Yuma, Palm Desert, Hemet, Acton & Ridgecrest, CA 2018

After our fun time in Quartzsite we headed back to Yuma, AZ for two weeks so Bill could attend the Yuma Hamfest in mid February.  He had a great time and we enjoyed a sort of reunion picnic get together with a large group from the Quartzsite Hamfest as well as a banquet the last night of the Hamfest.
Leaving Yuma we spent a couple days at a casino on the Arizona, California, Mexico border with free RV parking.  We were amazed at the large number of RVs camped out there. We went inside and signed up for a free players card with $5 loaded on it.  Because it was my birthday I was given an additional $5. It didn’t take us long to lose that $10 at the slot machines. I was very content to walk away at that point.  I am glad neither of us have a gambling desire! We actually enjoyed parking at the casino. It was quiet and very secure with lots of roaming 24 hour security.IMG_20180217_155812
On February 20 we continued on to Palm Desert, CA.  Along the way we passed by the Salton Sea which we could see in the distance. We visited the Salton Sea in 2014.  It is a shallow lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault. Its surface is 236 feet below sea level. The lake’s salinity is greater than the water in the Pacific Ocean.  We also saw agricultural areas with citrus trees and plants. I loved the tall palm trees in the distance.IMG_20180221_120847IMG_20180221_121147IMG_20180221_121237

As we drove we noticed the elevation levels on our GPS fluctuating from below sea level to just above sea level. We are in the desert now!IMG_20180221_122506IMG_20180221_123708

We arrived at the Palm Springs Thousand Trails RV Resort where we stayed in 2014.  It is a beautiful area, part of the greater Palm Springs area with streets named Frank Sinatra, Gerald Ford and Dinah Shore.  You can see billboards advertising such services as the ability to freeze your fat and then re-sculpt your body.IMG_20180224_150535IMG_20180224_151003

It is a beautiful area with blue skies and tall palm trees.  On the downside, the traffic is frustrating and since we are now in California, gas is well over $3.00 a gallon.  When shopping you need to remember to take in your own bags so you don’t have to pay for plastic bags; aluminum cans and plastic bottles all have deposits which adds up quickly.

While in Palm Springs we visited a college friend of Bill’s he hadn’t seen in over 40 years.  We had a nice visit and dinner with Leo and his wife Kathy.IMG_20180224_163543

Also while in Palm Springs we drove over to Hemet to Hemet Dermatology to have a skin cancer spot removed from my leg.  On the way we went through a mountain pass where they had snow during the night. It was beautiful. After the surgery I had to take it easy and wear a tight ace bandage on my leg for 10 days. Unfortunately the rest of our time in Palm Springs was spent with my leg elevated and wrapped.IMG_20180227_064905IMG_20180227_071427IMG_20180227_090700

Next up was Hemet for a week at an RV resort we stayed at twice before in 2014.  We really like Hemet and the Golden Village Palms RV Resort. I continued to recover there and one day we drove over to Menifee to meet Bill’s friend Bob for dinner. Bob and Bill worked together in 1980.

We visited the Hemet Public Library to use their free internet.  I was very impressed with their library, including a way to check out books after hours using an outside library access.  You just reserve the books ahead of time and the carousel lets you retrieve your book without going inside. Really impressive!IMG_20180308_112416

Across from the library at the fire station was a pretty mural.IMG_20180307_155935

Our time in Hemet went by quickly and we headed to our next stop at a Thousand Trails Resort in Acton, CA.  20180313_104833

While there, we left the RV and flew to Florida for the wedding of Bill’s youngest son Sean in Vero Beach on St Patrick’s Day.  We took the red eye flight from Los Angeles to Orlando. We arrived early in the morning pretty tired. We picked up the rental car and met our friends Peter and Beth for lunch in Bushnell.  We last saw them at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in October. It is always great to see them. Sure wish we could have spent more time with them but this was a short visit to Florida.

We enjoyed our stay in Vero Beach with Bill’s sweet Aunt Charlotte. We took her to dinner one night to celebrate her 88th birthday. She is truly amazing.20180316_184939

It is always great to see the Atlantic Ocean and the beautiful Florida beaches!IMG_20180316_12040920180316_114800

Saturday, St Patricks Day, we attended the wedding of Sean and Cathy.  A beautiful wedding and joyous day. We wish them many many years of happiness.IMG_20180317_16584220180317_16253520180317_162950

The next day it was back to Orlando and the long flight back to L. A. One reason we chose Acton was because it was only an hour from the L. A. airport and we could safely leave the RV.

The next day we drove into Hollywood to Sunset Boulevard to tour the CNN building.20180319_103245

Bill’s cousin Jeff works there and graciously offered to give us a private tour of the building. Picture taking is not allowed in much of the building for security reasons so we have only a few pictures to share.IMG_20180319_123058IMG_20180319_115604

Jeff did take us to the roof of the building for a great view of Los Angeles and the Hollywood sign.IMG_20180319_110320IMG_20180319_110438IMG_20180319_110222IMG_20180319_110216

We had planned on staying in Acton and visiting Bill’s cousin George in nearby Castaic, but we saw alarming weather forecasts for torrential rains, flooding and mudslides from all the recent fires. So we quickly packed up and moved early to our next destination of Ridgecrest, CA.  We passed by some really cool rock formations on the way. We plan to be back in the Acton area in the fall and will have to check out this area some more.20180320_14002320180320_140047

We are currently at the Ridgecrest Elks Lodge, a great place to stay with full hookups for $20 a night. We have had some rain and the winds are gusting up to 40 MPH. All should be much better tomorrow (Friday) when we head to Death Valley National Park about 100 miles from Ridgecrest for five days.  We are both really looking forward to it since neither of us has ever been there before.

Leave a Reply