We think it is true.

We hope it turns out to be a good provider.

We’ve tested it for over a week.

Soooooooooooo we will stop this site, much as we have appreciated having it as a “back-up” and today we return full-time to our original website —

Without success I have tried to link to that site, but have run into a wall, so just type the following into your browser and you’ll find us………

www.lazydazers.com

Hopefully the worst is past and the future looks bright!

After a picturesque ride from southern to northern California, we reached the Bay Area on Saturday, April 12th. Both traffic and weather all along the way made the trip especially enjoyable. Lots of wild flowers and trees in bloom had us ahhhing and ohhhing. Light traffic made Paul’s job of getting us to the Alameda County Fairgrounds easier.

This place has pretty much become our “home” while we are in this area. We often stay in the “long term” section, but since we expect to be here less than a month, we are in the “temporary” area. It is in a nice area, and we enjoy the green lawns, and occasionally see a horse or two from the stables not far away.

We drove over to our daughter Christina’s place to pick up some mail, which had been forwarded there for us. When we drove into their yard we noticed some interesting objects gracing their back yard. It seems that our daughter and her husband volunteered to design and create the stage settings for the up-coming operetta at their children’s school. The musical will be “Hiawatha” and our first grade granddaughter, Catie, is going to be a yellow bird in the program. (Catie insists that she is a yellow finch.) The entire elementary school will participate in the production, and although Chris and Chet are constructing the sets, the children all have an opportunity to help with applying the paper Mache to the “mountain” and will do most of the painting of the “long house”, “teepees” and other smaller pieces.

Since we have been intent on getting some exercise every day, we were especially glad to be in the Pleasanton area. Close by the fairgrounds is our favorite hiking area. On Sunday, Chris and girls joined us in a hike up the hill (about a 1,000 foot climb). We take the easier, switchback trail, and found the girls to be good hikers!

One day, after Paul’s Lupron shot, we stopped by another favorite walking area – Lake Elizabeth, where a flat, 2 ½ mile walk around the perimeter of the lake brought back memories of many such walks there. This was our first “springtime” walk along the lake, and one we enjoyed seeing the many spring flowers that greeted us along the way.

While in the area, we determined to visit with some friends we haven’t seen in too long a time. When we lived in a “stick” house, these were an integral part of our extended family, and getting together with them was a high priority.

One day we spent several delightful hours with John and Agnes (who recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary!) We were lucky enough to also meet with friends Peggy and John with whom we have enjoyed so many happy years of friendship. Visiting with these folks brought home again the value of friendship, and of how fortunate we have been to have these particular friends in our lives.

On Sunday we had another happy reunion with friends Leanne and Jim and Bob and Mary Lou. A delicious visit to a local restaurant (Father Nature) and a leisurely breakfast and visiting was followed by their visit to our “home on wheels”. We spent several more hours recalling happy times we have shared over the years.

Today is the birthday of our youngest grandson, Zane Danger Winchester. He is now six years old, and is the pride and joy of everyone who knows him!

This picture shows Zane last October. We enjoyed a wonderful Family Reunion and part of that celebration was a visit to the firestation where our son-in-law serves as a fire fighter. Chet put on a display of all a fireman wears to a fire, took the kids on a fire engine ride, let them try out one of the fire fighter’s hoses, and all in all, everyone had a grand time. In the picture, Zane is playing with a fire hydrant eraser all the kids received at the fire station.

We are very proud of Zane and hopes he has a wonderful birthday.

For ourselves, we arrived back in the Bay Area where we hope to be until the first of May. This period of time will allow some quality visits with family and will also give us the opportunity to visit some very dear friends.

After we left Buckskin Mountain State Park, we drove on up to Pahrump, NV to visit some very special friends. We enjoyed spending a full day sitting outside visiting. That evening we all went to dinner at a local Casino. We left the following morning, loathe to move on, but knowing we had family and friends in northern California we also wanted to see. Our visit with Ginger, Jess and Denise will be some of our treasured memories.

