bobanddenisewanderlust

Saturday- We were out the door by 7:10 to drive to Mesa, about an hour away for the Alfa Owners breakfast meeting. We met up with friends there and had a nice breakfast at Golden Corral, spending time catching up on what is going on with our fellow Alfa RV’ers.

We drove home, walked the dogs, and took a nap. I had woken up at 3:30 AM, so it was definitely time for a nap. After I woke up, we walked the dogs and stopped in to see Linda and Mike who had just returned from visiting the grandkids in Las Vegas. The dogs were overwhelmed with joy that they were back, as they always get treats when they visit.

We returned home, ate dinner and finished season 4 of Game of Thrones.

Sunday- We were up early and went to Costco for gas, $1.75 gal, and to pick up some items. We stopped at Dollar Tree to pick up aluminum pans to use for meals.  We went to Walmart and picked up items for the next two weeks. We leave on Wednesday for Quartzsite. We are the Wagon Masters for the Roadrunner Rally and had to pick up some stuff to take with us.

We returned home, ate lunch, and watched the Redskin game. Oh well,  that was the end of the season!

We left at  5:40 to pick up Judy and Fred to go to dinner at Buca de Beppo. Linda and Mike would have gone, but Mike is sick. We had a great time and of course brought home leftovers. MaryAnne and Ray left to go to Quartzsite to visit with their friends in the Columbia River Escapees BOF. They will join us on Thursday.

Monday- We had a busy day. Bob would have taken the sheets and towels over to the laundry, but the water was out in that part of the park. I worked on some laundry at the MH, as we had water, and our hamper ‘runith over”.

I went to water aerobics at 9:15 while Bob worked on getting the outside of the MH ready for travel.

I returned and we ate lunch. We ran around doing some tasks and continued with laundry. We ate dinner at home, watched some TV and read.

Tuesday- We worked on getting the MH ready for travel, continuing to put items away and to secure them. I taught Mahjongg today with a whole group. Laura was there and she took one table and I took the other, with the students. The new folks are doing really well with playing.

I returned and we ran around again doing more tasks. Bob is working on getting a medication that he ran out of and had to talk to the MD office in Westminster for them to get a 30a day supply to Walmart and a 90 day supply to Caremark.

Bob had pulled his back, so he spent some time in the hot tub, then the recliner with the heating pad on his back while I walked the dogs.

Wednesday- Bob’s back is doing well. We did most of the final tasks to get the MH ready to leave. I went to one last water aerobics class. When I returned, and once I finished my nice long hot shower, the last one of those I will have for 2 weeks, we ate lunch.

Bob dumped the tanks and added water. He had taken down the satellite and packed up the chairs and grill. He had also checked the water in the batteries and added more distilled water.

Bob drove the MH out of our site and we stopped across the street in front of two of the park models. We did not think we would block anyone, but as soon as we started hooking up the MH, one of the ladies that we were blocking returned home and was waiting to get into her driveway. I walked over to her car and apologized. She was very nice about it and started unloading her groceries.

We worked as quickly as we could and drove out of her way as soon as possible. We left  the park, and drove south on I-101 to I-10 west. I drove the MH, as I become very nervous in cities. We went as far as the first rest area, where Bob took over driving.

We arrived in Quartzsite at a little after 4. We checked in at the BLM land welcome center, paying our $40 for two weeks. We will be staying exactly the two weeks; the first time we have done that.  We will be boondocking the entire time, which means we are living completely off the grid. Now the challenge is to make sure that we maintain enough water and don’t fill up the tanks. It takes a lot of planning! If we cannot make it, we can go to La Posa South( we are in La Posa North)  and dump and take on water, but that is a lot of work and there are long lines!

We drove out the 1.7 miles to the turn for the Alfa Roadrunners. We were greeted by John and Lee and  Dale and Susan,  who had arrived about 30 minutes before we arrived. There were two other RV’s here.

We decided where to park, then started setting up. We are in a nice flat area, in the center, as we are the Wagon Masters. Bob started setting up the satellite and had a problem getting it pointed towards the right satellite. Dale and John came over to assist and they finally had it working.

We ate left over Bucca de Beppo for dinner, that we re-heated in the microwave. We have to run the generator when using the microwave. Washing dishes is different. I heated about 2 cups of water in the microwave, then washed the silverware and containers that we are keeping, along with the dog bowls. We then can throw away the ‘gray’ water out into the desert. We cannot empty our tanks, but can throw away the ‘gray’ water from a container.

We watched TV and ran the generator for an hour before bedtime. At about 7, Ray called. MaryAnne had been bitten by an insect and he had pulled out a stinger. She was in a lot of pain and her hand was swelling. MaryAnne has an autoimmune disease, so we were concerned! I told him to give her Benadryl ( if she is allowed to have it), put on some antibiotic cream, and ice the swelling. I told him if the swelling increased, if she developed red streaks, or she started to have difficulty breathing, they should head for the hospital. That is 34 miles away, so they may have needed to call for the 911 personnel. This was after 7 and the Urgent Care had closed.

They were not sure what had stung her. Because of the stinger, they did not think it was a scorpion. Plus it was on the bar next to the door, which she had grabbed with her hand while entering her MH.

