Thanksgiving 2011-Yuma, Arizona

It really is remarkable how you can make a full-fledge turkey dinner in an RV using only one tiny 14” wide oven and 36” of counter space (not counting the top of the stove with the top down), but we did it. But all the dining table has to hold all the various serving dishes we will use.

I thought I’d be smart and make up the pumpkin pie filling the night before to save time…wrong! The whole timing thing with the pie will be off using ice cold pie filling, so I had to heat it first…wrong!  Then it began to cook and thicken and blopped (is that even a word?) into the pie filling.  Now my pie crust is usually wonderfully flaking and tender…wrong! This time, just for kicks, I added 2 tablespoons of butter instead of using lard only (yes, I use lard in my pie crust) thinking it would add a little something (what I don’t know but Martha Stewart does it).  That pie crust was like cardboard, like plywood, like, like….well it was uneatable that’s what it was LOL !!!  The filling was great though.

 

Here’s Jim mixing enough dressing for a 25 pound turkey….ah, we have only a 12 pounder, Jim!

 

Next came time for the turkey to go into the oven…looks huge doesn’t it, but remember our oven is only 15 inches wide!

Go in raw

comes out cooked

There were five of us eating at our round table for dinner (the Mosmans and Marty) and we had it all turkey, stuffing/dressing, mashed potatoes, perfect gravy, candied yams, Christine’s Modified Green Bean Casserole (with fresh green beans, asparagus, mushrooms, mushroom soup topped with bacon and cheese), and, of course, cranberry sauce and rolls.

The Mossmans also roasted a turkey so they could have leftover white meat for sandwiches.  They gave their turkey dark meat to Marty, boy was he happy!

We ate sandwiches that night, the next day for lunch and dinner, plus nibbling during the day…especially Jim with the stuffing!  So we have pretty much finished it off.  It sure was good, so we may just go ahead and have a rerun for Christmas.
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Friday after Thanksgiving was Jim’s birthday. As one of our friend’s-remarked on facebook “welcome to check-of-the-month club” as he will now get a social security check.  Jim is one of those people who doesn’t make a big deal about birthdays…unlike me.  So he really didn’t want to do anything special…too windy to barbecue anyway.  So we went across the border to Algodones and he had shrimp tacos for his birthday meal!  We walked around…same-o same-o.  Tried to find a stain glass window for our door, but couldn’t find anything with mountains in it.  We did buy a couple of bottles of Presidente Brandy for me though, and since I can’t have but one hard liquor drink a week, those should last me a long time.

We are enjoying our time out here in the desert outside of Yuma - actually in southern California. It has been windy, but the temperature has been in the high 70’s and nights are in the high 50’s….perfect for sleeping with the windows opened.

Remember, you are loved.

Movie-Breaking Dawn Part 1

Yesterday we went to the movies in town.  Linda and I went to Breaking Dawn Part 1 and The Two Jims went to see J. Edgar.  I was very impressed with the Twilight movie as the special effects of Bella’s “conversion” were very well done. Can’t wait for Part 2 November 16, 2012. The Jims liked J. Edgar as well; thought it was well acted.

After the movies we went to In ‘n Out for late lunch/early dinner at 2:30 p.m.  I think I like In ‘n Out even better than Five Guys, although Five Guys fries are hard to beat.

We sat outside till the sun started waning and it started getting cold.  I knitted as we watched TV the rest of the evening.  I’m knitting a keyhole scarf for Linda to go with the red and purple hat I knitted her last year.

Today we are doing maintenance chores around the rig. Doesn’t matter if you are in a “stick n brick” or an RV, there are always maintenance jobs to be performed and cleaning is cleaning no matter what you live in.

Our buddy, Marty Cassidy, pulled in this morning and will join us for Thanksgiving.  We decided to stay out here for the holiday and not join other Boomers at Mittry.  I want lots of turkey leftovers and I enjoy my own dressing and gravy.  So there will be five of us for dinner out here in the desert.

We will go shopping tomorrow as we’ll only be able to have a 12 pound turkey that will fit in our small oven, and I can only fit that size in our refrigerator.  I don’t want to buy it too early and have it hanging around too long. There is a new Fry’s grocery store in Yuma and I excited about checking it out.  It is 105,000 square feet, so it’s huge.  I want to buy enough groceries for about a month as I sure don’t want to be driving around town or in Walmart with all the holiday shoppers.  I bought presents online and that is all done.

What are your Thanksgiving plans? 

Remember, you are loved…..a lot!!!!!

Yuma, Arizona

We made it to Yuma about noon and were set up and were enjoying the 76* weather and sunny skies in no time flat!

Mossman’s are straight across from us so our rigs are facing each other with space in the middle for gatherings.  We love being close to the railroad tracks and hearing the trains passing.  There’s a lot of land around so we don’t feel crowded although there are other rigs in the area.

We are gathering our thoughts about what to have for Thanksgiving dinner.  I like my own traditional family foods, so we will be cooking out here, but may go into Mittry to visit our many Boomer friends staying there.  Plus we really like leftovers, maybe even better than the proper meal itself.  Those turkey sandwiches late at night are mighty good!!!

