Summer of 2009 - the Highs and the Lows

I'm going to market
Jacob's Tails
directly
If you are interested, please let me know
Website:
http://www.firstepbooks.com/

Click on the pictures to enlarge them

The Highlights

The highlights, of course, are anything new and different – the sights and people we spent time with. Waterton (always a highlight); Heritage Days; the trips to Wetaskiwin and Sparwood; celebrating the 100^th year of Lethbridge’s high level bridge and last, but not least, celebrating my brother’s 70^th birthday.

We visited Waterton early with my old school buddy and his wife. We were so early in the season that the Prince of Wales Hotel wasn’t even open yet but we did get our

classic pictures of Cameron Falls and Cameron Lake.

Heritage Days just reminds me how much Lethbridge has grown and changed since I grew up here a zillion years ago. There must have been over a couple of dozen cultures represented in costumes; presentations; or food (or all three) – I love it!!

Wetaskiwin

The plan was to get up to Wetaskiwin to visit with Chuck and Sheila then go west to the Columbia Parkway and Jasper and down to Cranbrook to drop in on Ina and Alan (RV'ers from Nanaimo).

Just like we always did with Chuck and Sheila we went exploring the area. Lord, it was cold and rainy but we did get up to explore an oil rig on show at Leduc.

We’ve never been along the road between Rocky Mountain House and the Columbia Parkway so figured it would be a great trip. The weather was horrid – so cold and rainy – what a big sissy I am and besides I got a horrid cold – Long story short – we ended up coming back to Lethbridge so I could recuperate. We never did get to Jasper or to see Ina and Alan but Ina and Alan did come to see us.

Going along Highway #3 past Pincher Creek, through the Crowsnest Pass to Sparwood has turned out to be one of our favourite summer excursions. More and more windmills stretch across the ridge across from Cowley and single Windmills dot the landscape from Fort MacLeod right through the Pass.

The campground we stay at in Sparwood (Mountain Shadows) has good sized sites; good facilities (and WiFi); some wildlife; and is reasonably priced (a plus for BC). We always seem to find lots of side trips emanating out of Sparwood and this year were pleasantly surprised to be joined by neighbours from the Condo we live in.

The Sky – the Wind mill – the old grain elevator near Pincher Creek

A local electrician put lights up to celebrate the 100^th Year of Lethbridge’s High Level Bridge that turned out to be incredibly spectacular.

And last but not least was the celebration of my brother Stan’s 70^th birthday

and presumably his retirement. It was a great party – in fact the whole weekend was terrific. All his kids and their spouses were there; the grandchildren and a couple of cousins – Dianne (daughter of Mom’s older sister) and Marty (son of Mom’s younger sister). Patty did such an incredible job at the open house on Saturday and then the brunch at an interesting little place (Reading’s Rock Garden Café) on Sunday.

The Lowlights

This was the first summer that I really am a Senior. I’m not sure what that means except that some of my dental and optical expenses are now covered. There have been times when I feel much more like a mushroom – you know – in the dark and dirt thrown on you.

The first incident was when I took some of our old eyeglasses into the ophthalmologist’s office to be recycled.

A very haughty little receptionist told me, “We don’t have anything to do with eyeglasses.” And she had no idea what to do with them (I think she would have liked to tell me what I could do with them – but she generously resisted the temptation).

Okay, chalk that one up to her arrogance.

As you might know, the technician actually does all the testing and the doctor comes in to confirm what s/he did – so he can justify his fee. As I do every year before we leave, I asked for a new prescription. It was exactly the same as last years (and the year before and the year before, etc) and I was painfully aware my vision has changed so I told them that and asked them about that.

“Oh,” said the doctor, “we don’t check your vision, we just do medical and surgical procedures –and we don’t do anything regarding eyeglasses.” (Now I know where the receptionist got her attitude). Needless to say I was a little annoyed (pissed-off would actually describe it better) not that they only dealt with medical and surgical issues but that they didn’t tell me. So I picked up my records from him and went off to find another eye doctor.

