Disneyland

Spent the day at Disneyland. We had a great time, rode all the adult rides and spent LOTS money. It cost $63.00 a piece just to get in. You can imagine what food cost. But what the heck, don't think we will ever get back here again so had to go once. Leaving here tomorrow to head a little futher north. Have enjoyed our time we get to spend to spend with Danny and Sally, real great people. Been metal detecting on the beach when time permits, not rich yet but working on it.....lol.. Going out to do a little geocaching and looking around.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

MADE IT to the OCEAN

We made it to the Pacific. We have spent the last few evenings with Danny and Sally Graves. Danny is my friend from high school. It has been great to see him again. We go walking with Danny every morning. Went to the Mission of San Juan Capistrano today, pretty neat to see. We had to see it around about 200 little kids on a field trip but not to bad. We'll be here till friday.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Last day at Joshua Tree

Started the day by gassing up the jeep....$3.34 a gallon That HURT .......... Did some geocaching on the way to the Salton Sea, found 8. Then we headed to the Salton Sea to check it out. It is 220 feet below sea level. Quite a story about how it was formed. Used to be part of the Gulf of Mexico, silted in at the coast to form the lake. Went dry, reformed again when a river breached the levee. It is real big lake that not many people use anymore because of the salt content. After that trip we did the fun thing, went to the laundery mat. Then Louise went to church after which we stopped for a sandwich before heading back to the coach and the evening campfire with a group of campers here. We will leaving here and heading for the coast in the morning. We'll be at Doheny State Park till Friday. While there we will be spending time with Danny and Sally Graves. Danny was my best friend in high school. It will be good to see him again. The first 3 pics were taken at the Salton Sea. The last 3 were taken yesterday when we went on a hike in the park.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK day 3

Went on a ranger guided tour today of an old homestead and gold mill. It was a real interesting hike. The distance was only aout 2 miles and the ranger was very informative about the area. One of last gun fights was in the path we walked down. The guy that won had a rifle, the guy that lost had a pistol, don't seem fair does it. The guy with the pistol fired the first shot so I guess he wasn't too bright. This area was big in gold mining in the late 1800's early 1900's. There are mines all over the place. Most of them are closed now, of coarse all the ones in the park were closed when it became a National park. After the hike we went rock climbing, that's us in the first pic. It was a lot of work but it was fun. Just kidding...........We stopped and watched these climbers for a while. You couldn't shoot me up there with a cannon. Maybe when I was in younger but not now. We are setting here getting the first rain we have seen in a month. Right now it is pouring and very windy. Hope it clears tomorrow so we can go on another hike, if not we will just hang out here. When we got back to the coach we walked down to chat with the neighbors for a while then the rain came so we headed in. About supper time.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

The Oasis

Today we took a hike to the Oasis in the desert. 7.5 miles around trip, I'm pooped!! All the pics tonight were taken on the hike accept the little cactus with the red blooms on it. That one was taken on the 20 miles dirt road drive we took after the hike. The views along the trail were spectacular. We could see the Sultan Sea from the top of the mountain we went up. The sea is some 50 miles away. We were about 3800 ft above sea level. The sea is about 200 feet below sea level. The oasis is WAY back in the hills and in the bottom of a canyon. We hiked almost to the bottom of the canyon and took a break to eat our lunch, then headed back out. The palms are native to this part of the desert. The palms are real big, nearly 50 feet tall. When we got back to motorhome there were a bunch of rvs parked in the same area we are. When got out of the car a man from the group came over to introduce himself and invite us to join them. Turns out they are all Escapees Boondockers, a club we just joined. So tomorrow when we get back here we will join in the 4 o'clock social hour. Going on a ranger lead hike tomorrow morning, only 2 miles this time. The topic is gold mining in this area, ought to be interesting.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK day 2

We drove into and around the park today. We met up with another couple, Mike and Charlie Harris that started fulltiming this year to. We went out to eat with them after we left the park and had a nice chat about our new live style. The first pic is the Joshua Tree. The 2nd is the bloom on the tree. They are all in bloom right now. The rest of the pics are views from around the park. The big rocks like the ones in the pic are everywhere here. People come from all over to climb them. I hope to get some pics of them climbing before we leave here. It was real windy today and we didn't see anyone on the rock faces. They sell a book here showing all the climbing rocks and the best path up them, I think I will let the younger ones have the rocks. I'll just watch. The scenic overlook pic is over 6000 feet above sea level . The place we went to eat, about 20 miles out of the park is -12 feet below sea level. Yes that is minus feet. There is a lot of ups and downs in this area. Going off the main road tomorrow to veiw some old gold mines in the park. They are way back on the dirt roads, hope we don't get stuck. Will do a little hiking tomorrow to.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK

