Day 33–Fountain Of Youth Spa RV Resort–Niland, California

Before leaving Twenty-Nine Palms Ron researched the area near, the Salton Sea and Slab City to find us a full service RV park with cable service so we could watch the Super bowl. He found the FOY Spa RV Resort right in between the two areas we are interested in visiting. On-line the place looks beautiful and expensive but since there were no another full service CG’s in the area I made reservations. The place is enormous and sits out in the middle of the desert with the closest services like grocery stores and shopping  40-60 miles away. 

The drive was uneventful. Interestingly, the speed limit on the highways is 75 mph but tractor trailers and motorhomes towing cannot go faster the 55 mph. So all the trucks and RV’s stay in the two right lanes crawling while everyone zooms past.

The cloud cover was quite dense and low so I was unable to get a good shot of Mount Shasta.

 

The closer we got to the mountain we began seeing windmills – thousands of windmills. And this was in Palm Springs.

 

It took 3 hours to drive 116 miles because of all the red lights on highway 111 and then only being able to drive 55 mph. We were greeted by a very friendly staff and assigned our space.

I think we got the budget space for $50.00 per night up on  a hill . The space was a drive in space so we are looking at a wall of dirt and trailer up on the dirt hill. HMMM. Not like the pictures and certainly not resort like! We are in the desert so there is no grass just dirt. We get that, but seriously for $50.00 we get this.

     

 

  

The pictures on-line show lovely flat sites with lots of room to breathe. There is a  space  to the  right of us that if occupied will leave no breathing room. OK – so much for wanting resort sites. At least the sun is shining and it is 78 degrees. Finally, we can put n short sleeve shirts. Just to be clear there are a couple of nice areas for RV’s but we weren’t offered those. The place also has resort amenities  like two pools and hot tubs, library, gym. mailroom, small store etc, but hey didn’t spend any money for rv sites.

Did I mention the lace is huge.

We had lunch then took Jewel for a walk in the doggy park. Did I mention that along with the beautiful site we have there are four pages of rules to be followed. LOL I’m serious – lots of rules – and if not followed you will be banned from the park.

Sunset overlooking the mountains.

Tomorrow is  Super Bowl Sunday so we will be up and out early to tour the Salton Sea and take in Slab City and Salvation Mountain. More on those tomorrow.

Day 32–Twenty-nine Palms, California, Joshua Tree National Park

It continued to rain through the night and looks like it is not going to stop anytime soon. Everyone in Southern California is delighted  with the much needed rainfall. We decided that we will venture into Joshua Tree National Park and just deal with the pouring rain and cold weather.

 

 

We have been pleasantly surprised at the diversity of the park. It is quite beautiful especially in the rain. Two distinct deserts come together in the park , the Mojave and Colorado Desert. Joshua trees are found in the higher elevations of the Mojave while  creosote bushes, cholla cactus and ocotillo are found in the lower Colorado Desert.

The transitions in landscape through the park greet you at every turn.

 

           

As we drive though the park we notice the dramatic changes in the landscape. From flat desert to outcroppings  of granite that have been molded by millions of years of molten liquid heated by the continuous movement of the Earth’s crust, oozed upward and cooled while still below the surface of the overlying rock. The plutonic intrusions of granite rock are called mazogranite. They are quite beautiful and form sculptures in the desert.

Ron thinks this looks like a shark eating a ship!

  

                                                     

 

Ron wants to take pictures of every outcropping but we limit it to those that we think have characteristics of life on earth.

The rain is relentless so we by-pass a couple of hikes we would have enjoyed.  It is 42 degrees with strong winds and whipping rain so hiking is out for us today.

We reach our destination of Keys Point. We have been told this is the one place in the park we cannot miss. The view overlooking the valley at  over 5000 feet elevation gives one pause. It is spectacular even in the rain, cold, heavy cloud cover  and winds that threaten to knock you over at  40 mph.

 

      

You can see the Salton Sea  and the San Andreas fault from here. Somehow Ron didn’t get a picture of the Salton Sea and we cannot figure out where the San Andreas fault is. It is so overcast with low cloud cover.  The pictures do not capture the depth  and beauty of the place.

                                                                                                                            

 

                                                                     

                                                           

 

We drove through one of the many small CG’s in the park. Unfortunately the maximum size limit is 25 feet. That leaves us out.

