Friday, March 30 through Sunday, April 15: Final So. California Days, Friends and Family, Back in Williams

For Easter, Tom and I are heading to Coto de Caza. My sister Carrie lives there and she and her husband Brent have been hosting the family Easter for many years. So, I decided it was time to get the truck washed. Can you say "rub a dub dub"?

While at the car wash, I noticed that the back door locks were malfunctioning again. Argh!!! I just paid over a $1,000 to have this fixed on Tuesday. Fortunately, it was only 1:30pm. So, back to the GMC dealer I went. My service advisor, Raymond, took the truck in immediately to troubleshoot the problem. He said that the Tuesday technician did not correctly connect the two new lock mechanisms. I took advantage of the complimentary shuttle, as it was too hot (95 degrees!) to walk. My car was ready at 4:00pm. Thank you, Raymond!

Kevin from Sundance Custom RV dropped by the trailer to replace the city water connectivity valve. Voila! We no longer have a leaking valve. We made dinner easy and ordered a pizza from Papa John's.

First thing Saturday morning, I fueled up the truck at Ralphs Fuel Center. I then packed up the dogs and dropped them off at The Grand Paw Pet Resort. Tom and I were on the road to Coto de Caza before 10:00am. Since we got an early start, we decided to see where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses Interstate 10. We were picking Jon up there on Monday. We found the trail --- it is an underpass about 1/4 mile west of this intersection.

We arrived in Coto de Caza a little bit before noon. Tom and I decided to get a sandwich at a local shopping center. We tried Board & Brew. Perfect!

We arrived at Carrie's home at 2 Lafayette Lane around 1pm. About a half hour later, Carrie, Brent, and I went to a Saturday Easter Service at Saddleback Church. Last year, I joined Carrie and Brent for an Easter Service there. A tradition has started! Saddleback Church was formed by Evangelist Rick Warren 39 years ago. Rick is well-known for writing "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life." The service was outdoors on a sunny day. Carrie and Brent found a perfect place with some shade!

Over a thousand people attended this afternoon service. Rick was on the main stage and the service was televised for all of us to listen and view to his message.

Easter at Saddleback is quite the production --- with three services on Saturday and three services on Sunday.

After church, we picked up Tom and headed to San Mateo Campground in San Clemente. We were having dinner with Brent's brother, Greg, and his wife Fiona. They have a new Lance trailer and are camping four nights at this campground. Other friends of Greg and Fiona were there too. We met Brian and Carrie Morelan who recently bought a new motorhome and are going to travel in it for two years. It was a similar story, as they sold most of their possessions and their home in San Clemente. I took a nice photo in their Winnebago Forza.

Easter Sunday was well planned. Carrie and Brent are pros. They provide the ham, turkey, and roast beef and everyone else brings side dishes and deserts. Tom and I headed to the local Pavilions grocery store to get the ingredients for our green salad.

The family members arrived around 1:00 pm. It was a beautiful day to enjoy the backyard and the good food.

While Greg and Fiona are still camping in San Clemente, they did come to the family Easter dinner.

Tom and I left Carrie's home at about 7:00 am Monday morning. We had a date to pick up Jon at 9:30 am. We arrived at the Pacific Crest Trail underpass and Tom walked a path to meet his son. Within five minutes, there was Jon!

It was mile 209.6 --- Interstate 10 in White Water, California. Jon spent the night with us at the Thousand Trails RV Resort in Palm Desert. I purposely planned to not pick up the dogs until Tuesday morning.

We had breakfast together at Goody's Cafe in Palm Desert and then Jon spent time washing clothes at the laundry facility in the park. Dinner was pork chops and a revival of Jo's potatoes from Easter. Carrie gave us a whole pan of them.

Tuesday morning, I woke up early to pick the dogs up at The Grand Paw Resort. It was going to be a busy day. An RV repair man was coming to fix our shower leak, Tom was going to take Jon back to the PCT trail head, and we were checking out of the park and heading home. I brought the dogs back to the trailer, Tom and Jon headed off, and I waited for repairman Duane of RV Flush. Duane arrived at about 10:30 am.

He opened the "door" on the side of the shower to inspect the problem.

