March 14, 2010
Lake Pleasant, AZ
Things were relatively normal until I returned a phone call this past Wednesday afternoon, shortly after our arrival 10 miles east of Temecula (where we were stopping overnight to visit Jeri and Zana—Mexico trip companions.)
Returning the call, I learned from Jon (aka JC), our house-watching neighbor, that our house had been burglarized. My first thought was that Jon might be kidding, since his humor occasionally takes unusual turns. However, I didn’t think Jon would want to be responsible for causing possible heart failure through a joke, so I listened intently as he described the crime scene.
When Janice returned from a walk, I gave her the bad news. We nevertheless joined Jeri and Zana (and another set of Mexico-mates, Jerry and Nancy) for a fabulous steak dinner cooked by Jeri. Janice and I returned to our rig after dinner, lights out at 10:00 pm. We awakened at 2:00 a.m., spinning fitfully, and decided to hit the road, taking the Honda to Roseville. We arrived home at 11:30.
To make a long story short, the TV and my computer were gone, and it appeared that the culprits attempted to load the TV in Janice’s car for a getaway. A crime scene investigator had been there (and returned while we were there). Her conclusion: No visible evidence of forced entry. We arranged for a locksmith to re-key the locks and engaged an alarm service to monitor our (until then—disconnected) alarm system. The horse was indeed out of the barn, but we bought a little peace of mind.
We enjoyed a nice dinner with son Jason, wife Lori and grandson Jonas at Original Pete’s, our favorite local bistro, then returned home, exhausted from the day’s ordeal. Waking up Friday at 5 a.m., we were on the road by 6:00, bought a couple of non-fat hazelnut lattes on the way, and arrived back at our Temecula abode just before 2:00. We had driven over 1000 miles in 36 hours. But we weren’t finished! We hooked up the motorhome, and drove another 3 hours to our campsite at Borrego Springs State Park.
In what has become somewhat of an unintentional but very special tradition, we met friends Greg and Jennifer Thompson at Pablito’s, a local mexican restaurant. The server was so appalled by my recitation of our plight (burglary, etc) that she conferred a free margarita on me (numero dos). The next day we enjoyed hanging out with Greg and Jennifer, seeing the sights of Borrego Springs (and the legions of wildflower seekers). We finished the day with a few games of Mexican Train and a nice chicken-onion-apple dish cooked in the microwave convection oven in the rig.
This morning, it was another early start, either 6:00 or 7:00, depending on daylight savings time, which changed during the night. After a petrol and propane stop in Quartzite. I was so road-weary and undone from recent events that I was unable to unscrew the gas cap on the motor home, after sitting in line at the gas station for 20 minutes. We pulled out of there, as I sensed that violence was brewing in the long line behind us. After solving this complex puzzle, we gassed up a mile down the road at the Chevron station, where more civilized folks queued up for 10 cents more per gallon). We continued on, finally arriving at our destination: Lake Pleasant, after covering 325 miles in a little over 6 hours of drive time. There was a perfect lakeview site just waiting for the weary road warriors. This will be home for the next several days. There will be a side trip to ‘town’ tomorrow to replace my kaput I-phone: everything works but the phone part. Publisher’s Clearing House is probably trying to call me to give me the good news about my million dollar prize.
While relaxing here this week, there will be at least some internet surfing to evaluate a possible replacement TV and computer.
We are glad that we returned home following the burglary, as it has allowed us to put that episode behind. We were really fortunate in that our loss was pretty minimal. No vandalism or damage to the house, either. Just gotta find the Houdini that snuck into the place.
After dinner we enjoyed a campfire visit from Karen and Bill O'Brien who we met 4 years ago at Casey's in Oregon. It was a short one evening meeting, but we have stayed connected since, mainly through Karen's blog. That's the way RVers do it.
Lake Pleasant, AZ
Things were relatively normal until I returned a phone call this past Wednesday afternoon, shortly after our arrival 10 miles east of Temecula (where we were stopping overnight to visit Jeri and Zana—Mexico trip companions.)
Returning the call, I learned from Jon (aka JC), our house-watching neighbor, that our house had been burglarized. My first thought was that Jon might be kidding, since his humor occasionally takes unusual turns. However, I didn’t think Jon would want to be responsible for causing possible heart failure through a joke, so I listened intently as he described the crime scene.
When Janice returned from a walk, I gave her the bad news. We nevertheless joined Jeri and Zana (and another set of Mexico-mates, Jerry and Nancy) for a fabulous steak dinner cooked by Jeri. Janice and I returned to our rig after dinner, lights out at 10:00 pm. We awakened at 2:00 a.m., spinning fitfully, and decided to hit the road, taking the Honda to Roseville. We arrived home at 11:30.
To make a long story short, the TV and my computer were gone, and it appeared that the culprits attempted to load the TV in Janice’s car for a getaway. A crime scene investigator had been there (and returned while we were there). Her conclusion: No visible evidence of forced entry. We arranged for a locksmith to re-key the locks and engaged an alarm service to monitor our (until then—disconnected) alarm system. The horse was indeed out of the barn, but we bought a little peace of mind.
We enjoyed a nice dinner with son Jason, wife Lori and grandson Jonas at Original Pete’s, our favorite local bistro, then returned home, exhausted from the day’s ordeal. Waking up Friday at 5 a.m., we were on the road by 6:00, bought a couple of non-fat hazelnut lattes on the way, and arrived back at our Temecula abode just before 2:00. We had driven over 1000 miles in 36 hours. But we weren’t finished! We hooked up the motorhome, and drove another 3 hours to our campsite at Borrego Springs State Park.
In what has become somewhat of an unintentional but very special tradition, we met friends Greg and Jennifer Thompson at Pablito’s, a local mexican restaurant. The server was so appalled by my recitation of our plight (burglary, etc) that she conferred a free margarita on me (numero dos). The next day we enjoyed hanging out with Greg and Jennifer, seeing the sights of Borrego Springs (and the legions of wildflower seekers). We finished the day with a few games of Mexican Train and a nice chicken-onion-apple dish cooked in the microwave convection oven in the rig.
This morning, it was another early start, either 6:00 or 7:00, depending on daylight savings time, which changed during the night. After a petrol and propane stop in Quartzite. I was so road-weary and undone from recent events that I was unable to unscrew the gas cap on the motor home, after sitting in line at the gas station for 20 minutes. We pulled out of there, as I sensed that violence was brewing in the long line behind us. After solving this complex puzzle, we gassed up a mile down the road at the Chevron station, where more civilized folks queued up for 10 cents more per gallon). We continued on, finally arriving at our destination: Lake Pleasant, after covering 325 miles in a little over 6 hours of drive time. There was a perfect lakeview site just waiting for the weary road warriors. This will be home for the next several days. There will be a side trip to ‘town’ tomorrow to replace my kaput I-phone: everything works but the phone part. Publisher’s Clearing House is probably trying to call me to give me the good news about my million dollar prize.
While relaxing here this week, there will be at least some internet surfing to evaluate a possible replacement TV and computer.
We are glad that we returned home following the burglary, as it has allowed us to put that episode behind. We were really fortunate in that our loss was pretty minimal. No vandalism or damage to the house, either. Just gotta find the Houdini that snuck into the place.
After dinner we enjoyed a campfire visit from Karen and Bill O'Brien who we met 4 years ago at Casey's in Oregon. It was a short one evening meeting, but we have stayed connected since, mainly through Karen's blog. That's the way RVers do it.
1 comment:
And just what are those two ultra white things hanging from your hips? Jeff, could they be your legs?
JC and KC
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