roadquill1

Hello again, dear family and friends!

Wow – Easter Sunday already! And…a glorious Easter it is too – both here in the SW (Yuma), and, by the reports from my weather apps – at home on the BC coast also.

We are relaxing in the shade at our Rivers Edge RV site in Yuma until the afternoon heat sends us poolside to cool off. This has been a remarkably warm March here. Thank heavens for a “fantastic fan” to provide cooler air flow at night.

And what has transpired since my note of March 23?

Well, our Squaw Lake maintenance husband and wife team of Donald and Bobbi have provided us with some interesting information:
1) two sidewinder rattlers had to be removed from the washrooms up at the desert site “Little Mesa” across the dam from us. “Please don’t leave the washroom doors open at night!”… “Not to worry…we may never go to the washrooms again!”
2) apparently Donald catches fish on the other side of the dam at Senators Wash. Well, we will see about that! After a couple of tries, the truth is apparent…Donald caught all of them!

So, back to fishing at Squaw – late on Monday afternoon, Mike Harris and I were fly casting in a secluded pond. I was having no luck, so it was time to try one of the new lures that Mike gave me for my birthday. After a few tries, I completed all of the loops, and was pulling the knot tight with my teeth, when the line slipped, and the hook embedded itself past the barb into my left index finger. Now that SMARTS, but all I could think of was “You’re STUPID!”

I couldn’t remember if I had broken off the barb, or not, and the hook didn’t seem to want to pull out the way it went in, so I pulled out my knife and began to draw a line to cut the hook out. Fortunately, the blade wasn’t quite up to the task, and I wisely decided to get some help from Mike, so I began to paddle his way, fighting off a VVR [vaso-vagal reaction…ie. a “faint”]! Mike pulled out his pliers, and I pinpointed a place on the shaft of the hook that could cut with the wire- cutters. Mike then had a hard time pushing the hook through the end of my finger but he eventually worked up through the guitar callous, after which it was easy to pull out. I wasn’t happy with the experience, but lesson learned! I AM older and wisened! (Not “wizened” dear Grandchildren!)

With one day of recovery, I was able to again able to play the C chord on my guitar, so the music goes on! And, one evening, 3 folks from San Diego asked if they could bring their chairs over to listen. Nice! The man, not so musically knowledgable, apparently, suggested that he would vote for me “on American Idol”. Perhaps he meant American idle!

Also on Monday, a Nanaimo couple, Ieuan and Shiela visited us for a couple of hours on their way through to Tucson. And, on Tuesday, our friends Erna and Barry packed up and headed north for home.

On Thursday, Sandy noticed that water was not sitting level in our sink, so she inspected our Truck House attitude, which she didn’t like! Sure enough – we had a soft, but not quite flat left front tire. Donald, the maintenance guy, used his pump to inflate the tire to 60 psi, and that was good enough to get us to Big O tire in Yuma on Good Friday, where a screw was removed and tired sealed for $21.

Our two weeks in the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) was almost up (as of today) but we left a couple of days early as the Easter crowd built up at the camp ground. Tomorrow, our wanderings will take us further East.

Much love, best wishes, and a Happy Easter to all!

Tony, the Quill, and Sandy, the Quilter.