Back to Palm Springs, 12/12 - 12/22

We had plans to go to Bullhead City, AZ after leaving Wilderness. We were going to meet up with Terry's Sister and husband there, but they weren't able to leave Idaho until January. So, we decided to go back to Palm Springs, which was 70 miles vs. 270 miles. Some of our RV friends were still there, so we thought it would be fun to be with them a few more days.

We got us a little Christmas tree and some stockings and bows to trim the Condo and try to get Terry in the Christmas spirit. He is sometimes kind of a scrooge until the day or two before Christmas!

We went to the little craft sale at the park (something that most parks have every Saturday morning) and found a set of decals for the windows. I tried to take a picture of our back window, but mostly just a reflection showed. But, it turned out being kind of a nice picture of an RV Christmas in Palm Springs.

We took our tripod, camera, and Santa hats down to the pool to try to get some pictures for our Christmas cards. One of these is the one we chose for our cards and the other two came in second and third choice!

It rained the last couple of days we were in Palm Springs--down in the valley. You can see what it did in the mountains surrounding Palm Springs!! I guess it is very unusual to get snow in the area. It seems that the weather is very unpredictable where ever you are anymore!

After it rained for a couple of days, the streets of Palm Springs and the surrounding communities all flooded and they had a lot of them closed off to the public. There were even a few people who had gotten into the flooded areas and had to be rescued. They showed a man in the middle of the street with a grocery cart who had to have help getting out of the torrent of water he was in! Then, after a day of no rain, the water just kind of disappeared!

Well, we are headed to Payson, AZ on the 22nd to park in our son Ryan's driveway until January 6. Our son, Travis also lives in Payson, and we will have 7 grandkids to share Christmas with. Lots of fun! Merry Christmas to all of you!

Wilderness Lakes, Menifee CA 11/25/09 - 12/12/09

We left Palm Springs to go to Wilderness Lakes Resort, which is about 70 miles to the west of Palm Springs, between Los Angeles and San Diego. We really liked this park. Because we got there the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and most of the California schools got the whole week off, there were lots of people there and lots of kids. It was kind of fun being around families again. Things really got quiet after Thanksgiving weekend was over.

A lot of California people move back and forth from Palm Springs and Wilderness campgrounds--three weeks in each one at a time. They will do that all winter, and sometimes longer. About 80% of the people in the Park have California license plates.

As soon as we started setting up when we got there, we had visitors. I was sitting in a chair taking their pictures and they came right up to me.

Terry decided maybe they would make a mess on our rug, so he came and shooed them away! We thought they may be a nuisance, but they really never came that close after we had been there for a day or two. We just made sure we didn't feed them close to the Condo!

This is the first Thanksgiving we have not had family with us. But, I put a turkey, all stuffed with homemade dressing, in our little oven and it cooked just fine. We kept it for leftovers because we ate dinner in the lodge with about 50 other RVers. We met two very nice couples who ate at our table. But, it wasn't the best Thanksgiving meal we have ever had! Actually, we both agreed that my turkey and dressing was the best!

Wilderness Park is unique in that it has a series of canals that wind through it. They stock the canals with catfish. In fact, the fish truck came while we were there and we got to see them dump several hundred catfish into the canal. We got a spot where we backed right up to one of the canals.

This is pretty much what we saw out our big back window, except there were usually people fishing all along the canal. We even had our own water fountain. They had these fountains all along the canals that were put in to keep the water moving. The only bad thing was that it was kind of noisy right at our back. The water was nice to hear, but the motor was quite loud. We got used to it, though, and hardly noticed it after a while.

There were lots of ducks wherever you went in the Park. The Park is a preserve for ducks and geese who come each winter. Some stay all winter and some just use it as a stopping place on their way further south.

The park has a really nice miniature golf course, but sometimes the ducks use it more than the people. Some of the campers complained at a Managers Meeting that the course needed to be cleaned more often because the geese were camping out on it overnight!

