Sunday, March 9th
We are back on the road again!! Our nine days in San Diego was just too short! We really miss the church family and the good friends we have that we see on a regular basis while we’re there. But we DO have wheels on our house, and it is time to start thinking about returning to our summer home in the Black Hills.
I was able to get down to South San Diego and have lunch with my old SDPD partner, Carl Maupin. Carl has taken on the responsibility of being the property manager of one of the newest and largest shopping centers in San Diego. He obviously has a lot of fun in his work and enjoys the routine of the daily challenges. I told him he needs to think about retiring and relaxing before his age and health catch up to him, but he still insists that he enjoys his work and the responsibilities that accompany the job. And Danny Hollister, one of my SDPD sergeants, dropped by on his BMW motorcycle. We had a good talk and got all caught up on the “haps” at the Department.
On Wednesday morning, the 5th, we packed the coach and left the church about 9:30. It was tough saying goodbye to Pastor Harvey Throop and Janice, my favorite secretary. They have become close friends and we’ll miss them both. We pulled out onto I-8 headed east and immediately encountered some northerly crosswinds. We drove over the mountains and down to the desert floor where the winds continued. We simply slowed down to 50-55 MPH and took the trip easy. We arrived in Yuma about 2PM. When we got to Yuma, we drove to Super Fuels - a small fuel dealer that sells about 10-15 cents lower than the local market price. I was able to fuel up both the car and the coach. Diesel fuel was about $3.11/gallon (compared to California prices approaching $3.79-$3.99/gallon). We had to wait in line to get in to the fuel islands, but the people were very courteous and helpful in getting us positioned to refuel both vehicles. Once we were topped off, we drove east to the Yuma foothills where we stayed for two nights with Roger and Ilse Elliott. They are friends of Archie & Pami Trott, another Monaco couple we have known for years. The Elliotts have a lot with all the developments - including a park model home, lots of concrete, and city sewer. They may be thinking of selling in the future, so we wanted to look over their lot. When we pulled up, Roger met us and told us to count on having dinner with them that night. Bear in mind that we’d never met them before, and they were the most gracious hosts to us. We had a terrific pork loin dinner and retired early.
Thursday morning we were up early and wanted to drive around the area looking at available lots for sale. We saw many, but really need to spend some time in Yuma with a realtor to see what’s for sale and the prices. We eventually meandered over to the Yuma Market Place, a giant swap meet and wandered through there for a couple of hours. We then returned to the Elliotts. About 2:30 Ilse invited us to join them on the “Whiskey Road” tour. We started at a little cocktail lounge where we met several of their friends, and proceeded on to a couple of more homes of other friends for more libations. It was interesting meeting all these winter visitor folks and seeing the improvements they’ve done on their homes. We were back at the coach by 7PM and settled down to some TV and a light dinner.
Friday morning we up and ready to leave by 9:30. Ilse asked us to stay until Sunday, at least, but we explained that we had needed to keep our reservations intact. We thanked them for their wonderful hospitality and departed. We took it east going across the desert and marveled at the color due to the recent rains. About 40 miles west of Gila Bend a trucker went by and was signaling to us about the Kia. I checked the mirrors and could see nothing wrong. As I put on the turn signal to pull over to the shoulder, I saw the white smoke emanating from the left front tire. It had suffered a sidewall failure and was destroyed. I set out my three cones and started digging for the jack and tire iron. I replaced the damaged tire with the spare, loaded up the remains into the car, and drove into Gila Bend. We decided to pass up a lunch stop and continue to Casa Grande. We arrived at the Western Horizons Desert Shadows RV Park about 3PM. We were able to check in and get located near some other Monaco friends, Bob & Marlene Rea. Marlene told us she had dinner ready for us (Wow! Was that ever a wonderful surprise!) and to come over with a drink whenever we got everything settled. It didn’t take long - I was both tired and hungry! We had tasty dinner with them and retired again for an early evening.
Saturday morning I was up and ready to get tires replaced. We drove 30 miles up the road to Chandler to the Sam’s Club and bought two new Michelin tires. I took the relatively new front tire off the passenger side and it is now our spare. The new Michelins ride well and we have the peace of mind of two new tires.
It’s interesting that I purchased a tire pressure monitoring set in January, but it hasn’t yet been shipped. There is an issue of new technology and the set should be arriving any day to our San Diego address. Mother will have to forward it to us when it arrives - hopefully soon! How timely that we would have a blowout AFTER I have ordered this new “safety item” and it hasn’t been installed yet! Anyway, we hope to have it in the next week or so. It probably would have saved us the expense of two new tires.
One of the maintenance items on our coach was the metal-braided hose for the handheld shower. The metal braiding has finally broken and we needed to replace the hose. I checked the internet for prices and was shocked at how much a brass-colored hose costs. We drove down to Home Depot today and they don’t have brass replacement hoses. So, we drove across the street to Lowe’s and found a whole new hand-held shower (with 72” hose) and purchased that. We’ll find out how nice the shower head is once we take showers. I was also able to do some work on a wood box that Dave Dyas built for me. It fits in the empty space between the generator and the generator door. He built a solid, beautiful wooden box that can carry some of my extra hoses, engine belts, engine filters, and water filters. I needed to drill and install a couple of support screws to firmly hold the box in place. I finally got that accomplished this afternoon.
