Saturday Handball at the Courts and a hike to the street market at the College of the Desert

We left our little place in DHS @ 8:15 am for the Handball courts in Palm Desert. I decided to walk to the College of the Desert and the weekly Street Fair while Alan was playing his games. It didn't look too far so off I went. Well, it was about four miles but, because I wasn't familiar with the terrain, I went a little out of my way but, got there within about an hour. After having a latte and a lot of water I set off to return to Kingsley & Alan. By now it was mid-day and quite hot. I made it but it wasn't all that much fun! The good news is that I walked 6 1/2 miles so, the fitness program is on course! Stay tuned!!
We went to Costco for food, wine and gas. Gotta love that Costco!!!!

Hiking in the High Desert south of PS

Thursday morning we left at 8:00am headed south for an hour to the Santa Rosa mountains for an 8 1/2 mile hike. It was really cold when we started out and windy but got warmer as the day progressed. There were 33 of us from the resort and we had an experienced leader. Here are some of the pictures from the day.

Sands RV & Golf Resort, Desert Hot Springs

Here are the four of us having our VGH mini-reunion at Mary & George Nagle's place in PS. Mary, Shirley, Janet & Glenda....Class of '59
We moved to Desert Hot Springs after three days at Thousand Trails in Palm Desert and plan on staying at this place for nine days. We are on a 9 hole golf course and there is a lovely large pool and two jacuzzis. Also a fitness room for Alan to do some workouts. Thursday we are going on a guided hike in the mountains around PS...not sure where! We are very comfortable and looking forward to staying put for a while and playing some golf. It's good to take life easy!

Sunday at the Market in PS.

Sunday, January 25th
Up at 6:00 this morning and off to the Street Fair at the College of the Desert by 7:00amwith Glenda & Ken. Chilly until 10 am. Now we are off for a swim in the pool. This is the life!

Quartzsite & Palm Springs

Friday, January 23rd
We arrived in Quartzsite,at 5:30 just in time for a drink with our GMC friends the Engmans, the Youngs and our hosts, John & Hazel Sanders who live here in the winter and in Ranier, OR in the summer.

Saturday, January 24th
Norm took us in to the big RV show and en route we saw RVs parked as far as the eye can see. John tells us that there are estimated to be over a million people here at this time in January, many are Canadians and most of them, from Alberta. We left at noon for Palm Springs but we plan on returning to Q in a week or so. The trip to PS was two hours. We connected with Glenda & Ken Porter (she's a nursing classmate of mine)at the Tall Timbers Resort in Palm Desert. After getting cleaned up the four of us went to Mary & George Nagles for dinner and to watch the sunset from their patio. Shirley Atkinson came from Green Valley and joined us too. We four gals are all grads from VGH Class of 1959. It was a great evening!

Kingsley and the Snowbirds travel south

We spent Saturday & Sunday running back and forth between the house and the coach with everything we thought we might need for two months on the road. The weather was so nice and unseasonably warm. Sunday night we moved Kingsley around to the street in front of the house so we might make an easy getaway Monday morning.

Monday, January 19th – We leave Edmonton
After all the last minute details, we departed at 10:30 am. The roads were dry, the sun shone and Kingsley seemed happy to be moving again. Alan drove right through to Nanton where we filled up the gas tanks @ 81.9/litre. I took over and drove to Lethbridge where we somehow managed to get on #5 instead of #4. Not sure how that happened but it only delayed us about 20 minutes before we got back on track. Alan took the wheel again and we crossed the border with no trouble. I called my cousin, Ann, to tell her what time we would be arriving in Conrad. Twenty minutes before we were to arrive we had a blowout of the 3rd tire on the passenger side! What a mess!! It was dark and around freezing and we were on the busy I-15 highway just south of Shelby. I called the triple A and they were there within an hour. Alan took the bikes and the bike rack off the back of the coach so he could get to the spare. He also had the jack ready. It was dark and we were just on the shoulder of the interstate…not too safe but, we had just bought a special LED light flare/flashlight the day before and it worked well. We arrived in Conrad at 8:00pm after also getting stuck in their back lane ½ a block from our destination. It was such a relief to be there. Ann had a beautiful meal ready for us and we felt so welcomed. We got all caught up with the family news over a bottle or two of wine and didn’t turn in ‘til after 1:00am. It was a very long day!

Tuesday, January 20th - Inauguration Day
Larry made a great breakfast and the four of us got comfortable to watch the big event on TV. It was a wonderful experience made even more special when shared with our American cousins. Ann & Larry each received engraved invitations to the inauguration ceremonies in Washington because of their volunteer work organizing the Obama campaign in their area. We are so glad we took the time to watch it live with them. After, Alan went out with Larry to find another tire to replace the spare. Fortunately, Larry knows everyone in Conrad so it didn’t take too long!
We left Conrad at 2:30pm and drove as far as Butte, MT traveling in the dark through the sometimes treacherous Red Rocks pass south of Helena arriving at 6:30pm. We stayed at the Walmart overnight. The generator enabled us to operate the furnace and the ceramic heater so within an hour it was toasty warm inside. We were the only RV people in the parking lot…..I wonder why! It went to 25F overnight but we slept well and stayed warm.

Wednesday, January 21st
We awoke at 7:00am, made a thermos of coffee and were on the road by 8:00….a nice early start. It is a beautiful day with sunshine, blue skies and dry pavement all the way. We crossed in to Idaho at 10:30am and then Utah at 2:30pm. The scenery is breathtaking and there is very little traffic on the divided highway. I took the wheel just before we came to Salt Lake City so had to cope with the rush hour traffic through that whole area….very nerve-wracking!! We made it to another Walmart, this time in Payson, after a 400 mile day. This great weather is supposed to stay with us for the next few days.


Thursday, January 22nd
We awoke to the sound of rain on the roof! Not a good thing as the temp outside was at freezing. It didn’t last too long but managed to leave a film of ice on the coach and the pavement. We were back on the road at 8:45am and the ice had dissipated quickly. We stopped to eat at noon when we realized that we sort of forgot about breakfast so were starved!
By 2:30pm it had warmed up with the sun coming through the clouds. The view keeps changing ….really beautiful rock formations and colours. Dramatically, it warmed up as we approached Mesquite so we stopped to change our clothes and put away the mitts. I shed my long underwear and put them away until the return trip (or maybe next winter). We drove as far as Henderson where we stayed the night. We now have the water system working so finally got dishes washed. Warm enough to sit outside before dinner. Tomorrow will be an easy trip to Quartzite, AZ.

Almost "On the Road Again"!

Finally, we got our break in the weather on Friday when the temperature went above freezing. Tonight we are all packed up, the coach and all systems are operative and we are parked out front ready to head south in the morning. The roads look good thru Alberta, Montana, Idaho & Utah for the next few days so that's good! We are aiming to reach Conrad, MT tomorrow night. Wish us luck!

On the Road again in 2009

It's time to start packing up old Kingsley for another adventure on the open road. Destination....warm weather and shirtsleeves!

The plan is to leave Edmonton one week tomorrow but , of course, the weather will decide when we depart. Here's what we are dealing with(see pictures). The temperature as we speak is -30C with a windchill taking it to -38C & the spare bedroom is piled high with all the stuff we brought in from the coach in October. Lots to do before we leave home for maybe two months. We are very lucky to have people living here while we're gone. It will be a challenge but, we are up for it. I will be posting every few days and I hope you have fun following along vicariously!