RV Life On Wheels

OK, so we are having fun now!

2012-01-26T19:15:00.001-08:00

Pretty soon we are going to have to head back to Ontario for a rest! We are having too much fun here… should be a law against this I guess!

We both were up early this morning, heading separate ways! I was off for the flying field at 7:30, as the weather has again turned fantastic, and conditions were ideal! We had over 12 vehicles out on the old flying field this morning, as we are in the peak of the season now. The RV Resort is full!

This first pictures tonight, is me flying my new Corsair, at about 4:00 this afternoon, as you can see the sun getting ready to hide behind Mount Jacinta… what a beautiful afternoon it was… ( Yes, I went out flying twice today!)

Getting ready to hand launch the Corsair this afternoon.

These next few pictures are from this morning, as we all get set to fly… check out the blue sky today!

Fly, baby, fly!

So while I was off flying, Judy hooked up at the flag pole in the Resort this morning at 8:30, and met up with a group for the weekly Spiritual Hike. They had about 15 ladies out this morning, and off they went to Morango Canyon, up Hwy. 62 towards Yucca Valley.

Not sure if this first picture has anything to do with the hike or not, but I found it on her camera.

Off they go… “let’s climb that there hill…”

I can only imagine the guy below has been parked at the trail for quite some time now…

This is a very popular hiking area… everyone is enjoying!

Coffee break time…

This afternoon, I headed into DHS, to pick up a couple items at Stater Bros. Grocery, and so what a great chance to take the motorcycle into Town, on such a great day. I did a mini tour of DHS and found a road that goes up the mountains behind the Town to the Water Tower… took a few pics.

This first one is looking over DHS west, towards our RV Resort in the distance…

Here is good old Mount Jacinta with DHS in the foreground…

This afternoon, Judy and I went out for a walk around the Resort, and I took this picture of the front pond and waterfalls, which greet you as you enter our Resort… took this with the smart phone…there is a big turtle in this pond, that I wanted a picture of, but no co-operation today from him.

Ok, so here is your dose of reality for today… this next picture I borrowed off our Son’s facebook page. It is a picture of “Frosty, the Snowman” of course, in their backyard in Ottawa, Ontario. Our Grandaughters, Emmie and Paige built him! Emmie kept running to the back window of the house, to see if Frosty, “had come to life!” Frosty used to be on the far left of this picture in the yard, however Dr. Shawn went out with a big shovel and “moved” Frost to the other side of the yard, by the play house… our little Grandaughters may never be the same again! I have not heard yet what happened when the girls saw that Frosty had moved!

Phew…. ya, sunny and warm again tomorrow!

Till tomorrow…

Nothing like a good Palm Springs Winter!

2012-01-25T19:13:00.001-08:00

Here is the forecast for Gravenhurst, Ontario for the next 4 days…

Here is the forecast for Palm Springs for the next 4 days…

So where would you rather be???

This winter in Ontario, has not been too bad, but there is still snow, and some cold, and it is still winter! We have found this winter in Palm Springs, to be the best winter since we have started coming south, now 3 years ago! Today it hit 81 deg. F. here, and was wonderful.

Went flying this morning, and found nothing but a bunch of wind, and ended up crashing my Cub due to wind sheer… ouch… however nothing that a couple small parts from Uncle Don’s couldn’t fix! Back in the air tomorrow! Had the new Corsair up in the air also today, but had to stop as the winds picked up… had a couple ruff landings with it, but no big damage… back in the air tomorrow!

This afternoon, Judy and I jumped on the Burgman, and drove up to Yucca Valley, in the high desert. I found a hobby shop up there called Ground Control RC and I wanted to check it out. It was a great afternoon for a motorcycle ride, nice and warm, a bit of wind, but not too bad. It turned out to be a great find, nice shop with lots of inventory! Will probably be back!

Other than that, not a lot went on here today! That is the way life is sometimes!

Till tomorrow…

The fleet was grounded…

2012-01-24T19:55:00.000-08:00

The desert winds were at it a bit again this morning, as it was simply too windy to risk putting the fleet up in the air… maybe tomorrow…

As it was still a beautiful day, we decided to take a run up to Joshua Tree National Forest, as we had some un-finished business up there!

Check out his picture taken along the Dillon Road, of Mount Gorgonio… it has a nice fresh layer of snow from last night, there would be excellent skiing up at Big Bear for sure!

Before you get to the Joshua Tree turnoff, we headed into Black Rock Canyon, which borders onto Joshua Tree. Judy had heard there was a good hiking trail there… time to check it

out! I found this great view of the same Mount Gorgonio again, but with a Joshua Tree in it!

It was a little brisk, up at about 4,000 feet here, but the sun was shinning, and life was good!

This is the view we found at the top of this trail, which was amazing! You could see for miles!

Of course these hikes are never finished until you complete the paper work! It’s the Banker in me…

After we finished the hike, it was time to head into Joshua Tree National Forest… we could tell we were there as soon as the rocks started showing up.

We enjoyed our lunch we had prepared for the day, and then decided to take the hike out to Ryan’s Ranch… Todd Ryan and his brother built this Ranch in 1896 if you can believe it, as they had found a natural spring, and needed water over at Lost Horse Mine. The mine was 3 1/2 miles away so they piped it over! This Ranch is huge, and still has many artefacts from the day lying all over the place.

They called it the Golden Brick Ranch, as they used mine tailings when making the bricks along with sand and water… later they found the mine tailings contained Gold!

Back in the 1970’s, some vandals burned down the ranch, so only the walls remain now… too bad!

As we were leaving the Ranch, we found this guy up to no good!

He made it!

Instead of driving all the way back around to DHS, we decided to see if we could take our Jeep and make it through the Berdoo Canyon Road. This is a road, that leaves the park, and works across the desert, and they down the Berdoo Canyon, leading you to the Dillon Road!

WARNING: These next pictures show the professional use of a Jeep Liberty! DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! Also, do not borrow your Father’s car and take it on this road!

Below I am scouting out the road at a bit of a ruff spot, this road was about 23 miles from the Park, down to the Dillon Road… you start at 4,400 feet of elevation, and end up at 800 feet. (We made it!)

It was a bit narrow at times, but it was easier to make this road going down hill believe it or not!

We came across two Hummer Tours! They take you out for some adventure! We were making our own. The Hummer Driver told us not too continue as it was too difficult for our Jeep… ya , right fellow! Think again, it’s a Jeep! You wouldn’t understand!

There were a few ruff spots, but overall a great trail to follow. Jeep did a great job!

We were back home by 3:30 enjoying the hot tubs!

Congratulations go out tonight to The Honourable David Broad. Ontario’s latest Superior Court Judge, who was sworn in yesterday! David is our Daughter Kristina’s Father-in-Law, and yes, that makes him little Gwenny’s Grandfather! (Gwenny is the little one on the left!)

They put little Gwenny into the Judge’s Chair, but the responsibility seemed a bit overwhelming to her! I borrowed these pictures from Kristina’s blog.

After the Ceremony, the new Judge got to relax with his Grandaughter… congratulations again David! Well done!

Till tomorrow…

Medical Care–American Style!

2012-01-23T20:24:00.001-08:00

I made it out to the flying field this morning, but the weather was a changing, and there was a forecast of some rain here today. The wind came up on the field, and we called it a day early due to high winds…

I got back to the RV, and immediately headed down to the hot tubs to soak up some mineral water! Felt good. Judy was doing pool exercises as usual.

When Judy got back to the RV, I had decided I had enough of a blocked ear this past weekend. It started last Thursday afternoon, and we tried a number of home remedies to unblock my left ear… none worked! I had lost 90 % of my hearing in the ear, and it was starting to bother me. We made a call into a walk in clinic in DHS, and they said they could take me. Next, Judy made a call to our out of country medical coverage provider, and after 1/2 an hour of many questions etc, they gave us the go ahead to see the Dr. in DHS.

We made it in by 12:30, and the Dr. took a look in my ear to see if she could see my brain, but said nope, not there! My ear was totally blocked in the canal. They next placed a few drops of some fluid in the ear, stuck in a cotton ball, and told me to come back after lunch at 2:00 p.m. Made it back, and the blasting began! Ouch! They use a device that looks an a lot like a water pic for your teeth, and spray away… After about 5 good shots with the device, the dam broke, and the blockage was cleared! Ya!

Must admit they were very efficient, and offered good service to us. Minimal waiting time, as I basically walked in. Paper work took most time of all. The end damage… $187.50 which we had to pay, and will submit the bill to our insurer. Feels good, I can hear Judy again!

This pic below is of Mount Jacinta… you can barely see it behind the clouds today… we had some strange clouds, and a wee bit of rain, not much

After I finished at the Dr. I headed into Palm Desert, to visit one of my favourite stores… “Uncle Don’s Hobby Shop”.

They called me today to let me know the new plane I had ordered was in! Yes, new plane! A new baby!

Check it out!

This is a new Hobby Zone F4U Corsair fighter plane. It is was is called a “Micro Plane”, but flies real big! These things zip around, and have full 4 channel controls, “throttle, rudder, elevator, and ailerons”.

It is very light, only weight in a 1 1/2 ounces! Will stay in the air for 15 minutes on the battery! Should be a blast! Won’t be using this one though to knock other planes out of the sky!

Will get it up in the air tomorrow if the weather is good, Judy says it will be, and we are headed for another heat wave! Alright!

Till tomorrow…

Hanging around with the PGA Pros…

2012-01-22T19:10:00.001-08:00

This morning, the winds were gone, and the sun looked like it was ready to shine again, so Judy and I decided to head into La Quinta, and attend the Humana Golf Challenge, which of course was formerly known as the Bob Hope Desert Classic. This is the first year for the name change.

This is the big Humana sign that greets you, as you enter the PGA West Course, in La Quinta.

Humana is the big new Corporate Sponsor of this Tournament, along with the Clinton Foundation! Remember, back in November, Judy and I visited Little Rock, Arkansas, and visited the President Clinton Presidential Library.

This is the path of entrance into the Course… the grounds are simply beautiful!

After we got into the Tournament, Judy and I walked around some of the displays, and driving range where the Pro’s were warming up, and then we headed over to the number 1 Tee. We watched at around 11:30 this morning as some groups of the Pro’s teed off. Then to my surprise, who walks out on the first Tee, no more than 20 feet from me…. yup, President Bill Clinton! I just about s_ _ _ my you know what's! I have never seen a President of the United States in Person before, let alone, be 5 feet from him! This reminded me of Canada Day in Ottawa, a number of years back, when I was 5 feet away from Prime Minister Paul Martin. President Clinton was larger than life. He was shaking hands, (but not mine… ) and talking to the crowd after the golfers had teed off. Some one yelled to him, “Hey Bill, you should run for President!”. His answer… “ I would, but there is a problem with the Constitution! It would take all you people to do something about it!” It was sure great to be so close to the “Leader of the free world”! I would have taken a picture of President Clinton, but I did not want to have to give up my smart phone… The stock picture below will have to do for now!

Judy and I decided after seeing the President, that we better have lunch and then watch some golf! We noticed that one of Palm Springs better restaurants had a booth at the food court, so we went to Sherman’s Deli for lunch! It was amazing… I had the brisket sandwich on sour dough and it was to die for! Met a nice couple from northern BC who shared our table… more on this couple later in the post.

This picture below is walking up the 18 hole, towards the Clubhouse… what a view… Judy was totally amazed at the views on this course… it is spectacular for sure!

This pic below is taken along the 9th fairway on the course, and again, the views are terrific… what a beautiful day for golf!

Here is another cool thing about this course… it is lined by beautiful homes… the couple from BC, went through an open house on the course yesterday, and they told us the prices of the homes are around $425 to $450 thousand… not much if you say it fast! Next, you have to pay $125,000.00 for a golf membership, (augh… no problem…) and then you have to pay about $1,200 a month to golf! Piece of cake!

We got to follow the Pro’s, as they made their way around the course… Judy was amazed at how close we could get to the actual game being played! It is just like the seat against the glass at a hockey game, or on the sideline at a football game! You are RIGHT there, and can hear the players talk to each other!

Now here was the bonus to the whole day! This is the first time we have ever saw Big Horned Sheep in the wild! We have looked for 3 years now, and had to come here, to finally find them! Check it out… there was 8 of them!

They were munching on the grass today, like they do this everyday… ya, they probably do! We were right against the mountain, so they just came down and started eating… the Pro’s walked right by them and did not even look at them! Go figure! Got their game face on!

Judy and I watched a lot of the golf on hole 17, which is a very difficult par 3. It was great, as they had a grand stand we could sit in, where we could see the tee off onto the green.

One player scored a hole in one today here, on this 200 yard Par 3! Just not when we were there!

This view below is again on the 18 hole, which was an amazing view. The winner was Mark Wilson, who shot a –24 under Par… Simply amazing!

Overall, it was a great day… we enjoyed every minute, even if they treat those players like Prima Dona’s… and they do!

This is the first PGA event we have ever attended, and we just enjoyed walking around seeing the sights more than anything else… just like going on a hike for the day!

Till tomorrow…

The Desert winds were blowing today!

2012-01-21T18:54:00.001-08:00

You had to have you hat tied on tight today, as the winds were a blowing! Right from when we got up this morning, it was windy, and it is still blowing as I watch the final moments of the Leaf Game tonight… ouch, it hurts, they lost!

