New Years Eve

Here we are at the end of another wonderful year. Do you have plans to ring in the new year? We do, they are having a DJ in the park playing 50's and 60's music, but I doubt we'll go, just like always we'll likely spend the evening watching the new year happen on the TV. Much safer and a whole lot cheaper. There are lots of people in town for the holidays and everything is pretty much booked up anyway, parking downtown is even a challenge. The wait to go up the mountain was 3 hours long according to the local news. So this last week we have been pretty lazy and other than Gorgie leading the exercise class in the mornings, and going for some walks we have been reading and surfing the net a lot.

There was a great sunset the other day, the scenery around here is just beautiful.

More Later,

Rich

 

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Merry Christmas

 

Gorgie and I want to wish you all a

Very Merry Christmas.

Follow this link for some Christmas spirit

http://youtu.be/SXh7JR9oKVE

 

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Ruben and Ozzy's

We were early for dinner at Ruben and Ozzy's on Friday so we decided to take a walk on Palm Drive in downtown Palm Springs. We found Las Casuelas and decided to stop for a margarita or two. We have never been anywhere with a larger selection of tequila.

There were actually more than I could get in one picture, but we had to walk back to the car so we couldn't try

Them all but they had killer "Top Shelf" Cadillac Margarita's. We plan to return and sample their food soon.

Dinner at R&O's was all we had hoped it would be. These two brothers were a favorite of ours in the area. Their menu is similar to Shanghai Reds and the quality is just as good if not better. We started out with the Mexican Poke, and that set the bar pretty high for the rest of our meal.

Our dinner were the taco's, Gorgie had a grilled shrimp and I had one shrimp and one fish both fried. I don't think we have ever had any that were as good and certainly not any better.

We were wondering if the atmosphere would compare with Shanghai Reds, well it's different a bit more modern and a larger space.. They remembered us from past visits and were very friendly as usual, they even said "welcome home". It seems like every time we left S.R. we hugged someone that we had just met. Well R&O'S was no different. We talked with some folks who we had seen and said hello to before and had a great visit, oh and a hug too.

More Later,
Rich

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Hanging out in Palm Springs

We could easily spend the entire winter in this area, there is lots to do, good places to eat and nice weather. That said we are looking forward to traveling to some other areas that we like as we'll. We were watching the local news the other day and we noticed that the advertising was sure directed at people more our age, there are no happy meal ads at all. When is the last time you saw an ad for a Rolex watch? Or watched Tony the dancing barber pitch hearing aids?

We have had lots of visits from this little guy but he is a bit camera shy..

He comes to the window next to where I sit and he will look in every once in a while, but as soon as I pick up the camera off he goes, maybe he is a Mexican hummer and if I give him a dollar he will pose for me.

This is the other view I have every morning as the sun comes up.

We have couple of favorite places that we like to eat at one that I have written about before is Shanghai Reds where they have killer lobster bisque and shrimp or fish tacos. We have always loved the interaction of the chefs watching them prepare the food. Well they have moved on and opened their own place, Ruben and Ozzy's. we plan to visit them this evening and a report will have to come in the next post. By the way the food was just as delicious as ever at Shanghai Reds so we will continue to there too.

More Later,

Rich

 

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Desert Pools RV in Desert Hot Springs

We made the move from Indian Waters to Desert Pools last Saturday with no problems ( it was after all a 26 mile treck). We are in one of our favorite sites it may even be the same one we had last year. It is winter in the desert and the temperatures have cooled off a bit to the 60's with some clouds but no rain, there is a wind warning for this afternoon we'll see. Looking at the weather at home we are not missing the winter storm at all.

Our Charlie Brown Christmas tree is up and we are in the holiday mode around here, listening to carols on the satellite radio. There will be a potluck here for Christmas dinner that we may attend or maybe not.

Since we got here we have not done much of anything except go to the store, and it is sure relaxing, Gorgie continues to devour books I've told her to slow down or she'll run out of reading material. I'm not as fast as she is.

