About Me

Lee Creek, North Shuswap near Chase, B.C, Canada
We went full-time Rving in October of 2005! We retired from full time to part-time as of the end of 2015. Our present "small but comfortable" Wagon is a 2008 Camper trailer(TravelAir Rustler), pulled by a 2008 Dodge Dakota, 4X4.l. Our home is now a Gated Community Park, in Oliver, British-Columbia, Canada. I retired in 2005 and my Life Companion, Valerie, retired October 1, 2006 from nursing. We invite you to follow and share our new adventures and mishaps. Life is but an adventure full of dreams yet to be fulfilled!

Friday, November 30, 2007

November 25 to 30, in Indio

NOV. 25, Sunday

Sunny but there is a light cloud cover today, temperature only went up to a high of 70*F. Not much happened today. Val went over to the club house and I watched the Canadian football Grey Cup.


NOV 26, Monday

Val went over to her exercise and I got on the phone about these estimates for the damaged caused by Sears. I called another repair shop and got excellent service. Their estimate came in at $1000 lower than the Fleetwood dealer in Colton....Go figure!!!
I called Mexico Bob and ordered our insurance for Mexico at $350. then we went into Indio at Lowe's to purchase a small portable and battery operated lamp for BBQuing at night. I saw one at one of our neighbours and thought it was the coolest thing. It can either be clamp to the table with its own clamp or use the magnet attached. From here we went to lunch at a local restaurant/pub built like a castle....really neat!

Purchased fuel for $50. @ 3.539 then came home, BBQ and tried out my new lamp....works like a charm!


NOV 27, Tuesday,

Cloudy and cooler again....upper 60's. The forecast is for rain later this week and cooler still. Went to a geo-caching session and then came home with our mail. It was all damaged and ripped open. Hope I didn't lose any mail. We got the cheque from Fleetwood for our fuel expense to La Grande back in September and I got short changed. I will have to call them again. BLOODY HELL!!!!!!
At 3 p.m., we went to the club house to have our picture taken for our new membership card.....new procedure....I guess some people were loaning their cards to non-members. REALLY!!!!!!!!??????


NOV 28, Wednesday, cloudy in the low 70's

Val went to her exercise classes and I went to another computer session, on "why your computer runs slow" It was interesting and I picked up a couple of new tricks.
Made a call to Fleetwood to find out why I didn't get the whole amount, got the usual excuses with the promise of looking into it and getting back to me.....yeah right!!
Went to Desert Palm to JC Penney where I found and bought 3 bottles of my after-shave, "Royal Copenhagen", YIPPEEEE!!!!!!!!! This stuff is getting harder and harder to find.
Val is cooking lasagne tonight....yummy....yum!


NOV 29, Thursday, cloudy and cool

After Val exercise, we went to the Salton sea, approx. 35 miles south of here. We took Hwy 111 and drove the East side of the lake. We first stop at a National Refuge Park Headquarters where we saw a film on the history of the sea and what is being done to conserve it. There were camp site there with electricity and water; and a beach with white crunchy tiny sea shells that looked like white sand. The lake is 240 feet BELOW the Ocean level.....that's mind-boggling. It is approx 35 to 40 miles long and 15 miles at its widest spot. The maximum depth is approx 20feet. It is much saltier than the Pacific Ocean due to algae growth and the run-off's. It used to be part of the Sea of Cortez approx. 100,000 years ago. (SEE PICTURES)
From here, we drove on south and stopped in a small town named Niland for lunch. The food was great but the people were sort of.....eccentric!? We carried on without getting mugged and stopped at a couple of other refuge. We saw lots of white and brown Pelicans, snow geese, Canada geese, egrets and hawks. Even saw a wild rabbit but no snakes.
For the trip back, we took Hwy 86 on the west side of the lake and came home. We were gone for approx 5 hours.

Once at home, I called the Sears adjuster about our claim but only got his answering machine so left a message.


NOV 30, Friday, Cloudy and rain

Yes, we got rained on today with lighting as a side show. It got heavier as the day wore on and there were lots of "flash flood warnings" out. We even went without power for a good hour in the evening.
Called Sears again today and no call back. I am starting to get stressed out with this mess!!!

