Rain Rain .... Go Away!

Actually, we feel guilty about asking the rain to go away.  The water is needed so desperately by the folks that live in southern California.  They definitely have been getting their wishes fulfilled for the last two days.  It has rained by the bucket with at least two more days of storms to follow.  It is incredible to see the amount of water that is running down the streets.  As Oregonians, we are used to dealing with large amounts of rainwater, but the folks here in Hemet aren't so inclined.  Streets are overflowing with water running up to and over sidewalks -- drains to catch the water only occur every three or four blocks, and they are often plugged with leaves or trash.  We can only hope that all the excess water is actually being captured somewhere where it can later be used for crop irrigation or other things.

Diane's foot injury healed in three days and she was back on the court after that.  Even with all the rain the last two days, she was able to play volleyball because the rain held off until the afternoons.   Tim was at water volleyball also.  Many people don't come out on days where they think they will be cold, but the pools are nice and warm and, with only five people on each side, provide a great workout of stretching and jumping.

The sand volleyball group are gearing up for their three hit tournament this Friday, weather permitting.  Diane is excited to be participating in her first serious competition.  Within two weeks there will be the Can-Am tournament when the Canadians take on the Americans.  We are pretty sure that the Canadians outnumber the Americans so they have more players to choose from when forming their competitive teams.  Oh well, everyone still has fun.

We finally got to play golf the other day with friends, Ron and Sandy Mountain.  Tim got to score a birdie on the very first tee shot at Echo Hills when his ball hit a duck that was sunning himself beside the water hazard.  The duck was shaking his head and walking as though he had had too much to drink, but soon flew off to join his friends.  At least he stopped Tim's ball from rolling into the pond.  Ron had a fabulous day golfing, even though this was his first game following his second hip replacement.  He chipped in for birdies on the first two holes, then chipped in for an eagle on the seventh hole.  The rest of us just had fun.  There went Tim's hopes of finally beating Ron while he was still recuperating.

We are sorry that there are no pictures accompanying this posting, but we keep forgetting to take our camera with us when we go places, even though it is hanging right beside our door.  Most of what we have been doing are things that we have previously written about and photographed last year.  We spend most nights enjoying happy hour, dining with friends, playing cards or games, going to dances, or participating in other park activities.  Recently on Fun Club night, we enjoyed a wonderful potluck and learned a new game that we will have to teach others called 52 card bingo.  None of the people at our table won, but a good time was had by all.

Last Friday night we went to the Elks Club for dinner and dancing. Tim ended up filing an application to join the Hemet Elks Lodge, sponsored by Mike and Jack.  The Elks have many nice dances and dinners that we like to attend.  We are not certain when Tim will actually end up being inducted into the group as we will be out of town on the next scheduled initiation day.  Oh well, if it works it works.

We will close for now, but as always we plan to update more frequently, although it never seems to work out that way.   We love to hear from you so feel free to give us a call or drop us an email and let us know what is going on in your part of the country.

Wonderful Sunshine!

This is a picture of our site, with the game area in the front and the lounging area in the back.  We have been very fortunate not to have neighbors on one side of us for the whole time we have been here so our view of the surrounding mountains isn't blocked.  The weather here continues to warm our spirits and bodies. It has consistently been in the mid seventies each day. We don't say this to irritate our family and friends in Portland, but realize how much the sun affects our mindset. Also, with the low temperatures at night (in the low 40's), we find we sleep much better than we do at home.

Tim is still having fun at water volleyball. One can hear the group laughing even outside the outdoor pool area. Diane, however, has been sidelined with a foot injury and cannot play sand volleyball. She tried a few days ago and just made the injury worse. To put it lightly, she is unhappy, irritated, frustrated, irate, and darn mad that she cannot play. Hopefully, with a few days off, she can get back to it. We just call her gimpy for now.

Tuesday, our friends Ron and Sandy made dinner for us. It was yummy and quite a step up from blackened lasagne. We then played a rousing game of 3 - 13 with Diane being the winner. We find that having four people in most RVs is about the right number for comfortable entertaining. If we get together with more people, it is much better to use one of the little rooms in the club house which we did for a six-handed game of Pegs and Jokers. The girls really trounced the guys in all three games.

Since Diane isn't walking very well, we took a drive yesterday and did some sightseeing and visited Diamond Valley Lake. This is an incredibly large man-made lake in a beautiful area. The lake water level is down again, as it was last year. There is fishing and boating, but no swimming. Each boat has to go through an inspection to make sure that there are no zebra mussels or other marine creatures attached to the boat that might contaminate the lake. They are very careful to keep the lake pristine as it is the water supply for most of San Diego County.

