Travel Journal 2020
Friday, January 3, 2020
Beginning a new year and a new decade, we have been busy
with our annual medical check-ups and are now planning our summer 2020
assignment. We’re enjoying outings with our friends and associates, day-trips
to shopping and local attractions, and excellent sunny, warm winter days in La
Quinta.
Monday, January 6, 2020
I just recalled the special “tamale” treat that we received
during the Christmas Holidays. On Christmas morning, a park associate brought
fresh, home-made tamales to us. He shared the story of this tradition in his
family. This has reminded me to research his story and see what I could learn.
Tamale-making around the holidays is a familiar southern
California tradition to many, that dates back to colonial Mexico, when parents
would gather to eat tamales after putting their children to bed on Christmas
Eve.
Charlie gave us home-made tamales on Christmas Eve, right
out of the “tamale kettle” at his family home. Charlie’s Californio family goes
back several generations to the early days of the Mexican period in Alta
California. His family tradition is to make the tamales (unique family
process), then place them in the “tamale Kettle” which is then placed on the
hot coals of a “grape vine” fire. The coals are managed to produce a
slow-cooking, steaming condition that could last all day. During the day the
children play around the fire, the adults visit, and visitors come around. After
all the effort, everyone gathers to enjoy the hot tamales and family
fellowship. I love this story!
Friday, January 10, 2020
Costa’s Hummingbirds nest primarily in the Sonoran and
Mojave Desert. They are our most common hummingbird here in southern
California, as they range from Baja California to Alta California. They love
our feeders and are constant visitors every day.
The male's gorget (throat patch) flares out along the sides
of the neck like an overgrown mustache. Adult male Costa's Hummingbirds have an
iridescent, brilliant purple crown and gorget, a green back, and a green vest.
Females and immatures are greenish above with a white eyebrow stripe and
whitish underparts. With our feeder near our sitting area, they provide
constant entertainment and are fearless around us.
Saturday, January 11, 2020
Well, the College Football National Championship is on
Monday. Thinking back, I was an LSU Tiger from 1978-1988 (Alumni and
Faculty/Staff). I also recall the series of Head Football coaches that reined
during that period. The LSU coaches had a tradition of hosting a weekly (7am)
“Football Breakfast” on Thursday mornings, at the LSU Faculty Club, during the
Football season, and I never missed one. The head-coach would give a “game-plan”,
sort of talk and I always thought it was “history in the making”! Jerry Stovall
was the only coach that I ever talked to but it was special just to hear them
give their weekly talks.
LSU Football Coaches during my tenure:
Charles McClendon (LSU football coach 1962-1979)- Charlie
or Chollie Mac, played at the University of Kentucky under Bear Bryant. A great
coach and I hated to see him go!
Bo Rein (1980)- Never saw him in person, he died in a plane
crash before he ever coached a game.
Jerry Stovall- Jerry was my favorite because of his
magnetic personality, amusing college and pro stories ( a great story-teller), AND he was a prodigious LSU alumnus.
Bill Arnsparger (1984-1986)- I don’t think that he played
college football but became a college and pro coach.
Mike Archer (1987-1990)- Played at the University of Miami and
was a successful LSU coach but his last two seasons went south and he was
forced to resign. I always felt that LSU suffered the remainder of the century
after Charlie McClendon was ousted.
Friday, January 31, 2020
Plan for Pacific Coast Summer 2020
California
Oregon
Washington
After, considering several (summer) park volunteer offers
in New Mexico, we have elected to take the summer off and just play tourist.
It’s just something we’d like to do!
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Both Cal Fire and Caltrans provide guidelines for
earthquake emergency preparedness, in the State of California. With our recent
review of the Lake Cahuilla Regional Parks, Earthquake Emergency Preparedness Plan,
I began to look for indications of previous earthquakes.
In walking around the park, I immediately identified evidence
of the May 8, 2018, 4.5 magnitude earthquake, in the Coachella Valley. These
cracks, six to eight inches wide in a series of breaks, fractured the road and
curbs and separated them. Park officials informed me that this earthquake
sloshed water out of the pool. Earthquake crack-fixing is a common activity
in the Coachella Valley but it can’t erase the reminder-evidence of the event.