We simply took the day off today, as it was too windy to do anything. We went out for a quick walk, and checked out the craft show at the big Hall… but other than that, not much going on.

I started watching some of the Humana Golf Challenge on the golf channel this afternoon but it got delayed as the wind was too high for golf…

Tomorrow, we may head in and watch the final round, will have to see… my blogger friend, Rick, from Rick & Paulette's RV Travels wrote a real good rant about the tournament, as they have a crazy rule about not allowing cameras into the tournament! What is that all about?

Till tomorrow…

I think we have created a monster!

2012-01-20T18:20:00.001-08:00

I was out the door and off to work… errr…. I mean off to the flying field, at 7:45 this morning… It was another beautiful morning, with a few clouds at first, but the soon burned off. I think today was a record at the flying field, as we had 11 vehicles out to fly! Most I have ever seen! We have created a monster. We all should be buying stock in Uncle Don’s Hobby Shop!

We are kind of lucky here to have this facility, as it is the golf driving range, but seldom anyone is out driving balls so early in the morning. This end of the flying field is high, and we have a commanding view of Mount Jacinta for sure…

We had one big incident, and that would be my plane, hitting Jack’s plane HEAD ON IN MID-AIR! Our worse nightmare come true! My propeller ripped of the end 4 or 5 inches of one of Jack’s wings, and as the planes were about 100 feet in the air, Jack’s came down in a big heap and hit the deck hard! I was able to land my plane, and it suffered not damage at all! Jack, was not so lucky… his plane was essentially destroyed. It was a real nice balsa wood modes, with a nice clear coat over the frame… these planes are kind of expensive, and he has had it for 3 years now. The picture below kind of shows what was left… not much. The wing was ruined, and if you look at the landing gear, you will see nothing in front of it! No motor, no firewall, no nothing! This plane is now good for the garbage can! I just met Jack this year. He is from Alaska, and is very easy going and took the hit all in stride… that is life on the flying field! One minute you are flying, the next you are in a heap!

We took a quick trip into Ranch Mirage today, as Judy is looking for a specific Sony E Reader, however they did not have it in stock at Best Buy… surprise, surprise! Will probably order it online.

This afternoon, Greg, one of my flying buddies, asked us to come down the the pond on hole number 9 of the golf course. He as going boat racing!

Oh wait, the first picture is the gold fish in the pond… they are huge!

This is Greg’s boat below… this is a real nice scale model, and is very fast.

Greg is connecting the battery, (LIPO), and the silver looking thing, mid-ship, is the motor.

Greg is from Oregon, and had his two brothers come to visit over the holidays, and they all stopped in at good old Uncle Don’s Hobby Shop, in Palm Desert, and each of them bought one of these boats to play with over the holidays! Why not!

They use the same technology as out RC Aircraft do, which is a much improved radio signal… you never lose control now… well, almost never!

This is Greg below, getting it all set up.

As I mentioned, they rock!

Greg and his brother were doing some racing… his one brother has already left for home.

A bit of a washed out picture below, but Greg is giving Judy the 5 minute instructional video on how to drive a boat! She did real good!

Greg was all set up with little buoys set up on the course to race around!

Simply, way too much fun!

Yup, another real tuff day in the Coachella Valley!

Till tomorrow…

Our weather just keeps getting better!

2012-01-19T19:40:00.001-08:00

Hard to believe the weather could get better than yesterday, but that is all I seem to say this year, as today was simply gorgeous! No wind at the flying field, where I spent over 2 1/2 hours this morning… (in my glory!)

We headed into Ranch Mirage this afternoon to do a bit of shopping, as we do have to continue eating…

This morning while having coffee out on our patio, we had a visit from “Big Dog”… He is quite the guy, and is BIG! Our neighbours across the way from us, who are from Washington State, have a couple dogs, and Big Dog happens to be one of them He came for a visit as he is very friendly and sociable.

Judy keeps telling Greg, our neighbour, that she is going to buy and saddle, and start riding Big Dog around!

Till tomorrow…

What a day to be retired!

2012-01-18T19:13:00.001-08:00

Well today was just about perfect… maybe it was! A beautiful day here in DHS AGAIN! Mid 70’s and lots of sun, and this is quickly turning into the best winter we have spent in the deep south west since we started to come… (3 years ago now…) It was perfect to do anything you wanted to!

Started off by going out to the flying field of course… this has turned into a bit of a passion and I love it! Judy was off to the pool as usual. Flying conditions were just perfect! We had about 8 flyers out today, and the sky was full! Just the way we like it!

After lunch Judy had some very important shopping to do, as a little person we know very very well, is going to celebrate a birthday very soon up in our Nation’s Capital, Ottawa, Ontario, and presents are needed! We found a great new mall out on Monterey Ave. in Palm Desert, and the deed is done! We also got to enjoy a great lunch at the food court, at a Garden Fresh Store…

To finish off a great retirement day, I had a golf date at 2:30 with Rick from Rick & Paulette's RV Travels and Don from K and D in the RV , along with another friend Gary over at the Sands, RV Resort and Golf Club. They have a terrific 9 hole course over there that is really nice to play. I was impressed, as it is much bigger than the small course here at Caliente Springs RV Resort. It was simply a beautiful afternoon to golf.

This first pictures give you an idea of the type of course it is… that is Mount Jacinta in the background, with the sun blocking it out of this cell phone picture… A couple real nice ponds complete the course.

Yes that is Rick below, bent over and putting all concentration into that put… he made it! Don is keeping his eye on him!

This is the first time in three years now of coming south, that I have golfed! It is a funny game, and I am not real good at it, but it is real nice to get out and enjoy the fellowship with a bunch of good guys, on a real nice afternoon. Thanks to Rick for inviting us back to the 5th Wheel for refreshments after the game! Appreciate it!

Rick’s wife, Paulette, is all excited tonight, as she is off to Ontario, California, tomorrow to attend a huge quilting convention! She was so excited about it, she was shaking! Good luck tomorrow Paulette, at fending off the crowds!

Have I told you all lately how much I really like this retirement thing???

Thanks to everyone who made comments and asked about my Hero Judy, from yesterday’s blog! She was back to regular form today!

Till tomorrow…

Finding the Hero in You!

2012-01-17T18:54:00.001-08:00

Beautiful day here in the Coachella Valley today, sunny and warm was the order of the day, however it was a bit cool first off today, but quickly warmed up! I was off to the flying field putting in a 2 1/2 hour shift, while Judy was down at the pools doing pool exercise this morning.

We were going to head out to do some shopping this afternoon, when Judy mentioned she saw the Blood Donner Bus parked in front of the Office, and wanted to go and give her blood. She is 0 neg. and her blood is usually in demand!

This is the bus that came in, supporting the Community Blood Bank.

All went well with the donation she made around 11:30 this morning and we were off home for lunch. About 1/2 an hour later, Judy was cleaning up the kitty litter, and bent over to do so… ohhh ohhh… shouldn’t have done that! She felt real faint, and had to sit down for a bit… it really effected her, as she was sick, and seeing stars… thankfully it passed by, and she made a recovery. I took her back down in the Jeep to see the nurses at the bus, and they arranged some Ice packs to cool her down and told her to relax. A quick phone call to Dr. Hollinger in Ottawa reminded me of all the things I should be doing to make her comfortable, and other symptoms to check for.

In my books, she is a “Hero” for sure. This is not an easy thing to do and people do not even normally like to think about giving blood. I reminded her this evening that hopefully the donation will save someone’s life, but I don’t know if this helped or not… hopefully in a day or so, she will be past this.

I will never forget the night 5 1/2 half years ago, when I required life saving heart surgery in Toronto, and badly needed some blood. It helped save my life, and who ever that person was that made that donation, was my “Hero” also! Thank you!

Thanks to all the people who “Donate Blood” and find the Hero in themselves!

Till tomorrow…

Back to Caliente Springs…

2012-01-16T18:43:00.001-08:00

We got to sleep in a bit this morning, and caught up on some computer work… you know, blogs, reading, etc. We started the big job of packing up all our stuff and preparing the RV to move back to good old site 305 at Caliente Springs! All is now done, and we managed to fit in a skype call this afternoon, with Kristina, Chris and Gwenny. They made it home fine, and all went well on their flight. Gwenny slept most of the time in flight. Too bad they have some snow, and a bit cold, but that is life in Ontario!

This evening we had a skype call with Shawn, Jenn, and Emmie and Paige from Ottawa. They are having real winter with lots of snow and cold weather. They are used to mild Tennessee winters, so this is a shock to the system for sure!

Shawn has his arms full in this first picture, taken off the skype call…The girls were all wound up tonight on the call, and were super hyper having a ball!

We noticed a visible change in both the girls, from when we last saw them Nov. 1st of last year. They are growing taller, hair is longer, and Paige seems so much older! It is great to have skype available to see this all the way from California!

Paige had to show us her new “Big Girl Bed” that she just got… now she is like her big sister with her own bed! I love her name up on the wall in the background… It was great to watch the kids rip it all up tonight! They must have been drinking Tim Horton’s Coffee!

We had some wind in the valley today, but the temperatures were still warm, so all is good. Hopefully, might be able to go flying tomorrow if the wind is down…

Till tomorrow…

So long Gwenny, will see you in the spring!

2012-01-15T18:54:00.001-08:00

OK, so goodbye to Kristina and Chris as well, as today they all had to fly back to Toronto, and then on to Woodstock. It was hard to say goodbye to all of them, we had a great time! We dropped them into LAX, around 9:30 this morning, for their 12:00 flight on Air Canada. It is too hard to take pictures at LAX, as you are too busy driving and taking care of stuff, so Judy did take this last shot of Gwenny in the Jeep as we closed in on LAX.

Gwenny was great on the 2 hour drive into LAX, and I just received a text from Kristina, who is now back in Toronto, and reports that Gwenny was just super on the plane.

After all our goodbye’s were said, we jumped back into the Jeep and decided to take a driving tour of Los Angeles… we have never really looked around much, just here and there, and decided while we were here we would take advantage!

We took the 405 North Freeway from LAX, and headed right up to none other than Mulholland Drive. What a nice drive, we took it east, and right down into Hollywood. You follow a ridge of mountains, and pass some pretty fancy homes…

The view from these homes is worth 1 million dollars…

We never paid the 7 bucks for the map of the Star’s homes, so pick and star, and call this one their home…

This is an amazing piece of California, and we sure enjoyed the drive…

As we made our way into Hollywood, we drove down non other than Hollywood Blvd. Again, kind of a neat spot and worth driving down to see, at least once in your life… This pic below is along the Blvd. and it’s trademark tall Palm Trees… Oh, and yes, our point and shoot is plagued again with smudges on the lens or something….

People all line up downtown, to see the most recent shows and movies…

Go figure, a Farmer’s Market in Hollywood…

This is not a very good shot, but it is taken from the car as we drove back to the Pacific Ocean, on Sunset Blvd. The sign is very prominent in Hollywood!

One of the nice homes below, on Sunset Blvd.

We made it up Sunset, to #1 Highway, and the Pacific Ocean… we stopped along the highway on our way back into LA, and watch this group learning how to surf! It was a bit cool and cloudy today, and we did not feel like spending much time on the beach. It was a nice drive though, and we made it all the way down to Marina Del Ray!

What a great beach they have along the coast in Venice, and LA.

Marina Del Ray is huge! Can’t believe how many boats are docked there… this is only a very small sample of them…

We made it back to DHS by 3:00 this afternoon, and took life easy for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we get to move the rig back to Caliente Springs RV Resort!

Till tomorrow…

One last Day…

2012-01-14T19:09:00.001-08:00

Today was the last full day for all the kids here in DHS… it turned out a little cloudy, but it was almost a relief from the sun here for sure! It can be relentless!

This morning Chris and I where dispatched into DHS to do some shopping and run some errands, but not before we stopped by to catch all the action at Caliente Springs flying field! I did not bring the plane, but we stopped and checked in with all they guys that were flying today, it was perfect conditions again for flying.

While we were out and about, Judy, Kristina, and Gwenny took advantage of the pools and spas one last time!

Gwenny was all excited about going swimming again…

This swimming pool is around 90 deg. F. so it is quite nice to swim in…

Judy and Kristina took Gwenny on a tour of the Resort again…

This little furry guy came along to join in on the fun…

Even with clouds, we had a great sunset…

Nothing like a bit of horsing around time after dinner…

Just hanging out with the guys…

All I heard was… “Don’t be dropping Her Pop Pop!”

Just a great Family day it turned out to be… however, the fun comes to an end, as at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, we hit the road for LAX and a late morning return trip on Air Canada back to Toronto! However we have to watch the Leaf game tonight first!

Till tomorrow…

Gwenny receives Visitor’s…

2012-01-13T15:45:00.001-08:00

I tell you, Kristina and Chris, along with Gwenny, have certainly lucked out on the weather down here in Southern California! It has been amazing all week long… lots of sun, warm in the day, and staying mild in the evenings! What else could be better! Today was no different… mid 70’s and beautiful, never a cloud in the sky!

I made it over with Chris this morning to fly the plane at Caliente. Good flying conditions, but the wind came up a little to make it more of a challenge to land!

