Day 41 - Palm Springs & Date Shakes

Kelly was up early again as the time change is taking a bit to get used to after a month of Arizona time. (That changes tonight when we spring ahead... so back to normal sort of).

We talked with a fellow RV'er and got some tips on where to go and what to see... one of the things he said that was a "must do" was getting a "Date Shake" from Windmill Market. We will try and work that in!

We headed off towards Palm Springs and the main shopping area downtown. There are two main streets, North Palm Canyon Drive and Indian Canyon Drive, that parallel each other with lots of shops in and around them.  We drove around and found a spot to park pretty quickly.

Downtown Palm Springs

We walked around and enjoyed the warmth of the sun. The winds were howling back at the RV site but relatively calm in town. There were lots of different shops and eateries along these two roads and we quickly found a nice place for some breakfast. We ordered two breakfast burritos and coffees at Juniper's Table. It was very good!

Hog wild!

We grabbed a few geocaches as we walked around the downtown then headed over to Costco for some toilet paper and other items. Now we are not stocking up due to the Coronavirus but rather out of necessity!! We hit Costco and managed to escaped with only minimal monetary damage this time!  You guessed it....  no toilet paper left! Next was Walmart for some small items for Kelly.




On the way there just happened to be a quilt store that Kelly wanted to stop at.... how convenient! :-)  After the Wally World visit we noticed some RV's on display in the parking lot. We went and had a quick look and quickly found the GD Solitude units on display. These were all bigger units than ours but had many similar components & features. We still like ours!


We headed back to the Caliente Springs Resort but made a stop at the Windmill Market for our date shake. It was excellent and I suspect another stop is in our future.

We went for a bike ride around the RV park before dinner and came across this car. (it's a copy but still looked good!)

Kit car... but looks really good!

Steak on the menu tonight with baked potato and salad. All very good.

The winds are howling here so I think we will stay in and watch a bit of TV.

KM's today: 74
To date KM's: 6891
Today's temps Low 15ºc High 25ºc

Day 40 - Copper Mountain RV to Caliante Springs Resort

Kelly was up very early as she could not sleep. She made coffee and did some knitting and travel prep. Showers then we started to break camp... dump tanks, pack stuff away... the usual stuff.

We hit the road at 9 am sharp and headed west towards Yuma.  Crossing into California, we stayed on HWY 8 until El Centro then north along the west side of Salton Sea, through Coachella and then the back way into Caliente Springs Resort. This stretch of road provided a roller coaster ride at several points...

Roller coaster anyone?

We managed to get through the gate and into the check-in area. Once this was done, we headed over to site 271 and got the RV parked and set up. We drove into Desert Hot Springs and went to Casa Blanca Mexican for a late lunch. Very good! A quick stop for some drinks and then topped the truck up as it was very thirsty.

Resort landscape.

Back at the resort, we changed and headed over to the pool area for a soak in the mineral water pool. Very refreshing although a tad too warm for me. We relaxed by the pool and enjoyed the warmth of the sun. It was by far the warmest day so far at 31ºC.  Dinner was Pork Chops with baked potato & salad.

A walk over to the refuse area to drop off a small bag and then back to the pool for a night shot.

Pool area.

Blogging and then it was off to bed.

KM's today: 355
To date KM's: 6817
Today's Temps Low 14ºc High 31ºc

Day 39 - Tacna Area Geocaching

We slept in today as we have no major plans. Coffee and some news on TV. 

The hot water wasn't hot so a bit of checking was in order. I had no load on one of the power legs so I reset the water heater breaker and I now had 11 amps....  I had turned off all the breakers when I did my outlet change and I suspect I didn't reset it properly. Working now!

We grabbed some bottled water and headed off in the truck for some general sightseeing and geocaching.  It's the desert so pretty flat terrain with the exception of rock formations. We went off the beaten path and found a power trail. This is a geocaching term for a long series of caches located 500' apart. Relatively easy to get but they get a bit boring after a while. We did this and then broke across HWY 8 onto Old US 88. This took us by a huge feed lot for cattle... 1000's of them located on huge expanses of land.

Huge operation!

Beef critters everywhere!

 We grabbed a few more caches down by Antelope then headed back to the RV park.  Kelly wanted to go quilting at the recreation hall from 13:00-15:00 so she loaded the truck up with her hardware and off she went. Five minutes later I got a text asking for more supplies! :-)

I blogged a bit and then reattached the water alarm that goes into the washing machine tray. It "came loose" a while ago (that's code for Kelly ripped it off the side of the washing machine when it went off, enough on that topic).  Kelly returned with her latest creation.... enjoying her afternoon with fellow quilters, although no quilt in sight!

Trailer themed of course!

