bobanddenisewanderlust

Saturday Sept. 28

We woke up to howling winds. It was 32 degrees and sunny. It would not have been bad if the wind had not been blowing. The forecast was for winds for the next three days. We watched the interstate and saw that the trucks were traveling, so we decided we would continue on our journey.

We drove out of the park at 8:30, driving east, with a tailwind. Most of the time Bob was able to go 55 ( speed limit 75). During one area he slowed down to 45 mph, but we really did not have any problems.

We stopped for a break and switched drivers. In Laramie, we turned southeast onto Hwy. 287. There seemed to be a lot of traffic on the highway. We did not remember all this traffic when we used this cut-off in the past. We decided it must be because it is Saturday.

In Ft. Collins, we started on I-25 south. There was a lot of traffic traveling south into Westminster. We could not see any flood damage from the interstate.

Arriving at the Elks Lodge, we found that there were only two open spaces in the 30 amp, FHU area. We chose one and parked. We were greeted by Paul and then Larella.  Marianna is the Camp Host this month, but she and Fred were gone out shopping. Larella was covering for her, but since it was us, they just said hi. If it had been strangers, it would have been different.

Marianna eventually came by and we chit chatted for awhile. They went to their storage unit to pick up a Grandfather clock that they are delivering to her brother, so Bob helped them put it into their motor home basement.

We ran down to the lodge to pick up our freezer. Clyde, the manager, had called us to let us know it was there and he wanted it out of the lodge ASAP. We brought it up to the motor home and Bob started unpacking it. It was full of the Styrofoam peanuts and the wind picked up, so he quickly closed the box back up. While he was helping with the clock, I picked up the peanuts which had flown out. We will have to wait until the wind settles down before we work on the freezer. So Bob covered the box with a tarp.

At 4 PM we went to happy hour. The dogs were beside themselves with joy! They love it here and could not wait to get to happy hour. When we set up our chairs the only people there were Marilyn and Jerry. Marilyn had on a scarf and baseball cap. She also had a bruise on her hand from an IV, so I asked what was going on. She had gone for her routine ten year colonoscopy and they found three polyps, two of which tested positive for Lymphoma. They also found that she has a Lymphoma tumor behind her left sinus, so she has started chemo. She had no symptoms!

Eventually, Ernie and Rayline arrived. They had gotten married in June. I asked about her knee replacement that she had in May prior to us leaving. She is doing well with that, but Ernie had a hernia before we left. He was going to have surgery right after we left. When they went to do the surgery they found that he did not have a hernia, he had Valley Fever, and the fungus grown so much it had pushed out the muscle. He lost his gallbladder, but did not have a hernia. He was placed on strong antibiotics and is doing well now!  The first time I had heard of Valley Fever was last winter in West Hills. It is not fun!

Everyone else seems to be doing well, except that there are two people on Hospice here. No surprise there, as both have been ill for a long time.  It seems that everyone comes to Denver for cancer treatments and this is a convenient place to stay for treatments.

At 5:15, we went back to the motor home, fed the dogs and met everyone down at the Lodge for dinner. Tonight was BBQ pork sandwiches with coleslaw and potato chips, $5. We had fun continuing to catch up with everyone.

Sunday, Sept. 29

We woke up to another bright and sunny day. The forecast is for 80 degrees. We did our usual Sunday chores and made our list of tasks we need to complete while in Westminster.

At 11 we went to Walmart to shop. We returned, ate lunch, then started on our ‘to do’ list. It was so nice out, we started working on the basement. Since we need to get the freezer into one of  the basement compartments, we started by cleaning that drawer. That took quite a while, since it was so dirty from all the dust on the trip. Finally, it was time to move the freezer. The wind had picked up,but it died down for about 1/2 hour, just in time for us to deal with the Styrofoam peanuts. We ended up using the dustpan and two large trash bags to move enough of the peanuts out., so that they could get the freezer out of the box.  We did not even attempt to get get all the peanuts out of the box. Once we uncovered the freezer, we moved it.

We placed the freezer into the basement, but since it had been on its side, Bob decided to let it sit overnight before starting it up. We cleaned up and went inside to watch the Redskin game. The game went through happy hour, so we skipped going today. We ate dinner and watched TV before going to bed.

Monday, Sept. 30

I went to my first Chiropractor appt. I have been having a big problem with my left hip and neck, so I have been looking forward to this visit. I returned to the motor home and we went to Costco to check the price of computers. I want a small powerful Dell laptop. They had one for $499, which has the touch screen. I really do not care about the touch screen, but they all seem to be coming with this add-on. The computer has a 15 inch screen, which is larger and heavier than I want. So we went to Best Buy. They hardly had anything. The same computer as at Costco was $899. While at Best Buy we stopped and tried to make an appt. with the Geek Squad. This Geek Squad has given up appointments based on consumer complaints. Hmmm, just what we said! If you don’t know you are going to purchase a computer, how will you know you need an appointment?

We returned to the motor home and I checked Dell and some other companies around Denver. I finally spent some time on a ‘chat’ with the Dell rep. Bob’s computer that he bought in May is out of production. It is basically what I am looking for. The alternatives were very expensive, at over $1000 or they there too big and heavy. So I finally gave up with the “chat rep”.

I checked Amazon and found Bob’s model online, new in the box. So I bought one online and am having it shipped to the Lodge.

Meanwhile, we both worked on our task list. The satellite is still not working correctly. It worked in Rawlins, but something is wrong. Bob has already spoken with Direct TV, who says it is the satellite. He spoke with King Dome, and they think it is the wiring. So he finally gave up and put out the portable satellite.

