A visit with family.....

 

Our Location: 

Ocotillo Wells BLM, Salton Sea, California

 

This morning we had plans and so up early, a quick coffee and we were out the door. A $75.00 pump at the local fuel spot had us with only a quarter of a tank more than when I started to squeeze the handle. I guess $5.99 per gallon will do that. 

 

 

We were through Indio and into Indian Wells, California knocking on Janet's door by 10 AM PST. She looks wonderful and we haven't seen her for a long while. We've missed her but we do stay in touch via phone and text messages. We visited at their home for a long while and we even picked some fresh grapefruit from her tree. We finally headed off to Mexicali's, an authentic Mexican restaurant in Indio. Can you believe I didn't take a photo of Janet or the restaurant? Well, I didn't! We had a great visit and hopefully will see her again back in Ontario before fall. 

 

Riley and I were back home around 3 pm PST and have just kind of been resting and I've been editing photos for tonight's blog. Please forgive the dirty windshield in any of the photos, we just can't seem to keep it clean. 

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've had a good day. 

 

Until next time...

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb

 

A very nice visit today....

Our Location: BLM South Entrance, Joshua Tree National Park

 California

 

Surprisingly we had a very quiet night. I didn’t hear any wind until around 5:30 AM and even then it wasn’t terribly strong sustained winds, just gusts. As daylight came on of course the wind picked but not nearly what it was predicting. It was cool here though, only 49 F / 9.4 C and while the temps rose to about 64 F/ 18 C the wind kept it from being a truly warm day. 

 

Driving along I-10 West toward Indio. Yep, snow on the mountain ahead.

I left this picture as it came from the camera. As you can see it's very hazy over the valley. Still the same snow.

 

We were of course were ready to go early but then again being early isn’t a bad thing and is our norm. Before we left we did however pull in the slides and put HRH Miss Kitty in my bedroom so we didn’t have to worry about the wind while we were away. 

Again, I left the photo as it was. You can see the haze over the whole Coachella Valley area and of course that is snow on a different mountain top. That would be Big Bear you can see in this picture.

Part of the long 10 mile grade down from the Chiriaco Summit to the valley floor.

 

Out the door around 9:25 AM we took the leisurely drive down I-10 West to Indio and from there we made our way to Janet & Dennis’ place off of Manitou Drive. A very lovely gated community with flowers blooming and lots of fruit on the trees, oranges, grapefruit, lemons and probably a few others that I couldn’t recognize. Palm lined streets with a beautiful greens and fairways, amazingly manicured front yards and of course flowering shrubs and bougainvillea peeking out at us from time to time. Indian Wells received a lot of wind last night and was still receiving much more than we were. There was debris from the palms and various other trees visible on the usually pristine  lawns and public areas. 

Not sure if this is a standard feature or a carnival in town. Off on a side street and we didn't get a good look.

 

Cute name don't you think?

 

We arrived at Janet’s at 10:30 AM to find a sea of grapefruit on the ground from the wind. Of course on our way out we picked up a few dozen to eat over the next number of weeks. It was wonderful to visit with Janet ( we didn’t see Dennis, he was on the golf course). We chatted for a while before heading off to Mexicali’s for lunch. We enjoyed Mexicali’s again this year with Janet and ironically we were just down the street from Pacific Brake and Alignment. We parted company around 2 pm  with Janet heading home and us heading back to the Igloo. A nice quick visit but enough for this time. We managed to catch them on an in-between day. Dennis arrived home on Saturday, Janet arrived home yesterday and tomorrow they head off for some medical appointments for Dennis a few hours north of Indian Wells. Busy folks. 

Lots of debris that normally isn't around.

  

We fueled up the Big Dog at $3.59 per US gallon but I didn’t fill him. I’ll find cheaper fuel when we arrive in Arizona I am certain. We took a little drive around the area checking out the dry camping area behind Patton’s Museum but it wasn’t our type of camping. There are designated places to park, all are back in and there is very little space between them. There is some definite traffic noise from the interstate but it wasn’t much more than white noise at the time we were there. Also I think it would be noisy due to the museum and the little store, coffee stop, gas station, etc. You have to really pay attention to see the sign designating the camping area. It is JUST PAST the museum before you get to the busier part of the stop. It is easy to miss the sign. 

 

Nothing like a water fall in the desert surrounded by green, green, green grass.

 

Back home I once again used my new magnet on a stick to clear up some nails that I noticed laying around the edges of the fire pits in our location. A few had scattered out a bit from the pits and so I made sure they ended up back inside the fire pits once again. These pits are right up against some big rocks and so I doubt anyone would drive there even if the pits are removed. Too close to the rocks.  

 

It doesn't look much like desert does it?

