The Missing Weeks

Ok.....to backtrack a little in our travels. About the time that the computer refused to start, we were in Desert Hot Springs, CA. The park is a Western Horizons park and the pictures of it are on the dead computer. Hopefully I will be able to rescue them.

After a week at Desert Pools, we headed to Palm Springs Thousand Trails in Palm Desert, CA.


We have stayed at this park several times and while it is a little crowded, the price is right (free) and we always meet friends from the past.


This time, Doug spent an afternoon with our good friends Clyde and Jeri assembling their new bikes.

Following our week and a half there, the next stop was the Colorado River Oasis in Ehrenberg, AZ. It felt good to be back in Arizona!



This is a great park with lots of room in the ample sites. Plus, the park was less than half full.


A short walk took us right to the Colorado River.



We especially enjoyed this funny looking duck. I've never seen a duck with a top knot like this.

After our week in Ehrenberg, we decided to do some boondocking. One of our favorite spots is north of Quartzsite, just off of Plomosa Road.


When we arrived on December 29, we pretty much had the desert to ourselves. The days were sunny and warm.......



and the sunsets were spectacular. We spent our days relaxing with me reading every book in the coach (still no computer) and Doug picking up rocks. (surprise, surprise) The swap meets in Quartzsite caught our attention a couple of times and it was fun to wander through the sales pitches. We did end up buying a new water pump when ours quit working.

We also took a day trip to Bouse, which was a big nothing. And drove to Parker a couple of times for groceries. We even celebrated New Year's Eve in the middle of the desert.

One evening, we had a visit from my son Mick and his fiance Adrianna, along with their three boxers. That filled the coach!

Eleven days off the grid, we desperately needed to get back to civilization and a full hookup park. Unfortunately, this time of year, there are no vacancies on short notice at any park in the area. We finally found a park in Salome that is in our budget and acceptable.


Actually, it's a very small park in Salome with mostly semi-permanent rvs but the Arizona Sunset RV Park is perfect for our immediate needs. Those needs being...lots of water and electricity for laundry. At the two week mark in the desert, we are completely out of clean clothes and our water tank is empty as well as our black and gray tanks being full.

The residents here are friendly without being intrusive and we'll be ready to head back to the desert near Quartzsite for some more boondocking with our Alpine Coach Rally buddies.

We did take some time to get back into geocaching again.


We found the Sandstone Mushroom geocache .......



The founder of Salome, Dick Wick Hall memorial geocache.....


And the NRV (No Real Value) geocache near the Harquahala Gold Mine which is now defunct. We have managed to keep busy since Doug loves to drive in the desert.......where there aren't any roads.......and lots of deep washes.........to use the four wheel drive.

So, now you are caught up with us. We'll be leaving Salome soon and we'll keep you posted every day (almost) with our adventures. Happy trails!

My Apologies, Dear Friends

We haven't gone into hiding. Or fallen off the face of the earth. Or disappeared into the sunset. We aren't ignoring you. Or forgetting you. Or pretending you don't exist. We haven't quit caring. Or loving. Or being your family and friend.

We've just had a break, I guess you could say. Partly from the lack of a computer (now remedied), partly from not realizing how much you cared (definitely remedies) and partly from laziness. (no cure) Soooooo......

We promise to be more attentive to you! The blog will go on. Even when there isn't much to tell you and even when we are being boring and even when life gets in the way.

Later today I will play catch up with our travels along with pictures (a few) and an updated map. Stay tuned! We're baaaaaaaaaack!

The Black Screen of Death

I sat down to compose a blog post and without warning, my computer stopped. And, it won't turn on. We've tried everything and it's just gone. So, now, Doug and I are sharing his computer until I an afford a new one.

His computer runs Vista which I detest and haven't fully figured out yet, so it might be a few days before I can load pictures. It's funny how accustomed one becomes to a certain program or operating system and how diffiult it can be to start anew. But, we won't desert you. I will keep posting as best I can.