The next incident was with the dentist. I knew we are eligible for dental subsidy and getting my teeth clean should be completely covered. I went and did! Yes I made an appointment and the gal did a great job – never saw the dentist, which was just the way I wanted it.

Then I get a phone call from the dentist’s office saying that “yes, the cleaning was completely covered but there was a Professional Fee from the dentist that was not covered.”

What – I didn’t even see the dentist! What is the fee for?

No rational answer – the usual – That’s what we do!

So again my dander gets up. So I phoned the Insurance people and the Dental Association and still got no answer.

Welcome to the Land of taking advantage of the pensioners or just the time of the extra fees for anything and everything!

Sharon was Right!!

Download " Jacob's Tails..." E-Book at

http://www.firstepbooks.com

The usual routine when we get back is to first take all the liquids out of the MH that might freeze– what do you mean, frost warnings in June – this is Alberta, isn’t it? – then sort the mail and, of course, get the income tax returns done and in.

The Company Cometh
Then we got this welcome but unexpected email from a British couple we met over an ice cream cone in Quartzsite. They would be in Lethbridge in a couple of weeks.
What a delight! We visited a few days with Pat and Trevor and listened to Pat’s wonderful stories and ate and enjoyed their company so much.
Shortly thereafter Jaimie and George (Escapees Penwheels buddies) stopped in on their way from Arizona to Alaska.
And then an old school friend, Brian and his wife came to Lethbridge on a nostalgia trip so we talked and wandered around the city and reminisced about old friends and old places.
So our spring season has started out in a flurry.
The Book Club (at the YW) turned out to be small but great – they were full of good questions and good suggestions.
I almost got hooked into doing Jacob’s Tails #2 but the reality about how tough it is to market a book hit faded when I discovered that Chapters won’t take copies of the book until they have more space for consignment books and the copy Save On Foods sent to Vancouver never did get to where it was supposed to.
The Chinook Regional Library bought a few copies so there is some light at the end of the tunnel.
A few weeks after we got back last year, I complained to Sharon about how unsettled and antsy I felt.

Sharon was right!
Well I did it again this year and again she reminded me that I go through this every year. There is a definite transition time from the road to the condo – just like there’s a transition from the condo to the motor home.

Well, we have done all our "chores" (the medicals, income tax, licences, passports, fixing things that broke and changing things that need changing) so we are planning to get on the road again soon. Fred may have some pain in his leg, but it is not from another blockage - we managed to get an appointment with the surgeon in Calgary in two days - I think we're both just getting older. We've had a lot of company and that was fun and even though this is officially the first day of summer, we know the summer weather is going to come soon.

I just wanted to go home!

Download " Jacob's Tails..." E-Book at

http://www.firstepbooks.com/

Somehow Yuma has become the base for our winter southern travels. Sallee and John let us use their address if we need a USA address and when our microwave died we needed to order a kit and sent it to their place. Fortunately there’s space for us on the lot beside them in The Foothills and we feel like we have become part of the neighbourhood. We joined in them for the St. Patrick’s Day/farewell get-together before we headed north. Next stop – north to Laughlin and dry parking at the Tropicana Express Casino.

Once we start heading north we start thinking about going home and the idea tends to take over: we talked about visiting the Lake Mead area and the Valley of Fire (Nevada) but neither of us was terribly enthusiastic about it; we talked about different routes to travel home; and started watching the weather patterns looking for a good travel opportunity. Finally it all came together and we chose to follow an alternate route that we hadn’t done for years and headed straight home.

The wind died down and we took off. It felt like we just whooshed home – we started on Saturday (April 4^th) and were home by Tuesday (April 7^th).

On the first night in Wells, NV a bang, bang came on the door – Dave and Chris (of Chris & Dave who we met in Rockport, TX last year and visited in Parker, CA earlier this year) happened to be at the same park at the same time on their way back to Montana. It is a small world – isn’t it?

The second night in Pocatello, ID was spent in an old run-down Passport America park and third night we revisited the park in Butte; a 2 hour wait at the Sweet Grass, MT/Coutts, AB border crossing and home.

