Big City Livin'

It seems to take a long time in our circuit to mosey over to Phoenix where I get to catch up with my friend Ruth and restock at the stores, but we finally made it. We use her house as a shipping address, and it was like Christmas when we got there! All kinds of packages awaited us along with a sweet card from the grandkids. Anticipating our arrival, we ordered several things from Amazon to restock and replace.

We spent several days in Casa Grande at RoVers Roost SKP park and while there I drove up to Phoenix for the day to go shopping with Ruth when she was off work. It was a great day and I was able to find all I needed including 3 pairs of shoes! I had saved my sandal shopping for Phoenix and was rewarded by finding more than anticipated. It's not my favorite thing to shop for, but made fun by sharing it with a friend.

Butterfly Guy with several at once!

We were able to park in front of her house for just over a week. She went around asking the neighbors nearby if it was a problem, and unanimously they welcomed us! I enjoyed her large and lovely kitchen, catching up on some baking and other kitchen activities as well as being 'camp cook' for the week. She appreciated having home cooked meals after a long day at work. We took advantage of her loaded lemon tree as well as her electric citrus juicer--such a great thing! We started 3 batches of limoncello and used the juice to make lemon ice cubes to have on hand.

Ruth, wearing hers on her sleeve

On her days off we were able to go see some of the sights with her and Tim, her boyfriend. The nighttime Canal walk was lovely with all kinds of light displays and people strolling in the warm evening air. Another delightful place we went was the Butterfly Wonderland, A Rainforest Experience. It was an amazing time, wandering around looking at all the butterflies and having them land on us! Jerry was especially interesting to him.

Linda and Jerry sitting with butterlies adorning them.

Tim sporting a forehead decoration!

Ruth, Tim and Jerry busy capturing more pictures of butterflies

Jojoba Hills

We were so glad to be able to return to Jojoba Hills. It is such a beautiful park with such a lot to do that it's a treat to be able to spend time there.
  This year we were there for Christmas Eve Chili Dinner as well as the Christmas Day Turkey Dinner Potluck, both of which were great times of getting to know people. George and Diana Ruelens took us under wing and made sure we felt welcomed and had plenty to do. Diana took us to the air rifle range where we got to make sure those bulls eyes had holes in them!
   We left after 3 days, going to Pechanga Casino for a couple of nights. Jerry watched the Seahawks game from a Sports Bar and Grill in the Casino while I went shopping and stocked up. I was very glad to return to the rig after braving the crazy traffic around Temecula. I thought I was used to crazy traffic living so close to Seattle, but this! Whew!


Skip and Sheila with the dance floor behind

Patrice and Norm, tablemates

  Returning to Jojoba on Monday, we stayed a week and got in on the New Year's Eve Party which was great fun. We started out sitting at different tables which forced us to talk to those around us, but eventually people made sure we were reunited. The prime rib meal was great and the live band and dancing was lots of fun. I was shocked to hear my name announced during a break from the dancing. "Who wants me and why?!" I was the first to win a door prize! It was a gift certificate for the charming Richie's Diner in Temecula, so we convinced George and Diana to go with us the next day and help us spend it. And, yes, I was able to find something to safely eat;  an excellent, slightly modified Cobb salad.
  I enjoyed many good walks around the park, while Jerry went for runs and then sat in the hot tub. I got a chance to watch a beginners pottery class in the new ceramics center as well as watch a class on wood carving. Not feeling the need to take up yet another hobby, I was content to watch and chat.


kumquat

  We made sure to stock up on the lemons hanging on the trees there, and we were also blessed with some lovely limes and grapefruit that people had grown in their yards. On one of my walks, I asked a man what the unusual small oval orange fruit was on a shrub in his yard. He told me it was a kumquat, something I had only heard of. He generously gave me one to eat, which you eat whole and it was yummy: tart and sweet at the same time. He has a gorgeous cactus garden, and now I regret not whipping out my phone and taking pictures of it! It's such fun to see what people with a green thumb can do.

  

BOOMERVILLE!

Strawberry lemonade. Yum!

BOOMERVILLE! Current location:  33.649956,-114.151274   No longer an empty part of the desert, it is currently a hive of activity with over 100 RVs of various sizes and types:  The Boomers are a “Birds of a Feather” (BOF) group of the Escapees RV Club. When they have a gathering, they call it Boomerville! We heard about them at Jojoba and were invited to join them here at Quartzsite, AZ. Every year at this time, thousands of RVers flock to Quartzsite to hang out in the desert, shop at the HUGE RV and Recreation Show big tent (this week only), the several swap meets, or the ongoing Rock and Gem shows. It is quite an experience. We had planned to ‘Do Quartzsite’ anyway (“everyone should at least once…”) and check out a few BOF groups who typically gather here. So far we have only been hanging with the Boomers, they are a laid back and fun group and we seem to fit right in. Several of the people we met at Jojoba Hills are here, too, so we have already seen some familiar faces.

    Every day there are different activities that various people volunteer to host or lead. Each day’s activities are written on a white board at “Headquarters” (a pop-up with tables and information) and you can choose to join whichever interests you.  We quickly discovered that no one starves in Boomerville, as Boomers have bountiful potlucks, free pancake breakfasts, and chili cook-offs with all the trimmings.

