Thank you Rick and Paulette!

What a wonderful day! Don and I were invited to take a trip to San Marcos and the Grand Country Quilt Shop... well Donald went along for the ride not being much interested in the quilt shop.  He says when the gals and I start talking quilting, it sounds to him like the teachers voice in Charlie Brown TV shows " whaa waaa waaaa waaa wan ".  Incomprehensible. To him.

Donald got the great pleasure of a couple of dog walks with Rick and in particular a fantastic hill park in San Marcos where they could see San Diego and our Mt. Jacinto in the distances. Lunch was great in a little town called Oceanside. Buccaneer Roadside Stand was calling our name for a burger and drink!

Rick continued on driving through Oceanside to the small craft marina, and what is driving in front of us, but a 4x4 truck from Coast Mountain GM in Smithers. BC. We tried to get a look at who was driving, but were not very successful.  What are the odds of that?

The weather was beautiful and clear and the ocean was magnificient.  Lots of public beach access at intervals between the oceanfront homes, with families enjoying the Christmas break.  We wondered how much those homes cost???? ( except you could hand your next door neighbour a cup of coffee without leaving your house ).

This morning we are off to pancake breakfast with our gang at 8:30, then Donald and I are on the hunt for some dates as I fly to Toronto this afternoon on WestJet for a couple of weeks. My father, a wonderful man, passed away Christmas afternoon.  He will be so missed.  It has been a great support to have friends here to lend their support. I had a difficult time on that day, but the thoughts and prayers of others is such a comfort.

Christmas dinner was still fun though and a few laughs.  Well, more than a few. We had the task of booking the hall and cooking the turkeys.  There are some who get up at 4 am to start their turkeys, and some who start them at 2:00 pm - we are the latter and there were a few raised eyebrows about whether those turkeys would be done!  They were small at 10 and 14 pounds, and a fresh and a frozen turkey, kept separate for taste comparison.  Well, no one could tell the difference except for the carver, Ken, who said the frozen turkey was way easier to carve.  Paulette made a yummy ham, and the rest of the dishes were ooooohhh too scrumptious.

We decorated the hall with our red geranium for a centerpiece, and Christmas/Winter quilts. Paulette had hers gone before I could get a picture, so check out her blog! I managed to get these ones done in time:

The tree quilt is 3-D in effect. For those who hear quilter talk and not the Charlie Brown teacher talk: it is a pattern, and I changed it by using Peltex in the tree parts, making it much more stiff, and stuffing those parts with dressmaking netting. There are also Swor. crystals in the background.  Ok, enough of the Q talk!!!!

I think we have seen more of Mr.Mason in blog talk, which is wonderful and he is some cutie, but here is Miss Emma ( and no, it is not a grandchild competition...)

She was enjoying waiting for the Black Ball ferry in Poppa's truck!

and her big brother.  Ok kids, Nanna's about to get all her winter gear on and leave the heat.....brrrrrr.

Merry Christmas

We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.  We have not posted for some time, and on Monday I ran into a new RV'er in the park who reads our blog, and I humbly mentioned how tardy I have been with posting.

I must say how very very lucky we are to be in place this winter with friends who are so supportive and caring.  We would like to let everyone know how very thankful we are.

I have booked the north hall here at the Sands, and 16 of these extra special people are gathering tomorrow for Christmas Dinner ( after golfing, of course ).  Our duties are to cook two small turkeys, one fresh, one that was frozen so we have a bit of a " taste test " just for fun.  We also managed to get a big bottle of Bicks Mixed pickles before we left home, as with all the myriad grocery stores in the Coachella Valley, there is no such thing as mixed pickles. Music is supplied by our Sirius satellite radio and its boombox. 

Friday we are off to San Marcos with Rick and Paulette, which is a real treat!  Of course, yes, quilting will be in the agenda. Come on, what else????

Donald has been busy baking his birthday cake for the end of January. Yes, it has to sit for a month.
Take a look at Paulette's blog today to see what I've been up to!

Saturday I fly off to Toronto for an indeterminate amount of time.  More on that later. So, these wonderful group of friends will no doubt keep Donald busy when I'm gone.  Do I have winter clothes? No. Brrrr.

Solar at the College of the Desert

Just day to day activities and nothing really exciting happening here in the Coachella Valley.  WE attended American Thanksgiving at the main hall with 16 people at our table.  It was of course way too much food, and way too early in the day at 2:00 pm.  We will try for something different for Christmas dinner.

We hung out here for most of Black Friday, except a quick trip to the post office to mail a couple of parcels and we swung through Palm Springs and Tru Valu hardware, where there were no deals at all. In fact, way overpriced.

Today, after morning swimming, we enjoyed Pancake Breakfast in the main hall with friends, then off to the College of the Desert outdoor market.  Plenty of people there, and our quest was for shorts for Donald.  Quest successful.  There have been some big changes to this outdoor market since we first started coming to the valley.  It was quite small, and we used to park on the grass next to the parking lot where the market was.  Now, there are further parking lots being used, the Ceollege has been redesigned, and the market is twice as big.  The big change this year is that it is all under permanent hard cover, and this cover is all made of solar panels.  Huge and good to see.  We couldn't see where any battery banks would be, and there are big transformer type boxes in a number of areas, so perhaps they sell the excess back to the grid. I couldn't seem to be able to find any information about it.

Off to the neighbours for a burger tonight, and of course Heartbeat at 8:00 on Knowledge network.
Perhaps some skyping with the children.

StreetFest in PS

I was waiting till I got down to the valley for a haircut, and my friend, Karen, called our favorite hairdresser, Stephan, to set us up yesterday morning.  Three of us went, and even though he takes a long time, we had our cuts and then went off to see if there was any bargains at Steinmart.  There were not, and most of the clothes were winter related - big heavy sweaters, long pants.  When it's 90F outside, who wants to look at those clothes? 

Last evening was the StreetFest in Palm Springs, which happens every Thursday evening.  We joined some of our neighbours for a burger, and then walked the blocks, looking at all the wares and 'art' and seeing nothing much of interest.  Well, other than all the dogs in various get-ups!  It was quite busy as just as many people wandering as when the winter season is in full swing here.  We tend to park behind the Marilyn statue if we can as there is a large parking lot there and central to the hub of activity.  The statue is always busy, and a draw to those visiting Palm Springs.  People like to get their picture taken underneath her legs. Hairdresser Stephan informed me that there have been over 50 weddings recently and that Marilyn's legs are the place for your wedding photo!