The weather here has turned awful. Yesterday, it rained (hard) all.....day......long. There was snow in the passes, including the one we traversed three days ago. And the Grapevine pass was totally closed due to snow and icy conditions. Then last night, the winds started shaking and rocking the coach. I know it's December, but I thought the weather was supposed to nice here in southern California.

Hopefully, we'll get a little break today so we can do some sightseeing.

Desert Hot Springs

It sure is easy to get moving early when we only spend the night at a park. The car is hooked up, very few items inside the coach need to be put away and we are both anxious to go.

So, we were on the road by 10am. Unfortunately, it was the wrong road. By the time we discovered it, we were halfway to California City and there was nowhere to turn around with a 40 foot coach hauling a car behind.

I quickly checked Google maps of the area and found that if we just continued through California City, the road would bend south back to highway 58, which is the one we wanted. Thanks to Google, I discovered that California City was intended to be bigger than Los Angeles when it was first developed. But, no one moved there and it never quite became the dream city that was intended. Still, it is the third largest city in California, geographically. The Google earth website shows miles and miles of crumbling roads that were never finished for developments that never happened.

After finally getting back on track, it was as easy drive to I-10 and then east to Desert Hot Springs. The sun was shining and it was 75 degrees. Nice!

Our reservations were at an ROD park called Desert Pools. It's a nice park but everyone is packed in like sardines.



The neighbors are really nice. On one side are Bob and Terry in their Teton Homes 5th wheel. Bob and Doug got to visiting and the next thing I knew, they were off to shoot pool in the clubhouse.

After their fun, Doug came back to take me for a tour of the facilities. Their are three small pools that are each heated from the natural hot springs in this area. Each is set at a different temperature and delightful. The big swimming pool is also heated and like bathwater.


Inside the clubhouse are the pool room, a terrific lending library with half finished puzzles on every table, an e-mail room for computers, a card room and a large dining room. There are activities and meals all day long at this park.


Every time we step out of the coach, people stop to visit. I can see Doug isn't going to get to any of our projects at this stop.

Sierra Trails in Mojave

Whew....that was a long day of driving. We left San Benito TT in Paicines, CA late in the morning and backtracked to I-5. From there it was 130 miles south on some boring, raggedy highway lanes. I suppose I-5 should be called a freeway but it has become so poorly maintained that I think the side roads would be safer.

We left I-5 at Buttonwillow and drove east through Bakersfield then across Tehachapi Pass to the outskirts of Mojave. All of the windmills were going full blast and the smog was almost choking us until we made it across the pass.

The park we chose for just one night was Sierra Trails RV Park. We had stayed there on our way back to Washington last spring and we knew it was not fancy, but was fine for overnighting. And the best part is it's part of the Passport America club which is half price camping.


The pull thru sites are located in the back of the park and are dirt. Still, they are level, have water and electric, picnic tables on a concrete pad and safe. Works for us!

It's still getting very cold at night (high 30's) so we will continue east in search of some heat tomorrow.

Reminders

After a quick run back to Paicines to pick up our mail, we took some time to start putting things away for our departure tomorrow. While Doug was outside emptying tanks and cleaning up, a neighbor stopped by to visit and invite us to an informal seminar called RV 101 that he does at each park where he and his wife stay.

Of course we agreed to join them at the clubhouse in the evening and what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be. Fred has obviously spent a lot of time and money preparing this rving seminar with handouts and booklets and door prizes. There were three couples and three singles in attendance, so it was laid back and comfortable.

Fred began with a discussion on the importance of checking electrical components starting with choosing a campsite to maximize your electrical power and minimize your electrical problems. He showed us the tools that he uses for testing and some of the disasters that have been averted.

Following the section on electricity, he spoke about fire safety and protection which lead into a warning about rv refrigerators being one of the major sources of fire.

It was well worth our time, even though we were aware of most of the information. But we came away with some new ideas as well as some reminders of how easy it is to become complacent with the equipment and lifestyle. Rving isn't all pretty sunsets and fun and games. There is a lot of maintenance and problems that constantly need to be addressed.

