12-5-12
I spent the day with Ron at his ranch. We shot our rifles and Ron also took some practice shots with his hand gun. A guy came up from behind the hill and shouted at us. He told us that he was camping on the other side of the hill.
The left target is mine. I have to adjust the scope a bit to the right. The pattern is perfect.
12-6-12
I felt like working today. First I changed the oil in the motorhome and then I went to the State Park and emptied the holding tanks and filled the fresh water tank. On the way home I stopped at the library and checked my E mail.
12-7-12
I had a very interesting morning. When I came back from my walk my neighbors were calling me. Coleen wanted to go for a walk but could not open the door of the motorhome.
They were locked in. Gordon gave me the keys through the window and I tried from the outside. The locks moved but the door would not open.
I got a large screwdriver from my tool box and tried to pry to open the door. Nothing worked.
Gordon took the dead bolt lock apart, still no luck. Then he disassembled part of the screen door to get to the main lock. He took the cover off and told me that he would not touch that lock, to many springs and levers.
I set up their step ladder and Gordon climbed out of the window. He went to another neighbor, with a similar motorhome, to get a telephone number.
When he came back we decided to move the motorhome back and forth to loosen the door frame. That works sometimes because the body of the motorhome twists and the door opens easier or harder.
Coleen raised the hydraulic levelers and moved the motorhome back and forth. I used my screwdriver again and still no change. So she leveled again the rig. While Gordon and I worked outside Coleen opened the door and came out. We could not believe it.
I had noticed that the door was not stuck anymore, it felt like the lock was still engaged. She had moved the door also in and out and noticed a piece of round metal coming out of the striker plate. It was part of the striker. The cheap two part construction had come apart.
Before I was thinking about taking a picture Gordon had assembled it already. The aluminum part on the right was still engaged in the lock. The part had opened up, where the slit is, and the one eight of an inch diameter pin had slipped out. Gordon had reassembled it already before I took the picture.
They bought their large, beautiful motorhome new, since they did not want to buy anybody else’s problems. New motorhomes have problems too.
12-11-12
There is not much to do in the desert. A lot of people read and some women do knitting. Marilyn also makes beautiful bracelets and other items with tiny beads.
Walking and bicycle riding are popular. I start the day with a walk up the hill. There is also laundry to do. Shopping for groceries is expensive in Borrego Springs. There is only one store.
People go either to Ramona or Indio for restocking the refrigerator and freezer. On Tuesday and Friday I go to the Senior Center for lunch. They serve lunch only twice a week.
Only about ten people come. The food is catered by the Kendall restaurant and very good.
There are groups who have camp fires in the evening. During the day people hang out or play games. Here desert bocce ball is played. I was invited to play but I rather watch.
It is not easy to play the game here. The ground is flat, but there are stones and when the ball makes contact with a stone it changes direction.
There are now more Canadians than Americans at Peg Leg Smith. Two motorhomes from Quebec just arrived. My neighbors Gordon and Coleen come from Brandon, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, one of my old home towns.
There are also people here from Ontario and British Columbia.
The regular snow birds are coming one by one. Some will arrive right after Christmas and stay the rest of the winter. When they arrive, everything stops and they are greeted like long lost relatives. Some come with new rigs and there is a lot to talk about. Peg Leg Smith is a small community. Years ago, when Marvin Rudd came here, he was the mayor of this group of people. He made sure that there was enough fire wood for the camp fire and that the unwritten rules were observed.
Most of the group are couples. There are only a few single people.
I am spending a lot of time in the library reading the daily newspaper and magazines. In the evening I watch a DVD from the library. They have a large selection.
Right now I am reading “Years of Minutes” by Andy Rooney. It is very funny and is a collection of his five minutes on the end of 60 Minutes.
It is colder at night now. In the morning it is between 45 and 50 degrees F. in the motorhome. As soon as the sun comes out it warms up to the mid seventies.
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