 Spent some time reading and resting before doing this blog post. The wind seems to have calmed down from the gusts earlier but it’s still gusty at times. Things are quiet here in our little spot and we’re happy to report that it’s been a very nice day. Always nice to see family. 

Sorry for the reflection from the window.

 

Tomorrow is a short travel day. We anticipate getting an early start and therefore an early arrival time. We are of course heading to Quartzsite for a little while. Some good friends from our Magic River camping days in Long Beach, Mississippi are in Q for a few days and we are looking forward to seeing them. They will only be in town a few more days and so we’re in a hurry to get a visit or two in with them before they head out. 

 

A very typical street in their community. Lots of maintenance workers around.

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.

 

A very old BMW.

 

Until next time…take care, be safe,

Deb

Fixed and off to our next adventure.....

Our Location: Red Earth Casino, Desert Shores, California

A day spent putting in time. We didn’t feel like we wanted to explore any further today so we stayed in except for one trip to Harbor Freight. I think one of my favourite stores, right up there with Princess Auto in Ontario. I love to look, I don’t buy much but looking is fun. We did make two purchases today, a handled magnet and a buffer for my drill. I was happy to find what I wanted and we were out for less than $15. Yeah us!!! Yes I know with the exchange it’s much more but I’m still happy.
 

We're debating about pontoons!

I believe that says Route 66 on the side of this old tow truck.

It's parked outside Pacific Brake and Alignment.

A call to Janet netted us an answering machine but she called back around the noon hour. We weren’t going to meet for lunch she was just too busy. Not a problem, we’ve adjusted our plans accordingly. 

I think it's a '55 or a '59. Up on the hoist in the shop.

 

Sunny, bright and much warmer today even though we are parked in the shade. It’s too busy an area to take a lawn chair outside to sit, an industrial area with too much noise, trains, traffic and loud noises. I noticed yesterday that the area in the back of the shop where we are parked had numerous screws and nails on the ground so I used shop owner Danny’s magnet on a stick to collect them. Better I pick them up with a stick than with my tires. Since I liked his magnet on a stick I bought my own today. He offered me his but I declined. I found one I like better has a release to drop the stuff instead of having to scrap it off. 

Sorry, not very straight but this is the place. I would recommend them for certain.

 

Danny assured me we would be out today and while I believe him I think it’s going to be late for us  to travel. We like to be off the road around 2:30 - 3 pm before dark and easily within the day light hours.  We dislike to travel after dark but due to the noise here I think we will head on down the road to the Red Earth Casino for an overnight stay before heading on to our next destination tomorrow. I think it will be much quieter and we will be able to fill some jugs there and be part way down the road. As I write this it is shortly pasts 4 pm and I doubt we’ll be out much before 5 or shortly after. *Note: we left the shop shortly before 6 pm after Danny offered us another night's stay. I politely declined, thanked him very much, paid the bill and we hurried out. I will write more about our experience tomorrow. 

Almost literally on the tracks. Trains go by all day and night. Big long cargo trains, Amtrack trains, short cargo trains. Some whistle, some don't, some go slow, some fast. We could feel the vibration in the Igloo. HRH Miss Kitty was not impressed with the whole affair.

So there you have it our day here in Indio doing not much of anything except waiting. I hope you enjoyed your visit. Thanks for stopping by.

 

Pretty nice view for an industrial area, don't you think?

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb

No wind, sunny, blue skies, getting repaired.....

Our Location: Indio Blvd, Indio California

 

The wind died down completely Wednesday night. Thursday morning dawned with still no wind, sunny blue skies and promise of a warmer day. We had an quasi appointment at a shop on Indio Blvd. First come, first served. We arrived about 8:20 AM. 

 

Snow on that mountain top over there as we start down the 10 mile drop into Indio from Joshua Tree National Park.

Big Bear Mountain also has snow. We are still doing downward.

 

We are parked up beside the Pacific II Brake and Alignment shop on Indio Blvd here in Indio, California. We are having the bushings replaced in the springs, wheels checked, greased, etc and an alignment on the Igloo. Tire wear on the rear tires only is the reason. Instead of going into a big long explanation I'll leave it there. Hopefully we are out of here this afternoon (Friday, Jan 4, 2019) all of the parts are due this morning. 

 

Driving toward the area known as Palm Springs.

Some more snow as you can see.

 

A chat with Janet last night leaves us with a tentative date for lunch today at Mexicali's. A very authentic Mexican Restaurant just up the street from our current location. We visited with this place last year with her as well and loved the food.

 

We are in the La Quinta area.

 Janet's a very busy lady and this year has her even busier than usual due to some unexpected happenings. When we left in the fall we agreed on a visit at approximately this time as the calendar was wide open for her.  So we're going to have only a very quick visit but may come back this way later in the winter for another, we'll have to see. 

