Chillin' in Madison, Virginia

A gray day in Madison, Virginia


Wednesday, March 25, 2009
An easy day…we’re just wasting time until we go to DC. It’s raining and gray, and Harris put on long pants for the first time in a long while. We dinked around Culpeper, a little shopping and geocaching. Harris found 8 today!
We neglected to mention our beautiful route here. The first time we came to NC, through Virginia, years ago, we drove down the Shenandoah Valley, and thought it was gorgeous. This area of North Carolina and Virginia is along the Blue Ridge Mountains. These wouldn’t be mountains out west, but here they are. They are blue. They are “big”. They are beautiful. We drove up Interstate 81, which isn’t as scenic as the Blue Ridge Parkway, but it is less curvy. We still enjoyed the scenic valleys, somewhat dotted with farms and ranches. The trees are a mix of pines and still bare hardwoods, but it is easy to imagine what it would look like in summer and fall. There are some trees blossoming, mostly the Bradford pears, with very white blossoms. We’ve also seen fields of daffodils, some planted, and some wild. Around the Biltmore House, tulips were beginning to bloom, along with magnolia trees.
But today it’s just gray and rainy. Guess we have to take our share of not-so-great weather. (I’m not calling it bad weather, cuz I don’t want to offend the weather gods and call down any snowstorms or tornadoes on the way home. **grin**)

Asheville N.C.

Judy at the scenic overlook outside Asheville


Tuesday, March 24, 2009
We were on working stiffs schedule and so we were up by 7:15 because Samantha was coming by for breakfast and to say goodbye to us (and to drop off Leyna). Dwight outdid himself with omelets, bacon (turkey bacon for health reasons), toast, juice, breakfast sausage roll, coffee and milk. We waddled out of Asheville around 9 AM heading up the Shenandoah Valley to get closer to Kyle in DC. We made one sorta long stop at a scenic overview. We walked up and up and up a looong way to the top, huffing and puffing all the way. (all that good food). The weather is getting colder but Harris refused to change out of shorts to long pants. We could see the temperature go down as we traveled north ‘til it finally hit 50 degrees where we pulled up for the night in Madison, Virginia. We’re about 100 miles away from Kyle so when we go, it will be a short drive. Not sure what we’re going to do tomorrow, but we do know that the weather calls for showers and a low tonight of 32 and a high tomorrow of 50. Presently, we have the electric heater on and we’re going to watch Body of Lies when we finish posting this blog. Some miscellaneous Howie info:
-we’ve been averaging between 20 and 21.5 (one 24mpg) going the speed limit (most of the time) of 65-75
-most diesel has been around $2 (1.83 was cheapest and 2.15 in WA the most expensive)
-we’ve been plugging in most every night (only used battery power 1 night)
-Howie has done well with the wind and with big trucks passing or passing big trucks
-Howie is for House on wheels!

Dwight and Leyna


Monday, March 23,2009
Dwight and Sana went to work in the morning, and the retired folk lazed around…it’s great to be the retired ones! In the afternoon, Dwight and Harris went geocaching close to home and found 8 caches! Sana and Judy went to the Folk Art Center to look at lots of craft items. Beautiful work, but too expensive to buy. Sana also took Judy on a tour of the really big homes in Biltmore Forest…and we do mean really big homes! She knew several of the people who owned them, and often remarked how just 1 or 2 people lived in these mansions. They were incredible to see. Dwight and Harris cooked a great halibut dinner. We started packing up the van, ready to move on in the morning, but it’s hard, leaving such great company and hospitality.

Bonsai Tree



Sunday, March 22, 2009
“Harris, how about another bike ride?” With these words and a promise that the ride would be much easier than the Saturday sojourn the guys were off with Leyna and the gals were off on a walk through the nearby Biltmore woods. This is an area that will be developed in the future with some 300 homes but for now remains a wonderful wooded area for our friends to ride bikes or walk and take their dog. For lunch, we took our friends to an area Mexican restaurant that had some of the best rice I’ve had in a long time. Afterwards we went to the Biltmore House for a tour as guests of the Efirds. Originally, the Vanderbilts (of the shipping and railroad fortune) purchased a 125,000 acre chunk of land at a cost per acre of 25 cents to $2. The current size is about 8,000 acres. This house is as enjoyable to visit as Hearst Castle (H.C. is larger). We toured the house and some of the grounds. We went for drinks to the Grove Inn which has a wonderful terrace overlooking the valley. The weather is holding in the 60’s and today was another wonderful spring day (as opposed to the continued bad weather in the Pacific Northwest). Seems like all we’ve written about Asheville is walking/biking and food!


