Week ending Dec 12, 2019 Yuma

Friday, we went to James Smucker Park, which was one of the destination distances listed on the East Canal.  However, there was a high school between the park and the canal.  We did the walk around the park, but couldn't see a way to get to the canal, and asked someone walking there whether they knew a way, but they didn't.  Then we noticed a security guard at the entrance into the high school parking lot.  He explained that we could get there by going back up to the road back around on 32nd Ave.  We walked around there.  By the time we got to the canal, we had gone about 2 miles, and our turnaround from last Tuesday was over 2 more miles.  We checked and there were spots to park near the canal, so we decided we would come back another day to do the walk.  When we got back to the truck, we saw a fellow with a Buc-ee's shirt, which was our favourite gas station in Texas.   We got chatting, and he noticed my Savannah sweater.  He had also lived in Georgia for a while.

Saturday, we went back to the James Smucker area, and parked at the canal. From there we walked north 2.5 miles to the turnaround point from our previous walk on the canal.  We saw a few more interesting ducks.  One looked like an albino mallard, and was with a group of common pattern mallards. 

white mallard

 

Ring-necked duck

We could see a residential area on the west side of the canal.  We were surprised that only a small (maybe 10-20) percent of the houses had solar panels on their roofs.  We would have thought they would be more beneficial here. 

From the canal we could see the hills to the northwest.

Shortly after we got back to the truck, we got a bit of drizzle on the windshield.  Good timing.  It was overcast and drizzly for the rest of the afternoon.

Monday, we headed back to the East Canal across the street from our last walk.  On the way there, we stopped to see if we could see some Mr Heater indoor propane heaters for boondocking.  They don't have any in stock, and we would like to see one before we order it.  At the canal, we headed south. The first mile was past a very nice residential area perched well above the canal, and then by a golf course.  The golf course had a fence along the edge to keep us from getting hit by golf balls.  People still manage to get balls from the tee over the top of the fence.  One fellow had found his ball on our pathway, and asked us to hand it to him through the fence.  A few feet later we found another ball.  These were both on the edge of the pathway near the fence, not on the canal side.  We couldn't figure out how they could get them over the fence and not have them land in the canal.  The second mile of pathway went along the edge of an old? date farm.  There were people working the area, including a guy on a bulldozer.  It looked like they were clearing a lot of the date trees.   There was a row of palms in what looked like square pots.  It turns out that this is the shape they cut the roots into when they dig up a tree.

palms dug out of the ground

On our way back, we noticed a bunch of large fish, we figure about 12-18 inches long.

fish in canal

We must have not noticed them when we were going south because of the sun on the water ahead of us. Then we went to Home Depot, and they too don't carry any propane heaters in store either.  By then it was time for lunch, so we asked our GPS for nearby restaurants.  The one we chose was Hawaiian BBQ.  Joan had a vegetable rice bowl, and John the Hawaiian BBQ ribs, both quite good.  For a drink, we had a Brisk Raspberry Iced Tea, which we had never seen before.  It had a nice flavour.

Tuesday, Joan started her Christmas baking, with mince and butter tarts and rum balls.  Meanwhile, John called a mobile RV repair advertised in our Southern Mesa brochure.  When we explained we needed a black water sewer valve replaced, they forwarded us to Royal Flush RV Tank Cleaning, as they specialize in this type of repair.  It became clear why when they started by power flushing the black tank with a unit in the back of their van.  They explained that they insist on doing this first to avoid working in dirty conditions.  If the tank is clean, they don't charge for the flush.  Ours wasn't bad, but they still managed to flush a lot of stuff, including some calcium build-up.  They were an interesting crew, grandfather, father and son.  Grandfather hasn't retired yet, even though he and his wife, who talked to us to book the appointment, will have been married 60 years next year.   Nice to finally have the sewer valve replaced.

Thursday, we picked up a Mr. Heater propane heater at Lowe's for boondocking, which should allow us to warm up in the mornings starting January 1.  We'll test it out here, as we run our furnace in the mornings, instead of electric heaters, since propane heating is cheaper than electric.  Lowe's actually had some in stock.   We stopped for a bit of lunch at Weinerschnitzel, a fast food chain we haven't tried before.  Joan was able to get a thick milkshake there, cheaper than the McDonalds ones we like, and more variety as well.  John had their kraut hot dog, which is one with saurkraut.  It's okay but not special.