Ole!

In the US, the pink building, Marys Pharmacy, is Mexico.

One more thing to do and cross off this winter's list: walk across the US border to Mexico and have a cerveza, or two.  We did have a margarita each later in the afternoon, and they were mm mm good!  The parking lot just next to Algodones was busy when we arrived, but we easily walked across and even when we left, the lineup was only about 15 minutes. 

As always, new things are interesting and an adventure.  Algodones is four streets of dentists and eyeglass stores with the usual street vendors.  So, what did we support the Mexican economy with our purchases? A new stained glass window for the 5th, saving about $70.00 over the Quartzsite price, and a silver ring for Kim, which we probably overpaid on.

Green sustenance before coming back across the Border

Bob also managed to get a cool Saskatchewan Roughriders Poncho/blanket that now adornes his motorhome couch.  Not one vendor had a BC Lions anything. Hmm.

A great day and tomorrow we head back north to Quartzsite to ask a few more solar questions at Discount Solar and then head a little more north. Its supposed to get cold and in that case, we might have to find where we have packed our pants. Not too spoiled.

Stop the Car! Stop the Car!

Saturday, Bob took us in his little Honda CRV for a tour of Yuma.  Our first detour was to check out some more sites in the Imperial DAM LTVA and also the 'tank' pullover by the (army) Yuma Proving Grounds. 

In Yuma, there is a big "tent" marketplace that is set up very nicely, under tin roofs.  Very large, with a food court area and an open 'saloon' at one end.  There was entertainment and we enjoyed a Gyro each.

MMM. Looks like those boys have their mouths full!  Forget Quartzsite - there was everything RV here, in nice cool, not crowded conditions, for cheaper.  WE did take a run to the Mexican border, and did a U turn at the last possible place before crossing. ( Just to have a looky-see).  We will be doing that adventure on Monday.

What was the highlight? STOP THE CAR!  WILD BURROS! Just by our site at the Imperial Dam LTVA.  Well, when tourists come to our area of very Northern BC and are tickled pink to see a bear or moose, something we see all the time and take for granted, Kim was the same about burros. So, the car got stopped on a hill, and here they are in all their glory:

PS We have burro poop at our little campsite. Ok, enough already about the B's.

Just a jog to Yuma

Our 14 day LTVA pass was still good till the 31 of January, but now that we have seen everything, or just perhaps seen enough, of Quartzsite, we decided to join our friend, Bob Stone and check out the Imperial Dam LVTA area prior to heading north of Q.

A simply beautiful day of weather to travel a very small distance allowed us to take our time leaving La Posa South LTVA  at 10:30 am, stopping at Stone Cabin to take a few pictures.  There is a small store area there, but we did hike up to the old stone cabin.

Stone Cabin, built by a couple of French miners. The dome roof was also made of stone.

Onto the Yuma Proving Grounds, where we enjoyed lunch by the " big guns". It was a bite of a hot dog, then BOOM!; another bite of a hot dog, then BOOM! Yes, they were busy with ordinance of some sort and we saw a drop of parachuters training as well.

This sign was beside the 5th where we enjoyed our booming lunch, and yes, we paid attention and did not go past the sign!  Another great day!

CPP!!!

Yesterday, Donald reached the official age of 60 and next month, if all goes well, we receive his first CPP ( Canada Pension Plan ) deposit.  Does that mean you are really retired?

Still have to have a Seahawks Cake!

  We went back into town for a couple of things and made appointments for haircuts - who wee they are badly needed!  We are really comfortable here in Quartzsite with Bob Stone, from Calgary ( and previously Kamsack, Sask.) The other big chore to do while we are here is to research or plan our activities and places to go after our week in Las Vegas.  We may just go back to Lake Havasu City, and do trips from there.

Bob's classic Triple E Motorhome

Donald climbed up on the roof of our fifth wheel to try to take some pictures of the surrounding boondockers, but you still can't get the vastness and the grand numbers in the pictures.

our little camp

ok, take the picture !!!!

Kim usually posts our entries here, but today I thought I would do the big job.  First off, I am afraid we have been remiss in not acknowledging all the people that follow our blog and who have recently signed up.  We do notice this, and we thank everyone, old and new for following along in our adventures and giving us those great tips and hints.  We also follow a number of other RV bloggers, and whether we comment or not, we certainly enjoy the stories and comments and together we discuss the subjects between us frequently.  It's great fun! So, thanks!!!!!

Oh yes, still on the comments about rv blogs:  seems that many of us guys have wives or partners who are quilters.  I wonder if it is just us that wants to experience this lifestyle and in order to assure our partners continued support, we agree to stop at every fabric and quilt store along the way?  Hmmm just a thought.  However, storage becomes a problem at times, and those fabrics are heavy and they better not show up in my tool storage below - ha!