Did I say I just wanted to get home? A table full of bags and bags of mail (six months worth); at least ten loads of laundry to do; income tax anxiety; and the condo complex in the midst of being totally redecorated. At least we arrived to warm temperature and no snow.

To my great surprise, there was a cheque in the mail for an article published in RV Lifestyles Magazine (out of Ontario, Canada) last July that I'd been agonizing over all season. I guess I can't be mad at them anymore although it did take a long time.

It seems to be taking me a long time to get settled this year – what do you think – age?

Fred has decided to replace my little computer table with a build-in desk. Hurrah! I think I’ve earned it!

Back to marketing Jacob’s Tails and a local book club is reviewing the book next week.

No further plans yet – and life goes on.

Living in the Desert: Cacti, Birds, Animals and People

Download " Jacob's Tails..." E-Book at

http://www.firstepbooks.com/

Click on the pictures to enlarge them

Well, we're back at Why, or rather at the Gun Sight Wash BLM just south of Why and north of Organ Pipe Cactus National Park. We came down here directly from Yuma. It’s a great watch the birds and animals place with lots of cacti and wildflowers. It gives us a chance to get to know the camera better and take pictures. We were only here a few days when Fred developed some abdominal pain so we thought we should get to someplace less isolated 'just in case'.

We went over to Casa Grande (about 2 hours away) and stayed at the familiar Rovers Roost Escapees Park and his pains subsided so we headed back.

Casa Grande is a smaller friendlier city than Yuma (about 45000). Arnie (a fellow from our Condo in Lethbridge) has a place there in a gorgeous RV Resort so met him for dinner, did whatever shopping we thought we needed to do and headed back to Gun Sight.

Our days are not terribly exciting but each day seems to have its own special adventure.
The other day we went into town (Ajo - which means garlic in Spanish) - we were out of milk, for a change (You know, it doesn't matter where we are, we are always low on milk or maybe it's just an excuse to go shopping).
Anyway - there in the middle of the main road two Sheriff cars - one on either side of the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) - sat directing traffic with their lights just a flashing. Now this is a straight road with nowhere really to go - they seemed to be protecting a big event - a Salsa Contest, a Chili Cook-off and a Chicken Dump - all at the VFW at various times of the day.
Naturally, we stopped and found out that a Chicken Dump is a fund raiser where you buy a square ($1.00 or 6 for $5.00) on a huge piece of paper (about 8 ft by 4 ft). At 4 o'clock they enclose this piece of paper in a huge wire cage. Then they release a very well fed rooster into the cage. The rooster dumps - presumably on one of the squares. The person whose name is on the square is the proud recipient of ½ the proceeds.
Yes, we bought squares - No, we didn't win but we did come back for the Salsa and Chili tasting and to watch the big event.

An incredible Antelope Jackrabbit watched us from a Creosote bush across the way. Its ears were longer than its entire body. Did you know, Jackrabbits don’t drink water? I guess they get enough from the foods they eat.

We put grapefruit out and have a family of Gila Woodpeckers that visited us throughout a good part of the day.

Not many hummingbirds come to the feeder but Goldfinches seem to enjoy eating out of it. Even the woodpeckers manage to use the hummingbird feeder, even though they are about four times bigger than the hummingbird. They perch on the window frame (the feeder is on the window beside the kitchen table); lean over; and stick their incredibly long tongues into the little holes in the feeder. Where there’s a will – there’s a way.

We brought some good field books on the birds; animals; cacti and wildflowers for the Southwest but they never look exactly like the pictures so we’re not always sure. We think we had a Hepatic Tanager feeding on the grapefruit we hung on the tree (the birds seem to love them) and we have heard the coyotes at night, very close to where we are parked.

The Crucifixion Thorn plant is rare but we found one right by where we parked. The thorns are extremely long and sharp and can easily puncture the sole of even a heavy hiking boot. The plant looks dead but apparently doesn’t start to blossoms until June or July.