The drive from Pahrump into California, and down to I-40 is a pleasant and interesting drive. (Our GPS kept insisting that we return to Las Vegas and down to CA-15 — a real round the farmer’s barn — but we’ve driven over this route before, and it is one we enjoy.

We crossed this part of the State in good time, and instead of stopping in Mojave, we drove on to one place where the rig refuses to pass by – Harris Ranch. We often stop (boondock) here and always enjoy one of their fine dinners. When we reached Harris Ranch parking lot we were surprised to see the place full of other RVs boondocking. We have never seen so many there at one time; perhaps it was some sort of caravan, be that as it may, we found a spot in another area of the Ranch and were happy to enjoy a light snack in their restaurant.

The following day it was only a hop, skip and a jump to the Bay Area. Our original plans were to take a few side roads (more scenic than I-5) but with the cost of diesel, we were determined to drive at 55 mph and to take the most direct route. Diesel in this part of California was $3.99 a gallon and $4.25 a gallon!!!

Driving up Interstate 5 gave us the opportunity to see and enjoy the green hills, and to view the vineyards along the highway, many of which are in bloom.

It feels quite comfortable to be back at the Alameda County Fairgrounds – our “home” while in the Bay Area. We are looking forward to visiting and catching up on what is going on with everyone.

Our drive up from Thermal CA to Buckskin Mountain State Park in Arizona was very pleasant. We make it a habit to stop at every Rest Stop to get out an exercise our legs.

At one rest stop we noticed some interesting plaques that described land forms, animals, and plants that grow in the area.  One described the major land forms in this part of the States. Three distinct areas – The Yellow color represented the Great Basin (the strip of California land between northern and central CA). It continues into part of Oregon, Utah and Idaho. The elevation in much of the Great Basin is 4,000 feet. It’s usually cold in the winter so the growing season is shorter than in the other areas. The Great Basin is also known as the “Cold Desert” or “High Desert.”

The orange colored area represents land that is about 2,000 feet in elevation. As it receives a little more rain that the Great Basin and has warmer weather, the growing season is longer. This area is called the “Low Desert.”

The red color represents the Mojave Desert – which is actually an extension of the Sonoran desert of Mexico and Arizona. Most of the land is below or at sea level and is also known as the “Low Desert.” It is one of the hottest and driest places in North America, receiving less than 4” of rain a year with temps. climbing as high as 120 degrees in the summer. That’s where we spent our winter, and find it to be the best of all worlds for us (hot days not withstanding!).

So many of the rest stops along the highway offer one or more interesting facts, as well as providing a good area where we can get a little exercise!

Our full day in Buckskin began with the realization that we had no milk for our coffee. So right away (7:30 am – practically the middle of the night for K) we took off for Parker and a little grocery (and milk) shopping. Then we came back to the rig where my prince charming made my morning coffee. Starbucks, eat your heart out! Paul’s coffee is the best tasting of any we have ever tried at many other coffee shops.

The Colorado River today is as blue as we have ever seen it. Being a Monday, many of the boaters have gone, so the place is that same, serene, lovely place we have come to know and love. We hoped to be able to take a hike up into the hills close by. Instead, Kathleen cleaned 3 sides of the outside of the Foretravel and we visited with our new young friends.

Just another word about our wonderful neighbors, Jeff and Dee. First of all, what they did to help us really saved us a LOT of money and time. Jeff was able to get the rig up and running and so far we don’t see any serious malfunctions. (Our “test drive” will be the trip up to Pahrump to see Jess and Ginger.) We hope it will prove that the damage is more cosmetic than anything else. Jeff refused to take any money for his services, and when we took them out to dinner, they ordered low priced items on the menu. We hoped they would splurge, but we weren’t successful in talking them into anything else. Dee is still recovering from breast cancer. What a trooper she is, and so positive and determined! How looks are deceiving. She looks like a little model, and it would be easy to look at her and think, “Oh to have a body like that!” – then find out all she has been through physically. Quite a woman in her own right. Several of our relatives are participating in a Walk for Life (raising funds for cancer research) and we feel very close to folks whose lives have been touched by breast cancer. Who of us doesn’t know someone (family or friends) whose lives have been touched, or lost because of this disease. Again, how lucky we are.

