Birthday Bidets and Melting in Desert Hot Springs

Our sweet grandpup, Gwendolyn.

Our next stop on Thursday, 3/12, was Rian’s in Sacramento, another awesome moochdock. We are able to park right next to her house and have 30 amp power and water. We always enjoy spending time with Rian and seeing our grandpup, Gwendolyn. She is just so dang cute! We did a couple of walkies with Raney and Gwen, but Rian wasn’t quite comfortable giving them off leash time in the yard together. Neither is aggressive, but with the size differential (Raney is more than six times as big as Gwennie), Rian didn’t want to chance a kerfuffle. So, they took turns in the yard and talked through the sliding door. Lol.

 

All the kids hanging out.

Before we arrived, I’d asked Rian what she wanted for her birthday. Last year we came down and helped build her deck. This year’s request wasn’t quite so labor intensive. She wanted bidets installed in both her bathrooms and help mounting landscape lights along the fence. We opted to have her electrician put in an outlet in the master bath and Rog installed the bidets. We got most of the lights up, but Rian wanted to trim back some plants along the fence and will finished the job later. Love the lights, skipped the bidet pics. Lol. But you really have to read the inside of the Tushy box. Hilarious. It even came with a playlist to listen to while doing the installation. Gotta love a company with a great sense of humor!

 

Love the yard lights!

Zoom in to read and let me know which is your favorite! Lol. 

While we were at Costco, Rian picked up a container of guavas. I’d never had a fresh guava and it was meh. Rian searched for recipes and made guava paste and then guava cream cheese pastries. Now we’re talking! Delicious. I am so glad both the girls have taken after their Dad when it comes to creative cooking. I am happy to be the guinea pig for any further experiments. Yum! Speaking of food, in addition to our obligatory visit to Sushi Yo, we had a redo of Thanksgiving dinner and a visit to Corti Brothers Deli. (Excellent recommendation, thank you Jess!). I don’t want to be one of those bloggers that details every meal, there’s nothing exciting about peanut butter toast for breakfast every morning. Lol. But, one of my friends mentioned they love the food pics. So enjoy these, calorie free!  

My creative cook (takes after her daddy!). 

The guava cream cheese pastries were delish!

Thanksgiving dinner redo!

Is that Gwendolyn begging at the table or did Rian adopt a fruit bat?

Corti Brothers Deli sandwiches. Gwennie approved. 

Rian and I hit the estate sales and thrift stores on Saturday. Then on Sunday, 3/15, she and Rog went fishing on Mather Lake. They opted to fish from the shore and Rian netted the biggest catch of the day. Glad we weren’t counting on fish for dinner. Lol.

There's a reason it's called "fishing" not "catching". Lol.

The temps in Sacramento were in the mid 80’s, hot but bearable. Looking at the forecast where we’re headed it was way worse, solidly into the triple digits. We opted to stay an extra day at Rian’s, as Rog pointed out, we were in no rush to get to the heat. 

We left Rian’s and spent one night on Tuesday, 3/17, at a Harvest Host site, Vista Ranch in Merced, CA. We’ve stayed here before and loved walking the dogs in the adjacent almond orchards. Sadly, the orchards are gone. I asked about it and learned that almond trees production peaks at around 20 years and they usually replace them by 25. So all the trees are down, they’ll remove them and plant a cover crop next year to help renew the soil before replanting. If we make it back next year, it will be really weird to have hay fields next door instead of trees.

Vista Ranch, a repeat favorite Harvest Host site.

The almond orchard in 2019 and today. :( 

Rog noticed this memorial along the road just outside of Merced. He was curious why there was a war memorial out in the middle of nowhere. Turns out it’s not a war memorial, the story is much more interesting. The George Hicks Fancher Monument is a testament to one man's dying wish (and ego). Fancher, who died in 1900, was a wealthy California rancher and he wanted to make sure people would remember that. His will stipulated that $25,000 be used to erect a monument in his honor. The result was this 68-foot tall granite plinth, the tallest tombstone for an individual in California. The monument was completed in 1911 after a 10-year legal battle. A local teacher wanted the money to go toward a public library in Fancher’s honor, but the family refused. Don’t you just love these quirky roadside finds?

Talk about your ego project.

Luckily the trees were all intact at our next overnight stop on Wednesday, 3/16, at Orange Grove RV Park near Bakersfield, CA. The orange trees were all in bloom and it smelled absolutely heavenly!! I really wish I had a way to give you a sniff. We were still able to pick oranges too (one of the perks of the campground), so we stocked up and are enjoying fresh squeezed OJ for breakfast.

 

Fresh squeezed OJ, coming up!

The scent was utterly sublime. 

