California Dreamin'

Fortunately, we continue to enjoy great weather and are having unbelievably good luck with RV parks.  We found a wonderful park in Indio, CA called Indian Waters RV Resort. It's just south of the Palm Springs area.  I had great karma here because they stack rocks --- even at the dog park.  For those of  you who know me well, you know I am rock crazy and love stacking rocks!  We could have stayed longer at this park, but the wine country was calling.  In town, there street names like Bob Hope Avenue, Lucille Ball Boulevard and Diana Shore Lane.  I think this was the hot spot for Hollywood people in the 50's and 60's....maybe now too!  You have to be a certain age to remember these famous people.  

While ice at Costco was $1.99 a bag in Palm Desert,   gas was $4.59/gallon!  People must really make a lot of money in California to be able to afford to live here.  We had a rough and wild ride across the north side of LA area.  California is out of money so little or no money is being used for road repairs it seems.  I was pretty sure we'd have scrambled eggs in the fridge, but we were lucky.....we came through the rough road unscathed and the eggs are still whole.

Our friends from Port A emailed and were worried we were having tremors and vibrations because we are in earthquake country!  As as traveled North, through the land of windmills, the ground in the valley was covered with white but it wasn't snow....it was a blanket of blossom pedals from mandarin orange, cherry, lemon and grapefruit trees.  The valley is just starting to bloom and it's beautiful with the sweeping and steep hills on each side of the valley.

Unfortunately, the smog blocked the view to the Sierra Nevada mountains as we traveled parallel to Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National parks.  It's so fun to see snow, mountains, cactus and the desert all in one view!

On Monday night, we stayed in Santa Nella, CA after a long 430 miles.  Unbelievable that there was a famous restaurant called, Andersen's Pea Soup,  complete with a windmill a half a mile from the park.  We walked over and were thinking ' yuck' to all you can pea soup.... or so we thought!   But because I had never even tried it, I asked for a sample and it was delicious!  We are now fans of pea soup!  Nummy  food at this quaint and 90 year old restaurant!

It's been fun during the travel days to catch up with friends, family and colleagues.  The internet with the hot spot is pretty amazing!  I spend a lot of time on the road making the reservation for our next spot.  You can check out the location with Google maps and the Good Sam directory gives details/amenities and pricing along with the contact information.  Some of our best tips have been from talking with others along the way for both places to stay and the best way to get there.

We arrived around 1:00 today (Tuesday) in Napa Valley.  Our park is near the wine expo area and the fairgrounds.  It's a pretty small park and we call the guy that is the ranger who leads you to your spot, 'the smoking gun'.  Good grief, this guy smokes like a chimney! 

It was surprising that Napa alone has a population of 74,000.  This is a  magnificant area with stately mansions and vineyards.  The beauty of the countryside is amazing.  The vines aren't doing anything yet because it's early spring even though the temps are near 80 with full sun.  A person could spend a long  time here exploring and ....drinking/sampling.  We stopped at a couple of vineyards today and will explore more tomorrow.  It feels a lot like Italy and the Tuscany area. We went by a cooking school today and  they offer classes.  I think this is where the world's famous chef's are born.  I plan to buy an apron tomorrow.   Everything is old, bonded with strong family roots, castles and sheep, horses and goats abound.  We also stopped at a geyser....you know there is volcanic activity going on here!

We filed an extension on our taxes and have decided we will not head home until the snow is gone.  It hard and painful to imagine our family and friends are suffering through repeat snow falls when we think it's summer and are wearing shorts and flip flops!