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| It started out nice enough...easy drive north to Susanville then west over the mountains towards Redding on Highway 44. |
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| Somewhere in Lassen National Forest the temperature drops to 40 degrees. Suddenly, the dreaded hailstorm...hazard lights flashing, 15 miles per hour, nowhere to safely pull off the road, hoping we would not slide off the road. The hail was so intense I thought our airstream would be pitted, but we made it to Redding with no damage. Our 3.5 hour drive took over 5 hours. |
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| We've never driven up the Eastern side of Sierra Nevada Mountains. |
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| 80 miles down, 380 to go. |
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| We stopped for the night here in Hawthorne, Nevada. I didn't realize the region hosted the world's largest ammunition depot -- most of it stored in the 2400 bunkers that line the desert south of town. Hawthorne is also the eastern gateway to Yosemite. Fascinating history but get me out of here... |
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| How is it that I only have one picture from Las Vegas? Our one night stop was at Oasis RV Resort, located just south of the strip and across from the Silverton. Twin Creeks Steakhouse in the Silverton has an amazing happy hour in the bar that starts at 8pm. The tapas menu and premium cocktails are half off. Wedge salad, perfect halibut, prime rib sliders, seared scallops, calamari, plus four perfect martinis--$47 bucks. The chef was selected in this year's BEST CHEFS AMERICA guide. |
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| Just a little peak of the spectacular red buttes and mesas nearby. It would be great to have a few days to hike and explore but we are on our way after 2 nights. |
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| Sedona has serious curb appeal. The entrance to this town is simply spectacular! |
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| Baseball, Apple Pie and Airstreaming |
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Instead of taking Highway 17 from Phoenix area to Sedona, we drove through Tonto National Forest on Highway 87 to Payson then west on General Crook Trail.  |
| Lots of elevation changes through Saguaro forests and great views. |
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| Bacon makes him happy.... |
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| The night before our servicing, we stayed nearby at the Hyatt in Mesa. I looked out the window in the morning to check on our Airstream. I wonder if the guests on that side of the hotel enjoyed the half hour of blinding glory. I'm sure we were the only ones laughing. |
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| We moved from a golf course site over to this corner lot in full spring bloom. The neighbors on both sides were from Canada....Alberta to be exact...and we very much enjoyed their company. We hope to see Bryan & Maureen and Bill & Sharon next year! |
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| The lots at Outdoor Resort are privately owned. You can rent (one month minimum) through the resort (costs more), from Phil Hahn, the guy who rents for hundreds owners there (better deal) or directly through an owner (best deal). |
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| We checked out lots of happy hours and found some great restaurants like Acqua Pazza, Tropicale, Tylers, Babes BBQ, Island Burger & Jackalope Ranch. |
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| Easter Brunch outside on the Tropicale patio in Palm Springs... |
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| Bartenders in the Coral Sea Lounge have a sense of humor ... |
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| Peep! |
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| Deborah! "One of my favorite Palm Springs restaurants, great happy hour and brunch!" |
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| Jimmy! "Try the fried chicken and bacon jalapeno waffles" |
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| Easter sunrise glows on the San Jacinto Mountains |
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| Easter Morning....The warm desert wind woke me up early enough to see the moon setting. |
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| Dinner in the Airstream.... |
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| We try to cook as many items as possible outside, especially meat and fish. I like to keep the menu healthy but simple so we don't have too many dishes, pots, pans to clean. |
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| Before we left Humboldt, I vacuum packed about 10 lbs of super fresh, just off the boat petrale sole. This 2 serving package got topped with capers, olive oil, white wine, meyer lemon from the tree outside, salt, pepper. |
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| Russet potatoes tossed with diced onions, dried mustard, salt, pepper... |
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| We have a small refrigerator with a separate freezer. I don't buy too many items from Costco anymore because we don't have the space to store it. These Costco frozen organic mixed vegetables are pretty good, simple to cook and versatile in many recipes. |
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| Full moon rising! |
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| Celebrating our wedding anniversary (St. Patricks Day) sometimes includes a trip to Las Vegas. From Palm Springs there are several ways to get there. We chose to forgo the interstates and took the much less traveled road north through Mojave National Preserve. If you do this drive, fill up with gas and bring lots of water. It's 1.6 million acres of volcanic cinder domes and mountains, sand dunes and a magical joshua tree forest. |
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| Formed by blowing golden rose quartz crystals from dried lake beds, the isolated Kelso Sand Dunes rise 600' from the high desert. You can take a dirt road out there to hike on the trails. |
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| The roller coaster road went on for hours....speed limit 55 but who is checking? Weeeeeeee |
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| We had to google these to make sure, but yes, they are Joshua Trees, and we were driving through the world's largest concentration of them, all in bloom with white flower tips. Not the best picture, but they are growing across the valley up to the bottom of yonder mountain. |
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| Heading south back to Palm Springs... |
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| After one month in the Coachella Valley, we finally get out on the golf course located about 10 feet from our Airstream. I guess we have been pretty busy looking for our "Winter" home. |
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| Only $12 to play 18 holes! As you can see, the view is spectacular. I've never played a par 3 course but we had a great time honing our iron and putting skills. |
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| California poppies and petunias everywhere....(and rv's) |
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| You don't want to know how perfect the weather is this week..... |