Jelly-legged Harris on Killer Hill


Saturday, March 21, 2009
After our usual slow start, Harris decided to tag along on a bike ride with Dwight to the Ramble Arboretum which was some 8 to 10 miles away. Dwight promised a “mostly downhill” ride. Harris figured “how hard could a 30 minute bike ride be”? He found out as a little while later his legs turned to jelly and his heart was hammering in his throat. He ended up walking the “killer” hill as Dwight coolly pedaled and kept up a constant patter of chit chat and questions. Harris finally stopped, sat on a rock, and tried to imitate a Kyle-like tai chi mental attitude which he, quite frankly, did not accomplish. When we arrived at the arboretum, Sana and Judy joined us on a walk through the wooded grounds. We loved the grassy spaces and decided that this would be another place that they could walk Leyna. We bought steaks for the dinner in honor of seeing Samantha, the Efird’s daughter. We enjoyed our time with her. Just like our kids, it was a quick, Hi and bye, then she was off after dinner to other friends. The old fogies stayed home, watched more tv and talked until our eyes wouldn’t stay open any more.


Four of us at the Ramble Arboretum


Friday March 20, 2009
We were introduced to Leyna a two-year old Great Dane puppy that weighs 120 pounds. She’s officially Samantha’s dog, but spends her days at Dwight’s Monday through Friday. Dwight went to work for the morning, and Sana had already gone. We went for a walk up some long hills, then came back and did some much needed cleaning and laundry. Howie was washed and his front debugged so we could see his paint again. The weather has been in the 60’s with clear skies and morning fog. Not as warm as when we were in the SW but still shorts weather. Dwight took us for a hamburger/sweet potato fries/milkshake lunch…we were stuffed. So when Sana came home for dinner, Harris cooked a light supper of chicken and salad. Our evening consisted of a NCIS marathon that was on TV.


The Biltmore House


Thursday March 19, 2009
It’s 10:15 and we’re almost headed out! It’s a short day today. First stop is Knoxville where Harris needs to pick up a gas heater cover for Howie (our finalized name for the van) that blew off in the winds of Palm Spring a couple of weeks ago. Then we’re off to off to Gatlinburg for Judy to view some crafts while Harris plans to do some geocaching. Later… Well, Harris found out that the place that said it had the cover for the gas heater doesn’t have the “flush mount” that is required but it does have the “hinge mount” that doesn’t do us any good. So for an additional cost of the flush mount plus shipping, they will send one to DC where we will pick it up when we visit Kyle. Harris found 3 caches and Judy found that most stores were closed because it was too early in the season. We then headed into Asheville where we landed on the doorstep of our friends Dwight and Sana Efird. We first became friends with them over 30 years ago in Alaska. They took us out for a pizza dinner and where Harris had some fantastic Calamari dipped in a sweet seasoned light batter with red peppers. We stayed up too late catching up.


Four of us at Grove Inn for drinks



Judy and Harris at Arboretum

Into Tennessee

Paddle boats along cobble stone landing



At Village Creek

Note: Judy wants the blog to read the latest first (like most blogs) so here we go…
Wednesday March 18, 2009
Quick, before the weather changes….it was 75 today! We’re heading into the mountains of NC tomorrow, so we know this will change. The weather forecast calls for showers late tonight and cloudy skies with highs in the low 60’s for Thursday. After the darkest night with the most visible stars we awoke to fog blanketing our little valley. It was quiet last night! Also of note Harris decided to do the night without electricity and rely solely on battery power. We watched The Swing Vote which was ok and used a few lights and only used 1/3 of the battery. Harris felt good about the battery capacity.
We stopped in Memphis which was 40 miles away for a short walk along the Mississippi River looking at the paddle boats docked along side an old cobblestone landing, but didn’t choose to visit Graceland. No comments, please.
Drove about 450 miles through most of Tennessee, flat farmland to rolling hills, and on to the “mountains”. We made a couple of short stops to enjoy the warm weather and finally stopped just outside of Knoxville for the night.