A Fishhook Cactus with it bright yellow fruit is just over on the other side of the wash (a wash is a dried up creek bed) and the whole area is scattered with Saguaro Cacti

– some standing on-guard (I expect guarding the US/Mexican border from invasion from the foreign workers who jump the border) and others that look like soldiers doing multiarmed semaphore against the wispy-blue coloured sky background.

Organpipe Cactus National Monument is just down the road but we took a trail up behind Ajo that had more Organpipes than we remember seeing in the park.

We hear, more than see the doves and watch quail scurrying back and forth across the road. We met a tiny Horned Lizard (I did call it a horny lizard, but was quickly corrected) on the trail and then were visited by a Mexican fellow.

Juan (he told us Angel was his last name) seemed to show up out of nowhere dressed in a multitude of layers; a makeshift backpack and a Dixie Pride cap covering his thick, black hair. A good looking young fellow (he told us he was 37) with a full beard and bright alert eyes - obviously Mexican and obviously very hot and tired.
He stood out in the sun talking to Fred (who was sitting outside reading) and finally asked for a cigarette (but then Fred had to ask me cuz he doesn't smoke anymore and they are MY cigarettes) so I came out of the motorhome to visit.
Juan sat and told us stories for about an hour: how he worked up in Washington and Oregon picking apples and peaches; how, after he married his girlfriend, she changed and they are broke up; he taught us many words in Spanish and finally showed us a picture of his present girlfriend on his cell phone. He said he'd been walking for two day (and I believed him) and was heading back to Mexico. The ironic thing is that he had to sneak into the US but he has to sneak back into Mexico, too. If he let the Border Patrol take him back he would probably spend a couple of months in jail and from the sounds of him, he knows from experience.
Finally after an hour or so, a cup of coffee, Spanish lessons for us, a wet towel to wipe himself down, we told him he should be on his way - we were getting a little concerned he wouldn't leave and we were also concerned that we might get into trouble with the Border authorities.
He had the nicest looking teeth I've seen for a long time.

Talking about the Border Patrol – the Border Patrol is definitely the largest employer in town. The road (Highway 85) from Gila Bend through Ajo and Why to the US/Mexican border at Lukeville is crowded with Border Patrol, Highway Patrol, and Sheriff vehicles travelling back and forth. If they ever managed to construct an effective wall between the two countries – the unemployment here would rise at least 50%.

We’re going to go over to the RV Park (by the casino – on Indian Land) for a couple of days to clean everything out and then head back towards Yuma.

Quartzsite and Back to Yuma

Download"Jacob's Tails..." E-Book at

http://www.firstepbooks.com/

Click on the pictures to enlarge them

Quartzsite during the Big Tent is a zoo
The Big Tent is now the size of three football fields. The aisles are wider so it can accommodate more people but there doesn’t appear to be any more vendors. If anything, there may have been fewer vendors. Certainly there were lots of visitors to the tent but they tend to look rather than buy. There are three shows held in the tent. The RV show is the biggest, then the Arts and Craft Show and finally the Classic Cars.
The traffic was horrendous (as usual) and the 14 day BLM (Bureau of Land Management) Visitor Areas were packed beyond belief. In all our times visiting Quartzsite, we have never experienced so many people on the 14 day free areas but we did have a lizard who came to visit regularly.

We stayed at the High Jolly area so that I could scoot back and forth to the signings at the Reader’s Oasis Books place via the back road and avoid some of the traffic.

We never do sit still. Even at Quartzsite we tour around and often travel west on Highway 10 to Blythe, in California to do our grocery shopping and check out the citrus crops.








Wrong book – wrong venue!
It didn’t take me long to realize that I was not going to sell many books at the Reader’s Oasis Books place. People came in for two reasons: to find a particular book they were looking for (at a reasonable price) and have their pictures taken with Paul (the owner who wears a thong and a hat). In the total time I was there, Paul bought two books (wholesale), I traded books with another author there and I sold one book to a customer. BUT – a great bunch of writers (authors) and we did enjoy each others company.









