Finally the sun!

We left L.A. and headed to Palm Springs. We found a reasonable RV park near the town of Palm Springs and decided to stay a week which entitled us to 2 free days. The weather will be unusually warm (80 to 84 degrees all week). The wind blew the next morning (no mystery they have all those wind mills near the freeway), but it died down by the afternoon. We went for a hike in the mountains and then drove around the town looking at houses (our favorite past time still). The golf here is more money than we are used to paying but there are coupons in the paper that make it reasonable for the area.

Indian Canyon Golf Course

A very creative mailbox!

L.A. for Thanksgiving

We drove to L.A. and the traffic was great until we hit Santa Barbara. Then it became a stop and go mess through to Los Angeles. It was quite tense pulling the trailer in the heavy traffic. We hoped that the driver behind us noticed our red tail lights in time to stop.

The next day we met Warren's sister and mom for Thanksgiving lunch at the local Denny's. Sandy (Warren's sister) was concerned that she couldn't get Mavis (their mom) into any restaurant with her wheel chair. The food was fine and we practically had the place to ourselves. We visited for about 2 hours and then said our good-byes. Warren and I drove around a little while seeing the local tourist traps like Grumman's Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We also drove around the famous Mulholland Drive with it's spectacular views. We took pictures of the Hollywood sign and drove through Beverly Hills. I've never seen so many Rolls Royce's and gated homes in one place in my life! However, no celebs there either. I guess they were all away for Thanksgiving.

The ride around Mulholland Drive

The Hollywood Sign

Grumman's Chinese Theatre

Sacramento and friends...then to Monterey

Our next stop was Sacramento, California to visit with our dear friends, Lee Ann and Basil. We became acquainted with them through golf in Vancouver. They are wonderful hosts and we always love seeing them. We played golf on Saturday and spent Sunday relaxing and preparing for an early Thanksgiving. It was a welcome feast.

Monday we awoke to beautiful sunshine. Lee Ann and I (Paula) went for 4 mile walk with one of Lee Ann's friends. It was great to finally get some exercise! Instead of staying another day and possibly driving the in rain we decided to head south. Our destination was L.A. to have Thanksgiving with Warren's Mom, sister, and nephew.

We took a slight detour and went by way of the coast and the Monterey  Peninsula. We hit the weather just right. The RV park was next to the beach. After setting up camp, we went for a walk along the ocean and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. Then we drove into Monterey and walked along the area called Cannery Row. There are a lot of neat shops and eateries. We had dinner before returning to the RV.

The next day we loaded our bikes in the car and drove to Monterey to ride the famous 17 Mile Drive. If you go the whole way you pass by the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course and end up in Carmel. Needless to say, we didn't finish the whole ride (but our rears thought we did).

 We had a nice lunch and then drove into Carmel. What a quaint little town. We didn't see any celebs but had a nice "happy hour" and then drove back to our little RV. The next day we headed to L.A.

Our Journey Continues South

Thursday, November 17th we arrived in Chico, California. The drive through the pass was dry and clear. Praise the Lord! The forcast was for snow over the weekend. We figured the faster we went south, the more chance we had at missing the snow storms. It seemed that our plan was working. The snow was behind us now and now we were looking for sun and warmth. Let's see how far south we need to go to find it....

While in Chico, we did some sightseeing.We went to the Bidwell mansion. John Bidwell turned out to be a fascinating fellow. He was only 22 years old when he led a group over the California Trail. He then discovered gold in the Feather River. With his new found wealth he bought a 26,000 acre parcel and built himself and his wife a beautiful 26 room mansion, several orchards, a 25 acre park, and a lot more. His wife ended up donating the house to the Presbyterian church and later was used as a dormitory for a teacher's college. The property is now a University. The grounds are a public park and the orchards are still producing great fruit and nuts.

Starting out

We left Vancouver on Wednesday, November 16, 2011. It was a cloudy and rainy day. Our goal was to get over the mountain passes before the snows hit. As we traveled south the weather improved. We arrived in Medford about 4 PM and set up camp for the first time. We did okay for our maiden voyage. However, we chose an RV park next to a truck stop. Note to selves, do not stay next to truck stops unless you like the sound of diesel engines starting up at around 7 AM!