Post Cards

We just added a new feature to our site. It is titles ‘Where have we been’ and features post cards and a short message from the places we have visited. You can see them by clicking on the link to the left titles ‘See our Post Cards’.

We are still in Yuma

Are our motorhomes getting bigger or are the sites getting smaller. We thought the Indio Rally was tight. We at least had room to put the patio awning out. We are so tight here we can reach out our window and shake hands with our neighbor. The sites are gravel, the power is only 30 amps, there is no cable TV, and the end of the US Marine Corps Air Station runway is right across the street with jets taking off and landing all day. Other than that, the park is very clean, well taken care of, and everyone is very friendly. We are having a good time. And besides, we just noticed on the news that it is raining back home and it is sunny and beautiful here and the sunsets are killer.



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I mentioned in the previous writing that we might not get to do what we came here for, well all is back on. The Bus Nuts have room for us at their rally so we will be sticking around for that and the Rexhall picnic after.



We are on Arizona time here. It is similar to Day Light Savings Time which should not be a problem. The problem is, during Day Light Savings Time everything and everyone change. Here we have to be aware that we are 1 hour ahead of our friends and family in California and our Satellite TV is 1 hour behind. We plan to change Sat TV feed when we get closer to the east.



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Welcome to Yuma

I think we are going in circles. We are closer to our original departure site than we have been for a while. I figured we have traveled 1056 miles and we are only 196 miles away from home. We left Quartzsite and made our way to Yuma this morning. Last night we had some pretty good showers in Quartzsite. I thought we were going to have to travel in the rain again but when we woke this morning the sun was shinning bright. The drive was easy and the weather was great. Good thing I fixed the air conditioner in the Aerbus because we used it today.



We found out today that we may have come to Yuma for no reason at all. We were suppose to hook up with the “Bus Nuts” for a rally next week and then head over to the Rexhall Picnic. Well looks like the Bus Nuts rally may be maxed out and there is no room for us. This means we will have to hang out for two weeks for the picnic. As much as we enjoy the Rexhall people, we really don’t want to hang out here for two weeks just to attend a half day picnic. If we can’t get in to the rally we will probably just head on down the road.



The park we are in is a 55+ park. I guess they bend the rules a bit because they didn’t turn us away at our young age of 52. The park is really nice. It is a Snow Bird Park. There are quite a few permanent trailers that have out of state cars parked beside them. We have noticed a lot from Canada.



I found out why this park has spaces available when all the other parks are full. This park is right across the road from the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station and International Airport. We need to pause our conversations often because we can’t be heard over the jet noise. I hope they take a break at night so we can get some sleep. Let’s see, the last place was generators running all night and the place before that was Interstate truck traffic. What’s next?

Just some photos

Did I tell you the cactus around here is tall?

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Nothing but top notch entertainment around here.

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I caught this vendors dog just hanging out watching all the people going by.



We visited the Big RV Show here in Quartzsite today. They say they expect over 100,000 people to attend the show. I think they all were there today. The phone cells are so overloaded around here, you have to keep trying to get a call through. We have big plans for tomorrow. We plan to do absolutely NOTHING.



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Swap Meets Galore

I spent the day checking out some of the MANY swap meets today. Susan was not feeling well (Bad Cold) so she stayed back at the motorhome. I thought it was a sales pitch when I read, "If you can't find it here, it doesn't exist." I am beginning to believe it now. The top photo is a collage of some antiques I found and the photo below is from a booth that was selling animal parts. Why? I had to ask. Apparently people use them for many reasons such as decorations, taxidermists that are in need of some parts and who knows what. This place is filling up. We have about 10 other RVs around us now.



The desert is green. It is unbelievable how much color there is after all the rains. Some of the wild flowers are in bloom but it is still too early for the big showing. The evening skies are just awesome. The hills light up with the setting sun and the skies fill with pinks, reds, and orange color with contrasting giant cactus in the foreground. My little digital camera just does not do it Justus.