 

 

                                            

 

 

The rain cleared for a few minutes so we were able to take a short hike.

                                                       

 

Ron got out of the car  to stand under a Joshua tree.

 

We continue our drive through the park and realize it is a place we will have to return to in the Spring when all the desert flowers are in bloom and the wildlife comes out of hibernation.

 

                                           

 

 

This balancing rock actually hangs over a picnic table !

 

 

       

The seam in this rock was caused by earthquakes.

The visitor center at the entrance we came in  was closed for renovations so we had to do our trip backward and do the visitor center at the end. There was an excellent film about the park and all that it holds for visitors. After watching the film we definitely plan to return and explore it in more detail hopefully with some sunshine.

 

 

Day 31–Twenty-Nine Palms Resort, Twenty–nine Palms , California–Visit to Repair Shop

When driving here yesterday, the MH engine made a similar loud noise like that on day one of our travels,  but not as loud and not as  long, then it stopped. We were on Route 62 about 70 miles from our destination so Ron slowed down and babied the MH for the remainder of the trip. There was no more noise and the MH appeared to be running fine.

This morning Ron was distracted and seemed to be upset about something. Finally he told me that when he was backing into our site the “check engine light “ came on. Now he is concerned that the noise may represent something more of a problem.

We did at lot of research and found a garage not to far from here. (I  had already packed a lunch  because we thought were going to Joshua Tree National Park.)  We stopped at the garage directly across the street from the park entrance.

The owner/mechanic listened to Ron’s description of the sound/check engine light issue and he told us to bring the MH in at 1 pm. The place was hopping and they were really busy but were more then willing to fit us in.

We canned the idea of going to the park, went back to the MH and got it  back to travel mode. We had to let the CG know that we would be leaving for a little while and not to give our space away.

Back at the garage Ron was filling our paperwork when the mechanic came in (only 3 minutes later) and told Ron he found the problem  - the serpentine belt had  lost ¾ of its width and wound around the  fan clutch. He then informed us that if the entire belt  had broken loose we would have lost our brakes, steering and a  few other things that sounded ominous.  He had his wife call around and they quickly found a replacement belt for us. We waited in the MH while the belt was replaced. They also ran a diagnostic test for us but found that everything else was OK.  Thank goodness!

 

Ugly Mess!!!!!

                                                                         

The people here are really great and had us fixed and back to the  CG by 3:15 pm. at a cost of only $195.00. We were relieved that it was not a more serious mechanical problem and that we could now continue the remainder of  our trip. Thank You Bailey’s for the great service.

I made sure I posted a positive review for them on YELP. They certainly deserve it. We have been fortunate over the years while traveling to find people more then willing to put themselves out and help you when needed. Everyone seems to understand that the MH is our home on the road and will take that extra step to get you back on the road.

Back at the CG Jewel decided she would make a dirt bed for herself. So glad I haven’t given her another  bath yet.

Ron put an old towel down so she wouldn’t lay in the  dirt but that didn’t work!

Now that the MH is repaired we breathed a collective sigh of relief and decided to take a short ride. The town is peppered with small parks with murals and sculptures.

 

 

In the desert we ran into a really  tiny church with art work in the yard.

This is a very artsy community evident by all of the sculptures and the murals painted on the sides of buildings.

We decided to spend another night and are hoping for at least a clear day tomorrow. The jet stream is causing unusual weather patterns across the country and we are not being left out. I have a funny feeling we will be dealing with rain as we  explore Joshua Tree National Park.

 

 

Day 30–Twenty- Nine Palms Resort, Twenty-Nine Palms, California

We have finally made it to California and our first destination is Joshua Tree National Park in Twenty-Nine Palms.

 

Route 62 was long and lonely  with not  a single living thing to be seen. No cell service at all but lots of emergency call boxes along the way.

 

 

We also noticed as we got closer to Twenty-nine Palms city limits there were multiple abandoned shacks dotting the landscape. Some were falling apart while others still intact and even others with people still living in  them. We thought maybe a big storm had come through causing the  damage. We later found out that those were the homestead shacks left behind during the gold rush years.

 

    

                                                                                   

 

 

We arrived at our destination around noon and set up in site #115. I had made a reservation, but once again Ron was right – no reservation needed.  

