Windy, Wet and Cool, Confinement, Sharing a Meal

Lake Havasu RV Resort, AZ

Today is Monday, Mar. 2^nd and it is like we’ve dropped into fall overnight. The temperature this morning is 51F/11C and although back home that would be pleasant, after 64F morning temperatures it feels cool. The winds between 12 – 20 mph are adding to that coolness too. We were up at 6:30 and after a bit of waking up time, I went for my walk.

Good morning

I needed to bundle a bit more because of the wind. The sun made a brief appearance but it never made it through the heavy clouds. Today was not to be its day. 

I walked across the road and covered ground on every lane in the park, both sides before returning home. Our neighbours with the awning troubles looked to be packing up, not much was sitting outside this morning.

Another Airstream motor home

And a very cool Chevrolet
Daddy had one very similar in turquoise

When I returned, Bill had already left for town. We needed to get an oil change on Black Beauty and there was a Ford dealer here in L.H.C. He called a few minutes after I returned to inform me that it might be a couple of hours just so I was prepared. He was prepared to wait a bit and if he needed to he could have gone to Jiffy Lube (or whatever they are called down here).

Lots of wind this morning
and those clouds on the horizon took over the sky

Bill used to fly both flags too

I sat and finished my book with my creamy tea. We turned the fireplace on this morning to warm up the Suite. 64F just isn’t comfy enough indoors for us. It was around 8:30 when the Serengeti next door started up so I knew they were in fact pulling out of their site. By 9, they left and that was when I noticed the rain had started, lightly. I moved the folded chairs out under the nose cap for extra protection from the wetness and scurried back inside.

Since my book was now done, that was the J.A. Jance ‘Trial by Fire’, I decided to get back to finishing the second slipper that I was working on. It is a great project when you’re refined indoors. 

You'd be surprised at how many of these I saw today
People love these mats because of the patterns and lightweight
but they are no match for the winds

With the gusting winds, we won’t be barbecuing outside and I decided to invite Keith in from the blm for supper. With that thought in mind, I figured if I made lasagna instead of the small 2 lb. roast, we may as well extend the invite to Ken and Kim too. They are also driving from Pilot Knob today so this way they don’t have to worry about a meal either. Sometimes things like that just help out and they don’t have hookups out there.

The Serengeti neighbours left us

They have a nice picture on the back of them

While Bill was in town, it was the perfect opportunity for me to watch the two episodes of This is Us that we’d recorded. Oh my. The first one had me in tears but now I’m all caught up to date until tomorrow night. I really dislike when this program goes off after a season because I enjoy the characters and story so much. Then I set about making myself something to eat. A tortilla wrap, warmed with cheese, mayo, lettuce and black olives was good and I fried a few slices of eggplant. Yum.

A small filling lunch

I cleaned up the dishes and then pulled stuff out for supper. The responses from K, K & K to supper were affirmative. I wanted to make some dessert but before starting, I went for a walk. The winds were still gusting 18 to 23 mph but the sun was out now.

The sun was warm as is typical but I was glad to have my jacket on and no hat. I’d have lost the hat for sure! 

6 ramekins in Madame IP

 Back at home, I made keto custard and cooked it in Madame IP. All of her buttons seemed to be working fine. Phew! 9 minutes on Manual, 5-minute release and 6 cups were done. I had to use about 1/8 of a cup of regular half and half so if it doesn’t set properly, I won’t be able to serve them tonight. Then I finished my slippers. 

9 minutes on manual

At a few minutes before 3, Bob and Jo-Anne returned home. Since we hadn’t talked to them all day and they’d been gone since this morning, I texted Jo-Anne and invited them to visit for a pre-supper Happy Hour. I informed her that the ‘kids’ from the blm were coming in to eat with us.  I originally had planned to make the lasagna in Madame IP but wasn’t sure if that would feed 5 of us so doubled up the meat and sauce to make a larger pan.  When I texted right back to invite Jo and Bob for supper too, they already had their meal in the works.

