What were we thinking!

After sitting for awhile in Petaluma, we decided a road trip was in order.  We decided to head for the back roads of Nevada with a stop in Death Valley along the way.  Now one would think that after traveling full time for over 20 years we would have factored in two obvious considerations:  weather and the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.  Neither crossed our minds until Sue Malone mentioned it had been 111F in Furnace Creek the first of May on one of their trips.  We smartly decided to pass on Death Valley until a more appropriate time.

So off to Nevada we go.  Our first stop in NV was at the Escapee's Pair 'A Dice park in Pahrump.  It was 101F!  What were we thinking!  We stayed one night and headed for Tonopah, thinking the high desert would have lower temps.  It was not to be.  Tonopah was one of the main reasons we made this trip.  Howard was fascinated with the name and thought it would have lots of sightseeing possibilities as well as "maybe. a little piece of acreage we could pick up cheap".  Ha!  The first obstacle was finding a place to stay.  There were 2 Passport America parks that, forgive me for saying, looked more like junk yards.  In fact the town was run down and decrepit looking.  We finally found a decent RV park north of town.  Sorry I don't remember the name.

The next major obstacle was the realization that the upcoming Memorial Day weekend was upon us and we had made no reservations.  Didn't even give it a thought.  So we headed to Fernley, NV and started our search for a place to park for a few days.  There were 2 Passport America parks.  The first one we stopped at was full as was most every park in town.  They did make a few calls for us and found the Desert Rose, a Passport America park, had one site left.  It was 30' and we said no problem, we could squeeze in.  We ended up staying 6 nights at half price ($16.50). Fernley is near I-80, Reno and Carson City.  We took a few drives around the area and decided Nevada would probably not be on our list of potential places to settle down.  What were we thinking!

  

Returning to Petaluma

Leaving Pismo Beach, we drove to Petaluma where we stayed 5 nights at the Elks Lodge RV parking. We enjoyed a dinner out with family; son Norm, daughter in  law Wendy, and 10 year old granddaughter,
Christina, at Dempsey's Brew Pub, one of our favorite local places.

From Petaluma, we headed to Rocklin (near Sacramento) to spend time with Howard's daughter Stephanie, and son in law Gary.  They just moved into a beautiful new house.  We miss our cushy parking privileges at their old place in Loomis, but it's great to see them being able to buy their own place.

It's also Stephanie's 60th birthday party on April 18th, and Gary has a big BBQ planned with lots of friends and work associates invited and it is a surprise.  She thought that just one other couple was joining us and was
quite surprised as the door bell continued to ring and more people arrived.  While there we stayed at the nearby Loomis RV Park.  The park was old with several permanent residents and also quite expensive.  It was very convenient to Steph and Gary's place but we're going to have to find another location the next time we visit. Maybe one of the Elks Lodges in nearby towns.

We returned to Petaluma on April 24th and have been here ever since, once again staying at the Elks Lodge.  This is such a convenient location for sightseeing in the Bay Area. San Francisco is 30 miles south, Bodego Bay and the beach towns to our west, and the beautiful Napa Valley Wine country to our east.   Tomorrow is Mother's Day and we will drive the car down to Half Moon Bay to be with daughter Terri and her family.  They're fixing brunch at their house.  Fun times!

Around Petaluma....

On to Pismo Beach

March 25 to April 10th:

With motorhome repairs complete we headed for Pismo Beach.  The North Beach State Park was closed for repairs so we stayed at the Elks Lodge in Oceano. We had several days before the Half Moon Bay family were to arrive giving us ample opportunity to visit our friend Edna who lives in nearby Nipomo.

Terri, Clint, Liliana, and Damien arrived on the 4th of April for 4 days.  As luck would have it the condo they rented was right across the street from the Elk's Lodge.  We visited every beach in the area so Terri could look for glass for her necklace creations.  She does really nice work.

The following photos were taken at the Avila Beach pools and hot springs:

Around Pismo Beach

Four days in Bakersfield

March 21 through March 24th:

Dear Reader, this is a post to remind me of where we've been and what we've done, strictly for journal purposes.  Not very exciting reading, but serves to let me know for future reference.

We were originally heading to Bakersfield for an overnighter at the popular Orange Grove RV Park but  life had other plans.  On the drive over Highway 58 our motorhome started acting up again (this happened once before); cutting out, jerky shifting and it continued on, gradually getting worse.  So as luck would have it we ended up at the Cummins Diesel Repair. As it was near closing time they parked us with full hookups and said they would get to us first thing in the morning.

Right on schedule they took us into the bay and started going over the possibilities of just what was causing our problem.  It didn't take long.  Clogged fuel filters due to getting some bad gas.  They were soon replaced and we were good to go.

Oh no, not so quickly.  By the way there is a recall on your air compressor and we need to replace it. That turned out to be one giant task.  They had to remove the air filter, the water pump, and the hydraulic pump just to get to the compressor. This was a 2 1/2 day project and necessitated us finding things to do during the day as we couldn't go into the work area or be in the coach. We dined out at all the fast food chains which were conveniently located nearby.  We took our Kindles with us and read a bit.  One day we drove up to Lake Isabella, a beautiful drive.