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Good Bye California

Today is a monumental day for us. We left California today and will not see it for another 9 months. But what really makes it monumental is that when we do arrive back in California we will no longer be California residents. You see, when we arrive in South Dakota we will be changing our residents for a number of reasons such as taxes, vehicle registration, and insurance.



We are in Quartzsite Arizona for a few days. There are way more RVs here than at the Indio rally. The difference is, they are not crowded in because there are hundreds of thousands of acres to park in. There are only 3 other RVs around us but I figure there will be a bit more when the weekend gets here. We are situated where we can see the Highway off ramp and there has been a steady stream of RVs all day. We have seen anything from Million Dollar Prevost Motorcoaches to Old converted school busses and everything in between.



Who says living in an RV is challenging? Here we are in the middle of the desert with no hoses, pipes, wires, or cords, yet I have over 200 channels on my TV, Telephone, Electricity, Running water, and internet. I love modern technology.



There is so much going on here that it could take days to see it all. The whole town has turned into one big giant swap meet. There are bands playing, Antique car and tractor shows, Vender booths all over the place and this weekend will be one of the biggest RV shows around. We plan to stay until Monday but who knows…



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Same house different scenery

Our work is done at the Indio Rally so we moved on down the road. We are in Blythe CA now, right on the Colorado River that separates California from Arizona. I thought we would have a nice river front site with a beautiful view of the river. Well we did get a river front site but our view is of the bridge crossing the river. It is kind of fun watching all the motorhomes crossing over the bridge though. We do have full hookups and have a chance to get everything cleaned up and relax for a few days before heading out in the desert.





This is the view from our front window.

I found them!

Have you ever wondered where all those motorhomes are going that you see on the road. I think I found them. There are over 2,000 motorhomes here. The photo shows only a slice of what is here. There are just as many on the other side. If you look carefully behind the row of palm trees you will see them in the overflow area. They even had them parked along the streets around here.

Tomorrow is another travel day. Susan and I were going to head on out to Quartzsite Arizona but decided that since Quartzsite will be "Dry Camping" (That's no water, electric, and sewer) we will be stopping at Blythe, CA for 4 nights of full hookups to get cleaned up, then off to Quartzsite. The Aerbus and Saturn are still a mess from the rains. I just can't stand it any longer. I need to clean them up.

We got a call from some friends we met while at Pechanga today. They wanted to let us know where they were and have us stop by to see them. They say some other friends from Pechanga have come out to stay a while. They are in Paso Robles, AZ right now. We also got an invite to join a rally put on by the Bus Nuts in Yuma in a few weeks. What a life huh? So our plans are to hang out in Quartzsite for a while then head on down to Yuma then out to Paso Robles. We had planed to meet up with some other friends in Yuma anyway so it works out good.













Our work is done here. We had such a great time driving the trams here at the rally that we signed up for next year. Who says we don’t work. I just never thought I would be working for free and enjoying it so much.

Swamp Buggies

Although it looks like we are living in the swamps, it really isn't too terribly bad. Sure it is wet and sloppy in places but mostly on the paths coming in and out because of all the motorhomes and vehicles traveling them. The only bad thing about where the motorhome is parked is that they mowed the grass before we showed up so all the wet grass clipping stick to our shoes and like to follow us inside the coach. The sun was out most of the day today and it is already starting to dry out. I think by the time we are ready to leave it will be dry enough so we won't have to go mud bogging.



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They parked us nose to nose which is backward from what we are used to. This means that when you wake in the morning and throw open your front window curtains, you are staring right into the front window of your neighbors coach. As you can see in the above photo, there are some pretty old coaches near us. They are actually members of a club called the Bus Nuts. These are old converted greyhound and city busses. Some are done real nice and some look like they had a real hard time getting here.



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As you can see, there is no shortage of coaches here. And this is only the volunteers. The show doesn't start until tomorrow. There is a very large parking lot across from the fair grounds that will fill up fast. At least the weather has cleared up and it should be warm and dry for the show.