Dark sky over to the south

It was too windy and cool to sit outside so of course when Ken, Kim and Keith arrived, they came inside and our neighbours came too.  We had a nice chit chat about one thing or another and after pre-heating the convection oven at 4:30, I put the lasagna in for an hour. With 30 minutes left, Keith slipped up to the rec hall, close to our site, to have a shower. That is smart thinking while he was here although he could have used ours in a heartbeat.

Happy Hour in the Suite

Supper was dished up with garlic bread and Caesar salad. I think everyone enjoyed it, at least they said they did! We had the custard for dessert, it turned out well too! I loaded the dishes in the dishwasher at Bill’s suggestion and Ken found an app on his phone similar to ‘Name that tune’ and we went around the room playing the game. We had fun, laughs and surprisingly guessed a lot of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s tunes correctly. I must remember that!

It was a filling meal

The evening ended just before 8 when our friends left for home. It would be very dark out there on Lone Tree Hill so I’m glad they traveled++ together. We had a great day and an even greater evening. Good times with good friends. We'd had a bit more rain over the Happy Hour period but it didn't last and the sun came out and the winds calmed right down. 

And we're almost all together, sharing a meal
Good night from Lake Havasu Resort

Thank you for your visit. We will be back to warmer weather again tomorrow.

Coolish Day, Tyson Wells and Big Tent for Kicks

Quartzsite, AZ

On Tuesday, Jan. 21^st I woke up around 3 and Bill wasn't in bed. The light was on downstairs. Oh-oh. His early bedtime is messing up his sleep. I’m sure it was just after 8:30 that he took his book up in the hopes of reading some more. When I went up closer to 9:30, he was still reading for a few more minutes before he turned the light out. 6 -7 hours sleep is pretty normal to Bill so I wasn't too surprised.

Before we left for town, Keith played ball
with Oreo to tire her out

He returned to bed soon after but I didn’t speak as it would wake me up more and then I would be the one laying there wide awake. LOL So, I remained in position and soon dropped off again. At 6:30, I got up and he was up again. After I made the bed I suggested he try to sleep some more so he curled up on top of the covers and dropped off again for another 45 minutes. Every little bit helps. Today is a dull, dreary, possibly rainy day so a good day for an afternoon snooze. Something he has been missing.

Bill's wind sock shows just a light wind
and that was all we got all day

I waited until after 7:30 until it was somewhat lighter outside but with the clouds, it was closer to 8 and then I noticed rain drops on the window. Skipping the walk this morning, obviously! We got cleaned up after our morning drinks and 5 of us piled into Black Beauty for the drive to town. Kim and I separated almost immediately from the guys and just touched base 2 ½ hours later to see where they were.

This was my first picture of the Q mountain

After dropping our bags of food and kitchen stuff in the truck, we walked to the Big Tent for another walk through. Let’s see what we can collect free today. We each got a lip balm, some chocolate bars and kisses and took the trip down Pretzel Dip Lane for our snack. The dips are so good but I’m too cheap to buy them. We met the guys outside around noon and we all walked back to the parking area.

Still busy in the Big Tent today

Two more stops, Herb’s Hardware to find a screw to fix my patio chair and to Roadrunner Market for a few items. Kim and Keith needed a few things too. It is a hopping little town still and we found the Big Tent quite busy for being the 4^th day of the show. I’m glad we went and I was appreciative of having Kim to poke around with. We like the same vendors as most of us girls would. I'm sure we checked out every clothing booth.

A simple delicious wrap for lunch

We drove (fought) our way through crazy traffic back down I-95 to La Posa South and our homes. Tom and Deb, Ken and Shirley had left before us and Bill said they bumped into them in the tent as well. It would be K & S’s first time this year. When we returned back home, Bob and Jo-Anne were gone too. We all had things to see and places to go today. I’m thinking they took a drive to Parker although I’m not sure. We were hungry so I made Bill bacon and eggs for lunch and I made a wrap of chicken salad and black olives for me. Yum. It was good!

Keith doing some work on his trailer

Bill puttered around outside and Keith and the two Kens were also out and about after their group returned. There really wasn’t any rain to speak of today, just a brief spattering on the Suite windows and the tents in town. That’s good. The temperature wasn’t going to reach any higher than 63F under these clouds but we can hope for some sunshine tomorrow.