A crunch at Costco

The morning was beautiful yesterday, so I completed some laps in the pool and then a very good water aerobic workout with the gals at 8:30.  We didn't have very much on the agenda, so some grocery shopping went to the top of the list.  The other day, we went to W*mart in Palm Springs, but we found it so very hectic and long lineups.  Well, there is more than one wally world here, so yesterday we tried the one in Palm Desert.  Much better.  Well, and while we were there Costco was calling us, and of course the cheap lunch there.  Great slice of pizza.  It is also a good way to talk to complete strangers, as tables have to be shared at lunch time. 

Back at the ranch, we relaxed as the day turned out hazy but hot ( 90 F ). Tomorrow is my first Wednesday quilting day and I am quite excited about that.  Donald and his buddies are off on a road trip to Camping World someplace west of here.  He tried crib night last evening at the main hall.  Said it was ok, but that all the many games took too long.  Of course, he was not the big winner, and lost his 50 cents, so that makes a guy pretty sad.

Oh yes.  When we were at Costco, we saw an accident.  The parking lot there has some "garden islands" with palm trees, some cactus like plants and sandy dirt.  Very nicely done.  Some fellow must have hit the gas instead of the brake pulling into his parking spot, and jumped the curb of this island and we think only the palm tree there stopped him altogether.  Oh my. We missed the initial hit, but watched him try to back out, with a car that had a low front bumper.  OUCH! Who knows how much damage he did.  Poor fellow.

hanging out at the park

The park staff managed to get most of the weeds and trimmed some of the oleander bushes around our site before we got here, as we had emailed ahead of time to give them a heads up on our arrival.  When the park is in full swing just after Christmas, it's hard to get on their list of sites to 'garden up' so to speak.  They left the oleander bushes at the back of the lot alone, which was great, so we could decide ourselves how much to lop off.  Donald trimmed about half their height off, to about 4.5 feet.  We just leave the trimmings in the wash for the landscape crew to pick up.   We choose to move our rv as close to the street front of the lot as possible giving us a large backyard. With the oleander hedge it should be great.

Yesterday we stuck around, doing a few chores and visiting.  Our next door neighbours from Edmonton showed up just before lunch, so now Donald got to be one of the supervisors to watch their production.  Hmmph. Not much to watch as it was one back up and done. Good for them! Of course, we were excited to see sweet Ellie Mae, their golden doodle, who spent a couple of hours with us while they did their set up thing.

Now, those of you who would rather read about guy things, well, skip this paragraph. I spent most of the afternoon organizing my little sewing area, in the corner of one of the slides.  Ok Paulette: as per request: things are hopping already in the clubhouse.  On Friday, seven of us ( Gwen, Anne, me, Deb, Karen, Doris, Norma ) went to all three shops in the valley.  We have a bag project that most of us are doing - gifts for the office staff for Christmas.  It is a pattern that Doris made! Joanne's had a sale on batting (40 off) and Olfa mats and cutters ( 40 off ) and then we had coupons ( yah!) for 25 percent of our entire order. Whoo hoo.  The back of Gwen's van was full of batting and pellon.

It is wonderful to be back to early morning swimming in the pool and even though I didn't have time on Friday with the shop hop to swim, the pool was closed for cleaning and I wouldn't have been able to anyway. Just like last season, I am the only person there doing lap swimming in the morning.

Today, of course, is NFL day, so guess what we're doing.  A swim in the morning ( come on, Karen and join me!) and then catch our wonderful boys. Go Seahawks.

Karen's one of a kind golf cart. Purpose: to carry sewing machine to the north hall. You thought golf?

Parked at our site in the Coachella Valley

After Lake Mead, we travelled down to Yuma, with a quick boondock stay in Quartzsite.  There were still problems with our inverter, and the solar dealer that installed our system, and worked on it every single year thereafter as the problems continued, was not able to help us as their technical staff were not in the southwest as yet.

Backup plan #2: do some research and find a reputable solar dealer in Yuma. Done. So, off we went for a week in Yuma to get our rig washed, waxed and the carpets cleaned.  Yuma is the best place and by far the cheapest.  Our appointment at Starlight Solar was for November 5th and with a brand new inverter being installed, we were good to go within a couple of hours.  WOW. We switched from Xantrex to Magnum and what a difference.  We may never have to hook up to shore power ever.Well, ok, if we run the big tv, the computer, the power bars and a couple of lights at night, then we turn the pedestal on.  I used my blow dryer the other day with the solar/inverter and it ran fantastic.

Our arrival at the Sands in Desert Hot Springs was fun, as always.  Since it was Wednesday and the quilting group was at the north hall, I went off to say hello and check in and see what projects were on the go.  Donald continued with backing up into the perfect position on our lot, and of course he had some neighbourly supervision.

This morning I was back to lap swimming at 7:30 for an hour, then 45 minutes of deep water aerobics. I have missed that, for sure!  Coffee with the neighbours ( yes, the supervisor) and then lunch and out for chores.  We had to go to Trader Joes for dog treats ( Trader Joes Organic Chicken and Brown rice snacks ) as all, and we mean ALL dogs go crazy for them.  We don't have a dog anymore, but we can spoil those around us. Donald's favorite place, Home Depot was our stop for two planters.  One mixed with petunias,snapdragons and assorted other plants and the other was a very large red geranium pot.  The mixed planter looks a little sad, but it will only take a couple of weeks to get it looking good again.  Thankyou Miraclegrow.

Tomorrow is a coachella valley quilt shop hop, and then I think Rocky's Pizza with pals for supper.
Good times, good friends, once again.

Lake Mead, GPS woes and the best hot tub soak ever

Always the ying and the yang of life.  Our Garmin GPS is giving us grief by powering down quite often and then taking a long time to come back up.  I checked the Garmin website for our model ( 1490) and they gave some ideas for correcting it, namely that I was to do a software download fix.  I downloaded the software, but was unable to run it, as my laptop operating system is too old.  I have a ten year old Mac laptop that is just great, but yes, things are moving beyond it.  We are so reluctant to get a new laptop. I had to download a map update to the Garmin on our son's computer. We needed to get a card for it, as the Garmin could not hold all the data with the new maps. Gertrude did seem to know all the new roads this time, so that was worth it.  Now if she can only have her power situation fixed.

