Good bye Ramona

Hello all, It has been a while so it is time I caught you all up on our travels and adventures. 
Eddie and I broke in our little charcoal BBQ we bought in Ramona. Dinner was YUMMY!!!! Eddie likes to BBQ, and I like to eat what he cooks! ( : 

our new BBQ

Dinner is a'cookin!!!!

Eddie painted a small watercolor painting of Bob and Tanja Woods rig. Bob and Tanja were our neighbors in Ramona. When it was dry, he gave it to Bob. Tanja came over to say thank-you, and gave me a beautiful hand knitted blue potholder with a dragonfly on it. It is WAY to nice to use. So I have it hanging on our fridge as a pretty-pretty.

My beautiful new pretty-pretty by Tanja Wood

Monday March 24th, I was watching TV in the living room about 9ish at night. Eddie came out and started looking out of all the windows. I asked what was up, He said he saw a "red glow" just over the hill in front of our campsite. Strange!!!! I got up and went outside to see if I could smell anything. Wildfires travel VERY fast in this area and are not to be taken lightly. I also saw the red glow, but no fire smell. I noticed some other people outside. they had called the fire department to be on the safe side. By the time the "Cavalry" had arrived, the glow had subsided. I think at first they thought we were all nutts, but then it came back up again. After the Fire Department investigated, they found that a house up behind us did have an outdoor fire going, but was VERY much under control. So we had a bit of excitement, but all was good in the end.
While still in the area, we visited my dad several more times. I wanted to get in as many visits as possible while I could. We also visited Ray & Susie. They live only about ten minutes from my Dad. I also got more PT in. My range of motion has improved, but is still not totally back. I have been following up  at home with the stretching exercises the Physical therapist gave me. Some days I am just SO sore!!!!!

Trolley outside my Physical Therapist office

San Diego Trolley in Santee CA.

While in Ramona, I kept hearing a turkey. Then Eddie told me he thought he saw a wild one roaming around. On our last day there we FINALLY got a couple of pix of him. He is a permanent resident, and unlike us didn't have to pack up and leave.

Ramona Canyon's Tom Turkey

Turkey on the go

camera shy

Thursday March 27th, we got up, broke camp, and left Ramona Canyon. Our time there was great. We got in a nice travel rest, and were able to visit lots of family and friends. That is one camp ground that we definitely hope to go back to.
We took Highway 67 to Scripps-Poway road. It was a beautiful drive. And the sky was so clear after last nights rain. Traffic was good and the drive was smooth. That is just the way I like it!!!!!!

Highway 67

Beautiful North county

Going down hill

Heading into Poway CA

 We took the 215 to the 60 then to the 10. We drove to Cabazon and lunched at the In & Out burger. It was about 4:30, so we drove to the casino to park for the night. Our reservations in Indio didn't start until Friday anyway and the wind was really kicking up.
Our mantra is "slow and easy" so we figured this was a good place to stay the night.

our spot for the night

At the casino in Cabazon, CA

The lit up casino in Cabazon, CA

Casino & RV in front of us

 Eddie took a nap, I read and had a quiet time. At 7pm we cranked up the generator, ate a light dinner, and watched some TV. We had parked along a fence in the very back of the parking lot hoping to put out our bedroom slide, but it wouldn't go out. We figured we would wait and deal with it when we got into Indio. It wouldn't do us any good to fret about it then. So we hunkered down for the night. Sometime in the early morning hours I got woken up by beeping sounds. Thank heavens it was just a big rig pulling in. The wind had been crazy, so I think a lot of RVs and trucks were calling it a night. That parking lot filled up. By the next morning, there were just a few of us left.

We drove on down the road intending to have breakfast at the "Eat Wheel Inn" but it has closed down!!! The only person there was this old-timer!!!!!!

He's not happy about the restaurant closing either!!!!

So we got breakfast sandwiches from the gas station next door. We then walked over to the famous Cabazon dinosaurs and snapped some pix.

Eddie showing off his Canucks Jersey

T-Rex

T-Rex on the move

My honey-bunch

Being there I was reminded about taking Elizabeth and Rebecca to see the Dinosaurs when they were little. How time has FLOWN by. Now Wig is graduating and Beck is getting married. My babies are ALL grown up.

Wind power in the desert

We headed on down into the Coachella Valley. I was grateful that our dash A/C works. We also have little fans up front, so we were kept pretty cool even though it was getting pretty hot outside.



Seeing as how it was still to early to check in, we went to Little Sisters truck wash again and got Freeda and the Cruiser all cleaned. There was a wait, so I dusted and cleaned up inside while we were in line. Suzy lounged on the dash with her eyes on what was going on outside.

This is a good place to get the rig AND the car washed all at one time.

Snoozing Suzy

Suzy keeping an eye on what is going on

Once it was our turn to be washed, Suzy thought the brush was some kind of monster, she she was chasing it back and forth across the dash. It was hilarious!!!!! It is a good thing we have her to protect us from the car washing monster!!!!!!! When they used the water hose to rinse the soap, that is when her courage failed her and she jumped down and ran for cover. Even the workers were cracking up. She entertained us all.

 As before, after getting all cleaned up, we filled up our propane at Flying J. By that time it was noon, so we headed for Indian Waters RV resort in Indio.

