Made It To Corning About.............

noon today. Weather nice when we got here; but, forecast for cold, wind and rain for the next several days so we busted our butts getting as much stuff unpacked as we could. Still got a lot more to do; but, will take our time between rain showers. Maybe it'll rain hard enough to wash the bugs off the M/H????

No surprises when we got home..........no water leaks, everything seems to be working and only had one breaker tripped. It's COLD for us and looks like it'll get colder.

We finally called it quits and went to the casino for a bite to eat and to get our gambling "fix". The casino paid for our dinner and both of us left with a little bit of the casino money! Of course, they'll probably get it back with interest.

Got the internet satellite going and all the channels working on DISH so we'll just kick back and hole up when the rains hit. Local gas price is $3.12 a gallon...........welcome back to California!

Later. W&B

Baseball Today...........

got up kinda early and took in Bryce's game. WOW.....it was COLD sitting in the grandstands. "B" and I visited our favorite Woodland diner before the game........biscuits and gravy still very good. Gonna give them another visit tomorrow morning before we head toward Corning.

After the ball game Becky and Rhonda went a "shopping".........again. At least I think they went shopping; however, Becky didn't come home with any bags of goodies. While they went shopping I headed for the Cache Creek Casino to get my "fix". Played the machine a loooong time on $20.00 and finally the slot figured I had enough fun and it scoffed up my money. On the way to the door and I made another stop, hit a bonus after a couple of spins and the machine spit out $57.00. That put me $17.00 ahead so I left

Friday we had a steak dinner at Rhonda and Steves.......we brought the "beef" and Steve grilled 'em up to perfection and Rhonda did the fixins. Tonight we headed back to their house and Steve's Mom and Dad, sister and kids and other friends joined us for a scrumptous dinner. Becky was pooped so we headed home early and she's already crashed. I don't even think she got any farming in. I'm still up 'cause I dozed while watching the tube and now I'll probably be up until after midnight.

Just checked the weather for the coming week..............looks like we came back too early. Tomorrow and Monday should be OK and then the forecast calls for rain for the next several days. Guess we'll be busting our buns to get the M/H unloaded, toy (Rhino) put away and other stuff done before rains arrive.

All for now. W&B

Welcome To California................

we just paid $3.35 for a gallon of gas at the Shell Station, Harris Ranch. Fortunately the M/H will make it to Woodland where I can fill it up at Costco.........it's gotta be cheaper than $3.35. Of course we're on the I-5 corridor so guess they can charge about whatever they want to. Just before we pulled onto I-5 west of Bakersfield Becky saw a station where gas was $3.79 a gallon.

Made a bunch of phone calls yesterday trying to find someone who had tires for the trailer. Finally found one place who had them in stock so we stopped this morning and had two new tires installed on the trailer. About a $180 for two little bitty tires! Spendy stop in Barstow; but, at least we gotter done so no more concern about tires.

We're parked in the Harris Ranch parking lot where we'll spend the night. Got the little generator running, my MTV on line and the air card is working great and I just had an EXCELLENT filet mignon cooked to perfection. Baked potato wasn't as hot as it should have been when it arrived but overall a great meal. Spendy though. Fortunately, I had a "cheap date" who ordered a chicken fried steak that cost half of what mine did...........and she's got enough left over for lunch tomorrow.

Well, will check email and then post this so Becky can get her "farming" done. On to Woodland tomorrow when ever we get up........less than 200 miles to go so we're in no hurry.

Later. w&b

Geez......Crap!.......More Problems........

We started out from Quartzsite and the damn red light and buzzer for the jacks were back on............rear jacks not completely retracked. Finally fiddled with that, jacks all the way back up; but red light still on and NO buzzer. Said the heck with it we'd just go. Drove a bit and light went off. Won't be using the jacks any more this trip.

Things going OK until we get about 35 miles from Barstow. Becky on CB and tells me I have a flat tire on the trailer. Stop, check it out........not flat but the tread is peeling away. Find a safer place to stop and put on the spare. It doesn't look to be too good either.

Make it to Barstow and I must have called half a dozen tire places looking for this odd sized tire for the trailer. Finally find a guy who who two in stock so will stop by his place on the way out of town and have two new ones installed. The tread tore right through the plywood floor but can't see any other damage. Need to install new plywood anyway.

We're settled in at the Marine Corps RV park, I made a run to commissary and picked up some pork chops and stuff so Becky just informs me that they are ready.