The great thing about yesterday was an easy drive through the 'spaghetti' interstate/highway system through Las Vegas. The spaghetti term is something we heard yesterday from a fellow at the Beatty RV Park. Gertrude managed to stay awake through that.  Also, our Canadian friends that have a house in Henderson arrived yesterday and we did not think they would be here till after Christmas - what timing! They texted us looking for the website for setting up your Shaw satellite dish ( www.dishpointer.com) and we mentioned we had just set up at Lake Mead. Bonus! We had a lovely spaghetti dinner ( ha! again with the spaghetti! ) and a long soak in their hot tub.  What an absolute treat after 4-5 days on the road! It was the same for them, as they had driven from northern BC to Kansas, to drop off their custom 5th wheel for warranty work, and then drove to Henderson, an even longer drive than we had just made. Yes, Paulette, we will be quilt shop doing!!!! We have that mystery quilt to get supplies for. Donald and Rob call it the Misery Quilt Project.

We love Lake Mead.  Last spring they were renovating sites at Boulder Beach and we have a lovely one overlooking the lake, water very close, as well as washrooms.  We could be here awhile.

The drive from Reno south is pretty ho hum.

This trip we managed to avoid the sometimes chaotic traffic of southern California and drivers in the cities who think they can just weave in front of us.... so we changed our route and it sure is the complete opposite!  Today's route took us down the west side of Nevada, through Reno, Fallon, Hawthorne, Tonopah and our end stop was Beatty.  It seems we got one of the last rv spots open, as this weekend is  Beatty Days 2013.  The park is full, and the friendly park manager said all the hotels and motels are full as well.  It would be nice to stay, but I think we'll head onto Lake Mead National Park for some quiet time. This route would not be pleasant if it was windy or blowing snow.  At Tonopah you are up about 6200 feet.

Todays interesting items: not very much.  A long, mostly straight, desert vista.  Pretty boring and from Reno to Beatty, there is not much of anything for facilities or places to pull over.  We did stop for lunch at Walker Lake.  In fact, there is so little to see that as soon as we saw a yellow sign for cows or deer or burros, that was the highlight.  Next time is the weather is as nice as this, we may stay on US395 all the way.

A long drive day through the Sierra's

Long drive day yesterday, and we were sure tired at the end.  That must be why we slept in till 8 am today!  The weather was clear and lovely over the Siskyou pass, so lets do something different!  At Mount Shasta, we took a new route over 89 to Bordertown, Nevada which is about an hour from Reno.  The highways and roads were great, passing by Mount Shasta and Lassen National Parks, and some lava fields. What was interesting: cattle guards in the roadbeds that were so mild I am sure BC cows would have no trouble walking over them.  Massive trees and so many logging trucks full you would think all the trees would be gone.  Reservoirs that are completely dry. 

Most of Nevada is in higher elevations, so we will meander south today looking for some heat.

A busy 7 Feathers

Our plan yesterday was to stop by AM Solar in Eugene/Springfield Oregon.  Donald had wanted to perhaps get the technicians there to have a look at our solar things - we are having problems with our inverter ( again! ).  Well, they are fully booked till after Christmas and will only talk to persons with appointments.  Good for them to be so busy!   Their advice was to see our dealer ( in Q ) to get it resolved.  Having said that, we started on our way to Q.

Since we wally world camped the night before, we let ourselves have a little luxury at 7 Feathers and also did the buffet at the Casino.  I don't think we can do buffet's anymore - tummy aches.  It's just not the food we normally eat.  Well, it's probably all restaurant food we have can't tolerate more and more.

7 Feathers is almost full and usually when we are here there is perhaps only 20 - 50 rigs.  The upside of that is many  rv'ers stopping by to say hello.  The fellow across the street gave us a few Fuji apples from his trees at home as he had a bucket of apples. Delicious.

The morning fog has returned, but we will start on our way over the pass.  Weed, California  temperatures are to be warm with very little wind.

Escaping the Fog

Even though the weather reports showed about 10 days straight of sunshine, for the last few days we have been experiencing all day fog in Victoria.  Let's GO!  Last evening was spent with our Victoria family and their in-laws at a Mexican restaurant downtown.  We had parked the fifth wheel just before at the Black Ball Ferry docks.  This is the first year that we have paid the reservation fee, but lo and behold, we were the only snowbird rig there over night. Go figure. They told us it would be full and busy.  It was probably full when it left this morning at 10:30.  So, a foggy crossing on the MV Coho, and a completely uneventful disembark and procedures in Port Angeles.

Tonight we are resting up in Longview.  There will no doubt be fog in the morning but we are going to take it easy.  At least the temperature here at 5:30 pm was 17 C!

Enjoying beautiful Victoria weather

What a wonderful visit and time we have been having with our children living in Victoria and our two that flew down from the colder north regions of British Columbia to spend the last  nights with us.  Saying goodbye at the airport is not a happy time, but we are anxious to be on our way now that the weather seems to be clear sailing for us for the next 10 days or so.

Our youngest little granddaughter, Emma, was christened at Centennial United Church  with a beautiful service.  I was not sure if it was the occasion of Thanksgiving or not, but the huge pipe organ playing for the entire service was very moving.  After the service was over, the organist played an amazing piece, with the pipes " turned up ".  At the end, everyone applauded! The link for the church shows a picture of their pipe organ. Our son was married there, and our grandson christened there previously.

The travel 'list' is gradually getting smaller.  We hope to sail off on the Coho ferry this weekend and make our way.......

Hard to say goodbye till we meet again!

Victoria and Deck Pictures

Our trip over the Coquihalla started with fair weather from the Shuswap and Kamloops, but quickly turned into those monsoons as we hit the summit and started down the other side of the watershed, through the Great Bear Tunnel and beyond! Ah the wet coast!  Our first evening was spent with friends, Rob and Doris, in Hope.  They had a lovely supper ready for when we arrived and we had a great visit.  Rob and Doris are our neighbours at the Sands during the winter.

We have been requested to put up some pictures of Donald's major summer project:  the decks surrounding our new Park Model.  We have more landscaping to do next summer and finish off the stairs between the two decks, but we love it.  The top deck is covered in Trex decking, and the bottom is green treated lumber.

So ok, Russ! There it is!  For those quilty ladies, you can see just a bit of the roof of the blue quilting "hut" in the back.  We have grass behind the park model, and next summer there should be some in front of the lower deck.  Park model units are quite a bit bigger here than the ones in California and Arizona.  Ours is 46 x 14. 

The sun finally came out in Victoria yesterday, and we took advantage of this by taking our little 2 year old grandson to Juan de Fuca Community centre playground and then coffee at Timmy's.  His mum says he had a good nap in the afternoon, so mission accomplished!  

