A day of Fantasy......

7:55 am - Friday - March 15th - Indio, CA - 56º F, 30% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the north by northwest.......clear blue skies today with a forecast high here in Indio, CA of 80º F.

Waking up Thursday I realized that all the tasks which stood between us in Arizona and our kids in SoCal were now complete.  We had been in Arizona since January 26th taking care of chores, repairs, doctor appointments, surgeries, recoveries, etc. Now, on March 14th we were free to merge on to I-10 and head for SoCal.  I slept as well as I have slept in quite a few weeks, and waking up to warm temperatures, and clear blue skies was such a tonic.

By the time we pulled the Newell out the bus bay on Wednesday and got situated it was late, so I suggested to Leo that we settle the bill in the morning since we were not planning to leave All Aboard America before 10 am.  No one wants to drive through Phoenix during rush hour......no one.  By 9 am Leo had the paperwork done and we went inside to pay the tab.  In all we had the drive axle brake pads replaced, a new spring kit, new drums, a new left axle seal and gasket, new bushings for both rear shocks, and finally tighten up the bolts on the torque rod above the differential housing.  Parts were about $750, and labor was just over $1,500 for a total just under $2,400.....a little painful, but very necessary.....functioning brakes do come in very handy from time to time.

We were pulling out of the All Aboard America parking lot just before 10 am, and merging onto I-10 by 10:15 am......it is just 342 miles to the Fontana/Rialto Elks Lodge.  Of course, you know I am not going to drive 342 miles in one day, right?  Minus a gun to my head I prefer to keep my daily mileage under 300.  Since I hadn't driven much in the prior 5 weeks we decided to knock out the bulk of the 342 miles on Thursday......268 miles to be exact.  That distance would get us to Indio, CA and just 88 miles from home.

In about 30 minutes we had escaped the gravitational pull of metro Phoenix and the big views returned.  We both kind of exhaled and smiled.......

 

.....I turned to TLE and said "Nice to be moving again, right?" to which she replied...."Yeah".  There is nothing which brings a smile to my face more quickly than seeing the road opening up in front of me.

By the time we reached the California border we were down to 1/4 tank of diesel.  We hadn't filled our tank since the Route 66 RV Park (Casino) just west of Albuquerque, NM back on January 25th, and had covered over 840 miles since then.  There is a Chevron station just shy of the California border on the Arizona side that we have 'paid the rent' at numerous times over the years before we reenter the 'People's Republic of California'.  Diesel is at least $1.20 higher per gallon in California than almost anywhere else in the USA.  California taxes the hell out of gasoline and diesel.  We ended up taking just over 135 gallons at $2.77/ gallon for a total just under $400, so Thursday ended up being a very expensive day for us.....  

.....within 5 minutes of departing the Chevron station we were crossing the Colorado River which forms the Arizona/California border and had the Newell back in California after an 11 month absence.

We stopped one more time at a Rest Area about 15 miles east of Indio to take a break, and then began our descent into the Coachella Valley.  The first fuel station we saw as we entered Indio had a price of $3.95/gallon for diesel (that's the cash price.....credit would have been $4.01/gallon).....see what I mean?  A $1.20/gallon difference would mean that 137 gallons of diesel we bought in Arizona would cost us $164 more in California....easy decision.  The way I have it figured, we will not need to 'pay the rent' again until we hit Nevada.

The bugs were out in force Thursday and you could see the evidence of the massacre on our windshield......

.....we pulled into the Fantasy Springs Casino RV parking area around 4 pm, and quickly found a place to park facing east (we don't like to have that afternoon sun beating in our windshield......much better to have it in the morning to warm up the salon quickly)....

.....there are close to 100 RV's in the dirt parking area adjacent to the Casino, and some appear to have been here for some time.  There is no time limit here, and no charge, so it is quite popular in the winter.

By 6:40 the sun had set, and we were spending our first night back in California in the Newell in 11 months......life is good.

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Walk around the block......

