It's Only August!

It's only August, but they're playing football! I know they are preseason games, but it's still football! Forry is watching the Seattle Seahawks vs the San Diego Chargers game tonight. At the moment it's 24-3 and the announcers are NOT happy about it. You can sure tell he's listening to a California TV station!

To make it worse, the Mariners have the day off today, so I don't even get the solace of seeing portions of their game as he flips back and forth...

I cannot watch football without thinking about ironing. My Dad refereed football and basketball as well as umpired baseball games after he no longer played. Ironing his uniforms was my job. I look with envy at the uniforms the umpires are currently wearing. It looks like they have nice black and white striped short-sleeved knit shirts with black trousers that are probably no-iron as well.

In Dad's day, he wore a starched black and white long-sleeved shirt and heavy white denim knickers that fastened below his knees. The shirts were tough enough to iron, but the trousers were really a bear! Mom starched them fairly heavily and they scorched easily. She then "sprinkled" them to dampen them down and put them in a plastic bag for me to iron. The fabric was almost canvas-like and in places where there were multiple layers -- like where they fastened under his knees or at the waistband -- it was hard to iron them dry without scorching the starch.

In the days before Permanent Press, ironing clothing was one of those never-ending tasks. It seemed like you'd just get one week's ironing done when there was another batch. I actually liked ironing most of the time. We had one neighbor who hated to iron and would put her sprinkled clothes into the freezer (so they wouldn't mildew!). When I would go there to baby-sit, I'd often pull a bag out of the freezer and iron for her. It seemed to make her very happy!

A Windy Day and A Good Book

We know from the weather forecasts on the Los Angeles TV station that we watch that a winter storm is moving east from the California coast. There has been a forecast for mid-week rain here in Mesa as well. When I got up this morning, there were streaky clouds being blown across the sky. There was a breeze this morning that increased as the day has gone on. It actually got gusty enough for us to bring in the awning. This evening the sky is still clear, but the wind continues.

We had planned to try again today to go birding at the Water Park in Gilbert, but a windy day is not a good day for finding and observing birds. So once again, we have postponed our jaunt.

I finished reading Donna McNicol's new mystery, Not a Whisper, this afternoon. It's the start of a new series and if the following books are as much fun as this one, she's going to have some real hits on her hands. It's got a unique, twisty plot with an unexpected ending. I enjoyed reading it!

I read the book as an ebook on my iPad, but it is also available from Amazon in hard copy.

RVers are familiar with Donna. She writes a blog, 2 Taking a 5th, about the fifth wheel she travels in with her husband Stu and their dog Sadie. She used to write as Froggy Donna when she traveled as a single before she met Stu. Stu is a retired firefighter and they both -- and Sadie -- ride motorcycles.

Arizona COLD!

It's interesting to look down the street that Auntie Violet is parked on and see all of the sheets draped over plantings in the little yards of the park models. It has dipped down to freezing or below the last several nights. There are lots of notices on the air and in the newspaper reminding people to leave water dripping in their faucets.

It seems that Arizona housing is not built for freezing weather. Water lines are not buried, but are run up inside the walls of houses and are therefore subject to freezing. RVers are also being told to shut off their water hoses -- which, of course, are just lying on the ground.

We open all of the window shades as soon as we get up in the morning, so that the sunshine can help warm the motorhome. But, the minute the sun goes down, it starts to get get very cold and we quickly pull all of the shades, draw the drapes and turn on the electric heaters.

There seems to be some concern on the parts of local farmers, especially fruit growers, about the cold and we're hearing about fans and heaters in the orchards. The cold seems to be all across the south land spreading east from California across the deserts.

It's supposed to warm up -- but only a little -- by next weekend. I really do want to go back to wearing pedal pushers and sandals!

ARIZONA !

We caught a glimpse of Joshua trees as we left Sierra Trails RV Park this morning. While we are quite a way away from Joshua Tree National Monument, there are quite a few of these relatives of the yucca plant in this area --

 

I drove part of the way today. And wouldn't you know, I got the stretch that is still two lane highway on Highway 58 going into Barstow! (It was four lane when I started...) This stretch of highway goes through the Mojave Desert by Edwards Air Force Base and the Twenty Nine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. Lots of area for airplane test flying and training.

As you approach the eastern border of California on Interstate 40, the ground again begins to rise as you  drive between the Piute Mountains.

