Mar 25th to 30th - Yuma to Hemet

Mar 25th - Tues - Yuma
I had an interesting book to finish in bed this morning before getting up and making banana chocolate chip muffins. A shelf in the pantry was on a slant so I spent some time figuring out where to put some heavier items. This led to cleaning and sorting out other storage areas. Amazing how hard it is to toss or give away items that we no longer use - have to be ruthless in this small space.
Terry & I ran some errands, brought some groceries back to the rig, ate lunch and then headed back to the casino. Rick & Pat were off doing their own thing so Pat missed out on the casino. I ended up $20 ahead which didn’t quite cover the $28 that Terry spent. Cheap entertainment today!
When we got back I breaded some shrimp for dinner and washed a load of clothes. We spent time with Rick & Pat going over their travel destinations (after they leave us) to try to point out places that we saw and liked.
Another shared dinner with deep fried shrimp (from San Carlos) and potatoes & salad made by Pat. Pat makes a dipping sauce that Terry loves but it varies each time depending on the exact ingredients and proportions. We made a new batch this morning starting with some sauce that I had bought and adding her Szechuan sauce and sesame oil. I mistakenly put some on the salad instead of the sweet & sour Italian that I had made. The combination actually made a very good salad dressing.
After dinner Terry packed up chairs, mats, etc as we are going to Quartzsite tomorrow morning.

Mar 26th - Wed - to Quartzsite
Not far to go so we didn’t get on the road until 9:15. Lots of RVs heading north out of Yuma - winter visitors heading home.
We arrived at the RV park in Quartzsite just before 11, got a spot and set up. We are here to see our South Dakota friends, Clem & Marlene. We also called Larry & Barb from Monroe. They were in Casa Grande and were leaving today so they agreed to come here overnight . They traveled with us and Clem & Marlene in Alaska last summer so we were having a mini-reunion. Rick & Pat are also here for one night.
We sat around and chatted all afternoon and then had another great baby back rib dinner with food contributed by everyone.

Mar 27th - Thurs - Quartzsite
We heard Larry & Barb leave at 6:48 this morning - good thing we said our goodbyes last night.
Rick & Pat went for a drive and a hike this morning so we sat and had coffee with Clem & Marlene before going out for breakfast with them. We were going to take our truck but - surprise! - the battery was dead and the truck would not start. This had happened a couple of times in Mexico but Terry thought it might be associated with the instrument panel problem so figured he would wait and see if it happened any more. After breakfast Terry got a jump start from Clem and took the truck to a little repair shop who had and put in two new batteries.
By the time we got back from breakfast, Rick & Pat had returned and packed up. So we said goodbye to them and then headed out with Clem & Marlene to Ehrenburg to pick up their mail and then to Parker so they could do some banking. Since we were in Parker, we had to go to the casino. Nobody won anything so we had an early dinner and came back.
Clem & Marlene are also leaving tomorrow so they did some packing and then came over so we could bore them with a lot of pictures and stories. They do not have internet access and do not read our blog so everything is new to them.

Mar 28th - Fri - to TwentyNine Palms
We left this morning with every intention of ending up at Hemet. But I started thinking about other spots in between where we have not been and started looking in the PA and CampClub USA books for half price RV parks. I found TwentyNine Palms Resort, called for a reservation, reprogrammed Wanda and here we are!
When we checked in just before 11, the lady helping us said that she wasn’t sure what time it ended but the golf course right next door was having an RV park appreciation day with free golf for people staying in the park. We set up, had a quick lunch and walked to the golf course. The manager said they had teed off at 9:30 and most were done and having a beer to be followed by lunch. Then they would be teeing off at 1:30 for another 9 holes. He said we were welcome to join them and we did. We joined up with another couple who were not staying in the park and played a terrible game of golf! But, as usual, we had fun.
It was very warm so the pool sounded great after the golf mess. We started talking to a couple in the pool who turned out to be our neighbors. They had been on a 28 day Mexico caravan trip and are heading home to Alberta. They were not towing a car as it was not recommended on their trip and they were talking about renting a car to explore around here. So we asked them to join us tomorrow and they accepted the offer.
After dinner we went next door to sit by a propane “campfire” until the cool wind sent us inside their rig. We were amazed to see when we got back to our rig that it was 10:45.

Mar 29th - Sat - TwentyNine Palms
We left with our neighbors, Ernie & Doreen, at 8 o’clock to go exploring. We stopped at the Joshua Tree National Park visitor center so Terry could buy his $10 lifetime golden age pass for admission to national parks & monuments. Took a little walk to he Oasis of Mara and then headed into the park. We stopped at a lot of points of interest and took a walk around the Cholla Cactus Garden which was really interesting. The park has two distinct areas - Mohave Desert with Joshua trees and Colorado Desert without.
We were lucky enough to be here when the Joshua trees were blooming and there were lots of other blooming wildflowers. We drove about halfway through the park, backtracked a little and then took another road back to the town of Joshua Tree where we stopped at a fun little café for lunch. Back to TwentyNine Palms to have a look at most of the 21 huge murals on the sides of buildings.
We all went for a cooling swim when we returned to the park. Then we got together again for a fish fry dinner at the RV activity center. Dinner was followed by dancing with live music.
The nice evening was dampened by a phone call from Terry’s brother Gary. Since everything was uncertain, I didn’t include in our blog the information that Terry’s Mom had a stroke a week ago. She was initially in bad shape with paralysis and an inability to swallow food. She rallied and was moved to a rehab center today but had another stroke during the move. She is unconscious with an uncertain future. We made a reservation today for a week in Hemet so we have to decide whether we will go there or head for Spokane.

Mar 30th - Sun - to Hemet
We decided to go to Hemet and have Terry fly to Spokane from here if necessary. Our friends Barry & Yvonne live here so Dolly & I will have company. Terry talked to Gary again and their Mom is conscious again. A new doctor said she is doing OK so Terry is going to see her.
Yvonne called as we were eating breakfast after getting set up and they came to see us. I was trying to get an airline reservation and getting very frustrated. I tried 3 times to get a reservation online (after talking to a helpline person after the first failed try) and then went to Orbitz. In the time from when I started, a morning flight filled up so Terry will be leaving from Ontario, CA at 4:30 tomorrow afternoon.
Barry & Yvonne took us on a long drive around Hemet and then we went to their place for a nice dinner. Yvonne had me take my laundry so it was great to be able to do a couple of loads while we were sightseeing and eating. We went for a soak in a Jacuzzi before coming back and crashing.