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