Best Wishes and Merry Christmas

On this Christmas Eve, we offer our best Christmas wishes, health and happiness to all friends and family, wherever you may all be.

Today, after swimming and water aerobics in the morning, we gathered with 4 other couples to try out a new place for lunch: Souplantation.  It was just wonderful.  All fresh ingredients, with an extensive salad and vegetable bar, 6 different kids of " made from scratch " soups, pasta dishes, and desserts.  Lunch for both Donald and I was a total of $13.00.  The staff was also wonderful, considering it was all help yourself food stations.

This evening is quiet, watching Foyles War on television.  Tomorrow, it will be swimming in the morning, and then getting ready for Christmas Dinner at the clubhouse at 2:30.  Pretty quiet but missing family and :( grandchild!!!!

Happy Christmas!

Baby, it's cold outside

Watching the weather reports from home or other places certainly makes us reflect on how very lucky and blessed we are to be in the southwest at this time of the year.  As with all things though, there are opposites to every situation.  While you may not miss the snow shovelling or ice scraping car windows, we do miss the beauty of new snow in evergreen trees and a winter landscape for the Christmas season. Most of all we miss our children and their families. This time of year in the Coachella Valley in indeed their winter and this morning was 3.1C! Brrr. However, here comes Mr. Sun warming everything up, and by 11:00 AM we will be outside with our coffee in hand, warming in his rays.

We seem to be busy doing whatever, and the time flies.  Christmas dinner at the main clubhouse is what we will do on Christmas Day and Donald has been asked to carve our table's Turkey. Oh Boy. HA! His words, not mine. We have been offered an electric carving knife and it might be a good idea to borrow it! I will be cooking a vegetable ( carrots ) and bring some pickle dishes.

Panko Carrots

* large carrots, cut up, cooked and drained, saving 1/4 c. liquid
2 TB diced onions
2 TB horseradish
1/2 c. mayo
1/2 c fresh parmesan
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c. panko crumbs

Toss the cooked carrots with the rest of the ingredients and 1/4c. carrot liquid, cover with panko crumbs. Bake for 20 minutes at 375 F.

Well, 15 minutes to my 8 am lap swimming time....I may have to wear a touque to the pool!

Seniors behaving badly?

Ok, that was Donald's suggestion for the blog title! Last evening, we had a wonderful time at a concert: The Moody Blues!  It was fabulous.  The venue ( The Show at Agua Caliente, Rancho Mirage ) was totally sold out, and we of course had the cheap seats and could watch the people who had floor seats. The cheap seats were still very good, especially with 2 giant jumbotron screens showing the stage and people in the audience. Now, that was entertaining as well!  Yep, lots of (us) in our 50's and 60's showing up with our hair down, long skirts and rockin' on.  In particular, a fellow who could not resist dancing in the aisle and being shown back to his seat and told to sit a number of times by the usher.  Well, it was dancing music for sure and perhaps a dance floor in front of the stage would have been a great idea. It wouldn't have been a mosh pit! Seeing and hearing Nights in White Satin played by the group was thrilling.  Yes, there was lots of room by your seat to dance, and I sure was.  Couldn't resist, and because I wasn't in the aisle, o.k. by the ushers! You can check it all out at : www.moodybluestoday.com

Today we went with our Wisconsin pals to Pancake breakfast at the main clubhouse, and then to College of the Desert for the Outdoor Street Fair.  Of course, a quick trip to Joanne's fabric shop on the way home was in the schedule as well.

Tommorow Donald will be spending time watching the Seahawks win. Yes, win. Oh, and Kim will be quilting in the north hall, and rooting for the Seahawks in spirit.

We love a marching band

Things are busy around the ol' RV site as we try to decorate for the holidays. Try is the catch word here, as it somehow always seems to looks like a put together mess. Oh well!

Last evening we headed over to Palm Springs for the Festival of Lights Parade and it was wonderful! We staked out a seating place near the Hyatt Hotel fairly early after picking up a couple of Christmas baubles and some cards.  There was a sushi place across from us, and we enjoyed a tuna roll and california roll while waiting for the festivities to begin.  Well, begin they did!  The opening was of course the Colour Guard, followed by a 250 piece marching band! Marvellous! I love marching bands, and the parade had about 10. Whoo hoo!  www.psfestivaloflights.com

Yes, we had to stake out our parade watching place early as about 80,000 people come to watch the parade, noted to be one of the ten best Christmas Parades in the US. Needless to say, traffic was a little busy after the festivities, however, we were back at the rig in just over 45 minutes, so it was not horrendous.

Today's fun activities are grocery shopping :( and cleaning up around here. Maybe some laundry. Exciting times.

Don't touch the grey buttons!

You can always tell when we're in a whirlwind of activity, when there are no posts for a number of days.  We left Imperial Dam/Senator Wash on Monday and headed to Quartzsite, and yes, back to Discount Solar.  The little fix that Craig had shown us on our way to Yuma, to correct the error reading on our inverter computer display did not seem to do the trick.  The fix was to pull one of the battery leads off and shut everything down for about half an hour.  Well, that only worked for a very short while, and then we were down to no inverter.

So, the great guys at Discount Solar reset the computer, and tested it hooked up to shore power.  Lesson learned? Don't touch the 'grey' button and reconfigure the computer when we don't know what we are doing. The guys there would not charge a fee for their couple of hours of time, so we left some coffee/beer $$ for them.

Since it was late in the day, we stayed at Lake Tamarisk RV Park in Desert Centre, for an early big whopping 1 hour drive to Desert Hot Springs the next morning.  Upon arrival, our friend Ken was waiting with my bike ( he had brought it down from the Shuswap in his cargo trailer), and an invite for coffee, and another invite for dinner out! Whew long day! The Spaghetti Factory on Hwy 111, was the eventual choice. Good service, great decor, good friends. What more could you ask. Oh, and the priced were right.

Yesterday was ( whoo hoo ) Quilting Day! Only first I managed 30 laps in the pool and then the water aerobics class. Yes, the class is 7 days a week! Got to work off those spaghetti calories!  There were about 12 quilters in the clubhouse, with great projects and conversations.  Happy Hour at 4 pm in the main clubhouse and then at 7 pm....zzzzzz.........oh, those lazy boy chairs in the rig .............

Algodones, Mexico

Best place to go for a haircut in the Yuma area? Juanita's in Algodones, Mexico!  Donald had a great haircut for $5 and I had a colour and cut for $29. Can't beat that.  It was also much easier to walk around the small town as compared to April, when hundreds( thousands?) are crossing over to get their eyeglasses, some medications and their dental work done before heading to wherever home is for the summer. Yesterday, we walked right up to the customs entrance, to come back into the US, with no one ahead of us.