Susan and I attended our tram drivers training today. As you may know, we have volunteered to drive trams for the show. I will be the driver and Susan will be sitting on the back as my spotter. After driving 36 feet of motorhome with another 20 feet of car behind it, the tram was fairly easy. However tomorrow with about 5000 people wandering the streets it could be quite a challenge. We have the 4:30 to 6:30 shift everyday of the show. They say we should be able to do a round trip every 15 minutes so that's about 8 trips a day.



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Western Area RV Rally

The drive to Indio was good. After all it was only 20 miles so how bad can it be. There was slight drizzle on and off all the way. The fairgrounds are pretty much saturated with rain. We are parked on the grass and portions are a bit slushy. They haven’t got the power to our area turned on yet, they say tomorrow morning, so it’s generator power for this evening. I dug out our portable Honda EU2000i generator so we would not disturb the neighbors with the sound and air pollution of the coach generator. To bad the guy next to us didn’t do the same. Tomorrow we will be taking a drivers training course for our tram driving jobs then we will find out what our schedule is. I hope I don’t get the 6:00a shift.

Rain Rain go away

OK, enough is enough. As I sit here writing this, it is just pouring outside. I am ready for some sunshine. Tomorrow is travel day. Luckily I have packed up everything outside. We are only going about 20 miles down the road to Indio but it still may be a challenge. The roads around here have had it. They have more water on them then cars. It actually looks like the rally is going to be good and dry though. The rally actually starts on Wednesday and they are saying sun from Wednesday through the weekend. I hope all of you are weathering these storms well.

We had a very nice visit with some friends from our home town of Oceanside, CA today. They relocated to Palm Springs about a year ago and love it here. You can see there picture on our Friends Along The Way page using the link to the left.

Just not enough time

I told you things were a little tight around here. Good thing for the empty site across from us or it would have been a trick getting in here. So far the site has remained open so I can get out the same way I got in. You can tell by the photo that things are a little wet around here. It has really not been to bad. Just a off and on drizzle for a few days.

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This is a photo of how it was when we got here. We had about 2 days of nice weather. The scenery of the snow on the mountains with the palms in the desert is awesome.

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There is lots to see around here. This is a general store from the past. All this stuff is authentic from it's time and most containers still have it's original contents. Too bad we don't have more time. We have to be in Indio Monday to take a drivers training course for our volunteer tram driving jobs at the FMCA rally next week. I am sure we will be passing through here sometime in the future. Hopefully the weather will be better and we will have more time for sight seeing.



Tomorrow we will visit with some friends from back home that have relocated here in Palm Springs. We are looking forward to seeing them again. Then Monday morning it will be traveling day once again.

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Palm Springs

Well we made it to Palm Springs. To be honest, yesterday, about noon, would have been a better day to travel. Instead I paid a visit to the local Urgent Care Center in Temecula. I had enough of this finger and decided I needed to know if it was broken. After a Doctors exam and 3 X-Rays, turns out there are no fractures so I am just going to have to grin and bare it until it heals. Anyway, the drive here was good. A little drizzle on the way and a detour around a flood, but we made it. Had to drive through a small river across the road and got a nice layer of mud on the Saturn. After hooking up I cleaned the mud off the Saturn and the Motorhome so we're all clean again.

I wish I did a little research on the parks around here. We are at Happy Traveler RV Park, on a recommendation, and are happy but it is a little tight and pricey. Also there is no internet hookup so I will be limited to my free nights and weekends for internet through the cell phone. The good thing is, it is within walking distance to down town Palm Springs. Yeah, Like we're really going to walk.

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It’s raining, It’s pouring, the old man is snoring

Today was supposed to be travel day but when I woke this morning it was pouring, so this old man just turned over and continued snoring. We have the luxury to travel on good days and stay put on days like today. I can't even get to the office to pay for today because of the 10 foot wide river in front of the motorhome. I called and let them know I would be in to pay when the river subsides.

