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.

Thank You Roadrunner Chronicles Readers

Thank you Roadrunner Chronicles readers!

And thank you to the 72 people who recently signed up to 'Follow' the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Lake ConroePenny, TX

angrypianist

Larry & Lynne

Blas Laino

mcentegort

Ron Clanton

Hillary Clarendon

Bob & Vicky

Randy & Terry

Joe Homich

Awhile back I decided to pick a goal of 100 Followers by the end of the year (2009). We do not have that yet, but I am confident we will soon.

I started WarnerRVnews on Nov 8, 2008 I had no idea this would grow to be such a fun thing to do. It astounds me to think that over 5,000 people have viewed this over the last 15 months. In fact , Google Analytics says there have been 5,543:

Google Analytics tells me we also have had 3772 visits (hits) in the last 30 days. I find that amazing.

Google Analytics also shows that people have found the Roadrunner Chronicles from 19 countries. To those readers overseas, I say welcome to you too! Of those visits, I can see that 1,103 are Absolute Unique Visitors meaning that is how many individuals accessed the blog in the last 30 days.

Many of you folks also blog -- what 'widget' or 'application' or 'gadget' do you use to generate statistics about your site?

Yesterday I took our Honda CRV in to the local Honda dealer to check out a faint 'wobble wobble wobble' sound. I thought it might be the front end, or alignment or bearings.

The mechanic took it for a test drive with me and thought it was the bearing or tires. They put it up on the rack and also said they used the stethoscope. It apparently is the tires but no big deal. They were overinflated a bit. Everything else checked out fine, there is no damage and no danger of any damage.

He also indicated the tires may be 'cupping' a bit. I have never heard of that. Have any of you out there had that happen?

Pam went shopping with Hillary and Soo while I did three loads of wash. I also went through the mail, did some online bill paying and Pam returned shortly after lunch. We went back to Bob & Soo's for dinner, over to Costco for a few things then came back to the coach.

It has been a wonderful time with Bob & Soo and their family. It is a real blessing to have good friends like them and to be able to see them and do some neat things (woodworking, golf etc). This has definitely been a terrific visit.

We will be back over the weekend to attend church and pick up the computer table. It needs another coat or two of polyurethane/varnish.

Thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles today. Hope your week is going well!

To the Airport and more time in Redlands

We had a lot going on today. First, we had to get up and get going by 9:00 AM to get Adam and Meghan to John Wayne Airport. It was about 60 miles away from Redlands.

They had a 11:40 departure and we wanted to be sure they had enough time to get checked in and boarded. It was an easy drive and we said our goodbye's at the curb and sent them on their way. Later, Adam called and said they made it to San Francisco after a delay at the departure gate.

After we dropped them off, we looked for a In-N-Out Burger. We found one close to the freeway.

This one had duel drive-thru's which I had never seen before.

While we were on our way back, we got a call from Katieanne and Ryan. They came out to see our coach after we returned.

Next, we got our laundry and headed over to Bob & S00's. We put another coat of varnish on our computer table and did some things in the garage.

Bob's sister Sherry stopped by, so the girls mugged for a picture.

And another one in the kitchen.Late in the afternoon we went over to a neighbors house and got a couple of oranges. This area used to be known for a booming orange industry.We went out to dinner with Bob & Soo and tried Claim Jumper in San Bernardino. The food was great and it was a very nice restaurant.Thanks Nate and Angela for the gift card (from our Christmas exchange)!

After dinner we returned to Bob & Soo's and Bob got to work on a walking stick for Pam. He recently got a lathe and has had fun turning different things.

He picked a piece of poplar which is turned out real nice.

Pam is going to like the way this turns out. While that was going on, we watched the Fiesta Bowl. It was another exciting game and Boise State bested TCU.

It has been a busy day and we returned to the Roadrunner after the game. It is going to be quite different around here without anyone sleeping on the sofa and the floor in the Roadrunner. But we sure had a terrific time with the kids, Meghan, friends and all the extended family we have been able to see over the holidays.

Thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles today.

Nice Sunday

Pam and I went to Bob & Soo's church in Redlands. The service at Trinity Evangelical Free Church began at 9:30 AM. We arrived on time and enjoyed the service.

The pastor, Dr. Gary Inrig, preached on the hymn "How Firm a Foundation" - God's promise of his presence as we enter a new year. It was one of the best messages we have heard since we have been full-timers.

Next, we stopped by a swap meet in San Bernardino that was a little disappointing. We didn't get there until after noon and many were already packing up. The best time to go to these things usually is about 8:00 or so.

We then went by our old neighborhood in San Bernardino and saw the house we lived in from 1986-1988. It was not exactly as we remembered...but what house is after 20+ years?

The shrub at the corner of the front yard used to be a teddy bear, but it has not been groomed to look like one in many years...

We went back to Bob & Soo's and for the rest of the day. Our computer table is coming along. Bob put on some cherry stain to darken it a little more to to see if we could match it to the interior of the Roadrunner.
It takes a long time to dry. We're not sure if the varnish will have enough time to dry before we leave tomorrow.