The big highlight of our visit yesterday was a terrific parade in town, in honour of the annual celebration of the Revolution Day.  Floats, music, bands, old cars, and lots of children dressed up in various themes.  Of course, like all small community parades, there always has to be shiny firetrucks at the end!!!  Since my hairdo took a little longer, Donald grabbed some coffee at the coffee shop near Juanita's, that has the best coffee in Algodones. They served it to him in a Tim Horton's cup!!!! However, it did not come with the timmy coffee, nor the timmy lid, and of course the lid came off and he spilled coffee down the front of his "town" shirt. Oh well, he had fun watching the parade and drinking coffee while waiting for me.

Today we are off to the Wednesday movie - LINCOLN - at the downtown Yuma theatre, followed by supper at 5 Guys Burgers. Oh, and the Farmers Market on the Foothills.

Hot and sunny at Imperial Dam

Even though there are less and less "new ways' of travelling down south from Victoria, we tried taking Highway 95 out of Needles, through to Parker and Quartzsite.  Previously we had travelled through Lake Havasu, with the 101 traffic lights to stop at in that small city.   We are thrilled with this new route, as the road surface is new, although a little rolly, and it saved at least a couple of hours.

This morning's chore was to stop at Discount Solar in Q, to inquire about getting an error message on our inverter, when we are hooked up to shore power.  The solution? Yes, Rick, you have to REBOOT. Now, the way to reboot the inverter brain is to unhook one of the big red battery lines, so that will be a job in the future when/if we get that message again.  Discount Solar was crazy busy already, and some of their technicians will not arrive till after American Thanksgiving. One of them is currently on tour with the Oak Ridge Boys, as their technician.

It is sunny, hot and beautiful as we sit here at Senator Wash, near Imperial Dam.  The plans are to be here for a couple of weeks as our 14 day pass will be up. That cost a whopping $40.  Tomorrow we are off to Yuma for the Escapee Boomer group Wednesday Movie, and that will be the new James Bond flick, Skyfall.

 

meeting northern folks

A Bakersfield stop has let us rest up with three nights here at the Orange Grove RV Park.  Some chores were in order, you know, the usual... laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning.  Last evening some people from our northern home, Dave and Rita Wilson, parked next to us and we had a great conversation, catching up.  They are continuing onto El Centro and left Orange Grove at 7:05 am. Too early for us!!

We are heading off across the Mohave towards Lake Havasu.  There is a Harvey House restoration in Barstow that Donald would like to check out, as well as a railroad museum.  As I was washing floors yesterday afternoon, he was checking out all the videos on You Tube of trains going over the Tehachapi Pass, which we will drive through this morning. I think I heard train sounds for over an hour! 

We had an email sent to us this morning from friends on the island who happened to be in Kamloops, wanting to come out to the Shuswap and visit! Yep, we replied right away that we were a little far from there at present. Too bad, and it would been a wonderful visit! They are also ex-pats from the north home.

wind farm on the Tehachapi

where to find the best dates

The wind started to blow in the evening and our rig was rocking a little bit.  Better get ahead of this incoming cool weather, even though we were sorry to leave the RV park on the canal.  Kim woke up early, about 5 a.m. and she said the sculling crews were out on the waterway, with the coaches giving instructions, even though it was still fairly dark. Perhaps they were students from the local university in Stockton or Sacramento.

The drive was fairly nice with less wind then we had thought might show up.  This evening's parking spot is Orange Grove in Bakersfield, and we have booked into here for a couple of nights. First order of business after setting up the rig and the satellite dish was to visit the local fruit and nut stand, just around the corner. Our grocery bag had about 10 valencia oranges, chocolate covered coffee beans, some pistachios and some beautiful " wet " medjool dates. Best dates ever. ever. ever.

Miss this little guy already!

A near miss and a blissful site

Having stayed in Yreka on Tuesday evening, we were able to make good time down the I5, planning to stay in around the Sacramento area.  Driving through Sacramento was quite without incident, however in Stockton were we not so fortunate.  The traffic was busy on the I5, and some small little car decided to pull out  front of us from an on ramp, doing about 20 KM an hour, opposed to our 80 KM. Yikes!!!! It is not easy to slam on the brakes with a big rig behind you.  Donald laid the horn on big time, letting this driver know that it was a very reckless move. Lots of items moved in the rig, but all we lost was the tube lighting on my new Ott-Lite. It could have been horrendously worse.

back corner of our rig, looking over the canal

The good part was, that 10 minutes later we were setting up at the most awesome RV park we have ever been in. Our rig is 5 feet from the deep water canal that runs into the port of Sacramento.  We have enjoyed a beautiful sunset, with birds, racing sculls, sailboats and an ocean freighter all at our doorstep.

looking over the lilly pad type plants in the water

Onto Bakersfield in the morning. Cooler temperatures are on the way here, so our shorts are still in the closet for another day!

Back to warm weather!

Just a quick post to say that we just crossed over into California and the temperatures are a balmy 20 C! We took the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles yesterday with an overnight stay at WMart in Chehalis.  Since we went to bed so early, we were up and on the road at 6:21 AM!!!! A new record for us and one that we don't really wish to beat.  The weather through most of Oregon was foggy and bleak, but as we came close to Canyonville and 7 Feathers RV Resort, it was beautiful, so we decided to have a quick lunch and continue on, as we have never experienced the Siskiyou Pass with sunny weather.  Lovely drive.

Tonights chore is to look again at the maps and decided what tomorrow may bring!

Leak fixed!

It seems like the repair to where the antenna meets our 5th wheel roof, was successful. Today's weather is back to teeming rain in Victoria, and so far, there is not a drop in the bucket underneath the antenna crank. Good job, Donald!

Tomorrow we hope that the Malahat highway will not be as foggy as it is today, when we travel to meet Rick and Paulette.  I will be taking pictures of some of my latest quilting projects and of the quilt studio building.  No doubt the boys will talk of RV's and south travels.

Thursday has us driving off-island, back to Vancouver for a couple of days.  We will be staying in Richmond, getting our fuel filter changed by the boy-wonder mechanic and having our " Christmas visit" with him.  Other plans have been made to meet with Donald's Aunt and Uncle from North Vancouver, whom we have not seen in many years.



