Happy Birthday to our dear friend Kenalm T. Richardson

Ken we wish you the very best on your birthday November 29.  We could never forget your birthday no matter where we are and where we are is Desert Hot Springs, CA.  We woke up to see snow on the surrounding mountains today, November 28.  The wind howled and the rain came down last night.  I'm attaching some photos that we've taken while we've been here.  The pelicans were on the Salton Sea.  We took a drive with Mel and Donna McKinnon from across the street at Caliente Hot Springs and we went to a state park near Niland that is situated on the Salton Sea.   The roadrunner kept going by our campsite so one day I followed him and caught him jumping into the bush.  I hope these pictures turn out ok for everyone to see. Kelsi I had to add the pelicans.  These were beautiful birds.  Mind you, the beach was strewn with dead fish so the odour was not too pleasing.


  The windmills are just north of us at Desert Hot Springs. Mike took them from long range.

I think that is all the pictures I will download for now.

We've been playing golf.  The course here is an executive 9 hole but very green and challenging enough for me.  We were to go today but it was raining, so we decided to walk to the shopping area of D.H.S.  To my surprise it was a lot further away than Mike said it was.  I was still dressed in a long sleeve turtleneck and jeans with a fleecy jacket when the sun came out and I got very warm.  It took us a good half hour to forty five minutes to walk to the stores.  Mike reassured me that we would take a taxi back if I was too tired.  Well we were able to sit for a good half hour waiting for the taxi to reach us.  I guess he came from Palm Springs and it took a half hour for him to reach us.  We started to walk back and saw him coming so we turned around and went back to the store where we had been waiting.  We should have rented a car today.  The taxi cost about half of what a day's rental would have been.

I got my hair cut today.  It cost a fortune.  A whole 15.00 us.  She had it cut in about 10 minutes and I like it.  It is very short.  I couldn't believe how she could do it so fast.  She was good.

I've been having trouble with the computer so thanks to Scott in Enderby, it's working not too badly now.  I just can't seem to hit the keys properly.  If you see typos, it's not all my fault.  At 11:41 pm on Saturday night it is very cool in here and my hands are going numb along with my toes.  No wonder the dog is in bed with Mike.  My turn to go get warmed up.

Mike lost another relative yesterday-his Auntie Sophie died yesterday at the age of 88.  We want to send the family, Gail, Wayne, Val and their families and to Uncle Joe and Auntie Jenny and the other Holoidays our deepest sympathy on your loss.  We are so grateful that we had the opportunity to visit with her on the August long weekend in Leduc at the Holoiday family reunion that her children hosted.  RIP Sophie.

We are here until Tuesday and then we will move on.  Don't know where we'll be going, but you will find out when I do. 

We've moved !

This is Sunday, November 22nd. John F. Kennedy was shot this day in 1963. Do you remember where you were when you heard the news? It was lunch time at school and Peggy Seip came back to school from lunch at home to let everyone know. What a shock that was. I was in Grade 9.
We decided to move to another campground here in D.H.S.(Desert Hot Springs). We are now at the Sands RV and Golf Resort not too far down the road from Caliente Springs. The sites here are a little nicer but we couldn't get level on this lot. I hope I don't slide out of bed tonight.
There is a nice golf course here that we hope to play for the next week. Kenny, it's a perfect spot to relax and enjoy the waters. They had a sale on this week - pay for seven day stay, get two extra days. That works out to $26.00 a day. Not too shabby. Thanksgiving is this week so I signed us up for the potluck dinner on Thurs. I'm asking Mike to make his famous seizure uh I mean Caesar Salad.
We did a lot of shopping today. We found a tabletop bbq at Lowe's; it was 30.00 cheaper than at Home Depot. It is a Weber and is reputed to be a very good bbq. At Costco we picked up a four foot table; plus groceries at Walmart. The rv sites here do not have picnic tables so we needed one for the outside. Now I won't have to have fried meat anymore.
At the roadside a lady was selling strawberries and oranges and Mike bought a pkg of strawberries and a large bag of oranges. Wonderful strawberries.
Weaver is getting adjusted to the place. We put out his fence and threw in his bed and he seems happy. There is a large doggie park and Mike wore Weaver out tossing the ball for him.
The shower room is a few blocks away but all the streets are paved so it makes walking easy. I sure need the exercise.
So far the weather has been wonderful. Warm sunny days and cool nights for sleeping. The sun went down by 4:30 and at 5:30 it is now dark. This campground is not overly lit at night so the stars are easy to see.
Mike and I came here in Dec. 99 for a week and I must say this whole area has grown rapidly. It has a 4 lane highway, but the highway is brand new so very few if any potholes; not likke the roads in Los Angeles.
Apparently this whole area is on the San Andreas fault. Don't panic. We're fine. We are not expecting any catastrophic earthquake while we are here. If there is the dog will warn us I'm sure.
Mike is busy preparing supper. I am surprised how many husbands in the last campground dtd the cooking and how many wives just loved it. I am no exception.
Last night we went out for supper in Cathedral City with two couples that were staying near us at C. S. Donna and Mel should be on their ship right now heading for Rio. Have fun!!
My computer is doing funny things so I'm signing off and hoping this goes through. If anyone wants to phone us, we have a Canadian phone number you can call. Leave a comment that you want our phone number and I'll email you back the Winnipeg number, lol. It's as close as I could get to a BC number. If you have a good long distance plan it won't cost much and it will only cost us 10 cents a minute instead of the international rate.
ttfn
Mave n Mike

