Wed Feb 27 Day 48    54F/12C @ 9AM,    65F/18C @ 10:30,  70F/21C @ 12:30

I woke up feeling almost back to normal, though still a bit tired & loggy, but I will go up to the pool.  I only played about an hour as I started to feel cool so I went to the hot tub for a while then lay on a lounge in the sun.  Back at the RV later we left with Larry & Judy for Temecula, (20 miles south), to have lunch at the Souplantation and to go to Costco to check out prices for stuff we need for the St Patrick’s Day Fun Night event we are helping to put on.  We arrived back home a couple hours before the Rick Morgenstern show tonight.  He did a variety show that we really enjoyed then home for the evenings TV.

Tues. Feb. 26 Day 47   66F/18½C @ 11AM

I didn’t have a good night, I was coughing & wakening up quite often so we didn’t go to the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club & I skipped volleyball.  We are driving to Palm Springs today to attend a free event in the Rancho Mirage Library–- a 90 min. audio/visual presentation on Frank Sinatra.  Because of that, I didn’t want to exert too much energy this morning.  Sheila did go to the pool for a shortened game.  We left GVP about 11:45 & got to the library about 12:45.  The #10 freeway is a marvellous road, wide, smooth, with a slight down grade going east.  I was just cruising along hardly any road noise, my foot barely on the gas when I looked at the GPS - - 91 MPH, that’s over 146 KPH, and I am just keeping up with traffic, passing some & some passing me.   After the Frank Sinatra thing, (what Dave Shaner did was to present Sinatra singing 2 versions of various songs, often recorded years apart, with different arrangements and different musicians/bands performing with him).   It was interesting to hear how different he sounded when singing with the different bands & at different times in his life.  For instance, in the songs he recorded in the 1940’s when he was younger, his voice was much more melodic, but it didn’t have ‘character’ & styling it had when he was twenty years older in the 1960’s.  It was a good program, but we both would have liked to have learned more about his life.   After the program, we went with Lois & Bob over to the Daily Grill for a late lunch. We got in just before the lunch menu switched over to the dinner menu at 4 pm--(more $$).  After eating and talking, we strolled down El Paseo Boulevard looking in all the exclusive stores, - Sak’s 5^th Ave, Louis Vutton, Wolfgang Pucks Pizza Place etc.  We stopped in at a Spice store Lois & Bob had been to before. It had every imaginable spice including some we’d never heard of.  They even have taster bottles so you can shake a tiny bit on your hand and taste it.  Sheila bought some Tomato powder, a vanilla sugar, and a small packet of freeze-dried corn which tastes a bit like sweet, corn-flavoured candy.  We left there about 6 pm & were back at GVP about 7:15.  Sheila went over to Larry & Judy’s to see how Larry had done at Texas Hold’em.  (He stayed in for about 2 hrs. before he went broke, - it’s a $10.00 buy in so that is the max you can lose).  Larry had spent the day checking prices, and organizing for the St. Pat’s Day dinner the four of us are putting on two weeks from now.  We will be staying home again tonight, doing the journal & watching TV.  I am feeling better but still coughing a bit & feeling like I have no energy.

Mon. Feb.  25 Day 46   54F/12C @ 9:15,   63F/16½C @ 10 AM,   66F/19C @ noon

We went up for our daily volleyball game but stopped a bit early because we were going with Larry & Judy to visit Jim & Sue and play Jokers and Pegs with them.  We went over to Wendy’s for lunch first, and in looking at their Value Menu I discovered that someone in the organization is not good at math.  They have an item – 10 chicken nuggets for $5 on their regular menu which comes in ‘spicy’ & ‘regular’ flavours.  On the Value Menu they have 6 nuggets for $1.49 and another line has 4 nuggets for 99 cents.  That’s the same number for half the price!  After lunch, we drove down to the Thousand Trails Park in Menifee, where Jim & Sue live, (they are full timers).  Jim makes the Jokers & Pegs games, I have one of his.  We played three games boys against girls; the girls won two games but the last one only by one peg.  Then we went to the Yellow Basket for supper. It is very nice, and very reasonable. You order at a counter but then they bring everything to the table.  After supper we drove home.  The crib game is on tonight and usually Judy & I go but we missed the start by 5 minutes so we are back to the RV for the evening watching our usual Monday night TV shows.

Sun. Feb. 24 Day 46   52F/11C @ 9AM,   64F/18C @ 12:45 

Off to the pool, and found that the water was a bit cooler today than yesterday, we played anyway.  We came back for lunch in the RV and then Sheila settled in to watch the Oscars while I caught up on computer stuff.  I went out to get some take-out Chinese at a place we found that gives giant portions – the large size Styrofoam take out box jammed full to the lid, overflowing almost – all for $5.99!  We split that and sat to watch the Oscars event. It was neat to see that Argo won best picture, because the story was based on the Canadian Embassy in Iran hiding several US embassy staff and getting them out of the country safely when there was an uprising against the U.S. and it’s citizens living there.  Daniel Day-Lewis won his third Oscar for his portrayal of Lincoln.  Jennifer Lawrence won best actress for “Silver Linings Playbook,” a movie Sheila really wants to see.  “The Story of Pi” won several awards & sounds like a good movie.  Sheila wants to see it also.  We had a quiet evening at home for a change.

