January 31, 2014---Yuma, Arizona

It was overcast here most of the day.  No moisture, just a hint that it might rain someday.

Bonnie, Nancy , and I went to the bead shop at midmorning.  I needed some crystals for a project at Tuesday’s class.  Another bracelet, and it looks hard, too.  Bonnie said it wasn’t, but she is such an excellent beader that sometimes her assessment doesn’t take my limitations into account.  

From the bead shop, we drove to a haircut place so Bonnie and Nancy could get clipped.  Judy is an excellent beader, and, as I discovered, a fantastic hairdresser.  I ask if she could trim my neckline.  When she was finished, she ask if she could play with my hair.  When she was through, I couldn’t believe the change.  My hair has never looked so good.  Wow!

When I got home, I thought Bill would be surprised.  No!  He didn’t even notice.  That’s just about the norm around!  

We went to dinner with Todd and Bonnie.  Dwight and Sheila joined us at a Mexican food place.  They just got into Yuma from Tucson this afternoon.  It was good to see them.  The food was good, and as usual, we had lots to talk about.

We watched one Bronco program tonight.  It seems as if it is taking Super Bowl Sunday way too long to get here.

God must be a Bronco fan.  The sky at sunset was beautiful...orange and blue...streaking across the distance.  Perfect colors for two days before the Super Bowl.  Perhaps it was an omen! 

January 30, 2014---Yuma, Arizona

Todd, Bonnie, Bill, and I went to Algodones, Mexico this morning for dental appointments.  Todd’s took longer than the rest of us, so we went to lunch without him.

I had been put on a liquid diet for the rest of the day, so I ordered a diet Coke and cheese soup.  I couldn’t eat the vegetables in the soup, but the melted cheese tasted wonderful and the broth was really good.  Bill and Bonnie had very yummy looking Mexican plates and sodas (not diet).  When our bill came, their sodas were a dollar each, but my diet one was $1.50.  Go figure!  South of the border one never knows what one might encounter.

Bonnie and I had a little time to shop, but we didn’t buy much.  That’s usually the way it is when we are in Mexico.  They have some neat things, but since we both live in motorhomes we don’t buy much.

The four of us met at the border and made it back onto US soil with no problems...no bail money needed, Michelle.  (She’s my worrier!)  Todd and I were both hungry after our dental “ordeals” so we chose Sonic for milkshakes on our way home.  We also took time to find one cache.

It was 5:30 before we got home.  Bill was very tired from our long day.  He kept going to sleep while watching TV, so he finally gave up and went to bed at 8:30.  Wow, the poor old guy was really tired!

January 29, 2014---Yuma, Arizona

This morning, Bill took me to old downtown Yuma to a bead store.  I am making a bracelet for Sara and I needed some special supplies.  Bonnie works at the store on Wednesdays and she told me I could find what I needed there.

While we were in that part of town, we stopped by the the mall.  I needed to have a question answered by Verizon.  With that out of the way, our next stop was to be at Sam’s Club.  I sent Bill there by himself so I could spend my time at JoAnn Fabrics.

When we got back together, we discovered it was nearly time for lunch.  As luck would have it, we happened to be very close to In-N-Out.  We just couldn’t pass up a chance to add #5 to our 2014 count, could we?

Before going back home we made a quick stop at Walmart.  Yes, that is possible!  Hard to believe, isn’t it?

Naps were the order of business, until 1:30 when we were going geocaching with Todd.  Three of the hidden things were easy to find.  One of them, however, was not easy to get to.  We could see the cache, but couldn’t get to it because of a fence.  We had to drive over a mile to get to the area we needed, and then drive about 1/2 mile on a desert road.  But we were successful!

January 28, 2014---Yuma, Arizona

Bill and Todd went geocaching this morning.  Bonnie and I were going to a beading class.  Our friend, Nancy, was teaching it.

The bracelet was a rather difficult pattern.  I can usually figure out how something is made just by looking at it.  Not so with the pattern we used today.  Even though I made the bracelet, I look at it now and I still can’t see how it went together.  I hope to make another one tomorrow.  I’m certainly glad I have the directions.  Hopefully, I will be able to duplicate the things we did in class.

