3/13/2013 Wednesday
   Had a nice chat with the owners of the other Casita.  Left about 8:30 (our usual departure time) with a gorgeous sunrise.  We continued on the 58 .  We were up and over the Tehachapi pass before Jerry had a chance to worry!  Saw a helicopter on a flatbed truck pass us...Then down the other side...rolling green hills. The first in forever!   We then hit the 99 and went north.  Wildflowers, orange groves, and trees in bloom everywhere!!  A beautiful drive...Much better than I-5

Stopped at a truck stop for gas and the smell of these amazing trees overpowered the diesel smell.  I asked a fellow sweeping up and he told me they are almonds!  The smell was like marzipan or amaretto!  wonderful!  And it looked like snow underneath.

      We hadn't been in contact with our friends, the Peskoffs since January.  We had read on Facebook that they were moving near Modesto and they called on Tuesday out of the blue!  Lisa told me they had just moved into a house in Turlock the week before and would we like to use their driveway?!!  You know our answer!  Boondocking with friends and family is the best!  Turlock is south of Modesto on Highway 99. 

 And they had a pool!

    Pool party after school!!  Probably 80 degrees!  Pool.....55!!!  Lilly is the second from the left and in 5th grade.  Hannah is the 4th from the left and is 13 and in the 7th grade.

      We had a lovely time and even got to attend Lilly's science fair!  Learned a lot!  Oh, the memories of having two girls ;-). So much catching up and they will be up for our yearly party!

3/14/13 Thursday

      We left in the morning as everyone scattered to their respective weekday places and drove about 30 min. down the road to Jerry's brother, Tom's house in Riverbank just north of Modesto. 

      We talked and laughed and caught up.  There was even a slideshow of many of our thousands of pictures.  They asked to see them!  Really, they did!  I'm sure none of the rest of you will dare!  After a lovely lunch of Burritos (it's Mexican week at the Mayville's!) we headed north to see how close to home we could get!

Sacramento

     After driving a bit to boondock again north of Sacramento,  I told Jerry I was tired and to stop somewhere so we paid $35 at the Yolo County Fairgrounds in Woodland.  Not very picture worthy, but it did have electricity and water.

3/15/13 Friday

   We must have been getting closer to the barn because we were up and out of there by 6:30!  

Sunrise over the Viking pool factory on I-5.  Where our pool came from.

     Highway 20 was beautiful with green hills and redbud.  Lots of burned areas, though.  Sure is beautiful in our neck of the woods!!  Nothing like it.  Absence does make the heart grow fonder!  The sunshine didn't hurt either! 

 

 Needed some redwood shots with the Casita for the fellow in Texas at the Casita factory so took a few.

 Home sweet home at Mom's house showing off our Mardi Gras loot!

Catchin' up with Tom and Barb and Mom

     We got to Mom and Sue's just in time for a great lunch.  We visited a while and Jerry unhooked the Casita and drove to town to visit with Susie and his dad and do a quick job at an office in town ( no moss grows under his feet!)  I unloaded clothes etc. out of the trailer and visited and visited.  Jerry took Susie out to dinner and then came back.  We slept the last night in the Casita in Mom's driveway.

3/16/13 Saturday

      The ladies fixed us a glorious breakfast and away we went again.  Groceries and then 299!  Ohh how beautiful and sunny!  When we got to Salyer, the church was having a corned beef and cabbage feed so...let's make this trip as long as we can.  we stopped by and it was great!  Home by 1:00.  A gift on the gate from the sweet Taylors.

     Everything is wonderful.  The daffodils are in bloom, the redbud are just beginning and the house is just as we left it!  Thank you, Fultons!  I nested and washed clothes while Jerry took off on his 4 wheeler to check out the neighborhood.  He came back in an hour or so and told me we are having the Taylors and Fitzgeralds for drinks cocktails about 5.  What a neighborhood.  Had a great time talking Riverbend Politics and checking out our map of the trip.  

     Sure felt good in our own bed...

3/17/13 Sunday

    Still trying to put stuff away.  Took the cover off the pool and then we walked the hill with Janet (my weekend walking buddy).  After that it was off to Forrest's 4th birthday party at the Fulton's Farm.  Forrest is the boy I watch every Thursday and have missed so much on this trip.  He remembered me and we all had a great time frolicking with all the other little boys and their parents at the party. It was a super hero St Patrick's theme!

      That evening it was a great corned beef and cabbage dinner at the Taylor's lovely home.  Home and slept like the dead!

 3/18/13 Monday

      Jerry took the day off ???? and I watched Forrest.  Whew, what fun we had!  We cleaned the pool and caught frogs and read stories.  He hadn't taken a nap after his party so took a 3 hour one here.  What a sweet sweet boy!  He is really growing up!