Another uniqueness to this Park are the dairies. There use to be quite a few dairies all around the park, which caused an odor that was a little offensive to a lot of people (Terry just says it smells like $$ to him.) Well, the area is slowly turning into housing developments and there is just one active dairy left. The smell wasn't ever too bad while we were there. I guess that the flies are pretty bad if you come to the Park in the summer months.

A few miles from the Park is a man-made lake called Diamond Lake. It was finished in 2000 and has three dams to hold the water in. There is limited fishing allowed along the bank, but they allow boats. They really want you to rent their boats, but if you use your own, there is an inspection process to go through. There is no "body contact" allowed with the water because this lake was built as a reservoir to hold water piped from the Colorado River and other water that comes from northern California and it supplies water for a lot of southern California.

There is a 21 mile trail that goes all around the lake. The parts that goes over the dams are paved, but the rest is gravel and dirt. It is a great bike trail. We had been riding our bike from 9-12 miles a day so one day we decided we would try out the lake trail. This is the first dam we went over. It is more than a mile long, which was nice because it was paved.

We thought we might see more wildlife, but the only thing we was with this lonely little coyote and some quail.

There were restrooms along the trail and several canopies they had put up that had picnic tables under them. They were nice to stop and rest under and have a little snack.

This was our second stop. We were about halfway around the lake and at the beginning of the second dam. The third dam is just past the pump house you can see in the picture and it was paved trail on the dams and also between them. The only bad thing was the "big" hill between the dams. The trail went up over the mountain between them. I do admit that we had to get off and push the bike the last part of the hill. We decided it just wasn't worth it to hurt that bad!

We have never ridden our bike 21 miles before. In fact, that morning we had taken a 5-mile ride before we decided to ride the lake! So, needless to say, the last five miles or so of the trail was pretty hard. We were glad to see that 3-mile sign.

And then, suddenly, we rounded the bend and there was the parking lot and our little red hippo was sitting in the parking lot! It looked pretty good. Even though the trail was supposed to be 21 miles long, the odometer on our bike said we had ridden 22.5 miles from the time we left the hippo until we got back to it! But, we are ready to do it again, after a few days of rest. Hopefully we can find another trail sometime at one of the next campgrounds we go to.

Palm Springs, Palm Desert CA 11/4 - 11/25

We left Soledad Canyon, headed to Palm Springs. We were looking forward to settling in for three weeks at the same place. We have stayed at nine different campgrounds in the last nine weeks. It has been fun, but it will be nice to not have to move again for three weeks. Just before we got to Palm Springs there were all of these windmills. At first, we saw just a few and they were pretty fascinating. Then, there were hundreds of them. Some were right along side the road so we got a really close-up view of them. They are huge!

Palm Springs, especially the campground, is very aptly named. There are over 800 palm trees in the park. Most of the sites have at least two palm trees, and sometimes you have to really manipulate your RV to make room for the door, the slides, and everything else.

We drove into a couple of different sites before we found one that would work with the Condo. We are the one in the middle with the red truck in front of it. As it was, our door opened into a palm tree, but it was far enough away that it didn't interfere with us getting in and out. These palm trees all produce dates (we didn't know that dates came from palm trees), but there are different varieties and they ripen at different times. The most popular variety is the Medjool dates. The park has 29 trees that grow these. When they are ripe, they pick all of the dates on all of the trees. They grind up all of the dates and use them as compost, except the Medjools. These they sell in the Park Store and use them to make date shakes. Because they do this, the park is classified as a working date farm and they get huge discounts on water, electricity, and taxes. We bought some dates and they are better than candy!

It was finally warm enough to use the pool. They have a really nice one at Palm Springs. I even went to water aerobics class!

There are also orange, tangerine, lemon, and grapefruit trees in the park. They say that we can pick what we will eat that day, and no more. They are just beginning to get ripe enough to pick. I picked and ate some of each, except the lemon.

My favorite was the grapefruit. Because Terry doesn't like grapefruit, I usually ate his each day, also. I thought the fruit would disappear pretty fast, but a lot of "old" people are on medications that don't allow them to eat citrus fruit, especially grapefruit. Of course, that doesn't include us!

We went on about a 10-mile bike ride every day. Our route took us along a proposed housing development that is being started around a golf course, so there was a really nice bike trail we rode on part of the way.