Sat Feb 23 Day 45   60F/15½C @ 10 AM & @ 4:30PM

I went up for water volleyball, got there about 10:15 & already they had split into 2 pools, Sheila arrived later & played in a different pool than me.  At noon I did the hot tub & shower deal while Sheila did some pool walking and then went back to the RV. I stayed at the Cabana & had lunch & listened to music; today they had a girl that played steel drums.  Then at 1 pm a second volleyball game was started, so I joined in on that too and played till 3:15.  Sheila joined in a bit later & left early. Then, shower again, dry off & back to the RV to get ready to head out with Larry & Judy to supper at the ‘Hibachi Grill & Super Buffet’ we found the other day at ‘Farmer’s Corner” @ Menlo & San Jacinto.  They opened 3 months ago. When we got there we got a table and within 20 minutes there were people lined up & waiting for tables, even though it is a big place.  We just timed it right!  They have a huge assortment of Asian & American food with lots of seafood, (although the raw oysters did have a warning sign about not eating them if you have immune system problems – I only ate 2), and a Mongolian Grill set up where they cook your choices for you.  All for the one price of $9.45 for seniors.   After supper we came back to Larry & Judy’s RV and played Bridge for a cpl of hours or so.  Sheila was the big winner.  She won while playing with Larry, and again while playing with Judy.

Fri Feb 22 Day 44    42F/5½C @ 8:15AM,    50F/10C@ 9AM,    58F/14C @ 10AM,   62F/16½C @ 3PM

We went up for the Friday breakfast here, then back to change for Water Volleyball.   After the game & hot tub they started the music just after noon hour, they usually start at 11. Our favourite entertainer – Larry Stevens – was on & Marie Callenders Restaurant was doing lunch. We listened to the music & ate lunch sitting in the warm sun. Then we went over to Dick & Georgia’s to get info about the St. Pat’s Day Fun Club event.  Afterwards, Sheila & Judy went to the 99 Cent store to get plates & some other items for Fun Nite while I napped.  After supper in the RV, I went over to play shuffleboard while Sheila stayed in the RV to review & add to the notes I’d made during our St. Pat’s meeting today & catch up on other stuff.  By all reports we are supposed to be getting the good weather back for the foreseeable future – I hope.  Time now to relax & watch some recorded shows.   We really miss the PVR--being able to quickly zap through commercials and being able to start watching a show when we come back to the RV after a show has started.

I thought I should show where I am getting the temperatures from, especially when I am saying it is really nice & that dosen't correlate with the figures I am posting.  If you "click" on the picture to enlarge you can see the thermometer clipped at the top rear area of the access panel by the entrance door. It was taken at 10AM on Sunday as I was leaving for the pool. This side gets the morning sun.

Thurs. Feb. 21 Day 43   51F/10½C @ 9AM,   53F/11½C @ 1PM,   56F/13C @ 3PM

Off to volleyball despite some cloud.  It actually started to sprinkle while we were playing but nobody quit & it stopped after several minutes, then the sun broke through, and in the sun, it was actually quite warm.  Lunch in the RV, then we will be off to Emilio’s restaurant & bar for the weekly Happy Hour with the volleyball crowd & other GVP people--usually they will have a dozen or more.  A regular crowd goes every Thursday from around 3 to around 5.  Some of the people are ones that used to play water volleyball but have since moved out of the park to housing elsewhere in Hemet so it’s great to keeping touch.

Before we go to Emilio’s Sheila is sitting outside icing her leg & reading. It is nice, pleasant & warm sitting in the sun here even at 56F/13C.  One couple (Vern & Jane) came in from Mesa, Arizona yesterday & they said Mesa had set a weather record.  Never before had they ever had 4 consecutive days where the temperature did not get over 60F/15½C.  So the whole south west is getting colder than normal weather this year.  We are suffering down here!!!  I’ve had to wear long pants & long sleeve shirts on a couple of days and it is sometimes cool walking on the cold concrete from the 90F/33C pool to the 100+(40C), hot tub, that’s about 15 feet in the cold!
We went to Emilio’s and joined the gang for a fun hour or so then checked out a recently opened, (3months), buffet place that combines Mongoli Grill, Asian, Japanese & Chinese with lots of seafood, even oysters on the half shell, $9.45 for dinner.  We were too full to partake, of course because we’d each had a free appetizer with our drinks at Emilio’s.  They gave us about a 7” plate piled high with heated tortilla chips covered with a very generous serving of shredded beef, cheese & onions. With the other tortilla chips & salsa we devoured, it was enough for supper.
Tonight we went to see the movie “Zero Dark 30”, which is based on the true account of the tracking & locating of Osama Bin Ladin by the CIA.  It was an interesting movie but we got a bit confused at times with all the Muslim & Arabic names sounding the same, plus many of the men all look somewhat alike with the beards and often long hair. Sheila was missing dialogue quite a bit, so found the plot difficult to follow at times. 

Wed. Feb. 20 Day 42    42F/5½C @ 9:30,   44F/6½C @ 10:30   54F/12C @ 2PM

Rain stopped by morning; it did get quite heavy late at night.  Sheila decided to rest her knee again today so she did not come to water V. Ball.  This morning it was cloudy but by 10AM the sun is out & it is mostly blue sky.  It’s warming reasonably quickly so I went up to the pool and we had 18 people there.  With the sun beaming down & the warm water you didn’t feel cold at all.  After the hot tub & lunch I went to the Texas Hold-um lessons.  It is basically a 7 card game, 2 down, (your hand), and 5 up which are everyone’s cards.  What I don’t like is the betting system where you can be obliged to put a relatively large amount up before you see any cards.  Suffice to say I am not impressed and not really interested in playing it.  I get the impression you are not playing for the enjoyment of playing with your companion players, it’s not a fun game, its work to earn money. After supper in the RV it’s off to the Neil Diamond tribute concert by A Z Diamond up in the ballroom.  He put on a good show, over 2 hours with the intermission. The ballroom was full.  Sheila found it too loud & had to wear ear plugs as usual.  Both she and several other people she talked to said they thought the sound was quite badly distorted.   Whether having the volume turned down a bit would have helped, we’ll never know, since they wouldn’t do it even when it was requested. They get capacity crowds for the shows here, with 1000 sites in the park, even when the park is not full, there are more people wanting to go to events than tickets.  For example for the Canada Day event, (we were too late arriving here to get tickets), they opened the hallway from the ballroom into the banquet room to get 400 people in and sold out fast. 

