catching up

Weather report: 6:20 A.M., 75 degrees, 43 % humidity, with a slight breeze. The katydids still haven't given up, so they're chirping away in the background as wispy gray clouds move overhead. The clouds are coming up from the gulf, which is why it's so muggy, and as the sun creeps up over the tree tops the gray clouds take on a bit of a peach glow. Soon it will become so oppressive that all thoughts of completing projects today will soon become plans for tomorrow, or the next day.

We're usually on the road by now, some place either cool, or with a dry heat. Things didn't work out that way this year, and we are trying to get work moved along on the covered porch and a few other necessities before we go, but it's a challenge. It's even been hard to work up the gumption to post on the blog, as you may have noticed! By way of getting the blog caught up, it did occur to me though that there were a couple of places we visited on the quick trip to California that we wanted to share and hadn't gotten around to it yet, so here they are!


First, for anyone traveling in the general Palm Springs area, I highly recommend including a day at the Living Desert in your trip plans. What began in 1970 as a botanical garden and nature trail has evolved in to a full wildlife experience. The animal habitats are exceptional, especially so as many of the plants are typical of environments the animals would normally live in, and the plant life that is artistically arranged and beautifully maintained is worth a visit on its own merits.
The walking paths around the animal displays are bordered with blooming grasses and trees, and tucked here and there are sculptures and other art objects, always related to the nearby animal enclosures. Signs posted here and there give not only facts about the animals, but in many cases their African names (with pronunciation assistance!)

There's a carousel for the little ones, each animal representing an endangered species, and many of the plant specimens are labeled, of interest to the gardeners like me.

A complex miniature railway adds another dimension to the experience. Amazing in detail and complexity, the model railroad set up includes the Grand Canyon, a ghost town, waterfall, and more fascinating details everywhere you look.


I could have spent hours admiring the craftsmanship and creativity in the display. Not only the little buildings, but the plantings around the tracks, the waterways, the detail on each of the cars, including weathering and damage that would normally occur. No detail as been neglected. There's an "engineer" in the center of the display operating the trains. Several run at one time, so I'm sure there's quite a bit of management require to prevent real-life derailments and crashes.

Rushing water under a tressel

There's a tram system running a regular route through the park that stops every 15 minutes at little rest stations, and there are overhead misters at every station so even in the heat, and it was hot the day we visited, visitors can still stay pretty comfortable. There are also several gift shops and small restaurants around the park, so it's easy to dip into a cool spot if necessary. The park keeps up a pretty busy schedule of activities year round, including campouts for families and kids, concerts, and special presentations.

Our other noteworthy experience was a two night stay in the Jojoba Hills Escapees park (that's pronounced ho-ho-ba). It's near the town of Aguanga (that’s pronounced a-wan-ga), east of Temecula, off Hwy. 79.

We try to check out the various Escapees co-op parks whenever we're near one, and this one turned out to be exceptional. In the co-op parks each lot is individually owned. Some owners live there full time in regular RVs or "park models", others come and go and allow their lots to be rented to short timers like us when they are gone.

This park has been in existence for over 25 years, high atop the mountain ridgeline in the hills, most lots have a lovely view of the valley below or the rolling hillsides that are covered with jojoba bushes and native cactus.

Many of the lots are planted with citrus trees, rose bushes, blooming shrubs, and amazing cactus of all types. It's better than a visit to an arboretum! Everyone we met, as usual in an SKP park, was very helpful and friendly. We had a nice visit both days with other folks who came to the little fenced-in dog park with their pooches. There's a sizable dog area right in the park and another area outside the perimeter,  and a gate through the perimeter fence, allowing for the more adventurous to explore the pasture, and the resident cattle, that surrounds the park.

The park offers residents the use of several features, like a pool, gym, woodshop, sewing and craft rooms, and right in the middle of the park, cleverly designed to channel the rain from the frequent cloud bursts, is a miniature golf course.


Water runs down a stone lined channel, in and around the little buildings, then collects in a series of small ponds that are strategically placed around the park. It was such a pleasant environment it was hard to leave, and I can easily see why several of the residents told us how happy they are there. Some have owned their lots for the full 25 years, so have really had time to develop them. For traveling Escapees it's definitely worth a stop.

There are a few more pictures of the Escapees park, as well as the Living Desert Museum, in the album.

Change of plans

We left Indio around 9 AM, and it was already getting warm. Traffic was lighter than we had expected, so we were humming along at a pretty good clip when the cell phone rang.

Our daughter began with, " Everything's OK right now, but. . . . ."  How fast does your brain go into overdrive with those words???

She reported the details of a house/brush fire at a house four lots south of our house.  They got it knocked down and contained so all is well in the neighborhood, but the house itself was a total loss. Three fire agencies had responded, as we're in a rural area and depend largely on the local volunteer department. Our son-in-law went out to check on the status of things, and the fire department stayed around long enough to be sure all the hotspots were out. I'm sure all the neighbors are on extra high alert now. No word yet on what caused the fire, though there was a report that an exploding propane tank helped to spread it.

We decided that with no rain in sight, high winds and lightening storms predicted, etc. it was time to go ahead and head south for home.  So, adjusting our route, we pulled into Rovers Roost, the SKP park in Casa Grande, AZ, Tuesday afternoon. As we exited the freeway we watched the approach of a huge middle east-style dust storm. In the middle-east it's called a haboob (the wikipedia article does a good job of explaining how they happen.) We arrived at the RV park before the storm did, and executed the fastest set-up you ever saw so we could get inside before the dust hit.

We've been in high-wind dust storms before, but this type of dust storm is different. The dust is suspended in a slow moving wall several stories high, and creeps across the plain like some sort of slow moving animal. Even in the middle of this storm the wind wasn't exceptionally strong, you just couldn't see through the dust. Fortunately this particular storm didn't carry as much dust as some, and had passed by in about half an hour.

It was 102 degrees when we arrived, and the rig had soaked up a good bit of heat while we were traveling, so we are thankful again for air conditioning. It is a clue as to the overall climate in these parts when you look around and all the windows are filled in with foil reflectors. 

Fortunately the weather cooled off nicely during the night. The last time we stayed here it stayed hot all night and our air conditioning not only couldn't keep up, it gave up totally and we had to repair it!

This stop completes a loop, as this was one of our stops as we started out on the trip in June. 
Next stop in this dash for home, Rockhound State Park. 

We should be back at the Ranch by Friday for fire watch!