We’re in Yuma, Arizona

 

March 16, 2014                                                                                                                Lorraine’s report

Hello folks, thanks for stopping by.  Yes, this is our last week in Yuma, AZ.  What a nice stay we have had.  The weather has been really good, mid 80’s down to the low 60’s in the evenings.  Every day is sunny, bright with blue skies.  Absolutely beautiful!!!

So what stood out for me this week is hooking up the new car to be towed.  We took in into the shop on Thursday afternoon, after 3;30.  They were suppose to start working on it on Friday, which they did.  We had to get a rental car which they (Fisher Chevrolet) paid for.  Well, the car was due back on Friday at 3:30, so the car rental place took us back to the repair shop to wait.  We were there from 3:15 until 7:15 pm when they finally finished it up.  Chuck worked on the car yesterday, loading it up, and discovered that something is not right.  So tomorrow, he has to take it back to the shop for more work.  Hopefully, they will figure it all out and we will not have any problems with the new car as we tow it.  

Saturday Chuck called Sharon & TJ and we planned to meet for dinner. They wanted to go to the Quechan for the prime rib dinner.  Is it ever a nice dinner for us and all for $9.95 each.  You get prime rib, potatoes or fries, broccoli and a fresh roll.  Once more I would like to thank you two for letting us stay on your lot this winter, we had a very nice time. 

I have to say that we have enjoyed our time here, just reading and taking life easy.  Especially after the last big trip we made in 2013.  We needed down time!

Sure hope Rick is okay, prayers for him.  That’s it for me.

Hugs,

Lorraine

3/16/14                                                                                                                                 Chuck’s report

Yep, still here in Yuma on TJ/Sharon’s lot in the foothills.  We have really enjoyed this “down” time for the past few weeks.  But as all good things, it will be coming to an end soon. 

Ok, this week was more of the same, lots of just sitting outside and enjoying this fabulous weather.  We have had a few more days with winds this week but not too bad, we’ve certainly experienced much worse.  But the slow paced lifestyle is what we are really liking. 

Last Monday we went to the casino once more for their senior day had their prime rib special dinner once more.  I think we left with some of their money this time too, that’s always a good deal when that happens. 

Tuesday we were out running errands and stopped by Del Taco for dinner, Tuesday Tacos, remember that Joe and Alice?  Same deal here and we were thinking about you two, were your ears ringing?

Wednesday I had to make a run to the Verizon store, our notebook has been having a problem connecting to the internet and we use it as our hotspot for computer access.  Lorraine wanted to stop by Dillard’s so I dropped her off and drove on over to Verizon.  Of course they were busy, said the wait would be about 25 – 30 minutes.  It was over an hour later when I finally got someone to talk to me and then they said it would be about another 10 – 15 minutes.  When the gal looked things over she suggested doing a hard reset, setting everything back to original and starting over.  They’ve already tried lots of other things, changed the Sims card, taught me how to reset it when it gets an update (once a week or so) and ran other diagnosis on it.  They said if this doesn’t “fix” it, they will replace it with a new one.  But it has been working fine since, here’s hoping it continues but if not, a new one might be better, we’ll see. 

Lorraine was finished at Dillard’s before they were done with us so I told her I would be there as soon as they were done.  I picked her up, drove over to another store and after that, we returned back to our rig. 

Thursday afternoon we stopped by the Chevy dealer to get our second key.  When we picked up the car, they only had one key to give us, said the other was at the dealer in Phoenix and they would send it to them.  We were getting the new car set up for towing on Friday, starting at 8 and they said it would take most of the day so we had a rental approved from the Chevy dealer at the local Hertz rental place.  I wanted to pick it up on Thursday afternoon and drop off the car so it would be ready first thing on Friday so that’s what we did.  Because we were in the area, we stopped by Penny’s diner for dinner once again then returned back to our place. 