Tues Feb 19 Day 41    45F/7C @ 8AM,   50F/10C @ 11AM sprinkles,   47F/8C @ 1 PM  

We got up & made the Breakfast Club at DJ restaurant. We decided not to play water volleyball today.  On route home we checked on the Super 8 motel, (for Ross & Judy), & ran a couple errands.  They had the health fair on at GVP so we went over, got a glucose, (blood sugar) check, I was 1.11 – OK – a blood pressure test, - I was a bit high – and they did a grip test, I did great for my age, the aver. is 75 lbs. & I pulled 90 with my right & also with my left hand. They said, usually the dominant hand is about 10 lbs. more.  A lot of the booths were giving out pens so we have our year’s supply of ball point pens plus we got note pads & post-it notes.  They also provided hot dogs & potato chips for lunch and chocolates at most booths.  Not exactly healthy—but they were free!  We also picked up some assorted medical/health information.  Then Sheila went to the mall across the street & got her hair trimmed.   I came back to the RV until time to go out to the Horse Racing event this evening. How the racing works is, for your $1.00 entry, you get $130,000 playing money, plus betting slips and a line up sheet for each of 8 races. They also have the bio & race history on the horses.  The races are on DVD and you bet up to 3 horses per race, then they play the race on the DVD, and the 1^st 2^nd 3^rd   winners come up on the screen with the odds multiplier so you can figure out your winnings.  Then they roll a multi-sided dice and the number that comes up gets scratched.  After 8 races I had $880,000, Sheila had $485,000 and the big winner in the room had $27,400,000.    The doors opened at 6:30 PM, races started at 7 PM and we finished up before 9 PM.  It’s pretty hectic once the races start.  We had some light rain during the afternoon & it stayed quite cool, cold almost, all day, then this evening about 9:30, it began to rain heavier.   Hopefully the sun will return tomorrow.  I checked my email & I had a statement from “Treo”, (the Port Mann toll collectors).  It said I had a credit of $28.50 and they had deducted $1.50 from my $30 credit, (that I got for joining early).  The charge was for Jan 10 when we went over Port Mann with the RV towing the car. The $1.50 charge seems lower than it should be, oh well, my gain, their loss. 

 

Mon. Feb. 18 Day 40   45F/7C @ 9AM,    50F/10C @ 10 AM,   64F/17C @ 1:30PM

Mikaela’s 5^th birthday.

I have dropped putting sunny & clear in the weather line because it is mostly always sunny & clear by mid day, I will put in overcast or cloudy if it cloudy all day.

We went up for our water volleyball game and because today is a holiday, (Presidents Day), there was no music entertainment & no visiting restaurant preparing lunch.  Sheila is off to the clubhouse at 3:00 to scrub potatoes for tonight’s “Spud Night” event.  I saw one of the mobile RV repair services in the park so I got him to come by to look at the broken  grey tank vent cover on the roof. They had a replacement vent cover in the truck & fixed it quickly.  Only $40.  We relaxed in the sun and then made our dessert dish & went up to the ballroom for the Spud Night Event.  You pay $2.00 and the park supplies potatoes, butter, and sour cream.  Everyone brings a dish to share for a table of 8.  We actually pulled 2 tables together for a group of 15, so we had lots of ‘additions’, (veggies & dip, salsa & tortilla chips, grilled peppers, hot cheese dip, chilli, BBQ smokies, KFC chicken, onions, shredded cheese, muffins & dessert!) Sheila’s ‘Berry Fluff’ dessert was a real hit—several ladies were asking for the recipe. It started at 4:30 and they had Karaoke starting at 6.  They had several of the people from the talent night singing so it was great entertainment with very little real Karaoke, i.e. when people, who think they can sing & can’t, get up to try. 
We were back at the RV by 7:15 pm to be ready for Michael & Adeline’s 8 o’clock Skype call.  They were late connecting because of problems getting their WiFi connected.  When they finally called at 8:15, we watched Mikaela open her birthday gifts, (a sundress, skirt, book and Beauty & the Beast CD/storybook), and chatted for about 20 frustrating minutes.  Reception was really bad—the call kept getting dropped and we had to reconnect; the picture kept breaking up; and the sound was often distorted.  Even so—it was great seeing the girls again and hearing about Mikaela’s party and Michael’s current project.