Paul is busy trying ever so hard to get our original web site and his other sites with a new provider. Paul uses something called “cold fusion” with his web sites; and not all service providers are knowledgeable in cold fusion. The one company we thought we could go to can’t handle all the programs/systems Paul uses. So he is busy today trying to find another company that can handle our needs. We will be ever so grateful to find a company that can give good and dependable service! At one time, early in our web days, Paul was a service provider for himself and our sites. He also hosted other clients. When we began traveling, that had to change, and we’ve been searching for a good service provider ever since (that’s nearly four years!) Paul is such a patient and persevering person. I hope his patience pays off SOON!

As it is, I am glad we found the free word press blog site (even though they have “upgraded” and uploading photos to the blog isn’t working). Kathleen went on the word press forum and found out that she was not alone in her inability to get pictures put into the blog. Oh well, Flickr is doing a creditable job on storing the pictures for the web, so all is not lost. And what an opportunity to learn and grow! (Yuck!)

We were grateful for the opportunity to spend two happy days at Agua Caliente (last hike not withstanding!) While the open road called to us, we did regret leaving after only two days in Agua Caliente. (After our challenging hike, we hoped to enjoy a quick dip in the beautiful indoor thermal pool. Unfortunately we arrived too late – the pool closes at 5:00, so we missed a last dip in the relaxing pool.)

Our destination for Friday and Saturday was just south of Indio, CA. Oasis Palms RV Park is situated right along CA 86S, but once in the park, it was hard to believe we were close to the major highway.

We visited Oasis Palms last January for a night and were happy to revisit it. Snowbirds have all but left, so we had all the room in the world. The managers are new – just taken over the position the previous Tuesday – we were their first customer. They were hospitable and friendly, and we wish them well. I think that in the entire park there were all of four rigs. The previous residents of our spot loved flowers and had created a lovely garden behind the rig. From the looks of the three rigs next to us, the residents appear to keep their RVs parked fairly close to the road, allowing a little “green lawn space” behind the rigs – it looked like a perfect place where one could relax, read or sunbathe. There is a nice pool here where one could sunbathe, too. However, we didn’t find time to go swimming. It is a lovely place and we were able to get in a little walk and Kathleen was able to get caught up on the laundry in the immaculately clean laundry room.

On Sunday we drove from the Oasis Palms RV Park up to one of our all time favorite parks – Buckskin Mountain State Park, just north of Parker, AZ. We found our favorite site and Kathleen went off to the office to register.

We’ve parked in this particular site several times, so Paul proceeded to back into the spot by himself. Unfortunately, without a “spotter” he did not see the wooden post marking the site and he actually ran over it. When Kathleen returned from registering, Paul greeted her with “You’ll never guess what happened.” And she couldn’t guess. But she could quickly see what he was talking about. The back of the rig was sitting on top of the post – well, not exactly “sitting on top” – the post was on a tilt, pushing the battery box forward and shearing off part of the door. The fender by the back wheels was pushed up and the rear of the rig had an area that suffered another shear. The rig could go neither forward nor backward.

The Park Ranger was notified. He came down and looked over the situation and offered to see if he could get a large jack to get the rig up. Paul remembered he could use the air bags to give it some height. This he did, but the post was still pushing against something under the rig. Our next-door neighbor walked over and look over the situation. He owned a trucking concern at one time, and had some good suggestions. We had no idea if his ideas would make things worse or help things. However, we had no choice but to go with his ideas. He dug a hole behind the rear tire and instructed Paul on how to back up over the post. Paul did a commendable job of slowly backing over the post and the Ranger and our neighbor were able to extract the pole from under the rig.