More Later,

Rich

 

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Rain in the Desert

 

 

Yesterday morning this is what the sunrise looked like. You know that old sailors saying, "Red sky in the morning sailors take warning". Well it worked here, shortly after taking this shot it started to rain not a hard rain but just a drizzle that lasted most of the day. The TV weather watchers were out on the streets and people were saying how the rain made it feel more like Christmas, go figure. There were events canceled because of it, by the way it measured .12 inches. We drove through a storm that dropped 6 inches in a 12 hour window, now that's some rain. By the way they have had a grand total of 1.94 inches for the whole calendar year. There is a line of snow on the tops of the mountains.

Anyway we spent the day in, reading and playing games, kind of a Jammie day. We ended up ordering in a pizza so it was a really lazy day. Today we need to go to the store to buy some supplies because we move tomorrow to Desert Hot Springs for three weeks that's a drive of about 27 miles, so we won't even hook up the car. Tonight we are going to Shanghai Reds for lobster bisque, and some awesome seafood.

It has come to our attention that some folks think of us as being on "vacation", we are not. You take a vacation to get away from your everyday lives and WORK, this time of year we travel south to the more shorts and tee shirts type weather. We pretty much keep the same routines we have at the house except we have a much smaller space. So this is as comfortable and as much home to us as we are in Brush Prairie. Oh yeah I can go read my book outside in the sun ;-).

More Later,

Rich

 

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How we spent our winter in Palm Springs

The last couple of days we have spent our time relaxing and reading our books. Gorgie read a book in less than two days, I'm not so fast. We have a wonderful site with more patio area than most so it is comfortable sitting around.

Hot air balloons pass over us almost every morning and evening.

This tree is just across from us, nice in the evening light.

For a change of pace we hired some guys so we could watch them wash and wax our motor home.

 

Gorgie has her parade chair set up.

 

They did a great job too.

 

The sunsets are sure nice around here.

That's what we have been up to the last few days, oh by the way Gorgie went to an exercise class and was persuaded to take a pickleball lesson. On her first serve she pulled a muscle in her butt and is now sore, she needs to stop playing with these senior citizens they are too hard on her.

More Later,

Rich

 

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We have Arrived

After five days of driving through rain we are in the land of sunshine. Indian Waters has always been a favorite of ours, and the new owners have made a lot of needed repairs and improvements.

When we arrived yesterday it was 84.4 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. This morning I watched the sun come up in another cloudless sky, there were even a couple of hot air balloons in the neighborhood.

This morning we had our fresh juice on the patio.

I can't remember the last time I could do that. We are going to be here in Indio for a week then move to Desert Hot Springs a trip of only 26 miles. We will be there for three weeks, through the holidays.

This is the view out our front window.

Do you see any clouds?

 

Hard at relaxing.

Today it a much more reasonable 78 ;~).

More Later,

Rich

 

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Orange Grove RV in Bakersfield, CA

After two days of driving through rain, downpours at times we have arrived at Orange Grove RV Park. Other than the rain it was pretty much uneventful. This is a regular stop for us and we are staying for two nights so we can go to the store and relax a little.

This park is called Orange Grove because it is actually in an orange grove and we are welcome to pick the fruit.

So pick we did.

They smell soooo good even before picking.

 

Freshly picked

 

And oh-so sweet.

We plan on being at Indian Waters RV in Indio, CA on Friday we'll there until the 15th then we more a whole 26 miles to Desert Pools inDesert Hot Spring for three weeks.

More Later,

Rich

 

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Corning, CA

We made it over the pass with no problems. It was probably a good idea to wait that extra day. There were plenty of road lane closures and crews were cleaning up some of the messes. The only place we ran into any wind was in the Mt. Shasta area and that wasn't too bad. Our plan was to stop in Redding for the night, but the drive was going well so we pressed on to Corning and are at the Rolling Hills Casino (do you see a pattern here?). Anyway we went over for the buffet and called it an early night.