Anyway, I attended another computer session on WIFI and Val went to her exercises. This session was about an antenna that improves the reception of your connection by 20 folds. I actually tried it and it worked. Whereas before I was getting maybe 20-40% of the signals, now I get 80 to 100% Quite an improvement! Needless to say, I bought one that came with 2 antennas ( a short and a tall one) and an extension with a booster on it.
This valley is really drabby when it rains. I can see now why I wasn't impressed the first time we drove through here back in 2005. We went to Costco and Wal-Mart to spend more money that we don't have.
I also made a tentative appointment with McBride RV in Chino for next Tuesday. I am anticipating that Sears will approve their quote and we will get the Ok by then. Keeping our fingers cross!!!!!!


Life is but a journey filled with adventures

Sunday, November 25, 2007

November 21 to 24 Thanks-Giving in Indio

NOV. 21, Wednesday, sunny

Got up early and went to a computer session where a new program was being presented/discussed. It keeps track of all expenses and automatically calculates the US and CDN $ Dollar exchange on each expenditure. I got a free disc to download and I have 30 days to play with it so will try it and let you know. We also bought 2 tickets for the Thanksgiving dinner and went on the waiting list for 2 more cancellation.

Got a call from the Tate's around noon that they had arrived at their site and would be over shortly. They got here about 2 p.m. and we caught up to all the news from home. Rick bought himself a new "TOM-TOM" GPS and seems very happy with it. It does have some interesting features. We went over to a flea market about 4 blocks from here. It was all Mexican run and we didn't find anything that we needed. We came home and had dinner together at our place and chatted some more afterwards. They went home around 8:30 p.m.

Very windy tonight and cooler than usual.


NOV 22, Thursday, sunny and windy (Santa Anna winds)

It's really cool this morning. Had to put a jacket on to take Tucker for his morning walk. We picked up Rick and Pat at their site in Indian Wells than drove to Palm Spring to the Palm Canyon, owned by the Agua Caliente Cahuilla Indians. (pronounced Kaw-we-ah)
Palm canyon is considered the world's largest California Fan Palm Oasis. It is a rocky, desolate place yet very beautiful with all the Fan Palm trees on the canyon floor. There are hot water springs coming out of the ground. One can really smell the sulfur but we are told it is drinkable although we didn't try!!! The canyon walls are rocky and bare yet it does sustain some vegetation such as small cactus and fire brush.

We paid $8 each to get in the park which is Indians operated and owned. We drove up on a paved road to the start of the canyon and at one point, we had to go around this rock outcrop coming over the road. I wasn't sure if the truck was going to make it, but it did! That was when we realized why there was a lot back a way that said "RV DROP-OFF, DO NOT GO ANY FURTHER". We drove up about 800 feet to the Visitor Centre where they had a concession with food,drinks and souvenirs (very expensive). Maps of trails in the area were available for free. Lots of people here. We walked down to the Palm oasis and then up the canyon floor.
The palms followed the floor of the canyon and there were trails interjecting as we walked up. The trails were anywhere, from 2 miles to 15 miles long depending on the time and shape one was in and one could take any of them. We took a trail returning to the lodge which turned out to be approx. 3 miles long, up the canyon walls then along a ridge and back down. It was very warm but we had the winds and lots of water which was a good thing. We walked along a very desolate desert scenery interjected by cactus and small shrubs that looked like they were on their last leg yet were surviving in this arrid climate. We kept a watchful eye for rattle snakes but didn't see any. The trail took us approx. 500 feet higher than the canyon floor and at some points along, we could see the palms at the bottom of the canyon. (SEE PICTURES) It was very beautiful, and we got plenty of exercise. We finally arrived back at the Centre, had a drink and left.
We drove over to another canyon, the Andreas' where we met up with a guide who was very interesting and with a good sense of humour. This canyon was larger than the previous one and the rock formations were really interesting.
We had to return as we had a dinner to attend to. Dropped off Rick and Pat back at their site, drove back to ours, had enough time to wash then attended the dinner. Turkey and all the trimming. Afterwards, I went home and passed out on the couch, tired from a very strenuous day.....just not use to that kind of exercise.


