We’re having a heat wave in the southwest. The high temperature surpassed 90 degrees for the past two days and the forecast calls for two more days of 90 degree plus temperatures before it drops to a more normal 80 degrees here in Hemet, California.

On Friday morning, before the heat became too intense, I played a few games of pickleball. In the afternoon, I rode the scooter into town and had a look around. I found a Harbor Freight Tool store. I stopped there and bought a pop-rivet tool. I noticed when I was removing the windshield shade that one of the twist-lock fasteners was missing a rivet. Pat must have gotten distracted when he was installing them and missed one. I used to have a pop-rivet tool and an assortment of rivets, but when those Dirty, Rotten Thieves stole our trailer, all of my tools were taken. I have replaced many of the tools and continue to add tools as needed.

Yesterday Donna came to the pickleball courts and played a few games. She can’t play at full speed yet, but she was able to hold her own playing against novice-level opponents. I ended up playing for more than three hours. I think I was dehydrated when I came home. I couldn’t get enough water and I took an hour-long nap!

In the evenings here, Donna and I enjoy sitting in the shade under the canopy outside and having cocktails. As the sun starts to set in the west, the temperature in the shade is agreeable. The air here is very dry – the humidity is under 10%. Last night, Donna discovered that we have an orange tree on the other side of our cargo trailer. Another gal we met on the pickleball courts told us that they have a grapefruit tree on their site. We’ll have to arrange a trade!

One of our neighbors, Stu, stopped by to chat. He saw us pull in and said he’s inspired now to pull a cargo trailer behind his motorhome. He didn’t do it before because he was told he’d never be able to reverse without jack-knifing the trailer. He was amazed at how I was able to place our trailer on the paved parking spot. I told him it can be a little tricky with the trailer pivoting on a ball 11 feet behind the rear axle. The trick is to go slow and not over correct with the steering wheel. It also helps to have Donna outside with a handheld CB radio directing me. I use her eyes, the rearview camera and mirrors to monitor my progress and take my time. I mentioned in Friday’s post how tight these sites are. Here are photos of our site, number 567, in Golden Village Palms RV Resort.

Happy hour under the canopy

Shrubs separating the sites don’t leave much room for slides

Three quarters of the people in this park are from Canada. Many of them have been here all winter and are starting to head for home. With three large swimming pools and fewer people in the park, pool time should be great. Yesterday a vendor was at the pool selling home made Mexican food. I bought half a dozen tamales for lunch. They were excellent!

Today, Donna and I are planning to ride the scooter down to Sun City (Menifee) to visit my step-dad Ken. We can take back roads and avoid scootering on I-215. I don’t think it will take more than half an hour to get there. I’ll set up the DVR to record the Moto GP and Formula One races today while we are out. We’ll make a pitstop at the supermarket before returning to the park. Donna is planning to hang out at the pool and read while I watch the races.