Day 30 Feb 12 Tuesday

Today started out as a nice day, clear blue sky, no rain, and almost no wind.  Temps are still much colder than normal though.  We headed out to the Breakfast Club restaurant but couldn’t find it.  We had the address, “690 S. State St.” but it turns out that addresses on State St. change from “south” to “north” in Hemet & then back to “south” when State St. enters San Jacinto.  We didn’t know that so, after checking out addresses on State St. in Hemet & not finding the restaurant, we gave up & came home.  After breakfast in the RV, I went up to a free seminar on immunizations while Sheila went up to WVB.  I got some good info and when I get home I will check with our local Public Health office to see what they have in records on any old Vaccines I may have had.  In any event there is a new Shingles Vaccine out and as my age group is susceptible for Shingles, I will look into getting a shot when we get home.  Sheila has never had, or been exposed to Chicken Pox so she shouldn’t need it.  I went up to the office to order another propane delivery this Thursday.   With the unusual cooler weather we are using the heater & furnace a lot.  I moved the RV up onto a 1½ inch wood block on the right front tire as Sheila was complaining about it being unlevel.  Then lunch.  After lunch, I went to the afternoon Bridge lessons Judy Shaffer sponsors and Sheila went to afternoon WVB and had a wonderful time playing with only 5 to a side—lot’s of action!  When we both returned at 3:30, we had Tea & raisin toast, caught a nap, had supper & then went to a Hand & Foot game at the clubhouse.  Different rules than we are used to but I find the game acceptable, Sheila is still making up her mind.  It ran from 7 PM to about 9:00, and then it was home for TV etc.

Day 29 Feb 11 Monday

We got up to clear blue skies, no rain & no wind.  It’s still cool in the morning – usually close to 40 F, (10 C), around 9 to 9:30 AM.  It warms up fast, usually to over 50 by 10 or so. I went up to play WVB, did my hot tub & back by about 1PM, Sheila had an 11 AM nail appointment to get maple leafs on her finger nails; the nail shop did a good job. I started getting stuff ready for out pot luck dish, (Judy Shaffer’s bean/meat/etc casserole), it makes a lot so we should have lots of leftovers, (great, I really like it).  Sheila came back after the nail appt & shopping and we had a quick bite & then got busy.  We had everything ready to go by about 4:10 so we loaded the car and off to the clubhouse we went.  Doors opened at 4:00, we got there by 4:25 or so & the place was packed already. We found our numbered table, second row back from the stage, so good seats. By about 5 we had all 8 people & started our potluck supper.  It was yummy—our bean casserole, roast pork with gravy ‘n stuffing, tender, juicy roast beef ‘n gravy with mashed potatoes, a large, green salad, & cheesecake & homemade butter tarts for dessert.  The ballroom, a sea of red & white was at full capacity—302 attended.  Each table group did their own centerpiece.  Some of them were amazing.  A large cardboard “silver” Stanley Cup containing flags of the various hockey teams was voted the best. 

After supper, the entertainment started.  There were several skits, all by Canadians staying at Golden Village and all the acts were funny.  Our favourite was a group of 13 who portrayed RCMP officers, one from each province & territory doing the RCMP musical ride on hobby horses which a woman had made for them.  The riders really captured the spirit of the horse they were on and the province/territory they represented.  It was hilarious!  Plus we had some good singers, especially Debbie, who sings professionally on the side at home and has written a song called “I’m proud to be a Canadian which she performed. They even had real Tim Horton’s coffee! Someone must have had a connection with them because he brought down a lot of Tim cups & the coffee.  They drew lots of door prize tickets throughout the night and I actually won the last one drawn--a weeks camping credit at GVP including electricity!  It all wound up about 7:30 and we came back home. Now it is clean up time & R & R in the RV.

Day 28 Feb 10 Sunday

It is overcast this morning, 45 F at 0900 but no wind or rain - - - yet.  I am off to WVB. About an hour or so into play a light sprinkle came down but we just played through it.  Some of us got out to move clothes under the umbrellas by the lounge chairs.  The showers stopped shortly, we finished the game and I hot tubbbed for a while.  Sheila showed up to do lengths at the end of the game so I had my shower & came home to make up lunch.  We got some more rain for a few minutes in the afternoon. We spent most of the afternoon lazing about the RV. Tonight is USA DAY celebration, (tomorrow is CANADA DAY), so we don’t know if any of the scheduled games normally running Sunday eve are on or not, we will wander up to check. Well, the Pegs & Jokers wasn’t going but Bridge was. It looked like they would need us there as they were one cpl short. So we sat down & dealt out the first hand but then one cpl didn’t show so they were fine without us so we left and came home.  Sheila was happy that she could now watch the Grammy awards show. The rain started & stayed from about 6 PM till after we went to bed.

Day 27 Feb 9 Saturday

Forecast was for showers & in the morning it was overcast. It was 48 F at 09:15 and sprinkles started about 09:30, so I am skipping WVB this morning.  Sheila got up, we had breakfast & she is out shopping and checking out a Buffet place she thinks is new. The showers stopped about noon and it is broken cloud with some sun.  I checked historical weather patterns & our previous trips south.  It is colder & rainier that ever before.  Last year it was around 28 C or 82 F for highs all this week and the average forecast for Feb is for a high of 68 F, so definitely cooler this year. Plus average rain is only 4 days in Feb, we’ve had more than that already.  Sheila came back from shopping about 1 PM to say that there were a few people in the pool & she was going up to play WVB. Sheila came back a cpl hours later to say they had a good game. We went out to Pollo Loco, a chicken place for supper.  They fire grill their chicken, same as Nando’s at home but cheaper plus the each meal includes a drink, 2 sides & a tortilla.  I got the 3 pieces meal, (2 thighs & one drumstick plus a coleslaw & a corn side with 2 corn tortillas and a pop fountain drink), all for $9.00!  Sheila had the 2 pieces meal for $1.00 less, with the same extras.  We made a stop at 99 cent store on route back to GVP to return the chopping board we accidently duplicated and to get a few groceries.  Then we went up to the “soc hop” in the ballroom, admission by donation to the food bank.  It was crowded and several of the girls had the old fashioned poodle skirts on and one had on saddle shoes. Some guys were in T-shirts & jeans. A real 1950’s look, they played 50’s music too.  Back at the RV we watched the news & more cool wet weather is hitting LA so some may filter through to us.