Little Gwenny is so popular, she had her own Visitor’s today, here at Sky Valley. Rick and Paulette, from Rick & Paulette's RV Travels , dropped by this this morning wanting to visit with Gwenny! As soon as they heard she was coming to California, they made it know they had to be here! We all had a great time!

Below we had the wagons circled, enjoying the sun, or if you got too warm, you moved into the shade…

I had mentioned to Rick, that 11:00 would be a good time in Gwenny’s schedule to visit, however, like a Diva, she did not wake up till about noon, keeping us all waiting for her grand entrance! It worked out well, as we got a good chance to catch up with Rick and Paulette, and all that they have been up to this winter.

Paulette wanted to take little Gwenny home with her, but Mom and Dad had something to say about that!

While Rick and Paulette were posing above with Gwenny, Chris agreed to play the Dog Whisperer… and took care of Rylie and Molly, who came along for a ride in the truck today.

Rick and Paulette brought along a gift for Gwenny, and she was all excited about ripping at the paper to get it opened!

Gwenny will be all set and in great fashion next summer for sure! Thanks Rick and Paulette! We all enjoyed a nice BBQ, while playing and talking with Gwenny!

This afternoon after our Guests left, we took a nice long walk around Sky Valley Resorts, checking things out… It is a real nice park, and a great afternoon for a walk.

Busy night tonight, the Leaf’s play! Judy and Kristina may make a trip to the outlet malls tonight, so may have to put a big clamp on the Visa!

Till tomorrow…

Happy 1/2 Birthday!

2012-01-12T19:31:00.001-08:00

Wow… 6 months ago today, little Gwendolyn was in Woodstock, Ontario! Who can believe… What else could we do today but celebrate it!

We made up a photo op tonight with a little cup cake for Gwenny on her 6 month birthday! She had a ball with it! Kristina let her have a little wee taste of the blue icing…

Weather wise today was perfect! Mid 70’s and lots of sun, just the way I like it!

Kristina joined me this morning, as we headed up to Caliente Springs RV Resort, and joined the flying crew out on the field… The day was not without incident, as I had a harder landing than normal… and so did a bunch of the other guys… oooopppppssss….

Below is a picture of me and Dario… he just fixed up his Tiger Moth… but had all kinds of problems with it, as it hit the desert floor later… very hard! Kristina also has some video of me landing very hard… and well, safe to say it won’t appear on this blog!

This afternoon, we took Gwenny in her new bikini, and headed to the pools and hot tubs where she really enjoyed herself today! She is now getting into it!

We took life very easy this afternoon around the Park Model and the RV… with a small trip later in the afternoon to 1000 Palms Oasis… a very popular spot, as we wanted the kids to see the big Palm Trees… Here is Gwenny and Dad checking out the Rudolf Decorations still up.

At the little hut at 1,000 Palms, we found these bird nests… the one on the far left at front, is a humming bird nest… cool. At the far right is a road runner nest… very cool as well!

1,000 Palms is a very neat place, with huge Palm Trees all over the place…

Judy caught this great pic of the Broad-Hollingers….

Great Day!

Till tomorrow…

A nice easy day today…

2012-01-11T19:51:00.001-08:00

Our sun was missing in action today, replaced by some high clouds that seemed to hang around most of the day. It was still very warm today though, so it was not bad at all.

I was off for the flying field of course this morning, as conditions were absolute perfect! We had quite a crowd out flying this morning, and yes, my plane came home in 1 piece!

Everyone here spent the day taking it easy, with some swimming and hot tubs happening… nothing better!

This afternoon Kristina and Chris advised us they wanted to take us out for dinner… well, what else could we do except accept that gracious offer! Next problem was to decide where to go. Chris really was interested in trying out a Mexican Restaurant, so we all agreed upon that. There is probably only one real good Mexican Restaurant, and that would be on Palm Canyon Drive, and is called “Las Casuelas”. This is by far the most favourite Restaurant of Rick from Rick & Paulette's RV Travels I enjoyed a nice combination plate of a couple Tacos, and a Burrito… it was good!

This is the Restaurant below, with large looming Palm Trees out front… you can sit inside, or outside.

Below is a shot I took looking up Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs… it was nice and warm and we all enjoyed walking around.

One of the Staff Members took our picture, just as we all sat down. check out the mural on the wall behind us… this is a very authentic Mexican Restaurant, including most of the Staff who are Mexican.

After dinner, we walked up towards the main square, and Gwenny wanted to have her picture taken with the Statue of Sony Bono, who was the Mayor of Palm Springs, and of course used to be married to Cher!

Kristina was showing Gwenny the fountains along the sidewalks, and she was getting all excited looking at the water, and was thinking it was “bath time” I am sure!

Till tomorrow…

A day at the Living Desert…

2012-01-10T18:01:00.001-08:00

Made another visit over to the flying field at Caliente Springs this morning, and Chris was piloting my Super Cub for his first taste of model airplane flying… he didn’t even crash it! He did a good job, and I told he it was obvious he was spending far too much time playing video games!

We made up a picnic lunch and headed later this morning over to the Living Desert. We visited this place last winter, but it is one of those you can just keep going back to. It is full of animals from Africa, and from North America…

As you enter, they have a great model train set operating with all kinds of trains and distractions to amuse you…

Check out the trestle below, it is big!

They even have a mock up of the grand canyon…

Here come all the tourist now…

They also have some great art work on the property.

The horses have the longest necks I have ever seen on one…

Little Gwenny was checking out the puppy dogs in the petting zoo part… they even had little horns!

The zebra’s were OK, but didn’t seem to have many stripes…

Someone gave this guy below a bottle of wine, and he had it open it 2 seconds flat!

They had some nice kitty cats below, but they had dots all over them…

Try to find one of these guys below in the wild… good luck!

They have a new interactive centre open, that Gwenny really liked! This was a rain stick…

If you think this is a big web below… you should have seen the spider!

Gwenny got to go for a little ride this afternoon…

Below is a nice Mexican Wolf, that was giving us a little growl…

Another excellent day in the desert!

Till tomorrow…

A full day in the Desert!

2012-01-09T21:37:00.001-08:00

A total action packed day for us today… well, almost! Started off by Chris and I heading up to Caliente Springs RV Resort, 4 miles west of here, and attending the January Men’s Breakfast. It is a good event, and about 85 men were out for pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausage today, followed by a good guest speaker.

Breakfast finished at 9:30, and then we headed out to the flying field. There was a big airplane show in Ontario (California), over the weekend, and it also looked like a good morning to fly! Chris got to meet all my flying buddies and a few more, as it was packed with flyers out in the lovely morning sun. Lots of new planes were on the field, fresh from the big show. Had a blast. I would show you all the pictures I took this morning, however there was problems with my cell phone camera…(OK, I forgot to charge it!) so no pics from this morning.

We were not done after finishing up at the flying field… we decided to take a hike up Flag Mountain. You will all remember our trip up there a week or so ago with Tom and Cheryl. It is a great hike, and it was a nice morning to do it again.

As I don’t have a picture from today’s hike, here is one from before, so just imagine Chris standing there with me! Easy!

We made it back to our Resort by 12:30, thinking we had put our day in, and were looking for our paycheques… We soon found out that Judy and Kristina, were planning a major shopping trip this afternoon, into Palm Springs, so Chris and I were into the babysitting of Princess Gwenny! Yikes…

No pictures of that job… safe to say we had out hands full for the afternoon! (he-he-he)

While Chris and I were out this morning, Judy and Kristina had Gwenny back down at the pools and spa area where they had a blast!

I mentioned there was some serious shopping going on in Palm Springs… Kristina reported that there was some excellent deals, and the people in the stores were begging her to buy up the bargains…

Here she is playing the model, happy with all her purchases… these are only a couple of them…

It was a beautiful, fun filled day, and to prove to everyone we are hearty Canadians, we decided to eat supper outside on the deck of the Park Model tonight. It was a beautiful night, but did turn a bit cool at the end. We took the edge off with the fire in a can…

There was a full moon tonight, that rose up over the Indio Hills, behind our park… I am not good at taking these kind of pictures, however you will get the drift… it was quite the site, with many residents out looking at it tonight as it climbed in the sky.

Till tomorrow…

Someone turned 30 today!

2012-01-08T20:35:00.001-08:00

Yes, our little baby, Kristina turned 30 today down here in the desert! She said she could not remember celebrating such a warm birthday! It was a nice day, although the wind did get up a bit today to remind you of the fact you are living in the desert!

We headed out to Olive Garden to celebrate the big day! Even Gwenny joined us, but she did not eat much!

Of course you need cake to celebrate a birthday!

Earlier today, we all attended the Chapel Service here at Sky Valley Resort, it is so popular, they hold two every Sunday. I was laughing, as when I went down to the hall, there was 23 golf carts lined up in the parking lot!

After lunch we decided it was time for a first for Gwenny. Swimming that is! They have a great set of pools and hot tubs here, which all contain mineral water to sooth the soul!

Gwenny loves her bath time, as most babies do, but I think she might have been a bit overwhelmed at the size of the pools… it took her a bit to adjust to all that water.

She seemed to catch on though to this cool float thingy… the water was nice an warm for her.

Below Gwenny and I are enjoying some coffee and toys early this morning in the Park Model…

Chris was cooking up a storm for us all in the kitchen.

However, mostly today, little Gwenny just hung around, looking cool!

Happy Birthday Kristina…

Till tomorrow…

A day around Palm Springs…

2012-01-07T16:08:00.001-08:00

We all got to sleep in a bit this morning after going to bed early… everyone was tired. Gwenny slept very good in the desert air and seems to like the warm temperatures.

This below is the park model unit in our Resort that we were able to obtain for the kids to stay in. These are great little units and come all equipped for action.

Our motor home is parked right across the road from the Park Model, and was splashed with sunlight this morning when I had the camera out…

The Park Model has a nice deck on the back, which is facing out to the desert here in Sky Valley… a great spot to laze away the day…

Gwenny was in a good mood today, and was all dressed up for action in the desert.

The Park Models are very plain looking on the outside, but do the trick. They have a nice living area, a kitchen, full bathroom, and bedroom with lots of storage. 1 week, or 6 months, they work out pretty good for living in. Fully air conditioned and heated.

Later in the in the morning, we decided to go in the Street Fair @ College of the Desert, probably the biggest fair in this area. It was packed today with lots of vendors, and many customers. Below they are getting Gwenny ready to head to the fair…

This is a great spot, and lots of Palm Trees and Mountains to go around…

The money was just a flowing as we walked around… perfect weather for it today.

Don’t know what they are all doing below, but they are looking at something…

Lots of different things to look at today, as there were some new vendors there, which is nice.

Gwenny was all rigged up this afternoon, in a snazzy new pair of sunglasses that Granny order for her off the internet… Gwenny liked wearing them, and you needed them today!

Gwenny and I are in a holding pattern below, as everyone is shopping at this booth…

Chris and Kristina headed into Town this afternoon for some additional shopping on their own while Granny and Pop Pop took care of the Princess.

Big Detroit/Toronto Hockey Game tonight, so that is on tap for all of us good Leaf Fan’s in the desert! The PVR is heating up now.

Till tomorrow…

Gwenny’s Excellent California Adventure!

2012-01-06T20:35:00.001-08:00

The Princess has arrived! A little on the late side, but that is fashionable I guess… Judy and I were up early to make the 2 hour drive into LAX. Good thing we had good old Tom Tom with us to direct the way, as it is a challenge.

At 8:30 this morning, I stopped along the Dillon Road, to grab this picture of Mount Jacinta… I want to send it to Tom@Ctv.ca who does the Toronto Weather on the local Toronto CTV Station… still looking though for a better shot to send. Hoping he will put it on the TV while we are watching!

As we made our way into LA, we passed a “real lemon”… (or two, or three…)

We made it to LAX!

We found all of them aimlessly roaming around LAX, looking for a ride, and little Gwenny looked a little shell shocked when we first found her… this of course is after a 5 1/2 hour plane ride out of Toronto, on which she did not sleep at all, as she was right “into it”!

Making our way out of Terminal 2 we strapped her into the Jeep.

Gwenny slept a bit on the way to DHS in the Jeep, and we managed to find a nice dinner for her when we arrived… she loves her rice dinner now…

Judy was all happy, as she got to give Gwenny a bath tonight…

I borrowed a few pictures below off of Kristina’s camera, the first is Gwenny on her first flight on the big bird out of Toronto… Air Canada, put them in the center section of the 767, and they ended up with a separate seat between the two of them for Gwenny! Perfect.

Looks like Gwenny caught maybe a couple winks below, with Chris watching…

Gwenny finally meets Gramma at the airport!

Gwenny was all excited with this little walker thing that Judy picked up for her to keep her amused while here… it worked!

After we arrived at Sky Valley, we had a chance to gear down, and enjoy life, as Gwenny took a little nap. It was a beautiful evening to enjoy some “fire in a can”…

We enjoyed a great dinner tonight, and looks like a bunch of us are heading to bed early! Gwenny included!

Till tomorrow…

Ssssshhhhhhhhh… it’s a surprise!

