After lunch on Thursday the 15th Ron and I went to Karl’s and helped install the Scan Gauge in Karl's Lazy Daze. We had to reset the parameters as the ones that came with the Scan Gauge were wrong for the newer Fords. On the way over from San Antonio I noticed that the breaking system in the toad (towed car)was not working properly. So when we were done there, Ron and I tried to figure out what was wrong with the US Gear braking system in the car. We finally found that it was a bad controller. Being as Ron had a complete US Gear system that he removed from the Lazy Daze that they sold, we put in his controller until my new one comes in. We should have brakes on the toad when we drive to California on Sunday.
Three sunset pictures Sandy took at Cave Creek over the past few days.
The next day, Friday, We Got Mail!
Sunday morning got an early start and headed to San Dimas, CA (north east LA area). On our drive over we stopped in Quartzsite, AZ for an hour and visited with Chuck and Lorraine. Sorry, we didn’t get a picture of Chuck and Lorraine, sometime the old brain just doesn’t work. We pulled into the East Shore RV Park about mid afternoon and got settled into site 171.
There is a small airport below the hill and this particular float plane was doing “touch and goes”.
The first and last day here were the only days we saw the hills to the north of us from our site. The LA smog had settled in.
After getting up at 5:00 we headed to Bank’s Power where we had a 7:00 appointment to have their “Billet Torque Converter” installed. Supposedly this will help lower the transmission temperature. It was an all-day procedure.
We asked about a good place for breakfast and they said Flappy Jack’s was pretty good and they were right. There were way too many options and way too much good food. They are located in Glendora along old “Route 66”. It is worth the stop.
They had some murals painted on the walls showing “Route 66”.
Sandy with their 6 page breakfast menu.
Breakfast served – and we opted for the “smaller” breakfast selection.
Sandy getting that last drop of caffeine for the road.
We could not figure out why it was so busy on a Monday morning, but later figured it out. It was MLK day and school was out, although I bet it’s pretty busy all the time.
After we returned to the RV park we decided to go out for supper and found an Olive Garden close by. They always have good food and serve enough that we returned home with leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch.
Our appointment with Larry Wade was for 9:00 AM and according to the GPS it was 58 miles to the other side of LA and should have taken 1 hour 5 minutes. Knowing it was rush hour we left at 7:05 and we didn’t get there until 9:20 --- 2 hours and 15 minutes. Larry installed a 4 stage controller/charger and an in-house surge protector. It took longer to get there and back then for Larry to do the installation.
Early this morning, Thursday the 22nd, (before the chickens were up) we received an e-mail from our Minnesota friends, Vern and Ruthie, that they were in Indio for a few days and wondered if we were still in California. Even though we had a reservation for tonight in Quartzsite we had talked about stopping in Joshua Tree National Park for a few days. Well that e-mail settled it, we would see if we could find a site in Joshua. Being that the 2 campgrounds we liked were first come first served we headed out a little earlier then we had planned to better our odds of getting a site. Our first choice was Belle campground and it had several sites so we picked site #1 and got settled in. Once we got settled in we cancelled our Quartzsite reservations.
Then it was off to see Vern and Ruthie.
We were really surprised when we found out where they were staying. We had to go through 3 gates to get to where they are staying. Vern is helping to train 4 yearling colts using the Clint Bailey method. This gets the horses to respond to training commands without voice commands or extreme gestures---just slight subtle movements of the body. After they showed us around and we met the owner, Steve, we headed to an Italian restaurant called Mario’s. The food was exceptionally good. Vern and Ruthie led the way to Mario’s.
There was one mare that was supposed to have had her colt the day before and she looked like it. After Vern and Ruthie got back from supper she popped out this little colt. Wish we had been there to see it.
Vern and Ruthie, it was nice seeing you again and we will get together again in Cave Creek when you get back there.
Today, Saturday the 25th, was real windy with winds from 20 to 40 mph. They even predicted 70 mph gust in the area. We went into Palm Springs and Indo to pick up some Dates at Shields Date Garden. On the way home we stopped at the Cholla Cactus Gardens in Joshua Tree NP. Yes, this is a desert, but it has been so dry even the cactus look dried up.
Then we stopped at the White Tank Campground which is about a mile and a half south of our campground to see what the sites were like. They say they can only accommodate 25 foot or less but we know from experience that they can usually handle bigger than what they say. But, in this case I think they were stretching it at 25 feet so we won’t be staying there ---- but there were some nice rock formations in the campground. Our imagination went wild; we can see a Porpoise on the left, a Killer Whale in the middle and an Owl looking at us on the right. It’s almost as fun as laying on your back and seeing what the clouds will present as they pass over head.
On our last day, Sunday the 25th, we drove around the park. Our first stop was at the Split Rock picnic area.
This rock outcropping looked interesting showing the quartz line running through the rocks.
Then it was onto the Queen Valley Road, which is a dirt back road into Barker Dam.
At Barker Dam we hiked the Barker Dam trail where we came up on 4 Bighorn Sheep, 2 males and 2 females. The ram to the right seemed to be the dominate male as he kept his head higher and was always watchful.
The Barker Dam was built around 1900 to hold water for cattle and mining use. Back then the area received around 10 inches of rain annually compared of today’s 3-4 inches.
From Barker Dam we drove up a mountain to Keys View that overlooks the Coachella Valley were Palm Springs and the San Andreas Fault lie. Along this road lies the densest growth of Joshua trees in the park. Keys View is at 5185 foot elevation and Coachella is about zero feet in elevation.
A view from the top.
The dark line just to the foreground of the light color is the San Andreas Fault.
I just finished reading the 19th and 20th book in the Doc Ford series by Randy Wayne White. Here are a few of the authors I have been reading over the last several years; The late Vince Flynn (we will sure miss his writings), John Sandford, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Nevada Barr, William Kent Krueger, Thomas Perry, Brad Thor, C. J. Box, Brian Haig, Robert Crais, Andrew Peterson, Richard Scott and Trevor Scott. I like the action/mystery so if you have some favorite authors please let me know. I’m always looking for more to read.
Until next time,
Dave and Sandy
1 comment:
Thanks for stopping by. The colt is doing well. I was told he is my special project. He is responding well to gentling and learning how to lead. It looks like we may be in this area longer than we could have imagined. Our host/employer hints about activities in april and even next year. We shall see, it is more work than we had planned on. Like I told them when we arrived, we need time to ride and I wasn't looking for a J.o.b. Safe travels friends, Vern and Ruthie (still in Indio)
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