Tires etc

Just talked to Chuck. My new tires have been delivered to his place already. The plan now is that I'll be back here on the 11th. He has a tire machine so he can do the replacement for me. Forgot to ask if he has proper jacks, but he does stuff like all the time on friends' vehicles.

Then, after the RVW convention, I'll come back to his place and we'll do some maintenance on the rig, like the roof bracing under the a/c unit, and taking off and resealing all the roof vents, and resealing the whole roof. I'll pick up supplies in Phoenix before I come back. There's also a few small things I'd like to get done too. And I can stay on his property as he has hookups, so I'll save a lot of money.

Weather shouldn't be too bad. It'll be getting cold and may even spit some snow, but it won't be terrible and won't be anything like Kansas. So it looks like I'll be heading for CA around early December.

So I've done two small jobs for the Similac recall. And I'll get a little money, which will be nice. I decided not to do the customer retrieval for a bottle of Drano as I'd have to drive all the way to St. Johns AZ to get it and I just didn't feel like it.

This evening, Denise cooked a pot roast with potatoes and carrots, with salad, and wine. Rita and Jeff, owners of the RV park, came, too. It was sort of a going-away dinner for me. Rita brought locally made fudge for desert. Very nice of them all.

I just tried to upload a picture of them but blogger just went around in circles.

I'll be leaving here about 10am Friday, probably heading for Benson. Then off to Tucson Sat. morning to hit Bookman's to trade in some books. Probably stay in or near Eloy Sat. eve. Then off to Andrade CA south of Yuma, to an rv park about 1/2 miles from the border for Sun, Mon, & Tue nights. Walk to the border Mon. for my 9am appointment at Dr. Montoya's in Los Algodones.

Update

Was supposed to have lunch and some sightseeing with Chuck today, but he begged off. Seems yesterday he thrashed around in the woods after an elk and wore himself out (elk sniggering in the distance).

Friday I got a product recall job for the Safeway in Springerville, and today I got notice of doing the Basha Grocery in Eager. So I'll get a little money in the coffers. This is all part of that infant feeding powder that has beetles in it.

Foray to Town

Nothing particularly exciting. We started getting rain last night about 10pm, which put paid to my plan to go out at midnight to see Jupiter as close to the Earth as it'll be until 2022. And it's been spitting rain all day, sometimes heavy downpour. The Phoenix area has been inundated with lots of wind damage, too.

About 10.30 I went to town and mailed some books to Diana B. Then I went to the library in Eagar, about 2 miles, to fax an application for a part-time camp host position in Santa Rosa CA. Then to Safeway for a few groceries.

By this time, I decided I was hungry and so went off to Los Dos Molinos again. This time I had the Red Chili Beef plate with beans and rice and a buttered tortilla. Yum. It's 5pm and I'm still stuffed.

Back to the park, rehook, take a nap. Life is good.

TTFN

Barnabas

I just put these photos up on Facebook but they're so cute I decided to put them here, too. Now, Barnabas won't let me pet her but she's willing to flirt.

And when she cleans her nose, she looks like a leaf-nose bat.

Gamy Day

Chuck picked me up at 11am and we went out to his house. His friend Dennis was there, too, but spent the whole day on the enclosed back porch, watching football. Chuck and I looked at my pics as I had brought my laptop along.

Somewhere along the way, he produced some summer sausage made by his son and wife; I think it was elk. Yummy on sesame crackers. Along about 4pm he and Dennis began the preparations for dinner -- foil-wrapped taters on the grill, grilled whole onion, moose steak, elk steak, and merlot. The moose is fairly gamy but the elk is luscious -- I somehow managed to choke it all down. Heh.

Watching his dish tv, I stumbled across my favorite program, Holmes on Homes -- it was a repeat but I enjoyed it anyhow. And then, right after that, was a new reality show called America's Best Handyman (or something like that). A bunch of guys compete in constructions tasks, get judged by Mike Holmes and the guy who has the show about turning part of your house into income-producing space, and the worst guy gets let go. The one whole challenge I saw was a 30-min. 3-part test: replace a pane of window glass; shingle a doghouse roof; install a toilet. One guy broke about six panes before he managed to get one intact, and lots of putty jobs were terrible. The shingling was pretty bad--lots not straight, nailed at the tops so that the wind could just get under the edge and rip it off (which Holmes did). And the toilet -- a fairly simple job, you'd think -- but one guy installed the bolts upside down so the water ran out onto the floor; one guy didn't set the seat down on the wax ring squarely so it didn't seal; etc. Anyhow, it was lots of fun.

