My “Stagnant Mode” Has Come To An End…

“Stagnant Mode” is the best phrase that I could think of to describe the time when I’m not out seeing and doing new things.

Mary and I arrived back at her home in California on October 10, 2011 where I spent the about next seven weeks cleaning and doing preventative maintenance on the motorhome and towed Ford Bronco II. After Thanksgiving I headed out for the warmer weather. On to Palm Springs and Slab City, California and then to the Yuma, Arizona area where I hung-out for about one month while waiting for Mary to rejoin me. All places I been to numerous times before…mostly dictated by good weather.

Mary re-joined me on January 18th and after taking care of her dental needs in Los Algodones, Mexico the day before yesterday…my “Stagnant Mode” has finally come to an end! It’s time to get out on the road and returning to seeing and doing once again!

After a few miscellaneous stops in Yuma, Arizona yesterday morning…we finally got out of Dodge! We only drove about 30 miles and ended up spending the night in the small town of Wellton, Arizona. We parked at the VFW Post #6790.

As always you may click upon a photo to see and enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

About one small block away the VFW has a courtesy RV site with electric and water. That’s where we actually spent the night.

No matter it’s along the road…wasn’t that much traffic!

For everything you could ever want to know about Wellton, click this Wikipedia link…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellton,_Arizona

No…it’s not quite the Grand Canyon…but at least we’re seeing and doing new stuff once again.

Today’s planned destination is the Painted Rocks Petroglyphs…about 80 miles distant. In the next few coming days we will kind of be out in the toolies and may not be able to pull in an Internet signal. So if you do not see a daily Blog from us…don’t worry. We’ll be back with a new entry soon.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

I Now Have A Firm Foundation For My Butt…

Yesterday while in Riverside, California, I had my side of our dinette cushions re-foamed. The old cushions were approaching six years old and they were ready to have this happen. Mary said her side was fine, so her cushions were not redone. I had the work done at Neff’s Upholstery, the place that originally manufactured the cushions for Fleetwood…the manufacturer of our motorhome. They’re located in an industrial park…

Here’s an interior photo. My cushions to be reworked are leaning against the work table…

Here’s a photo of the final product installed in our motorhome. I now have a firm foundation for my butt. A real improvement from the old worn-out foam…

In other news…

In yesterday’s Blog entry I described the forecasted high winds for this area. When I finished my business at Neff’s at 10:00 AM, the winds didn’t seem to bad at that time so I decided to head down the road. I had used Google Earth prior to my departure to identify several places along the way where I might find refuge if the winds got to strong.

It huffed and it puffed, so I keep my speed down to 45-50 miles per hour. It was kind of white-knuckle driving as this stretch of Interstate Highway 10 between Riverside and Indio is one of the most dangerous roadways in the United States. Over the years I’ve witnessed a number of vehicle accidents on this highway.

Despite the winds and dangerous roadway, I managed to arrive safely at my destination of Thousand Trails RV Resort in Thousand Palms, California, about 20 miles east of Palm Springs. It was 68 degrees, cloudy and still windy when I arrived at 11:30 AM. I’ve been in this campground numerous times and know that this weather is unusual…but the sun is soon scheduled to return. I expect to be here for a couple of weeks.

As you approach Palm Springs heading east on Interstate Highway 10, for several miles there is a huge wind generation farm with over one thousand windmills. While I’ve seen this sight many times, I never seen it like this…

They had them all locked down so that they could not rotate. My guess is because of expected high-velocity winds, they must have a maximum wind tolerance. Being an ex-engineer I cannot think of another reason to have them locked down. Normally they are all whirling away like crazy! Interesting…at least to an ex-engineer.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

HOT DOOR AND HOT DOG.

Does it make sense to have a door where you must warn people who may inadvertently touch it? I’ve extolled the virtues of staying at this beautiful resort in Palm Springs, and the weather here is cool and nice. But it puzzles me why anyone would choose a metal door when cool and nice are only winter temperatures. The summers here are brutal. So brutal, this park closes from mid-May to mid Sept.

