3 Shots, Mail Call, Cold Showers and Food Truck Friday

So, it's so easy to get busy then forget to fill you in on the day's activities, and then everything just piles up and it gets overwhelming, and wham!  Three weeks go by before you know it, and you are in the dark, not knowing where we are or what's going on.  I know y'all wait with bated breath for my every post, so I apologize up front for my radio silence.  So, we've been in Surprise for a month and a week now, and we have done absolutely diddly squat!  Well, that's only partly true.  We've had LOTS of doctor appointments, and I've gotten THREE, count 'em, THREE shots!  You know about how hard it was to get that Prolia shot done - if you don't, just trust me when I say, it was HARD.  A royal pain, to be honest.  But, finally, after many hours (yep, not a typo!) on the phone, and traveling between offices, I finally got it.  Took all of about 10 seconds to administer, and I can already see the difference in my fingernails.  I tell ya, that stuff works miracles.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure I got in in time to prevent a cracked toe.  Yeah, if it ain't one thing broken, it's another!  Speaking of broken, didja notice the title?  Notice that "cold showers?"  

Now, Dick is pretty handy, and can fix just about anything and everything.  But, see, this here coach is still under warranty, and if he goes taking too much stuff apart without schematics (and permission!), we just might void said warranty, then we'll be in a heap o'trouble.  So, cold showers?  Yeah, what's up with that????  Ever since we took possession of this puppy, our showers have been wonderful.  Endless streams of super hot water.  And then, one day, we tested the hot water on the furnace mode.  Seems now, we get in there, the water's good and hot, but only for a moment or three.  Then, it goes icy cold!  And usually STAYS that way!  What the heck?  More than once, we've both been caught, all soapy, and with only cold water to rinse off.  That is MOST unpleasant, lemme just tell ya.  This Oasis hot water/furnace system is all new to us, so we did a little research, came up with nuthin' and called Newmar Customer Service for advice.  Sweet Erica (love that girl!) suggested we just use the furnace option when we wanted to shower, then turn it off when we were done.  Ehhhh, noooo, that's not the way we understand it's supposed to work.  But, we did as directed.  Ummmm...still cold water after a minute.  If we're lucky, it goes back to warm, but, personally, I'm never lucky!  So, today, we called Newmar again and spoke with Mike this time.  He said we could just add it to the list when we take it in to Apache Junction to rectify the hood shocks.  And in the meantime?  Well, quick, lukewarm showers, I suppose.  But, today, we got another clue.  Hot water remains at the sink, even when the shower water is cold.  Hey, now, THAT could be important.  By my logic, that narrows the problem down to the shower handle/regulator thing, not the actual heater element or the lines bringing the water to the back of the bus.  I don't know how they're going to take that thing apart, but I do know that there's one dude gonna be watching when they do it.

And, in other news....check out Bailey's new wheels!  (That is a BIG box of fabric, batting and embroidery supplies, sent to me, courtesy of Kelly, my dear friend from Ohio.  She had two quilt tops pieced together, but needing quilting, and I (foolishly?) volunteered to do so.  In return, she sent me rolls and rolls of stabilizer for embroidery, dozens of pre-wound bobbins and some specialty threads.  Twenty six (26!) pounds, sixty two (62!) bucks to ship.)  But the wagon is from Sam's Club and is collapsible, for easier transport.  She loves it!  And she sure stays a lot cleaner this way!

So here is the box, just opened.  You can see, it is packed full and right up to the very top.  I got everything stowed, but it took some creative arrangement.  I went up to the quilt room, to make arrangements to "borrow" their tables so that I could put these quilts together properly, but would you believe, I am not even allowed in the room until or unless I cough up 10 bucks to join their guild.  They told me it was only 10 bucks dues, but that was for the whole year, and lets me use the room any time there wasn't a class in it.  I told them we'd only be here another month or so, and I was planning to leave them 3 finished quilts, but they said, Nope, can't be in here.  Literally dropped my jaw on that one.  Oh well, their loss.  

Sometimes, we get a really pretty sunset.  This is the view out Driver's front window the other night.

Every Friday, a group of food trucks come and set up outside downtown Sam's Club.  They range from Mister Softee to soul food (?) to waffles and cream, bbq & Korean.  I understand there is a different lineup every week.  Here's Lora, setting out on her first trip around the lot, checking out tonight's offerings.

This poor pasta truck had some cute sayings printed on its side, but they didn't serve many people the night we were there.  I don't know if they had a bad rep, the food was bad, or what.  But there were long lines at the other trucks, and nary a sole at this one.

Here's Driver, with our appetizer of spicy shrimp, fresh pickled cuke slices with jasmine rice and field greens.  YUM!  I'd guess most people would call this a dinner entree.  We split it and could have easily each had another full order.  Maybe 2.  Each.

John (Lora's hubster) got an Indian Burger, served on what they call Frybread.  It's kinda like a pizza crust/pita cross.  Two burger patties, pico de gallo, guac, and cheese over it all.  He enjoyed it!

Lora found a fellow Iowan, serving genuine Iowa Black Angus, wrapped in a corn flour patty, smothered in cheddar cheese.  It was definitely a generous portion, eh?

Dick and I each got a piled-high bbq sandwich, with both sliced beef brisket AND pulled pork, with a bit of homemade slaw on a brioche bun.  Gotta admit, it was pretty darned good.

Oh, crap.  I'm just now realizing, I didn't get a single photo of dessert!  Naturally, with this bunch, you know ice cream was involved.  Remember, I mentioned Mister Softy?  Caramel, chocolate and wet walnuts, with maraschino cherries managed to all find their way to our table.  We ate well, that's for sure.

So, during all these weeks, we've gotten the car serviced (twice!), gotten the floor tiles repaired, visited Tucson & Gila Bend, seen doctors all over the West Valley, been out to Cave Creek to see my brother and sister-in-law, danced with DeeDee Dougherty once, gotten Bailey to the vet (all good, doesn't need dental just yet, no heartworms, so we could refill her preventative meds), gotten her a set of wheels, visited the commissary a few times, and have experienced our first food truck dinner.  Oh, yeah, and there was a happy hour thrown in there too.  I tossed some apple slices in brown sugar and cinnamon, wrapped them in thinly sliced pie-dough strips and baked them, and there weren't any left to come home, so they must have been ok.  I was originally going to make them for the Halloween party and put eyeballs in between the strips (you know, to make them look like mummies), but the party was the same day as my first injection, so you know we didn't get to go to that.  Oh, and I did get my sewing machine serviced (for FREE, no less!!) while we were in Tucson.  

It has been a busy month, and we've not really done any sightseeing, but we've gotten a lot of other things accomplished.  Every day is a new adventure..Wait till you hear what happened today!  Coming up next...Cave Creek Wild West Days.