All for now. W&B

Finally Got Out of Yuma Today.........But.....

long after we intended. Packed up the last few items, stowed away the satellite dishs and we got ready to leave. Cranked up the M/H and the A/C fan wouldn't come on. Checked for blown fuses or tripped breakers (actually I didn't know exactly where to look.......but found none). Called the dude who installed the CB and suggested that maybe he disconnected something when he installed the CB. He didn't think so; but, said he'd be out to check it out. Waited an hour, called him back..........said he got busy. Told him the hell with it and I'd just run the generator and use the roof air. Finally left............got about 50 miles up the road, stopped waiting for pilot car through construction area. Buzzer sounds, panel for hydraulic jacks is blinking and red light on dash ses jacks are down. I didn't touch anything. Stepped outside, jacks are up but buzzer still buzzing and lights still blinking. Found a place to turn around and called RV World. Said they'd call me back. I said the hell with that and I would be arriving at their shop in about an hour. Made it to the service area, talked to service manager and he said I could wait until a technician would be available..........maybe an hour or more. Told him I'd wait. Technician shows up. In the meantime I call Winnebago and they suggest that hydraulic fluid is low for jacks. I tell technician what Winnebag suggested and he agreed..........filled with fluid. Jacks, lights and buzzer are OK.

Told him A/C fan wouldn't come on. He spent about an hour checking things out and I told him that CB was recently installed and maybe the dude disconnected something. He checks out wiring and finds the blower ground wire was off.........had been cut and never reattached. Grounded blower wire and everything works. He fixed. I call CB Dude and tell him he has a bill coming. He accepts and tells me to have RV World bill him. Over 2 hours later we leave RV World. Technician said he wouldn't blow the whistle on the CB dude. I didn't even inquire about a bill...............gate was open so I just left. CD dude probably still thinks he has a bill coming............I decided that I wouldn't tell him that he didn't have a bill.

Getting late so we had dinner at the Day Breaker and then headed for Quartzsite. We originally had planned to stay at the Avi Casino in Laughlin............since we only made it to Quartziste I figure we saved some money so here we are parked in the desert a few miles north of QZ. Air Card is working great and Becky finally lets me use it after "farming" for a couple of hours.

Dome for the satellite TV is working; but, can only get the 119 satellite..............at least I got my MTV. Nice to push a button and wait a few minutes while the dome finds the correct satellite. Would have been nicer if I could connect with both satellites..............but I won't complain too much.

Tomorrow we'll head for Barstow and get back on schedule. I think it'll be around 245 miles so will be just a nice little drive and we can stop early. Plan to stay at the Marine Corps Base in Barstow if they have a vacancy.............otherwise I think we can just park and dry camp beside the RV Park.

Nice drive to Quartzsite and the desert is really green and refreshing. Rains did good!

Gotta stay up another hour and then I can fill the little Honda generator and it'll run all night long.

More later from further down the road if the air card is working in Barstow. Here we are north of QZ and we're getting great download and upload speeds from the little air card..........but in Yuma Sprint still hasn't installed 3G equipment. That really sucks; but, the Sprint Office ses they're "working on 3G" and it should up and running shortly. Hopefully, by the time we get back in Oct/Nov.

All for now..........hope our problems are out of the way and we have smooth sailing the rest of the way. Weather looks like it'll be good rest of the trip. W&B

It's A Hot Monday.............

and we're getting closer to departure time. Got a guy coming in this afternoon to run a "power" line for me so I can use the CPAP off the coach batteries. I tired to tap into the 12v light wires but couldn't get enough juice to run the CPAP so figured I let the pro handle the problem. He should get here in a hour or so and then hope it doesn't take him too long to fix the problem.

Gotta tear down the satellite dish later today so no more internet...........well, I shouldn't say that 'cause we do have a Sprint Air Card; but, it's slower than a 67 year old Granny. It works fine when we're in a 3G area...............unfortunately Yuma ain't so.

The A_ _ H_ _ _ who started working on my KVH dome for television never came back to complete the work despite numerous phone calls and emails. Lucky for me I didn't pay him. The system will probably still work for one satellite............just won't be able to toggle between the two satellites that DISH uses. Anyway, I still got my portable dish so will still have my MTV.

Leaving "early" (translation........whenever we get up) tomorrow and heading for Laughlin. First stop in about 235 miles. Then a stop in Barstow, then Harris Ranch and we should pull into Woodland Friday afternoon. Take in the twerp's baseball game, I'm assuming he has one on Saturday, and then breakfast at our favorite diner and head for Corning sometime on Sunday.

Got an appointment to see a local doctor and will get a referral to see Ortho surgeon. Still wanna make it to Washington in June so will try to schedule knee fix about mid July. Then we should be ready and raring to continue our travels towards the end of summer.

Been watching weather reports and it looks like clear sailing all the way to Woodland.

Later. W&B

St. Paddyricks Day Arrived and Nearly Gone..........

