Los Algodones, He Can See! Christmas Shopping, Sun in the Park and Karaoke

Saturday, Dec. 23rd was a sleep in day, for me at least, as I didn’t drag myself out of bed until 7:30. I was about to miss the sunrise if I didn’t hurry! I got dressed and checked the temperature while opening the blinds and turned on the Christmas tree lights. Because  I can. It was only 5C but with no visible wind I knew it would be a nice brisk walk.

I didn’t see George this morning while walking but after skirting the park, hitting most streets, I saw him in the car away across the lot heading out somewhere. It was a nice walk and I actually caught more of a sunrise today than yesterday. 

When I turned onto the last street towards home, I had a couple of welcome greeters. The way Clemson walks has always made me smile, like a little prancing colt.

Back inside, Bill had our brew while reading blogs and comments. He 

had cereal, I had cottage cheese and an orange before we said goodbye to Clemmy once more.

The 'puzzle' room needs me

So, tomorrow, I'll choose a puzzle and get to work!

I walked the key over to Suzie and we were off to Los Algodones by 8:30 ish. We beelined straight for Vision Optical and met Maura at the door. She remembered us from yesterday and got on the 2-way radio to ask that Bill's glasses be brought over.

When we turned off Hwy 8 towards Winterhaven, this was
a pretty dam

It is funny how they work, it is another location where you pay and where the fixes and glasses are prepared. No matter to us, it works. Bill put the glasses on and the first word he said was “Oh!” I was happy to hear it was followed by “that’s great! I can see!” He was holding a placard with various size letters on it. A breath of relief came over me as I know how he has struggled for so long with his bi-focals.

We left there with Bill calling back “Feliz Navidad!” to Maura and a few other vendors on the streets. We were no more and no less than 45 minutes from the time we drove into the parking lot and out of Mexico. 

There was really rough section of this road and then it smoothed out nicely

That’s the way we like it unless we are there to shop. Once more, we turned towards Yuma. We were doing some favours for Santa today!

Oh no!!! The massacre continues in Winterhaven!!!

First stop, Best Buy, just to look and then to PetSmart to find a few things for our good little pooch. From there, we drove to Walmart for some goodies for ourselves and then to Baron Fuels for diesel. Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder about some gas stations. The price was great at $2.59/gal but to get in and out of these places is crazy. Mind you, the patrons sure don’t help matters. Especially those who don’t need diesel but park at one of the only two pumps that provide it.  Just get out of the way! And trust me, I am a patient person but I was infuriated.

Merging onto the highway again

We drove home a bit of a different way, this time turning off Hwy 8 before the construction area and drove through Winterhaven. That was Winterhaven? Well, what a junky little dive that is. Sorry, just one person’s opinion. Lots of nice crops growing although some of it I couldn’t name what they were. It didn’t work out quite as planned as we ended up merging right back on #8 but at least we were much further along than what we dealt with yesterday.

We never have had to stop, just get waved on through

We were home before 1:30 and after putting things away I made us up a western. Bill had his in a toasted bun and I had mine on a tortilla wrap. It was good, hit the spot, filled the tummy and all of the above. Just in time too. I poured myself another tea and then wandered over to retrieve our key from Suzie and caught them up on our morning. 

My lunch

Bill continues to be impressed with his glasses, checking on the laptop and his book, at the difference they are making. Bonus! We got dishes cleaned up and I went outside with Clemson until he had his fill of wandering on his long rope. After putting him in, I remained outside with my laptop, getting a head start on my post. The flies are crazy here, not much different than what Deb and Riley are dealing with where they are with the bees.

There is my happy guy, he can see!!

Looking forward to Quartzsite with no bugs! The wind we felt in Mexico is almost non-existent but there are quite enough clouds to hamper a full sun sit out. I texted Suzie, over there, to invite them to Happy Hour at our place and then sprayed with some Off. God, I hate flies! We had already planned to have steak for supper with baked spuds, corn for Bill and spaghetti squash for me.

Remember the box?

For those of you who were wondering what was in the BOX that I received yesterday, here it is. First, I need to thank Barbara from Me, My Dog....and My RV who shared the link of a friend, Bren on the Road. In his post he answered a question for me without even knowing it.

a Cozy Christmas picture

If you know me at all, you know that I always carry a camera where ever I go. Either my Canon EOS 30D, our Canon Powershot SD100 or my phone camera. I’m lost without at least ONE of the above. You also know that seldom am I included in pictures around the place unless I put the idea in someone else’s head, namely my sweetheart, Bill. 

What's in the box

So, I’ve learned to put myself in some pictures. I want to remember places and things and that I was there so I’ve set my cameras up in some pretty weird spots to capture me, as I run in the allotted 10 seconds, with a neat background.

It’s almost the only way I like selfie’s. 90% of the time I don’t like how I look holding a camera an arm’s length. This works for me except when it doesn’t. So, back to Bren. His post was about taking pictures of yourself, in various poses in great settings. Bren suggested the CamRah tripod. That is what is in the box.

The legs are flexible and I can wrap them around pretty much anything and it holds my phone and our small Canon with ease. It also holds my large Canon but I would need to be very careful with where exactly I ‘plant’ it. The neat thing is that using my phone, it came with a Bluetooth remote so no rushing in a 10 second time period to a position. So far, I love it!

My big camera sits on it but I won't push the limits

And I can wrap it around most anything

George and Suzie joined us at 3 and we solved a few more things, laughed and chatted about anything and everything. I interrupted the chatter at one point to test out my tripod which I’d previously set up on the tonneau cover of Black Beauty. After a true 4-person Happy Hour, with me in it, we resumed our chatter until 4:30 when we split up to get our supper.

All set up for a 'selfie'

Testing it out

Supper was great and we were cleaned up and ready to join our friends for Karaoke with Joe at the clubhouse by 6. This was a change of pace as we’d never gone to a karaoke here or anywhere together. 

Happy Hour  with a bunch of happy people

Even Clemson is happy getting his ears rubbed by Suzie

Joe was the star of the night, in my opinion, although there were 3 other regular singers. After a while, other than Joe’s upbeat songs, we’d heard enough sad, break my heart, lovers leaving or dying country songs, and we walked home.          

My favourite was when Joe sang
People are Crazy

Bill preparing supper

and me getting right into it

Back home, I poured myself the last of the Desaronno that Donna and I bought together. A little sipping drink while I finish my post with a Christmas movie playing in the background. The thought of some goodies in the ‘Santa’ closet had us digging in for an evening snack. Oh-oh, keep that a secret!

And from this, the sky went crazy
Crazy beautiful, I mean

It was a good day. Not too many pictures were taken but just wait. Once I get more familiar with my little tripod, you’ll probably be wishing I hadn’t got it! 

Looking east

Anyway, we did have a fun day and got a few things crossed off our list, shopping for Christmas for one. With just 2 more sleeps, there are little ones all over the world but especially in our families back home. We’re hoping to catch them all on Christmas morning.

Good night from Winterhaven, California

Blurry yes, but colour is the main thing here

Thank you for sliding in to see what we’re up to today. I love getting your comments and read every one.