Recharged

     I intended to spend another night in a rest stop. But when we got there, no shade, blazing heat, my body odor and a homeless man camped out in his car made me change my mind. I pulled out the RV Parks and Campgrounds Directory with little hope of finding a place to stay on a holiday weekend.

     “Nothing on the water, but I do have two spots open,” the nice lady at the Needles Marina Park, about an hour away just across the state line in Needles, California, said on the phone. When I got to the park, my luck persisted—there was one spot left on the lagoon. I took it for two nights.
     With help from a new neighbor, I am parked and hooked up. The slide is out and there’s lots of room. I have electricity (and the air conditioner works on electricity, just not on the generator) and water, the shower and laundry are just behind me, and the Colorado River is in front of me.
    Of course there are glitches. I tried to put up the awning, and it stuck halfway. The park handyman rescued me. I discovered why the radio won’t work—the antenna is snapped off. I’ll have to have that fixed somewhere. The pull down tabs on some of the window shades are shredded. I will have to pick up some new ones and stitch them in. 
   Gracie is in heaven. She gets to swim every time we go outside. The RV has an outside sink and spigot so I can wash the sand off. The cats are cooled down. I recharged my laptop, WiFi, Kindle, DVD player, cell phone, portable TV, and me.