We gave up

It has been a busy week. A week ago we were in Butterfield and the weather did not get any better. It kept raining and it was always windy. We spent NO time outside. If I wanted to be inside I could have stayed in Portland. Then to top it off, the propane tank for the campground shower broke and the bathroom was closed. The workers did not seem to be in a very big hurry to fix the problem. Needless to say, I was not happy.

Thursday night we went out for dinner with the young couple who were camped next to us. we had a wonderful dinner and a great evening. After we got back to camp we went into their HUGE class A rig and talked and drank for a while until we were so tired that we were not making sense. It is a big rig, and there was more room in the middle, but I don't think a lot more sotrage space. Anyway, it was nice to have some time to talk.

Friday morning we left early for Phoenix. We had remembered tat there were a lot of RV parks in Yuma so we stopped at about a dozen of them to see if we should move there. I had done some research in advance, but we were not impressed with any of the parks. They were for OLD people. They were expensive and crowded and had lots of "activities." The season is almost over and so most of the folks were starting to leave. It did not look in the least bit interesting.

We did find a nice park just north of Phoenix which is very clean and well maintained. The sites are a nice size and the people are incredibly friendly. There are no "activities." Just a pool, an exercise room, and a reading room(all of which are open until 10 pm). It was not very expensive, but it was, of course, more money than we had planned because we thought that we had paid for the month. (no refunds at Butterfield). We had a wonderful weekend with Ira and Cathie. I met my great great niece and my great great nephew. So cute. We went to a spring training game for the Mariners and really enjoyed that. I had a good time just talking to Ira and Cathie - who were great hosts.

On the way home we stopped at two more RV parks and neither of them was great. So we considered just staying at Butterfield. But when we got back to Butterfield it was VERY windy. It turns out that it was very windy the entire weekend. That did it. Bob and I decided that we would either go home or go to Phoenix. We decided on Phoenix.

It really did not take much time to pack up the trailer. All those months on the trek make it very habitual. We left early yesterday - in the midst of a lot of wind. We got here in Phoenix and set up in very short order. It is warm here and there is a slight breeze. We had dinner outside on the picnic table. We had breakfast outside on the picnic table. Bob was able to go ona pretty good walk because there was so little wind and it was flat. Then we got the scooters down and took them to the local Lowe's to buy stuff to repair a hole I made in the trailer. We stopped for lunch. The trip on the scooters was so much fun. We just went around for a while. then I saw a Super Cuts. It has been too many weeks since my hair was cut. So I stopped in and got it cut. So cheap and it looks fine. I figured that even if it was a bad cut it would grow out soon enough, but I couldn't take the overgrown look of my hair any longer.

We are now just sitting around. Bob has fixed the trailer - it took no time. It is 93 degrees outside with 12 % humidity and a slight breeze. We may have to come back here for a longer stay next year

The pictures above are of the new campsite and the one cactus that was everywhere at Butterfield - the ocotillo.

Yeah. Bob finally feels as if we are on vacation.

An adventure - if you think of it that way.

Sunday morning here was nice but chilly. I went for a long walk with the group from here and we went into a small mine. Lovely. As the day wore on it got windier and windier. It got more and more cloudy. I knew this was the desert but I smelled rain. We were going to go into town to buy groceries but the wind was blowing so hard that Bob did not want to leave the trailer. (I asked him what might happen and he was not sure. Nor was he sure what he could do if he were here when it happened. He just did not want to leave.) the winds were averaging 25 mph with gusts up to 40 or 50. The trailer was rocking back and forth.

I brought inside everything that could be harmed if it got wet - thinking all the time This is the Desert!!! At about 4 pm it started to rain. then it started to pur. Neither of us could concentrate on reading so we played cribbage. then we played Scrabble. Then we watched a good Clint Eastwood movie. The wind was blowing really hard and the rain was coming down in torrents. We usually go to be at about 9:30. But we were too nervous to sleep. finally it started calming down a little by 11. We got in bed and were really rocked to sleep. we got up in the morning and, the only thing that was ruined was our dining tent (yes, the brand new one that we bought earlier this week). We knew it was happening, but it was blowing too hard for us to go out and take it down. Bob thinks that maybe he can fix it. Maybe.

