Laundry Taken Care of – Lunch at Olive Garden with Friends - One More Happy Hour

At 10 to 7 on Wednesday, Feb. 20^th, we popped out of bed and immediately began sorting and loading 2 loads of clothes into the basket. Clemson was still snuggled, fast asleep, so Bill drove me up and we loaded the machines. I took my laptop and cords for downloading pics from camera and phone along for the ride. Instead of going for a walk, I wanted to finish my blog post. So many pictures to choose from, so it took longer than I expected.

A quiet space to work on my blog

It is a nice environment to work in. People walking through for various reasons, showers, fitness, puzzle, laundry and the maintenance crew, but not one of them bothered me. We said good morning and kept to ourselves. Thank you! When the wash loads were both done, Bill came to help fold so we could drive back together. Now, the not so fun part of putting them away. I don’t know why that is such a pet peeve but it is. Easier to slip things off hangers than to put them on. LOL

That's the corner table I worked on

I made my tea, oh, that’s what I was looking forward to when I returned! We each just had some toast to tie us over until lunchtime. We had been offered a very nice treat by good friends and I was looking forward to seeing them as well as trying out a new-to-me restaurant. More on that later. Bill had had his shower while I was at the laundromat so at 10:30, I did the same. The sun is out in full glory today and at 43F we knew it was going to be a decent day, going up to 62F.

The sun rose and reflected on the pool

With a catnap in the chair for my two boys, I debated a walk around the park. I still had damp hair and we had an issue with power along our row of sites. The maintenance crew have been working on a blown breaker since 9:30 this morning. We are on solar power anyway but the box where they are working is right beside our unit so we should know when things are back on track. Bill was chatting with and watching them.

Bill chatting with the Maintenance guys

Our Suite is really close to our panel box and before we head out, we thought we might need to pull ahead 10 “ so they would have easy access to it, but upon checking at 12:45, it isn’t necessary. Rob texted and asked if we wanted to join the gang after lunch at Pilot Knob for what ‘may’ be our last Happy Hour together. Of course! We loaded ours and Rob’s chairs in Black Beauty and I gathered some drinks and warmer clothes. The winds are bouncing between 12 – 19 mph.

Clemson gets some special attention

And he's loving every minute

I stopped at the puzzle room when Rob’s text came in and went back and forth with Bill. Well, since I was there, I put in a couple more pieces of the peacock and then walked home. Not much of a walk after all.

I like watching the ever-changing fields

on the drive into town

At a new venue, when there are lots of items on the menu it takes me forever to choose so I perused their menu online before going for a walk. My hair was dry enough and the wind finished it off within a couple of minutes. This winter’s rule: Don’t spend too much time making your hair look pretty – in no time, the wind has its own design for those tendrils.

Bill had the prettiest drink of all of us

We gave Clemson a treat (it was definitely too early for his supper!) and at 1 o’clock, hopped in the truck to head into town. He’ll be fine when we return around 5, sleeping in the sun for the most part. 

Roland and Lori were waiting for us at the restaurant and after only a 10-minute wait, we were escorted to a table. We had a cute little waitress, Sabrina, who took our drink orders and when she returned with those, Lori ordered a hot spinach dip with chips for an appetizer.

I loved this cheesy spinach dip

There were so many things to choose on the menu and after changing my mind, what 13 times? I ordered the Lunch Duo. This consisted of never-ending bread sticks, never-ending soup OR salad and another dish of your choice. All that for $7.99! I opted for a non-pasta dish since my Creamy Gnocchi Soup had enough carbs with potato balls and chicken. I’d eaten enough bread sticks and knew I would fill up fast.

Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Chicken and Cheese Piadina

The food was delicious and because Bill had to change his order (shortage of shrimp), his new choice included a soup or salad that he could get to-go. I said yes when he said ‘no thank you’ and got a bowl of Creamy Chicken Gnocchi and leftover breadsticks for tomorrow. Yum! We said our goodbyes around 3:15 and drove west to have one more Happy Hour with the Pilot Knob crew. George, Suzie, Kim, Ken, Rob and Pat. Loree still wasn’t feeling well so Ron had taken her to the chiropractor. I don’t know if we’ll see them again before we all leave the area.

It was great to see these guys again

Sabrina, our waitress was a sweet addition to our meal

It was windy, cloudy and cold but we managed to get about 45 minutes of visiting in before we packed it in. It is winter, after all, although very unlike the Arizona we know. We said goodbye with more ‘this isn’t the last times’ and followed Rob and Pat towards Yuma. When we returned home, we turned our water back on (a good habit we’ve learned from Rob) and flicked the switch from battery power to electric.

Another Happy Hour with the gang

There was a problem. We couldn’t switch over to power. Our batteries were being charged but we had to remain on the inverter for the time being. Bill is wondering if the surge from the repair of the park breaker damaged our transfer switch. 

We followed Rob and Pat back to Yuma

I hope I’m describing that right and that you get the drift. For the remainder of the evening, we will manage on our batteries and make a call in the morning. There was no need for supper tonight but there may be a need for a cheese and apple snack.

Looks like we're driving back into sunshine but by
the time we returned, the blue hole in the sky was covered
in clouds

We watched a couple of recorded programs, New Amsterdam and Magnum P.I. and then spent a quiet evening until bedtime. This was a fun day. Thank you for your visit.