Hike on….

Started out as a terrific day, but the winds caught up to us and are still blowing this evening as I hack out another blog…

Went over to the flying field this morning to meet the regular crew out flying planes.  The flying slowly came to a halt as the winds came up…

Next was a run to the hot tubs while Judy was exercising in the pool… met a nice couple from B.C. and swapped a bunch of RV stories…

Later in the morning Judy and I decided to go back and find the trail from the resort up the Indio Hills… we have already tried twice and failed!

This is the view as we left the back door of the resort… yes, with all the rain we have had, the desert is starting to bloom and show some green!

Here is a great picture of my butt…

Check out the flowers on the cactus…

We soon started to climb… and climb…

We made it up this high, after successfully finding the right trail!  Problem was, the wind was just a whipping around and we decided not to continue up today, as it was simply too windy and we did not want to take the risk.  There is always another day!

We still had to climb up to the peak you see below…

So we headed back down, with the resort in the background…

Finally tonight Judy and I want to congratulate Shawn, our son (sorry… Dr. Hollinger).  This past weekend Shawn flew from Tennessee down to New Orleans to give a presentation to a Paediatrician's Conference on defects in baby hearts.  He won an award for this presentation and wanted to let him know the whole Family is very proud of him.   In July this year, Shawn and Jenn, and Emmie and Paige will be moving to Ottawa where he has been awarded a Fellowship at the Ottawa Hospital in Neonatology.

Not sure who took this picture of Shawn below, but I borrowed it off our Grand Daughters blog.  It was taken at the Conference in New Orleans.

The Joker is very fitting, as Dr. Hollinger is a die hard Calgary Flame Fan, and that team is joking everyone right now!

Till tomorrow…

Bloggers Day Out!

I had made arrangements with Rick from Rick & Paulette's RV Travels to hike out to “The Painted and Ladder Canyon” just outside of the Town of Mecca at the south end of the Coachella Valley, about a 40 mile drive from our Resort.  When Rick showed up to pick me up this morning he had a guest hiker with him… Jeanette from RV Voyageur was ready to join us on our hike.  Her and her Husband, Rene, are staying up at The Sand’s RV Resort also.  Off we went!

Twas a beautiful day for a hike, 70 degrees F.

I knew we would be climbing ladders so I did not bring my digital SLR and opted for Judy’s little NIKON COOLPIX.  A lot easier to carry!

This is the start of the Painted Canyon…

Right off the top we found a little cave that went nowhere…

We split off into ladder canyon, and as you can see, not much of a trail to follow, but it was there!

Some climbing skills required!

Right off we were into the ladders… remember that game we used to play… snakes and ladders… you got it!

This was the first major hike Jeanette had been on, and she was a champ!  No problems for her at all!  Check out the neat rock formations…

Here is Rick climbing out of a corkscrew… sure would not want a flash flood right now!

Yes, the trail goes right into that narrow crack at the bottom of this picture… could not believe it… one shift of these rocks while you are walking in on the trails and you would turn into a hamburger!

Pictures do not do it justice, but can you imagine walking through the crack below… we did it!

 

Finally we made it out of the canyon, and started climbing up the mountain! 

The views from the top were very good, you could see the Salton Sea, along with Mount Jacinto and San Gorgonio of course!

All the rain we had a couple of days ago caused this Ocotillo Cactus to bloom!

We found a few other flowers growing in the desert!

We came back down off the mountain and down into Painted Canyon… it was very cool with lots of different rocks…

Rick found a hidden stash of quartz…

 

Lots of different rocks and things…

People were practicing their rock pilling skills…

Jeanette navigates her way down another ladder on the way out of the canyon… check out what the lady in red has in her arms… (woof woof)

It was a perfect day and a perfect hike… I really enjoyed it…

Thanks Rick and Jeanette for a great day!  If you want to see some more great pictures of the hike, click on Rick and Jeanette’s blogs… RV Voyageur and Rick & Paulette's RV Travels

Till tomorrow…

A little bit of everything today…

I got up this morning and it was gorgeous out!  No wind, so I knew they would probably be flying over at the golf driving range… I did not bring my camera, but they did have some these…

and some of these…

and before you know it, the morning was gone… it is a great bunch of guys that come out and fly their planes… next time I will get some real pictures for you all…

Judy was down doing the swimming pool exercises and then took up another exercise class called Zumba!  She enjoyed it, and it shows!

In the afternoon we loaded up on the Burgman for a drive down to the City of Coachella… I wanted to check out the Model Airfield there.  They have an amazing field there, everything you need to fly!

Check out the pit area, with tables and sun shades, you are in the desert you know!

They cemented the pit area, and paved the taxi area and runway!   Pilots stand behind the fences to fly here…

Everything you need here…

Even  though we are at the far end of the Coachella Valley, Mount Jacinto and Gorgonio are always in sight, snow and all!

It is a great flying field, and I will return when they are flying, always in the morning when the winds are down.

On the way home Judy found these cattle in a stand of palm trees, having lunch!

Spent the rest of the afternoon in the hot tub and taking life easy!

Till tomorrow…