NOV. 23, Friday, sunny and windy

Attended another computer session early this morning. This one was about a gadget to amplifies the reception of the WIFI signals. Had to leave half way through but will definitely investigate more.
We have T time this morning with Rick and Pat at the Indio municipal golf course. An 18 holes, executive, for only $18. Can't beat that! It was a very nice course and we had fun even with the strong winds....we seem to attract those whenever we play golf!?????
Afterwards, we drove to "BEST BUY" where Rick bought a new laptop, a Toshiba like mine with built-in WIFI. I looked for this WIFI gadget on the signal reception but they didn't have any.
We went to their site and had happy hours together. We left around 6 p.m. after saying our final goodbyes ( they are leaving for Yuma tomorrow) and we came home and relaxed


NOV 24, Saturday,

The winds were really strong overnight. I could hear the flags flapping against the front of the trailer. The small tables outside were blown around too.
Went for groceries today....and $200. later ( I guess we were really down on everything) we came home, put everything away and read and relaxed some more. The winds finally abated later in the afternoon. Also heard on the news that L.A. is getting more fires fanned by the winds. What a place to live!!!!!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

November 18 to 20, in Indian Waters, Indio, Ca.

NOV 18, Sunday, sunny of course

After doing the laundry and checking e-mail, we had lunch and went kayaking on the Colorado river. We went down stream for about 1 mile amongst little islands. We had to get out and walk through a couple spots which were too shallow. Got back on the main river and crossed over to California side to check out all the fancy houses on that side. The current was very strong on this side so we went back to the Arizona side and headed for home.
We were gone for about 2 hours and it was a lot of fun.

We cleaned up then had "happy hour" with our friends Bill and Vicky. We usually sit in the back where there is lots of room and within sight of everyone but other than the Canadian who left a couple days ago, noone has joined us even with our effort to invite them. Their lost!!

Watched the Patriots destroy the Buffalo Bills in the evening then went to bed


NOV 19, Monday, sunny

Called teh RV place in Colton again and after more run-around, I got hold of the manager and complained and all of sudden, I had all kinds of good service.
We went into town and I got a haircut then we came home and realxed at the pool with Bill and Vicky


NOV 20, Tuesday, sunny with some clouds

Loaded everything, dumped and after saying our good-byes to our friends, we left Colorado River Oasis Park in Arizona, crossed the bridge into California and headed for Indio.

Two hours later, we drove into Indian Waters RV Park. A beautiful place, well manicured, and friendly people. This site is part of the WHR and free to us. We will be her for 2 weeks. We set up, went exploring the club house and tried to sign up for the Thanks-Giving dinner but it is full so we put our name on the waiting list. Now the fun begins

N 33*42' 24" W 116* 12'47"
Alt: 7 feet
Distance today: 164 KM

Sunday, November 18, 2007

November 14 to 17, In Colorado River Resort

NOV 14, Wednesday, sunny

We hung out at the pool today and met people from BC. Met them again at our site for happy hour.
Got a call later about our HTR membership. I think they will buy it....will see


NOV 15, Thursday, sunny

Started a new diary book today. We went to Quartzsite area to see Petroglyth with an organized group from our park. It was interesting and we saw caves but no critters. From there, we went into town and had lunch then went to the Oasis book store where we met the owner, an eccentric fellow who walks around naked except for a small turquoise pouch to cover his privates. Very friendly, intelligent and he knew his books. Took a couple pictures. Val was sooooooooo exxxxxcited that she bought a couple books!!! hihihihihihhiihiihihi!

Came home, went to the pool then had happy hours with our neighbours, Vicky and Bill whom we've become friends with.


NOV 16, Friday,

Of course it's sunny!!!!!!
Washed the rig early this morning....it was overdue. Caught up with the internet and downloaded some pictures and answered some mail. Made a call to have our mail forwarded to Indio for next week.
Went swimming in the p.m. with Vicky and Bill. At 4 p.m. the four of us went to a local bar that was celebrating their 35th anniversary. There was a smorg full of good food and it was free. The best part though, was the price of booze.. we spent $22 between the four of us for an evening of drinking beer and a lot we drank!!!! Isn't it amazing!!!!???? Can't beat that! There was even a band playing rock and roll music and we danced the night away. came home around 10:30 p.m. feeling no pain.


NOV. 17, Saturday,

Washed the truck early this morning. Went back to Quartzsite and walked around. Bought a couple of knick-knacks that I couldn't do without then we had lunch and drove back to Blythe for some groceries. Met the gang for happy hour and then we all went for dinner at the club for $6. each. We had meat loaf, mashed potatoes and vegetable and desert of course. We all sat back afterwards at the club and chatted until 8:30 then came home.
A fine day, by all standards!!!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

November 12 to 13, 2007 To Colorado River, Arizona

NOV. 12, Monday, sunny and very warm

Val went to her exercise class first thing in the morning then we headed for Desert Hot Spring to buy last minute groceries. Came back and had lunch then we went cycling around the neighborhood. Checked out an R.P.I. park just down the road...very nice and may be worth exploring some other time.
Came back home, put everything away and loaded the bikes and kayaks, had dinner then read a good book and relaxed.

