Pre-holiday getaway fun

 

Beluga's view of Mt. San Jacinto

Our first stop was in Desert Hot Springs, right outside of Palm Springs, California.   We like the campground very much, beautiful mountain views all around, lots of Palm trees and sunshine.    The fact that it straddles the infamous San Andreas fault doesn't bother us one bit!

We used Catalina Spa and RV Resort as a base for our explorations in the area.   It's an area we've been to many times, but also one that we enjoy very much.   A couple of the spots we wanted to revisit were closed because of damage caused by Hurricane Hilary, but there were plenty of other things to keep us happy.

One day we drove about 85 miles into the mountains to Big Bear Lake.   The drive up was pretty, and we enjoyed lunch beside the lake.   

We totally forgot how early it gets dark at this time of year, so we decided to head back home using a different route.     Neither of us wanted to be picking our way down the narrow, winding roads following our headlights, so I chose what looked to be an easier drive.    Easier, yes - nicer, NO.     Ugh.

Pretty much every day we drove into Palm Springs for dinners out, a bit of shopping and to watch a really fun parade!    A real old-fashioned parade with lots of marching bands!

It's always windy there - so we drove past (and sometimes through) white drifts in creeping onto the road.     Sand is much less worrisome than snow don't you think?

We made dinner reservations at an old favorite restaurant, Blue Coyote because, well, it's really good, it sits right along the parade route.   Killer margaritas and front row seats to boot!

One of my favorite parts of the parade was this little lady, dancing with abandon (and in perfect time with the passing bands) on the top of a garbage can! 

 So many restaurants, so little time but we did our best, you know we did!

a quick wine stop at Zin before dinner

This particular night, after gorging on Moules-frites, we strolled through Palm Canyon Drive's Thursday night Village fest.   Lot of nice things for sale, but we didn't buy anything: well, maybe just a few cookies......

Orange loafers anyone, perhaps purple then?

black plates?

pretty patio at The Farm

just a quick sniff...they were right behind his chair!

We were even on a first name basis with Helene, the owner/baker of Peninsula Pastry shop.    She makes divine Kouign Amann (there are 5 in our freezer for future pastry emergencies......).

(is that all they do, just eat?)     

One day we drove up into Joshua National Park.    We'd been there before, years ago, so we took lunch and just poked around the fabulous rock formations and weird Joshua trees.      We stopped at the Visitor Center first, to get a map and some possible suggestions of spots we hadn't seen before.....

It was very crowded......We grabbed a map and left.   I managed to take a few photos without "others" in the shot.       We decided to try a different part of the park the next day, a Jeep road unofficial entry from the south side on Berdoo "rd.".    Stay tuned. 

The next day, as I said, we took lunch and set off to find a less crowded area.   We turned off the paved road (Dillon) and headed into the desert, passing through a local shooting range.     It was Monday, so I hoped there wouldn't be too many folks out enjoying blowing to pieces various things,  i.e. old garbage cans, assorted pieces of wood, bottles, cans, old tv's, targets, etc.     I wonder who they think will pick up all their trash?

study in assorted colors

Dave aired down the Jeep's tires for an easier ride.   The road became hard to follow after a while.   Sometimes on very old pavement, but mostly through washes and scrub and around obvious target practice sites.     We made a few "oops" turn arounds and 9 point turns but that's part of the fun.   

pavement ends......

lunch on Rocky's hood

interesting orange lichen

spotter or driver? he says......
driver says I 

All in all, we had a good day banging around in the rocks, it's always a great time for us.

We weren't always on the go, we took time to put up our Christmas tree, now one of Dave's favorite jobs, and just enjoy second cup in the sun.    We love the mountain views and the way clouds play across them at different times of day.

all done!

Lake Havasu City was our next (last) stop before heading home.   We stayed at the Elks Lodge this time, instead of our usual lakeside site at Lake Havasu State Park.    Holidays are busy times and LHC was no exception.   The State Park's sites were booked for months.    The Elks have put a lot of work into their RV sites and we were very happy there.  The entire area is level, provides good services, decent space between sites, and pleasant people - all we needed for our 4 days stay.

We were there specifically to watch the Christmas Boat Parade.    In the past, lavishly decorated and illuminated boats have traveled right past our campsite, but this year strong winds kept them in the channel under the London Bridge instead.  

We were especially looking forward to the evening since Pam and John were joining us!    It was so good to see them and catch up that even the cold, windy night didn't dampen our enthusiasm.   

   Well, enthusiasm was dampened a little as we sat beside the canal to watch the boat parade.    We tried to position our chairs in the lee of parking lot cars, you know, to break the stiff wind, but it didn't really work.   

Participants spent a considerable amount of money and effort to dazzle us, but the wind was just too strong and the water too choppy to be safe.     As the boats continued to shorten their route, turning around before getting to end of the canal,  the bystanders began booing loudly.      We finally gave in to the weather, folded up our chairs and headed back to Beluga for a little supper and more talk.     Nice evening, memorable but COLD.

Pam and John left the next morning, and Dave and I explored one last dirt trail on Planet Ranch Road in the Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge.  

We drove along the river through wonderful Lava formations, traveling a well-worn path through the refuge.     We saw no other people, but lots of evidence of wild burros.

great view from on high!

We found another spot to pull off and hike down into a sandy wash among fantastic rock formations.    Some looked like chocolate frosting had poured over the sides.     Our aim was to get down to the water, but as we picked our way beneath the towering cliffs riddled with caves I started to become uneasy.     My hackles were up and I felt like we were being watched.

see Dave?

dark pathway

chocolate frosting?

We saw no evidence of mountain lions, no prints, no scat, but I was uneasy.   The caves looked like perfect places to sleep or hide.    Some of them were obviously well used, paths leading in and out and nice soft sand inside to settle down in.   Hmmm. 

who lives here?

 I think it's important, very important, to listen to your gut, so we did.   We hiked back out to the car and continued on our way.     It was a beautiful, quiet canyon but......maybe another time.

We stopped for lunch along the way and eventually ended our exploration at a locked gate.   I'm actually glad the gate was locked because it was getting late in the day and it made the decision for us - decision as in "how much further should we go, when do we go back, let's just go to the next turn, just a few more miles, maybe just turn down that side track before we leave?"       

The next morning we packed up and headed home.

our new little Palm Springs tree nestles in the sink for the drive

   It was a pleasant and relatively short drive to Wickenburg and Beluga was back in her house and unpacked by the late afternoon.     We had a wonderful time, it was a great start to the holiday season.

Last night we drove into the Mesa Bass Pro store to join Guide Dogs for the Blind's (Phoenix group) annual Christmas photo and to work a Guide dog in training around the huge and busy store.    Fun!

It's getting to look a lot like Christmas here now.....traditions must be upheld!

Judi's cookies came yesterday!

the painting of the Christmas toe

We're off to Spokane for Christmas.    Can't wait to see everyone there!