Christmas, Anniversary, Football, New Years, and New Glasses

While at Catalina State Park we had our mail forwarded to General Delivery at the Main Post in Tucson.  Great service again by the USPS!  I know the stress postal employees are under these days, and all we have dealt with have been super friendly, and helpful!  In our mail we have several Christmas cards.  Even though they were mailed before Christmas, we hadnt got our mail sent to us since a week or so before Christmas.  Thanks to all who sent cards, especially Paul and Kathy Miller, and Kathy Ingle!  Camping World always has things Rvers need, and if you looked at our travel expense report in the last post, additional funds for buying gas is always great!

After the post office, it was off to Camping World in Tucson for some post Christmas shopping.  We always have a shopping list for Camping World in the back of our minds, so it was a pretty quick trip.  Here is a pic of our purchases, which included a ladder mounted bike rack that will hold two bikes, a couple of roll up sun shades for the side windows when traveling, valve stem extenders to make it easier to check the air pressure in the outer rear tires, an indoor outdoor thermometer, a silicone mat to put on the rotating plate in the microwave, a "wingman" attachment for our crank up TV antenna, which is supposed to help with digital TV signals, and a new filter for our on board water system.

Here is a pic of the "wingman" installed.

While I was on the roof, I took a few more pics of the campground, and this one of our friends Ray and Liza's rig.  As part of their setting up, they mount this tall pole to the rear ladder.  On the top of the pole are lights that change colors.  That makes it easier for them to find their motothome in an unfamiliar campground in the dark, or for other such reasons finding your RV may be a problem.

Thursday December 29 was our 10th anniversary. Ann had another busy day at work.  Everyone congratulated us at Happy Hour.  Our friends Randy and Debby Sherow took us out to great dinner at Red Lobster which is only a few minutes away from Catalina State Park.  The reason for choosing Red Lobster is that on our first date on New Years Eve in 1997 we ate at the Red Lobster in West Des Moines, Ia.

Friday December 30 was a pretty long day.  We left the campground about 11:30 and headed up to Tempe, AZ. to watch the Iowa Hawkeyes play against the Oklahoma Sooners in the Insight Bowl on the campus of the Arizona State University.

The trip was uneventful and our Garmin 1450 gps lead us right to the Best Western Hotel that is just about a half mile north of the stadium.  After checking in, we walked over the bridge to the stadium to look for some Iowa gear, and some food.  Having been to the Insight Bowl two years ago when the Iowa State Cyclones defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers, we were somewhat familiar with the area.  We found our way to Mill Street where most of the action is before the game.  We didnt find any Iowa gear, but we did find a great Greek restaurant, and had a nice meal.  Then it was back toward the stadium where we found a couple of stands selling Iowa shirts and hats.  I bought a hat at one and a long sleeved shirt at another.  Here I am, ready for the game!

We still had quite a wait before they opened the gates to let spectators in, but besides not having any place to sit, it wasnt bad, as the weather was just beautiful!  About 65 degrees at kick off!  Once inside we found our seats.  They were great seats.  About the 40 yard line toward the Oklahoma end zone, and the second row in the upper tier. Even though we brought binoculars, we didnt need then with such an awesome view of the field!  Here is a pic from our seats as the teams were warming up.

The game was somewhat interesting.  Iowa played it's usual game of looking real good sometimes, and not so good at other times.  I was surprised that Oklahoma didnt play better.  Even though the score doesnt show it, the game was fairly close until the last few minutes.

The big excitement during the game was when a cable for the "flying camera" broke sending it to the playing field and almost hitting Marvin McNutt and outstanding wide receiver for the Iowa Hawkeyes!  He did sustain a minor injury when he got caught up in the broken cable, but it could have been a lot worse had the 25 pound camera actually hit him.

Here is a couple of pics of the camera.

After missing McNutt the most dangerous part of the camera fiasco was when they tried to real in the excess cable from the other attaching points in the stadium.  Since the camera was on the ground, the remaining cables were a lot lower, and drug across the crowd as they finally got the camera off the field.  The cable came real close to us, and I got some pics of it. The first one is of Ann taking a picture of the cable, while I am taking a picture of it with my cell phone.

The cable posed no real threat as it was not that heavy, and moved across the crowd slowly.  With only a few minutes left in the game, a couple of Arizona's finest held the cable the rest of the game, and as the spectators left the stadium.

After the game we headed back to the hotel, it was about midnight when we got there.  A lot of walking today, and tomorrow is New Years Eve, so no after game celebrating.

We left Tempe about 9:30 and headed back to Catalina State Park, where the RVForum group had decided to have a 1:00PM soup pot luck.  Ann's job was to bring Styrofoam cups for the soup.  So we stopped at local Target and got a couple of packages of the them, and got back to the campground with time to spare.  The soup potluck was great with a variety of soups, breads, salads and deserts, and of course beautiful weather, and fun company.

Hear is a couple of pics of the potluck.  Ann and I are in the second pic in the checkered chairs with our back to the camera.  Thanks Ken for the pics.  Hope it is ok to share them on our blog.

After the meal it was back to the RV for a nap, and to get rested up for the New Years Eve party.  With so many people coming this year, about 40 I believe, the decision was made to have a rotating party amongst three coaches.  Everyone brings some kind of a snack for the event. Ann chose cream cheese covered with a mango jalapeno jelly with crackers.  Really delicious, and goes well with Jim Beam, Captain Morgan, or champagne, and perhaps other adult beverages.

