Las Vegas, NV. (Jan 19th - March 7th), 2011

On our drive to Las Vegas, of course Mike had to take the most scenic route which took us very close to the Mexican border (Jacumba) and we were stopped twice by the U.S. border patrol as we proceeded east. We camped overnight in Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, CA (our old stomping grounds near Palm Springs, CA.).  Ate dinner and gambled a little bit since we were staying free in their RV parking lot.  Then we drove through Joshua Tree National Park.  We checked out a couple of campgrounds there and said we would be back to camp there because of their beautiful settings    We proceeded on to Las Vegas and stayed at another one of our membership campground ( Thousand Trails on Boulder Hwy.). Met up with my brother Gary and this friend out here on business from Michigan for a few days.  We visited Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and Red Spring which was very scenic, informative, just an great place for hiking and rock climbing with of course it's many red rock formations.  They also have one of the most beautiful and amazing Interpretive/ Visitor Centers we have ever seen. We met up with Darlene's cousin, Cindy and her husband Randy who has lived outside of Las Vegas (Logandale) for the past 17 years. We went on an very scenic drive though Valley of Fire State Park near their home. There you could find various shapes like an elephant and an beehives made of more red rock.

This was an very nice park and we really enjoyed it. February brings in the Lee's  (Brian and Lori, Darlene's sister)  from the old COLD Michigan. Jason continued on his job searching on the strip and Mike found a couple of Habitat homes to work on. Did 7 days off and on while we were here in Vegas.  Toured Ethel's Chocolate shop where they even gave you a free piece of chocolate.  They had an amazing cactus garden  from around the world-- well worth the cost of entrance which was zero.  Did "life" things like physicals, tire rotations. taxes etc. I gave Jason a break from job hunting one day and we went up to Ski Las Vegas on Mt. Charleston just north of the city. That was a blast, we didn't over dress for that occasion. We happened to see the world's largest gold nugget, naturally at the Gold Nugget Casino and Hotel.  Beside the Thousand Trail Campground we also stay a few times at Sam's Town RV park on Boulder Hwy. Which is of course right next to Sam's Town Casino and Hotel. Very nice, clean and well maintained park. Just too many emergency sirens going by for us at all times of the day and night. Sam's Town also had an bowling ally and movie theater inside. Which made for a couple of days of entertainment close bye.  Found a business and a nice big bark park for Buddy. The business was called "Soggy Dog" where you wash and blow dry your own dog.  We all loved it so well, We went twice!!  Went to all the Major Casinos and some that are not so big. We are not big on gambling, so we didn't lose a lot.  I could not leave Vegas and not check out all the shopping malls. They do have a few here.  Darlene and I keep up on whats new, our likes and dislike in RV world and attended an RV show at Southpoint Casino. Couldn't pass up a free show. We extended our stay here for interviews Jason had and  also because

\Cindy and Randy got some extra free tickets to the Only Nascar Race of the year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. What an way to end our stay here in VEGAS!!!

Pio Pico in Jamul, CA (Jan 10th - 19th), 2011

We landed at Pio Pico Thousand Trails Campground which was about 20 minutes east of San Diego in the town of Jamul.  It was out in the hills where we had no cell phones nor internet service.  But we loved the area and the weather.  Sunny, high 60's and beautiful mountains all around us.  And of course the Border Patrol traveling up and down the trails in the mountains and on the area roads.  Lots of them.  We were only about 20 miles or less from the border of Mexico.  The campground was huge so we chose to camp at the back of the park so we could walk Buddy up and down the hills which we loved.  He had his freedom and loved to investigate the new area.  We traveled to San Diego a few days; we loved the town.  It has so many great restaurants and had many people walking through town.  Definitely was a happening town.  We had dinner with some good friends Norm and Sheree who relocated from Lake Orion to Del Mar which was a very nice town along the ocean.  Again we found out about a dog beach along the Del Mar ocean side which Buddy swam, chased dogs and just had a grand time.  We visited Chula Vista Olympic Training Centers which is one of 3 in the U.S.  There was an Olympic mile long sidewalk that we could walk along and see where they practiced soccer, BMX course,  softball, track and field sports, and with cricket and archery practice that was going on at the time of our visit..  It was a very nice park with room for more sports. On another day we visited nearby LaJolla a town along the ocean that had kayak trips in the ocean to the caves and a great snorkeling park.  It was rather late in the day and the tide had gone out so it was not a good time to kayak up to the caves so we had to pass.  It was 83 degrees and instead we walked along the ocean side in town and watched the sea lions beach on the rocks that jutted out into the ocean.  The waves were pretty big and it was another nice town to visit.  Since San Diego is known for it's great zoo, we had already visited the zoo twice before with our kids when they were little so we passed it up on this visit.  We could love staying near San Diego because it had great weather and some neat towns to visit.   But with Mike's brother Gary coming in for a visit to Las Vegas, we decided to head there.  But we will be back to San Diego someday and extend our stay.  Especially in the winter months.

