Kids, Sand, Dunes and Rain!

We arrived at Horsfall State Park and are dry camping.  It's working really well and it's so great to see the kids and grandkids.  Below are a couple of pictures from the area. It was nice and sunny when we arrived and today it's dreary and raining.  We are watching the kids while Becky and Jared 'ride;' with their friends....in the drizzle.  Brody is on his 'quad' too!  Always  time to do hair!

On the Oregon Trail

Another first....we are in Oregon!  Neither one of us has ever been to this beautiful state before!  It was a good ride over at least 3,  high mountain passes each around  4,000 ft.  The snow-capped mountain below is Mt. Shasta.  Amazing scenery when you see the high mountains, the tall pines, 80 degrees and huge reservoirs with people boating.

Last night there was an earthquake in Napa/Calligosta, CA.  Fortunately it was small and we didn't feel a thing but time for sure to move on!  We sure loved this region of California.

We stopped at a Walmart to get ice for the cooler in Anderson, CA early this afternoon and for some really lucky reason, Gil noticed a screw had penetrated the rear tire of the car.  Walmart couldn't replace the tire so we drove to an America's Tire store where they had the one we thought we would need in stock.  It's amazing how quickly you can research and check things out with the iPhone...pretty cool.  It's really a lifesaver when you are 55' feet long and pulling a heavy load in the mountains.

It turns out the screw was removed and was about 2 inches long but it hadn't penetrated the sidewall, but was stuck in the heavy rubber. The tire didn't need replacing and was safe to drive. After about an hour, we were on our way again, but chose to bypass the hairpin turns on the road to the coast and opted for I-5 to Phoenix, AZ for the night.  Gil says he's lived a 'charmed' life and I'm inclined to agree.  It could have been disaster.  A couple was at the tire store with their 5th wheel that had blown a tire coming down the mountain....now that is scary!

The RV park in Phoenix, OR is clean and nice and the host greeted us with warm cookies so all is well.  Tomorrow we head to Coos Bay, OR on the coast, where we'll connect with the Seattle kids.  I can't wait  to see them all...it's been over  4 months!  They will be ATV'ing on the dunes with some of their friends and we are going to get to know Brody and Maycen again!!!  Perfect!

Love and best wishes to my niece and her soon to be husband who will wed tomorrow on the island of Kauai.  Interesting trivia, Drew Horwood, who  has been winning for about 8 days on the show Jeporady, is a Cargill employee in Minneapolis and is working on the Tartan project.  

Willie continues to be a great 'travel camper' and loves having his mom and dad both at home all the time.  He has a bed in the trailer under the table and one in the car.  We are doing really good.  Surprisingly, we aren't getting 'cabin-fever' or driving each other crazy.  We take lots of walks and have settled into the routine I was worried I would miss!  We each have our RV 'jobs' and it's working out great!  I'm the inside person getting things set up - nesting ya know and Gil handles all the outside stuff like water/sewer/cable hookups.  Hoping for the snow to stop falling on our friends and family in Minnesota!!!  Enough already!

Napa Valley

Such a great day!  Felt like a tourist as we strolled and enjoyed the beautiful scenery, weather and quaint shops.  Gil keeps reminding me this isn't vacation, it's our life!  We feel so lucky!  Seriously wondering why I didn't retire sooner! 

We had a  $16 day for sure...a $16 car wash and a $16 hamburger for lunch in Calistoga!  Things are ridiculously expensive here!  Maybe that's why I didn't retire sooner - LOL!

 It's spring in the valley and the flowers are gorgeous.  We traveled the area,  took in a local lake to get our 'lake fix', stopped at wineries and shopped for groceries.  At the Robert Mondavi vineyard, I got a new apron! Yountville was our favorite little town and we  had a fun lunch in Calistoga at Brennan's.  Tomorrow we travel to head for the Seattle kids in Coos Bay, OR.  Had a fun call with Xochitl today,  who was rewarded with a shamrock shake for her great report card!

We loved the Napa Valley and hope  you enjoy a few of these pictures!  Who would create a mushroom garden out of stacked rocks?  It's no wonder Yountville is our favorite along with the Robert Mondavi vineyard.  I would love to come back to the culinary institute for a cooking class!

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!

Going Away Parties!

Here are the pictures from the two 'going away' parties we attended.  Thanks Lorie and Harold for a fun time!  What a good looking group!  We'll sure miss everyone!

Saying goodbye to our friends and Arizona!

Wow, the last two weeks have gone by so fast.  I am wondering how I ever had time to work!  I now have even more compassion and empathy for those of you still working now that I am not. My friend and former colleague from Cargill, from Minnnesota played with 3 of her friends in the pickleball tournament at Palm Creek Resort here in Casa Grande.  It was fun to have them come over and see them play in the tournament.  The weather was warm and sunny for my Minnesota friends.  This resort has more pickleball courts than anywhere else in the US.

I must mention that we are staying at Palm CREEK RV and Golf Resort, not Palm Desert as I mentioned earlier.  I must be totally relaxed to not even know for sure where I am - LOL! But we are on the desert!

My niece and her fiance landed safely in Hawaii for a magical week and their wedding.  I secretly wish we could be there to help them celebrate this special day along with the fact that this island, where they are spending the week,  is our favorite PLUS they are some of our favorite people!  We are wishing them much love and happiness for a long life together.  The picture is from their hotel!