Summer Plan 2020 Pacific Coast
May 1-7 Dockweiler Beach LA $465@$66
May 8-14 Ventura County Foster Park $267@38
May 15-21 Earl Warren RV at Santa Barbara $420@$60
May 22-28 Paso Robles RV Ranch at Paso Robles $360@$51
May 29-June 4 San Lorenzo Park King City $286@$41
June 5-11 San Francisco Alameda County Park $244@$35
June 12-15
June 16-22 Mendocino Co. Fairground Dolly 760.861.4046
July 1-
+Dockweiler Beach Park 12001 Vista del Mar Playa del Rey,
CA 90293 (800) 950-7275
(310) 322-4951
+Ventura County Parks Foster Park (805) 654-3951 5-8/514 Booking
#987017 tlsjrs25@outlook.com
Park$BoB$
+Foster Residence Park 438 Casitas Vista Rd, Ventura, CA 93001
(805) 654-3951 From Highway 33, exit Casitas Vista/Santa Ana Road (805)
654-3951
+Paso Robles RV Ranch 398 Exline Rd Paso Robles, CA 93446 (805)
237-8685
+San Lorenzo County Park, 1160 Broadway, King City, CA San
Lorenzo Park Rd
Individual Campsites: 1-888-588-CAMP/ (831) 755-4899
+The Fairpark RV Campground Alameda County Fairgrounds
4501 Pleasanton Avenue Pleasanton, CA 94598
Fair Park RV Campgrounds is located inside Alameda County
Fairgrounds – Gate 12 from Valley Blvd. (0ff Bernal Ave & 680 freeway) in
Pleasanton 925-426-3340
+BART Senior Green Ticket $9 510-464-7136 with questions
+Mendocino County Fairground RV Park mcofair@pacific.net
14400 Hwy 128 Booneville, CA 95415
+Gualala River Redwood RV Park
46001 Gualala Road, P.O.Box 1032
Gualala, CA. 95445
707-884-3533
August on Oregon Coast
September on Washington Coast
** As a result of the CV Pandemic, we have cancelled all of
our summer Pacific Coast plans.
More notes on Winter 2020 at Lake Cahuilla:
The 58 California Counties and the Northern/Southern
California boundary line:
Southern California; This definition coincides neatly with
the county lines at 35° 47′ 28″ North latitude, which form the northern borders
of San Luis Obispo, Kern, and San Bernardino counties. This is the only
contiguous jurisdictional line that bisects California from east to west and dates
back to the Mexican period. Northern and southern California have actually
considered forming two separate states and this old jurisdictional line was the
accepted boundary.
Why do we keep returning to the Coachella Valley for the
winter season? Winter and spring months in the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs
area) are fantastic. There’s gorgeous weather, fresh citrus, and we have to
make a real effort to see snow – as it should be! It’s hot enough to swim every
day, but still cool enough to go to the parks, shopping, or exploring in the
middle of the day. Mornings are perfect for hikes through Painted Canyon /
Ladder Canyon, the Bump and Grind, Lake-to-cove, or the Top of the Cove. We
stomp divots at polo from January through March, and shop the farmer’s market
in Old Town la Quinta. There are a lot
of fun free things to do, but there are also some great events going on like
the La Quinta Arts Festival, the BNP Paribas at the Tennis Garden, Coachella,
and Stagecoach. The casinos and theatres have a steady line-up of shows and
great entertainment.
When you think about people traveling from the north to
spend their winters in the warm deserts of California, you probably picture
millionaires who can afford multiple houses and country club memberships.
Fortunately, that doesn’t have to be the case. If you want to enjoy the warm,
sunny weather of the Coachella Valley, you can simply look to your RV as your
‘second home’. By parking your RV at any of a number of established parks in
the region, you can enjoy the snowbird lifestyle for a fraction of the cost.
When snow birds return to the desert from northern climes,
migratory birds are arriving here from all over the Americas. We have a rare
inland climate that supports active bird populations throughout the winter
months. This is the payoff for wintering here, because while everywhere else is
dormant and cold, the birds and bees also enjoy the winter sun and warm days.
Invite them to your spot-in-the-sun with all kinds of party favors and they'll
hang around indefinitely to brighten every morning with their cheerful
presence.
In February, we visited the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens,
a Palm Desert zoo and botanic garden combination dedicated solely to the
deserts of the world. The programs provide environmental education, native
wildlife rehabilitation, plant propagation, and habitat restoration, and
captive breeding of African and Sonoran Desert species, including the area's
iconic desert bighorn sheep. We really appreciated the wonderful landscaping,
with the plants and animals well defined and in a natural setting.
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens is part-zoo and
part-botanical garden, all in the extraordinary setting of a desert. Along with
animals like mountain lions, bighorn sheep and meerkats, there are a handful of
gardens that showcase more than 1,400 species of plants, including multiple
varieties of cacti, prickly pear and agave. To our total surprise, we encountered
the most extensive outdoor model-train exhibit that we have EVER seen. The
model includes all the trains and famous scenes of California history.
Another February treat, was my Birthday dinner with friends
at the Augustine Casino’s Friday night Lobster Fest. Augustine is situated in
the east valley, with splendid views of the Santa Rosa Mountains and surrounded
by expansive date orchards. The buffet was superb Lobster, Crab, Shrimp Oysters
& Salmon bake just to name a few. Other delicious selections including
Roast Duck, Pasta, Potatoes & Salad. We ate delicious seafood from a
fabulous buffet until we were quite “stuffed”! Richard ate seven lobster and I
lost count.
