Friday, September 4, 2009

GAS PRICE $1.47 A GALLON?

How much a gallon? Oh, we’ll get to that in a while.

We drove to Tucson today because I had an appointment with a dermatologist. I’ve had some scabby and tender stuff on one ear, and my father lost part of his ear to cancer, so I was edgy. Turns out it was a pre-cancerous lesion; the doctor says 1 in 500 of these will become cancerous, but they never know which one. So she applied “cryosurgery,” freezing with liquid nitrogen, four times on that ear, moved on to my forehead then to my arm. Ouch! That doesn’t feel good, but it should all be healed in two to four weeks. I’ll go back in four months to be sure all is okay.

But that gasoline price? Yes, yes, we’ll get to that.

While in Tucson we stopped at Costco and dropped a few bucks. In addition to some chicken thighs and breasts, some sausage and other goodies, we began our shopping for Christmas. Well, not really for Christmas, but for a Christmas tradition here at the SKP Saguaro RV park. Early in the season, some individual or another will put together two bags of goodies to anonymously leave on the doorstep of a friend, a neighbor, a park visitor, someone they know or someone they don’t know. Each bag carries the message, “You’ve been snowed!” and challenges the recipient to do the same for two others in the park. This year we are ready early with boxes of holiday latte mix, special candy, and holiday-themed night lights.

$1.47 gasoline? Be patient, we’ll get to that.

This week I revoked my pledge to never barbecue again. I used to be a good grill chef, but all at once I seemed to lose the touch, finally giving up the charcoal and / or propane in the patio for a George Foreman in the kitchen. This week we bought a nice propane grill at Lowe’s in Sierra Vista. I had to ask for one in a box rather than already assembled, as there wasn’t room in the car.

This is the back road to Benson from Sierra Vista, just northwest of Tombstone.
At home Wednesday evening, I began what the imaginative author of the assembly manual described as a 30 – 45 minute job. It actually took about two and a half hours. Thursday evening I grilled some bratwursts and a chicken breast. The brats were wonderful; the chicken breast will be used in a salad tonight.

What? The gasoline price? Oh all right. Usually when we go to Tucson we buy our gas at Costco, but not today. We do the bulk of our grocery shopping at Safeway – the only alternative in Benson is Wal-Mart – and they have had a gasoline promotion. For every $100 in “qualified” purchases, you earn a reduction of 10 cents per gallon at any Safeway store that has a gas station. Our store doesn’t have a station, and the closest one is in the middle of Tucson.

We had been planning to take our motorhome that direction fairly soon and hoped to make a real score. Three facts stood in our way: the promotion ends September 12; we wouldn’t be taking Rosie that way until later; and Rosie’s gas tank is already full. So today we took advantage of nine ten cent discount credits in the Suzuki. Ninety cents off the regular price of $2.37 meant that we paid only $1.47 a gallon for our 10 gallons of gas. We saved $9.00! On the way home we treated ourselves to Eegees!

Now you’ll want to know what is an Eegee. Eegee’s is a local small chain of hamburger joints that feature a frozen product -- finely crushed ice flavored with real fruit and juices, probably some other ingredients as well. They call this concoction an Eegee, which is way beyond sno-cone! An Eegee comes in a big cup with a straw, but you need a spoon to eat it. We pulled into an abandoned shopping center, parked in the shade of a former Walgreen’s and enjoyed a “peaches and cream” Eegee.

This evening we’re getting a treat from Hurricane Jimena. Jimena kind of petered our moving up Baja California, but she has brought us a wonderful rain storm with thunder and lightning.

These pictures were taken on the entry road to our park shortly before the storm hit.
At the start of the rain in our area, this rainbow appeared to the southeast of us.

Can’t lay this rain on the monsoon. Add this storm to last night’s full moon, and we have had a real treat from Mother Nature. The moon was so bright at 2:00 am, I actually walked outside in my scanty jammies to see where all the light was coming from!






Such photographers we are! We didn't get a picture of assembling the grill, didn't get a picture of cooking on the grill, didn't get any picture of the food from the grill! We'll do some more grilling this weekend and get some pictures for you!

So that's the story from this part of ... Our Life on Wheels.

7 comments:

  1. So glad you got that scaly stuff on your ear checked out... and taken care of. As for the grill we want pictures with you cooking on it!!! LOL Sounds like you've been pretty busy lately.

    Have Fun & Travel Safe
    Donna

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  2. I really loved the desert photos. What a beautiful place you have chosen to live in. Man, I wish we's see those gas prices up here in Washington. Unleaded is back up around $3.00 a gal. Looking forward to those grilling pics!

    Don't float away!
    Margie M.

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  3. Wonder if there is an Eegee's at the end of that rainbow. A pot of yummy Eegee's would be better than a pot of dumb old gold anyday!!

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  4. Good news on the medical front, Jerry - great idea to get those things checked early. Never heard of an Eegee, but we'll have to check it out next spring! Gas and diesel at Safeway is a real deal - I always make sure we fill up whenever we're near there store - especially my diesel Silverado! Rain? What's that - it's been a while, here!

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  5. Great post! Aren't you the clever one leaving us in suspense about that cheap gas.

    We love to eat linner at Costco and are in dire need of a hot dog fix but alas, haven't taken the time for that particular road trip (Phil says it is almost 50 miles from our location).

    Looking forward to the pictures of the next grilling adventure.

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  6. You all make me chuckle while reading your post. My hubby is getting to be a great cook with a grill. Loved your photos of the rainbow.

    Happy Trails,
    Chris

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  7. Thanks for the great photos! It's nice to enjoy the desert during this time of the year vicariously through your posts. We're now re-learning what a rainforest is like, here in the Pacific Northwest. (It's WET!)

    We also benefited from the Safeway deal, but just got 20 cents off (net $1.699) for the car. Too bad it only has a 12 gallon tank, and we only needed about 10 gallons. Like you, we've been shopping at Safeway locations without gas stations for a long time. But we were using two different customer cards. The one we used that was valid for this promo only had $200-some purchases on it. And, like you, our motorhome was full, even tho the Safeways in this part of the world offer diesel. What a shame--We have a 100-gallon tank! But we rarely let it get more than 1/2 empty, as that makes it a *really* big hit!

    Would love to know who your dermatologist is -- I need to have a seed wart cut out of my thumb. It's annoying as *^$# but very small.

    Glad to know you're grilling again. Loved hearing about the "snowed" tradition.

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