Happy New Year

We wish the best of health and happiness for all fellow bloggers and friends and family for 2011.  We are having a very quiet evening, watching some television.  Kim is still recovering from her cold, but she is on the upswing now... you just have to have the patience to wait out that " 7 to 10 days" before you feel you are getting over it.

The weather here in Desert Hot Springs is very cool - you could see your breath tonight during dog walk time.  Brrr.

Perhaps a camel ride at The Living Desert here in Palm Springs might chase away those temperatures.

New Years 2010 - we won't show you 2011.... that would be a couch snoozing picture......

The last of the nice days this week.....

Yesterday we had a look at the forecasted weather and decided that Joshua Tree National Park was in order and if you stuck to the main roads of the Park, you could do a quick tour in about 4 and a half hours.  It took us most of the day, but that is great.  We picked up our 7 day pass at the Joshua Tree Entrance on the northwest gate, and also picked up a great book: Joshua Tree, The Complete Guide by James Kaiser.  It proved to be a great resource, full of information and history that I could read in my squeaky "cold" voice as we travelled along. It was fun to read about the shady characters of long ago, the miners who tried to make a living out of this rough landscape and those who were the early supporters of its protection as a Park.  It made the Park come alive for us.

 

Of course, the Joshua Tree itself is not a cacti, but a member of the agave family. 

 There are lots of pullouts and day use areas, many favoured by climbers who come during the winter months.  Most of the campgrounds were full, and are only suitable for tents or very small RV units.

 

 

 

We learned that it is a rare day when you can view everything all the way to Mexico from the Keys View.  Most of the time, it is shrouded in smog that funnels its way through the Coachella Valley from Los Angeles.  We were very fortunate!  The photo above is looking to the west and Palm Springs. The photo below is looking south towards the Salton Sea and Mexico.  That elusive in my future camera would have perhaps taken a clearer shot, but in person we did have a very clear view.  Wonderful! 

 

We continued on past the viewpoint, leaving the Mohave Desert and entered the Sonoran Desert.  Quite a change in vegetation, going from Joshua trees to Cholla Cactus and Ocotillo and the vast basin of land stretching into the distance. 

 

At the end of a great day, we left through the Cottonwood Visitor Gate at the south end of the 800,000 square mile park, with a sense of only seeing a bare sliver of the park, so we will return!

Road update: they were all fantastic roads through the park. Kim approved. 

Who gets a cold in the desert?

Apparently we do!  Donald received the gift of the sniffles and a cough a day before the 25th and Kim received a seemingly worse version the night of the 25th.  We haven't had colds in years, so this is quite annoying.

We did go to the RV park Christmas dinner, and it was a bit of a mix up but we managed to find a place to sit and enjoyed the little entertainment portion.

Of course, the 3 pm eating time was a new time for us, and when we went home it felt like 10pm, instead of 5:00, so we had a good laugh over that.

 On Boxing Day we both decided it was boring sitting around moaning about our colds, so we headed out for a drive. First stop was Thousand Palms, right on the San Andreas Fault line. Cool! ( yes, literally, it was way cooler in the palms ).

Unshaven Palms.  Not like the naked ones in Beverley Hills. I am talking trees here, don't get any ideas. Trivia: did you know that underneath the palm, in the natural brown leaves, it is almost 20 degrees cooler?

Then..... Up Up Up the highway " Palms to Pines"... and my goodness what a road that is.  Donald asked at some point about the view - HA! There was no way I was looking over the edge, as I was busy putting my foot through the floorboards and trying to squeeze apart the passenger seat handle with my right hand. We did stop at the viewpoint, and it was lovely.  Unbelievable to look down at the road we had just come up. We watched the one and only RV ( big sign before the start of the highway said NO TRUCKS! ) chugging and chugging steadily up that road.  I said his wife was probably fainted already or yelling and Donald figures he did it on purpose as a shortcut to San Diego. In any event, he would have used a ton of fuel.

See the little grey winding strip in the picture below? Yep, that is the road.  No shoulders, no guardrails. Drivers in beemers going like mad.  Sheesh.  Give me the prairie roads.

 We continued on almost to Hemet.   Today, still not wanting to be around anyone with our colds and since it is supposed to be turning cold and maybe rainy, we drove up to Joshua Tree and went into the National Park through the east gate called Joshua Tree, imagine that.  More on tomorrows blog. No roads from !#@$% will be mentioned.

Feliz Navidad

We went back to College of the Desert, this time on a sunny day - even the coffee has Christmas sprinkles!

 

The Date shakes did not look very appealing, but we came for the Gyros, and they were delicious and their booth always had a lineup! 

We cooked our Christmas Turkey this evening on our Salton roaster outside.  I am sure the neighbourhood was loving the aroma! 

don't turn your back on your cat - that paw is about to grab the biggest bone off the plate.