We will leave Casa Grande tomorrow and drive down to Sierra Vista. I received a phone call this afternoon from Jack & Carole Morgan - Jack wanted to warn me that they are in Sierra Vista at the same park we will be staying in. It’s good to hear Jack’s voice and we look forward to seeing them down there. We’ll also be seeing Bob & Marlene Rea in a little over a week and will get to see Dave & Marie Ostrander when they return.
Our travel schedule has changed a bit - I’m a bit worried about the weird weather that has been hitting the lower Midwest. We probably aren’t going to make it to Arkansas as planned. We’ve decided to hunker down in Sierra Vista for two weeks, then go to Albuquerque, and on up to Wichita, Lincoln, and Rapid City. We’ll still arrive at Hart Ranch on April 15th, but have some flexibility to park for a while if we encounter some foul weather. It’s a disappointment to have to cancel some of our reservations and change our plans, but the smart thing to do is to take the cautious route. With fuel costs still rising, two new tires crashing our budget, and Uncle Sam reaching into our wallet for income tax, we are going to try the frugal approach for a couple of months.
Just as an after thought - one of our closest friends passed away last week. Dave Baleria was a good friend, shared many of my opinions, and was well-known in the RV internet circles. Dave was only 54 years old
and collapsed while he was out walking his wife, Sandy. He leaves a huge legacy of service and training that can’t be matched by anybody! Keep Sandy in your thoughts and prayers - she has some tough challenges ahead of her in the next few months. She is a strong woman and a survivor, but she’ll miss Dave immensely.
Dave sent out his Travel Reports weekly and sometimes as many as three a week. In the last year he always ended his reports with this:
“Remember, we must live each day as our last, for it's not enough to merely survive, we must thrive. The clock is ticking for each of us. Make each day count. Have a purpose in life. Donate time, money, love and prayers for others. And, time waits for no one.”
It was almost a premonition that he believed and he lived life this very same way. It has been a real shock to learn of his passing, but it’s almost as though he was preparing everybody for what your unforeseeable future might hold. He is so correct in his beliefs and we all need to be reminded occasionally that we are only here temporarily. Don’t get caught short; plan ahead and make the most of what precious time we have!
We are back on the road again!! Our nine days in San Diego was just too short! We really miss the church family and the good friends we have that we see on a regular basis while we’re there. But we DO have wheels on our house, and it is time to start thinking about returning to our summer home in the Black Hills.
I was able to get down to South San Diego and have lunch with my old SDPD partner, Carl Maupin. Carl has taken on the responsibility of being the property manager of one of the newest and largest shopping centers in San Diego. He obviously has a lot of fun in his work and enjoys the routine of the daily challenges. I told him he needs to think about retiring and relaxing before his age and health catch up to him, but he still insists that he enjoys his work and the responsibilities that accompany the job. And Danny Hollister, one of my SDPD sergeants, dropped by on his BMW motorcycle. We had a good talk and got all caught up on the “haps” at the Department.
On Wednesday morning, the 5th, we packed the coach and left the church about 9:30. It was tough saying goodbye to Pastor Harvey Throop and Janice, my favorite secretary. They have become close friends and we’ll miss them both. We pulled out onto I-8 headed east and immediately encountered some northerly crosswinds. We drove over the mountains and down to the desert floor where the winds continued. We simply slowed down to 50-55 MPH and took the trip easy. We arrived in Yuma about 2PM. When we got to Yuma, we drove to Super Fuels - a small fuel dealer that sells about 10-15 cents lower than the local market price. I was able to fuel up both the car and the coach. Diesel fuel was about $3.11/gallon (compared to California prices approaching $3.79-$3.99/gallon). We had to wait in line to get in to the fuel islands, but the people were very courteous and helpful in getting us positioned to refuel both vehicles. Once we were topped off, we drove east to the Yuma foothills where we stayed for two nights with Roger and Ilse Elliott. They are friends of Archie & Pami Trott, another Monaco couple we have known for years. The Elliotts have a lot with all the developments - including a park model home, lots of concrete, and city sewer. They may be thinking of selling in the future, so we wanted to look over their lot. When we pulled up, Roger met us and told us to count on having dinner with them that night. Bear in mind that we’d never met them before, and they were the most gracious hosts to us. We had a terrific pork loin dinner and retired early.
Thursday morning we were up early and wanted to drive around the area looking at available lots for sale. We saw many, but really need to spend some time in Yuma with a realtor to see what’s for sale and the prices. We eventually meandered over to the Yuma Market Place, a giant swap meet and wandered through there for a couple of hours. We then returned to the Elliotts. About 2:30 Ilse invited us to join them on the “Whiskey Road” tour. We started at a little cocktail lounge where we met several of their friends, and proceeded on to a couple of more homes of other friends for more libations. It was interesting meeting all these winter visitor folks and seeing the improvements they’ve done on their homes. We were back at the coach by 7PM and settled down to some TV and a light dinner.
