Slow Start, Sleepyhead, Old Historic Yuma, Lots of Chatter Today

I woke around 6:30 on Tuesday, Feb. 19^th and Bill was already up. I could hear him stirring his coffee so he hadn’t been up long. I remained in bed listening to the dump truck lifting and emptying the bins. If I hadn’t taken my ear plugs out, I likely wouldn’t have heard them. They are just down on the corner so very close. At least our bedroom is at the north end of our site and they are on the south. When I rose at 6:50, I just got dressed and went for my walk.

Good morning, Mr. Moon
(taken on my phone camera)

The weather station was telling us that it was 44F and 0 mph winds. Usually one layer on my arms is enough with my vest but I slipped on my wind breaker as well. My phone said it was more like 38F but no matter, it was a beautiful morning with clear skies and to the west, the gorgeous full moon to say good morning. It was so pretty but our little camera didn’t do it justice.

A pretty colour this morning
(taken on our little Canon power shot)

I walked the front streets of the park and then cut back through to the wash. Looking for a new adventure, I walked on the path on the west side of the sandy wash area. This took me along the base of the backyards of some park model homes. I could tell who really looks after their place from looking at the backyards. Some were set up very nicely for morning or evening sitting, others left to deteriorate.

Walking along the wash towards the south bridge

At one point I had to cross over as the path ended and from there, I walked back towards Frontage Rd. along the front of the two parks. Up the embankment and back into Sundance’s entrance. Oh, first I walked past just so I could take a picture of our units from the road. Returning home, I made my tea and sat with Bill reading blogs. 

Rob knocked on the door and came in with an invite to visit Old Yuma this morning.

This was a nice yard, with prickly pear cacti flourishing
What a nice area to sit and watch the sun come up

This morning's temperature as reported by Mr. Owl

There was no rush as plans were made for 10:30 when all shops would be open and the temperature will have risen a few sunny degrees. We are looking for 60F today and hope the winds remain at bay for some outdoor sitting later. I made us poached eggs on toast and during that process and after dishes we took turns getting cleaned up. Clemson, our little sleepyhead, had a great night. He went to bed with me at 10 and slept in until 9:15!

Bill noticed that the bathroom sink drain was running slow so took the drain plug out for a good cleaning. It is crazy how clogged up with dirt and grime they get. It isn’t even mostly hair, which maybe we would understand. Anyway, it is good to go now for another few months and a small chore out of the way. We’d talked about doing one or two loads of clothing laundry this morning but with this chance to see Old Yuma, the clothes can wait. We’re trying not to build it up for too long this time. Then we’ll just have one small bunch to do before we leave.

On the other side now, closer to the bridges

A neat tree to hide under if you were an animal or as a child

And the sun rises

And I never walk alone

So, at 10:30 we met at Rob’s truck and he drove to Old Yuma. We had forgotten, if I even knew, about the Farmer’s Market on Tuesday. No wonder there were so many vehicles! The main street was blocked off so we walked through the open market and checked out the vendors. Nothing we needed, just nice to look. Bill did eyeball a cool wind vane but it didn’t come back with us.

Old Downtown Yuma
Couple of street walkers on the far side

Oh, that's better! It's just us - the street signs

And there are our buddies too

Perusing a very jammed antique shop, I was intrigued
by this sewing rocking chair with a pull-out drawer under the seat
Cool!

Don't tell anyone, but Rob and I have what you call
a 'rolling pin' relationship

Two buddies by the tree

We walked back to the parking lot and the City Hall. It is also the Parks and Recreation Centre which is the home of the ‘City of Yuma’. The City of Yuma was the plane that put Yuma on the map by setting a record for nonstop hours in the air (according to the history). Military aviation in Yuma ended when WWII did. The local Jaycees wanted to spotlight Yuma’s perfect ‘flying’ weather.

The record of 46+ days, 1,124 hours in the air were made possible by volunteers and the pilot’s wives who passed food and fuel to them from a 1948 speeding convertible. Woody Jongeward and Bob Woodhouse were ex-military who were ‘volunteered’ as the pilots for this endurance test. It now hangs above our heads in Yuma City Hall. Everything is free in the Hall including a video of their very interesting story.