Official Ghost Certificate


2 Ladies that have had ghost experience



Tuesday March 17, 2009
Another lazy morning….got up late and took a short walk. The walk was supposed to be longer, but nature prevailed. We were walking across a built up causeway along the lake. It was a beautiful morning, fog rising from the lake, a lonely fisherman out in a boat, and ducks and geese all around. Did you catch that last? Ducks and geese all around…..leave “stuff” all around. Oh well, we figured, we’d wash our shoes later. But the dew was heavy on the long grass, and before too long our feet were soaked through the mesh at the top of our shoes. So, a short walk. Followed by showers and the washing of shoes.
We decided to spend a little time in Little Rock, so we went to the visitor’s center first. We could have spent hours there. The visitor’s center is in a gorgeous old house called Curran Hall. It was built in the early 1800’s, we forget when. It passed through many families, until one little old lady was left in it. She was a complete recluse and refused to let any workers in to fix the place, so it was falling down around here when she died. The city bought it, and restored it, and it’s beautiful. Two little old ladies were there to tell us the history, give us brochures, and, oh, by the way, yes, there is a ghost in this house. We think it’s Mary, one of the former owners. They told us several “incidences” that they themselves had witnessed. What fun! The place had gorgeous landscaping, especially the hundreds of pansies in bloom that filled the air with their perfume.
Of all the places we could walk to, Harris chose the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. General Douglas MacArthur was born there in 1880. The place was built as an arsenal against Indians in 1840. (Indians who had been moved there along the Trail of Tears.) It changed hands during the Civil War a few times, and now is full of military memorabilia. Some interesting tidbits:
-the youngest medal of honor recipient (winner is not proper terminology) was a 12 year old during the civil war, but he received it when he was 13
-there were 3 companies that were trying to win the government contract for a 4 wheel drive utility vehicle to use during WWII and Ford was required to follow the design for the Willey design
-no one knows for sure where the term Jeep came from (Popeye cartoon who had a character named Jeep that could do wondrous things, General Purpose abbreviated to GP and when said quickly, or the other one Harris can’t remember)
-there was a plane whose front swung open upward and then whose tail was tipped up so a jeep could be backed into it for delivery somewhere
-6 men can tip the Jeep on its side to do repair work
-the expected lifespan of a Jeep was 90 days on the front line
-parts were reused and extra engines shipped to replace ones that broke down
- A Jeep could be slung over a river pretty easily
-a Jeep could go through 3’ water (with breather pipe) ride RR tracks, be lifted off barges onto ships with slings tied to pre-fixed points/hooks
-a bunch more that will come to Harris and Judy later…
Harris liked the whole room of Jeep history the best, and kept returning there as Judy wandered other rooms.
We decided to drive on out of the city area, and ended up in east Arkansas at the Village Creek State Park. It’s huge! 7000+ acres, about 90 campsites, and probably 20 other people here spread around. Driving through Arkansas west to east we’ve gone from the Ozark hilly regions to flat farmland in the east. It’s still sunny and bright, predicted high of 70 tomorrow….this is the time of year to be south!

In Arkansas--half way to Asheville

Photo of Petroglyps is in camera (Harris forgot to put the data stick back in…and Harris left the camera cable at home!)

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imagine a photo with weird scratchings on rocks here!



