Some Things You Just Can't Make Up

This week we felt like we were in several episodes of the Twilight Zone. There was some normalcy to our week so let me get to that first…..

We made a trip to Prescott to pick up a saddle that Kevin and Cheryl had bought during their visit down here. Since they flew, they had no room to bring it back. We had never been to Prescott before so we made the 3 hour drive up there to pick up the saddle and check out the area. 

We loved the area and the drive there was incredible! We went from 900’ in elevation up to 6,100 feet. Had some snow and some great scenery. 

Yes, those white specks is snow....

The town of Prescott was pretty cool too. Touristy, but definitely a town we would like to visit again. After picking up the saddle we went to lunch at the Palace Saloon. If you ever get up that way you need to check it out here. If you have time, read about its history, very interesting. 

The original bar has seen a lot of history!

The saddle by the way is pretty cool, it was made in 1917 for WWI and will make a great show piece for their new house. 

We also had dinner at Ray and Deb’s again. Deb had cooked an incredible pork prime rib. I had never heard of it but it is a meal we will not soon forget! Steve and Dianne were there as well as we feasted on the prime as well as potatoes and two other things I have not eaten before a keto cauliflower dish and asparagus in a cheese sauce. Two things I cannot stand but you could not taste either as the sauces were so good!

Ready to eat!

Tuesday night was Guy’s birthday so we all gathered around the fire for the celebration. We were also celebrating the arrival of our friends Harry and Vicki. We had not seen them since we crossed paths in Klamath Falls this past spring.

Here is the birthday boy, Guy!

Harry, Dino, Dianne and Lisa

Sue, Vicki, Pam and Red

So what was our Twilight Zone experiences?......

Imagine if you will, you are parked out in the desert surrounded by your friends. It is 11:00 at night everyone is tucked safely in their beds when you hear the sounds of vehicle tires crunching on the gravel. As the sound gets closer your senses become in tune with the noise and you wonder; “Who is driving around at this time of night?”. The sounds comes closer and closer until you realize that the vehicle is passing within feet of your rig. This is what happened to us a couple nights ago here in the desert. 

Why is a vehicle passing by our rig at 11:00 at night? We are not on a road, someone has to intentionally turn off the main road into our area to get that close. As I look out the window a white van, (you know the creepy kidnapper type vans everyone warns you about) is circling within feet of our rig, not once but twice. Then it stops literally within 5 feet of us, turns off their lights and just sits there. WTF!?!? I turn on the outside light. They just sit there. I get dressed, text my buddie Dino that I need a little help over here wait a minute and get nothing, just crickets in return. Where is my wingman? Probably passed out drunk again.

So I wake Barb. Yes, she is sound asleep as well and tell her I am going to go outside to confront the intruder. I go up to the driver’s window and this tweaker looking guy is staring back at me. Acting as tough as I could I say; “You’re not parking here move along!” “Huh?” I repeat myself and he starts his van and does a full circle around the rig again before heading off into the dark. I was so wound up after that and could not get to sleep for a while. 

Our next episode occurred when the buyer of our rig showed up at our door to let us know when he would have the money to buy it. He lives in Arizona but was from Washington where he still does his banking. He proceeds to tell us that he is getting at $20,000 cash advance on his credit card and is transferring that and some money from his bank account to another bank down here so he can buy our rig. Who does that?!?! Apparently the terms on his credit card makes this a very appealing option. The problem being that it will take another week for all this to take place. Hey, I don’t care where he gets the money from as long as I get a cashier's check when we turn over the rig and title.  Update..... after I wrote the above the buyer stopped by to say his money had cleared and would like to take possession on Friday. Well, that was a quick change. We went from having a week to pack up to two days!

Our last Twilight Zone episode occurred after we returned from Walmart where we had bought 4 plastic totes to pack all of our belongings as we vacated the 5^th wheel. The totes were all stacked together and as we separated them we discovered that someone had stashed some merchandise between two of the totes. We had never pulled them apart and were now the recipients of this ill-gotten merchandise. What was it? Was it some valuable diamond jewelry or perhaps some really cool electronic devices? No, we were the proud owners of 4 enema bottles! Out of their box but still in the plastic packaging! The greeter even checked our receipt when we left. Could you have imagined if they looked between the totes? We would have been in handcuffs for stealing enemas!

So what does one do with 4 stolen enemas? You give them to your neighbor (Dino) who will drink anything free and tell him it is a new type of beer packaging!