Until you descend again and get your first glimpse of the mighty Colorado River --

Which divides the State of California from that of Arizona!

We then took Highway 95 east and south to Lake Havasu City and the Lake Havasu RV Park --

People were sitting outside at the RV Park enjoying the high seventy degree weather. These oleanders along the fence were starting to bloom --

The fence at the edge of the park looks out over the sandy desert. I spotted this flock of California Quail watching the sunset --

Aren't they pretty creatures with their little top-knots?

I had to stop and watch the sunset as well. It was gorgeous tonight!

Auntie Violet reflects the sunset glow as well. This is the first back-in site we have had in several days. It was a bit of a pain to have to unhook Toad II, but Forry thought it was probably good to run the engine after towing it for several days...

Californee, Here We Come!

It was our last night at Seven Feathers and it rained. It was quiet when we went to sleep, but by 2:30 AM it was raining loud enough to wake us up. It's a good thing we had decided to sleep in the living room again as it was dripping into the pan on the bed...

The picture on the left is one I took the first day we were here of the little stream that flows next to the campground. You have to look very hard to see the water. I took the picture on the right just before we left. It's still not a great deal of water, but it's sure a lot more than it was a week ago!

This is what Interstate 5 was like when we left this morning --

As we left the mountain passes and came into California (and were stopped with all incoming traffic at the inspection station checking for citrus fruit) we began to see blue skies --

Our first glimpse of Mount Shasta --

The closer we got, the bluer the sky --

Mount Shasta loomed cold and beautiful on the horizon when we stopped at the Weed Rest Area --

The trees in California are still golden, holding their color. The ones in the NW have already dropped the biggest share of their leaves and the forests no longer show the contrasts.

Interstate 5 goes south below the Cascade Mountains into the valley between the Coast Range and the Sierras. We began to see flat land fruit and nut trees AND olive groves --

We drove south until about 3:30, ending up at Old Orchard RV Park in Orland where we have stayed many times before. It's a small park and the people who run it are elderly. Since we didn't come this way last year, we weren't sure it would still be open... We'll spend a couple of nights here then continue moseying towards Arizona. We're thinking we'll most likely try to be there December 1st.

Kathy's Korner Nursery

Ever since we met our RVing friend Leslie, she has talked about her aunt's nursery in Florida. Today we met them in St. Petersburg and got to visit Kathy's Korner Nursery. It is a spectacular sight as you drive up as the entire front is covered with huge pots of Bougainvilleas. To me, this is the flower that symbolizes the south. I was captivated the first time I saw them in California and Mexico where they spill down adobe walls and look wonderful. I only discovered recently that the colorful "flowers" are actually leaves (similar to that of poinsettias). The real flower is that tiny white speck in the middle of the display.

I never knew they came in so many gorgeous colors! This is the front of the nursery from across the street showing the colorful display.

I have lots more pictures of the plants at the nursery, but I'll share them another day. The one thing I didn't get is a picture of Kathy -- she is VERY camera shy!

On the Road

We left Wellton by 9 AM this morning (early for us!) and headed for California. It's quite interesting to watch the scenery change from the cacti and creasote bushs to sand and sand dunes. As we climbed into the mountains south of San Diego, it began to look like someone had dumped out huge bags of boulders.

We cut off of Interstate 8 at the Japatul Exit, turned left at the stop sign; drove 5 1/2 miles on Lyons Valley Road; turned left and drove 7 1/2 miles on Skyline Truck Trail; turned right and drove 4.7 miles to Lawson Valley Road; went 2/10 of a mile and turned hard left back on to Lyons Valley Road; drove 9/10 of a mile to the sign for Diamond Jack's RV Ranch. The direct route down Lyons Valley Road has too many switchbacks to navigate with a 37 foot rig (plus the toad), so they sent us around the back way.

It is so quiet here! After the continuous sounds of trains every thirty minutes plus the noise of the switching as well as the sound of the freeway and of sirens, it's quite a change. This is the closest place we could find to the Dulzura MDS Project Site. We'll stay here this week and commute back and forth.

There is a family of acorn woodpeckers (a new life bird for Forry!) living in the trees here. There are six palm trees in the center area that they are busily rapping away at to find insects. I also watched one retrieve an acorn from a hole in the trunk of a palm.