On the way back to my rig about 8pm, Chuck said how much he enjoyed talking to me today as there was no bullshit and I'm so straightforward and all. Well, I said, we never had any trouble talking. He said, I don't remember us having any kind of trouble. I decided not to get into my recollections of our relationship. We did have a little discussion of his eventual diagnosis of being bipolar and being prescribed anti-depressants and what a difference it had made in his temperament. Yes, I said, I do remember you flying off the handle for no reason on occasion.

All in all, a pleasant day.

Archeology & Pizza

Got myself cleaned up, then unhooked and off to town about 10.30. I had decided I wanted to visit Casa Malpais Archeology Park, which was an active dig in the 1990s and the town now has tours. I got there just in time and for the 11am tour and was the only person going. It didn't occur to me there would be climbing but it turns out there's a series of terraces up a ridge before you get to the actual living site, about a 3/4 miles hike. I made it about halfway before the knees said "you're going to regret this later."This is at the first terrace, looking out to a grove of trees where an old structure was built called Fort Redondo, though it was never a real fort.
This is up on the second terrace, where they've built a small ramada looking out over the Springerville valley. This is where I decided to turn around.

When I got back in my rig it was noon so I decided to try out Los Dos Molinos restaurant, which Chuck had said was "really spicy food." Of course, they have some spicy stuff, like the green chili and the red salsa, but there's lots to eat that's not bad at all. I had the Deluxe Mexican Pizza, a flour tortilla, crisped, with shredded beef, cheese, chopped tomato, green onion, red chili sauce. Yum. Here's a look at the restaurant, which is filled with things on the walls and hanging from the ceiling.
After lunch, I went grocery shopping for a few things, then came home, rehooked, and took and nap. Woke up from the nap and promptly took two aspirin -- the knees were right.

Champagne Brunch

So we went off to the Hon-Dah Casino, south of Show Low about 15 miles, on the Apache Reservation. Prime rib, shrimp, crab legs, made-to-order omelets, fresh cooked tortellini with 3-meat sauce, chocolate fountain with fruit arrays, bananas foster, slaws, etc etc. And tolerable champagne. I didn't have an omelet or the bananas foster. Heh.

Then off to Show Low where we both needed to do some shopping at Wally World. I stocked up on the V-8 Fusion bottles as they're over a dollar less than at Safeway. By the time we'd done all that and started back to Springerville, we decided to defer any more sightseeing in favor of getting back, unloading groceries, and taking naps.

A pleasant day. Chuck's hunting buddy Dennis decided not to come along, but I guess I'll meet him at some point as Chuck keeps talking about having me over to his place for dinner. So far so good.

Family pics

This picture of me and Harland was taken by Paul Brezny in about 1966 or so. Based on my hairstyle, I was teaching ballroom. It was a present for Mom.


This picture was taken at the British Army riding stables that we were members of. There's a corresponding picture of H, too.


This picture must have been taken around 1942, not sure where but eastern N.C. Left to right is: Harland J Harris (father), David Stonewall Orrell (great-grandfather, "Poppa"), Amelia Lindig Orrell (great-grandmother, "Nana"), Sylvia Hall Harris (mother), man I think is one of Bill MacDonald's brothers, William A. MacDonald (Evelyn's 2nd husband, "grandaddy").

Recent Pix

Me with Hazel and John


Me at the Folk Art Center

Mary-Anne at the Folk Art Center, with nice split-rail fence.

Me and the two Lindas at a Mt. Airy restaurant.

Balloon over my rig at Arbor RV Park in Albuquerque.

Rock bluff near Zuni NM

My spot at Casa Malpais RV Park, Springerville AZ

Interim Report

Life is very quiet here. I've been catching up on computer stuff, reading, doing crosswords, etc. Weather is gorgeous, but definitely cooling off.

I needed a new little space heater (old one died) so went off to town today. Found the True Value Hardware -- they had about 3 heaters to choose from. Not impressed. Left and went to the post office to send a box of books back to Diana. Asked a woman in the parking lot where else to go to find heaters and she recommended Alco Discount Store next to Safeway.

Alco had several heaters to choose from, one with just the right wattage range for $15. Hooray. Then to Safeway for some groceries and back to camp.

Chuck called yesterday to ask if I wanted to go with him and Dennis to brunch on Sunday at a casino in Show Low. Of course, I said yes. Will report.

Old Boyfriend

Well, it went as well as could be expected, though he did drive past the rig while I was sitting outside talking to Margie. Neither of us recognized the other, so he drove on past and went home and called me. I asked him what he was driving and then told him he drove past. So he came back. He only lives about 3 miles away.