When we left the Shuswap, we were both running around trying to do as many chores as possible, and this was Donald's first time winterizing the unit.  I helped out where I could and remembered to take the Shaw HD receiver from the living room, but! I forgot the electrical cord as the plug in to the back of the receiver was one of those tiny circle plug ins, and I thought it was for something else! Oh no.  Yesterday we visited a Shaw store, and we were able to pick up another cord. Whew!  Who knows what else we have forgotten - we need to have better lists!!! I also really scrubbed out the fifth wheel, removing things we have carried for a couple of years and tried to get the weight down.  ( does that mean more room for the important Q stuff, Paulette?)  So, now its a game of " where is ???? "

Granddog, Finny, takes his first leap off the swim platform this summer

Ah, the sleep of babes

Countdown

The "to do" list is becoming shorter every day as we prepare to leave our sunny summer abode for further travels.  Donald has worked very hard all summer on the massive decks around our place, and they are beautiful.  He decided to go with Trex decking for the main upper deck, and even though it was pricier than treated decking, we feel it was so much worth it.  No worries about staining and cleaning every year.  The sun and heat in the sunny Shuswap is really tough on wood decks.

Yesterday we put away the lawn and patio furniture and most of the 5th wheel is packed up.  Last evening, we had our Escapee friends, Bob and Karen, here for taco supper. A good time! I had to apologize that supper was tacos, but they loved it and I got to use up more items out of the fridge - less to haul!!!

Some of our neighbours have left already for the winter, so with the cooler temperatures and now the rain, it is a sure indication that fall is here.

Our 19 year old cat managed to make it through the summer, so I guess she'll be a traveller once again. More news once we're on the road .....where was that list again?

emma

We have made our trip to see our newest little grand daughter, Emma, and we are thrilled to bits.  Mother and baby are fine, and her big brother loves his babe.   It was good to be able to make a couple of meals for them, do dishes and best of all, take our wee grandson to the petting zoo and playgrounds while his family could get settled. 

The little hat and afgan were made by Doris, our neighbour at the Sands in Desert Hot Springs.  Just lovely.   This pregnancy, our kids took the advantage of a midwife, whom was with them all through her pregnancy, came to their home while she was in the early stages of labour, delivered the baby at the hospital, and then comes daily to their home afterwards to check on mom and baby.  She is also available 24 hours a day on the phone.  Such great support and totally taken care of under our BC Medical.

Donald is busy working on the new monster deck, installing the Trex composite boards on the top. Big job, especially in the heat we are experiencing.   We have to get it done as we have company in 2.5 weeks and then the Sands group is arriving mid August!

A blogging break for the summer

Our summer season looks like hair straight back and we're running.  Huge decks to be built by ourselves, a new grand daughter on the way, a visit to the north country, a " Sands " reunion in August that we are co - hosting, a Chapter 33 Escapees RV Club Rally that we are co - hosting and more.

We may make a post entry when our new little love is welcomed to the world..... but in the meantime, our building and garden projects are calling and all we can do at night is put our feet up and snooze on the couch!!! You know how it is.

Talk to you later........

We're home

Rick posted today about how they never envisioned staying in a Walmart parking lot as part of their RV'ing experiences. Ok, we're guilty! In fact, we stayed in the parking lot at Canadian Tire in Salmon Arm, which is allowed, on our last night before home.  There are no RV camping spots in Salon Arm that we like, and this 'site' has an awesome dumping station where we can do a super job before we get to the lot.  Our arrival back home is only about an hour away, and we arrived about 10 am.

We knew that our gazebo had collapsed over the winter due to the extreme high snow load in the Shuswap, so this morning Donald is trying to salvage what he can, see what can be fixed and whether the fairly new gas bbq that we stored under the gazebo can also be salvaged. It's all pretty much flat, so there is not too much hope!  On the bright side, we left the car out all winter with only a car cover and after hooking up the battery, she was ready to go! Luckily the collapsed gazebo missed hitting the car.

So, today is more unpacking the 5th wheel and starting on cleaning up the gardens.  The weather has warmed up and it's sunny and so away we go!

The gazebo WAS nice

Not smart yet.

We have left that rooster and all his crowing and made it across the border about 10 a.m. this morning.  Quite a few more questions than other years, but we were soon on our way.  Since we needed to get all " hooked back up" to some sort of internet and cell, we decided to stay a couple of days in Penticton to visit Rogers and Telus.  We don't even consider Bell, because of the way that they treated their satellite t.v. customers this past winter.   You may wonder why we are doing all this, but we do not have cable provided internet at our summer place, and rely on a portable wifi device, and our previous system was stopped in November before we left, so we didn't have to pay through the winter.

Now we are big time ( for us ) with I phones. I don't think we will be very smart with our smartphones for quite some time.  We do know how to turn them on. Oh, and have almost mastered how to call someone.  I called my mother.

It is good to be back in Canada, even if it is a little cooler. The blossoms were coming out on the fruit trees, there is green grass, people are golfing and the tulips and daffy's are very lovely.

Home in a couple of days.

Brrraaaccckkk and an RV problem

What started out as an early get go from Pendleton was not to be.  When I started to pull in our biggest slide ( table chairs and couch ) only one side of the slide would pull in and it seemed the motor would not engage the other side. Donald managed to push as hard as he could on the outside and since it was the rear and not the front, we limped out of Wildhorse RV Park to the nearest RV dealer, Thompson RV in Pendleton.  They, of course, could not fit us in for DAYS, but phoned and recommended the nearest RV repair shop, Drake RV.  Up the road we went, as the slide inched it's way further out.....

Drake RV is located at the airport in Pendleton, which was an old WW2  military base.  Their location is inside one of the original old aircraft hangers. Totally cool. They got us looked at right away, and it turned out the little sheer bolt that is a safety, broke away. To fix this, the underbelly had to be removed, but luckily that's all that it was and we were on our way in one hour, minus the one hour shop rate of $85 cash. Lucky Lucky. HIGHLY recommend these guys, they really know their stuff. Even if you need parts, give them a call.

The day's drive turned out to be later than anticipated, but what can you do. Stuff happens. What was the theme as we drove up from Pendleton, through the Tri-Cities, Moses Lake and onto Riverside, WA? Yes, it is farm country and all the way we saw" The Chicks are in ", " Baby chicks here "....
I do remember when we took delivery of our baby chicks many years ago, delivered by Greyhound Bus to the Feed Store.

Speaking of chickens, we are parked for two nights at Margie's RV Park in Riverside, Washington ( not recommended ). There is a rooster who seems to be quiet in the day, but crows all, yes all, night long. zzzzzz.  Border crossing tomorrow morning.

