Arizona

Mar 18     Desert Hot Springs, Ca - Ehrenberg, AZ     121 miles        2 hours 15 minutes

We drove to Arizona Oasis RV Resort in Ehrenberg, Arizona. It's located right after crossing the state line from California to Arizona. It's kind of nice. Located right on the Colorado River with some nice views. Can swim in the river but the waters pretty chilly. There's also a pool and hot tub. Passport America rate is $48.47 for two nights.

Chillin' in the river

We're on our way to Scottsdale for an RV event so just spending two nights here to break up the drive. Sunsets are stunning here on the Colorado River.








Mar 20   Ehrenberg - Scottsdale, AZ       174 miles       4 hours

We got an early start and drove to Scottsdale, Arizona. We're spending 4 days at Westworld of Scottsdale. It's an  Outdoor Expo with RV's, boats, hunting, etc that starts on Thursday. We paid $179 which includes 4 days of camping with electric and water, entry to the Expo, and get togethers every evening with the Good Sam Club.

Before we got here, we stopped at Costco to gas up the RV. Not bad $2.46 a gallon, took 54 gallons to fill up.

Camping in the parking lot

Mar 22  McDowell Sonoran Preserve

This morning we drove to McDowell Sonoran Preserve just a few minutes away from where we're staying. We did a simple hike, around 2 miles. We took our time and enjoyed the scenery. Real nice hike surrounded by mountains and cactus all over.

Then back to the Expo for the 2nd day. I'm enjoying all the little seminars they have on RVing.

In the afternoon we took a drive out to Phoenix Premium Outlet. I wanted to pick up some shorts for Josh at Quiksilver. Then we met our niece, Keahi for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. We had to wait 1 hour for our table but we always enjoy spending time with Keahi.






Mar 23

This morning we went back to McDowell Sonoran Preserve and did the Gateway Loop Trail. This hike a little harder, about 5 miles and lots of uphill on rocky terrain.  It took us about 2 hours, very nice hike with all the spring blooms, so beautiful. We had to take our time because it was so rocky.

Spring blooms so pretty

Then back to the Expo for more seminars.

We really enjoyed the Outdoor Expo these past few days. We met a couple from New Mexico the first evening at the Good Sam get together. Rick and Belinda from Las Cruces, New Mexico. That's what these rallies are all about, learning about RVing and making new friends.

Caliente Springs Resort

Mar 03         Catalina Spa RV Resort - Caliente Springs Resort    1 mile

We moved one mile down the road to Caliente Springs Resort. We were here last year and had such a nice time we decided to come back. We have a Passport America rate of $210 for the week. This place is super nice...a true resort. Lots of activities, and the natural hot mineral pools that are so relaxing. This is where we learned to play pickleball. It's a 55 and better park and we enjoy hanging out with the old futs.

Sites are nothing special

Caliente Springs Resort is a hidden gem, conveniently located minutes from Palm Springs. The resort is about half filled with park models, which are small houses, and the other half is RV camp sites. There are many Canadians that come south for the winter. Many of them come year after year.

When we checked in there was a sign on the counter, Managers Special for the month of March. If you extend your stay it's 50% off. We might take advantage of that special.

Mar 03 - Mar 10

Pickleball every morning

We've been having so much fun hanging out here. We play pickleball every morning for a couple of hours, then I either go to a water aerobics class or yoga. Then Joe meets me at the pool, we hang out and soak until we're hungry. After lunch we either run errands or go back to the pool, we have dinner and we go back for a soak in the early evening. Life is good, I could get used to this!

The mineral pools are amazing

The weather hasn't been that great this past week. It's cold and sometimes very windy but we still manage to go out and play.

On Wednesday we drove out to Morongo Casino for their seafood lunch buffet. It's about 30 minutes drive but that day the weather was pretty windy and rainy. We almost turned around. The buffet was pretty good, $45 for both of us. The crab legs was good, also had a lot of shrimp dishes, clams, and mussels. They also had sushi which was pretty good, a mongolian beef station, and an omelette station. Lots of desserts but when we tried some they all seemed kind of dried out.

Morongo buffet

Right down the road from Morongo Casino is Cabazon Outlet and Desert Hills Premium Outlet. I wanted to go shopping but it was still rainy and windy so we decided to skip the shopping and maybe try another day. Joe was happy with that.

On Thursday for dinner we went to Fantasy Springs Casino. We came here last year and really enjoyed the buffet. It's $22 per person and sooo worth it! The food is real good....my favorite is the fresh pasta bar. You can grab shrimp, spinach, mushroom or whatever you want. Bring it to the pasta bar and they will cook everything in a skillet, add the fresh pasta, and add whatever sauce you want....so yummy! The salad bar is excellent too, so many different varieties of salad.