6:54 am - Saturday - March 24th - Indio, CA - 62º F, 46% humidity, wind 9 mph out of the northwest.....partly cloudy with a forecast high of 81º F.  We roll our wheels in about 2 hours!  Homeward bound....

Being here in Indio for three days has really been a tonic.   The weather has been magnificent.  Each time I walk around outside I cannot help but comment to whomever may be listening how wonderful the balmy air feels.  I have worn flip flops, shorts and a t-shirt almost exclusively, and am gradually getting some color back on my forearms and legs.

TLE and I decided to take a long walk Friday morning 'around the block'....well, the 'block' turned out to be 1 mile square, and our walk turned out to be 4.1 miles in all.    We walked north along Madison Street to Miles Avenue where we turned left walking all the way to Jefferson Street turning left once again and proceeding south to HWY 111, and then back east along HWY 111 to complete the 1 mile square walk.  Not quite what I had in mind for our first walk in about three weeks, but it was mostly flat, or so it felt.  My Strava GPS program tells me we had a total elevation gain over the course of the 4.1 miles of 103'......

Looking westward along Miles Avenue

......in all our 4.1 mile walk took us 1 hour and 16 minutes, and we averaged 3.3 mph....not too bad.  We made one stop during our walk at a local produce stand to pick up some artichokes, strawberries, and spinach.....haven't had artichokes for over a year!

Just as we were walking back to the Newell through the Elks Lodge parking lot I spied a vintage Silver Streak trailer....apparently these beautiful trailers were only in production from 1946 to 1949......this one looked great for its age!

Shortly after getting back to the Newell we headed out in the VW to visit the local Goodwill.....I came home with nothing new, but TLE found a couple of clothing items without which she believed she could not live.

Around 5 pm we headed over to Bill and Kelly's 5th wheel for cocktails and 'wings' courtesy of Bill.....OMG, where they ever delicious!  As is our habit we talked non-stop until just before 7 pm at which time we headed into the Elks Lodge bar to listen to music and talk some more.  By 8:30 pm we were talked out, so bid our adieus to one another.....our last night together for a while.

The wind blew all night, and it was delightful to feel it coming in through our OPEN windows all night long.....life is good!

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A day for guys and gals stuff......

7:09 am - Friday - March 23rd - Indio, CA - 63º F, 65% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the north by northwest (sounds like a good movie title).....clear blue skies with a forecast high of 83º F.  Sunrise was at 6:44 am this morning, and sunset will be at 6:58 pm.....my how things have changed from two months ago!

The temperature and humidity plunged Thursday, and the day turned out quite pleasantly.  We had all the windows open and no air conditioning running......I don't think I mentioned in yesterday's offering that we ran our A/C for the first time since August in Gardiner, MT....it was not so hot as quite humid when we arrived at the Indio Elks Lodge.....

......the Indio Elks Lodge has about 40 RV sites....all appear to be water/electric only (30 amp electric), but there is an on site dump station.  It is a very cozy RV park, but we had not problem backing our Newell into site 27.....of course the trailer had to be dropped in their parking lot.  If you have a car you can usually park it right behind your rig......

 The VW parked behind the Newell

.....they have a very cool entrance to their lodge........

......the ladies (Linda, Kelly and TLE) left the Lodge about 10 am to go shopping (Trader Joe's, Costco, Walmart, etc.), and the guys (moi, Steven and Bill) left in Bill's car to visit some of our favorite guy places.....Harbor Freight, Lowe's, etc.  As is often the case I didn't know I needed anything from any of these places until I began walking up and down the aisles.....I then discovered I needed new sets of SAE and METRIC hex key ball end sets.....

.....I have always wanted some of these...........

......and a package of 1" #2 Phillips insert bits......I'm down to my last one, but had forgotten until I saw them at Harbor Freight.....

.....once again at Lowe's I came across these great knee pads.....I have needed new knee pads for a couple of years, but kept forgetting when I was shopping for other things.....well, I got them Thursday.......