Oh dear! The entire battery box was pulled off toward the front of the rig, but that seemed to be the worst of things. So Jeff (our neighbor) brought over his heavy truck to pull on a chain he had rigged under the battery box. Gently he backed away from the rear of our rig and by his own knowledge and expertise, he actually straightened out the battery box and even pulled some of the bump out of the fender. By the time he was finished, the rig was even and looked pretty good. We had to use a bungee to close the door to the starter battery section, as the hinges on that door are toast – but might be repaired. The door latch is hanging by a thin wire and will need more bungee cords or something. But looking at that side of the rig, it really doesn’t look too bad. We’ll have to determine what to do about the damage and in the next few days determine how much damage has been suffered.

No one was physically hurt, the Rangers weren’t even worried about the pole, and we were introduced to two wonderful people – our new neighbors, Jeff and Dee. They really went above and beyond neighborly help, and without them we would have had to call Good Sam or AAA for help. The four of us went out to dinner to celebrate our good fortune!

That’s it for tonight. We are sorry about our beautiful rig – and as Scarlet would say, “We’ll think about that tomorrow.” We are both well, at a park that soothes and comforts us, and we were so lucky that Jeff and Dee were here and gave us so much help. How true the saying that “strangers are just friends we haven’t met”.

This was our final day in Agua Caliente Regional Park, and we determined to take in a little hiking in the area. Paul checked out our maps. We considered a couple of places, but decided to go up to one of historic significance – Box Canyon.

There are probably dozens of Box Canyons in California; this one is a colorful ravine through the Mecca Hills at the east end of the Coachella Valley. The sides are formed by upturned strata – twisted, buckled and eroded. They stretch for about 8 miles along the canyon, which is part of a metamorphic zone associated with the nearby San Andreas Fault. These rocky formations take on the look of petrified tree trunks (IMHO).

The Southern Emigrant Trail and the Butterfield Overland Mail Stage Route once traversed this arduous trail. low mountain pass. From the overlook at the Box Canyon, we could spot two routes etched into the earth. The track left by the Mormon Battalion, created in 1847, is the higher one; the Butterfield Stage found an easier path in 1858 and is the bottom one.

Of greater historical significance is that General Kearny and the “Army of the West,” led by Kit Carson, passed through Box Canyon a few days before the battle at San Pasqual. (This conflict was the deadliest battle of the Mexican War in California.) The trail was later called the Southern Emigrant Trail because of the many prospectors and settlers who traveled the route on their way west after 1847.

We hiked along the trail and were presented with obstacles this rocky ridge represented for travelers.

The following website tells quite a bit about the Mormon Batalion and has a map that shows the entire trail –The Trail

(this march was called the longest infantry march in history!)

After our hike on the Emigrant Trail we returned to the rig and enjoyed a nice salad. Shortly after our lunch we headed out on a 1.5-mile hike here at Agua Caliente. We started at the “end” of the trail, but figured we would have no problems – only 1.5 miles, it couldn’t be too rough.

(Famous last words) Not far along on the path we encountered boulders higher and more challenging than those we found on the hike to the Palm Oasis up in Anza-Borrego Park.

At some point, we lost the path (not a hard thing to do among rocks and boulders – no evidence of a “trail.” So we climbed more and more rocks, looked around, tried to figure out where in the name of goodness we were, and then finally decided to head down the mountain and hope for a path along the base. Neither one of us had any desire to be out there in the mountains in the dark! Thank God, we finally found the path and decided to take it back the same way we came. Not far along the path we ran into a young man and woman who have hiked the trail before. They were headed opposite to where we decided to go, but they’ve been on this trail before, so hopefully they knew where they were going!

We made it back to the “end of the trail” and figure we probably walked 3 miles or close to it. We were hot and decided to head to the thermal pool. We grabbed our swimsuits and headed to the pool –

only to find out that the pool was closed for the day! Oh well, we returned back to the rig and enjoyed hot showers in our own comfortable shower!

