Day 48 - Harry Gould Memorial Contest Day 1

Up at 7:25 and managed to get the kettle started as I headed outside to assemble my plane. It goes together fairly quickly when you have done it a couple hundred times!

The guys started showing up just before 8 am and John had all the computer stuff organized and set up on the scoring table. A misty rain fell but it soon stopped and we got the contest underway following the usual pilot's meeting.

Parking lot

Kelly took a quick trip to Joann's for some badly needed supplies:-) 


With 15 guys flying and two flight lines in operation, things progressed very well. They even had a two round EDF Jet competition after the third round! The guys all took turns calling, flying and judging so everyone was kept busy during the day. 

Pit action.

Pits.

We easily managed 4 rounds and will fly, weather permitting, 2 rounds on Sunday. 

Round four scores.

A small social took place in our RV as Cheryl finished up a new zipper bag, under the direction of Kelly. I think they had a great afternoon doing crafts. 

Dinner was burgers and fries... quick & easy.

We relaxed with some TV while answering texts and messages from friends back home in Canada. With all that is going on right now, they are getting more and more concerned with our well being down here in California.  It is much appreciated but we are doing fine and have plans made up for the next couple weeks that will take us back east to the heat of the desert.

Off to the rack!

KM's today:19
Total KM's: 7264
Temps Low 11ºC  High 15ºC  with a few early rain showers & light southerly winds.

Day 47 - Hemet (Day 3)

Once again Kelly was up early and had the coffee going. I checked the weather radar for the Hemet area and it didn't look to promising. A few breaks anticipated but showers expected throughout the day.

We were both surprised at how much the pooled water that surrounded us the day before, had been absorbed & evaporated etc. 

Bill and Cheryl Carder brought their RV in and parked beside us. We are now three in the rain!

We made some brunch and then discussed the ongoing Corona-virus issues that are plaguing the world. Everyone's travel plans are changing with each passing day as new restrictions and cancellations are constantly occurring.

We had two upcoming plans in the works... Kris was coming down to L.A. for a playing/videoing gig and we were planning to meet at Sweatwater Regional Park, near San Diego, for a few days. Kelly's brother Rodney and Ronalee were headed to Vegas in mid April & we had started making plans to meet them.

It all ended today when Kris's guitar gig was rescheduled and Rodney cancelled their trip due to the virus situation.  Our plan is now evolving with the Sweatwater visit now cancelled and the park fee's refunded.

We made some State Park bookings near Tombstone, some north of Phoenix and another RV park near the Sedona & Red Rock areas.  So it will be back to the heat for the next couple weeks before we decide on a Vegas area place... maybe in Pahrump?   We will work our way north west to Valley Of The Rogue State Park in Oregon mid April. The rest is a unfolding mystery:-)

I went into town and got the truck topped off with diesel & filled the gas can for the generator. I also stopped by the Hemet/Ryan airfield to check out some water bombers. Pretty quiet this time of year.

Nice display on the info board.

Modified OV-10 Bronco used as a bird dog.

Two of the S-2T Turbo Trackers

 I came back and we had a small social in our RV. John brought over some snacks and we had a nice get together.

Social with Rosy.

We then drove over to the Wallace's for their traditional Friday pre-contest dinner. The lasagna was delicious! A pleasant conversation of the state of Radio Control then ensued before we headed back to the RV's for the night.

Let us hope we have some good breaks in the weather tomorrow to kick start the RC contest!

KM's today: 50
Total KM's: 7245
Temps Low 11ºC  High 15ºC  with rain showers

Day 46 - Hemet (Day 2) - Flood Watch

The rains started early this morning and continue as I type this. We had our usual coffee and some fresh orange juice as well. We decided to do bacon butties this morning as there will probably be no flying today.

We are watching all the major events being cancel due to the Coronavirus.... Indian Wells Tennis, Soccer, Basketball, Hockey, Baseball and some cruise lines shutting down for a couple months....  throw in a travel ban for Europe and it certainly puts a damper on life as we know it. Even Forrest Gump has tested positive!!

Other than buying groceries, we don't have any large group settings planned. We will remain vigilant throughout the remainder of our trip but we are not letting this spoil it for us. The stock market on the other hand... :-(

After breakfast we took a drive up to Diamond Valley Lake located south of the RC field.  The rains obscured the view a bit but we did get to see just how big it was. On the way down the hill from the lake we stopped in at the Western Science Center. I got my seniors discount!

