What a Horrible Sunday!

We said good-bye to Jan, Von and Harry Potter.















We had a great time visiting, but it was time to move on to see our youngest son in Southern CA.
The weather was fantastic. We only needed to travel 250 miles. We checked Google Maps and our GPS for the route. Both systems gave us the exact same route. Our travel time was to be about 4.5 hours. We left at 10:00 AM. We stopped for fuel after about 60 miles and for lunch after about 120 miles. We expected to be at out destination by about 3:00 pm even after our stops.

Boy were we wrong! Once we left I10 we slowed way down. Traveling through Indio, Palm Desert. La Quinta, and Indian Wells was slow, but the scenery was beautiful. However, once we were out of Indian Well we started the climb from under 1,000' to about 5,000' on an unbelievable twisty-windy road. Then, we descended to about 2,000' on an equally miserable road. We were continually pulling over to let a dozen or so cars pass.

Neither of us enjoyed the last 50 miles...we are lucky to still be speaking to each other!

So, we arrived at our destination at 4:15. It is a gated community that closes the entrance gate at 4:00 (and the office is closed on Sundays). Luckily, after a short stay at the gate, a good Samaritan let us in and showed us to the "boon-docking" area.

I am glad that this day is almost over!

We See AVATAR!!!!

We accompanied our friends Jan, Von and Dale on a 100 mile round trip to see Avatar in 3D at an IMAX theater. Unfortunately, none of us purchased advance tickets online. So, we arrived about at the AMC IMAX in Glendale AZ about noon and found that the next available IMAX Avatar show was at 4:30 PM. We all made the decision to wait over 4 hours to see the show.

We spent an hour or so having lunch at Margaritaville...nice atmosphere and over-priced food and drinks.

We then walked around the mall, took some photos, and spent some relaxing time in the lounge chairs provided by the mall. While Jan and Von enjoyed a drink at a local bar (Nancy had water), Dale and I took a great walk to the Cardinals Stadium. About 3:30 we walked to the theater and got in line for the 4:30 showing.

As far as I am concerned it was all worth it. The story was interesting and the special effects were fantastic. The fact that this was a "tree hugger" advertisement did not bother me at all. I had a great time!

Christmas Day

What great Christmas Day! Even though I was not with my children I was able to talk to each of them. I love cell phones!

The Sadleback RV Resort was having an "informal" Christmas Day potluck meal at 1:00 pm. I went shopping at the nearest Wal-Mart (about 25 miles) to get the ingredients for "Bonnie's Hot Broccoli Cheese Dip" and several pounds of assorted veggies for dipping.

Jan and Von volunteered in the kitchen.

The meal was great as were the friends we shared it with.

Christmas Eve

We are visiting RVing friends (and fellow Escapees) Jan and Von and Jan's brother Dale in Tonopah, AZ (near Phoenix). Our friends joined us for a BBQ this afternoon. Good friends, good conversation and good food was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.
This will be my first Christmas away from Santa Barbara, my mother, my children and grandchildren in over 10 years (Iowa 1998). I am sure that Christmas will be great, but I will miss spending it with the rest of my family.

Early this evening I was sitting at my desk and looked up to see the tail end of a beautiful sunset over Sadleback Mountain. What is it about sunsets that are so mesmerizing? Our friend Von and several other performers put on a great Christmas show at the activity center. Von is an excellent singer. In a prior life (before RVing) Von was an exceptional Elvis impersonator. If you ever get a chance to hear him do karaoke you don't want to miss it!

After the perfromance we joined Von, Jan and her brother Dale in their RV for some snacks. We also enjoyed the company of their dog, Harry Potter.

Although I missed everyone back in SB, this was a really nice Christmas Eve.