The other thing we came away with was.............a door prize! I won!

Running Ourselves Ragged

Wow, what a busy day we had! We are leaving this park on Thursday and decided to run all of our errands in one trip.

Our first stop was in the big city of Salinas. It's actually a good size city and had just about anything we could need. We found the UPS office where we picked up some packages that couldn't be delivered, then headed to the nearby Jeep dealership that we had spotted.

Doug has been having trouble with his key fob and we needed to check the prices on having the oil changed and the blower for the heater/air conditioner quit working too. The quote we were given in the service shop took our breath away. So, we drove to a Kragens Auto Parts on the other side of town and bought a couple quarts of oil. We'll worry about the rest when our ship comes in................still waiting..........

A smoke shop was next on the list, followed by a recycling center to get rid of a sack of smashed pop cans. (Recycling pays very well in California if you can find some place that takes them.)

Finally, we headed to Gilroy where our favorite Super Walmart is located. Groceries are always on our errands list, but Doug was looking for a swim noodle that he could cut up and use to steady the speakers that are mounted above the dashboard in the coach. Well, there aren't too many swim toys in the stores in December.

But, across the street was a Lowes. There we found some foam pipe wrap which will work perfectly.

We were still a half hour drive away from home and needed to get to the Paicines post office to pick up our mail from South Dakota. Then we saw a roadside fruit stand with some really good prices posted on handmade signs. Of course we had to stop. Doug found mushrooms for $1.99 a pound and they had a terrific selection of garlic related spices, rubs and sauces. Gilroy is the garlic capital of the world.

At 5 minutes to 5, we arrived at the post office to see a closed sign. This little tiny post office behind the grocery store/restaurant is the entire town of Paicines. And they close at 3:30 in the afternoon. Oh well, we'll get our mail tomorrow.

I love it when we are so efficient and attend to all our errands in one day. (almost)

Late, But Online

I'm a little late posting today because I have been online following the Cyber Monday sales. And what I've found is, unless you are shopping for computers and high end stuff, there aren't a lot of bargains.

I'm hoping that most of the stores will be extending their sales throughout the month of December and offering free shipping because I don't do mall shopping anymore.

And, it's difficult having items shipped when you move every week or so. It's important to know where you are going or how long you will be in one spot. I guess if that's the worst thing we have to worry about, our life is pretty good.

Life in the Fast Lane

Life in the fast lane sure doesn't apply to us! In fact, it's been totally opposite. Blogging becomes difficult when the days sort of run together.

The park is very quiet with an occasional dog walker passing by and a glimpse of the local bobcat.


We've been playing on the computers, watching a little tv, reading and working on a few small projects. It's very easy to be lazy.


Doug found some time to sort rocks and get them ready for the tumbler while the turkey carcass is boiling. I'm about turkeyed out for a few days. Turkey pot pies, turkey sandwiches, turkey with pasta........please no more turkey for a while.

I guess that's our wild and crazy life in the fast lane.

The Aftermath

Mmmmm.....we had a good dinner yesterday. After I thawed our turkey all night, Doug carved off the legs, wings, and thighs. They are in the freezer for another day. So, we just cooked the turkey breast in the convection oven....covered in bacon.


Does that look good or what? Then the real mess started. Doug made turkey pot pies from scratch as well as a huge mess. There was flour everywhere and I think every kitchen utensil and bowl and pan was used.


But the finished product was so tasty, I didn't even mind cleaning up after him. And we have tons of leftovers too!


Now.....on to Christmas!

Happy Turkey Day

A very happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

We took a trip to the local Safeway in search of a small turkey. Ha! There's no such thing as a small turkey.

But, Safeway had their turkeys, up to 16 pounds, for $6.77. Since we were paying the same for a large bird versus a small one, guess which one we opted for. Yup the big one.


We ended up with one that is almost 15 pounds and frozen. If we want to eat turkey, he better take a cold bath.


Sure hope it fits in the convection oven!