 

Preparing to leave and our house was swaying

Kim is back from her visits to family in the province of Ontario, and our plans and dates are being confirmed.  Last evening was spent with friends in the Colwood area of Victoria, enjoying a pizza and movie night.  We watched The Hunger Games, and quite liked it.  As that movie was book one of the series, now we'll have to read the rest of them.  Books are always better than the movies, anyway.

During the movie, we were getting constant text messages from our sons, to call and contact them.  Our house in northern B.C. is only 200 KM away from the 7.7 scale earthquake last night.  Our youngest son said it was like being on the ocean, in 2 - 3 foot swells. No damage that he could see to the house, which is thankful. Excitement for them, no doubt!

This morning we joined our oldest son and family at the Blue Fox Cafe in downtown Victoria for breakfast. Mmmm. We managed to avoid the larger lineups there to get in and there is a reason for those lineups, as the food is incredible. 

We are back at our RV Park, and Donald is repairing a roof leak. The spot on the roof where the TV antenna is, decided to drip away onto our bed while we were at movie night.  There were torrential rains yesterday and more to come, so that has to be fixed while we have a dry day today.

Wednesday we are meeting Rick and Paulette for lunch, and Thursday we are off to Vancouver for a day or so, meeting our youngest ( earthquake boy ) who is in the city for work meetings.

We're having Thanksgiving in 2 separate Provinces

Don is enjoying Thanksgiving Dinner with our little grandson and all his Mum's family in Victoria.  The weather there is a tad bit warmer than the weather in Ontario, where Kim is having Thanksgiving dinner in the city of Brampton, with her Aunts, Uncles and cousins.  Wonderful.

Donald has a few chores to accomplish in Victoria, and of course they involve Home Depot. What manly task doesn't? He is helping to design an anti-grandson barrier to our kids' stair railings.  We babysat him on Friday, and he took seven steps and is on his way to walking.. and then climbing! Such a happy wee guy and we loved our day together.  Grandma hopes that he will be walking to meet her when she comes back to Victoria in a couple of weeks!

So, other than that, not much is new except to say Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all.  Allan and Lolita may be experiencing both Thanksgiving's this year for the first time!!!!!

TP Education

It took us about two weeks to clean up the home ranch, put everything away and winterize the new building.  Well, if truth be told, we didn't work very hard at it, since the weather stayed about 28 C and sunny every day. That certainly doesn't lean to hard work when you're retired. 

We met with our RV Chapter 33 ( Escapees ) in Vernon last week, where we handed out cowboy hat fridge magnets that Kim made, and tour packages that Karen organized to all that came out for breakfast.  When we get back in April, we will finish up the arrangements for our Rally which we are co-hosting at the end of May.

Yesterday we managed to leave our Shuswap lot about noon, and spent the night at Eagle Wind RV Park, between Langley and Abbotsford.  Pricey, but very very nice.  Perhaps it was pricey because the Snowbird RV Show was on at the Tradex in Abbotsford.  Did we go? You bet, as it was open till 9 PM.  Did we see anything that we were interested in? Nope. All the big rigs, whether they be 5th wheels or motorhomes continue to get even darker inside. Like living in a cave. Kim needs to be a designer.  There was one thing learned though, and that involves TP ( shhh toilet paper ).  Sanidumps.com had a booth with many jars of water and TP set up, like an experiment. The premise being: " What type of TP breaks down the best ".  Yes, we know now what brand. It is not the brand I have in the 5th at present.

Quilting Studio, Shuswap Lot

Today we left Eagle Wind about 9:30, and arrived on a beautiful ferry crossing to Ft. Victoria RV Park, and we will be here a month. Visiting the kids, babysitting....golfing....and Kim is off to Toronto for a couple of weeks.

comment posting

Hey all. We're having trouble posting comments on some rv blogs... can't seem to find the place to click to post comments anymore.....advice?

Chapter 33 Fall Rally

Hahaha! Well, it's time for the monthly posting! We took a break from the activity of setting up of the new tiny home, and headed off to the Chapter 33 ( Okanagan ) Escapee Club Fall Rally.  It was in an area of the province that we have never experienced before, nor driven through.  What a beautiful area!  On the Monday of the long weekend, we drove to Revelstoke and then veered off south towards the Arrow Lake system.  This is a lake that was created by the dams of the Columbia River. Huge. A ferry ride took us from Galena Bay to Shelter Bay in order for us to continue towards our final destination of Burton. Home of one coffee shop and a fantastic municipal RV park, right on the lake.

The Rally was fun, fun, fun with the theme of the Gold Nugget Saloon! We enjoyed heavy appetizers the first night, golf, campfires and music, a bean pot supper, games, crib tournament and a wonderful night out at the local coffee shop/restaurant. Now, we have to get busy as Don and I, along with another couple are hosting the next Rally in the spring. The plan is to perhaps get something together in the Merritt area.

Don appointed himself the campfire organizer and I'm not sure he signed up for that! Anyway, the campfires were excellent and kept us warm on the now cooler evenings. The Rally was attended by about 20 rigs, and not everyone wanted to go home on Friday morning, so 5 rigs, including ourselves spent the night at Blanket Creek Provincial Park.  Trouble! Most of us were too big to fit into the sites, so the staff suggested that we camp altogether in the overflow area. What a great idea! It had a garbage bin, picnic tables, field, campfire ring, right next to the beach and on mostly level pavement. Some of us jumped into the lagoon area, which is created from a diversion of Blanket Creek and then overflows into Arrow Lake. Yep, it was almost as cold as Arrow Lake, which I tried the day before.

In the morning, I made a large fruit salad and we also had some leftover muffins from the Rally. We call it Tailgate Breakfast.

Tomorrow we are off to Merritt, to check out the town for next spring, as we have to be organized before everyone heads off to warmer climates for the winter.

new home!

We'll hope you will forgive the absence of any blog postings, as we have certainly been busy!  First, we had the excavator make our upper driveway bigger and construct a new garden with boulders the size of our car.  Then last week, more gravel and a bob cat levelled the area where the fifth wheel was.