On Thursday, 3/17, we pulled into Catalina Spa and RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs, CA. It was an *ahem* balmy 104° when we arrived. Ugh. We snagged a space with a tiny bit of shade and got set up. With the air conditioners both running the temperature inside the coach was tolerable. Then we heard a pop and everything went dark. WTF. Rog checked and we’d popped a breaker, he couldn’t get it to reset, so he hooked up to the pole in the next space. Everything was back on, then “pop” and it wasn’t. This happened a few times and the temps inside went up several degrees in just a couple minutes. No way could we survive this heat in our little metal box without A/C. Rog was able to troubleshoot and change some settings on the inverter/electrical system and then we were back in business. Whew!

 

When it's 104° every tiny bit of shade helps. 

The current temps here are 20 to 30 degrees above normal! We had two consecutive 104° days before it dropped out of the triple digits. It’s still in the 90’s, but at least psychologically it seems cooler. Lol. We are learning to get up and do things before 10am and after 8pm. It’s lovely before the sun comes up and after it sets. It’s just that pesky time in between that’s painful. Lol. Initially this heat dome event was supposed to last a week and then dissipate, now the weather guessers are calling for a more prolonged heat wave. Our original plan had us boondocking in the desert outside Chiricahua National Monument, that is no longer looking like an option. We were going to meet up with our friend Laurie who is in Gila Bend, AZ and she said it was 110° there. Nope. We spent most of Friday figuring out how to escape the heat. We rerouted the next five stops, opting to head north to higher elevation around Prescott and Flagstaff, AZ. We will still be boondocking, but temps should be in the 70’s and 80’s. Woohoo! I wasn’t happy about changing my carefully laid plans, but Rog is good at going with the flow and reminds me that no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Lol.

 

It's beautiful in the early morning...

... and late in the evening.

Raney enjoys her (very) early morning walkies.

Riley prefers his walkies in the evening.

In the meantime, we are enjoying the amenities at Catalina RV and Resort. We are just a stone’s throw from the pickleball courts and found a group of folks who play regularly. So, pickleball has been on the agenda every morning and I’m loving it! We sent pics of the gym equipment to our trainer Robyn, and she put together a ridiculous workout. Girlfriend, no need to double down just because we have access to fancy machines. Geesh. Yes, I know it’s for my own good. Yes, I’ll do it. And no, I won't stop complaining!

Pickleball every morning! Yay!!

Insane workout. Not so Yay!

One of things I was most looking forward to in Desert Hot Springs, was visiting my friend Elaine. She recently bought a place to snowbird in Cathedral City, just 20 minutes away. Elaine has not been impressed with the crazy temps either. She also had A/C issues and when it took a few days to get it back online, seriously considered heading back to Washington. Suddenly 50° and raining doesn't sound so bad. Lol. We visited Elaine at her new place on Sunday, 3/22. She bought a lovely, fully furnished home in an over 55 community. We had a blast catching up, playing games, and eating homemade tamales purchased from a guy in a bright yellow pickup truck in the grocery store parking lot. The pups enjoyed her now fully functioning A/C, although I did warn her that she’ll be finding mastiff DNA for months. Lol.

 

Riley and Raney making themselves at home in Elaine's new digs.

On Monday evening we met Elaine and her cousin, Steve, at Willie’s Modern Fare for happy hour. Excellent food and beverages. In fact, their happy hour is so popular there was a wait list to get into the bar! Then we all went to see Project Hail Mary at the Mary Pickford Theater. We opted to try out a new (to us) technology called Screen X. The gimmick is 270 degree viewing screens for a more immersive experience. Rog liked it, I could take it or leave it. The movie, however, was outstanding. Definitely two thumbs up! Rog and I had both read the book and loved it, so we were thrilled that the movie stayed faithful to the book.

Mary Pickford Theater in Cathedral City.

Of course, we also did the obligatory adulting – a trip to Costco, grocery run, laundry, house(rv)cleaning, etc. And then after several days of the A/C running smoothly, on Tuesday evening the electrical system weirded out again. This time the LED overhead lights started flickering, even though they were turned off at the switch. Hmmmm. Then the A/C kept turning off and on. Not good. Rog spent most of Wednesday troubleshooting – he went over the system settings, checked for a loose wire or ground, everything he could think of. He adjusted more settings and it’s running now, but we’re not confident it will continue, so we may try to find a repair person at our next stop. It’s an adventure. Lol. 

Rog and I have been hitting the hot mineral springs late in the evening. I’m amazed at the hardy souls hanging out in the pools in the middle of the day. Granted the swimming pools aren’t heated, but they’re still warm. Seniors sous vide anyone? Lol. Elaine came over on Wednesday evening, our last day at Catalina. Rog made a salmon orzo salad and Elaine brought the good bread to go with it. Adult beverages were shared and we enjoyed a last soak in the pools.

 

Enjoying our evening soak.

We head for Quartzite tomorrow morning, Thursday, 3/26. Silly Al’s for pizza and a Big Blue Van is on my wish list.