Our best warm wishes for all readers and family during this Holiday season time.

Street Fair in Palm Springs

Every Thursday evening, six blocks of downtown Palm Springs are closed to a Street Fair and it was quite enjoyable.  The temperatures were on the cool side, and at the end of our stroll through the streets we stopped at Burger Mary's to sit near a lovely fireplace, warm up and enjoy a couple of huge burgers. Burger Mary's deliver your bill in this wacky red high heeled shoes - perhaps the " mary" wore such shoes?

The drive over and back to Desert Hot Springs was interesting because of roads still closed due to mud and rain/flood damage. The turn off onto Bubbling Wells Road still have large humps of mud you have to drive around.

Earlier in the day we did the dog park thing, meeting some fellow rv'ers and their dogs.  How come they ask for your dog's name, but not yours? I offered it anyway. So, our old girl met Monty, Gidget and Angel.

I wish I could have posted some pictures, but my wee little camera just does not like taking night pictures.  Perhaps a new camera is in the plans for the future......

Today's plans are to visit the local grocery store, get that turkey into the Salton oven and check to see if we are still set up to go to the RV park Christmas dinner.  It is finally sunny out again, so some outdoor plans need to be made. 

Happy Holidays Everyone!!!!!

Good day for Ducks

 

An enjoyable day in the rain, and these lovely little ducks certainly look like they were having fun!

The dog and Kim went for a walk up and down the streets of the RV Park and they eventually  made their way over to the Dog Park, only to be the only ones there in the downpour.

Our little old dog walked right by the ducks and did not even seem to care as she is more interested in the smells and scents from other dogs.

Donald went out this afternoon without the help of his navigator,( who was cutting out all the pieces for a new quilt top ) and relied on using Gertrude, our GPS.  It worked just fine.  There were still roads closed in the area due to flooding, and signs of flooding in more of the washes.

Today we saw our first Road Runner in the wash next to the RV.  Beep. Beep.

Signing Up

Yesterday morning we had a great visit from a park " concierge", who was checking to see if we had settled in, had questions, and did we know about all the activities.  We were very pleased with this unexpected visit and that started our day off most pleasantly.  He also informed us that the rain we are (not) enjoying had resulted in a local busy road ( Palm Drive ) being closed on the other side of I - 10.

It was raining so hard, that any outside activities were not going to be attractive, so we did some shopping, and of course we did drive to see why the road was closed!  It was bumper to bumper traffic, but Donald enjoyed that, as he could take a good look around! Now that is enjoying your trip, when you can enjoy snarled up traffic ! Ha! One of the golf courses ( Cimarron ) was closed, as quite a river was running through it.

We stopped by the clubhouse, and signed up for Christmas Dinner - we are to bring buns and butter and a salad.  The ham will be provided.  I purchased a turkey the other day from Costco and that will be cooked on Christmas Eve as really, it just isn't Christmas without turkey bunwiches for leftovers. The turkey will be cooked in our Salton Roaster that we have brought along.

Today, we do not have any sightseeing plans again because of the rain.  Donald is going to fix and replace a shelf in the 5th, and I think I will be organizing and doing some quilting.  Tomorrow is the quilting group here at the Sands.

For Rick and Paulette: yes, there is a little river running down the washes in the park now!  I will try to take a picture later today.

Is there any better sunset than in the desert?

 

We spent a couple of days in Blythe, CA checking out the area and also made a day trip to Quartzsite, to get our bearings before the large crowds descend there in January.  We hope to make it there for the last couple of weeks of January, and perhaps longer.  While there, we checked with Discount Solar to get a quote on the installation of an inverter and possible solar. 

The wreaths on London Bridge in Havasu were very pretty, however we would have loved to have taken a boat tour down the lake or around, but all the businesses that conduct boat tours were closed up, as well as many of the shops around the Bridge area.  Bummer.  It was beautiful out and it would have been a fun time.

Have you ever watched the show Diners, Drive Ins and Dives? ( or something like that ...) A friend of our, Dan, watches it quite often and these pictures are for him.  In Parker, Arizona, we stopped at " Coffee Erns" and it was very interesting.  We had breakfast, the place was in total disrepair, and incredibly busy! Customers were coming in for monster take out cups of coffee. Hmm.. perhaps Coffee Erns might be the new Tim Hortons.

 

This train picture is for Sam and Lorne - this was passing by Coffee Ern's: The green units say Arizona to California and in between there was a Florida East Coast unit.  It was pulling a mixed train, hoppers and tanks, some box cars.  The white car with the two guys are taking pictures or videos as it went by.