These views of the boat ramp show how low the water level is in the lake.  The citizens of southern California would much rather not see so much of the ramps.  They actually had to extend the ramps this year so they were still usable by the boaters.

Last night we played bunco with about 50 people from the park. We knew some of the people, but got to know a few more. Did you know that some people are very serious about the game? Really though, it was fun and we would do it again.

Sunshine Here We Come

The Christmas holiday is over! Time to put everything away and head out for warmer weather. As we have done in the past, we will try to keep the blog updated, but it is often difficult to find the time to write. Usually one of us will get things started, then the other edits and/or makes additions so it really becomes a joint effort. This explanation is for the number of people who have asked.

One of the bitter pills we had to swallow before we could hit the road was the fact that we needed all new brakes on the motorhome. We had been noticing some squeaks and squeals for quite a while but it reached the point that Tim couldn't ignore them any longer. After going into shock over the first estimate we received from Murray Chevrolet in Gresham, Tim called his favorite mechanic, Mike who was in Hemet. Mike told us that we were being robbed and to find another shop to do the work. Ultimately we found a wonderful place, Pritchard's Truck Repair, right down the road from from our house. They did all the same work for several thousand dollars less than Murray had quoted. It is really nice to deal with honest people.

We left the Portland area on Monday, December 28, with Diane's sister, Joyce and her husband, Jim leading the way to our first stop at Seven Feathers RV Resort in Canyonville, OR. It still remains one of our favorite stops and we keep saying that, sometime, we are going to spend more than one night there. We had a great meal at the casino and even came out a little ahead this time playing the slot machines.

After hearing the Tuesday weather forecast for the Siskiyou Mountain pass we decided that we needed to leave early in the morning to get through before the snows came. By the time we got to Medford and saw snow alongside the highway, we were a little concerned about our timing. However we decided to push on through and made it through with little difficulty. We heard that later in the afternoon, the pass on I-5 was closed and/or required chains to get through. We also found out that it had snowed in Portland and paralyzed the city for a short while.

We stopped once again at the Durango RV Resort in Red Bluff, which is quickly becoming an addition to our favorites list. It was a bit rainy there, but not too cold. We had originally planned to stay here for two days for some Pegs and Jokers games. Good friends, Dave and Barb Schwartz, were going to drive up from Roseville, CA and join us for a few days. Regrettably Dave got sick and they weren't able to come after all. So, we just pushed forward although we did have quite a few games with Joyce and Jim. Fortunately no one was keeping an accurate record of the wins and losses of the boys versus the girls..

On the way through the central California valley we were amazed at the number of Oregon Duck cars that passed us on their way to the Rose Bowl game. All were decked out in full yellow and green paraphenalia. Even though we are devout Beaver fans, we are Duck supporters when it comes to bowl game participation. We regretted that we didn't have at least one sign for our RV to indicate our support.

We were shocked at how low the water level was in Shasta Lake. It could easily be called Shasta Pond. We were also surprised at the amount of good California acreage that normally would be producing crops that lay vacant. The only thing that was vertical were the signs that announced, "Congress Created This Dust Bowl". Since these fields would normally be planted with produce, it can only mean significantly higher prices to come in the grocery stores for the items we routinely take for granted. The lack of water here is very serious. Although we enjoy the warm, dry climate, we will ultimately pay the price for the rainless days.

We made a stopover night in Patterson, CA at the Kit Fox RV Park which we are pleased to announce now has cable TV -- all 12 channels of it. This park has the highest price per night with the fewest amenities we have encountered anywhere. Its location is the only thing that keeps us coming back as it fits well into our 200 to 250 mile per day driving range. It is also one of the few parks with a Starbucks for Tim within walking distance.

Another 250 miles brought us back to the Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield, CA for New Year's Eve. The orange trees were loaded with fruit and we picked a pretty good size load to bring with us. Since J&J are heading off in a different direction we played a last game of Jokers with them and we all turned in early. Edison, CA doesn't seem like a prime New Year's Eve spot so we were asleep by 10:30 p.m. We didn't even hear any fireworks, for which the dog was grateful. We did have a beautiful view of the "once in a blue moon" as it came over the mountains.

