Flat tire anybody????

Started out as a great day, we had our sun back full force today, but it was a bit cool first thing this morning. By 10:00 all was well, and we had a bunch of things to do today.


First we headed up to the local spray car wash, as our bikes were dirty with bugs and dust etc.... after heading out to El Centro. We got them all washed and dried and looking good again.


After that we headed into Yuma to Performance Motorcycles, as a week ago we had ordered a new set of handlebars for Judy's Bergman, as the ones on the bike got bent on the trip down here, as I torqued them too much with the tie down straps.... whooopppsss... anyways, the new bars didn't make it yet, so we headed back out to the foothills and wanted to stop at Wallmart for a few things. Talked to them about our Net 10 phone we bought that we are having a few problems with, and their way to fix it is to give us a new one. Gotta love Wallmart. We headed over to the food section as we needed some things for our New Years Eve with the Morrisons. We bought a bunch of stuff and headed out to the parking lot to load up the bikes. As soon as we got to the bikes in the parking lot, I could tell by the look of my bike that there was a problem. Yes, it appeared that I picked up a nail or something and put it through the back tire. Yes, that would be the new tire I put on a week ago! So we decided to load all the groceries on Judy's bike and I drove while she carried and we made it back to the RV. Once we unloaded and had a quick bite, we headed back to Wallmart which is only 5 minutes away, and I called Linda at CAA up in Toronto. She did a double take when I told her my problem, and responded with "where the heck are you?" After I told her we were at the Wallmart in Yuma, she says "Oh, I was at that very same Wallmart 2 months ago, as we headed home from San Diego, California!" Yep, it is a small world out there.

In an hour, she had a guy there with his truck and trailer, and we loaded up my Shadow and towed to Performance Motorcycles back in Yuma for the needed repairs. The truck drive was a real nice guy, who moved here 12 years ago from Indiana, and not happy with the climate there. He loves it here and AAA keeps him busy. After he unloaded my Shadow, he was off to go rescue another guy and his bike. Hopefully they will have mine ready by tomorrow. They are good there!


This morning we were busy making arrangement for the future. This Saturday night, we will drive up to Phoenix and watch the Coyotes play the Detroit Red Wings at the Jobing.com arena! We have great seats only 10 rows up from the ice. The game will be close to a sellout, as lots of people from Michigan make it here for the winter and Detroit always draws a big crowd anywhere in the States. We also will visit the California University Experimental Farm on Jan. 12/10. That should be a good day, and as John Morrison is a farmer, he will be right into that!

Did not get a chance to take 1 picture today... :-(( Maybe tomorrow!

Morrison's should be here in the afternoon!

Till tomorrow....

Life is good... The sun came back!

Yes, the sun came back today! It started of rather cloudy this morning as I headed to the gym... yes, you have to keep in shape! Judy headed to the pool right on time as usual.

After all the exercises were completed we made the executive decision that we should head out to El Centro, California. It was cool at 11:00 as we headed out, but we knew better. Before 1/2 hour was up into the ride, all the clouds headed to the east (Ontario...) and the sun came out, and all was good again. As we passed by the Imperial Sand Dunes, it was obvious that there was a bunch more people out playing in the sand. Probably double from last Sunday when we headed out. Border Patrol guys were hard on the job, stopping the traffic and running all over the country side looking for something or someone...

We took the old highway 98 again into Calexico. Once we hit here, our stomachs took over and after a conversation on our new headsets, we decided to hit "Jack in the Box"....


I don't really remember these restaurants at all, but they seem to be all over the place out here, although not all of them have nice palm trees on the front lawn area like this one does.

This one looked really new inside and outside so I assumed it was. We each order one of their "sirloin burgers" and it had to be the biggest burger we have had in a long time. However it was also real good! Judy said they put a whole head of lettuce on hers, and that is because they grow the stuff by the thousands of acres here, I have never seen so much lettuce growing!