Bob and I yesterday in Quartzsite, had a great time looking at this vendor booth. Kim was mortified. It was weird!

In this booth, there was everything like turtle shells, pheasant feet,  and almost every bone of every north american animal, with their pelts. Some people must mix up some very strong potions with those things. And? The animal that we didn't know truly existed?  The infamous JACKELOPE!

The Jackelope: $ 159.95

Is this guy buying or selling?

Time for today's adventure once again, thanks to all you folks, we will try to keep in contact from time to time. ( eh?) Don.

Oh Baby!

Just a quick post: we are going to be blessed with our first grandchild about the September long weekend.

We' re green!

Wednesday was our appointment day for the solar.  I wished I had taken more pictures, but they were so busy and we didn't want to hang around in their way.  We made our 8:00 am arrival time, and we did not get back to LaPosa South till dark! Why? They were finished by 2:30, but pushed the ON button of the inverter and it was a faulty unit!  Good thing it happened right there to catch the 'infant mortality' right away of the unit.  They proceeded to take it out and put in a new one and test it again.

This is our list of items in our set up - we are starting with 2 panels, but have the capability to add more:

2 x KD Kyocera 135Watt Solar Panels
Xantrex Prosine 2000 Watt Inverter
2 x 6V Interstate Batteries ( we already had 2 new 6V batteries, so now we have 4 in a series)
Blue Sky Remote Panel
Prosine Remote panel
Tilt mounts
3024i Solar Boost controller


While some savvy Rv'ers have installed their own systems, we are not electricians or capable, so we opted for a professional installation.  We are still learning about our system, and testing it.  Yesterday, we did not worry about our use of power in particular, and we watched television for about 4 hours.  No Problem!

Not a very good picture, I admit, so I will take some today!  Speaking of today, it is the first day of the Quartzsite RV Show.  We will be running the gauntlet of the crowds.......... not too keen on crowds..... oh no! It's too late to go back to Palm Springs for breakfast at Ruby's with Rick, Paulette, John and Judy.  MMMM Bacon.........

And onto Quartzsite~

A glorius morning in Desert Center and packing up once again.  It turns out that Tuesday's are Quilting Day at the Lake Tamarisk Resort.  Donald says, run quick and you can show them your quilts.  Well, these were beginner quilters and they were adamant that I stay!  No! I have to go!  The quilters network is not pleased with me now!  However, we had our destination and appointment to meet in Q.

On Donald's priority list this winter was the visit to Q when the big RV Show is on.  We made it, and it is just great.  Our friend Bob had contacted us about Q and had saved a place for us at La Posa South LTVA.  We stocked up on groceries again - we forgot dog food - at the Albertsons in Blythe and who comes wandering by in the parking but Bob!  He was in Blythe to pick up needed supplies ( hmmm that rum...).

We continued onto Q and stopped by Discount Solar to evaluate the rig further prior to our allocated arrival there at 8 am Wednesday.   Everything looks good, so we parked for the night at La Posa South.

Driving by one of the big show tents

It was beautiful this evening sitting outside dining watching the southwest sunset.  What can be better?

travel day to Desert Center

 And not a very long day at that.  However, being in one place for a month means you tend to spread your stuff out a little, so we spent the weekend getting organized and a slow start to our morning leaving.  The office at the Sands RV and Golf Resort does not open till 9 am, so since we had to settle our bill, there was not a great hurry to leave any earlier.  We will miss this place and the great people we have met.  We hope to come back and we liked our site and location. So, Rick and Paulette - see ya' later! It was great to get together! After dinner coffee and dessert may be a tradition!

Paulette, Rick and Molly and Rylie

We stopped at the Flying J to get some diesel fuel and at Wally World on our way out of the area.  This big truck pulled up next to us at the Flying J and the streets there were once again lined up with toy haulers and assorted racing gear.

This truck said something about designing racetracks.  Then, onto Desert Center and Lake Tamarisk RV Resort, where we had stayed for one night in December.  A lovely RV resort about 2 hours from anything.  So much so, that there is not even attenna tv reception.  So, we heard that the town was having Bingo night.  How did we hear?  There were signs up all over the roads coming in, and then a fellow driving around in a golf cart announcing bingo night!

We had an afternoon dip in the pool ( it was over 80 F outside ) and then had a good supper and off to Bingo!  Well, the bingo hall serves many purposes: Bingo Hall, Town Council Chambers, Dance Hall and 19th Green Discussion area.  I think all towns should have meeting set ups like this one: one 'head' table with 4 or 5 official looking high backed chairs, then 4 comfy couches and a couple of easy chairs facing the table.  I bet great meetings take place! We paid our $5 each for our 20 cards, with red crayon markers. We decided not to get bingo daubers, and that we would go low-tech.  Intermission was coffee and cookies.  We didn't win. Such is the extent of our gambling. It was fun.