Another sign I noticed at the lodge is this newspaper rack with the above sign. I can’t say  I understand the sign and why the rack is on vacation. Maybe it is a local paper and they haven’t caught up with the returning snow birds yet? It beats me. And then there is all the asphalt parking lots around town without a shade tree in sight. Makes me wonder how the year round population copes.
Since I have family in Las Vegas, I know that people stay inside in their air conditioned cubicles and venture from house to the pool if they are lucky enough to have one. Also, in Vegas, a special type of asphalt that is cool to the touch in even the hottest temperatures are required by law so that children can’t burn themselves on playgrounds. Makes me wonder if they use it around here?
Its been another day of morning walk, morning hot tub, and resting Jim’s cold and reading. My arm has improved dramatically using the hot tub.
Most of the snowbirds are headed for Borego Anzo for a big pot luck and feed. The featured food is the current southwest rage called a Sonoran Hot Dog. Its a Mexican import that now has many stands in Tuscson and other places in Arizona. I looked it up on line. Its a hot dog in a steamed botillo roll, or a regular soft bun of any sort. It is grilled with bacon, covered in warmed pinto beans and chopped tomatoes, onions, cheese and jalapeno peppers are added along with a long list of  possibilities including roasted green onions and pineapple.  I looked up a recipe online and tried a version for supper last night. It was good, but I’ll have to try an official version because praise for them is overwhelming. Let me know if you find the secret. I love finding niche food.

HOT TUBBING IN THE SNOW

Thousand Trails Palms Springs Park is loaded with beautiful palms, bottle brush and other warm climate plants. Its lovely. After our three mile power walk yesterday morning, we walked to the hot tub. On the way, locals were agog at the San Jacinto Mountains surrounding us with an abnormally heavy snow cover at an abnormally low elevation.

Many of them were taking pictures of the hills with broad smiles on their faces, thrilled by the beauty of this unusual site.

Our Saturday night performer, Cowboy Jack,  commented that he had to drive through ice and slush on Highway 10 to get to our park. Snow is big news around here.

The pool and the hot tub were deserted, but we had no compunctions about hot tubbing in the snow. Well, it wasn’t really snowing on us, anyway. It was quite cool outdoors and the hot tub was comforting and good therapy for my bum arm. We stayed close to the motor home and worked on computer tasks, mostly pictures, through the day.
A friend of Jim’s, who lives in Palm Springs,  had invited us for an Oscar’s Party, but we declined since Jim still has a cold. Haven’t seen who won what. Probably wouldn’t recognize any of then anyway. When it comes to movies, we are culturally deprived. Palm Springers throw a huge public Oscar’s Party complete with red carpet, participants dressed to the nines, entering  past a phalanx of  flashing camera bulbs, with an elegant dinner and about four big screen television screens. Its a popular event, somewhat pricey, but certainly a wonderful way to do the Oscar’s if you like that sort of thing. Remember it if you are in Palm Springs at this time of year. This town is still home to Barbara Sinatra and other notables. You see streets like Bob Hope Drive, Gene Autry Trail, and so on. This was once the hangout for the “stars”. At the visitors center, they sell maps to the homes of the rich and famous, kind of Hollywood in the desert.
I’d hate to be famous.

WIND FARM PALM SPRINGS

 

Marching across the landscape like some strange tree stand windmills by the thousands, or, more technically correct, wind generators by the thousands.

Starkly outlined against the sky and hills, they have a beauty of their own.

The Altamont Pass, in Alameda County, has a similar installation. I believe it was the first such installation in the state. There windmills of many different types grace the steep hillsides of the pass, but you are unable to view them closely.

Here they are quite close to the roads.

This generating plant can supply electricity for the whole Choachella Valley. And, it, too, has mills of at least three varieties. Some have two blades, some have three, and the supporting structure varies.

The wind blows so hard here street crews have a constant job of removing sand that blows onto the roadway. The strength of the wind prevented me from opening the car door a couple of times, but, then I have a bum arm right now. At one point, I got the door open, stepped up onto the floor of the Bronco, the door blew against me and held me upright while I leaned against it to take a photo over the roof of the Bronco. Its easy to see why this wind farm was placed here. Yet, up the road, in the shelter of the San Jacinto’s, the wind dissipates and the sun shines warmly and you know you are in Palm Springs once more.

We didn’t wander too far from the motor home. Jim’s cold is hanging on. He quit our power walk early and slept most of the day. A group of about twelve people walk a 3 mile course together at 8 a.m every day.