Trading seems to be the way to relieve the RV of some of the weight of all those books. I now have a tin-man (that sits outside the RV when we’re parked); a magnetic anklet that guarantees it will help sooth your arthritis (which I don’t have); a jar of special moisturizing cream (that will keep your skin young and vibrant – doesn’t say anything about the rest of your body); two new T-shirts and four new visors.
We lasted a couple of weeks in Quartzsite and then migrated down to Yuma again. Our plan was to dry camp at the Cocopah Casino but the RV area was full; there were umpteen dozen RVs waiting in the parking lot to move in; and Security came around and more or less kicked us out – they told us we couldn’t stay in the parking lot. Well, like so many of our plans, we went on to plan B and called to see if we could rent a site in the Foothills.
The Foothills is primarily a residential area adjacent to Yuma. Every lot is surrounded by a 'Mexican brick' fence and most of the lots are set up to accommodate two units – some have gorgeous adobe homes - others smaller RVs. The folks we met around six years ago who 'took care of us' when Fred got sick, live in the Foothills and we were able to rent a site next door to them for a couple of weeks – AND we can hook-up with the WiFi – ah-h-h my world is feeling so much better!
As I told one of our friends, we probably know Yuma better than we know Lethbridge; we’ve been here so often.

The Desert has Lakes!
It’s fun when you find folks to explore new places with and Chuck and Sheila are just that type of a couple. Our first excursion was out to the Alamo Lake State Park. The trip out was more interesting than the Lake itself (although it is reputed to be the 5th largest lake in Arizona and a great fishing place).
The first place we stopped was at an old run-down set of buildings that sported a sign saying Garage Sale. Chuck described the fellow that ran the place as “the ugliest man I’ve ever seen”. He wouldn’t let me take his picture – that should tell you something – but I did get a couple of pictures of the building and the signs.







The next stop along the road was a For Sale Ranch. Now, for sale signs are not unusual anywhere in Arizona, but this place had some interesting paraphernalia gracing the fence and the stink it eluded was indescribable!







And then there was the back road we took back through Wickenburg! It started out not too bad gravel but the further we went the worse it got.
The terrain was fascinating with groves of Joshua Trees and huge many-armed Saguaro but when we finally reached the pavement at Hwy 93, we looked back at the sign that told us this road was no longer maintained. By this point – we knew that.









And, of course, when in Yuma, a trip to Algodones, Mexico is a inevitable. Algodones is south of Highway 10 from California but less than ½ an hour from Yuma and is one big Medical Center. Every street is lined with pharmacies, dentists, optical offices, doctors interspersed with vendors selling mostly leather, jewellery, and such.
Needless to say most visitors go down there to take advantage of the reasonable prices. As you walk down the street, you are inundated with hawkers who telling you everything is almost free and considering the price of drugs and medical services in the US, it could seem like that.
I got my teeth cleaned ($15.00 USD) and Sheila is getting new hearing aides for less than ½ what she would have to pay in Canada. We have never heard anyone complain about the dental work they have had done down there – all the way from cleaning to implants.
There are usually a number of Mexican Indians (Mayan) who peddle or beg on the street but this is the first year I have seen anyone with very different merchandise from Chiapas. Their goods are all hand-made and very colourful.


















No visit to the Yuma area is complete without a visit to a date farm and a date shake. This is what a date farm looks like! The dates grow in bunches near the top of the trees and usually harvested mechanically. The fields need to be flooded to encourage germination. They usually ripen right on the trees but some are picked before they ripen and are sun-dried. Basically they are sent off to a packing plant and washed; fumigated; sorted; packed and sold or made into sweet type things. Good medicinal-type qualities! The farms around here grow 'Medjool' dates that grow and keep well.









We’ll be leaving Yuma next week and are planning to go east – south probably to somewhere around Ajo and Why, AZ. But you know us – plans could change.

