Local Sculptures

At the visitors center, we got the Borrego Springs Village Guide which tells about the many things in and around Borrego Springs that one can do. In it, they tell of Galleta Meadows with the sculptures. When talking to anyone in town, inevitably they ask if we've seen "the sculptures". So of course, we had to check them out. Handily the Guide has a map so you can find them. There are quite a lot of them, it turns out. They are a gift from "visionary town benefactor Dennis Avery and the craft of sculptor Ricardo Breceda". There are roughly 30 of them. We saw a large percentage of them. The day we decided to explore turned out to be quite windy, and a sandstorm created visibility problems. It also created a pretty cool picture of these sloths (or whatever they are) trekking through the sand.

Very interesting jeep sculpture with intriguing details!

Velociraptor looking ferocious

a prospector and his horse carrying all his supplies

One of many big horned sheep sculptures.

Palm Canyon

Borrego Springs is a cute little town, and when we checked out their two grocery stores we found one which even carried organic fruits and vegetables and several things in brands I usually get! It was like having a health food store selection sprinkled in amidst the usual fare. It’s always fun to see the differences one sees regionally. We also bought postcards and postcard stamps so we could send them to the grandkids, which then grew into sending them to others in lieu of our usual Christmas Letter.

We also visited the library, a very nice one, too, and several shops that were interesting and fun to browse through. With Borrego Springs Outfitters, we found more desert-appropriate hats, so added those to our collection.

Lots of large boulders on this hike.

The Park Visitor’s Center is on the west side of town (we were to the east of town) and well worth the visit. We got to see a short video on seasons in the desert. I enjoyed this since I don't plan to be here for some of those seasons--like summer where it can be over 124 degrees! They also had bird experts there so I was able to ask about the bird we saw at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve and get it identified. We also asked about the best route to take our RV over the mountains and go some good advice.

We then we went on the hike up Palm Canyon. What a beautiful hike, but seemed much longer that the mile and a half they advertised. We wondered if it was as the crow flies, since the trail wound back and forth quite a bit and by the time we got back to the truck we felt we’d been on quite a trek! They warn you to take a gallon of water per person. I had a quart that we shared, and by the time we returned I understood the wisdom of that advice. Even though it was a cool day, the area is so arid and the climb challenging enough that I sure would not want to do this on a hotter day! I clearly need to get a backpack of some sort for stripping down layers and carrying more water. Still it was worth the climb past huge boulders, over all kinds of rocks and finally to the oasis with running water and many huge palm trees. 
 

At the top of the canyon where the palm tree are, there is a lovely spring and creek that goes for a little ways, feeding the trees and other plants that grow around it.



The palms at the oasis were huge!





The Slots

Jerry and the entrance sign to The Slots

Our fellow RVers told us about an interesting place that we decided to check out. It's called The Slots and is southwest of Borrego Springs. It is a slot canyon, and pretty interesting to hike, although not as spectacular in color as the famous ones in Nevada. Still it was fun and even challenging in a few spots. I was glad I took my cane with me since there were a few places I was thankful for the leverage! I took so many pictures with my phone that I sometimes just carried it in camera mode, which made for a few "What is THAT supposed to be?" shots. Since we went on a Saturday, there were plenty of people there. We didn't linger because we wanted to get down and back before the sun got too low in the sky. With the sun setting around 4:30, the afternoon is rather short! I was thankful to have a warning when I overheard this rather small young lady who had just returned say that she had torn her shirt. That left me wondering since I am not nearly so small.

 This is not a place for the claustrophobic, although most of the way was easy enough to walk.


Me being careful of my shirt in this narrow gap!



Spectacular formation at the end of the canyon.

If you look closely you can see Jerry!

