Coachella Valley Preserve

Ok......after telling you we weren't doing anything exciting, we took a ride to find a geocache.


It was a simple one located near some sand dunes and only took a few minutes to find. So, we continued our ride along the road we were on to see what we could see.


We ran across the Coachella Valley Preserve and decided to stop. We knew that the area we are in is called Thousand Palms. But we had no idea why.


Until we saw these. It is like a modern day oasis in the desert. And there are several of these oases.


The visitor center was closed for the day, but we picked up a brochure and started following the McCallum Trail.


It was gorgeous! The trail wound through the palm trees.........


and across wet areas. We soon found out that this sits on the San Andreas fault and where the plates have shifted, water is forced to the surface. And these oases are formed.


Doug straddled the San Andreas fault for his photo op!


We walked a mile along the trail through the desert until we came to the McCallum Pond. This beautiful area sits in another oasis and reminded me of the lagoon on Gilligan's Island. (I know....I'm crazy) The pond is full of tiny fish that are on the endangered species list. They are found in only 2 rivers that empty into the Salton Sea. These two inch pupfish look almost translucent and were impossible to photograph.


It's hard to imagine how huge these trees are. Doug posed next to one so you could get an idea.


We took a short rest amongst some of the palms, then headed back to the car. The park gate closes at 5 pm and we didn't want to get locked in for the night.

As we arrived back at the parking lot, the attendant was getting ready to close the gate. We struck up a conversation and found out that he is a workamper there at the park. He and his wife volunteer 20 hours a week and receive a site for their motorhome and full hookups in exchange. They work in the visitor center, perform minor maintenance and occasionally lead tours on the various trails. Since this is something we have considered doing, we picked his brain and had a fascinating (to us) conversation.


We drove out of the gate just as the sun was setting. (Obligatory sunset picture!)

So ends another not so boring day! And best of all......it was free!

Ho Hum Stay at Home

Not every day is filled with sightseeing and exciting new things. Sometimes it's nice to just sit and accomplish the mundane chores of life. We have spent the last couple of days doing laundry and cleaning. We have vacuumed up tons of dog hair and will probably find it laying around for weeks.

We also did some grocery shopping and installed the power booster for the electricity. The park we are in has 30 amp service and it doesn't always provide even power.

We visited with neighbors and cooked and watched tv and played games. Boring, boring, boring.
But necessary sometimes. Since we will be here in this park a while, we will be getting a lot of chores done and resume our vagabond life after the new year.

But, stay tuned. You never know when we might do something wild and crazy!

Bye, Buddy

It was a sad day at our house. Our sweet Buddy dog became too ill to continue the journey. Following inconclusive x-rays, we decided that, at his age (10 1/2), the kindest thing to do was to let him go to sleep. He passed with his head on Doug's knee, looking into his eyes.


We will sure miss him, but thanked him for being such a true, loyal friend and goofball.

Driving Rain

We spent the day driving in the rain from our peaceful desert location to the Palm Springs Thousand Trails park in Palm Desert, CA. The rain started in the middle of the night and continued non stop throughout the day.


Doug set up the coach in the rain, unhooked the car in the rain and set up the tv in the rain. Even stepping outside on the patio is soggy.

But we are still lightyears ahead of our family and friends in the northwest. Snow, snow everywhere!


Our pal Al sent us this photo of the road near Stanwood, WA. No thank you!

And my daughter Bridgit called to let us know that she had been in a bad car accident in the snow in East Wenatchee. She was on her way to the school to pick up grandson Jacob who was sick and another car slid through a stop sign right in front of her. They were both spun in circles and Bridgit smashed into a light pole. Fortunately, both she and 5 year old Emma were buckled in tight and were fine. The other driver was taken to the hospital to be checked out. Poor Jacob was stuck at school for two more hours until his other Grandma could pick up him and Bridgit and Emma. The car is totalled but my babies are all safe.


Speaking of Jacob and Emma, I have to share their Christmas picture with you. Sure miss them.

Boondocking at Hi Jolly

What a neat day. We left Phoenix in the late morning and drove east on I-10. When we reached the Vicksburg exit, we decided to fill the tanks and found the Zip Travel Stop. The sign read $1.91 for diesel and we were thrilled. But, when we pulled up to the pump, the price for autos and rvs was only $1.85. Wow, wow, wow! We filled the coach tank for less than half of what we paid just two months ago.


