July 2016 - St. George
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| Welcome thunderstorms |
We arrived on July 5 and were greeted by triple-digit
temperatures. Last week we saw 118° and most days until recently were over 110.
It was still over 100° at 10 PM. It’s too hot to use the pool!
2,800 miles in 7 days proved to be too much for this old body. Piriformis Syndrome is a common affliction among people who sit for a living, especially long distance truckers and bus drivers. It is literally a huge PITA, where sitting isn’t too painful but walking and simply standing in one place feels like being stabbed. It is the first time my mobility has been so limited and my patience is wearing thin. It has also added to Kayeanne’s workload; she has had to take on all the dog walking, too. Physical therapy and lots of Advil seem to be the suggested treatment but progress is slow.
We’ve (mostly Kayeanne since I have been hobbled) been
working with Liesa to help her transition back to singles living. We are
getting her apartment ready to find a roommate and generally helping do whatever is needed. I volunteered to clean the carpets next week and Kayeanne has worked hard at catching up on several "life maintenance" items.
The old saying that “it
never rains but it pours” certainly seems to be true. On top of everything
else, the transmission in Liesa's car died and then one of the wheel bearings
failed. On a brighter note, she just got promoted and is taking over the consignment
department at Urban Renewal, the store where she works.
Utah has some of the screwier liquor laws that we have encountered. You can't buy a drink in a bar or resturant without buying food, too. Only 3.2 beer is sold in the grocery stores. Full strength beer, liquor and all wines are only sold through state stores. Those stores are only open from 11 am to 7 pm, have a limited selection and are, of course, closed on Sunday. Needless-to-say, many people in St. George make the 40 mile drive to Mesquite, Nevada to buy their booze.
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| Life here before A/C must have been brutal |
Our wine cellar was seriously depleted, so a few days after we arrived we made the trek to Mesquite. On the way home we discovered the back road alternative to I15 that went through the Shivwits Indian Reservation. We had a nice drive through scenic desert country, occaisionally passing the ruins of the homes of early settlers.
Just before we left Campton, NH for Maine,
a tree limb jumped right out of nowhere and swatted the van. I was backing up
at night and just didn’t see it until it came through the rear window and
dented the tailgate. There wasn't time to fix it there, so we towed it asis to St. George. I think we looked a little “redneck” crossing country with the back of it covered in plastic and tape. As soon as we got here
I contacted the insurance company and found a body shop. I knew it was the
right place when I had to wait two weeks to get onto their schedule. They did a
good job and actually finished a day early. It’s nice to be able to see out
the back window again. Kudos to AARP Hartford insurance, too; their customer service
is outstanding.
Ed and Zach Woznicki visited us last week. They
had been off-roading in Moab
in their Jeeps and spent a few nights here on the way back to California . It was good to see Zach before
he goes to Japan later this month for a working semester. He just landed an internship with AOI Pro, a large Japanese advertising and entertainment producer. We are looking forward to seeing Ed
and Christine in October when we camp host at Nehalem
State Park on the Oregon coast.
Ed is also a motorcoach systems guru and helped me
understand and fix a power issue that was effecting one of our air
conditioners. The coach has three A/C units that have been running almost nonstop
since we arrived. The center unit began to blow its circuit breaker every few
hours, cutting our cooling capability just when we needed all we could get.
With Ed’s help I discovered that we had two problems: the electrical feed from
the campground wasn’t delivering proper voltage levels, and the circuit breaker
itself was faulty. The campground electrician installed a new power plug to fix
the first issue and Ed and I replaced the breaker. Problem solved.
We just paid the campground for another month and now plan to get back on the road on September 5th unless something
comes up. We also plan to do some day trips to see more of the area around
St. George and Cedar
City
More soon,
Bob