I bought more of these little dishes
and transferred our Jell-o into them for more space

Then, I took Kim's suggestion and froze tomato paste in a lidded
ice cube tray for future use

Before I knew it, it was 10 minutes to Happy Hour so I watched to see what everyone was doing. Tom, Deb, Ken and Shirley had a prior engagement with some friends so it was looking like just the 5 of us. Around 3 on the dot, Tom and Deb moved their newly purchased chairs to the centre of our sites. We were surprised to hear that their friends had cancelled but happy that they were here for our 2 ½ hour Circle of Friends.

Then within a few minutes Bob and Jo-Anne returned so there were 11 of us. The clouds played havoc with the sun and we had sweatshirts off and then on again. This went on throughout the whole time. The sun was so warm when it was out and we all enjoyed the warmth. Tomorrow’s forecast promises to provide more of it. With the clouds in the western sky, it should be a nice sunset. I kept watch from inside the Suite after walking back at 5:15.

A couple of different angles of our Happy Hour today

For supper tonight, it was just leftover stew and pizza. Bill was charging batteries for his planes so didn’t turn the generator on until they were finished. I didn't mind the wait time as I sat in my chair and got some chapters of my book read. Did I even tell you the one I’m reading? It is a Detective Michael Bennett story by James Patterson called Run for your Life. And it is very good.

Higgins enjoys Happy Hour this way

At 5:45 Bill started the genny and I fried my 2 pieces of pizza the way George did and reheated Bill’s stew in the microwave. With some salad on the side and 2 Pillsbury buns we had a full meal. I’m glad to have these items out of the fridge so we can get back on track with the keto way of eating. After dishes we sat to enjoy our Tuesday night programs. NCIS, FBI and New Amsterdam. This Is Us was recording for another night. I still had last weeks to watch. 

My supper

The evening was quiet otherwise, which is always good. This was another fun day.

And the sky performed a bit and the sun said goodbye
Good night!

Thank you for your visit. If you wish to leave a comment, I would love to read it!

Cooler Day, Costco, Another Family Birthday, Meeting Fellow Bloggers,

I was awake at 6:15 but stayed in bed until 7 when I got up to greet this wet, dull day on Wednesday, Aug. 22^nd. Today is one of my older sister’s birthdays. Audrey lives in Terrasse-Vaudreuille, Quebec so I don’t see her often. She always manages to get to Ontario a couple of times a year at least for our sister-fest and either Easter or Thanksgiving to see Mom. It gives me a jolt when my 4 older sisters approach and pass the age of 70, it means it isn’t that far off for me either.

Happy Birthday, Audrey!

I made my tea and sat and read comments and blogs from yesterday. If it wasn’t so rainy, I would have taken the chance and gone for a walk but it was, so I didn’t. Bill slept until just after 8 and related that to his restless night. Me? Slept like a baby, a well-fed, dry baby. 😊 Bill went inside to get the new valve system that Marshall picked up for our Suite yesterday in Indiana. He doesn’t need Al in service to do it for him. He can take care of this small job himself. It is not the first time he had replaced it.

Brunch today

We got cleaned up and drove to Costco to be there upon opening. A quick in and out for our dairy products and a few other items we needed. Bill probably holds the record for the fastest Costco visit of anyone, ever. Within 15 minutes we were in back in the truck. He has become quite good at it and wastes no time. Back home, we hopped in the shower and had a bacon and egg toasted sandwich. I’m really enjoying the rye bread with caraway seeds once in a while. It is still carbs so can't make it too much of a habit.

Quite a distance was travelled like this

Clemson ready for the adventure

Lots of work in the mud and rain

Bill wanted to replace the valve assembly but there wouldn’t be time this morning so planned on doing that after supper tonight. We got dressed, settled Clemson in his seat belt in the back seat and followed the 401 past Iona, West Lorne, Dutton and Rodney (familiar haunts to me) to the Wheatley turn off. 