.....time to get off the roads. I had to go downtown today to pick up some papers from the docs office so we stopped at the casino..........what else is new? I managed to leave with some of their money for a change and even Becky won a couple of bucks. Luck of the Irish..........and we're NOT. They had corned beef and cabbage on the menu at the restaurant; but, too early to eat..........even though someone was whining all day long for CB&C.

Stopped at Home Depot and picked up a few goodies and then started home. Getting closer to CB&C so we stopped at the Ranch House..........walked in and were greeted with a big sign that said "Out of Corned Beef". We were asked if we had a "reservation" for a nearly empty restaurant.....told them to forget it and moved on. Next stop......Applebees.......we were greeted with a big "Happy St. Paddys Day" sign..........asked them if they had CB&C. The greeter looked at us like we were a little nutso and then she said "that's not on the menu". Next stop.........a truck stop, the Daybreaker Cafe..........the line waiting to get in reminded me of the line at a Cat House on payday night. We moved on again and this time to Parrish's Restaurant and Bar. We found a line similar to the Daybreaker. Passed a Chinese Restaurant and figured that CB&C wouldn't be on their menu..........passed a Mexican Restaurant and came to same conclusion as Chinese Restauant. One last restaurant to try before we ran out of them............the Foothills Eatery. No lines waiting so we ordered the CB&C. Had salad, soup and a large platter of potatoes, cabbage, carrots and some other stuff. The CB was sliced paper thin and the cook apparently wasn't in a "giving" mood as the portion of CB wasn't too great. It did have a good flavor and there was enough other stuff to fill up with. Also had some desert that was included in the dinner...........less than $20.00 for two dinners so guess we shouldn't complain too much.

Next year............I'll just go to the grocery store and "B" can concot her own CB&C.

Gotta get serious about packing stuff up tomorrow as the "heat" seems to have arrived. We got home about an hour ago and I've still got the A/C running.

All for now. W&B

Made It Through Sunday.............

OK and looking forward to having things heat up a bit this week. Will be alright if we can maintain a bit of a breeze; but, what the heck.......better than rain or snow.

Decided that we'd be heading North on the 23rd and should arrive in Woodland sometime Friday afternoon. Spend a couple of overnights there and then drive to Corning on Sunday. Gotta get back before the 31st as I got a note from the casino that I have $25.00 of free slot play if I can use it before the end of March.

Got a lot of junk to pack up and a few other things to take care before we leave. Might have to go look for a longer trailer for the Rhino and other stuff we've accumulated..........well probably not; but, a little larger trailer would be OK. Figure if I pack up a little bit every day this week we should be good to go when the 23 rolls around. We'll be making about 3 overnight stops here and there. Don't think we'll be driving much over a couple of hundred miles a day to get to Woodland. That's OK 'cause we like to stop early in the day. Considered stopping in Las Vegas for an overnight; but, figured we'd help the economy in Laughlin instead. After that no more casinos until we get home.

Got the M/H washed and waxed for $134.00...........can't beat that price. The guys washed it and started waxing and I asked why they weren't waxing the roof.............one of the guys said they don't do that unless I wanted to pay extra........how much I ask and the on-site boss said "$60.00". I called his boss and he said they'd wax the roof for an extra $34.00.......or a dollar a foot. So got that done too.

Still waiting for the dude to come and finish up with the satellite dish for the TV. He had to get an extra part and figured he'd be calling me back before the end of the week. May have to give him a call tomorrow.

Other than eating out and gambling.........we haven't done much of anything else. Would like to do a little caching before we leave to help increase the numbers; but, no big deal if we don't get out. Don't want to do much more walking than I have too.

That's it for us. Later. W&B

Saw the Ortho Doc Today.............

and he asked me what the problem was.......(dumb question (?) as he had the results of my MRI in his hand). Told him that I was told that I had torn the tendon in right knee. No, he ses and shows me the results of the MRI. Seems that I further damaged whatever cartilage was left in my knee. Gave me a bunch of medical terms and had xrays taken of my knee while standing. He then showed me the xrays and pointed out where the new damage was done and also where there was no cartilage left. Send only fix was a total knee replacement. He then went into his spiel about what to expect for knee replacement. Told him I was heading back North in a couple of weeks so he said we could do it when I get back or see another surgeon at home.

So, guess we'll be heading back around the 24th and I'll start the whole process all over again with another surgeon. Will be a little easier at home...........have to climb six steps in M/H and we'd be here when things start to "heat up" so will head home instead.

In the meantime, I'm getting around much better and at least I can drive home without any problems. So that's where we stand right now.

Will start getting things ready to leave a little at a time so should have no problems leaving when the 24th rolls around.............maybe even sooner. Time will tell.