We hope you all have a fine day filled with friends, loved ones and hungry people. Thank you for being our friends and loved ones. And if you're in the neighborhood.....stop by for dinner!

A Walk in the Woods

I almost forgot to blog! We have had a couple of quiet, lazy days. Of course there was Nascar on Sunday and then Monday we took a long walk along the outskirts of the park.

Doug was hoping we might find some fabulous gems or gold. No such luck.


But it was very pretty wandering through the giant oak trees mixed with some pines and others I can't identify. The path we took is actually an exercise path with quite a few stopping points to do leg exercises or arm or cardio work.


We just walked, holding hands and admiring the day.

The evenings are cool enough for jackets. And the sunsets, while not spectacular are admirable.

Peace and Quiet

Fall in California is just as beautiful as anywhere we have been. As we drove past the vineyards, the reds and oranges beside the deep greens were almost unreal. And here in the park, the trees changing their colors against the backdrop of green hills are fantastic.


There was a mass exodus from the park last night leaving lots of room between rigs. It's so nice to look out the windows and see nature with only a few rvs in the way. Doug spotted one of the local bobcats right here in the park. It seems totally unconcerned with people, cars or coaches.


We've also seen deer and tracks of the wild pigs that come in at night.

Oh yeah.....we also saw a big turkey!


Our site is a pull-thru next to a huge oak tree with lots of grass buried under fallen leaves. Did you notice the blue sky?


For some reason, this is still one of our most favorite parks.

Air Card Died

We started having problems getting onto the internet a couple days ago and after hours of phone calls, the problem was narrowed down to the Verizon air card. Of course there were none in the Verizon stores around us, so a new replacement would have to be Fedexed to us.

Normally, that wouldn't be a problem. But, we were leaving the Morgan Hills Thousand Trails park in the morning. Hmmmmm......

Well, I called ahead to the San Benito TT in Paicines and they told me that they would accept a Fedex package even if we hadn't arrived yet. Well alrighty then!

A call back to Verizon resulted a free replacement but with their normal two business day delivery that meant we wouldn't see the air card until late Monday. No waaaaay! There was no way we were going to be without internet access almost 5 days. So, for an extra charge, they overnighted the card to us.

We had a short, pleasant drive south through the towns of Gilroy and Hollister arriving at San Benito Thousand Trails a little after noon. The propane tank was empty and that was taken care of. Then we picked out a nice, sunny spot.

At 3 o'clock, I marched up to the entrance ranger station and lo and behold there was a package for us. I got on the phone to Verizon immediately to activate the new card and just my luck, I got the new trainee on the phone. He read through his manual, talked to his supervisor, instructed me to make several mistakes and after 45 minutes finally got the card activated.

At that point, Doug was able to access the internet but now I had to call the 3G Store to get someone to walk me through resetting the Cradlepoint router. That only took me two phone calls to set up the passwords and security. (Nice people at the 3G Store. I highly recommend them.)

To make a looooong story short (hahaha) we are now back online and in another park. That's why you haven't heard from us.

Tomorrow, I'll have some photos of the park. We stayed here last year and really felt comfortable. Plus, they have a great book exchange! 'Bye til then.

Hey! We Moved

Not too big of a surprise, I'm guessing. Doug wanted to stay ahead of a storm that is supposedly rolling in, so he put on his traveling hat and we took a scenic route across central California back to Hwy 101 south.


It was a gorgeous day for a drive and we landed in Morgan Hill Thousand Trails. California sure has some big parks. This one has 298 camp sites! Unfortunately, none of them have sewer.


There are lots of trees, grass and empty sites. We'll explore the clubhouse and putt-putt golf tomorrow, but there aren't many activities due to the time of year.


On Friday, we'll journey a little farther south to another Thousand Trails park. It has full hookups and last year we enjoyed it very much. It is located in a remote area so we'll stock up on groceries before we go. A person could burn up a lot of gas on minor errands.

Quiet Time

The last couple of days have been fairly quiet. Doug worked on a solution for keeping the drawers inside my desk from sliding while we're moving, as well as mounting one of the new speakers for our surround sound.

