Running Ahead of the Storm

Posted from Sommerville Almond Tree RV Park, Coalinga, CA.

Yesterday we drove 350 miles in seven hours through some fog that was pretty heavy at times. That is way more than we like to travel in any one day.  The reason is an approaching windstorm, there will be 45 mph winds with gusts to 70 mph.  That would stop us from going any further for a couple of days and we want to get to Desert Hot Springs to have lobster bisque at Shanghai Reds Friday evening.  So today we are going to make another long run (311 miles), to try and beat this storm.  Todays forecast calls for more of that heavy fog.  We have always avoided Los Angeles and it’s legendary traffic, but today it can’t be avoided so here we go.  The best part of pushing ourselves will be an extra two days in Palm Springs, even if it’s going to be windy for a few days there too.

Day Two

Two days of nice driving weather finds us at Redding CA. I'm posting this on my iPhone.

Gorgie enjoying the sun in Redding

Seven Feathers RV

More Later,

Rich

Just About Ready to Hit the Road

We have finalized our route and itinerary to the Rio Grande Valley so here it is.

Return of the Winter Texans 2011/12

1- 11-27-10 Seven Feathers Casino RV Resort, Canyonville, OR 212mi. 877-839-3599

2- 11-28-10 Redding, CA (GS) JGW RV 225mi. 800-469-5910 $32-40

3- 11-29-10 Patterson, CA (P.A.) Kit Fox RV 209-892-2638 247mi. $38

4- 11-30-10 Bakersfield, CA (GS) Orange Grove RV 661-366-4662 217mi.$30

5- 12-02-10 Desert Pools RV Resort, Desert Hot Springs, CA 214mi. Res. # 37743

6- 12-06-11 (PA) Saddle Mt. RV Tonopah 218mi. 623-386-3892 $15

7- 12-07-11 Dad’s Tucson, AZ 157mi. from Tonopah

8- 12-09-11 Depart for the RGV, (PA) Low-HI RV Deming NM 224mi. 575-546-4058 $16

9- 12-12-11 KOA, Van Horn, TX 216mi. 432-283-2728 $38

10- 12-13-11 Marathon Motel & RV Park,(PA) Marathon, TX 130mi. 432-386-4241 $12.50

11- 12-14-11 Ft. Clark Springs, Brackettville, TX 204mi. 830-563-9340 $21.50

12- 12-17-11 Four Seasons RV, Zapata, TX 229mi. 956-765-4241

13- 12-20-11 Kenwood RV, La Feria, TX 866-786-4112 121mi.

The motorhome is ready to go, we have loaded almost all our “stuff”, and plan to pull out of here Sunday at about 9:30AM.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with our family, we are going to miss everyone very much.

 

Mr. Turkey turned out very well, a good time was had by all.

More Later,

Rich

What Did I Do For My Summer Vacation?

Well it was a long, hot summer here in the pacific northwest.  We did some major cleaning and brush removal to the front of our property.  Gloria’s sister Gail helped with a lot of the work and she was a tremendous help. 

We took a couple of weeklong trips to the coast, Ocean Shores Washington is one of our favorite places.  This was our “home” park with Western Horizons.  WH sold the park and our contract to K-M Resorts, so we decided to buy into their system and pick up RPI to expand our options since it doesn’t look like WH will be around much longer.  These memberships help us control our expenses while on the road.

We celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary with a trip to Las Vegas.  We always stay at the Fitz on Fremont street and have not had to pay for our room in years.  This year I asked for and was given a suite, they picked us up at the airport in a limo, paid for all our meals and drinks for the five days we were there. Oh and they took us back to the airport in the limo too, sweet.

We have been running around getting ourselves and the motorhome ready for our winter migration south.  We leave here on Sunday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 27th).  This year we are returning to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas because we loved it there and have some deer friends we want to see who are already there.  We should be there before Christmas.  Deb and Jerry are going to join us again this year in their motorhome.  I’ll post our itinerary here soon.

More Later,

Rich

 

How to Find the Nicest People

For a while now we have been smelling diesel around the engine when we have stopped.  I had an appointment at Southern Oregon Diesel to have our rig serviced and the source of the smell diagnosed.  I had looked at the engine and I could not find anything. The other day we noticed that it was getting worse (drips under the coach). So yesterday we were pulling out for Oregon and I decided to pull into the rest area at Shasta Lake.  Well the fuel was pouring out. A decision was made to turn around and go to Cummins West back in Redding, that was the best thing we could have done. We lost several gallons of fuel in the 15 mile drive, the rear of the coach was covered, as well as the “Pod Racer”.  Just as we turned into their parking lot the engine started to miss, and I knew we never would have made it more than another 15 miles north and we would have had to be towed to a shop.

