Laundry Day, Dog Food, Baking for Potluck, Happy Hour Grows

Last night, I went to bed at 9:30 but I guess I wasn’t tired enough. It was after 10:30 before I fell asleep. Plus, I had an achy leg and should have tended to that by taking some pickle juice but no-o-o-o, that would have meant getting up out of bed. Good grief, I can be my own worst enemy. So, the rest of the night I slept well. After a couple of fits and starts around 5:30, I got up at 6:30 for the day. By the time I had my tea made, Bill joined me.

No walk this morning, but a drive through Quartzsite at 8 am

a popular spot in town but we've never dug deep enough
into our pockets to try one

We had our drinks and read some blogs. I grabbed a couple of apples and Bill loaded the dirty clothes into Black Beauty. It was 8 when we drove to Blythe where we knew there would be no crowds at the laundromat. The main reason for going to Blythe instead of Quartzsite was that we needed Cesar patties for Clemson. We didn’t have enough to get us through until we left this area.

It is such a pretty drive down I-10

and you may picture the desert mountains like this

but after a rainy spell, these are the colours we're now seeing

We can't get enough of the mountains

Crossing a drier section of the Colorado River
Wasn't I just talking about rain?

We got waved through at the Inspection Station

We gained an hour as we moved into Pacific Time in California
Blythe is only 20 minutes from Quartzsite

It is a large laundromat, yes, but we won’t go back just because of how old everything is. I liked the prices, $2/wash and .50¢ for a dryer and they worked well. The insides of the appliances were clean and the dryers were large and dried things really quick. For .75¢, a load with 5 pair of jeans was dry in 30 min. Not too many dryers offer that. The floors are clean but we really think the business thrives on their dry-cleaning service rather than these machines. No matter, clean clothes again.

Nothing fancy for sure but it got the job done
While waiting, Bill gave Black Beauty a DIY wash right beside
this building

When we left there, we drove to Albertson’s to get Clemson’s food, creamer and eggs. Last stop was the Post Office to mail a post card. I need to purchase more while in Quartzsite and get another batch mailed off. We arrived back home at 11 and I made myself a coffee. Because we’d eaten our apples, I wasn’t feeling overly hungry and the coffee seemed to do the trick for a while. Bill went over once more to work with George G. on the audio in their coach.

Back through the busy town of Quartzsite again

It was buzzing at 11 am

It was a good time for me to make an Apple/Blueberry Crisp for the Canadian Potluck tomorrow. I’ll bake it tonight when we turn the generator on or first thing in the morning. Bill sat at his laptop to write a blog post so I helped him a bit with his pictures before slipping into shorts and taking myself outside with my wool and my book. Not sure which will capture my attention the best. The day was a nice one with mostly clear blue sunny skies and the wind minimal at 2 – 5 mph.

I watched our neighbour, camping in a dome tent with 2 other mates
and 3 dogs, roll around on two wheels
These roads are bumpy! I give him tons of credit!

As it turned out, I attempted to start with the crocheting but wasn’t getting into it so opened my book instead. I’ll have this one finished tonight. It’s good enough to read and see what happens but not one I’d recommend to anyone who hasn’t read Stephen King. Bill joined me briefly outside and was soon invaded by the sleep goblins so went inside. I fought it for a chapter or two more and then sat in Bill’s chair with my back to the sun, scrunched down and dozed off myself. As much as I can doze off in an upright slouch.

Happy Hour
Left to right: Rick, Kathy, Deb, Tom, Bill's chair, Patsy, Suzie, George, Rob, Pat, Ken, Kim
Bill thinks he wasn't in the picture but his shadow tells a different story

Rob came over and informed me of the news that Trump has agreed, just this afternoon, to pay the Government employees up until Feb. 15^th. That means offices that were closed, as in blm’s, will soon open. We’re not concerned because we all agree that we’ll be here for our allotted 2 weeks and then some before we pull out in a week. We will be happy to pay the $40 fee. No one knows when anyone came in here so it will have to be collected on a going-forward basis.

It will certainly be interesting to see just ‘how’ they go about it. We will probably just go up on Monday and get our registration sticker so we’re legal. We would have paid it anyway and wouldn’t have arrived until Jan. 18^th. We got a break no matter what the outcome. At 3, Bill and I started the semi-circle for Happy Hour with our chairs facing the west to get as much heat from the sun as possible.

Kim was curious about Kathy's chair so had to try it out

There were 12 of us today and Rose and George were absent. The winds typically picked up around 2:30, just in time. LOL Bill, myself, Ken, Kim, Rob, Pat, George, Suzie, Tom, Deb and visitors, Rick and Kathy made up the gathering. It was a nice group with a lot of chatter, laughs and stories told. The party broke up just as the wind began dying down (naturally) around 5:30ish. I went inside the Suite and shaped the ground beef into 4 burgers for grilling and Bill lit the Weber.

Supper tonight

The sun dropped behind the mountains, aptly, and I captured just one picture tonight. No clouds so nothing extraordinaire tonight. I prepped a salad as a side and we will only eat one burger each tonight with 2 for another evening. Bill started the generator after supper and I baked the dessert I made for tomorrow. A discussion I was having, after H.H. broke up, brought up the date. This is January 25^th. Wow, how did that happen? Just over a month and we’ll be making our slow trek home. 

Latecomers Ken and Kim laughed over their ‘we’ve been here 6 days already!’

A delicious little dessert treat

The bacon cheeseburgers tonight were excellent and Bill even said that he enjoyed it more than the one he had at Carl’s Jr. last night. That made me smile and I thanked him. These were made with my own two hands so a little more love than what Carl gave him. 😊 We cleaned up dishes and for dessert, we had a creamy jell-o each. We had a great day today and we’re looking forward to a couple of events tomorrow. The Canadian Potluck is on at the QIA building tomorrow and then Bloggerfest. We are looking forward to some fun with our friends.

We must be having too much fun as the time is really flying!
Good night all!

I hope you have had a great day too. Just as we sat down to eat, we saw our friends, Rose and George return to their spot. We are happy that they made it back with their coach. 

Thank you for visiting my blog today. Your comments are always appreciated.