Easter ; Today was sunny and hot, becoming very windy late in the afternoon, as it has every day that we’ve been here.
We spent the afternoon at the City of Palm Springs dog park, behind city hall, beside the airport. It’s a great dog park, with one section for small dogs, and a larger one for large dogs. Bo likes to visit and play in both sections. It’s a joy to spend time in a dog park with Bo. He’s such a sociable little fellow, visiting everybody and playing happily with all dogs, small and large.
Joanne had a brief Skype video chat with her sister. For Easter dinner we roasted a chicken, pollo asado style, marinated in achiotte. I started out barbecuing it, but couldn’t keep the barbecue lit because of the extremely strong winds. After supper we watched Amazing Race, Undercover Boss, and Celebrity Apprentice.
There was a very strong earthquake ( magnitude 7.2 ) today south of here centred in Mexicali, Mexico, that caused some local damage. We were in the dog park at the time and didn’t feel anything.
Monday ; Today was extremely windy, uncomfortably so. We considered leaving today, but the wind would have made travel difficult, perhaps even dangerous.
Late this morning we headed to downtown Palm Springs to have lunch at Sherman’s Deli. MMMMM … sweet & sour cabbage soup, hot pastrami, chopped liver … MMMMM ! ! ! After lunch we headed to a downtown charity thrift shop called Revivals. It’s operated by, patronized by, and is in support of Palm Springs considerably sized gay community. Revivals has free HIV testing every Saturday. The concept of thrift stores in Palm Springs is different than anywhere else. Racks of men’s tuxedos and women’s “designer original” gowns. All priced between $25 and $50. I was admiring a double breasted tuxedo in my size, and a gorgeous evening gown in Joanne’s size, and had to remind myself that our tuxedo and evening gown wearing days are behind us.
From downtown we headed out to the suburbs of Cathedral City. We refilled Lanoire with diesel in anticipation of travelling tomorrow. While Joanne went into Wal-Mart for a few groceries I went to PetsMart to buy some more Glucosamine treats for Sully. They only had one package, so we still don’t have enough to last the summer.
We picked up a couple of real estate guides while we were downtown, and then browsed through them later in the afternoon at home. Joanne would like to buy the actor William Holden’s home estate in Palm Springs which is for sale … for five and a half million dollars !
Late in the evening the wind finally stopped, so we went to the mineral hot springs pool for one last soak. A few feet away from stepping into the pool we were stopped and told that the pool area was closing for the night and we had to leave. HMPH !
Tuesday ; Palm Springs to Lebec, California
Today was sunny and warm in Palm Springs when we were leaving, sunny and mild when we stopped for the night at an elevation about 4100 feet. We travelled scenic back roads today, mostly to avoid Riverside, San Bernardino, and the eastern suburbs of Los Angeles. Also we wanted to travel a route that we haven’t taken before.
We left Caliente Springs RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs this morning and drove west on Dillon Road until we came to Hwy. 62. We headed north and a bit east on Hwy. 62 to the town of Yucca Valley, then turned northwest on Hwy. 247. Ever since recently reading a true crime book called Twentynine Palms, I can’t help but think of Yucca Palms and the nearby towns of Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms as the armpit of California. Hwy. 247 and Hwy. 18 followed along the north side of the San Bernardino Mountains through the Lucerne Valley and Apple Valley. At Victorville we stopped for lunch then continued west on Hwy. 18 and Hwy. 138 to Palmdale. North for a little while on Hwy. 14 then west on the continuation of Hwy. 138 through the Antelope Valley.
Joanne wanted to drive along Hwy. 138 through the Antelope Valley to see an area marked on the map as Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. WOW … miles and miles of fields coloured bright orange by California Poppies. And this seems to be peak blooming time for the poppies. Off in the distance from the highway the fields just looked brighter and brighter, so I found a dirt road leading off into the distance and decided to drive down it to explore. It seemed dry and hard enough to drive on even with the trailer in tow. And the gently sloping fields of poppies were flat enough that if necessary I could turn around, although that would result in the destruction of a lot of poppies ! We drove a few miles up into the densest parts of the poppy fields, stopping frequently to take photos. I made a couple of turns on crisscrossing dirt roads and looped around back to the highway following a dirt trail underneath some hydro lines. What a great experience that was, to see all those poppies in bloom.
When Hwy. 138 ended at Interstate 5 we turned north on I-5. Our objective for today was going to be Bakersfield. We wanted to buy a few items at Camping World, replenish at Wal-Mart, refill with diesel at Flying J, and then boondock for the night at one of those. But … it seemed unlikely that we would get to Bakersfield before Camping World closed, and we didn’t know if we could enter their lot after closing. And we found out last November that Wal-Mart in Bakersfield has prohibited overnight parking, although that prohibition is only loosely enforced. And Flying J is ten or twelve miles north of the city, so if we stayed there we would have to backtrack in the morning to shop at Camping World.
