Enjoying Arizona

On Friday, we took a drive to Quartzsite to go to the store called RV Lifestyles to see if they had a couple of items we wanted.  Unfortunately, they didn't have but one of our desired items.  We were very surprised at the amount of traffic in the area.  It would appear that there are many who are still taking advantage of the area to do some boondocking (camping on BLM land with no hookups).  

Saturday evening we enjoyed playing bingo.  It was quite a full house in the Rec Center.  No, neither of us won anything which really is not a surprise but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.  When we came out, it was raining just as it had been forecast.  

Since we have been here, we have kept up with our daily exercise program.  Kind of funny as we are the only walkers out and about while everyone else is driving past us on their quads.  We do get looked at strangely but always get waved at as they go by.  They must think we can't afford a quad of our own . . lol.

Brenda, AZ

With a short travel day, we decided to get in our morning walk before heading out on the road.  We made a quick stop in Parker to hit the grocery store and grab lunch.  We pulled into Black Rock RV Village to a warm reception.  As we are planning on being here for only a week, we opted for the pull-thru.  Each pull-thru is 30 feet wide and 100 feet long.  Very nice, we even have a picnic table.

While I was busy getting the inside all settled, John was busy "nesting" the outside of our site.  The mat is down, the chairs are out, BBQ is set up, bird feeders are out and ready for business, as is the bird bath.  Ah, the site feels like home now.

Later in the evening, we went over to Brenda and Bob's motor home to do some catching up since we saw them last year.  John and I were still on California time so it was shocking to discover that it was 11:30 when we called it a night. 

Needles, CA

With some light rain, we left Orange Grove RV Park around 8 a.m.  Our site was so level that we didn't have to unhook.  All we had to do was bring in the slides and raise the jacks and head out.  What a treat that was - we felt like we won something!

The trip up the Tehachapi's went fine and the traffic was light.  Once we got over the summit, we had sunshine with some clouds.  We stopped at a rest stop for lunch and a stretch of our legs.  We pulled into the KOA in Needles (all of their pull-thrus are super long) early afternoon.  We hit the jackpot again with a level site and didn't have to unhitch.  Two nights in a row - what's up with that, eh? 

Upon check in, we were told their little cafe was open and serving dinner and that there was going to be Bingo tonight if we were interested.  I think we'll pass on both.  Got to save our dollars for playing Bingo at Black Rock Saturday night!  

So far this afternoon, we've seen a roadrunner and hummingbirds.  Two sights that always bring a smile to our faces.  If we were going to be around for a while the hummingbird feeders would be out but it doesn't make any sense to put up the feeder for one night.

Getting in early this afternoon, John got the end cap of the fifth wheel clean as we had picked up a lot of really big bug splatter between Lost Hills and Wasco yesterday.  What the fifth wheel really needs after our travells is a bath.  I asked John that when we get to Black Rock tomorrow if he could wash the back windows as you can barely see out of them they are so dusty.

After two long days of travel, we are looking forward to a short day tomorrow . . . only about 130 miles to Brenda, AZ and then we will be there for a week.

On the road as planned

Bakersfield here we come!

We left Sacramento around 8:30 a.m. just ahead of an incoming storm.  We were able to miss the rain (received a few sprinkles) and most of the headwinds.  An uneventful drive (always appreciated) to Bakersfield and the Orange Grove RV Park.  We like this park as it is outside of the busy city limits and is about a half hour from the summit at Tehachapi.  The park is surrounded by orange trees and you are welcome to check out an orange picker and pick oranges.  Most of the trees had been picked clean so we didn't bother.  

Hopefully, the storm that is coming through southern California will miss us tonight.  The weather person is talking about 45 mph wind gusts - don't want to be driving in that kind of wind.  Guess we will see what tomorrow brings.

Yearning for the road

Boy, I didn't realize it has been so long since I last posted.  The good news is that I did not have surgery.  After getting a second opinion and realizing that the first doctor's primary interest was surgery and it wasn't my primary interest, I chose to not continue having him as my doctor.  This guy's beside manner was almost a match to House's (a doctor on TV).  The second doctor felt my issues didn't warrant surgery at this time and suggested we try the non-surgical route first.  Bless her!  So far so good with the non-surgical route.  We've been given the green light to get back to our travels with the appropriate list of things to be watchful over. 

Since being in Sacramento, we've improved our eating habits with whole foods and less eating out.  We've been exercising with 3 to 5 miles walks daily.  We've even started with some easy jogging.  Imagine that!   Experts say that it takes three weeks to develop new habits.  We've been at this longer than three weeks now and are doing just fine.  We believe we can just keep at it as none of it has been a chore.   Keeping at our new lifestyle won't be without its challenges though as RVers love food.  They love potlucks, finding terrific restaurants and love sharing the information.  How can one pass up a highly recommended restaurant when you may never pass this way again?  I guess we will be finding out.  We are looking at food a whole lot differently these days so I guess the recommendations will have to be something really special before we are bite (no pun intended).

We've enjoyed spending time with Melissa, other family members, and friends but we are so  ready to get back out on the road.  I know most people can't understand the draw of the road but we are so ready to get moving.  Weather permitting we will begin our southern migration on Tuesday.  We have friends to visit with at various locations in Arizona.  Let the travel begin . . .