Indio to Borrego Springs

As we left Indio, we dumped tanks at the nearby water treatment place for free, always a nice thing! They didn’t have potable water, so we waited to find that later. Turns out the Red Earth Casino where we parked near Salton city had water. That was nice surprise. They also have a place to dump for $8, so we were glad to have found the place in Indio. We were visited by Bob and Trish Nesbitt as soon as we got there which was fun. We've known them for years and they have recently gone full time in their RV and we discovered they were in the same area as we were. Nice surprise! We visited them in their Thousand Trails park when we were nearby in Indio, then they decided to see the Salton Sea area again and visiting us gave them a good excuse. It was so nice to catch up!

this shows the mud flats exposed as the water recedes in the Salton Sea

Where once there was a pier and yacht club and resort at the Salton Sea

A nice little hike up a hill overlooking our rig.

We left the Salton Sea area heading West over a seriously bad road! For about the first 5 miles, it was pretty rugged. In spots we could go no faster than 3 – 5 mph, sometimes as much as 15mph. I got pretty excited when we got all the way up to 35mph! Then suddenly the road was good (we crossed the county line) and it was full steam ahead. Up over some hills and around some curves we passed the off-road vehicle areas where there was lots of sand and hills. Farther on we entered the Anza-Borrego State Park which is HUGE! It completely surrounds the town of Borrego Springs. We were following directions to a Boondocker Group’s previous gathering and found the spot easily. Jerry had read that it was a favorite boondocking site for several people and it's easy to see why!

After finding our spot, we saw another Mountainaire nearby, so went over to introduce ourselves and found fellow Escapees! (Dean and Judy) We had never met, but they knew people we knew. Another couple (Jan and Chuck Moore) joined them a few days later whom we had met the previous year. It was fun to join them for some social time. Since we all have Moutainaires and are Escapees, there was no lack of things to talk about.

It was so wonderful to be back out in the desert after parking in casino parking lots for most of our trip so far. The wide open spaces, the gorgeous mountains surrounding us, the warmth of the sun during the day, the amazing sunsets. We even had hummingbirds do several inspections of our rig, and I saw a roadrunner chasing something in the bushes!

 

Farther up Rockhouse Rd from where we are camping there is Clark Dry Lake.

Big Morongo Canyon Preserve

We took a trip up to the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. It was a beautiful hike on a lovely day. The wind forecast was for high winds and not wanting to stay at the rig being rocked back and forth, we set off. The hike up on the ridge trail at the Preserve was the only place we felt the wind there, while deep in the lower areas amongst the trees it was calm.

Some of the paths were eerie and we thought they would make a good creepy movie scene! A few years ago there was a fire that burned many of the trees, but their skeletons still stand, holding the soil and providing shelter for little critters. In some places it was hard to tell what was burned and what was dormant because of the season. Not being familiar with the life-cycle here, I wasn't sure. In other places the growth was lush and even huge! There is a creek that runs through the bottom of the canyon, so some trees were quite large, wearing their Fall colors.

Around one corner in the path we came up on a bird sitting on a limb near the trail. He was happy to sit there posing for us, so we were able to get some great pictures for later identification. Turns out he was a Scrub Jay, and quite beautiful.

 

Desert Christ Park

"The Last Supper" relief

Always on the look out for free things to do in the areas we visit, we found this little gem: the Desert Christ Park. A reasonable drive from Indio, we took off one windy day and after doing some hiking in the Big Morongo Preserve (see the other post) we went on to the next town to see this. We enjoyed this, and found it to be a great lunch spot, as well. There was a little chapel nearby which was quite unique as well. Very peaceful spot.

I apologize for how messy this post looks, but the formatting is not cooperating at all, so I will have to leave it as is!

The above link takes you to a website describing this interesting little park: 

Desert Christ Park overlooks the high desert town of Yucca Valley in southern California.  Here the visitor may find more than forty snow-white statues and images portraying scenes of Christ's life and teachings. 