Remember, you are loved.

Hoover Dam

I wanted to get the photos of Hoover Dam up before we got to Yuma today, so here we go. 

Huge amount of power being generated	These are really large structures
The new bridge over the dam	All of the front of the dam we could see
Beautiful sculpture of a High Scaler	Monument of dedication on the Nevada side
The water side of the dam	O’Callaghan–Tillman Memorial Bridge part of the bypass project-it is huge.
	First water bypass holes
Back side of dame
	Lake Meade

We also stopped in Boulder City which was built in 1931 to house the workers who built the Hoover Dam. One of Linda Mossman’s necklaces lost a stone so  we stopped at De Trading Post  so it could be sent back to the reservation to be fixed.  De Trading Post is housed in one of three original buildings of the town.

Inside is a fascinating collection of American Indian artistry.  Linda is very partial to white buffalo turquoise and bought a pair of earrings to add to her collection of three necklaces.  It IS beautiful and very rare.

I enjoyed seeing all the American Indian authenticated and certified crafts on display.

Spears of all kinds	Dream catchers-I bought two
Pottery and all decor	Many pretty items
Beautiful American-Indian clothing	Showed a picture of the maker also

We enjoyed our short visit to Las Vegas. Saw Hoover Dam, Linda got her TGI Friday’s Cobb Salad she’s been talking about since Colorado, got the truck fixed and Jim made $100 on the nickel slots.  Pretty good day.

Yesterday we drove from Vegas to Parker, Arizona, staying at the Elks Club.  We went in to pay for our site and had a drink.  Met the folks at a neighboring table and found the man use to cover the Alamosa area for Farm Bureau Insurance.  We continue to be amazed at how many people we have met on the road that knew about our little town of 9,00 in Colorado. These folks had never heard about the Winter Blast in Lake Havasu in February, so we gave them the details on this firework display weekend. We plan on seeing these folks again when we come up here for the Parker 425 desert off-road race in early February.

It is so nice to get back to Mountain Standard Time and the warmer weather of Arizona.  Yesterday it was 76* and last night it was 55*.  We didn’t even have to put on the heater last night and, in fact, slept with a window open….delightful!

OK, I’m caught up on my blog posts. It’s now 8:18 a.m. and we are leaving here at 9, so I better move my booty and get me and the rig ready to pull out.

Remember, you are loved.

And still more truck problems

The truck problems continue. Driving from Pahrump to Las Vegas up steep climb of 3,000 feet and down 3,000 feet...we stop at Sam's Town and smell oil burning/rubber smell...Jim goes to the back of the truck and the rear axel is smoking!!! Off we go to the Chevy dealership in Henderson and drop off the truck.

With the Mossman's we travel to see the Hoover Dam museum. We’ve never been there and the Mossman’s have tried to go there but the first time they were turned away because they couldn’t leave their dogs in the truck.  This time we couldn’t go to the museum because Jim Mossman had a propane tank on the barbeque grill in the bed of the truck and “they” wouldn’t let us park in the parking garage. We chose not to park up on the hill and walk back over the dam to the museum so we just drove around and saw the dam and lake then came home. It certainly is a very impressive human undertaking.

The dealership calls and it not only is a busted seal on the rear axel we also lost the brake booster (?). But they were able to fix it today and we could get it back at 5 p.m. and $1,000 less is our wallet!!!!!!! When will it stop???????

We went into Sam’s Town and ate an early dinner at TGI Fridays as Linda has been craving their Cobb Salad.  I had one also and I must say, it was very, very good.  I’d do that again.

Tomorrow we drive to Parker and spend the night, then on to Yuma on Saturday.  I’m really looking forward to just sitting out on the desert and not moving for a while.  We’ve been on the move pretty often the last two months and I need to nest for a while.

Remember, you are loved.

Pahrump, Nevada

We arrived at the Pair-a-Dice Co-op SKP Park last Thursday and paid to stay a week.  We pulled a long day Thursday and we were sorely tired.  So since then we’ve laid low and have done a lot of resting, walking and enjoying the great weather.  It’s been in the high 60’s, clear blue skies and very sunny….wonderful.

We haven’t been to this Escapees RV Club co-op park before and we are very favorably impressed.  Everything is so neat and clean.  Every day we see someone walking around with a bucket and long-armed pinchers picking up any stray items on the roads or common areas.  We even saw a lady dutifully picking up pine cones one after another under a pine tree….she was going to be there for a while.  They even have a water truck that waters down the roads to keep the dust down.  That is a nice touch.

Common area	Sculptured landscaping
Roadway and sheds	Entrance landscape

What we were most impressed with how friendly everybody has been.  Neighbors came over and introduced themselves and chatted. Walkers smile and wave as they pass when we are outside. Ladies in the laundromat were friendly and offered much advise on places to eat on what days for the best deal, where the post office was located and a good consignment shop.  We chatted about places we’ve been and how long we’ve been on the road. One lady had an Escapee number in the 5,000.  On lady went on the road in 1985.

