Wednesday April 17th, 2019

Today was a prep day, so we can roll on down the road to see the kids in LA on Thursday. We did our chores, packed for the trip and took a siesta. We decided to try one more Mexican meal. We kept it local and ate at Casa Blanca in Desert Hot Springs. I read they had a good Happy Hour – and it was for sure! I had the Blue Margarita and JP had a Tequila Sunrise. The food was good but the drinks were awesome! No skimping on the alcohol and for a mere $4.50 you were blurry eyed before your chips and salsa were gone. It was a fun night out and I had my favorite Margarita so far! I’ll still be on the prowl though – just to be sure it’s truly the winner!  We hit the hot tub after dinner (boy I’m going to miss that) and hit it early so we could make the move in the AM. 

Tuesday april 16th, 2019

We were up and at ’em and on the road early (which means by 10:00). I searched on atlas obscura and found Desert Christ Park and since it wasn’t out of our way we decided to visit. It’s located on a hillside just on the edge of town in Yucca Valley with hills on one side of the road and and apartments on the other. We took the self-guided tour and met a lady who is one of the caretaker volunteers there. She was cementing blue glass bubbles inside a well between 2 statues. The bubbles will eventually fill the well and each represents a dollar donated to the Park. It was very peaceful and unusual because of it’s location and the passion of one man. The park entry is by donation only and there are only 4 caretaker volunteers total.  The park was created by Frank Anton Martin who sculpted over 40  white concrete sculptures on the sight over a 10 year period. If you’re curious there is a lovely website:  http://www.desertchristpark.org

Our next stop called to us from a billboard. So on to Tortoise Rock Casino! It’s a small casino but had lots of new slots we’d never seen before and they were happy to give us 10.00 in free play so  . . . we played for a couple of hours, had tons of fun and left with every cent we went in with! So it was a fun-for-free casino experience!

Our next destination was Joshua Tree National Park. It was odd seeing a landscape with Yucca plants and Joshua Trees instead of the Saguaro we’ve grown accustomed to in our Arizona travels. The park was pristine and every campground full. The rock formations were huge and there were tons of hikers. The wildflowers were in bloom and the sky was ever changing, with clouds, clear skies and a few times what looked like rain in the distance.

Somebody is traveling large! We saw this bus and I have to admit – I was a little bit jealous! 

Friday April 12th – Tuesday April 15th, 2019

JP and I had 6 days at Desert Hot Springs. It’s not so much a destination, but it’s close to Palm Springs and the cities around it.   JP drove me to all kinds of shopping and that in turn took us to see more of the area. I was happy to have some retail therapy! 

We were in Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, La Quinta and Palm Springs. Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was going on while we were here, so we didn’t venture out that direction.  According to  Goldenvoice attendance is 99,000 per-day during the six days of Coachella. That’s two 3 day weekends. The revenue is over 115 million! It’s fun to watch on TV but I can’t imagine the crowds, the heat, the lines! Plus its a little spendy – General admission passes are $429 and the Festival Pass/Shuttle Combo is $509. The only effect the Festival had on us was the high price of gas and our RV spot cost jumped up on the festival days.    

Harry and Suzanne told us to try our new favorite restaurant in Palm Desert – Sherman’s Deli and Bakery. It was SO good! We split a pastrami sandwich and fries and had the best key lime pie ever! 

Even though marijuana is legal in lots of states, some of the dispensaries around Palm Springs look much like spas. The billboards are clever and funny too. No sign of Grateful Dead tees or crazy paraphernalia, instead very modern, tasteful, professional and high end businesses! 

Palm Springs has a large LGBTQ population. Palm Springs has the highest per capita gay population in the US. As a matter of fact – this year voters elected the nation’s first city council consisting entirely of members of the LGBTQ community. Palm Springs also has one of the first LGBTQ Radio Stations. 103.1 is “Q” Radio and the funniest billboards we’ve seen!

Thursday April 11th, 2019

Mike and Ann were packed and ready to hit the road when they picked us up in the morning. We went into Palm Springs for breakfast downtown at the Broken Yolk. We had a huge breakfast and did some window shopping before they brought us back to camp and headed north to Clovis. We had a hella’ good time with them between Sunday when they arrived and Thursday when they headed home. JP and I spent the rest of the day relaxing and plotting our route north at the end of the month.

