The Grand Trip - The Road To A Friend's House

Someone said, 'The road to a friend's house is never long'.  I'm sure that's true but it sure does seem like a long road when you're traveling and can't wait to see your friends along the way!

We left the Land of the Palms and headed east toward the California-Arizona Border.  It wasn't long before we crossed into Arizona where we began to see the tall, stately cactus called Saguaro (pronounced 'sa-whar-o).

The Saguaro fascinated me and it seemed as if I couldn't see enough of them.  I had always wanted to see the desert when it bloomed and it was obvious that the different cactus varieties were beginning to bloom.  I had heard about the beauty of the desert when it was in bloom and I really hoped I would be able to see it sometime.

We traveled for a few hours with a couple of stops along the way to refuel and have lunch. Finally we arrived at the home of our very dear long-time friends.  This was a visit we had long dreamed of and we were greeted with hugs and a warm welcome.

The husband of the couple has a real sense of humor.  This is his version of a 'No Soliciting' sign.

Within a few minutes we were settled into their driveway - the place we would call home for the next ten days.

Our dear friends have been at our home numerous times and they have always parked at our house.  They have been our mentors for long-distance travel with an RV and we drew from their experiences as we planned for this trip.  Their very close friendship with my sweetheart and I grew from their friendship with my mom and dad.  They loved my parents dearly.  We have dreamed of the day we could switch places and travel to - and park at - their home.  That time had finally come and it was wonderful!

Palm trees swayed in the breeze high overhead. . .

And Barrel Cactus nearby reminded us that we were definitely in the Southwest part of our country. 

Our dear friends made their home ours while we were there - we did laundry, relaxed in their home during the heat of the day, shared meals and sat late into the night on their beautiful patio to talk and share hearts and hopes and dreams.  I enjoyed their front courtyard that could be seen from the dining area windows of our home-away-from-home.

I sat here in the cool of the morning for my quiet time, my devotional reading and prayer.

After we were settled in and had visited a bit, my sweetheart took my little dog for a walk.  A few minutes later he came back and told me to get my camera and follow him - he found something he knew I would want to see.  He was right!  Just around the corner from our friends' home was an old Saguaro cactus.

It was beginning to bloom!

I was mesmerized! And I walked around the corner every day to see it again.  We had more adventures while we were with our friends and we spent a lot of time enjoying the love and friendship we four had shared through the years.  We talked and planned and hoped for more times together in the future.  No matter if those plans come true, one thing is sure -

The Grand Trip - The Land Of The Palms

It's time to return to the adventures of The Grand Trip.  There are so many more things to share with you - we've only just begun.  If you need to catch up with where we were when we were diverted for a bit you can read about our adventures here and here.

We left the RV park where we had spent the night and we traveled on toward the south.  We weren't very far from our destination so it wasn't a long drive to the next place where we planned to spend the next two nights.  We had been told that there was a very beautiful way to get to the freeway where we would turn east through southern California.  We followed the route but wondered if what we were told was right - this didn't seem beautiful at all!

The road continued and it didn't get much better.  One advantage of taking your home-away-from home with you is that you can stop along the way and fix lunch when you get hungry.  My sweetheart found a place to  pull off the highway so we could stop and eat lunch in the middle of nowhere.

It's a lovely place for lunch, don't you think?  This was our view from the big back window. What happened to the road through the beautiful part of the state?

There weren't many vehicles that came along the road beside us but every few minutes we heard the sounds of loud equipment somewhere nearby.  When we went outside we looked out and saw this high overhead.

They were building a new highway and we were sure it would replace the windy road we had taken.  A few minutes after we left our lunch spot the road took us up the hill to the construction zone. We could see how the new road was taking shape and we took our turn waiting to continue on down the road.

Soon we were on our way again and it wasn't long before the scenery began to change.  Things were green and there were trees in bloom beside the road. And then we came to the place we knew had to be what we had heard of.  And they were right - it was beautiful!

Then we saw a sign that told us that vehicles that are thirty feet or longer are not advised to take this road!  Our home-away-from-home was thirty feet long! Now what were we supposed to do? - there was no place to turn around.  So, we kept going.  The turns in the road were tight in many places.

Was I nervous? You bet I was! My sweetheart said we could make it - as long as there were no oncoming cars or trucks as we turned the sharp corners.  It took both lanes to maneuver the turns - and we didn't see another vehicle on any of the corners - and we made it!  When we got to the top of the mountain the view was amazing.  There, spread out below, was the San Bernardino Valley.

We drove down the mountain highway and soon we were on the freeway!  Just a short time ago we were on roads where we saw no one else. Now we were in a traffic jam!