 

Some very pretty flowers around this area.

 

We have power, Danny the owner has us plugged in, we spent a somewhat restless night due to the industrial area we are in but as I said, we're hoping to be out of here today. We shall see how things go. 

 

Not something we see back home in Ontario, Canada.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've had a wonderful day. 

 

They have some very pretty landscaping in the southwest.

 

Until next time... take care, be safe, 

 

Deb 

 

Snow, palms and closed road.....

 

Our Location:  Near Borrego Springs, CA

All pictures today were taken with my phone. We forgot the big camera, the grocery list and the drinking water jugs this morning. So the pictures aren't great but they give a good idea of what we did see.
 

Today was another day out and about for Riley and I. This time we headed off to Indio, Joshua Tree N.P. and Box Canyon Road. Rumours abound that Box Canyon Road is closed but I could find no mention of it on the internet. A trip to Mecca assured us that it is indeed closed. No idea when it will reopen. So if you have plans to cut off the corner near Coachella on your way east or southwest I would rethink that idea. One must go to I-10 in Coachella to go east toward the south entrance to Joshua Tree N.P. and points further along toward Blythe and Arizona. For any that are unfamiliar with the area there is a very long climb coming out of the Coachella Valley heading east to Joshua Tree N.Park. One may want to be empty of most water and all waste tanks before starting that climb. 

We checked out the Badlands on our way to CA 78.

Some amazing views and places to camp.

The roads were fairly busy in that area today. I think it has something to do with the holiday season and the closure of Box Canyon Road. We took a drive along the south side of Joshua Tree National Park on the BLM camping grounds. It is very evident that a huge rain fell here and washed out a great many areas of the roadway that is used by BLM campers. Very course rock has been installed in numerous places to allow passage on the road. We didn’t journey into the park so I can’t tell you about the roads in there. Only the UPPER road was fixed that I could see, none of the lower roads appeared to have been repaired at this time. So if you plan on camping at the south entrance to Joshua Tree National Park I would park the rig and either walk or unhook your tow vehicle to check things out before you head on down either roads. As you get off the interstate to go to Joshua Tree National Park you can see more signs indicating that Box Canyon Road at this entrance is closed as well. 

Love the colours and the mountains in the background.

You can see the rigs parked out here and they are looking at the view of the pictures above and below.

One thing we’ve noticed the last number of weeks is the way people have been blocking off the empty campsites. Piling rocks either in the middle of the campsite or placing rocks across the entrances to the sites. I have no idea why they do this but it is certainly annoying. Of course the rocks can all be moved but it’s truly rude behavior. Just one more thing, I know this is a rant but I think I speak for a lot of people when I say,”People your old tin cans, wire and other things you no longer want, need or have broken are NOT decorations for the trees. No matter how many you drip from the tree, bush or fence, it’s still garbage. If you bring it in, bring it back out, don’t leave it hanging on the tree as an eyesore.” Rant over. 

There is a trail down there at the bottom.

You can camp here as the ground is very hard.

Imagine parking at this fire ring and looking at this view for a while. Not too shabby, huh?

We witnessed our first snow since Mississippi as we headed west this year. Today we made note of snow on top of Big Bear Mountain, just as we did last year. We also made note of the wonderful flowering shrubs and bushes today. Hard to believe it’s the end of December and there are flowers in bloom. We aren’t in Canada any more. 

Snow not clouds on the mountain top to the right. The white fluffy stuff to the left is clouds. That is Big Bear Mountain and we can see it from Janet's back patio in Indian Wells too.

We are on I-10 West leaving the Coachella Valley and heading toward Joshua Tree National Park. This is the very small beginning of a very long climb.

A hair cut for Riley, which she is not happy with but it will eventually grow out, after all it is just hair, right? Some groceries and some side trips to check out some more spots pretty much filled out the day. We were gone most of the day, 9 AM - 3:30 PM, and so tomorrow I warn you will be a do nothing day.
 

That mountain top also has a bit of snow here and there but it isn't Big Bear. We are heading toward Indio, California.

A special note for myself, today Jason and Leah left Chelmsford, Ontario and are heading to BC for a vacation. Jason will be gone for a month, Leah for two weeks. We wish them well and hope they have a safe journey, a fantastic time and stay healthy.  Update: a call to dad before this posting has Jason and Leah somewhere in Minnesota. He couldn't remember the name. Update at time of posting this blog: spoke to dad, Jason & Leah have arrived in Minnesota. He can't recall the name of the town.

A couple more photos of the badlands.

I love the views. See the trails down there on the bottom?

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit and your day.

 

At some point we will be in the Phoenix, Arizona area.

I forgot I had this picture on my phone, this was taken in Yuma, AZ before Christmas.

Until next time…take care, be safe,

Deb