Week 1 at GVP

Day 15 Tues, Jan 12 partly cloudy, forecast 70+

I went over to get coffee in the lobby and back to RV. Our usual day started with Water VB, with lots of players, (we split into 2 pools) then lunch @ the Palms Cabana while listening to live music by Larry Stevens with Paul & Yvonne. Larry was very good. Sheila would have liked to dance to him. Sheila took Yvonne shopping for a swimsuit & showed her the 99 cent store in the mall across the street. Then we had supper at their RV, dessert & Bridge at ours.

Day 16 Wed, Jan 13, rain at night, cool morning, warming slightly to low 60’s

It’s clearing after the rain and warming slightly. We went to water VB, only about 7 players a side, and then back to rig for lunch. No music at pool, probably because of cooler weather. Yvonne dropped by, then Paul and they were both here when Larry & Judy Shaffer arrived, around 1:30 pm. We are all going to go to Steer & Stein for supper. Sheila went off to iron some stuff & phone about the Fri. eve dinner play deal. I gassed up the Focus, (price diff between Arco & Chevron is 22 cents per gallon--$2.93 Arco $3.15 Chevron). Larry, Judy, Paul, Yvonne, & us went to Steer N’ Stein for supper, I had my usual, the 16 oz steak. The price is creeping upwards, it is now $14.99! Back to RV & up to the dance tonight by Rockin’ Ronda with Paul & Yvonne.

Day 17 Thurs, Jan 14, clear & sunny,68 F

I went up to pay for the month, it runs to Feb 17, check out on Feb 18. Electricity cost 13 cents per KWH for first 300 or so, then it goes to 15 cents so the propane V.S. electricity argument puts propane break-even cost at $2.60 to $3.00 a gallon to switch, i.e. if propane costs less than that use it, if more, use electricity. Propane cost in Hemet is $1.99 a gallon. After that we went to play Water VB which split to two pools again. Then lunch at the cabana, Pat Young was entertaining. We met Yvonne’s friend Genvieve from LA. Then Judy & Larry showed up and we all had a great visit. We all decided to go to the movie “Up in the Air” with George Clooney. It was a mildly amusing movie, after which we went to Marie Callender’s for supper. Larry, Judy & us went to Mex Train Dominos. (Paul & Yvonne went home to talk to their family via Skype.) They play differently at GVP now. You start by playing your whole train, but you can only do this if you can start immediately & there can be more than one Mex train. Half blanks count 25 against you with the double blank being 50. If you can’t start your train 1^st round, you don’t have a personal train & if you start one later it is a Mex train. If you start a train and you end it on a double the next person to play can only play one tile but others can play their whole trains. You play from double 12 down and the winner of each round gets a nickel, (every player pays 5 nickels) into the pot to start, so 65 cents is paid out & the winner gets the rest of the nickels). Sheila did really well most of the game & looked like a sure winner, until the last round when another woman went catching her & winning by 30 pts. She was quite disappointed!

Day 18, Fri, Jan 15 overcast but reasonably warm 72 F

We went up to water VB and got enough players to split to 2 pools. At the Cabana for lunch & music, group was AL & Barb who did mostly C&W with some R&R, quite entertaining although there was hardly any one there. Gerry & Ross came over & we sat together until music finished at 2:00. Back to RV to change & then it’s the Wine & Cheese Welcome reception on the patio. The new manager, Mike is a younger, handsomer version of Greg, but not as personable. Most, (70% at least), of the people there were Canadians & most of the BCers were from Van. Island. After the reception, we rode down to the new WinCo Foods store west on Florida, (big store, good prices). Then a small quick bite for supper and off to shuffleboard with Paul/Yvonne. Larry & Judy were there also. We played a different game which Sheila liked better than the usual one. Each team of 4 was at one end & took turns shooting all their disks, then their score was totalled & recorded & then the other team did the same thing from the other end. Instead of trying to knock your opponents’ disks out of scoring you were trying to knock your teammates’ in! We didn’t win anything at draws this time. Yvonne seemed to enjoy the Shuffleboard & it didn’t strain her pulled ligaments, but Paul is lukewarm about it. Both really like Water VB though.

Day 19, Sat Jan 16 Cool, (67 F) cloudy morning but cleared & sunny by 10:30, & warmer

We went up & the Water VB was on & it was quite pleasant in the pool as the sun came out. Back to RV for lunch & there is a VB game on at 1:00-1:30. The afternoon VB went to about 3PM. Did Hot tub, shower & back to rig to change for tonight’s outing to the "Play with Your Food" dinner & theatre production of "Moon over Buffalo". All 6 are going, us, Larry, Judy & Paul, Yvonne. Great show enjoyed it all. Pork loin was really good.

Day 20, Sun Jan 17, cold, (62 F) cloudy early AM, clear & warm PM, cloud late PM, rain in eve.

I went over to WinCo for some groceries Sheila needed, it was cold & cloudy. By 10:00 it was starting to clear & warm up so we changed & went over the pool where Water VB was in progress. It was quite a nice day. After the game, hot tub & shower we got stuff ready for the luncheon for the 6 of us in a room in the main building. We had a great lunch followed by a game of Jokers & Pegs. Men against women, men won. As we were leaving we ran into Bob & Lois, who came to visit from Palm Springs, so we introduced them to everyone. We went off to our rig with Bob & Lois while Larry, Judy, Paul, Yvonne stayed to play some bridge. After a nice visit we went to Appleby’s with Bob & Lois for supper then back to our rig where they headed home to Palm Springs. Food at Appleby’s was really good, Sheila said the shrimp in her Shrimp ‘n spinach salad were the best she’s ever tasted! It is raining off & on, sometimes fairly heavily.