November 29 to December 5, 2009 ; SKP Park of the Sierras to Palm Springs, California
Sunday ; Today was a lovely, sunny, mild, fall day, a perfect day for an outing.
I had a difficult night with insomnia. Perhaps that was due to the drugs I took over the last couple of days ? So I slept late this morning and we got a late start to our day. But … my hip pain was greatly diminished so off we went on our postponed day trip of exploring back roads.
Late this morning we headed north to Oakhurst where we stopped to buy some household supplies, refill a 5 gallon water jug, and refill with diesel. From Oakhurst we began to explore back roads to the north and east, towards Yosemite. Joanne had planned a route of exploring interesting things to see and do in the area. First we found our way to an apple orchard to buy some fresh apples and apple cider. The apple orchard was closed on Sundays ( sigh ). We headed to Bass Lake and Bass Lake Village. We spent some time walking around a day use picnic area on the shore of Bass Lake, planning to return for a picnic on a future journey that brings us back to SKP Park of the Sierras. In Bass Lake Village we wandered around an outdoor arts and craft show. From Bass Lake Village we continued around Bass Lake and then over to KT Lee Alpaca Ranch. They were advertising a “Christmas On The Ranch” Open House event today. Our interest in visiting this alpaca ranch was inspired by our friend Julie. Prior to her current WorkCamping job as a campground host in Samuel P Taylor State Park near San Francisco she WorkCamped at a llama farm in Georgia. The alpaca ranch was surprisingly interesting and educational.
After the alpaca ranch we headed to the village of North Fork. We stopped for a very late and very good lunch at North Fork Pizza Factory … “we toss ‘em, they’re awesome”. From North Fork we continued on scenic back roads making a large loop back to Hwy. 41 south of SKP Park of the Sierras. This part of central California up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains is very pretty and scenic, particularly at this time of the year, the fall season. Once back at Park of the Sierras we picked up Bo at the trailer and headed to the dog park for the last half of today’s “dog party”. Bo was even more eager than usual, because he had been left alone all day, and we were “late” for the dog party.
When the dog party was over, as it turned dark at 5 PM, Joanne took Bo home and I went into the clubhouse to do some online work. When I opened the computer … CRUNCH ! The left side of the computer hinge completely fell apart ! Well, that turned out to be a very good thing. A second screw on the left side of the hinge assembly had come loose and the mesh screen cosmetic cover over the hinge assembly pulled away. Both loose screws fell out, and with a bit of fiddling, I could see enough behind the mesh screen cosmetic cover over the hinge assembly to figure out how to remove it. EUREKA ! Once I got the cosmetic cover off, it was obvious that all that was required was screwing the two little screws back into the hinge assembly, snapping the cover back over the hinge assembly, and the computer would be fixed ! Now all I have to decide is whether or not it’s worth staying here an extra day or two longer than we had planned to wait for the Fed Ex delivery of the shipping box that HP sent to me for return of the computer for warranty repair. It might be worthwhile to have “just in case”.
Our planned Skype call with Joanne’s family had been postponed. The Carlson family was hosting a Grey Cup ( Canada’s national football championship game ) party. Nevertheless, while I was working in the clubhouse Doug Skype phoned me. It was halftime during the Grey Cup. We chatted briefly, allowing three generations of his family ( parents, sister, and nephews ) to witness Skype in action. I did my online work, posted a weekly entry to my blog, then chatted with our friend Tony from Alberta about his hip replacements. I think knee and / or hip replacements might be in my future.
Joanne picked me up at the clubhouse and we returned to the trailer in time to watch Amazing Race and have a late, light supper. I repaired the computer ! I reinstalled the two screws and snapped the cosmetic cover back over the hinge assembly. Simple ! I’m going to disassemble it again tomorrow, and reassemble it using a drop of ThreadLocker on each screw. That should prevent the problem from recurring !
Monday ; Today was sunny and warm. But … AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH … now I have a cold. I haven’t had “perfect health” in weeks !
This morning I drove over to the propane refill station and retrieved a propane tank I left for refilling a couple of days ago. I went to the clubhouse to make a phone call using the Wi-Fi phone, and since I saw a Fed Ex truck parked outside I went to the office to see if my package from HP had arrived. It had not. We’re still undecided about whether or not it’s worth staying here a day or two longer than planned to wait for the warranty repair shipping package to arrive now that I’ve fixed the computer.