We have used up most of our fresh water in the tank from Lost Dutchman and will run with 1/4 tank (20 gallons) over to our next destination. I have also skillfully filled the black & two grey tanks to help facilitate the dumping process in the morning. Still room for a long shower for us in the morning :-)

Chicken & Salad for dinner tonight followed by a walk around the park..... after Grey's Anatomy was over :-)

Evening sky.

Our last evening at Copper Mountain RV.

KM's today: 44
To date KM's: 6462
Today's Temps Low 14ºc High 28ºc

Day 38 - Two States, Two Countries

Up at our usual time and pace... coffee then showers.  I went over to the office and paid up our next two days here at Copper Mountain. It's a sweet deal at $20 per night with full hookups!

We loaded the cooler with some drinks then headed off to Grandma Jo's Fabrics in Yuma. Turns out that Kelly was overcharged for her items and needed to get that sorted out. (It's usually the other way around:-)

After our quick stop, it was back onto Hwy 8 and over to the Northwest corner of Yuma, across the Colorado River into California then south to the Mexican Border. The town of Los Algodones lies on a corner piece of the border and is very popular with folks seeking lower cost medical, dental and eye care. (and shopping I'm told!!) There is a huge parking lot that you go to ($6) then simply walk across the border, and I am not joking on the walk across... no border guards, no Mexican stamp in my now unused passport... nothing... Welcome to Mexico!!

Main Street

You are immediately immersed into a small town feeling with lots of dental, medical, eye glass and pharmacies. Hawkers were asking us "What do we need?" offering Dental Work, Cleaning, Surgery, Prescription Drugs, Eyeglass with free exam... all from the same guy!

This is in one small plaza!

The street sidewalks were basically taken over by merchants selling just about everything you could imagine. Some stores were huge inside with many rooms of various trinkets, metal sculptures, carvings, clothes, blankets, belts and ceramics.

Lots of color!

Nice but too big for us to take home!

Amazing colors!

No shortage of ceramics here!

We purchased a roadrunner metal bird thing and a couple other items then headed into one of the many restaurants. Chicken Fajitas for me and Prawns for Kelly... all topped off with a cold Corona.

Lunch time.

After lunch we stopped at a small liquor store and bought a bottle each. A one litre bottle of Kahlua was 8.99 and Kelly bought a bottle of Patron Silver 750ml for $30.  This is the "limit" when returning to the states according to fellow liquor shoppers we talked with in the store. All very helpful!

We had seen enough and decided to head back across the border and make some stops in Yuma. There was a line up of people waiting to cross and after about 30 minutes, we were processed back into the US of A.

We loaded the truck up with our purchases and headed back into Yuma. A stop at an RV supply place to pick up a replacement electrical outlet (that had disintegrated), a spare 
water filter and then off to visit the West Wind RV Resort. We had been told that it was a nice place so we thought it was a good idea to take a quick look and decide if it would meet our needs sometime in the future. It was very clean and nicely laid out. Next we went to Fry's for a few groceries items. I topped up the truck as the 10 cent a liter off card gave me a gallon of diesel for $2.759 US.  Ya I still like a deal!

Thirty minutes later we were at the RV at Copper Mountain and I replace the receptacle that had broken apart. The quick & easy maintenance was successfully completed!

Our new pet! We are calling him "Roadie"

Our new pet stands guard outside the RV.... not sure about this one :-)  We enjoyed a drink and I did some blogging as the sun worked it's way westward. 

Tonight's sunset was subtle but nice... 

Some BBQ'ed Lamb Chops with roasted potato & veggies was on the menu for tonight followed by some TV (yes it's Survivor night!).  Kelly also made up a "personalized Margarita" that tasted great!  Yes I will have one as well!

The days have been getting warmer to the point that we require no furnace in the morning to "warm up" the RV. The evenings usually turn cold after the sun sets but now I sit in my shorts as I BBQ.... with only the screen door closed. Bring it!

We are going to explore around Tacna and the general area tomorrow and maybe do some geocaching. There is an AC/DC series close by..:-)

They had a big bingo game at the rec center tonight and when we took a look at the activity board for tomorrow... turns out there is quilting from 1 till 3... so that's Kelly's afternoon taken up!

KM's today:172
To date KM's: 6418
Today's temps Low 13ºc High 26ºc

Day 37 - Yuma day visit.

Up for coffee a little after 7 am as we planned out our day... showers, breakfast and then some calls to reserve spots later in the week. 

Our Passport America Membership allows us to stay for four nights for only $80 so we will plan to leave Friday for the Palm Springs area.  We have another Passport America booked in that area for another four nights. We are getting our monies worth! 