The nice folks at Cummins were able to get us in right away, the leak was found to be a fitting that had vibrated loose, and was simply screwed back on and tightened.  While there I had them do the service so I wouldn’t have to stop again in Roseburg.  If we had been towed to another shop we could have been at their mercy and had to pay whatever they wanted, probably more than the $285.00 Cummins charged. I had fears of the injector pump going out and that costs around $1700.00 plus 5 or 6 hours of labor.

That said we have sure been fortunate to find some very capable and honest people when we have had problems, so if you want to find some of the nicest people just break down in Redding and come to Cummins West.

We wound up staying the night in Redding at the Green Acres RV Park, and will be heading out shortly for the Seven Feathers RV Resort in Canyonville, OR, and then home on Wednesday.

Sorry I never thought to take any pictures.

More Later,

Rich

Long Time No Post

We have been plagued with poor internet service for a long time now, so posting was not an option or too slow.

We are currently headed for home and are in Patterson, CA for two nights then it’s off to Redding and then over the pass into Oregon early next week.

Debbie and Jerry are traveling with us and we have had some great times together. One of the highlights was a trip to Death Valley, there is sure some rugged scenery there.

Here is the lowest point in the US, (click on the picture to enlarge the sign).

The Sea Level sign was way up the side of the mountain.

They have an interesting museum with artifacts from the 20 mule team borax mining days.

Get up on a high spot and you can see forever.

There is wildlife down here this guy was looking for a handout.

Another trip we took was to the Salton Sea south of Palm Springs this is also an area below sea level but not quite as low. The Salton Sea is –227 ft. while Death Valley is –282 ft.

The Salton Sea is a lake with fish and birds. Everything was camera shy that day so no pictures, sorry.

Our Palm Springs stay was very enjoyable, as was Pahrump. A five day stay there was extended to eleven waiting on some weather to pass, we had hoped to see Pam and Steve in Reno but gave up that idea because we didn’t want to travel in what looked to be some winter weather (freezing temps, and the possibility of snow showers). So we headed west to extend our sunny warm weather for a few days. That brings us to the Kit Fox RV Park in Patterson, we are well off the freeway and we are enjoying the green hills, it’s good to see green again.

More Later,

Rich

A Walk in the Desert, Flowering Cacti, and a Geocache

We are at Desert Pools RV in Desert Hot Springs with Debbie and Jerry. We were supposed to be in Indio at Indian Waters, where we had reservations for three months.  There was a terrible accident on I-10 coming from Ehrenberg and we arrived about an hour later that planned and all of the full hookup sites were taken, and they wanted to put us in a gravel site with no sewer and that was not an option for the laundry lady. So we called the reservation desk and they changed our park to Desert Pools. We spent three weeks here in December and like it here, so here we are.

Yesterday we went for a walk in the desert to see the blooming cacti.

 

Blooms on the Beavertail Cactus

I purchased a handheld GPS so I could continue my new hobby of geocacheing. It works very well and I drug everyone along on my search and I found it.

The Geocache is found.

Flowers on the Buckhorn Cholla

Barrel Cactus

Today is Jerry’s 61st birthday so we are going to Sunday Brunch at the Fantasy Springs Casino, it promises to be another wonderful day.

Happy Birthday Jerry!!

More Later,

Rich

Living the Good Life Part Two

The last two weeks with Bill and Donna have been wonderful.

Bill

Donna

Tigger

These photos were taken at Hidden Beaches RV park just north of Blythe on the California side of the river. A nice place with spaces right on the Colorado River but at $44.00 a night I doubt they will see our rig there. We bought a couple of beers and enjoyed the shade and view for a while.

I told you about Bill and I doing some geocaching, well we were finally stumped.

The one that got away.

Right where the “?” is, is the lost treasure. The GPS said we were in the right place, the clue said it was buried in the loose sand but we could not find it .

Bill and Donna pull out today, and we travel to Indian Waters in Indio to meet up with Debbie and Jerry in the morning. So today after we say our goodbyes it will be time to pack our stuff and get ready to go.

It’s sad when you say goodbye to friends while Living the Good Life on the Banks of the Colorado River.

More Later,

Rich

Living the Good Life on the Banks of the Colorado River

We have been having such a good time here at the Colorado River Oasis in Ehrenberg, AZ, that I have been too lazy to post about it. Sorry!

This is a favorite place for us and our friends Bill and Donna from Colorado arrived at the same time we did and it has been busy, busy ever since.

On their way to meet us they stopped and bought a new 2011 Damon Astoria, a very nice motorhome.

Bill and Donna in front of their new rig.

The ladies have been going to a “Walk away the pounds” exercise class and Bill and I have been going for walks in the desert.

Recently we decided to try some geocaching, this is where you look up the location of a treasure “cache” on the net then input the location into your gps then try to find it.

Bill and our first find.

This has proven to be a lot of fun and some good exercise as well as a challenge.

