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.  

And we’re off! Wait, what day is it?

 

The route is planned. Let's see how that goes. Lol.

We have an awesome trip planned – over 10K miles, 23 states, 6 National Parks, lots of state and local parks, and so much more. We’re using a lot of Harvest Host sites for our travel days and there are so many craft breweries on the itinerary that I’m too embarrassed to count them. For anyone new to the blog, we’re traveling in our 33’ motorhome, affectionately dubbed “the short bus”, with 400 pounds of dog and towing a Honda Element (the Pupwagon). Yep, Riley and Raney, our English mastiffs, do not get left behind. I hope you are willing to tag along too and share our fun and (mis)adventures. 😊 I’ll send an email when there’s a new blog post, usually once a week or so. Sign up or send me a note if you want to be included. No spam, no ads, and no pressure – just tales from the road and some amazing photos. Although I do love to hear from you and comments are highly encouraged and welcome. It’s a beautiful country, come along for the ride!

And we’re off! Our route is mapped, our stops are planned, reservations are made, but there’s still one thing that needs a little work. Me! Lol. We will be meeting up with our friends, Bob and Carole (and Ruby, of course) along the way. We finished our last planning session with them on Sunday, 3/1. On Monday, we finished packing the RV and prepped the house for a Tuesday morning departure. Our reservations were made for our first stop on Tuesday, 3/3, at Hazelnut Haven, a Boondockers Welcome site south of Portland. We also planned to stop along the way at 19 Acres Cidery to pick up some of our favorite and hard-to-find Brazilian Limeade.

With the fridge empty and just a few details left to take care of in the morning, I plopped down at my computer Monday evening to play with the new trip planning software I’m using. I printed out an itinerary and was looking at the first few stops. WTF??!! The departure date was wrong! I’d mapped out the entire trip based on leaving Wednesday, 3/4. For months I’ve been saying the 3rd. How did that happen?? After a heart stopping moment, I realized we could just add a second night at one of our early stops. Crisis averted and cardiac arrest avoided. Whew! But really, I was stumped as to how I’d screwed that up.

We pulled out Tuesday morning, and Rog asked me to double check the hours for 19 Acres. Uh, they’re closed Monday and Tuesday! Head slap. Ok, now it’s starting to make sense. Apparently, I’d switched our start date to Wednesday ages ago when we decided to stop at the Cidery and totally forgot all about it. Just the latest episode of, “She Who Cannot be Trusted.” Stay tuned, I’m sure the season is just beginning. Lol.

On the road. We decided to stay two nights at Hazelnut Haven, instead of the one we’d planned. On Wednesday, 3/4 (Hello, the day we were supposed to leave home!) we drove over to 19 Acres Cidery. It’s a fun place with lots of tasty ciders on tap. I opted for a flight, while Rog stuck with our favorite Brazilian Limeade. Unfortunately, our plan to stock up was totally foiled. Not a can of Brazilian Limeade for sale in the place. Nooooooo! They can’t keep it in stock and are working on ramping up production. Apparently, we’re not the only folks who love it. We filled a small growler as a consolation prize. Better than nothing, but not the haul we’d hoped for. Sigh.

Hazelnut Haven is a favorite Boondockers Welcome spot with yummy treats too.

19 Acres Cider Co. Where's the Brazilian Limeade??

Our next stop was an overnight (3/5) at Timber Valley SKP Co-Op, another place we’ve stayed at before. We stayed in their boondocking area, which is just $5 a night. You must be an Escapee’s RV Club member to stay here, but it’s a great value. Folks are so friendly, the welcome wagon stopped by with handmade fleece tug toys for Raney and Riley. How sweet is that? We also enjoyed the show from the resident flock of turkeys. These guys were huge and very busy keeping tabs on their harem.

The Toms were on full display. 

On Friday, 3/6, we pulled into Jackson Wellsprings Mineral Hot Springs and Campground. We stayed here last year to attend a couple plays at the Ashland Shakespeare Festival. We decided against soaking in the mineral springs this time around. The pools were busy during the day (family time) and we passed on the evening (clothing optional) soak. What is seen cannot be unseen, and once was enough for that. Lol. It is still the land of derelict schoolies, but this one was pretty cool looking.

One cool Schoolie. 

We were a few weeks too early this year for the Shakespeare Festival, but we did book tickets for the Oregon Cabaret Theater. The Cabaret is housed in a renovated church and includes a full-service restaurant. Dinner and a show! The production was Ken Ludwig’s Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood. A very tongue-in-cheek take on the Robin Hood legend. Hilarious. The cast was excellent, as was dinner where the menu and cocktails are themed to the production. I had venison tenderloin (poached from the king’s land by Robin’s band of Merry Men, I’m sure. 😊) and dessert was served at intermission. The Cabaret has been in business for 40 years and we’re giving it two thumbs up!

Before the performance.

We had great seats, front and center on the first balcony.