We walked around the prehistoric display and watched a couple documentaries on the huge semi circular screen. All very interesting and we suddenly felt young!

Full sized T-Rex skull.

Giant Sloth... yikes!

Mastodon Skull

A stop to fill the 5 gallon water jug and then back to the RC field. It was raining hard now and has not really let up all afternoon. I fixed our mascot "Logan" as he went for an extra flight today in the winds and suffered some "landing damage". I have upgraded the blade attachment bolts :-)

Logan is ready to resume his duties guarding the fifth wheel hitch from people's heads :-)

We ran the generator today as the solar was not going to keep up with demand as Kelly's sewing shop was open. This will charge the batteries right up and provide lots of power for the sew-athon presently underway.

Kelly hard at it.

Rosy wears her new sweater.

Bill and Cheryl Carder were set to arrive at the field but flooding along the route into Hemet made for a major traffic delay. They went directly to the Wallace's place and will move in tomorrow in the daylight.  

Our drive out of the field was interesting. The heavy rains caused a lot of flooding and it appeared to be impassable. In reality, the road is solid underneath and only has a few potholes.

Field access road.

Dinner at Los Vaquero's Mexican Grill with Bill & Nancy Wallace, Bill & Cheryl Carder, John and ourselves. It was very good.

Back at the RV we relaxed, blogged and watch a bit of TV.

KM's today:49
Total KM's: 7195
Temps Low 11ºC  High 15ºC  with rain.... lots of rain!

Day 45 - Hemet (Day 1) - Model Masters Field

Kelly was up and had the coffee going again this morning.  John was already up flying his Andes in the clear blue skies while I crawled out of the rack. A nice relaxing sleep for me.

I assembled my plane and started flying. A couple local guys were out flying as well. I introduced myself and found out they knew some of our club members from Victoria who winter down here.

Hemet flight line.

Bill Wallace arrived and we all put in practice flights. John pulled out his Air Cobra and let me have a rip. It is a nice fun fly plane... very scale like in the air.

John's Air Cobra... flew very nicely!

 John then let me take his Avanti Jet up with it's 80MM ducted Fan. That was a lot of fun as Bill called the "jet" maneuvers for the upcoming contest. (They plan to run a fun competition with the EDF Jets if time permits.) I had a ball and I suspect a new one is in my future :-)

I enjoyed my introduction to EDF jets!

We had the field to ourselves and enjoyed the sunshine and mild temperatures. Kelly headed into town to get a few things for dinner as we invited John to join us tonight.

RV line.

 We packed up the planes and then enjoyed a small social with some snacks provided by John. Kelly continues to modify the dog sweater she is making for Rosy.

Dinner consisted of BBQ'ed Steak, baked potato, mushrooms and asparagus.

Some Jeopardy and Survivor viewing for Kelly while I put the chairs away and did the blog. Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow but we are ready for it.

KM's today: 17
Total KM's: 7146
Temps Low 13 ºC  High 20ºC  with light winds.

Day 44 - Caliente Springs to Hemet Model Masters RC Field

Kelly was up early and had the washing machine on BEFORE coffee! I slept in as it's my day off :-)

She finished up the laundry while knitting a new doggy sweater and watching "Fixer Upper" on TV.  She can multitask!!

Flowering Prickly Pear Cactus

 I filled the fresh water tank and prepped the truck for departure. Most of the stuff was put away last night as rain was in the forecast. And it did rain! One more trip to the recycle and garbage then we hooked up and departed for our 70 minute drive over to Hemet.

As we passed a huge wind farm we had mixed rain and sun for the drive down to Hemet.  We quickly found the RC field and tucked in along side John Bentley's RV.  He was away at lunch but has called with some information on the access road as it had a few huge pools of water on it. It was all solid underneath so no fear of sinking into mud or a wash!

Wind farm... and lots of them!

We set up and had things ready when John returned. We got caught up on our respective week's adventures then we headed into Hemet for some lunch. In-N-Out Burger was on tap and low and behold.... there is a Joann's right next door.... and a Hobby Lobby across the street! This burger stop is going to hurt! LOL

Rain started falling as we headed back to the RC field. I started to reassemble my plane inside the RV as it was dry!! I put my plane together in the hopes of a weather break but that just didn't happen. :-( 

Hanger shot.

Bill Wallace arrived to visit with John and both Kelly & I joined them for a general RC discussion and plans for the upcoming summer months.

They headed back to Bill's place for chicken dinner while I cooked up a pork loin for Kelly and I. Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy on the tube then a couple other shows to watch later. 

