Now in Southern California....& Surpise...Surpise!

Other than one highway delay (busy at the border inspection station) on our way from Yuma, AZ to Desert Hot Springs, CA, - oh and one really irate driver, in a beat up van, who tried to run us (and others) off the road - the drive to SoCal was straight forward.  We are settled in at a great little resort, till month end of February, before moving a bit further west this March 1st.

Beginning the storage process...

Monday morning delivered some early and quite hot temperatures.  Even at 9:30 am, being busy with stowing stuff brought out the sweats.  I had to dry my forehead a few times....!  Temperatures had to have reached the mid-80's.

Cleaning things up.....

Jeanette was busy indoors, placing stuff securely and generally tidying up.  She was the official photographer and the reason why there are no photos of her.  She holds up her end of the chores though....!

Loaded and ready to roll....

With the 'must do' tasks complete, we cleaned up, had some lunch and took our last, long walk around the Yuma Foothills neighbourhood.

We were back at our site one hour before Hector/Diane drove by to pick us up.  We were off to the Yuma Palms Shopping district and, more specifically, to Lin's Chinese Cuisine for dinner. Bernie and Rita were joining us there. (Lin's is a popular Chinese restaurant chain...and the Yuma site is one busy place).  We arrived at 4:00 pm to access a table before the huge crush of patrons dominates the joint.  There are often long lines up to get in.  The food is really good!

Our early arrival proved favorable.  We had a table in no time.  But....surprise of surprises, Hector and Diane had not mentioned that good friends, Lucky and Trena, had rolled in (on motorcycle) and would join us for dinner. We were pleasantly surprised when we saw them.  

Our group at Lin's Chinese Cuisine...for Monday evening dinner.

Completely surprised we were!  Lucky and Trena were there when we arrived.

Walking by a nice Harley Davidson, Electra Glide, with BC license plate, parked in the restaurant parking lot, Hector was quick to move me along. A few seconds of scanning the motorcycle and I would have known it was Lucky and Trena's.  Hector and Diane knew that....and rushed us along towards the restaurant entrance.

L-R   Hector, Lucky and my brother, Bernie - 'chewing the fat', so to speak!

Lucky and Trena winter in their Class A motor-home, in a lovely, private and 1st class resort in Cathedral City, CA.    They chose to ride out to Yuma (for three days) to visit friends.  Knowing we were there, they planned to surprise us at dinner.  Well...what great fun that was.  Lucky and Trena's farm is about 25 minutes east from our Langley, BC home.  

Hector and Lucky had not seen each other since leaving the Palm Srings area last winter.

Hector (who loves nothing more than spending his retirement summers fishing off the BC west coast) chose to let his hair and beard grow.  He had very good reasons to do this....!  When the two friends finally met in Yuma, Lucky was so taken with Hector's look.  Trena was quite taken aback too!  She thought that Hector was sporting a wig!  Well.....there were many laughs to go along with the reunion when they got together earlier in the afternoon.

Suffice it to say that Hector is quite likely to get his hair cut and do away with the beard in the near future.  Lucky, on the other hand, will maintain his long term style.

L-R   Rita, Jeanette, Trena and Diane

The ladies sure enjoyed seeing each other again....and segregated themselves from us to chat and laugh up a storm.....!  And they did just that!

R-L  Hector, Me, Lucky and Bernie.

So...the guys were grouped together and we got to tell 'lies' and 'jokes' and laugh our way through dinner.

Talk about a great surprise. Hector/Diane, Lucky/Trena and Jeanette/me go back four winters ago when we all met at the Seven Feathers RV Resort in southern Oregon.  We have been friends ever since.  We've had some great times together.....!  It was sure nice to get everyone together.

My brother, Bernie and wife Rita, met our friends several years back.  In fact, they hosted us all a few times at the Yuma home.  And, speaking of hosting, they invited us to their home once our restaurant dinner was over.

Our visiting continued at Bernie and Rita's home.....

Some time after nightfall, everyone said their bye byes, and thank yous, and we headed to our respective domiciles.  Great fun.....and certainly more to come during our time in the Desert Hot Springs/Palm Springs region.  

With Hector and Diane planning to roll into this DHS area in March, I'm sure there will be a few occasions to get together with Lucky and Trena.  I'm sure Lucky/Trena and Jeanette and I will get a few motorcycle rides in too.

Before that though, we have plans to head back  home, to coastal  British Columbia, for an important family visit.  Jeanette flies out on Thursday and I on Saturday.  We will get to visit with Deni/Courtney and new baby, Owen, and hopefully with Ginette/Trevor and Easton's baby girl (sister) - due to be born any day now.  Important stuff!!!  Exciting times! 

We're both looking forward to seeing and visiting with our family.  Once back down here, in Desert Hot Springs, we'll resume our regular sun-type activities.

From the back picture window in our fiver, this beautiful, early morning, sky greets us on our last day in Yuma.

Once our fiver was all buttoned up and we were hitched up, some neighbors came by to chat us up and say their bye byes, and we also got to thank our host, Yuki, for the lovely RV spot we've  shared in her private yard, these past three  weeks (and three years too).  It is a great spot!

We were rolling by 10:30 am.

The All American canal, in the California sand dunes, off I-8 west - mere minutes east from Yuma, AZ.

We rolled into Desert Hot Springs, and into our RV resort, by mid-afternoon yesterday.  Jeanette and I left our rig parked outside the park and walked the road in to scout the best approach to our site.  Once a route was decided on, we rolled in and began backing in.  The site we chose afforded us the benefit of leaving the swivel wheel and motorcycle attached to the 5th wheel. Even at 63' long (truck, 5th wheel and swivel wheel), we were able to back in - carefully - to avoid the lovely palm trees - and, once leveled, we completed our set up.  The neighbors are most friendly too!  Bonus!!!

We usually have to remove the motorcycle and disconnect the swivel wheel before backing in to most DHS RV parks.  Not this one though!  Once the neighbors saw us roll by, and readying to back in, we had gathered a lot of eyes to witness just how we would fit our long load in. We made quick work of that.  We also got the thumbs up from the observers. I did do two walk abouts, part way through the back in process though.  We are thrilled with our spot.

Lovely set up here at this RV park - with wide streets and mature palm trees.

With our set up completed, we took a long walk around the RV park to familiarize ourselves with the resources.  It's a great place!

We Weber Q'd some delicious burgers and, a bit later - while Jeanette caught up on the Olympics - I left for a swim in the heated pool and a good soak in the hottest of four natural hot springs pools.  Oh..yeah....that felt great!

I had the entire pool to myself and enjoyed a good work out at 8:00 in the evening.

Back at our site, Jeanette and I chose to take another walk around the RV park.  I captured the photos (above and below), without flash, and using stationary objects to steady the camera for timed exposures.  Great facilities!

This is a little treasure.

We'll write more about the resort we'll call home till the end of this month, in the days ahead.  On March 1st, we are booked into our favourite RV park - Caliente' Spa and RV Resort - only a few miles from our present location. So....all is well here!

Thanks for dropping by.