It was cloudy and rainy all day yesterday. We did drive into town and had a nice Thai lunch and got groceries. It was too cold to do anything outside (and this coming from two Oregonians - what wimps). We did inside things again. This morning it was cold when I got up - 39 degrees. I did not want to walk and did not want to do my exercises behind the trailer. so I went into the visitor lounge and did them here. People kept coming in and staring. But I got them done.

As I sit here typing the sun is out. There are some cottony clouds over the mountains, but none overhead. Maybe it will be a nice warm day. Yeah.

We are finding things to do

It is amazing how you can find things to do everywhere. We were getting tired of the wind so on Thursday we drove above 50 miles to a casino. We had no luck, but had fun. We also had a good steak dinner for very little money. It was a nice evening.

Then I found out that there are weekly hikes leaving from here, so I was ready bright and early Saturday morning. It was a great hike. It took about 3 hours. We walked up to a house built out of local stones. On the way we saw amazing wildflowers. They are blooming very early this year because of the amount of rain. They had 12 inches of rain this winter and they usually get less than 3 inches. We also found many artifacts from early homesteaders in this area. Apparently there used to be a lot more water here, but in about 1955 there was an earthquake and it really changed the aquefer. But we saw foundations, water troughs, wagon frames, and even a house made out of stone that was built by the miners who worked the mines. We saw a spring that was still running. Near the spring our guide (Barbara who is VERY knowledgeable about the area) found what she thought was a hiding area for illegals. You could see where they slept and where they had a very small fire.

Barbara agreed to take a couple of us on Sunday for a walk to the mines. There was a young couple who were on the walk with me - Ed and Ashley. Ashely takes tours of youth groups to Israel. I was reading a book about Israel in 1945 and brought her the book later that afternoon when I finished it. while I was talking to them Ed said that he wanted to learn to play cribbage. So they came to our trailer with a bottle of rum. we played cribbage and they joined us for dinner - Bob had made some really yummy clam chowder.

then last night was the full moon. this was apparently the closest the moon has come to the earth in 18 years. So there was a campfire to watch the moonrise and then a lovely short meditative walk under the moonlight. There was also a group of Hindus here who were celebrating the full moon. They had dancing etc to celebrate. It was a busy night.

This morning we met at 9 am for another walk to the mines. It was again beautiful. The wildflowers were even bigger. We walked cross country rather than on a path. We got to the mine and went in. It was small and obviously dug by hand. Lots of various minerals here underneath the ground. All of the walking feels very good. Barbara says that she will take me on another walk later this week.

Meanwhile it is cloudy, cool and windy here. So I think we will take the opportunity to go to the store and get some groceries. Then if it is nice tomorrow, we will be able to enjoy the warmth.

The wind

the sun has been pretty bright here, so Bob and I decided to put up the dining tent to get more shade. during the night the wind as strong enough that we got out of bed to put down the awning on the trailer - it was shaking the whole trailer. When we got up we looked over at the dining tent and it was demmolished. Bob was really angry at himself for not tying down all four legs - he only tied down two of them. So we drove into Ramona and bought a new one. then we tied it down real good. Before we went to bed we lowered it to get it out of the worst of the wind. And guess what? No wind last night. But it was nice to have the awning this morning. Yeah.

This is our home for March

Another nice day, but a little windy and muggy. We thought about going to the hot springs, but decided to do chores like laundry and cleaning the trailer. It is very quiet today with the weekenders gone. We had to pull up the awning because of the wind. Now it is a bit cloudy, but it is blowing over. Anyway, here we are.

