Sunday ; Sunny, warm, windy.
After our early exercise session in the mineral pool and an early lunch we left at 1 PM for downtown Palm Springs. We attended the afternoon matinee performance of “Palm Springs Getaway”, a locally written and produced musical presented by Palm Canyon Theatre. It was okay, perhaps a bit ambitious for a small theatre group and venue. After the musical play ended we went, on impulse, to a nearby downtown location of Angel View Thrift Store. <blink blink> Awfully upscale for a thrift store, n’est-ce pas ? Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised, as the downtown location of Revivals is as upscale, if not more so. I bought a shirt.
We went for an early dinner at Sherman’s Deli. Excellent, as always, as expected.
We drove to the massive shopping mall area in Palm Desert at Monterey and Dinah Shore Drive, for our final Wal-Martin’ before departing Palm Springs in a few days. Before leaving the shopping mall area we went to Bank of America to replenish cash.
We arrived back home at Sky Valley around 8:30 PM.
Monday ; Sunny, warm, very windy again/still !
The wind caused us to postpone our plan to remount the camper onto the truck today. It was too risky to raise the camper high enough on its jacks to get the truck back underneath with winds gusting that strongly. We were afraid of the risk of the camper tipping over while raised high on the jacks.
While I napped after lunch Joanne went into Desert Hot Springs by herself to run errands. For supper tonight she made an excellent Beef Pho soup using beef brisket leftovers from last night’s dinner at Sherman’s Deli.
Tuesday ; Sunny and very warm, no wind, nice weather for our final day in the Palm Springs area.
We had a long final session in the warm and hot mineral pools before lunch. After lunch we put the camper back onto the truck. Joanne did laundry. We went for a long walk before dusk.
We’ve had a great time here for the last two months. We’re ready to go !
Wednesday ; Palm Springs, California to Papago Freeway Rest Area near Tonopah, Arizona
Sunny and very warm. Farewell, Palm Springs !
This morning we prepared for departure, paid our electricity bill, and checked out of Sky Valley Resort around 11:30 AM. Before leaving Palm Springs I bought just enough diesel fuel to reach Arizona where fuel prices are much lower than in California. Today’s diesel price in Palm Springs was well over $6 a gallon, likely the highest price we will pay for diesel fuel this winter season. In Quartzsite, Arizona today it was slightly below $5 a gallon.
We headed east on Interstate 10, a very busy freeway, the main route heading east from Los Angeles to Phoenix and everywhere else east. We stopped to have our exercise walk and a very late lunch at Wiley’s Well Rest Area. I napped briefly after lunch. We stopped to buy some groceries at Albertson’s in Blythe, the last California city on I-10 before crossing the Colorado River and entering Arizona. We refilled with diesel in Quartzsite. We drove for more than an hour after dark, stopping for the night around 7:30 PM at Papago Freeway Rest Area a few miles west of Tonopah, Arizona.
I tried to get an “over the air” CBS TV signal from Phoenix to watch the season premiere of Survivor, but was unsuccessful.
Thursday ; Papago Freeway Rest Area to Benson, Arizona
Sunny and warm during the day, windy and pretty chilly in the evening in the high desert altitude of Benson.
We have changed our exercise schedule while we travel, so that we have our early walk before we depart in the morning, and our late walk after my afternoon nap after lunch. SO … after our morning walk we departed the rest area around 11 AM and continued eastbound on Interstate 10. At the nearby village of Tonopah we stopped at a large truck stop to refill our freshwater tank. While refilling our freshwater I was approached by a black trucker, who asked some questions about our truck camper, then we had an interesting discussion about Canada’s universal healthcare system. He was envious. Poor fellow is from … Florida. You know … <blink blink> … Ron DeSantis ! ? !
Just before reaching Phoenix we took the “Loop 202” ring road around Phoenix, from the west side of the city to the south side, then rejoined I-10. We stopped for lunch at the Sacaton Rest Area just before reaching Casa Grande. After lunch, and a nap, and a walk, we continued south and east on I-10, reaching Tucson at rush hour. WHEW … two major cities in one one day of driving. No wonder I’m tired and stressed !
After struggling through Tucson’s rush hour we reached Benson shortly after 5 PM. We stopped to buy some take out food for dinner at Mi Casa, a difficult to find but highly rated Mexican “hole in the wall” restaurant. <shrug> Food was OK, but … “nothing to write home about”, in my humble “foodie” opinion. I chalk the high ratings up to my observation that the small restaurant’s clientele all seemed to be old white people (read into that what you will !) who look they they have never been to Mexico, despite living close to the border. Does the refrain “Build That Wall” ring any bells ?
After waiting over half an hour for our small, simple order to be prepared, then refilling the truck with diesel (<blink blink> a hundred and forty-six bucks !) we arrived at the Saguaro Co-op SKP RV Park on the outskirts of Benson shortly after 6 PM. After having our pedestrian/mediocre Mexican dinner I went to the clubhouse to use Wi-Fi to check e-mail while Joanne washed dishes. Busy clubhouse, lots of people … nary a mask in sight ! Except mine ! ! !
The only other mask I saw all day (other than Joanne’s) was on the black trucker at the Pilot truck stop in Tonopah. <sigh>
He asked me … “Is racism a problem in Canada?” By that I surmised he meant … “Do your law enforcement officers kill black people?” My answer was “no”.
Friday ; Benson, Arizona across New Mexico to El Paso, Texas
Mostly sunny and warm, but extremely cold in Las Cruces, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. Half an inch of snow in each of those cities last night ! ! !
This morning we dumped our waste holding tanks, refilled our freshwater tank, paid for our overnight stay, went for our morning exercise walk, and left Saguaro Co-op SKP RV Park about 11:30 AM.
We continued eastbound on Interstate 10. We stopped for lunch and a nap and another exercise walk when we crossed the border from Arizona into New Mexico at the New Mexico Welcome/Visitor Information Center at Lordsburg.
Our planned destination for today was a freeway rest area looking down upon the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico. But when we arrived at the high elevation rest area it was very cold and windy there, and … there was another hour of daylight left. SO … we continued driving for about another hour until we crossed over the border from New Mexico into Texas. We stopped to have supper and boondock overnight at the very cold Texas Welcome Center/Visitor Information Center at El Paso.
Saturday ; El Paso to Saragosa, Texas
This morning we walked multiple times around the perimeter of the Texas Welcome Center for exercise, then departed around 11 AM. Almost immediately upon entering the city of El Paso we got off Interstate 10 to refill with diesel at a Wal-Mart fuel bar. Then when we got back onto the freeway, the traffic had ground to a halt. It took us more than an hour to travel three miles to reach the source of the congestion, a minor fender bender traffic accident <fume>. Cop cars all over the place ! One dented car being hooked up to a tow truck ! Cops all over the place, standing around with their thumbs up their asses, doing nothing, ignoring the massive traffic snarl. What typically inept and lazy police work ! ! !
ZZZZZZZZZZ … the day was spent driving east on Interstate 10 across the endless scruffy desert of West Texas. We stopped to refill our freshwater tank at a Petro truck stop. We stopped for lunch, a nap, and another exercise walk at a crowded freeway rest area. Just before reaching our destination for tonight we stopped at the tiny village of Balmorhea to buy take out dinner at a highly rated Tex-Mex restaurant Joanne found online when we were planning this trip from Palm Springs to the Rio Grande Valley. It took more than half an hour for our simple food order to be prepared. And when we ate it … nothing to write home about … again !
We stopped to eat dinner and boondock overnight at a small picnic area at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Hwy. 17 leading into another tiny village, Saragosa.
DSK
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