.....of course, any guys only shopping trip must involve some Mexican food for lunch, so we took a break and stopped in at El Ranchito Taco Shop in La Quinta.....Yelp gives them 3 stars out of 5, and I would agree.  One of the things I love about SoCal is that you never seem to be more than a block away from a good Mexican restaurant.  We were back home by 1:30 pm showing off our manly purchases to our wives.  We all agreed to reconvene at Steven and Linda's coach around 6 pm to go out for dinner at Billy Q's Pizza.  When we arrived at their coach a rainbow had appeared in the eastern sky so I snapped a quick picture before getting in the car......

......we arrived at Billy Q's around 6:30 and were seated right away at the last table which could accommodate our large group.  Yelp gives Billy Q's a 4.5 star rating on 468 reviews.....pretty solid, and we would totally agree.......we all ordered individual small pizza's....I got my favorite toppings on mine.....anchovies, black olives, onions and mushrooms.....

.....we were back home by 8 pm with smiles on our faces....a great day in Indio!

In the two days we have been in Indio we have not closed our windows except one time when we ran the A/C....otherwise they have been open the entire time.

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Good friends......

7:26 am - Thursday - March 22nd - Indio, CA - 67º F, 50% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the north by northeast.....heavy cloud cover with a forecast high of 79º F.  Yup, we're back in California!

Our modest Jello goal for Wednesday was to be on the road by 9 am.  In the back of my mind (yes, there is a 'back') I'm thinking about that 30 mile grade to the top of Chiriaco Summit that begins just west of Blythe, CA.  Blythe sits at 272' feet above sea level, and Chiriaco Summit sits at 1,706' above sea level.  While we have climbed steeper grades in the past this one sits in the middle of the Mojave Desert and knowing the forecast high for the area was going to be in the mid 80's I wanted to climb that grade when it was still in the 70's.

It's always a little bitter sweet bidding adieu to good friends, especially when is has been 15 months since the last time we were here, and knowing that it will probably be that long, or longer until we return.  Nevertheless, we exchanged 'until next time' hugs with Tom and Darlene and began our egress from their property about 8:45 am....15 minutes ahead of our Jello plan.

AZ-303

We turned on to AZ-60 going west for about 8 miles, then merged on to AZ-303 southbound to connect with I-10 which would take us, eventually, all the way to Redlands, CA where we will, on Saturday, transition to CA-210 into Fontana and the Fontana/Rialto Elks Lodge.

We had plans to take a break in Quartzite, AZ about 100 miles into our day to top off our 180 gallon diesel tank at the local ARCO station for $2.73/gallon, and that is what we did.  We last topped off our tank in Page, AZ back in late October, and had traveled some 480 miles since that time.....most of it in the last week.  We took on 64 gallons at a cost of $175.49.  This ARCO has those high speed diesel pumps, and it took less than 10 minutes to pump the diesel.....usually it takes 15-20 minutes.

We were back on the Interstate in less than 20 minutes heading ever westward.......the Colorado River is just 18 miles from Quartzite, and we were crossing her and back in California for the first time since June 10th when we departed South Lake Tahoe for a summer in Yellowstone.

The California Agricultural Check point......"....no, we have no children, pets, or any produce in our trailer"....they never ask if they are in the RV, just the trailer....who keeps their pets and/or children in an enclosed car hauler?

As we began the long ascent to the Chiriaco Summit the temp was in the low 70's still.  I was able to climb the grade in 4th gear keeping the rpm's close to 2,000 (the redline on these Detroit Diesel series 92 engines is 2,100 rpm's, and hovering around 2,000 rpm's spins the rear facing radiator fan faster, and keeps the engine temp down under 200º). We made the summit without incident.  We re-entered the People's Republic of California just after noon time, and were descending the long grade from Chiriaco Summit into Indio just before 2 pm....our destination for three days was the Indio Elks Lodge where we had made reservations a week prior.  