Day 26 Feb 8 Friday Sunny but cool

I got up to nice weather blue sky & sun although it is still on the cool side, 50 F at 9:30, which is I believe is 10 Celsius, but, as I’ve said, with the low humidity it is comfortable walking up to the pool wearing shorts & a short sleeve shirt.  Sheila’s getting lots of rest, she slept through the morning WVB game & went up to see if they are playing at 1 PM. If there is no game, she has a bit of shopping to do. I did some clean-up inside on our window runners, (they can get a bit of mildew in them over the winter).  Sheila went out. Shopped, came back, went out again, shopped again, she’s happy, I don’t ask questions. I relaxed in the sun reading, on a very nice sunny afternoon.  Tonight is Mocktails night so that’s where we will be. I haven’t set up the BBQ & table etc outside due to the sporadic rainy days and cooler temps; we should get continuous nice weather soon, hopefully.  We went up & enjoyed the music & nachos with cheese, beans, & several toppings, they also had hot chocolate & hot cider which was much appreciated.  It was good music but I was getting cold hands, body was fine, just my hands got cold, weird. All the spots near gas heaters were taken before we got there about 10 to 6:00. We came back to the RV about 7:40.  There is an old movie on tonight Sheila wants to see, “To Sir with Love” with Sidney Poitier.  We are complaining about the weather a lot but I saw that the Seattle/Tacoma area is forecast for up to 8 inches of snow starting this Friday afternoon, just in time for rush hour. OK, we are happy here!

Day 25 Feb 7 Thursday

Today started nicely, clear blue sky, no wind; it is still a bit cool, only 48 F @ 9:20.  I went up for WVB, and then hot tub followed by a shower and back to the RV.  Sheila went up about 11 am and, as usual was not able to get in the same pool as me. We had lunch then Sheila went up for a ½ hour or so of WVB before we had to leave for Emilio’s for Happy Hour.  Enroute we stopped to mail a letter to Vicki at the main post office on State St., pick up my tire inflator adaptor at Hemet Tools, and then over to Emilio’s for the happy hour.  After a fun time we drove back, stopping at the Hemet Historical Theatre to get some concert tickets for up coming shows – The Glenn Campbell Story, John Denver and the 4 seasons with Frankie Valle.  Then home via Stater Bros for a cpl of grocery items.  The nachos and the giant beef quesadilla we shared at Emilio’s filled us, so we didn’t need supper.  Tonight is Mexican Trains night. We started at the same table but then I was one of the 2 top, (i.e. lowest), scores so I left the table. Sheila didn’t “win” any of the games so she stayed put for each of the sets of 3 games. We play 9 games in total over the evening. It starts at 7:00 & usually finishes up around 9:00. It felt quite cold out when we went back to the car which we had driven up to the clubhouse.  It seems to be colder at night than I remember it getting in previous years. Then back to the RV to turn the heat on & watch some TV, write up the journal, log expenses & post to the blog - if Sheila has OK’d my writing—she has, post away!

Day 24 Feb 6 Wednesday

Finally clear blue sky in the morning however, it was still quite cool, only 42 F at 08:45. By 9 AM the sun warmed the RV enough that we turned off any heaters we had going.  I went up to WVB after missing 2 days in a row.  Sheila came later after starting a wash in the laundermat here. Hot tub after, then shower, back to RV to change,  have lunch & then out to try to make the Hand & Foot game at 1 PM.  Best we could do was 10 minutes late and they had full tables & everyone was playing, so I think we will skip that game time. However I did see a note that they also play Hand & Foot on Tuesday evening, so we will check that out. We finished the laundry Sheila had started in the morning and came home for R & R before supper & tonight’s concert.  The park has changed the way they do events a little & I think it is great.  When you get a ticket for an event it has a table number & a seat number on it so you are not scrambling looking for an available seat, and even if it is a non-ticket event, you sign you name beside a table number, (they have lists posted up in the Activities room so you can pick out available tables), so you know where you are, as some of the events are a bring-your-food-etc with you, there is a place for people to write in what they are bringing beside their name.  Sounds like a much better system and ensures that no one arrives near the end of the line to discover there are no more spaces left.  The ballroom has an occupancy capacity which they can’t exceed and there are way more people in the RV Park than spaces in the ballroom. By the way, the fan I bought to use with the propane heater works really well, last evening we never turned on the big furnace at all even though it was quite cold out.. Tonight’s show was a tribute show to Cher, Lisa Minnelli, Tom Jones & Elton John.  They sang individually and in Duets with each other. It was an enjoyable show. Cher got a guy from the audience up & did “I got you babe” with him.  Wish I had been chosen, that’s the song I would love to do with Sheila as a duet – except for the fact that I can’t sing & can’t tell if I am on or off key, so it’s just as well I didn’t get chosen. It’s a clear night so hopefully a nice day tomorrow.