2012-01-05T18:33:00.001-08:00

So, today is a big day for Kristina, Chris, and Gwenny, as they will start the long journey to Desert Hot Springs. They left Woodstock this afternoon, and headed into Toronto, to stay the night at Chris’ Grand Mothers home. She lives very close to Pearson Airport, where they will fly out of at 8:30 tomorrow morning. The trip was with some problems, as Kristina sent me a text, letting me know they were pulled over by the Ontario Provincial Police, as they had no rear tail lights! They recently had some repairs made to the car, and they think this might have caused the problem. They did make it into Toronto using the 4 way flashers so everyone could see them with no problems. Hope all the lights work on the plane tomorrow morning! They will take a taxi from Gamma's house to Pearson for the morning flight.

Now here is the surprise tonight. They never told Gwenny that they were going to take her to California to see Gramma and Pop Pop! It was a total surprise for her… Kristina took her picture right at the moment she told Gwenny that they were leaving tomorrow morning! Here is that picture!

It is obvious, she could simply not believe she is going to California!

Looks like Gwenny might have a new set of wheels to bring out to DHS with here… might be a nifty convertible!

Judy and I moved the RV from Caliente Springs, and we are now located at Sky Valley RV Resort, the Sister Ship! If you are trying to call us on our cell phone, you might have problems, as the cell coverage this far out on the Dillon Road is a little weak and you may not reach us. However, leave a message and we will get it, or please just email us!

Tomorrow morning, Judy and I will leave DHS, and drive in on Hwy. 10 to LAX to pick up the Broad-Hollingers! Can’t wait!

Till tomorrow…

Fun in the Sun!

2012-01-04T19:20:00.001-08:00

How can every new day here, be better than the one we just had??? That is what seems to be happening, and I am sure one day soon, something will break! If not, Gwenny will break it when she gets here!

This morning I was off at 8:00 to the flying field, where else would I go… we had a great time out there. There was 0 wind out there, and conditions just perfect!

Here is Leigh, one of our flying group members, with a brand new spitfire that he built himself! Him and Dan came up with plans and different ideas to produce a neat little plane. Ya, that is his coffee in his other hand, maybe that is why we are out there for 2 1/2 hours every morning! (Well, I always had a coffee break when I worked at the bank….)

Here is Dan, the mastermind behind the spitfire planes, they planes flew, but had a few smaller problems that will get ironed out soon.

This afternoon, I received a call from Home Depot, in Rancho Mirage, telling us our custom order cabinet doors had come in… zooooommmm, off we go to pick them up! Turned out to be my afternoon project. Good thing my agenda was clear!

If you remember, (who would…) we ordered these back about 1 1/2 months ago, and they were produced in Florida, and just shipped here. I think they turned out pretty good. We used them to cover the hole where the old TV used to go in the Bedroom. We can now use it to store whatever needs storing!

Below is what needs to be stored… you know, misc. items, like toilet paper, books, your electric frying pan… just normal stuff…

And this is what it looks like with the new doors from Home Depot installed. I did the installation myself, took me 3 hours, so it would take a normal installer about 1/2 an hour! They are not a 100% perfect match, however they are far close enough for us! They are very well made of a nice wood, and ended up costing about $140.00 or so, but worth it.

So check out this picture I took below while inside the Rancho Mirage Home Depot Store. They were advertising a case of 24 bottles of “1/2 Liter Water” for $4.50. All seems fine, except we are here in California, and they do not use Prime Minister Trudeau’s metric system of measurements! Go figure… why would they advertise in “metric”? In Canada, we would probably advertise this as a 500 ml. bottle!

GOOD NEWS TONIGHT… I received a call from my Dr.’s Office, and they informed me all is well with the ultra sound on my thyroid, that I travelled up to London, Ontario to have completed. I do not need to go see the Dr. until August of this year, so all is good! Phewww….

Till tomorrow…

What the heck did we do today???

2012-01-03T18:08:00.001-08:00

One thing that I did not do was take any pictures! What a bummer!

Turned out to be one of the best days yet, are you all sick of hearing that yet??? It was about 85 deg. F. or 35 deg. C. and just sunny and hot. What a perfect day!

Tom and Cheryl ended up in a bit of an adventure getting back to Toronto. The flight they were booked on last night, was overbooked by American Airlines. They offered Tom and Cheryl a free Cab ride to L.A., plus a big meal allowance, plus a bag full of money, if they were forego their flight, and fly home overnight instead. Oh ya, and they would also fly first class! So they decided to take up American Airlines on the offer, and took the cab from Palm Springs to LAX and sat in the first class lounge drinking Crown Royal Black, until the flight took off last night at 11:00 from LAX to JFK. The first class seats recline into beds, and they get blankets and pillows, so it was a nice ride over to JFK in New York. Then, early this morning they flew from JFK to Toronto and got home around 11:00 a.m. All is good, and they have a bag of money to boot! Happy Campers! Only fly in the ointment is that it was minus 15 degrees C. today in Toronto! Ouch! That hurts. End result, they are home, and report they had a great time. When I told them it was warm and sunny here, I could not read back the text message I received from them, not wanting to offend any blogging rules!

I spent 2 1/2 hours out at the flying field this morning… it was spectacular.

After lunch we decided to go into town and pick up a few needed supplies… this included a couple items that little Gwenny will require, as she is going to show up this Friday!

Actually got to wash the Jeep this afternoon, once the sun crept behind Mount Jacinta… nice to have it cleaned up for Gwenny!

Till tomorrow…

Sending off Friends… (Don’t tell them it is snowing in Toronto)

2012-01-02T18:54:00.001-08:00

Two weeks can go by real fast, and it has. Tom and Cheryl had to climb aboard the big bird today out of Palm Springs and head to Dallas, Texas. From there it is another flight tonight back to Toronto! They live about 20 minutes north of Toronto, in Richmond Hill, or Rich Man’s Hill as I refer to that City, as you gotta be rich to be able to hang in there, that is for sure! They had a great time while they were here, and also had excellent weather other than the first day or so they were here when the wind was up a bit! They declared the holiday a success!

Before the 3:00 p.m. flight this afternoon, we had lots of time this morning to enjoy the hot tubs and facilities one more time. Later in the morning we headed up to Morongo Canyon Preserve for a little bit of a hike. This is one of the more popular trail areas around here and we enjoyed the nice sunshine today!

Below we are just getting our act together and heading out the trail… they have a nice boardwalk across a wetland area that is real neat to view…

As this is know as “winter” in this area, (lol) there are no leaves on the trees, and the grass has gone dormant. It looks just like fall would, back up in Ontario, just before the snow comes! Except, the snow will not be coming here! Today it was up over 30 deg. C. for all the Canucks out there. Just a beautiful day again!

We found this real neat tree for Tom and Cheryl to pose for their goodbye picture from… I am sure someone out there in blog land can tell me what kind of tree this is!

Below is a bird viewing area, however not too many birds today, except for this great big Hawk that scared the you know what out of me when he took off right in front of us!

Below we are off loading about 300 lbs of luggage for American Airlines to haul back up to Canada!

When Judy took this picture below, Cheryl was just beginning her heart attack as she could not find here Passport! 30 seconds of panic later, and all was well as she tucked it into one of those little hiding spots in your purse!

We had a great time with them, showing them the points of interest around DHS. You never know, one day soon there may be another set of snowbirds heading south for winters!

Welcome goes out tonight to “Dayton C” and “My Rich Frugal Life” who are blog followers 98 and 99! Who will be 100!

Have to thank my son, Shawn tonight as he relieved me of a bit of stress and worry. The other day I was simply rubbing my eye while driving the Jeep, and later found out I might of rubbed too hard, as I have a bit of blood in the white part of the eye… He opinion is that all is OK and will correct it self shortly. (Augh, the marvel of digital pictures…) Yes, it is nice having a Dr. in the Family for sure! I think he is in a bit of shock himself, as they get used to having real winter now that they are in Ottawa, and no longer in warm Tennessee!

Till tomorrow…

The First Day of the Year!

2012-01-01T21:44:00.001-08:00

Yes, we celebrated New Years Eve, “Caliente Style”… Here is how it works everyone! You BBQ up your steaks around 7:30, and enjoy your dinner till about 8:30, and then as it get close to 9:00 p.m. you turn on NBC’s Dick Clarke New Years Eve Ball Drop from New York City, along with Ryan Seacrest, and you celebrate the new year at 9:00 p.m. our time! Perfect! By 10:00 you are in bed sound asleep and all is good for another year!

Here we are heading out the Dillon Road, checking out the Indio Hills…

We all decided a small hike was in order for the New Year, so we headed to 1,000 Palms Oasis! What a spot to celebrate the new year.

Tom and Cheryl were admiring the Christmas Decorations…

Check out Rudolph…

I made Tom and Cheryl pose by the San Andreas Fault Sign, as that is the touristy thing to do!

Most of you have seen all these type of pictures from this place before, but it is still quite the place to visit, and it was nice and cool here, as the sun was blazing today and it was in the 80’s for sure!

We took the 1 mile hike out to the west Oasis, and what a place to visit, with the nice pond and cool temperatures in the Oasis!

We found this Palm Tree below, all hollowed out like a little tent…

The Palm Trees here all have the nice long skirts to them… what a place, it never grows old.

This picture of Mount Jacinto also never grows old… this is along the Dillon Road, on the way back to Caliente Springs…

Lots of relaxing took place to start the new year.

Tom and Cheryl are back to Toronto tomorrow… (they are not happy about that…)

Till tomorrow…

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE FROM DESERT HOT SPRINGS!

2011-12-31T17:55:00.001-08:00

A day at Anza Borrego…

2011-12-30T21:14:00.001-08:00

This week has to be the best week for weather here this year as far as I am concerned! It was around 75 deg. F. and just sunny and warm and wow!!!!

This morning we were on the road by 9:15 for Anza Borrego State Park. We wanted to show Tom and Cheryl some of the sights out there, and what a day to do it. First off was a stop at the Borrego Air Field, no, not for me to fly… but we did get to catch a nice tour by Kelly, The Flying Ranger. She is the only Ranger in the State of California that flies, and what a program she put on for 1 hour. I had heard of this program from non other than Al from TRAVEL WITH THE BAYFIELD BUNCH)) He was in on the tour a year or so ago and raved about it. Ever since I read it in his blog I have wanted to go.

This airport is private, and used mainly by small aircraft, although you could land a medium sized jet here probably in a pinch.

That is Kelly below in the Ranger Uniform, and she ended up having quite a crowd today for her program, and she was quite pleased at the interest. She gives you a very good overview of the whole program, and all she does… a lot of patrol work from the air! She flies just about everyday, and logs about 400 + hours a year. She helps in all situations of search and rescue… patrol for illegal activities, lost people, stuck vehicles, you name it. She even locates and rounds up people entering the country illegally, as the park borders with Mexico. She is a Peace Officer, and firearms instructor for the park. She worked about 9 years on the ground as a Ranger, and then got her Pilot’s Licence and started to fly for the Park. She has been flying now for 8 years or so. What a great person she is, and she has an excellent storey!

This is the plane she flies below… it is almost an identical plane to my super cub! It is set up for her needs, and includes a PA system so she can talk to people on the ground, and she can also track long horned sheep from the air! She is in full communication with all the Park Rangers on the ground, and can lead them anywhere!

She showed us all the workings of the plane, and did a great job! The plane only weights 1,300 lbs., and can fly 110 mph at top speed, and only 44 mph at low speed, which is very slow for a plane! This allows her great flexibility in the air.

It has a few more dials and buttons than my super cub has… imagine that!

This plane can hold two people, and she does take other Rangers up in the air on occasion.

If you can imagine, this plane’s covering is made of a fabric material… it is very light. The plane can stay in the air about 5 1/2 hours, using 10 gallons of fuel an hour.

It has a 4 cylinder motor, with 180 h.p. Kelly does the oil changes herself!

All of us enjoyed this presentation, and she had great stories of her times in the air! We enjoyed!

Next we headed up to the visitor’s centre and checked it out. We also showed Tom and Cheryl the Clark Dry Lakebed where we like to boondock and a few other things…

This was as close as we got to the elusive long horned sheep today, we tried, but the visitor’s centre had the only ones…

The Rangers convinced us to take the Palm Canyon hike out to the Oasis… Judy and I did the hike two years ago and it was great then, and still is!

tom was overcoming the obstacles along the way.

This is an amazing hike and I recommend it to anyone!

Augh… at last the Oasis and Palm Trees… This hike is about 3 miles return trip.

As you get closer to the Oasis, you cross a spring running down the canyon… kind of cool out in the desert!

Just a great cluster of tall Palm Trees at the very end of the trail…

Lots of people come out on this hike!

There was lots of things we did not get to see, so Tom and Cheryl just have to come back!

Till tomorrow…

Palm Springs Street Fair, and a visit to Gabby Hayes…

2011-12-29T20:39:00.001-08:00

It seems someone got way too busy yesterday, and involved in too many things, and forgot to post a blog…. ooopppsss….

However I am back again today, and it was another great day here in the Coachella Valley. About 30 deg. C. and lots of sun! I was off to the flying field again this morning, as conditions were perfect. Judy was down at the pool exercise class, while Tom and Cheryl were out walking around the Resort.

After lunch we headed into Palm Springs area, and wanted to do and hike, and we choose the Gabby Hayes Trail. It is a 2.4 mile hike in the mountains, just off highway 74, near El Paseo where all the rich people shop… we could hear the cash registers ringing from the hills.

