Day 88 Thursday April 11

Nice & calm in the morning & sunny with a little cloud cover so off to WVB.  I seemed to be uncoordinated today & missed a lot of balls I should have been able to get.  Sheila eventually joined the game, (just one pool today again as more people leave for home, although we did have 9 or 10 to a side still). After the game, hot tub & shower, its lunch time.  The large RV club group that’s here all week has had music & a fancy hot dog/taco stand, Dog O Dog, up all week, so we have had music the last half hour while we play.  I keep forgetting to take my wallet up as some of the hot dogs they have sound good.  After lunch we relaxed till time to go to Emilio’s for Happy Hour at 3 PM.  Sheila tried a blended Mango Margarita, but did not like it as well as their Strawberry one.  Today is the last GVP Happy Hour of the season.  We are down to 8 & some will be gone by next Thursday--us for example.  En-route back home, we stopped at the 99 cent store for some groceries.  Then its home to relax, watch TV, & I need to make a list of stuff needing to be done before we move the RV & pull out, either Mon or Tues.

Day 87 Wednesday April 10

Still windy when we got up but it calmed down enough that I went up for WVB and Sheila followed.  It gusted a lot periodically changing the path of the ball in mid flight.  It has stayed fairly windy all day.  After WVB we came home for lunch and then Sheila went out to look at the display rigs in the Tiffen RV club that came in over the last 2 days and maybe sit in the sun or go on the computers in the clubhouse.  I went outside & unhooked the SPECTRUM internet system I had installed, (rented), & bagged it for return.  Then I did a Winco shopping. I returned & Sheila was still out inspecting giant “A” Class motor homes, some with a MSRP over $400,000!   She did like one or two--too bad, she’s not getting one!  I went down to Spectrum & returned my internet equipment, no problem, then came home to have supper. After supper, we stayed around the RV, watching TV & taking life easy.  The winds died down just after supper time so hopefully the wind will be mostly gone by tomorrow morning.

Day 86 Tuesday April 9

Today is our final Breakfast Club event.  With people leaving we were down to 7 people and we usually get around a dozen or more.  We went to the Little Pantry on State St. near Menlo St. Today is propane delivery day, so I got back from breakfast about 09:45 & I’m waiting for him.  Propane truck arrived & was finished up by 11:35 so no WVB today.  We took 11.9 USG of propane, so there was about 2 USG in the tank because it holds a fraction over 14 USG when totally empty.  While waiting for him I checked our battery water levels, (2 that do the coach lights etc at 6 volts each & one engine starting battery at 12 volts), they were fine, didn’t need topping up at all.  Sheila came back from WVB & said they had one pool with 9 to 10 a side but with the wind blowing it really affects the light beach balls and they are hard to judge where they are coming down so you can hit them. Sheila went back up to the pool area after lunch to do a wash while I rested, relaxed, & read my book.  We had leftovers from our restaurant meals for supper and stayed in to watch TV, read etc. A lot of wind in the evening & into the night, the 11PM news said a lot of damage in LA from falling trees & branches, plus power outages & blown transformers.  We are in a valley so don’t get the full force but still we get 15 MPH more or less winds.

Day 85 Monday April 8

Today is forecast to be well over 80 F for, I think, the first time since we got here.  Up to WVB and Sheila followed after a bit.  We played in different pools again.  The coloured chip system they have for deciding which pool you go into is a good system & very fair to everyone but is does mean I don’t get to play with Sheila that much – luck of the draw!  They had music & a hot dog stand set up because there is a huge RV group coming into the park, around 200 units.  Sheila came back to the RV after the game & when I got back to the RV she had the main cabin A/C running – first time since we got here. We have used the bedroom A/C a cpl times to cool the bedroom when going to bed. She said it was over 88 F inside when she arrived back at the RV.  That’s over 32 degrees Centigrade for you young’uns. Sheila went up to see if there is a 1 pm game & if not, is going to look up stuff on the clubhouse computer, (air-conditioned and room to write on the left side of the computer).  There wasn’t a game so she used the computer but had to come home when she realized that she couldn’t go out to buy some supplies as she didn’t have her wallet & money with her.  Running the A/C is keeping the RV at about 84 F.  Sheila said that when she went out to the car, which had been sitting in the sun most of the morning it’s outside temperature was registering 102 F!  As she was driving, it went down to 92 F where it stayed the rest of the afternoon.  We had leftover Applebee’s food for supper & some is still left for the next day.  I relaxed around the RV inside & out and made good progress on the book “Nighthawk Crossing”.  Most of the evening games have stopped now due to the volunteer snowbirds running them leaving for home, (they come down in Oct or Nov so have been here 6 months).   