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March 15, 2009 Sunday
Left a bit early for us…about 9:30. We stopped at the Petroglyph National Monument, and took a short walk into the canyon to see some petroglyphs….cool…most were high up on the wall of rocks. Judy brought binoculars which made it easier to investigate them. Then back in the rig for a long day of driving. (600 + miles). I-40 is a long, straight road that seemingly goes on and on. We shared the road with few travelers, but many trucks. The scenery changed from red rocky cliffs to scrub brush desert to just plain desert. We drove through the panhandle of Texas, which seemed to be nothing but desert to us. Hard to believe people live here. (Although we did see signs for Bushland.) The sky and land looked like a child’s drawing. Blue sky down to a straight line of earth, with nothing much to break it up. Just before we left Texas for Oklahoma, the scenery started to improve. It got greener, and we saw trees, mostly bare ones, but some green ones too. Harris wanted to get to the other side of Oklahoma City before we stopped. We finally pulled into a small RV camp outside of Checotah, Oklahoma, around 11 PM. We plugged in, made up the bed and crashed.
March 16, 2009 Monday
Slept in a little today, and took a short walk before we headed out around 11. We found 4 geocaches around the town before taking off down the freeway again. This was our shortest day of driving so far (under 200 miles). From Oklahoma to Arkansas, the landscape got a lot more interesting. We drove through beautiful hills, lots of green, evergreen trees, and rivers and lakes. We’re camping at a place called Coffee Creek Campground outside of Perryville, Arkansas. Both last night and tonight are a definite step down from the Desert Springs resorts and the Lake Pleasant resort, but good enough for a night’s stay. Tonight we’re by a lake, and the frogs and crickets are loud. We’ve been out to look at the stars a few times, and we saw a shooting star streak across the sky.
Even though this is a straight, long road, Harris breaks it up frequently with little updates, especially about the temperature. Each time we reach a new high, he calls it out with glee. Today we reached 68 degrees! He is also really enjoying his XM radio, especially the 60’s channel. He always says he only sings at Christmas time, but we are discovering this isn’t quite true. He loves to sing along with the oldies, and Judy enjoys listening to him! Really!

Judy relaxing in 60 degree evening by Coffee Creek Lake

Leaving Phoenix

Candy finding the cache

Friday the 13th!
We had a leisurely breakfast and decided to go geocaching. Candy found one that was particularly hard in a cattle grating. We went on to locate several others around Lake Pleasant except for one that the log stated something about sailing right up to it. We figured the water level was probably still too high. Around noon we headed back to the resort and drove our rigs (Candy and Rick decided on calling theirs Goldie and we’re deciding among Cassie, Elsie/LC for La Casita or perhaps Sunny—to go along with Sunseekers). Judy did laundry while the others read around the pool. Candy and Rick took catnaps while Harris enjoyed the pool and hotub. Five PM found us going to a restaurant that Harris found a coupon for. Unfortunately, it was closed for a couple of weeks. On to Scottsdale to find a restaurant before seeing the play I do, I do. We stopped a possible restaurant, but when the appetizers were in the $40 range we moved on (Harris was very happy about that decision). We passed a restaurant called the Quilted Bear that Judy decided was fate calling and we stopped there. Much better prices (soup and salad for 8 bucks). The clam chowder was deemed excellent by Harris. Candy and Rick had salads and soups as well as wine to go along with dinner. Judy had prime rib sliders that Harris helped demolish. The waitress could have been Central Casting with her white hair and diner attitude. She was highly tipped for her services. The play was a let down. The woman lead had fantastic facial expressions and the only weakness was warbling voice. The male lead had major problems. The biggest was that fact that he perspired buckets and had to continually mop his face. The theater seated 25 or so and we were literally 5 feet from him. It was very distracting. The play is about a marriage over a lifetime and there were many poignant moments that each of us could relate to. Afterwards it was time to drive to camp and say good bye to Candy and Rick since they were to leave early the next morning.


