in one deal and said if anyone hadn’t paid and wanted to he would be glad to take their money and add them to the list. Be danged if a lady didn’t get a hole in one today and hadn’t paid her $1 so she missed out on a pot of about $60, guess I would be kicking my butt if it had been me!

We got home about 4:30, after a quick stop at Fry’s and Wal Mart, and I sat out for about ½ hour then the sun was past the patio and it got kind of cool so I headed in. We are having trouble with the internet tonight so if it isn’t working in the morning we will give Time Warner a call, meanwhile I hope I can get this posted using the park internet, it will be slow but if I can get it done I don’t care.

And so ends another wonderful day of retirement and we have a full day planned for tomorrow.

Monday -January 14, 2008

Today was a quiet day, nothing exciting. It was nice and sunny but very windy so I didn’t get to sit outside as I would have been blown away.

This morning was cleaning and then about 4:30 I went to do laundry, it was quiet when I got there but by the time I was finished it was a zoo, there were a couple of people in a tiff over who got the next drier!! Guess it will be like this for the next couple of months, oh joy.

Tonight after dinner John and I got reminiscing about life, our children, our jobs, etc. so it was a fun evening. I think it started by me saying that on Saturday coming back from Quartzsite Janet had been reminiscing about our childhood and saying how she loved the house I grew up in and will always remember the Friday nights we spent there playing board and card games and bugging my brother and his friends! Janet and I have been friends for over 55 years so lots of memories there and we often talk about old friends and things we did. All friends are important but ones you have grown up with and known all your life are especially precious. Okay, so much for this, time to go to bed.

Sunday - January 13, 2008

Today was another warm sunny day but it was quite windy, fortunately the wind was out of the north west so it wasn’t a cold one.

I had booked a T-time for Janet, Dave and us but Janet and Dave backed out because of the wind. John and I went and it wasn’t at all bad, we have certainly golfed in stronger winds than today and as long as the dust isn’t blowing on us it’s no big deal. The course was quite busy so it was a bit of a slow game but I think it will be like that now until early March when the snowbirds start heading north, so we either live with it or stop golfing.

We met Janet & Dave at Mr. Liu’s Chinese buffet for dinner, it was good but we are not really big on the buffets so once a season down here is enough for us. Mr. Liu’s is right beside a Wal Mart so we made a quick stop before heading home as John needed some socks.

And so ends another wonderful day in our life of retirement and so far there are no plans for tomorrow so it will probably be a quiet day.

Sunset at Cocopah

Sunset

More Sunset

Street at Quartzsite Market

Janet at the Market

Saturday - January 12, 2008

Today was another gorgeous, sunny day with a bit of a breeze, perfect weather for an outing.

We picked Janet and Dave up about 10 and headed up to Quartzsite, it is about a 1-1/2 hour drive through the desert, with a beautiful mountain ridge in the east all the way up. One of the mountains has a large dome on the top and you can see the dome for miles, from the park here it is probably at least 40 miles away but can always be seen – very pretty. There were thousands of trailers in the desert and that number will double or triple next weekend with the show.

Quartzsite has all the usual booths open and the tent is up as the big RV show starts on Friday, then the place will be a zoo. It was busy but we weren’t tripping over people and it was the usual vendors – beads, jewelry, rocks, t-shirts, hardware and on and on. I bought a t-shirt at one of the stalls, the same shirts are sold here at the market for the same price but there was no tax today so a bit of a savings. One store had 4 books for $5 so I got 4 books and I got a pair of earrings. I have lost 2 earrings in the last few months, both of which were Zuni with the different stones, so bought another pair today to replace them. Janet and I have a friend who has a little shop on Vancouver Island and she had given Janet some money to buy her some rings to sell so Janet picked up a few today and has also gotten some for her in Mexico. I liked the Mexico ones better, but they were more expensive.

After about 3 hours of browsing Janet and I met up with the guys and we headed out. On the way out we found another area that had never had booths set up before and now there are tons of them and then there is another whole street of vendors that we didn’t get to. It would take days if you wanted to do it all, somehow I can’t imagine anyone wanting to do that!!

On the drive home the mountains were beautiful with the way the sun was hitting them so a pretty drive. We went back to Janet & Dave’s for dinner, she had put veggies and a turkey breast in the crock pot before she left so it was an easy dinner when we got back. There was a gorgeous sunset tonight so John and Dave went out and took pictures, lots of pictures.

And so ends another wonderful day in our life of retirement.