Oooopppsss, this first pic might be why there was no blog that hit cyberspace last night… distractions!

OK, here we head out to the Gabby Hayes trailhead. We learned of this trail from Rick and Paulette who did this one earlier this winter, and it is also in the hiking book we all use.

You no sooner start to climb up the trail, and you end up with some great views. This area is known as Palm Desert.

It is a great spot to hike and is full of mountains as you can see.

You can see where we parked in the distance, as we head out…

There are many different trails as you head up into the mountains…

The hike offered great views of the Coachella Valley as we climbed.

It is a nice dramatic series of trails and views as you make your way…

No this is not a picture of a race track below, it is a cemented wash to protect the houses behind from rain that comes out of the mountains.

After the hike we headed downtown Palm Springs and enjoyed a real nice dinner compliments of Tom and Cheryl at a local restaurant on North Palm Canyon, just can’t remember the name of the place. It served Mediterranean Foods. It was good!

The street fair was very well attended, and we gave the girl in this booth the prize for best hair at the show!

It is always hard to get good pictures of the fair, so I will only give you one, as we simply did not take anymore…

Simply another great day we all enjoyed.

Till tomorrow…

Time for a run up to Joshua Tree…

2011-12-27T20:25:00.001-08:00

Our plans called for a visit up to Joshua Tree National Park, and that is what happened today! The weather was perfect for it! Of course I took an hour at 8:00 this morning, and went over to the flying field and put in my stick time!

On the way up through Yucca Valley, we decided to make the left hand turn and show Tom and Cheryl Pioneer Town. This is the Town that Roy Rogers, and the Sons of the Pioneers built back in the 1940’s… plus help from a bunch of other movie stars at the time… it is kind of a neat spot and worthy of a visit.

We made this visit last year, so no need for a bunch of pictures I am sure…

One new grave though for this year…

Next on the list was Joshua Tree, and we started off by making a visit to the Natural Bridge, which is located at White Tank Campground.

There is a neat bunch of rocks in this area, formed by underground lava over the years…

Below is the rock arch, or natural bridge as I call it!

Judy was lost in the boulders…

Here is a better pic of the rock…

Lots of unusual rocks in this area…

Check out the pic below… do you see the rock climbers! If not, check the picture below it!

There, I cropped out the climbers in this pic below, from the one above… we could not believe they were doing this…it is a very popular sport in this Park.

You cannot come to Joshua Tree with making the drive out to Keyes View. After I made the turn on the road, I had to wait for this guy below to pass by… yup, that would be a coyote, and he was in no hurry at all today.

It was a bit foggy and misty at the lookout today, but you could see clear to Mexico, and of course the Salton Sea… Tom and Cheryl were impressed.

This lookout offers commanding views of the Coachella Valley… which includes Palm Springs, and DHS.

It was only about 63 deg. F. here, and a little windy at the lookout, which is at 5,300 feet of elevation… guess we were lucky there was no snow here! Lots of people today though. Holiday time!

Next we were off to Barker’s Dam, and to our surprise this year, no water! Last year, where Judy is standing in the picture below, was a full lake! Don’t have a clue where the water went, and someone told me it has not rained here since last October, a year ago, so who knows!

Check out the pic below… Tome is over 6 feet tall, and look where the watermark was on the rock!

Below is the dam, and the water was at the top last year!

We did a couple of other hikes today, until it got dark and cool, at 5:00. We made the 1 hour drive back to DHS, and stopped at Rocky’s Pizza, where Tom and Cheryl treated us to a real nice dinner… Thanks Guys!

Last night we had a great skype call with Shawn and Jenn, along with Emmie and Paige, who were opening some gifts. What a good time it was, and the kids loved this new sled… also, I hear they now have snow, so it should be put to good use soon!

The kids had a ball, and were kept pretty busy. They had just got home from Toronto and were road weary, so off to bed they went!

Great time had by all!

Till tomorrow…

Flag Mountain… or bust!

2011-12-26T18:09:00.001-08:00

About this time last year, Judy and I tried to climb to the top of Flag Mountain, however we were ill prepared, with no water, and not really knowing what we were up against, so we did not make it! We turned around half way up and beat feet back to the RV. Today with Tom and Cheryl in tow, we decided to try again! Success!

Here we are just starting out on the up hill climb, which starts about 1 mile just north of our RV Resort! Nice an close. We drove the Jeep out across the desert to the base of the mountains, and then started up, as Cheryl is still a bit under the weather, and I did not want her to have to walk that last file back!

As we climb up Flag Mountain, which is in the Indio Hills, you get a commanding view of Mount Jacinto all the way! I never get tired of that view!

This view below is looking back at Caliente Springs RV Resort…

It is a long climb…1.2 mile climb to be exact! You also gain over 1300 feet of elevation!

It is a bit of a strenous trail on the way up…

This sign is at the very top, along with the U.S. Flag.

This is the flag, which is a bit torn, and is need of a new one… but you sure get the idea.

Here we are at the top… what a blast!

I climbed up a bit ahead of the others, and you can actually see them in the pic below if you look hard!

At the base of the flag is a geocache… I signed us in for the trip… it was a beautiful day in the desert today!

On a day like today, looking south in the pic below, you can see the Salton Sea!

The view below is again of our Resort from the Flag! Sitting in our hot tubs, you can see the flag from the resort, albeit a bit small!

Starting the trip back down…

Someone built this rock garden along the trail below…

A lovely Christmas Day!

2011-12-25T20:28:00.000-08:00

Every Christmas Day should be like today! Well, if you are a sun lover anyways... it was beautiful here. It must have been in the high 70's with all sun today.
We all just took it easy, with Judy and I enjoying Christmas Breakfast sitting outside on our patio.
We all went for a long walk today to get some exercise, and then I took everyone out to the flying field and showed them my skills behind the controls of my plane... beautiful for flying, very little wind today!
Cheryl cooked us up a nice turkey dinner tonight that we all enjoyed. My cell phone was burining all day long with text messages, and phone calls to frineds and family! Great day!

Hope your Christmas Day was excellent!

Till tomorrow...

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2011-12-24T16:13:00.001-08:00

Judy and I would like to wish all our Family, Friends, and Readers a very Merry Christmas Season.

It was simply one of the nicest days here in the Desert since we arrived this year… hot and sunny all day with not a cloud in sight again.

We decided to take a run into the College of the Desert Market this morning, the first pic below shows us all as we arrive… as you can tell, we all got dressed up today!

There was lots of sun, and lots of people, but the number of vendors was down, probably due to Christmas.

The economic recovery was in full gear today at the market.

This evening we had a nice skype with Kristina and Chris, along with Gwenny who was enjoying Her first Christmas Eve! Kristina just recently introduced some baby food to her diet, and here is Gwenny enjoying a nice rice dinner for Christmas… she is right into this eating thing!

Next up the the Family tradition of opening a new set of pyjamas on Christmas Ever… Gwenny was right into opening Gifts and ripping at the paper…

Early this morning, I thought I would treat Tom and Cheryl, and Judy to a nice flight out over the desert in my new reconstructed plane! It was a great day for flying, and the views were terrific… below Tom is sitting with his seatbelt on, and he wanted Patra to come, so he put her in the seat behind him…

Cheryl was feeling good enough to come along for a ride also, and Patra simply jumped over to her side of the plane in the shot below, just prior to take off!

Judy was very brave, and she sat in the front seat along with me as I piloted us all over the Resort this morning… only good landings today, and no one got hurt!

Merry Christmas all, we are off to the Candle Light Christmas Eve Service in our Resort!

Till tomorrow…

Resort Day…

2011-12-23T18:00:00.001-08:00

There was a bit of a wind blowing today, but not too bad… nice temps though.

Drove out to the flying field this morning and had coffee with my flying buddies… no, my plane is not quite air ready yet, but will be very soon.

This picture below is a great shot of Mount Jacinto from the flying field this morning… what a view it was!

We all just sort of hung around the Resort today, not doing a whole lot, just enjoying life! Cheryl is still a little under the weather, but feeling a lot better. Check these to out below at the shuffle board courts…

This afternoon we joined into the local water volleyball game in the main pool… they have these everyday however this is the first time we played… it keeps you moving.

I think this picture below was a mistake, but it shows you how the sky was today!

Below, the sun is setting behind Mount Jacinto, to end another day in the desert…

Till tomorrow…

“The Answer, My Friend, is Blowing in the Wind…”

2011-12-22T19:47:00.001-08:00

Hang on to you hat this morning, was the name of the game… it was windy! Yes, the wind will blow through this area, and it was going good this morning… Judy was out and about chasing our lawn equipment this morning while I was lying in bed listening to the wind!

We had made arrangements to meet up with Rick and Paulette from Rick & Paulette's RV Travels, and Kim and Don of K and D in the RV , for breakfast in Palm Springs this morning. Tom and Cheryl were to join us, but poor old Cheryl was under the weather, so they had to pass… next time!

This is a very poor picture of the windmills, however you will get the drift… and these things were making power today… big time!

We decided to eat outside at Ruby’s Restaurant, in downtown Palm Springs, as there was no wind blowing there when we got there! It was sure fun to meet up with our fellow bloggers… we had a blast talking about everything under the sun… and no one wanted to leave! That is Rick and Paulette on the right, and Kim and Don, (Don is in the shadows…) in the centre… Judy took the pic.

Don’t ever take only one picture of something when you really want a shot of it! I took the picture below of the inside of Ruby’s, and in my great haste, (like I always am…) it turns out like this, and no matter what you do to it, you cannot fix it! Take 2 pics instead, or at least preview the picture on the camera with your glasses on! However you will get the drift of the place, which is really neat, and I enjoyed my Denver Omelette… reminded me of being in Denver less than a week ago!

The view below is just outside the restaurant… it was a beautiful day in the downtown area this morning!

This is another picture I took of the square, and if you look at the hard right hand side of the picture, you will see Sony Bono in bronze, sitting on the side of the fountain! He used to be the Mayor of the Town, and give him the credit for what you see today here!

Below is the view on the street, North Palm Canyon Blvd., and the nice Palm Trees along the street! Great spot to enjoy breakfast!

After our goodbye’s, Judy and I went off to Palm Desert, and did a bunch of shopping, doing our part to keep this economy going! It needs help!

Hey, at least my Leaf’s beat up on the Sabre’s tonight!

Till tomorrow…

A nice day for a hike…

2011-12-21T20:44:00.001-08:00

Now this is what I am talking about! What a day! Beautiful weather, had to be about 70 deg. F. and lots and lots of sun, so it was simply perfect! I was working on my new plane I am re-building, (you have hear this before…) and Tom dropped by outside and was walking around the resort so I joined him! Cheryl was not feeling well today after all her travel, so she took the day off.

This afternoon, we decided it was time for a hike, so we got Judy’s new 140 hikes in Palm Springs Area out, and picked one. It turned out to be White Water Pacific Trail! This trail is right beside Mount Gorgonio, and is quite the spot… we enjoyed.

This trail, will actually take you right up to CANADA! Go figure… It is also all about water, and you just do not get that out here in the desert! Below the picture shows the trail head, and a big pond of water which was crystal clear, and flowing off the mountains in the background.

Tom had the right uniform on for the day, as shorts and t-shirts ruled, for sure!

The trail headed straight north out of the parking lot, right up White Water Canyon… the views were terrific all the way up.

The trail was pretty well marked all the way, and I was carrying my Magellan GPS with me, which showed the trail on the screen, so there was very little chance of getting lost today!

Water was running off the mountains, and every now and then, you had to jump over the river… very unusual for the desert! (Judy even did the shorts today!)

Another river crossing…

Great views as we headed up the canyon…

The river was too wide in this spot, but they had made a bridge to use… it is mid-afternoon, but the mountain beside us is blocking the sun, so that is why we are in the shade!

Looking north up the canyon…

The Military heard there was a bunch of Canadians loose in the Canyon, so they sent out a scouting party… they didn’t have to land, as we were hiding when they went by…

The book said there were great views, and they were right!

After a couple miles hiking, we came to a section of the river that was going to be real hard to cross, and my GPS said there was only the end of the canyon ahead, so we decided to call it a day, and head back from this point in the hike. We had walked uphill all the way in, about 450 feet of elevation, so it was all downhill from here back to the Jeep.

Judy was working her way back, just a great hike today.

This is a water conservation area, and a Ranger Station holds the Rangers that protect this area… it was a real nice building which we toured…

Stopped on the way home in DHS for some needed supplies, and then enjoyed the hot tubs at our Resort to rest our weary feet! What a nice day!

Till tomorrow…

Touring the Town…

2011-12-20T18:28:00.001-08:00

This morning was again, spent taking life very easy, nice to do in retirement. Tom and Cheryl took the tour they offer here at Caliente of all the various Park Model Units, in hopes that you will buy one. If you agree to take the tour, they give you the rental for a week at 1/2 price!

I spent the morning doing a bit of maintenance work around the RV and Jeep, while Judy was at the pool. Spent a bit of time working on airplane stuff also!

This afternoon, the wind came up a bit and so we took a bit of a tour into Palm Springs. Ran down North Palm Canyon Drive to check things out!