Dedicated on Easter Sunday 1951, this park was the vision of Eddie Garver, known at the time as the Desert Parson. Through a series of events, the Desert Parson was introduced to artist-sculptor Frank Antone Martin, the creator of these remarkable works of steel-reinforced concrete, and together they began a journey that would span time and test, and produce one of California's most iconic and historical parks. The park transcends denominational considerations and we welcome all to remember and celebrate not only the visionary and the artist, but most importantly, the life and teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

 

 







the tomb is empty!

Wind and then some

From Tachi Palace, we decided to go by a different route and bypass the LA area completely. We went East from Bakersfield up through Tehachapi, past Edwards Air Force Base and over to Boron and down through San Bernadino. About 20 miles West of Palm Springs we stopped at Morongo Casino on I-10 where we stayed on our return trip last year. They have moved the RVers to a different lot farther away, but that gives us a nice walk. It was a bit breezy and after one night we decided to move to Indio since the weather report was indicating high winds. Morongo is between two mountain ranges which creates a bit of a funnel, and I didn't like the sound of 40 - 60 mph winds coming through there!

At Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, we hunkered down and endured the wind and sand storm at a mere 20 - 35 mph. Visibility was about 50 ft, which is odd in a place where 3 miles looks more like a half a mile. Our neighbor's rooftop carrier got opened up by the wind, so Jerry braved the sandstorm to go over and tell him, and then we watched as he got up on the roof and secured it. I was concerned for his safety up there, but he seemed to have very steady footing and was able to get the job done and get down just fine. I was still glad to see his feet safely on the ground!

I have the handy NOAA app which gives hourly indications of temperature as well as wind speed and direction, so we were thankful to know which way to park our rig and well as how long we would want to keep our slide pulled in. There was wind over the next few days off and on, and one night the direction had changed and we had our sleep disrupted by the pushing of the gusts as well as the whine of the wind over and under us. I was glad to have earplugs to be able to go back to sleep!

Corning to Lemoore

The next leg of our trip took us from Corning to Lemoore, CA. We stayed at the Tachi Palace Casino last year and the security guys were very friendly. It's out in the middle of farm country where everything is very flat.

Last year we had driven past a place that I wanted to check out,  so this time I had a chance to do so. It's called Kings Outreach Ministries. I checked their website and decided to go see them.  It is, a couple who run a prayer and renewal center where people from all over come to stay  a few days or a month. It once was a boys ranch. I had the opportunity to receive some prayer and it was so refreshing.  I definitely want to return and hopefully spend more time.

It's always interesting to figure out shopping when in a new area,  especially smaller towns. I get excited when I find familiar brands unexpectedly. I'm always looking for things and looking around,  unlike my home store where I know where everything is and be very efficient. Of course shopping on the road takes on a bit of the Tourist Attraction feel as we compare what's the same and what's different from home.

After leaving Albany and having some time to play around with my computer,  I discovered that even reinstalling the OS doesn't fix its glitchiness. It works sort of,  but won't open files and generally is uncooperative. It was ok to surf the net for awhile,  but now even that isn't working. It's not that old,  but the warrantee had run out so it's back to my phone.  I'm getting pretty good at this,  but the reading glasses are a must!

When I figure out how to grab the pics on my phone I'll add some. Until then,  it's just verbage. :-)

And so we go.....!

We stayed 2 nights in Albany since it took all day for my brother-in-law to save my files and then reinstall the operating system and do all the updates. I am so glad he was able to retrieve all of my data, most of which was backed up except for the most recent documents. Hopefully it will continue to play nice since doing a blog on my smart phone is not my idea of fun!

It was nice to have that extra day to rest up after all the preparations and not just push on with the travel. That's one thing we learned last year,  that we don't have to be in a hurry and having lots of travel breaks makes it less exhausting.

Snow over the pass, but roads bare.

