We are nearing the end of our 2021 year-end trip to Yuma and Southern California. It’s been an eventful time.
Charlie and I and the three dogs had a great time in Yuma with Dan and Peggy Quinn and their dog Katie. The Quinns had recently traded out their large 5th wheel trailer for an almost new Super C motorhome (a Jayco with Freightliner chassis, Cummins diesel and all the fixins). It is a beauty.
Part of the changeover was the sale of their Freightliner tractor truck which used to haul the 5th wheel. A deal was pending when we arrived in Yuma but had yet to be consummated with receipt of the $60K in cash. Dan and Peggy were anxious for most of the time that we were there, but the deal finally happened on the December 30, when an 86 year-old farmer named Joe arrived from Missouri to claim his new truck. Deal done, smiles all around, and the Quinns new focus became a tow vehicle for their Super C.
We ate well in Yuma. Dan cooked a Christmas brisket on his Big Green Egg, and we also patronized several local bars and eateries in the area (A&R Grille, Wheezy’s, Lutes, The Eatery, and a breakfast place whose name escapes me). On two occasions we shared meals with some of the Quinns friends (two Bills, a Marsha, and a Sharon) who were very nice people.
The four of us went to the Yuma Street Fair on Thursday the 23rd, where I ordered a dash cover for the motorhome. I also bought a new I-Phone that day from Verizon, as my five-year-old version was having problems holding a charge. Got a good deal: $421 for an I-Phone 12.
I’ve described The Tea Party dog event in a previous blog. It was a great day of watching six Boston Terriers run wild around the Quinns property: they had a ball.
On the 29th, Dan and I played in a golf tournament at a local course. It was a 3-person scramble with Dan and I and a gal named Sandy forming one team. We won the tourney, surprisingly, although I really messed up my sore right shoulder. I believe that I have a torn rotator cuff and will probably need surgery. However, we had fun on this day, and I actually contributed with some decent approach shots to virtually every green.
Charlie and Peggy spent part of the day on the 30th in Algodones, Mexico doing some shopping. The border crossing is only about a 30-minute drive from the Quinns’ property, and the little town is an easy walk from the border. Lots of pharmacies, dentists, optomotrists, and such favored by Snowbirds from Canada.
As has been the case in the past, we really enjoyed our visit with the Quinns. They are great hosts, their property is wonderful, and we had a lot of fun shooting the breeze, playing euchre, snacking, and watching the Boston Terriers cavort about.
It was a great way to end the year. I enjoy talking with Dan, while Charlie considers Peggy one of her BFF’s. I hope we get invited back in 2022.
We concluded 2021 by driving from Yuma to Southern California on Interstate 8. It was a long slog made more burdensome by rain. I had bought a new pair of windshield wipers on the 30th and had to spend a couple of hours MacGuyvering the incorrect wipers to fit my rig. They almost worked…but sufficed to get us into California without mishap.
After a long day of travel on New Year’s Eve, we arrived at a piece of shit RV park called Thousand Trails Wilderness Lakes near Menifee, California. Seventy-five bucks a night, no site was assigned; we were told to go find one. After driving about the park for a half hour, we finally did…a crummy, non-level, graveled spot. The park appears to be populated by bums in trailers, there’s trash about, and we don’t really feel safe. But it is what it is…a place to park our asses for several days while we wait to turn our RV into the repair facility in Temecula for a laundry list of minor repairs.
We salvaged New Year’s Eve by enjoying a fine filet mignon dinner with Clark and Karin Pace at their condo in Murrieta, California. They are our old Bear Creek neighbors of 20 years. We had a great evening reminiscing and playing cards. On New Year’s Day we spent the morning watching the Rose Parade on TV. Charlie and I know this event well, as we grew up very close to Pasadena and attended the parade several times in our lives.
Clark, who is in his mid-sixties, is working at an Amazon “fulfilment center” in nearby Moreno Valley. He’s putting in some long, hard hours and it’s really showing on him: he’s probably down 40 pounds in the past year. Covid-19 really did a job on him, and then he took up this strenuous job. I feel sorry for him, having to work this hard at his age. But he’s a tough guy, an ex-Marine. Semper Fi.
Our son Tim and his wife Shanon, who also live in Murrieta, are watching the dogs while we bide our time until Jan 5th, when we drop off the motorhome at Temecula Valley RV and then drive home to Mesquite.
It is a weird time in California right now.
Covid-19 Omicron variant is running wild here. We passed a Kaiser Permanente facility with several hundred cars surrounding the place, the occupants eager to be tested for Covid. Our son Ron’s wife Alison and their daughter Samantha have Covid right now, and Tim’s son Joshua does as well. His other son Craig and girlfriend Lexi are awaiting test results; they think they’re positive for the virus. Tim, who has had Covid twice already, got tested yesterday and is, thus far, negative. However, Craig and Lexi live in Tim’s house, so it’s not a good situation.
One thing that I noticed yesterday, on a visit to a large supermarket, was that many, if not most, of the customers aren’t wearing protective masks. Covid is practically rampant down here. On the other hand, masks are mandatory in Nevada and there is virtually no epidemic of Covid in Mesquite, where we live. I think that people in these large, urban areas have just thrown in the towel…what happens will happen, etc. I don’t understand the foolishness and stubbornness but, then again, I didn’t vote for Trump.
Our dogs are staying in Murrieta, keeping Tim and Shanon company. They are having a ball. Vinnie is a “hit”, and is attempting to make friends with the family cat. Our original Boston Terrier, Booger, also loved Tim and Shanon’s cats. We had lunch today with Tim and Shanon at Los Reyes Mexican restaurant in Murrieta and discussed the future.
Afterwards, we went over to our son Jeff and his wife Carol’s home in Murrieta to chat while watching a football game. They have paid off their house and are looking forward to going full-time RV’ing in a year or so.
The Covid-19 Omicron variant epidemic is not the only problem in the Golden State.
After a long year of drought and wildfires, California has been getting hammered by rain and snow lately. A record amount of snowfall has buried the Sierra Nevada range near Lake Tahoe where Charlie’s sister Theresa lives. She’s been snowed in for more than a week with no power. Theresa lives alone in a remote area which just barely survived the terrible forest fires that occurred this past Summer. Hopefully, she can make it a few more days until power is restored. She’s a 5’ tall gal shoveling snow in five-foot drifts. No bueno.
We have a couple more days here before we head back to the safe confines of Nevada. We will see my sister Claudia and her partner Ted at Black Bear Diner in Murrieta before we head home…hopefully without contracting Covid.
Fingers are crossed as we head into 2022.