Here we are enjoying some sun over the lunch period today, it was mid 60’s today with lots of sun!

We took Tom and Cheryl up to Sky Valley on a bit of a Jeep tour, and found this neat home in west DHS… we thought it was kind of cool… wouldn’t want to have too many cocktails and fall off that deck though…..

What would a trip to this area be without visiting El Paseo… the rich and famous do their shopping here… today was our time!

Here Tom and Judy are checking out Saks Fifth Avenue… they were impressed that a housecoat could cost $1,800.00! No free Champaign today though…

Nice landscaping at El Paseo…

This is the Christmas Tree below, at Saks Fifth Ave.

Tom and Cheryl enjoying El Paseo today… some of us were brave enough to wear our shorts… and some were not brave enough!

Back to the RV to BBQ some burgs tonight!

Till tomorrow…

Where does the day go???

2011-12-19T21:53:00.001-08:00

This morning we were greeted by our sun being back! Felt good! It had been missed.

First thing this morning I was out flying my plane, as I had been away from it for a bit, and lets just say my flying was physically challenged today, by gravity that is! Let’s just say I will have that plane rebuilt before you can count to 3.

Tom and Cheryl enjoyed the gym first thing, and then came over to enjoy breakfast with us in the RV. Judy and I were talking to Gwenny and her Mom on skype, and Judy snapped this picture off of Skype… it is hard to have a bad day when you see this on your computer in the morning! You would almost think by the look in Her eyes she knew what she was doing on the keyboard!

Tom and Cheryl needed supplies, so we headed off to Costco and Stater Bros. Grocery Store to fill the shelves…

Took life easy this afternoon, enjoying the sun and watching my Leaf’s lose in another shootout! Ouch!

We were not very good at taking any pictures today, and Judy managed to snap the one below of Tom and Cheryl inside their Park Model Unit, relaxing after playing tourist all day…

We will all have more energy tomorrow… and I will see if I can find my camera again!

Till tomorrow…

Out on a “Scouting Mission”…

2011-12-18T17:06:00.001-08:00

Don’t know what is going on with our weather, but it was cool, and some light rain again today, when the weatherman had promised us better! Maybe tomorrow!

This morning Judy and I drove over to our Sister Resort, Sky Valley, on a scouting mission. When the kids come in January, we will have to move the RV over to that Resort, as the rules will not allow the kids to come into our 55 or Better Resort. (Caliente Springs)

It is not a problem for us, and the reality is, Sky Valley is almost a duplicate of where we are now, as far as facilities go! So all is well!

Here I am below testing the waters… (they were quite warm…) you do not see anyone around in these pictures, as I find it kind of funny that when the weather cools off a bit, or rains, they all stay inside and don’t step out at all! I like going to the hot tubs when it cools down, I find that the best time! Sky Valley is a Family Resort, although in January there will not be too many kids there as they are in School.

There are over 20 pools and hot tubs in Sky Valley, these are just a few… it is all Mineral Water from the underground aquifers in use.

Gwenny should have lots of fun playing with these two black swans I found in one of the ponds on the Resort!

There are two sets of Club Houses, and pools and spa’s at Sky Valley… East side, and West side…

We gave a big two thumbs up to all the facilities that we toured today, all set for the kids to come and enjoy in early January.

This Resort also has a nice Restaurant inside, as well as tennis courts, and everything else you would want to do while you are here… although, I did not see a good spot to fly, so I might end up having to drive back to Caliente Springs to fly!

Tom and Cheryl, friends from Richmond Hill, which is just north of Toronto, will fly tonight into Palm Springs, and we will be taking our Jeep Taxi in to pick them up around 6:30.

Till tomorrow…

Hey, what happened to our weather???

2011-12-17T16:17:00.001-08:00

I go away for a couple days, and the whole place just goes to _ _ _ _ What is going on around here??? Dark clouds, and rain most of the day today here in Desert Hot Springs… It is supposed to be sunny tomorrow… let’s hope so, Tom and Cheryl are flying in and may just turn around and go back to Ontario!

Being a bit Jet lagged, we took it easy today, just going into DHS over lunch to pick up some needed groceries, and a nice stop at Taco Bell to fill the furnace with some fuel!

Here are some items to get caught up on for you. While I was flying all around the world yesterday, Judy got to go the Caliente Springs Annual Christmas Dinner, which is a pot luck. They had the hall all decorated up with lots of people…

They brought in a Children’s Choir to entertain everyone, Judy said they were great! No one went away hungry!

Here is some trick photography for you below, as I flew from Palm Springs into LA on Wednesday, I snapped a couple shots of Mount Gorgonio from my window seat on the turbo prop plane I was flying on… neat effect!

Below is a picture from my flight from LA to Chicago on a 757, at 38,000 feet. It is the Salton Sea and part of the Coachella Valley where we stay, as I flew right over Palm Springs and DHS on my way to Chicago.

And now for the best part of the blog today, I received these pictures from Dr. Hollinger up in Ottawa today, of Emmie and Paige, who were out doing skating lessons in Ottawa today… these are off his cell phone. Below is Emmie, with a nice new helmet and a new set of figure skates. She is doing real good at skating since Judy and I left last Nov. 1st.

Of course, not to be out done by Her big Sister, Paige below has a nice helmet of her own and a set of “Bob Skates”, if you out there in Blog land can remember them! They were at the arena tonight, but they would not let Paige on the ice, however Shawn said She enjoyed “skating” around the viewing area of the arena.

The girls have a blog and I kind of borrowed a couple pictures off of it to show you… below the Girls are all dressed up to attend a Christmas Party at a Dr.’s house in Ottawa.

Below the kid’s were off to a Santa Claus pyjamas party at the Ottawa Hospital where Shawn works. They had a blast, writing letters to Santa, visiting with Santa, and a bunch of other stuff. Emmie was great visiting Santa, however it was a challenge for little Paige… probably next year!

I am sure they all had fun anyways!

Judy and I sure feel blessed to have a great bunch of Grand's… that is for sure!

Till tomorrow…

Back to DHS…

2011-12-16T21:48:00.001-08:00

After a very long day of travel, and 3 flights later, I made it back to the Palm Springs Airport, by 8:10 local time tonight!

I may have started off small, on this nice Dash 8 plane out of London, but soon worked up to the big stuff out of Toronto…

Heading into Toronto on the Jazz flight, I managed to snap a quick picture of the Toronto skyline with my smart phone… The long skinny Tower you see in the centre of the picture down by the waterfront, is the famous CN Tower… it was overcast in Toronto today, but no snow!

We landed in Denver from Toronto, and it was cold, and lots of snow on the ground. Everyone on the plane had ski stuff with them! Had to wait 2 hours and a bit in Denver, which was far too long before we headed off for Palm Springs!

It was a ruff ride tonight from Denver to Palm Springs, as we crossed the Rocky Mountains… A few people on the flight were not having a very good time, and I saw a couple of them kiss the runway, after we landed! It was ruff, but I remember flying in worse, as I used to fly a lot for business in days gone by. A quick call to Judy, and she had the Jeep rounding the corner to pick me up and speed me home! Nice to be back!

Till tomorrow…

GwennyTime!

2011-12-15T18:28:00.000-08:00

This morning, nothing here but a bunch of rain, lots of wind, and cool temperatures... yuck! No snow though, which is very unusual for this part of the country for sure!

We had a nice skype call with Judy out in DHS this morning... better weather out there than here, that is for sure.

Kristina and Gwenny accompanied me to London Health Science Centre today, and I was called in in "early" for my ultra scan... love it! My appointment was for 1:30, and I walked out at 1:35, all finished! They ensured they had all the pictures they needed, as they knew I was flying back to California tomorrow.

We left London, and headed up the 401 Highway, towards Waterloo, about a 1 hour drive, to go and visit Debbie and Gerard. Below Debbie is giving Gwenny a cowboy ride, and Gwenny was just loving it!

Gwenny is wearing her "Elf" outfit today, that Judy bought in Palm Springs, and I delivered... she looked great, and was in just an excellent mood all day today... even though we dragged her all over southern Ontario. I had a ball playing with her this morning at the house prior to leaving for London.

Here is a picture Kristina took of Gwenny and myself this morning during play time... we were skyping at the time with Grandma Judy in DHS.

We all had a great visit in Waterloo with my good friend, Gerard, who is fighting a personal battle of his own right now... they gave him a "day pass" out of the hospital today, so I got to visit him at home. Good to see you today Gerard! Glad to see your spirits high!

So they have changed the weather forecast for London tomorrow, to include some light snow, so it is now time for me to saddle up and blow this town! I leave at 12:30 tomorrow afternoon, out of London for Toronto, out of Toronto for Denver, Colorado, and then Denver to Palm Springs for an 8:30 p.m. touchdown in the Desert, where there should be now snow!

Till tomorrow...

Back in the Homeland...

2011-12-14T19:47:00.000-08:00

It is 10:30 here in the East, and I have landed in Woodstock, Ontario... a long day of travel for sure, but I made it with no problems...

I am trying to post through blogger tonight, so things might not look the same... United Airlines earned full marks today for the 3 flights I made. 10 out of 10 for sure. The in flight service was excellent, as well as all the ground support! Any day you can make 3 flights in so so weather, and be there on time you are doing good in my books... Above is the plane I took from Palm Springs over to LA... looked neat with the mountains... Check out the outdoor departure lounge in Palm Springs... very cool.

That is all for tonight, tomorrow I get to play with Gwenny in the morning, and then off to London for an ultra sound. Hopefully, get to visit with my friend Gerard in the afternoon.

Till tomorrow...

Preparing for Christmas, Caliente Style!

2011-12-13T19:41:00.001-08:00

Out the door at 8 bells this morning with airplane and all related equipment in hand! Great morning for flying… it was a little overcast after yesterday’s rain, but nice for flying. There was only Leigh and myself out this morning, but that did not stop up putting in two good hours of flying… with my plane coming home in 1 piece! Yes, I said 1 piece!

This afternoon Judy and I went into Desert Hot Springs, about a 10 minute drive, and picked up a few things we needed.

Tonight, the Chapel Group put on a nice chilli dinner, and then some Christmas Carolling around the Resort! Must have had over 100 people out for this event!

All the ducks were lined up tonight in one of the ponds… had to laugh, I was in the hot tub this morning after flying, and a duck came and was swimming in the empty hot tub beside us… he was having fun!

Part of the pool and spa area of our Resort…

Below is Mount Jacinto, you cannot see it very well, but a lot of snow fell up there yesterday.

I took the pic below with my smart phone… lots of lights on the Palm Trees around the Resort.

George Cooper runs the Chapel Program at the Resort, and everyone met in front of his Park Model, and we all enjoyed a Chilli Dinner… very good!

After the Carols were all finished, we enjoyed hot chocolate, cookies, and a nice warm fire!

Good time had by all…

Well, I am off for Ontario tomorrow morning, and will not return here until Friday evening, so the blog may be a little thin the next couple days… I will not have my computer with me, so if I post at all, it will be on my smart phone… if not, I will be back on the weekend!

Now, it is time to go watch the Leaf’s play Carolina on my PVR.

Till tomorrow…

As the song goes… “Here comes the rain again…”

2011-12-12T16:08:00.001-08:00

As the saying around here goes… “anyone can be the weather man… just say “hot and sunny” and you have it right 95% of the time”! Well, today was one of those days when it actually rained here, and still is!

When I got up this morning, it was real nice out with no wind, and no rain in sight, so I decided to head for the Aerodrome. Judy, (my personal weather-person) indicated the rain would start around 11:00 this morning, so I figured I was good for a couple hours of flying! I was right. We only had 3 guys out this morning, but we had a blast none the less… don’t want to mention too much about the learning experience of my plane meeting the steel fence… (AGAIN…) so we will carry on! Repairs all done, nuff said!

When I got back to the RV this morning, we were pleasantly surprised by another visit from blogging friend Rick, famous of Rick & Paulette's RV Travels He was kind enough to drop by and leave me a bottle “The Solution”.

I had talked to Rick a few times about this product, and he swears by it, so that was good enough for me! This afternoon I tried this product inside the RV on our flat screen TV’s, our laptop screens, mirrors, and our blacked out Fridge and Microwave… all I can say about it is “WOW” This stuff works great! It sort of sprays on like water, and you use a micro fibre cloth to buff it off, and presto, that is all there is to it. You end up with a streak free shine every time. I even cleaned my glasses with it! Next, is the Jeep and RV, once the rain stops!

Thanks for dropping by Rick! Appreciate it!

Last night as we walked down to the pot luck dinner, which was very good btw, I turned and cranked out this pic below of our red sky! What a great view!

When Rick was over visiting, we were getting buzzed by a couple male, and female humming birds feeding at Judy’s new feeder! They were pretty aggressive today! This one just about landed on my hand…

Busy on the phone and email today, making all my arrangements for heading back to Ontario this week! Yuck… I hear there may even be a bit of snow there… hope not! I will fly out of Palm Springs Wednesday morning, and will not make it to London, Ontario, until 9:45 that evening… 3 hour time change does not help. I get to stay a Gwenny’s house though while I am there for a couple nights, so it will be great to see Her and Mom and Dad as well! Thursday I will be in London for another Ultra Sound on my Thyroid Gland… This is a follow up from last summer, and hopefully, nothing has changed, and all will be good! Hope to sneak in a visit to my good Friend Gerard, who is in Waterloo Hospital on Thursday afternoon. Keep the snow away Gerard! Friday morning, I am not hanging around long, back on the plane at 12:00 noon, and Judy picks me up around 8:00 p.m. in Palm Springs Airport. Glad to fly out of Palm Springs, and save Judy from driving into LAX to fetch me! Whew… long way to go for an ultra sound! Tis life!

