Day 9 ~ Quartzsite again

Today the wind came up and the skys were cloudy. It is pretty chilly with the wind across the desert.
We headed to town and went to the Celia Memorial Garden. The previously mentioned bookstore owner had a daughter who died at age 8 from a heart ailment. In her memory, the town built a memorial rock garden. Other families have added their own memorials to loved ones on the multi-acre site. Paths wander along the many rock arrangements where we also found a variety of desert plants and cactus.
We next returned to the bookstore and talked with Celia's father Paul. Because of the chill in the air, he was wearing his shirt. Before our picture he apologized that it was just too cold to go without it.

After lunch, we decided we should also check out the town's real estate. We are always looking for an opportunity and we definitely found it here! As soon as we finish negotiations we will send you our new address!

Chig spent a good part of yesterday and today replacing the RV water pump. Curt was very helpful but today the new pump quit working. Chig & Curt rushed back to the RV sale and caught the salesman as he was packing up. The second new pump is now installed and working! Tomorrow morning we are off to Yuma.

Day 8 ~ Desert Bar

Today the entire group of 17 went to Desert Bar. We also visited one year ago. It is located near Parker, AZ. and is 5 miles off highway 95 via a very dusty dirt road. The bar is only open on Sat. & Sun. Labor Day to Memorial Day. The owner of the bar has created a desert oasis operated by multiple huge solar panels. There is always live music, bar-b-qued food and plenty of beverages. It is a pretty amazing and fun place. Go to this web site to see the history and pictures. http://www.thedesertbar.com/ Seven of our Lake Havasu friends rode their quads and met us there. At 3:00 we left to visit Sacramento friends Roy & Diane. They stay every year in Parker at La Paz County Park. Their site is right on the Colorado River. Tony & Sharon (Sacramento/Lake Havasu friends) met us there and we had great appetizers, delicious margaritas and a very nice visit.
My second morning in the desert was a lot better. Only two to go : )

Day 7 ~

Well here it is Day 7 and my last entry was on Day 2.
We left Desert Hot Springs on Tuesday and headed to Brenda, Az., about 15 miles Northeast of Quartzsite. As we drove past Quartzsite we could see the sea of motorhomes, trailers and fifth wheels parked in every direction. Most of the land surrounding Quartzsite is BLM land and because camping is virtually free, it is attractive to many retirees.
We arrived at Black Rock RV Park in Brenda to find they did not have our reservation. The on-line reservation had not been matched with their phone-in reservations. Eventually it was all worked out.
We had a really nice visit with Chig's first cousin Jack and his wife Pat. Jack will soon turn 81 and is the oldest living Chigbrow. We enjoyed our meals together while Chig and Jack reviewed and improved the family tree documents.
On Wednesday we took a long drive and saw General Patton's tank training area. We then drove to Parker, across Parker Dam and back to Parker along the California side of the Colorado River. We were sorry to leave but hope to see Jack and Pat again soon.
Early Thursday morning we left Brenda and headed to Quarzsite to visit the Oasis Book Store. The owner is a "nudist" and works in a g-string, sock and sandals. He was not working that day but we did find some interesting books.
Later Thursday morning we reconnected with our group out on the desert just West of Quartzsite. Since owning a motorhome we have never "Boondocked". If you are not familiar with the term it means camping for free without services. There is no electricity, no water connection and no sewer drainage. We are limited to using our generator to charge the batteries and our electronics and being ultra conservative with water usage which is limited to the amount stored in our fresh water tank. Last night Chig said he knew he was a "fair weather" golfer but now he is certain he is also a "fair weather" camper. It is an experience we can now cross off our list.
Today we attended the 28th Annual Sports, Vacation and RV Show. We arrived at 9:00 in the morning. It takes place in a huge tent that is approvimately 1/2 mile long and 1/4 mile wide. It was freezing cold. I finally thawed out in the afternoon as the temperature climbed to around 75. It was another interesting, one time is enough, experience. Lots and lots of people and lots and lots of "stuff". I spent $4.00 and Chig spent $20. The vendors will not make their living on us.
Tomorrow we will be off on another adventure!

