December 13, 2008 Saturday

This post will be mostly photos.

Two days ago we took the little boat out on the Colorado River.




Yesterday we didn't do much but the laundry and read. We went up to the bar for dinner and a couple beers in the eveing.


Yesterday we went out on the river in our little blow up boat. There were lots of chanels and beautiful homes all along all the chanels.

December 10, 2008 Wednesday

Wow! I haven't written anything since the 7th! Since Riverside. Well, where do I start? We were still at Wilderness Lakes Resort at that time in Menifee, California. The 8th I went to line dancing in the morning and we just hung around the motorhome during the day. It was a cold and windy day but we went for a long walk around the resort and then went to bed early because we wanted to leave early on Tuesday so we could beat the winds.

Tuesday morning on the 9th, we headed for Earp, California and the Emerald Cove RV Resort on the Colorado River. The Colorado River runs between California and Arizona. When we left Menifee it was still windy! We had heard the Santa Ana winds were coming so we thought we'd try to get ahead of them and stay ahead of them but nope. We were right in the middle of them.

The winds start in the desert and blow down the valley toward the ocean picking up speed as it goes. The photos don't show really well how hard the wind was blowing but believe me, the RV was rocking! It was good to see them capture this wind. There must be hundreds of these windmills through this valley.

The winds were gusting 70 mph and impossible to drive a 34' motorhome with a car in tow! We decided to pull off at a gas station and wait it out. I got on the comuter and found out the Santa Ana winds can last a coupld days! A COUPLE DAYS! If we didn't make it to the next resort, it was only a $10 loss that night but no way were we going to stay there for a couple days! We ate lunch, filled up with gas, read our book, and watched the winds.



After 4 hours of that, we decided to hit the road and see if we could make it at least to the rest stop that was 2 miles down the road. It was right about there that the winds seemed to subside a little so we kept going and the farther we got the better things were. So we kept going. We had over 80 miles to go and it was already starting to get dark. So, yup, we had to finish the last 20 miles or so in the dark not knowing where we were going. The road the resort is on wasn't in our GPS, of course! We had the address and the road wasn't hard to find so we just kept going until we came to Emerald Cove Resort. Only 6 miles out of town.


What a place; 800 sites, large clubhouse, with yummy breakfasts, lunches and dinners, card games, line dancing, golf tournaments across the street, poker, cribbage, jigsaw puzzles, pool tables, shuffle board, two pools and two jacuzis with a bar between the two pools, basketball court and pickle ball! It's an awesome place! We went for a walk tonight and walked for an hour without ever leaving the resort and didn't even get all the roads covered.


When we pulled in last night in the dark we parked too close to a palm tree so we had a little trouble putting out the slide-out. We ate a little supper, watched a little TV and just went to bed. We would have to move the RV and reset-up in the morning. It's not easy in the dark to do that. The car battery was dead from sitting for 4 hours waiting for the wind to die down.......the brake buddy in the car uses the battery. So all we could do was leave it till morning. He charged the battery and things were back on track and things got done properly first thing this morning.

I HAD to walk up to the clubhouse and check things out. I helped a lady work a jigsaw puzzle while we exchanged our travel stories. I went back to the RV and we had some lunch and then went to check out the town. We never found Earp but did find Parker, which is over the river and in AZ not CA. There's a Safeway grocery store there so picked up some bread and milk and then drove around a little to check out the little town. We stopped for a DQ cone. The DQ was NOT being run by teenagers. It's an ice cream only DQ and run by two little elderly ladies; hand written and drawn signs and all. So cute. Beats being a greeter at WalMart! LOL They really were enjoying their jobs. Who knows maybe they were the owners!

After dinner tonight; dinner was spaghetti and salad, we went for our hour long walk. Now we're watching a movie........I'm supposed to be watching......The Manchurian Candidate. I think he's sleep! LOL

More tomorrow.

December 7, 2008 Sunday

Yesterday, the 6th, we went to Riverside, CA. It was only about 30 miles away! We parked so we could walk around the old part of town; the part we remembered we walked 44 years ago. Boy, has it changed but the old buildings are still there and so are the beautiful arches. We got engaged in Sunny Meade just a hop skip and a jump from Riverside and we celebrated with a nice dinner in Riverside so it is a special place to us.

