#11-47 December in La Quinta, and Indio

We spent two weeks at Lake Cahuillia, in La Quinta.  It was nice and quiet there, but quite a drive to any of our Dr. Appointments or even to a grocery store.  Below is one day trip we took to see our friends Ted and Lois Caine from Canada.  They stayed a month at the Outdoor Resorts in Indo and we did get together about three times.  They are both golfers and spent their days on the greens!

We attended Aubrey’ first award ceremony at her school.  She received two awards and is proudly showing them off.  The auditorium was decorated for Christmas and snow was being delivered outside in the playground.  Later that day Aubrey went sledding down the snow hill!


December 23—Santa pays an early visit to Ray’s house while all the little kids are there.  He said he would be back on Christmas eve, but was checking to see if everyone had been good!

Every one loves Santa. 

It was a busy month leading up to Christmas, and the weather was great most of the time.  We seem to keep busy when we are near home and there is always something to do and someone to see.

#11-46 Thanksgiving in Lancaster, CA

Doug Price and his family (his 2 sons and Mom and Dad) came over for Thanksgiving dinner.  Doug’s Mom, Diana (Wright), and I graduated from the same high school, so we looked over some year books and found a few pictures of ourselves.  It was fun.

Below, the “Granddads” relaxed and watched some football.

Doug and Laurie cut up the Turkeys.  We had a cook-off to see whose turkey was the best.  Allie, Rachel’s husband smoked their turkey, while Laurie cooked hers on the Weber.  Laurie’s turkey was cooked clear through, while Allie and Rachel’s was still raw in the center, but was cooked really had the smoky flavor.  I’d say it was a draw!


We had thirteen places set for dinner.  Everyone seemed to enjoy and all of us were very full by the end of the day.  Even our son, Ray and his wife with Aubrey and Alex drove over from La Quinta. 

		Kids playing in the yard VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The three kids had a great time playing in the yard.  Riding the tractor, checking out the sand box, jumping into the pile of leaves and enjoying the nice weather we had for the day.  Thanks, Laurie and Rachel for all the work you put into serving such a wonderful dinner. 

Eldon, (our great grandson) isn’t too sure about the talking Christmas tree, while Aubrey, (our granddaughter) shows off a new Christmas dress.
End of the day, and Grandma Dixie is getting a pedicure from daughter Laurie and granddaughter Aubrey.  Go girls!

#11-45 Yuma, AZ to Indio, CA and Carlsbad, CA 10-30 thru 11-13.

 We stayed in Yuma for a week, making our reservations at Sundance RV park for this winter, getting some dental work done in Algodones, and enjoying some fresh shrimp tacos.  We also picked up some medicine while in Mexico.  Yuma also has an In N Out Burger, so we enjoyed our first In N Out since leaving CA months ago.
As we were leaving the KoFa Ko-op campground (an Escapee park) we had a little fire in the wiring between the RV and the tow car.  The converter box that converts a 4 wire RV electric system to the 3 wire electric system on the car overheated and caught fire.  Dixie ran to the front of the RV, got Frank and the fire extinguisher and we put out the fire with only damage to the converter box under the engine compartment of the RV.  Wow, that was frightening!  So our plans to go to Carlsbad were changed as we spent the entire afternoon getting the converter box replaced and the wiring corrected so it wouldn't happen again.  We ended up spending the night in the Quechan Casino RV parking area just inside the CA border.  Then the next day we headed to the Coachella Valley!
 
We arrived in the Coachella Valley just in time to attend the Palm Desert Country Club Association’s annual Fall Social.  We were able to catch up with old friends and enjoy a wonderful turkey dinner with all the fixin’s.
We were greeted by an oversized turkey in the breezeway before we entered the Rec center.

Charlie Ash, and his wonderful crew are carving the birds, fixing the dressing and side dishes.  Everything is ready to serve—come and get it!
Everyone enjoyed a wonderful meal, good conversation and even a few door prizes.
We spent six days in Desert Hot Springs, CA and enjoyed calm, warm weather and time in the swimming pools that were filled with the wonderful hot springs water. 
We left the “springs” and drove the RV down to the Indio Elks for the weekend.  Friday we drove the car, (and took Gidget) over to Carlsbad, CA to attend our grandson’s football game.  This is the first of the play-off games.

We were rewarded with nice weather and watching our grandson catch a touchdown pass.  Their team won 46 to 7.  It was a fun game to watch “our” team win and play so well.  Next week’s game will be the day after Thanksgiving.  Andrew is a senior this year and this has to be really exciting to be in the play-offs.  Hope they do well the rest of the games.
We drove back on Saturday with a stop in Murietta to visit one of Dixie’s girl friends from High School.  We had a really nice visit with Cindy, Phil, Summer and daughter Amy who came in with her family.  By the time we arrived back in Indio it was dark and we were a couple of tired travelers glad to be back in our RV home.  We will take the RV and head up to the high desert and have Thanksgiving with daughter Laurie and family in Lancaster, CA.  It will be nice to see our great-grandson, Eldon.  It is hard to believe he will be 2 years old in just a couple of months.

#11-44 White Sands National Memorial 11-27-2011

The visitor center at White Sands National Memorial was rustic and beautiful.  The rangers and volunteers were very helpful and we did get to see a 20 minute film about the area.

The sands move constantly, some of them moving a few feet each year.  The plants that grow in the area have to adapt to the shifting landscape. The plant above has roots that hold the sand in place enabling it to survive.  Many little rodents find refuge in the plants root system.

Lonely little shrubs do survive in the shifting sands, while others only make it in the depressions between the dunes.

The white sands and the blue sky make for a wonderful contrast in the picture above.

As we drive from the visitor center to the center of the park where the large dunes are located we run out of paved road.  From now until we arrive at the picnic area it is all compacted white sand that is graded and kept smooth for vehicle traffic.

This is just one of the picnic areas.  It had rained the night before and you can see puddles in the foreground.  All the picnic areas are sheltered with these sweeping covers.  There are 4 or 5 different picnic areas.  No overnight camping is allowed, but one of the volunteers told us that Easter weekend there are 5,000 rigs that drive in early in the morning to watch the sunrise and spend the day.  They come from Las Cruces, El Paso and even further.  Today there were only a few hearty souls picnicking in the area.  The weather was nice and the wind was still.

A few of the visitors climbing on the dunes.  At the gift shop you can buy or rent saucers to slide down the dunes.  You can see in the picture above some of the trails that are left after sliding down.  Those get covered and blown away all the time.

		White Sands VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

A beautiful New Mexico sunset the evening before we head into Arizona.

#11-43 Las Cruces, NM 10-25 thru10-27

The drive into Las Cruces was nice with wide roads, fewer big trucks and the overpasses were decorated.  Makes the trip more interesting.  And we had great weather!
After getting set up we took a couple of days to visit some of the sights around the area.  Our first stop was the old town of La Mesilla.  This was an original stage stop.
Many years ago the building above was used as a Butterfield Stage stop.  It now houses a nice restaurant, where we had lunch, and a couple of gift shops.

Above is the old Mission.  It sits at the end of the Plaza where many fiestas and activities still take place in La Mesillia.


As we walked around the old town area we came upon this quaint little shop.  It sells all sorts of stuff.  Bright colored chairs out front, Metal sculptures, knick-knacks and also is a flower shop. 
Back to the RV for a little nap and dinner.  Tomorrow we will drive out to the White Sands Park.