Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Last Friday (the 21st), we had a visit from Tom and Donna Clapham, fellow Excel owners.  We'd never met them in person, but Tom takes part in the Excel Owner's Forum over on the IRV2.com website, as do I.  We had a very nice visit with them...it's always good to put a face to the names I know from the various groups and forums in which I participate.

The next day we drove out to Boomerville (the place on BLM land where the Escapees BoF group, the Boomers, hangs out for two weeks in January) to visit friends, Bill and Gisela Pollock, whom we haven't seen in several years.  It was great seeing them again!  We'll see them again during the first part of February when they'll be set up at Tyson Wells to sell some of the jewelry Gisela makes.

Since the slide on the camper is fixed, we decided to drive over to Phoenix on Monday for shopping and to spend the night.  We made the trip via Wickenburg and did our shopping in the north end of the western metropolitan area (Glendale/Surprise).

Our first stop was Costco where we loaded up on meats, nuts, and various other items. 

Our next stop was a pet store, Choice Pet Market, where we picked up the food we feed Gracie (Orijen, which isn't sold at places like PetsMart and PetCo) plus a new collar and toys.

We filled up with diesel at a Fry's grocery store gas station ($3.199) and, finally, had dinner at Carrabba's, an Italian restaurant.  The last time we'd been there was back on February 14, 2001, almost 10 years ago!

We finally made it to our boondocking spot, Vista Point at Pleasant Harbor on Lake Pleasant, at around 5:30 PM.  Great views of the lake!  Unfortunately, I hadn't checked the battery on my camera before we'd left home, and it was deader than a doornail, so no pictures.  :-(

The next morning, we drove back into Wickenburg and had breakfast at the Denny's and picked up groceries at Safeway, before heading back home.

This morning I was interviewed via phone by Angela White from Truck Camper Magazine, an online magazine devoted to...what else...truck campers.  I'll post the link when the article is published.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

On Monday, January 3, Earl called the Happijac company about our slide and jack problem.  The guy Earl spoke with asked that we send him the controller and the remote.  Earl disconnected the controller and we went down to the Salome post office to send the items off to Happijac in a Priority Mail box.  Earl talked to the guy again this past Tuesday (11th) to find out what was happening.  They got both working and are sending them back via UPS...they should be here today or tomorrow.  Hopefully, once the controller is reconnected, everything will be working again.  Keep your fingers crossed!

We went to Dos Amigos, the Mexican restaurant near us, for my birthday on the 5th.  Their special on Wednesdays are two fish tacos with rice & refried beans, which we ordered...delicious!

Here are some pictures I've taken recently:



 The two pictures above were taken around the same time that all the rains were happening in California.  Although we didn't get much in the way of rain, we did get these dark clouds coming over one day.

 Our fifth wheel parked on our lot near Brenda

Gracie likes to find a little patch of sunshine to lay in.