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Up and Down Up and Down

Yesterday was one of those days. It all started out that it was our 29th day at Pechanga RV Resort. They have a 29 day limit and we had to evacuate for 24 hours before we could come back in. It also turned out that we had to run the Aerbus back into the shop to get a few more things done so we coordinated the two. We really never have that feeling of being homeless until the house is in the shop and we don’t have access to it. It rained like heck so we used the time to spend some of the gift certificates we got for Christmas. They were done with the Motorhome by 2:00p and they did a good job with the repairs. We setup the motorhome in the overflow parking lot adjacent the RV Resort and settled in for the night. Since we didn’t have to pay Campground fees we decided to splurge and hit the buffet at the casino. After dinner I handed Susan $10.00 and told her to hit the slots while I wander and pull a few slots myself. Well I lost my money in no time and went to check on Susan. She was holding her own so I wandered a little more. Two hours later Susan was down to pennies when the wheels on the slot lined up 3 cherries. 2,600 credits! The bad thing, she was playing a penny slot. The good thing, she started with $10.00 and walked away with $26.00. We headed back to the Aerbus to get a good nights sleep while listing to the rain fall. RAIN!? Heck it was a torrential down poor with what felt like hurricane force winds. The motorhome was shaking all night. I think I got about 3 hours sleep.

Well we are back in the park safe and sound again. We will be keeping a close eye on the storms because we are leaving on Monday if the weather allows.

Notice:

Our last batch of business cards contained the wrong email address. The cards were distributed in the month of December. If you received a card from us in the month of December check the email address. The correct address should be dsfleming@access4free.com.

Christmas was good to us

We have enough gift cards to last us a while. You see, living in a motorhome, there is not a lot of room for “stuff” so we asked that everyone get us gift cards to nationwide retail stores and restaurants. That way when we are in need of something we can pick it up without a major deviation in our budget, and living space.



All is going well except I did a dumb thing and don’t know if I broke my finger or just sprained it extremely good. I thought I would give it some time to see if it gets better. Well, it’s been a week now and it is not improving as fast as I hoped. I will probably see a doctor sometime this week. We are leaving next week so if they have to cast it I will have to get instructions on how and when to de-cast it myself.



Wednesday we are packing up and heading for the Service Center. We have a few more repairs that need to be done before we leave here. We have to be out of here that night anyway since we have reached our 29 day limit here at The Pechanga RV Resort. After the repairs, we will spend the night in the parking lot adjacent to this PV park for the night and come back in the next morning for a few days until January 3rd when we head out. We have decided to spend a week in Palm Springs before we head over to the Indio Rally. There are a few friends we want to say hi to around the Palm Springs area.

Nana and Papa

We are new Grandparents for the second time. On December 13th our daughter gave birth to a healthy 8lb girl.





Mom and Alexa 1 hour old

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Nana, Big Brother Landen and Alexa 10 days old.

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Papa, Big Brother Landen and Alexa 10 days old.

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It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas

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It’s fun to see how people decorate their motorhomes and trailers. Here are some photos of ours.





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What a great weekend. The weather was the best. I told Susan we have to follow this weather all over the country. We did nothing but sit and enjoy. Well, we did have to run into Vista to take care of some bank needs. On the way back we stopped in the little town of Rainbow. This place consists of a small store with a couple of gas pumps and a restaurant/bar. We bought a couple of apples from the store and had a hamburger in the restaurant. The food was good but I was more impressed by the waitress. She did not stop the whole time we were there. She must have taken 25 orders, served 50 meals in the short time we were there, and seemed to really enjoy her job.



Surprisingly the RV Park was not very full this weekend. Jerry Seinfeld flow in in his helicopter for his show Saturday evening. He flew back out at 12:00 midnight, I know because he woke me while leaving. The shuttle driver said Jerry was rather snooty wanting a limo to pick him up at the helicopter and bring him to the hotel (It’s only across the parking lot). Where the helicopter was parked, they couldn’t get a limo down in there so they sent there limo shuttle bus. This did not please him. He also demanded security escort him everywhere so the public did not bother him.

We made it in Motorhome Magazine

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I was thumbing through the latest Motorhome Magazine and came across this ad. It was rather surprising because I took the same photo from the same location.