This was our site last night on the banks of the Colorado River near Blythe, California. Yes, it looks peaceful and serene, but across the street was a local saloon open till 10 pm.  Apparently, " Bob" had to pack it in by 9:00 pm and go to bed, as his buddies were asking if he was puking outside and telling him it was too early.  It was all harmless, and we had a good laugh.  

Tonight we are at Lake Tamarisk Resort at Desert Center.  It is mostly Albertans and BC'ers here, in park models, very nice.  It is a member owned park around a lovely little lake, an oasis in the desert. Tomorrow we will take our time and drive the big one hour to Desert Hot Springs.

Lake Havasu

We had a really nice drive through the Mohave and into Arizona, and we are presently located at Lake Havasu Resort on the north end of the city, near the airport.  It is quiet, away from the busier part of town near the London Bridge.  The RV resort is fairly new, with large cement pads and all the amenities.  They sell the RV lots here, and as some are not sold, the developer allows for nightly/weekly/monthly rentals.

The park noted that there was wifi only at the office, but we are at one of the sites furthest from the office, and I do not have a booster, and wifi is coming in just fine.

Tomorrow we will be off to the local information centre and of course, London Bridge.  Our plan is to stay here for 3 days anyway, and we have to be in Desert Hot Springs on Friday. Tonight we drove out to the bridge and had a look at how it was dressed in lights for the season.

Our dog and cat continue to be excellent little travellers.

Mom, where is the grass????

those tacos are hot!

 

Our appointment at 10:00 am at Camping World did not work out very well.  Yesterday, they informed us that they were able to do the warranty work, made the appointment.  This morning, they informed us that they still had to call Jayco for authorization and that would not happen till Monday, and no, they did not have parts for the other items.  So, we packed up the RV, went back to Bakersfield, all for naught.  We left, stopped at Wally World for groceries, and headed out with only half a day left.

We are in Yermo at a KOA.  If we get an early start tomorrow, we can make Lake Havasu City, and stay for a couple of days.  After all, there is football tomorrow and Monday Night!

It was still an interesting drive, looking at the windfarms along the way, and now that we are up and out of the valley, the air has cleared.  Donald tried some tacos at a stand today - he said they were very good, but hot!

 

 The gas station fuel pumps have been asking for our zip codes, and we have used the trick of your postal codes numbers, plus 2 zeros at the end.  It has worked everywhere except at 2 places, and both of those were Texaco stations.  You can still get fuel, you just have to go in and pay cash and have the attendant set it for what you think you need.

My brother emailed today that they have had 150 cm of snow in the last 4 days - yikes!  The conversation today while driving was that we are having a hard time thinking it is December, as we have never been away in the winter.

Citrus smell...mmmm.......

Thanks to fellow blogger, Rick, we are now smelling the oranges!  We are at Bakersfield in Orange Grove RV Park.  It is lovely.  We had a 8:15 am start from Santa Nella, and believe me that is just about a record for us.  Off on the I- 5 to turn off at Highway 46, with the town of Wasco on the way.  The I - 5 was continuing to be a very bouncy, rough road and Highway 46 was so smooth!  There were miles and miles of almond farms.  Also on this highway, was Wasco State Prison, and it was very big!

As we were early into Bakersfield, we put the street address in our GPS for Camping World and spent a couple of hours there, discussing the merits of generators vs solar for our fifth wheel.  No decision has been made.  Our 5th wheel is already prepped for an on-board generator, with a start station in the kitchen area.  We are not keen on the noise, weight or fuel.  A solar set up would work well for our latitudes in the summer and here in the winter, and be more "green".  We will see and comments are welcome.

Since we did not pursue fixing the big slide in Anderson, we have booked an appointment at Camping World tomorrow at 10:00 am to have that fixed.  The Orange Grove provides a fantastic area to wash your RV's and we spent a couple of hours this afternoon to complete that task - we were filthy after the drive down.  Now perhaps, we look schmanzy enough to hang out at the Orange Grove for another day breathing in the citrus!

 Oh yes, Donald put on shorts this morning.

Arnie needs to fix some roads

We had a good drive today from Anderson California to Santa Nella.  Very foggy, but the torrential rains have left us, whoo hoo!  Both of us were quite nervous about driving through Sacramento and Stockton, but it was fairly easy, except for the terrible road bed conditions.  I am afraid our poor cat was jostled about in the fifth wheel, along with everything else. We visited Governor Arnolds website last evening, reading up about lighting the Christmas Tree and the budget deficit that California is under, but,  we did see a number of areas of road construction work going on.

It is too bad there is no pulling over on the I 5, because we saw fields of snow geese and some other birds we would have loved to see longer and closer. Tonight, we perused through our bird books, but were unsuccessful at identifying the "stork like" birds. We also enjoyed driving by many fields of olive trees and orange trees, and we could smell the oranges as we drove by.