Tomorrow we are off to Quartzsite and the LaPosa South LTVA area, where a spot has been saved by a friend - thanks Bob!  Pictures to follow of the mayhem at Q.

Temecula, and ( boo hoo ) Seahawks, sniff, sniff...

We haven't posted for a couple of days, but we sure have been busy!  On Friday, we were invited to travel to Temecula, Ca with Rick and Paulette to visit the Quilters Coop ( for us gals ) and wander the old town ( for the guys ).  What a neat place, and one that we will go back to again.  It was very gracious for the invite and we had a great time and lunch together. The only problem is that I forgot the camera, however, Rick and Paulette did not forget theirs, so their blogs have the proof of the Temecula visit!

Yesterday I started cleaning the 5th in preparation of our departure to Arizona on Monday.  Well, and we are also hanging about watching NFL weekend, and our beloved Seahawks ( win or lose ).  We also made a trip to Trader Joe's to load up on some freezer dinners for 2 to enjoy when we are in Quartzite.   Their little dinners are a perfect size and so good!

Donald's sister has booked tickets for us to see Cirque de Soliel's production of "O" in Vegas next month.  Pretty exciting.  

Cheetahs keeping an eye on Rancho Mirage!

After a wonderful wednesday at quilting group, we made it a day together, fitting in another thing on our touring list. The first stop was to the Verizon store, where we had purchased a Mifi a couple of days ago, and had problem setting up the account online.  Rather than bark at each other with frustration ( ok, there was a little of that!) we went back to the Verizon Wireless outlet and let them solve the problem.  We would never have done it ourselves, as they ended up calling their higher up's at Verizon and sorting it out! I was able to log on twice before we left the store, so all should be good now!

John and Judy Hollinger

We also had a great visit the other day from fellow RV bloggers: The Hollingers, who are staying nearby in Desert Hot Springs.  They have a wonderful blog, www.rvlifeonwheels.blogspot.com and are very busy seeing some television show tapings and hockey games ( Go Leafs! - but don't beat our Canucks!) in L.A. and Phoenix. Now those are fans!

Now, this is for fellow Rv'er Sam: the Living Desert has a 1 acre model train yard. There are more pictures, but our advice is: you will just have to go next year and see it yourself!  So, the picture is to get you interested!  Of course, the derailment off the trestle is for all our retired CN readers.

 

There was an aviary that we could wander in and sit amongst the varied birds, and with just the two of us in there, quietly, we loved it.  Egrets, roadrunners, vultures..... and they remained quite close to us. 

We are extremely amateur birders and well,  you would probably call us bird lurkers.  Certainly not like some we saw today at the Centre with monster cameras and attachments!

So, onto the Butterfly and Hummingbird house to be zinged at by fighting hummers.  The butterflies were mostly hiding out by late afternoon.  This was a large moth.

This was the best! We went back twice, finally late in the day, to obtain a picture or at least see the elusive cheetah.  She was gawjus! 

Quilting and Fuel Cells

Tuesday we went into a Verizon store and purchased a Mifi set up in anticipation of leaving Desert Hot Springs for our further travels, and did general chores. We don't know how the time goes by!

Wednesday was Quilting group for Kim and she had a great time! There is heavy pressure from the group to come back here next Friday to tag along with the ladies to " Road to California" Quilt Show in Ontario, California. Very tempting! ( well, not so tempting for Don... ) He has been busy reading up and studying Fuel Cells for Rv's, as alternative power.  More on that later!

Kim's ( same age ) Aunt Viv emailed after our posting about Caskets and Cadillacs at Costco.  " If a customer buys a casket, do they have to pick it up right away, or can they put it on 'lay away' till needed". We'll let you all think about that one!

C and C at C

Well, here's an interesting thing - we went to Costco yesterday and right by the door exiting the building, there is a display of caskets for sale, next to Cadillacs for sale.  There you go, Caskets and Cadillacs at Costco.  That could be a new song ... or Costco's new advertisement.  Interesting for sure.  Things that catch your eye!

The weather has stayed cool, so other than running around shopping and restocking, we participated in the Sands Rv " tailgate party" which was fun!  A big screen tv was set up, and guests brought appy's and whatever they wanted to drink.  Lots of good eats on the buffet table!  When we entered the wee party, we were asked if we were Duck fans ( Oregon ).... I said I guess we were ( very firmly )!  There are mostly Oregon fans here, not Auburn, so we had to watch it!  It was a good game and we had some wonderful conversations.

Our daily visit to the dog park, resulted in meeting up again with Rick and Paulette, and having another great quick visit. Since our poor old fur gal mostly sits or lays beside us, we looked forward to seeing Rylie run!  At 3:00 in the afternoon, it is a busy time with lots of dogs, and we think our 3 dogs were overwhelmed as they stood or sat right next to us, even Rylie! 