A good supper and lots of gratitude of a wonder-filled day!

Last night the wind kicked up, and sitting outside in our lawn chairs, gazing at the stars wasn’t an option we elected. However, Kathleen stood outside the rig for a few minutes, contemplating the star-studded canopy above us. We both agree this is a perfect place to enjoy the night skies. Even just a few minutes was a good experience.

This morning the wind had died down, though we suspect there is usually some wind blowing most of the time. We are situated on a little elevation from which we can see the desert all around us. Paul climbed up a little incline from where he could capture our little camp site. (It didn’t seem “little” as he struggled to the top for the picture shoot!) What might look like a little brown plank road is actually the roof of an outdoor shelter across the road from our site! We are surrounded by sand, but even with the wind, we don’t seem to have the layer of find dust/sand that we so often experienced in Sunbeam Lake! Since this is mid-week, there are not many campers here. Come the weekend, though, the place will be full. So our accommodations are only for the nights of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

We wanted to spend the weekend in Anza Borrego campground, and drove up there today to see if we could get reservations for Friday, Saturday and Sunday – and possibly a few more days. No such luck! Like Agua Calliente, the State Park is completely full, too. So we have determined to revisit the State Park on our way back to El Centro in mid September. We will get our reservations in early, and have the opportunity to participate in the excellent campfire lectures that are held at Anza Borrego.

We saw a number of cyclists out on the roads today and thought of son-in-law, Jamie. He loves cycling hills (and mountains) and we are sure that this area would place high on Jamie’s list of favorite biking places.

On our way to Anza Borrego, we passed by a little sign that caught our attention. We were surprised and delighted to see a sign indicating that this was part of the Pacific Rim Trail. These “chairs” and “cupboard” might be used by some of the PCT hikers. Looks like a supply of water for fellow travelers on the Trail. Across the street we noticed the other sign indicating the PCT. As we looked down the path we thought of our dear Melanie and her husband who, we believe, hiked the entire PCT some years ago. We stood there and wondered if they passed over this area on their adventure. Now they are parents of very small children and we won’t be surprised to see them grow up in their parent’s footsteps!

When we visited the Agua Calliente campground, Paul noticed a “new” to us cactus. It is called a “Pencil Cactus.”.There are so many types of cacti, and we are always interested in finding ones we haven’t seen before. The prickly pear cactus is coming into bloom, and the barrel cactus look like they are in full bloom. We don’t know if the pencil cactus has blooms, or not.

Instead of returning to Agua Calliente on the same road as the ones we took to reach the park, we decided to return here another way. We took S-22 west this time (it runs into S-2 which is the way we want to go). The road climbs and climbs up over 3,000 feet and the views below were much appreciated. We were not able to identify the light tan half circles below, but enjoyed seeing the town of Borrego Springs from this vantage point.

Once we had climbed up and up, we reached a sort of rolling meadow. Along the road we noticed an interesting display of miniature houses and buildings. The artist has a gallery on the grounds, but it looked as though no one was “at home” today. We did enjoy viewing his various creations. Coming along the road, it looked like a miniature village, spread along the side of the road! Very interesting and well executed!

We reached the very tiny hamlet of Ranchito where we saw this unusual statue in front of the Realty Company. We didn’t notice much more than this little store and a volunteer fire station. Perhaps there were other civic buildings off the road, but we could not see any sign of same.

When we reached S-2 we headed south toward Agua Calliente. Along the road we noticed this unusual Ocotillo. Most of these plants grow their stalks fairly close to one another – this one made us think of Harry Potter’s “Whamping Willow”!

This was most pleasant day, exploring the area, and we capped the day off with a visit to the thermal pool. More about that tomorrow!

This is Tuesday evening – April 1st

Neither one of us has played an April First joke on one another, and it is 9:00 pm so it doesn’t look as though we are going to celebrate April Fool’s Day appropriately.

We left Sunbeam Lake RV Resort this morning and drove over to the Cummings place where we had the oil changed on the motor home. While we were at it, we also had the oil changed on the Element. So it looks as though we are “road ready”!