Shortly after our stop, we arrived at Quartzsite and headed north on 95. About a mile out of town, we saw some rvs parked in the desert and stopped to check it out. It is the Hi Jolly dispersed camping area. There's tons of room in the desert and the cost is zero, nada, zilch, nothing!



We pulled off the road into the desert and this is the view from our door. There are other rvs but there is so much open space that you hardly notice them.



We are only spending one night here in the desert and I hope we return soon.


Doug was excited to build a campfire. But, it was pretty windy and we decided to save the firewood for another evening.


We watched the sun go down over the hills, fixed some french dip sandwiches for dinner and relaxed.

Happy Birthday tooooooo Youuuuuuu

Today was the fourth anniversary of my daughter, Bridgit's 29th birthday. Yup, she's almost, officially, close to, nearing, just about 30. (33) Happy birthday darling daughter. I wish I was there to celebrate.

This is our last day in the Phoenix area and we couldn't leave without a visit to my son. He and his sweetheart live in the northwest corner of Phoenix and we are in the southeast corner of Apache Junction. So we set off down the freeway in the driving rain for 45 miles.

We found their condo fairly easily and had a great visit. It was our first chance to meet Adriana and we think she's a keeper. She just finished college and will be applying for law school soon. Obviously, she is smart and beautiful. I always knew that Mick has good taste.


We also met their two dogs, Chloe and Scarlett.

The afternoon just flew by and it was getting dark by the time we left. But, we had no trouble finding our way home. And, tomorrow, we are on the road again.

Fun Without the Sun

I forgot that I was supposed to post pictures of the park where we are staying.


So, here is our coach with our neighbors close by.


And here is a shot down the street. Hmmmm.....doesn't look so bad in the pictures. Maybe just my imagination.


Now to the fun stuff. We headed out this morning for the Mesa Swap Meet. It's huge and so much fun. We picked up a couple of things that we couldn't live without.......a set of knives, a couple of collapsible laundry baskets, some postcards and a hat for Doug.


Yup, that's the hat that has received so many comments all day. Some people were afraid that it was his real hair and some people were afraid to ask. But everyone loved it.


After the swap meet, we decided to drive east on Hwy 60 to Globe. We have heard a lot about the casino there and wanted to check it out. The drive was outstanding and pictures don't begin to do it justice.


Once we got through the tunnel, the rock formations were fascinating. The rocks were fractured and balanced precariously.


It was so beautiful that the casino Apache Gold was a let down. We left a few dollars there and were not impressed. They also have an RV park. Basically, it was a large, blacktopped parking lot with hookups. Some the rigs looked like they have been there for ten years. And the charge is $20 a night! Not for us.

We had a couple drops of rain on the way home but nothing to compare to the weather in western Washington. Sorry.........

Change of Plans

Due to some circumstances beyond our control, we have decided to spend a couple more days here in Apache Junction. Doug has some things he needs to take care of on Monday before we leave. So, our current plan is........sightseeing on Sunday, business on Monday and head out on Tuesday.

However, like all plans carved in jello, this could change too! Be back tomorrow with lots of pictures (hopefully) of our sightseeing.

We had our first really cloudy and cool day today. But, after speaking with our families in Washington, we were thankful to be here. In eastern Washington, it's already snowing and on the coast it's about to snow. If we could package up the sunshine, we would send each of you a big package for Christmas.


We are near the Superstition Mountains and have done very little sight seeing. Doug has been getting some work done and I have been working on the computer.


But, we took a ride into the desert in the late afternoon and caught the sunset on our way back. Everything is green and beautiful, but the roads are dusty.


The sky is filled with all kinds of wonderous things. We love the hot air balloons and their whooshing sounds as they fill and rise.



We also saw this hang glider drifting on the currents.

As you can tell, we love it here. Although Doug is a little disappointed that he hasn't seen a rattlesnake yet!

Missing In Action

No, we're not missing in action, we're in action in Arizona. Yup, we finally made it across the border into the state of Arizona. It's a long, straight drive along I-10 through the desert and we were glad to get to the Phoenix area. Actually, we are in Apache Junction at a less than exciting rv park.