3/19/13  Tuesday

     I made the mistake of calling the Willow Creek Open Door Clinic on Monday.    I just wanted to let them know I was back and could work when they need me and so I am working.....Not as bad as I anticipated, my brain does retain some stuff about computers.  Jerry went to town to set up jobs and do the Costco run.  I came home to a spaghetti dinner!  We caught up on some of our favorite TV shows like Dallas and Blue Bloods.  All are recorded just waiting for us to come home.  Ah, technology!

3/20/13  Wednesday

    Here we sit, a rainy day but we did get our walk in!  Jerry is starting the taxes and I am finishing this blog.  I have loved writing my thoughts and not knowing who is reading what.  Thanks for all the help and support and I think I didn't get homesick because of all of you!  See you soon!  Karen and Jerry says Hi!

     

3/12/13 Tuesday
     Heard another very close train in the middle of the night!  Discovered it was just across the road!   Got up early enough to enjoy the beautiful sunrise over the tops of the RVs.

      Nice and warm here.  Took a hot tub and Jerry even jumped in the heated pool.  The bird songs were amazing.  You would think that we were in the jungle and not in the middle of the desert!  Got to wear my new Texas shorts while I did 2 loads of laundry.  It was so warm by the time we left I didn't even change all day!  This area of the "Arizona Outback" as it is called seems to be a big ATV area.  We saw "old folks" hopping on their rides and heading out of the RV park.  Pretty cool!  Called my Mom to tell her I was afraid she would have to come get me because I didn't think I would be able to Pull Jerry away from the pool, but just then he came around the corner of the Casita and said he was ready.  It was 11:00!

     We headed a couple of miles south on hwy 60 and then turned onto hwy 72 north toward Parker.  Nice road, still a lot of smooth dips and then we started seeing wild flowers along the road.  Yellow,  dark purple ones and even some lupine   Seeing lots of RVs on this area, both on the road and parked.  Kind of looks like lots of folks live in them around here.  Th tiny hamlet of Bouse was cute with a big flea market going on and a very nice Veteran's memorial.

     We pulled over for lunch along the road and it happened to be where a lot of plastic had been dumped.  I'm feeling bad about all the bottled water and plastic grocery bags we've used....I drove from there.  Fun curves and dips but lots of BIG trucks!  I'm gettin' good at this.  North to Parker and then over the Colorado into California....No welcome sign or anything and at the agriculture inspection place they just waved us through and didn't even say hello...California needs to be a bit more welcoming.  we could learn a thing or two from that Southern Hospitality!  Caught the 95 north into Needles.  The desert keeps changing.  Always beautiful and very green since the rains.  Seeing yucca in bloom and the choya cactus is spectacular. Pix to follow.

     We have been seeing prices of around $3.39 per gal for gas so when we got to Needles and saw a $4.89 per gal. we felt welcomed back home!!!  What is wrong with California?   As we were leaving town (and no we did not buy gas there) Jerry said "Wasn't Snoopy's cousin from Needles? "   And he says he's not good with trivia.  We decided yes indeed and his name was Spike!

Crossing the Colorado for the last time!

      From Needles it was east on I 40.  Quite a few hills and elevation but our Hyundai did great.  No temperature change at all!  Now into Joshua trees out in the countryside.  In N Out burger in Barstow!!  WooHoo!  That's what's right about California!
      Got to the Sierra Trails RV Park in Mojave about 6:30 and we were placed next to a Casita!!!  Our first one on the trip!  Theirs is 13 years old and they love it!  Aahh cable again...but we have forgotten what's on on Tuesdays.

     I added pix to the last post, FYI. 

3/8/13  

     We did go to Scottsdale to check out the ballpark etc for the next day's game.  It was cold and a bit drizzly   The ride though Mesa where the Casita was parked to Scottsdale took 40 min on a beautiful, busy freeway.  We had no idea we were so far away!  We parked and checked out the sights.  It was after 5 so the shops were pretty locked up but there were lots of people around all decked out in their Giants gear.  The stadium here is devoted to just the Giants and their spring training games this time of the year.  You can tell it is a huge money maker for the area.  The shops are pretty high end.  We had dinner out and We ran into Dr. Spencer from the hospital!!  We then drove all the way back and crashed. 

3/9/13
      In the morning Jerry was soo excited we were on the road early to get to the ticket office by 10. We already had our tickets we had bought on the internet and printed at Sandy's house, but he just couldn't wait to get inside!

     As you all know, we have been trying to keep this trip as inexpensive as possible so bought nothing at the Giants stores but when we walked in we signed up for a raffle and got a Giants scarf and key chain each and when Jerry signed up for a new credit card we got this bag!  We had brought a lot of stuff  to prepare for cold and rain and had been carrying it in a plastic bag but now we were stylin'! 

    The field was covered when we first got there. The game the previous day had been called due to rain.  We walked all around the stadium and bought lunch.  Mine was a delicious chicken salad and Jerry had a terrible hot dog...And we also had some junk food!  :-)  The stadium was so much smaller that San Fran but still classy!  