Friday Lorraine did some laundry, boy that clothesline was in use all day.  I called the place that was installing our tow brackets and such and of course they were having an issue but said it should be done soon.  So we returned the rental car and they dropped us off at the tow car place about 4:00.  We were told they should be done around 2:00 so we were hoping to be finished very soon BUT NO, it was after 7 when we finally got out of there.  Seems they had an issue with the breakaway  brakes not working, finally found a bad connection that was only working intermittingly, one of those hard to find things.  But otherwise it was good, can hardly see the tow brackets when the tow bar isn’t installed.  They started working on the car at 8 and 11 hours we left, sure glad we had made a deal where the Chevy dealer paid for this.

Saturday morning I hooked it up to the motorhome to check out all the connects and make sure everything works.  I found the brakes were not coming on even though the brake lights did.  So back to the shop first thing tomorrow, darn.  Sure hope this is an easy fix this time and it won’t be an all day wait as I don’t have a rental car available this time. 

Later we called TJ and Sharon to see if they wanted to go to dinner with us.  TJ said that would be fine and we agreed to meet at their house and head out from there.  I then took all the stuff we normally carry in our car and had in the shed here on TJ’s lot and tried putting it all into our smaller car.  The storage area with the back seat down is both shorter and narrower and it took a few tries but I eventually got everything in.  I also got most everything stored in the basement of the rig too, boy it’s tough to get back on the road after nesting in one spot this long. 

Finally it was time to head over to TJ’s for our dinner engagement.  TJ agreed to drive as we can’t get four people in our car when it’s loaded for towing.  We headed to the casino for their prime rib dinner special again, second time this week for us but it was good and we enjoyed our visit too.  We then played slots for awhile, I think TJ was the big winner (he didn’t play, ha).  We continued our visit with them at their house before we decided to call it a day.  We thanked them for letting us stay at their lot while we were in Yuma.  They are trying to sell this lot, it had the studio house here as, of course, has an area for RV hook up with 50 amp, water and sewer.  If you know of anyone interested, let me know and I’ll give you their contact info. 

I’ve been working on our income taxes this week, haven’t filed yet as I want get one more mailing to make sure I have everything before I finish.  I’ve also been studying up on Medicare once again.  I turn 65 in April and will be eligible for Medicare.  I did some reading, checked online and made a couple of calls and think I know what plan and who we will get that plan from but because of our internet issues (or lack thereof for two days), I haven’t actually signed up yet.  I may do that tomorrow, depending on how long the car and I are in the shop. 

Once again, I can’t say enough about the great weather we’ve been having.  It is starting to warm up a bit more, highs are in the high 80s and the lows are in the 50s with plenty of sunshine.  When there is a nice breeze, it’s nice to sit in the sun, when it’s calm, we sit in the shade, tough life.  We have had a very good winter here in Yuma this year. 

We plan on leaving here on Tuesday, heading for the Elks Lodge in Chula Vista, outside San Diego.  We’ve been there once before but didn’t do much exploring of the area and there is sure lots to do there.  We will also get together one time with Joe and Alice before they leave to head back to Washington.  They are in Hemet so we will meet at Pala casino, about halfway.  This is the place that has one of the best, if not the best, Indian casino buffets we’ve been to.  Looking forward to seeing Joe and Alice (and the buffet) soon. 

I will add a couple pictures here and get this posted and get outside to enjoy this weather!

 Some of the flowers on TJ/Sharon’s lot.

  

  

  

That’s us situated on the lot.  Home for the past few weeks. 

  

  

And that’s Sharon and TJ in their house. 

 

Thanks   Chuck

 

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We’re in Yuma, Arizona

March 9, 2014                                                                                                                     Lorraine’s report

Howdy folks, thanks for stopping by.  Yep, we are still in Yuma, but our time here is ending soon.  Good thing!  I’m wanting to move on, you know, like ready to explore new things, new places, etc.