Good news! The shower leak was merely a loose fitting. Duane tightened the fitting and no more leak. It was decided to not submit a claim on my Good Sam Extended Warranty policy. I already had a $100 deductible and the total cost was a little over that amount. Good to go!

Tom dropped Jon off at the trail head.

He returned to the trailer at about 11:00 am and we pulled out of Thousand Trails before noon. The trip back to Williams was uneventful. We arrived home around 5:30 pm.

We spent the next day moving food, clothing, and toiletry items out of the trailer. Tom was puzzled. The awning is now working. We had made an appointment to fix this with Camping World. We decided to keep the appointment --- as some Surveyor trailer owners in Thousand Trails told us that maker Forest River used defective clear coat that was causing premature fading of the trailer head. Forest River was honoring claims for repair.

Donnie of Flagstaff Lock & Key had the replacement parts for my storm door. He and his associate came to repair the door on Thursday.

The snow is gone and the Elephant Rocks Golf Course is open for the 2018 season. The deer often use the vacant lot next door to get to the golf course for some good grazing.

The Camping World appointment was at 9:30 am on Friday. Gail took pictures of my trailer's front that is beginning to fade. Since the trailer is in the RV barn a good amount of time, the premature fading is not as evident as other Surveyor trailers. But, we want Forest River to make good on the claim and pay for the fix.

On Sunday, I was fortunate to capture a beautiful photo from the Cataract Lake County Park. Look closely and notice that Mt. Humphreys, the tallest mountain in Arizona, can be seen in the distance.

It is always nice to vary my walk with the dogs. On Monday, I took them over to the Grand Canyon Railway depot. We greeted passengers who were boarding the trail for the Grand Canyon.

The Highland Meadows ladies met for breakfast at the Pine Country Restaurant. There were eight of us. After breakfast, Tom and I drove to Flagstaff to run some errands. We then had a delicious late lunch at Pato Thai Restaurant on San Francisco Street.

The two living room La-Z-Boy recliners are going to be refurbished. East Flagstaff Upholstery is going to pick them up on Friday, the 13th. So, Tom and I took the recliners to the garage and rearranged the living room furniture. Tom finds that one of the turquoise leather chair and ottoman from the bedroom sitting room is very comfortable for reading his Kindle.

Tom's son Jon called Wednesday evening. He is at mile 351 on the Pacific Crest Trail. Jon called his dad from a Best Western on the Cajon Pass --- the intersection of Highway 138 and Interstate 15. He is going to stay at the Best Western for two nights and take a day off the trail.

Thursday morning, Troy Mortensen came to the house. He is the owner of the landscaping firm that provides landscaping maintenance. I restarted his services this month. He personally came to provide the weekly service for my backyard. Wow, I got the "boss"!

Later that day, Gene Galloway and his fiancee Penny came to the house for some wine and appetizers. They also brought friend Sharon, visiting from Cocoa, Florida. Gene, Penny, and Sharon are taking the train to the Grand Canyon on Friday. Twenty years ago, Gene and I were Executive Vice Presidents at Sanwa Bank. Gene was the head of Retail Banking and I was the head of Wealth Management. We had dinner at the Red Raven Restaurant.

Gene and I both lost our spouses to cancer in 2016. It is nice that each of us have moved on in life.

This week is Williams Veterinary Clinic Week. Libby and Ramsey had senior dog exams and blood work. Kelsey had her anal glands expressed and her blood tested for heartworm.

Steve, from East Flagstaff Upholstery, came by my house Friday afternoon to pick up the two recliners. They are going to be reupholstered and their color changed to turquoise.

Saturday was a fun break in routine. Each year, the Ash Fork Museum presents a program on our area's history. Last year, it was a one woman play about Mary Jane Coulter, the famous Fred Harvey Company architect. This year, Arizona travel writer Roger Naylor spoke about Route 66. It was very interesting and very entertaining.

Sunday, April 15, is our 10 month anniversary of being together as a couple. We decided to celebrate a day early and go to the Best Western Plus in Williams and listen to music entertainment by Omar. We only live a mile or so from the Best Western. Shame on us that we have not been there since Thanksgiving! It was nice to see and hear Omar.

Happy anniversary to us!