    Our seats were the third row from the field on the foul line down from third base.  They were OK but difficult to see the batter. 

 We got to see the fans get their baseballs and hats signed by some of the players within feet of us.

        Buster Posey didn't sign any:(

      The Giants did terrible!  They allowed 6 runs by the Royals (one of the worst teams according to Jerry) before they even got up!!  They lost 13-2.  It was also one of the coldest days of the year!

     When we got back to the RV park (remember, a long way on the freeway!) Jerry relaxed in the hot tub 

and drowned his sorrows with.....as Jerry's sister Susie would say "a mixed drink" or two!

and I got the dirty clothes together walked over to the laundry facilities, put the clothes in and went to put the quarters in and lo and behold you needed to use a card that you had to get from "Sally" at the office who had left 10 minutes before!  I put the clothes back in the dirty clothes bag and went back to the trailer and had leftover caramel corn for dinner!

3/10/13 Sunday

    After way too much discussion, in my humble opinion, we had decided to go to Sedona.  I had called my cousin Lorna and made a plan.   Remember her from Ajo?  She is my double cousin.  She and her husband, Doug, split  their time between Durango, Colorado and Ajo Arizona.  It just so happened that they were traveling south at the same time we were in Phoenix so we decided to meet up at a casino near Camp Verde off of Highway 17 on our way to Sedona. 

     We took only the car due to the mountains and we were glad we did.  I drove and got as slow as 40 when others were going 65 up some of the hills.  Of course we have no pictures of the road because I was driving.  Just so you know, it was beautiful.  More Saguaro cactus (the kind with arms) than I had ever seen!  The rain had made the grass come up so things were quite green.  The road wound in and around and up and over the hills.  As we climbed we could see powdered sugar covered mountains.  

     We had a fun lunch with Lorna and Doug at Johnny Rockets restaurant at the casino.  It was Lorna's birthday so now we are the same age again....  Sure wish we lived closer...but of course we would drive our spouses over the edge.  They were loosing interest in our talk about Grama's house on Hillsdale street within minutes!  Can you imagine!?

     We headed north and they south.  Sedona is gorgeous and the weather had much improved.  Beautiful sun and blue sky and red, red rocks.

 Snow on the side.  All in Sedona were quite excited!

  Thank you for your encouragement to go, Marilee and Bruce!

This Church was amazing.

You were absolutely right!  The town was so quaint and the shops and houses just fit so nicely with the landscape.

 Glass twirly sculptures.

 Dr Seuss museum and art gallery

 Sculptures everywhere!

We had a leisurely walk about the town and then headed south to our "home" again. 

     Dinner at an outback restaurant and home through heavy traffic in the dark.  Where are folks going???  We tried to check in that morning to say we were staying another night but the RV park office is closed on Sunday, sooo ...still no clean clothes and....

3/11/13 Monday

     We snuck out by 8:30 (the office opens at 9).  We quietly hooked up the Casita and hit the road for Suprise on the West side of town. I counted up our free nights and including this one, we have 5!   It took over an hour to get there as we took the loop around Phoenix because it was Monday morning and we do know where all those folks are going!  (retirement is great!  but I do fear Jerry is catching the retirement fever! Don't tell him I said anything!)  

     Gorgeous sunshine, easy free parking, and another ballgame with even better seats!!  We bought these at the front ticket counter when we got there!!  This was at the Surprise Stadium and is the home of the Texas Rangers and The Kansas City Royals (the team we lost to on Saturday).  The Giants were playing Texas.  It is absolutely amazing what a difference some warmth and blue skies has on one's enjoyment of a baseball game.  Maybe Jerry is right in his constant search for sun. (don't tell him I said that either!)

     We sat about 4 rows back from the dugout right at third base!  We saw more players I knew (no Sergio Romo, though).

 Our first view of the Surprise Ball Park

 Home plate from our seats!

 A gorgeous warm day!

 Shortstop Crawford

 

      The Giants even won!  A much better game.  We had a terrific time!

     The game was over about 3 so we headed West. We wound up taking the 303 "soon to be real, but now under construction freeway".  Whew, quite exciting!  It took us to the 17 and then just past Tonopah, we started north on the Salome Road.  It turned out to be a beautiful drive with a gorgeous desert Sunset.  The road had lots of "washes" across it so it had lots of nice gentle "dips" which were quite fun!  Jerry said I am pretty easy to please!  We got to Salome in the dark.

    Our RV park book seemed to have gotten the addresses wrong on the RV parks, so after much searching in the dark we arrived at "Desert Vista" RV park, checked ourselves in, put our $15 in the envelope, plugged in the electricity and water and here I sit 2 hours after Jerry went to sleep.  I guess older people need less sleep...or is it that I am more tightly wound or a female???  Who knows, but I am tired so good night all!