After lunch I disassembled the computer’s hinge assembly and reassembled it with a drop of ThreadLocker on each screw. Hopefully that will work. If not, and the screws come loose again, I’ll use a drop of clear nail polish on each screw, a technique I’ve used with success on eyeglass screws. I worked with Joanne on her bedroom closet rearranging project. Today we rearranged and purged my side of the clothes in the closet, and completed the job. Some stuff will go to the bargain table, and some stuff will go to rags. And maybe there will be less comments about how I dress like a Bangladesh refugee ! HA HA HA !
I downloaded and processed yesterday’s photos. Because he has missed a day or two, and we were late a time or two, Bo now starts exhibiting “dog party anxiety” at 3 PM, an hour before it’s time for the daily dog party ( rolling eyes ). Hang on, Bo … we’ll be leaving in a few minutes ! Sheesh ! He’s been driving us nuts for the last 45 minutes ! We went to the dog park for an hour, then put Bo in the truck while we went inside the clubhouse for our rescheduled Skype call with Joanne’s family. We waited for an hour, but the Carlson family did not show. While we waited we did some online shopping / browsing. Today was Cyber Monday, the online version of Black Friday.
When I opened the computer in the clubhouse, I was surprised to find that it was not in standby mode, which it should be in whenever the lid has been closed, then reopened, without the computer having been switched off. Hmmm … I must have done something inside the hinge assembly that disabled the lid switch. When we returned to the trailer, I once again removed the hinge assembly’s mesh screen cosmetic cover to discover … AW, SHIT ! The little speaker bar underneath the cover, within the hinge assembly, was broken ! Looks like somebody might have … hmmm … over tightened the tiny little screws ! ? ! DAMN DAMN DAMN ! ! ! Well, I guess there’s no longer a question whether we should wait for the HP warranty repair shipping box to arrive !
We returned to the clubhouse at 8 PM for a scheduled Skype call with our friend Julie. Congratulations to Julie. Her WorkCamping / Volunteer Campground Host position has resulted in a job offer as a paid Campground Aide.
Tuesday ; Today was sunny and warm. Feeling poorly with a cold I stayed in bed late and didn’t really get my day started until noon. All day we kept changing our minds about whether to leave tomorrow or the day after.
After lunch we drove to Oakhurst to do some grocery shopping. And … check out the new cinnamon bun business in town. MMMMM ! On the way out of Park of the Sierras we stopped at the office to see if my Fed Ex package had arrived. It had ! When we got to the cinnamon bun business … ( sigh ) … it was closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Well, why didn’t they put that in their ad ? ! ? We did our grocery shopping and returned home. I went to the dog park with Bo and Joanne headed to the laundromat.
One of the dogs that Bo has been playing ( nicely ! ) with for the last few weeks is Clancy the 13 month old male Australian Terrier. Clancy looks like Bo’s twin brother. Today they decided to scuffle ! ****ing male terriers ! Snarling, snapping, yelping, fur flying, dirt flying, other dogs scrambling to get out of the way … ! ! ! Clancy’s owner was closest, so he ran over to break it up. A swift kick between the entangled dogs was insufficient. He had to grab Clancy and lift him. Clancy had a good grip on one of Bo’s ears, and Bo was almost lifted off the ground hanging by one ear until Clancy finally let go. And as expected, a few seconds later they were best friends again, no harm done to either dog. What’s wrong with little male terriers ? ? ?
We packed up Bo’s agility components which have been in the dog park since we’ve been here. I went to the clubhouse to do online work while Joanne finished up with the laundry. I tried to make an online purchase, but as has happened once before, the vendor’s computer system refused to recognize the validity of a Canadian issued credit card, despite it being a U.S.$ card.
After supper I printed investment updates and bank statements that I had downloaded. I reconciled November’s bank statements. We did some interior preparation for departure tomorrow morning.
Wednesday ; SKP Park of the Sierras to Bakersfield, California
Today was another lovely, sunny, warm day. This morning we prepared for departure, pulled out of our site, and headed for the park office to settle our bill. Our wonderful three week stay here was slightly soured by the 50 minute checkout process ! The woman in the office was inept, to say the very least ! It took her 40 minutes to process our checkout, then another 10 minutes to correct the $47 error she made on our invoice !