Monday night ten of us went to dinner at Terribles Lakeside for pot roast buffet.  It was pretty good.  At Terribles Casino you can swipe your casino card daily for added perks. Sunday I got a 2 for 1 New York Strip dinner voucher.  Last night Jim got a 2 for 1 hamburger voucher that had to be used within 48 hours. So today we went to Terribles Lakeside and had the hamburger…it was the largest burger I’ve ever seen…a half pounder…and it was the BEST hamburger I’ve ever had…came with nice grill marks, juicy and delicious, and it only cost $5.99 for the both of us! Tomorrow we’ll go to the Terribles in town and have our 2 for 1 steak dinner.

A lot of the folks here say they go out and order one burger, steak or slab of ribs and share the one meal.  The steak and ribs cost $9.99.  So when you share a meal, you can eat very cheap here.  I could see eating out a lot and not cooking.  It is cheaper than guying groceries! 

Remember, you are loved.

Old Sacramento

Before we left the Sacramento area on Thursday, November 10th, we wanted to explore Old Sacramento.  It was a lot larger area than we thought.

Looking down the main street	Another street front
Candy shop all in barrels-cute!	Cobble streets with wooden sidewalks
View of sidewalks-nice	Cobble street view
Period architecture	Interesting building
Easy walking area	See the skyscraper in the background-neat contrast with the old.

There was suppose to be a Tall Ship on the dock but we didn’t see it.  Saw the sign advertising it with an arrow….but ship wasn’t there.  We were disappointed!

Old Sacramento was very nice and we enjoyed the architecture.  There were a lot of touristy type shops, but they were tasteful and not really trashy.

We drove back to Rancho Cordova Elks Club, hooked-up and took off for Wasco, CA to stay again at an Elks Club.  It was a loooong day covering 270 miles, which is a lot for us, but we wanted to minimize our parking fees and wanted to get out of California fast…fuel prices and parking fees are high.

The drive on I-5 south was long and tiring, but we did see some pretty sights.

Field of rose bushes-beautiful colors!

Then we saw a hillside FULL of wind generators. Now we’ve seen these before all over the country, but we’ve never seen so many in one spot.  Plus there were different sizes-not all of them were those huge ones we all see around….interesting.

We got to the Elks Club in Wasco about 3 p.m. and waited for them to open at 4.  This Elks club was converted from a bowling alley.  The actual bowling lane area was made into a large banquet hall that the Elks rent out for wedding receptions, reunions, etc.  The bar area is medium size, with the people extremely friendly. We enjoyed our stay there and would return.

Next morning we started out on another long day to the Escapees’ RV Club co-op in Parhrump, Nevada.  It was a 317 mile trip, but then we could rest for a week in the warmth and clear skies.

Hope you enjoyed the trip with me.  Remember, you are loved!

Sacramento, California

After we saw the redwoods we decided to make it out of California as soon as we could.  The truck problems we have had has dipped deep into the wallet, so we wanted to get out of the $4.39 diesel prices as soon as possible. But we have folks we wanted to visit in the Sacramento area. 

We drove from Eureka to Ukiah again staying in an Elks RV park.  Uneventful night and we just drove on to Rancho Cordova outside of Sacramento and stayed at the Elks RV park there, arriving on Sunday, November 6th.  We hurried and set up so we could go see our friends, Howie and Norah Glover.

(As we arrived at Cal-Expo we saw Laurie Brown and Odel King taking a walk, so we stopped and got a quick hug as we were going to see them the next day. Unfortunately that didn’t work out so I’m glad we were able to at least see them a bit.)

The Glovers also became fulltime RVers in 2007, thus we are classmates of the Escapee RV Club’s Class of 2007 (graduating from working to fulltime RVing). We first met The Glovers in Quartzsite, AZ, in January of 2008, when the class first met each other.  This coming January we will all meet again in Quartzsite for our fifth year reunion.

What a great time we had with The Glovers.  We talked and talked catching up on our travels and activities. Then we went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory…our first visit.  Wow, what a place! The menu was so large…pages upon pages!

Of course we had to a piece of cheesecake for dessert…Norah and I chose the Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake.  So very rich, all four of us shared it and we each had plenty.  Look at that whipped cream piled high…so pretty…nice presentation.

The next day (Monday) we met with Jim’s ex-sister in law, Susie, for lunch and caught up on our lives.  Susie travels a lot with her job and often visits our daughters in Santa Fe.  We were so happy she was in town so we could visit her here. We lunched at The Sheepherders Bar & Grill in Rancho Cordova and I had the best French Onion Soup I’ve ever had…so yummy.  It has been over five years since we’ve seen Susie, so it was so nice to catch up on that side of the family. 

Then it happened again…The Mossman's had truck problems…a sensor O ring failed in the valve cover and they lost 10 quarts of oil on the road somewhere as they were driving around.  They noticed it leaking after a stop and directly drove to a Ford dealership and they rented a car to return to the Elks Club. So we stayed an extra day for the repairs.  Again, everything was covered by their warranty and it even covered part of the cost of the rental.

I postponed our meeting with Laurie and Odel as we thought Linda and Jim needed our moral support talking out their truck problem.  It was a “heavy” happy hour. More tomorrow.

Remember, you are loved.