02-17-2025 to 02-24-2025 First Week in Desert Hot Springs

 After arriving safely on Monday afternoon and getting settled into our site, I checked in with our friends to see how everyone was doing.  Jimmy and Nickie had been here for three weeks and so had already done many of the things we wanted to show Phil and Joanne for their first visit here.  However, the first priority for us the next morning was a swim in our favorite pool

It was a bit surprise to step into what we expected to be balmy warm waters to discover that the pool was barely 85 degrees.  It felt warm to Joanne, who is used to swimming in a cooler pool at her fitness club, but not to us.  We are used to the pool being a good 95F.  This year, as Nickie warned us, there have been a few issues with the well pump and the temperature of the pool has varied a bit.  We still enjoyed our swim, but it wasn't quite the silky warm bath we expected.

After some discussion, Nickie and Jimmy took off for parts unknown and Mo and I with Phil and Joanne decided that a visit to the Ten Thousand Palms Oasis would be a good starting point for a short walk for me and a longer hike for them into the desert.  Nickie had warned us that the oasis was much different than in the past, with floods and lack of funds to maintain the property causing serious damage.  We thought maybe we could at least walk down to the oasis even though the parking lot was gated.

Once we arrived however, we discovered not only a gated parking lot but signs saying no hiking was allowed in the area except on Wednesday through Sunday.  It was a bit of a disappointment because the photo below is what I remembered and wanted to share with my friends.

Mo and I have enjoyed many wonderful hikes in this area over the years, and we loved it for the shade, the water, the sound of the streams, and the wonderful visitor center that explained so much about the landscape, the San Andreas Fault that underlies the oasis and the native plants in this area.

Ten Thousand Palms Oasis is a private reserve, and it has suffered severe damage from flooding, and now from lack of funding.  This is what it says on the website: 

"We are a private 880-acre Nature Preserve within the Coachella Valley Preserve. The Center for Natural Lands Management (CNLM), a nonprofit tax-exempt organization, owns/manages Thousand Palms Oasis in an ecologically beneficial manner consistent with local, state, and federal environmental laws. Founded in 1990 in California, CNLM protects sensitive biological resources through professional, science-based stewardship of conservation lands in perpetuity."

Instead, signs directed us to park a bit down the road at the Pushwalla Palms trailhead, and an interesting hike through open desert country to another smaller palm oasis. I have good memories of hiking the Pushwalla Palms trail with good friends Laurie and Odel back in 2010, but it isn't necessarily a good hike for weak legs and hot temperatures.

Sue and Laurie Brown hiking the Pushwalla Trail in December of 2010

On this hot day in February, Phil and Joanne, and Mo and I, parked our cars along the highway and started up the trail. (A little side note here: RVr's often used their towed vehicles as a sort of garage, and all the back seats are usually full of "stuff".  Hence, it is often the case that only two people per car are manageable without a lot of juggling.) The views from the top are quite spectacular and I was thrilled that I managed to climb the steep beginning portion of the trail to the overlook.

Joanne at the beginning of the Pushwalla Traill

Mo and Sue at the first overlook on the Pushwalla Trail

I watched Phil and Jo continue up the trail but had no desire to push my IBM legs any further in the heat.  I was thrilled to manage what  I did, with just about a mile of hiking.  Mo and I waved goodbye to our friends and traveled back home to the welcome coolness of the RV at the park. On the first few days at Catalina Spa, it was warm, but not too hot to stay comfortable with fans and open windows throughout the afternoon.

Visiting in the evening with our friends, we all decided that Wednesday would be a good day for the six of us to visit the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens on the southern side of the Coachella Valley in Palm Desert.  Mo and I are used to traveling the many routes from Desert Hot Springs across the Valley to Palm Springs and the many communities that line Highway 111 through the valley.

This was the first time we had visited this part of the desert without seeing wildflowers in full bloom in every direction.  The most prolific flower in this area is the sand verbena, creating carpets of purple across the sandy soils of the valley.