We headed south on Hwy. 41 to Fresno. I was interested in looking at an HP Mini external / portable hard drive that was on sale at Target. And I wanted to comparison shop at Best Buy. Well … how fortuitous. When we found the Target in Fresno, it was in the same mall as a Best Buy and an Office Max. I checked external / portable hard drives, external / portable CD / DVD drives, and netbook padded sleeves / carry cases at all three. I bought all three at Best Buy. Two of the three will be Joanne’s Christmas gifts to me. I need the hard drive right away to copy everything off the netbook before I ship it back to HP in a few days for repairs. We had lunch in the mall parking lot then headed southeast out of Fresno on Hwy. 99.
As on our previous trips down Hwy. 99 the smog became noticeable 150 miles north of Los Angeles. By the time we reached Bakersfield, a little more than 100 miles north of Los Angeles, it was looking pretty thick ! With a bit of difficulty, and racing the clock, we found our way to Camping World, arriving just a few minutes before closing time. I bought what I needed, and we set off to find a Wal-Mart, planning to shop, have supper, then boondock overnight in the parking lot.
As soon as we had parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot Joanne went into the store to do some shopping. Within a few minutes there was a knock at the door. I thought it was Joanne, returning for something she forgot. It was a security guard whose job it was to roust us out of the parking lot, and send us next door to the Lowe’s parking lot if we were planning to boondock overnight. Apparently this Wal-Mart has had some recent problems with RV’ers. I’m not surprised. This is Southern California. And the only drawback to lovely Southern California is … Southern Californians are ***holes. Especially on the roads ! The elderly security guard asked me some questions. When he realized Joanne was in the store shopping, this was our first time at this Wal-Mart location, and we were staying only one night, he approved our staying put. Thank you.
We have seen a lot of RV’ers taking advantage of Wal-Mart’s generosity. And not just here in Southern California. We even see it a lot in Penticton during the summer. Staying multiple nights, extending the slides, putting down the stabilizer jacks, disconnecting the tow vehicle to go off sightseeing or whatever, setting up lawn chairs and barbecue, leaving garbage behind … ! That kind of crap ruins it for everybody.
While Joanne was preparing supper she found wet items in the fridge. A bit of investigation by me revealed a plugged drip tray drain hose. Remove the outside fridge vent, disconnect the outside end of the drain hose from the perforated plug in the vent wall, blow, and … there ... today’s travelling problem solved ( sigh ). Well, except for the water and grime plug that I blew back into the fridge. But hey, that wasn’t my problem. HA HA HA !
Tonight Joanne prepared a new recipe that she found online yesterday. A wonderful, spicy Cajun dish using sausage and turnip greens. A definite “keeper” !
Thursday ; Bakersfield to Palm Springs, California
EEEEEUUUUUWWWWW ! This morning when I stepped outside the trailer to walk Bo, Bakersfield was blanketed by thick smog … and it stunk !
Before leaving the Wal-Mart parking lot I went inside the store to replenish a cold medication. In California cold medications are “controlled substances” and are kept behind the pharmacy counter. A buyer must produce identification, which is entered into a computer system to ensure that his / her purchase does not exceed either the daily or monthly limit. For more than ten minutes three people fiddled with my driver’s license and their computer trying to overcome the computer’s inability to accept either “BC” or “Canada” while the line up built up behind me at the pharmacy counter. Finally I told them to forget it, give me back my driver’s license and I would buy it in Arizona ! Welcome to California !
We departed Bakersfield ( me and my cold unmedicated ! ) heading east on Hwy. 58 towards the Tehachapi Mountains and the Mojave Desert beyond. The closer we got to the Tehachapi Mountains the thicker the smog became, eventually becoming so thick we could not see the mountains a few miles ahead. As soon as we crossed over the mountains through the Tehachapi Pass, and entered the Mojave Desert, the sky was crystal clear, deep blue, visibility forever ! The mountains stop the smog, and it all builds up on the west side. We stopped at the town of Mojave to refill with diesel. I’m always fascinated when we drive through Mojave by the rows and rows of surplus airliners parked in storage at the Mojave Airport. We continued east on Hwy. 58 passing Edwards Air Force Base out in the middle of nowhere, and turned south on Hwy. 395 at Four Corners. Nothing there but four gas stations at the intersection of two highways in the desert.