Oh yes, Kim visited yet another quilt shop ( ca - ching! ) and while Donald waited in the parking lot, he spied a Patio Furniture store with a sale - dangerous! Ca- ching $$ again.  We found a reclining chair for those afternoon snoozing in the sun times,  a box of cute little appetizer plates and some fantastic patio lights to hang.  Pictures to follow. Well, we are adding to the California economy.  The patio store had a great coffee bar !

WHOOOOOSHHHHH

What a busy day!
1. Visit the Dog Park. Duty done. 2. Go to Caliente Swap Meet/Farmer Market 3. Palm Springs Air Museum

The Swap/Farmer Market is held in Desert Hot Springs in a storage compound. That is actually a good idea - it is paved, clean and the vendors can just wheel their goods back into a storage lock up when done.  It costs 50 cents each to enter.  We didn't buy a thing.  There was only one local food vendor and we already had our bag of oranges from last weekend still to use up. Very windy at the meet. Whoosh.

 

Then, we were off to the Palm Springs Air Museum as today they had a special presentation and fly over.  An amazing place! We got there about 11:30 am and self toured the hangers, looking at the Army side first, then the B17 hanger and lastly the Marine/Air Force hanger.  The museum specializes in World War 2.  At 1:00, there was a great Program as part of their " Victory 65th Anniversary of WW2".  Today was " Island Hopping the Pacific".   The Marine/Navy/Air Force hanger has a great sound stage set up, and today hundreds were in attendance, including many, many vets.  A Presentation of Colours by Cathedral High School opened and closed the event.  The Palm Desert High School Choir, dressed in tuxedos and long black dresses, sang the American National Anthem and closed with America the Beautiful.  The 50 plus strong choir was top notch! Very moving.

 

I took 66 pictures today, and it is hard to pick the best to post.  At the end of the program, was a demonstration flight of a T33 Jet.  If that was not exciting enough, while the T33 was warming up on the tarmac by the museum, right in front of us four marine jets ( likely from Twenty Nine Palms Marine Base ) took off. WOW!!!!!! The word fast  is the key word here! WHOOOSHHH! And of course, they look very different and very 'space age' compared to the T33 Jet we were waiting to see take off. As we had no idea that was to happen, I could hardly get my camera ready quickly!

 

And below is the T33 Jet that demonstrated:

It was fun to read all the exhibits and read about ships in the Pacific Theatre, and their battles.  The artwork on the planes is a story itself.

Fly By of the T 33 Jet 

There were many 'docents' or volunteer WW2 Veterans who were more than happy to answer any of your questions or tell stories.  The T33 Jet belonged to the Museum, and many of the planes came from the estate of Robert Pond.  Some are flyable.  The pilot was a current Air Force pilot, likely donating his time, in order to gain more fly hours.  His passenger, as the T33 is a 2 seater, was one of the Museum's mechanic's, who had never flown in a military jet. I'll bet this was one of the best days of his life today - the jet flew low level fly by's 5 times in front of the museum. 

Fantastic day. Drove home through a sandstorm, with caution signs on the road advising that driving was at our own risk!  We have pulled in a couple of the 5th wheel slides to lessen the noise.  And CONGRATS to the Seahawks! See that Lynch whoosh down the field through 8 defenders?

Pioneertown and Sons of the Pioneers

With the weather warming up here in California, we drove up to the Yucca Valley to have a look at Pioneertown.  The Sons of the Pioneers singing group were business partners with a man named Dick Curtis, to build this town in 32,000 acres for movie sets for television and movies, in the mid 1940's.  The first western movie was made in 1948: Cisco Kid with Leo Carillo and the last movie was in 1995: Howling 7, New Moon Rising.  Now, I am such a young lady that I do not remember the Cisco Kid, and I only know of the Sons of the Pioneers from Bayfield Al, but Donald thought everyone knew about those shows from when they were kids.  Sorry dear, it was Superman and Rocketship 7 out of a Buffalo, NY t.v. station for me!  Yes, yes, I know about Roy Rogers and Dale Evans!

This little town has seen better days - it was in disrepair, and it looked like the recent heavy rains a couple of weeks ago have taken their toll on the main street.  It was still fun to look and take pictures and it was a cool day to take the dog with us - there was snow on the street!

Of course, we had to have lunch at Pappy and Harriet's, which at one time was a biker bar, and with the few patrons here today, it maybe hasn't changed much from that!

 

 

Another enjoyable day, and tomorrow we are off to the Palm Springs Air Museum. Oh yes, found another quilt store nearby - hey - actually Donald found it and he suggested I go! Whoo Hoo! I did !