Bob also turned on the freezer. It still did not work in the basement. The plug that he is using works for the other freezer, but not for this one. So I suggested that we bring it inside the motor home and try the DC plug inside. Sure enough, it cooled right down to zero!

At 3:00, the Mary Kay lady arrived with my order. At 4 PM we went to happy hour. We bought up our issues and everyone said call Dan, the Elk who is an RV repair guy. After happy hour, we returned to the motor home and took everything out of the freezer above the refrigerator so that we can defrost it. We put everything into the new freezer, as it was keeping the low temperature. After dinner we cleaned the ice out of the refrigerator  freezer and restocked it with the food.

Now Bob took the basement freezer and connected it to AC for overnight, just to make sure that it is working well on AC.  Dan had called back and said that he does not work on these issues, so he recommended an RV repair service locally. Bob will be calling them tomorrow.

Tuesday, Oct. 1

Bob started the day by saying that he is so glad that he retired when he did, with the idiots in Congress who cannot get their act together. He is still angry about the furlough in 1995/96 where he did not get to work. At least then, he was given back pay for the days that he lost. That may not happen this time. He still hears from friends from work who have all been losing 1 day per week of work, due to the sequester, and now they may lose even more money.

We were out the door by 7 AM, heading to Quest Labs for our routine lab work. We arrived to find one couple already there. We were out of there by 8 AM and we went to breakfast at The Egg and I, a local breakfast/lunch place. We had a really nice breakfast.

We returned to the Elks Lodge and packed up the motor home. So many people have left that there was an opening in the 50 amp section. Ernie and Marianna has told us last evening at happy hour that we could move into one of the sites, so we moved this morning. That took about 1/2 hour, but now we have FHU 50 amp, for the rest of our stay here.  Since it is going to start getting cold, that is great. The Lodge cuts off the water to the 30 amp, FHU as soon as it gets to freezing, so we will still have water while we are here.  Although, we are on what is now called Death Row. It is where all the sick folks are located.

Once we were completely set up, Bob took the CRV to the car wash for the car to be detailed. It was horribly dirty. We had run through numerous car washes on the trip, but it really needed a detailing. The dust and dirty managed to get into all the ‘nooks and cranny’s’ in and on the car.

We went to Vision Works for our glasses. This is the local company which is in our insurance plan. We both had eye exams and are getting new glasses. They should arrive on Oct. 8.

We found out at happy hour that Rich, in the motor home next to us, went to the doctors today and was immediately hospitalized. He has been sick for about 2 years and has been hospitalized many times. Then we found out that Ernie had taken Rellene to the local urgent care, and they immediately sent her to the  hospital for her heart.

I had forgotten to take my phone with me to happy hour so I missed a call from the travel nurse agency. I have to call them back in the morning.

Wednesday, Oct. 2

We heard Mel and Thelma leave this morning at 7 AM. Two others left today also. The weather forecast is for snow on Friday, so we wish we could leave, but all of our doctor appointments are scheduled for next week.

I went to my second Chiropractor appt. and Bob started working on some of the items on the to do list. He checked the generator, the batteries, engine oil and engine coolant. When I returned I cooked the dog food. We ate lunch and I spoke with the travel agency. They have several positions in California—Oakland, Torrance, Clovis( Fresno) and another place we did not want. We talked about Clovis, but decided it was too far north and neither of us were excited about going there. Oakland has no close RV parks and Torrance is close to where we were last winter.  I sent an email to a company which has hospitals in Arizona, and 6 other states, and am waiting to hear back from them. I would be just as happy to do some seasonal work instead of travel nursing.

The electric went out in the park for about 1/2 an hour, so we just settled in and did nothing for awhile. We relaxed  and went to happy hour at 4. There was a new dog for our girls to meet so they were happy. We are having to keep Roxie on the leash, as the other day she spotted a rabbit and chased it all around the park. She has lost her off leash privileges!

At 5:45, we went to dinner at the Lodge. Bob had the steak and I had the pork loin. Both were good as usual. We sat with Marianna, Fred and Paul. Since the forecast is for snow on Friday, Marianna and Fred are leaving in the morning. They are heading to Arizona. Marianna will be working at the RV park that they stay in in Yuma, Sunset Desert. Fred works for Enterprise car rentals, ferrying cars around. They start work on the 15th .

Wednesday, Oct. 3

Happy Birthday Bob! I had another Chiropractor appt. We went to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Georges. After lunch, we took a nap. We went to dinner at Old Europe, our favorite German restaurant in this area. We did a whole lot of nothing today!

Thursday, Oct 4

We went to the storage unit and started moving my work clothes to the motor home. We moved enough clothing that we were able to close up one of our boxes. We have several, so we are going to get rid of this box. We brought the clothes back to the motor home and hung them up in the now bulging closet. I had to take over some of Bob’s space. I also took some of my summer clothes and put them away, which may be a problem when we get to Arizona.

The weather is changing and becoming cold and rainy, with snow tonight.

Friday, Oct. 5

Rainy, snowy, ugly start to the day. We did not have a anything here at the Elks, but at the slightly higher elevations, the snow was sticking to the ground and the cars. I went to my Chiropractor appt. this morning.

My new computer arrived at the Elks Lodge, so we took it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy. They cannot do the transfer until Monday, although the Geek( Scott) said that they may work on it over the weekend. 

We skipped dinner at the Lodge, and ate Halibut Chowder for dinner.

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