The fifth wheel was moved to a new spot on the upper driveway in anticipation of our new summer abode! Yep, it arrived last Friday, pulled by a huge transport truck with a 'wide load' pickup clearing the way.  One crew to haul it, and put it in it's place in less than an hour! What an operation. Then it was coffee time before the second crew arrived with their task to be finishing the set up, blocking, levelling, hooking up the utilities and skirting the bottom.  All of this was completed by 7 PM that night.  The only thing left for us to do was to move our belongings in and make the bed. Oh, Donald still constructed better stairs the next day as we will not do any decks till next summer. Heck, that is enough work at the lot for one year.

backing down the driveway

almost in place

next crew working

 

Yesterday we met our Escapee Okanagan Chapter RV club group for the monthly breakfast.  Then onto Kelowna to pick up an Ariston washer/dryer unit.  It works great. Yep, today is laundry day. Whoo hoo!!! No more coin laundry till we hit the road again!

swimming in the lake

Our oldest son, daughter in law, and our grandson have arrived here in the Shuswap, to take advantage of about a week of sunshine, hot temperatures and lots of swimming.  That's because our little one LOVES that water.

Our new flower bed is just about finished and we are quite happy with it.  A big change, well it would have to be if you have an excavator involved! 

Tomorrow we are off to a big garage sale at Lee Creek, then to a Motorcycle Museum.  The kids used to have bikes, much to their mothers disapproval!  LOL! Their dog, Cooper, also came along for holidays and is having a great time. No leash, sticks and logs to drag out of the forest, swimming after thrown sticks till he just about passes out, and the best of all a little golden retriever lassie next door!
Oh, he enjoys the pool as well!

No brown bread?

With the sporadic nature of our summer posts to the blog, it's about time to do another! Life has been busy here at the lot, with the excavator building a new driveway, new flower beds and moving car sized rocks all over.  Only Canadians buy ( and not cheaply ) dirt and rocks. Like we don't have enough. Could it be that we are picky about the type? Let me see, dirt from Smith Farm is better than dirt from the Lewis yards.  Lewis rocks are better than the Spooner rocks and gravel. 

Do you remember that when you were pregnant, almost everyone looked pregnant? Or whatever else was happening to you at the time, that is what you would notice with others?  Today we went off to Vernon to the Pantry Restaurant to have a monthly breakfast with our Okanagan Chapter of the Escapee's RV Club.  What do I notice driving around? Signs for quarries, places selling gravel.... must have rocks in my head!  It was a great breakfast with about 20 people showing up at 9:30 am from all over the Okanagan.  However, there was no brown bread for toast as the restaurant had already hosted a group of 80 earlier!!! Speaking of bread, the price of a loaf is about $4 here, so I am back to baking bread. No preservatives, better for you anyway. You just have to restrain yourself from grabbing a slice when it smells so good!

We made a couple of stops on the way home, picking up some perennials, and fresh B.C. fruit: apricots, tomatoes, pickling dills, peaches and blueberries.  The panic was on for the blueberries because our little one ( and his parents and dog, Cooper ) are coming on Thursday!!! Whoo Hoo!!!!
He loves blueberries!!!

We are getting prepared with a kiddie pool, a beach tent for the pool, a new little life jacket and some more goodies. 

The Excavator makes it annual appearance

Whoa, I think we are on the frequent flier ( no, 'digger') list for the Excavating company.  This machine has made an appearance by request at the lot every year for the past 3.  We better be done!  In anticipation of further building structures here, we have widened the upper driveway.  Well, since the machine is here, why not build new flower beds.  Well, since the machine is here, why not build some retaining walls. Well, since the machine is here, why not widen the other driveway. Starting to think we have rocks in our head, as well as buying them to put into the ground.  Who else but Canadians buy rock and dirt?

This is the 'before' picture, even though it was taken in the spring when we returned.  So, not much of the flowers and perennials had grown to any stage.

After we dug up the perennials and before the machine started the BIG DIG.

The start of the dig.  The dump truck is dropping boulders the size of my car.  See those plants next to the excavator treads? Yep, he picked those up with one shovel full and away they went into the side bush.  Ah, they'll live.  Plants seem like they grow on steriods here. hopefully.

How on earth is this ever going to look right?  Of course, the neighbourhood seems friendly because everyone has to drop by and see what the !@#$ you are doing. When he drops the load of rocks it kind of feels like an earthquake, so they all knew.

Donald said to get a picture of this.  When your Iris plants multiply, and they sure do, you have to pull them up and divide them and replant some elsewhere, or at least throw/give some away. This is what we call Extreme Transplanting. No mercy.

Stay tuned. Day 3 pictures tomorrow.

Australian/Saskatoon Visitors

Just when there seems to be nothing to write about, we are crazy around here in the Shuswap.  What fun to have the pleasure of hosting visitors from Adelaide, Australia who are touring Western Canada, cruising to Alaska and visiting the extended family clan with Don's sister and brother in law.  It's too bad that they were only able to stay a couple of nights because after getting to know them, they may not have wanted to miss what started here at the lot the day they left - more on that later!  The weather was hot and humid, but there was a slight chance of rain, so we made a coffee and tea 'station' under the fifth wheel hitch, and that worked quite well. Jeff looks like he is ready to supervise and he would have loved to have seen what is taking place at the lot now!!!  The girls visited the local winery to have a glass of white wine overlooking the lake, with a couple of heritage chickens cooing in the grass around our table.  Jeff wanted to check out the nearest hardware store ( something about tool withdrawal while on vacation ).

 

See the tree trunk behind Jeff? Yep, it was gone later in the day!!!! Stay tuned!!!!!!ARGG ARGGG. Big boy stuff.

Fun in the Shuswap

I have come to the conclusion that summertime will see only sporadic postings to the blog.  It is not that we are run off our feet, only that when we are in one spot, I never feel there is much to write about.  Our rainy weather left us and immediately turned to 35C temperatures and of course, we are not used to that and spent a few days melting.  Yesterday, we didn't put the rig air conditioner on till almost 3 pm, so we must be acclimated.

June was a month of travelling - both out to the island, south to Winfield and north to the Bulkley Valley.  Whew.  The warranty is now over with the 5th wheel, and hopefully we have found and managed to get all issues looked after.  The little blue building is completed on our Shuswap lot, and I have been back to happily quilting. The amount of insulation we had put into the building last fall, is paying off quite well, as it is warm when it needs to be and nice and cool in this weather.

There is no sitting around though = the excavator will be back, to rearrange our 2 driveway entrances, clean up the area in front of the blue studio, dig a flower bed, put rock retaining walls for that bed, and bring in a whole lot of 3/4" crush.  We hopefully will be moving the 5th to a new location on the lot this year. I have been moving large rocks from one side of a driveway entrance, and will be moving plants and more rocks. Fun. (not). I need to eat more spinach.

We are VERY excited to be getting some visitors: Donald's sister, husband,and friends from Australia will be here for 2 nights next week, and the first week of August will see all our little family here. Whoo Hoo! Fun with our grandson.The whole family together.  How many more sleeps???????

