Wow - the wind has been a blowin - - -

The winds picked up last night and kept the trailer rockin all night long.  I don't think I got more than 3 hours of sleep but Lou managed to sleep like a baby.  At one point this morning I actually had to open the door to make sure the Slide Toppers were still on the trailer.  I have never experienced so much wind while in the trailer. 

While Lou went out to re-fill our water jugs for the cooler I managed to get some things done around the trailer.   I pull out the patio mat and found some large rocks to keep it down.  Out came the chairs, tables and bar-b-q.  I also managed to take a few photos from our site.

The view from our door. 

Our site #425

Looking up our street.

I had a visitor.

In the afternoon some friends came up from Palm Springs.  They took us for a drive through Palm Springs and through some RV parks down in the Palm Springs area in case we decide to spend our second week down there instead of up here in Desert Hot Springs.  We also drove through a couple of very expensive neighborhoods - wow. 

 

You know you're in Palm Springs ...

 

Finally - Desert Hot Springs, CA

Once again we were both up before 5am so we had a leisurely breakfast and pulled out of the Orange Grove RV Park just before 8:00.  It is a long gradual climb over the Tehachapi Pass with nothing to see so it made us wish we were still sleeping.  We decided to stop in Tehachapi and fuel up before heading over the Mohave Desert. We followed Hwy 58 East to Barstow, then Hwy 15 and 215 to Redlands and then Hwy 10 to Desert Hot Springs.  We arrived at the RV Park just after 12 noon.  I took a few pictures along the way so enjoy!

 You may notice that most of the drive was kind

of cloudy until we got closer to Palm Springs. 

We arrived at the Sands and it was a very nice sunny 76F.

Will take pictures around the Resort tomorrow.

A *mostly* uneventful day of driving down through California.

We left the Rolling Hills Casino RV Park in Corning this morning at 7:45 heading south down the I-5.  It was a cool 38F and although the sun was coming out - it was very hazy.  As most of the trip was very flat driving, we set the Cruise Control to 58 MPH and slotted in with all the trucks.  

 

At Stockton we hopped over to Hwy 99 and continued south.  Almost all the highways are getting upgrades and there is a lot of construction which at one point almost gave me a heart attack.  We had trucks on either side of us and the road took a jog to re-align - the truck on our right didn't want to jog I guess and almost ran us into the truck on our left.  OMG!!!  I think I almost pulled the grab handle off the truck.  Lou - the typical truck driver didn't understand what I was so worked up about.  Again I say OMG!!! 

 

We stopped in a little place called Livingston for fuel and lunch and were back on the road in 20 minutes.  While driving along it was very boring as the only thing to see was miles and miles of orchards on both sides of the highway.  At Bakersfield we turned off onto Hwy 58 and then about 10 miles later turned off to the Orange Grove RV Park.  We arrived at 3:15 and the temperature was a balmy 65F.

 

This is a really nice park with large pull-through, level, gravel sites which have full hookups and free cable and WiFi.  Each site has orange trees that are loaded and you are encouraged to pick yourself some fresh fruit.  This is our site.

We grabbed a bag and picked a bunch or yummy, juicy oranges.

These trees are loaded with oranges of all sizes.

 

All washed and ready to eat!

 

Miles traveled today: 403

 

 

Up and down ... up and down. One pass after another.

After a fairly good night of sleep we were up by 6am.  It wasn’t as cold out as expected so we both opted to try the showers we had heard such great reviews about.  The private washrooms are large and spotless.  Here is our lovely site.

After a leisurely breakfast we closed things up as we prepared to hit the road once again.  We decided to check the tire pressures and noticed that the trailer tires really should be topped up so we stopped at the office to finalize our bill ($35 after players club discount and Good Sam discount) and  theysent us down to their Tire Shop. 

When we arrived down the hill at the shop there was a man waiting for us and after inspection found one of the tires had a screw in it.   They offered to fix it right away while we waited and it only cost us $14. The service here is nothing but amazing!  Doesn't the trailer look strange with only one wheel?

With an hour delay we hit the road at 10:30 with lots of low fog and an outside temp. of only 34F.  We drove up and down quite a few passes with snow on the roadside which was quite pretty.

 

By the time we started the climb up the Siskyou Pass the sun was out and it was warming up a little.

 This is the California Inspection Station where they just waved us on.

We stopped at a rest area for a bite to eat just north of Weed and it was still a little cool. 

We continued on and had some beautiful views of Mount Shasta but it had very little snow on it. 

