Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. We spent it on Mission Bay in San Diego with friends at the Mission Bay RV Park.

This is the first time we have been at this park and it is really nice. The weather was iffy the day we arrived and it rained pretty good that night. The next morning, which was Thanksgiving Day, was drizzly until about noon. Then the weather gave us a break.

I did the turkey on the grill again this year with my Hi-Tech thermometers to monitor kettle temperature and internal turkey temperature. Turns out that my internal thermometer was broken so I was going by time per pound. Luckly my daughter had a thermometer simulate to mine that I hooked up, and it was a good thing I did. The turkey had about another ½ hour to go according to time but the new thermometer said it was ready. It came out perfect!


The rest of the weekend’s weather was perfect. The rains went away and the sun came out. We just have so much fun with our friends. Can’t wait until we meet again.

Mission Bay San Diego

We made the short 45 minute trip to Mission Bay in San Diego where we will spend the Thanksgiving weekend. We made it here just before the sprinkles started. We are expecting rain tonight but it should clear tomorrow. I will be doing my usual turkey on the grill this year. Looking forward to a great weekend with friends and family.

Educated ants

I forgot how smart the ants are around here. It wasn’t long after we parked and setup that the ants were marching their way up our hoses and cables. I took care of them with a little Vaseline around the hoses and cables.

Back in Vista

We are back in Vista California for the Holidays. We will be here until just after Christmas then head back to Havasu to do the finishing touches on the Casita we are having built on our lot. The contractor has been patiently waiting for us to vacate the lot so they can get in there and start construction. The first step will be to cut the concrete pad to run utilities and pour the foundation.

I had to pull out my cactus garden and have my lawn relocated.

The lawn looks real good in its new location. This has become some REAL expensive lawn with the initial cost and now the cost of relocation.

Great day

We just had a great day. Our friend took us out on the boat today. It couldn’t be a better day. The temperature was in the mid 80s and not a bit of wind. We headed on over to Copper Canyon.

I’m sure you have heard of Copper Canyon in Lake Havasu. This is the cove where everyone heads to party and do some rock diving. They climb up the cliffs and dive off. It gets so jammed with boats they tie off to each other and people literally walk from boat to boat. Today, being it is winter, the cove was empty and we had the place to ourselves. We anchored off and brought out the food. What a spread.

After having lunch in the cove we headed for the channel where the famous London Bridge is.

The lake was so smooth and calm. All that and I even made a little in the stock market today. Life CAN be good in these tough times.

Lots of wind

We had LOTS of wind today. I thought my slide awning was going to blow off. Our new patio furniture blew off the lot into the rocks and got all scratched up. Fortunately a little bottle of touch up paint came with the furniture and I think I can make most of the scars go away. We were going to have a little get together tonight but called it off. It has died down a bit from this afternoon and should continue to mellow out in the next couple of days.

A few minor changes

I got the updated plans today for our casita. It looks good, I just made a few notes so it looks like we are ready to go. The contractor is just waiting for us to head out of here for California so he can get started.
I was hoping they would work around our cactus garden but was told it has to go. I will just have to rebuild it when they are done. I was considering moving our lawn myself until I realized how heavy it is. When they install it, they lay the carpet of grass out, stake it down then fill it with a lot of sand. Even if I got a few guys to help out, it would still be quite a chore. The weather is finally changing to winter around here. It is getting into the 50s at night and cooler during the days.

The cloud cover make some really nice sunsets.

My position in today's economy

As I watch the stock market fall lower and lower, I sometimes wonder if I did the right thing by quitting my job, selling the house, investing my money and going fulltime. Then I remember that everything I own is paid off, I don’t have a job that I have to worry about loosing and living in an RV is as cheap as you want to make it. I also remember that my loss in the stock market is only on paper and as hard as it is to NOT pull out I am staying in for the long run. It will come back and I will not suffer any loss from today’s economy. So I sit here next to my motorhome at our resort in the warm Arizona sun feeling pretty good about my decision.

After a blustery day yesterday, today was great. The morning started out cool and calm, and warmed up real nice during the day. It is supposed to improve from here for the rest of the week.

Race Day

Susan is so nervous about Jimmy Johnson’s chance at the championship that she can’t watch the races. For the last couple weeks I have been watching the race at my neighbors. Today must have been golf day for them because at the start of the race they were not home. Since it was a dismal blustery day I decided to head over to the clubhouse and kick back in their theater style recliners and watch the race on the big screen TV. I had the whole place to myself. Great way to watch the race.

So why didn’t we just pack up the motorhome and head on over to Phoenix this weekend for the race. After all it’s only about 3 hours away. Well that is a different story. There are things we as owners have requested here in the RV Resort that aren’t in the budget so we are taking it upon our selves to raise the money. So this weekend Susan and our neighbor Sally organized a Block Party in the Resort. One of the streets was blocked off and everyone was asked to bring a dish (main, salad, or desert) and a dollar donation and join in. Susan and Sally got our resident former Las Vegas Entertainer to provide the entertainment. Close to 100 people showed up for the party and the 50/50 drawing raised over $400. Susan got real lucky because the 3 days prior to the party were cold and very windy. Yesterday the skies were clear with a gentle warm breeze. Today the winds and cold returned. Everyone had a great time and the party was a success.

No time change for us

Since the country changed to Daylight Saving time it has messed us up a bit. Arizona and Hawaii are the only states that do not change. Our Satellite programming is based on California time and since we are in Arizona all our favorite programs are now an hour late. Also I have to wait an hour later to check the closing of the stock market to see how far my stocks have gone down... We have to be aware of the time difference when we call our friends and family in California. Personally I don’t think there should be a time change. In a couple of weeks we will be heading for California to spend the holidays. We will have to get used to the time change then. At least then we will be in sync with the rest of the country for a while.

Reminds me of the time I showed up for a motorhome factory tour and was told I was an hour early. Seem during the short 10 minute drive, I crossed into a different time zone.

Camp Host?

OK, you may have been wondering what we are still doing in Arizona instead of Southern California were we usually are this time of year. As most of you know we usually Camp Host for the California State Parks at San Elijo State Beach Campground in Cardiff By the Sea for November and December. Well, we decided not to do the camp host thing this time because this is probably the best time of the year here in Lake Havasu City Arizona. We will be hanging out here until about the middle of November then head on over to California to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with family. This also works well because we will be off the lot while construction of our Casita is going on. When we get back it should be pretty much completed and we can start setting it up the way we want. I will have tile to install, cabinets to hang, washer and dryer, and bathroom fixtures to install. Susan can’t wait to get to work on setting up her new bathroom, laundry room, and patio.