Walnut RV Park and Caliente Springs RV Park

Hi everyone,
       We're here in sunny southern California on Sunday, November 15, 2009.  Our drive from Pismo Beach was sunny and warm.  We drove to Northridge where we stopped at the Walnut RV Park.  It's the only park so far that was close enough for us to walk to shopping services and only one of two or three that are in the major Los Angeles area.  We found a Petco store and bought a bottle of homeopathic drops for Weaver.  We have our fingers crossed that they will work for a while at least to keep him quiet. 
      We sampled frozen ice with jogurt at a new shop celebrating its opening.  The owner's mother was there and she helped me jump the line to get two samples.  We had root beer floats.  Not too bad.  While standing around eating, we met a fellow who worked for K-tel in Canada.  His wife is from Winnipeg.  He was born in Edmonton. 
      Sunday morning dawned bright and clear but cool.  Mike got up at 5am and plugged in the heater.  We finally got up at 8:30, had breakfast and packed up to head out before the roads got too crowded.  The roads were not nice to drive on, but we made it to Desert Hot Springs by 1pm. 
      The park is called Caliente Springs RV park.  It is very nice.  There are a lot of park model homes here with RV spaces for those who do not plan to stay all winter.  Of course we could stay here.  We came here even though the office was closed.  Mike chose an available spot and as soon as we had settled in the fellow from across the street came over and introduced himself.  It surely is a small world.  His mother was from Enderby.  Her name was Donna Nordstrom.  He is Todd Nordstrom's older brother.  Todd is married to Ruth Gale, whose mom, Bev Gale, still lives in Ashton Creek.  If you are reading this, hi Bev.  See what I mean by small world?  Mike taught Todd and Ruth.
The sun went down (behind the mountain) by 4pm.  Then it got cooler, so we packed up the dog and moved inside.
Mike made sure he tried out the pools here.  They are naturally heated pools, each with a little different temperature.  He's feeling very relaxed after the stressful driving through Los Angeles today.  We took the Ventura Hwy. through to San Bernadino and east to Palm Springs.  What a valley.  Full of huge windmills.  I can understand why they are out here.  It gets very windy here and of course it doesn't take much to turn them.  We should switch to wind power at home.  We've had enough wind this year to produce all the electricity we'd need for a year.
We hoped we'd be able to stay here for a week but we found out the golf course (if you can call it that), is not open until November 23.  We were told that the grass was reseeded so it is not open as early as usual.  The other thing is that our discount card ends tomorrow instead of the beginning of December.  Apparently the committee here keeps changing the rules.  I think we were the only rig that pulled in here today.  There are lots of empty spaces for rent.  Maybe they are expecting the crowds here for Thanksgiving holiday. (?) Mike will find out in the morning what is happening and we will move back down the road to the Sands RV park which has a golf course that is open (if the park is reasonably priced).
      Walnut RV park was the most expensive place we've stayed.  It cost us $56.00 US.   There was no tv service and only one wi-fi connection and that was in the club house.  You may have observed we're trying to be frugal on this trip.  We've only paid over $3.00 a gal once on this trip and the lowest we've paid was $2.65 in Longview Wa. at the Safeway. These are US prices. Mike calculated that gas is averaging about 88 cents a litre.  Miles per gal varies from 8.5 to 11.5 per.  That is Canadian gallons he's worked out.  Not too bad.
Remember earlier I mentioned the drops for the dog?  Well they seemed to work for a while, in fact, they kept him quiet, although he was still a little energetic.  They started to wear off before we got here, but the peace and quiet in here on this trip was worth every penny.
      Dave, Dad may have left his 20 amp adaptor somewhere along the road.  It attaches to the cord that we plug in for the electricity service.  Do you think you could get us one just in case we need it for Mexico?  Thanks if you can, don't worry if you can't.
     Well, it's time for me to sit back and relax.

