Fun Day and not so Fun Day

June 28 – Another fun day! We got up about 7:45 and walked the loop. There were a couple of sites that people left late that needed raked out. Bill went back out and raked while I got dressed to go into Durango and got out Bill’s cereal and made toast and my smoothie. The goal was to be on the road by 9 and we made it. Bill thought if we went to a movie at 11:30 instead of the afternoon we’d be home by 3, but it still takes the same amount of time to run all the errands so we got home at 5:30.

We stopped at Home Depot to return the last 2 tiki torches I bought since we can’t use them with the fire ban and to get some leather gloves. I have worn out the pointer finger of 2 pair of cotton and torn my nail up. I did find a pair that has leather lined palms and fingertips so hope they will last a bit. I wanted to stop at Nature’s Oasis for granola and any other deals on bulk items since I had a 15% off coupon. I got granola and whole wheat pancake mix and Bill got granola and sunflower seeds.

The movie was at the downtown 2 theater complex and we were early so looked in one of the shops we liked when were here in 2010. They have beautiful jewelry, kachinas, pottery and I looked at knives since my last one was confiscated by the LA airport security. Just looking right now and making mental note. The movie was at 11:30, “That’s My Boy” with Adam Sandler. I didn’t like is as much as some of his other movies. Too much “F-word” for me and I don’t understand why he wasn’t talking in his normal voice. It did have some funny parts to me, and to Bill they must have been hilarious. I had to jab him a couple of times to keep it down. I mainly wanted to see Dan Patrick and the Dannettes who were all in the movie.

At the bar in Jean Pierre's

It was 1:30 when we got out and we were more than ready for lunch. Bill had been looking at places in a restaurant guide for Durango and chose a French bakery/café and wine bar called Jean Pierre. It was only a block from the movie so we fed the meter more and walked down. The bread was nice and crusty with no salt, just the way it is in France. Bill got a quiche special with salad and choice of pastry and I went with a Friand special with salad and choice of pastry. I was thrilled with the salad as it was quite large for a side salad with lots of fresh mushrooms and black olives and a yummy balsamic vinaigrette dressing, however, I thought the portion of Friand (which is a puff pastry filled with chicken, sausage and shrimp) was rather skimpy for the price. Bill had a huge piece of quiche. For dessert he chose an apricot filled pastry and I had the L’Opera, which was awesome. It was layers of a chocolate wafer and coffee flavored filling and dark chocolate. I had to encourage (yeah, right) Bill to have some as I could not finish it after having 2 pieces of the bread first. I would go back again for sure.

We had some time left on the meter so we stopped in a couple of shops and found out that the shop where Bill’s chain was being repaired was just up the side street a block so we picked it up and left my Southwestern inlaid watch there for her to replace the band. The place in Ignacio could take all summer and she will have it ready next week. We popped in a couple of places on the way back and found a shop specializing in olive oils and balsamic vinegars and they carry a lemon infused and a blood orange infused oil but don’t have both in stock this week, so I will definitely go back and get a bottle of each. I have checked every grocery and food store I’ve been in at home and since we’ve been gone in hopes of finding some and not having to order it on line.

We had 13 minutes left on the meter and an errand out of the way so we were happy. I also found the free paper with the grocery ads so after a quick look, we only had to stop at Albertsons and Wal-Mart on the way out of town. Albertson’s had Snapple on sale and some good produce buys and then we needed new wipers and a few essentials from Wally World. Didn’t need a fuel stop this week so last stop was home. Xena was happy to see us and once things were put away we knew we were not going to be hungry for a while. I decided to hold out 2 of the brat burgers (yes, brats shaped like burgers) and just grill them and have 2 ears of corn when the time was right. We didn’t eat until almost 8, then took Xena for a walk. Some of the sprinklers were going in the wrong direction so Bill tried to move them but only one would change. Xena’s leg gave way and I checked her paw but didn’t see anything. Maybe that crazy harness slipped around and pinched her tendon or nerve. She walked a little gingerly on the way home and that reminded Bill we need to see if there is a 24 hours vet in Durango.