We stopped for a latte in a little shop, took photos, walked around and had a fun time.

We took lots of photos. Here's the arches we remembered. We were so happy they were still there. They happen to be part of an old beautiful historical hotel. They had lots of beautiful Christmas decorations up.



We went into a historical museum and learned a lot about Riverside. Seems arches were very popular way back when.



Then we decided to go find a park and have our picnic lunch. I had made some sandwiches and brought some chips, pop, cheese, etc. We bought some hummus and very fresh wonderful pita bread in town at one of the booths set up in the center of market place. There was lots of fresh fruits and vegetables being sold.

We had to drive quite ahwile to find a nice shaded park. We wanted to go to the park on Mount Rubadoux but you can no longer drive up there and the hike up didn't appeal to us in the heat. We found the park after driving around for awhile but the only picnic table there had someone sleeping on it!





Here's a picture of the train depot I came in at back in 1964. It's no longer used as a train depot and has offices there now.



Today, the 7th, we didn't do much. We woke up so some tiny little visitors......little red ants! Marching around the sink and all over the counter. We cleaned them up and then had our coffee, read the newspaper and listened to Elvis' Christian music CDs. Breakfast was black forest ham, eggs easy over and toast. Football was on so he watched that while I played around on the laptop. Later in the day we went to Albertsons for some ant spray and some beer and pretzels.

Supper was popcorn and more football but later Amazing Race and Brothers and Sisters comes on. I caught up on all my shows by watching the episodes I missed on the laptop.

That catches me up. I'll be back in a day or two. We'll still be here tomorrow and we leave Tuesday. I have line dancing again tomorrow.

December 5, 2008 Friday

I didn't get any photos posted yesterday so here's some of the resort we're at.




Last night we sat around a camp fire with the neighbors. We didn't get to bed as early as usual so were a little tired today. The plan was to take a ride to Riverside but decided to stay around and just relax and maybe catch up on some sleep. Since were going to be around, I went ahead and went to line dancing. When I came back to the RV, Chuck thought it would be fun to go to the beach and see the ocean. We took the route that took us through San Juan Capistrano which looked really interesting so decided to stop for lunch and take in the tour of the mission. Very interesting and educational and we really enjoyed it.


This is the chapel.......just beautiful!



There was an earthquake in the 1800s that destroyed the church. I took a few pictures of what remains.







It got a little late so we didn't make it to the ocean beaches. We'll try again another day.

December 5, 2008 Friday

Ok, no pictures yesterday so I'll add some here and might go back and add some there.
Wilderness Lakes RV Resort




Don't know where I left off yesterday but what we did was sit next to a great campfire with the neighbors. We were out there from 7pm till almost midnight. Meeting people is a small part of it but definitely a part of it.

Here's Chuck relaxing before sitting by the fire.


Ok, this morning we got up a little later and had decided to not do anything today but stick around and relax; maybe catch up on our sleep. I went ahead and went to line dancing at 10 and got back here about 11:30. A lady had brought in cookies so I sat around and chatted for a few minutes while the advanced class continued. I decided there's no need to torture and frustrate myself and try to learn the advanced dances since I won't be here much longer anyway and will only get in about two more classes. I'm not sure there's line dancing at the resorts we're planning on visiting in the next 5 weeks.

Around noon, Chuck decided it would be fun to go see the ocean and beaches. We're only about 100 miles away, if that. So we took the easiest route and headed west. We went through San Juan Capistrano and saw the mission so decided to visit that and have a little lunch. We had some authentic Mexican which we both liked a lot. Anyway, the mission was a self-guided audio tour. We held a little speaker thing to our ear, we each had our own and went through the mission and saw the original church that was destroyed by an earthquake back in the 1800s.





We really really enjoyed the tour but spent too much time in San Juan Capistrano so didn't make it to the ocean. We have three places yet we want to see and that's the ocean,Riverside and Mount Rubedu, not sure that's how it's spelled but we were engaged outside of Riverside in Sunny Meade back in 1964 and we enjoyed a day in Riverside and Mount Rubedu. Kind of nostalgic for us/

Day Six December 2, 2008

I decided I needed the date on each post.

