Up to Oregon

We had a nice sunny day for driving.







We were thrilled to see lot of water in Lake Shasta, more that we've seen in many years, right up the boat launch ramp.

We stopped in Corning at the Petro for fuel and ran into Mike. The next break was at Weed by the airport with Mt Shasta cloaked in cloud in the background. There were many seagulls standing around on one leg and tail feathers that looked like they had polka dots.


We passed the fresh snow across the mountain from us as we went along in the sunshine. Dry roads. Mike was an hour ahead of us and saw a few snowflakes. We arrived at Phoenix, fueled at $3.05.9 at Petro and parked at the Peartree RV Park at 4.

Time to Leave

I dropped Suz at the airport and then we hooked up and were on the road by 8:40. There was a mean headwind and we were really pushed around through Tehatchapi Pass, going by their windmills. At the top, you look across farmland to the west where they're motto is 'food grows where water flows' and the sprinklers were on. We passed the cattle yards by Kettleman City.


We saw the first of several trucks that are adding 'side panels' between their wheels. We'd seen a program of a mother fighting for this, as her daughter had been hit and fell under the wheels and lost her life.
We got to Santa Nella at 5 and boondocked next to McDonalds.

More Suzanne

I picked Suzanne up at 11 and we drove through Palm Springs where we stopped at Consuelas, the Mexican restaurant that Ron and I always went for margaritas.





Next stop was the store, Life is Good which we both firmly believe.




Then it was back to the pool for the whole afternoon which we shared with the noodle crowd and stayed until dinner. A lovely visit.

One Last Happy Hour

Deb and Peter are leaving tomorrow so here is our last get together. Joy was acting like a native as we joked around.

All Our Windmills

We,ve become so used to all the windmills in the valley, we hardly even see them anymore. Today I saw a pickup truck near one of them and this really shows how large these things are.
You'll have to double click this picture to even pick this up.

Off to the VFW

Occasionally we go to the VFW, which stands for Veterans of Foreign Wars in the U.S., very like a Canadian Legion. The local one here raises money by serving tacos and beer Wednesday for lunch and it's an easy place to gather when you have too many people to get in your rig. Suzanne went here in 2005 with Ron while I babysat the baby, so it was a repeat today with our Don and Lila crowd and most enjoyable.
Our highlight tonight was a swim and hot tub after Survivors. We found that we had to share the warm pool with our resident Mallard ducks. If you double click the picture, you'll see Suzanne swimming with the ducks.

Suzanne Arrives

What a delight. We picked Suzanne up at the airport for a visit. It is NEVER, that you get to spend a little time with your grown children without a million distractions. We hit the swimming pool and then enjoyed Jambalaya and visiting together. Enjoyed all the new pictures of the family and their day in Vancouver for the Olympics .

Back to Catalina Spa RV Resort

We arrived back here Friday and are having lots of fun with many friends. Some people get together every afternoon which is a catch up with whoever is here to see what's going on.
Shirley did a Seafood Chowder and Vicki did a pasta dish, enjoyed by all Sunday. Monday we had HH here and the 2 couples we went with on the Panama Cruise were here to attend. Lots of fun to see how all these different people have something in common.

Margaritas and Jambalaya

We had Chayla and Ric, and Glen and Leah here for happy hour today. Ric brought his famous Margaritas and Leah's fancy glasses so we had elegant drinks for my soon to be famous Jambalaya.
I got into southern food when we went back to Alabama last spring and I've got it perfected now - chicken and sausage jambalaya. We enjoyed all the little bunnies running by and then had a rousing game of Wizard.

We Found old Friends

I glanced at the welcome visitors book in the lobby and there was the signature of Ralf and Tuula, a woman I used to work with in White Rock. Well, we had them over for a visit and caught up on old times. We really enjoyed seeing them. We talked about the best route for going home with the maps out, always a controversy.

I Love Golden Village Palms Resort

I always love it here. Can't believe it's been 4 years since we've been here. There are 2 pools for volleyball or lengths and a huge one for paddling around. Here's the guy playing live music by the pool with food at an outdoor cabana. There are 7 pool tables. The umbrellas by the pool are welcome - it's 80 degrees here now.