Most Elks Lodges are 'first come, first served', but some are so popular you must make reservations to be sure you have a site when you arrive.....Indio is one of those Lodges.  Our reason for stopping in Indio and not just covering the final 100 miles home was to hook up with good friends Steven and Linda Dempsey.  It has been 2 years since we have seen them, so when the stars aligned and we knew our paths were going to cross we decided to hang out with them for 3 days in Indio.......

Left to right: Moi, TLE, Steven, Kelly, Linda and Bill (I have that same exact Maker's Mark t-shirt that Steven is wearing)

.....as we were checking in at the kiosk Steven and Linda walked over from their rig and we were once again reunited with long hugs with our very good friends.  An added bonus was they were with their very good friends Bill and Kelly whom we met later at the Elks Lodge happy hour.  As I have said often, there are just some people whom you meet along the way with whom you immediately connect, and that was the case with Steven and Linda, and now Bill and Kelly.  We sat talking at Happy Hour as if we had known each other for 20 years.

There was an Elks Lodge meeting that night which began at 6:30 pm, so after talking non-stop for 2.5 hours we had to vacate the bar area....we bid adieu to each other until Thursday morning and headed for our respective RV's (Bill and Kelly have a 5th wheel, and Steven and Linda a Class A Travel Supreme) for the evening.  More than the places we visit on our never ending journey it is the people and the ensuing friendships that make this lifestyle so rewarding.  It is the reconnecting with friends after long periods of time as if we had last seen each other yesterday that fills my heart with peace, joy and contentment.

It was another good, uneventful day of travel and we are just 100 miles from our kids, grand kids and great grand child......we will see them on Saturday, and for 3 weeks thereafter when we pull up anchor once again and begin our journey to Maine for the summer!

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Okay......enough with the numbering!

6:56 am - Wednesday - March 20th - Wittmann, AZ - 50º F (yeah, baby!), 31% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the east by northeast......clear blue skies with a forecast high of 82º F (yeah, baby!).  We roll our wheels in 2 hours for Indio, CA where the high today will be 88º F (yeah, baby!).  As I sat down this morning to compose my latest missive I decided I was done with numbering my days in a particular location.  I numbered our days at Desert View for 127 days, and then continued numbering them here in Wittmann for 3 additional days.  I need to re-engage my imagination and start generating original titles again.

Tuesday was our last day in Wittmann, AZ this year.  I spent most of the day when I wasn't reading (and I read a LOT), working in the trailer to discard a few things, as well as find new storage places for others, and by the end of the day I had things pretty much under control for the first time in months.  

About 9 am our over night Newell visitors, George and Phyllis, fired up their Detroit Diesel Series 60 engine and made their way slowly out of the McCloud Compound.  We will be following their example on Wednesday......

.....it has been a wonderful 5 days in Wittmann spent visiting with Tom and Darlene, and re-acclimating to lower elevations and much warmer weather.  I was thinking the other day about how long we had been living in cold temperatures before we departed Desert View, and it seems it has been since late September in Montana.  Other than our two trips to SoCal for weddings in that interim, and then a our 1 week stay at Lone Rock (Lake Powell) just before we arrived at Desert View, we have been living in cold temps for 6 months.....that's enough for one lifetime, right?

Around 4:30 we decided to go ahead and insert the VW into the trailer, and then we were pretty much done getting ready for our current departure.  All that remains to do Wednesday is to disconnect the utilities and stow the patio awning.

Our plan Wednesday is to drive to Indio, CA where we will meet up with good friends Steven and Linda for three days at the Indio Elks Lodge.  We stayed there with them 2 years ago for 2 days in January of 2016.  During a span of time from New Year's Eve 2015 to late January 2016 we traveled with them from Octotillo Wells, to Borrego Springs, to Indio, to Quartzite.  It was a great three weeks!  We haven't seen them since then, and are really looking forward to spending a few days with them again.

Tuesday felt like a reading day, and that is what I spent most of my time Tuesday doing.  I actually started and finished a book on Tuesday.  Haven't done that for a long time!

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