It was a brutal day. We left Yuma about 1000 after successfully finding a couple of good horses in one of Don’s neighbor’s yards. Max wasn’t happy about the horses, because he’s never been close to one before, but he got used to them about halfway.

I took him on a few walks around Don and Judy’s neighborhood and many homes have metal sculptures in their yards that kind of freaked him out a little. His apprehension actually started the first time he went into Don’s & Judy’s home. There was a bear rug on the floor, and he was very concerned about it. He was very cautious the first time he approached it and was growling a little with every little step he took. Once he got close enough to touch it with his nose it became non-threatening, and he was just fine taking a nap with it.

OK. Now on to what really happened.

Leaving at 1000 was true but the rest, except for the bear rug, was gibberish. The bear rug is real, as you can see.

Knowing the fragile nature of our RV, regarding it’s overheating issue, we decided to not tow the car. We knew there were more hills ahead of us so overheating was a forgone conclusion. So, Diane was OK taking the stress off the RV and driving the car for 5 hours to Tucson. Leaving me and Max all alone, on the heat.

Let me tell you about the heat. We learned from Ray, one of our neighbors at Fiddler’s Cove, that when the engine heats up putting the heater on all the way will help cool it down. It’s true, that works. That’s nice, but when it’s like 110 degrees outside, having the heater on in the RV isn’t much fun. Matter of fact, I think it burned at least one layer of skin off my right leg. Having he heater on just wasn’t fun at all. It turned the day into an incredible ordeal. With each mile we travelled down the freeway, the scenery became more and more bland to the point where I felt that this was going to be this way for the rest of my life.

Then we would whiz by a bit of greenery so fast that it seemed to be an illusion. Then another would go by giving us hope and it was more noticeable because we were looking for it.

Eventually, the landscape changed with the addition of more and more green, mostly trees, then grass would show up, then orchards would appear. It was obvious that civilization was creeping into our view giving us hope for a better future.

Then the freeway wound its way quickly from the desert into the middle of an actual city. There were tall buildings, and everything looked promising. Signs appeared giving us directions to validate the GPS instructions, pointing us in the proper direction until, finally, we arrived at our next home. The Family Camp on Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson.

This is one of the views from the Family Camp area. We’re well protected.

Initially we were concerned about getting a site because this is Snowbird season and we’re new to it. But, the weather has been unseasonably hot, so folks who normally do this aren’t showing up as early as they normally do. That’s good for us. We got a site with no problem. It only took us about 30 minutes to find it. Most of the signs indicating which sites are in each row were there, but the one for our row was facing away from us so we drove by it a few times. Diane finally found it by driving down each row and reading each pedestal. I watched from afar and when I saw her turn into a spot, I made my way to her and got parked.

It’s now 2114 and we’re tied up in #261 for the next three months. With us not usually camping for more than a week or two, considering a long term stay like this seems odd. Then I recall the 30 days we just spent at Coronado. It’s becoming a normal thing. How about that?

All the sudden we’re Snowbirds!

Today we took an extended tour of Yuma with the goal of being at AROI Thai Cuisine on the other side of Yuma for a late lunch/early dinner. This is one of their favorite places to eat and I can see why. The food was awesome and not served in annoyingly huge amounts.

I ate every bit of mine and about half of Diane’s. Not a scrap left. Then we went and had ice cream for dessert. I’m planning to eat popcorn for a snack before we go to bed.

The temperature here today was around 110 degrees. It actually felt good when spending only brief stints under the blazing sun. It’s amazingly hot. The electrical connection we have at Don’s and Judy’s is 30 amp so we can only run one A/C unit, but it kept us suitably cool last night. I’m sure it will do so again tonight.

In all, we were gone for about 5 hours which means Max had a 5-hour nap. That’s good because he didn’t have a productive walk before we left. I took him out twice, but he knew we were going somewhere, and he was staying. So, I figured he would do something completely out of character after we left and lay a log on Diane’s pillow. Thankfully, that didn’t happen, so he was rewarded for his restraint with a very long walk around a couple of blocks. Blocks here are quite long. Especially in this heat.

We’ve decided to head out for Tucson tomorrow instead of Friday because we have medicine that was delivered to the St. Helens address that need to be sent to us. So, the sooner we get to Tucson, the sooner we’ll have an address for the target. Jennie was going to Fedex it all overnight to us here at Don’s, but it would have cost almost $200 to do that. Getting to Tucson a day earlier makes more sense than spending that amount of money.

So, we’ll see you there, Tucson, tomorrow.