Bill read while I watched “Suits” and then he came out and did his dishes. Time to do some computer researching for a new TV and then read a while.

June 29 – I had hopes we would go kayaking today, but again it didn’t happen. If the kayak is still in the box when we get home it’s going on Craigslist.com and I never want to hear about one again. The water was smooth this morning and it wasn’t real hot out yet and it was our day off. But, Bill being the overly diligent person that he is sometimes, he had sites that needed done and these sites always come before anything else. So after we walked the loop we had some of our new granola as I wasn’t in the mood to make a big breakfast and we did sites.

I set our some cream cheese to soften and went to do two loads of laundry. There’s a double sink in the laundry room so I put in hot beach water and soaked our socks for a long time, then rinsed them 3 times and put them in a washer. The washers are crappy and the water isn’t hot enough and the socks are getting blacker and blacker. Well, they do look better so will have to try the same technique next time. Bill’s good Docker shorts were stained so I used Desolve-it on them and scrubbed them by hand and then scrubbed the sports with liquid detergent and threw them in the dark load and they look like all the grease came out. Now I need to iron some one afternoon. I took my book and got in a few minutes of reading.

Look carefully the yellow upsidedown V is the baby's mouth
and the two small yellows to the left are the other babies

We finished our elk summer sausage with some veggies, apple and cheese and I put my cake in the oven while Bill put a new inner tube in his bike. Seems to be fine again. I tried to take some photos of the 3 baby swallows when the parents came to feed them. They refused to come with me standing on the picnic table so after a while I had to give up. Two of the babies know to poop out side of the nest but one doesn’t and the parent bird picked the poop up in its beak and flew off with it. I’m glad I’m not a bird parent. Nasty!

I took the usable parts off the old window and put the rest in a pile so later we took it to a dumpster on a loop check. It’s pretty full here tonight and rumor has it that Tiffany only has one site occupied. Terry stopped by to see if we could/would drive shuttle on the 4th. Of course we could not turn him down, so we’re both driving from noon to 3. The extra host couple has some family problems up in Estes Park and he’s driving her up to meet their daughter half-way tomorrow and she will be there a month or longer. She said he doesn’t cook so I’ll have to take him some meals at least once a week. I’m sure the other couple will have him over also. He won’t starve he said, he has a microwave, but that does get old.

Then the fun part of the afternoon, paying bills! I have a couple of calls to make Monday on some things but did most of them. It sure goes out faster than it comes in. I caught up on email and made our spring reservations for Rainbow Springs. I ordered a new TV for bedroom and a wall hanger for it. The old one probably isn’t worth fixing and there’s no place in Durango or Pagosa to take it so I guess tomorrow it goes in the dumpster. I took a steak out for Bill, salmon for me and a chicken breast for another meal. I thick sliced one big potato for Bill to grill and planned salad for dinner.

I had to work on the toilet stopper several times today. I noticed all the water was draining out and remembered there is a special tool to clean around the gasket with. I didn’t remember that you need special cleaner or non-abrasive cleaner so I used some soft scrub and it took me 3 times to finally get it to not leak. I think it’s the minerals in the water here. We see some sediment after a while in a clear water glass. We found out they have well water and went there’s overage it runs into the little pond by us for irrigation and they fill the big water tank with it.

Manual took Bill to the maintenance shop to cut the big 6 x 8 block to 6 x 6, so I took Xena for her walk and checked on what extra sites were filled and turned reservations. We have 3 that were not on the list and 3 that still had not arrived by 8. I’ve seen one come in since. We only have 5-6 empties tonight.

I’ve had my shower so I’m ready to get up and go work in the office tomorrow. Time to post and then read for a while. A lady just stipped by to let me know her little dog wandered off.  I said that's why they need to be on a leash.  It's pitch black out here.  She said the name tag her her cell number on it.