Saturday, November 26, 2005

11/26/05 Today is a windy day yet warm day on the desert. Elaine has gone into Yuma with Laura and Gordon to do some garage sale shopping while I catch up on the internet chores. We spent Thanksgiving with the RoVing Rods at Mittrey Lake on the north side of Yuma. ( See pictures below.) It was a very enjoyable time with good friends, some new acquaintances, and lots of delicious food. We even managed TWO walks on Thanksgiving Day just to walk off some of it!
Yesterday we moved to the west side of Yuma, off Sidewinder Road, and joined the Boomer group. There are about 10 rigs here and once again, a very amiable gang of people. Today we will be having a potluck, although with this wind, perhaps it will be a short gathering. We will be here for a few more days and we have a good cell phone signal, which equals being able to get onto the internet for all your welcome messages....

RoVing Rods camped near Mittrey Lake for Thanksgiving. Posted by Picasa

Closeup of Mittrey Lake near our parking area. Posted by Picasa

Sunday, November 20, 2005

11/20/05 Hello from Yuma, AZ. It is very warm and we are happy to be here. We are staying outside the home of our friends Eileen and Ray Cooper in the Foothills. Wednesday we will probably be heading for Mittrey Lake to have Thanksgiving Day with the RoVing Rods.
It took us 5 days to get here because we didn't hurry. First we stopped in Fresno to see Lou Stoetzer and Judy Farrow, Park Sierra friends, who were staying in their RV at Camp Kaiser. They call it that because there are 4 RV hookups in the parking area at Kaiser which they use when they have appointments, so we stayed there too. Moving on from there, we next stopped at the National RV factory in Perris, CA. Not only have we never seen how any RVs are made, but we also have pretty much settled on the Seabreeze LX as our next RV and we wanted to make sure they were well manufactured. The tour was interesting and we left there very impressed with all of their products.
The Escapees RV Club has 11 co-op parks, one of which is Jojoba Hills near Temecula, CA. We stopped there overnight and made sure we took the tour so we could see all of this lovely place. Luckily, our Boomer friends Dick and Carole Schneider, who have a lot there, were in residence. They invited us to join them for happy hour and dinner, a most delicious and pleasant experience. We also had enough time for several walks through the very hilly park, and a nice soak in one of the hot tubs.
Saturday we drove into San Diego and spent the day in a park on Mission Bay having a wonderful visit with Darran, Elaine's 28 year-old son. Next month, he is finishing his degree at UC San Diego, and will no longer be living in Pacific Beach, so we won't be seeing him in this beautiful area any more. Parking on the edge of the park grass, looking out at the gorgeous sunshine and calm water, and having all of the amenities of our RV right there just reminded us of why we enjoy this lifestyle so much. We had a barbeque lunch with him and also a long walk along the trail there. Since there are very few places to stay in an RV in that area, we left in the early evening and drove to Viejas Casino where we stayed overnight.
Today we stocked up on groceries and gas in preparation for spending the next several weeks out in the desert. Hopefully, after Thanksgiving, we will be able to move on to Quartzsite where Elaine can take some craft classes from the gem and mineral society.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

11/13/05 Hooray – we finally have something to report on this blog. Our medical appointments are over and we are hale and hearty so we will be heading out on Tuesday. It has been a pleasant and productive time here at our Park Sierra “home”. We have cleaned up and re-organized our rig and storage shed. Happy hours and dinners with friends have enabled us to re-establish strong bonds with friends. The weather has been very pleasant and mostly dry, although cooler temperatures are now very much in evidence, particularly overnight. Like the birds and butterflies, it is time to head south.
Our short range plans are to visit the National RV assembly plant in Perris, CA, as well as stopping in San Diego to see Elaine’s son, Darran. From there we will head to the Arizona deserts where we are planning to spend time in Yuma and Quartzsite. Keep watching this space for further adventures!