Leaving CA...for now

It's hard to believe our time in CA has come to an end and we are heading out to Yuma, AZ this morning.  We've been in southern CA since the end of November and now that winter is just about over it's time to move on.  It wasn't the warm toasty winter we had in FL last year but it was great to check out this area and we'll certainly be back again in a few years.

Here's our plan for the spring and early summer (now remember, the beauty of this is we can change it at any time and for any reason):

Yuma, AZ 2/24-3/3

Pahrump, NV (near Death Valley) 3/4-3/11

Las Vegas, NV 3/11-3/25

Cottonwood, AZ (near Sedona) 3/25-5/3

Las Vegas, NV 5/3-5/17

Mount Hood, OR (to climb the mtn!) 5/20-6/3

Fly home to PA - 6/5-7/3

We plan to spend the remainder of the summer in the west and then work our way to FL late November for the winter.

Tom received this great e-mail from a friend he used to work with, Bernie Wise:

"I have been following since you left,   I have turned my mother on to your blog. She is 86  and still very active and alert .  She really missed your blog this fall  She was more concerned about you and Becky than anyone else I know.  Really glad to see and  hear you are able and actually able to be living a dream of millions of us."

Thanks for worrying about us, Bernie's mom, and thank you for following us!  I'll try to be more consistent with the blogs as we certainly don't want to worry you.  :-)  Thanks, Bernie, for the kind words!

Unfortunately we didn't end up doing many of the things we had planned for this area.  We were kept down by a few nasty colds, the flu, pneumonia (I'm on antibiotics and on the road to recovery now!) and without our Jeep for two weeks (getting a new head gasket - uggh) so we spent a bit more time in the RV than normal.  

From our campground in Desert Hot Springs there is a great hike up the mountain with excellent views of the surrounding mountains and area.  I took this hike each morning (before being sick) and enjoyed the company of Sandy and Cody twice.  Then when I was sick Tom took the hike with Ed and Cody.  

We also made one quick trip to Joshua Tree National Park and took a nice 6.2 mile loop hike on the Lost Horse Mine Trail (past an old Gold Mine - no, we didn't find any gold to take home).

Til Next Time...Happy Trails!