We are now in California at Joshua Tree National Park. Got here about 2 and after setting up went to the Walmart to load up on chow. The nearest Walmart is about 30 miles from here. We are parked on BLM land outside the park, it's free. Free is always good.We will make our first trip into the park in the morning. Hope to get some neat pics to post on here. I have no idea what this park will look like so I guess we'll have to see for ourselves. The pics are from the windows of th coach where we set. There are 5 rv's in this camp area right now. The nearest one is a good 100 yards from us. Louise says suppers ready so I'm gone.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Organ Pipe National Monument

We are on the move again. Left Casa Grande and headed for Organ Pipe National Monument. We stayed in the park for one night. It was kind of high priced for what you got. $12.oo for no hook ups, nice pad to park on, pretty park, but no hookups! We only stayed there for one night then moved on to Quartsite, AZ. We are parked in the desert on BLM Land, it's free. Going to stay here till Monday. We'll move to Joshua Tree National park area then. Well maybe we will. Jeremy called today to tell me I got a jury summons. I have no idea what they will say when I tell them I'm on the way to Alaska. I hope they let me put it off till November. I will call them in the morning to find out.

The first picture is the Organ Pipe Cactus, it only grows in this area of of U.S. The bloom is the bloom on the next cactus you see. This is the only thing in bloom right now. The arch is on a 23 miles loop drive in the park. Notice the little arch on top of the big one. The arch is about 40 feet high and 170 feet long.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Still in Casa Grande

We are waiting for our mail in Casa Grande, AZ, should be here by Wensday. Then it will be off to Organ Pipe National Park for a few days. We have made reservations for when we are at Danny's in California. Waiting for confirmation on San Fran. Will post more pics when we get to Organ Pipe

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Hello from Casa Grande, AZ.

We have hit warm weather, in the 80's today. We went to the Casa Grande Ruins today with Diane and Dave Jones, class of 06 fulltimers we met here at the SKP park we are in. Had a great time there and then went geocaching for a while. Looked for 4.....found 4. We are planning to stay here through the weekend then head on down the road. The little ground squirrel was at the picnic area at the ruins begging for food...lol The ruins in the pic was 4 stories tall at on time. Time and weather has worn it away. They put the cover it to protect it from further erosion. It was pretty interesting. The geocaching pic was from yesterday, we ended up way out in the desert for this one.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Saguaro National Park

We spent the day hiking and driving around Saguaro National Park. Took a ranger guided hike in the morning to learn about the life cycle of some of the desert cacti. It was pretty interesting. The Saguaros with all the arms are over 100 years old. It takes about 60 years before they start to grow the arms. The wind was pretty ruff but the temperature was in the high 60s so wasn't bad hiking. After we left the park we went in search of 3 geocaches, found them all. Got back to the motorhome just in time to go to the park club house for ice cream. Not sure what we are doing tomorrow, maybe a little more geocaching or hiking. Maybe just rest. We take the coach to Tucson on Tuesday to have the filter changed in the transmission. Then I think we will move toward Phoenix for a while. P. S. If you don't know, you can click on the pics to enlarge them.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Benson, Arizona

We have been in Benson. Az for a few days now. We spent one day in Tombstone. Pretty cool, but pretty expensive too.. Everything we wanted to do cost extra there. Most of the town is privately owned so they can charge what they want. The Bird Cage, OK Corral and the museum all charged, so we went to the museum and left the rest alone. The original street is blocked off for 4 blocks so they have stage coach rides up and down, cost extra of coarse. The head stones were at Boot Hill, the actual place and free.....lol

We spent one day in Tucson. Went to wildlife museum, picked up the part I needed to fix the motorhome and Campers World. Spent today at the Cochise Stronghold and the Chiricahua National Monument. This area was the home of the Apache Indians in the 1800's. The rock pictures are from the park. This was WILD land, no wonder the Army had a hard time finding them. Tomorrow is a day to install the parts I have and rest up some for our next sightseeing day. May go back to the monument on Sunday to hike the trails, not sure yet.

Till next time

Duane and Louise