Ralph and Marie Winter 2008: February 2008

Yuma,Arizona & Mexico Feb. 20th to 25th

Feb.20th

We said goodbye to Golden Village Palms and Hemet. We were off to Yuma, Arizona at 9:00am.
It rained heavily through the mountains until we passed the windmills at Palm Springs. We traveled south along the Salton Sea and had lunch in El Centro. We headed east on I-8 along the Mexican border---lots of border patrols, fences, and RV's boon-docking on the desert.
The Algodones dunes are unbelievable mountains of sand. We arrived at Windhaven RV resort at 3:00pm. We have a nice spot in the smaller campground of 140 sites.

Feb. 21th

Warmer night and morning. We toured around Old Town Yuma and lots of RV resorts. We stopped by and visited with Al and Dianne Benner from Calgary. There are fields and fields of lettuce,peppers,cauliflower,etc. being harvested by bus loads of Mexican workers. John and Lynda's friends from Calgary, Bryant and Marion McFarland visited us in the late afternoon.

Feb.22nd

We went to the Canada Picnic at Joe Henry Park in Yuma. We met the McFarlands there--over 600 Canadians attended. Later we stopped at the Benner's resort and went to Hunters Steakhouse restaurant for dinner. After dinner we played Pegs and Jacks in the Benner's 38ft.motorhome. A bit windy today.

Feb.23rd

We went to the free Yuma Marine Air show and military aircraft display from 9:00am to 3:00 pm. The Yuma Marine Corp is the most active in the U.S.A. The air show was impressive--marching bands,hand to hand combat demos,ground artillary displays,lots of info booths and soldiers. In the air there were parachuters,wing walkers,precision flying aircraft,F-16's,tomcats,re-fueling demos. The most impressive was the Harrier jet--vertical landing and take-off ,hovering,backing up and flying like a jet. They had a jet car that reached speeds of 360 miles per hour. Woh!!! what a show. In the 30 Deg. C temperatures we all got a sun burn. There were over 4,000 people at the show. In the evening we played crib in the banquet room at the Benner's resort.

Feb. 24th

Up early to go to the Yuma Swap Meet (over 900 stalls). We almost shopped until we dropped.
Great bargains,very clean and organized. Thank goodness it was all under a tent roof because the temperature was up to 30 Deg. again. We met some people from Amherst ,Nova Scotia a couple of spots down from us.

Feb. 25th

We picked up the Benner's at 9:00 am and the six of us drove 20 min to Algodones,Mexico.
Lots of shops,bartering and bargains. We had delicious shrimp and fish tacos for lunch. The Pacifico beer tasted very good on a hot day. We left our truck on the California side and walked across the Mexican border. Coming back to the U.S.A. we were in a 2 hour walking line-up. We got through the border at about 6:30 pm. We went for burgers and got home at about 8:30pm. We have been so busy we have hardly spent any time at the resort.We are finally getting to do the blog tonight.We love hearing from you.Keep in touch.

Palm Springs & Hemet--Feb.17-19

Feb.17

We left at 9am with the Brook's for Palm Springs.We met the Regan's at the College of the Palms Street Fair.It is a nice clean fair but very crowded today.We bought a lounging chair,etc.We left the Regan's and drove through Palm Desert,Indian Wells,LaQuinta on our way to the Salton Sea.It is a large salt lake 228 feet below sea level.The ground is white from the salt for miles.There are lots of orchards and palm date farms.We stopped for a tasty date shake at Thermal.We arrived at the Sands RV Resort at 4pm and visited with Brian and Shirley at their campsite.After great appetizers and drinks,Brian bbq'ed hamburgers.Their friends Elaine and Ian joined us.We got back to our resort at 8:30pm.Hot 27 deg.C.

Feb.18

Ralph dropped our truck off at the Chevy dealership at 7:30am and had it back by noon(filter and sensor were replaced).I did some laundry and packed up around the 5th wheel.Warm 24deg.C but cooled off late afternoon.I had a nap while the others went to the driving range.We played shuffleboard in the evening. Very foggy.

Feb.19

Because of the rain today we cancelled golfing at Echo Hills with Ron and Marlene Annala.Ralph and John went over to say goodbye to them.We went shopping at the Hemet Mall And Target.Cool dreary day.Jack and Marlyne Garlough (from Leduc and our next door neighbors here) invited us for a delicious dinner.Their friends Jim and Sharon were invited too.Jack and Marlyne are fun people.

Photos--Temecula,Swap Meet & Legion--Feb13-16

PHOTOS--Golden Palms Resort,Hemet

PHOTOS--San Diego & area--Feb.'08

Oceanside

Happy Valentine's---Feb.13th to 16th

Feb. 13th

We drove to Costco in Temecula at 9:30 am. We bought some beer and a couple of director's chairs. We browsed around Old Town Temecula-- the quilt shop,home made chocolate store and antique shops with everything from soup to nuts.Lunch was good too. We spent a couple of hours at the Pechanga Resort and Casino(largest in California). It was massive and luxurious. Lynda won $50.00 but the rest of us left our money behind. It started to get very windy on the way home.

Feb.14th

It rained all night and day. I did some laundry and pampered myself with a pedicure($15) and new nails($23).Cheap! We took a taxi to the San Jacinto American Legion for BBq steak dinner and Valentine 's dance($8.00). A jug of beer was $4.50 and the karoke singers were good. Lots of fun.

Feb. 15th

Sunny and 16 Deg. C. I enjoyed the afternoon taking pictures around the resort and some reading. Just down the street from us are two baby hummingbirds. We played shuffleboard in the evening.

Feb. 16th

Our truck died. The fuel sensor blew out of the fuel filter(a common problem according to the local dealer--glad it happened at our campsite). Ralph is taking the truck to the Chev dealer on Monday. We went to a Swap Meet near Winchester with the Brook's.Interesting things to see! Lynda and I had a tasty tamale for lunch. Warm afternoon 20 Deg. C. We are going to play floor shuffleboard tonight.