Ok, so our heads are screwed on straight

Have you ever heard that phrase? We had a clunk/creak/squeak noise in the lino flooring of the 5th wheel.  One trip to the dealer confirmed that, yes, they thought we might have a problem.  They sent us on our way, advising us that they would have to contact the manufacturer in regards to the floor. Well, Donald thought it was one type of problem, the dealer thought another, and the manufacturer yet another. Oh my.  So, we made our next appointment and do you think it would make that clunk noise before we left? Nope.  So, were we going all that distance for nothing? Whew!  We thought perhaps we were just hearing things! Yes, there was a problem and not a major one as it was just a bolt from the frame that did not have a nut and washer when it should have. Pictures taken and problem solved!!! We highly recommend Voyager RV in Winfield, BC. Always very polite, helpful and none of the employees seem like they want to just get you out the door ( whether your problem was solved or not ). I must send a thank you note.  I remember from my working days, the thank you notes received from customers were like precious gold!

Travelling back from Winfield, we took the old Hwy 97, through farms and quite a number of cattle guards. Lots of signs warning about livestock on the road. I think that's the first time I as the navigator got to yell " Cow" and then " More cows!"

Parking in the parking lot at Eagle Point Golf and Country Club is nice, but when we were hit by a golf ball, we moved a little down towards the Greenskeeper buildings.  The bonus? A beautiful view down the valley.  Today we enjoyed catching up with friends we haven't seen for about 10 -30 years, and a wonderful memorial golf tournament.  Donations to the Kamloops Food Bank were plentiful by all participants and the weather was beautiful. Awesome day.  Back to the lot tomorrow.

Catch up mid June

Maybe with summertime here in Canada, our posting should revert to once a week, like some bloggers do.  Seriously, where does the time go?  Our little blue dollhouse/studio building is just about complete and ready for me ( Kim ) to start quilting again.  Man, I think the last time that happened was in Yuma. Donald is fiddling with putting on a Victorian type screen door.  He had to apply brick molding before he could do so.  Of course, I was very confused as the building has no brick, but it turns out that it is just a type of thicker board around the outside of the door frame. That was today's task.

We made an extremely quick trip to Victoria last week, babysitting our little love on Friday, and running around Victoria on Thursday. Two days is not enough, but with a day each way for travelling and leaving the ancient cat back in the Shuswap's, that was all we could do. Next time, Rick and Paulette!

A couple of trips to Winfield and the RV dealer, and hopefully, this Monday will be our last trip there. Our floor is clunking/squeaking and they may tear things apart to get to the bottom of it.  Ouch. We'll see how that goes! 

On the way back after that, we are off to Eagle Point Golf and Country Club, just outside of Kamloops for a Memorial Golf Tournament.  There will be many retired and ex-railroaders there, with donations for the food bank and great memories of our close friends who have recently passed. Since we are travelling with the 5th, we can dry camp there. Handy!

And, just because that isn't enough travelling around, we hope to run up to Northern BC right after that. Maybe if we stayed put it would stop raining. Donald has constructed an awesome irrigation system here in the Shuswap lot for all our gardens and plants. Hah. It has been turned off for a couple of weeks due to the massive amounts of sky blessings. Now, isn't that a nice way to name the rain?

We drive from one HD to another... and another...

After the great time we had at the Escapee Rally, it was off back to the lot for some gardening, painting and general chores.  While some may think this is not fun, we just putter about and it is kind of fun.  Donald's knees however may think otherwise.  He did a great job installing Armstrong Allure flooring in the 'shed'. It is a beautiful black walnut hardwood look and the planks are very heavy.  They click together.  He was short one plank which we picked up today in Kelowna at Home Depot.

Why Kelowna? Yes, we are back at the RV dealer now that the parts had arrived to complete the warranty work. Are we finished? Nope. Now we have a substantial creak noise in the floor, which they agreed was not correct. So, they have to contact Jayco again as to how we will proceed with this.

Tonight we sit boondocking in the parking lot of the Real Canadian Superstore in north Vernon.  Recommended in our Days End book. Great spot. We stayed here last night. The campground rates have turned to high season, so we are not amiable to paying $85 a night. Have to love having your own power.

In the morning, we will check out the Vernon Home Depot store - remember me saying that perhaps we should live in the aisles? There was a metal shelving unit that we looked at in Kelowna that might work for the shed. ( aka studio ).

Oh yes, Our cat will only eat 9 Lives dry cat food. The bag is empty. Do you think we can find any? So I emailed Purina asking, as we have tried every store for the last 3 weeks. She is however, trying some old stuff that overwintered in the shed. Can't be choosy now, can you Juniper?

Chapter 33 Okanagan Escapee Rally

Here we are for the week in beautiful Salmon Arm, BC, participating in our Chapter's Spring Rally. It has been a TON of fun with a great bunch of people.  There is about 22 rigs here in the Elks Campground and we have power and water at each site with a big camp kitchen.  Donald joined the men yesterday to cook pancakes and sausages for breakfast and his Beanbag Baseball Team won the tournament.  He came back with his big prize of a small bag of Cheetos. He was pretty thrilled with that, really!

Last night was a sing-a-long with four musicians of the group, and then the big firepit gathering to end the evening.  Today we are off to Salmon Arm Golf and CC to golf the 9 hole course, and others will be hiking to Margaret Falls or shopping.  Later on, we are all out for a Chinese restaurant supper in town.

We have met some wonderful people, and as always, gathered more information about places to visit in the southwest and Mexico. 

Ah, I can hear the laughter and carrying-on... gotta go.

Catching up chores at home

Even though the nights are cold with temperatures about -2C, the perennials are growing so fast you can almost hear them.  Our little blue shed building, dubbed " the dollhouse" by the neighbours, now has a lovely deck out front.  Donald is a great builder!

This week, we are off to the Salmon Arm Elks Park, for 4 days of fun with Chapter 33 Okanagan Escapees.  There are a couple of building companies there we may visit to see about what we can put on this lot for a more permanent, but very small, house/park model.

This year's tulips

Drip Drip..good to be home

Our RV appointment was at Voyager RV in Winfield on Monday, and even with just a few little items it seemed to take all day. A new stereo system is on order as our ate a CD and a few other things, so we will probably go back sometime later in May.  We at least had time for an oil change on the truck at Jacobsen's GM in Kelowna, and then we were on the road heading north.  It was after 5 and by the time we arrived at Salmon Arm, we decided to spend the evening at the Picadilly Mall parking lot, where overnighters are quite welcome - they even have an awesome water and dump area. So this morning, here we are back at our little place in the Shuswap by 10 am, doing enough chores in the pouring rain to be able to get by till the rain stops.