Mom’s Marvelous Moochdock. We left Ashland on Sunday, 3/8, heading to Roger’s mom’s house in Redding, CA. Her partner of 20 years, Ed, had been diagnosed with cancer a few months ago and passed away on February 18th. We offered to come down early, but Mom waived us off and seems to be handling things pretty well all things considered. When we pulled up to the house, Ed’s daughter, Vickie, her fiancé, Andrew, and son, Dalton, were taking a load of Ed’s things back to their home in Santa Rosa along with his Corvette. Mom and Ed had been active members of a local Corvette club for many years and have fond memories of group rides and wine tastings with their sporty wheels. The Vet hasn’t had much run time the last couple years and Mom is glad it will get used again. Vickie reported that it ran like a charm and seemed to be happy to be back on the road.

Saying goodbye to the Corvette, the end of an era.

Speaking of happy, the pups are thrilled to be back in Grandmaland. Growing up, our daughters loved to spend time at Grandma’s and hang out in the pool. Riley feels the same. Raney stays out of the water but is taking full advantage living leash free for a few days. We love that Mom has a full hookup moochdock site, so we can enjoy her house and yard but still have all the comforts of our own home on wheels.

Chilling in Grandmaland.

Around the house, we are doing what we can to help Mom out. We cleared out 10 bags of clothing to donate to the local Cancer Society thrift store and cleared a few boxes out of storage. Vickie will be coming back for another load, so there’s only so much we can do for now. We had dinner at Final Tap, one of our favorite spots in Redding. Good fun and an incredible tap list. You see I went for another flight. Why pick one when I can pick four? Lol.

Final Draft - good food, great beer!

Rog and his Mom, Barb.

We also found a place to play Pickleball! I was so excited to play, but it turned out to be a bit of a letdown.  Enterprise Park has 12 really nice outdoor courts. We’re used to folks using the paddle rack to queue up teams for play, it turned out this was a little less organized. A lot of people knew each other and just played with their friends. It made it harder and less welcoming for newcomers. We did manage to get two games in, but it made us appreciate our group of players at home all the more. Miss you guys!

 Pickleball at Enterprise Park in Redding!
(Photo: Pickleheads)

Let it snow! So let’s talk for just a second about the weather. The first few days of our trip it rained off and on. By the time we made it to Ashland we had blue skies and sunshine. Temps in the 70’s in Redding and 80’s in Sacramento. Perfect. Things are looking a little dicey when we head to Desert Hot Springs. They are expecting a heat dome event that could bring record highs – I’m talking 105°! Meanwhile on the homefront, IT IS SNOWING. Riley has obviously lost the favor of the snow gods and they are taunting him. So bummed that we missed the only snowfall this season. Sigh. I know, you are sad for us. Lol. 

This also seems like a good spot for a shout out to our housesitter, Jess. Leaving our home vacant for an extended period of time is always nerve wracking. Jess was a Boondockers Welcome guest last year and we instantly hit it off. She is a full-time RVer, working from the road. I was talking to her about our trip and it turned out she could use a base of operations and place to park in the PNW while she had some repairs done to her RV. Talk about serendipity. Thank you Jess for making our trip much less stressful and for the snow pictures, bet you hadn't planned on that! Lol.  

View from the doorbell camera.

This was early in the morning and it was still snowing hours later!

Before lift off… Our next stop is Rian’s in Sacramento. But I wanted to catch you up on some fun things we did before this trip. Rog and I decided to make a conscious effort to plan more fun things to do when we’re home. For Christmas I got him a box of scratch off cards from Research International Outfitters with fun dates/things to do in the Seattle area. We did our first one, which was a trip to the Space Needle. We added the Chihuly Glass Museum, because how could you not? I’ll try not to go too crazy, but the pictures are just so much fun that I wanted to share. 

I just love the colors!

A chandelier - color and form. 

Whatever floats your boat. Lol. Get it?

Glass jungle?

Space Needle.

Another mini-trip was a quick hop down to Vegas, where we met our oldest daughter, Randi, to look at wedding venues. If you recall, the official proposal was captured under the aurora in Alaska in February 2025. (Aurora Hunting in Alaska) They live in Texas, Randi’s family and friends are in Washington, and Jose’s family and friends are in California. So where to wed? How about Vegas?? It’s centrally located, has lots of venues, and folks can plan a mini-vacation around the wedding. Sounds like a plan to me!

The Sphere is amazing! The exterior is constantly changing.

The High Roller.
It's 550' high and takes 30 minutes for one rotation. Fun!

Randi in "I Love Sugar" on the Linq Promenade.

We haven’t been to Vegas in decades, so things had changed quite a bit. We’re not gamblers, but we had a great time seeing shows and exploring the strip. We saw the Wizard of Oz at the Sphere, a true technological marvel. Were enthralled by the skill and acrobatics of Cirque du Soleil’s Ka, and had a blast with the Blue Man Group. And most importantly, Randi found a venue she likes! Now to get a date set. Lol.

The Wizard of Oz in the Sphere was very cool!

Cirque du Soleil never fails to thrill. 

Blue Man Group is just a blast.