It was after 4:00 when we arrived back at our motorhomes.  We had already decided we would go out to dinner.  Bonnie suggested a place called Chicken on the Run.  Basically, their food was “down home cooking.”  There were several things on the menu I might like to try, so it may call for at least one or two more visits to the place. 

It was nearly 7:00 when we got home.  That may not sound late to some of you, but for us “old people,” It was time to be home watching some TV.  We are seldom out running around “so late.”

January 27, 2014---Yuma, Arizona

At 7:00 this morning, Bill took the Honda for a bath.  It was covered with Quartzsite desert dirt, big time!

Soon after 8:00, Bill left me at Walmart to get a manicure while he took the Honda to Sam’s Club.  One of the tires had a slow leak.  He thought it might be a thorn from all the running around in the wilds.  It was a nail.  How civilized it that?!  The repair didn’t take long and he was soon back to fetch me.

Todd, with the two of us, went caching.  We found four “hidden treasures” before deciding it was lunchtime and heading for Sonic.  It was a nice day so we ate at one of their outdoor tables.  It was nice to sit and visit with Todd, whom we have known for way more years than we have been living in the motorhome.  He and Bonnie moved into their MH fulltime about the same time as we did.  

Before returning home, we went to the Marine base to get passes which will allow us to go out onto the Barry Goldwater Bombing Range when “the coast is clear.”  If we want to go caching on the range we have call at 8:00 of that day to get the “all clear” signal or stay away until another day.

Back at our “hacienda on wheels,” we visited with several friends who dropped by.  It is fun and interesting to touch base from time to time.

Todd and Bonnie came for a visit after dinner.  Of course, their two little dogs came, too.  Maggie, the shy one, immediately jumped up on Bill’s lap and stayed there for quite awhile.  That was an unusual occurrence for both of them.

January 26, 2014---Quartzsite to Yuma, Arizona

Happy Birthday, Lori.  How well I remember that special day, 48 years ago!

At 9:30, we pulled out onto Hwy. 95, headed toward Yuma.  Meredith said she could hear us singing our Willie Nelson theme song way up in Colorado.   

It was a nice ride from Quartzsite to Yuma.  The highway is good and most of the desert bushes were green.  The ocotillo was beginning to put out red bloom spikes.  The desert at this time of year can be very beautiful.

We parked the coach next to our friends, Todd and Bonnie.  They rent a lot across the street from where we usually park.  Bill needs to do some maintenance on the MH and has to be able to get the basement slides out.  When we park at Jim and Pat’s we are close to a stone wall and can barely open the bay doors, much less get the storage slides out.

Okay, this is the time for a drum roll.  An important announcement is about to be made.  We went to In-N-Out for lunch!!!!!  That’s number 3 for 2014.  Yippy, Skippy and yum, yum!

On the way home we went to Walmart for a few groceries.  When got back to the MH, Todd came over for a visit.  One of their little dogs, Lexie, came, also.  They use to call her “wild child.”  Today she fit that name.  She was so excited to see us and be in our motorhome.  She has a way of making me feel special, kind of like Hapa does.

When Todd found out where we went for lunch, he said, “I thought we were going there for supper.”  Bill said, “Okay.”  And so we are up to number 4!

Mileage traveled today...75.

January 25, 2014---Quartzsite, Arizona

Bill Dane, weatherman extraordinaire, reported 40 minutes of rain during the night.  He said it was a 6” Arizona rain...6” between drops, that is!

A group of rally attendees went for a hike this morning to see some petroglyphs.  I didn’t go because it was going to be longer and rougher than I could do.  Bill went and enjoyed it.  He, Wendy, and Henry (the only geocachers on the excursion) found a cache up in a rocky place.  Wendy got the information from her cell phone.

I stayed home, in bed, and slept most of the time they were gone.   We spent the rest of the morning visiting with friends.  A lot of people will be pulling out tomorrow, including us.  

At 2:00, we gathered for a group picture and then a pot luck lunch.  There was so much food, as usual, at that kind of event.  People stayed and talked and talked.  Henry built a fire in the fire ring and we sat or stood around, getting warm and visiting some more.  It was a nice way to end the day.

Tomorrow, Super Driver and I are going to Yuma.