My tulips should be blooming in a couple of days, and it appears I have only lost one rose bush. Fantastic. Also, Donald is in the good books again as the Bleeding Heart plant that I thought he killed is coming back. What a lucky man.

Back in Canada

Just a short post as we set up.  The plan was to cross the border yesterday, but it was just pouring rain and would have made for a miserable drive, so we spent another evening at the Fairgrounds in Omak, Washington.  Leaving there at 9 am this morning, it was a lovely sunny drive to the border and a final fill of 1/4 tank before hitting the crossing.

The crossing went well - fruits and vegetables? Liquor? How much did you spend? Alterations or Repairs to any vehicles? Ok, thanks, have a nice day. Yippee, we're on our way.

A one hour stop in Penticton as we thought we could get a rebate on our out of country extended medical policy. Nope - forgot we took annual policies. Anyway, we renewed our BCAA membership for another year.

On to driving through the crazy city. Kelowna. Ack. So, we are presently set up at Wood Lake RV Park and Marina, and it is full hookups and right on the beach for $20 a night. Normal price? $85 for being within touching distance of your next door neighbour. We would not even fit here in the summer.  There are about 4 other rigs here, and none within the aforementioned touching space.  The bonus is that the young man who is working here, and doing landscaping, wood delivery, office.. and working on his CMA is a delight. He ran up to our rig when we got here, introduced himself and offered his hand to shake. Got to like that. Smiley, too.  We have a couple of boys like that....

So, we drove up to Voyager RV to confirm our appointment Monday morning then went out for Chinese Dinner smorg. Wonderful fresh food at $11. each.

Oh yes, Donald still hasn't put on long pants. Rick, there is an ad in the paper here for a sale on John Deere lawn tractors. One has cruise control! Should we send you the flyer?

The return of long pants

A long driving day yesterday from Pendleton, although we did miss all the wind that Russ and Donna enjoyed after we left. Whew.

Presently we are sitting in the rain in the Omak, Washington Fairgrounds RV park.  Right behind us is the river, and the hill that men and horses fly down during the Suicide Race here in August. It must be really something to see.

Still yet to decide whether we will be off today to cross the border, or wait for the rain to clear off. Ah - long pants. Oh well.

Great Day that goes out with a Bang

Since we didn't unhook the truck from the 5th while in Mountain Home, Idaho we had a great start to our day.  The biggest city yet to travel through on our way back, other than Kelowna was Boise, and driving through there at 9:30 Sunday morning is a great travel time. Whoosh... we were through.

A beautiful day with a great drive, and an early arrival at Wild Horse Casino RV Park in Pendleton, Oregon. Our site backs onto a gigantic farmer field, complete with tons of birds, deer, and something we have yet to see, but we can hear it. Sounds like a turkey and it is in the field.  Now this 'turkey' is as scared of thunder and lightening storms as most dogs are. Poor Poppy! Yes, we are parked next to Russ and Donna and their lovely dog, Poppy. They were able to get some fantastic pictures of the storm last night. www.therapytravels.blogspot.com.  I tried, but only managed to get some sheet lightening behind the clouds.  Every time the thunder boomed, the poor 'turkey' sound worse.

Since we just blew through here last year, Don decided we should stay for 2-3 days and have ourselves a little explore.  This morning we are off to breakfast with Russ and Donna at a downtown place they say is pretty interesting, then I have our tourist map to explore some more.  Oh my, I did make a note of the quilt shops. ( yes, Paulette... how can we stop and not check those out, EH?) Donald is thinking about checking into an oil change for the truck, although it is not quite due.  He did notice that quite a number of B.C. plated RV's were already set up and their satellite dishes, when we got here at about 1:30 in the afternoon. What? They beat us here when we had an early start? Oops! It was hockey game night, and unfortunately for B.C., the last. 'nuff said 'bout that.

I must take a picture of our site and post it. Marvellous here. Good rate too. $21.00 per night, all hookups, big sites, VERY quiet, buses to casino and museum. HUGE golfcourse with 5 lakes. WE sit outside with our binoculars watching the deer in the field and the vehicles coming down the killer hill on I-84, way off in the distance. ( 6% grade for 6 miles ). The only place on our travels that give you 3 warnings about the need to downgrade. In BIG letters on BIG signs. The last one of course, says LAST WARNING!!!!  Up in the Nisga'aa territory, there are 18% grades. Tiny signs there. Only one sign per hill.

parked next to grass!

Our time in Ely was great, especially staying at the Casino for $15 a night, that included 2 margaritas, indoor pool and spa, and the cheapest laundry machines I have come across yet.  This morning we left with the rest of the northbound snowbirds and after a long day of wind free driving, we are now located in Mountain Home, Idaho.  This is the first time since 7 Feathers RV Park last November that we are parked next to grass.  In fact, this park is set up much the same as 7 Feathers with the roads and RV pads, but just not quite as nice.

If we get our butts in gear early in the morning, we hope to make it to Pendleton and meet up with Russ and Donna.

Northern Nevada Railway

Don here today.  This morning we took a brief tour around the town of Ely, Nevada and checked out the new Post Office, a small quilt store downtown and some old houses and architecture.  After a good lunch at the Train Cafe, Kim returned to the RV site at the Prospectors Casino to do laundry, and I returned to the Northern Nevada Railway Museum and yard for a personal tour with Bob ( yes another Bob!).  The personal tour was $9, and he would show me all the equipment, building and yards for whatever time I needed. Great Deal.  Man, there was a lot of rolling stock and it was pre-1900 to about 1950.  There were spreaders,  Coal Fired rotary snowplow, auxiliary crane, passengers cars, cabooses and even a passenger car from the Grand Trunk Railroad. Locomotives: electrics, diesel electrics, steam.  Two of the steam engines were operating and two of the diesels  both in use for their excursions.  Sometimes they even run a double headed steam train!  Bob says the rail buffs really like that.

Operating Coal Fired Steam, doing scheduled maintenance till Memorial Day weekend

I only took a few pictures, Sam.. so that you will be curious enough to put it on your to do list!  They also have complete locomotive and car repair shops.  It was a huge amount of rolling stock and trackage, restored buildings.  You can easily spend a lot of time going over it all. The volunteers are more than happy to answer questions and give out information about their operation.  Yesterday I saw Shelby race cars being built to order, and today old steam engines!