We were up early again this morning and took our time leaving the Palm View Resort. We trusted the GPS to get us just 18 miles down the road but one little road was changed and took a little jog that GPS (here's Chuck trying to figure out where we were)didn't know about so we had to turn on the laptop and use Rand McNally to help us out. We found the place around noon and chose our site on one of the canals. There's over 500 sites here! Two club houses, one family and one adult only, two pools, one family and one adults only, mini golf, horse shoes, pool tables, crafts, line dancing, live music, water aerobics and the list goes on. I may try the line dancing in the morning at 9:30. always wanted to do that.

We took a ride into Menifee looking for folding lawn chairs but didn't find any. We ate supper at Panda Express and got the car washed. We're back in the motorhome and resting. We feel so tired tonight. I think I'll come back tomorrow and download some photos of our day but at least you know we're here and safe.


You'll have to go back to the day I put the geese video on the blog. This time it worked but it's the longer one. I thought I was downloading the shorter one so you don't have to watch the whole boring thing. It's about 2:41 minutes.

Heading out now to go line dancing!

December 4, 2008

Switching to the date instead of the day. Easier that way.

Yesterday, I did get to the linedance class and did well in the beginner portion the first hour but pretty much sat out during the advanced. Today I'll go back for the first hour only.

After line dancing yesterday, we went to WalMart and found some chairs. Not the kind we wanted but at least we can sit outside now and enjoy the outdoors. I hate staying inside so much. We had Zatarans with sausage for supper and then we sat outside till it got dark. Not much on TV so I played around on the laptop and it was beddy by time around 10pm.

Now, today, December 4th, we were up early and I'm making cornbread pancakes. I'll need to take a shower and get to linedancing in about two hours. While I'm dancing my toes off! Chuck is running to get some kind of cable so we can get local channels with our antenna. What a guy, huh? I'll try to download more photos but don't think the gals in the linedancing class would like me taking pictures there.

Back later with some pictures.....might start adding to the blog everyother day. Not much interesting happening the next few days. When we get back on the road, thing'll get more interesting.

Day Eight

December 4, 2008

Did I miss day seven? So busy and so much to do!

Day Five

Perris, California
Palm View RV Park

After our day of LA traffic we made our way to Perris and thanks to the GPS, we found Palm View RV Park. Not a beautiful park but it's where we'll call home for two days. Driving in, and only a couple miles out, we started to smoke really bad out the back end. We stopped, waited for it to cool and moved on down the road. We leaked transmission fluid all the way to our resting place.

We settled in for the night, hooked up the satelite dish and enjoyed our evening here. Everyone seemed a little red neck but everyone is very nice. After a night of hearing a rooster and coyotes, we were up around 6:30. Someone broke a water spigot last night so we didn't have any water but our own and it was back on this morning.

After breakfast, we went for a ride into Perris to WalMart for a few things we needed. Found almost everything. Found a grocery store. They sell liquor in the grocery stores here so we bought some gin for martinis and some tequilla for some margaritas. Very very Spanish grocery store with lots of spanish food products.



Back at camp, he refilled the transmission fluid and things seem to be A-okay. No leaks. We walked around the resort and I took some pictures and even took a video of the geese. Not sure I should put that in this page........it's 2:41 minutes and maybe too long? I'll put it onit's own page maybe.


Someone melted in the heat.........

watch for Day Five Cont'd

Day Five page II Geese Video

This is the long one and I thought I downloaded the shorter one so you don't have to go all the way to the end. TURN YOUR VOLUME DOWN!

There was one goose that was running loose and he came at my feet. I guess the worst thing you can do is jump back away as it makes the goose come at you furiously! I did and he did. I had to grab him by the neck to stop him! Quite scary. It would have made a good Funniest Home Videos.

Day Four

Sommerville Almond Tree RV Resort




This morning we woke up to a chilly 44 degrees but the little heaters were keeping up pretty good. A quick shot of the furnace and it's toasty warm in here. We're at the Sommerville Almond Tree RV Park. Chuck walked over to the AM/PM but they had no newspapers. He really misses his morning paper.

The sky is clear and the temp is supposed to be 70. We'll be heading out soon for Perris, CA where we'll stay at the Palm View RV Park. Right now we're heading out about 9:30am or so.