This rooster is not the culprit - image from Wikipedia

Rocking and Rolling in Pendelton

Wildhorse RV sites

Russ and Donna at Main Street Cafe, April 2012

Now, previously we thought that the biggest winds we ever encountered were at Senator Wash outside Yuma, but nope, Pendelton, Oregon is presently enjoying 50 mph wind gusts. The good thing about Oregon wind, is that you do not get the joyful experience of sand and dirt coming in every nook and cranny of the rig, that you do get in Yuma.

The plans are to head off early in the morning with the destination of Riverside, Washington in mind. That will be a longer drive day, so we'll have to see how it goes.  Today I got our receipts for purchases organized for the border. One job done. Now if I could find my Verizon papers with my account number to put that on hold.....

This morning we went downtown to Main Street Cafe, the same place we had breakfast with Russ and Donna almost a year ago. It was just as good.

I think everyone who is travelling is encountering cooler temperatures,wind and rain.  How does it go? April showers bring May flowers? Hope so.

Tulip in our garden upon arrival April 2012

Where did I pack our long pants?

We left Wells, Nevada at 6:30 a.m., yesterday, which was almost a record for us to leave that early.  Donald didn't sleep well thinking about the weather that was coming to the area, and it turns out all across the west.  So, off we went as we had already fuelled up the night before.  Even though we were expecting a horrendous windy/sleety drive, the only wind of significance we encountered was just leaving Wells and just before we pulled into our RV spot in Caldwell, Idaho. Thank goodness.

A highlight of yesterday's drive was discovering a new ring road through Twin Falls, which our GPS did not know about and which we discovered only because we missed the turn onto SR 30 to go through Twin Falls.  If you keep on highway 93, even though there are no signs, it turns through farmland and past a new housing development/hospital straight to the bridge over the river. Awesome route, very very quick.

The weather today through the pass and down to Pendleton looks ugly, so we are waiting here in Caldwell, relaxing and maybe a trip into Boise to look around.  John and Aileen decided to take a different route home to the border but also encountered some wicked winds. So, we're not the only ones! Travel safe everyone.

Onwards to spring weather, goodbye warm weather.....

What a wonderful day yesterday.  We headed off to Henderson, and picked up some muffins and coffee on our way to our friends.  I am not much of a shopper, so the quilt shop tour of the day before was more than enough, except for checking out Henderson's Joanne's store. It's like Home Depot - don't you have to make sure they are all the same? Ha.

We met the guys for lunch at Panera Bread, as they had gone their own way on a quest for pool noodles and an outdoor clock with a second hand to put near the pool at B and J's. Those tasks were accomplished, but not before three pool stores were visited.

In the afternoon, we floated in the pool, enjoying probably our last day of " summer " weather before our trek northwards. We say thank you to our friends, it's been a great couple of days and onwards we go early this morning, with a leisurely drive along Lake Mead to Overton, rather than through the morning rush hour of Las Vegas. The view is so much better!!

friends, quilt stores and fishing?

We had a great time yesterday with friends in Henderson, NV, with the gals heading out to 4 quilt stores and the boys looking for Cabelas, and settling for Bass Pro Shop.  Afterwards, we all met together at their home for a wonderful chicken dinner.  Mmmm. so good. Joanne made chicken breasts with avocado and cheese broiled on top, cucumber salad, and roasted bbq'd vegetables. Outstanding.

Today's plans are to do a few more things in Vegas, get some fuel just prior to coming back to the campground, and then heading off early morning, along the lake, to Overton, because it is a beautiful drive and we have the time.  Our destination is Ely or Wells.  Looks like a bit of a weather window heading north, so off we go.

Wow, 2 posts in one day....

This is just a quickie to say we have arrived at Las Vegas Bay Campground, in Lake Mead National Park.  We usually stay at the Boulder Beach campground, on the west side, however, we pulled in and the host informed us that the last spot was just taken! What!!! We were early afternoon and everything. Turns out, a major renovation was taking place with over half the campground unavailable, as those sites were totally re-done, trees and brush cleaned up, and it looked like all the sites were made bigger. Well, we all know rigs are not getting any smaller, and very few people are tenting or tent-trailering, so perhaps this was the reason.  The attendant let us know that some sites were still open at Las Vegas Bay, 8 miles up the lake. Whew! Yep, there were a couple of sites only, and these are very small. Our new neighbour let us know that this campground is slated for renovations as soon as Boulder Beach is fully back open.  Bob, if you are reading this.... we know you like to stay here, so you are forewarned!

We booked for a couple of days, and will try to contact friends in Henderson for a visit. Then, maybe some quilt shops, antique shops.........

We had a great drive, from Desert Hot Springs, up into Yucca Valley, then to Amboy ( huge crater, National Natural Monument thing, amazing! ) then old route 66 to catch Highway 95 up into Nevada.
We could drive as fast as the interstates, without the hassle of the interstates. Gotta love it.

On the Road Again.....

I can't wait to get ' on the road again".... you can just hear the tune in your head.  We have had a wonderful winter season down in the south this year, but alas, the time has come to leave and start heading it north.

Last evening we enjoyed a wonderful supper with our neighbours, Ken and Jan, who bbq'd up a great meal for those who were leaving the next morning - ourselves, Rick and Paulette, and Jenifer and Tom. All of whom we will see again next year.

We may take a couple of different routes homes this year, just to see something new. At least that howler wind of the last couple of days has died down.... shhhh... don't bring it back!

ttyl

Finally the weather turns cooler.....

I think I may have to go to a weekly blog entry if I can't get it together! It is not like we haven't been busy. Yesterday after swimming, I was off to Burlington Coat Factory with Paulette, and I have never been to this store, so yes a few bargains were picked up.  A quiet afternoon, with a little dog sitting of the lovely Miss EllieMae from next door.  We miss going to the dog park and talking to whoever is there.  There are 2 dog parks in the rv resort now, but we took EllieMae to the first large park.

Later on, we were on schedule to pick up friends Brian and Joanne from the Palm Springs airport.  They flew home for a few days this week... in the cold...and snow...and blowing wind.  They missed the huge car pile up on highway 2, south of Edmonton by being only a few minutes ahead. It was terrible.

Today is weigh in day with the ladies at WW, then maybe a trip to Joannes as there is a sale going on. The weather has turned cooler, and is now hovering around 80F, which is a lot better than 97F. We will have to get a few more hikes/walks in before we leave here around the first of April.

We host a wash party...no. not Laundry.