We grabbed some cold drinks for the cooler and then, after a fuel stop, headed into Yuma.  Kelly has a couple quilt shops she wanted to visit so Grandma Jo’s fabrics was our first stop.

I feel his pain... if he actually feels anything!

I decided to stay in the car but sadly, this poor guy was waiting outside the store entrance for his wife!

I called my mom & dad to get caught up on the action in St Albert. It was great to touch base with them.

Kelly decided that she blew her budget at Grandma Jo's and we will take a pass on the other quilt shop....   what? Off to our next stop at the Yuma Territorial Prison. 

We toured through the restored facility and thought about the poor souls held here in the summer heat! Jammed 6 to a cell! Yikes! I'll be good from now on!!

Guard lookout.

View from the guard lookout.

Jail cells

No amenities at all!

Very nice restoration

We found a geocache close by and then headed across the way to Old Yuma. It was pretty quiet with a farmers market just wrapping up. We did find Prison Hill Brewing Company and decided to enjoy a cool pint and some nachos. We also grabbed a couple caches on the main street.

Old town Yuma!

We headed back to Copper Mountain RV Park and enjoyed the sunset. Some laundry, blogging and then some late dinner. Kelly watched the Resident as well. 

Off to Mexico tomorrow! 

KM's today: 140
To date KM's ; 6245
Today's Temps - Low 13ºc High 29ºc


 

Day 36 - Heading West

I was up early to get prepared for the day. Kelly was heading back from her trip home and would arrive around 1 o'clock so I had to get a move on.

Almost forgot... last nights sky at sunset.

A quick shower and a hot coffee and I was ready to get the show started.  John and  Rex departed for various destinations while I prepped our RV for departure.  I headed into town to get the truck fueled up, fill the generator gas can, get groceries & water and fill some propane tanks.

I managed to get everything done and return to the RV by 11 am.  Bill & Nancy Wallace departed with their Arctic Fox 5th Wheel. We will meet up in a couple weeks for the Hemet RC contest.

I finished up the packing and had the RV pretty much ready to pull. I monitored Kelly's flight via the Air Canada App (which sucks by the way) and headed off to pick her up.

She was ready for pickup as I rolled by and off we went back to the EVA RC field. We got caught up on each others weekend's and the trip home went by quickly. On arrival, Kelly checked things over to make sure I got everything "inside" right and then we hooked up and departed at 14:30 local.

We decided on Copper Mountain RV Park as our destination and after a quick phone call, had a site set up for us. It is our first Passport America RV Park and we got a $20 a night rate for full hook ups! Love it!

We headed east and then south through Maricopa and on to HWY 238 through Gilla Bend and then westward to Tacna and the RV park. We arrived three hours later at 17:30. It was a nice drive on a decent road with very little traffic once out of Maricopa.

We met with the manager and got set up in a nice wide lot near the rear of the park. All good!

Steaks for dinner then a short walk around the park to stretch our legs.  Kelly was bagged and she headed to bed while I finished the blog and watch Ice Pilot's crash land a L-188 Electra in Yellowknife due to a gear issue. These joy's of aviation are behind me!!

KM’s today: 402
To date KM’s driven:  6105
Today’s Temps - Low: 12ºc  High 20ºc

Day 35 - EVA Day 2

Pretty much the usual scenario..... made coffee, texted with Kelly and then got my plane ready for the day's flying. Lots of keen people here as planes were in the sky just after 7 am!!!

The contest got underway at 9 am sharp and we proceeded to fly two more rounds. I was assigned to judge the first FAI F-21 and it was a real pleasure to see the top guys go at it... and I learned a lot at the same time about positioning etc. Some great flying by the top guys and I knew it would be very close.

My first flight was fairly solid as the winds started to blow out. Everyone worked hard to maintain distance and some pilots were pushed out pretty far. We then had a great sandwich lunch as the final round commenced.

My last round was very solid and I was happy with my progress throughout the event. I tried to improve each flight but didn't always succeed. :-)

CD John Bentley makes the award presentation.

The awards were handed out and I managed to take the last round of P-21 finishing in third spot.  The guys all packed up with many leaving for home. Scott Lenover from just south of Calgary managed a 1st Place in Intermediate!

Derek Emmett's Alchemy

Final scores.

 We all took the time to say goodbye and then most all of the folks headed out. A few diehards stayed and flew as the sun slowly set in the west.

Kelly & Lauren were dropped off at the Victoria airport by Kris. They will fly over to Vancouver and spend the night at Lauren's place. In the morning, Lauren will drop Kelly off at the airport for her return flight to the warmth and sunny skies of Phoenix :-)

Dinner was leftovers... got to eat it up!

KM’s today: 0
To date KM’s driven:  5703
Today’s Temps - Low: 13ºc  High 24ºc