I must say it's nice to be out at an RC field all alone with no one jammed next to you... John does not count :-)

KM's today: 108
To date KM's: 7129
Today's temps Low 15ºc High 20ºc

Day 43 - Pioneertown & Cacti

We awoke on our 35th anniversary to a wild stock market tumble, the cancellation of the big tennis tournament in town this week but best of all, calm winds!!

I helped the lady next to us with her door lock and had the job done in an hour or so. Pretty straight forward really. Kelly received a set of earrings from her for "payment".  I washed the bugs off the front of the RV and also cleaned the Solar Panels of dirt & dust.

We didn't have any hard plans but briefly thought about going up to Joshua Tree National Park for the day. I checked the distance and time required but the Google Map showed lots of traffic heading up there. We are not looking for crowds so we opted to head north to another spot. Up past Yucca Valley there was an old town used for filming western themed movies. It is called Pioneertown. 

It took 50 minutes to drive up plus a stop at an antique store along the way. The town is pretty quiet and has numerous old buildings that are/where used in movies. 

Pioneertown

Museum

 

Joshua Tree dwarfs my truck!

We wandered around and also gabbed a few geocaches in the area. It was a nice drive up and the views of the rocky outcrops were interesting. The town is at 4200' above sea level so it was a tad chilly:-)

On the way home we stopped at a " Plant your own cactus" store. It had lots of different varieties of cactus available so Kelly went to work on creating her own Cactus garden... well two small cactus's to start.

Cactus galore!

Lots of fishhook cactus!

Lots to choose from... no room though!

Kelly creates her own cactus garden!

Happy gal.

We stopped at the Windmill Market in North Palm Springs for our date shakes and then cruised through the Sky Valley RV Resort. It is the sister resort to the Caliente Springs Resort we are at so we had full access to it. Although not as windy as our spot, the sites are a bit tighter. 
Back at our RV,  we headed over for one last dip in the mineral pool. Although the sun was obscured by clouds, it was a relaxing swim. I then packed up the bikes onto the rack, prepped the ladder and organized some of the compartments in the RV for our departure tomorrow. 

Kelly spent lots of time on the phone with RV Parks planning some additional summer activities for us. It's all coming together. 

Dinner was tri-tip with roasted potatoes and salad.  All very good.

I finished packing up the mat, stowing chairs and putting away the BBQ as rain is forecast at 9 pm tonight... and almost to the minute the rains have started! 

Some TV & Blogging and then it was time to call it a day.

KM's today:130
To date KM's:7021
Today's temps Low 15ºc High 24ºc 

Day 42 - Chillin in Desert Hot Springs

The clocks went ahead last night but with our Arizona body clock already running it really didn't make much difference for us. We made coffee and then a nice breakfast followed.

We really didn't have much planned for today but Kelly was in touch with the pipe band's Drum Sergeant, Randy Evans and his wife Karen. They are staying at the sister resort Sky Valley a few miles down the road.  We made arrangements to meet later and then we got a few chores done around the RV & truck. Windows cleaned and then wiped down to remove the water stains!  I also did the truck as it was long overdue for a window cleaning.  Also made a garbage/recycling run.

This tiny home is for sail!

Prickle Pear Cactus in bloom... it's just starting to explode with colors.

 Randy and Karen arrived and we had a good visit for a couple hours. We got some idea's on places to stay and Randy gave us the low down on this RV park we were in.  One word... WINDY! And it was!

They headed off to hit some golf balls so Kelly & I walked up and enjoyed the mineral pools at the main center. It was a nice afternoon as we relaxed in the sun... trying our best to hide from the wind.

Dinner tonight was lamb shanks with basmati rice & carrots. 

We met another Canadian RV'er that just came in today from... yep... Campbell River! (He knows my cousin Rhonda... who doesn't know Rhonda :-)

Our other neighbor lady, in the next spot over, was trying to install a new door handle in her RV but was having some technical issues. I volunteered my "nonprofessional RV tech services" but, as it was getting dark, I will tackle that job in the morning. She makes jewellery and will trade my services for earrings for Kelly. I think I got the short end of this deal.

We relaxed after dinner with a Facetime visit with Pat & Hartley Hughson in Sechelt. We got caught up and made some plans to meet up later in the trip (mid April) at Valley Of The Rogue State Park... or somewhere:-)

KM's today: 0
To date KM's: 6891
Today's temps Low 15ºc High 24ºc