A Photo from a previous year of brittlebush and purple sand verbena along Varner Road near our campground at Desert Hot Springs 

This year, there was very little rain, and the desert landscape was dry and barren, with only crinkled brown stems where the verbena was on the ground and the brittlebush shrubs were covered with dried branches and no new buds or flowers to be seen. 

We expected the Living Desert to have a bit more color since it is partially irrigated, but the lack of water was evident there as well. The beautiful natural gardens depicting habitats throughout the Americas showed serious damage from the drought situation in Southern California.

Most of the habitats at the Living Desert are spacious with much-needed shade for the animals

The animals were still wonderful, and we were entertained by knowledgeable docents and volunteers who shared the stories of the important work that the park does to contribute to the protection of endangered species, with an emphasis on careful genetic management.  

I especially enjoyed the discussion of the difference between the white rhino and the black rhino.  White rhinos are big and have square noses, and black rhinos have a prehensile nose.  Originally, white rhinos were the only known species, but the name was a mistake in translation when someone mistook "wide" for "white".  Thus, when a new species was discovered that wasn't a white rhino, they simply called it a black rhino.  Both species of rhinos are a gray tan color.

Nia is still too immature to breed, but the plan is to mate Nia in about two more years with Jaali, who is also at the zoo.  The purpose is to help the world population of black rhinos, with only a little bit more than 6,000 animals left existing in the wild.

The park is quite lovely, with winding paths that are often circular.  The six of us started together, heading toward the giraffes, which are always a favorite.  

A yearling giraffe in the distance and one of the older boys reaching for leaves.  The newborns are not expected this year until May.

I was interested in the black rhinos, and Phil and Joanne followed Mo and me while Jimmy and Nickie headed back to the giraffes.  Mo and I started looking for another favorite of ours, the cute little meerkats.  Mattie sits much like a meerkat, so we always love watching them.

The four of us never saw Jimmy and Nickie again until everyone was almost finished with touring the park.  In the meantime, we enjoyed seeing animals from around the African continent, in addition to the special displays for North America, South America, and Australia.

The cheetahs are another favorite, at first sleeping in the shadows.  Our patience was rewarded when they decided to wake and travel slowly across the habitat.  The docent told us that the cheetah races that we saw a few years ago are no longer needed because the three cheetah sisters figured out they didn't need to race to get the treats offered at the other end of their area.  We loved seeing how incredibly fast they were back then.  This time, they simply sauntered, but doesn't that look like a magnificent hunting animal?

We were all amazed at the speed that this tortoise displayed walking toward us.  I don't think any of us have seen a tortoise walking upright on all four legs as this one was walking.

Joanne and  Phil at the Living Desert

We ended our shared time at the Kookaburra Cafe, where we had a great salad and drinks in view of the Big Horn Sheep habitat. With some urging from Mo, I stood up in the middle of the space and got a few long-distance shots of these wonderful animals in their perfect element.

There is so much to learn at the Living Desert, and each time we go, I am impressed with the wealth of knowledge about the animals, their breeding and habitat needs, and funny little tidbits of information that the docents offer throughout the park.  It was a nearly perfect day.

Once everyone was back home at Catalina, we got together a bit to discuss plans for Thursday.  It is interesting trying to coordinate different styles into something cohesive.  Mo and I are the only crazy ones who like to swim at sunrise and neither of us particularly likes going to the pools in the afternoon and evenings.  Jimmy and Nickie love to swim after long hot days on one of the many trails that they explore either with hiking or biking and Phil and Joanne also enjoy afternoon and evening swims.

One thing we all love to do, however, is eat, and after such a great experience with Jimmy and Nickie last year at Tommy Bahama's Marlin Bar we decided it would be a good choice with options for everyone.  Palm Drive is lined with many restaurants with streetside tables and any one of them would be a good choice to enjoy dinner before the Thursday night Street Market.