By 2:00 pm we were on our way out of El Centro (a place we have come to like very much), and off toward tonight’s destination – Agua Caliente Park.

It seems an unlikely spot, but in the desert 111 miles from San Diego Agua Caliente Regional Park is an inviting spot. It is best known for its geothermally heated springs. Tomorrow we expect to try them out!

The Kumeyaay Indians were initially attracted to the springs centuries ago. Spanish explorer Juan de Anza was the first European to visit the area, in 1775. In more recent times, the springs at Agua Caliente were used by pioneers, soldiers, and prospectors, and now by folks like us!

Seismic activity that long ago shaped the Tierra Blanca Mountains (and created the fault that runs beneath the park) also enabled water to come to the surface and form the park’s natural springs.

The relatively abundant water supply supports lush plant life in this area, such as mesquite, willows, Washingtonia palms, and acacias.

Two naturally fed pools provide different ways of enjoying the park’s mineral water: a large outdoor pool is a natural 90 degrees, and an indoor therapeutic spa is heated to 102 degrees and outfitted with Jacuzzi jets. It looks as though they are rebuilding the outdoor pool.

We are told that spring-fed warm showers are available here. We plan to be here until Friday (the camp has no available sites on the weekend, so we will stay here as long as we can, then we’ll take off for other places we want to visit).

We are far away from any towns, so tonight we will go outside and sit in our lawn chairs and enjoy the night sky!

On Thursday we realized we had only seen pictographs yesterday, and surely there were more spring wild flowers farther in to Anza Borrego. So we took off on Thursday morning for another search for wild flowers in Anza Borrego. Of course we headed North on California S-2 from I-8 again (still loving every mile of the road). And to make sure we would select the best place to see the flowers, we drove up to the Main Headquarters.

When told we enjoyed the hike to the Pictographs yesterday, a friendly volunteer at the desk suggested a hike close to the headquarters. “Drive over to the campground and go all the way to the end where there is a parking lot. From this parking lot you will see the start of a wonderful hike to the ‘Oasis in Palm Canyon’” she directed, ‘You will have to climb over some rocks.’

That was good enough for us. We found the parking lot (already nearly full of vehicles), parked our car, packed some fresh pineapple, a banana, some rice cakes, water and took off.

This hike led to the canyon ahead, and we climbed over many a boulder, rocks, logs and even criss-crossed the stream once or twice. The path is well marked in places, and very confusing in others. As we trudged over the obstacles nature had deposited, we met families with young children. “Huh, if those little kids can make it, we sure can,” we boasted. (Pride cometh before the fall….)

Actually, we did “make it” – we stopped several times to cool off, to fortify ourselves with banana and pineapple, and we hydrated frequently. But it was a strenuous hike for these two old codgers. Kathleen wasn’t sure Paul should continue, but he rested often and did not start up until he was ready.

We had a Nature Trail Guide for the three-mile round trip. Along the trail were 15 marker posts that corresponded with the Trail Guide. The information from the Trail Guide was interesting and provided encouragement to go on. It was well written, and we were happy the volunteer had provided us with the Guide. We learned a lot about this desert and the history of the places we passed along the trail.It was hard to imagine that the Cahuilla Indians lived in this Canyon so many years ago. It looks so inhospitable! Of course the water close by was one of the reasons they settled there. Even the canyon walls brought shade from the sun, as well as shelter from the winds. Flash floods are common in the summer, and I wonder how many lives were lost in such floods. Yesterday we enjoyed a cooling and welcome breeze the entire hike. Today the sun was bright and hot, and only once-in-a-while did we feel the breeze (for which we were always grateful). Paul knew from the start this hike would be much more demanding for him than yesterday’s. We left the parking lot and began our hike at 2pm. The 1.5 miles to the oasis took nearly two hours!