Descanso, CA (Jan 5th - 10th), 2011

On our way south to San Diego area, we camped overnight at the Santa Fe RV Park in California.  It was a very nice, clean park; however, it was right next to the I-5 expressway.  We then arrived at our destination, another one of our member parks, Thousand Trails in Descanso, CA.   We were out to try all of our membership parks and this was on the way to San Diego.    We had a great campsite -- kind of seclusive but picturesque.   The weather was cool the first couple of days and started warming up the last day we were there.  While there we visited the town of Alpine, the Viejas Outlet Mall/Village (Indian Reservation) which was outside and very nicely landscraped with boulders and waterfalls and an ice skating rink which was used for the holidays and they were now taking down.  Then we discovered the town of Julian.  What a quaint little town that was known for their "apple pies".  One of the people we met at a pancake breakfast in the Township Hall of Descanso told us to make sure we had a piece of pie.  We didn't stop for a piece of pie -- we bought a whole pie and it was so delicious.   We tried to walk Buddy at the area State Park but dogs were not allowed but he liked hiking up the mountain with Jason back at camp.  Down the road 79 we stopped at a stand where there were wood carvings, fruits, vegetables, homemade jerky, jams and just about anything you would find at a farmers market. Some of the very best jams and jerky we've ever had. Not bad for these locals.  It was called Pam's Place.  It was time to move on closer to San Diego to another membership park!!!!!!

Huntington Beach, CA (Jan 1st - 5th), 2011

We ventured towards Huntington Beach to camp near the ocean since that is where Kelsey wanted to be. Plus the fact an Pro-Am Surf Competition was going to take place that weekend. It was more Am than Pro's. We didn't know that until we got there. We set up camp at Sunset Vista which was just a city parking lot converted into an campground  during the off-season right on the ocean.  We had electric and water hookups but we paid a price.  You could just not beat the view.  We celebrated Darlene's birthday at BJ's Brewery and received a nice $48 parking ticket.  Can you imagine feeding the meters on a Saturday night?  Well it was dark and little misty, they were not labeled so Mike put a couple of quarters in the meter not knowing how long we really had.  The downtown Huntington Beach area was nice but you had to park somewhere.  Our first day it rained and was cloudy.  The second day it was a little cool so we went to an area mall and saw the movie, The Little Fockers and then we walked the pier to have dinner at Ruby's Diner at the end of the pier.It's an Great burger,soda, and floats 50's 60's era kind of place.  The 3rd day was a nice sunny day  and down the beach about a mile or so we saw they actually had a dog beach. So of course we had to walk Buddy down to play in the sand and the waves and chase the other dogs.  He was in dog heaven again for sure. You can't beat the city's beach paved walk which is great for just about anything that you can imagine. So I had to bike on it to Newport Beach one sunny afternoon. That was an nice ride while the ladies walked along the beach, but the water was still cool in the 50's. That didn't stop the surfers out there in wetsuits. I caught up with them and had an late lunch at Zack's on the beach where you  can eat, take surf lessons or rent just about anything or shop the little gift store. On Wednesday, Kelsey had to fly out from the airport nearby and we had to depart the campground.  We decided to head further south along the Pacific Highway to San Diego where we had hoped it would be a little bit warmer.  P.S.  I filled out a claim form to dispute the parking ticket because we were celebrating my birthday and they did waive it for me, so it didn't hurt to try. That was Nice!!!

