8:52 AM Saturday January 1, 2005

HAPPY NEW YEAR! As of today, I'm only one city behind in the blog, but since our time in El Cajon was completely overshadowed by the break-in of the truck in San Diego we really didn't do anything fun after the city tour. And, since today is the beginning of a brand new year ... I'm going to move on and hope that someday when we next visit that beautiful city it will be a better experience.

You've read about our adventures with the wind and the awning on the "2.5 hour" drive (HA! We left at 10 AM and didn't arrive until 4 PM!) from El Cajon to Yuma (Sorry about not getting any pictures ...), then finding the RV park we wanted to stay at through all the construction which entailed TWO U-turns with the motorhome. Now that's a lot of fun blocking both shoulders as well as four lanes of traffic not knowing if you're going to make it or not ... 'cause we're still learning how big we are. I had seen a billboard (huge billboards all along the freeway on tribal land) advertising "All you can eat Steak" at a restaurant named the Golden Corral. We went there for dinner after Phil got the motorhome hooked up. It was great fun! A huge buffet with a giant grill in the center where thick steaks (not sure of the cut) were being cooked and piled up for the taking! My friends and family will attest that I am a card-carrying carnivore and if I have my choice between steak and ???, I ALWAY choose steak. Needless to say, I was in dinner heaven. The ambiance was minimal and it was noisy and somewhat chaotic (very busy place) but the food was very good.

And, you know what? We love Yuma! It poured down rain the first night we were here but the next day blue skies appeared with fluffy white clouds and the temperature has been around 65 degrees each day since. It's like perfect ... can't ask for better than that!

Newsflash! Phil opened the awning yesterday and could not find any damage! Believe me, that's a miracle after the beating it took this past Tuesday. Neighbors we've had on both side told him they have also had trouble with their awnings in similar situations. So, new rule: Do not trust hardware that comes with awning! Beef it up with velcro straps (no stretch like the bungee cords) that we will purchase before we roll again.

Went to visit my Aunt Elaine on Wednesday afternoon. She was recuperating from a wild and crazy day of homecoming to her park model mobile in south Yuma. The plumbing behind her washer fell apart and flooded and one of her toilets overflowed. Luckily, her sons, Jody and Casey who drove her car south for her, were still with her and together, they managed the repairs. After getting their mom's place shipshape again, they flew home to Seattle yesterday. She called us yesterday to tell us that our first package of mail has arrived. We're expecting three more! At last, Priority Mail is moving again.

We've been having fun with my cousin, Nada. On Wednesday we met her for lunch at J.B.'s Restaurant. Very similar to CoCo's or Denny's but with the added bonus of an optional buffet along with full menu service. Then, on Thursday she took us down to Los Algodones Mexico where we shopped (I bought a small lap blanket, a new sun hat and a small backpack) and ate lunch. I actually ate fish tacos in Mexico and I didn't die ... I didn't even get sick! Nada had assured me that they would be delicious and safe and she was right on both counts. No sign of Mexican authorities going into Mexico and only one officer checking I.D. and asking us if we were American citizens on the return into the USA. We had a great time. Algodones is very small and fairly clean for a Mexican town. I saw one stray dog but he wasn't starving ... just looking for scraps on the ground and the locals were especially friendly and helpful. There are dozens and dozens of pharmacies, dental offices and optometrists ... very Americanized and all very clean. Nada has her dental work done there and is very happy with the results. Yesterday along with one of Nada's friends, Mariah we went to see "Ocean's Twelve" ... very enjoyable then we went to a little, local Mexican restaurant for dinner. I had a delicious chicken burrito but had to bring half of it home because it was so huge!