Tim's goal for the following day was to make it to the Golden Village Palms in Hemet in time for the Rose Bowl game on New Year's Day. We bid adieu to Joyce and Jim who were now on their way to Needles, CA and we were on the road at 8:15 a.m. and made it here by 12:30. It is such a gorgeous park and coming back is just like moving back to your old neighborhood. Good friends Mike and Judy Dougherty were on hand to greet us and hosted a wonderful Rose Bowl party with all manner of great food. Regrettably the Ducks didn't make such a good showing in the football game. Oh well, maybe next year the Beavers will be playing there.

On Saturday morning Diane returned to her beloved sand volleyball while Tim hit the pool. In both cases it was as though we had finished playing yesterday and the games resumed today. The weather was excellent, in the high seventies. As we were getting ourselves organized and unpacked, we received a call from friends, Ron and Sandy Mountain, who had been at the Rose Bowl game. They informed us that they were coming over to Hemet to stay for awhile and were on their way. They arrived about 2:00 and are parked just two spots away from us.

We enjoyed a quick happy hour, then Diane made a dinner of salad and lasagne- New Orleans style, garlic bread and apple crunch cake for dessert. The dinner was one that we will talk about for a number of years. Let's just say that the RV microwave, which does not have a working LCD display, is not like our home microwave.

We will write more sometime in the next few days.

Fun Time Before Heading Home!

First of all, let me apologize for the formatting of this blog entry. Although it is composed to look the way I want it to, it seems to take on a mind of its own once I hit the "Publish" button and doesn't look anything like how I want it. Once again, my technological skills are tried and found wanting.

In a great ending to our winter trip, Andy, Jenelle and their three kids came down to Disneyland to spend a few days. Since the Golden Village Palms is only about an hour and a half away from Disneyland, we decided to join them. To put the icing on the cake, we flew Kristen down to spend a few days with us at "Retirement Camp" and brought her to Disneyland for her birthday (since she got in free in a Disneyland promotion). Anna, Maddie, and Brandon had a great time with Auntie Kristen there to go on the scary rides with them. We think that Andy also had a good time having his little sis to ride with him on the really scary stuff. Everyone had a really fun time at Mickey's home. The only thing missing that would have completed the picture would have been to have Ryan, Kandi, and their family with us.

Kristen stayed with us in the motor home which definitely brought the family closer together -- if you catch the drift. Three adults in an 8' by 30' box definitely tested the capacity limits. We got her to participate in a number of our usual events - volleyball, pool volleyball, etc. She even started to get the hang of happy hours -- almost as though she knew what to do instinctively. We think she enjoyed her brief stay with us, in spite of the sunburn she got in the first two days.

No sooner was the Disneyland trip over, then it was time to take Kristen to the airport and get everything packed away for the journey back home. We managed to squeeze in one last happy hour with new friends John and Lynda Brooks (on the left), and Gerald and Bev Fernquist (on the right) from Calgary, Alberta. They are both delightful couples and we had a great time

sharing RV stories with them. After leaving Hemet, they were heading toward the Oregon coast so we were pleased to be able to tell them about several of our favorite local spots.

It was with a great deal of reluctance that we, together with Joyce and Jim, left the Golden Village Palms. Once we hit the road, we were truly blessed with nothing but good weather all the way home. There were some winds to contend with along the way but, all in all, it was great traveling. We tried a few new stops on the return trip including a stay at a new park in Bakersfield. No, we haven't given up on the Orange Grove park, but the oranges were all gone at this time of year. We stayed for a night at A Country RV Park and were impressed. It was as nice as Orange Grove and a bit cheaper.

On our way to the next stop at Flag City in Stockton, we encountered a bit of difficulty. After stopping for lunch at a roadside rest area, someone apparently pulled out the cotter pin that holds our tow hitch bar to the motorhome. We have since learned that some people get their kicks this way, although someone could easily get killed from such an incident. We feel pretty confident that someone pulled the pin intentionally as Tim usually has to hammer it into place when we attach car to motorhome.

In any event, shortly after leaving the rest area, we felt a lurch and Tim could see in our TV screen that the car was no longer in its normal towing position five feet behind the motorhome, but was now pressing against the motorhome bumper. We were extremely fortunate that the tow bar stayed attached by our safety cables. The tow bar went under the motorhome and Tim was able to get everything slowed down and off to the side of the road. After surveying the damage, we were able to continue by having Diane drive the car to the next destination. After examining the tow bar, we decided that we must have left quite a gouge in I-5 before we got stopped. Do you think anyone will notice?