So this week found us buying a new car.  Our Saturn was a bit older.  It is as old as our coach, a 2007 Allegro Bus and the Bus has 77,000 plus miles on it.   So our Saturn had the 77,000 being towed on it as well as the 99,000 more we put on it driving it here and there.  We have been all over this nation, to Alaska and back.  I loved that car, but it was time to trade it in on a new car.  While this car is a bit smaller, Chuck was able to get a new back up camera, plus most of the options from the old car.  I guess the gas mileage and other features will more than make up the difference, I hope. 

I need to tell Norma when I went in for a pedicure and the gal there said the last person didn’t put on a top coat, and that made the nail look bad and feel nasty; they peeled and looked awful.  I went to another place this time.  She did a great job, so when/if they get back to Yuma, we’ll go there for pedicures.  Just saying.

One day we went to meet up with a bunch of people from Lewis & Clark.  There are several that are in this area and we were invited to lunch with them.  It was at Da Boyz Restaurant in down town Yuma, and they had a street fair going on, so of course the GPS couldn’t get us directly there.  We parked and walked on over to it.  We had the Marilyn Room.  What a bunch of pictures they had of Marilyn Monroe.  She was pretty, but what a life she had.

On Friday night, they had Midnight at the Oasis, where 900 cars came into town for a car show.  What a show!!  Of course we wanted to watch the cruise.  It was fun!  So many cars, but they didn’t cruise, the people were not going slowly, they kept up with the traffic; and cars on the left lane didn’t stop at all, they just rolled on by, heading home or whatever. 

So that’s it for me…Have a good week everyone..

Hugs,

Lorraine

 

3/9/14                                                                                                                                  Chuck’s report

Another good week in Yuma!  We are sort of settling into doing one thing a day, don’t want to overdo it and get tired.  Besides, the weather is too nice to miss setting outside and just enjoy. 

Monday we went to the casino for their special prime rib dinner and of course played the slots for awhile too.  This time I managed to walk away with some of their money, just about broke even between us.  And the dinner was good too.

We also got a call from the Chevy dealer, he had found a car at a dealer in Phoenix that met all of our needs and wanted us to come by and talk with him.  We told him we would come by the next morning to see what he had in mind, after all, we had just come to conclusion that they couldn’t find one and we would wait until we got back to Bellingham before started looking again. 

Tuesday morning we headed out to meet some members from Lewis and Clark, the FMCA chapter we belong to.  They had set up a meeting place at Da Boyz in downtown Yuma.  We found the place but there was a street fair going on so we couldn’t follow our GPS directions but managed to find a way around and got there, in fact, we were the first ones there.  But soon there were 7 couples, most from the Pacific Northwest but one from Illinois who spends lots of time in Oregon.  We had a good visit and everyone seemed to like the food too.  In the past two years we have been able to meet with Lewis and Clark folks in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Ohio and Tennessee and every time we get together we have a good time. 

After lunch we stopped by the Chevy dealer.  Sure enough, the car he found was the correct color and set up like we wanted, not sure why it just showed up.  My brother works for GM and I can get an employee type discount through him so the price of the car was fixed and all we could haggle on was the trade in value.  I tried to get the same trade in the other dealers offered but didn’t quite get there, close but missed by that far.  So we got ready to leave and the sales manager came by to see us, surprise, surprise.  He asked what we were looking for, price wise and managed to meet it. 

So after we test drove another one from their lot and discussed it some, we agreed to purchase the new one if they would truck it over from Phoenix.  Of course, they wanted assurance that we wouldn’t back out of the deal and I didn’t want to make a firm commitment without seeing it first.  Finally they agreed, they would have the car delivered the next day and we could see it before signing any papers.  Small victory but I felt I won that round. 

Wednesday Lorraine had an appointment to get her hair done so dropped her off and came back to the rig.  I started taking stuff from the Saturn out in prep for trading it in, boy we carry lots of stuff in the car.  I then drove over to pick up Lorraine and while I was there, the salesman called and told me the new car was in and we could come by and see it.  So after Lorraine was finished with her hair appointment, we drove to the Chevy dealer.