Weather great and we're expected to reach low 80s this weekend. All for now. W&B

Tuesday.........

and the dude showed up to hook up my CB and install antenna. Well, it's working; but, not too well. I've got am/fm speakers installed in the dash and when the CB antenna was installed he had to route the coax right past the speaker. End result, I get feedback from the speaker whenever I key the CB. The guy must have spent another hour trying to find a "fix" but he finally gave up. He disconnected the speaker and I still have feedback. He said the only fix was to completely remove the speaker. I told him I'd live with the feedback through the speaker so he gave me a discount on the install price and was very apologetic that he couldn't come up with a solution. After he left I played with the radio and CB and found that if I had the radio turned on with a very low volume I could key the CB and the feedback was eliminated! At least that seems to work while I'm just sitting here. Will have to give it the "acid" test when I hook up the CB in the Suzy.

Becky did the domestics (laundry) today while I watched the CB install and then we spent the rest of the day at home. Wind really picked up today so didn't feel like doing anything else anyway. Temps rising the rest of the week and we might be in the low 80s by weekend time.

I'm getting my days and nights mixed up again..........sleeping in too late and then not going to bed until the week hours of the morning. Think I watched the tube until past 0200 this morning and it looks like it'll be another night like that. Hope to get back on schedule when I'm moving around better.

All for now. W&B

Monday Gets Here.............

after a rather soggy Sunday. Woke up Sunday morning to go to the Geocaching Breakfast and the rain was steadily beating up on the roof of the M/H so we just figured the breakfast would do fine without us........rolled over and went back to sleep. Finally, weather showed signs of clearing up later Sunday afternoon so we headed down to the Marine Base to pick up some grub at the commissary. Got about two miles from the base when it decided to start raining and then hail came tumbling down. Cars were pulling over to the side of the road; but, we were dumb enough to keep driving. Some nice hunks of hail came down; but, not big enough to do any damage to the car. Checked the weather report today and found that we had .89 inches of rain. Rainfall for the year is 3.75 and thats already .75 over the annual rainfall for Yuma.

Knee is starting to feel better and I'm getting around the M/H without crutches........just using a cane when we go out; but, still not walking too far. Did manage to go to the casino today.........big mistake 'cause all the money I won a few days ago went back to them...........plus my weekly allowance.

Got a KVH dome on the M/H for television; but, haven't been able to figure it out. Finally got a guy out here to check it out and he found everything was working; but, it was programmed to go out and search for Directway satellites. He gave me a phone number for another guy who is able to reprogram the unit for Dishnetwork. That Dude showed up today; but, he still has some more work to do and a part to order so will be back toward the end of the week. It'll be nice to just push a button and have the television up and running. Will probably cost me an arm and a leg though. I'll still haul the portable dish around.

Also found someone to install a CB antenna and my old CB in the M/H. He'll be out tomorrow and get that done. Getting closer to heading back North. Will see what the Doc ses about the old knee on Thursday and hopefully we'll be heading out of here around the 25th.

Later. W&B

Super Weather This Week...........

and here I am, mostly stuck close to home, although Larry stopped by yesterday and we managed to snag a few of the recently placed caches on the Bombing Range. Just kicking back until I can see the Ortho Surgeon on Thursday of next week. Knee doing a little better and I guess it should since it's been over two weeks since I messed it up.

Suzannah, Sandy, Frank and us were out for dinner yesterday for a little early celebration of the old fellows upcoming BD. They left early this morning (or at least as soon as Frank could get the ladies moving) for a geocaching event in the Case Grande area. Unfortunately, we couldn't make it to that one. We did a couple of years ago and it's a first class event........maybe we can go to the next one.

"Midnight at the Oasis" is in town this weekend and lottsa old classic cars are in town for this mini version of Reno's "Hot August Nights". Gotta check where they'll be holding their Show and Shine for the next couple of days and then check out the route for their parade. Not as many cars as there are in Reno; but, there's a lot of nice ones in town.

Well, getting a little tired of watching the tube so might drive downtown later and check things out. Later. W&B

Finally Got A Call From Doctor's Office...........

today, after I called them. Nurse threw some medical terms at me and I asked what the heck that was...........she said MRI shows that I have a torn tendon in the knee. Told me to call the orthopedic surgeon's office.........I did and they said they could see me on the March 18. I whined and they found an opening on March 11. Treatment depends on what the Ortho Doctor determines.

In the meantime, stay off leg, take pain meds as needed, brace might help......in other words there's nothing to be done until Ortho Doctor sees me.

Guess if I were a World Class Athlete I might be placed on a higher priority! Will just have to wait and see what happens on the 18th.

All for now. W