PALM SPRINGS ROADRUNNER

We drove into Palm Springs yesterday, a place I’ve never visited. Its located in the Choachella Valley where summertime temperatures can reach 120 degrees, but winters are friendly. The San Jacinto Mountains were beautifully painted with snow. Palm Springs has that bit of mystique, for me. Playland for the rich. Expensive. Reading the local papers entertainment guide, it doesn’t lack for cultural events, art and, with the Indian Casinos, gambling and high class stage shows. We just missed Crystal Gale. Marty Robbins will arrive after we are gone. But, we didn’t venture far from our Thousand Trails Park.

We walked the park and stopped by the Seabergs, snowbird friends from Washington State.  Jan was home but her husband was gone for the day. Their dog, Lacey, loves Jim and always remembers him.

On our way back to our rig, we spotted a roadrunner. I’ve seen them other places but they move like lightening, you can’t get a decent picture of them. This one decided to pose.

It was momentary, but I managed a couple shots. Beautiful coloring. I was grateful to see one not flashing by in a streak.

We set up for nine days and are looking forward to that warm weather Palm Springs promises. Especially welcome since Murphys’ weather has been devilishly cold, snowy, and plagued by downed trees and power lines. Its nice to be in Palm Springs on an uneventful day.

Palm Springs, California Celebrities

Jim says:

Have you ever wondered how the Palms Springs, California became a magnet for so many celebrities?

Here’s the story…

Bing Crosby was one of the founding members of the area’s first tennis club in the 1930′s.

Photo from fanpix.netCelebrity residents

The area has been a magnet for Hollywood stars since the 1930s when Bing Crosby, Charles Farrell and Ralph Bellamy founded the area’s first tennis club in Palm Springs. Crosby would go on to found the Blue Skies Trailer Park in Rancho Mirage, unique for its expensive trailer homes each with its own individual theme. Other 1930s/1940s celebrities known to stop by Palm Springs included Humphrey Bogart, John Barrymore, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Mary Pickford and Judy Garland.

Farrell, after whom a street in Palm Springs is named, would later be elected mayor. Farrell Drive is built on the path of the Palmdale Railroad, a narrow-gauge horse-drawn railroad right-of-way originally built to serve the proposed town of Palmdale. The town was never built and the railroad was abandoned after a few short years of operation. The ties were used to build one of the area’s earliest residences and the Cornelia White House still stands today in downtown Palm Springs.

Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Captain William McGonagle was a graduate of Coachella High School and made the valley his home after his retirement. Mitchell Paige was another Congressional Medal of Honor veteran who lived in Palm Desert and has a newly opened middle school in La Quinta named after him. Jacqueline Cochran, founder and director of the Women Airforce Service Pilots lived her last years in Indio. In 2005, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates reportedly bought and owns a home in The Vintage Club Country Club in Indian Wells.

Elvis Presley honeymooned in Palm Springs in 1967 and was a frequent visitor as well. Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and Dinah Shore were residents of the valley and were instrumental in the creation of three major golf tournaments, the Frank Sinatra Celebrity Golf Tournament, Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (now hosted by comedian and golf aficionado George Lopez) and the Nabisco LPGA respectively. All three have streets named in their honor as does President Gerald Ford, a longtime Rancho Mirage resident and benefactor of the substance abuse center that bears his wife’s name, the Betty Ford Center on the campus of the Eisenhower Medical Center, named for general, U.S. president and part-time resident Dwight Eisenhower. The medical center expanded in size by the new Walter Annenberg building named for the valley resident, billionaire, friend of celebrities and philanthropist[citation needed]. Sinatra and his friends, including Dean Martin, Perry Como, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr., Rosemary Clooney and Connie Francis were frequent visitors in the close-knit celebrity community of the Coachella Valley in the 1950s and 1960s.

The main road into Palm Springs International Airport, named simply “Airport Road”, was renamed Kirk Douglas Way on October 17, 2004. Douglas, a major area benefactor, lived in the valley for more than fifty years and currently resides in Montecito. He is credited with spearheading the drive to modernize the area over those ensuing five decades. His son Michael Douglas, also an actor, is said to own a residence in Palm Springs with his actress wife Catherine Zeta-Jones.
[edit] More famous names

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were instrumental in forming the exclusive Thunderbird Heights tract in Rancho Mirage, once the home of President Gerald Ford and his wife Betty. According to Palm Springs Life magazine, that same tract would loan its name to a new car in late 1954, the Ford Thunderbird. The magazine also cites that a favorite vacation spot for General Motors executives, Palm Desert’s Eldorado Country Club, loaned its name to Cadillac’s top model the year before. Local automotive history also states that designer Raymond Loewy penned the Studebaker Avanti in his Palm Springs home. Especially since the 1950s, Palm Springs and nearby golf clubs are hailed as the “playground of celebrities”, but in lesser numbers celebrities don’t travel or reside in the Palm Springs area as much they used to, but the area’s “star power” made a comeback in the 2000s.