Yesterday was Soo's parents 69th wedding anniversary and we went to a local restaurant to celebrate. (The ribbon on the Happy Anniversary Balloon is dangling down the middle of the picture.)
They are such nice people. When we lived here years ago they had us over for Thanksgiving dinner a number of times. They look great for being 90! It was a neat time.

We watched Office at Bob and Soo's after that and took another look at the computer table before

Pam and So0 sat in front of Bob's fire going and we watched The Office with them and Hillary and Adam and Meghan.
We went back to the Roadrunner and talked for a little while before we went to bed.

Thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles! Have a great week!

More Table Time etc

Bob got tee times for Moreno Valley Ranch Golf Club where he regularly plays. It is a challenging golf course and very well maintained.

Bob & Ryan and Pam & I made up a foursome. One of the first things I noticed after we got there was that I did not have my memory card in my camera. Ugh-- no pictures of the golf...

Nevertheless it was a spectacular day and we had a wonderful time! (We even played pretty well.)

After golf, we stopped at Lake Perris State Recreational Area which is only a couple of miles from the golf course.

It was a bit expensive at $35/night but is an option for us next time we visit the area.

We returned to Bob's house and continued with the computer table. Pam got the palm sander and went to work.

Bob trimmed up the two side pieces and got those sanded.

Soo stopped in the garage for a few minutes with her friend Marilyn to see how things were going.Pam pre-drilled the holes for the piano hinges while Bob lined up and attached the folding supports.

We took a break for dinner in the kitchen where we found Ryan, Katieanne and Hillary who were helping Soo get ready with Sloppy Joes.

After a quick bite, we returned to the wood-shop and began staining the table. We were trying to match the stain to the interior of the Roadrunner.

We will have to see how close we come after we put a number of clear coats of polyurethane on top of the cherry stain.

We figured we have put about eight hours of work into this computer table project so far. Things will slow down over the next couple of days to let the stain and varnish dry.

Later in the evening, Nate and Angela stopped by with Jake. They drove up from Whittier and it was nice to show them the Roadrunner and spend a little more time with them.

After their visit we pretty much called it a night. Thanks for spending a portion of your weekend viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles.

The Computer Table

After a night in overnight parking we moved down to our reserved spot at Mission RV Park in Redlands, CA.

The Roadrunner was as dirty as I have ever seen it after 10 days on beach.

It was a little tricky to wash the coach without spraying my neighbors but I managed to get it done.

Our friends Bob & Soo invited us over so we have been spending a lot of time there. Soo was cooking up a storm. She got some help from Hillary peeling apples for the homemade dessert.

The turkey came out of the oven perfect. In fact Bob said it was the best he has EVER had.

Later Katieanne, Hillary and Kyle were hanging out in the kitchen.

Bob and I had some woodworking to do and started out at Lowe's to get materials. He is making a computer desk/table for us.

'We' got a lot done. (It is amazing to watch a guy who is really really good at what he does. This would have been a two week project for me.) He has the best stocked wood working tool shop I have ever seen.

It took 2-3 hours to get a great start. We have to attach a bottom shelf, maybe add a drawer, plus hang the two side pieces that will fold up making it a good sized little table for the Roadrunner.

I caught the sun going down before dinner.

I don't think I can ever get enough sunset shots...

I hope you are enjoying the bowl games and are having a great start to the new year! Thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Happy New Year!

First, let me say Happy New Year! to all our family and friends.

And THANK YOU Roadrunner Chronicles readers for making this past year so memorable. We are blessed that you take your time to read about our activities and engage with us in that way.

I am amazed at the power and presence of social media and being able to get acquainted with so many neat people out there. More than once during the last year we have been blessed with new friends because of the Roadrunner Chronicles.

Next, as 2009 comes to a close, I reflect

on some of the terrific highlights of the year:

-The process of getting our house ready to sell and onto the market was exciting, fun, hard work.

-Our transition from working full time to working part time and having opportunities online has been great.

-Answered prayer (and some of YOUR prayers) in seeing our kids work through issues of health, at work, school, relocating, new jobs, new homes...as well as selling our own house and finding our 'retirement' home (the Roadrunner).

-Being able to see family in all parts of the country, meeting new people, seeing old friends and being able to reconnect--it has been something for which we are deeply grateful.

-Getting some hands-on experience with volunteer opportunities that energize us such as Habitat for Humanity and NOMADs.

-Seeing some spectacular scenes of beauty across this country and Canada.

-Learning as we go and spending our new life together as full-timers.

-Having significant time with our kids again, traveling and being with them in their new places.

Also, as we look ahead, here are some of my goals for 2010:

-Continuing to add quality to our lives as full-timers.

-Growing as an individual with more discipline in the use of my time, talent and energies.

-Becoming more of a grace-giver to others. Loving others more.

-Getting more healthy and fit (what New Years resolution doesn't have that in it??) :)

-Cultivating a godly legacy.

In closing, I hope your football team wins today and that you are looking at 2010 with hope, health and happiness!

Happy New Year!