 We are currently parked at Rolling Hills Casino south of Redding, CA by about 40 miles. We parked last night at the Rest Stop in Canyonville, although we could have parked at the casino there, too. We did stock up on propane and gas. It rained like crazy on and off all night, and we were glad to see it had tapered off by this morning. Yesterday driving from Albany to Eugene and parts south was very windy and there were some white-knuckle moments. I was glad to not be driving that stretch. Instead I got the fun of driving through Portland at 5pm on Tuesday. I know, not the greatest timing, but we got through. Portland is still not as bad as Seattle!

Truck stop in Weed, CA, with Mt Shasta in the background

    We didn't get any great shots of Mt. Shasta since there was a large cloud hat sitting on top, but we tried.

Once again, in one day we traveled over the Siskiyous, saw snow on the sides of the road, and arrived here ready to trade sweatshirts for tank tops!

Departure Day!

Off we go on our second Snowbird journey. It's been a few months since we've gone anywhere in the Queen Mary, so we're getting settled back in, remembering the methods we developed last year, stowing stuff in the same--or better places. Considering whether we remembered to pack just the right stuff, too much stuff, or forgot some things we might have wanted with us. It's an ever-evolving thing to be more efficient, get more from less stuff, and yet be able to do all that we want to do.

I'm so excited to be back on the road. I love this lifestyle and have become increasingly discontent with living where we are. I'm not sure I want to be full time, but I definitely want someplace different. We still don't know what or where or even when, but we are not in a hurry and I'm sure our ideas will change and morph over time.

With the overcast and rainy skies, we haven't been able to get much of a charge on our solar panels, so I'm glad we have a generator. Very handy for taking the chill off as well and charging up the batteries for my night time CPAP use. We are using power sparingly until we get into the sunshine, and my kombucha jars are feeling a bit cold without running the heater all of the time.

This year we decided to leave right after Thanksgiving instead of waiting until after Christmas. We had a great Thanksgiving with family, and between getting loaded up and watching the weather, we left December 1st, a day after our original target date. We decided it would be worth it to have the night time temps above freezing! Our first stop over: Albany, OR, at my sister's house. We are parking across from her house in front of her neighbor's house since there is more room for our 38' motorhome plus the truck we tow behind. We would prefer to not have to unhitch while in 'travel' mode.

I am bringing my computer to my brother-in-law who fixes them. I am hoping he can figure out a fix, since it is stuck in some kind of weird loop and won't boot up properly. I've been too busy to use it much, but I will need it soon. I'm so glad I finally got a SmartPhone. It makes it much easier to do without my computer. But then there are those files I need, and did I back them up recently enough?

A Rainy send-off from the great Northwest!

Departure Imminent!

   It's with mixed feelings that we load up and head off on our 2nd Snowbird trip. Sad to leave family and friends behind,  but excited to see where the road takes us, ready to embrace the next adventure.
    This past several months have been packed full with (among other things) trips to Oregon to help my aging Father, get him in Assisted Living, and deal with the mountain of stuff he no longer needs. Since he was living 450 miles south of me, trips were fairly frequent and long enough to make it worth the travel with most of August being spent in Oregon. Over two weeks at Dad's, bracketed by my High School Class Reunion  (which I helped organize) and a family wedding.
  Since I never seem to get enough time in Oregon,  I enjoyed it for the most part, except maybe all the hard work!. But I did get to squeeze in a stay with a fellow RVer I met last winter for a couple of days of sailing near Eugene. What a blast!
  After lots of hard work on several fronts since Spring, I look forward to some R & R.

Onboard Bucha!

Jars peeking out of their warm jacket.

My four happy gallon jars.

  Even though we have parked the RV in the driveway, and have acclimatized back into “Sticks-n-Bricks” living, my kombucha jars are still happily brewing away in the motorhome. Since we have the solar panels and I have the heated jacket set-up, it just seems easier to keep them in there, ready for the next trip! The thermostat keeps the temp fairly even by turning on the seedling mat when needed and the insulated jacket keeps in the warm while allowing it to breathe.

