Home for the holidays

Time to "wrap up " 2018. We leave Joshua Tree on December 14th and start our journey back to Sacramento for the holidays. Stops along the way are:

1. Indian Waters RV Resort & Cabins. We've been here before (refer to our March 2018 post for any pictures of the place). This time of year, it's pretty quite here. It's one of Tom's favorite pickleball stops. However, most of the snowbirds that play don't show up until January. Fortunately or unfortunately, this won't affect Tom because he is suffering from a shoulder injury and would have to forgo playing anyway.

2. The next stop is on 12/17 at the Bakersfield RV Resort. We haven't stayed here before. It is nice to start seeing a little Christmas cheer!

3. On 12/19, we make a stopover at the Lakes RV Resort in Chowchilla. We've been here before. Not much to see here, but it's a comfortable stop on the long drive up and down California.

4.  12/20 is Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort. Once again, we've been here before, but it is one of my favorite places to stay. I didn't get may pictures this time, but they made the ground feel Christmasy.

5. Finally, on 12/22, we arrive at the Nevada County Fairgrounds. This will be our home base for the holiday season.

To get ready for Christmas, Cathy (Tom's sister) and Dave (her significant other) take us to the Victorian Christmas fair, a tradition in Nevada City, to shop for Christmas gifts.

For Christmas this year, our son Andrew hosted us for breakfast and the opening of gifts. Christmas dinner was with Tom's family in Grass Valley. Wendy's family opted to save themselves the drive and instead relax and spend this Christmas in Southern California. We are truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives!

Our breakfast hostess Crystal, guest Matthew, and host Andrew

Our dinner hosts, Dave and Cathy

Brad, Danielle, Ricky, Matthew, Olivia, Tom, Wendy's chair, Dave, Cathy, Andrew, Phil, Easton, Vicki, and Ben

For Christmas this year, Santa brings Wendy a new ELECTRIC, bike. It works with pedal assist, (no throttle like some electrics), so when she pedals harder, the motor senses more torque and supplies more power. The result of this is she just "motors" up big hills, leaving her poor husband behind spinning slowly and sucking air.

Joshua Tree National Park

After driving through parts of the California desert near Adelanto and Victorville, I was a little skeptical about camping at Joshua Tree. But the national park is on our way back home, and we do need a camping spot. Looking at the campsites, there are some available at Jumbo Rocks campground. However, it's a bit of a guess whether or not our rig and car will actually fit. I reserve the largest campsite available and cross my fingers.


We get to Joshua Tree and hallelujah we fit! The one odd thing I notice when we are there a couple of days is that there are a lot of sites that are marked "reserved" and yet no one shows up to camp. Come to find out all the campsites are always marked as reserved; they don't allow walk-ups at this campground. Good thing we made reservations...

All that aside, Joshua Tree is not the flat, barren desert I imagined. It has striking boulder formations that are reminiscent of Alabama Hills, a beautiful place.

We see rock climbers 




and big horn sheep,













and of course Joshua Trees.

Lake Havasu, AZ

It's now early December, and Christmas is only a couple of weeks away. We need to start heading back to California if we are going to make it in time for the holidays. Having just gone from Yuma, Arizona to San Diego, California for Thanksgiving, we plan a slightly more northern route back. Our next stop will be at Lake Havasu State Park in Lake Havasu City, AZ.

Now that we're in Lake Havasu, Tom keeps talking about London Bridge. What the heck is he talking about??? The answer is that in 1967, London Bridge was purchased from the city of London and moved to Lake Havasu, AZ, so it now spans the Colorado River.

They've done a nice job of creating a little London around the bridge. We're a little short on time, but it would be nice to spend some time exploring the shops here.

 

Prescott, AZ

The focus of this trip has been to see and explore the mountains of central Arizona, specifically Prescott. We met a super nice couple, Joseph and Randy, during our stay at Dead Horse Ranch State Park before Thanksgiving, and they have offered to show us around Prescott.

Our home base during this visit is the Point of Rocks Campground in northeastern Prescott. Point of Rocks is a more "rustic" RV park. Campsites are a little close, but this time of year, the park is not crowded. Our site is up the hill and overlooks Prescott. I also love the rocky outcroppings in the park.

Point of Rocks is right next to Watson Lake, and it is one of the first places we visit. Watson Lake is surrounded by the stunning rock formations that are found in the area.

During the drive around, we sighted a javelina (aka peccary). It looks like a cute version of a pig, but we were told they have tusks and can be quite dangerous. On top of that, they stink.

We do hit Prescott during the holiday season, and they do get into the spirit by decorating their town square.

Our friends - Randy and Joseph

Loved doing the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and fudge tastings while we were downtown! Got some gravenstein apple balsamic for ourselves and can't wait to try it on a salad! The one regret was that we didn't make it back to the meadery to do a mead tasting.

We did checked out a couple of the trails in the area. Below is the Constellation Trail, one of several hiking trails that are actually just on the outskirts of town.

Cave Creek Regional Park Campgrounds - Cave Creek, AZ

Next, we head east to explore the Sonoran Desert area north of Phoenix. Friends have told us about Cave Creek Regional Park, so we're headed there to check it out. Cave Creek is not far from Carefree, a northern suburb of Phoenix, so it's convenient for running a few errands and stocking up on food.

The campsites in the park are clean and spacious and offer water and electric hook-ups. 