Rick looking hard



Saturday, March 14, 2009
We left the campground almost 4 hours after Rick and Candy left. We followed their footsteps to Flagstaff before turning East to visit the Petrified Forest National Park. We stopped at Rainbow forest which is at the southern edge of the park. The weather was constantly getting colder. We left Lake Pleasant in the 70’s and by the time we were in Flagstaff, it was Seattle-like 50’s. The wind was biting and we had to wear our jackets, but we refused to change out of our shorts. We took a short stroll among the “trees” that had all their wood products replaced with silica that gave them a much heavier presence. A 3 foot high 24inch tree section can weigh 800 pounds! The weirdest sight during the park walks was seeing a 20 something woman walk her bobcat on the trail (other than having it snow on us). That is something you don’t expect to see even in the natural park setting. We stopped several more times to snap some pictures of the rocks and Grand Canyon like scenery before we left the park. Since there was no place to camp at the park, we made reservations just outside of Albuquerque in a RV park that was a couple of hundred miles away. Off we went and as we went farther East, the temperature dropped…48-43-40 and then 39-37-31 and then braking lights and ICE/SNOW. We slowed to a crawl and heard over the CB radio about a truck sliding into another just ahead. Judy was not feeling happy and secure with darkness and ice. Harris just wanted to get past it so that the speed would pick up. Fortunately the truckers were saying that things were improving Eastbound (our direction of travel) as we saw blue/red lights streaking westward on the other side of the freeway. We liked the phrase “salt shakers” that the truckers used as in “I saw a couple of salt shakers headed westward.” It was reassuring to see the temperature rise up to 34 and then 36 so Harris could pick up the speed and get us to the RV park faster. We pulled in about 8:30 but with the hour change it was 9:30 PM. The variety of scenery in just one day’s travels was remarkable. We went from miles of desert with saguro cacti everywhere, to scrub brush, to pine forests, over the continental divide and into high desert country again. New Mexico greeted us with beautiful red bluffs highlighted in the setting sun…something straight out of a western movie set. We pulled up to Enchanted Trails RV Park another of the “Happy Camper 50% off club”. This one should be about $15 for the night.

Petrified Forest National Park

At Lake Pleasant

Harris and Rick at first of two games that day

Wednesday, March 11
We decided to split up today. Harris and Rick decided to do a double-header with an afternoon Mariner/Kansas City and an evening game watching the San Diego Padres take on the S. Korean National team. Having Keith in S. Korea made this a must see event. Rick surprised Harris with top notch seats just off first base (and in the shade). It was interesting to take sides in the game because Gil Mesh started for the Royals and Bloomquist was playing second (both former Mariners) while the Mariners fielded none of the familiar names this game. Griffey did not play! Darn!! The M’s were demolished 9 to 2. They went looking for a library to print a coupon driving a few miles down the road and finding a small branch location. Rick scampered in and discovered it was open. Harris followed with laptop in hand to discover it was open for two more minutes. The nice librarian directed them to a larger branch with wifi that was open until 9PM. Lo and behold, when we pulled up to the library it was 400 feet from the stadium that they had just left! How they could drive by it and not see it is a question better left for another day. That night they watched the exhibition game between the Padres and Korea. It started out with much promise but Koreans were very much overmatched. They left at the end of 6 innings with the score 9-0 and wondering if there was a mercy rule in exhibition games.
Judy and Candy went to the Pioneer Museum that was closed earlier and were very underwhelmed. There were few exhibits which were roped off to prevent close inspection and some that were closed. Candy wanted to see some other towns, and someone suggested Wickenburg. We drove about 50 miles west and found a bustling town, with a “wild west” feeling in the middle of the town. There was a good museum there, and we enjoyed it very much. We came back “home” and had leftovers for dinner, and Candy beat Judy at cards. Again.

Looking across Lake Pleasant at our campsites with 2 rigs


Judy and Candy relaxing by pool after a hard day

Thursday, March 12, 2009
A bit cloudy this morning. Quick walks because the showers close at 9 for cleaning. Leisurely breakfasts, clean up, then heading to town for some shopping and the game. Candy wanted to find a good sunhat. We were going to sit on the lawn again, but a man offered us a good price on some seats in the shade and we bought them. Good seats, shade, blue sky, great all around except the Mariners couldn’t seem to get it together. They played the Texas Rangers and lost, 8-1. We made a couple of stops on the way home for food. Harris found out this compound has barbeque grills, so we drove over to them. They were by the pool. After a delicious dinner of steak, potatoes and asparagus, we sat in the hot tub and enjoyed the stars. Then we drove back to our “spot” and played cards until almost midnight. Funny thing. Candy has been keeping score every night, and she or Rick always win. So, by the final game tonight, Judy decided to take over….guess what? Judy won! Harris came in second! How does this happen? Has Candy been adding correctly all these nights???? We wonder.
The wind has really picked up, and we’re going to be rocked to sleep again tonight.

Parking our rigs to utilize the resort's bbq and water facilities

Spring Training

Griffey is Back!