In Stockton we were able to get the car connected again so Diane didn't have to continue to drive it. We just couldn't disconnect it until we got home. We headed back up the highway and stayed at a very nice place in Red Bluff that Joyce and Jim had seen on the way down. It was called the Durango RV Resort and was a wonderful spot. It had only been open since August of 2008 and had a ton of amenities including an automated dog wash. What fun! Samson decided he didn't want to try it since he wasn't due for another bath yet.

We stayed at Red Bluff for two nights then headed up to our Seven Feathers stop in Canyonville. We enjoyed a nice dinner and a good night's rest. Joyce and Jim headed all the way home from here, but we elected to stop at the Premier RV Park in Salem to see the other grandkids on the way home. Ryan and Kandi took us to pick up the Micah and Amelia at their pre-school and hadn't told them we were coming. It was a grandmother's dream moment to see how excited they were to see us.

Well, that is about it for this year's adventure. Thanks for coming along on the trip with us. We've enjoyed your visits, telephone calls, emails, etc. We appreciate your interest and, although it is always fun to travel, we really do miss family, friends and home.

Time With Friends is Time Well Spent!

Roseville, CA RV friends, Dave and Barb Schwartz arrived with their Sun City Roseville RV Club. They have been traveling around to various RV parks in the Southern California area. One of their stops was here at the Golden Village Palms. We were fortunate that Dave and Barb extended their stay here when the rest of the club left and so we got to enjoy their company for an additional week. Dave is extremely competitive at the game of Pegs and Jokers and loves to teach new players. We think it is just so he can beat them soundly. It is a game for two to eight players and can be played as teams. Dave didn't know that Diane and Tim had been secretly practicing with Mike and Judy before they left. We spent several days playing P&J either outdoors in the warm sunshine, or in the clubhouse on a recent wet afternoon. We had the closest games ever in an afternoon session with Joyce & Jim, Barb & Dave, and us. It took three heavily contested matches before the guys could claim solid victory. Now we just HAVE to get one of the game boards.

Our Salem RV friends, Ron and Sandy Mountain with their dog Toby, arrived after a rather rough trip over the Siskiyous. They were on their way to Las Vegas for a basketball tournament and had to forge ahead in spite of the weather. They still don't know how much fun travel can be when there is no deadline to meet to be somewhere. They have a beautiful Winnebago Voyage and are still doing shakedown cruises. Every time they go out they seem to learn something new about their rig. Ron had to fly home to work (what's that?) for a few days then returned in time for the good weather.

Gresham friends, Gary and Sunny Stautz, in a shameless attempt to be included in our blog scheduled a trip to stay at the Worldmark Resort in Indio, CA for a week. While there, they rented a car to come over to Hemet to have their picture taken. Just kidding, just kidding. We were delighted to see them and have them visit our winter home. After a tour of the facilities here, we enjoyed a wonderful day at the Echo Hills Golf Course. Gary and Sunny stayed through our Happy Hour festivities before heading back to Indio.

It's March Already!

Okay, no more waiting for a rainy day to update the blog. Sorry that we are so far behind.

Here is a shot of Tim (in the white hat) enjoying his favorite activity here at Golden Village Palms. The game is played for two hours every day, rain or shine, although cold winds can deter a few people. On many days there are enough players to fill both volleyball pools (48 players), but on questionable weather days there may be as few as six to a side. It is a fun game here as there is no score kept and the whole object of the game is to keep the ball in the air while laughing the whole time.

We greeted the arrival of another member of the Wersch clan. Cousin Bill and wife Mary Ann arrived in their Dutch Star motorhome. True to form, Bill managed to squeeze his 38 foot rig into one of the smallest spaces in the whole park. He is well known for getting into tight spots.

Mary Ann is newly retired and still feels like she is just on vacation. Bill has been retired for over two years and has been chomping at the bit to be able to get out on the road.

Leaving their rig parked here, Bill and Mary Ann left recently for a two day trip to visit Death Valley. They were very impressed with the scenery although their overnight accommodations were nowhere near as nice as their motorhome.

Joyce and Jim and Diane and Tim took a Sunday afternoon to load up our bikes and head to Diamond Valley Lake. There is a 21 mile loop trail that goes around the manmade lake. Being the avid bike riding types that we are, we managed to make it for three miles before turning around for the return trip. The consensus was that we would love to be able to make the full ride around, but our bottoms need a lot more training time in the seat. Maybe next year. The scenery was gorgeous and the temperature was just right. The warning signs were a little on the frightening side advising us to be on the lookout for rattlesnakes or mountain lions. We had a great time anyway.