ttfn,
Mave n Mike

Pismo Beach, WOW

     It's Friday the 13th and we drove here today from Gilroy, the garlic capital of the world, haha.
The weather is definitey warmer.  The sun has shone for 3 days now.  I could not wait to get away from the rain.  The drive from Salinas to San Luis Obispo was really fascinating.  The area is covered in fields of veges and grapes.  Mile after mile....ad nauseum.  But it was really interesting trying to guess what field had what veges and what the workers were picking.  Many of the fields were being harrowed and probably prepped for more planting.
     In the whole trip so far I think we've actually been able to find two tourist information places.  The signs on the road say tourist information this way-you know-with the arrows, then we get caught in midtown traffic but see only little tiny signs saying tourist information  two blocks, then we miss the sign to turn at this street so we just hit the freeway again and keep going.
     We had to stop in Pismo Beach.  It looked so neat all lined up neatly on the right side of the highway.  We did find this tourist information site and were directed to this beautiful rv resort.  It is called the Pismo Coast Village RV Resort.  It was not on their map but they said it was one of the nicest so we pulled in and they had a space for us.  $45.00 later we are set up and on our way to the beach, and what a beach.  It says in the area brochure that this beach is one of only a few California beaches that actually allows vehicles on the beach.
     Lis, is this the place you have your timeshare in March?  Or are there two Pismo Beaches in California?  I'll have to check the map.  If your timeshare is here, bring a jacket.  The average temperature year round here is 61 degrees F.  I think I'm not far enough south.  It does get cool here as soon as the sun starts to set.  Lots of people in here have campfires going, but I'm being a wuss.
     By the way Annetti, we stopped at Walmart south of Santa Rosa and bought a little fridge.  We've been able to put it under our dining table.  Mike took off the leg of the table and moved it up closer to the edge of the table.  That gives us room to open the door. 
     Our magellan GPS unit that we bought at Future Shop in Surrey is still not working after we bought a new plug in unit.  So we think the GPS itself is the problem.  Mike is just testing it again and it looks like it is not going to work.  I guess we send it back to Magellan and get it fixed or get a new unit.  We will have to get an address so that they can send it back to us.  Time to stop and enjoy the weather somewhere a little warmer than here. 
     We also bought a phone.  We met some people from Ontario in Santa Rosa and Art told us about a pay as you go phone for $30.00.  We got it at Walmart.  It is called Net10.  Calls to anywhere in the US  are 10 cents each and to Canada are 15 cents each.  I got it activated today but have to wait a few days to call to Canada, so Dave and Vicki, we'll be calling you soon.  If you want our phone number please email us at our regular email address and we will give it to you.
     Dave, there is a RV dealership called Sky River.  The website is http://www.skyriverrv.com/.  It is located in Paso Robles which is where hwy 101 and hwy 46 meet.  They had a video on the tv here showing this park in May.  There were dozens of Air Stream mohomes here, all sizes and ages and in really neat shape.  I'm not sure if Sky River sells Air Streams or not but you could have a look.
     Does anyone know of something called Rescue Remedy? or Remedy Rescue?  It is a natural relaxer.  One of the campers in Santa Rosa had some and she gave a drop to Weaver.  We really have to find some of that stuff.  Does anyone have any recommendations for calming a very panicky dog while driving?  Weaver is still having a fit when we drive.  At least we haven't put him in the bathroom the last couple of days.  Mike has resorted to proving that he is alpha and letting Weaver know in no uncertain terms that he is the boss, not Weaver. ha ha.
    Well, it's time to cudle under a blanket for a while before hitting the hay. 

