Another reunion with more old friends

We had Margo and Jim and Wendy and Don over for dinner today. They always have a corned beef & cabbage dinner together while down here but were running out of time so when we invited them for dinner, they asked if they could bring the corned beef and cabbage. Right on, I said. We first met in Crescent Beach in the early 60's where we could rent any house for $50/month although we had to move out in the summer so the 'rich' people could spend the summer in their 'cabin'. We had many wonderful times and memories as we struggled with education, jobs, commuting, babies and had an incredible support group with these friends. Here's 2 pictures, now and then.

Back to Cat Spa

Final travel day to Cat Spa our home park in Desert Hot Springs. We've really enjoyed the trip and had many very interesting experiences. The desert is starting to bloom, there are yellow daisies along the roadside and purple verbena in the fields. We've been using this route since 1990 and have seen this circle of palm trees at Desert Center, leaning and collapsing more each year. We fought a headwind all the way along
I 10, using more Diesel than usual and arrived at 4:30 in a howling wind. We set up , kicked back and watched TV. Glad to relax, will visit the gang tomorrow.

Off to Quartzsite

Gayle and Chas walked over with Sadie, their standard size (large) poodle to say goodbye. We purposely didn't leave until 8:45 to miss the morning traffic but on I 10 there was the sign saying 'Crash, expect delays 6 miles'. It only took about 20 minutes to funnel through, going into one lane to pass the area where a Tractor and Trailer had overturned in the median. You think he must have fallen asleep. Our drive was smooth sailing through desert area with cactus and then orchards.
We stopped at a Petro Truck Stop for fuel and lunch. I was very impressed with the Mexican manager and the care and professionalism that was evident in the restaurant. They had even painted the backs of the booths with diffident desert scenes and shapes. Very pretty.
I talked to one of the drivers. The 'Quiet Area' has a long line with yellow tubes on both sides for about 60 trucks. Available for the past 5 years, it goes into the front window with a special bracket and it provides heat, air conditioning, TV and Internet. He said the truckers can only drive 10 hours out of 14 and then must stop for 10 hours. This fellow was parked and his reefer was running continuously as he was hauling bacon and hams to be delivered to Walmart at his 4:15 a.m. appointment the next morning. I find it very interesting so see how the other half lives and how my food gets where it's going. It is very common to have Truckers Chapels in the truck stops.
Good old Quartzsite, it's always the same although probably 80 % of the Vendors have left. Very quiet here, it's said that many vendors hasve gone down to Yuma which has a longer selling season. We replaced our chairs that 2 people have sat in and the bottoms nearly ripped out from worn stitching, rather embarrassing. The bear bench was cute.

Fun in Tucson with old friends

We went shopping for the first time in a month, time for some groceries. Kolb Road goes right through the Davis Air Base with hundreds of planes on one side and the 'bone yard' of parts on the other side.
Tucson has the Saguaro National Park just outside it. This cactus only grows in southern Arizona, in California along the Colorado River and in the northern Mexican state of Sonora. It takes 25 years to grow 2 feet. They grow to 40', occasionally 50' and can live 200 years.
I met Gayle when she was 19, living in Crescent Beach. Nikki lived across the street in New West in the in-laws basement where we went to Len's dad's house in summers and I said move to Crescent Beach - you can rent any house for the winter for $50.00/mon. That's how our friendships started and they are as strong today as always. What a gift!
We had Nikki, Bill, Gayle and Chas over for happy hour and then went to their group 'Tipplers', their fellow Shufflers and neighbours for the weekly get-together. It was great to meet their friends. When we drove away the next day we enjoyed the artwork on the overpasses.

3 States in 1 Day

Woke up to 55 degrees and sunshine, an improvement. We drove 35 miles through the middle of the sprawling town of El Paso Tex at 7 a.m. A little rush hour but we just stay in the middle lane and truck through. You can see the small Mexican houses across the river in Cuidad Juarez. We were into New Mexico which started with 3 huge cattle feed lots which you could smell miles away. We're following the railroad which brought homesteaders here to settle long ago. There were 10 different line represented, including Can Pacific and Can National. Next there was a string of black oil tankers with yellow cattle cars behind, half again as tall. There are many Dust Warning signs as this is a deadly problem here, as we witnessed on the trip East. Pale yellow grass trails off to the distant hills. We crossed the Rio Grande, a shallow bit of water here. The NM art is even on the roadside. We tooled along listening to tapes, one great one Paul made Ron for Christmas 2003. We were into Arizona, passed pecan and walnut orchards, driving through 'Cochise' country. This area is the old cowboy and Indian area, with old silver mining ghost towns. We arrived at Voyager R.V. Park by 2 p.m. and ready for a day off. The trip has gone very well, no wrongs turns or difficulties and we've really enjoyed it. I hate to say it but it's 80 here and we're sweating. Have to readjust.
Gayle and Chas live here in the house section. He came to visit this afternoon and we saw them tonight when Gayle got home from the Arizona State Shuffleboard Championships.

Central Plains into the Chihuahua Desert

Woke to a beautiful sunrise and it's 36 this morning, finally improving. The on and off ramps run right on and off the frontage roads, seems so strange. We're driving through the Central Plains, once filled with Buffalo, replaced by cattle in the 1820's. When the railroad came to Abilene, it became a major shipping area. We had a coffee break at 9 with cheese buns. We just cruise alone with music blasting. otherwise it gets boring for my driver. It's flat land for mile with the occasional oil derrick pumping away. You see some cattle in scrubby brush with prickly pear cactus. We're into West Texas now with more oil derricks and some small tanks. There's more ocotillo and yucca cactus. I 20 finally ran into I 10 and we got to El Paso by 4 p.m. We sat outside and had a beer and were too hot in the 80 degree weather!!!!

Going through Texas

We were off in sunshine although 32 degrees, freezing. We saw a cop citing a trucker at 7:30, 3 officers having a talk in the median and about 25 truckers and 3 motorhomes parked in a rest spot for overnight. The white and pink blossoms look pretty in the pine trees. It was interesting to see the speed sign of max and minimum. We fueled at $1.96.9/gal and were into Texas by 9:30. We stopped at the info center which was very sleek, all glass and steel, so different from the southern states. It has 55 inches of rain in the East and less than 6 in the desert West. They had a picture of all the wildflowers which bloom in March to April. We're a bit early. The biggest Gardener in the state is the highways dept with 700,000 acres of highway right of ways. It is the biggest state, you drive forever. We passed Dallas, lots of freeways intersecting each other. It started in 1882 with gifts and bribes to bring the railroad to town, which shipped wheat and cotton. By 1900 it was a major banking center, 1908 the insurance industry arrived and 1930 oil was struck. President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and a Museum is at Dealy Plaza, the old Texas Book Depository. Today it has 2 millions people.

It's nice driving through towns on Sunday. We arrived in Baird 25 miles east of Abilene about 4. Good driving day.