It was a cooler 66F as we took the turn off at 1 pm

It was rain most of the way with no sign of relief. Surprise, surprise when west of Rodney, the sky and the pavement began to dry up. Our turn off was marked Essex Rd. 42 and it curved around and took us through Lakeshore. This was a pretty town on Lake St. Clair in Essex County. Honestly? I’d never even heard of it before.

Lakeshore had a lovely water tower for me

This route took us through Wheatley, a small community of approximately 3,000 inhabitants in Chatham-Kent. 

We found Marlene and Benno along the shores of Lake Erie in their beautiful home, tucked back in cottage country. We pulled into the driveway alongside their 24’ travel trailer, White Hawk, I think is the name. 

When Bill slows down, the head pops up
"Are we there yet?"

What a lovely spot they have with their newly acquired lots on either side. We later got a tour of their ‘getaway’ wheels. Having never met them before but feeling we already knew them, it was a delight to put their faces from their blog into reality. They greeted us at the door.

This turned from what we expected to be a pleasant afternoon visit to the most delightful afternoon and evening experience. With their German descent, we were introduced to a few of their traditions and relished every one! 

Elsa was allowed out to greet us at one point and sat with us on the couch

A German tradition
Can't have coffee without the cake, right Benno? 

From a celebratory ‘new friends’ greeting of wine around 1:30  (Marlene, I must get the name of that wine!) to coffee and cake for a 3 pm break (oh my!) and then after our hosts showed us around the property and into Benno’s ‘much-drooled-over’ workshop, Bill and I toasted with a glass of Radler beer.  This was another new taste for us. I enjoyed the Grapefruit and Bill, the Lemonade flavour. Interesting!

Clemson made himself quite at home in Reggie and Elsa's bed

The 'shop tour'

Happy Hour

The sun came out and the sky was a glorious blue for the remainder of the afternoon. Marlene was sweet enough to treat Clemson to some soft food of Reggie’s since we hadn’t planned on staying for dinner and didn’t bring his. 

Clemson enjoyed the different food
Thank you Marlene

And then settled down outside like Royalty

I felt bad for Elsa and Reggie as they were confined to their cage in another room for the best part of the day. Reggie was not in the mood for company and although Elsa was pleasant, she’s such a sweet little dog, she was very curious about our snobby baby. It was out of kindness to Clemson that they decided to keep them both in their room.

Marlene had this Alabama 'Moonshine'

souvlaki, roasted potatoes, zucchini and peppers, brussel sprouts salad
Dee-lich--ous!

And in case that wasn't enough, cherries and whipped cream for dessert
Not only was the dinner great, the conversation was great too

What a wonderful dinner! Even Benno out-performed himself by being ‘The BBQ Chef’ tonight. It was comical to witness the charade between him and Marlene as they prepared dinner and we all had a lot of chuckles. This was a terrific day spent with new friends and fellow travelers. We enjoyed hearing their stories of past travel days on their 42’ (?) sailboat and we shared what we could of the rv travel side of our adventures and what we’ve learned in our short time on the road.

Clemson is very brave when a glass door separates them

And sadly, the day had to come to an end as we said goodbye around 8 pm and headed home. Because of the constant 401 construction (almost all the way it was 80 km), we decided to take the scenic route home and turned onto Talbot Line (#3 hwy) at Wheatley. This takes us along a road we’ve always enjoyed travelling with occasional glimpses of the beautiful expansive Lake Erie. I tried to capture it but that didn’t work out well at all so I sat back and enjoyed the views.

thank you for a great day!

Driving around the harbour near their place

The homes along the lake were absolutely gorgeous and as much as I didn’t want to own them, I sure would have given up a couple of hours touring them! There were many 'oh wow' homes and even a few 'OMG!!' mansions. 

One of the less substantial homes, if you can believe it
I wasn't quick enough to capture the OMG ones

We arrived home around 9:45 and it was Bedtime for Bonzo! Well, it was bedtime for me, that’s for sure. I think Bill followed soon after, I don’t know as I dropped off immediately. What a wonderful day we had, meeting fellow bloggers and experiencing some new tastes and company.

A view of Lake Erie
Good night from the Suite at CanAm

Thank you for stopping in today. Your comments are always welcome.