We sat and chatted a bit, mostly general stuff. We didn't mention his marriage to Nita, the one he broke up with me for, though I did tell him about his daughter Cheryl visiting me after and asking me how I felt about him now. "You mean other than wanting to punch him out?" was my reply.

We drove over to his place in Eagar -- about 3 acres, and looked at his collected of vehicles, some International trucks, friends' pickups and 5th wheels. He's got a doublewide with a nice porch.

Then off to lunch at Booga Red's (no, I don't know the significance of the name). Got back to the park about 1:30 and sat around chatting some more. A few stories surfaced, including the one about me trying to kill the rooster -- he told me that Don and that rooster didn't get along either.

He's got an elk permit this year and he and a guy will be hunting each day now until they get one or the time runs out. I said I expect an elk steak.

For those who don't know, I met Chuck in Jackson Wyoming in 1972 and it was his idea to move to Tucson. We lived together for a few years and maintained the relationship until 1979. Don lived next door to us (and is the guy in the Wild West photo with me) and we've kept in touch all these years. Now that Chuck is a widower, he feels free to be in direct touch with me. We'll be in touch again for a meal or two.

So the mantra is friendly but not intimate.

Camp Cookout

About 4pm a bunch of us gathered over at the rec hall with many bowls of salads (potato, macaroni, tuna, etc etc) and meats to be grilled and many condiments and drinks. I think I ate four different kinds of meat -- ribs, chicken, burger, brat, and four different kinds of salads. I missed out on the corn on the cob but I did get home-pickled beets (and you all know how I feel about beets). And about 6pm I got peopled out and also needed digestion aids such as loose clothing, so I went back to the rig and holed up.

Earlier in the day, Margie took me to the Safeway to stock up. We drove around a little and it turns out that Eager AZ butts right up to Springerville. And who called me about 9pm? Chuck. He was all ready to come over right then but I put him off until tomorrow. This is going to be interesting. The last time I saw him was 1987. More later.

High Heat

is being warned for everywhere in Arizona -- except for where I am. Yah! Tucson and Phoenix et al are running in the 110 area; the highs here are mid 80s to upper 80s. Not bad at all.

Have had a day of rest so am planning a shower and a laundry day. Really nice to have both right here. The campground is about 1/3 to 1/2 full so it's nice and quiet. And have cable tv is nice, too -- get about 20 channels, except there's no PBS.

Both water hoses failed yesterday but the owner had an extra hose so eventually got hooked up. One camper tried to help out earlier by using channel locks to tighten the fittings, even after I told him not to tighten them so much I wouldn't be able to undo them. But, of course, he did, so I had to borrow the pliers and another person to help apply torque.

I've been happily goes through the old family photos my brother put on disk. I'm still getting used to the new iPhoto -- everything gets put into an "event" whether you want it to or not. I wound up making "event" equal a single date/day so they'll line up by the date taken. Now I have to change all the old photos from the date Orlando took the digital photo to the actual date of the photograph (like mom as a little girl circa 1929). Tedious but nice to have. Thanks, blala.

More later. Maybe some pics of the trip from Abq to here and this campground.

Blowing Off St John

Not the saint, more's the pity, but the town I had planned to stay in for Sept. Left the people a message at 8am today confirming my arrival this afternoon. Got in town about 3.30 (actually 2.30 AZ time; they don't do daylight savings). Saw a sign on the main street for the rv park, and my gps was directing me, too. Went about two blocks into a funky area with a mishmash of trailers, homes, rusted-out rvs, cars on blocks, etc. GPS said "here" but there was no sign anywhere and there was no street number (810) -- I found 840 but no 810. So I parked on the side of the road and called the number, got the voicemail and left the message that I couldn't find them and that I would wait a bit to hear from them. Waited about 30 minutes and then left a message saying "never mind, I'm heading down the road."

Which I did, 25 miles to Springerville and pulled into the first RV park I saw, Casa Malpais, which has wifi, cable tv, bathhouse, laundry, etc, and lots of big trees. I was going to pay $200 in St. Johns, including electric but no bathhouse or wifi or laundry, and will be paying $240 plus electric, so it's costing me about $100 extra. BUT it's a nice well-kept park and I'll be much happier here. And there's a store cat, too. As usual, you get what you pay for.

Hooking up my cable for tv is such a pain. May see what I can pick up over the air, but this area is pretty remote so may not get much and may have to do the cable after all. It's 3.5 hours to Phoenix from here (that's in a car at 65mph).

TTFN