We arrived at 4:30 pm and the office was already closed. So we found someone who could show us to a space and advised us to check-in in the morning. This park appears to be mainly small mobile homes with rvs parked in between. The spaces are very tight and the views are terrible. Oh well, we are only here until Sunday. (I will have some pictures of the park for you tomorrow.)

Doug will be doing some work on his Grandma's house and I will be soaking up some sun.

On Saturday, my son Mick and his girlfriend Adriana are moving to their condo in Phoenix. So, we are looking forward to a visit with them while we are in the area.

There wasn't much to blog about the last couple of days. Sunday, we tried some geocaching.


This mini cache was behind the Albertsons store. It was easy to park and search without a lot of people around. But there was a dog on the other side of the fence barking his head off.


Doug figured out pretty quickly where the cache was hidden and we took it back to the car to examine it. The black metal plate on the light pole lifts up and the film container was tucked underneath. Geocachers like to keep hiding places secret from "muggles" who are non geocachers. It's an entertaining game and let's us explore some places that we might not ordinarily find. (But we can usually find Albertsons)

On Monday, we took care of some banking and then drove to the Heritage Palms residential area to visit some friends who have now retired from rving. They purchased a coach that was almost identical to ours and it turned out to be a lemon. They have filed a lawsuit against the now defunct manufacturer and the dealership that sold them the coach while their beautiful motorhome just sits in storage.

And, to top it all off, our friend has been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and is rapidly losing control of his body. We had a lovely lunch with them and his mind is still as sharp as ever. But, it's terribly sad to know we will soon lose a good friend.

The evening ended with good wishes and hugs and a promise to return for another visit when we are back in the area..

Exploring the Park

We always enjoy exploring a new RV park. Each one has it's own character. Some are functional, some are pleasant and some are resorts.

Indian Waters qualifies as a resort. The streets are wide and paved. There are flowers and trees everywhere. The sites are spacious and the people are friendly.

Giant Rv (a local rv dealer) is having a display of new and used rvs here in the park. So, of course, we toured the different coaches. We are always looking for ideas to implement in our coach, just not looking for a new coach. After going through 7 or 8 rigs, we decided there wasn't a single one that we would trade for ours.

Then, we took our bottles of water and wandered through the park. We found several small ponds with ducks and turtles. And lots of coaches decorated for Christmas. Some people get very creative.


We arrived back at the clubhouse/office which is the hub of the park. The pool and spa area are lovely surrounded by grass and trees leading up to a shady patio area with tables and chairs.


There is a pool room with three tables for the weekly pool tournament and inside the social room are books, bulletin boards with tons of information. puzzles, tables and chairs and couches. Certainly a welcoming venue.


And of course, my favorite area is the book lending shelf.

We wandered into the dining area where the sign up sheets are for the zillions of activities. There were probably twenty clipboards with sign ups for craft making, hiking, computer classes, dinners and other activities. A Cookie Lee Jewelry show was being presented while we were in there. And there is always a volunteer ready to visit and share information or answer questions.

Back outside again, we found the horseshoe pits and the shuffleboard courts.


Every senior plays shuffleboard at some time or another. So, here is mine.

When we got back to the coach, I discovered a project for Doug. I was hanging clean clothes in the closet and noticed that the bar was sagging in the middle. The center support bar was pulling out of the ceiling. So, after totally emptying the closet, Doug took it all apart and reinforced the support section. It had been assembled with minimal screws, glue and staples. Now, it can withstand anything! With the repairs finished, we restocked the closet and fell into bed.

Eight Mile Drive

We drove a whopping eight miles to our next park. All the way from Palm Desert to Indio.


We are now at Indian Waters RV Park. It is a Western Horizons park that we can use through our Resorts of Distinction membership. It's a beautiful park.


But, like many parks now, they have instituted a $3 a night electricity surcharge. It appears that a lot of the parks are going to nickle and dime their members to solve their economic problems.


I don't want sound like I am complaining. It is a beautiful park and very friendly. Where else can we stay for $3 a night!


We did a Walmart and Costco run for a few things and found the post office to mail a letter. Then returned to the park for the 5.5 magnitude earthquake. The motorhome rocked gently and it wasn't the least bit unnerving. There were nine aftershocks within the first hour but we couldn't even feel them. Being a Washingtonian for so long, I am amazed at the number of seismic events in southern California. As long as we don't have "the big one" while we are here, it is quite interesting.

