In and Out - Finally Donald gets to try it!

We have been looking and driving by the In and Out burger place, wondering why it is always so busy.  We tried to go there yesterday, Sunday, and it was so crazy busy, we said forget it. Today we did all the laundry in the morning, and for lunch headed to the In and Out.  What a great place - simple menu.  Kim talked to a fellow waiting for his meal for some time and then we sat with another fellow while we ate our lunch.  The second fellow, even though retired for over 30 years, was trying to impress upon us that it would be a good idea to buy property here. Ha, maybe he was a long retired realtor! Anyway,  we always enjoy talking to local people in the areas we visit.

A highlight at laundry time ( gee, can there be a highlight at laundry? ) was meeting some people from Yorkton, Saskatchewan ( near where we have a cottage ). As the fellow had coffee last week with a friend of ours, it is always a small world.

Kim's energy has returned, so watch out. Now we go back to some plans and touring.

Happy 25th Birthday to Nathan!!!! We love you! Mwahhh.

On the upswing

of getting over our colds.  Today was the first day of going out that I didn't want to turn around and come right back to the couch or bed.  Woo hoo.

We initially started our day looking for the local Farmers Market, or Swap meet, that is only a couple of miles from here.  Even though signs were out both yesterday and today that the swap was on, there was no one around the lot and we did see lots of vehicles checking it out as did we.  Perhaps next weekend.

So now what to do.  We started looking for some date farms to tour, but we were not very organized - that was my fault as the navigator/reader of local happenings and places.  My cold has rattled the wee brain cells and I haven't been on top of things.  So, we went off without a plan and hence we were not able to locate an 'tour' date farm.  We kept going onto the Salton Sea as it was not that far, and ran across hundreds ( yes, hundreds ) of toy haulers and motorhomes pulling custom cargo trailers.  The highway was full!  They were obviously coming out of the Anza-Borrego Park, and had enjoyed the weekend there.  You know when you pull into the gas station and the fuel offerings were the normal gases, plus diesel and RACING FUEL.  I told Donald to be careful not to pick that hose ( oh, Rick, that would be a scary thing! ) he said if we start to go fast down the highway then he picked the racing fuel. Right. Jokester.

 

We had a quick look at the west side of the Salton Sea, and we would like to go back and go down the east side. Some bird watching is in order, I think.

 The skies were looking to be a little dark, so we headed back to Desert Hot Springs.  Donald just had the truck detailed, so he didn't want it to be mucked up.  Well, I guess we won't be in with the desert toy/in the mud crowd!

 We had a very late lunch at a mexican restaurant near Costco, and it was very good.  It was also near a fabric store ( Joann's ).  I wonder how much fabric fit into this car parked near the store?

 

Oh, and that Farmers Market we were looking for first thing in the morning?  Well, a half tank of fuel and a day of touring later, there was a fellow right on the corner of our RV Park selling fresh oranges.  We'll be eating oranges till the Happy California cows come home.  

 

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.