We've spent some time with our neighbors and took a grocery run to Stockton. One of our favorite stores, Winco, is located there along with a Super Walmart and Lowes. Woohoo! Our lives aren't exciting every day.

The next storm is forecast to roll in on Wednesday, so I think we will be moving south ahead of it. We aren't going too far, but hopefully one jump ahead of it.

Sunshine in the Delta

Yesterday, I mentioned that we were in the California Delta. It's a beautiful are in central California that encompasses about a 1000 miles of waterways. There's the Sacramento River, the San Joaquin, the American, the Mokelumne, the Cosumnes and the Calaveras rivers meeting to produce a labyrith of waterway that make for boaters paradise.

We stopped at the Lighthouse Marina & RV Resort for a few days. Doug wants to check into some fishing as well as take care of a few chores that have arisen over the last few days.


The park is green and pretty with a lot of rvs coming for the weekend. And most of them have boats.


Doug was happy to have some nice weather to take care of the outside chores in the basement and I just enjoyed the nice weather.

The Duck Whisperer

We spent the night in Sleepy Hollow and never saw Ichabod Crane or the headless horseman. It's a tiny park in the mountains with nothing to offer but a place to spend the night and some power.


But this morning, Doug became the duck whisperer. He discovered that the ducks from the little pond rely on people feeding them. So, out came the loaf of bread.


Before long, they were even allowing him to pet them.


And, not only were they eating out of his hand, they were eating his hand. One was nibbling on his thumb and the other on his finger.


Then, 'twas an wonderful day for a drive! We left Sleepy Hollow on 101 and could see a tiny break in the clouds waaaaaaay off in the distance. That was all the encouragement we needed.

We stopped for diesel in Willits when we found it at the Safeway for $2.859. That's the first time we've seen it under $3 since we hit California. And the Safeway stations are usually fairly easy to get in and out of.

The trip improved dramatically when the thermometer hit 72 degrees. Doug even took off his flannel shirt!

We left Hwy 101 at Petaluma and took the back roads to Isleton in the California Delta. The drive was scenic up until we hit the road construction. Then there was miles and miles of jersey barriers and big dump style trucks.

The truck in front of us decided to make a left turn without any signal. He just hit his brakes and turned quickly. Thank heavens for Doug's quick instincts and Alpine's stopping power. He slammed on the brakes, holding our breath that we wouldn't get rear-ended and then listened as everything in the coach came crashing forward.

Amazingly, the only thing that broke was a pizza stone that hit the tile floor. I had a nice mess to pick up, but what a blessing that no one was hurt.

At that point, we were only about 20 miles from our stop for the night and we were pretty shaken. It felt really good to arrive at Lighthouse Marina & RV Park and relax for the evening.

Sleepy Hollow

It was a long day, but not as many miles as we hoped. We didn't have a game plan, just meander along the highway and stop when we felt ready.


We stopped at a wonderful beach south of the town of Orick and picked up rocks and shells. A storm came up and drove us back to the coach and farther down the road.


There was lots of road construction, including several nasty looking slides. It made me a little nervous as we edged along a narrow railing with a long drop. But all went well.

By five o'clock, we were losing the light and found a little park just north of Willits, CA. Again, it was a Passport America park so we got a good deal. However, the park is not much. Very tiny, narrow sites, 30 amp service and no tv. The bright spot is that we have internet.

For just one night we can adapt.

California Here We Come

Love ya Oregon....but we're outta here! We pointed the coach south on Hwy 101 and drove about 225 miles. It sprinkled occasionally and the sun broke through a few times. All in all, a pleasant drive.


There are so many neat bridges in Oregon and every one is photo worthy. (Just not necessarily my photos....lol)


We breezed right through the agricultural checkpoint with just a couple of questions and continued into California. The plan was to make it to a Passport America (1/2 price) park in Crescent City. But, we got a very late start and by the time we arrived in Crescent City it was pitch black. We hate, hate, hate driving the coach in the dark.