Along the trail there were these three sets of supports, but only one poster. It was a poster of Bob Hope. You can see how big it is by the size of the buildings behind it. I was glad I took a picture of it one of the first days we rode by it, because later it disappeared. We don't know if the owners took it down or if someone stole it.

The reason Bob Hope's picture was posted is because the golf course is where they hold the "Bob Hope Classic" golf tournament each year, in January. Of course, all of the famous golfers have participated in it. There are over 80 golf courses in the Palm Springs area. It is about five miles to the Church that we went to and on the road we took to get there, there were pretty much solid golf courses--some with resort-type accommodations and some with homes all around them. All of the streets are lined with palm trees, along the sides and down the middle.

I looked outside one day and there was Terry, sitting in MY chair. Then when I looked around the corner of the door, I saw MY chair. He was sitting in HIS chair! He gave me such a bad time when I opened mine before Christmas, after he talked me into it. And now he couldn't resist having his to sit in under the palm trees! So, kids, I guess that means that you can all open your gift from us--just kidding! You better not be bad like us! But, we are sure enjoying our chairs.

This is the first park that we have stayed in that encourages washing of the RV's and vehicles and getting as much water on the grass as we can, probably because of the dates allowing them to have a cheap water bill. It is such a busy park that they never get much of a chance to turn on the sprinklers. They even loan us sprinklers to put on our hoses so we can water the grass ourselves. At most of the parks, if they even allow it, it cost a fee, $5-$10, to wash your vehicle or RV. So, we took advantage of it and Terry even got on top and washed our roof!

There was a little roadrunner that hung around the park. (There may have been more than one, but I only saw one at a time, so it always seemed to be the same one.) He was around our trailer and then I saw him at the pool and over at the lodge.

This is a unique palm tree that we always passed on our bike ride. I don't know if you can see something a little peculiar about it.

On a closer look--it is a cell tower! They really disguise them well. Terry didn't quite believe me when I told him what it was. I had to zoom in with the camera and take a picture for him to agree!

This is another neighborhood on our ride. These palm trees are around the fire station. Once the other palm trees grow a little taller, it will be kind of hard to pick out the one that is the cell tower. Too bad cherry trees don't grow taller and we could disguise some of the cell towers in Emmett. There were some people in Emmett who were sure upset when a cell tower ended up in their "back yard."

One Saturday we went to a car show and auction in the parking lot of a casino in Palm Springs. I had a little 1963 Corvair car before Terry and I were married. My dad painted it black and put a red pin stripe along the side of it because it had a red interior. I really liked that car, but Terry didn't. I am not sure why he didn't like it, but we only had it for a few years after we were married. I told him that if we would have kept it, it would be a classic now!

One Tuesday we went to Del Taco's for dinner (it is 3 tacos for $1 on Tuesdays, and seniors get a free drink--okay, so we are old). We ran into two different couples we had met in other parks. We had met Sue and Jim at Verde Valley last March and they taught us a new game back then. We ended up doing some things with them and we will probably catch up with them again. Sue does some great books on her genealogy and Jim is toooo much like Terry.

We did some other fun things while we were at Palm Springs. We went to the Village Fest one evening where they close several blocks of downtown Palm Springs and have booths of crafts, jewelry, paintings, food, and a farmer's market, along with live entertainment. While we were there, a large group of gay rights people marched through protesting California's proposition 8 that was passed recently. It changes California's constitution to state that a marriage is only between a man and a woman. They were pretty intense in their marching.

We also went to the Shields Date Garden where they raise and sell several kinds of dates. They showed a movie called the "Romance and Sex Life of a Date!" It was really interesting. They let you have as many samples of their dates as you like. (I couldn't eat lunch afterwards!)

One Monday for lunch we went with Sue and Jim to one of the casinos. Terry signed up for their club card (I hadn't brought my picture ID so I couldn't sign up). With the card, he got $7 to play with and $5 off of lunch. Sue had told us about their shrimp tacos. They were to die for! After we ate, it only took Terry about 15 minutes to loose his $7 in the penny slot machine! All of this was because Monday is "senior day" at the casino. The place was packed with "old" people!