We had a great time with excellent service and delicious salads, sliders, and other goodies in addition to some yummy cocktails for some of us.  I especially loved the frozen specialty drink flight, mostly because it was so pretty.

After our early dinner, the six of us meandered through the market, sometimes together, other times not, and we all enjoyed the evening light over the mountains and the sparkling lights of the many bars and restaurants.  

It felt like a very happy evening for almost everyone.  It was especially happy for me because I dropped into a ridiculously expensive store called "Johnny Was" Palm Springs, and bought a beautifully impractical silk kimono in colors I couldn't resist.  

In the past, when we were in the Palm Springs area, I made the rounds between the many quilt stores that used to be here.  Most of them are now closed, so I could justify my luxurious purchase because I wasn't buying a bunch of quilt fabric this time.

Our friends Jimmy and Nickie left on Friday morning to return to their home in Nevada City, California. Mo and I were glad that our time at Catalina overlapped at least a little bit this year and we could spend some time together.

From left: back row-Joanne, Jimmy, Phil, front row-Nickie, Mo, Sue

Bye-bye to two of our good friends until next time. We are lucky that these two live close enough to us that we manage to visit each other every now and then and spend some good times together in the mountains of California or at the beach in Oregon. Just a side note here, for any readers who don't know this already: we met Jimmy and Nickie thanks to this blog and Nickie's blog, where we commented on each other's writings long before we met in person many years ago.

We still had a few days to share with the Hartwigs before we parted ways for a time, and those stories will come next:  to be continued.

02-25-2025 February Travels

 

As I sit here attempting to recreate the previous two weeks, I am cooled by the noisy air conditioning fan blowing directly on my head.  Even though the weather app says that the outside temperature is a balmy 90F, the MoHo outside thermometer is reading 109.  I suppose it is somewhere in between those two numbers, but the only really cool place in the MoHo at this moment is right beneath this air conditioning in the chair that Mo brought in for me a bit ago. Thank goodness for hookups and air conditioning. 

We aren't spending much time on the hot patio at our site at Catalina Spa these days.

I thought it might be fun to add a photo of conditions at home just a couple of days before we departed. I am making an important note to self regarding our departure dates next year when we head south to the deserts.  This is the latest we have ventured to Desert Hot Springs and it is the hottest weather we have experienced in this part of California.  I have learned my lesson.  I don't enjoy being cold, but heat like this is worse.  The pavement and even the sandy trails are too hot for Mattie's paws, and the sun beating down on the side of the MoHo is heating up the interior walls so much that they are untouchable.  We cannot put the awning out to protect the sidewall from the heat because the wind is blowing just enough to make extending the awning unsafe.  Let's head South we said!  Let's leave the rain and snow behind we said.  

This season our friends Phil and Joanne decided to travel south with us and arrived at Sunset House on Friday evening before our expected departure. Daughter Deborah has known them as long as I have, since 1977, and came over the evening they arrived to visit and enjoy time together.

Last summer, Phil and Jo purchased the materials and pattern for a quilt they loved and I managed to finish it in time for our southern trip.  Joanne wanted something bright to cheer up their motorhome and I think this quilt did the trick.

The next morning there was a perfect break in the winter weather and we departed from home without incident right at 8am.  Traveling south on I-5, we had no snow or ice on the road and only deep snowbanks on the edges of the curbs in Mt Shasta where we fueled both rigs in order to give us plenty of fuel to reach our destination for the night at Flag City RV Park in Lodi, California.

The entire drive was completely without incident and the sunlight was brilliant.  The skies were so clear that we could see the coast range to the west and the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east.  Traffic was light all the way to Lodi and winds were almost non-existent.  It may have been the easiest trip south we have experienced in years.

As we continued south on I-5 the next day conditions were just as perfect.  I must have said a dozen times how amazing it was that there was no traffic and no wind on I-5 all the way to Highway 58 west of Bakersfield.  