A real plus with these campsites is that Tank has plenty of room to hang out in the sun! 

We did take a short hike to check out the area and are treated to a nice sunset.

There was a gigantic saguaro at Cave Creek!

One thing I've noticed in the area is the saguaro cactus. These cacti are pretty iconic symbols of the desert but are actually found exclusively in the Sonoran Desert. So, they started to appear as we drove closer into Phoenix then disappeared as we drove farther out. 

Desert Gold RV Resort - Salome, AZ

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we pick up Matthew and say our goodbyes. One of the three of us had to be back to work Monday morning... [spoiler alert, it wasn't Wendy or Tom]. After driving back to San Diego and dropping Matthew off at his apartment, we opt for a hotel room and a real bed (instead of an air mattress) in San Diego for the night. 

The next day, we head back to Yuma, AZ to pick up our RV and spend Monday night back at Del Pueblo RV Resort (where we stayed the week before). 

Our plan is to head back towards the mountain area of central AZ and spend several weeks there before heading back to Northern CA for Christmas. We stop for a couple of days at the Desert Gold RV Park in Salome - just east of Quartzsite, before heading on. Quartzsite has a reputation for being an RV mecca of sorts. Annually, in late January between 750,000 to One million (mostly RV'ers) descend on the little town (population ~3600) for the Sports, Vacation and RV show. Think Woodstock... without music (mostly), but with old folks (mostly). Come to think of it, since Woodstock happened 50 years ago, its a fair bet that a good number of folks that attend MAY HAVE also attended Woodstock!

We've been told it is quite an experience, but I think we will opt out this time.

South, West, and Home

Well, Andrew did it. He's convinced (guilted) Mom to head home for Thanksgiving. So we need to wrap up our stay in Arizona and figure out somewhere to store the RV. Since we'd like to head into San Diego and pick up Matthew on our way home, we can head south on I-17 to get to I-8 in Arizona.

This takes us down through Phoenix, which has something I have not seen elsewhere. These signs are literally just outside of Phoenix on I-17, the major freeway into Phoenix.

We pass through Phoenix as quickly as possible (it's kind of like passing through LA quickly) on our way to Casa Grande and Palm Creek RV Resort, pickleball and golf hotspot, that Tom has been hankering to visit.

We don't get to stay long, so Tom has the opportunity to only play pickleball. The bad part about that is that his left shoulder is injured, so he has to play right handed!

I (Tom) had to suffer the indignity of playing with my paddle in the right (WRONG) hand.

After Casa Grande, we continue making our way west to Yuma, AZ for a stay at the Del Pueblo RV and Tennis Resort. This will allow us to drop off our RV at a storage unit a couple of miles from the park and head on to San Diego.

We pick-up Matthew and begin our drive back to Sacramento on Thanksgiving eve. We did have to wait until Matthew got off work, so we stopped for the night in Tulare.

Complimentary breakfast in the morning

Thanksgiving with the family was great! Thank you Cathy, Dave, Vicki, and Brad for your hospitality while we were there!

Dead Horse Ranch State Park - Cottonwood, AZ

We're heading towards Sedona next. There's only one rv park in Sedona, and it is full, so we find an Arizona State Park, Dead Horse Ranch, about 20 miles southwest.

Ahhh, it's warm! Dead Horse Ranch is practically in Cottonwood, a town of around 12,000 people. The campgrounds are clean and the sites are spacious with water, electricity and good cell reception, so we're set!

We meet our neighbors, Joseph and Randy, a very nice couple from Prescott, AZ. Joseph has an electric bike, a Sondor, that he let's us try out. Very fun! Now, I want one. They are on their way out but invite us to come over later for a glass of wine.

I've got a pizza craving, so we head into town to Pizzeria Bocce, which is pretty well rated on Google. Along the way, we get sidetracked at Verde Valley Olive Oil Traders. Who knew there were shops with pots of olive oil to sample? While Tom is sampling olive oil and balsamic vinegars, I find peanut butter fudge and spicy olives to take with us to Thanksgiving. (Sorry, Cathy, the olives were forgotten at Andrew's...you're welcome Ray, glad you enjoyed them.) 

Anyway, we did finally make it to Bocce's. Then we couldn't decide... We started with wood-fired artichokes and resisted numerous other yummy sounding sides. Then came our pizza choice...

One for Tom and one for me!

 Can't really remember what they were, but it was all good! Oh, yes, we did. We had dessert too.

After dinner, we head over to Joseph and Randy's to make our excuses, because we've eaten way too much to be able to drink any wine. But the conversation is too interesting, and we end up staying to chat. Joseph and Tom get deeply involved talking about photography. By the end of the evening, they (as ex-Californians) have us convinced that we have to visit Prescott. 

The next day, we did visit Sedona. Spent some time driving around, shopping, and eating, but we did not find the sleeping Snoopy rock. 

As we headed back to Cottonwood, we decided to visit Jerome, a town that sits on the mountain above Cottonwood. It's supposed to have a ghost town, so we head there. Well, the ghost town is now a tourist attraction and closes at 5:00. We get there at 4:55, just in time to meet the worker on the way out to lock the gate. 

The town of Jerome itself is built precariously into the side of the mountain. Unfortunately, I've managed to delete all my pictures (thinking I had downloaded and saved them). It looks like an interesting place, and we will have to come back an explore sometime. One note, however, is: do not take the RV up here ever! The roads are so narrow and windy that the RV would never make it out of town!