Wednesday April 10th, 2019

Suzanne had an early flight but we slept in a bit. We had  another great breakfast with some crazy good bakery good, and spent the better part of the morning having coffee and visiting with Harry. There’s no doubt they have taken hospitality to a new level! Everything was perfect! We loaded up and left hoping to miss traffic but it seems in Calif. you’re hard pressed to escape it.

We rolled into Desert Hot Springs in time for dinner at South of the Border. And YES Margarita’s were involved! Ann and I even bumped it up to the Cadillac Margarita. Yet the search continues . . . for the PERFECT Margarita!

Tuesday April 9 th. 2019

We woke up to a lovely breakfast and coffee’d up for our day. We split into 2 cars and drove to the border parking. We walked into Mexico and started our adventure. We traveled by bus, by van, by city bus and in something like a golf cart (with 6 of us plus the driver it probably looked like a clown car !) According to my pedometer we walked 6 miles too – so we covered some territory!

Our main destination was  La Bufadora in Ensenada. Its a natural phenomenon where the waves come up through the rocks with just the right force to make for an awesome and unpredictable wave of spray. 

The street is lined with merchandise and food vendors. You can sample pina coladas at about every other booth and there was fresh seafood in half shells and every kind of bakery good you can think of.

We finished the day in Tijuana. We made a stop at a corner vendor that sold Camechana (a seafood cocktail) so Mike and Ann could give it a try, Harry and Suzanne are fans but I decided to hold out for dinner. We walked the town a bit, and visited the fish market. 

We did some shopping on the way to dinner. Ann was able to find a treasure to take home and I got a souvenir for a friend. The downtown near our dinner destination was made up of stores (rather than booths) and had more interesting shopping.

We ate at Caesar’s in Tijuana. The story is  Caesar Salad was originally created here back in the day and it’s still their trademark menu item. The menu prices were in Pesos so it looked a little scary at first (180.00 for an appetizer!) but alas once converted to USD it was all good! We had a great dinner and of course Margarita’s! 

 Apparently I’m on a quest to have a Margarita everywhere I go (in search of the PERFECT Margarita).  I’ll let you know when I’ve found it!

Harry and Suzanne were great tour guides! Suzanne speaks Spanish and that lends a lot to knowing more of what’s going on around us. They had everything planned out and covered all the details (including water and sunscreen). A fun day in the sun in Mexico!

Side note: We saw this window display coming into Mexico. I, loving all things odd and unusual, thought it was awesome! I’m not sure I know any dogs that require this kind of fashion but it tickled my fancy!

Monday April 8th , 2019
We left early, hit McDonalds for a quick breakfast and met up with Jerry’s brother Harry for a full whirlwind of a day in and around San Diego.

Our first stop was Old Town San Diego. We wandered through the Old Town buildings, and did some pre-shopping for our trip to Mexico. 

Next we drove to La Jolla and then to Imperial beach.

We got to Balboa Park near closing time so we did a quick trip around the grounds, looked in on the Japanese Garden, Botanical Building and Lily Pond. Even though time was short the buildings alone are worth the trip.

We stopped in for a late lunch at Soda & Swine (meatballs are the specialty but they had great salads too)! Next stop was the Hotel Del Coronado which was lovely! It’s been around since 1887 and is very impressive! It sits on a beautiful beach and has tons of old world charm. The elevator and the chandelier were really cool!

After a full day of touring the hot spots in San Diego we kicked back with Harry and Suzanne and had an awesome meal at home before we hit the hay. It was lights out in no time. What a great day!

Sunday April 7th, 2019 

Ann and Mike our friends from Bandon (who also live in Clovis Calif) checked into their park model here at the KOA mid-day. We planned on a Mexican dinner but after Happy Hour (and lots of silliness and laughter) we decided to eat in, so we put together a myriad of snack foods and made a plan for the AM getaway to San Diego.

Thursday April 4th – Saturday April 6th, 2019
We were glad to be back in Desert Hot Springs at the Joshua Tree KOA, especially since there’s all the good stuff like mineral hot tubs, a pool and laundry room. I was missing good cell service and WiFi! We used our 2 days here to get caught up, stocked up and cleaned up, before our friends come in on Sunday.

