We are back at Wilderness Lakes for our 21 day stay, and boy is it hot here! On Sunday we got up at 6 am so we could get down here before it got TOO hot. It didn't work. We got away from Silent Valley by 8 am, but by the time we got down the hill to Banning, it was already 86 degrees outside. We stopped for gas in Hemet, and it was already up to 90 degrees. We had a little problem after we left the gas station. Neither of us noticed that when we hooked up the tow bar part on the car, we didn't put on the padlocks that keep the bar in place. As we left the gas station there was a "drop down" to the street that was apparently just enough to let the bar bounce up and off the holder. About 1/4 mile down the road I happened to look in the side mirror, and I saw OUR CAR trying to pass us on the right side! We stopped immediately and put on the 4 way flashers, and got out to find the bar and blue security cables dragging on the road. We will have to replace the cables before we can tow again. We had to unhook the car and proceed to the campground. One "arm" of the tow bar (the part attached to the back of the RV) was bent a little so Jim couldn't get it to retract all the way. Once we got set up he used a silicon spray on it and got it to retract, but we are not yet sure if it will be usable or if we will need to replace it. YIKES!
Anyway, after all that we didn't get to the campground until about 10:30 am. We drove around and finally found a nice, big, 50 amp site here in the very back of the park. I had hoped to be over closer to the adult swimming pool, but we are just grateful to have a 50 amp site, so we can run both A/C units when we need to.
By the time we got leveled, hooked up electric and water, and put the awning out, it was up to 100 degrees......and by mid-afternoon it was up another 9 degrees! We walked the dogs and set up what needed to be done inside and were ready to relax by about 12:30 pm.
We waited until after dark, when it cooled down to about 96 to put out the outside rug, chairs, and the extended shade below the awning. Then we finally took the check-in card to the ranger station.
The dogs do like it here, but they both made it clear that this heat was not a good thing. Still we are more fortunate than many because we do have working A/C. There are thousands of people in LA county without electricity because of outages that are lasting for days. They are trying desperately to find ways to stay cool.
Please folks, let me remind you again of the need to drink lots of water, and stay out of the sun as much as you can. Do NOT, under any circumstances, leave children, pets or elderly family members in a closed up car, even for a few minutes, as the heat can build up very, very quickly to dangerous levels. If you have elderly neighbors, please check on them to make sure they are all right too. I would also suggest eating water-rich foods like fresh veggies and fruit to help keep you well hydrated. Avoid heating up your home by eating cooler foods, such as salads. You also might need a little extra salt in your diet to help prevent excessive fluid loss from perspiration. That reminds me of a cute thing my grandmother used to say. She never liked to hear us say we were sweaty. Instead, she would say "Horses sweat, men perspire, and ladies glisten." Anyway, try to stay cool, don't overdo on exercise in this heat, and try not to glisten too much.
We are also praying for all the people in Texas and now Louisiana dealing with the flooding and losses from "Harvey". Here in southern California the people freak out over 1/2 " of rain, and now we hear that Houston has gotten 52" of rain! I can't even imagine what that is like. Our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones in this disaster, including a 34 year old police officer who drowned trying to get out there to work and rescue others. It's all very heart wrenching to watch on the news.
Now for a change of pace a bit with some recent pictures.
Willie is a bit large for a lap dog, but he doesn't think he is.
Sometimes Millie can't decide if she wants to be on the foot rest or on the chair............or maybe both!
This shows our set up, with the extended shade from the awning down beyond the picnic table, and the EZ Up that we use to keep the car a little cooler. The advantage of hanging anything, such as the nylon chili peppers off the side of the awning is that it helps discourage people from walking into the arm of the awning. We've seen others who put a large label on the awning arm which reads "HIT HEAD HERE", but we hope folks won't do that. To compliment the nylon peppers, 
I made a wreath wrapped with red, green and yellow ribbons, and entwined my string of ten chili pepper lights around it. I thought it looked really cute, until we smelled an awful smell of something burning last night.........it was the ribbons against the lights. They didn't seem that warm, but once we unplugged them and waited awhile, the smell went away. Good thing we aren't like some campers who leave their outdoor lights on all night!
Our friends Diane and Steve are here too. I had fully expected that they would have headed north to get away from all of this heat, so it was quite a surprise when we spotted their RV farther forward in our row. They only need 30 amp, and found a nice site under the shade of a large tree, so they care able to keep fairly cool too.
Yesterday we were inside the RV reading, when our neighbor knocked on the door to tell us that the door of our outside refrigerator was open. Jim went out to check on foods and closed it. Almost immediately after that our neighbor from behind us came over to say we had a leak in our water hose. It actually was not a simple leak; the hose had split wide open and water was pouring out! Jim turned off the water and removed the damaged hose. We think the excessive heat made it crack since it was no more than one year old. In February, at the RV show in Avondale, AZ we bought one of the new G-coil hoses that we heard was supposed to be really great. It sprung a leak within about a month! So much for that hose. Alas, we will pick up a new hose when we go out to Wal-Mart tomorrow. For now, we are just using water from our fresh water tank. It's good to do that from time to time, so you can replace the water in the tank.
I also want to report that we were not completely satisfied with the product called Tank Tech for cleaning out our holding tanks. Now we are trying a "drop-in" product from Thetford that our friend Jim, up at Silent Valley, thinks is quite good at keeping down odors. We'll let you campers know what we think after a while.
Well I think that's all I have to share today, except to say that we are, as always, grateful for the love of friends and family and the many blessings God has given us each and every day. We wake up with grateful hearts, and try to enjoy all that He has given us each day. Happy trails, and drive carefully. Stay cool and calm. Last night there was a terrible story on the news of a case of "road rage" in LA that resulted in one person shot and another person stabbed. It makes us very sad when people resort to such unnecessary violence over traffic problems. Remember to give others a little more space and consideration. Try to remember that we have no way to know what problems that other person may be trying to cope with today. Have a blessed day one and all.
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