A very wet morning in Corning, CA

The plan for today is to drive to Kit Fox RV in Patterson for the night. It's raining pretty hard right now and the forecast calls for rain all day, that could make traffic in Sacramento challenging. Good thing it's only about a three hour drive.

We are excited to be headed to warmer, drier, sunnier weather the forecast for Palm Springs calls for 80 degrees and lots of sun.

More Later,

Rich

 

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Waiting in Canyonville

We had a pleasant drive yesterday south to the Seven Feathers RV Resort. But boy did it ever storm last night. All the streets were flooded with the downpour. So we decided to wait until Monday to go over the pass. Today's weather calls for more rain on the south side of the pass with winds in the 25-35 mph range, not a good combination for us, although we have watched several rigs pull out this morning. Don't know if they are all going south or not. We have until next Sunday to get to our first planned stay in Indio, CA.

Some habits return quickly though, Gorgie seems to have settled into her normal routine very nicely thank you. I think there is a Sunday Brunch in our immediate future, so I'll need to hit the shower soon.

More Later,

Rich

 

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The Patient is Thriving

 

I don't think I've ever noticed the freezer this cold before. The fridge is holding at a steady 37 degrees. All it takes is $$$ and all issues will be resolved.

Now all we need is the weather to cooperate. The next two days they are forecasting some heavy rains and high winds, so we are going to wait until Friday to leave. We may need to wait a day or two in Canyonville before we can get over the pass. Of course this past week has been perfect for travel, oh well.

This has put us a whole week later than originally planned, but we have adjusted our arrival and where we are staying. We have cancelled our two week stay at Colorado River Oasis and increased our visit to Desert Pools, we are going to CRO later in the season anyway.

Now we need to reload all our stuff that we had to remove so they could do their work.

More Later,

Rich

 

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Motor home is in the hospital

This is the new cooling unit being tested before installation. It has seemed like a long day just waiting for the call saying it's fixed and ready to pick up. We are looking at what changes we'll have to make to our schedule since it looks like we will be a week late. I'll post those here as soon as we make them.

More Later,

Rich

 

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There is Hope

Paul's RV in Orchards has agreed to slip us in tomorrow at 9:00 AM. Bob and Mikey picked up the new cooling unit today in Portland (I still don't have a truck), and they will install it then. We'll have to wait until Wednesday before firing up the fridge so we are hoping for a Friday escape.

Yesterday and today were perfect driving days and it would have been an easy drive over the pass. Now there is a storm coming in and we may have wait it out. If we can make it to Seven Feathers we can just wait there for an opportunity to assault the Siskiyou pass. Things are looking up.

More Later,

Rich

 

 

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Houston We Have a Problem

 

Gorgie took some of our frozen food and a bunch of condiments out to the refrigerator on Wed and all was well. On Friday I went out to take some stuff out and looked into the fridge and found the temperature rising. Well the cooling unit has failed and there is no cooling going on in there. It is my belief that the cooling unit itself has given up the ghost. Now of course being Thanksgiving there is no one to call before Monday.

The good news is that it happened before we hit the road and lost all our food as it was we found it in time and nothing was lost.

The bad news is that our departure will be delayed until it's fixed. These things cost around a $1000.00 plus installation and at this point we have no idea if it is available locally. Or if we can get into a repair shop, so the only thing we know for sure is we are stuck in the land of wet and cold for at least a week. If we can't get into a shop but we can get the parts I may try the repair myself.

Watch here for the latest developments.

More Later,

Rich

 

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Getting Ready to Hit the Road

We have been spending lots of time making lists, and preparing for the start of our annual snowbird trip south. The motor home is ready to go, and we have both packed most of our clothes (we don't need our shorts around here right now).

 

We plan to drive south on I-5 and sped our first night at the Seven Feathers Casino RV Park. Deb and Jerry are driving down to see us off and we'll have a nice farewell dinner there. This is just the right distance from the siskiyou pass. If the weather doesn't cooperate we can spend another night or two there.