Sunday March 8th
Woke up and it was sunny! We took a walk, had breakfast and made our way to the gas station where we found our cheapest diesel of the trip so far of $1.87 per gallon! We started the trip in Seattle paying $2.18 and filled up 3 times each time finding a cheaper price. Last year when we bought the van it was almost $5 per gallon—wow! It was a 2.5 hour trip to Phoenix and we should have made the Mariner game but the last half mile took 40 mins. Because of the traffic by the ball park! It turns out we were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks on a sunny Sunday and everyone decided to go to the game. We missed the first couple of innings where the M’s scored 7 runs to the D’s 2. We got lawn tickets and walked around to the M’s dugout side by 3rd base. We saw the familiar Griffey smile as he looked out at the game from the dugout rail. It was heart-warming to see his bat go through its gyrations while he stood at the plate anticipating the pitch as we anticipated his swing. Just prior to his plate appearance there were 2 outs with runners on first and second with Betancourt and the crowd chanting “ walk him” to load the bases for Griffey. Ball one, ball two, swung on ball three and missed, strike, ball, and … fly out to center field for the third out. We waited for him to lead off the fourth and watched him stroke a single up the middle—wow maybe the M’s can do something this year. Then Griffey was pulled from the game and sauntered off to the club house. We found our spot on the left field lawn and watched a 7-2 score go to a 7-7 by the 8th inning where the M’s added 4 more runs to take it 11-7. Another typical spring training game! But the weather was in the 70’s (barely) and Seattle was in the 30’s so all was right with the universe.

Candy and Rick enjoying the game with us

Monday March 9th
It rained some during the night. It was an overcast day but much better than Seattle. Candy and Judy wanted to move from our RV campground to one more scenic (and therefore much farther away). Harris and Rick followed their lead and we moved to Lake Pleasant RV Resort. The Pioneer Museum was closed so we had lunch and went to the Desert Botanical Garden where we saw not only the desert plant life but also a glass blowing showing by Chuhuily (sp). Wonderful day in the low 70’s. Candy and Rick wanted to check out Cabela’s so we were forced to eat out at a wonderful Mexican restaurant called Las Glorias. We made it home to late to use the resort facilities.

Some of Chuhuily's work


Tuesday March 10, 2009
Late start but we were able to do a couple of geocaches on the way to the Mariners baseball game. Today the M’s sucked big time with Griffey 0 for 3. Stadium was about 7000 fans full as we played the Chicago Cubs. It was great to see “Sweet Lou” even though we went down 8-1. It was warm enough we had to look for shade toward the end of the game. Rick and Harris decided that Wed. would be a double header while Candy and Judy take the day for themselves.

Sweet Lou

Crossing into Arizona

Harris and Judy at 1000 palms oasis

Thursday March 5
A beautiful morning…sun at last! The wind, however, keeps the temperature down. We did put on our shorts for the first time, just to say we did it. We took a morning walk, came back and soaked in the hot tubs, then did some geocaching around the area. We ran into a couple from BC who had only done 5 geocaches, so we hung around the one we just found to help them out a bit.
We went into Palm Springs for the first time this evening to view the ‘street fair’. Several downtown blocks were closed down and people had booths full of food and wares. We weren’t impressed enough to buy anything but a delicious pastry. We ran into Marilyn and Gene wandering the streets, and wandered with them for about an hour. We tried out a small Chinese restaurant on our way back to the rig, came back to the park, and vegged out. The wind rocked us to sleep again.

Harris amidst the 1000 palms oasis


Friday, March 06, 2009
Up and out this morning. We decided to do a few geocaches close by, and one took us about a mile into the desert up a small hill. It was a good walk and the view of the valley with the wind-turbines to the right and the jagged snow-topped mountains pressing against Palm Springs from behind made a beautiful reward for our walk. We were disappointed to find a hill of rocks at the top, and no geocache; either it was moved, or we were unlucky. Then we moved our rig about a mile down the road to a new park, called Catalina Spa. Desert Hot Springs itself has a town with a few stores, some houses, and miles of RV and trailer parks. A lot of the parks, including this one, have their own hot springs. They’ve found over 40 scattered around the valley-- lovely…hot, smooth, and no sulfur smell. We headed into Palm Springs this afternoon via the Dillon Scenic route to meet Marilyn and Gene for dinner. We stopped at the 1000 Palms Oasis Preserve. This preserve was formed because two earth plates with a water layer sandwiched between 2 rock layers collided and created an escape path for the water to the surface. And as it’s said where there’s water there is plant life, in this case the only native California palm tree called (are you ready for this) Washingtonia Filifera. We could understand how this could truly be an oasis in the desert summer heat. The shade would be priceless!