The Spaghetti Closet

Sorry there was no post yesterday. We had a little family drama that took up most of the day and all of my energy. All is settled now and I guess we move forward.


Today, Doug took apart our "spaghetti closet". This is the cupboard where all of the boxes, connections and cords for the tv, vcr, dvd, wii and whatever are stored.


Over the last couple of years, several technicians from different companies have had their hands in there to "fix" things so their product would work. As a result, nothing worked properly. So, Doug started from scratch. Everything came out and one by one everything was reconnected.


This is the final result (almost...there are still a few cables to be velcroed to the back)

We also met some new neighbors and some old friends while we were picking grapefruit and lemons.

Breakfast Hanging Over the Coach

What a neat treat! We discovered that we have grapefruit trees, lemon trees and tangerine trees scattered throughout the park. We are welcome to pick any fruit that we will use in a day.

As you can see, all of the low hanging fruit has already been picked. So Doug found his grabber stick and added three feet to his reach. First, he grabbed a couple of lemons and they smell heavenly.


He also picked some tangerines while standing on an empty picnic table. And finally, we picked a couple of small grapefruit. They aren't as sweet as I hoped but sure taste good.


After our gleaning, we ran into town to find a grocery store and saw a hot air balloon rising over the freeway. It seems like everyday brings something unexpected.

Palm Springs Thousand Trails

We didn't get a very early start this morning. Our neighbor came to ask for Doug's help setting up his satellite dish for tv. Doug is becoming quite the expert on this now, but Jonas' setup is Canadian. They are from Vancouver Island and Doug is not familiar with the satellite setups that are used by their company. So, together, they worked on it for over an hour with no results.

We started getting our coach packed for travel and were ready to go when Jonas and his wife Pia stopped over to wish us safe travels. And, we visited for quite a bit more. Turns out that they live less than 50 miles from Nanaimo where my great aunt Minnie lived all of her life. And, they are Swedish. So, they offered to help with my swedish genealogy by email. How cool is that!

We finally started down the mountain about 11 am. It is only 50 miles to the next stop so we weren't too worried about it. By the time we hit I-10 it was 85 degrees and traffic was light.


The windmills on both sides of the road seemed to go on for miles. They are quite mesmerizing.


The pass we traveled is one of the windiest places in southern California but wasn't too bad today. (Sorry about the picture. It's hard to take pictures through the front windshield.)


It even looked like the windmills were growing out of the freeway overpass!


We arrived safe and sound at the Palm Springs Thousand Trails resort. It's address is Palm Desert, and the sign nearby says Welcome to Thousand Palms. So, I'm not sure exactly where we are. I do know that we are right next to the freeway and a railroad track. Everyone is packed into the park like sardines. But, it is a nice park with lots of friendly people and activities.


The activities range from pickeball and horseshoes to day trips to Los Algodones, Mexico for shopping. There are dinners and exercises, swimming, pool tournaments, craft classes, card games and the list goes on. We are only going to be here for four days so we probably won't get too involved.

Tomorrow, we go sightseeing.

Prep Day

November is on it's way out the door and so are we. Tomorrow we will pack up the coach and move down the road. We aren't going far but are excited to move. We have two sets of friends that we haven't seen in two years and we are looking forward to a good visit.

So, today consisted of putting things away, packing things back into the Jeep and basement, taking down decorations (outside) and planning the route. The longer we stay at a park, the longer it takes to get ready to go.

I use no-skid on the kitchen and bathroom counters for the cannisters and containers that stay on the counter. Several items are set in the shower stall for safe travel. The steering wheel table is cleared and stowed on the couch as we move, ready to be set back up when we stop. All of the map books and campground books are stacked (semi neatly) by my seat for easy access and we are prepared for morning.

The whole process doesn't take long, as we do a little bit all day long. And in the morning, we can be on the road within an hour.

We also went searching for the space shuttle today. We read that it was landing at Edwards Air Force Base which is northwest of where we are located. We thought we could see the descent and hear the sonic boom since we had such a clear view of the sky from several places outside the park. So, we watched and waited with our cameras ready.............and...........nothing. We heard nothing and saw nothing. The best laid plans of mice and men...yada...yada...yada.

Oh well, it was a beautiful day to sit in the sun and gaze at the sky.