Steam engine running on tomorrow's excursion

Oh yes, Kim got the laundry done and I didn't even have to help fold as it was all done by the time I got back. Good timing, she said.

Shelby Land.....drool

Time to leave the Vegas area and start the long trek homewards.  It is just too hot.  We have no power hookups at Lake Mead, so no A/C and it was fairly uncomfortable sleeping with no breeze. We left Lake Mead through the Las Vegas Bay park entrance, which saved time and no long drag up to Boulder City through to the other side of Vegas.  So, a quick trip through the city and a fuel stop at the Vegas Motor Sports Speedway area, and wouldn't you know it, we were 2 minutes ahead of time for a factory tour of the Shelby plant. Whoo hoo.  There were pictures allowed in the museum, but none on the factory floor. We toured the Shelby side with the racing cars being built, and then the Shelby Ford GT's being built in another part of the factory. 

The Shelby 1000 could be ordered today if we wanted ... the package msrp was $ 154,995, not including the base vehicle. You have the option of driving it yourself off the factory floor. ( Shelby performance 1000 Horsepower fuel system included ). If the package for this vehicle still isn't enough, even though they are hand built, you can customize your car further.

So, we signed our names.  Scared you.  We signed our names on the factory wall. Cool!

Now spending a couple of nights at Ely, Nevada so that we can visit the Nevada Northern Railroad Museum tomorrow.

long touring day

Up and at'em early this morning with a hamper/cooler bag packed with cold drinks, some ice and we were off to Pahrumph, Nevada.  Not much to see there, except a nice drive up the hills west of Las Vegas. So, change of plans.  The small city had a very nice Albertson's grocery store and we purchased some sandwiches and threw them in the bag to continue onto Death Valley.

HOT!  The truck computer was telling us that it was 34C at the Interpretative Centre, and our GPS let us know that we got to -280 feet below sea level. Whoo wee. What an impressive valley.  Our route ended with us going up the valley to 4300 feet and out to Beatty, Nevada and then all the way back to Vegas via 95.  A long drive.  More interesting was area 51. Black vehicles way in the hills, probably watching.

And then we hit the north end of Vegas at rush hour, which resulted in 1.5 hours to drive through the city. Still a good touring day, even with that. Nice to see diesel prices drop as well: 3.99/gal

lake mead

We had a great drive yesterday, with the new brake magnets working well on the 5th wheel. Way better! It was a long pull up out of Laughlin, then an easy drive up to Boulder City.  Last year, we noticed some trucks and construction equipment in the middle of nowhere on this highway.  This year, a beautiful, amazing Nevada Tourist Information building with awesome picnic spots has been constructed, however, it was not open as yet. Well done, Nevada!

Presently we are located in Lake Mead National Park at the Boulder Beach campground, having met up with our friend, Bob.  The birds are mating and very loud and it is quite lovely.  Well, maybe it is because the weather is wonderful! There was no problem getting a spot on a Sunday afternoon, after the weekend campers had left.

Bob mentioned something about possibly going into Vegas today.

Brakes fixed!

When we left the Shuswap in the fall, we stopped at an RV dealer on the Island to have our brakes checked and fixed. The tech there said that the brakes were fine, but travelling around lately, they were not fine.  After the drive to Bullhead City, only the passenger side trailer brakes were working and they were super hot! No heat on the drivers side.

Our appointment today at Mohave Rv fixed that, with the tech showing us that 3 of the magnets did not work and these had to be replaced. The shop was very busy, but the staff there were very polite and efficient. She even looked up all the weather reports for us so that we could decide whether to hit the road, or not. The weather ahead in the Boulder City area looks cool, windy ( 77+ mph wind gusts ) and rainy, so we elected to stay here for another 3 nights. 

Now, we just have to get in touch with Jayco to work out the warranty work again.

Yuma to Parker

The road beckoned, and we are currently in Buckskin State Park, Arizona just a few miles from Parker.  There are lovely huge trees here and great large sites, but very noisy from boat traffic on the Colorado River.  The verizon signal is pretty slow and Donald spent over 3 hours yesterday trying to get the satellite dish to get a signal, to no success.

Heading towards Lake Havasu today with beautiful hot weather. 

Oh the weather up north is blowing.....

So we decided to hang out in the Yuma area for a few more days. This afternoon we are off to the movie " Mirror, Mirror" with the boomer Escapees group and that usually involves dinner after someplace. Today the temp is supposed to be 90 F, so we may have to turn on the air conditioners. Well, we may just sit in the pool.

The new plan is to leave here Saturday.  There is an appointment made for April 30 in Winfield, BC to have a final go through of the rig prior to our 2 year warranty expiring. There is not much to do so hopefully we won't be stuck there too long.

Bob, on his perch. Morning Sunrise

A week at Kofa Co-op

We have just spent a week at the Escapee Park in Yuma, Kofa Co-Op.  The park has a few people left and there was an ice cream social, a Saturday breakfast and as always, a warm welcome from a few members.

While we were in the park, the rig got washed and hand waxed and the carpets clean. Who hoo! Another load of laundry tomorrow and then we are set to go on the road again.   The great thing about the laundry here is the laundry 'hang out' area.  I LOVE to hang clothes out on a line, and this park has an outdoor area with about 6 long lines and tons of clothespins. MMM MMM . Fresh sheets.  Speaking of nice smells, we were driving the other early evening and drove through an orchard area and the smell was so incredible.  It was like getting hit over the head with a bottle of perfume!  In the daylight, we drive back and noticed one of the orchards had faint blooms and a fellow rv'er thought that they might be lemon blooms.

Took a drive south of Yuma, as far as San Luis.  This is the farthest south we have been in our travels, as it is further south than Algodones, Mexico. ( not by much ). There was a small celebration at the local community grounds for Ceasar Chavez Day, but we didn't stop in as it was near the end. 

Don has been looking at the maps, trying to find a different route home, but there are only so many choices. Route to be determined.

Our hearts go out to the Bayfield Bunch, who lost their 15 year old little dog, Cora. It is almost exactly a year ago we lost our old pup, here in Yuma. Same way, just passed away quietly. 

Cleaning Up in Yuma

We have moved into town ( Yuma, that is ) and are presently enjoying Escapee time at the Kofa Co-op. There were a couple of chores that we needed to get done.  First, we had a fellow come out from Shade-Pro to measure for a new awning. This awning we wanted on our big slide on the door side of the rig, as it would create window shade and deck shade when we are in Canada.  Alas, no can do.  The fellow very graciously informed us that he was unable to do it due to the slide toppers on the slide. Oh well, we tried.