   I had the fun of giving away some kefir grains (connection made through Freecycle) but then she came back for a kombucha SCOBY and watched as I bottled my latest batch in the motorhome Which also led to some discussion of RVs! I love teaching people about kombucha and how to brew it, and since she had done her homework, it was more a matter of answering questions and filling in things for her.

The thermostat running the seedling mat.

   I also left some kefir ‘grains’ with my sister on our way home, and I enjoy her enthusiastic reports of the things she is making with it, how much better she feels drinking it, and her excitement over the first time she got the share her ‘grains’ with someone. The ‘grains’ grow, so it’s kinda like Friendship Bread, only healthier. It is such fun to share these life-giving foods with people.

    With all I have learned, I have come to appreciate the amazing diversity of microbes that normally inhabit our bodies and guts and the critically important roles they play in our health and wellbeing. As I eat I am conscious of the need to protect and help these beneficial microbes to flourish. Hence my food choices. And herbs rather than drugs when possible. (See my Page on the Ferments: Terrific Trio)

    Since today’s post is all about these foods, here is a recipe for those of you who want a little walk on the Wild Side: 

Kefir Cream Veggie Dip:

½ Cup kefir cream* (put ‘grains’ in whipping cream for 24 hours)

Pinch of salt – to taste

Pinch of pepper—to taste

½ tsp Dried onion flakes

½ tsp dried dill or basil   (can use fresh, use less)

Still all together and chill for 10 – 15 min. This makes a very creamy, high probiotic veggie dip.

*you can also use kefir that has been drained in a cheesecloth for 12 – 24 hours. 

Enjoy! And feel free to ask questions.

Where did my Comfort Zone go?

    We've been home for a week, now. It still feels weird.
    When we first walked into the house after 96 days of being on the road, it all looked the same as when we left it. There was our house as usual, all our usual stuff. The same. But....we are not. It is not the same feeling of 'coming home', of slipping back into a comfort zone, a familiar routine. My comfort zone has clearly moved! I found it slightly melancholy to unload the RV, turn off the fridge, 'move' back into the house.
   Oh I enjoy the unlimited hot water, the larger fridge, the bigger kitchen. It just doesn't feel as 'at home' as it once did. It feels like luxury. There were very few things left behind that I missed. Do I really need all of this stuff? Clearly not, since we have done without it for over 3 months. I find myself almost resenting most of it. It demands that I do something with it, if only to dust it. It took me less than a day to start the give-away box, and since it is full, I need to find another...and another!
   There's something about being in a smaller space that changes your perception of stuff and the 'need' hierarchy. We did fine with what we had, missed very few things we left behind, and now look forward to freeing ourselves from the 'Tyranny of Stuff' whether we keep the house or not. For now we are content to keep this as our summer home, our home base.
   I am much more aware of being careful of resources; electricity, water, disposal, space, energy, money. When living in a small space and especially without any hook-ups, one is forced to make the most of what you have. There is a certain satisfaction that comes from doing without, or with less, or for longer. It's empowering to make those choices that save power, water, money; a sense of adventure when you rise to meet the challenge; how long can I go without____? How can I do this with less ___?  Living life on the edge!
 

Last leg of the Journey--for now

     The urgency to get back into Washington was driven mainly by my need to renew my drivers license. This year of all years, I was unable to do this online, so I needed to find a DOL office. When we stopped in Kelso to gas up, there just happened to be an office less than a block away, so  I ran over and got my license renewed  in the time it took him to fill the tank! I love small towns!
    We then went on to park at our daughter's place near Enumclaw where we got to spend time with the grandchildren, meet the new kitties, pet the dogs, feed the bunnies and chickens, collect eggs and help move straw. They are also busy planting the starts in their garden that have been sprouting up in the greenhouse. It's a great farm atmosphere with lots of different animals and growing things all around. Love it there!

Between us is the covered porch and a taller roof is in process for over their RV. 