We will be leaving our furry friend behind but maybe next year she can come along. Chrystal has been spending more and more time in the house with us and we will surely miss her.

The rest of this week will be spent preparing for and cooking for the 25 or so guests that will share our Thanksgiving holiday.

See you on the road,

More Later,

Rich

 

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Getting Ready to Hit the Road

We are busy, busy, busy getting ready to hit the road for our annual snowbird travels. As much as we want to be spontaneous and not make too many plans here we are with "plans". So I thought I would share with you what we plan to do. Last year we had such a great time traveling up and down the "West coast of Arizona" that we are going to do much of the same. The elevation there is lower so it's warmer as well.

Here is what we have planned so far:

We will be departing on Sunday Nov. 25th and plan on a slow drive to Indio, CA (we have 8 days to get there).

Our first stay is in Indio, CA at Indian Waters RV Resort. We are there for a week Dec. 2 to 9.

From there we travel to Colorado River Oasis in Ehrenberg, AZ. This place is right on the Colorado River hence the term "West Coast of Arizona". We'll be there from Dec. 9 to 23.

The next stop will be at Desert Pools RV Park in Desert Hot Springs, CA. We are meeting some friends for Christmas and New Years. We are here from Dec. 23 until Jan. 9.

Next stop will be at Emerald Cove RV Resort in Earp, CA. This park may be in CA but the only town is Parker, AZ. So again we are right on the River.. We need to be here so Gorgie can get her hair done in Lake Havasu City.. We'll be there from Jan. 6th til the 20th.

From there we go to Pilot Knob RV Park in Winterhaven, CA. This is really Yuma, AZ just on the CA side. Our stay here is from Jan. 20 to Feb. 3rd.

Then it's back to Colorado River Oasis in Ehrenberg ( we really like this place).. This time from Feb. 3 to 17.

Our last planned stop will be for a week at the Ridgeview RV Resort in Bullhead City, AZ. This is across the river from Laughlin, NV ;~)..... We'll be there Feb. 17 to 24.

From there we will wander toward Tucson to see my Dad and visit the Benson, AZ area but we have no formal plans yet.

I hope you can follow us on our adventures.

More Later,

Rich

 

 

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Test Post Using Blogsy

This a new app I downloaded to my IPad, we'll see how it works.

We had a beautiful sunset out our back door the other day.

I intend to do a better job keeping up with our blog this year, last season I struggled.

More Later,

Rich

 

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Staying in Touch on the Road

Gadgets

We have acquired lots of devices to stay in touch while we travel around. First there is the old trusty laptop that is starting to show it’s age by slowing down like the rest of us, but is still a necessary piece of equipment. We do all our banking and bill paying with that. Then we both have IPad2’s that are great for reading email, news, web browsing, and blogs. I have not learned how to post to the blog or do other computing stuff yet so the laptop is not out of a job yet. Then there are the IPhone4’s we each have one of those too. You should see Gorgie she can use both at the same time. In the mornings with a cup of coffee she can play her word games, and read the Columbian online edition at once.  These devices are all connected to the internet with the Verizon MIFI 4510L, it has a built in router, we can both be online at the same time with no problems, of course the IPhones don’t always need to be connected to the MIFI but upgrades and some downloads go faster if they are. Oh and let’s not forget the little dumb phone that is now our “house phone”, (we don’t have wired phone at home anymore). We don’t get many calls on that, and it will go away soon enough.

Sunset on the Colorado River

Gary and Melissa visited yesterday afternoon, we met them in Texas last winter, they are staying in Quartzsite and dropped by to say hello. They are very nice people and it was good to see them and their new puppy “Tucson”. Thanks for coming by Gary and Melissa.

 

 

Rainbow yesterday morning

We had some clouds the night before last, no rain, but we spotted this rainbow shortly after dawn, lovely, lovely.

Today we are sitting out looking at the river enjoying the sun and basking in the 80 degree temperature. Life is good, we miss everyone and wish you all could be here with us.

More Later,

Rich