Last leg of the trip

     On Sunday, after having breakfast with Ginny, the boys and I headed for Joshua Tree National Park. I was hoping to see some more wild flowers and Joshua trees in bloom, similar to yuccas in bloom. No such luck. There was a lot of brittlebush, in fact, hillsides full of it. I took pictures of any flower that struck my fancy, plus a scene through my side mirror. There was also a large grouping of ocotillo.

 

From Joshua Tree, I went to Blythe. There were two parks where we had stayed on the Colorado River a number of years ago. At the other one, I took some really great pictures of baby owls. As it turns out there are evidently owls in this park also. Notice the name of the eatery. The first picture is sunrise on the Colorado while walking the dogs.

After Blythe, I stopped at a Passport America park in Tucson. The windy weather was moving in the next day, so I left at 6 am and arrived at the Hi-Low RV Park in Deming at midmorning. Shortly after that the wind proceeded to blow as bad as I’ve ever seen it in all my years in New Mexico. I even pulled the slides in so I didn’t have to listen to the noise of the awnings over the slides.

When the weather cleared, I took pictures of the grounds. Some of the snow birds have really interesting and cute ideas for decorating. The prettiest wildflowers I found were back here in New Mexico.

I arrived home Sunday morning just ahead of the wind again. The sewer people are digging up the road in front of my house again. Hopefully, all will be back to normal by Memorial Day. Maybe!

Incredible landscaping

     Everywhere we toured, the landscaping was picture postcard beautiful. We had lunch in Palm Desert and Palm Springs always outdoors. Just had to take advantage of the good weather after the crazy winter. Cafe des Beau-Arts served a delicious blackened salmon Caesar salad. At the other European cafe, the waiter spilled a glass of wine on me and didn’t comp either the wine or lunch.

Our Tuesday morning hike was in Indian Canyon on the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation. We walked down into a steep canyon that had a spring and an oasis of Washingtonian Palms. Our next stop was a water fall in another canyon. While I scampered around taking pictures, Ginny took the opportunity to enjoy the morning sun.

There was always a lot of sky traffic that I couldn’t resist.

We went into another canyon in the same area and hiked a trail for a mile or so. A lizard posed for me.

One day we went to an outlet mall, but I didn’t buy anything. The mall was beautiful and it was fun to people watch. I found a vendor who had a lot of stuff that I knew Skyler would love, but I didn’t know what size, so I took a picture instead.

On Wednesday, I took Ginny as my guest to a Rotary meeting at the Spa Hotel and Casino in Palm Springs. We had a great time eating and visiting at the table with former District 5330 Governor Helene Kalfuss and a visiting Rotarian from Ireland. I presented the club with a banner from our Elephant Butte club and receive one from them.

We had some wind and a couple of cool days which generated some fresh snow on the mountain.

On Thursday, we went to the Living Desert Museum which is very similar to the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens. We had a guided tour through the animal portion, and then went into their butterfly room. I loved their model train display.

Friday I did some pool time. The pools are fed by hot springs that need cold water to cool them down. The volleyball game goes on all day every day.

Friday evening we rode the Palm Springs Aerial Tram. It was very cold at the top with two feet of snow. I had a couple glasses of wine while we waited for the city lights to come on. A person could go bonkers taking pictures of those crazy windmills. No wonder the wind blows so much there.

On Saturday afternoon, we went to the Stagecoach Country Western concert at the Polo Grounds. That was so much fun. I got to see Ray Price and Merle Haggard, but I had to walk to the stage that was the farthest from the Mane Stage. It was worth it. On the way back to where Ginny was, I stopped at the XM Satellite Radio booth and got a picture of Mojo Nixon from Outlaw Country. He wasn’t there, so it isn’t signed. My pictures of the performers aren’t that good, because I couldn’t get close enough. The pictures of Keith and Sugarland are taken of the screen, not the stage. It cost me a small fortune to enjoy my wine, but it was an experience of a life time. People watching was too funny. The music was awesome. I can’t wait to go again.

Yuma and westward

     After a stop at the Walmart in Casa Grande, I made it all the way to Foothills RV Resort in Yuma. We’ve stayed at this place many times and also enjoyed a drink or two at Mickey B’s. The next day, I traveled on to Rio Bend RV Park just outside El Centro. This was another one of our favorite stops. I soaked up some rays at the pool there during my two day stay. I do believe my tan has stabilized.  

      I think I’ve visited more RV resorts with golf courses than Carman has played in the past few months. On Saturday I drove up to Caliente Springs RV Resort outside of Desert Palm Springs and stayed for eight days while Ginny Nyland and I toured the whole area. What a fantastic tour guide she was. This a picture of the view from my RV spot. It’s the mountain that we took the tram up on Thursday evening.

The first place we went on Sunday was to the College of the Desert flea market. It was just like Yuma and Webster. Ginny was smart enough to wear a hat that day. Unfortunately, I didn’t. I did buy some showy thong sandals and other trinkets.

Stay tuned for more pictures and adventures!

Fun in Tucson

I arrived at Beaudry RV around lunch time on Monday. Cathy and Bob probably arrived around the same time, but they didn’t contact me until I was at the pool. We caught up on all of our various travels while enjoying the windy sunshine. Later we got together at their rig for a glass of wine and a ‘ show and tell’ of our travels.

On Tuesday morning I drove out to the Desert Museum and Botanical Gardens. Gary and I had been out here a few years ago, but now I have two new cameras.

These look like violets or johnny jump ups. 

 

 

The ocotillos were in rare form.

 

After this, we went on to Gilbert Ray Park for a bit of semi-dry camping. This spot is highly recommended in RV magazines. It’s quite lovely and the birds sing constantly.

This particular cactus was blooming right near our space. I did back that sucker in all by myself! Marshall wouldn’t get out and help.

On the Road Again

I’ve really enjoyed my time at home in Elephant Butte, visiting with friends and working in the yard. The yard isn’t all that I want it to be, but I’ll get back to that in a few weeks. On Sunday I left and made it all the way to Benson. I stopped at a place that was new to me but part of Passport America that my friend Ginny recommended. It was a very friendly park and they had food, adult beverages and live music down by the ponds. Naturally, I took pictures. The geese wanted to be fed and scared me to death, because they were very aggressive. I was remembering the time that the geese chased Sue and Mike at Sea World. I also wanted to include a nice picture of Deb and Al from one Sunday when they came over along with Ron for some jambalaya. I’m at Beaudrey right now checking out the pool. Bob and Cathy should here in a while.

I forgot to mention that the wildflowers that I call desert poppies were in abundance between Deming and here. I’m going to several desert botanical gardens on this trip, so I’ll probably OD on flower pictures.