Ball and Arnaz helped finance construction of the Indian Wells Country Club. Founded in 1956 with their winter residence on famous DesiLu Court, Indian Wells became a major factor in “down valley” growth in the 1970s and 1980s. A mostly gated community, Indian Wells has one of the highest per capita income of any small town in the United States, while nearby Coachella, a short distance southeast on State Route 111 is the third poorest city of the 10,000-50,000 population range in the nation, though that is rapidly changing as the area develops. A memorial to Eisenhower can be found on the front lawn of Indian Wells City Hall, also features the local veterans memorial plaque to represent the community’s 800 veterans, a high number of war veterans per ratio of its’ predominantly senior citizen population. Coachella has the Vietnam War veterans’ memorial to represent their community’s high representation of armed forces volunteers, a large percentage had Spanish surnames since the city’s population are over 90 percent Latino.

Many other celebrities, past and present, have called the area home such as actor Paul Burke. Among those who grew up in the area:

* Vanessa Marcil is a La Quinta native and attended Indio High School.
* Suzanne Somers spent a part of her childhood in Cathedral City and attended Palm Springs High School.
* Billy Steinberg grew up in Palm Springs and worked at the Dave Freedman Grape Farm in Thermal.
* Alison Lohman is a native of Palm Springs and grew up in Palm Desert.
* Tyler Hilton is also a native of Palm Springs and graduated from La Quinta High School. Hilton performed a concert in the school theatre in 2006.
* Cameron Crowe grew up in a rural home near Indio.
* Rich Newey grew up in Bermuda Dunes.
* Alan O’Day grew up in Coachella.
* Aubrey O’Day was a 2001 graduate of La Quinta High School.
* Josh Homme attended Palm Desert High School.
* Tony Reagins, manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, is an Indio native and attended Indio High school.
* Edward White, football player of the San Diego Chargers and Minnesota Vikings is an Indio native and attended Indio High school.

[edit] Other historic figures

* President John F. Kennedy was a frequent guest of Frank Sinatra, and a plaque in one of the pews of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Palm Desert marks the spot where Kennedy would usually sit during Mass. That same area in Palm Desert once served as a training ground for General George Patton’s Third Army troops and tank battalions; today, the site is home to the very upscale El Paseo shopping district. Patton also trained in a huge plot of desert stretching from Chiriaco Summit just off the eastern end of the valley northward almost to Amboy along U.S. Route 66 in the Mojave Desert. Tank tracks from those maneuvers are still visible today in the open desert and a museum dedicated to Patton is located in Chiriaco Summit. Patton was also a frequent guest at the Whittier Ranch House in Indio, a grand adobe structure which had faced the possibility of demolition as the ranch lands surrounding it were being developed. A grass roots organization had petitioned the city to preserve the structure for use as a VFW post; it has instead been restored and retained as the clubhouse for the new Whittier Ranch housing development. It is also now a California state historic site.[citation needed]

* Sonny Bono ran a restaurant in downtown Palm Springs. Frustrated by the lack of cooperation he faced from the city council over a new sign for the restaurant, the entertainer took matters into his own hands and ran for mayor. He retained local conservative talk radio host Marshall Gilbert (heard regularly on KNWQ) as his campaign manager in a successful bid that not only put Bono back in the public eye, but fueled his later campaign for a seat on the United States Congress, a position he held until his death in a skiing accident in 1998. His widow, Mary, filled the vacancy left by her husband and later campaigned successfully on her own. Both he and Frank Sinatra are buried at Desert Memorial Park (now the Forest Lawn Mortuary) in Cathedral City.

* The La Quinta Resort and Club, a series of bungalows built in 1926 in what was then known as Marshall’s Cove is the oldest resort in the valley. Frank Capra wrote the script for Lost Horizon poolside at the La Quinta. Capra is buried in nearby Coachella.