 

 

 

We took a drive into town to check out Historic Plaza that has  mural and sculptures of the founding couple of Twenty Nine Palms,  Frank and Helen Bagley.

 

 

 

  

 

Another interesting sculpture, the Chain of Life.

 

           

 

The town looks like it is a decline like many of the small towns we have driven through. It is sad to see so many towns and cities with storefronts boarded and for sale signs on them.

 

Tomorrow we will tour Joshua Tree National Park. The weather is comfortable but very cloudy with predicted rain on Friday. This area generally gets a total of 4 inches of rain per year and we will be here to enjoy all the rain drops.  LOL.

Day 29–Cattail Cove State Park, Lake Havasu City, Arizona, Parker Dam & Black Meadow Landing, Parker Dam, California

The rain that began yesterday afternoon  continued through the night in torrential downpours finally ending around 6 am. The sun did reappear today with the temperature staying at 61 degrees with a cool breeze.

We took a ride to the Parker Dam on the other side of the Colorado in California.  We were hoping for a tour but were told all tours were discontinued after 9/11. Parker dam is very attractive as far as dams go and we were able to drive over it. They have the entrance blocked so that only a small vehicle can pass through – no trucks or MH’s.

 

   

 

                                      

We continued past the dam into California and immediately saw an unusual sign.

Yes, indeed there were wild burrows on the road that we encountered not 10 seconds later! They were everywhere, evident by all the scat on the roadside.

 

We had heard about Black Meadow Landing and could see it from our CG so decided to take a look. The drive was really pretty with landscape different then what we had been seeing thus far. Lots of mountains and rocks that didn’t look very stable. Also several washouts from the rain.

 

  

 

                                                              

Another interesting sight on the 10 mile road into the CG is the decorated tree on the roadside.

We arrived at Black Meadow to discover it is a very nice CG sitting on the Colorado directly across from our CG in Arizona. The woman at the entrance station was very friendly and told us that once we saw Black Meadow we would never want to stay at a state CG again. She is from Maine and very happy to be here in sunny California out of the snow and cold.

As we drove through the CG everyone was waving and very friendly – a far cry from the people in our CG who won’t even look at you!!!

The Black Meadow CG is quite beautiful and self contained with a restaurant, gas station, fire department , laundry, propane station,  dance hall, bingo hall and golf course on site. Pretty cool  for out in the middle of nowhere.

  

 

We were both impressed with the place and even more impressed with the monthly fee of $380.00 a month for a waterfront site with full hook-ups. That is unheard of. We have been all over the country and have never seen a monthly fee for a  waterfront site  for under $1000.00 a month and more.  We went to the upper level of the CG to check out the golf course and view.

 

 

                          

The landscapers were working on the grass for the golf course and there was evidence that grass was growing but quickly being eaten away by the burrows! LOL

 

It was around 1 pm so we opted to try out the diner at the CG. We got the best burgers and fries ever at a very reasonable price. We both felt this would be a place we could come to and sit for an extended period of time – when we are ready to settle down and stop wandering about the country.

                                    

After staying at least two hours at Black Meadow we headed back to Arizona. On the ride back Ron spotted an opening in the mountainside that he had to explore. If it looks like  a cave he has to go in it!!!

 

                                           

Above us was a very pretty arch in the mountain.

As we continued  on I noticed the moon in the sky at 2 pm  so had to get a picture.

 

Back at the CG we had coffee and chatted. Then we took a 1 1/2 mile hike over the hill and along the banks of the Colorado River. It is my first real hike on rough terrain since my surgery so am was hoping to do well.  The hike was listed as easy so I figured it shouldn’t be an issue.

 

        

Jewel was having a blast. She would run ahead of us then come back and look at us like we were going too slow for her.

 

A couple of times she looked like she was going over the edge with a 40 foot drop. This is the dog that’s afraid to climb the stairs in the MH but is not afraid of heights.

 

The hike was great despite some steep uphill and downhill areas. I did well and everyone is happy. Tomorrow we will be heading to Joshua Tree National Park. I made reservations for two nights at Twenty Nine Palms RV Resort. Ron didn’t think I needed to make reservations but I did anyway. He says I worry too much.

 

It was a great day and looking forward to many more.