After dinner, we entered the Blackjack Tournament that they hold every Thursday. It's $25 buy in. For the first round, the two top players from each table will advance. In the second round only one player will advance to the finals. If you make the final table the lowest prize is $125 and it goes up to $1000. Joe got out on the first round, I got out on the second round but I was pretty close to advancing. Oh well....maybe next week.

Another week at Caliente Springs

Mar 10 - 18

We decided to extend our stay at Caliente Springs Resort. We could take advantage of the Managers Special, so for 8 more days we paid $180. That's a real good rate.

On Sunday, we had to adjust our clocks and add an hour for Daylight Savings. So now we're 3 hours difference from Hawaii.

It's been pretty cold here. Every morning its between 48 - 50 degrees. It warms up to somewhere in the high 60's. Some mornings we look out our window and see the new snow on the mountain tops, so scenic.

Our view

On Thursday we finally did a hike. We drove out to the Coachella Valley Preserve, about 12 miles away. This was such a cool place to visit. We took the Moon Country Trail to see the wild flowers in bloom. Such a sight to see! Little bit of a hill to climb but so spectacular, it was worth it. The butterflies were migrating, with thousands flying all over.

Beautiful blooms

We continued on the McCallum Trail to the oasis. Sections of the trail have been formed as a result of the San Andreas Fault's seismic activity, including the underground springs that fill the pond. A very  unique place to visit.

On Thursday evening we went back to Fantasy Springs Casino to enter the Blackjack Tournament and eat the buffet. This time Joe and I made it to the 2nd round. We both got real close to making it to the final round but fell short.

So this past week has been the same....pickleball in the morning, water class or yoga, then hit the pools. We learned about a lot of eateries from talking to people at the pool. Everything sounds so good, we tried a lot of them. So much fun!

Catalina Spa & RV Resort, Desert Hot Springs, Ca

Feb 23     Santee - Desert Hot Springs, Ca     146 miles    3 hours

It was a very nice, clear day to make our drive to Desert Hot Springs. We enjoyed the drive, very scenic and just nice to be moving to hopefully better weather.

The snow capped mountain views are spectacular

We booked 1 week at Catalina Spa & RV Resort. Rate is $200 per week, which is pretty good. We've never been to this RV Resort but decided to try it out. There's lots of activities here. There's 2 pool areas with hot tubs, all mineral springs so very nice and inviting. The pickleball courts are very nice here. They play every morning and the people are pretty friendly. The laundry is pretty cheap, $1.75 to wash and $1.50 to dry.

The sites are pretty decent. We were at a site with 30 amp, a little bit more congested are than 50 amp. Still a pretty good site.

Feb 23 - Mar 02

This past week was pretty relaxing. We didn't do too much. We played pickleball every morning, and spent a lot of time at the pools. It's always windy in this area and the weather has been pretty chilly but no rain. The temperature was always between 40's and 60's.

Pickleball courts are nice

We're pretty close to everything here. One day we went to Agua Caliente Casino and tried their buffet and gambled a little. Buffet was kind of junk and we lost some money so that wasn't a good outing.

I went to Glossy's and bought a new swim suit. Nice shop and all swim suits for $29.99. We've been to Trader Joes, and a mexican market called Cardenas. They make fresh tortilla there and its so good.

We also went window shopping at Holland RV. They have Newmars there. These are high end coaches and Joe wanted to check them out. Of course we found one that we really liked. The Ventana is about 34' and got almost everything we want. If only we had an extra $300,000 lying around.

The lower pool area

The hot tub is huge

We really enjoyed our stay here at Catalina Spa & RV Resort. The pickleball gang was fun to play with and on Friday we participated in the round-robin tournament play. We didn't win but was lots of fun. We actually played pickleball 8 days straight! That's a record for us. The pools are nice and relaxing, the only thing is, there's kids here so they hang out at the pools a lot.

The upper pool and hot tub area

We're moving to another RV Resort tomorrow, just about a mile from here.

San Diego

Feb 15     Seaworld

We always miss these 2 while traveling 

We spent the day at Seaworld. We met Josh, Casey, kids, Casey's mom Kathie, sister Courtney and her kids. They drove in from Anaheim where they've been the past week. We got there about 11am. So nice to see Josh and the kids, we really miss JJ and Jade.

Miki, Me, Josh, Casey

Seaworld was nice because there were things for everyone to enjoy. We saw some shows, got to go on the roller coaster and the kids enjoyed the kiddie rides and touch pools. JJ is staying with us for the next few days. He and Miki will fly home together next Wednesday. Josh, Casey, and Jade will go home tomorrow.

