We’re in Palm Springs now

 

Sunday, April 5, 2009                                                                                                      Lorraine’s Report

Another week has gone by, and we moved from San Diego Elks campgrounds to here in Palm Desert, Thousand Trails. I have to say the weather is sure a lot warmer. But boy oh boy, did we ever have two days of high, heavy winds. It was gusting up to 65 MPH. The beautiful palm trees here were bent in half. I was glad they didn’t uproot and topple over. Chuck got up the night before last at 3am and pulled in two of the slides, and even then the coach just rocked hard all night. The howling wind reminded me of the storms we use to get back on the bay in Bellingham.

Well, I have to say, it sure is good to be back on the road. Even though I’m still not 100%, it’s nice to be doing a little more than I when I was flat on my back. We’ve had to clean the coach, get some supplies, and yesterday, we took all the bedding and rugs for cleaning at the new Laundromat. Then I wondered why clean, when the sand was blowing so hard in the wind, whipping it into everything again. Oh well.

Thursday and Friday nights we went to dinner to Applebee’s and then the Desert Hot Springs Elk’s where Chuck joined in January, with our very good friends, Tom & Dorothy and Dorothy’s niece, Melissa.  It was so great to spend some time with them again.  We visited until late in the evening before we finally said our goodbyes.  We hope to see them again on Monday evening before we leave.  We’re trying to talk Tom and Dorothy into going to Alaska with us this summer.  I don’t know if it will happen, but it would sure be nice if they went.  I know everyone would have a great time.

Saturday  we sat out and visited with the neighbors for a while. Then Chuck took me up to the casino, Augustine. I ended the day up and we had the buffet, prime rib and lobster. It was delicious.

We are hoping to leave here on Tuesday and head up to the bay area for our granddaughter’s fourth birthday. She’s going to be 4 on the 15 of April. And speaking of birthday’s, Chuck will turn 60 on the 10^th of April. We will be at our daughters' home for that. I’m so looking forward to seeing Susy and Kaitlyn again. Kaitlyn has been calling and asking if NaNa and PaPa are coming to her Happy Birthday Party. She has been just worried to death that we won’t be there. I assure her I wouldn’t miss it for the world! She brings us such joy!! It’s great she has started talking on the telephone, and there are days she needs to talk with her NaNa. She is getting over being shy on the phone and that pleases me to no end.

So that is it for this week. Not much happening here, just everyday living. So until next time…..Take care and Thank You again to everyone that wrote and prayed and sent all their best wishes. Till next time…….Lorraine

 

4/5/09                                                                                                                           Chuck’s Report

Good new last week, Lorraine’s doctor checked her over on Monday and said he would release her so we could continue down the road.  Her liver functions still aren’t back to normal but heading in the right direction.  We have all the reports from the doctor in case we have to see another one on the road but here’s hoping we don’t.  We have made an appointment with our family doctor back in Bellingham and will see what the blood tests show then.  Thanks to all who sent her good wishes and prayers, it is nice to know so many people care. 

Speaking of caring, Lucinda, one of my cousins, has her husband in the hospital getting a hip replacement.  My guess is they are still in their 40s, too young to be going through this.   Anyway, good luck to Pat, hope everything turns out good and he is back to better than normal soon. 

Another one that needs our prayers and thoughts is our son-in-law Mark’s dad.  He is in the hospital in Seattle recovering from surgery and is in lots of pain.  Please keep Bill in your prayers too. 

So we left San Diego area on Tuesday, a short 3 hour trip to Palm Springs.  It felt good to be on the road again.  This park has a few pull through sites, easier to get a big rig into but they were all taken when we got here.  So we settled for a back-in site, nice with full hook-ups and 50 amp power.   We also get good cell phone and internet service so Lorraine is happier too.  We are in the back portion, the front has lots of freeway noise.  Only problem we’ve had is two days and nights of heavy winds.   One of our neighbors said they thought the wind speed was at least Mach 2, ha.  It was probably 50 – 60 MPH steady with gust higher than that.   We brought in the awnings when the wind started and even pulled the motorhome slides in one night.  But its now back to a nice, 80 – 90F with a slight breeze, very comfortable weather for sitting outside, checking my eyelids for leaks. 

Lorraine is feeling a bit better each day, although we still try to not overdo too much.  We did take our throw rugs and bedding down to a laundry mat one afternoon, went to Wal-Mart and went to dinner twice with our friends Tom and Dorothy.  They are now at least thinking about going to Alaska with us this summer, hope the decide to go, they are nice folks and we enjoy being with them.  Tom is the one that helped me join the Elks earlier this year.

This park allows you to wash your rig at your site.  I didn’t want to hit it too hard so I took two days to finish washing/drying it.  Of course, that night is when the winds picked up, created lots of dust so now its clean but has a heavy layer of dust on it (does that make sense?).  Anyway, the water is too hard here to just rinse it off without drying it so I guess I’ll leave it and hope the dust blows off as we travel down the road this week.  I still need to do the tires and wheels, may get to them today.

So that was our week, Lorraine is better but still not 100%.  She is really ready to head to the Bay area this week for our grand daughter’s 4th birthday.  Kaitlyn calls every once in a while and asks if NaNa is still coming to her birthday party, cute, as if Lorraine would miss it.  Our plans are to be in the Bay area with them for maybe two weeks and I’ve scheduled for some maintenance to be done on the coach.  We have 4 double pane windows that have leaking seals with moisture between the panes, Tiffin sent out replacements and will pay to have them replaced.  Also, we are scheduled for a hitch replacement, a recall from the coach builder.  While in the shop, we will have our annual oil chance and maintenance done.  That should get us ready for our trip to Alaska this summer. 

I’ll add a few pictures, less words that way, you know!

  Some of the hills we traveled through to get to Palm Springs. 

More travel shots.

The windmills to the West of Palm Springs. 

Our campground at Palm Springs, each site has at least two palm trees.

Some of the flowers around town. 

A nice row of palm trees down the street in town. 

Melissa and her Aunt Dorothy. 

A bad picture but the only one we took of Tom this trip. 

So until next time, be good to one another.   I’m going out now to clean the tires and wheels on the coach and enjoy the weather.  After that, it may very well be “Miller time”. 

Thanks  Chuck