Our gps tour guide gave us directions to the park that landed us in a gravel dead end in someone's front yard. Let me repeat....in the dark! After a few choice words, we checked to make sure that the barking dog was safe and then unhooked the car (in the rain) and turned the coach around.

Doug got back on the main highway and guessed at the next park, which turned out to be the wrong one. At this point....in the dark....we parked the coach and took the car to look for Sunset Harbor RV Resort. I called the park manager and got very explicit directions and we found it tucked back down a small side road.

Sooooooo, back we went to get the coach. We found a site......in the dark.....and Doug got the coach backed in......in the dark......and we settled down for the night. One of the many adventures that goes along with fulltiming.

By mornings light, we discovered that it's a very nice park. This sites are large with 50 amp power and cable tv.


There are lots of trees and everything seems well take care of.


Too bad we are only going to be here one night.

We've Been to Dallas

Oregon....that is. We'll get to Dallas Texas later. But today we spent the afternoon with some dear friends that just moved into their new home. They have been fulltimers in an Alpine coach for several years and finally decided to hang up the keys.

We had a lovely lunch with Mike and Charlotte followed by lots of conversation and a couple of football games on tv. Such a nice way to fritter away an afternoon. I forgot to take any pictures but we'll see them again in January. They plan on spending the winter in the south and it will be good to spend some more time with them in Quartzsite. Thanks Charlotte and Mike!

Other than that, we have pretty much just stayed in. The weather is a disaster and it sure doesn't invite sightseeing.

We did take a quick run to the Yaquina Bay State Park in Newport. There is a historic lighthouse......



and a wonderful view of the Yaquina Bay bridge that runs between Newport and South Beach. That was an exciting ride with the incredible winds we have been having.


The beaches aren't very safe for beachcombing with these storms so we are considering moving on down the road.

Here Comes Winter

I'm sure glad that we ran all of our errands the last couple of days. It was pleasant being outside and driving to new places to take care of business. We ran to the post office, bank, book store, radio shack and the grocery store. Once again, the gps came in very handy finding everything.

But, the weather turned today! The sustained winds of 35 mph and pounding rain made it a good day for hiding out inside the coach. We did discover a leak in the kitchen. We pulled the living room slide in allowing the rain to roll off the slide roof, then put it back out and voila! No more leak. Well....at least for now. I guess Doug will be on the roof as soon as the weather is safe.

Look Bob! A Map!

After a ton of research and a few mistakes, I managed to embed a Google map in the sidebar of the blog. It's a fully interactive map that I have marked with little red flags showing where we have stayed. You can expand the map and drag it to see more. If you click on the little red flags, there is more information. Now, it will be easier than ever to follow along with us.

Thanks for the request Bob! Now, onto another project.

We spent a quiet day at home while Doug is fiddling with the satellite dish. He hasn't been able to get it to work since it blew over back at Long Beach. I guess we'll have to find someone that can test it or maybe replace it. We are getting a few over the air channels, but they're kinda full of static.

This park is quite nice and I think we'll stay for a while. We aren't in a rush and the weather is pleasant during the day. The windows and door have even been open to the fresh breeze.

We had a short walk on the beach at sunset, where Doug found some interesting rocks (surprise, surprise). At least this time, he's picking up small ones.


When we turned around to walk back to the car, the full moon was rising. So cool to see the sun going down and the moon coming up at the same time.

Some Blue Skies

We woke to blue skies this morning! And then decided that we weren't real crazy about the site we were in. Fortunately, another rig pulled out of their site and when we checked it out, we loved it. So, again, we unhooked and packed and moved. But it was worth it.


We are perched on the edge of the hill in the front spot with a small view of the ocean and great sunset views. Instead of backing into the spot, (like we were supposed to) we pulled in head first. We heard that a couple of the neighbors complained that we didn't park like every one else. Oh well, I guess we're a couple of rebels. Doug did have to run the power, sewer and water under the coach to reach the utilities.



Small price to pay for the view.