As we crested the summit of Tejon Pass on I-5 near the town of Lebec there was a rest area on one side of the highway and a Flying J on the other. Joanne thought it was sensible to stop for the night already, even though we were still 45 miles or so south of Bakersfield. We went into the rest area to check out its suitability for an overnight stay. Then we crossed the Interstate to refill with diesel at Flying J and check out their RV overnight parking area for comparison. Joanne liked the rest area better so after refilling with diesel we returned to the rest area. The days are getting longer, so there seemed to be enough daylight left for me to tackle a maintenance job that arose today. The uneven surface of the site we were in at Caliente Springs resulted in some bending damage to one of the trailer’s front jack foot pads. I removed it, straightened it, removed the adjusting leg assembly on that foot ( I never did like that adjusting leg mechanism ) and reinstalled it.
Joanne made us each a cup of tea, then we took Bo for a long walk along the arroyo alongside the rest area. Like many of California’s rest areas, this one is developed very attractively in an attractive area. When we returned to the trailer Sully felt it was his turn to go outside, so I took Sully for a brief walk, although he’s always a bit afraid of new areas, and particularly areas where there is nearby traffic. Especially big, noisy transport trucks !
What a beautiful “June 18” day. This morning before pulling out of the rest area we took advantage of the rest area’s trailer sanitary station to dump the shower waste holding tank and top up the fresh water holding tank. In the ( almost ) four years that we’ve owned Lanoire we’ve never had a breakdown, but two years on the road with Dee-Dee taught us that we should always travel with empty waste tanks and a full freshwater tank if possible. One never knows when one will unexpectedly be boondocking in a repair facility’s parking lot !
We continued northbound on Interstate 5 until Hwy. 99 branched off I-5, then northbound on Hwy. 99 to Bakersfield. We shopped at Camping World, buying trailer wheel bearing seals so that I can repack the trailer wheel bearings this summer. I’ve never done that job myself, but I’m ready to give it a try. We shopped at Wal-Mart then continued north on Hwy. 99, stopping for lunch at a rest area near Kingsburg. At Fresno we got onto Hwy. 41 leading into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and SKP Park of the Sierras near Coarsegold.
Bo recognized Park of the Sierras as we arrived at the gate. “HEY … THIS IS THE DOG PARTY PARK ! ! !” We checked in, and got assigned a site. How ironic … it’s the site belonging to our friends Lynn and Micha ! We rushed to get set up in our site, then took Bo to the dog park for the daily 4 PM dog party. Alas, it’s now the daily 3 PM dog party. Nevertheless, Bo enjoyed some time in the dog park. When we returned to our site, I unhitched Lanoire from Harvey, and removed an empty propane tank from Harvey and put it in Lanoire to be taken for refilling.
I downloaded and processed the photos I took yesterday in the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. WOW … spectacular ! Late in the evening Joanne went outside for something and thought she smelled propane. I discovered that the propane regulator switch that switches from one propane tank ( the empty one ) to the other ( the full one ) had failed. Since switching to the full tank and removing the empty tank 5 hours earlier, propane had been leaking, filling the propane tank compartment and finding its way into the adjacent “pass through” storage compartment. YIKES ! Close call ! That’s the sort of thing that can result in RV’s exploding, and people inside being killed ! ! !
Thursday ; Another perfect “June 18” day.
This morning I removed and disassembled the trailer’s propane regulator and tank switch assembly. It will have to be replaced. I phoned a propane service company in nearby Oakhurst, and left a message for their parts and service technician to call me back. He didn’t ! I guess I’ll just have to drive over there tomorrow. I phoned Telus in BC to enquire about their Internet service availability in the Keremeos area and pricing. Our current Internet service provider at home, China Creek, will no longer “rent” their Wi-Fi transceiver equipment, and want $300 for it ! It’s about 50 bucks worth of technology ! But the only alternative is Telus … and their only service available in our area is dial-up. Oh, I don’t think so ! Guess I’ll be forking over 300 bucks to China Creek !
I spent much of the day working on rebuilding the broken back of a dinette chair. I thought this would be a good place to do that because of the very well equipped “Pole Barn” maintenance facility here. First thing I did at the Pole Barn was find a section of pipe that was the right diameter to serve as a tool to install the trailer wheel bearing seals into the hubs when I repack the trailer wheel bearings this summer. Then I used the shop’s “chop saw” to cut off a short section of the pipe. Perfect bearing seal installation tool ! Then I found a section of scrap plywood that was perfect for cutting some pieces I needed to rebuild the chair back. I used the old broken pieces to trace on the plywood, then cut them very precisely with a band saw. What a nice piece of equipment. Back at our site, I rebuilt the chair back frame, installed the cardboard backing and foam padding, and reupholstered with the cloth material. Drilled a couple of holes, and reinstalled the chair back. Nice job … well done, Daniel !
I finished that job just in time for the daily dog party at the dog park. Bo enjoyed meeting some old friends and some new ones. He romped with dogs, and we visited their owners, for an hour and a half. We put him in the truck, then went into the clubhouse to browse the bargain table and replenish books at the book exchange library.
A 2010 U.S. census taker visited us in our site today. Gee, that’s twice ! A census taker visited us at The Palms in Yuma about ten days ago. Chatting with people at the dog park revealed that some people have been visited more than once, in different locations, and some have not been visited. Except for us, they were all American citizens, and understandably their confidence in the census process for full time RV’ers is very low !