Friday morning we up and ready to leave by 9:30. Ilse asked us to stay until Sunday, at least, but we explained that we had needed to keep our reservations intact. We thanked them for their wonderful hospitality and departed. We took it east going across the desert and marveled at the color due to the recent rains. About 40 miles west of Gila Bend a trucker went by and was signaling to us about the Kia. I checked the mirrors and could see nothing wrong. As I put on the turn signal to pull over to the shoulder, I saw the white smoke emanating from the left front tire. It had suffered a sidewall failure and was destroyed. I set out my three cones and started digging for the jack and tire iron. I replaced the damaged tire with the spare, loaded up the remains into the car, and drove into Gila Bend. We decided to pass up a lunch stop and continue to Casa Grande. We arrived at the Western Horizons Desert Shadows RV Park about 3PM. We were able to check in and get located near some other Monaco friends, Bob & Marlene Rea. Marlene told us she had dinner ready for us (Wow! Was that ever a wonderful surprise!) and to come over with a drink whenever we got everything settled. It didn’t take long - I was both tired and hungry! We had tasty dinner with them and retired again for an early evening.
Saturday morning I was up and ready to get tires replaced. We drove 30 miles up the road to Chandler to the Sam’s Club and bought two new Michelin tires. I took the relatively new front tire off the passenger side and it is now our spare. The new Michelins ride well and we have the peace of mind of two new tires.
It’s interesting that I purchased a tire pressure monitoring set in January, but it hasn’t yet been shipped. There is an issue of new technology and the set should be arriving any day to our San Diego address. Mother will have to forward it to us when it arrives - hopefully soon! How timely that we would have a blowout AFTER I have ordered this new “safety item” and it hasn’t been installed yet! Anyway, we hope to have it in the next week or so. It probably would have saved us the expense of two new tires.
One of the maintenance items on our coach was the metal-braided hose for the handheld shower. The metal braiding has finally broken and we needed to replace the hose. I checked the internet for prices and was shocked at how much a brass-colored hose costs. We drove down to Home Depot today and they don’t have brass replacement hoses. So, we drove across the street to Lowe’s and found a whole new hand-held shower (with 72” hose) and purchased that. We’ll find out how nice the shower head is once we take showers. I was also able to do some work on a wood box that Dave Dyas built for me. It fits in the empty space between the generator and the generator door. He built a solid, beautiful wooden box that can carry some of my extra hoses, engine belts, engine filters, and water filters. I needed to drill and install a couple of support screws to firmly hold the box in place. I finally got that accomplished this afternoon.
We will leave Casa Grande tomorrow and drive down to Sierra Vista. I received a phone call this afternoon from Jack & Carole Morgan - Jack wanted to warn me that they are in Sierra Vista at the same park we will be staying in. It’s good to hear Jack’s voice and we look forward to seeing them down there. We’ll also be seeing Bob & Marlene Rea in a little over a week and will get to see Dave & Marie Ostrander when they return.
Our travel schedule has changed a bit - I’m a bit worried about the weird weather that has been hitting the lower Midwest. We probably aren’t going to make it to Arkansas as planned. We’ve decided to hunker down in Sierra Vista for two weeks, then go to Albuquerque, and on up to Wichita, Lincoln, and Rapid City. We’ll still arrive at Hart Ranch on April 15th, but have some flexibility to park for a while if we encounter some foul weather. It’s a disappointment to have to cancel some of our reservations and change our plans, but the smart thing to do is to take the cautious route. With fuel costs still rising, two new tires crashing our budget, and Uncle Sam reaching into our wallet for income tax, we are going to try the frugal approach for a couple of months.
Just as an after thought - one of our closest friends passed away last week. Dave Baleria was a good friend, shared many of my opinions, and was well-known in the RV internet circles. Dave was only 54 years old
and collapsed while he was out walking his wife, Sandy. He leaves a huge legacy of service and training that can’t be matched by anybody! Keep Sandy in your thoughts and prayers - she has some tough challenges ahead of her in the next few months. She is a strong woman and a survivor, but she’ll miss Dave immensely.Dave sent out his Travel Reports weekly and sometimes as many as three a week. In the last year he always ended his reports with this:
“Remember, we must live each day as our last, for it's not enough to merely survive, we must thrive. The clock is ticking for each of us. Make each day count. Have a purpose in life. Donate time, money, love and prayers for others. And, time waits for no one.”
It was almost a premonition that he believed and he lived life this very same way. It has been a real shock to learn of his passing, but it’s almost as though he was preparing everybody for what your unforeseeable future might hold. He is so correct in his beliefs and we all need to be reminded occasionally that we are only here temporarily. Don’t get caught short; plan ahead and make the most of what precious time we have!
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