First, I must share with you our last San Diego Sunset. It was very nice.

I woke up at my normal time, about 0730-0900, or thereabouts and tried to coax Max off the bed for a walk. He chose to stay inside a little longer or a smarter choice, he didn’t want to take a chance of waking Diane too soon by jumping off the bed. I suspect he got that vibe from me. So, I left him alone and he stayed there until Diane got up. I honestly don’t remember what time it was.

After Max’s walk I started putting things away in preparation for our departure. I took my time because I was kind of dreading getting to the point where I’d have to start the RV and I wasn’t convinced that was going to happen. The other question mark in my head was the big slide out, wondering if it would slide in. All my stress was for naught because everything worked just fine.

Then, after hooking up the car, we embarked on the next challenge, driving up Orange Avenue through downtown Coronado to 4th Avenue, then across the Bay Bridge to I-5. Sounds simple, right? Well, it wasn’t all that easy. First, Orange Avenue isn’t all that wide when you cram two lanes of traffic between rows of parked cars on each side most of which actually parked close to the curb. That means those who didn’t create the need for drivers in the lane next to the parkers, to jog out once in a while. Not too tough in a car, but driving an RV makes it a challenge. You’ll be happy to know that we made it OK. We also made it down 4th Ave and across the bridge, transitioned to 3 or 4 different freeways until we finally wound up on I-8 East. Whew! Pretty exciting stuff.

We drove until Diane convinced me that we should fill the fuel tank and, maybe, eat some lunch. This finally led us to the Golden Acorn Casino in Campo where we filled the tank and bought some dead chicken. Fuel was $4.27/gal and the chicken wound up costing $27.50 after Diane added two enormous cinnamon things for breakfast. We kept one of them and ate the other one for dessert.

The remainder of the drive to Yuma was uneventful until we made it to the top of one of many higher elevations where we came across this:

We saw the smoke from miles away and wondered what it could be. A real mess. The ambulance was just ahead of us and didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry so whoever was in the car got out OK, or they didn’t get out at all.

After that, the trip turned into some extremely long stretches of straight road with a minor turn one way or another to keep it interesting.

Don and Judy welcomed us with open arms, and I didn’t take one picture of them. I’ll do that tomorrow and add it to tomorrows post.

Time to stop.

Yup, this is it. We’ll be moving along tomorrow before noon and plan to be in Yuma shortly after that. It’s only a 3-hour drive, so I’m told. We’ll see about that.

Today was pretty laid back. Diane wanted to get some more things from the commissary, and she wanted a full tank of gas in the car. So, that’s where we went and then we took Max to a Dog Beach near the back gate to NAS North Island.

He was pretty excited about that, but he has a difficult time socializing with other dogs when he’s on his leash. That makes it a little difficult for me to trust him off leash, especially after our initial visit to the dog park in Imperial Beach. Remember that one? The one where I inserted myself into a dogfight between Max and a dog much bigger than him. So, we’re a little wary about getting into a situation like that.

So, I kept him on the leash and let him run into the surf until it wasn’t fun anymore. He has just as much fun smelling everything another dog may have touched in any manner.

Max was OK with that short visit and the walk back to the car for the trip home.

The rest of this day was spent doing pretty much nothing except for Diane washing a load of sheets. We sat on our patio until it was time to get them out of the dryer.

The highlight of our sitting time was watching what I think was an AOR (an oiler for replenishment at sea) enter port then search along the piers, looking for a parking spot. It was flanked by two tugs to help them squeeze in to any spot they found where they might fit.

That’s about it for today.

See you in Yuma.

Yes, we attended a play at a small theater in downtown Coronado. It was the Lamb’s Players Theater, and we watched “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde. Instead of a stage, the performance area is on the same level as the front row seats. All the other seats are situated in a way that there isn’t a bad seat in the house. Diane picked two seats in row B, center stage (or floor, if you wish). The actors are never more than 20 feet from the front row, so it was like we were all part of the performance.

Photos were for forbidden during the performance so the only shots I got were before it started. The tiled area is the stage. The ladies standing guard are there to keep paying customers from walking on the tile. I know that’s true because I asked one of them.

It was a very fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The acting was top notch and the story they told was excellent.

It was a beautiful day, so we walked along the main street back to the car, enjoying the experience. Everyone was polite, the town is very appealing, trendy, and touristy. It was fun being part of the crowd for a while. But Max was all alone in the RV waiting for us. A good reason to return.