Sun. Feb. 17 Day 39  62F/16½C @ 10AM,     70F/21C @ 1PM

We went up for our regular morning routine of volleyball etc then back to RV for lunch because Sunday is the one day we don’t have live music entertainers and lunch going on.  After lunch we sat outside in the sun until after 3 then we took off for the Elks.  There is a group playing this afternoon called “Banjo Maniacs”.  Sheila can’t dance but we can listen, have cheap drinks and they do a dinner of steak or chicken with a baked potato, salad, bun plus lots of butter & sour cream.  I bought 50/50 ticket for $5.00 --- and won   $35!  Sheila was drinking Southern Comfort drinks which are “top shelf” and cost 25 cents more - $4.00 instead of $3.75.  My cans of pop are $1.75. After supper we came back to GVP where Sheila went to the Sunday evening gospel sing, she was not impressed--the lady had a great voice & could sing but, she did more hymns than rousing southern gospel type stuff and several of the songs she & her husband sang were not ones the audience could join in, which defeats the whole purpose of a gospel ‘sing.’ While Sheila was there,I went to Winco for some items we needed for tomorrow’s “Spud Night” event. Then back to the RV for Sheila to watch the season final (yea!) episode of Downton Abby which she has to watch live due to the recording problem.

Sat. Feb. 16     58F/14C @ 9AM     76F/24C @ 12:45PM & still 76F/24C @ 4PM

We went up to the pool to discover everyone was playing in the second pool.  The first pool was quite cool; somewhere probably in the 70’s when normal is 90F or more.  After the usual routine I came back to the RV for lunch then I went out to get a hair cut. On route I noticed that the gas prices have moved up a lot.  Regular gas was under $3.45 on route down & now the cheapest is $4.19 a US gallon, which is $1.10 a litre.  Judy’s daughter, who is a Physical Therapist took a look at Sheila’s knee and said it may have moved up from a level 1 to a level 2 strain of the medial collateral ligment and she should refrain from dancing or any sideways or twisting motion and keep icing it & wearing the knee brace at night & when doing any activities that involve lateral movement.  So, no dance tonight, instead we went to the Elks “Macho Nacho Night”.  For $4.00 you built your own platter of chips, shredded chicken or beef, jalapenos, salsa, shredded cheese, melted cheese, and a tomato/onion/cilantro mix, plus there were cookies--really nice ones.  I had 2 plates full of the nacho mix and several cookies. The singers were Darlene Jackson and Renny, (don’t know her last name). Sheila really liked Darlene Jackson. She  had a great Motown voice.  They performed from 4 to 7.  We came home after a brief stop at Target.  We watched one of the CD movies Sheila has periodically picked up in the deep deep discount bin. It was a Tom Selleck movie called “Benefit of Doubt” and he should not have given it the benefit of the doubt & never made it.

Fri Feb 15   67F/19C @ 9:45AM,   74F/23C @ noon

Sheila is off to water volleyball, I’m staying at the RV to do some chores—journal etc. before we go with another couple, Russell & Christine to the CSA, (Canadian Snowbirds Assoc.) annual meeting in Indio at Fantasy Springs Casino. They do an information meeting followed by entertainment which was great the last time we went a couple of years ago. At the meeting, I got a couple of points clarified, (the 183 days in the States over any continuous 12 month period is an immigration deal, while the “closer connection to Canada” form 8840 for the IRS is for 6 months in a any calendar year, CSA recommends that if you are regularly in the US for 4 months or more a year you file the form 8840 every year).  We really enjoyed the hour and a half of entertainment that followed the meeting.  It was two Canadian entertainers—a singer/guitarist from Cape Breton Is. and Jimmy Flynn, a comedian, also from Nova Scotia.  We drove home, had a little to eat and I went to Winco for a cpl items we’d run out of.   Sheila went to the free liqueur taste-testing at the Palms Cabana, just one of the Park’s activities they put on.  She said there were lots of people there & at least 16 different kinds of liqueur, none of which she’d ever heard of before.  One of them, “Tres Leches” reminded her of “Cuarente Tres” a milk liqueur we drank in Spain many, many years ago. I went to the shuffleboard night, (it’s every Fri), but the team I was on didn’t win anything.  Back to the RV for the night.  Sheila was already there working on an e-mail to Adeline. Watched CSI NY on the digital channel.  We can record shows on our VHS, but not the digital channels as I have said.  The difference in watching tape as opposed to live on a digital channel is quite pronounced, so much clearer & sharper on digital over even the live show on the non digital channel.

Thurs. Feb. 14     53F/11½C @ 8:45AM,      70F/21C @ 5:00PM

Valentines Day.  After I got up and came out to make my coffee I found a large red shopping bag and a card for me. Then I got Sheila’s card out with the 2 packets of English Toffee I had got for her at the Farmers Market – she really likes it!  She also really liked the card I got her.  She gave me 2 nice SS shirts to go with my brown swimsuit, 4 mini, (250 ml), bottles of Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider, a gift card for See’s chocolate and a small cream filled chocolate heart.  After breakfast we headed up to water volleyball. The sun is out and it is warming up nicely.  After the game they had good entertainers playing at the Palms Cabana so I stayed for lunch.  I sat enjoying the sun & the music till they ended at 2PM.  Then Judy Shaffer arrived at the pool with her daughter Brenda, son in law Mark & grandson Kyle.  Judy had arranged for us & some of the morning volleyball people to come by in the afternoon so she could have a game involving her family.  We played till 4, sat in the hot tub and then went home. Sheila had seen an ad for the Anchor Pub that has Jello shots at 4 for $2.50 from 3PM to 9PM, so we will drive down to investigate.  Well, Sheila tried the Jello shots, they were OK, nothing special and hard to get out of the small plastic cup they came in which held less then an ounce.  We also had a few appetizers and then came home for R & R and watching TV in the RV.

This are my Valentines gifts, one shirt had to be returned as it was too small, (the one at the far end).