Check out this picture I borrowed off of Kristina’s blog with Gwenny and the Big Guy!

Here she is all set for Santa below… what a kid!

Till tomorrow…

A nice slow day at Caliente…

2011-12-11T16:18:00.001-08:00

This morning the sun was just a blazing as it came up and it was simply going to be another great day here in California.

Judy and I attended the Chapel Service in Ferris Hall, it was packed! We were back at the RV by 9:30 this morning, and we did not have a lot planned so I thought it would be a great opportunity to check out my re-construction job on the Super Duper Cub.

I convinced Judy she should come out with me as a witness to the activity… she is getting real good at getting me and the plane into the same shot with her point and shoot!

That is Mount Jacinto in the background, and we are probably about 20 or 25 miles from it… the City of Palm Springs is right beside that Mountain…

This is my look of satisfaction as I had just landed the plane successfully! What a great day for flying… I just recently purchased my new hat from the College of the Desert Market last weekend, and you NEED it around here, that is for sure! After flying for about 20 minutes, the wind all of a sudden came up, and that put an end to flying for the day… hard enough to fly without the wind!

Judy took this picture below of our Aerodrome, (aka “the golf driving range…”) and that is Mount Jacinto again in the background. As you can see, we have lots of room to fly out here, and conditions are usually perfect! No one else was out today when we were there, as it is Sunday, and our Club usually flies Monday to Friday. I was working overtime today, so I get paid time and a half!

The pic below is panned a bit to the right of the one above, and this is Mount Gorgonio. We are a little further from the peak, but it is higher than Mount Jacinto. There is a gap between them, that Highway 10 runs through, right over to L.A. which is about a 1 1/2 hour drive on the freeway.

This afternoon we simply took life easy doing odd things around the RV. Went nowhere! Enjoyed a Mel Gibson movie, and are just getting ready to head over to Ferris Hall for a pot luck dinner tonight!

Till tomorrow…

An easy day touring around…

2011-12-10T20:02:00.001-08:00

Simply another beautiful day here in California… don’t like to harp on it, especially since Gravenhurst has received over 30 cm. of snow… but the weather here has been great! It was again in the mid to high 70’s here today, with the sun keeping us warm... Warning to Tom and Cheryl, you better get here soon before be burn up all this good stuff! They are due to fly in one week form tomorrow!

Judy had a little humming bird that is now hooked on our feeder…

Today we took life real easy… we started off by attending for a few minutes, the craft show that was going on in our resort! I tried to look interested, but it simply was not the same punch as a good airplane, or motorcycle show…. ya know what I mean???

They had booths all over the place… Judy enjoyed, and bought some more earing and some walnuts and stuff!

Below is inside our main hall at the Resort, lots of stuff happens here.

Next we were off to Palm Springs, as Judy read about a Farmer’s Market which was happening close to the downtown area… took a couple minutes, but we found it, right behind a big fancy Movie Theatre…

Lots of fresh produce, plus free entertainment, as a Lady was singing Christmas Songs…

It was a great day to be walking around outside, and we also enjoyed a tour of the downtown area.

Spent an hour this afternoon finishing the re-build of the Super Cub. Ready to fly!

Enjoyed meeting new people down at the hot tubs… life is good!

Enjoyed a great skype call with Gwenny and her Mom and Dad this afternoon also, checking out Gwenny’s first Christmas Tree!

Till tomorrow…

Super Cub… = Super Crash!

2011-12-09T18:35:00.001-08:00

Well, you had to be there folks, at this morning was the nicest morning of them all for flying our at our makeshift airport. I had the Super Cub all primed up and ready to fly, and it did take to the air very well! I was happy as the plane was flying great, with way too much power, but that is alright! As the flight wore on, I got a little bolder behind the controls, and that is when the trouble usually begins! I was climbing at a very fast pace, and this plane is simply not used to this kind of flying, and I did not have my wing spars properly in place, ( they were giving me some problems, so I left them off… ((mistake)) and the plane ended up in the dreaded “death spin” and came back to the desert floor real fast!

As you can see my main fuselage took a bit of a hit today…

I prefer not to call this a crash anymore, I prefer to now call it a “learning experience”… so I did learn a lot, and by the time I am writing this blog, I have already attended downtown Ranch Mirage, and “Uncle Don’s Hobby Shop”, and replenished my spare parts, and have the Super Cub ready to fly again!

I don’t know what our temperature ended up at today, but it had to be mid to high 70’s for sure… it was beautiful! I hope tomorrow is the same!

Judy and I decided it was time for a BBQ upgrade, and we ended up buying a new Coleman Road Trip Grill, from Amazon.Com. It was delivered at 7:15 last night, proving that UPS and the rest of them are feeling the Christmas crunch!

Check it out!

This is in the travel position, the whole thing folds up real nice and is easy to store, it weights about 45 lbs.

You just put your foot on the lower handle, pull the upper handle on the grill, and presto it is ready to roll! It also has two pull out trays on each side that I did not extend in the pic.

It is a twin burner, with 20,000 BTU’s of heat… lots of power, just like the Super Cub! Electronic ignition makes starting real easy.

Add a couple real nice steak’s from Trader Joe’s and you are all set for dinner, with a couple potatoes to boot. Tasted great!

Check out the picture below of little Gwenny wearing her Toronto Maple Leaf slippers… however I am afraid to report they didn’t work tonight… full points for spirit from Gwenny!

Glad the weekend is here… I need a break!

Till tomorrow…

A visit from Molly and Rylie…

2011-12-08T20:53:00.001-08:00

Late this morning a familiar GMC Truck pulled up to our site, and low and behold it was Molly and Rylie from Rick & Paulette's RV Travels , and, oh ya, they brought their Dad Rick along with them! Good to see them all. Rick and I sat and had a good old chin wag and tried to solve a few of the world’s problems, but a few still remain, so we will have to get back together again shortly! Molly is on the right, while Rylie is on the left, with Rick trying to keep them both in line… Paulette had let them all on the lose this morning, and it was great to see them for sure! They stay at a resort about 2 miles or so from ours, and are down for 5 months this year, from B.C.

I think today was one of the nicest days we have had since we headed southwest. It was probably in the high 60’s, maybe even 70 ish… but the sun was shinning and with now wind at all, you end up with a real nice day!

Of course I started off out at the flying field around 8 this morning, only to shortly run into problems… I had my faithful Super Cub up in the air, showing another member of our makeshift club how it flies, and wooopppsssss, no more control! The plane was flying about 200 feet up, throttle on, but I had zero control… not good. I did regain a big of elevator control, and was able to convince the plane to come down, albeit a little hard… but down. When I ventured out to pick it up, all all could smell was smoke! Not good!

Seems, I fried all the electronics inside the plane… don’t have a clue as to why, but it burned. What to do now…

This little box below is the heart and soul of the plane… if you look just to the right of the wires on the side, you will see a burn hole… this box is like a little computer and controls everything on the plane, so with it burned out, you are done!

So after pondering the situation some, I decided the route to go was to take the motor and computer out of my P-47, (yes, the one that gives me all the trouble…) and rig it to fit the Super Cub… Took about 2 hours, but hey, I was outside, the weather was great… why not! Just as I finished up is when Rick and the dogs showed up for a visit. The wind had come up, so could not test fly it today, so that should happen tomorrow… Now for the big one! The engine from the P-47 is 3 times as powerful as the Super Cub Motor is! It will kind of be a Super Cub on Steroids for sure! Will have to hang on with both hands when this baby goes up! I took the pictures below just after I mounted the motor on the front.

This afternoon was spent on cleaning the other half of the RV. It got warm while working, but I managed through… Next will maybe be applying a coat of “The Solution”, a product that Rick swears by, and is very similar to wax… More on this later.

Judy had tickets for us to go to a Christmas Concert tonight is the Resort that was quite good.

Till tomorrow…

Go ahead… take a hike!

2011-12-07T19:15:00.001-08:00

Today turned into just a perfect day as far as I am concerned… it was in the mid 60’s temp wise, however the sun was just a blazing… and there was nary a cloud in the sky all day!

With no wind up this morning of course it was time to head over to the Aerodrome at 8:00 and do some serious flying!

Conditions were just perfect for flying, and we had 7 guys out with planes today… just one picture, and that is Ray holding that big soaring plane over his head… it goes up and can stay up for 45 minutes on the battery, just soaring around catching the up drafts…

Took life easy working on the planes this morning after the flying, (regular maintenance you know…).

This afternoon Judy suggested we “take a hike”… why not! She bought this neat little book with a bunch of hikes in it for this area, so off we went. The Willis Palm Trail, is about 5 miles from our Resort, so we took it! What a day for a hike!

Just a quarter mile into the hike, you come across a great looking stand of Palm Trees… (don’t you just love the sky!)

As you move up a bit more up the trail this is what you see! Don’t these trees look a little funny???

Now you can see below, that this stand of Palm Trees actually burned just last year… I reported it in the blog… too bad! News reports had the trees set on fire due to people living below them… (campfires…)

Another 1/4 mile past the trees, there was this Ranch you see below, that seemed to be abandoned! Lots of properties start to get developed around here, and then for whatever reason, usually no money… they fail and are left!

Past the ranch, the trail headed into the Indio Hills, and this little ridge you see below, turned into a mountain!

We ended up climbing up about 750 feet of elevation, and you end up with quite a view of the Coachella Valley, and Palm Springs!

As we climbed up the dry wash, that little ridge got bigger…

We made it up to the top of the Indio Hills, and enjoyed a great view, and followed the trail back to the Jeep! (Ya, there is that sky again…)

Coming back along the high ridge, we got a bird’s eye view of the burned out Palm Trees… even though they burned, you can see they are still green and growing on top… also we found new growth on the ground… maybe it will all come back!

Two hours, and 4 1/2 miles later, we found the Jeep, and better news was it started, so we drove back to the Resort, and enjoyed a real nice time in the hot tubs! Love it!

Yes, it is starting to feel a lot like winter!

Till tomorrow…

Let the fun begin!

2011-12-06T19:35:00.001-08:00

This morning, as I woke up… I was listening to see if I could hear any wind blowing in off Mount Jacinto… NO… NONE! Good news! Time to head out to the Caliente Springs Aerodrome! I was out the door, airplanes in hand by 7:45! Couldn’t wait!

At around 8:00 a.m. the crew all started to show up… these are the same guys that peaked my interest in starting up this hobby! There was 4 of us out flying this morning, and soon the numbers will swell… Good to meet up with the old crew again…

Below is Lee, as he unloads his 7 planes… (yes, SEVEN) from his car… He loves flying, and has been doing it for years. He will tell you he needs 7 planes, in order to get 2 or 3 of them to actually fly! In the background is Razz, who is actually flying his little Champ… a great plane for learning on.

Not sure what happened to the sky in this picture, but it was all blue, and I never ever did see a cloud all day… only got to about 65 degrees F. today, but it was beautiful.

Lee is getting his Slow Stick ready to fly in the pic below…

Below is one of Lee’s war birds… similar to my P-47… It had trouble making it up this morning, and came down real fast! All of the flights are not perfect!

After all the fun was over after a couple hours… I headed back home and started into the cleaning process again… got the front cap finished, and also the passenger side all done!. Only have the drivers’ side, and the rear end to do… it will get done!

Yesterday Judy noticed a few humming birds flying around, so she bought a hummingbird feeder and filled it up with sugar water… today as I was unloading my planes I was buzzed by a hummingbird! He was pretty aggressive wanting his food! This is a little female in the picture below… the male was real full of colour… will try again to get him!

We went a spent an hour or so at Home Depot, ordering 2 custom made cabinet doors, to fill the hole in our bedroom, where the TV used to sit! Hopefully they will be a close match to our existing cabinets. We will see, but it will be about 3 1/2 weeks for delivery from Florida!

Till tomorrow…

Time for the winter uniform…

2011-12-05T18:26:00.001-08:00

Today turned out kind of nice here… it only hit maybe the mid 60’s, but the sun was blazing and I still enjoyed the day in my shorts again!

This morning I started doing a bit of the necessary clean up on the Motor Home. When you drive for 3,000 miles or so, things end up dirty, so this morning I started the big job, and finished cleaning on our front cab area. It was real dirty, however nice and clean now! Besides, I had to put the “winter uniform” on.

Here is a pic of the winter uniform…

Down here in the desert, you need the winter uniform. We have so much sun here… and it will fade the colour out of anything… Our rig is facing south at this point in time, so the sun shines on the front of the motor home most of the time. Without the window shade, the interior heats up too high. The tires also have to be protected from the UV rays. I put the cover on all the tires, as we will be here over 3 months!