We just pulled off the road and into the desert to stop for lunch. While Joanne prepared lunch I took Sully outside for his first peek at a desert. Well, I assume it’s the first time he’s seen a desert. He had anxiety about the traffic passing by on the road. He seemed to have anxiety about our truck and trailer leaving without him. And he tasted a variety of desert vegetation. He didn’t like any of it !
We continued south on Hwy. 395 to Hwy. 18, then “dipsy doodled” a few miles east on Hwy. 18, a few miles north on Interstate 15, through Victorville, and onto Hwy. 18 again heading east. Hwy. 18 eventually became Hwy. 247 heading east and south. We take this route instead of going south on Interstate 15 to avoid the heavy traffic congestion around San Bernardino and the northeast corner of Los Angeles suburbs. Joanne drove for 45 minutes to allow me to snooze. I was feeling poorly. At Hwy. 62, near the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park we turned southwest towards Palm Springs.
We knew that we wanted to be here until next Friday, were planning a one week stay at an RV park in the Palm Springs suburb of Desert Hot Springs, were arriving late on Thursday, so wanted to boondock tonight and check into the park early tomorrow. At Palm Springs we turned east on Interstate 10 and headed for the Flying J in the eastern suburb of Thousand Palms. At Flying J we refilled a propane tank then crossed the street to refill with diesel at Chevron. This was one of the very rare instances when Flying J did not have the cheapest price for diesel in their area. We decided to cross the interstate and see if the casino across the highway might be a good place to boondock. It wasn’t. Most casinos welcome overnight RV’ers, but this casino had no other RV’s in their parking lot and it didn’t look like a good place to stay overnight. We headed back across the Interstate back to the Flying J.
As I drove slowly through the Flying J parking lot, a scruffy looking man waved me over. He had a beat up old trailer and beat up old truck. His truck needed a boost. Positioning my truck, with a 30 foot trailer attached, to boost his truck was a bit of a challenge. I boosted his truck which had a severely smashed fender and two flat tires. I suspected he was living at the Flying J. He recommended that we park on the opposite side of the Flying J parking lot, because the far end of the parking lot area where he was parked was a “trouble area”. His two flat tires were the result of vandalism the previous evening. We parked up near the Flying J building and the adjacent MacDonald’s.
After supper I lay on the bed with Sully and Bo and updated my investment files with data I had downloaded and printed before leaving SKP Park of the Sierras. My netbook battery was getting run down, so I plugged into the little 12V DC to 120V AC inverter I bought last summer, plugged into the 12V outlet in Harvey’s bedroom cupboard. It worked great !
Friday ; Today was sunny and warm, as it almost always is in Palm Springs. We left Flying J in the Palm Springs community of Thousand Palms and drove just a few miles east on Interstate 10 to the community of Desert Hot Springs. We were headed for Caliente ( Spanish for “hot” ) Springs, an RV resort that was a recent addition to the Passport America program offering a 50% discount. It’s very expensive ( by our standards ), and even at half price ( limited to only one week ) it’s considerably more than we usually pay for an RV park.
But … WOW … what a luxury, upscale RV resort ! We checked in, got set up in our site, had lunch, and while I took a nap with Sully, Joanne went for a walk with Bo over to the dog park. After they returned, she and I wanted to explore the resort’s amenities. We stepped outside, and met our next door neighbour who was walking her cat. HEY … an Applehead Siamese ! Our neighbour is from Kelowna, in B.C.’s Okanagan Valley, about 2 hours north of where we live in the summer. And her cat Zoë is a 3 year old, female Seal Point, a darker colour than Sully. With gorgeous, deep blue eyes. Because Sully has cataracts, his pupils are fully dilated most of the time, and we don’t see much of his beautiful blue irises.
We wandered over to the main clubhouse facility. Wow … three hot pools. With continuously circulating fresh water. Like most of the properties in Desert Hot Springs, the aquifer under this property contains hot water. So hot it needs to be cooled for the pools. The water underground here is so hot because Desert Hot Springs is built right on the San Andreas Fault Line. When “the big one” finally hits, Desert Hot Springs will probably just disappear into the ground ! After the water circulates through the three hot pools, each a little cooler than the one before, it goes into the huge free form swimming pool. Then out to the ponds on the property. Then it irrigates the landscaped grounds and the 9 hole par 3 golf course that is part of the resort.