We went to the movie yesterday because it blew, rained, hailed and acted like Minnesota as lightning darted across the sky....here on the desert no less!  Temps dropped to 45 degrees!  Burr! Wow, it was a gully-washer which filled the washes with tons of water....a rare sight on the desert.   We saw Identity Theft which was actually pretty good.  In the evening, we went to Robson Ranch with friends for dinner.  It's a really nice area about 30 minutes South of Casa Grande.

Today, we enjoyed a nummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel with friends...did I mention we are so not losing any weight?   I am trying to figure out if one of the Cracker Barrel rocking chairs would fit in the trailer!  Lorie and Harold came over for happy hour tonight and our goodbye. They arrived bringing fresh banana muffins for our send off tomorrow. I had invited them for dinner as I made a big pot of soup.  Good thing they didn't stay, the soup was yucky and we are trying to figure out how to get this big mass of soup which is hot to the dumpster!  We'll miss these guys, but see them back in Minnesota in a month or so.

Our friends from home, who were at the lake this weekend,  sent a picture of the lake house and all the snow.  So nice of them to check our place for us!  It looks cold and lonesome so we'll be glad to see the snow melt  before we get back.  Wonder when we'll get our taxes done.  Extension here we come!

Happy birthday to our daughter, Laurie!  We love you and wish you the best year ever! Sorry we can't be with you to celebrate but glad you found some cute new shoes to buy with your birthday money! And congratulations to our son-in-law Jared on his recent graduation from college!  We are proud of you!

Just outside the park gate there are Burrowing Owls.  These are the cutest little things about 8 inches high, awake in the daytime, light brown with a typical owl face.  They live in holes in the dirt.  Totally adorable!  They've put a fence around their 'home' on land recently cleared so they can continue to reside on the land.

We are partially packed up and set to go tomorrow.  We have plans to return here next year.  This is a wonderful place filled with lots of wonderful people and all of Willie's new best dog friends!  Molly was his favorite friend. Tomorrow we'll be on the road again for our adventure to continue!

Thanks again for traveling with us!  So long until next year Palm Creek!

Horsin' Around!

Yesterday was another fun and relaxing day that ended with a happy hour at Lorie and Harold's.  They had a 'going home' party for some of their friends who will be leaving soon to head home.  Lots of really great people here and we are fortunate to be able to meet a whole lot of them and take part in the going home parties.

Today we got an early start to head to Tuscon for more exploring.  We chatted with friends and family on the phone, who were having a snow day due to lots of snow and school closures.  I gotta tell you....we are not missing those commutes!  We buzzed down I-10 and did a little shopping along the way.  We stopped at Costco and decided to have lunch there.

In the food line (which is outside by the way), I saw this lady ahead in the line, who looked from the back,  like one of my bridge buddies from many  years ago.  I hollered, "Ina" and sure enough it was her!  Almost all of my bridge friends are now down in Green Valley and enjoying the warmth and sunshine of Arizona in the winter.  What a small world!  My work colleagues always used to be amazed when these type of encounters took place!  I always seem to run into someone I know!  My mom says my grandpa had  the same knack.  Ina invited me to Green Valey for brunch on Friday with the girls.  I probably won't go because it would be a 4 hour round trip and we plan to leave early Saturday morning.  It was still really fun to catch up with her and hear about everyone!

Off we headed to have our afternoon Living Social trail ride.  Just in time, some high clouds covered the skies so the heat of  the day wasn't too harsh.  We traveled about 6 miles through the desert on a bumpy dirt road to get to the ranch. Fortunately we had directions from the ranch because the GPS did not show any roads.  

I mean this was the REAL desert with nothing around or insight except prickly cacti, palo verde trees, things with lots of needles and mountains.  The desert is really beautiful and takes on many faces with the sun, clouds, and  time of day.  We finally got to the ranch and were greeted by about 6 dogs of all varieties, our horses and trail guide.  We were the only ones for the sunset ride...nice!

It was a fun ride through the serenity and quiet of the desert.  The only wildlife we saw was a bunch of cows that the dogs taunted.  The dogs all hunted and traveled with us across the desert, on trails and washes.  They were amazing...they were all over the desert sniffing and hunting and then would come back to the trail limping with parts of cacti sticking out of lips and peds.    One dog went for about 1/2 mile at a really fast pace on three legs!  The guide says the dogs will not let anyone take the cactus prickles out.  Somehow, they figure out how to get them out and continue on.

My horse was a gentle soul who desperately needed a good brushing to shed his winter coat.  He was a thirty-four year old Mustang named Hawk, who knew the trail better than the 20 something trail guide!  Even Hoppy got a  ride on Hawk for Xochitl's picture of the day.

Gil's horse was a little more spunky and named 'Wes'.  It was a fun afternoon and we settled our dust  and stiff legs and bums with margaritas and some good TexMex food.  The waitress presented the check and said she was 'comping' our meals and only charging us for the drinks because it took too long to get the food to us.  We didn't think the time was excessive because the place was so busy.  Love Macayo's in Casa Grande!  How nice was that surprise?

The big green bush is rosemary that grows in huge bushes in our RV park!  Always fresh and handy.  Another fun day has come to an end.  Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!