We all took a drive to the Blythe Intaglios, (intaglios are prehistoric carvings in the earth). Along the way we found another cache. It was hidden in the Monument for the site.

The Intaglio cache.

Monument

Click on the picture to read about the intaglios.

They are so large that the best way to see them is from a plane (we didn’t have one handy). But it was interesting to see, they may be 10,000 years old by the way.

This one is either a lion of a horse, who knows.

It’s time to head out on another of those adventures.

More Later,

Rich

Travel Mode

A visit to the White Sands National Monument was a real treat. This place is a wonderful place to see.

This is not snow, but gypsum sand.

We bought a sled at the gift shop and took it out to the dunes.

The trek to the top and the slide down was fun.

We had a great day playing like kids.

Then it was back to Arizona.

We have been traveling and visiting this last week. We stopped in St. David, AZ at the WHR resort there for two nights. We met up with Gloria’s cousin Terry and his better half Mary. Oh and their three little doggies too.  They live in Bend, OR, we live in Brush Prairie, WA and we have to meet up for lunch in Tucson.  A very nice lunch and visit was had.

From St David we went to Tucson and parked on the street in front of my Dad’s house for our second visit with him and Marge. We played dice and had a couple of great meals out with them.

Marge is growing some nice Orchids.

Dad is looking well.

We are now traveling across Arizona and will be on the Colorado River in Ehrenberg tonight, for two weeks with our friends Bill and Donna.

More Later,

Rich

Las Cruces, New Mexico

We are in Las Cruces, NM for a couple of days.  Yesterday we went to the “old town” area of Mesilla. There was a market going on in the plaza. We looked around, had lunch, and shopped for some souvenirs. This is a quaint old part of town from the 1850’s. The building that Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to hang in is now a shop, that we felt the need to spend some cash in. Sorry the camera didn’t come along.

We drove west on US-90 and on the way out of the town of Marfa there is a sign that says “no services for 74 miles”. Well it was wrong, at exactly halfway to Van Horn we found this.

Click on the picture to enlarge it and you can see the shoes and purses.

It’s not a real store just art, out in the middle of the West Texas desert.

For more information Click Here or Here 

Yesterday morning I was on the computer checking the weather and saw that 60 MPH winds were forecasted so we got on the road and made it here early and beat the winds, that also gave us a good part of the day to look around.

We are going to explore the local area some more today, and if the winds cooperate we’ll go to the White Sands National Monument tomorrow.

We have lost our website (renewal notices went to spam). So if you are here you used gorgieandrich.blogspot.com. If you talk to anyone who can’t get on let them know.

More Later,

Rich

Catch-up Time

We have been plagued with some poor internet connections.  The speeds were just too slow to post anything.

Zapata, TX

We spent two nights at the Four Seasons RV Resort on the shores of Falcon Lake, (the same Falcon Lake that a jet skier was shot by pirates).  We had a spot overlooking a bay of the lake.

We spent the day there exploring the area and sitting in the sun reading.  Everyone we met were very friendly and we would consider staying here longer next time.

Fort Clark Springs Brackettville, TX

This place is a keeper. The whole complex is 2400 acres, it has a golf course and residential areas. The RV park is just a small part of the complex. It was originally a Calvary fort, and home to the “Buffalo Soldiers” during the civil war.  It was decommissioned in 1944 and has been developed into the resort that it is now.  Many of the original building remain and are in use today.                      ( LINK to Ft. Clark ).

The RV park is very nice and the people there are very friendly.  Here is the best part for us.

The wildlife here is so tame and they visit every day (people feed them). 

These we were told were imported to the area for their meat, we didn’t learn what they are.

This guy was spotted down by the springs.

We walked along the river flowing from the spring and enjoyed the huge old oaks.

Then the turkeys came calling there were a couple dozen in this brood. I had put out some bird seed we have.

Another wonderful place to return to.

Marathon, TX

We are in Marathon, TX at the Marathon Motel and RV park.  We stayed here on our way down for an overnight stop and decided to stay here again. our original thoughts were to maybe see the Big Bend National Park. But when we looked a little closer and discovered that it would be a 300 mile drive in a day we decided to do that when we have more time.

Sunrise In Marathon.

We are going to spend the day exploring the local town and area.

Well that catches you up with were we have been for last few days, we are truly living the good life.

More Later,

Rich

Last Day in the Rio Grande Valley

We went to the Longhorn Cattle Company for lunch with our fellow winter Texans for a great BBQ lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were twelve of us, Harold & Pam, Duane & Barb, Ken & Kathy, Dave & Sherry, and Gary & Mellissa (not pictured).

We have surely enjoyed their company while down here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gorgie had the loaded baked potato (loaded with chopped BBQ brisket).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I enjoyed the smoked chicken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A everyone had a great meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The desert was a to die for Banana Cream Pudding.

Thanks again folks for the wonderful times.

More Later,

Rich and Gloria