By the time we got down to Redding – the outside temp. was reading 80F.   By the time we reached Rolling Hills Casino at 3:30, the temp was down to 66F.  We fuels up and went to pick out our rv space.  This is a really nice park with Elect/Water/Sewer for only $28.  No cable but - free Wifi. 

We hooked up the trailer and I immediately connected to the internet to upload the blog entry from yesterday.  After fiddling with the TV antenna – we finally got a few channels and then it was time to get dinner ready and eat.  After cleaning up we decided to walk up and check out the Casino.  We both signed up for the Player's Card and received $20 of free play.  After playing for about an hour we came back with about $45 - bonus!  We're heading to bed early and hoping for an early uneventful start tomorrow. 

Miles traveled today: 270

 

A very long day with little hiccups along the way.

We pulled out from The Cedars RV Resort in Ferndale, WA at 8:30 Sunday morning.  It was a cool 46F, cloudy and quite windy.

 

Just south of Bellingham it became foggy and a little rainy.  We had to make 2 stupid little quick stops - one because the leveling boards were in the box of the truck and bouncing and also because while driving the door for the battery compartment came open while we were driving. 

 

We took the 405 around Seattle and traffic was really quite good.   We decided instead of stopping for the night in Kelso, WA – we would just stop for fuel, lunch and a few groceries.  We did notice one of the trailer tires was low so we had to try a couple of gas stations before we found one with a working air hose and then we were back on the highway about an hour later.  We decided to stay on I-5 through Portland and traffic was just fine. 

We first noticed snow on the fields around Springfield but there wasn’t much and the roads were dry.  We decided that since all was good we would push on and head for Seven Feathers. 
 

We arrived at 5:45 and went straight to fill up with fuel before heading to the RV Park.   At Registration we were welcomed with hot cider and fresh coffee.  After a quick check-in we were escorted to our site – which is an end unit right beside the showers and laundry room.  After hooking up the RV and dropping the landing legs – we opened up the slides and put the furnace on to warm things up.  It was a chilly 46F so we turned on the electric fireplace and turned on a heater in the bedroom.  We used the courtesy phone to call for the free shuttle that took us to the Casino for a wonderful buffet dinner ($30 for 2). 

We headed back to the RV for some R & R and since the WIFI was down we turned on the TV for a bit and were in bed by 10:30.

Total miles for Sunday: 475

 With no internet hookup tonight - this will have to be uploaded sometime Monday.  By for now.

 

A busy day getting ready to roll.

Lou arrived home at 8:00am and after loading the truck and locking up the house, we were out the door around 8:30.  We crossed the border at the 176 St. 'truck crossing' through the Nexus lane within 5 minutes.  The regular line-ups were at least 60 minutes as they were lined up back to the Truck Scales.  We love Nexus!

 

At the RV we unloaded the truck and I set about putting clothes away and organizing things for the trip.  Lou was outside puttering with the annoying leaks from the water hoses.  After he fixed one - he found another then another.  It looks like he will be replacing more of those pressure clamps put on by the manufacturer.  He went to the RV supply store and bought some replacement 1/2" hose and new clamps to fix things up.  Fingers crossed.   

 

After a while we took a break and opened our Christmas parcels from Muriel that arrived yesterday.  With the usual yummy homemade treats of Christmas Cake, Chocolate covered pretzel sticks, chocolate cherries etc. there was a snuggly pair of knitted slippers for me.  A very special gift this year was an old fashion Santa.  He has a lovely red velvet coat trimmed with fur.  The fur is from Lou's Mom's fur coat.  Muriel had met a lady in September at the craft fair who made them and couldn't resist.  The face and hands are porcelain and it is the most beautiful keepsake.  Look for yourself - isn't it lovely?

 

We headed out to the Post Office to mail Muriel's Christmas parcel and dropped into Haggen's for a few last minute groceries.  Back at the RV we kicked back for a relaxing afternoon and will soon have dinner and then watch the Canucks as they do battle with the Boston Bruins.  

 

 

De-Winterizing the Rig

Lou went down to the RV this morning to take it out of storage, put it on a site to hook up the water, electric and opened the slides.   The first thing he wanted to check was the water leak at the outside shower that was leaking before we winterized it.  He had replaced the piece of water hose and the cheap clamps that came from the manufacturer while it was in storage and wanted to check it with water pressure going to it.  He said all he needed to do was tighten the new clamps a little and everything was good - no drips!

 

Tomorrow morning he will pick me up at home and we will head back down with the cat and get everything put away and ready for travel.  The weather has warmed up above the freezing levels but now we are just getting our regular winter rain, rain and more rain.

 

Fingers still crossed for warmer temperatures on the I-5 through Oregon and California.