Today is laundry day, and well overdue because we have been busy lately organizing and attending quite a few functions in and around the rv park.  On Tuesday afternoon, we hosted a Wash Party with neighbours Doris and Rob.  In the back of our rv sites, there is a large gully or wash, where rain water can run if it ever rains enough. We have seen water come down once, three years ago.  For pictures, as I was too busy and too hot to take any, check out Rick and Paulette's blog for today.  We started planning last week, when it was cold and chose a time of 3 pm, in order to be warmer, during the daylight hours. Well, even though the weather forecast was only for about 75F, it turned into a hot 90F and no one moved very fast!!! Oh well, once the sun was on it's way down it was simply lovely around Rob's propane campfire.  It was a good opportunity to meet many of our neighbours and we had a great turnout, with many asking if we could do it again next year.... without perhaps the heat!

Yesterday was Quilting Clubhouse for me, in a nice air conditioned building and Donald made a quick shopping trip to pick up some liquid Calgon to add to our tanks with Dawn dish detergent when we leave here. He said the inside air temp of the truck was 42 C (107.6 F ) when he came out of the store. It was too hot to cook, so we joined Mel, Deb, Rick and Paulette for Rick and Paulette's Anniversary dinner at California Pizza in downtown Palm Springs.  We could sit outside, and it was nice and cool in the shade. Why not inside? We were accompanied by Mel and Deb's wonderful goldendoodle, Miss EllieMae.  I guess Molly and Rylie had to stay home.

So, off to the pool, then laundry, then a little cleaning in the rig and then perhaps the street fair tonight in PS.

No Arguing with the Quizmaster

This week we have been golfing, attended a wonderful potluck get together on the main hall picnic area for Jim and Linda ( of Vernon ) who were leaving, quilting day and Happy Hour on Wednesday.  Thursday was the Valley Shop Hop of Quilt stores, but I drove 4 other quilters to only the 2 shops in the Coachella Valley here.  There were about 20 other quilters who travelled to all eight shops and had a wonderful time. We received some free fabrics from each shop, in the same fabric line ( Monet ) and a pattern.  Each of the two shops that we visited offered coffee, punch, and little treats.  The second shop even had free hotdogs outside on their patio so that's where we ate lunch!

Last evening we attended the second Trivia Night at the main clubhouse. I was on a team of four with 3 other ladies I swim with every morning and Donald was brought in as a ringer ( he is AWESOME on crossword puzzles ) on the Dog Park Guys team.  Our friend Paulette also had to step in on that team, too.  Does that mean it is no longer the Guys Dog Park team????? Pretty impressive though - they came in third.  Trivia Rule # 1: the Quiz Master is ALWAYS RIGHT.  Question: who said ( character or real name allowed ) " May the Force be with you?".  CORRECT answer: Obi Wan Kenobi/Sir Alec Guiness.  Quiz Master answer: Harrison Ford character. NOT!!!!!!!!! For anyone that knows me, I know, I KNOW Star Wars. That and Star Trek. Captain Jean -Luc Picard, be still my heart. I digress.....oh Jean Luc.  However, no quibbling with the Quizmaster. HMMMPH. We lost a point there. So did the Guys Dog Park Team, because Donald KNEW as well. He is, after all, married to me. Ask him how many times he suffered through all those movies and episodes!

This morning, it was up early and off to the bi-weekly Pancake breakfast, then a hike in Morongo Canyon Preserve with Ken and Karen.  Willy Boys Saloon is right across the highway, so we went there for lunch. No mechanical bull riding at lunch time. Whew!  Donald headed out to the links again with the Dog Park boys, after we got back.

Four Seasons and Frankie Valli

Our neighbours, Mel and Debbie, had tickets for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons on Sunday evening.  They asked if we would like them, as they had decided not to go. SURE! So, what turned out to be a planned quiet Sunday evening watching our usual British shows, was great fun attending the concert at the Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino.  It is a lovely facility within a 30 minute drive of us.  The concert hall was still designed as a " fight hall", as is 29 Palms Casino.  The best concert hall is truly a concert hall, and that is at Agua Caliente Resort.

The concert was very well done, with a terrific back up band and sound system.  The performance started almost 30 minutes late, very unprofessional, especially since there was no announcement as to why the show was starting late. We picked up a CD on the way out after the concert, to give to Deb and Mel.

Yesterday was swimming laps, then water aerobics and back to finish up a quilt job for a friend's first baby grandson.  Then, we were invited to golf here with Mel, Deb, Rick, Roger and Margo.  The guys golfed together and the gals were right behind them.  Since it was a beautiful day, play was slow, but none of us thought it was a bad thing, as we visited and rested on the benchs between each hole. Deb managed to birdie #8, so it was a good ending.

Today is another beautiful day, with a late afternoon potluck planned by friends. 

A howler in the night

We spoke too soon about the wind, it's back.  We pulled one of the slides in for the first time this year. Seemed like the wind was coming from all directions last night, and it was like a tunnel through one of the slide toppers, so in came the slide so we could sleep. This morning seems not as howling, so we pushed the button and sent the slide back out.

Yesterday we enjoyed a very quick visit from Allen and Lolita, catching up on theirs and our travel plans for the coming summer. They left a great gift of a few oranges! Delicious! I think they headed off to Rick and Paulette's after visiting here.  I told Lolita, as she was driving, to swing by the end of our 'loop' in the rv park, to see the biggest fifth wheel we have yet encountered! Yes, it is a 50 foot fifth wheel, looking brand spanking new. I guess when it arrived, they tried to fit it into a couple of sites before one was of enough size. It is from B.C., our home province.

Shhhhh the wind has died down......

Yes, the posts are lacking and we were even  'upbraided' for not posting by a couple of readers who we met at last Saturday's Pancake Breakfast. Gently, of course, but point taken.

We seem to be busy, and my intention is to keep a longhand journal every start of a new year, with data such as the weather and what we did for that day. Yes, the blog fits some of that function so it seems like it would be done twice so no, the journal has yet to be started for another year! The  quilting clubhouse times have been busy with a quilt show on Monday of our own quilts.  We also made a trip to San Jacinto for the Valley Quilt Guilds annual show, which is a favorite as the quilts are 'do-able' to us, unlike the master art quilts at Road to California. Two different shows, for sure. Ken and Karen joined us and the fellows did not come to the quilt show - they went to Harbor Freight Tools, then we went out for lunch at the Morongo Casino before returning back to the Park.