Day 84 Sunday April 7

Sunny & hot & off to WVB. Both Sheila & I ended up in the same pool side by side as we had arrived close together.  After the game ended we stayed floating around in the pool talking with Judy Shaffer & another CDN couple Don & Gerri.  They are from Vancouver Island and have a trailer here 6 & 6, (that means they never move the trailer, it sits on their site all year and they can use it for 6 months and then vacate for 6 months, obviously they get a much lower rental rate when they’re not here.  It works for Canadians as we are only allowed to be in the USA for a total of 180 days in any 12 month period).  We came back to the RV for a lunch – the left-over Tilapia fish from yesterday and some Rice-a-roni.  We had arranged with Judy to go out with her & Larry for supper and a promised dessert treat on us for them.  We went to Applebee’s for supper then over to the Coldstream Creamery, (like the one we used to have at home).  We had great ice cream creations.  Larry & Judy insisted we use the $15.00 coupon they had won at GVP which just about paid for their ice creams anyway.  A good deal for us! After dessert we went back to their place for some Bridge.  We put our leftover dinners & ice-cream in their fridge. Tonight I actually came out on top after partnering with Sheila, then Judy. We all finished off our ice cream treats after the game and as it was a nice night we walked home, (equivalent distance of about 2 blocks).  Home by about 10 PM

Day 83 Saturday April 6

Up to sunny weather so off to WVB.  The park is emptying out fast as today we only had one pool playing with 10 a side.  They had a Mex restaurant, (Chuy’s) selling goodies & live music on the pool patio from 11:30 to 1:00.  We enjoyed listening to the musician in the pool while playing WVB.  At this point there was nobody at the patio tables, (it wasn’t quite even noon yet), and someone, (Gigi, Rays wife), said, lets give him a round of applause and when he finished the song he was doing at the moment and we did, lots of applause. After noon some people arrived to buy food.  After our game & hot tub we ordered two very small tacos for $3.00.  They were good but too small.  About 1:30 or so, we wandered home for R & R before the concert tonight.  We made a nice supper as Sheila had bought some Tilapia fish & asparagus.  We are going to the “Four Seasons & Frankie Vallie tribute concert, by December 63”, (the name of the group doing the show), at the Hemet Theatre starting at 7:00.  I remember them from the 60’s but wasn’t a big fan, Sheila was and really wanted to go, so of course we did, we bought tickets a month or more ago, good thing too. We got there just after 6:00 & there was a long line waiting for the 6:15 door opening, and a sign that said “Sold Out”.  We managed to get two aisle seats about 2/3’s back from the front.  Not bad, but closer would have been nicer.  It was a good show, all four guys had very good singing voices, were funny & boy could they move!  Sheila liked the second half better when they did their big hits and was up at the front dancing to most of them.  We got home about 9:30, so will watch TV, do dishes &/or relax & veg out for the rest of the evening.   

Day 82 April 5 Friday

Today started out a little cloudy but inside the RV it was in the low 60’s F when we got up so it wasn’t cold.  I went up for WVB arriving about 10:30 just as they got enough to split into 2 pools.  We had 5 a side for a bit then more people arrived & we went to 6 a side, which works really well.  Sheila arrived but got the “white” chip out of the chip holder so she was in the other pool; I was in the “blue” chip pool. It clouded over during the game but the slightly cool wind didn’t blow very hard at all, so no problem.  After the game & hot tub we came home for lunch and then relaxed for a few hours till it was time to head out to the Elks Friday Dinner Dance at 5 PM. We arrived about 5:20, got our table & ordered.  I had the ‘All You Can Eat’ soup & salad bar ($9).  It’s not a giant choice but good enough if I am not too hungry. They have a lettuce and another green mix, plus add-ins of sliced onions, beets, olives, chopped eggs, sliced mushrooms, tomatoes, sliced carrots with 3 dressings, and one was 1000 Island which I had – I managed 3 salad plates full.  Sheila ordered the New York steak with baked potato, ($14), but she wanted the mashed potato with gravy that came with the Ground Sirloin, ($12).  The Elks had just changed caterers a few days ago, so this was the first big event for them.  She was away from the table when her order came out, - you can guess, she got the ground sirloin with her mashed potatoes.  She was eating away when they brought someone else at the table’s dinner, (there were 9 people at the table).   He got the NY steak with baked potato but he had ordered the ground sirloin with mashed potato.  Too late to switch the meat as Sheila was ½ way through the ground sirloin. She went around the table to talk with him and all was OK as is.  We made sure the waitress changed our bill to $12 from $14; don’t know about the other dinner because he would have ordered the $12 dish.  There was also a complimentary dessert but with full meals only – I ended up with one, it was nice. The music was good, (Rhonda & Showdown.)  Sheila did 3 line dances & we danced to only 4 or 5 songs--I was feeling tired!  We left after the 50/50 draw around 9 & and stopped at Stater Brothers enroute home for milk & a cpl of other items.  Finally home after another busy day.  Sheila watched an hour of TV while I did the blog.