As we were leaving I noticed this SUV parked near us and could not resist taking the picture of the Reindeer Antlers on it. There are a few of these things out here, and really, they look kind of corny! I think I will buy a set for Mary D. for her Volvo.... it would suit her!

Ya, I know, look at all the nice palm trees... we are in California ya know....

After lunch we were off to find El Centro. We did. It is a large city, the gal at the Chamber of Commerce where we stopped for some info told us 50,000 people call this place home. It is close to the Mexican border, and is in the middle of the desert. One of the reasons we came out was to visit Costco! There is no Costco in Yuma, and this one in El Centro is the closest to us. It was a fairly new store, and yes, you can see the palm tree they have in their parking lot! The other major difference with this Costco is the fact they have a whole section of Liquor and Wine and Beer! Try to find that at Costco in Barrie!

We picked up some nice steaks for dinner on Thursday night when the Morrisons arrive for their holiday. I phoned Pat tonight and she is pumped up and ready to go, well, almost. They are a little worried about the airport, as I guess they have really cracked down on security again! No carry on luggage is allowed for their flight to Phoenix. It is a new world!

I took this last picture today of Judy in the Costco parking lot, only cause I really liked the palm tree in the background...

It got up to 20 or maybe a little better this afternoon, so we headed back to the Resort and of course headed right to the hot tub to relax... it does take it's toll on you acting like a tourist all day....

I forgot to mention a little storey from yesterday's blog post. When I was on the phone talking to the lady to purchase the bus tour for the hockey game, she was asking me my information. She asked for my cell phone number, so I gave it to her. Her comment was, "Oh, sounds like a somewhere in Ontario type cellphone with that 705 area code". I said "ya, we are from Ontario"... she adds, "Oh, so am I, I live up near a small town called Gravenhurst!" I kind of did not know what to say, it is a small world! She actually lives closer to Severn Bridge, Washago area. She has been coming down to Yuma for the past 5 years, and took a job as a reservation taker, from the Bus Tour Company, as she really likes that type of work!

Well, tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm! Keeps getting warmer as the week goes on! Don't know what is on the agenda for tomorrow, and that is just the way I like it!

Till tomorrow...

Who ordered "Clouds"??????

Hey! What happened to our sun? It was actually cloudy today in Yuma, which is very unusual. It got up to about 18 degrees only today, and without they sun, well, it was down right cool.... well that is all relative I guess, if you are up in Ontario it would have felt like a great day!

We took life rather easy today. Judy was in the pool at 9 for her exercises, and I was on skype talking to my good friend David up in Bracebridge. We talked for about 1 1/2 hours, so we sure did solve a lot of problems in the world. It is a better place today! Good talking to you David!

Before we left on our epic adventure, I had purchased a new CB Radio for the rig, which is useful when you are travelling with other people in a group. The problem I had was with the antenna. I purchased a magnetic mount antenna, however did not real realize the whole front of our rig is "plastic" and that magnetic mount is only good for holding down paper! There was nowhere to mount it. I decided to wait to get into the States to find another one. I found one this week, and today I finally figured out how to mount it on one of the rig's mirrors. These are the only pics I have for you all today... exciting ehh???

It is very hard to see in this picture, so try the next one...

This is better, I actually had to make a mounting bracket that you see at the bottom of the picture. The mirror of course is all plastic, however the big arm at the bottom of the mirror is aluminum, so I was able to secure a bracket to it.

My friend David is a life long trucker, so he helped me balance the radio and antenna. Thanks David!

Today we made some future plans for our time in Arizona. We have decided that on January 29th we will be moving from Yuma and will go back to Tucson for about 1 month. During that month Judy will fly out of Tucson to Johnson City Tennessee, to visit Shawn, Jenn, and Emmie for a week. Patra and I will struggle to hold things together at the RV.

After we finish our time in Tucson, we will head up to Sedona, to meet Debbie and Gerard who will fly in for a 1 week stay, after the Olympics are all finished. Gerard was accepted as an "Olympic Volunteer" for the Games, plus the Para-Olympics that follow. We reserved a site up in Sedona, which is north of Phoenix in Arizona. We look forward to the week with the Kraemers!