Detour to Payson 11/7/08

We got to Palm Springs on Tuesday, November 4, and then headed to Payson, AZ, for special weekend. We left the Condo at the Park and just drove to Payson in the Hippo. Ryan's son, Wesley, turned 8 on October 11. He was very patient and agreed to wait a month later to get baptized so we could be there. It was a great day to see Ryan baptize him and then then confirm him a member of the Church, with a circle of both Grandpas and Uncle Travis in a circle around him. It was also a special weekend because Ryan was sustained as his ward's Elder's Quorum President. He had the same circle standing around him as the Stake President set him apart for his calling. We are very proud of both Wesley and Ryan.

On Saturday morning, Terry visited "Dr. Howard" and had a growth taken off of his head and one off of his back. The one on his head ended up being skin cancer. Josh came with us to hold Grampa Howie's hand and then was brave enough to let Dad take some little skin tags off of his lip. They both got rewards of some candy corn! It sure is handy to have a doctor in the family.

Spencer had saved his money and (with a little help from Mom and Dad) bought himself a new bike. It was a cool color and he looked great on it!

On Saturday after Wesley's baptism, we went to Ryan and Lori's and had a wonderful dinner of soups and homemade rolls. Lori really outdid herself, and then she fed us another great meal the next day after Church when she fixed baked spaghetti and banana pudding cake. She got lots of compliments from all. Lori's parents were also there for the special weekend. They stayed at Ryan's and we stayed at Travis'.

The guys are in their normal position while the women of the family slaved in the kitchen! Here is Terry, Ryan with Chaz, and Lori's Dad, Richie.

We had a table full of grandkids--Chaz, Wesley, Nathan, Riley, Spencer, Nicholas, and Josh.

We had a really good time. We even got to go to a football game where Ryan was working as the Sports Trainer. His team has a perfect record and they played their first State Tournament game, which they won 71 to 0! I am sure it must have something to the good job Ryan is doing as the Sports Trainer!

Every night we were there, we got back to Travis and Shannon's about bedtime and each night our bed was made and ready for us. The last night, there was even a treat on my pillow. Thanks, kids, for a great weekend!

Soledad Canyon, Palmdale CA 10/28-11/4

Soledad Canyon Resort is one of the largest of the Thousand Trails parks, but there are quite a few sites that need some work on them. Some don't even have working electricity. But, we didn't have any trouble finding a site. There is a MetroLink passenger train that goes right next to the park all day. A freight train also uses the same track. We didn't mind the noise, even though we were parked close to the tracks. We were able to get cell phone service and also Internet service, so we were happy!

We had kind of an exciting spot. Our neighbors had come over the first day we were there and invited us to Bible study on Thursday. Well, Thursday afternoon, they called 911 because he thought he was having a heart attack. They took him away in the ambulance, but he came home later that evening. (Dad said that was kind of a hard way to get out of going to Bible study.) Then that night, we were sitting in the Condo and heard someone yelling for help. We ran out and found a lady a couple of trailers down from us who was lying on the ground and had had a seizure. We stayed there with her until the ambulance came for her. She was a diabetic and they thought maybe her new medicine was not agreeing with her. She was conscious and in not too bad of shape, but we didn't see her again. Their motorhome was gone in a couple of days. I guess we better get used to ambulances coming into places where there are so many old people! (Glad we aren't old!)

We were close to the clubhouse where we played pinochle one night. The rules were kind of different from what we were used to playing, but most of the people were patient with us. But, there were a couple that kind of snarled when we did something wrong, like shuffle the cards backwards! We decided that some people just take their pinochle too seriously!

It seems like there is always something that Terry needs to service or fix on either the Condo or the hippo (truck). I am sure glad he is handy at fixing things! It would be very expensive to always have to pay someone to do it.

One day I even caught him with a broom in his hands! I told him he looked pretty good, but he was glad no one else in the park saw him--especially none of the other men!

