On to Yuma

First of all, thank you for your supportive and kind words on behalf of Meghan, her family and Adam. They need them, so please keep them coming and keep them in your prayers.

And I know there are many of you out there that have had through your own hard things in life. I struggle to know how to say it, to be more compassionate, to make sense of it -- to have the right perspective. We all do. We don't quite know what to say--- here's what daughter Kelly had to say which I liked very much: Kelly's blog

We continue to try to act if life is normal at the moment, knowing full well that a lot hangs in the balance. We know she can be healed from this and continue to pray that way. Join us--the fight is on!

Meanwhile, we left La Posa South BLM area near Quartzsite on Wednesday

and stopped in at the Army Base at Yuma Proving Grounds. It was a fine although they had no vacancies and was 20 miles from Yuma. We continued on and found the VFW/BLM area outside of Yuma on I 95 and stayed for one night.

This morning we checked out another RV park off I-10 but it wasn't that great. We went to the main road to Algodones (Hiway 86) and ended up finding a place in a casino RV/truck parking lot.

That took us until about noon, and we went back into Yuma for an In-N-Out burger.

Then we went over to the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) and did our wash and went to the commissary (groceries).

When we returned to the casino RV park, we decided to go see the casino. I don't know if Pam and I have ever been in a casino before today. I have been in a few--the last one might have been in the late 1970's.

We walked around for a few minutes and ended up getting a Shrimp and Steak dinner for $7.77. It was really quite good.

After that we returned to the Roadrunner and made some phone calls and watched some TV before we went to bed.

Thanks for joining us in the journey...

Our Manual Wii Fit - Bowling ish

Twentynine Palms USMC base is out in the middle of the desert. The base, however, is well equipped with its own hospital, Exchange, Commissary, Golf Course and Bowling Alley.

Last week while we were checking out things we learned the Bowling Alley has free bowling M-W-F from 11:00 AM -1:00 PM. Shoes are $1.50.

The last time we bowled was with Kelly's Wii Fit system. That is a lot of fun and a little too realistic...I get the same bad scores.

So we tried the real thing-- (our MANUAL Wii Fit). It has become pretty popular over the last couple of years and I wonder how many of our readers have a Wii?

Since we don't have one, we opted for the Bowling Center on base: Sandy Hills Bowl.

It has 24 lanes and a nice facility.

It has a bowling 'pro shop' and a snack bar.

I really liked the carpet. (I wonder if Pam would go for this pattern in our RV?)

Here is Pam's winning form. She had the high game of the day: 163. I needed to pick up a spare in the last frame and only missed by about a foot. My high game was 158.

About 11:30 a number of Marines showed up and joined us. The slender guy here next to us was rolling 184, a 185 and had a 235. It was fun to watch.

A view down across the alleys

Chairs were turned over from cleaning the area yesterday.

After bowling we went back to the Roadrunner for lunch and I got with it on the computer. I was able to put a few billable hours which was nice.

While I worked, Pam went for a walk. Later, I took a break and went for a run. It was perfect weather here and a nice day.

Pam cooked chicken snitzel inside while I fired up the grill and did some vegetables. It all turned out well. We saw a basketball game and Pam watched a portion of 'Band of Brothers' movie while I snoozed.

Pretty soon it was time for bed and the end of another great day.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

RV Computer Desk Table, Golf, GoodByes

I love it when a plan comes together! It just did with our new computer table.

Yesterday we picked it up from Mr. Bob and brought it back to the Roadrunner.

After months of planning and preparation, it fits perfectly and works great. Bob did a terrific job. When we first approached him, I was not exactly sure what I wanted but we were able to talk and figure it out and it is great!

Early yesterday morning, we drove from Twentynine Palms to Redlands in time to make it to Trinity Evangelical Free

Church with Soo, Hillary, Katieanne and Ryan.

Then we went over to Bob & Soo's to change, grab a sandwich, see the computer table

and load up our clubs to go play golf. The last coat was drying in the sun.

Next, we went over to Moreno Valley Ranch Golf Club. It was a beautiful day at the course and we all had fun.

We each even hit a couple of good shots!

You have heard of synchronized swimming? This is synchronized tee shots.

Sort of. :)

We spent the whole afternoon on the golf course while Soo, Hillary, and Katieanne went to a wedding shower.

We played golf until almost dark, then met Soo, Katieanne, and Hillary at Jose's for dinner.

Then we went back to their place for a bit and loaded up the computer table.

We said our good byes and made the 90 minute trip back to Twentynine Palms. They have been really great over the last couple of weeks and have made us feel especially welcome. It has been neat to see them and their kids and everything!

Bob was only in the coach a couple of times and was able to make a great match on staining it. The maple plywood was coated with cherry stain and it is a very close match to the cherry wood on the inside of the Roadrunner.

