Dec 31st to Jan 3rd - Mesa to Desert Hot Springs CA

Dec 31st – Sat
We left at 11:40 to go to Filly’s as the band North Star is playing from 1 to 5. We wanted to get a table for a group but ended up with only 8 seats as there were a lot of people there already. We could have grabbed a table on the upper level but we wanted to be closer to the dance floor & band. Ernie & Dianne, Larry & Julie and Neal & Judy joined us. I think about 80% of the people there were from our park as the band leader Steve Stairs lives in the park and we were all there to support him.
We left at 3 and stopped at a couple of stores looking for steaks for dinner tomorrow. We had leftovers for dinner and at 8:30 went to Fiesta community center for a New Year’s Eve gathering. When we got there, a few tables of people were playing cards and some musicians were just setting up so we decided to go to a casino instead. It took us until midnight to finally lose our allowances. We saw quite a few fireworks on the drive home.

Jan 1st – Sun
We didn’t have much to do to get ready to leave so we finished up and then went for a walk to say goodbye to a few people that we didn’t see yesterday. After we pulled in the slides we checked tire pressure and had to get out the pump to top up the 5th wheel tires. We told everyone that we would leave at 10 and we pulled out at 9:59.
Traffic was light so the drive was easy. We stopped for diesel at a truck stop just before Quartzsite and paid less than our last fill in Mesa - $3.76. When we got to Clem & Marlene’s, they were working on a bathroom remodel in their garage and were happy to drop what they were doing to get us parked. We sat the rest of the afternoon to catch up on everything and then I made a nice steak dinner but used their BBQ, dishes and – best of all – dishwasher!

Jan 2nd – Mon
Marlene made a very good breakfast. We watched the Rose Bowl parade during and after breakfast until it ended at 11. We stopped at Spotlight 29 casino on the way to our RV park where Terry lost his allowance and I came out $10 ahead.
There were 2 rigs in line to check in but it didn’t take long to get our paperwork done. The “parkers” were all busy and since we had been here before we were told to go ahead and park ourselves which we prefer. The sites here are narrow but we could park a long ways back and put the electric post between 2 slides which leaves us lots of room to park the truck and enough space for chairs in front of the outside TV.
After setting up we took a walk to see who was here. We ended up having a drink with Terry & Eileen. We didn’t have lunch so I was starting an early dinner when Gilbert & Grace came over. When they visited us in Mesa they said they would make us dinner when we arrived but they weren’t home the couple of times we walked past their place. They told us to come over in ½ hour so we used the time to get the local channels changed on our satellite.
We had a nice dinner and then taught Gilbert & Grace to play Ponytail Canasta. Unfortunately for Grace & I, the guys were lucky with cards and won every hand.

Jan 3rd – Tues
Terry borrowed a rake from Gilbert to smooth out the rocks before putting down our mat. He put out chairs, etc and then we washed the outside of the windows. We back up to a wash so our rear blind will be open most of the time which requires a clean window. A neighbor across the road – Alice - dropped by to introduce herself.
After breakfast we went to sign up for the golf scramble on Friday and buy a punch card for golfing. We made a tee time for 1 and stopped to see Leon & Marilyn who bought a park model last March. We had a beer with them and then hurried back to get our clubs.
The golf course is in mediocre shape but the weather was wonderful so it was nice to play. Once again we didn’t have lunch so we sat outside watching TV and I made a salad to tide us over until dinner. We asked some neighbors over but it didn’t work for them so they will come over tomorrow.