Stopped for gas in about Wasco, $1.89 a gal. Not too bad. Doable. Very very foggy for some reason but pleasant temp here. Lots of traffic and 4 gas stations are busy busy. Long lines at the pumps.





The day was kind of hairy! Going around LA, sort of, even using a GPS and having someone telling you what to do and when, isn't all that great. "Take the next left and in 900 feet take a right!" Do you know quickly 900 feet comes up in a 34' motorhome pulling a car in LA traffic?! FAST! So the GPS rerouted us down into town and around. We don't even know what we did but it got us back on track.

The next photo is of Piramid Lake and LA traffic.





We found our way to our RV park for tonight and possibly tomorrow night. We will do a little driving around tomorrow and it'll be nice to not have to pack up and move on again for a couple days.

A day in the life.........

Day Three

DAY 3

The park was great with nice grounds and a few trees between each site. TV was good but couldn't get the local channels like ABC, CBS and NBC. We're learning and hopefully will get the it figured before too long. He went to watch TV in bed and it was lights out for him around 9pm. I stayed up and had some popcorn and watched "Must Love Dogs" but fell asleep with just 15 minutes left of the movie. Missed the ending. It was a cool night for sleeping.

This morning we had our coffee and showered.

We were going to check out a craft sale in the town of Orland at their fair grounds but it didn't start till 10am so we decided not to go. We headed out instead at about 9am stopping for gas and a photo.
Went through Sacramento and took a picture (see below)..........stopped for lunch south side of
Stockton in a rest stop.

The rest stops are getting fuller and fuller the farther south we go. We plan to stop two down the road so hopefully we can get a spot for the night before it gets overcrowded.

Play time during a lunch break at a reststop.


We had to find a WalMart for some cookies............


And one of our stops for gas........this was in Orland, CA, wave to Grandpa! Tyler and Conner!


Gas at home was $1.94 and along the way, we've paid $1.78 and $1.87.

We stopped at the rest stop we had planned to spend the night but there were signs all over the place saying no overnight stays so we found a resort in Coalinga, CA called Sommerville Almond Tree RV Park. Very friendly nice place. We have the satelite all set up and we're watching the Civil War football game on TV. Ducks, Oregon University vs Oregon State being played in Corvallis, OR. The Ducks won against a team that was one game away from the Rose Bowl! Yea! Ducks!

We're snuggly warm, had our reuben hotdogs and watching the game. We have a few movies we may hook up the DVD player and watch one tonight.

Frank and Pixie are doing very well; sleeping all day. Frank likes to watch the birds out the window. Peachy seems to enjoy traveling, too. (Peachy's our little love bird) I'll have to put a picture of him on the blog tomorrow.

More tomorrow.......

Day Two

DAY 2

We traveled over the Siskiyou Mountains and saw some beautiful sights. Took pictures of Mt. Shasta.


Around 3:30 we pulled into the Parkway RV Resort in Orland, CA. A really nice wooded park with all the amenities. We'll have TV tonight if Chuck ever gets things figured out. He's on the phone right now with DirecTV. You never know when and what problems you'll encounter!

Will come back tomorrow and let you know how our day goes.

The Odessey Begins

Novwember 27, 2008 Thursday and Turkey Day!!


Well, we finally got everything loaded; food, clothes, the kitchen sink and all the pets. We hit the road a little early on Thursday, Thanksgiving morning. We were headed for a wonderful turkey dinner with Jen, Dan and the boys in their Kelso home. We were pretty much on time despite the bad traffic. We arrived around noon. Jen is a very cook and managed to keep everything hot while waiting for us. We had a delightful time and it was back down the hill to our waiting RV, pets and car. We were on our way. The odyssey began around 2:30pm turkey day!

We decided on a rest stop for our first night just outside of Eugene, Oregon. It was an unusual rest stop and parking was at a premium but we were early so were able to park first in line so we could make our escape anytime we wanted without having to wait for someone else to leave or asking someone to move so we could get out. A huge tree blocked the signal for DirecTV. Soooooooo,we decided to read. Didn't take long and reading put us to sleep at 8:00pm! We were both awake around 4am and then got up about 5am. have been needed after so work and worry about just getting ready to go. It felt really good.