NOV 13, Tuesday, another sunny and warm day
We left the park around 9:15 after saying our goodbyes to our neighbors. Drove down Dillon road to I-10 and headed east slowly but surely. Made a couple stops and turned a 2 hours drive into a three hours thing. Scenery very desert like, crossed the Colorado River and found our campsite which turned out to be very near the freeway. We are in Arizona and we can actually see the I-10 bridge from our site and the town of Blythe in California.. We are backed to the river and we look forward to kayaking some. We are at site 106 in Colorado River RV resort, a WHR park but we are here under AOR. so paid $8./night
After setting up, we went exploring the town of Blythe, bought some beer and came back into Arizona and drove through the village of Ehremberg, almost a ghost town. We stopped at a bar and had a beer. $1.50 for a MUG of beer......YES $1.50
Surroundings are very much desert like!

N 33* 36' 36" W 114* 31'35"
Alt: 241'
Distance today: 197 KM.

Monday, November 12, 2007

November 5 to 11, 2007, friends visit us in Desert Pool Park

NOV. 5, Monday, Sunny

Not much happened today. We decided to play it lazy so stayed home and read, went for a walk around the park and met some of our neighbors


NOV. 6, Tuesday

Went into town and got some groceries than we drove around and checked out a bunch of stores as Val wanted a noodle for the pool. Couldn't find anything. Everywhere we went, we were told that they are stocking for winter and all the summer stuff is put away


NOV. 7, Wednesday,

Sunny again and warm. Finally found a noodle right here in the park. They have a small flea market here every Wednesday and this is where we found it. I also bought a string of lights.
Waited around for what I thought was going to be a Sears rep. but in fact, turned out to be the guy that did the damage to the wall. ( I have downloaded a picture of it on the Picasa link) He wrote his statement and after he left I called Sears to find out what the heck was going on and was told to call back tomorrow to see what he had to say and where it would proceed form here.


NOV. 8, Thursday

Called Sears again and was told that the guy admitted to the damaged and that now I had to get an estimate of the repairs and that they would pay for it. That's good news but after making numerous calls to local people, I couldn't find anyone to come out and do this kind of repairs. I called a Fleetwood dealership about 50 miles from here and they are willing to do the repair so I took some pictures and send them to their e-mail. Now we wait

Glenda and terry arrived today around noon. After they set up we met them and caught up to all the news then went over the pool to cool off. It is very warm today. We had them over for dinner and sat around afterwards and chatted some more



NOV. 9, Friday, cloudy

It is cloudy today and we have a very strong wind form the West. It's blowing sand everywhere. we went golfing with Terry and Glenda at a local 9 holes executive course called Sands RV & GOLF Resort. Very nicely groomed and manicured. We had a good time. I did pretty good considering how little I have played. We came home and they had us over for dinner tonight. More chatting and laughter.


NOV. 10, Saturday, sunny

We had quite a strong wind again last night and I'm glad I put up the awning before bed.
For a change, we went golfing again at the same course. We did the same score as yesterday. Incredible! Afterwards, we went to town and had tacos and pop then came home and dropped off the clubs and went to visit an Oasis park not far from here. It was very impressive and we walked the whole length which took us to another Oasis with a small lake and a sand dune. We small some of of the local gritters and the girls even saw a rabbit. It was well done. The trail had lots of signage which explained the foliage and I didn't realize it but we were right on top of San-Andreas Fault.
Came home, had a drink then we went for dinner at the club house. Terry and Glenda had a free dinner for listening to the park's sale pitch and after, we stayed for the Karaoke. Almost had Val convince to go up and sing but she restrained herself


NOV. 11, Sunday

T & G. left around 9 a.m. They were headed for Mesa near Phoenix, about a 6 hours drive. We said our good-byes. Val did her laundry today and I relaxed. My knee is really bugging me and hurting. I think I overdid it on the walking the past 3 days.

Monday, November 05, 2007

November 3-4, 2007

NOV 3, Saturday, sunny

We went to the air show in Coachella, about a 1/2 hour drive from here, on the East side of the Valley. One thing about this valley....everything is spread out and what seems like next door on the map, turns out to be miles away.