This afternoon, I spent some time moving our rear bedroom TV. Yes, you heard me right… but where might you say??? Well, out to the living area, that is where! Here is the scoop! I like to watch the Maple Leaf’s Hockey… Judy is not so hot on that… (I don’t know why????) With our second TV in the bedroom, you need to be lying in bed to watch it… this is a bit of a bummer really, as neither one of us likes to be in bed while watching TV. So, I moved it out to the living room area, and now Judy can watch one TV, while I watch the game on the other! Perfect! This is what it looks like…

At least now, we can use the TV, rather than have it in the bedroom and not really use it! Just a little more work when we have to move somewhere, but that is what RVing is all about!

That was about it for today, so I will go and watch if the Leaf’s can hang onto the lead!

Till tomorrow…

Yes, it is nice to relax on Sunday…

2011-12-04T18:24:00.001-08:00

What a great day it turned out to be today in the desert! Ended up around 65 or so degrees F. today, with nothing but sun, so it is just the way I like it! Shorts and short sleeves were the order of the day for me!

One of the features of Caliente Springs RV Resort that appeals to both Judy and I, is the Sunday morning Chapel Service. They have a group of people that put the service on here, as well as the sister Park, Sky Valley every Sunday. I know that this may not appeal to everyone, but it is important to us, and about 175 other people at our Resort this morning! We enjoyed!

It was such a great morning, that right after the Service, I head over to try out the Caliente Springs RV Resort Airport! (AKA: the Golf Driving Range…) I was the only one there this morning, but during the week, it will be full! Conditions were perfect this morning as I sent the Super Cub up to fly the Desert Skies! I will certainly be enjoying this facility over the next three months, that is for sure! Pictures to follow shortly!

As I returned from the Airport, we enjoyed lunch, and Judy had a destination on her mind for the afternoon! COD!

Check out the picture I took this morning, looking directly outside our RV door! What a sight Mount Jacinto (10,384 feet, ranked 6th on the Continental U.S.A.) is against the big blue sky, along with our Palm Tree on our site! I could look at this all day!

Oh ya, back to COD! College of the Desert, the location of a weekly market in Rancho Mirage… what a spot and what a market!

A lot of people show up, so you may end up parking quite a bit away from the market, so they have this shuttle below to give you a lift!

There are probably close to a couple hundred venders, but this one probably does the biggest business of them all! People love the Kettle Corn!

I did not go crazy and take a whole bunch of pics of the market, as you have all seen them before… best to say, lots of people, lots of colour, lots of food, lots of bargains… lots of fun! We did our share of keeping the local economy going today, buying lots of cloths for both Judy and I…

One of the nice things about staying where we are is that they have mail service here! I know there is a bunch of people out there that are just itching to mail me a cheque, so here is where you can mail it to me!

Caliente Springs RV Resort,

C/O John and Judy Hollinger,

74-200 Dillon Road, Unit 305

Desert Hot Springs, U.S.A. 92241

I will be waiting by the box for the cheques! Don’t be shy!

Till tomorrow…

Off to the Tamale Festival…

2011-12-03T19:44:00.001-08:00

The wind was blowing this morning, but the sun was shining, that is the main thing around here… as long as you have the sun, usually all is good!

Judy had learned they were having a Parade over in Indio today, so we decided to head out and check it out… It is about a 20 minute drive to the far end of the Valley for us. It was billed as the Tamale Festival, although the Big Guy did show up at the end!

A lot of people were gathering to watch the parade…

They had lots of marching bands in the parade, at least 7 or 8 of them… they were all good!

The whole festival and Parade has a distinct Mexican flavour to it!

What is a Parade without some pretty Girls… I am assuming they won some contest…

Lots of colour, and lots of good music…

Every time one of the Bands marched by us, a White Chevy Tahoe set off it’s alarm… just adding to the music!

This was a neat float below, entered by a local Church… it was kind of funny, they were all singing on it… like the Muppets…

A Health Plan Company was promoting healthy eating to the kids below…

A local car club had a bunch of members in the parade, with these fancy cars that could jack themselves up and down… kind of neat to watch…

Check this tricked out car below… it can drive on 3 wheels…

HO HO HO… I told you the Big Guy was in the parade…

After the Parade, we headed over to the Festival held Downtown… of course we had to have Tamales… Judy loved her Chicken Tamale… I was only so so on my Pineapple Tamale.

They had lots of good entertainment, spread all over the Festival area…

OK, so we had a real nice plate of “Texas Taters…”

After the Festival, we decided to drive up the 111 Highway, all the way to the other end of the Valley and into Palm Springs… Judy wanted to get a book at a Book Store… this is one of the nicest drives in the area I think… lots of Palm Trees… all kinds of neat stuff to gauck at as you drive along!

They did not have the book Judy wanted, but we got a substitute on Great Hikes in the Palm Springs area… we can’t be sitting around doing nothing all the time! We made it back to the Resort, and decided it was past time to hit the Hot Tubs… so away we went! Below is one of the ponds at the Resort… all the Birds were in this one today, as it was sheltered from the wind.

They have great pools and hot tubs here… a big plus for us! Funny, I find most of the people here do not use them that much!

I am in the tub below, meeting a fellow Canadian from B.C. He commented that the only ones hardy enough to be out in the wind at the pools were us Canadians… the pools are nice and sheltered as you can tell from the winds actually… quite nice.

Weather is supposed to be a lot nicer tomorrow… we will see if the wind comes down a bit… as I write the blog tonight, the wind is all gone!

Had a good skype call tonight with Tom and Cheryl in Richmond Hill, Ont. and they are 2 weeks away from jumping on the big bird, and flying down to Palm Springs to join us for two weeks… they cannot wait!

Till tomorrow…

Catch your breath day!

2011-12-02T17:58:00.001-08:00

If you have been following the blog at all, you know by now that November has been a big month of travel for us… well, today it kind of ended. We have arrived in Desert Hot Springs, and we just took today to catch our breath and catch up on a few items…

Judy started off by heading down to the pools this morning at 9:00 to see if the exercise program was still running! It is, and she was happy, happy, happy! One of the highlights of this park for Judy is certainly the mineral hot springs, that come from an underground aquifer… it is all heated by volcanic activity!

For me, I was off into DHS this morning, as the Jeep was in need of service… a stop at Jiffy Lube took care of the oil change, and they offered to change out the coolant in our cooling system for $49.00. I took them up on this, as they wanted close to $150.00 up in Ontario for the same service! Bonus! When you are out 4 X 4ing in the Desert, you want a cool engine for sure!

I thought I would go by the self spray car wash in DHS for a good cleaning, however this business has run into hard times, and all the bays were broken, and no evidence of any repairs going on! Oh well, headed back into our Resort, and cleaned and washed the Jeep right on our lot… you have to be quick though washing a black Jeep here, as the water dries up REAL QUICK! A good workout!

This is our setup, here at Caliente Springs RV Resort, our winter home…

We even have our own Palm Tree out front, directly behind me taking this pictures… are some real nice mountains that I never took a picture of! (Note clean Jeep)

Had a great talk with Greg and Cindy, our neighbours across the road from us… they are from Washington State, and wintered here last year, and liked it so much they came back! Good to see them again!

We took a drive into Trader Joe’s this afternoon, which is kind of an upscale food store… to pick up a few items. Found this antique car all decked out for Christmas…

Mean while, back at the ranch, this guy is in charge of Resort Security! Don’t mess with him!

A big RVlifeonwheels welcome to our latest blog followers… Jeff and Sheryl.

That about sums up today, just taking life easy tonight… hey, I never made it to the hot tubs today… bummer!

oh well…

Till tomorrow…

Our winter home has arrived… “Desert Hot Springs”…

2011-12-01T19:06:00.001-08:00

This morning when I woke up all I could hear was lots of wind… apparently it was windy all night, but I guess I was tired, and just slept through it all… we had everything put away, including the satellite dishes, so all was good. There was some big wind blowing though…

We had everything packed up, and we were on the road after a big breakfast, off to Desert Hot Springs… We stayed here 3 months last year, and we plan about the same period of time this year! It is a great spot and usually the weather is just about perfect! Today though… something messed up… it was windy… yes, the wind will blow here… we hit a couple brown outs as we hit Indio, just reminded me of white outs, back in Ontario!

Don’t have a lot of pictures today, but Judy was clicking away from the dash, so I grabbed her camera and found these shots for you… here is the main entrance to our Resort, “Caliente Springs”, which is a great spot that we like a lot! Have I mentioned they have great hot tubs here??? (I guess if I knew how to us the fancy photo software, I could get rid of the RV’s Radio Antenna in the pics…)

Ahead in the pic below is a guard booth, but no guard ever is in there… probably in days gone by. Now at night they have security gates, and you need the secret code to get in here!

This Resort is very well kept, and the pic below is just part of the main office complex…

When you pull in to register, you park here in the pic below… you can see one of the greens at the end of the road for the golf course!

The whole afternoon was spend setting up after we had lunch. I did the TV and Internet dishes… Judy was on laundry detail… however we are now all settled in and ready for the fun to begin!

One thing I like to do, is highlight someone’s product or service when your expectations are exceeded. I have to highlight two Companies tonight, as they have made a difference in our enjoyment of our time in the U.S. and while on the road, as both services are vital to us. First is Hughes Net. This is the Company that provides us with our Satellite Internet Service, and recently they totally upgraded our speed on the service, and our daily download allowance… and the first this you say is, “well… how much?” . Well, they did all this for no additional cost! The service is now real fast and reliable. We find it now faster than most internet service available in RV Parks. Thank you Hughes Net, and also Galaxy Broadband, which is the “Canadian Company” that we deal with, in order to be legal in Canada. The second service that we had upgraded, was the package for our cell phone, from Bell Canada no less! The service we are receiving is as they promised! They increased the minutes we can talk, at no additional fee! This is a big bonus to us! Also, the data package works great and we can use it as much as we want without fear of running over plan! Well done Bell! Sometimes it is hard to find Big Companies that do things right, but these two deserve a plug from me, as they have made a difference for us!

Check out the picture below of our beloved little Emmie. We had a great skype call tonight with her and her sister ‘Paige’, who is missing from the picture… along with her Dad and Mom! In the past, we did not get pictures off of skype near this good in quality… our skype calls are much better this year due to the upgrade of our service! (next call, I will get an updated picture of Paige, I promise…) Emmie was telling us of all her activities, including skating, and dance class. Also, she is excited to be able to go to Dad’s Hospital and have breakfast in her PJ’s with “Santa” real soon!

A quick update on yesterday’s blog… if you are going to Borrego Springs to hike the ‘Slots’… the trail we did yesterday is not called ‘The Slots’ as I made it out to be… it is actually called “South Palm Wash Trail”. Don’t want to send anyone up the wrong trail!

Hopefully the weather improves here tomorrow… forecast looks better!

Till tomorrow…

Hey, let’s go play the slots!

2011-11-30T17:24:00.001-08:00

What a day today was… 82 deg. F. or 28 deg. C. for the Canuks out there… lots of sun… what a great day… I started the day off down at the Clark Air Base,(formerly the Clark Dry Lake Bed…) flying planes and helicopters all over the place… perfect conditions again to fly! (some landings were better than others… but we won’t go there today!)

After I got back to the RV, I asked Judy what she had planned today, and she said “I want to go play in the slots!”… I said, “OK, where is the local Casino???”

She said, “No… silly, I want to play in the slot canyons!” After a quick trip up to the Anza Borrego State Park Visitor’s Centre, we found a great slot canyon to hike in…

Before we went hiking… I was stealing sun rays, and charging up our house batteries with the solar panel that Shawn and Jenn got us before we left… it works great, and fast!

As we left the Vistor’s Centre we travelled down the Main Drag, of Downtown Borrego Springs… well at least there is lots of Palm Trees.

We headed out the S22 road, and pulled off for the trail to the Caltraite Mine… that is where the slot canyon starts…( The mine is kind of neat, right after the attack on Pearl Harbour, they mined Caltraite for bomber site optics… it worked great and the mine was busy, until they came up with a man made substitute, a few years later…)

No vehicles allowed up the slot canyon…

We no sooner started up the trail, and came across this great natural bridge… this is all made of sand stone remember… a wee bit crumbly…

Under the bridge I go… holding my breath!!!!

Lots of weird rock formations around this area…

You can just see where the water has come through, and formed the canyon… what a spot to spend the day!

OK… so things always have to get a bit crazy!!!!

Good thing we have 2 camera’s, as we would be passing one back and forth all the time!

Ya, there are a whole bunch of weird plants growing out here in the sandstone… weird for sure!

We hiked up the Canyon for 1 mile… (yes, I have an nice Magellan hand held GPS to tell me that!) and then we came to this! At work we used to call this a “show stopper”! I guess we could have got crazy and climbed over the rocks… but, hey, we want to live for another day! We turned back!

I call this pic below the true meaning of a “slot canyon”… Judy is certainly playing the slots now! (Best part of these slots… you get to keep your money!)

We were back by 2 this afternoon at the RV and enjoyed some nice sunshine… as we were sitting, this guy walked by for the 4th day in a row! He live here… don’t know what to call him though…???…. some kind of beetle…

Well, that is going to end our time here at Anza Borrego State Park… tomorrow we will head to Caliente Springs RV Resort and check in. Yes, the hot tubs are a calling! Wind is going to be up tomorrow though… we will have to see how bad it gets!

Till tomorrow…