Finally we were done.  The fuel filter replacements were the only items we had to pay for.  The major task of replacing the air compressor was free for us, just time spent.

We're now ready to head out and continue our travels to Pismo Beach for a meet-up with the family,
Just another blip when life has other plans for you.

Tucson and a return to Borrego Springs

We were in Tucson for 2 weeks and for the life of me, I don't know what all we did.  We did get the carpet, tile, and ceiling cleaned by Kyle of Complete Carpet Cleaning in Benson.  Luckily he comes to Tucson.  I would highly recommend him.  We did do the mandatory trip to Costco.

We got together a couple of times with good friends Rodger and Sharon.  Rodger does wood-carving and his pieces are beautiful.  He gifted me a Kokopelli carving I had been drooling over.

We met Al for dinner one night at the casino for prime rib.  He has been traveling with a SOLOs group.  They provide lots of activities for their members.  He is always doing something.

There were a few short walks at Tucson Mt. park.  With my sciatica I can't walk very far or stand for any length of time which is seriously a pain in the ass for me. Walking has always been my thing!

We decided we wanted to go back to Anza Borrego to see the wildflower superbloom.  We were not disappointed.  Since the temps were high we stayed at an RV park in town as we didn't want to be couped up inside running the generator in order to boondock out in the desert which would have been our first choice.

We took off early on a Monday morning hoping to beat the crowds.  The weekend was gridlock with traffic at all the popular locations.  The flowers were at their peak.  We even found some cacti blooming up in Glorieta Canyon.

Yuma to Ajo

We got our couch back from Ricardo, the upholsterer, and it is absolutely beautiful.  I am so pleased with his and Arlene's work.  They gave us a time frame that fit in with our month-long stay and delivered right on time.  I would highly recommend them if you happen to be in Yuma; 928.919.3950.

After a month in Yuma in an RV park, we anxiously headed to Ajo, and Darby Well Rd. for some boondocking time in this beautiful location.  We seem to be repeating years past as we return to our favorite places.  The sunsets, the mountain views, the funny gesturing saguaros, the quaint artsy town
all at our fingertips.

Anza Borrego to Yuma by way of Quartzsite

Our final days in Anza Borrego were highlighted by the arrival of Canadian friends, Dan and Heather.  Not only did they come for a visit, but brought dinner with them.  Now that's some super-special friends.

In Quartzsite we spent a few days boondocking at Hi Jolly BLM just north of town.  The big tent RV show opened on January 21 and Howard went down the next day to look for a few products we use on a regular basis.  The only vendor he could find was the Orange Oil wood products. He was hoping to find the Dri Wash'N Guard cleaner we use on the motorhome's exterior, plus a water filter, and a few tools.  These we can find in Yuma.

We spent a great afternoon visiting with Nan and John Talley who are parked at La Posa South.  Like many of our friends, we first met the Talleys in Anza Borrego two years ago.  The following day we all met for pizza at Silly Al's; the Tallys brought Sandie and Jim Dixon, and we invited friend Al, who was parked with the Escapees SOLO group. It was great to meet Sandie and Jim and see Nan and John again.

On to Yuma!  We have a list of projects and repairs needing to be done and Yuma is the perfect locale
with access to all or most of our needs.  We decided to stay at an RV park with full hookups for a change and decided on Caravan Oasis in the Foothills area east of town.  It is an old park but we thought the monthly price of $535 was reasonable.

First was to find someone to reupholster our living room couch.  Our friend Beth, who lives in Yuma, provided a great rcomendation.  Ricardo and Arlene came over with samples and prices.  We picked a vinyl beige (Sand) color.  Ricardo measured and Arlene soon provided us with a price which we thought was very reasonable.  Our 16 year old couch was soon dismantled and hauled away.  If we are satisfied with their work we will have our remaining 3 chairs done next year.

I also found Ron's Mobile Screen Door repair and he came out right away and replaced the old screen that had been damaged by one of the granddogs running through it.  We have an appointment with a mobile RV service and repair place.  We are hoping they can fix a water leak we have around our slide by replacing the rubber seal.  We also need to get our Hurricane heater functioning which has been the source of some not so nice language over the years after dealing with one problem after another.

By now we are needing some fun.  Friends Beth and Chris invited us over for dinner at their new home in the Foothills.  We had a wonderful time catching up and enjoyed a great dinner.

Once we have most of the repair work done, we can concentrate on getting to Algodones for a check-up with our dentist, Dr. Jorge Cortez.  We both have issues we need to attend to.

So no beautiful pictures to share. And not very exciting commentary.  We all have these times when things need to be done and not much time for sightseeing.  We did drive over to Ogilby Road to check out the boondocking sites.  We will definitely go there on our next boondocking outing.  Also keeping an eye on Anza Borrego as the wildflowers will soon be blooming.  Hoping for a good season after all the rain we have had.  And speaking of weather, the winds have died down and we  have been enjoying sunny days with highs in the mid 70s here in Yuma.

Until next time~~~