We celebrated Jim's birthday with a traditional happy hour followed by a nice dinner out at the Mimi's Cafe here in Hemet. Here he is reading some of his cards.

Joyce, Diane, and Bill got a chance to meet up with another cousin, Virginia (Piltz) Smith who has a park model home in nearby San Jacinto. Virginia is a real hoot and certainly travels a lot for someone of her age, 78. She had several stories and all of the cousins gained more knowledge about their heritage as stories from days of old were exchanged. Virginia and her sister were planning to audition for the Wheel of Fortune game show which was intriguing to Tim.

The auditions were being held at the nearby Morongo Casino. Diane was willing to go along for the ride but didn't want any part of trying to become a contestant. When we arrived, Diane risked a night in jail (long story) to snap a few pictures of Tim in front of the Wheelmobile. After trying to find the start of an apparently neverending line, Tim gave up his quest to be the perfect contestant and simply switched over to playing a slot machine with Diane on the machine beside him. We both played for over 45 minutes on our first $20 bills. When we ultimately cashed out, we came back with $240 more than we started with. Guess that makes us big winners on Wheel of Fortune after all.

Regrettably we said good-bye to our neighbors Mike and Judy as they started their trek home to Federal Way, WA a week earlier than expected. We can't thank them enough for their help in keeping our coach repaired and for the great hair coloring job that Judy did for Diane. We are just hopeful that we can make it back home without something major happening that Mike won't be here to fix.

Well, today is turning out to be a great day for pool sitting so we will close for now. See you soon!

Friends and Fun!

We are catching a lot of flak for not posting a blog entry since February 3 because we have been keeping busy. Since we are now in the middle of a driving rainstorm that puts Oregon rainstorms to shame, we now have time to get you caught up on what has been happening here. Up until now we have had excellent weather. You may have heard that southern California has been in the throes of a powerful winter storm. Enormous amounts of snow have been piling up in the mountains. The Grapevine section of I-5 south of Bakersfield was closed last night and is still closed to the best of our knowledge. Here in Hemet we have been affected by wind and heavy rain, but no snow.

Our very good friends from Gresham, Greg & Rita Painter, passed through Hemet on their way home after spending 10 days in Mexico. We had a good time catching up with them and hearing about their travels. We got in a quick round of golf that ended with the beginning of a rain storm just as we all teed off on the 9th hole. We gave them a tour of the Golden Village Palms facility, and are trying to talk them into coming to Hemet for a week or so next year They left on Friday to head up to Berkeley, CA to spend the weekend with their son, Geoff and his wife, Julia.

Tim took a day to drive to Escondido, CA to again meet up with his Navy buddy, Don Spees. Don lives in Santee (close to San Diego) and Escondido seemed like a good halfway spot to meet. Tim brought down his box of Vietnam memorabilia to show Don, and Don brought many photos of his own. Don was Tim's boss when they served together at Nha Be in South Vietnam. Don let Tim borrow a book called "Diary of a Navy Seal" that was written by a Seal that was stationed at Nha Be. The book detailed a lot of the things around the base and town that really brought back a lot of memories. Mostly the good ones, but there were some stories about the shipmates that didn't make it back to their families. Don and Tim commented several times about how fortunate they were to come back home safely.

Diane played in the Golden Village Palms Sand Volleyball tournament and did quite well. Her team won several games. Diane is pleased with the improvement she has made since we first arrived. As you can see from the attached photo, she and her teammate, Anita, seem to be doing all the work while the guys on the team are just standing and watching. Notice the guy standing with his hands on his hips. We assume he was just thinking about the next play and whether the girls would give him a good set. Volleyball starts to wrap up here within the next couple of weeks but Diane is getting in as many games as she can until then.

Since the Canadians in the park are very selfish about allowing the Americans to attend their Canada Day celebration - they even check ID to be certain you have a Canadian driver's license, the Americans celebrated USA Day on Lincoln's birthday. We had a great pot luck dinner followed by an entertainer from inside the park.

Red, white and blue were definitely the prevalent colors for the evening festivities.

We spent Valentine's Day at the Hemet Elks Lodge with a whole group of folks from GVP. The dinner was Cornish Game Hen that was well prepared. We had a great time dancing and visiting with friends from around the park.

Well, that's it for now. We are hoping that the rains will cease fairly soon and we can resume all of our activities in the sun. Take care and let us hear from you.