The view from the front of our rig.

   But finally on Saturday, we pulled up levelers once again for the last time in awhile and made the final leg of our journey to home. 

   One drawback to our driveway is the downward slant to the parking pad. Our street is on a hill, and our driveway slants yet another direction making for weird tilting as we pull out or back in. (This tests how well we packed!) 

    I am behind the wheel and as I back in, Jerry places leveling blocks under the drivers side rear wheels to lift the back up enough to clear the cement. It is not a pretty sound when it scrapes! When we first brought the rig home, not knowing for sure how we would do this, it took about 15 - 20 min to get it parked. Jerry now has it down to a science where we can get it parked in under 6 minutes.

    When we first left for Arizona, we found that parking the rig in our driveway with a full tank of gas is not a good idea! Since then we have learned many other helpful things, and now that we are home we have several ideas of how to make our rig more efficient and livable and yes, lighter!

Home Port for the Queen Mary!

Into Oregon

Mountain Aire Meet-up!

      Staying overnight at a casino that caters to truck drivers makes for a rather noisy and crowded stay. When we first drove into Rolling Hills Casino in Corning, CA, we saw these two other Mountain Aires like ours, so we parked between them. We got to chat with both owners and found that they were a '98, '99 (ours) and 2000! All in a row. We decided we must be a Mountain Aire Rally! It was fun to see the 2000 inside since it looks so much like ours but it had custom features....and it was blue! I almost gave them my number and told them that if they decided to sell to call me first! Amazingly, between us all there were two trucks and another RVer parked! I am astonished at how close those truck drivers can park their rigs. They have some real skill!
     Since it was a bit noisy, we were up and on the road pretty early for us. We decided to postpone breakfast and just took off after gassing up. Breakfast was at a Truck stop near Weed, CA where we gassed up again and took a bit of a break after two hours of driving.
    It was an exciting moment (for me) when we crossed the state line into Oregon! Back in my home country. Ah, breathe the air!

A restful stop.

    The next break was between Medford and Grants Pass at a Rest Stop that also has a State Park next to it. Not only are there lots of BIG trees around here, I also saw MOSS for the first time in over 3 months! I had a lovely walk here which made a great break from the road.
     We had planned to make a stop for a night or two at Timber Valley SKP park in Sutherlin, but we were doing so well we decided to just keep going.

     We finally pulled onto my sister's street in Albany around 6pm, having done just over 400 miles that day. We were glad to get off the road! With the permission of her neighbors, we were able to park across from her house for a couple of nights and have a lovely visit.

Park of the Sierras

     We originally planned to stay 3 nights here giving us a day to rest up after going to Yosemite Park, but after looking at our schedule, we figured we could add in a couple more nights and leave on Monday instead of Saturday. This allowed us to go to church with a couple in the park. It was a great Palm Sunday service and I was very refreshed.
    This park is very beautiful with some elbow room between sites, lots of trees and rolling hills. And grass. Lots of grass. Grass that they need to keep mowed and cut back because of the drought and county regulations. This is not the best environment for someone with grass allergies, so we will take that into account when we time our next visit.
     We happened to be there for two  potlucks so we were able to meet several people and that is always informative and fun. We also went to an Open House of a couple that have just finished with their custom built 5th wheel. It includes several innovative ideas and I was inspired to see how they went about this.
     After 6 nights we are on the road again, driving a longer leg to get to Rolling Hills Casino to park for the night. Another day's drive should find us in Oregon.

Yosemite Park

     We were excited to be able to visit Yosemite Park for the first time. I have seen many pictures of Half Dome and had hear of the park, so was looking forward to seeing it with my own eyes. It did not disappoint! It took us about an hour and a half driving from Park of the Sierras where we are staying. Curvy road. Very. Curvy. Road. 

