Friday December 22nd 2017

The temperature crossed the thirty mark going in the wrong direction last night. My indoor outdoor thermometer read twenty nine a little before seven this morning. The inside temperature was at forty eight. I turned on the heat and went back to bed. Overall the day was a couple of degrees warmer than yesterday peaking just above sixty this afternoon.

Saguaro cactus in red lights at the Ethel M Chocolate Cactus Garden

I’m not sure if it is the cooler temperatures or the season, but the RV park was very quiet and relaxed today. I met fewer people on my walks around the park. There also seemed to be less traffic on the park roads. Clearly some people are gone for the holidays and others may be busy with last minute shopping.

There were plenty of people out shopping. I made the mistake of going to Walmart for my grocery run. I prefer shopping there, but today would have been a good day to go to a regular grocery store. Getting in and around the parking lot was a nightmare. I parked near the end of a row a long way from the store entrance. The only problem with that was dodging the cars crossing the parking lot. I even managed to see one fender bender on my trek in the parking lot.

Inside the store, in the grocery area, it was congested, but manageable. I have no idea what it was like in the rest of the store. I was afraid to venture into that area. The grocery area had plenty of bewildered and distracted shoppers. Shoppers watching the shelves while pushing their cart into the people in front of them was a recurring theme. I ended up leaving the cart in one area and walking to other areas of the grocery section. I saw one guy with a variation on this approach. He would stop at the end of an aisle and send his granddaughter(?) down the row to get the desired stuff. Of course she didn’t always come back with what he wanted. All of the checkouts were staffed, so paying for my groceries didn’t take as long as I feared.

I need to avoid going near any of the shopping areas until after Christmas. That means I’ll probably be spending money in the casinos or walking in the parks this weekend. Probably I’ll do both, unless I come up with another idea.