I barbecued a thick chunk of Ahi Tuna for supper. Apparently Sully loooooves tuna ! We watched Survivor. I did some investment work on the computer.
Friday ; Another perfect “June 18” day !
This morning we headed north on Hwy. 41 a few miles to the village of Coarsegold, to the Post Office where we picked up our batch of forwarded March mail. For the last three months our mail forwarding “system” has worked perfectly. Thank you, Betty ! From there we continued north a few more miles to the town of Oakhurst. At Pro-Flame Propane I refilled an empty propane tank and tried to buy a new propane regulator / tank changeover assembly. They didn’t have one. I’ll have to try Camping World in Sacramento after we leave here next week. The service technician that refilled my tank seemed a bit inept. While disconnecting his refill nozzle from my tank, he jammed the refill nozzle’s shutoff valve, spewing a great cloud of propane into the air around us, enveloping us in propane, until he finally managed to get the valve closed. Sure am glad there weren’t any “sources of ignition” nearby ! And then he broke my propane tank’s valve dust cap ! And didn’t have a replacement ! ! ! Yes, it’s still hard to get good help ! ! !
We shopped at Vons for some advertised grocery specials, then CVS Pharmacy for more advertised specials, then crossed the street for even more advertised specials at Raley’s. In the last couple of weeks we’ve been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time to get great specials on local strawberries and local artichokes. Today we bought huge, fresh artichokes for 77 cents each ! They’re about 4 bucks in Penticton during the summer ! At Raley’s I bought a new propane barbecue ( that I don’t really need yet ) and a new picnic table umbrella.
We drove home from Oakhurst, quickly put away the groceries, then headed to nearby Chuckchansi Gold Resort & Casino for their senior’s buffet lunch special. Chuckchansi is our favourite casino buffet restaurant. We ate and ate and ate … until Joanne had to **** … HA HA HA … her buffet “cue” that she’s finally had enough … HA HA HA ( SNORT ) HA HA … and I felt so stuffed it seemed difficult to breathe ! We played penny slot machines until we each lost a dollar. That didn’t take long ! We returned to SKP Park of the Sierras just in time for the daily dog party. Bo was eagerly waiting for us to get home, worried that he would miss the dog party. After Bo played with his buddies for an hour or so we put him in the truck and we went to the clubhouse for the weekly Friday afternoon Happy Hour. We didn’t stay very long because Bo was waiting in the truck … a black truck … with a black interior … on a warm day ! We chatted with a couple who had just arrived today, and had a scary incident upon arrival. As they were driving through this very hilly park to get to their assigned site their fifth wheel trailer became detached from their truck ! ! ! The trailer fell onto the truck bed rails, slid backward, smashed through the truck’s tailgate, and fell onto the road. And fortunately stayed there … instead of rolling backwards downhill ! No damage to the trailer, a bit of damage to the truck’s bed rails, and a destroyed tailgate ! That’s what happens when one misses the step of locking the fifth wheel hitch ! And neglects to perform a “pull check”. Could have been worse ! Could have come detached while travelling on the highway ! ! ! Aren’t you glad that I’m a bit obsessive / compulsive … and as a result of pilot training always use a checklist for hitching and unhitching ? ! ?
When we returned to our site I reinstalled the broken propane regulator / changeover switch assembly. As long as both propane tanks are installed, it will be safe to use until I can buy a replacement. It can only leak when one of the tanks is removed.
I checked the website of Alliance Woodcraft and… WOO-HOO ! ! ! Alliance Woodcraft is a manufacturer of very expensive cedar gazebos in Vancouver. We want one of their gazebos for our lot at Riverside RV Park Resort. Every month … or every few months to be more precise … they have an advertised special. I have been checking on a monthly basis for over two years, waiting and hoping that the model and size we want might go on sale. And now it has ! ! ! And for an exceptionally good price ! We were planning to leave here on Monday, but now I think we might stay an extra day or two so that I can phone them, get some questions answered, and buy the gazebo. And maybe go for a picnic to the Bass Lake area a bit north of here.
In the evening I reviewed the batch of March mail that we picked up in Coarsegold. It was almost all income tax information slips. I guess it’s time ( sigh ) to start working on our income tax returns.
Saturday ; Today was another lovely day, perhaps the last one for awhile. The weather is forecast to deteriorate. I had a slow, lazy start to the day, doing nothing until after lunch.
This afternoon we gave Bo a bath. We spent a longer time than usual at the dog park today, with a larger than usual number of dogs. Back at our site I polished my shoes and sandals. I did some trip planning. I sent some e-mails.
There was an ad posted on the bulletin board in the clubhouse by a park resident selling a folding clothesline contraption that fits onto the roof access ladder found on the rear of most RV’s. Joanne wanted to see it. I thought it was a commercially made used product being sold by someone who no longer needed it. I was wrong. An elderly gentleman in the park makes these contraptions, designed by him, out of plumbing pipe, in his spare time ( which I guess is all his time, given his age and lifestyle ). Very well designed and made. Very well priced. We bought one.
After supper I reconciled the batch of income tax information slips that was in the March mail.
DSK
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