The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

 Brrrrrr ... it was still chilly at a lovely 36 degrees in Indio, but at least the sun was shining with NO wind when Cooper and I got up in the dark.  It was GO time!

But first ... let's have everything go wrong that CAN go wrong!  You know what this picture is ... one of my breaker boxes.   You become very familiar with these when you turn on your hair dryer and forget the heater is still plugged in.  Instant silence.  Well darn ... this is UGLY.

I flipped the breaker back on.  Nothing.  One whole side of my rig is now without power.  Big sigh!  I'll think about it later.

Then I heard a familiar sound.  I looked out the window and what to my surprise should I see?  Mr. Jim Fulkerson!  Definitely the GOOD!!  For those who have been to Indio in the past, you know he's my best friend.  He did all the service on my Class A for ten years while I was the Ice Cream Captain of the Rally.  In return, I always cooked him a fabulous breakfast!!  It was so good to see him again, but alas ... he has to get to work and I have to pack up.  We'll catch up later in Quartzsite.

I also needed to dump my tanks.  I got the hoses out and got all set up ... except ... one of my hoses is missing and what I had wasn't long enough.  RATS!   I put everything away.  My brain was still thinking about the electrical problem and I did not remember the one extra section in a tube along the back.  It's okay, it doesn't fit my other hoses anyway.  Hopefully I make it until Quartzsite.  I know those lights that tell you how full you are never really work ... so we shall see what happens.

One more walk around the block for Cooper and we were off in gorgeous weather.  I finally relaxed about mile 40 and took in some of the scenery.  It's hard to get images while driving, but this is the Salton Sea.  I have an acquaintance who lives there who tells me the water is evaporating at a very fast rate this year.

The bypass around El Centro makes for a quick trip to I-8 into Yuma.  I was so surprised to see hardly anyone at the sand dunes.  It's Friday ... the place should be hopping.  You could hear crickets!!

One thing I did discover was Ogilby Road where many of you hang out during the winter.  I didn't realize it was on that side of Yuma.  One of these days I'll have to drive out there.  There was another BAD as I drove by Pilot Knob.  I know Thousand Trails took over the park, and they must have raised the prices.  It was like a ghost town ... more than half empty.  This time of year it should be full to the brim.

In no time at all, I landed in beautiful downtown Yuma.  Ahhhh I can finally relax ... except for that parking part.  First up however, Cooper and I hit the doggie area.  I can't believe how warm it is!!  Comparatively speaking that is ... its about 65 degrees.

That tiny little thing above is Miss Penny ... the Queen of the Park.  She and Cooper get along great.  Coop even had a meeting with a giant Great Dane ... and didn't bat an eye.  I'm not sure he knew what it was.

And so ... let's see if we can get this beast in it's parking spot.  I of course started out in the wrong place, but Ray was finally able to guide me in.  He gets the award for patience!!  Maybe I should clean that backup camera lens.

We wasted no time whatsoever.  Ray and Cindy had already been to the quilt show, but they drove me all the way over there to look for patterns.  We'll talk about some fabulous quilts tomorrow, because by the time we got back, I was exhausted.  This morning, I'm off to find a GOOD extra piece of sewer hose and everything else I forgot to bring.  You know, the important things, like dog toys ... and FABRIC!!

Oh ... and that breaker?  I finally remembered there are four more in the passthrough.  One was tripped, but refuses to be reset.  Anyone know what that's all about?  Is there an order to reset or did I just blow one out completely?  I've still got two plugs that work, so I'll worry about it when I get to Q.