* So fond was Walt Disney of his property at the Smoke Tree Ranch in Palm Springs that he had the ranch’s brand embroidered on all of his neckties. Disney reluctantly sold the property to help finance the construction of Disneyland. The Partners, bronze sculptures of Disney standing next to Mickey Mouse in each of the Disney theme parks clearly show the brand on Disney’s tie.

* Clint Eastwood formerly owned a restaurant called the Hog’s Breath Inn in Old Town La Quinta. The restaurant is currently owned by the Kaiser Restaurant Group, but maintains the Clint Eastwood inspired motif.[10]

The above was taken from a Wikipedia flie. Click the blow link to see the entire posting…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coachella_Valley

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
My three books may be purchased at http://www.lulu.com
Just enter Jim Jaillet in the search box.

Recreational Activities Abound…

Jim says:

at my current location in Thousand Trails RV Resort at 1000 Palms, about 10 miles east of Palm Springs, California.

There’s a real nice pool for water volleyball…

and a spa…

A large horseshoes court…

Pickleball is halfway between tennis and ping-pong…

An exercise room…

A family lodge where meals are served…

A billiards room…

And a library where you can trade books or checkout videos…

and the Recreation Lounge where such activities as craft sales, RV seminars (I’ve given several presentations about mt 16,000+ mile, 343 day RV trip to Panama here), manager’s meetings with campground residents, church services, cookie decorating, candy bar bingo, potluck meals, line dancing lessons, Texas Hold’em tournaments, big screen travelogues, card playing, puzzle doing, musical jam sessions, reading, a wifi signal for computer users, Friday night at the movies and Saturday Night dances.

And then you have all of the recreational activities to be found in the Coachella Valley/Palm Springs area. Whew!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
My three books may be purchased at http://www.lulu.com
Just enter Jim Jaillet in the search box.

Listen Carefully…

Jim says:

Can you hear it? Way off in the far distance? It sounds like someone…whining!

It is…It’s me the Weather Wimp!

My life-partner Mary has nicknamed me The Weather Wimp. This is because 98% of the time for the last 15 years I’ve managed to stay within 65-75 degree weather all year-long. When the weather I’m experiencing gets outside of that range, I start whining!

Mary’s still at her home in the central California Sierra Mountain foothills in the colder weather while I’m hanging out in 1000 Palms, California, about 10 miles east of Palm Springs in the warmer weather. The only problem is that it’s currently too hot here!

This is a photo of yesterday morning’s sunrise as taken through the dining room window our motorhome. I had to use yesterday’s because when I published this Blog posting this morning, it was still dark at 5:30 AM. I’m an early riser.

This is a photo taken through the windshield of the motorhome right after sunset…

So, why am I now whining? Well, the average high temperature for this area in December is 72 degrees (NICE!) and yesterday it was 82 degrees with 22% humidity. Today’s forecast is a high of 85 degrees, tomorrow is 84, so I’m doing what I’m supposed to do…I’m whining!

Fortunately the temperatures are supposed to return to more like average temperatures in another 3-4 days. Then The Weather Wimp will be happy once again! As I’ve said so many times…it’s a lousy job, but somebody’s got to do it!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
My three books may be purchased at http://www.lulu.com
Just enter Jim Jaillet in the search box.

Another Google Earth Eye View…

Jim says:

This time you get to see about 20 miles worth of the Coachella Valley looking West along Interstate Highway 10. Continue another 120 miles or so and you’d be in downtown Los Angeles…No, Thanks!

On the lower right is the City of Indio which in Spanish means Indian. Thousand Trails RV resort is marked by the yellow pin. Palm Springs sits at the base of the San Jacinto Mountains. Thousand Trails RV Resort is at 246 feet of elevation while the San Jacinto Mountains have several peaks in excess of 10,000 feet. These mountains protect Palm Springs from the westerly winds and hence Palm Springs has an annual rainfall average of only 3.00 inches and upwards of 360 sunny days per year which is why this area is so popular.

Below is a Wikipedia link that tells you everything you would ever want to know about the Coachella Valley…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coachella_Valley

In other news…
Today is the 69th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
My three books may be purchased at http://www.lulu.com
Just enter Jim Jaillet in the search box.