Today we decided also on a little treat for ourselves. We booked a bus trip. On January 28, we will be picked up by Bus, and we will head to Phoenix to visit the "Jobing.com Arena", which some of you may also know as the home of the Phoenix Coyotes. That evening they will play against the "Calgary Flames". Of course our Son Shawn, is the greatest Flames Fan on this earth....now sure why though, I have tried to teach him the value in watching the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he doesn't always listen to his Dad... oh well...one day maybe. They give you a lower bowl seat at the game, and well, that is not hard to do, as the Coyotes only fill half the arena for their home games... even though they have a good team this year! Too bad Toronto does not make it to play here this year based on the NHL Schedule, so Calgary will have to do!

That was about all the excitement I could handle today... till tomorrow!

California Dreaming.... on a warm winter's day!

Today started out a bit cool, but by 10:30 it had warmed up to about 15 degrees, and made it up to about 20 or so, not bad! Lots of sun!

We decided after breakfast to take a bike ride, it was time! I had been looking on Microsoft Streets and Trips program, (good one...) and had wanted to head out to see the Imperial Sand Dunes! I figured we could hit Calexico, California, and then maybe head to to El Centro. Halfway out we came across the Imperial Sand Dunes. This is a recreation area that people can come out to, and have fun with their sand toys... dune buggies, dirt bikes, ATV's, whatever you have...

They also are allowed to boondock in their RV's here, so the can stay and play. Here are some pictures I took.

You do have to pay a small fee to use this area, but it is not expensive.

The sand dunes are huge, and go on for miles... this area is also right on the border with Mexico, and the good old Border Patrol was very busy today. We got stopped by them, but they allowed us to go right through their dragnet.


Tonight I was previewing pictures to put on the blog and got messing around and I am about to take some photography liberty..... I use the photo program that came with my Olympus camera, and is pretty easy to use...

You can take a picture like this....

and turn it into this... you can do all sorts of things to try and enhance your picture...


As you can see, they love to have fun in the desert!

On some busy weekends, they can get 80,000 people out here at once, that is when the fun really begins...

These guys were playing chase....

Yes, I am still playing around with my computer, here is some more photographer's liberty being taken... these next two are the same picture...

Yes, I might have enhanced the colour of the sand....

We made it up to Calexico, and it is a border town with Mexicali, Mexico. I took a couple of pictures, it was hard, as there is a lot of security fences around. The Americans put a lot of security up to keep the drugs out!

This mountain is in Mexico, and is part of a long chain of mountains that reach up into California.

We followed old Highway 98 out to Calexico, and there is nothing but lots of sand and trails for miles for the dune buggies to run in. To my surprise, they also groom the side of the road in the sand area, for the ATV's to run on... just like we groom ski doo trails in Ontario... crazy...

There is also a bunch of farms along the way, and the American Canal runs through the desert to irrigate the fields, it is amazing to see.

We made it back to the Resort by 5:00 bells, just in time for the hot tub to sooth your body after the 120 mile run today! It was fun.

Yes, I watched the Leafs beat Sid the Kid and his fell Penguins.... ya!

Till tomorrow...

Happy Boxing Day!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas Day, and Boxing Day as well... we sure did. We sure did miss visiting and eating with our friends and family this year, but enjoyed ourselves in the south west. With all the technology these days, we did get to speak with numerous friends and family which was great.

Now, if you can imagine this, I have a few pictures for you... the first one shows the excitement of the moment of gift opening, as Judy gave me a gift Christmas Morning, a new Swiss Army Knife.

She surprised me with this one. I have always wanted an original Swiss army knife. I do the accounting of our money while we are away, which means recording our expenses daily. She bought the knife on our credit card, and when I questioned the expense a few days ago, she simply said she needed a new paring knife for the kitchen. I said "OK" kind of thinking to myself, "man, that is one expensive paring knife..." Thanks dear!