We had a lovely visit from our friends, Bob and Karen, from Chase and our RV club Chapter.  With them, we are hosting a rally at the end of May, so we made a few more plans and just had a good visit.  They stayed at Lake Cahuilla County Park, which is not very close to us, but a lovely park on a reservoir lake. Too bad it was so windy and cool for their visit, but I think it has been unusually cold for the southwest this winter for everyone.

On Tuesday, Donald and I decided to get out of the wind and make a trek into downtown Palm Springs to have a lovely lunch just behind the green umbrella in the photo, and do a little people watching. It is Modernism Week in Palm Springs, and it seems quite busy with even a double decker open top bus giving tours of architecture and homes.

What else? Oh a T shirt making workshop for me, golf for Donald with friends Mel and Rick, coffee afternoons at the neighbours, a Mardi Gras Party at Ken and Anne's, another dance last Friday night and yesterday we went to see the movie, Argo. Very good.

The pool is closed this morning for cleaning, so today I am off with a couple of gals to Palm Springs and then who knows what will be the afternoon.... the wind has subsided.... shhhhhh. Don't let it be know, lest it come back!!!!

San Diego in a Day?

That was a quick trip and you cannot 'do' San Diego in a day, but we did have a really good sense of what we would like to come back and see.  Our RV park arranged a one day bus trip to Old Town San Diego, with the option of an additional discounted ticket on the Old Trolley Tour of the city, which we took advantage of.

The weather was very cool and misty/cloudy and with the plastic covers over the windows in the trolley, seeing everything was fine, but photo taking was not the best.  The trolley tour takes just over two hours, going to Coronado Island, downtown and different areas.  Donald had the map of the route and decided that we should hop off at the second to last stop, which was Little Italy, for lunch.   We only had about 5 hours total at our disposal as we had to meet back at our tour bus stop at about 3 pm.
My favorite place that I would like come back to was Balboa Park and the magnificent museums and architecture.  I think Donald wanted to go back to the Island and the beach.

Our lunch was wonderful, with access to this rather large seating area through a rather small store hallway! The outside was tiny, and you almost would have missed it. Inside, there must have been over 100 people enjoying their meals and busy with a great wait staff.

walk through to Felippe's eatery

In Hyder, Alaska and Oatman, Arizona you can enter into the pub and write your name on a dollar bill and post it on the wall. Here, you can get an empty bottle of Chianti, write on the straw/wicker part and hang it from the ceiling. There were hundreds of bottles hanging.  Of course, the bottle closest to our table was written by a couple from Vancouver.

Donald had the lasagna and sausage and I had spaghetti, and both were the best we have ever had. Nothing now in a restaurant will compare to the lasagna that Donald enjoyed at Felippe's. I could not even finish my one meatball. Delicious. We hopped back on the trolley, sitting with other neighbours from our RV park,and then did a walk about through Old Town till we had to meet up with the bus. Old Town is pretty much a tourist zone, with Mexican goods that you can get at Los Algodones for 1/4 of the price as there. We enjoyed an afternoon coffee with a look at some beautiful flowers.

It was nice for Donald not to have to drive, and instead he got a kick out of looking down into vehicles as we passed, or as they passed, to see how many people were talking or texting on the interstate as they drove along. He wanted to be back in time for his Gold Rush show on the Discovery Channel to see what mess the Hoffman brothers were up to now.  We did make it in time, but our dish must have dis-aligned itself and it took us about 30 minutes to set it all back up! Errrg.

Today is Clubhouse Quilting and the Park Appreciation Lunch at noon. Better get going.........

So, when is there time to get the truck washed?

Poor Donald. We all have lists in our heads, specifically the 'to-do' lists, and on his list is to take the truck to get a proper wash at the Airport Truck Wash.  There just seems to be no time! He arrived back from golf with Rick, Rick and Mel on Sunday, only to have me at the door of the rig asking for some cash in order to buy 2 tickets to San Diego from a couple that cancelled their trip.  When are we going to San Diego, he asked?  Tuesday! When do I get the truck washed? Don't know, no time! After his golf game on Sunday there was a Superbowl Party at Mel and Debs with Rick, Paulette and another Rick and his wife, Kathy. Then yesterday was a day at the quilt clubhouse for me, and he helped ( or supervised ) Michael and Darcy leaving the park. After that, it was off to pick up a couple of things at W*mart, and then back here for the 3 - 5 pm Quilters BBQ at Judy's, hosted by Rick  and Paulette. Rick is going to be in so much trouble for the picture and little words about Sandy and her delicious Red Velvet Cake. It was a wonderful time with great friends.  Siena's husband, Jack, made the circle of men, asking each one if they knew what a Fat Quarter was.  Yep, some did know, some did not want to admit it, and I heard one shout " And what is a Stitch in the Ditch?".

Well,  today we are off to San Diego. There is a bus group organized at a very reasonable rate per person for just a day trip to Old Town San Diego. Can he get the truck washed on Wednesday? Maybe, but I have our regular Clubhouse Day, and we also have a Park Appreciation Lunch at 12:00.  Ah! The regular Happy Hour is cancelled because of the lunch, so yes, there is time after lunch.

We love being so busy here, and of course the weather helps. 

I think I need a day-timer to keep track

There was a phone call last evening from #2 son, asking what we have been doing. I told him we hardly get about 10 minutes of down time a day, we seem to be so busy, but doing what was hard to relate back to him, other than we are having a great time.

The weather has finally turned for the better, with temperatures hitting just about 80F/28C during day.  I finally no longer have to wear a touque on my head to swimming in the morning, as by the time aerobics are done, it is nice and warm and I am not running to get a jacket and windpants on as soon as I step out of the pool.  Awesome. Today was a big grocery shop, as it was long overdue and the larder was getting fairly bare, followed by dog sitting Miss Ellie Mae and enjoying the 1 acre dog park here, drop by visits from friends, and then off to a pizza place in Desert Hot Springs for supper for 8 of us. Darcy showed up with her mini Valentines quilt in the afternoon and we managed to get some binding cut and sewn on lickety-split.  Very good pizza afterwards. Very good company.

my Valentines Day runner, mini-group taught by me at Quilt Clubhouse

This morning is the pancake breakfast at the main hall at 8 am, then we have to go to Kohl's, then a Happy Hour celebration later in the afternoon as Michael and Darcy will be leaving next Monday. I think that means I won't have to make supper again - yahoo!

Sunday is Superbowl time, and of course, all the local quilt shops have a superbowl sale on, so guess where I will be, and guess where D will be! I think he will be looking for an invite to watch the game on US cable or dish tv. Our Shaw system, which is Canadian does not show all the cool Superbowl commercials.  My favorites are the Budweiser big horses.