The other items is to get the rig totally washed, hand waxed and carpets cleaned. That is supposed to happen later today. Let's hope they show up. 

Our friend Bob is still in Yuma as well, albeit staying at a different RV park - in the yard at a mechanics shop, waiting for a few days now for parts and work to be done on his motorhome air conditioning system. He came out to the Kofa Co-op for supper last night and we met for lunch today.

Blogger tells me I am at my limit for pictures, and until I figure it out, none will be able to be posted.:( We had a good time out at Imperial Dam boondocking, and as always, the people there are terrific!

Marine show and a fire

Yesterday was our last visit to Algodones, Mexico for dental reasons.  My, there were huge crowds to cross back into the US! We waited for over 2 hours in a line to pay $5 to ride the "faster" bike rickshaw in order not to stand in the other line, which was still longer and slower than our line. Oh well.

Last Saturday, we joined Bob to visit a parking lot RV show, where Bob was interested in perhaps upgrading his motorhome. Did we find anything ? Nope. Still happy with our 5th wheel. Great prices, though.  After that, we headed off the the Yuma Marine Force Base to take in their annual Air Show. The base is huge - seemed to be about 10 times the size of the Naval base in El Centro. We arrived to see a Harrier jet doing maneuvers about the airfield. Cool.

The main act was the Air Force flying team, The Thunderbirds and they were very fine! They taxied down the runway right in front of the crowds, waving from their cockpits.

Nights at Senator Wash aren't boring either!  FIRE! Bob and Don hopped into Bob's Honda to take a look at how close this was and whether we had to start packing up, but due to the quick response from the local Army base fire team, they just let it burn a small area and kept an eye on it for a couple of days.  It is so very dry here, and when the palm trees catch fire, they just explode.

Many rigs are starting to depart from our lovely desert area, but since it was snowing not too far from here, we'll hang out a bit more! It was warmer 2 hours north of Toronto than it was here in Yuma yesterday!

Bob, waiting to take off in a Globemaster ( C117?)

Creatures of all kinds

As much as you do not want a schedule in retirement, we continue to be busy travelling to Algodones for dental appointments, and will be finished with that in a couple of weeks.  Bob is back from travels with his daughter and granddaughter and has joined us here in Senator Wash, albeit not on his favourite hill perch site. Well, he is nearby in case it is vacated and can claim it next.  The hill was the one we were on last year, overlooking the lake and valley.

We managed to catch the last hour or so last Saturday, of the Naval Airshow at El Centro, home of the Blue Angels team. We were impressed by some of the static displays, the flight of their C-130 support plane ( a Hercules ) of the Blue Angels, and the Team.  There were all kinds of characters there, some of them recruiting for the Armed Forces, and some we couldn't see as recruiters!

We are not posting as often as we would like, as the Verizon service here is ok, but not that strong and posting takes forever.  Yesterday afternoon, we were invited to a saurkraut and sausage lunch at the covered remada.  Everyone brought their own utensils,drink,chair and something to add to the lunch. As always, it was delicious and about 100 people attended.

There was a free movie night ( The Help ) at the Army Base last evening, but Bob had just arrived, so we provided dinner as his was a travel day from San Diego.  This afternoon we are back to Mexico, three more to go after this.

The Marines were recruiting in a very LOUD way at their set up in El Centro. This hummer picture is for our younger boy!

Oh yes, the increasing hot weather has brought out more and more creatures.... we have to watch where we step! This little lizard was about a foot long, very shy and sandy in colour.

Date Farm Tour

Busy times here at Senator Wash.  Gosh, I just realized that we took our Date Farm Tour last Monday and lots has happened and where does the time go? The tour was at Martha's Farm, in Yuma, which is a family owned and operated 8000 Medjool Date palm operation. It was extremely well done, and hosted by one of the owner's son, Jason. He informed us about the highly labour intensive pollinating procedure, using the 8 male plants on the farm.  In the blistering heat of the Yuma summer is when they pick and process the dates.  The male flowers were being removed, the pollen shaken into a galvanized drum and then that powder put into squirt bottles to hand pollinate the female trees. After a string is attached to that area, they move onto the next tree.

Social life is also busy here at the Wash.  We met some wonderful people last year here, and were invited back to camp near them again.  Ed enjoyed his 75th birthday, with great chicken enchiladas made by Ray and Marilyn. A great early evening.

Yesterday we had an AWESOME day as we headed to El Centro, California. Well, we started off poorly, when 45 minutes into the drive I realized I had forgotten my purse, with our passports. Why did we need our passports? Yep, we had a border guard stop to go through and a Naval Base to get into! So, back we went.  Must be mentalpause, as I am never without my purse.  After a stop at Costco for coffee and 2 more of the Game of Throne series books, we headed off the NAF El Centro for their Annual Air Show - Whoo hoo! So, more on that later!

Dogs love Jobs

Yesterday morning we left our little camp early to meet up with Allen and Linda at the Arizona Marketplace.  We enjoyed some coffee, conversation, walk around the booths and then lunch at the Vinnepeg Palace for perogies, sausage and cabbage rolls. Yes, Vinnepeg is spelled correctly.  The food booth is a combination of Ukranian and Thai food.  Three out of four of us are from Canadian Ukranian country in Saskatchewan, and nope, sorry, the Vinnepeg Palace is ok, but doesn't cut the mustard sour cream. Ha.

Afterwards we went back to their RV site at Del Pueblo RV and Tennis Resort.  It was very clean, quite new with lots of rules and very little trees.  They agreed that the Sands, even though an older park, was much more private.

The ordinance ( bomb ) noise has been much quieter lately from the nearby Yuma Proving grounds. It does not bother us at all.  Yesterday I found out that the base is also has a huge training program for working dogs and soldiers, with well over 600 canines visiting each year, as well as their handlers.  Courses range in length from one week to over a month, with dogs trained in searching for and identifying explosives, searching for people and more. ( Yuma Sun, Sunday March 4, 2012 ). Very cool!!!!! Maybe some of the dust clouds and booms we hear are for their training purposes, as some of their training incorporate simulated arms fire and explosions caused by hard-to-spot tripwires. I hope they get lots of treats.

These are our resident wild ones. Last night I was sure they were tromping about the RV so we quickly made sure our petunias were out of danger! On tap for today: Date Farm Tour this morning and an invite for Chicken Enchilada's at a neighbours. mmmm.