The Call of the Desert

Order "Jacob's Tails..." directly from the author

Check out the web site for the E-Book
http://www.firstepbooks.com/

Click on the pictures to enlarge them

“This is the setting for almost every cowboy movie I’ve seen (Roy Rogers, the Lone Ranger, Shane)” was my thought the first time I encountered the desert.

In my imagination, I watched the cowboy ride along the dusty trail across the barren desolate flatland. The only sign of possible life is the scraggly bushes and the occasional cactus scattered over the landscape. The rising dust settles on the intermittent plants and somehow makes them look even more dead and dried out.

Off in the distance craggy rocks and dirt rise up from the ground like someone has dumped the piles there to keep out any semblance of moisture. Above colourless terrain, the sun beats down from an endless intensely blue sky that is only interrupted by light wispy clouds.

Wow – what a great imagination!

. . . And the Call of the Casinos

The Casinos got in our way around Laughlin – that’s both good and bad! We stayed at the ‘Tropicana Express’ in Laughlin, NV (just across the Colorado River from Bullhead City, AZ) for about three weeks.

Most of the Casinos offer free parking and camping for RVs and it is surprising how full the lots are. Some will pull in just for the night; others for the week-end; and still other stay for a few weeks up to months on end.

We enjoyed our time there and managed to get six free nights at the hotel and partake of the most wonderful Prime Rib dinners at the buffet for $6.99 (as well as donate a bit of money to the Casino). Almost everyone (gamblers or not) was able to get at least a couple of free nights in the hotel. The ­long-long-long hot water showers were the greatest rewards (most RVs have about 5 gallon hot water tanks and limited waste water tanks; so long showers are highly valued). A lot of folks would actually go back to their rigs to sleep – your own bed is always better.

It’s interesting to see the parking lot communities develop even over a short a period of time. Close friendship are made that often last for months, if not years and you often hear RV’ers arrange to meet again further into the winter.

Each lot seems to have one or two RVs where people gather and visit. At the Tropicana, there were two Filipino sisters (with their spouses) who meet in Laughlin every year – one from Georgia and the other from Alaska. It’s the only time the sisters get to see one another and they spend a good part of the winter together right there.

Late each afternoon, a group usually gets together somewhere on the lot to play music or just sit around talking until dark.

Most RVers stop at the Casinos to revitalize; play for a while; renew old acquaintances; and make new ones. We did it all: we re-established a relationship with a gal we met way back in 2001 when we first started our winter excursions. Mya is a single woman in her 70’s from Minnesota. She’s been RVing on her own for years and now lives in her Motorhome full-time. I traded a book for a great little hand-made Tin-Man that Mya’s brother made. I know we’ll meet up with her again before we journey back home.

The Desert Bar

On our wat down to Quartzsite, we visited with a couple we met in Texas last year and took a trip up to Nellie’s Desert Bar. Now the "Nellie E Saloon" is built on an old mining camp site, way up into the Buckskin Mountains (hills) about 5 miles north of Parker, AZ and about 8 miles in on a road that looks like what it is – an old neglected mine road.

The entire place is “off the grid” – that is, it is run entirely by solar power and is only open on the week-ends.

Nellie’s bar is a popular place for 4-wheeler groups – the weekend warriors – to meet after their outings into the hills.

Ken, the owner, must have been a welder – there are metal sculptures all over the place and the church is all fabricated from metal.

Mud Volcanoes

Quartzsite is the old familiar stomping-grounds. We stayed there for about a month and I was able to have one book-signing at the Library and sold a couple of books. After that the old and familiar became quite unexciting so we went down to Yuma to visit, shop and explore.

That brought us to the Salton Sea Mud Domes or Mud Volcanoes at the Davis-Schrimpf field near the Salton Sea in the Imperial Valley, California only about an hour’s drive from Yuma.

These are geothermal formations which produce bubbling pots of mud and carbon dioxide gases escaping from beneath the surface crust. They don’t seem to know much about how they’re formed or why they happen but they are fascinating.

I had better get this up on line – next venture will be book signings at the Readers’ Oasis Books (owned by the fellow who is attired in a thong and a hat) during the Big Tent Shows in Quartzsite.