As we were pulling in, we commented on how nice of a park it is. We are TOTALLY excited to be staying here. Also, we knew that Roy & Jackie Holt would be staying here and were looking forward to seeing them. Eddie has know Jackie for years, and used to do Pathfinder retreats together. Roy and Jackie have been full-timing for about 8 years now and have been a WEALTH of information for us. Jackie and I have become friends via email. They are the ones that introduced us to FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association). As we pulled up to the office to register, we noticed the rig right in front of us are members of FMCA. They had lots of plaques on their ladder of different clubs they are members of. At the same time we saw a sign that said "Roy & Jackie Holt" It was then it dawned on us that it WAS Roy & Jackie. Jackie jumped out of her car, Roy out the rig, and Eddie and I ran out of Freeda to get hugs and say hi to them. They also had just arrived and were getting ready to go to their site. We went in to register and were able to get the site right next to them. Jackie did an In & Out burger run for lunch, and included us. Low and behold, when I went to do the bedroom slide (after a prayer that all would be okay) it opened with no problem. Our best guess is that maybe at the Casino, the E-brake wasn't all the way down. We are just VERY grateful that it is now working!!!!

Our site at Indian waters RV park

After we got all hooked and set up, Jackie called me over (Eddie had already floated over there to pay her for lunch) and we got the tour of their Monaco Diesel pusher. It is SO nice. And SO big compared to our little Freeda. But we do love our home on wheels VERY much. We chatted with the Holt's for a bit, and then went to Burger Box for some dinner. I just LOVE me the Pastrami sandwich at Burger Box!!!

Burger Box. Best Pastrami sandwich in the valley.

 When we got back to the park, the Jacuzzi was calling my name, so we went first in the pool, and then in the Jacuzzi. We were sitting there chatting with some fellow park goers when Eddie said he felt an Earthquake. I told him he must be feeling things. No one else felt a thing. After a nice soak, we headed in. Sure enough all over the TV was nothing but news about the Earthquake. It was centered in the L.A. area. So Eddie HAD felt one. My bad for doubting him!!!!

Saturday March the 29th we headed to Desert Hot Springs to visit Margaret, Robbie and the girls. It was a nice drive and we had the top down. They have a real nice home and it was WONDERFUL to see them.

Rob's work van

Phillips abode

Mommy Margaret in the Kitchen

They made is a VERY delicious lunch of Parmesan encrusted Tilapia & steamed Veggies. We also got all of our mail and packages that had been shipped to us. Margaret and Robbie have been our "Post office" It was good to get our goodies. We had a GREAT time and fun visit. Before going home, we went to Winco and did some food shopping. Becca called, and the wedding is all scheduled for September 13th. So East coast, here we come!!!!!

 Sunday morning Eddie went to mass and surprised Father Ned. When he got home, we loaded up Suzy and went to the cemetery to visit Eddie's folks. We had to park in the shade for Suzy, it is getting HOT!!! But it still was a beautiful day, and good to visit his mom and dad.

Eddie's parents

Dad Buendia

Mom Buendia

My handsome hubby

We stayed and visited for a little bit, then drove around Coachella so Eddie could go down memory lane a bit. Including checking out the Shady Lane mural project.

Shady Lane in Coachella, CA

Dos Palmas house in Coachella

We drove by Eddie's parents old house in Coachella. The sale of this house is what gave us the opportunity to purchase Freeda. I thank his parents everyday for that blessing!!!!

Eddie's boyhood home

We took Suzy home and then got Root beer float makings. Terri Smith had invited us over for dinner. There were two other couples there for a total of eight adults. We had a very good dinner and even better conservation. Eddie and I stayed a bit longer after the other couples had left to chat with Terri and Mel for a little while. Terri extended us an invitation to her parents house for Easter. All six of the Preston kids will be there. I haven't seen them in YEARS!!!! We are SO excited to go.

March 31 was the BEST day EVER!!!!! Eddie and I had the pleasure and privilege to have Margaret and Robbie's middle two girls for the day. So we drove to DHS and picked up Mable and Olive. We drove with the top down on Dillon Road. For those of you that don't know this, Dillon road has LOTS of dips, and it is like a roller coaster. We ALL had a blast. We lunched at Mc Donald's and the girls got to play in the playland. We stopped by the dollar store where I got all 5 girls sunglasses for when they ride in our car, and floaties for Mable and Olive. Then to the rig where we got ready and hit the pool. 

Mable & Olive Phillips

Aunt Darlanne, Olive, and Mable at McDonald's

Olive and Mable at Mickie D's

Olive

Mable

Sisters

Here we go

Getting the floaties on

Now when we first got to the pool, the girls were a bit nervous. The floaties helped give them some confidence. Getting them on was a bit of a challenge, but we managed.

floating Mable

Mable being brave

 By the time we were done in the pool, both girls were very comfortable and even went into the deep end. Even the other pool goers commented on how much they had improved in such a short amount of time. Mable was so funny. She kept on saying "You can do it Mable" whenever she got a little worried.

Both girls going in the deep end

Maybe baby

Olive

Mable swimming on her own

a happy Olive

Aunt Darlanne and Olive

Sunbathing beauties.

Roadrunner at Indian Waters

The girls said they had a GREAT time. Both of them commented that the only thing that would have made the day better was if their sisters and parents could have been there. I thought that was the sweetest thing. There is not a selfish bone in their bodies. Margaret and Robbie are raising such wonderful little women. We are SO very blessed to have such wonderful grand-neices, and SO grateful that their parents share them with us.

Roadrunner

On our way into the park, there was a roadrunner crossing in front of us. Totally cool moment!!!!!

Indian Waters RV resort. We REALLY like this park!!!

That brings us thru the month of March. I think I will stop for now. Stay with us though, there are plenty more stories, adventures and pictures to come. We hope you will all stay safe and happy until next time!!!!!! Love to you all, Eddie & Darlanne.