Of course, even though we no longer camp at Orange Grove RV Park, I still needed my winter fix of sweet navel oranges.  We urged Phil and Joanne to continue east over the pass toward Tehachapi while we stopped to buy some oranges from the Californa Fruit Depot just a couple of blocks south of the freeway where we used to exit on Edison Road at Orange Grove RV Park.  We fondly remember the days when an overnight stay there yielded as many oranges as we could pick from their trees, early morning free coffee and fresh donuts, and a great free rig washing station.  Things change over the years, and sadly Orange Grove became much more expensive, donuts only offered once a week, and most of the oranges gone on trees no longer well cared for.

I bought two bags of perfect oranges at the Fruit Depot in less than five minutes and we were back on the road.  There are several exits in Tehachapi that will lead to the Mountain Valley RV Park near the airport and we decided to take the middle exit.  We slowly crossed a bumpy railroad crossing when I heard a loud crunch and within seconds we felt a strong bump into the RV.  I knew immediately that the car had come loose, but it wasn't until we got out to see how bad it was that we realized the stinger that goes into the hitch receiver had snapped and the car had rolled forward into the RV.  The tow hitch on the car had rolled into the pavement under the RV and nothing would move.  Within seconds three young men jumped out of their cars and started helping us.  Within no time they had the car released and told me to move the rig to the side of the road and Mo drove the car off the tracks. Later we realized how lucky we were that there wasn't a train coming and that those kind young men were nearby and willing to help.

Mo and I remained amazingly calm as I drove the rig to the park with Mo following in the slightly damaged Tracker.  When we settled in and had the chance to check out the damage we saw that spare tire rack on the MoHo was bent, the cord for the power supply for the Tracker from the MoHo was damaged and even with slight damage to the left front fender of the Tracker the headlight still worked.

One of the helper guys suggested that Home Depot was open and we might be able to get a new stinger before they closed. Mo and I reconnected with Phil and Jo at the campground and filled them in on our situation and then drove the Tracker to Home Depot where we found a stinger.  Once back at the campground, I heated up our pre-cooked meat loaf dinner while Mo worked on the damaged power cable that connected the car to the MoHo.  Worst case scenario we could drive separately to Desert Hot Springs if needed.

Needless to say, our sleep that night was a bit restless.  The next morning Mo realized that the cable worked for the running lights but not the turn lights or brake lights.  It was daylight and the Tracker is small enough that the lights are visible on the MoHo when we are hooked up so we hooked up everything for our last travel day and headed east on Highway 58 with Phil and Jo following.

Kramer's Corner where Mo and I spent a rather noisy night on one of our return journeys back to the  northwest.

It was another uneventful day with beautiful weather and light traffic.  Highway 58 from Tehachapi to Bakersfield was once a difficult road, with just two lanes and a lot of truck traffic.  It has been improved in the last few years and Kramer's Corner at the junction of Highway 58 and Highway 395 is no longer quite as important as it once was.  We did stop at the Pilot there for fuel and Mo and I fondly remember a couple of noisy overnights that we spent there in our travels in the past.  

Once we reached Barstow, I was was thrilled as always to once again be driving Higway 247 between Barstow and Yucca Valley. Mo did a great job taking photos through the windshield and only a few bug splatters may remain  in the photos.

Down the last steep hill between Yucca Valley and The Coachella Valley where Desert Hot Springs is located.  That is Mount San Jacinto in the bacground at over 10,000 fet tall.  This part of the trip always feels like we are going home

We arrived at Catalina Spa and RV Resort in early afternoon as planned, and were delighted to discover that we were assigned our previous site number 23 with a short walking distance to the pool.  Phil and Joanne were just a couple of sites away from us and directly across from our friends Jimmy ad Nickie Wilkinson, who had been at Catalina for three weeks with plans to leave within a few days of our arrival. We were happy that our schedules managed to overlap for this visit.

More to come as I continue to write about the week we shared with Phil and Joanne and Nickie and Jimmy.  In the mean time, the sun has set, the night has cooled and we are settling in for the evening with nothing to worry about except how soon we will rise for our morning swimg.