Seeing the palm trees gave us encouragement to continue on, even though the path was less clear now, and wound back and forth and up and down, stopping at boulders, but commencing again once the boulders were conquered. This particular boulder shows the “painting” of the rock that mother nature has wrought.

Success at last! What a great sight! We were able to see the oasis in the distance – not too far now! Though we realized we still had boulders and rocks to scramble over and around, and a few more criss-crossings of the river. Kathleen suggested that Paul remove his shirt and wet it in the water. Putting it back on ought to cool him down appreciably. He decided to go on without stopping. We were able then to keep the fan palm trees in view, and eventually we were rewarded with actually reaching the oasis!

And there it was! We gained a real appreciation of what an oasis is in the desert! Lots of other hikers were

enjoying the cooling relief of the shade provided by all the fan palms and the refreshing stream that flowed past.A large group of adults and children were enjoying themselves. We noticed that many of the hikers there wore tee-shirts that were all alike. It appeared that a group of 5 or so children were well tended by several adults. Curious to find out about this attractive group, Kathleen asked one of the adults about them. The group hails from the Sequoia School in Pasadena. There were 75 children (from grades one to three) and the school is a little like the Montesorri schools. The young people surely were having a great time. We noticed that most of the young hikers had camel backs. (These are back packs that hold water, and the camel backs were being well used!) As we relaxed

in the shade of the palms, we noticed that one of the adults sported several band aids. Apparently she was no worse for wear.

We figured the way back to the car would be much easier. In a way it was, but we elected to take the “alternate route” back and soon decided that it was less clearly marked than the path on which we traveled to reach the oasis. We did a lot more sliding and climbing over rocks and boulders, and several times seemed to have no place to go. Paul is a pretty good guide, though, and eventually we worked our way over to the original path and were soon counting down the marker signs toward the parking lot. It was a happy sight – to see the parking lot in the distance before us. And eventually our hike came to an end. We were tired, but happy. It had been much more difficult than we imagined, but we were proud to have been able to complete the 3.5 hour hike!

The next day we went to San Diego for Paul’s sixth and last (in this ‘induction’ session) of chemotherapy. Kathleen was able to get her PT/INR blood draw (don’t know the results yet). When we returned to Sunbeam Lake, Kathleen drove into El Centro to pick up some things for dinner. Since this was such a special day (end of Chemo) she purchased Paul’s favorite spicy catfish, polenta, and a lemon merigne pie (Paul’s absolute favorite dessert!) We figured it was an auspicious day, and needed something special for dinner!

Paul will have a window of 4 to 6 weeks until he has to report back to the doctor. The doctor will call early next week to let us know the size of our “window of freedom.”

On Tuesday next we’ll leave Sunbeam RV Park (with plans to return in October). We will drive the motor home over to El Centro to have its oil changed, and one for the Element, too. Then we’ll head off and escape!

We plan to spend a couple of days just south of Anza Borrego at a place called “Agua Caliente” – there’s an indoor thermal pool there, and we mean to try it. It is also way out in no man’s land, and we hope to be able to view the stars at night. There are NO towns or cities close by to light up the sky! From there we have tentative plans to camp (you guessed it!) at Anza Borrego before heading up to the Bay Area by mid-April.

Today the winds really kicked up, even so, the motor home received a little clean-up on the outside, and the Element got a lick and a promise – and the RV was rocking and rolling all evening in the wind – even during ‘Earth Hour’ when we darkened the entire RV. The table tops inside the rig are covered in a fine powder – the winds blow in such a fine powder – one can feel it, but not see it very well. So we’ll do some vacuum cleaning on Monday so that we will be pretty ship-shape and ready for travel on Tuesday!

Come next Friday (3/28) we may have a window of 4-6 weeks before we have to return to Kaiser for more chemo treatments. So our time remaining in the El Centro area is quickly coming to an end for this season. There are still places we have not visited nor seen in this area yet, but the desert of Anza Borrego does call!

On Wednesday last we decided to take a trip back up to the desert to visit a few places that we had not had time to see on previous trips.