Wed.  Feb. 13     54F/12C @ 9:30,    65F/18C @ noon,     66F/19C @ 2PM

Sheila is off to water volleyball about 10:30, I am waiting for the propane truck.   

Sheila got back, we had lunch and she went off with Larry & Judy to Gerry & Ross Stintsons’s place to work on publicity for the St Patrick’s Day Fun Night that we are organizing.  Finally the Propane truck came, it took all of a minute to fill the tank with 11 gallons.  It had been sitting on empty and I am sure it holds way more than 11 gallons but the gas hissed at the overflow valve and the gauge said full, so who knows… Tonight we took Larry & Judy out to dinner at Sweet Baby Jane’s BBQ in old Hemet as a ‘thank you’ for letting me piggyback on his Time-Warner internet signal.  It is much faster than the RV parks WiFi service.  We all had a nice meal, Larry & Judy both had the top sirloin dinner while Sheila had the pulled pork & I tried the beef brisket, which was cooked and served like pulled pork.  Sheila thought the pulled pork was slightly sweeter and had a stronger flavour than the brisket does, though they’re both very good.  We were all too full to order dessert after our dinners, so we stopped at Polly’s cafe & got a lemon meringue pie to have later.  Cost of dinner for 4 people, including drinks, (Sheila was the only one to have a cocktail), was $54.00.  We returned to the RV Park to their RV for a bridge game, coffee & dessert to finish the evening off.

Tues Feb 12   40F/4½C @8AM,    50F/10C @10AM,    60F/15½C @1PM,    62F/16½ @2PM

We went to J&M’s restaurant for the Breakfast Club today. We drove over with Larry & Judy.  When I went out to their car just after 8AM there was actual frost on the roof of our car. It was thin but it was still frost, nothing on the windows though, I guess the low humidity means there isn’t much moisture in the air.  When we returned I changed & went off to water volleyball, Sheila was going to the Ladies Luncheon today so she skipped volleyball. After hot tubbing, I came back to RV for lunch & to catch up on the blog & other stuff.  Sheila came in & then went out again to get the finger nail that she broke fixed.  Today is farmer’s market day so I’m going to check it out. Sheila eventually came back, got a quick bite and went out again to a Skip-Bo game that the ladies play while their husbands are in the Texas Hold-Um tournament, (it runs once a week).  I then discovered that we are just about out of propane so I called the front office & put in an order, the truck will arrive sometime tomorrow & refill my tank. It is a bit of a nuisance having to wait for the truck but otherwise I would have to unhook all the services, (power, water, sewer, cablevision); put stuff away that could fall or slide around; take off my front windshield cover; put down the awning; drive to the gas station for propane then return, manoeuvre back in to our spot & set-up & re-connect everything again.  Sheila returned about 8:30.  She really enjoys the chit chat of the group of ladies she plays with.

 

Mon Feb 11    Sunny & clear,     51F/10½C @ 9:30,     58F/14C @ 2:15

By the time I got up to the pool about 10:15, they had already split into 2 pools and were up to 8 a side, 32 people in the pool.  Sheila arrived about a half hour later.  After the usual morning routine I stayed at the Palms Cabana area to listen to the singer – Michele Murray – and have lunch. Marie Callenders Restaurant is there this week.  Sheila joined me for a few minutes before she went out to buy a new pair of water shoes.  (The sole on the pair she was given 3 yrs. ago started to delaminate.) While typing this I got an incoming call on Skype and I answered. It was an automated “warning” that my computer is not safe and I should go to a web site.  When I finally figured out how to hang up, it kept calling--5 times so far!  I’m going to shut down & see if that stops it.

It did. We got our Skype call to Michael, Adeline, Mikaela, & Erica, in fact I think it worked better than last year.  Mikaela & Erica looked especially cute because they had just come from “Family Day” in Pitt Meadows where they had their face painted.  It still stalled a bit but generally worked OK.  Then it was up to the Fun Club event.  This was a potluck, sort of organized, and a White Elephant sale of donated items, (we dumped the Zookeeper CD & a cpl other small items).  It was done silent auction style. We bid on 7 items & got 6 of them, 4 of them for only $1.00 each.  Our total was $11.50 for which we got: an electric toaster (thinner design than our previous one to take less room on the limited counter space)), a mini grinder/food processor like the little one we have at home, an electric ceramic heater, (our old one is noisy and doesn’t produce a lot of heat), a cutlery tray, a knick knack basket, and a CD of 4 Romantic movies, i.e. a bunch of Chick Flicks.  We had a fun evening; it only ran from 5 to 7:30, so we came back to the RV for our Tuesday TV shows.

Sun Feb 10 very cloudy 52F/11C @ 10AM, it dropped to 50F/10C by 1PM.