02-01-2025 Just January

 I know that anyone looking closely at this post will see that I wrote it on the 5th of February,  I almost didn't write a post for January, but I needed to be sure that the big black books that I publish every year didn't have a glaring empty spot for the first month of 2025.  

At the moment, I am watching more snowfall, with a lot of rain mixed in.  As is often the case, there was no snow at Christmas, no snow throughout January, and then February blew in like an ice demon with more snow than we have seen here in Grants Pass since we have lived here.  

At the moment, Interstate 5 is at a crawl or a standstill, depending on when you look at the drone footage or the trip check cameras.  It is so cold and damp and icy and wet outside that I can barely make myself open a door to give the hummingbirds some warm food.  But all this is for another story, one that I may completely forget by the time I am through with what is hopefully a warm and sunny February.

For whatever reason, (pick your choice, lack of sunlight, gray skies, politics, cold weather pains,) I have been somewhat depressed this month.  I am not normally a depressive personality but found myself waking every morning with an oppressive feeling of doom.  Sometimes I would wake in the night realizing that I had been crying in my sleep.  Mo is much more evenly balanced than I am, and yet she has been very patient with this gray pall that has hung over me for much of the month. 

It was so bad that I actually called the doctor asking for some help, maybe an antidepressant.  I have never taken one, and he prescribed something simple for me.  I think the thought of taking it kicked me out of the worst of my depression and with additional doses of vitamin D3 I seem to be doing better without having to succumb to drugs.  (I do not consider a shot of whiskey now and then, an extra big cup of hot coffee, or a glass of wine as drugs.) I have used all three this month, with a chocolate or two thrown in for good measure.

But enough of my whining, and on to the real stuff that made the month of January an Ok month.

This was the early morning view out the bedroom window before I started taking the lights down

Because winter is so very dark when the sun sets before 5PM, I am reluctant to take down the Christmas lights.  I wait as long as I can before I begin the process, taking my time.  I first work on interior house decor, then finally the village is packed away with Daughter Deborah's help, and finally I step outside and begin taking down lights.

All the indoor stuff stacked and ready for boxes

With so much fog keeping everything outside wet I needed to bring it all into the garage to let it dry out before packing it up.  I made a commitment that anything that I don't use every year will go to goodwill and the bins you see on the left side of the garage are where it all gets stored.

I started the project on January 5th and finished the house stuff on the 8th.  It then took me two days to take down the village the following weekend. Matthew took down the roof lights on the 13th.  So it was just a little over a week for the entire project, and I didn't work so hard that I wore myself out.  I think about this every year.  How many more years will I do this?  I have no idea but I am not ready to give up yet.

Our next-door neighbors told us how much they loved looking out their windows in the early morning and seeing the windmill all lit up.  Matthew didn't take down the windmill lights until the end of January.  It made the darkness a bit more bearable to have that bit of color down in the lower pasture.

According to my calendar, the dense fog inversion in Grants Pass began on January 6th and didn't leave us until January 20th.  It is almost certain that if we have a dry month without rain, the high pressure will cause the cold fog to fill the valley.  We know that just above the inversion layer there is bright sunshine, and sometimes people will travel up in elevation and post photos of the beautiful views above the gray.  If the inversion lifts, it is often because the high-pressure system is leaving and a low-pressure storm system is moving into the valley.  I laugh because then the foggy gray gives way to rainy gray.  But for me, rainy gray is better because at least it moves around a bit and the clouds have some life and energy in them.

Mo and I treated ourselves well during the month, with puzzles to entertain us, pedicures and a haircut for me, a bit of shopping, and a breakfast out at our favorite restaurant.

I was inspired by one of Janna's blogs about her artisan bread and decided to make my own, with more attention to the detail that was included in the email Janna sent to me of the pages in her New Artisan Bread Book.  The bread came out perfect.