California S2 travels through some of the most colorful mountains that we have ever seen. As many times as we’ve driven over S2, we are always awed by the sights we see. Today was no exception.

However, before we reached Ocotillo, (where we pick up S2), we road along old California highway 80 and coming toward us were a number of cyclists (with all their camping equipment in their panniers). We reasoned that surely these riders must be on a cross-country trip. They had probably just come down the 3,000 foot descent from the mountains on I-8. (There being no road on which cyclists can travel, certain stretches of Inter State highways may be used) – this is just one stretch, and it was on Kathleen’s cross country trip. We rarely drive this section of highway without thinking about that glorious trip! So back to the cyclists passing us. We waved at some of them, then decided to stop the last two riders that came along. We did stop and were delighted to meet Frank and Eileen (members of Adventure Cycling). And they are in the process of crossing the country. Their route is called the Southern Tier Route and we were so glad we stopped and met them. They have camping gear with them and “motel” at only a few places along the way (unlike the every night motel stops Kathleen enjoyed on her Young At Heart cross country ride in ‘99). We spoke with the two of them awhile then wished them well. We will be thinking about them as they travel on many of the roads Young At Heart traversed those nearly 10 years ago. Good luck to all the Adventure Cycling cyclists on this Southern Tier Trip!

We reached S2 and as we traveled north on this road, our thoughts went back to the time of the western expansion of our country. S2 follows along the original Emigrant Trail and to imagine how those early settlers faced the challenges of the inhospitable environment in this area, boggles the imagination. Here’s a view from S2, looking down on the Emigrant Trail below. When those hardy folk reached the base of the many mountains over which they had to cross, makes our modern day travel almost seem sinful!

Along the route we passed many flowering cacti – this one was a bit of a surprise to us. From the road the barrel cactus looks like a reddish stump, but closer inspection shows the crown of the cactus – beautiful yellow flowers! The spine is covered with reddish spines, and one could think that the cactus was reddish. Upon closer examination, the green of the spine is clearly seen!

This plant is actually a parasite, clinging to any flower or cactus it can find. We were able to see it in trees, plants, cacti and anything that was growing!

The wild Heliotrope that we saw today grows in absolute isolation! It’s a lovely little purple flower so delicate and lovely – in such a harsh environment!

The Trixis is found all over the desert. It is so prolific and can be found almost everywhere in the desert.

Yellow seems to be the color of choice here in the desert. Ground covers are everywhere – and consist of a variety of little gold poppy (many small-petaled flowers on erect, leafless stems), the Desert Cassia – also called the Desert Senna. It is a low branching, nearly leafless shrub that grows up to 36′ tall!

Kathleen fell in love with the Yellowheads. They are about 4″ tall and have fragrant, wooly, sharp toothed leaves. They like stony soil and rock crevices. We saw Desert Dandelion, Goldfields, Dune Sunflower, Walace’s Eriophyllium, Chinch Weed and Brittlebrush — all with yellow flowers.

There are other flowers – many of them white or red, but today we saw more yellow than anything else.

We especially like stopping along the road and roaming through the cacti, looking for the tiny, almost invisible desert flowers. It seems so miraculous to see these tiny plants surviving in so hostile an environment. Taking our little walks like this inspired and delighted us with their singular beauty.

But viewing and enjoying the spring desert flowers was not all we did today. We had noticed, on our map, a place called “Pictographs” – and decided to take the side road that would eventually lead to an area where Indians once roamed and lived. Our road ended at the parking area. A sign indicated that we needed to walk the 1.5 mile trail to the area where the pictographs might be seen. We elected to hike out to see them. The path was fairly easy and interesting. We were impressed at what we were able to view – and wondered about these early residents. The rocks have been painted with colors created by using berries and plants that grew in the area. How many years ago were the Indians here? Why did they leave? What happened to them? This is all the evidence that we have that they once lived here…

We were pleased that the hike was so enjoyable and afforded us with Spring desert flowers and history of the area.