We found the exit we needed to take us east toward our next destination.  Things changed almost immediately and we were in the land of wind turbines that produce electricity from the power of the wind - modern day windmills.

When we saw this sign we knew we weren't far from our destination.

A few miles farther down the road we found the RV park that we would call home for the next two days. We settled in and made ourselves at home and enjoyed the shadows of palm trees as night began to fall.

We enjoyed our days in the Palm Desert - Palm Springs area.  We enjoyed it so much we extended our stay an extra night!  Palm trees fascinate me and I loved the tree-lined streets all over that area.

If you've been following my blog for awhile you know I love mountains!  Palm Desert and Palm Springs are right up against beautiful mountains.  They are very different than the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, but they are gorgeous and they tower above the buildings. The cities are built right up next to some of the mountains.  Some homes have them in their backyards. . .

And some homes are built right into the rocks of the mountainsides.

I wanted to see the mid-century modern homes that are famous in Palm Springs.  They are part of the historical drive through the town. We drove along streets lined with beauties that had been well-cared for. I wish I could show you the wonderful homes we saw as we drove up one street and down the next but I couldn't take photos of most of them. There were people all around and in and out of the homes. I felt I couldn't intrude.  Many of the homes are behind hedges and gates but this one sat high above the street and I just couldn't help but take a photo of what we could see. I loved the landscaping.

But there was one home I wanted to see.  My sweetheart was pretty surprised that I wanted to find it but he was a good sport and followed my directions until we came to the home.  Now I've never been an Elvis fan, but I wanted to see the house where he and Priscilla spent their honeymoon and where they lived for the first couple of years of their marriage.  Isn't it cute? Very unique.

We really enjoyed our time in the Palm Desert - Palm Springs area.  Our time there went fast and we knew it was time to move on.  But first, there was one more sunset before we headed on down the road again.

The Grand Trip - Reunion and Discovery

Thank you for your sweet comments about the first part of our 'grand' trip.  It's fun to go back and see the photos and relive the miles and miles of travel my sweetheart and I enjoyed early this spring. The next part of our journey was very special. It involved a reunion and discovery of new places beyond.  After the wonderful visit with my dear friend we had a short drive to our next destination the following day. It wasn't long before we stopped at a beautiful RV park near my father's family. We had looked forward to a few days with them on our trip south. This was a reunion that meant a lot to all of us. It had been a few years since I had been able to travel their way.  We had a wonderful time together. I loved being with my father's family again - his sister, brother and his dear wife and my cousins and their children and grandchildren.  It was just what I needed!

My father's youngest sister has always been like a second mom to me. I attended college close to her home and I spent many weekends and holidays there when I wasn't able to come home. She watched over me and took care of me with the same love as she gave her own daughters. I've always told people my aunt and uncle had three daughters - and I was the fourth!  One of the days we were together she took us out to lunch at a favorite place of hers.  I wasn't too sure about eating there when I heard the name of the place!

 The food was incredible and the decor absolutely delightful. They played tunes from my younger years - 'my kind of music'. It was hard to keep from singing along when I was supposed to be eating! And we dined with Elvis. . .

And Marilyn!

These were life-size figures. It was hard to get good photos with the big windows and the bright  California sun shining in. What fun we had that day - good food, a great atmosphere and time with my sweet aunt and cousin.

We planned our schedule to include Easter Sunday with them. What a treat that was!  We attended church with my two aunts and my uncle. It was a special blessing to sit beside these dear people who mean so much to me. And it was a wonderful, uplifting service. Beautiful roses lined the walk from the church to the parking lot. I had to stop and take photos of two of them that touched my heart.  A yellow rose - my favorite.

And a gorgeous apricot-colored rose - my father's favorite.

That afternoon we all gathered for Easter Dinner at the home of one of my cousins and his wife.  This is an annual tradition and I have never been able to be part of it. It meant so much to me to be there with them - it might become an annual event for us!  My dear aunts and uncle, my cousins and their families gathered together to give thanks and share in a wonderful meal. My dear, little mother collected cobalt blue depression glass.  My cousin's wife (at whose home we gathered) began to collect it after she was in my mother's home. My mother had directed me to share some pieces of her collection with my cousin's wife when the day came that my dear mother was gone. I had carefully chosen, packaged and traveled with some very special pieces. There are no words to share the deep meaning of these gifts - for me or for my sweet cousin.  As we entered her home that Easter afternoon my eyes filled with tears because my mother's big blue vase greeted us. It was filled with an assortment of flowers my sweet mama would have loved. And her favorite cobalt blue candle holders graced the center of the very long dining room table. We had a great time together. It was fun to watch my cousins' grandchildren play and hunt for Easter eggs.