Lunch time

Jade is worn out

I bought the San Diego 4 day pass for us. Adults $209, JJ $189. If we go to at least 3 major parks, it'll be worth it. The weather was pretty nice today, cold but at least not raining. We picked the wrong time to visit San Diego. It's at least 20 degrees colder than normal. It's going to be like this for the next week or so.

Ice cream for JJ and grandpa

Feb 16     Legoland

Today we went to Legoland. We left a little late and got there around 11am. It's the holiday weekend and seems like everyone's here. The line for parking was crazy, it took awhile. Parking was $22.00.

JJ & Grandpa locked up

The park was very, very busy. All rides had a long wait. We managed to go on a couple of rides and looked around. We had lunch at the all you can eat pizza and pasta place which was pretty good.

We also went to the Legoland Aquarium. This was included in our pass. It was small but pretty neat.

We all agreed that Legoland was just ok. Maybe we didn't enjoy it because it was so busy. When I got home, I realized that I lost my gold bracelet. So bummed because this was one of my moms.

Feb 17     San Diego Zoo

We spent the day at San Diego Zoo. The weather is supposed to turn cold and rainy later this afternoon so we tried to get there early. The parking is free at the zoo, good deal because we've been paying a lot for parking at the other amusement parks.

We got on the guided bus tour first. A narrated round-trip adventure on Zoo grounds. It was a good tour of the zoo. With our pass we could also go on the Kangaroo Bus. Hop on and off transportation service to 4 locations around the zoo. This really helped because everything is so spread out.

We really enjoyed ourselves. The panda bears exhibit was busy, there was a long line to go and see them. While waiting in line JJ had to pee, we just had him pee in the bushes while standing in line. We could block him enough. Miki was so embarrassed! We also enjoyed the polar bears swimming and the hippos in the water was pretty cool too.

Dinner was at Olive Garden

Feb 18     San Diego Zoo Safari Park

I got up early and made spam musubis this morning. We brought them to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Between the four of us, it didn't last too long. We really enjoyed ourselves at this park. We got on the African Tram and got to see some animals in their naturalistic habitats. There was a long line for this tram because it's free. We waited almost an hour and the tour was about 30 minutes.

These rhinos were huge

We enjoyed watching the gorillas, lions, elephants, rhinos, and all the other wild animals. It was a fun day.

JJ liked the elephants

Comparing JJ to a gorilla

This was the 4th day for our 4 day pass. We really made use of the pass. Worth it but to keep going for 4 days straight was pretty tiring.

Feb 19     La Jolla

JJ took this picture

Last day for Miki & JJ. We took a drive out to La Jolla to see the sea lions, seals, and the pups at the cove. We got lucky with parking and walked along the coast. There are easy walking paths and benches so we could take our time and enjoy the scenery. Went to see the cave and then walked all the way to the childrens pool. The weather was kind of junky and the water was real rough so the walkway around the childrens pool was closed.

There was a lot to see and smell! We enjoyed ourselves.

Feb 20  Saying goodbye to Miki & JJ

Miki & JJ left this morning. They had to be at the airport around 8am so we got up early and started our trek to the airport. Little bit of traffic but they got there on time.

We had a really nice visit with them this past week. We did a lot and had lots of fun. This was the first time JJ was away from his mommy and daddy for so long. He had a couple of melt downs when he got extra tired or when he would get scoldings but that was expected from a 4 year old.

After Miki and JJ left, Joe and I breathed a sigh of relief. We were constantly on the go, we're not used to that. We like to relax and take our time when we travel so this was very different from our norm.

Ducks on the lake

We went for a walk around Santee Lakes later in the day. About 3 miles around the whole area. This is the kind of things we like to do.....old futs!

Feb 22     San Diego City Tour

This morning we got on the Trolley in Santee and took the green line into San Diego. I bought tickets for us to do the city tour on the Hop on Hop off Trolley, $32 each but didn't get a chance to do it earlier because of the weather. Well, we're doing it today and tomorrow we leave for Desert Hot Springs.

View from the Coronado Bridge

Very good tour of San Diego, it made 10 stops around the city. We got on in Old Town, got off at Balboa Park and walked around a little bit, continued on to Little Italy and had lunch at Filippi's. Excellent food, we had a pizza and spinach lasagna. So much food....we had leftovers for dinner.

Balboa Park

Filippi's was real good

Pizza & Spinach Lasagna

When we got back home, we went to the pool and hot tub. First time in 10 days camping here! It was a little cold but we had to do it. The hot tub was really nice and relaxing.



The weather in San Diego was pretty cold and rainy for the last ten days ranging from the low 30's to the low 60's. Not typical San Diego weather. We made the most of it. Managed to see everything that we planned for. Next stop, Desert Hot Springs for some relaxation.