see ya later to new friends

Today we are on the road again, after a great day here at the Imperial Valley.  We finally met up with Val and Claude, who just arrived here and are camped down at the beach front property by the lake.  They joined for us a quick glass of wine before they headed off to another Happy Hour by the lake. 

Ok, Ed, go fill up your plate!

Kim cooked dinner last evening for Ed, Julie, Bob and Delores with marinated steaks, spinach salad, wine and a hot weather dessert of lemon loaf cake, strawberries and whipped cream. Mmm.  We feel very fortunate to have met such great people.  Both couples spend the winter months there at Imperial Dam LTVA, and would love us to come back and be here longer!  Oh but there is so much to see... and it is hard to leave....so, we say " see you later", rather than goodbye!

Goulash Fun

Can you believe I forgot my camera.  Darn.  Must be that mentalpause.  Or the heat.  Or the crazy burros heeing and hawing all night!  Well, we had fun with the neighbours here at Imperial Dam.  Goulash was supplied by Rhode Island Bob and his lovely wife Dee, with garlic bread made by Indiana Ed and Julie.  The rest of us supplied salads, pickles and desserts. Mmm Mmm.  Lots of good conversation and just good people. We brought a Louisiana Lemon Coconut Cake and a Watermelon and our friend Bob Stone brought a lovely fruit platter.  Just right for a hot day.

Earlier Bob, Jake, Don and I  decided to run into town to take in the Mesa Outdoor Market, in order to enjoy a Gyro for lunch.  My oh My - this blog is turning out all about food!  We drove the rural way into town, through Bard and the agricultural fields. Again with the food! Only it was lettuce.... We thought about going to the Yuma Lettuce Days Festival, but standing in the sun on hot pavement was not that appealing.

Tomorrow, Bob and Jake, both of Calgary, are leaving for further places.  We have a few days here yet, and we are excited that we may get to meet fellow bloggers, Claude and Val   They also live in the Shuswap area.  It is pretty cool when you can email your GPS coordinates to fellow bloggers..... of course you can still write long explanations..... ok, turn at the Big Guns...

We talked to a couple at the dinner this evening who rent a lot in the Fortuna Foothills.  We are not that serious about any purchase, and feel that some of the prices are too high.  It is a large area, so there is always a few lots for sale... maybe another year.

To Trent and Theresa - we would like to answer your questions but could not find an email address to pm you..... if you care to drop us a line we will do our best to answer some of your RV questions!

Looking at real estate

Just a quick post today.  Yesterday was a shopping and chore day, however, we did drive around the Fortuna Foothills area of Yuma, looking at Real Estate.  We must have rocks in our heads, as I have been known to say. And no, we didn't see anything that appealed to us.  We like the idea of owning your own lot in a suburb, not an RV park, with power etc already available and a really good normal size city lot. We will leave that under further consideration. We also got ideas on further development of the Shuswap lot from our little tour.

Upon on return, we joined the neighbours for happy hour.  They have invited us for Sunday dinner for 'goulash'.  I think some pictures are in order and will be posted after the event! 

Thank you and a busy warm day

We wish to thank all the fellow bloggers who commented and those who sent private e mails to us with condolences on the loss of our dear little dog, Ally.  Your kind words did make our time easier.

We did not get much sleep that night after she passed, but decided to get busy and we made a jaunt over to Algodones, Mexico with our friend Bob Stone, who is also at the Imperial Dam LTVA.  The major chore was to get Donald's eyes tested and new glasses.  We visited Algodones Optical, and he had his eyes tested, and picked up a pair of designer progressive lense glasses and another pair of non-designer progressive glasses all for the total of $150.00, with guarantees. He looks pretty spiffy.

It was very hot, and we had to wait till 3:00 to pick up the glasses, so we wandered for a bit amongst the vendors with out buying anything, and then headed for a cool glass of *something* before 3:00 and heading to the lineup to come back across the border.  The lineup was not that bad, and we only had about a 45 minute wait.  It would have been a lot faster - there are about 6 spots in the US border desk for guards, and only 2 were working.

Bob playing magic tricks with his Strawberry Margarita - look girls, what your Dad is doing!

When we returned to Yuma, Bob treated us to a dinner at the Golden Corral, which was very good and then we went to Target, as he wanted to pick up a baby seat for his grand-daughters visit at the end of the month. 

When we arrived back at the LTVA,  Bob's neighbour from Calgary had arrived for a couple of days. Welcome to Jake!

Our beloved Ally 1999 - 2011

Ally walking us, Bouse, Arizona

As you may have read in the last couple of days, Ally was having trouble with an ear infection. She saw the Vet here in Yuma, her heart, temperature and a quick check up was done and medicine given for her ear infection.  The next day, she threw up a couple of times, but still was drinking and eating her supper.  Today she was very much perked up and was begging for anyone to share their sandwich at lunch.  At about 5 PM, she lay down in front of the screen door of the fifth wheel, and passed away.  We don't know why, and feel that she did not suffer long.  I suspect she may have had a stroke or heart attack, or intestinal problem.  We are very upset. 

Ally came into our home as a birthday present to our youngest son when he was in Grade 4.  Her mum was a purebred Mini poodle, and the father was some local mutt.  Quickly she assumed her role of the boss of the house, and was so excited when any member of the family came home. She travelled all over western Canada on family vacations and now in the southwestern US.  In her later years, she was rarely on a leash, staying quietly by our sides.  She loved the Shuswap RV lot, preferring to lay on the deck, watching the neighbourhood and anyone walking by.  Her favourite food was banana, followed closely by mandarin oranges. 

Anderson Flats, British Columbia

'til we meet again