We checked the car over and sure enough, it was equipped the way we would have ordered it from the factory, well, almost, it did have two options we wouldn’t have gotten.  So once more back to the haggling table we we agreed to split the price difference of the two options.  They also agreed to pay some of the cost to set it up for towing behind our motor home. 

So long story but we are now owners of a 2014 GMC Terrain, silver in color.  It isn’t set up for towing yet, we get that done Friday.  And we don’t have all the paperwork we need to send to South Dakota for licensing yet, should get that finished this week.  But the Saturn is gone and we are driving the Terrain, so far, we like it.  It is smaller than the Outlook, it has two rows of seats vs three in the Outlook so we won’t be able to carry as many people with us went we are with a group.  A few times we’ve had two other couples ride with us when we were out “exploring”, we won’t be able to do that anymore.  But besides being smaller, we like most of the rest, especially the better gas mileage and less towing weight too. 

Thursday we needed to return to the dealer to finish some paper work.  We also stopped by the indoor swap meet to pick up our second set of chairs we had redone/recovered.  They sure did a good job on these too, replaced the rivets on the swivel joints same as the other ones. 

Friday I took Lorraine over to a nail place to have her toes done.  Last time she had them done was with Norma at Wal-Mart and the didn’t have a good experience, said they treated them like cattle.  This time Lorraine was really pleased with the service and the job they did.  Later we went to find a place to park and set up our chairs to watch the oldies car cruise, part of Midnight at the Oasis car show in town this weekend.  They have over 900 classic cars and they were cruising along a route from 4:30 to whenever.  We found a nice spot and get set up about 3:15 or so and waited for the show to start.  Sure enough, just after 4:15, the cars started going by and didn’t stop until after 6:00.  Sure were lots of nice cars.  I had to call our friend Dave in Minnesota to let him know what we were doing, we have gone to the BIG car show there and every time we are at a classic car show, I sort of compare it to the one there.  So far, none are even close in size to that one but I like to see the cars anyway and this cruise was certainly nice, especially with the nice weather while we were sitting out. 

Saturday we went to the book stores at both the market place and the indoor swap meet, once again, trading some of the books we’ve read for some different ones.  Lorraine has been reading for the first time since her stroke 15 months ago and so far has finished three books, yea.  She wanted to get some books to continue with the series she has been reading and we found another series for her to start too. 

We knew there was a Good Sam rally going on at the fairgrounds so we drove by to see what was going on there but didn’t find much other than about 30 rigs parked, no vendors or anything going on.  We were in the area of one of the local casinos, so Lorraine wanted to go by there for awhile.  We were there just over an hour and once again I managed to leave with some of their money, Lorraine said she had fun. 

Once again, the weather has been really nice.  We did have a little bit of rain last Sunday but every other day has been nothing but blue skies.  Well, not exactly, a couple of mornings there were some clouds and Friday evening there were clouds while we were at the cruise but no rain.  And the temps have been back to the high 80s with the low only getting to the 50s, pretty nice. 

Our travel plans stay the same, in about 10 days we we will head towards San Diego for two weeks.  I have been wondering if we might be ready to stop traveling but after being here for just over a month, I’m sure getting itchy feet and ready to move on.  So guess that answers that question, no I’m not ready to stop yet, to much to see and do yet. 

I’ll go through the pictures we took this week and pick out some to add here then get this posted. 

 

We met some Lewis and Clark members at De Boyz for lunch in the Marilyn room. 

   

  

  

Our Saturn Outlook, sad to see it go. 

   

Here’s Lorraine with the salesman and our new car. 

  

Showing 6 miles on the odometer. 

  

A Sunset picture from TJ/Sharon’s lot. 

 

Some of the cars from the cruise. 

 

  

  

  

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

Thanks   Chuck

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