Boomerville gets busy

  We left Ehrenberg for Quartzsite on Jan 15th, arriving in Boomerville held at Scaddan Wash. There were a number of rigs already here even though it hadn't officially started. We were #34. It was great fun to be reunited with friends made last year and to meet new ones. Last year there was a total of about 110 or 120 rigs coming and going during the 2 weeks. This year by the official start date we already had nearly that many! The word has gotten out that this is a fun place to be.

   We are only a few days into the activities and already the schedule is filling up. Since I was here early, I was able to get my "The Why and How of Veggie Ferments" class done right away. It was well attended and well received. I enjoyed the feedback and sharing the fermented foods I love so much and have done so much to improve my health and energy. I have had several people express disappointment in missing the class because of something else they were doing, so I may have to see if I can find time on the schedule to do a repeat.
   I have enjoyed a few nights around the campfire and have played my tenor recorder to an appreciative audience. Last night I was able to join in with some ukulele players and we made music together! It's always fun to find other musicians. I anticipate more musical fun.
   We braved the crowds and went in to the Big Tent RV Show today briefly and met a few people we knew. We saw lots of interesting things and bought 4 postcards! Then we got groceries and made it back in time for the announcements at Happy Hour.
   This evening there was a presentation on RV travel in Europe by a guy who takes 6 - 8 small rigs (they call them Caravans in Europe) on tour in several places in Europe. The pictures were beautiful and it made me want to do that. What a fun way to do any European country!

A little art project

the design

   While at Jojoba, Diana inspired me with her stained glass painting on her rig's door window. I remarked that I would like to do that, and she generously gave me her paints and all the extras that she had picked up at a garage sale to play with. She said she'd get them from me at Quartzsite, so I had a deadline!
  I had plenty of time to work on my project while we were at Ehrenberg and worked on it a little every day. First I did some research on stained glass designs as well as techniques for using these Gallery Glass paints. Jerry really wanted a hummingbird, so I looked at a lot over pictures over a couple of days and finally came up with the design elements I most wanted and set to work. He was very pleased with the final design, so I did a trial run using a part of the design to get a feel for the paints. When dry it makes a kind of window sticky and can be carefully pealed off.  I was very pleased with the results and started in on the 'real thing'!
   Once nice feature is that you can do your leading paint line on the 'leading sheet' and then fill in the colored areas and let it dry, then peel it off and put it on the window. That's how I did my test one. For the large window, I did large portions of the design on the leading sheet, then when it came time to put it on the window, I removed the window and finished the design on the table. A cardboard piece had to be put in the window since it took all night to dry. But when I got it put back in, I was really happy with the results! Unfortunately, I ran out of paint, so I will have to get more and finish it, but it is at a stage where I can finish the window in place. Although it's a bit awkward to balance on the top step, holding the door with my foot and trying not to lean on the screen door!



making the test design

my test window sticky!

the leading for the final project

Mostly done. The white areas are now dried to clear and it is still on the table do dry.

Boondockers at Ehrenberg

Dramatic clouds

  After leaving Jojoba Hills, we headed on to Ehrenberg, AZ to meet up with the Escapees Boondockers Birds of a Feather (BOF) group. We had shopping to do first, so we drove north into Palm Desert, stocked up and spent the night at Spotlight 29 Casino.


hiking back up from  the canyon

red cactus seen on the hike

  On Tuesday, we arrived in the early afternoon, our first time to actually meet up with the Boondockers group, although we have had their newsletters for the last year. The have meet-ups for 14 days in various places usually one right after the other, with different combinations of people. It was a nice sized group, plenty of people to talk to, but not so big you didn't get to know the names everyone. There were several old-timers and we enjoyed hearing their stories of life on the road and how things have changed. There were a few newer people like ourselves and several in between. Many are early risers and get up to have 'cowboy coffee' over the fire at 7:00am. I made it out there one morning when there were still people hanging around talking. I'm not that much of a morning person! Happy Hour was earlier than we were used to at 3:00pm, but that's because in early January, the sun sets so quickly. A couple of nights there was a fire, so I sat out and chatted with the few hardy souls who were out there. There were some days too windy or cold to sit by the fire, but some days were beautiful.

We are parked on top of the mesa

   The view from up on the mesa where we were was quite beautiful, overlooking the valley into the town of Blythe, CA, a mere 4 miles away on the other side of the CA/AZ border. It made for some interesting moments when we were trying to figure out which time zone to use! Our phones were using Pacific Time, but I changed the rig clocks to Mountain Time.
   The day after arriving, we joined the group in Blythe at the Sizzler Steakhouse for dinner. It was a large bunch and fun to see most everyone in the group at once. I was hoping it would help me to figure out who was who, but it still took me several days to get everyone sorted out.


desert artwork

   On one of the days, several of us went on a hike down into the canyon and along the dry wash and then back up. We saw coyote prints all over, some scat of varying kinds, and likely javelina hoof prints. Someone saw a lizard, which I missed, but I was able to see one another day.
  Another day I went shopping with a few of the ladies in Blythe. We checked out the Walmart and a thrift store and then got groceries before heading back. They also drove by the best place in the area to dump tanks and fill the fresh water, always a good thing to know!
  Jerry and I went into town one day to do the laundry and brought back some damp clothes to hang dry, rigging up dry lines from the ladder on the back to the truck. One experienced RVer who washes their own laundry using a hand crank washer and spinner came over and offered the advice to use tent poles for stringing the drying lines up. I will have to look into that! Clothes dry quickly here, and the dryers eat up quarters.

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.

  

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.