Off to Hemet

We arrived in Hemet Friday and off we went to the Wild West Saloon that night with Glen and Leah, Chayla and Ric and met Darwin and Marcie there. We are 27 years old friends from the old Blaine Eagles days. We played pool, danced and listened to some Karaoke and it was fun to be together after all these years. Sat Ron and Glen played some crib. Sun we played shuffleboard in our park on their Championship 8 lane indoor course. Serious athletics here.

More Sightseeing in La Jolla

This is our last day here and it's been fun. We went out to Shelter Island, formed when the Navy deepened the channel into San Diego Bay. Located here is Seaport Village, a 14 acre shopping area of restaurants, specitalty shops and themed eateries including this one with a Volkswagen bus inside, in a harbor-side setting, like our Granville Island. There was a seashell store which was amazing. There is even a restored 1890's Loof Carousel.
We passed the airport, cruise ships in the harbor and historic ships, one the Star of India. Launched in 1863, it is a beautiful sailing ship, the oldest ship in the world to maintain a regular sailing schedule.




We finished our sightseeing with a trip to La Jolla, pronounced with a J when we listened to 'Gabby, our Garmin. This beautiful little seaside town made us think of Horseshoe Bay when we wound around and down to the beach. The cliffs were carved out of sandstone, by centuries of wave action. The surf was pounding on the shore and the smell of the salt water was ambrosia to me. There were lots of prairie dogs on the top of the cliffs, one standing in the left photo.

Missions, Beaches and a Different Mall

We started our day by going to the Mission Basilica San Diego De Alcala.
Built in 1769, it is California's oldest mission, now restored and an
active parish church today. The front veranda is lined with little alcoves holding clay statues of saints. The church is 150' long, 35' wide and 29' high. The size was dictated by the height of the trees available originally to use for the beams.
This adobe structure has 2-3' walls. The Campamario holds the Mission bells. They weigh 805 - 1200 lbs and rang to announce times for Mass, work, meals and siestas. A Crown shaped one was cast in 1802 and supplied by a Spanish King.



We drove to Coronado, a resort city on the peninsula between San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The 2.1 mile blue bridge, 210' high was only completed in 1969. This seaside resort is home to the historic 1888 Hotel del Coronado, a well known landmark with Victorian turrets and cupolas. It is massive and delightful with a huge chandelier in the front lobby.The old pier remains are still seen on the beach. We drove down the Silver Strand Blvd, following the beach, then up I 5 to the Westfield Horton Plaza.




We got parked in the garage and found our way to the street, but for the life of us, we couldn't find the entrance to the Mall. We finally followed someone in. It is 5 levels of multi-colored architecture of shops, theater and restaurants surrounding the Vegetable Garage.

Balboa Park and the Gaslamp District

We went to explore Balboa Park today. They call it a landscape of Art and Culture and it is, home to 15 museums, 1200 acres of incredible gardens and the San Diego Zoo. The ornate Spanish-Baroque Style buildings were constructed for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition, commemorating the opening of the Panama Canal, along El Prado (The Promenade). These beautiful structures consciously reflected the Hispanic origins of San Diego and helped established the popularity of Mediterranean architecture that characterizes California to this day. I loved the International Museum with its modern serpent climbing structure outside and great exhibits inside.













The Botanical Building, an open-lathe structure was build in 1915 to resemble a Victorian-era railroad station. This bentwood structure holds more than 350 tropical plants. You enter and just breath deeply and a smile comes over your face. A 193' long lily pond fronts the building.

I walked around the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, a huge semi circle area, seating 2400 people. It is the home of one of the worlds largest such instruments, containing more than 4,500 pipes. There are concerts every Sunday and I would have loved to have been here for that.



We went down to the Gaslamp Quarter, one of the early areas in this city, to have lunch. We went to the House of Blues, said to have trademark Southern juke-joint decor. The walls are covered with the beads that are thrown to people at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. They are actually dice and the numbers 1 and 6
have been carefully removed as they
are bad luck. The artwork was outrageous and fun.