Both sides of the computer table drop down for easy storage.

Or I can put one side down, one side up and use it for a computer table.

It fits well into the corner office area.

And Pam can have her kitchen dining table back.

It looks a little empty at the moment but that can change quickly.

Our we can have a second dining table and / or a game table.

I like the height and the shelf for the printer,

and drawer.

It is not real big and massive like some two drawer filing cabinets I have seen. It already has a lot of utility and flexibility.

So there it is -- our latest furniture acquisition. And we are very very pleased! Thank you Mr. Bob!

Our week is off to a great start and I hope yours is too! Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

A Visit to Desert Hot Springs

Pam and I took a drive to Desert Hot Springs yesterday to see if we could meet Rick and Paulette. We didn't schedule anything with them and didn't leave until after lunch. We were interested in getting back home in time to see the Eagles - Cowboys game.

Google Maps tells me we were 42 miles away from their RV campground at Sands RV resort in Desert Hot Springs. I forgot the directions I wrote out and also did not bring the map, but we figured, 'How hard can it be to find the place?'.

It was not too hard but once we got into town, we had to find the Visitor's Center in order to get a map. The Vistor's Center in Desert Hot Springs was co-located at the Cabot Pueblo Museum. It was a interesting place that was built by Cabot Yerxa over a period of 24 years.

"The Cabot Pueblo museum preserves the rugged frontier spirit of the pioneer days in the Coachella Valley. It also preserves the history of the life of Cabot Yerxa. His was a life of astonishing adventure, travel, long work and individualism.

It is estimated that the basic construction of the Pueblo took Cabot seven years and a total of 23 years continuous building before he died, leaving it yet unfinished. For twenty years, Cabot and his wife Portia worked and created pictorial, verbal and mental images of their lives at the Pueblo. Cabot died in 1965 at the age of 81 after spending more than 52 years working to make the desert a better place to live--for him, for others."

With our map in hand, we had no trouble getting over to Sands RV and Golf Resort.

We were able to find their spot because Rick had posted it in his blog a few days earlier. They are from British Columbia and arrived a few days ago. They have been coming back to Desert Hot Springs during the winter for the last few years.

We found Rick at home with his two dogs-Molly & Rylie. He was very flexible and accommodating with two surprise guests! We were able to chat for quite a while and enjoy his company. It was great to meet him.

We have been 'blogging buddies' for a while so we made sure to take a couple of pictures. I think 'met' by virtue of the RV-Dreams group that has a regular chat session online. He has a great blog I read daily.

Rick is retired from Cowichan Bay, B.C. and was the city IT manager for the city of Victoria. So he knows technology. He has been a frequent help to some questions I have had about, "how do I do this or that? on the blog or comuputer..."

Paulette is a quilter and has quite a following on her blog as well. When we arrived, she was at the store so we almost missed her. But she drove up as we were leaving and we at least got to say "Hi".

Maybe our paths will cross again sometime. Hope so. They are nice people and it was a real treat to meet them.--Another fun benefit of the RV full-timing lifestyle. Meeting interesting people and making new friends!

On the way back to Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base, we stopped for a few pictures of the large number of windmills in the area.

This may be the highest concentration of them we have ever seen.

After getting back to the Roadrunner, we watched the Cowboys beat the Eagles again. I also did some more work online and we went to bed.

Thank you for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles today!

Twenty Nine Palms

The weather has been great for the last week. It continued as we pulled out of our site in Redlands, CA and made our way to Twenty Nine Palms, USMC Base, California.

The two hour ride went fine. The region has a lot of desert (as in desolate) scenery. It reminded me of Albuquerque and Tucson in some ways.

The RV campground is adjacent to a housing area and is paved with concrete driveways, a carport covering, and a shed at many of the sites. That, along with full hookups, makes this a great place to stay for a few days. The campsites have plenty of room also.

The base has a lot of shelters and canopies at the nearby parks and housing areas. I have never seen that before--I guess they have a number of permanent residents here. It must get pretty hot here in the summer.

I think being here for has already improved my fitness. I walk around a little taller and straighter and 'suck it in' a little bit more. Something about seeing all these young men and women running around in formation---kind of motivates you to get with it.

We have driven around and found some walking trails in the foothills we will have to check out. They also have two gyms and a bowling alley. Yesterday while Pam went for a long walk, I went for run. It feels good to be getting some exercise again.

We also played some golf at the base golf course. Shortly before our tee time, we saw a friendly roadrunner:

He walked around the parking lot near us which allowed me to get a close up.

The course was nearly empty, so we played 18 in about 2 hours and 40 minutes. It was a beautiful day. We were both hitting the ball pretty well and had our best scores in quite a while.

One thing we'll remember is the heavy armor which 'decorates' the course. Nothing like a reminder to what is going on elsewhere in the world. Haven't seen tanks and anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) on a golf course before.