A day of travel

The campground was a little busier over the weekend, with lots of kids and families. By yesterday morning they were starting to pull out. Bob and I decided to go on a small trip. We drove to the small town of Borrego Springs. Our campground hostess told us that there was a great mexican restaurant there. So I put that info in my gps and we started looking. There were two mexican restaurants. We went to the first and it was just a hole in the wall - looked like take out. So I plugged in the second one. We followed the directions very carefully and wound up in a very fancy looking and expensive looking golf resort. We kept following the directions. We kept going around in circles. I couldn't turn off the gps because we could figure out how to get out. I finally plugged in the name of another town and the gps led us out. Whew! so we decided to just drive and look. We found the other one, plus a coupld of steak houses. We went to the second one. It was not that great at all. Bob and I still maintain that the best Mexican food that we have ever had was in Silver City New Mexico. Yum.

We did a little touristing and then took off. We had heard about another campground called Fountain of Youth and both of wanted to go see it. We found it easily on the other side of the Salton Sea. The spaces were very small and not very scenic. But the place was very well kept with lots of amenities and LOTS of activities. It reminded me of the activities on a cruise ship - going on all the time. It was not a lot more expensive than what we are paying here. It would have on site wifi, instead of having to go to the visitor lounge - and I bet they don't close their visitor lounge at 6 pm. It also has cell phone reception. The downside is that it is pretty hilly and that there would not be a good 4 or 5 mile walk for me. Or a one miler for Bob. We will think about it for next year.

By the time we got back to Butterfield, the place was almost empty. I had forgotten about daylight savings time and had to plead with the owner not to closse the visitor lounge so that I could check my email. But he agreed and I was able to do so.

This morning started cloudy so it will be cooler. I am using this opportunity to do laundry and maybe clean the trailer a bit. Tomorrow we will probably go to Agua Cliente and spend some time in the spa. Ahhhhh!

We are into a routine.

The weather here is getting better every day. It is in the mid 80's during the day and in the 50's at night. I have been doing my exercises every morning - either a DVD or a one hour walk. the walk that I found has a steep downhill at the 1.5 mile mark. I get to the bottom and turn around and walk back up. It is quite a workoout and I feel really good when i do it. I do my DVD with my laptop on a small table, set up in the shade of the trailer (because it is already too hot by 7 am if I am in the sun.

The placer is OK, but they have not done real maintenance in many many years so it is getting run down. There is only one shower for our area, but it is a nice one, so that is not a problem except on weekends when there are more people here.

We are not doing much. We have found a good one mile walk around the perimeter of the place. It is pretty flat. For the last two days Bob has walked the loop twice a day. It seems to help me. He is much less congested here and is very happy that he is able to breathe better.

We took out the scooters one day and went about 10 miles. But it was really windy and a little tough. We decided to wait until the winds die down before we try it again. Today we are going to Borrego Springs (about 40 miles away) to check out the "historic town" and have lunch at what is purported to be a very good Mexican restaurant.

Nice to be so relaxed. I did not even realize that today was the first day of daylight savings time. We have a thermometer and clock that is automatic and readjusted itself this morning. Bob accused the clock of being wrong. Then we looked at the calendar and realized that it was right. So we reset all the other clocks.

We have heard about the earthquake and the tsunami in Japan. It is just terrrible and I have been coming to the visitor lounge here several times a day. They have CNN on 24/7 so I do get updates. It is very frightening. Wow.

Getting settled

We got to Butterfield on Tuesday. We stopped on the way in Julian for a yummy lunch. We were here by noon. It was still a little chilly, but the sun was shining brightly. The manager (Barbara Jean) told us that they had had gale force winds the night before, but that the bad weather was supposed to be over. They had snow here just two weeks ago. I think that we timed this well.

Bob was surprised to learn that the altitutde here is over 2000 feet, so he is having a little trouble breathing, but it is not bad. We are doing things slowly. It took us a while to set up the trailer. We had our choice of over 100 spots. I asked why it was so empty and was told that it gets more full later in the month and on weekends. OK. So we tried one spot and noticed that it did not have a fire ring. So we wanted to try another. I asked Barbara Jean and she said that the other one had electrical problems. So we tried a third and it is great.