We ate a lite meal (granola bars) for lunch with understanding that we would eat a major meal when we got home. Diane wanted fish and she bought me a huge steak, frozen french fries, and asparagus. Diane prepped and cooked the asparagus, and I did the rest. Easy peasy. It was good, too.

Like normal, when I opened the door, Max took his sweet time making an appearance. He’s usually laying in the driver’s seat and just lays there until I scratch his neck. Then we take a walk. This time he was laying on the floor by Diane’s side of the bed. Totally out of character for him. I took him for a walk anyway. I think he’s getting tired of walking around the same loop all the time. I try to change it up by going the opposite way once in a while. He knows what I’m doing and isn’t impressed, but he goes along with my efforts, and I know he’s grateful.

It’s almost 2100 and Diane is watching a Hallmark movie. I’m kind of keeping up with it but I’m progressively getting more interested in getting to bed. We just changed the sheets. I always sleep good on newly laundered sheets.

Tomorrow is our last full day here at Fiddler’s Cove, so I’ll be busy putting stuff away that needs to be put away. I might even polish up the other mirror. I only did one the other day because it was a lot like work.

Now I’m quitting.

Yippeee!

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday dear Gilligan,

Happy birthday to you.

Today Diane went shopping at the North Island commissary to, once again, replenish our food. She knows exactly what to get by checking what shelves are empty. Glad she can do that. I always have to ask her where things are. Perhaps I could pay attention when things are put away, but it’s easier (for me) to just ask when I need something. The things I eat most are laying on the counter – apples, bananas, avocados, tomatoes, and coffee. OK, that’s not totally true. The coffee doesn’t remain on the counter, and I know exactly where it lives.

While Diane was gone, I took Max for a long walk then I got out the cleaning gear and began the process of making the RV shine again. I’ve actually never done it before so it’s about time, right? Jeff used a buffer and got rid of a lot of mars caused by trees that got too close to us over the years, but it still needs to be cleaned. Not an easy task. I’m limiting my task to everything below the 5-foot level because my arms don’t work well above that height. I have a ladder, which would help, but that adds another element of danger besides ruining my arms. So, I’m keeping it low for now. Perhaps I’ll get brave before we leave here and give it a go. My decision about that will depend totally on what Diane thinks I should do.

Oh look! There’s a helicopter!

Did I mention there are lots of those around here?

After Diane returned, I brought everything she got into the RV, and she put it away so I wouldn’t know where it is. Then she did some laundry, and I helped a bit with that. When we got the clean stuff back to the RV, we had a wonderful dinner of one 4-minute microwave TV dinner each then she locked herself in the bedroom to watch TV. I had to stay in the living room area and watch the Oregon Ducks beat up on Michigan State 31-7. It could have been worse because the 1st two TD attempts by Oregon were intercepted in the end zone.

All afternoon we were serenaded by a really loud base guitar what sounded like it was right next door. I checked outside and think it was coming from one of the boats in the harbor. Outside it’s not nearly as loud as it is inside. Very irritating.

Today is my shower day. Diane said so. So, I need to stop, go brush my teeth, and make good use of our facilities.

Hope everyone is safe and happy. We only have 3 days and 1 nitenite remaining at this location then I’ll have to see if this thing still runs. Cross your fingers for us.

Diane did laundry. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a major accomplishment. And she does it a lot. I appreciate it.

We sat outside enjoying the cool breeze from the bay while everything got washed then I carried the laundry back to the RV. We had to walk all the way across the street to get it and fold it, so it fit in the basket she uses.

We walked Max and struck up a conversation with a young Navy Wife whose husband is a Submariner. They are staying in a large Dodge van they converted for use off the grid. Nice job. She’s from somewhere in Mid-West but I have no idea where specifically. I do know that they are here at Fiddler’s Cove because they had to leave a park on Point Loma that cost $35/night. Their 30 days were up but the husband’s scheduled deployment was moved out, so they came to Fiddler’s Cove and have to spend $70/night. Doesn’t make sense because they are parked on a pad and not connected to anything. Seems unfair.

Diane’s happy with her waterfront view.

The USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) left port today which made Diane very happy. She thinks all those ships should have left port more than once while we’ve been here, but the departures have been few and far between.

This is one of our neighbors, a very serious 5th Wheeler Camper from Minnesota.

Max begging for a snack. We had lasagna and he wanted some. I explained to him that he’s Mexican (Chihuahua), not Italian, but he doesn’t listen.

Diane had to do a little brain surgery on Max’s newest toys. He shook it hard once and emptied the head all over the floor.

That’s about it for now.