Pasadena, CA (Dec 30th - Jan 1st), 2011

Leaving Palm Springs, we stopped at a KOA in Fairplex, CA overnight before continuing on to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl Parade.  We had a little incident along Route 66 as we turned in a busy intersection with traffic in all directions.  One of our compartments on the camper came open as we made the turn.  Mike's complete toolbox and a couple of their drawers flew out onto the intersection along with other items that were in the compartment.  Traffic froze as we quickly pulled over and all jumped out to clean up the roadway.  Our hearts were a pounding and thankfully all the traffic just stopped or drove around us.  It didn't take us too long with the four of us cleaning it up and causing no accidents.  We just moved on quietly out of the area.  We had reserved a parking spot along the parade route so we just camped overnight in our motorhome.  New Year's Eve was spent walking along the route, listening to various music, watching various acts, and dodging the silly string.  It was so funny to see all the cars driving by that were bombarded with silly string and shaving cream.  But security was tight through the whole area.  People were camping everywhere -- some in just sleeping bags along the sidewalks.  We set our chairs along the route as did everyone hoping they would be there the next  morning.  At last, on a bright and sunny cool morning the parade started.  How magnificent the floats were.  So detailed and beautiful.  Close to 200 entries to this parade and it lasted a couple of hours.  But it was worth every minute.  Time to move out and head to the ocean. Here's an few of our 200 photos of the parade.

Palm Desert, CA (December 23rd - Dec. 29th), 2010

 

Christmas without the white stuff was different.  But once we strolled down Christmas Tree Lane not shivering and freezing, it was nice to see all the beautifully decorated houses in Cathedral City.  Plus since we were tied up with the Christmas Tree Lot through the 23rd, we shopped at an outlet mall in Palm Springs on Christmas Eve.  So many stores; so many people.  We then ended Christmas Eve with mass at a very nice church where there was lots of singing the good ole traditional Christmas songs.  Christmas was a very beautiful day and Kelsey and Darlene spent it by the pool side.  Shaun was unable to join us in sunny California but was missed by all.  It was just a nice quiet day at our campsite with a great Honey-baked Christmas dinner.  After Christmas day,  we rode the Aerial Tram Ride up San Jacinto Mountain in Palm Springs only to find 2 feet of snow.  You could go sledding or walk the trails but since we got their a little later in the day, we missed that part.  Darn!!!  It sure was nice to take the tram down and leave the snow behind (like those frozen winters in Michigan).  We also played a round of Best ball at the Ivey Golf Course just down the street from our campground.  It was Kelsey's first time at golf and she has a pretty good swing.

 

 Time to move on to our next destination -- Pasadena here we come!!!!

Cathedral City Sand Lot (Nov 20th - Dec 23rd), 2010

Since we cannot make it home for the holidays, Mike ran across an ad looking for a couple with an RV to sell Christmas trees.  It was free camping and we would receive 15% of the sales.  We decided two reasons that we would do this:  1) Give Jason some work and earnings; and 2) with our portion of the earnings we would purchase airline tickets for Kelsey and Shaun to fly out and spend Christmas with us.   Plus since it was a happy season of the year, the people would be in a good mood to deal with.  Our inventory would be around 400 trees, plus stands, wreaths etc.  So we arrived on Nov 20th to our designated sand lot.  We received water and electric from a neighboring house; and a large tent would be set up with a giant snowman and a pay booth.  However, the trailer of goods got broken into while being stored elsewhere so the set up could not be completed this date.  However, the actual trees would not be arriving until Thanksgiving Day so we had a few days yet.  Woody (our boss) didn't seem too upset about the setback so hopefully this isn't a bad note to start on our new adventure.
We concluded our season with some very nice balmy weather and all 410 trees were sold and a couple donated by December 23rd.  It was much more work then we thought it would be.   The lot had to be set up, the trees unloaded and inventoried when they were delivered (2 separate deliveries); Mike had to do all the electricity for lighting, drill, saw, snowman, etc.  We were open 9 to 9 seven days per week.  Doesn't mean we were busy all day waiting on customers, but someone had to be there all during the open hours -- better to have 2 people there all the time.  Each tree sold had to be netted (at customers wish); and every tree had to have a fresh cut and then loaded or tied to the customer's vehicle.  Trees ranged from 5 ft to 15 foot and at times were very heavy to put up in stands, tie down from the wind and prepare them for the customer.  But we survived and Kelsey flew in on the tail end of this adventure (20th) while we would down.  Still couldn't beat the sunny, warm days in the desert!!!
On to Palm Desert for Christmas.