Despite the cool to cold weather, volleyball in the pool carries on. We had about 2 dozen players out.  The pool is nice & warm, heated into the high 80’s or 90’s, (which means over 30C), so you only feel the cool air if you are standing up out of the water a lot, (it is over waist deep on me).  And then there are the hot tubs for after.  There are 3 of them each heated to a different temp from, too-hot-for-me, to, just-right-I-could-stay-in-all-day.  I usually stay just under half hour in the middle one.  Lunch in the RV was followed by assorted chores etc in the afternoon. I went to VONS, (Safeway with a different name), to get stuff Sheila needed for tomorrows Fun Club get together.  Sheila did more email stuff.  We made a stir fry for supper then were off to the “Reader Theatre” show tonight.  Laura & Murray Robatielle, (they used to run the “Play With Your Food” Theatre group but have left that to do “Fly by Night Productions”.  They do the Readers Theatre here at the park, where they read stories, with all the right voice inflections and facial expressions. They did several short stories by R.J. Silver, a Canadian humorist, who wrote last years “The Princess and the P.”. They did, “Spicing up my love life”, “The ten minute lovemaking program”, “Hormone Depletion” and more.  You can Google  R. J. Silver and his stuff is available, if anyone ever needed a short humorous and quite risqué story to read or present at a function, he’s got them. Then we came back to the RV so Sheila could watch Downton Abby.  We discovered, strangely, that we cannot get a signal for PBS on channel 50, (it is just blank & says “no signal”), but we can get the digital signal on 50-1, the digital version of PBS, crystal clear.  I’ve found that the major networks – CBS, ABC, NBC, & FOX which I get on regular channels, (2,4,7,11), have a digital channel if I put a  -1  after the number.  They come in clearer and in a proportional size, i.e. full screen.  Unfortunately, we cannot record any of the digital channels on our VHS recorder because the remote will not accept any channel with more than 2 digits, ie. it will not record any channel with a -1 or a number higher than 99.  Sheila was very disappointed to hear this because it means we cannot record Downton Abbey when we’re out.

Sat Feb 9 sun with cloud 44F/6½C @ 9AM then got to 50F/10C, & stayed there all day

I did go up to water volleyball, there were 24 people in the 2 pools. Due to the weather they cancelled the entertainment & the food service – the only people near the pool were us crazy volleyballers.  After lunch I did some jobs, (I put Sta-Bil in the gas, tightened a cpl screws, & went out to the Elks hall to get their entertainment schedule, etc).  I stopped at KFC buffet on route back from the Elks hall to see cost & hours – seniors are $7.99, includes a drink and is available 7 days a week 10AM to 8PM.  Sheila spent the morning & afternoon finishing her letter to Vicki, sending emails & checking dates for an upcoming dinner theatre.  For supper we succumbed to the call of KFC and went there. I had 5 pieces of chicken, (they had original, extra crispy & roast), plus they had salad stuff, biscuits & 2 gravies, (white & brown), mashed potatoes, corn, lasagna, macaroni & cheese plus dessert stuff.  Then we came back to the RV for R & R, watching a DVD, (Zookeeper), for the night.  It was an OK movie but a very routine plot.  It was fun watching the animals and the extra features about filming & working with the animals was more interesting than the movie.

Fri Feb 8 rain showers, 8:15 AM – 44F/6½C, 10:30 AM – 56F/13C,

Today we got up early for the breakfast in the ballroom, dubbed the Palms Café for Fri morning breakfast. It was cloudy and cold when we went up to the clubhouse &  it was raining on the return.  I don’t think I will go up to the pool, even though the water is warm, it is cold in the air when you are wet.  However Judy phoned to ask when I was coming up, then the rain stopped and the sun was trying to come out, so away I went!  There were only 5 of us in the pool so we played for almost an hour then went to the hot tub.  I could have stayed there all day but it was approaching lunch time & it also was starting to sprinkle again. After lunch in the RV I went down to Wal-Mart to get some Sta-Bil for the gas tank.  I realized that the RV would be sitting still for at least 2 months so I thought I should do the same as for storage and put the fuel stabilizer in.  On route back I went to the Chase bank to withdraw money.  They do not charge a fee to withdraw like other banks do – usually $2.50 to $3.00 - so that was good.  Then we went to the Fri afternoon wine & cheese welcome reception., It runs every Fri. afternoon at 3:30 and they provide free wine, (and lemonade fortunately for me), and 3 types of cheese. While talking to people there they said that they just drove in from Banning and there was snow there.  Banning is only 14 miles north of us but is up a hill but maybe only 1 or 2 thousand feet and they got snow!  It has been raining off & on through the day and has stayed cool to cold, mostly in the 40’sF/5-8C. Sheila went to Winco and got a hot roast chicken, potato wedges & 2 deli salads for supper. The cost of all that was only $3.28 each, (we had ½ the chicken left over).  Then it was R & R time in the RV – TV, computer, blog, sorting out pictures we’d taken weeks ago etc.

Thurs Feb 7 clear & sunny,  9 AM 50F/10C, 10 AM 57F/14 C, 1 PM 68F/20C

While at Winco yesterday I found their take-out hot roast chickens are $3.98 for a 24 oz,  (680 gram), bird--seems like a real deal.  It is warming fast so off to Water Volleyball this morning, Sheila is joining in later, but I should make it by 10:30.  After the game & a hot tub soak then into the shower, change, lunch at the Palms Cabana then over to the movie, (today is seniors day, admission $5.00).  We saw Django Unchained.  I enjoyed it and Sheila lasted all the way through. She liked most of the movie except the ending because Django had changed into a cold blooded killer.  I had issues with some of the special effects being a little over the top.  We had supper at Long John Silvers (fish & chips) and picked up 2 or 3 grocery items then back to the RV.  We then went up to the clubhouse for Talent Night.  They had 7 GVP residents that performed for a cash first prise of $250.00.  There were two comedians, 4 singers and 1 man who sang & acted a scene from Camelot.  Most of them were very good, especially the comedians.   Back to the RV afterwards for evening TV.  I have got the VCR figured out and can record stuff while we are out in the evening.

My "computer room" - leaves space to get into the table & Sheila isn't looking at the back of a compurter when we are sitting at the table.