Here is a pic of Ann and I at Ray and Liza's rig.  Thanks Betty for taking the pic.

The way the group celebrates New Years is a bit different than most New Years celebrations in that they start celebrating the News Years in New York at 10:00PM Arizona time, after which some of the party goes head back to their coaches.  Then those that are left celebrate New Years in Chicago, and again some call it a night, and the rest of us hardier folks, or just plain foolish folks stayed up and celebrated the actual New Years Arizona time.  Although we did stay up to see in the New Year in Arizona we didnt party too hard, as we knew we would be leaving the park by noon the next day.

We had originally planned on going on a hike on New Years day with a some others in our group, but we cancelled as I knew it would not be easy to have enough energy to pack things away a get ready to leave by noon.  So we had a leisurely morning getting ready to go, and Ann made eggs Benedict for breakfast before we began putting things away for the trip to Cocopah Casino just south of Yuma, AZ.

As I had forgot to put gas in Ann's car upon our return to Tucson from Tempe, We said our goodbyes to those who hadnt gone on the hike, and while I dumped the tanks on the motorhome, Ann went to the nearby Safeway to fill up up. We then loaded up the car and headed for Yuma.



Our first stop was at the Iron Skillet Restaurant on Interstate 10 just south of the junction with Interstate 8.  It was one of the better buffets we have found, and we would recommend it to others.

Then the quick exit to Interstate 8 west toward Yuma.

Since we have traveled this route a couple times before we didnt get any pics.  We arrived in Yuma about 4:30, and after filling up with fuel at Barney's Flying J, we headed to the casino.  The parking lot was almost empty compared to last year, so we had the pick of several spots.  Once we got set up, and the car unloaded it was time for a trip to Dairy Queen.  I quickly found a few on my phone, and we picked one, put the address in the gps even though we are some what familiar with this area, and headed out.  The DQ we picked was very small, but my banana split as well as Ann's hot fudge sundae with peanuts, also know as a small peanut buster parfait, filled the need for ice cream.  Then it was back to the motorhome to get settled in, and since Monday was a holiday for Ann, we planned on going over to Mexico that day, to get some cheap prescription drugs and some eyeglasses.

Our day trip to Algodonnes, Mexico started about 10:30 as we both had eye doctor appointments at Noon 

Here are a couple of pics Ann took on the way over.  The first is some dry campers on the California side of the border.  The second is, what I believe is what is left of the Colorado River before it continues on south before emptying into the gulf.

We parked, walked across the border, and were at Algodonnes Optical in plenty of time for our appointments.  Although we both had our eyes checked in October, the eye exam is free with the glasses.  After our exams, we ordered glasses. I ordered one pair with correction and bi-focals, and the same in a pair of sunglasses.  Ann ordered one pair with corrections in sunglasses, and one pair of regular glasses with anti glare.  All but Ann's pair with the anti-glare will be done in a few hours, and her other pair wont be done for a couple of weeks.  They will call her when they are ready, and they will either send them to her, or we can go back and pick them up.

While waiting for the glasses, we went to a local open air restaurant and had a couple of drinks, with chips and salsa.  It is great that most everyone in Algodonnes speaks pretty good English.  That makes doing business there a whole lot easier.  After finishing our drinks, and being accosted by several locals selling all kinds of jewelery and trinkets, we headed back to Algodonnes Optical.  The one pair of Ann's glasses were ready but mine were not.  So to speed up the process of getting back into the USA, An went and got in line while I waited for my glasses.  After about 2:00PM the line to get back into the USA takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get through.  Finally just about 4:00PM my glasses were ready, so I joined Ann in line.

Going through customs is relatively easy.  You need a passport, and they just ask you what you purchased in Algodonnes.  You tell them, and they usually look in your sack of stuff to verify, and you are back in the USA!

  I wore my new glasses on the way back.  The correction in my left eye was great, but the focal distance for the bifocals is not correct, as I use them mostly for looking at the gauges while driving, and using the computer. The focal distance is too short.  I am not sure if that is a problem that can be fixed, but I am going to take my glasses back to see what they can do.  I may have to go back to a 1.75 bifocal as opposed to the 2.00 that is in my new glasses.  By the way the total cost for the four pair of glasses was $380.

On the way back Ann got some pics of a couple of truck loads of fresh produce.

And one of the dole processing facility.

Here is a couple of pics of the green fields and orange groves that cover this area.

The last couple of days have been real busy for Ann at work, and we havent ventured out to far, but we did make a trip to the local Albertsons the other night for groceries, and distilled water to add to the batteries.


We were a little hesitant to go there as out last experience with them in Blythe, CA was not good, as prices were way high, but I believe that was mostly due to the huge crowd at Quartzsite, AZ that goes to Blythe thinking that prices will be cheaper there, but they are not.

One last note.  In RVing there is a saying that there are two lists.  One of dumb things you have done, and one of dumb things you will do.  I can add one more thing to the list of dumb things done, as I evidently didnt get the filler cap on the generator on tight when I changed the oil and filter before we left Iowa, and the first day we ran the generator here, it only ran for about a half an hour and quit.  Not good!  I went out and checked, and there was oil on the ground, another not good thing!  Sure enough the cap was lose, and had blown out enough oil to have the low oil sensor shut down the generator.  Thank God for the low oil sensor, or it, no doubt, would have ruined the generator!

After a quick trip to the local convenience store which had the correct oil, and some cat litter, the generator was soon back in business, and the mess pretty much cleaned up.


Until next time.

Paul