I'll honestly try to get the BLOG up more often - sometimes, there's really nothing to say - and Life Goes On!

California – Here We Come

Order "Jacob's Tails..." directly from the author

Check out the web site for the E-Book
http://www.firstepbooks.com/

Click on the pictures to enlarge them

We left Oregon in a flurry of rain, mist and fog – Surprise – but that did make for some incredible seas.

Our route was all mapped out – down Hwy 101 to Hwy 20, then across the hills to Hwy I-15 at Williams, California. Our first mistake was listening to the gal who ran a coffee shop we stopped at.

“Oh, don’t do that,” she told us, “that’s a terrible road across. Take 299 across to Redding – it’s a lot better road – four lanes most of the way.”

We’re still not sure if she was confused, ON something, or thought it would be a good joke to play on these outsiders.

What a road! Not the four-lane she assured us of (it had the occasional third passing lane) – it twisted in and out and up and down through the Redwood trees; around the side of one mountain with a hairpin turn at the bottom that took us over to the next set of mountains only to wind up and down though the Redwoods over there and onto the next.

IF it hadn’t been so rainy AND if we hadn’t been in an RV AND if we had a sense of where we were going, I think it would have been a great trip BUT it was raining; we were in the RV AND we didn’t have clue where we were.

“Oh, I can make it in two and ½ hours in the car,” she told us. Well those two hours took us around five!

We finally came out at Highway I-5 near Redding. Even though Interstate highways are not my favourites, it was a nice to find the BIG straight highway with all the trucks and cars whizzing by.

Love the coast: don’t like the never-ending rain. Now we were out of the rains and in a completely different terrain. The hills (mountains, they call them) and fields were the muted colours of fall that held notice that winter was not far away. The road wondered along fields, orchards and vineyards and through rolling, rounded hills dotted with clusters of green trees and shrubs – mostly oak, I found out later.

At first I thought the mist was fog, but then realized that it wasn’t a mist, it was a haze generated by the smog sitting over the entire San Joaquin Valley.

Welcome to California!

The Oak Trees here are a lot different than the ones we saw in Alabama (the Live Oak) but still fascinating. They dot the fields and clump in bunches throughout the hills.

My research into the Oak Trees of California actually describes them as Tree Oak and Shrub Oak. They site about nine different tree species, twelve different shrub species and various hybrid species.

They are incredibly prolific, given the right climate. One thing that distinguishes oak from other trees is that they produce acorns. The Natives used the acorns for food. They would make a kind of a mush and use it in breads and puddings and such. It is said to be very nutritional and is cited as being the foundation for a long healthy life.

Once we hit the Park of the Sierras (an Escapee Park just south of Yosemite National Park, about 30 miles north of Fresno), we were ready to slow down for a while. We had some problems with the brake system in the car and arrived there with a dead car battery. It was nice to find folks who were willing to help.

What a great place to take a break. Unlike most RV Parks that resemble parking lots with the occasional tree, POS (as they call it) is built on the side of a hill and the sites are scattered in and amongst the trees. The roads wind and climb throughout the whole area and each site is its own unique landscaped alcove.

We only spent a week or so in this part of California and leaving wasn’t easy either. We took the BIG Highway heading towards Arizona, only to be confronted with a major traffic jam.

At the top of the hill we discovered a completely burnt-up motorhome on the side of the road. Now that was scary! It sure reminded us you how extra cautious you have to be. (It bothers me that there is no escape window in the bedroom and there should be!)

We did pull off a couple of times so I could get some pictures of the hundreds of wind mills that went on for miles along the ridge of the whole Tehachapi Valley.

Unlike our usual routine, we drove well into the night. Along the way, we stopped at Needles, CA for a bite to eat only to realize it was the same restaurant we stopped at with Ann & Eldon (a couple we travelled with) eight years ago.

The desert was calling and we arrived at the Avi Casino (right at the corner of California, Arizona and Nevada) both being very tired.

It’s funny how you can get so tired even though you aren’t actually driving.