Daily Archives: January 13, 2014

January 13, 2014 San Dimas, California

We left Palm Desert and headed west toward the Los Angeles basin area.  It has been fun seeing all the street names in the Palm Desert area! 1-P1030708 Not far from Palm Desert, in the community called Cathedral City, we came upon an amazing sight.  There were thousands of windmills as far as the eye could see as we drove along the interstate. 2-P1030715 3-P1030722 4-P1030725 5-P1030744 Some of the windmills were operating and some were not working on this particular day.  We had been seeing windmills in our travels for quite some time, particularly in Arizona and California, but none compared to this sight.

We pulled into the East Shore RV Park, a regional park in San Dimas, about a 30 minute drive from Los Angeles, If you pick the right time to drive the freeway.  I have driven on many traffic clogged roads in and around D.C. as well as throughout the country, and I have never been as unnerved by traffic as I was by the California freeways!  Bill, on the other hand, is unfazed by the traffic.  I don’t know how he drives an RV through all that traffic!!!  We were totally in love with our campsite which had a breathtaking view of the valley below, as well as a paved pad, shade trees, and even grass! 6-IMG_20140113_135842 It has been awhile since we saw much in the way of grass and trees!  At night we could see twinkling lights from the valley below, clear skies shining with stars, and a beautiful full moon.

On Tuesday we drove into the Los Angeles area 01-P1030766and toured the Brer Tar Pits, 02-P1030776  and then drove through Beverly Hills past a statue of John Wayne, 03-P1030777 11-IMG_20140114_135918 05-P1030782 cruised down Rodeo Drive, 04-P1030780 10-IMG_20140114_134318and enjoyed the sights in Hollywood. 06-P1030786 We then went over to Studio City to be part of the audience during the taping of “Last Man Standing” which airs on ABC on Friday nights. 09-P1030803 08-P1030801 Miriam Trogdon, a high school friend of mine, is a writer on the show and got us VIP tickets to the taping.  We had great seats; front row, center, and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing how a tv show is taped.

While in the LA area we spent some time shopping around for some solar panels for the RV so that we too can be desert boondockers!

Thursday morning we awoke to the sound of helicopters flying overhead and when we opened the curtains we could see a considerable amount of smoke in the distance. 1-IMG_20140116_095319 A fire, started by some careless campers, spread during the day to over 1700 acres and more than a dozen homes were destroyed.  We were about 6 miles from the area of the fire and just outside of the evacuation area.  We watched helicopters land on the lake below us to reload water and we kept a watchful eye on the local news throughout the morning.  California is suffering from a 3 year drought and there is a constant threat of fire.  The entire southwest seems very dry…in fact we can’t remember the last time we had rain.  Every day brings clear, bright blue skies with no hint of clouds or the possibility of rain.

Thursday evening we drove the short distance to Sierra Madre where we had dinner with Miriam and her husband Michael. 5-IMG_20140116_223449 3-IMG_20140116_221846 They have a beautiful home in the foothills.  It was so good seeing a high school friend and reminiscing about the past and sharing details about our lives today.

You never know what you will see in California! 2-IMG_20140117_100749 Our time in San Dimas went by much too quickly and we have plans to return in November.  With the exception of freeway traffic, we love California!!