Around 10:30 we decided it was time for a hot tub on Christmas Day. The sun was out and it was beautiful. We got back from the tub, and took the bikes out for a spin as the temp was getting warm! We headed out to Dome Valley, which is a great spot where they grow all kinds of crops...

We had to take a couple of pictures with Judy's new camera she got for Christmas!

We came across an actual dairy operation... couldn't believe it, but I guess the milk and butter has to come from somewhere.

The cattle are all kept outside, however they have these cow ports, where they can stand out of the sun, and as you can see they also have fans to blow cool air on the cows. In the summer here it gets real warm.

We had to take a picture of this farmers sign, he had Santa driving the tractor.

We stopped on the way home at the little Church we talked about before on the blog. We were the only ones there.

After our bike adventure was over for the day, it was time for Christmas dinner. We had a pot luck type of dinner in the Rec. Hall. We had 20 people at our table, which comprised mainly of our happy hour gang. It was one of the best meals I have had in a long time. The Resort donated the Turkeys!

We enjoyed the meal and the fellowship of our new friends in Yuma. Don't forget, most of them are Canadians in these pictures, so we have a lot in common.

This last picture today, is from earlier in the week when we had a happy hour gang Christmas Gift Exchange. Judy ended up with a Guitar Hero Game, and I got the stress ball!

We took life easy today on Boxing Day, it was a bit cool, only about 17, so I ended up playing Texas Holdem with the gang, while Judy read a book. I came in second overall and brought home the money! ($32.00) Wipee!

Gotta say "Happy Birthday" to my good friend David in Bracebridge, (aka Gator). Hope you have a good one, and keep those 18 wheels on the pavement!

Till tomorrow!

"MERRY CHRISTMAS"

"MERRY CHRISTMAS" FROM THE HOLLINGERS

Due to some technical problems with our internet, I have been unable to post to the blog for the last two nights... sorry...

But we are back and I will post later tonight! Merry Christmas Everyone from Judy and John!

We had a "Blizzard" today....

This morning was beautiful, lots of sun and warm, however they forecast told us different...they were calling for some wind. Right around noon, the wind started to blow... it blew pretty hard. I looked out and saw some weird clouds coming, and turns out it was a dust cloud. It was big, and came right over the Resort.

We ended up watching some PVR'd shows we had, as the big wind altered the angle on the good old Star Choice Dish, so no live TV for a while...thank goodness someone took the time in their life to invent a PVR.

This morning before the big blow started I worked on some maintenance on Judy's bike in my garage. Had my camera ready in case the Marines were out flying, as I wanted to get some pictures of them, they have really been doing a lot of flying lately... Got these two shots of them while they ripped by...

You have to be real quick on the trigger finger with the camera as these guy move. They are also real loud.

Did find time to go down to the hot tub after 3 this afternoon, it was still windy but we endured. I was going to ride into Yuma on the bike this afternoon, but simply too windy, will go back tomorrow.

The weather is supposed to be better tomorrow! Gotta say hi to my cousin Fred and his wife Lydia, living down in Mexico... received an email from them today! Ya, the blog reaches all the way down to Mexico!

Till tomorrow...

Here comes Santa!

After 36 years of working in the Bank, and getting up at 6:30 a.m. every morning, I now have a big problem of getting out of bed anytime before 8:00. I can't believe it. I don't know if it is the air down here in Yuma or what, but I sure do sleep good, and can't seem to get out of bed. Every morning now Judy is up and at it, before me, and that never used to happen.... well I guess things change...

I did have to eventually get up this morning, and jump on the motorcycle to get into Yuma and see the Chiropractor again, who performed a acu-puncture session on me... 1st one of these I have ever had and it was different!

We had no sun this morning due to cloud cover that almost never happens here, so it felt cool without the sun, but it did get up to about 18 degrees.

This afternoon Judy and I played around with a new set of helmet head set communicators for use on the motorcycle that my Mom got us for Christmas...well, early Christmas I guess... sorry Mom, couldn't wait...

