Back at the Casino

June 26 – Not much happening today. We got up at 8 and walked the loop and then I drove Bill to the maintenance shed to pick up the lawnmower. When he got back we had a quick breakfast of banana and cereal. He headed out to start mowing and I took the Mule and raked the 2 sites that vacated and then went up to pick up our reservations and put them all in the sites. Looks like another busy weekend. Then I started back on my weeding project. I was smarter today and stopped every so often and came back for a drink and cooled off and went back out. Bill reminded me that I needed to caulk around the outside of the bedroom window while the sun was on the other side, so I got that chore out of the way. I finally did my own site and the sides of the road coming into our campground. Looks so much better!

Bill finished first and I followed him back down to drop off and clean the lawnmower. He came in and did some paper work for the new reservations and I went back out and did the last of my weeding for the day. Then we had lunch. I didn’t feel like making a salad so we both had elk summer sausage and crackers, Bill with a side of cottage cheese and I had some mozzarella and we both had veggies and a cookie.

We did some reading and computer stuff and then I removed the old caulk from the area of the shower stall casing where I think it was leaking. Then I re-caulked it. Will be watching closely the next few times I shower. I am now making nectar by the gallon and took down both feeders and washed them good to try and get the sticky off the outsides to deter the wasps and bees. I re-taped the old one with duck tape but Bill said he still saw some dripping. Crap!

I caught up on email and posted 2 days of blog. It was a simple dinner tonight. I made half a bag of Trader Joe’s Mandarin Orange Chicken with leftover brown rice and steamed the last of my frozen greens bean and put a lemon dill sauce on them. I really don’t like frozen beans, they just seem rubbery. These are the ones I blanched and froze when there was a truck load of beans spilled in Winter Garden and we were told to come and bring buckets. I got real tired of cleaning beans and blanching.

We took Xena for a loop walk and should have no new guests coming tonight. It was nice to have most of the afternoon to play catch up and do some reading. We did get a short sprinkle and the power went off for a few minutes and as I type we hear thunder and saw lightening west of us. I was hoping for a slow all night soaker, that would be great! Time to read some of my library book as I don’t think I can renew it again! Red Mist by Patricia Cornwell.

June 27 – So far we’ve had a really nice day, that is, except that Xena had me take her out this morning at 5:30 instead of Bill. That’s what I get for going to the bathroom. It was rather eerie out. The sky was still a dark blue except in the east where it was really lovely with a reddish hue and it was so quiet and still. It’s warmed up a lot at night to where we put both of the heaters away. The power went off again before I went to bed last night but only the 50 amp because the cactus lights were still on and they are on a 110 outlet in our power pole. Odd!

So when we got up at 8 we dressed and walked the loop, then I made omelets for breakfast with toast for Bill and cantaloupe for both. We headed out to ride our bikes up to office and Bill’s tire was flat. So we took the Mule. We had 8 – 10 new reservations, 2 for Friday and the rest for Saturday. Bill just said right now we have 29 filled for the weekend.

Bill went out on foot with the weed eater and I took the Mule and put the reservations in and then started weeding. Some are the size of a tumbleweed. That’s about 18” in diameter. These are some huge prickly plants and have major shooter roots. One guy saw me pulling them and he pulled the biggest one so far, from in front of his RV for me. He even offered to take it to the dumpster but I just put it in the back of the Mule. I would fill my 5 gallon bucket and empty it 3 times into my big tub and fill my bucket again and go to the dumpster. The huge ones I just put in the back of the Mule. I think in 2 more days, which will be Monday and Tuesday next week, I should have the rest of the sites done as far as the major stuff. Then it will be just keeping up with the small ones shooting up.

We rested for a while and then showered so we could go into Ignacio for lunch. With our player cards from the casino and being 55 and older we get the Wednesday lunch buffet for half price ($4.50) and if we swipe our cards at the player kiosk we can get $20 free money to play the machines with. Bill gave me his card and I played both cards and it let me cash out with $24.00, so that was a good day! The lunch is basically Mexican with a big salad bar and dessert bar. The tamales were good and so was the green chili chicken posole soup. Will be getting that again.

Entry sign to the winery

On the way out of Ignacio I stopped to check on the watch band I ordered 2 weeks ago and she said it was ordered but has not come in. Then we went to the Fox Fire Farms Winery. Bill stayed in the truck and talked on the phone while I went in and tasted 4 wines. There were 4-5 others but they would be red and dry or white and dry so I passed. I did get a bottle for me and a bottle for a gift.

We also planned to stop at the Ignacio Cemetery on the same road on the way back as according to the internet, Ute Chief Ouray is buried there, but once we went through the entrance it said it was the East Ignacio Cemetery and the stones and area all seemed rather new so there must be a West cemetery that we need to find.

On the ride home it was getting ugly out and one of our wipers is broken. We could see rain in several areas and a bolt of lightning here and there, but when we got home not a drop had fallen but the wind picked up and did a lot of blowing. We could see rain south and east of us but none made it over the hills. Darn!

Bill raked out two sites that left after we left today while I was getting supper going. We had the other 2 pickle steaks and I baked a couple of potatoes and made salads and toasted some buns that are ready to go bad. We just had a cookie or two for dessert. Bill’s red velvet ice cream has been gone for a couple of days and although he didn’t write it on the list, I’m sure he is going to want to get some at our last grocery stop tomorrow.

We watched a couple of shows and looked at information about Mesa Verde. There’s no way we can go and get on the guided tours of 3 sites and get home without being exhausted and grumpy so I think we will try to schedule the two sites that are closest to each other and just do them in one day. We’ve been here a month and need to get busy seeing more of the things we wanted to see and do the things we want to do.

Time to post and read for a while!