Morning Walk, Met a Blurker, Yay! Roadrunners, Bill Goes for the Gold!

I was awake around 6:30 and remained still (as in not moving) in bed listening to Bill in his slumber. He must have been dreaming because at one point his leg kicked out in my direction. I thought it best to remove myself from the under the cover attacks! It was 7:05 when I crawled out and got dressed after peeking out my window at a new view. When it feels chilly downstairs, I turn the fireplace on and that is what I did this morning.

It is really too bad we don't have nice views in the sunrises
this is gorgeous!

After preparing the Keurig and stuff for our hot drinks, I slipped out for my walk. I went up and down a few of the lanes on our end of the park and walked around the pickle ball, horseshoe pits and shuffleboard courts once more. The staff were busy cleaning them up, not that they looked like they needed it in my eyes.

Pop!

One of the joys of doing that job, she said, was getting to see the morning sunrise in the east and the pink mountains reflecting in the west. 

The sun is just touching the tops of these peaks in the Foothills

I met a few other early walkers and got a kick out of the old-style golf carts used here. 

this one is my favourite, so far

When I got close to home, I saw Bill and Clemson just stepping out of the Suite.

From the entrance to the park, this is where we are
Can you see our home?

We took a short jaunt with the little bum, sniffing and dribbling often. Clemson, not us. With our tea and coffee, we settled in to reading blogs and comments from yesterday’s posts. There was a rat-a-tat on the door so I glanced out at a tall lady at the bottom of the steps. “Patsy?” she asked. “yes”. Her next movement made me feel like a bit of a celebrity and warmed my heart. She placed her hands on her chest and smiled with a sigh. 

No doubt, this would be my court

I questioned in my head “have I met her before?” when she announced that she was a lurker or blurker, whatever we called it. Ha ha I love that! She has followed my blog since summer, a year ago (I think) and I am one of her daily reads. That is wonderful to hear and it is so nice to meet Vicky. She commented once on a post in the summer and the more she talked, I remember the name she used very well.

Horseshoes
the sand is under the green covering
I suspect to keep critters out?

Scoreboard for horseshoes

I think it is lovely to hear an opinion of why non-bloggers enjoy reading what we bloggers write. Today, I learned a new viewpoint. Not verbatim, but Vicky said that being a native of Arizona, she has begun to see things as ‘humdrum. They have saguaros and palo verde trees in their back yards. They see them every day and tend to them. Seeing Arizona’s beauty ‘again’ through my eyes (and other visitors) she is learning to love it all over again. Wow! That is awesome!

Stunning!

We chatted outside, the 3 of us, for a nice visit before inviting her to come back with her husband, Don, for their first Happy Hour any time before Monday. (I hope you do, Vicky, I have no contact information for you). It wasn’t until after she left that I told Bill that Don was waiting in the truck, over there, and pointed to the parking lot. He didn’t realize that or would have walked over to say hello.

Clemson soaks up the rays like his mama

Stuff like this gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, even more so that she felt comfortable enough, felt that she knew me enough to just come and knock on our door to meet us. Thank you for doing that! That doesn’t happen often in a sticks and bricks house back home. This is what is so cool about what we are doing. At the end of a day, we could have met 2, 4, 6 or 8 new friends!

As I was sitting at my laptop, I looked out the window and saw our first roadrunner. I called Bill to come quickly. These pictures are courtesy of Bill and his Canon EOS 7D. Some were through the window and some from outside. This fellow showed no fear.

It was hard to choose just a couple, so indulge me, please.

all fluffed and ruffled

After settling down

this one shows his/her colouring through the palo verde tree

but this one displays it better

And then he got down on the ground and walked right over to the fence

For breakfast, I decided to light the Weber and while Bill was in the shower, cook bacon and eggs out there. It turned out pretty good and I have enough cooked bacon now for tomorrow as well

I got cleaned up after putting the dishes in the dishwasher as we had an appointment for Bill in Los Algodones. Gold, remember? He is going for the gold!  Cheer, cheer, yay! Rah, rah and all that!