Since this was Tuesday, I wanted to watch the Biggest Loser. (Stefee has gotten me hooked on that show.) There is a TV in the Visitor Lounge, but they close the lounge at 6 pm. Barbara Jean said that if I got there before 6, she would show me how to lock up. She is great. So I got to watch the show. Walking back to the trailer in pitch black darkness with a tiny flashlight was a little difficult, but I finally found it.

I got up yesterday and walked about four miles. I didn't realize that I chose the downhill direction. That meant uphill all the way back. When I walk again I will try the other direction. It was nice getting some walking in.

We set up the scooters, filled their tires with air (Bob has a portable everything), and everything looked done. I was going to use the free wifi. Bob gets too impatient with the slow wifi so he wanted to try our Verizon. We got in the truck and then drove about 10 miles down the road where there was cell phone coverage. We tried our Verizon broadband. It didn't work. So I called Verizon. The first young man (sounds ominous already doesn't it) told me that it wasn't connected. I was frustrated because we had made sure to get it connected a week ago. He kept me on hold for a while and then told me that it was complicated and he was transfering me to a specialist. The next young man identified himself as being in sales and told me that he had to run a credit check. At that point I lost it. Here we were sitting in the middle of the desert and I was having to deal with such incompetence. When I told my story again, he said that he would check. Then he said that he would hook it up and it would be ready in 15 minutes. He gave me his direct number in case it did not work. We waited 15 minutes. It did not work. I tried the direct number and it needed an extension which I did not have. So I tried again and got a third person. She was finally able to fix the problem. URGHH!!! It turns out that they had given me a new phone number because of the length of time that we had closed the service. She just needed to walk me through to change thge number. Now i know for the future.

We got some bills paid and came back to the trailer. I sat out in the sun to read my book and got quite a little sunburn. No sun for me today. I was so tired that I was in bed fast asleep by 8 pm and slept until 5 am this morning.

It had been getting pretty cold at night here - like in the low 40's. But not last night. When we got up it was 50 degrees. NICE. Barbara Jean had put a DVD player in the lounge for me so that I could do my exercise dvds. But I forgot that the lounge is locked. It doesn't open until 9 am. So I set up my laptop outside and did 45 minutes of power sculpting outside in the shade. Also NICE. Barbara Jean says she will meet me to open the lounge at 7 am. I will walk tomorrow but meet her on Saturday. She is really nice.

I don't know what we will do for the rest of the day. Bob was not feeling great this morning. If he feels better we may try riding the scooters or biking. Not sure. But we are enjoying the sun.

Getting ready to hit the road again

In four days we will hit the road again. We are taking Honey to the southern California desert. this time we will go to one place and stay put for the month. Then come home. It will be very different from the great trek. Neither of us know if we will like it. This would not be the year to do another trek like the last one. It snowed in Tucson Arizona this week!

We will be staying at an RV resort that does not have cell phone service, but it does have free wifi. We may have to drive a few miles to call and say hi to family. We are taking the scooters and the bicycles and plan to do a lot of sightseeing around the area. But mostly we are looking forward to warm and dry. (Bob has had a congested chest for several weeks now and that is no fun.

We are planning on driving straight down on I-5 and turning left just at LA. The only issue will be the weather going over the pass (Siskyou summit south of Ashland). We thought about trying a different route (eastern Oregon and eastern California), but once we realized that this would be the rainiest and snowiest March in a long time, we opted for the interstate. It will be quicker and safer. (Just heard about two more families that were stranded for days in the snow. Don't want that to be us.)

Gas is going to be very expensive but I guess we will pay what we have to pay.

We are now busy packing up the trailer and trying to get everything ready. It is amazing to me how much I keep saying - oh don't forget that. We were so organized on the trek and it seemed so easy. Now we have to recreate it and I have already forgotten what we did before. It will work out and we can buy whatever we forget -except for our meds and I already have those in the trailer.


Yeah!!!!