Nestled in to Needles

After leaving Joshua Tree we headed up to Needles,Ca to take on supplies and do the laundry. We traveled east on I-10 to Blythe, CA where we headed north to Needles on 93. 93 is a winding two lane route that follows the Colorado river through the desert. Along the way we received sad news that Chrystal's step dad had past away. It is tough for her to be away from family at this time, but her mom insisted that we complete the trip as the memorial service will be after we return.

We arrived at the Needles KOA on a sunny warm day. The people here are awesome, the park is clean and quiet and the pool was cool. We enjoyed sitting out in our chairs having a brew and jawing with the "old retired" snowbirds across the way. We found a guy to work on the generator, who spent an hour and half running tests and swearing before deciding I had a defective oil pressure switch that he did not have in stock. I did a wire around and we are good to go, but short a 130 bucks in our budget. Cash only by the way.

We are gonna hang here a couple days before heading off to explore some sections of Route 66.

Sunny 78 and I am in my shorts.

Happy trails

Pictures from Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree National Park and Beyond

After leaving Mickey and friends behind we headed out across I-10 to Joshua Tree National Park. We chose to spend 4 days and 3 nights in the Cottonwood Springs campground. The campground has toilets and an RV dump. For $15 a night it was very comfortable and quiet. Our campsite was situated so we looked across the desert from our campfire and table feeling like we were all alone. One small challenge for us was the problem with our generator which meant the batteries needed to be recharged each day off the vehicle engine. I troubleshot the generator, but was unable to find the problem. I did discover the the muffler gets really hot and will leave a mark on my hand as a reminder.

We took remarkable hikes through the desert each day and enjoyed the history and natural splendor of the place. Ruins of campsites used by Indians for hundreds of years before prospectors came in and used all the water for mining. The desert plants and wildlife were amazing. We got a chance to interact with a jack rabbit, a couple lizards, and plenty of birds. We even saw a coyote along side the road while we driving.

If you ever have a chance to visit this park I highly recommend it. If you want to avoid the camping fee there is BLM land right outside the park that had about 10 boondockers.

Disneyland, A Magical Time for the Ages

As we wrap up our Disney days and prepare for a trip into the desert, a few reflections are in order. First there is no limit to who can have a magical time at Disneyland. We saw young and old, even almost newborns. Older folks with walkers and wheelchairs enjoying a special time; people who were blind and children with special needs. All with a smile on their face. One of the things on my bucket list is to one day visit this place with each of my grandchildren. To the girls, grandpa even went on the princess rides. Gunner buddy, Disney has cool boy stuff.


This was a special trip for us. When we got to Anaheim in Dec of 2008 Chrystal had her stroke we and spent our time here in the hospital, then later in 2009 I got cancer. Well, we came back and had a grand time.

There is no where like the Magic Kingdom to make your troubles go away at least during the magic days of your visit.

The next leg of our trip will include a stop and few days enjoying Joshua Tree National Park. The park looks like an amazing demonstration of God's natural glory. We won't have Internet the next few days, so I will post when we do.

Happy Trails.

Disney Days Photos

We had a fun relaxing day, capped off by a lovely dinner with a view of New Orleans Square.

Enjoying Our Disney Days

We are having a great three days in Anaheim. Went to see Mickey and the gang Sunday and will go again Tuesday. Today we are hanging and relaxing. Enjoy the pics as I get them posted.



PS. Howard the Mobile RV Dr fixed our furunace. He was very helpful and reasonably priced. The problem ended up being a bad electrical connector.

These are some shots of the new I-5 rest stop operated by the tribes on I-5 on Southern Oregon.
http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20110711/NEWS/110719989

Our Trip South Day Part #2

Thursday

Got gone and on the road around 9:30 a.m. on a nasty rainy day. On this leg of the trip we will be "boondocking". After a stop at Camping World in Fife for a few supplies we trekked south on a rather uneventful trip through Washington and into Oregon. As expected we had NW rain the whole way. We stopped at a rest area in central Oregon for dinner and continued on to Canyonville, OR where stopped about 7:00 p.m. The rest stop is an awesome find,a nearly new spot operated by the Seven Feathers Casino. This is a great partnership between the state and tribes. The rest area is up the hill from the freeway away from the casino activities. It is clean and quiet and uses solar poower which for me is a plus.


We did have a couple minor setbacks; the generator started malfunctioning again and the our furnace decided to quit (brrrr). We will get those looked at later.


Friday

Got up and going around 8:00 a.m. The weather was cool and the sun was out. We had great weather through the mountains with breathtaking views of wildlife including eagles and deer. As Shasta came into view all covered in snow with the sun shining on it I knew we were in for a good trip. Our trip through Northern CA was uneventful, however as a history buff I enjoyed seeing the "State of Jackson" signs. Do your research.

We rolled into The Flying J in Lodi, CA for the night around 5:00 p.m. I decided to tinker with the furnace and generator for a while. The older disabled vet parked next to us had lots of helpful advice, but it still didn't work. on a side note, the gent appeared to be homeless living in his rv in truck stops. I will reserve my political comments about our country failing vets for a different blog. I should add that he seemed to be doing ok, maybe it was a choice.

Saturday

I woke up about 5:00 a.m. so I got up and got us ready to roll while Chrystal slept. Since the generator was stillon the blink I loaded up with a giant cup o' joe from Flying J and got on the road around 6:00 a.m. It is a spectacular day not a cloud in the sky. When the sun came up across the valley it was a huge orange ball of fire in the sky. Our day was so relaxing we made several stops including long stops for breakfast and lunch. Our lunch stop was at great little fruit stand where we enjoyed samples before making our purchase. Coming through LA was a traffic nightmare, but we arrived at our RV park around 4:00 a.m. Anaheim Resort RV Park is a great spot, clean quiet and friendly. We could see the Disneyland fireworks from our RV spot.

Tomorrow we go see Mickey.

Our Trip South Part #1

On Thurs February 16th we headed out on a road trip that will take us down I-5 to Disneyland, then into Arizona where we will wander where our soul leads us, then to Peoria where we will enjoy several days of Mariners spring training and spend some time with my brother, finally we will head back through California to see Chrystal's aunt and uncle before we head home. I will blog as we have the web.