Sunny Days Are Here Again

 And that's the reason why we, and so many others, are spending winters in the south. The warm days, the rising sun every day, the relaxation we can afford here, it's worth the long drive and the thousands of dollars we spend in this country every year, despite of an unfortunate currency exchange rate, though that might change in the coming year, when the US-Dollar will decrease in value as we will see a recession coming up.

Probably the oldest RV place in Yuma. You look for something vintage, gone out of production, you can strike gold here

Enough of this, today we went to town to spend more of our dollars. Temps were rising to 28C (82F) and it was a rather hot experience. Wallymart was packed with shoppers, so was the Goodwill-Store. 

So the last items I had on my list were left at the Home Depot. Just had to get back to our peaceful spot in the desert. The ride across the dunes is always a special experience, especially when you live at the ocean.

A special landscape with its own beauty - no doubt.

Taking in on this special transport on the Interstate

The afternoon was spent with a cool drink in the shade of the rig. Ah - life is good as our friend from Saskatchewan used to say. (Never forgot it Bob!)

Still looking green - East Mesa

Occupying myself

As if I had to numb the powerlessness, the disappointment, and fight down a feeling of despair, I made this day a busy day. I had to occupy myself to avoid a depression, telling myself, "I am Canadian, I am not part of this country, I can ignore, I can survive. I have to concentrate on the positive things, our life, my wife and our dear dog. We are here on our winter vacation and to enjoy the warm weather and our friends.

Unfortunately, I also learned today that a bunch of Canadians here had a victory party to celebrate the Trump win. How dare they! How tasteless, how ignorant, how unbelievably dumb!

But good to know to avoid these people.

So what did I occupy myself with?

We started the day with a nice and early doggy walk. So refreshing to breathe the clear and cool morning air!

Later I took our propane stove from the van and mounted it on our auto trailer. With it I cooked a nice marinated pork filet. It turned out delicious. And I cooked a complete dinner with it. Super yummy!

I also took all our tie-down straps which had been in a heap back in the van, rolled them up neatly and tucked them away into a milk crate.

This pull-out tray makes stowing away things much easier

At around 11am I got a call from a tire place in town that they had received a van tire I had ordered. So after lunch I drove to town to get the tire mounted. Back in camp I put the wheel where it belonged, up under the rear of the van.

When going to town, I also dropped into a donut place and got 2 chocolate glazed delicacies, then onto the Dollar General for a new gallon of milk.

The day came to an end with another doggy walk. Underway we met a dear friend from Alberta who had arrived just the evening prior. Being a real true Canadian he expressed his opposition to the result of the US election and we stood around and talked about it for a while.

It does get dark early here. At 4:30pm daylight is almost gone. So time to stow away things outside and cozy up in our motorhome, which we now enjoy a lot.

Within the next 2 weeks more people will show up in camp and it will get more busy here.

Dixie found a great place under a bush. Here she sleeps many hours

The Day Many Are Grieving About

The Plumber Showed Up - We Got A New Faucet - But No Water From It

I have always maintained that Plumbing and Electrical work are two areas I should stay away from. I'm not too bad with woodworking but as soon metal becomes involved I'm calling for help.

So Plumber Derek from Affordable RV Repairs in Quartzsite came right on time, and he had a new faucet with him. It took him one hour only to install the new faucet, something I would have needed a day for it and probably would have gotten blood flowing from my hands. (not kidding here)

When it was time to test the system, I turned on the water pump. We waited, and waited.....and waited. The only thing coming out of the new faucet were a few droplets.

WHAT?????

Left, the new faucet - right, the tap for filtered water - both fed from the same water line

Now, besides of the new faucet is a little tap from where filtered water was actually running. The basic waterline is the same as to the regular faucet, but it just branches off to the filter. So how could it be that there was water from the little tap, but not from the main faucet?

Plumber Derek didn't know it either and so we checked around for some shut-offs, but found nothing. Now, there was also water in the bathroom faucet, but not from the faucet in the toilet room. The shower, however, showed full pressure! Very mystical!

But at least we could have the water pump running and didn't have to carry water around the rig.

So, this morning we were packing up to take on the last 2.5hrs from Quartzsite to Holtville,CA. Before leaving the area we topped up our water tank.

Had a great morning ride and arrived in Holtville mid-morning local time.

There I started the water pump to wash my hands. As soon as the water was flowing I heard Bea shouting from the kitchen: There is water here!

Ready set up at the Holtville Hot Springs LTVA

WHAT???

Sure enough, the new kitchen faucet had sprung to life and was producing a steady stream of water. However, the faucet in the toilet room is still mute. What in the world is going on???

Now you know why plumbing is not a favorite occupation of mine.