Simple breakfast but nutritious

Driving I-8W we saw this beautiful overpass

We crossed into Mexico around 1:30 and bee-lined to Dr. Eva’s office. His appointment was for 2 pm and he didn’t have to wait more than 15 minutes to get in and see her for his filling. We met another couple in the waiting room (of course, we did!) getting their teeth cleaned for the first time here. They are from Vernon, B.C. and have a son in Surrey where our friends, Colin and Charmaine lived in 2011. 

By the time Bill came out and we walked back to the entrance/exit, we realized how bad a time it was to be crossing back into the U.S.

Vehicle traffic lined up on our left to cross as well
The line goes as far as you can see in the picture and then vees
back the same distance on the right side of the white fence

Whoa!! Huge line-up. The longest we’ve seen. The good news is that while in line, under cover from the hot sun, you talk to people. So, we met yet another couple from Oregon. Funny, how within 10 minutes it seems like you’ve known someone for a long time. Nothing is sacred, the wit and humour shared with a new friend is as if you’ve joked with them for years. The line moved quite quickly and we were through the Border Crossing within 40 minutes and on our way into Yuma.

As you are 'herded' (not really) through the line, these street vendors try and sell
you cold water (tempting at only $1)
and hats. Can you see the lady on the right with at least 8 hats on her head? Perhaps if we
weren't under shelter, on this 91F day, she would have sold some.

On the U.S. side, in the parking lot you get a clear view of part
of the WALL
Notice the Border Control tucked up there watching for offenders

Bill promised me yesterday that he would take me to a Farm Stand that we passed on the way here. Before going to Fry’s, I wanted to see what fresh veggies I could pick up. Can I just say “anything and everything”? I picked up a basket and filled it for under $10. Prices I would not see at a grocery store. So glad we went there. Then at Fry’s, Bill dropped me at the door to go in and get our milk, cream, eggs and a couple of other things.

While in Algodones, we got a text that our blogger friends, Tom and Deb, had arrived in our park for their 3 free nights. They aren’t too far away from us with their Stinger “B” so we’ll get together with them tomorrow. Bill made the decision of supper tonight but nothing to do with his filling. The freezing is almost out and he has no pain. He doesn’t look any different even though he is a richer man for his visit. (teehee)

I've never seen this cactus before - at least not with these little fuzzy
clothes on

However, we weren’t hungry just yet. Bill suggested a walk before we eat, so we took a jaunt around the park to see where Tom and Deb are. Before we were even close, we could see their “B” on the other side of the drive. 

We stopped to say hello before making our way back to our Site. We warmed up the leftover stew and dumplings I made the other day so that made for an easy supper and empties a large pot from the fridge.

This is the same cactus as above, close up
Not so fuzzy anymore but still very interesting

 It hasn’t been a hectic day, but it has been productive. We are done with the dentist for this winter and saved $1,000 in the process. We used the dishwasher for our breakfast dishes just to keep it primed. It is seldom used so good to once in a while throw a load in and run it. After supper, we cleaned up our few dishes by hand and emptied the dishwasher.

We had a lovely sky tonight to the west

Bill and I love the lighted palm trees

The sun's reflection in the Resort Home Centre windows

I can’t believe it is Feb. 8^th already. How time flies when you’re having fun. By the way, the free wifi here sucks too. Maybe up at the pool or clubhouse it works but even though we can connect at our site, you can’t open anything. Duh! Oh well, it would have been nice is all.

Well maintained landscapes

 I hope your day was a good one. Thank you for reading. Feel free to comment.

this just might be my favourite picture of the day

Vicky and Don, if you are unable to stop around again, please send us an email or a text on the number on the card we gave you. Ideally it would be nice to chit chat again in person and you need to be featured in a photo on my blog post!