Day 2 ~ Desert Hot Springs

Today we headed to Desert Hot Springs. On the way we stopped in Redlands to meet two of Chig's Great Nieces, Amber and Darlene. What beautiful and nice young women. We had a chance to get to know them and visit over lunch. Hopefully they will visit us in Sacramento soon.
Next we were on our way to the Sands RV & Golf Resort.
The park is very nice with a beautiful golf course.
When we arrived it was 75 degrees warm! Once the sun sets it gets chilly quickly. Tomorrow Chig will be headed out for a round of golf and I will head out for a round of shopping!

Day 1 ~ January 22, 2011

Well, here we are again. The first day of a 5 week trip. We are traveling with 8 other RV's. We gathered in Elk Grove where we found low level fog. As we traveled South on 99 the fog became very thick. The temperature was in the low 40's until we reached Bakersfield and then the temperature soared to 60! I am confident we will find warmth on this trip! Soon please!

We are spending tonight at Orange Grove RV Park just East of Bakersfield. There are orange trees throughout the park. Management provides long handled orange pickers. We now have a big bag of fresh oranges to enjoy on our trip.

Day 32-34 ~ Homeward Bound

Coquille River Lighthouse
On Saturday we drove South on the scenic road along the coast. We stopped at the Coquille River Lighthouse. We were able to go to the top and view the surrounding area including the town of Bandon. This lighthouse was decommissioned in 1939.
We continued South for views of coastal rock formations including Face Rock. The fog was rolling in so the picture is not clear, but you can still make out the facial profile.




Face Rock

Sunday morning we strolled Bandon Old Town. We had lunch along the marina - delicious Prawn Basket and Clam Chowder!

We then headed East to I-5 along the Coquille River.

We made reservations at Seven Feathers Indian Casino's RV park. It is very large and very nice with many trees and beautiful plants.

Of course, after dinner, we had to pay a quick visit to the Casino. Although we came out ahead on our previous casino visits, we are now about even.

We have been to four casinos on this trip. In the past 20 years we have probably been to three. Let's hope this is not a new trend!

So now we have a straight 7 hour shot to home.

We will most likely spend the night in Redding and be home tomorrow.

Thank you for taking the time to read our Blog.

It has been fun for us!

Kathy & Chig

Day 27-31 ~ The Oregon Coast

It is hard to believe we have been gone for so long. Monday we had a relaxing day in Portland. It started with Chig's visit to the local Honda dealer. The Fit battery was checked and again pronounced "dead". This time it was replaced. Finally! I fixed "Taco Dinner" that evening at Kevin & Leslie's home.

On Tuesday we left Portland for a scenic drive to the coast where we traveled South of Cannon Beach on Highway 101 to our Oregon State campground at Nehalem Bay. The highway is VERY narrow and my side of the motorhome felt like it was suspended above the ocean. Our site backed to a large dune covered with trees and vegetation. After setting up, we took a walk to the beach. It was beautiful and expansive with many families strolling, building sand castles, playing in the surf (burrrrr) and flying kites. Later we had a nice fire and enjoyed the outdoors.

Wednesday morning we continued down the coast to another state park, South Beach, just South of Newport. Irene followed us in her car. When we arrived at the park Irene called to say she was still in Newport and had been involved in a minor accident. While attempting to merge from two lanes to one lane, at the approach to the Yaquina bridge, she was sideswiped by a large dump truck. Her car suffered significant damage to both driver's side doors. Fortunately, she was not injured and her car is operable. Not a scratch on the dump truck. The park at South Beach was not our favorite. We didn't like the beach, it was foggy, chilly and there were lots of mosquitos.

The Jaquina Bridge from Old Town Newport

Thursday we continued 17 miles south to Beachside. Our RV had an ocean view - well almost. The fog continued. This is one of our favorite stretches of beach on the Oregon Coast as it is a great place to search for agates. We don't really know what we are doing but we have fun finding pretty rocks, and just maybe, some of the rocks are actually agates. They all end up in our Rock Garden at home.

Today, Friday the 13th, Irene left us to visit with Sacramento friends who recently relocated to Grants Pass. We continued our trip 100 miles south to Bullards Beach. Enroute we stopped for lunch at a nice day use park in the Dunes area south of Florence.Once set up at our site we saw a 3/4 mile trail to the beach. Off we went.

The Sandy Trail

This was not a hike but a trudge! We went up dunes and down dunes then back up again. The path was made up of soft sand - and the mosquitos were back. It was worth the walk. Once we got to the beach we found agates! I even found the energy to make it back to our RV.

Chig filling his pockets with agates.