The sunsets here are different everyday and all are breathtaking.

I say "Wow!" to myself alot these days...

Thank you again for making the Roadrunner Chronicles part of your day. Have a great weekend.

Redlands, CA

It was a travel day but we were not going too far so we were not in any rush to get started. I took some time surveying the beach and taking in the sights one more time. Since this is a USMC base, we saw a lot of Marines. There were some on the beach training.

Our job at hand was to finish packing up. I dumped the tanks while Adam and Meghan folded up mats

and helped me load up the Honda with the bikes and some excess firewood. We may use the firewood at Quartzsite in a couple of weeks.

We had about 80 miles to go and departed about 10:30. I checked my Pressure Pro Tire Monitoring System and my left front tire was low for some reason. I pulled over on base and got out the air compressor and filled up both front tires to about 105 psi. The other tires checked out fine.

While I was at it I cleaned the windshield and mirrors. They were pretty dirty after being on the beach for the last 10 days. Small inconvenience considering... :)

Once underway we made good time. Driving through busy traffic in Sun City and Riverside was not my favorite thing but I just went slowly (about 55 mph).
We tried something we haven't done before--we showed up at Mission RV park a day early. Uh oh...

But Joe in the office suggested we stay the overnight in overflow parking and move into our reserved spot after it is vacated. That was helpful. Overflow is $22/night while regular spaces are $38/night. Extra guests are $5/night.


Joe said he'd just give us the weekly rate at $228. It saved us $63. That was helpful too. :)


Then, the owner Mike came out and helped me sandwich the Roadrunner into place.

Not exactly scenic-- but we can work with it for a night.

After we got situated we went over to Bob and Soo's house.

They moved there 20 years ago and built a new house. Bob did most of the interior since he is such a handy woodworker. In fact, we don't know anyone who does more in the wood shop than Bob.

He showed us one of his projects - ornate handled reversible screwdrivers. He takes different colored wood, glues them up, cuts them another time and glues them again.

He then turns them on the lathe and puts some finished touches on his new creation. His garage is his haven and he spends 75% of his time at home in the shop.

When we lived two doors down from them in the mid 1980's (1986-1988) and our kids (Adam and Kelly) and theirs (Camille, Katieanne and Hillary) would play together often.

Katieanne and husband Ryan live nearby. Hillary graduated in June from California Baptist University and is takes graduate course while she lives at home.

Sister Camille and husband Erik live in the neighborhood. We went out to dinner with Bob & Soo, Camille & Eric and their little guy William. Then Camille & Erik gave us a tour through Chapman Heights where some folks still have extravagant Christmas lights up. The lights were synchronized with a local radio station and they flashed on/off according to the songs that were being played.

Have you ever seen something like that before? This was a first for us and it was amazing!

We then went over to their place for some tea and conversation before they brought us back to the coach. Adam and Meghan had left before dinner to go to Whittier to see cousins Nate/Angela and Ben/Leslie.

We watched a little TV and went to bed.

As the year comes to a close, we want to wish you and yours a Happy New Year!

Thanks once again for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Last Day in San Diego

It was our last day at the Del Mar RV campsites on Camp Pendleton and another very nice day at the beach.

Our new neighbor Tom is vacationing from Alaska and talked with Adam and Meghan before we left for some sight seeing. He and his wife Kathy flew in from Alaska for a few days.

A little before noon, we made our way down the historic Coastal Highway 1o1 and stopped at a scenic place in Carlsbad to watch the surfers and other people down on the beach.

We stayed long enough for a couple of sandwiches and set up the time delay on the camera for an unassisted picture.

We are frowning a little bit because of the sun in our eyes.

Then we went on to the world famous Torrey Pines golf course. It is one of the spectacular venues for big time professional and amateur tournaments.

Inside the golf store, I spotted one of my all-time favorites who won here as a junior golfer - Phil Mickelson.

He grew up not far from here as did Tiger Woods.

Next we took Adam and Meghan over to Coronado Island.

It is quite a view to look back at across the bay at San Diego and see aircraft carriers and cruise ships.

And the San Diego skyline.

We got to see Chris & Rob one last time and dropped by in time for dinner. Their eldest - Jackson - and I took a picture by the chimney.

One of Rob's friends from college (John, and his friend Hillary) also came by. In 1994 Rob and John and a couple of other friends stayed overnight with Pam and I when we lived in Virginia.

It was nice to see him again and meet Hillary.

We also got to see Irene again and have them all meet Meghan. Rob and Chris and Irene have been the perfect hosts during our time here. They have the gift of hospitality and are very generous. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with them and look forward to seeing them again.

Next, we are heading to Redlands, CA - about four hours up the road.

Thanks for checking in on the Roadrunner Chronicles!