ttfn
Mave n Mike

Coos Bay, Oregon to Arcata, California

   It's Tues. Nov. 10 and we're in Arcata, California.  It's just north of Eureka.  On Monday morning I decided I wanted to stay in bed, so we stayed another day in Coos Bay.  The weather cleared up, the sun shone and we called a shuttle bus to take us to the Casino.  We spent a couple of hours there, used two coupons for $3.00 each and had french fries and cinammon twists with them.  In the time we were in the casino the weather changed and became rainy but we missed it.  By evening the stars had come out and we woke up today to sunshine.  We packed up and left about 9:45. 
      When we were in Long Beach Washington, we discovered that our fridge was not working.  Mike said he could smell ammonia.  Today, we finally stopped in Coos at a rv dealership.  Mike talked to the parts manager who told him that if he had smelled ammonia the fridge was probably not repairable.  Ouch.  A new fridge will put us behind about $1400.  Tomorrow we hope to find a repair shop here in Eureka.  It is Remembrance Day here too, (known as Memorial Day) but we're hoping someone will be open.
If not, we will try to find a little fridge that we can put between the two chairs here and at least have somewhere to put a quart of milk and some eggs.  If not then we'll just keep looking for a place to get the fridge fixed or maybe find a used fridge that works (maybe from a damaged trailer?).
     We saw a pretty bad accident on the way here, and the lady next door to us said there was a bad accident that held her up from getting back here.  One of the units was from British Columbia.  I sure hope no one was seriously injured in either accident.
     Tomorrow we're headed for Santa Rosa.  It is located in the Napa Valley region.

ttfn
Mave n Mike

Coos Bay, Oregon

Tonight we are in Coos Bay, OR.  We drove from Coyote Rock near Lincoln City.  Most of the rain moved south as we drove and we ended up having a lovely sunset with pink coloured clouds.  The nice thing about this trip was the temperature.  It was actually nice enough to wear only a fleece jacket with jeans.  Yesterday's rain culminated in a thunderstorm during the night.  Three mammals slept in one bed because of the noise. 
Weaver is still in panic mode when we start driving.  I've started tying his leash around a closed seatbelt on the chair behind me.  He can reach across to the couch and sits on the edge with his paw on Mike's chair arm.  He hardly whined today so we're hoping he'll finally clue in and realize he's not going to the vet or to get a haircut.  Once we stop Mike takes him for a good walk and then Weaver comes in and curls up on the couch.  Mike wraps the afghan around him and he falls asleep.
My cook made spaghetti and meat sauce tonight for supper.  It's my turn to work now.  Clean up duty :{
Chef is snoring while I'm doing the blog. He works hard driving the moho.  I work hard trying to keep my balance as the moho rocks back and forth over every little bump.
We always look forward to hearing from you.  Comments (nice ones preferred) are welcome.
ttfn
Mave n Mike

Coyote Rock Campground on the Siletz River

Dave, You'd love this place.  Nice campground and seals in the river.  Mike just came in and told me he's seen four seals in the river and taken a picture.  The Manager says it is quite common to see them here.  They come for the fish.  No wonder the discount isn't available in September-salmon season.  We belong to an organization called Passport America.  We've already paid for the book on the discounts we've received by using the Passport America listed sites on our trip.  This place is costing us $16 some dollars tonight and includes cable, wi-fi, electric hookup, water, sewer.  It has a boat launch right beside us almost.  We're a mile and a half inland from hwy 101 south of Lincoln City, Oregon.  The weather has been typical since we got near the coast.  Lots of rain and wind.  We are parked right on the river-actually about 30 or so feet from the river.  We are looking forward to more moderate weather but that is not in the cards for the next few days.  The ocean is still my favourite place to be.  I just wish it was a warmer, sunnier ocean.  We will get there, but not for a few weeks yet.
     Congratulations, Dave and Kelsi on the sale of your condo.  The conditions came off yesterday and already Dave is moving stuff into my condo.  Good thing I'm not there.  If you want to see Kelsi's blog, type in radio girl on google.  She does a good job.
     Til next time, ttfn