Wed Feb 6 overcast, cooler forecast for today – 10 AM 58F – 14 C, 1 PM 61F – 16 C

Dispite the temps being low, there is sun & no wind & I think that the dryer climate makes it feel warmer than temperatures seem to indicate. It is shorts & short sleeve shirt weather.

It was overcast when we got up, but cleared to a blue sky by 1 PM.  After Volleyball & hot tub, we had lunch in the RV. This afternoon Sheila’s doing  laundry & I’m doing some grocery shopping. (We seem to go out for groceries quite often, but that’s because RV fridges are not large and even the dry food storage is not huge).  I checked at the front desk & got the kilowatt hour charge, (.1352 cents per KWH). Then, using the formula off the internet, (multiply the KWH cost by 26.85 which is the equivalent of KW hours produced by a gallon of propane), I calculated that the cost of electricity needed to equal 1 gallon of propane is $3.63.  Currently propane is about $2.00 a gallon or less, so it is cheaper to run our hot water heater on propane than on electricity.  This evening we watched TV and finally got to see the last part of a 2 part Castle show we missed last year, the TNT network here had the 2 parts on back to back.  Sheila’s knee is feeling somewhat better, although she is still taking it easy and wearing her knee brace in the pool, (as well as only playing half the time--an hour instead of the 2 to 2½ hours).

Tues Feb 5  sunny some slight cloud - 10AM - 62F/16½C, 3PM - 76F/24C

Tues is Breakfast Club day.  About a dozen people all meet at a restaurant, (different each week but the same ones season to season), at 8:30 for breakfast. Usually these places are under a 15 min drive from the RV but sometimes that’s still a struggle for us to be up & going in time to be there by 8:30.  After breakfast, we return for water volleyball--usually we are back & in the pool around 10:15.  Today I had a short hot tub session then shower & got dressed for lunch at the Palms Cabana to have steak slammers and listen to our favourite entertainer, Larry Stevens.  The entertainment starts about 11AM and runs to 2PM.  It is great listening to the music while we play.  Today though, Larry & I left early to get to the Pickle Ball Clinic at 1 PM by the Pickle Ball Courts, (brand new this year – 4 doubles courts).  I tried playing after the instructions and I think I could do it, so we may try some games with Larry & Judy when Sheila’s knee is better.  If all goes well or at least OK, I may buy a set of rackets.  Afterwards, I went back to the cabana area where Sheila was & we came back to the RV.  I went up on the roof to replace the light cover, staying on my hands & knees and managed to not fall off.  We worked outside until it cooled off a bit then came inside. Sheila went to play Skip-Bo, (card game) while I catch up on our daily journal, blogging, and looking up information.  When she returned, we watched some taped programs we’d recorded the other night.

Mon.  Feb. 4 Blue sky, sunny

Up for breakfast, then game time in the pool. Sheila started Water V. Ball at 11:05 today.  The extra 15 min. didn’t seem to bother her knee, so she’s planning on starting even earlier tomorrow. I’ll have to set up my outside thermometer so I can annoy everyone at home with the nice temps down here.  We had lunch in the RV so I could go up for the Beginners Pickle Ball session but it was postponed to tomorrow for court maintenance.  I set up the thermometer & it is 75F (about 24C) at 1 PM in the shade under the awning.  While Sheila worked on the computer outside I went off to Hemet Trailer Supply to get a replacement light cover for one of my front clearance light at the top of the cab-over.  It disappeared sometime on route down.  Got it & came back home.  Visited with Larry & Judy for awhile and then it was suppertime followed by bridge at their place.

Sun Feb 3 clear skies & sunny, highs to mid 74F/23C

Got up & walked up to the office to get the Sunday paper which is supposed to have the TV schedule in it – it doesn’t!  Then, breakfast & up to the pool for the volleyball game.  Sheila followed later arriving at 11:20.  After the hot tub, back to the RV for lunch then I went out for batteries for the keyboard, a TV Guide & a cpl of grocery items.  I went over to the ball room where the game TV was and they are selling chilli dogs for $3.00 with lots of topping stuff.  It was a good game, right down to the last minute, almost like a CFL game.  The Baltimore Ravens won 31-29.  Sheila was happy because she was rooting for them, but the San Francisco 49er’s did a good job of coming from way behind, (score was 29-6 at half-time), & probably deserved to win.  We do think the TV coverage for CFL is better because the camera goes closer in to the play rather than showing most of the field.  We did find it hard to follow the ball at times as the camera was showing a very wide view.  T.G. for instant replays.

We came back to the RV for an evening of TV, & R&R.  Sheila was able to watch two episodes of Downton Abbey on TV.  I set the VCR up so we can record shows if we are out at events in the evening, which is often. 

Sat Feb 2   cloudy & overcast, but nice & warm – 24 C/75+F, no wind

I got up, had some breakfast (coffee), & went up for Water Volleyball. Sheila is going to start V.Ball late until she sees how her knee takes to the game.  She is wearing her slip-on neoprene knee brace.  Today she only played from 11:25 to noon & iced it shortly after the game.  She said it was OK and is looking forward to playing longer tomorrow. Today we had stuff to do despite the fact the Angela was singing and Baby Jane’s BBQ was there so after a hot tub session we didn’t stay for the music & food.  They had a car show today so there were a lot of neat fully restored cars, plus the Hemet police were there with an antique patrol car and their SWAT team vehicle & equipment, (the body of the SWAT truck will stop a 50 calibre slug)!  They were fundraising for the canine unit dog training.  A trained dog costs $15,000!  The Ladies Golf Club also had a fund raiser bake sale in the morning, Sheila got 2 or 3 items near the end of the sale at half price.