At 5:00 we headed to the rec hall for the annual Resort Christmas Party. It was packed. Food for everyone and even the big guy showed up. Lots of entertainment and a hay ride to boot!

This lady had a terrific voice...

If you lined up here, they gave you food!

Here is the "Big Guy" getting ready to dish out the goods to all the young kids that were there.... they were the families of the workers at the resort and had a great time!

After the party we watched the Christmas parade of lights that came through our Resort! About 25 different vehicles all lite up for Christmas... It was neat and is done every year. They travel around to all the RV Resorts out here on one night a year, and it is neat to see. Judy took a couple of pics...

You will never see a parade of this type in Gravenhurst!

Just another great day in Yuma! Tomorrow is supposed to be a bit cooler....:-((

Till tomorrow!

A trip through the Foothills, and an early Christmas!

Judy and I started today off by going to the 11:00 Church Service at the same Church we went to last week. Excellent service today. We made it back for lunch and then decided we would head out on the bike and go for a little tour.

Never did get the blog posted yesterday... sorry.... :-(( We did get two new back tires installed on the motorcycles though... wore the old ones out!

I wanted to explore more of the "Foothill" area where we are staying, so we headed out to the very end of it, where the mountains start! These houses are right at the very end of the Foothill...

Everywhere you ride out here there is mountains...


This is a different styled home, built right up on the mountains...

If you look close at the centre of this picture, you may see some people out on their dune buggies ripping up the desert...

And here is my favorite mountain picture of the day....

At the south end of the Foothills Area, is the Barry Goldwater Range. It is a huge track of land that is used by the Marines for training purposes. They fly the jet aircraft over this range for training.

Check out this picture.... this guy actually pulls this fifth wheel trailer with his VW..... did some major work on the VW.... it is an old bug....

Meet "Cactus Pete"... We stopped at the Arizona Market Place for some items, and picked him up to decorate our Motor Home Antenna!

At 3:00 this afternoon, we had a skype video conference with Shawn and Jenn and Emmie, to celebrate an early "Christmas!" They are leaving tomorrow from Tennessee to head back to Oakville and area for Christmas! We opened gifts on Skype and they gave us new hammock which we quickly found a new home for and set it up. Here is Judy giving it a "demo"... Thanks guys!

Shawn emailed us this picture of Emmie opening one of Her gifts, a new laptop toy! She just loved it, an kept playing with it while it was still in it's box! Look close and you can see Judy and I keeping an eye on Her from Arizona on the other laptop! Modern technology! Gotta love it!

Well, another busy day! We enjoyed our time with Emmie, an her Mom and Dad this afternoon. Tomorrow we have a Christmas Party at our Resort to go to! Plus there is a Parade...pictures to come!

Till Tomorrow....

Not a nice day in Tennessee!

Not too exciting a day here today, although you would be happy too if it was 25 degrees and sunny! We sort of just took it easy today. I went online to order a set of headsets to use on the motorcycles, which will allow us to talk from bike to bike. Judy went to the pool and I just kind of did nothing... well at 1:00 I drove over to Wallmart to get my hair cut... how exciting...

We played horse shoes and ping pong today to pass some time, although it was a little warm in the horse shoe pit. We did go to happy hour, and I spent an hour and 1/2 learning more about my new Olympus Camera... don't know if I will ever master that thing or not, but did learn a lot today, and havn't even got to the book Kristina gave me yet... that is on my hit list...

No pictures today, but I borrowed a couple from our Daughter in Law, Jennifer who lives in Tennessee, (Johnson City). It actually snowed there today. It does not snow there much... but look at these pictures...this is their back yard...

Here is our "Grandaughter" Little Miss Emmie... (AKA Princess!) She looks like she is actually enjoying this snow stuff....silly girl.... I will teach her about life in Arizona one day!

Leaf game tonight... playing Buffalo... should be good...

Till tomorrow...