     After the first half hour, I recommended we stop and switch drivers knowing that my enjoyment would be severely curtailed if I didn't drive. We stopped at the Sugar Pine Railroad. We didn't ride the RR, just looked around and took pictures. It was very picturesque and a refreshing stop.

     After another 45 minutes or so of driving, we came through a tunnel to a view point with lots of parking where we got our first glimpses of The Big Three of Yosemite Park; El Capitan on the left, Half Dome just over Jerry's head, and Bridal Veil Falls on the right. It was a spectacular view where you could see the whole valley spread out below.

First view of El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridal Veil Falls

When you are standing under Bridal Veil Falls, it's easy to see why it's named that as the wind blows the water and it cascades down like a veil. There were many people on the Thursday, making us glad we were not here at the height of tourist season!

Me in front of Bridal Veil Falls. I am told it is less spectacular than usual from low water volume.

Jerry in front of El Capitan (check out the bird in flight).

Remember the Star Trek V movie with Kirk climbing El Capitan?  It's hard to visit there without remembering how Spock saved Kirk's bacon with his jet-boots!  It is 3,000 feet high and was successfully climbed for the first time in the 1950's.

The view below of Half Dome is one I remember well from a picture my Grandmother painted. It was an awesome thing to be standing there seeing it from that same vantage point, causing me to wonder about that picture and my Grandmother's trip there.

Half Dome from Yosemite Village.

After leaving the Yosemite Valley behind and heading back, we stopped at Mariposa Grove of the Giant Sequoias. We did a bit of hiking to see the trees and it was well worth it. Even though you know they are big, it is still awe inspiring to look up, and up, and up! Grizzly Giant, although not especially tall, has the most massive branches larger than the trunk of other trees.

Grizzly Giant Sequoia, whose lower limbs are 7 feet in diameter!

The Surviving Tunnel Tree, the opening is wider than his arm span.

Both of us in the tunnel of this huge Sequoia.

Getting a picture of us here is sort of touristy, but a fun way to prove we were there!

Vista del Lago and noisy pipes

Driving through the LA area to our next stop from Morongo Casino, we knew it would be a longer leg than we preferred, so we planned a stop at Vista del Lago Visitors Center. It had a beautiful view of Pyramid Lake.

Vista del Lago Visitor Center view from back deck.

It is run by the California Dept of Water Resources. We enjoyed the many varied displays and seeing how they are managing the water in this drought situation. I learned more about the geography and locations of things in California which had been pretty vague. It made a great stop to eat, rest, and see something interesting. And they had enough parking space for us!

     By the time we arrived at Tachi Palace Casino in Lemoore, CA, it was clear that a hole had developed somewhere near the front of our exhaust system. It was quite loud! We made a stop at a handy AutoZone for patching materials and Jerry got out the tool box and went to work. He was visited by a fellow RVer offering help as well as a security guard who wanted to talk about Washington weather and said we could stay and long as we wanted to.

    The patch helped tone down the noise, but by the time we neared Fresno, it clearly was not working any more and the sound was deafening! We had to yell in order to be heard. So we made some calls and ended up at A to Z Muffler who got us fixed up and back on the road in a couple of hours. If our rig had been as much as 5" longer, it would not have fit on the lift. It was a little unnerving to see my rolling home lifted up in the air, but interesting to be able to look underneath. When we left, it sounded SO much better!

   We were relieved to be able to pull into Park Sierra in Coarsegold, CA and stay for a few days. It was so much fun for me to pull in and have a site with a view of trees!

Hwy 41 north of Fresno, CA on the way to Coarsegold

The drive from Fresno was beautiful and it was fun to see the different trees and rolling hills. It reminded me of the South Salem area and the oak trees of the Willamette Valley. I did find out that many of the trees in the area are Blue Oak.

Our boondocking site at Park of the Sierras.

We got the full tour of the park and met several really friendly people. I made good use of their laundry facility and shower as well as visiting the library.

Standing in front of the Coarsegold creek. Because of the drought the water level is very low.