March brought the annual Desert Triathlon, where the Park was
filled to capacity and we stayed quite busy. The event brings athletes from
around the world and to take part in this multi-discipline event at the Lake
Cahuilla Recreation Area. Perfect for experienced athletes seeking a new
challenge, there is a mixture of races to choose, from an Olympic triathlon to
an Aquabike. Come along for the epic landscape or for the testing routes.
Saturday, March 14, 2020
Unfortunately, sister Rose is in a health predicament and
sounds like she will need help. Tomorrow, I will fly to Tupelo Mississippi via Palm
Springs, Chicago, then Memphis. With the CV pandemic going on, this complicates
every aspect of travel, healthcare, and just plain living.
Sunday, 3-15-20
After a long and uneventful flight to Memphis, my rental
car was waiting, and I headed to Tupelo, arriving around 2am. In Tupelo, I took
a room at the Hilton Garden, downtown, and fortuitously, it was located near
the North Mississippi Medical Center. Following a good rest, I drove over to
the hospital and subsequent to a CV protocol process, I was allowed to visit
Rose. It was immediately obvious that she was in a serious condition. During
five days and nights in Tupelo, visiting Rose became more restrictive, due to
the CV protocol. Thankfully, she made good progress and was moved to a
step-down room and finally discharged on Friday, March 20. On discharge, the
Doctor ordered her home, canceling our plans for a Rehabilitation Center.
Having previously retrieved Rose’s personal belongings and car from cousin
Margaret’s, we traveled home to Senatobia.
For the next 32 days in Senatobia, we sequestered and
worked with Sta Home, friends, and neighbors to do in-house rehab, planning and
organizing, and day-to-day living.
With the help of Howard and Robert, I purchased a used car
for the purpose of “safe” traveling back to California. Also, Nancy, Marilyn
and others provided some essential support in getting organized to travel.
Tuesday, April 21
With all my travel preparations complete, I departed
Senatobia. Traveling three days, I covered the 1800-mile route, from Senatobia,
Mississippi, to La Quinta, California. This was a grueling drive and schedule
that I would not recommend for a retired person, but I needed to get to
California ASAP. Arriving in California, I immediately went to work, planning,
organizing, preparing, and packing for our return trip to Senatobia. The hot
temperatures at Lake Cahuilla made travel preparations very difficult. On our
last day, in La Quinta, the temperature was 103 degrees at 3 pm, so we had to
pace our work and reserve some until after sundown, when it cooled to 85
degrees.
Monday, April 27, 2020
Exhausted and wilted, we have elected to travel to
Flagstaff Arizona, and enjoy a few days of rest and relaxation, at the
7-thousand-foot elevation.
By the end of the day, we made it to Kingman Arizona and
took a nice campsite just off I-40. Kingman, at 3300-feet, is the county seat
of Mohave County, in the Mohave Desert, is located on old Route 66, and enjoys
a temperate climate.
Wiki story: “Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a U.S. Navy
officer in the service of the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, was
ordered by the U.S. War Department to build a federal wagon road across the
35th Parallel. His secondary orders were to test the feasibility of the use of
camels as pack animals in the southwestern desert. Beale traveled through the
present day Kingman in 1857 surveying the road and in 1859 to build the road.
Beale's Wagon Road became part of Highway 66 and Interstate Highway 40.
Remnants of the wagon road can still be seen in White Cliffs Canyon in Kingman.”
We had a beautiful western sunset and a cool night and
morning, a nice reprieve from the Lake Cahuilla heat. Arizona is renowned for
spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Kingman is the perfect place to enjoy them as
it has great views to the east and west.
Situated in the Hualapai Valley, between the Cerbat and
Hualapai mountain ranges, Kingman is a beautiful little town.
Today we are treated to a spectacular sunset. If you love a
brilliant golden Arizona sunset, the sunsets can be awesome here in Kingman.
We were treated to an awesome sunrise. The Arizona sunrises
are a good reason to become an early riser.
The campground is a haven for numerous birds so I spent
some time at daybreak birdwatching. It’s mating season and the birds are all
singing their songs. The Gambrel Quail are abundant here in the desert and they
are very vocal right now.
At mid-morning, we trekked on over to Flagstaff, increasing
elevation as we headed east. We could just feel the benefits of high altitude —
namely dry, clean, cool, clear air, beautiful scenery, majestic mountains, stands
of huge Ponderosa Pines, birds and wildlife.
The snow-capped Humphreys Peak, just north of Flagstaff (Arizona’s
highest 12,633’), came into view when we were a great distance away. It was
very exciting to admire it as we approached on our upslope route from Kingman.
We always pay close attention to our surroundings and are constantly
curious about things we discover. For example, The Arizona Divide was a new discovery
for us. Comparable to the Continental Divide, the Arizona Divide is the highest
ridge of the mountains within the State. It is a high (north/south) ridge that
runs the entire length of the State and separates the watershed of the Gila (west)
and Little Colorado River(east).
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
This morning at Flagstaff, we awoke to dry, cool, clear air,
at 39 degrees. We immediately switched to long pants and jackets. Love it!