Now that we are in the warm and drier weather, we would like to slow down and stay a couple of days on one place so we can look around.   Bakersfield seems to be the next place.

The poor dog does not sleep when we travel in the truck, so when we are stopped, she hops into one of the front seats and really passes out, as I caught her snoring within minutes.  Pretty tough for an old dog who sleeps most of the day and night.
She got a good walk to the local Starbucks this afternoon !

It was a dark and stormy night.....

I think we need to soon start our daily stories with " it was a dark and stormy night.." because that is what we have had just about every night since we left the north.  Last evening at 7 Feathers RV Resort in Canyonville, Oregon was indeed dark and stormy with a howling gusty wind.  Luckily, Donald slept through it. 

Laundry was started in their beautiful laundry room when it was still dark out, and we managed to get it done prior to 8:30 am. We checked the road cams for the Siskyou Pass, and it showed only intermittent showers, and there was already some sun shining through the clouds at the park. So, we left our rainy site and started on our journey.

Well, I had fully planned on taking more pictures, but the heavens let loose just about all the way!  We had torrential rain almost all day, and we are still in the rain tonight. A wee visit here in Anderson to Wal*mart for some groceries, then we found a place: JGW RV Park.  Nice park, great wifi and cable.

For supper, we picked out a fish place in the area around Wal*mart.  We had a nice window seat and shortly after receiving our meals we were entertained by 2 Anderson Police vehicles/officers roaring up right by the window, talking to a fellow, then a search and 'pat down' of said person.  He received a ticket for something after that. 

Tomorrow, we will be calling the RV dealer close by, who is listed on the Jayco website, to see if we can possibly have our large slide adjusted.  Plans to be made after that.

Our coats came off

We had a lovely drive today on the I - 5 from Chehalis, Washington to Canyonville, Oregon.  We are staying at 7 Feathers RV Resort - very fancy schmanzy.  We loved the concierge service and the valet taking you to your appointed site and helping you back in. Ha!

We will take a look at the weather in the morning and evaluate whether to tackle the Siskyou Pass and head on into California.

Just relaxing in warm ( to us ) weather.  It was 15 celcius.

it is getting warmer now

We probably had the best bed/hotel room/location in the city of Victoria last night.  Right on the waterfront, with a view of the Empress and the Legislative Buildings.  The Black Ball Ferry line welcomed us to stay in their locked yard overnight, for free and even supplied washroom access if we needed it. We arrived under a beautiful rainbow at the appointed time of between 4 - 4:30.

The ferry staff started work at 8:00 am, and at that time, we could get our tickets.  We easily loaded onto the ferry, after a great conversation about 5th wheel travels with the US border agent.  A lovely crossing and then we were lost after we debarked!  Oh no!  Which road do we take?  Luckily Donald took a few turns and found a road leading to 101. Whew!

We drove Hwy 101, then 3, then back to 101 to join I - 5 south of Tumwater.  We have landed for the evening at the Wal*mart in Chehalis, after stocking up on pet food and people food.   We picked up a Trac Phone at Wally and checked out some things at the Verizon store across the street.

Tomorrow we have to get fuel, check a few things and hope to make it to Canyonville, Oregon.

From the deck of the MS Coho, the " Blue Bridge" in Victoria.

 

 Morning coffee on the Coho.

christmas trucks

I just have a small camera and do not know how to take night pictures, so my apologies, it is blurry.  We had a lovely lunch today of Chicken with Dijon Peppercorn sauce, caesar salad, crusty herb bread and santa cookies for dessert.  The kids suggested going to Victoria and watch the annual Truck Parade of Lights.  It was just wonderful, with all sorts of trucks and lights in varied arrangements.  It is a fund raiser as well, as nearby us was another truck accepting donations to the food bank.

Tomorrow we have a later check out of Oceanside Rv Resort, then off downtown to make it to the Coho Ferry yard at 4:00 PM.

It is hardly worth posting the pictures, but it was a great experience.

early Christmas today

Our oldest son and his wife will be visiting us at the RV Park today and we plan to have a lovely lunch together.  They have a Christmas party this evening to go to with work mates.  Last night was another one of those windy nights, and we did pull in the big slides again.  We also noticed that one of the slides is not lining up tight on one side when it is out.  This will have to be looked at and perhaps the slide readjusted.

We had a quiet night last evening, watching Poirot and of course, I was crazy with the maps and planning.  I have yet to relax from my 'work mode' and need to stop incessantly planning.  We have made the one booking for over Christmas.

There was a little bit of a road trip yesterday as Donald wanted to go to Lee Valley Tools ( to drool ) and I checked out the Cloth Castle quilting store.  We came back to Sidney and walked the main street, checking out stores and going for coffee.  Our big purchase was some industrial strength sticky back velcro.

Oceanside Rv Resort - Sidney, BC