Sitting in Long Beach Washington watching the rain

Hello everyone,
It's Friday November 6th and Mike is starting to make breakfast for us.  Eggs today.  When we got up the sun was trying to shine but now at 9:18 am the rain has started again.  Mike and the dog went for a long walk to the beach.  Mike saw what he thought was a dead seal on the beach but he didn't go close enough to check it out.  We left the Olympia Campground in Tumwater WA yesterday about 10:30 am and it took some time to get here because it was very windy driving and Mike took his time.  From Longview where we stopped to buy groceries and gas up (2.69 gal) it was a slow drive.  By the time we got to the Astoria/Megler bridge the water was crashing over the breakwater.  Earlier in the drive we'd seen a truck with a plow on front and wondered why it was driving along the ocean.  Soon we found out.  Another plow truck was plowing the rock and sand blown over the breakwater.
Long Beach is located on a peninsula because there is water on both sides of us.  There is a transit service running up and down the peninsula that takes riders from all the way north to Aberdeen and south to Megler and Astoria.   Lots of fish n chip shops and we're told the best one has all you can eat Halibut and chips for $9.95 on Friday nights.  We're hoping to check it out.
     We've had a few adventures since my last blog.  One night we stayed in the parking lot of the Tulalip Casino.  Beautiful casino.  The art work and lighting were spectacular.  Only trouble is there is smoking allowed.  Outside in the rv parking there were mostly Canadian vehicles pulling in and then out in the morning.  Only problem we had was we didn't sleep well that night due to the cold.  We didn't turn on the generator because we didn't want to disturb our neighbours so we were pretty cold.  I slept in my fleece pants and long sleeved shirt with my big fleece blanket on top and Mike had our large afghan on him.  Oh yes, we had the dog too.  Couldn't let him freeze. 
         When we do have electricity we use a small electric fan for heat.  It warms up the trailer nicely.  Mke has discovered the fridge isn't working so he's been out to try and level the moho better.
     Oh and there was the matter of the cupboard door opening on one of our days out. The peanut butter flew out and broke the lid but the worse part was the olive oil. It also fell out and leaked lots of oil all over the floor. That was a handy dandy mess to clean up. But we survive and are doing quite well together. yahoo.   
     We're going to go out now while the weather not too bad.  It's to get worse as the day goes on.

Anacortes on Monday, Nov. 2nd/09

     I said in my last post that we were leaving Vancouver on Sunday, but Cher, our lovely sister-in-law didn't want us to leave so...we stayed an extra day.  We left Monday morning and drove to the Peace Arch Border Crossing and were in line 1/2 hr or so before we were on our way into Washington State.  We had no trouble at the crossing.  We were asked a few questions and then sent on our way.  We drove to Anacortes after stopping at a casino to see what their rv parking rates were.  Mike said they were 22.00 for full hookups but we wanted to go on to Anacortes.  We are staying at the Fidalgo Bay RV resort.  Their cost is similar but the view is more spectacular and we're not spending money in the casino.We are facing the huge oil refinery and it looks like Christmas outside right now with all the lights from the refinery.  We drove downtown for groceries and Mike, I am proud to say, is learning to maneuver the moho very easily.
    I have decided to tie the dog's leash to the closed seat belt on the chair behind the passenger front seat.  That way he stays on the seat.  He behaved pretty good today.  He is starting to understand the command "stop it" when he starts to whine.  
     Yesterday we went out with Bob and Cher downtown to the waterfront and walked from Howe street to Cordova Street.  There is a beautiful walkway all along the waterfront and we made it to the end but twice stopped to rest on the way back.  We saw the new Vancouver Convention Centre; which by the way is "Closed for the Olympics, will reopen in the Spring".  We were a little miffed to say the least that the general public is not allowed in to see this architectural, taxpayer paid, marvel.
     We picked Weaver up at Bob's before going out for dinner at Wings restaurant.  As soon as we walked into the house we noticed that the closet door had red streaks all over it and that there was paper or something all over the floor.  On closer inspection we saw that Weaver had tried to claw his way out of the house (wrong door though).  Apparently he had to go to the bathroom and couldn't get out.  He broke a nail and that is what the blood was about.  I took him upstairs and cleaned his foot with hydrogen peroxide.  He didn't mind that at all.  We took him back to the moho and put up his kennel.  We plopped him in there with his food and water and bed and he didn't make a peep.  Mike turned on the radio for his comfort and we woke him up when we got home.
   As for dinner, we waited about half an hour and then were seated on the patio.  We managed to devour some of the best wings we've ever had anywhere, including home, and watch the Canucks pull of a shutout win over Colorado.  It was quite interesting to watch the young man at the next table try the hottest wing available.  Let me see now...he stood up after one bite and proceeded to drink every other persons' drinks at that table, all the while making ohhhh sounds with his mouth, until the waitress passed by and he asked for milk.  It came quickly and he downed that in 10 seconds flat.  Meanwhile the others drinks had been replenished and he continued to drink their drinks.  Finally he admitted that he felt a little bit better.  We think he had about 10 drinks that evening one after the other, including beer and what looked like iced tea and the milk.  Bet he was up a few times that night.lol
     Thanks, Bob and Cher, for the great weekend.  It would have been great if you could have come with us.
Vicki, look after yourself and get well soon and thanks again Vicki and Dave (the chef) for a great meal Saturday night.