At about 8:20, I called to check on her. She was much better and was now able to talk to me. They had gotten some Benadryl from another RV’er and she was feeling better. She was still icing. They found a bee, which is odd, since it is so cold and it was after dark. MaryAnn lived and the bee died!  Now she just has to worry about whether it sets off her autoimmune disease.

Here is a picture of our sunset in the desert this evening.

Thursday- Brrrr, it was 34 degrees when we woke up. We can’t let the hydro hot freeze, so we started the generator and ran the hydro hot on diesel. We could also run the heat on propane. We let the MH warm up before we got out of bed. By that time, the temp had dropped to 33 degrees! We were nice and cozy under the covers. We have a sheet, the electric blanket( we use the electric blanket to warm the bed before we get into bed, but we cannot use it on the inverter), the quilt and the duvet over us, plus two dogs snuggling, so it was nice and warm.

We dressed quickly and ate breakfast. We put on the dogs jackets since it was so cold, and Bob walked them. The dogs decided it was too cold, they did their business, then they dragged Bob back the MH! LOL

Bob continued to set up outside, getting out our chairs, putting the shades on the front of the MH, and unloading the firewood from the car.

By 9:24, it was 40 degrees, with  not a cloud in the sky, so it was warming up quickly. The  high is supposed to be 64 degrees.

I was outside talking with Susan and Lee when the phone rang. It was Ray. They were at the Urgent Care and they had an hour wait. MaryAnne was having difficulty breathing, so I hopped into the car and raced over there. 

I arrived and they took her right in after they saw me assessing her. This is not really an Urgent Care. It was more of a “Minute Clinic” like at the local grocery store or drug store. No physician, there was a Nurse Practitioner and no equipment.

He examined MaryAnne and decided that she needed to be sent by ambulance to the hospital in Parker. He could not do an Epinephrine shot, as they do not have a cardiac monitor. I would think that they should not be able to call this place an Urgent Care, as the definition is that you have a physician and can do ‘urgent care’. He described the place as a ‘bandaid’ facility. Yup, about what it was!

So they called 911, and they arrived with lights and siren. While we were waiting for them to come, I went and moved the car so that Bob could pick it up. MaryAnne had asked for me to go with her. Ray took off and went to get some items at their MH, like the phone charger and the bee.

MaryAnne has an autoimmune disease, which reacts to any stressors. Getting bitten by the bee last evening set off a chair reaction and she had shortness of breath, a rash, and muscle spasms and pain. She felt and looked awful!

So we had a 45 minute ambulance ride to the local hospital in Parker( no lights or sirens, as she was stable). The Nurse Practitioner had given her a steroid shot, which helped with the rash. The oxygen helped with her breathing.

The MD looked her over, gave her some prescriptions and Ray drove us home. What a waste! If they had an actual Urgent Care, they would have given her some Epinephrine, monitored her, and then discharged her home, saving an ER visit. Our crazy mixed up health care system!!

We stopped at McDonalds in Parker for lunch, before heading home, as it was 2 PM and none of us had eaten.

Meanwhile, back at the MH, we had a water leak from the cold water inlet to the water heater. Bob and Dale had been working under the MH all day. They ran into town and picked up some parts, replaced those, and it still leaked. They left it for tomorrow, with Bob supposed to put some sealant on it in the morning. So we did not run the water pump, except for a couple of very short times.

I arrived home and spoke with some folks who had arrived. Susan and I ran out and put up the signs to direct people to our camping area, since the guys were all tied up.

I cooked a casserole for dinner and we went out to enjoy the campfire. Here is a picture of the fire and sunset.

We came in at about 7:30, watched TV, ran the generator, and went to bed.

Friday- It as 43 degrees when we woke up, and quickly climbed into the 60’s.

Here was our sunrise this morning.

Bob put the sealant on the area of the water heater and it has worked, so far. While he was doing that, I ran into town to pick up some holders for the table cloths. I used to have about 8, and only have 4 now.

I checked for a satellite person, and got a phone number for Bob to call. He was done with the MH before I got back. Linda had also sent us the name of someone who does roof mount satellite installations. He left messages in both places.

We ate lunch, then I worked on the Itinerary for the week. Susan reviewed it and we made copies to give to everyone. I also put tomorrow’s schedule onto an erasable board and put the board out.

I also worked on getting reservations in Florida. The state park we want to make a reservation for in the Keys is already completely booked. Huh, I could not get in two weeks ago and now it is booked. So I made a reservation at a private park in Key West. $130 per night! It is a pre-registration, and I have until March to cancel when they call with the final price. Needless to say, we will not be staying there for as long as we originally wanted to stay.

MaryAnne and Ray finally arrived, after stopping to dump and take on water. Then the winds picked up. They were bad this morning while we were still in bed, but had settled down. About 2:30 they were howling again and the MH was rocking!

At about 3, Ray knocked on the door to let Bob know that the satellite had fallen over. So Bob had to go out and try to set it back up again in the wind. Unless the wind stops, no campfire this evening! 

The wind finally died down and we went outside for a campfire. We came back in a little after 8, as the it had become cold.

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