Friday, March 22nd – April 3rd, 2019

Blog Post from JP:

This was our second year at Alamo lake. The fishing was difficult as the water temps were about 3 weeks behind last year’s. Fish were scattered throughout the lake and remained elusive the whole time we were there. Being able to get across the lake or all the way to the East end, where rumor had it, the fishing was better, required a bass boat, or at least a motor boat. The people I spoke with weren’t really catching any more fish than us, they just didn’t have to row their asses off to get ’em.
Being on the lake before sun up is amazing. Sitting at water level, rowing quietly toward the target fishing area. The burros were all at the shore watering up for the day. Eagles and vultures were circling above the lake looking for breakfast. The sky was shades of pink and blue. This year there was a fire across the lake that was started by a careless camper and it burned for days. Watching it devour the desert from my pontoon boat was fascinating. I fished 4-6 hours each day, sometimes I got out early and in the late evening. I caught Bass each day (almost) it took me two days to really find where they were and what they wanted to eat. Then coaxing them to take the bait is always the tricky part. I fooled several smallish fish and was quite pleased until I hooked a really large bass. This fish exploded from the bush and made me suck air really loud. Then, without any concern for my feelings or pride the fish spit the hook. I would no longer be happy with the smallish fish and was more determined than ever to catch large bass. Several days went by with fish not photo worthy. Two days before we had to leave, I hit the water a bit earlier and went straight to the lair of the big boy. The first two casts were short and the third landed in the brush just above where I was wanting to fish. I gently jiggled my bait loose from the bush and it dropped gently into the water. I reeled up the slack and suddenly felt a shocking strike. I set the hook and new immediately this was a big bass. He jumped several times close to the pontoon boat and splashed water in my face, I was in awe of his girth and large head. After a few minutes he came to hand and was photo’d and released. That moment he hit my bait and the moment I had a grip on him is the reason I will return to Lake Alamo Arizona next year.     JP
And  . . . Our trip to Lake Alamo got extended by 5 days because  2 stops at other lakes had to be cancelled due to foul weather. So we’re here for 12 nights. There’s no Wi-Fi and cell coverage only if JP drives me out a ways and up a hill. So it’s peace and quiet and hopefully bass and crappie. We won’t be doing much exploring or side trips while we’re here but hopefully I’ll have a daily fish count!

Friday March 22nd, 2019
Travel Day

Saturday March 23rd, 2019
JP fished AM and PM but no catch.
He used his downtime to meet other fishers and collect info on the lake. The consensus is – “It’s gonna pick up next week.”

Sunday March 24th, 2019
There was a tournament at the lake so there were lots of boats. JP had some hits and caught a 2 pound bass.

Monday March 25th, 2019
3 Bass on – none landed

Tuesday March 26th, 2019
No fish caught but there have been some beautiful skies in the evening. JP is loving being here and I’ve been keeping busy reading and writing. It’s a little tough being without Wi-Fi and little cell but we’ve been able to work around it with evening drives to where we can be connected and see a sunset!

Wednesday March 27th, 2019
4 pound Bass and 5 lesser Bass

Thursday March 28th, 2019
We took a day away from Alamo and drove into Wickenburg. We’ve visited here before so the day was centered around getting supplies and having a good meal. We had lunch at the Ranchero Restaurant and it was perfect. I’d read about their Legendary (won 18 awards) Margarita and I knew I made the right choice when the waitress said “That a girl”! It’s so much more fun grocery shopping after a bird bath sized margarita! It was a bit of a day trip but a nice change of pace.

Friday March 29th, 2019
JP pulled a muscle so we kicked it at camp so he could recoup. We took a drive to look for the crazy wild burros we hear making strange noises in the camp at night. They certainly look more docile than they sound after dark!

Saturday March 30th, 2019
JP went AM fishing and then we both went out for the late afternoon fish. He caught one and I had a hit but no catch. We pulled the pontoons out on a bank and hiked up a hill to see what all the burro screaming was about. There were a dozen Burris divided into 3 groups. Evidently it’s getting to be mating season so there was some snortin’ and kickin’ and hustlin’ going on. It sounded awful! I screamed my best imitation of their braying/screaming back at them but the only response was their stares. I guess I don’t speak burro.

Sunday March 31st, 2019
Woah! The weekend has been jam packed! JP didn’t even want to give it a go. We counted over 60 trucks with boat trailers in one parking lot. A good day to take care of camp chores but not for pontooning.

Monday April 1st, 2019
The AM after a busy weekend leaves lots of wood left behind in the campgrounds so JP gathered enough for campfires until we pull out.

It was a good fish day. JP caught a nice one! A 4 pound bass and an even bigger one that got away.

Tuesday April 2nd, 2019
Last day to fish and a forecast of wind so JP was on the water by 6:00. The water was dirty and no fish to be found so we got ready to roll in the AM.