This resort has an entertainment auditorium, and features regular entertainment. We purchased two tickets to tonight’s Christmas season performance of the Sandblasters Barbershop Harmony Chorus. Then we wandered around looking at the library, games room, laundromat, small restaurant, and a variety of small meeting / craft rooms. We never did find the exercise room. There was a large group of elderly people at one end of the pool having a lively game of water volleyball.
We drove into the nearby town of Desert Hot Springs to do some shopping. First stop was Walgreens for some cold medications. I asked at the pharmacy counter for the type of cold medication I was looking for. The woman was very helpful, prompt, and efficient. She asked for my identification, just like at Wal-Mart. She tapped away at her computer keyboard for ten or fifteen seconds, and we were done. I hope those three goofs at Wal-Mart in Bakersfield all catch a cold from germs off my driver’s license ! We went to Stater Bros. to shop for groceries. Stater Bros. In Desert Hot Springs is one of our favourite grocery stores … anywhere ! I bought a jug of some Arnold Palmer Tee, which I’ve had before. It’s a product that we have not seen anywhere other than Palm Springs. It’s a 50 / 50 blend of iced tea and lemonade.
Back at Caliente Springs we had an early ( for us ) supper, then headed to the auditorium for the barbershop chorus concert. It was … ( shrug ) … good. Eighteen old men singing barbershop harmony. Afterwards I did some online work at the trailer. This resort’s Wi-Fi signal reaches our trailer, although the signal is extremely slow. Before bedtime we went to the hottest of the three hot pools for an hour of soaking in mineral hot springs water.
Saturday ; Well, quite a variety of entertainment in Palm Springs this weekend. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys was performing at the casino in Thousand Palms that we considered boondocking at a couple of nights ago. Willie Nelson was performing at one of the other casinos. Barry Manilow was performing. Tickets were available to attend his concert, have dinner and photo op with him before the concert, or cocktails and photo op with him after the concert … for only a thousand bucks a pop ! Geeeeez … how much excess money does one need to have to be willing to spend a couple of thousand bucks per couple to break bread with Barry Manilow ? ! ?
Today started out, uncharacteristically for Palm Springs, cloudy and cool, but cleared and warmed in the afternoon. This morning we went to the resort’s “park model sales open house” and took a look at a variety of park model homes available for sale. And then, of course, we enjoyed the free lunch. HA HA HA ! As we returned to our trailer, our next door neighbours were out walking their cats. We had met Zoë the Applehead Siamese yesterday. Today we met Simon the Balinese, like a Siamese but with long hair. We brought Sully outside for a walk, and the three cats met. None were impressed. HA HA HA … cats !
This afternoon I read and napped with Bo and Sully while Joanne went shopping for a swim suit. She has found in the past that swim suit shops in the Palm Springs area have a great variety of mastectomy swim suits. Palm Springs caters to the rich and famous … and old ! Lots of clothing in styles suitable for older women. Must be lots of older women in Palm Springs that have had mastectomies. And judging by the look of things around here, the surgeons must give a free face lift with each mastectomy. HA HA HA ! Joanne bought one swim suit and would like to get a couple more before we leave here.
Late in the afternoon we headed for downtown Palm Springs to view the Christmas Festival Of Lights Parade. We had to park a couple of miles away from the parade route and walk. Good thing my knees and hip are finally better. A few days ago I wouldn’t have been capable of walking a couple of miles. After watching the parade we went for supper to Las Casuelas Terraza, a Mexican restaurant in downtown Palm Springs that Joanne quite likes.
Oooooooooo … ( moaning ) … I don’t feel so good ! The cold medications I have been taking have upset my digestive system. And I ate waaaaayyyyy too much supper. I shouldn’t have eaten so much complimentary, hot, fresh tortilla chips and salsa before tackling a machaca burrito the size of my forearm. I should have realized that, while we were eating Mexican food, we were in the good ol’ U.S. of A., where restaurant portions are usually enough to feed half the Mongol army.
I will be sending my netbook back to HP for repairs in a few days, so it will probably be three weeks until my next blog entry.
DSK
