Change in plans Corona style

In March, we had our whole year basically planned out. We had tickets to attend the End of the Road Tour of KISS. We also had tickets for an intimate evening with Graham Nash. Then we would be moseying our way to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby. In the late fall we were booked on an exclusive cruise to Antarctica. Instead of doing any of that, we slunk our way back to Las Vegas and bought a house in the hopes of outlasting the pandemic.

We decided if we were going to be hunkered down for a year we might as well get ourselves somewhere comfortable. Since renting a house in Sun City Anthem, we have been comfortable in the neighborhood and the nearby services. So, we focused primarily on finding a house that would have a nice view of the valley. We think we got that part done pretty well. Our evening campfires with a glass of chardonnay should be just about right.

By focusing our search here, we really only had a pick of 15 to 20-year-old homes. But we found one that had been reasonably updated so that it didn’t feel as old as it was. We did look at some new developments that had some view of the valley, but none of them could hold a candle to the view from our new digs. And, we ended up with a value – our neighbor told us he was pissed at what we bought it for because he said it greatly undervalued his home, which essentially had the same view. Bummer!

We hope to be talking to you soon.

Return to the Silver Strand

We set out again to Coronado California, just off the coast of San Diego. Covid fatigu coupled with birthdays for both the Woman and Nick on October 12 made the trip worth the effort. Despite the usual beach crowds here, since it was fall, they weren’t nearly as dense. Besides, where else can you get a free sunset nearly every night!

Another bonus is the daily beach patrol walks. When at the Strand, we always did a morning walk on the beach to pick up trash and debris that washed in the night before. Of course, with the pandemic, there is no touching of anything, particularly trash. So while not enjoying the satisfaction of aiding the environment here, we still got in our daily beach strolls – sometimes more than just one.

We spent time with our BFF’s Ron Ezra and Teresa Bell. We used to meet them at campgrounds and share our mutual motorhoming experiences as often as we could. However, last year they decided to sell their motorhome so we thought we might not get to enjoy that again. However, despite the challenges of the Corona Virus, they decided to rent a motorhome and spend about a week with us at Silver Strand State Beach. We rode bikes, hiked a bunch, even did some geocaching. We did notice that apparently bike helmets aren’t geeky enough – just add masks!

We took the pooch down to stroll the wharf near downtown San Diego. While there were quite a few folks around, it’s so vast as to make it easy to socially distance. Besides, it seemed most everyone was wearing masks so it felt really safe. We always enjoy seeing all the retired naval vessels parked here, and we actually found several monuments we had never visited before, including the National Salute to Bob Hope and the Military, and the 25-foot-tall Unconditional Surrender statue, mimicking the famed V-J day in Times Square photo from 1945, standing in the shadow of the USS Midway aircraft carrier.

You also can’t help but people watch when you are in San Diego, or pretty much anywhere in California for that matter. While the dude was dressed impeccably and was quite a site to see himself, can you imagine how long this little dude has to sit in the stylist’s chair each morning before heading out for a walk? Sheesh!

Walking around the Silver Strand State Beach RV lot, we saw a ton of political banners hanging from flag poles mounted on campers. Being in left wing California, we assumed we would see mostly Biden banners. Wrong! Nearly all the banners flying around the park were Trump banners. In fact, we only saw one Biden/Harris banner the entire 10 days we were here. I have to say, however, that my favorite banner overall was this one.

Our birthday celebration was outstanding – out standing in the RV park or on the beach that is. Nick and Valerie came over, and of course Ron and Teresa joined in. We managed to play a number of games of corn hole, with couples anchored at either end of the court, instead of changing sides. That meant that the birthday Mom and Son were on the same team. While the rest of us gave it our best, the birthday team managed to win the most games, although Val and I did win at least one.

We explored as much outside as we could handle. The weather was awesome and there was so much to see. We enjoyed how folk were dealing with the pandemic by decorating their rigs, themselves, and pretty much anything around them. The tailgate of this pickup truck had more stickers on it than we have ever seen before. I am not sure, however, of the significance of the one right below the tailgate opening latch.

On our way home we decided to break it up into two drives of 3 hours each, and booked a night at the KOA in Yermo. It was good that we did, because construction on I-15 resulted in it taking over 6 hours to get there from San Diego. That is under 200 miles! While we had been here many times, we somehow never spotted the mountainside painted signage for the town of Calico – another bonus!

With all these bonuses we racked up, we didn’t see this one coming. The Woman has been wanting a new bike ever since ours completely rusted to the point of being non-functional in Flagler Beach, Florida. That is since January. With Covid, there is a bike frame shortage, and she has not been able to find a bike, either on line, or in stores in any of the cities we have tried. We even checked the website for the manufacturer of the bike she wanted, but their site says they have no bikes in stock and you will have to check with your local store to see if they have any. So, the Woman called Holland Bikeshop in Coronado. They had only one of the bikes she wanted – and Electra Beach Cruiser - it had just come in on a truck and was still in the box. They assembled it for her and we picked it up the next day. I asked if they happened to have it in a men’s model – again, one had come in just that day, and was still in the box. Since we were leaving in the morning, we asked if they could assemble it still today. They said no, but if we wanted, they would assemble it after hours and we could pick it up in the morning as we headed out. So, we did that, and now we are golden!

We hope to be talking to you soon.

Hualapai Mountain

We decided to head to Hualapai Mountain outside Kingman Arizona. We camped here in the past, and remembered it having hiking trails, and also being a bit cooler than it would be on the desert floor. Besides, it was only about a 2-hour drive from Vegas. The Woman really didn’t want to do an overnight, either in Colectiva II or by staying in a nearby AirBnB. So, the short drive would allow us to go, hike a bunch, and have a nice picnic lunch – our favorite!

At its peak, Hualapai is about 8,500 feet tall. While we didn’t actually climb the peak, most of the park is over 6,000 feet high – enough to give us about a 20-degree break on the temperature. While there were a few folks around, it wasn’t at all busy. We hiked around on the mountain, and pretty much stuck to the areas where great views of the valley were displayed. We managed to get all our steps in while there, and had a pleasant lunch. All in all, an excellent outing!

We hope to be talking to you soon.

Sun City wildlife

Each day under Corona is the same. Get up, have coffee, take the pooch on a walk, have breakfast, go on second walk, have lunch and watch True Detectives, read on the patio, the Woman has a nap, cribbage, Monopoly Deal, Scrabble, Lester Holt on NBC Nightly News, then dinner and some more True Detectives, then bed. Day after day!

But the last few mornings we have had some bonus arrivals during our walks. We have seen a couple of Great Blue Herons soaring over the neighborhood. There really isn’t a nearby wetlands, so they must be moving among the water hazards on the golf courses. This morning we saw a flock of Canadian Geese flying in a perfect V formation, flying low over the rooftops. And we actually spotted a new species to us. We saw a Grey Hawk – not just once but several times – soaring, landing on walls and lamp posts – with its black and white striped tail, which it displays proudly during flight, it was quite special. He even landed on a rock across the street from our house, and waited while I went inside and grabbed the camera. Thanks dude!

We hope to be talking to you soon.