Red sky in morning sunrise, coming through the window - Quartzsite

Dragons and Boulders

Palms at Anza-Borrego

This was our destination for our hike with Ken,Karen,Darcy,Michael,Jim and Linda. Same crew as Sunday. The day was so much fun, with an early morning start at 8 am, a lovely drive to Borrego and a quick breakfast in town before heading off to the State Park.  The trailhead is just at the end of the campground, and there was easy access and parking.

Yes, there were a few boulder to climb over and around, but that was fun, too. The little river valley was simply beautiful and we were fortunate to have great weather, and in particular, not too hot!!

The sands were damp in area, so we could tell that water had come down the valley in greater amounts than the little creek that we had to cross a couple of times.

Of course, it is great to hike with good friends and lots of laughs.  Darcy and Michael had not been to Borrego before, and we wanted to show them a little bit of the metal sculptures that we had taken a tour of last winter.  The hike was going to take up a major portion of our day, so we only visited a couple of sculptures, namely the dragon that goes under the road.

the road is after the 2nd 'hump'

There seems to be a bit of a wind that has kicked up after swimming this morning, so not too sure what we will get up to. Some chores, some grocery shopping perhaps. Maybe a nap.

Happy Birthday, Mom. Love you.

Flash Warning-no, not hot and we're clothed

The usual whirlwind has been happening here and we love it. After doing lap swimming and water aerobics, we were invited out to Whitewater Preserve for a hike. Such fun. You can see by the picture above, the our fearless little trail leader, AKA Coco the Rescue Dig, is staring up at someone's pocket, because he always has dog treats in his pockets.

There has been a few days of rain here in the valley, and with that rain comes the danger of flash floods. Two years ago we witnessed rain one day, then with a beautiful day the next day that is when the mud, boulders and rocks came running down the streets of Desert Hot Springs and other areas close by. So, yep, we drove out to the nearest water place, Whitewater Preserve where part of the access road was already flooded and yep, we drove through it! Ken and Michael have big 4x4's, so no worries!

Karen is pointing to the sign noting:" Extreme Flash Flood Danger", and then of course, we picked the trail leading to the river. The area around the river had been wet, but still very beautiful. The preserve has a number of stocked fish ponds with 'steelhead'. Not near the size of our ocean travelling steelhead in the north, but the water is clear with bright shallow parts to see the fish easily.

This will be a place where we will return and it is so close to our park. Sunday we are dog sitting Ms. Ellie Mae again, and Monday we are off to Borrego Springs and the state park there for another hike, but that will be a long day!

Luckily it won't be as far as walking to Canada. 2445.4 miles from this beautiful rock.

Cowboy hat people are a little rowdy!

Our days at Boomerville were so enjoyable that we will go back another time to Quartzsite and join in the fun.  We left early Wednesday morning and drove into Rose RV Park, where their were 3 dump stations already lined up with rigs waiting to dump.  Even this little chore is an adventure, that is all we have to say!

Back at the RV Park in Desert Hot Springs, the 'parking supervisors' ( buddies )arrived on their bikes, so I could escape for a few minutes to the quilting group to check in on the arrangements for Thursday. The social schedule didn't take a break, as we were invited to a potluck that evening with about 30 people. Good thing I had enough in the larder to make Asian Chicken Wings and Taco Salad to add to the table.

Thursday Donald and I started off at 6:30 with laundry, and I met the bus at 7:15 am for our big annual trip to Road to California Quilt Show, about an hour and a half from here, into L.A.  This was my second year, so having been overwhelmed last year, I was able to enjoy getting around and the whole experience. Check out BQB Paulette for some of her pictures of the show, as I didn't take my camera. BQB= Best Quilting Buddy. The day ended great with an invitation to after dinner coffee at our neighbours, Mel and Debbie's.

Yesterday was Donald's birthday! I managed to get to the pool by 7:15 to swim some laps and do some water aerobics by myself.  Then, the gals were off to Joanne's at 9:30... didn't they get enough fabric goodies at Road? Nope, most were looking for backing fabrics with coupons in hand.  In the afternoon, I had the pleasure of dog sitting our next door dog, Elly Mae. A lovely goldendoodle, all white in colour. Well, she was all white till I took her to the dog park and with our all day rain, she came home a different colour. Then, off to Coachella and Spotlight 29 Casino for the Buffet dinner and a Clint Black concert. Friends Karen and Ken joined in, since it was the big guy's birthday, which was wonderful.  Michael, Darcy and ourselves took in the concert and it was our first time with country music. He was an excellent performer, great back up band and very at ease with speaking and entertaining the crowd.  However, the crowd was quite a bit wilder than the Moody Blues concert crowd! Ah, that's entertainment in itself.

Busy Days in Q

Well, there seems to be thousands of rigs here in Q, some say 200 thousand or more! How do you find someone you know in all of that? Apparently you just drive towards where your own rig is parked, and there they are! Yesterday was a jam packed activity day:

* 10 am: Seminar at Boomerville on  Batteries and Solar. Excellent! Donald picked up on lots of new information.
* 10:30 (ish): Wonderful visit from John and Aileen, who are camped out at La Posa West with about a dozen other rigs.  We enjoyed visiting with their darling little Mitsey and it is so much fun finally meeting other bloggers with whom you have only corresponded with in each others' blogs. We will meet again with them!
* 12:30: meet up in town at the outdoor bar near the big tent with the group that drove up from the Sands RV Park: Rob, Doris, Michael, Darcy, Jim, Linda and our new neighbours Ken and Jan. We all had a refreshment together, then split up to do some shopping and lunch.

* 4:00 meet up and have a late afternoon refreshment with Deb, Darryl, Sandy and Doug, who left the Sands earlier in the week on their way to Phoenix.They were pulled over just east of Scadden Wash. Yes! Just driving by and Micheal recognized their rigs on the way to our desert set up. Deb and Sandy were great hostesses with bowls of edamame peas, and spiced jicama for us to try. Mmm. Sandy was talked into purchasing some purple solution for cleaning your eyeglasses, and was kind enough to clean all our eye and sunglasses before we left their company! Yes - we can all see now!

* till 5:30: we hosted Jim and Linda, Michael and Darcy at our set up in Boomerville. Jim was busy taking pictures of the beautiful sunset and mountains, as our rig looks out over the desert with no other rv's in sight!

We missed the big potluck here in the evening, but that was alright as there is another one today at 2:00! I will be taking a big taco salad, as the main dish is the Chili from the Chili cook competition.
We will also have to find time to meet up with our friend, Bob.