Afterwards, we stopped at Target to buy a clock to tell us what time it is in the van and a few other necessities. We then met Marilyn and Gene for an Italian dinner in downtown Palm Springs. They bought and it was great! The wind is still howling as we write this up snuggled up in the van. Tomorrow we escape the wind by going East!

The mountains behind Palm Springs


Saturday March 7, 2009
An easy short day today. Wouldn’t you know it, as soon as we decided to leave Palm Springs, the wind died down! We even did our morning walk in t shirts and shorts. Halfway through the walk, we stopped to play miniature golf. Judy won the game last night, Harris won the game this morning. One to one tie….stay tuned for further developments.
We took off around 10 and meandered out of town via La Quinta. We saw a notation on the map called “Old Town” and decided to check it out. Well, instead of seeing old historical buildings or ruins, we drove up to a brand new upscale (very upscale) shopping center. Ten minutes later we were on the road again. We stopped at the border town of Ehrenberg and took it easy for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Notice the chairs out for the first time this trip and our new table! In the background of one of the pics you’ll see the water heater cover screen that the wind blew away and we plan on replacing soon. Tomorrow should find us at our first Mariner game this season and waiting for our friends Candy and Rick from Montana.

Looking back toward California from Colorado River RV park


Judy enjoying our first non-windy day of the trip

Palm Springs Arrival

Wednesday, March 04, 2009
We awoke with the sun shining and high hopes of finally escaping the gray of the Northwest. Judy had a Kodak moment while sitting in the van’s doorway basking under the sun’s rays casually mentioning to Harris how at this very moment all is great with the universe. To be precise, she said that “At this very moment, I’m glad that we bought the rig… In six weeks I may not feel this way!”

A glorious morning at Kit Fox RV

Unfortunately, the storms caught up and overtook us 40 miles south of our departure. Another long day of driving, driving, driving, through the rain and wind and even a little snow. Who thought March would be a good time to vacation????? Sunny California, this ain’t. We drove south to LA and then headed east to Palm Springs. As we came into the valley where Palm Springs is located, we saw row upon row upon row upon row of wind turbines, all spinning merrily away. Harris thought they reminded him of seagulls on an ocean beach where everywhere you looked you saw white objects in motion. This should have been a clue. We arrived at Desert Pools Resort RV park, outside Desert Hot Springs. It seems to be a great place, although it’s set up more for long term visitors, with club activities, etc. We soaked in the hottest tub tonight, after a truly mediocre meal at the Morongo Casino. We’re nice and toasty warm in our rig, but the wind is rocking us from side to side…should be a great lullaby tonight!

A flock of turbines

On the road again to Mariners Spring Training!

March 2, 2009
The countdown has finished and we left the grey skies of Seattle for the grey skies of Oregon! Our first stop was Camping World to buy a membership pass to Camping Club USA which entitles us to pay half price at RV campgrounds that accept the pass. We found one called Hi-way Haven in Sutherland which is about 20 miles North of Roseburg. What was cool about this RV camp was that it’s a converted drive-in.

Converted Drive In theater
Neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night…how does that quote go? None of that would stop us from starting out again…..nor bad head colds. I suggested staying home for a few days, to get well, but Harris was eager to go! Besides, he reasoned, the weather would surely improve as we went south. Ha! We started out in the pouring rain. It cleared up, off and on, throughout the day as we headed south. It rained hard during the night, and even harder on Tuesday. We even hit snow as we went over the pass between Oregon and California. California has been in a huge drought, so the rain was welcome..to them….snow, rain, gusty wind….and we hear Seattle is sunny today!
We’ve basically been bombing through so far, getting up, eating quickly, and driving, driving, driving….no stops for much of anything, but in this weather, who cares? (although we did do a couple of geocaches in Oregon.) We’ve stopped tonight, (the 3rd) outside of Patterson, CA, which is south of Sacramento. Our next stop should be Palm Springs.

Driving over Siskiyou Pass during inclimate weather