The air show was interesting, small and quaint. There were quite a few planes on display, mainly vintage stuff from the WW II era and the 50's. When we arrived, a group of sky-divers were coming down with smoke trailing behind. It was neat to watch. Then we had a aerobatic flight with a bi-plane then another one with a mono plane. We had lunch there and then watch the California Patriots, four pilots with their jets, do some aerobics. It ended with them making a heart in the sky with an arrow through it. They were good and we enjoyed the show. It was hot on the tarmac and we took advantage of every shadows we could find as did everyone else.

We came home and got ready to go listen to a lecture on MASA, a medical air lift service, and a free spaghetti dinner. Met a couple who are also full time, had a nice chat then came home.

Oh yeah! On the way home form the airshow, we drove through Indio and had a peak at our next site for Nov 20 to December 4. It looked like a very nice site and we look forward camping there....it is closer to town then this one but no one is complaining!!!


NOV 4, Sunday, cloudy, clocks moved back one hour!

Cloudy today but still very warm....got up to 92*F (32*C). We had planned on staying home today but because of the cloud cover, we decided it would be a good day to go see the Flea Market in Desert Palm. It was very interesting and lots of stuff... We ended up buying a pair of shoes and sandals (needed) and a small kitchen item and some homemade BBQ sauce. We had lunch there (hot dog and pop) walked around some more then came home after stopping at a local Sports Bar and had a brew and joined in the cheering of the local football team on TV.

Very warm in the trailer. Thank goodness for the A/C. Watched more football then went to bed early.

DOWNLOADED MORE PICTURES

Saturday, November 03, 2007

November 1 & 2, 2007

NOV 1, Thursday, sunny and hot

It got up to 92*F today (33*C)....a wee bit warm! We went grocery shopping and also stopped at a Visitor Centre to get information on the area. Came home with an armful of brochures.

We then took a drive down Dhillon road, after unloading the groceries, and came upon this Oasis call "Lost Oasis" It is approx 10 minutes from our resort. We stopped and took a walk around. The park office was closed but what an impressive place. The palm trees are huge and old. The place reminding us of a pre-historic jungle. There were paths that we could walk on and lots of water. (SEE PICTURES). WE didn't stay long but will definitely come back.

We took Thousand Palm road and went south then turned on Ramon road which took back to Palm Spring. It was quite a long drive, I didn't realize it was this far. We fuelled in Palm Spring: 21.809 Gal @ 3.439. Came back home and had dinner then relaxed.

I checked the bank rates and discovered that our dollar is now worth 1.07!!!!! WOW!!!! We are actually making some savings here. That's great!


NOV. 2, Friday, sunny and warm again

The forecast is for the Santa Anna winds to blow today so put up the awning before leaving. These are very strong winds from the North-East and can create dust storms.

Today, went to Joshua Park. We took Hwy 6 north to the village of Joshua Tree where we stopped at the park rancher info centre and paid the entrance fee ($15), got some info and entered the park. This was a very beautiful park. We saw forest of Joshua trees and rock formations unsurpassed anywhere. The park consist of 2 desert: the Mojave on the northern section and the Colorado desert on the southern section. They are very distinct and different. The Joshua tree is found in the Mojave side. That's where most of our pictures are taken.
We are also very near the San Andreas Fault which explains the rocks and boulders. It is hard to describe and the pictures I took don't do it justice. Suffice to say we were both very impressed.
We saw rock climbers ( a paradise for them here) and lots of campers but no big rigs or trailers here as it is very tiny in space. We took a drive to the "Keys look-out". We climbed to above 5000 feet and arrived at this lookout. WOW!!! WOW!!!! Very impressive. One can see for miles and miles. We saw the Salton Sea in the south, and the Palm Spring valley in the west. (SEE PICTURES). From here, we drove on to Twenty-Nine Palm, a small village on the north east side of the park. There is a very big Marine Corps base near here and a huge exercise area for them to practice battle warfare. Took a couple pictures and drove back in the park and took the southern route which brought us to the Colorado desert and where the Cholla cactus are located. IT was very impressive again. Drove on through the desert, through miles and miles of nothing but rock, sand and shrubs and cactus. Finally arrived at I-10 and headed back home via Dhillon road, which was quite neat as it is full of small hills which causes us to lift up from our seat as they were closed together. It reminded me of my child hood when dad would drive through this place and cause that same effect. It was fun
Arrived back at our site around 6 p.m., in time for happy hour and dinner.
Tomorrow, we are going to flea market and air show.