The carpet in the coach has gotten pretty dirty over the past several weeks so this morning I decided to rent a Rug Doctor carpet cleaning machine at Home Depot. The warm, dry weather and our close proximity to a rental facility made this the ideal time to do the job. I have a small Bissell carpet cleaner that I use for cleaning small stains, and there's not really all that much carpeting in the coach, but I figured a big machine would make short work of it.
Suzanne had very little work to do this morning. In fact, she just had to check her email and that was about it. After taking Travis on his morning constitutional Suzanne and I hopped in the car and headed for Home Depot.
The last time we were here we ate breakfast at The Broken Yoke Cafe in La Quinta. We had eaten outside on their patio and remembered it being a pleasant enough experience. I had even bought the T-shirt. On our way to Home Depot we decided we were hungry for breakfast. The Broken Yoke, a very short distance further down Hwy 111, seemed the perfect choice. We had about a ten minute wait to be seated... not a big deal. However, the table was dirty and we had to ask for it to be wiped off, there was a used sugar packet left behind by the previous occupant, my coffee cup had dried (go figure) egg yoke on it (I asked for a replacement), we had no silverware or napkins and the service was sub-par. Other than that, it was great! 😏
From there we went to HD and rented a carpet cleaner. At $21 for four hours, I thought it was a pretty good deal. I already had detergent back at the coach. Suzanne helped me move stuff off the carpet then she grabbed a book (and Travis) and headed for the pool. I spent the next forty five minutes cleaning the carpet and dumped three buckets-full of some pretty nasty looking water down the sink.
I joined Suzanne and Travis out by the pool for a while, listening to Pandora on the Bose Wave we brought along with us. Then, realizing it was five o'clock somewhere (it was one o'clock here) went back inside and made a couple margaritas and a ham sandwich- a perfect pairing in my estimation.
I could get used to this lifestyle.
We returned the carpet machine to HD then did some grocery shopping at a nearby Ralph's supermarket. The lines were quite long. I guess everyone was out doing their New Years Eve food shopping. I had well over 15 items and was obediently awaiting my turn in the item count appropriate checkout line when the store manager grabbed my cart and said, "Come on over here!", placing me and my cart in the "about 15 items" line. I've never seen an "about 15 items" checkout line before. How very southern California.
Oh, she also handed me a complimentary bottle of water for having waited in line so long!
Returning to the coach, we stowed the grub and headed out to meet Suzanne's family for dinner. We had a great time and were happy to see Jodi's son, Ryan, who made the trip out from LA to join us.
Arriving back at the coach, I was happy to find that the fiddling I'd been doing at the pool control panel earlier in the day had paid off - steam was rising from the pool! We changed into our swimsuits, I turned on the jets and lights and we waded in. A perfect end to the day...
... well, not quite. I took Travis for a half hour moonlight stroll around the park while I smoked a cigar.
Je suis fini!
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