    4:00 daily is Happy Hour whose main purpose is for everyone to gather to hear announcements, greet newcomers; find out what activities are coming up, or any things that the group needs to know about. Activities have included potlucks, stargazing with someone who knows the names (the stars are spectacular here!), yoga or walking in the morning, “Boondocking 101” where we picked up a few good ideas of how to make resources last longer, TV shows (Downton Abbey) or pictures of travels (Albuquerque Balloon Festival) shown on the side of someone’s RV. The list goes on! I got in on a gathering of crafters, all making things and showing what they were working on. I took my card weaving which was quite a novelty. The lady hosting it has a toy hauler filled with lapidary equipment and thousands of beads! She does beautiful metal and bead/gem work.

Bottling the kombucha in my RV.

   Also a couple of times a week, several people with pickups volunteer to collect everyone’s trash and make a dump-run. Someone else coordinates to have a holding-tank pumping truck come in for those who need it, as well as fresh water refills. This place is like an instant little city where things get taken care of and people look out for each other. It’s fun to talk to experienced RVers and those who have boondocked for years and hear their tricks and tips, some of which we’ve already discovered.

My gallon jars with kombucha SCOBYs in new tea/sugar solution, ready to sit and do its thing.

Newly bottled kombucha.

    It’s not all been desert and socializing. I have also been making kombucha (bottling every 8 - 9 days) as well as kefir (daily) and cultured veggies (every couple of weeks). I am delighted to be able to continue my ferments as we travel. Mainly I’m motivated by wanting to have them always available since I love having some every day and certainly reap the benefits. It has taken a bit of planning and finding space, but it is working. They all seem to like the winter desert.

   We’ve been gone 3 weeks now and it seems like a blink of the eye! Fulltimers have told us that the 10 years they’ve been traveling seem like nothing and that the times goes by so fast. There always seems to be something to do, something to see, another place to visit, people to meet…  

Leaving Jojoba Hills

  Jerry’s post 1-12-15

I did snag some of the lemons before leaving Jojoba! Here's a pic of my stash. I didn't even begin to make a dent on the loaded trees there. 

Fortunately, we were invited to watch the Seahawks-Panthers game with two other couples at one of the couples' nice 5th wheel RV. It was a great Seahawk party and chance to get to know more Jojoba folks. The hostess brought out some limoncello she had made (involves soaking lemon rinds in vodka). It was very good, and that encouraged me to go pick some more lemons. I quickly learned that lemon trees have these sharp things that try to snag clothing and skin, but managed to survive.

Here's a last look at the southern part of Jojoba from a hill we hiked up to the top of.

Linda’s Post 1-12-15

Sunday we left Jojoba Hills after being there for a week. We debated the several options for going south from there and settled on Hwy 78 through Julian and south on Hwy 79 to I-8. I had asked some ladies in the sewing room what they thought of that route and they said they’d rather be the driver since that narrow and winding road could be a nail-biter at times. I got to see up close what they meant! It is a beautiful drive and the change in terrain was fun to see. Many campgrounds along the way. Many turns, some of which turn right back around on yourself. Seeing the signs that shows curves with a 15 mph added to it had me hanging on. No pictures of that section of road! I’m thinking we won’t be going this way again any time soon. Narrow and no margin for error, but a full two lanes and paved. Definitely a road best traveled by motorcycle. It actually turned out to be helpful that it was totally overcast and rained on us here and there. No sun stabbing us in the eyes as we negotiated all those crazy turns.

It took much longer than we expected to get through the mountains from Aguanga to I-8. We weren’t done with mountains, however, and one section of I-8 we drove the 6% downgrade at 35 mph. (As posted for trucks). By the time we got to El Centro and stopped for gas it was already dark. Our GPS was less than helpful in finding a gas station for a big rig, so I got on the internet (love having a hotspot as we go!), checked Google, looked at them from the satellite view and found a truck stop. Those are nice because you know you can get the rig in and out and not have crazy corners to try to negotiate. There were about 20 semis parked so I asked if we could park for the night and they said, “sure, no problem!” That’s all I wanted! I was so tired I didn’t care where we were. Besides fighting another cold and feeling it, I was not willing to push ourselves, get out to the desert and try to figure out where we were going in pitch black darkness! Quite the contrast from Jojoba Hills--semis all around us coming and going and running their engines. Earplugs are helpful.

This morning it was an easy hour drive to our piece of desert and I was so glad to be doing it in the daylight! Not only were the views fantastic, but scouting around to find just where we wanted to spend the next few days was better done in full daylight and in the truck. Snugged up against the mountains, it is so beautiful and peaceful here. We took so many pictures! And then the sunset put on quite a show so we had to get more of that, too. It was pleasantly warm, but not too warm today. Thermometer inside read 73 degrees mid-day, but with the windows open and a gentle breeze blowing through it was quite comfortable. I am so used to warm temps being combined with getting dark late in the summer that the 5:30 full darkness keeps taking me by surprise!

American Girl Mine Rd off of Ogilby Rd 

After all the fun and socializing at Jojoba Hills, I’m actually a bit relieved to be off by ourselves for a few days to catch up on things and rest.

The coordinates for where are currently are:  32.837858,-114.817858   If you put that into Google maps search window, it will show you where we are camped.