It was very hard to say goodbye. There were tears as we hugged and we promised to return again. The next morning we headed south toward places where we had never been before.  One of the nice things about traveling with our home-away-from-home is that we can stop for lunch when and where we chose - as long as there's a safe place to get off the road that is big enough for our vehicles. Rest stops along the way made good places to stop for lunch.  We stopped somewhere in mid-California and ate lunch. Later that day we made a brief stop at another rest stop and it wasn't long before we had neighbors parked beside us.  We couldn't help ourselves - we had to go over and talk to them and ask permission to take photos. This vintage car was parked next to us. . .

And this nineteen-thirty-six Yosemite National Park tour bus was right next to it!

These were both owned by the same family. They had taken them to be part of a family wedding in Northern California and they were on their way home again. We had a great time talking to them.  They were quite interested to hear about Daffodil, my little vintage trailer and they enjoyed seeing pictures of her. Vintage vehicle and trailer folks always have something to talk about!

We traveled quite a ways on the freeway toward Los Angeles.

 It wasn't long before we saw oil wells beside the freeway. That's a sure sign that we are in Southern California.  When I was a little girl we often traveled many hours from Oregon to Southern California to get to my grandma's house. I always knew we were getting close to her house when I started to see oil wells. I felt that again when I saw this first one.

Later we turned off the freeway and headed east.  We followed miles and miles of phone lines and wondered what might be ahead.

We drove on through dry countryside that is so different than where we live, but it has a beauty of its own.

Late in the afternoon we arrived at the RV park where we had reservations to stay for the night. We found a quiet spot under the trees. There was even a cute, little white fence.

The sun dropped behind the hills and canyons behind us as evening settled in. Big clouds moved in from the coast beyond and soon it was dark. We were comfortable and happy to be here. Tomorrow would be a new day and we had more adventures ahead. We were far from home and the memories of the past days were sweet.  Very sweet!

The Grand Trip - The Beginning

Early this spring my sweetheart and I embarked on a grand trip - a trip we had long dreamed of. Plans were made and we were off for adventures far from home.  This was my view through the passenger side rear view mirror.  You can see our home-away-from-home coming along behind, especially in the little section at the bottom corner of the mirror.

I shared a bit of our trip here.  We were away from home for seven-and-a-half weeks - that's almost two months!  We met new friends, visited family and dear friends along the way, experienced life in other parts of the Western United States and took millions of photos.  I probably didn't take millions of photos but there are a lot of them. I will do a series of posts to give you an idea of the scope of our travels and the places we enjoyed along the way.

We left home on Sunday afternoon - my sweetheart, my little dog, Joey, and I. Off we went with our home-away-from-home following behind.  Our route was carefully planned and stops along the way had been thoughtfully 'mapped' out on our calendars and our road maps.  Our first destination that evening was on the southern end of Oregon a few hours south of home.  We spent the night in a beautiful state park along the banks of a beautiful river.

Not long after breakfast the next morning we crossed the southern Oregon border into California.  We made the required stop at the California Agricultural Inspection Station to be sure we didn't have certain fruits and vegetables that could spread disease to the vast agricultural crops of California. The inspector asked if we had any citrus fruits. We smiled and said, 'no', but I chuckled as we drove away because a few miles back, just before we came to the inspection station, we had eaten the two oranges we had on-board.  I told my sweetheart it was a good thing we didn't have to report the citrus fruit in our tummies!

We drove for many hours over miles and miles of freeway. We passed by Northern California's Mount Shasta. . .

And crossed over Lake Shasta which is beautiful and full after many long years of drought in California.

Nearing our stop for the next couple of days, we turned off the freeway and drove through farmland on back roads. . .

 On straight roads. . .

And roads that took a turn.

We drove through the countryside and a few small towns until we came to the place where we would spend the next two nights. We are members of Thousand Trails RV Resorts and Lake Minden was one of the locations we wanted to experience.  We checked in and found our spot near the corner of the lane beside the lake.

The big back windows of our home-away-from-home looked out on the lake behind us. It was still and quiet as evening approached.

But the next morning was a totally different scene!  The early morning sun shone on the trees across the lake. Green trees became gold. Pure gold, so it seemed.

We drove from the lake to the nearby home of a very dear friend - a friend I met through our blogs. She had dinner waiting for us when we arrived and lunch again the next day. She and I spent time together - chatting and thrifting and antiquing - and just enjoying being together again.

Our time together went fast - too fast - and soon it was time to say goodbye.  My sweetheart and I had places to go and more dear people to see!  Our travels took us just a short distance where family was waiting for our arrival. Our grand trip had begun just as we had hoped - with precious people who were helping us make precious memories!