We had lunch in the RV, and then I drove Sheila to the nail place in the mall across the road to get a pedicure.  She was glad she’d waited till we got here to get one as it costs $12 compared with $18 in Indio & $30 at home.  I ran some errands & got an air can to clean the keyboard which has started to falter, probably because of the dust it picked up using it at the out door hot-spot at FOY so much. Back ‘home’, we moved the RV a foot to the left to give me more room between the bushes & the drivers side and I put up our awning. Then it was supper time after which we are going to check out the performer, (Dave Ambrose) for this Saturday’s dance. Sheila can’t or shouldn’t dance until her knee has recovered a bit more so we went up & just listened to see what he was like.  I wasn’t overly impressed, we didn’t miss much.

Then we played bridge with Larry & Judy until midnight.  We played 6 hands & then changed partners so everyone played with everyone. After 2 rounds we stopped for pecan pie Judy had bought at the bake sale today. At the end I was the winner with Sheila second, Larry third.  It started to lightly sprinkle rain late in the evening but it was barely hard enough to wet the ground.  Sheila sat where she could get up & move a bit as her knee gets achy if she sits in one position for too long.

 

 From the cement patio, Sheila on the computer at the outside table, bathing suits hanging to dry from the awning support.

Front view of our site (# 480)

Fri Feb 1   sunny & hot- temps in mid to high 70’s (24-26C)

After the $2.50 breakfast special in the casino we pulled out @ 10:30 @ 157327.  We headed westward on I 10 to Hemet & Golden Village Palms arriving by 11:35 am @ 157431. We checked in and got Pad # 480 next to Larry & Judy Shaffer.  We went to the Palms’ Cabana where Larry Stevens was playing and they had Baby Jane’s BBQ doing ribs. We split a large plate of ribs with coleslaw on the side ($10:00).  Then we went off to buy stuff we forgot to bring, like my sandals.  We got a hot roast chicken for supper from Wal-Mart, $5.48 for 1 lb 13 ounces, (822 grams), I think that’s a lot cheaper than hot roasted chicken from Safeway at home.  Spent the evening checking out TV channel availability and all the info on activities we got at check-in. Sheila ran amok watching reruns of Raymond, King of Queens, Golden Girls and ???, on the TVland channel that plays old sitcoms. 

Thurs Jan 31 Sunny warm at FoY, hot in Indio

We pulled out of the Dry camp spot FoY @ 10:10 @ 157255 & out FoY @ 10:15 and pulled into Spotlight 2 Casino, Indio @ 11:15 @157327.  We unhooked and drove to the "Food 4 Less" stopping for buffet lunch at Kings Buffet.  For $6.50 they had a large assortment of great food including mussels, prawns, a crab dish, baked tilapia, fried scallops, and 2 different mushroom dishes.  Then to Food 4 Less where Sheila found Seagram’s Coolers - Strawberry Daiquiri, Mango, Sangria, & Bahama Mama, selling at 10 for $10.00. They still had the freezer pack Palm Bay coolers also 10 for $10.00 so she got 10 of those.  While she was shopping I went down to the Dates R Us Factory & got dates & a date shake.  Then, back to the RV to unload and off to Lois & Bob’s for a visit. We got there about 2:30 and had a great visit; Sheila had a dip in the pool & hot tub just by their condo, then supper and lots of catching up. We left about 9:30 and were back to the RV at Spotlight Casino for the night.

Wed. Jan 30 sunny & warm, no cloud or wind.  Temp. up to 20 C/ 68 F by noon.

Les & Dorothy packed up & pulled out today. Yesterday I checked all our tires & battery water level for the house batteries.  We went down for water volleyball, hot tub & sun.  Sheila went up to the Line dancing program under strict orders to not do anything that involved turning & twisting.  Not a problem since the Line Dancing class was cancelled because they were setting up for the Casino tonight.  Sheila used the time to ice her knee which is a bit sorer today than yesterday.  I went over to Freddy’s to do our last email check from here.  Tonight’s  Casino Night starts at 6:30 pm.  Your admission ticket gives you a bunch of play money, ($3,800 each) for the games and/or to buy trinkets & stuff at their “Country store”.  They had food service—pizza, pie, ice cream & beverages which is a real money deal & ongoing entertainment that was reasonable. The pie & ice cream for $2.00 was really good.   We played Blackjack and Crown & Anchor with their casino play money and won $1800.  They had what they called the country store where you could buy stuff with the casino money.   In the “store” we bought a CD by Kerry Christensen, (the entertainer from Sun. night). It was one I had wanted to buy but didn’t.  His CD’s were all $10.00 each at the concert. We also got a platter of Almond Bark chocolate, about 2 lbs, a nice new recipe box,(cardboard but appears new) for Sheila and 2 books “Dadisms” and “Dadgummit” which are humorous books about things that Dads say & what they actually mean. For example, “I’m not talking to hear my own voice” - - This is Dad articulating his frustration over the fact that nobody in the house seems to be listening to him. - - Kids should never reply with “Huh?”   

We had a fun evening although I find playing blackjack for play money not as much of a thrill as for real money, although it’s cheaper; but Sheila enjoyed it & made money, as well.  The gambling ended at 9:00, & we were back to the RV a bit before 10 pm.  For the $15.00 admission for us both we came away with more than $15.00 in merchandise so it was a winning night all round, had fun and got goodies.