Terry decided it was only fair for him to take a picture of me at one of my favorite past times--sitting with my feet up. At least my hands are busy. I knit a lot of dishrags. They come in handy to give away to new friends and special people we meet in our travels.

We were at Soledad Canyon over Halloween. They had their party the week before, so there wasn't much going on. I carved this pumpkin and set a bowel of candy out. But, even though there were a few kids in the park, we had no trick-or-treaters!

Terry took this picture of me to tattle to the kids. Several of them went together on our Christmas gift this year. They gave them to us when we left Emmett in October, with the instructions that they were not supposed to be opened until Christmas. Well, the weather was so nice and we were sitting outside so much, that Terry said he was going to open his present because it would be so cold in December in Payson that we wouldn't even be able to use them. Well, he convinced me, and I opened mine, and then he wouldn't open his!!! So, sorry kids, but I am sure enjoying my new chair. Dad won't even sit in it and keeps giving me a bad time!

This is the only picture I got of the MetroLink train going by. We ended up riding it on it with three other couples to a tour of Hollywood. We had a tour guide from the park named Jack. He was really a good guide and we all had a great time.

This is the skyline of Los Angeles. Each night it would show this shot on the news when they started talking about the weather. I think one of their weather meters must be on top of one of those skyscrapers or something.

After we got off of the MetroLink in LA, we went to Union Station to ride the subway to Hollywood. It was really cool. It reminded me of the the show, Ghost, when he has a fight with the other ghost on the subway.

This is on the subway. The guy on the left is our guide, Jack. Three of our people are sitting in the second seat on the left. Dad and I are in the very back and you can't see us.

We stopped at the Hollywood and Vine stop. Each stop kind of has a theme. At this one, the whole ceiling was covered with empty movie reels and there were "film strips" painted on the walls. There was a "stage" where you went up the stairs.

There were also a couple of old movie camera/projectors on display. Here is Terry and Jack looking at one of them.

Well, here we are, at the corner of Hollywood and Vine streets. This is where the "Walk of the Stars" begins. It is on both sides of the street and goes on for many blocks.

I think I took over 100 pictures of different stars. There are so many! Here are just a few.

James Stewart was one of the first ones I took. Then I had to take a picture of Eddie Fisher. When I moved to Emmett when I was still in High School, we came from the LA area and I used to tell people that Eddie Fisher was my uncle. My maiden name is Fisher. Then I had to take a picture of John Howard's because I am sure that he must be related to our family!

Here is the "Hollywood" sign on the hill. I am not sure of the name of the place we were when I took this, but it is in the next picture.

Apparently, this yellow couch is the "casting couch" where people would come and try out for parts in movies. It is now in this outdoor plaza on a balcony where you can see the "Hollywood" sign on the mountain. You can sit on it and take your picure. These two couples were with our group. They agreed to be filmed for a commercial for Barnes and Noble. I think it was for an Internet commercial, but it was kind of a fun thing for them to get to do. They asked us to be in it, but we said, "No, thanks." It's a good thing because they asked them all about which authors they liked and what some of the books were they had read recently. I wouldn't have had very good answers.

We went to Gromin's (I know I am spelling this wrong) Chinese Theater where all of the hand and foot prints were. Most of them were covered up with red carpet because they where getting ready for a movie premier that night for VIP's to see the movie "CHE." I have never heard of the movie!

So, we didn't have too many choices of pictures of hand and foot prints, but I did find Shirley MacLaine's!

We got tired and were waiting for our tour guide to come back, so we went into the lobby of a hotel. I can't remember the name of it, but Jack told us that was where Dr. Phil's guest stayed when they came to be on his show. We hung around for a while, hoping we would run into a movie star or someone, but it didn't happen

The last place we went was to the Kodak Theater. This is where the Academy Awards are held. This is our whole group. All three of these couples are really nice. They invited us to their "happy hour" a couple of days later and we went over to their RV and had snacks and "drinks."

(Just ice water for us, but in fancy wine glasses!)

These were some really pretty flowers that were by the entrance to the train station. They are called "Bird of Paradise."

The night we got home from our Hollywood tour, these little raccoons were there to welcome us back to the park!