Our last two days were passed quickly, way too quickly. We spent the days packing. Even though we had pared down prior to coming down we did not do enough. We had thought that we would have the ATV trailer to put most of our stuff in when we sold the rig and left. But our last minute decision to leave the ATV changed all that. Unfortunately it was so last minute that we did not take anything else out of the rig. This is the result of that......

We are full!

Happy hour on our 2nd to last day turned into something totally unexpected. It was supposed to be a simple run of the mill happy hour. Dino and Lisa, Steve and Dianne and Harry and Vicki came over. Then we started to drink some of the beers that we had brought down for beer tastings. Since Lisa does not drink beer she had brought several bottles of wine plus we had several bottles of booze that we wanted to get rid of before we left.

Let the fun begin!

Dianne and Vicki

This one was not nearly as good as the name implies

You get the picture (literally). It was a great time but I for one paid for it the next day. 

Speaking of the next day, we made a mad dash to get our Mexico run in. Since our truck was 1/2 packed, Dino drove. We left at 7:30am, none of us feeling very good. Someone, (I will not mention who but it wasn't Barb) even stuffed a plastic bag in her purse just in case her stomach decided to revolt on her. 

Our mission was to get all the medications we needed for the next year and a couple bottles of booze. We walked the sidewalks getting bombarded by the vendors and went to the Purple Pharmacy with our list of drugs. Barb had premade a list and rattled everything off as the clerk filled a large bag with our purchases. 

I waited outside while Barb made her purchases

This guy was looking for treats from the tourists

That chore done we headed over to our favorite fish taco place. Their shrimp tacos are only $1.50 each and contain 4 large shrimp, yum! On our way back I decided that I wanted more of my cholesterol medication and stopped at one of the smaller pharmacies along the way. My medication was 1/4 of the price it was at the Purple Pharmacy! Next time we will remember it pays to shop around!

Then it was off to the liquor store. We are each allowed 1 liter to bring across the border. Still feeling the effects from the previous night we did not even want to look at a bottle of booze but we forced ourselves to pick out a bottle and made our way to the border to head home. Steve and Dianne had come a couple of days earlier and had waited an hour and 40 minutes in line to get back across the border. 

It was just after 11:00 we were able to basically walk right up to the agent and present our passports. I had my one bottle and the bag of medications from the Purple Pharmacy. The agent asked what I was bringing back and I said "1 liter of booze and some pills". "What kind of pills?" he asks. It is at that point I realize I have no idea what is in the bag. I look over at Barb being processed at the next line over I think to myself, "Oh great, I am about to be probed" and tell the guy "I honestly have no idea, just some medications". He looks at me for a second and hands me my passport and says "Have a nice day". I guess he is used to clueless husbands serving as drug mules for their wives!

That night, for the first night in....well, a while neither Barb nor I had a drink at happy hour. In fact we just walked over to say goodbye to everyone and were back in our rig and in bed by 7:00! 

The next day we were up bright and early getting ready for our big day! I started by putting down the solar panels and continuing to pack the truck. That thing is so full we seriously could not fit anything else in there. We barely fit the dogs!

Dakota stuffed into the back

Daisy is still queen of her castle

Really dad, you expect me to ride 20 hours like this?

The bed of the truck was not any better. We had bought two cargo nets to secure everything and even after piling everything in we did not fit it all. Dino and Lisa were nice enough to take our table and chairs and deliver them next time they pass through. Whenever that will be......

Harry and Vicki came by as we were packing up to say good bye. We only got to spend two nights with them, not nearly enough. Hopefully our paths will cross again this year. Red and Pam stopped by as well. We hope to catch up with them in Texas within the next year. Then it was over to Steve and Dianne's, Guy and Sue and finally Dino and Lisa's. We had a great month here with lots of laughs. Imagine living in a community surrounding by so many great friends. It was very hard to leave. 

At 9:00 the buyer arrived and after a quick walk through we followed him to the DMV in Parker to transfer the title. An hour later we handed over the keys and walked out with a check in our pockets. From there we went to the back and deposited the check and bonus....it was good!

Bittersweet day for us. We lived in our 5th wheel for the better part of 6 years, it took us to some amazing places and provided us with memories that we will never forget. Both Barb and I were close to shedding tears as we took one last picture and headed north towards our new home in South Dakota....

Good bye old friend...