We went from there to see the 79’ Southern Pacific steam engine located near the Hilton Garden Inn at Pivot Point Park. You can read about it on your own at yumamodelrailroaders.org. Bill and I had seen it often from the highway but never up close and personal. I sure wish we could have walked right through, that would be so cool but of course, that wasn’t feasible. Not without full-time security to ensure its preservation.

 We walked around reading all about the Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge that was the first hwy span over the lower Colorado River. I’d be so much happier with myself if I could retain even ¼ of what I read. That is another story you can google here. (www.visityuma.com) From there we drove home and the temperature had done what it was supposed to today. Our station was reading 60F with 6 mph winds. I made us each a coffee and we sat and relaxed for a bit.

I downloaded pictures from the morning and wrote more on my post. Clemson was good while we were gone and didn’t hesitate to tell me it was time for one of our block walks. At 2:30 I invited Pat to join me for a walk to the office for laundry change and to the puzzle room. Clemson is pestering for his supper so I’ll leave with Daddy to take care of that. Can you call it supper at 2:30? At least he settles down after he eats. LOL

There is a peacock puzzle on the go, 1000 pieces. One peacock with its feathers outstretched in true ‘peacock form’ so if you can imagine that, you can imagine how difficult this one will be to work on. There were 3 people working on the 2^nd one and it had the odd ball pieces that are fun. Pat and I sat at the challenging one and wished we brought vodka in our bottles instead of water. Wow! We’d be lucky if found any pieces.

I will be very surprised if this puzzle ever gets completed

 I know she found a few, surprising her, and I didn’t do badly either for every piece looking almost the same. When the other table vacated, we gave our eyes a break and moved to the one with all sandals. It felt so easy peasy to me, not bragging, and we just set a goal to finish it. At 5 we did, yay! and we walked back to our sites to see what the guys were up to. Bill had watched a movie and did some Google research on a few things in my absence.

This is the picture on the box
I like a challenge but this is ridiculous!

We were hungry, a cheese stick for a snack when I got back from the puzzle room settled my grumbling tummy. Tonight, was going to be an experiment with IP. We had a very thick steak in the freezer that I purposely neglected to take out. When we have steak, we like it from a restaurant or a master chef who makes them all the time and has a 95% success rate. When we grill one and it turns out perfect, we rejoice! It doesn’t happen often, no fault of the chef either.

This Flip Flop one was easy - I enjoyed it

I wanted to test the powers of my ‘Magic’ IP. That is what Ken calls them, Magic. 😊 Because it was frozen and not flat on either side, I couldn’t sauté it first so instead I put the trivet in, added a cup of water, onion and then the spiced steak. Testing 1, 2, 3. No idea how long to cook it for so I started with 5 minutes. Centre was still frozen. Then I did 5 more minutes, vented and it was still too red inside. One last period of 3 minutes and it was done nicely.

It didn’t look the way a steak should look so I removed the trivet and juices and sautéed it until a bit brown on both sides. Voila! For our side tonight, I made up some dressing rather than a salad or a vegetable. With steak, we always have a baked spud and mushrooms but it is usually too much food at one sitting. The steak wasn’t ‘perfect’ but we both enjoyed it very much. I ate my whole piece which is a feat in itself. I’d do it again but I’d thaw and then sauté it first next time.

And another pretty truck for sale

After dishes, we watched some of our Tuesday night programs and a recorded one from the previous night. Rob popped over for a discussion about televisions going bad and we called our youngest daughter, Jess, to catch up on her news about her ‘little oven bun’ and work situation. She is doing pretty good, in her last 40 days of pregnancy, keeping an eye on a couple of things. She is doing great on the work front, being offered full-time permanent upon her return to work next March. Yay! Congratulations, Jessica!

Walking this morning, I took this picture of our homes from the road outside the park

I couldn’t keep my eyes open by the time our last program ended and went to bed at 10 with Clemson. Another good day for the books. No complaints here in our world.

Thank you for stopping for a visit today. I enjoy hearing from you if you have time to leave a comment.