Mo has more willingness to go outside in the damp weather than I do and she managed to do many maintenance jobs around the property in the afternoons.  I filled up a good amount of time finishing a quilt I made for our friends Phil and Joanne who will be traveling with us to Southern California this year.  Joanne saw the quilt made up last year when the four of us visited Joy of Quilting in Florence on the Oregon Coast and bought the full kit when I said I could make it for them.

On a Sunday afternoon, we enjoyed a truly spectacular performance of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony at the Grants Pass Performing Arts Center.  I have loved that symphony since I was a kid and enjoyed reading about the history surrounding it.  I thought that maybe everyone knew and loved the Fifth and that because it was my favorite maybe it meant I wasn't a very sophisticated music lover, but hearing that symphony live brought tears to my eyes and I once again understood why it is often the one mentioned most often by music lovers.

Another little bit of self-care for me was a bit of old-fashioned French cooking.  Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child was an old favorite that I somehow lost in our moves.  I mentioned this here and there and lo and behold I ended up with three copies of the book.  One for Christmas from Deborah, one from Maryruth, and one arriving from Amazon ordered by my sister in California.  Crazy.  

I decided to make a classic roast pork in a casserole.  In my mind, a casserole is that glass thing that you bake something in, but in Julia's version, it is a heavy-lidded pot that can go stovetop for rendering bacon fat for browning the roast and then covered and put in the oven for baking in moist heat.  Of course, I couldn't settle for just any pan for such a recipe and went to our local Kitchen Store where I was shown the amazing French cooking pots made by Emile Henry.  It was a ridiculously expensive pan, a super treat, and may have been what really brought me out of my funk.  The pork roast was the best I have ever made,

At last, toward month's end on January 20th, the sun broke through the fog and lit up the world around us with a breathtaking brilliance.  Mo worked on a water system she had developed for our long line of shrubs along the front of the property and I raked and cleaned out several flower beds.  

we waited every day for the afternoon sun to appear before going out to the yard to work in the beautiful light.  I was so grateful for sunshine and each evening we noticed a tiny bit of daylight added before our early sunsets. 

Mo is the one who hauls the cart to the trailer with the debris that I add to the cart.  I would wear down a lot faster if I had to do the raking AND the hauling. She also does a lot of raking when I wear down and can't keep up. Mo is a lot tougher than I am any more.

The chrysanthemums along the walkway don't seem to understand that it is now midwinter and they should no longer be blooming.   I cut them back anyway, because by spring they will be completely unmanageable.

The latter days of January were filled with fun times with friends and family.  The book club had a meeting on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Red Lily Winery, where we laughed and ate goodies and shared wine flights.  

Oh yes, we did actually talk about the book and chose another one for next month.  The book we read last was called "The Island of Missing Trees" by Elif Shafek.  The book was mostly good, but a couple of us had the same reaction.  It was well written and interesting until it got boring and then interesting again and then we would lose interest.  There was so much beauty in the writing, and the story was sad but good.  We all learned more about the complex historical relationship between Greece and Turkey.  I knew a bit of this from my friends Erin and Mui, originally from Turkey, but I didn't realize that the shifts in population between the two countries affected Cyprus as well.  The conflict between the Turkish people and the Greek people on Cypress was every bit as bad as the conflicts in Ireland, with a fenceline separating people who hated each other.  I would recommend the book even with its flaws.

The very next day was Daughter Deborah's birthday and we celebrated with a small family gathering with me and Mo and with Deb's son Matthew and his sweetie Katty.  Deb asked for patty melts and carrot cake and both were truly delicious.  We had a lovely time for most of the afternoon laughing and sharing stories.

Mattie loves having company and is very polite as she joins the family for meals.  She doesn't beg, but she does have a very intense gaze until the meal is over and she gets a bit of a treat.

Mattie spent much of the month on the couch or the loveseat or in my lap in the rocker with a blanket. She doesn't like the cold very much, loves lap time with the blankie, and loves lying on the rug in front of the fireplace.