EVENTS

DATE	EVENT
9 September 2008	We took a few days of vacation and went to Chincoteague where we enjoyed seeing the wild life, the ocean, and our friends Darlene and Paul from Two Springs, who live in Berlin, Maryland, just outside of Ocean City. Our friend Anna took care of Charlie while we were away.
20 October 2008	This is our scheduled departure date; arriving at Two Springs on 5 November
23 October 2008	We are "holed-up" in Topeka, Kansas for two days waiting out a blizzard to the west of us along our route. Gives us a chance to do some laundry and rest.
24 October 2008	Today we stopped at a rest stop East of Hays, Kansas and we were the only people there for approximately ten minutes! This is a first. Also, there appears to be a distinct absence of RV's on the road; bet we haven't seen more than two dozen RV's since we left Maryland. Today we also paid the lowest price for diesel fuel in a long time, $3.019/ gal at the Flying J in Salina, Kansas.
26 October 2008	Today we drove up to Pikes Peak, 14,110 feet above seat level where the air contains 50% less oxygen. I drove up and Patricia down. The views were spectacular. It was 57 when we left the motel and 24 when we got up to the summit. I could feel the lack of oxygen, but Patricia and Charlie were OK. We stopped in Manitou Springs and had lunch.
27-28 October 2008	We are used to seeing sand dunes near the sea shore. But we were surprised to find the tallest sand dunes in the western hemisphere, the tallest is seven hundred and fifty feet tall, in the middle of the Rocky Mountains at Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado. Through an ongoing series of wind, rain, erosion, and water, the sand dunes were formed from mountains sixty-five miles to the west, some twelve thousand years ago. Further south, Bandelier National Monument, is just a short distance north west of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Here, ten thousand years ago, people lived in the homes carved in the side of volcanic ash one thousand foot high cliffs. The ash was deposited one million years ago by the eruption of two volcanoes fourteen miles away. Over the years, the ash was compacted and erosion by weather carved the Swiss cheese like pockets in the side of the cliff.
29 October 2008	On our way to Las Cruces, New Mexico today, we stopped by the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge where we were treated to a spectacular snow geese show. I took some video shots and they can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SdE_my2dzo.
30 October 2008	In January 1861 Cochise and Geronimo, and their Apaches, started to raid and kill Anglos in the Apache Springs area of Arizona. This is where the stage coaches stopped for water along with others who were traveling the Butterfield Overland Mail Route (2,800 miles- Memphis/St. Louis to San Francisco in 24 days). The Army responded by establishing Ft Bowie to guard the springs. The fort is approximately sixteen miles south of Bowie, Arizona off of I-10 in the mountains. The last mile and a half access to the National Historic Site is by foot on a steep mountain trail. Thankfully, the Park Service allows handicap access all the way to the visitor’s center by vehicle. Otherwise, we would have missed this remote site.
31 October 2008	Today we visited with Paul Longthorpe and went to Tombstone, Arizona for lunch. We ate in a restaurant's patio where Charlie was served hamburger!
1 November 2008	When we checked into the motel in Wellton, AZ, I was told that breakfast is from 04:30 to 9:30 because there were workers staying at the motel who were working on the US/Mexico boarder wall! We had a nice visit with John and Donna Hart who winter in a park model in Wellton.
2 November 2008	We arrived at Two Springs mid morning today. The RV was in good order and the plants healthy. We also brought the wind with us! Our 3,300 rip across country was good and Charlie did well- he slept most of the way!
3 November 2008	Got the truck unloaded; now we need to put all of that "stuff" away. Got the Direct TV and Hughes Net satellite systems up and running. Wind continues. Charlie met one of his sisters, from a subsequent litter, today.
9 November 2008	We are basically settled in now. Charlie has been enjoying the Palm Springs Dog Park, where he has met many new friends and gets along well with them and their owners.
15 November 2008	There are several wild fires to the west of us; Santa Anna Winds have been blowing for several days; gust to 84 MPH in the fire area. Temperature here today was 88°F with a relative humidity of 4%; very pleasant here, but not so in the fire area.
23 November 2008	A fabulous Chicken Paella and Shrimp Fettuccine dinner was served poolside by Chuck Friedland to more than fifty appreciative Two Springs members. This was the first party of the season; looked like every one had a good time and are awaiting the next event!
27 November 2008	We celebrated Thanksgiving with about eighty of our friends at Two Springs. It was pot luck, but the Members "cooking staff' provided the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, and two different stuffing's from the Saturday morning breakfast profits. There was plenty of food; enough for those who wanted it to take left over's home.
28 November 2008	Our good friends Paul and Leeta helped clean our lot by raking and vacuuming up yard debris. Paul also ran our new Time Warner cables (got rid of satellite TV and Internet) under the pavers in back of the RV. Luckily, when we installed the conduit under the paver a few years ago, we included a fishing line" just in case we had to run additional hoses, wire, etc. Today Charlie was re-introduced to his mother, LeLe (black and white) along with his 10 week old sister, GiGi, subsequent litter (purple harness). They got along well. Our friend Leetta brought GiGi around back to show her to me, and when I first saw her, I thought it was Charlie and I was wondering where he got the purple harness! Then there is Charlie in his preppy sweater too!
9 December 2008	With Charlie staying overnight at Park-a-Pet Lodge, we were serenaded by the Marine Corps Combat Center Band from Twentynine Palms to a Christmas Concert. Along with a little more than three thousand other "seniors" at the Palm Springs Civic Center, we enjoyed the concert presented by these young marine musicians (most under twenty-five years old). "The men and women of the Combat Center Band are basically trained Marine Riflemen who serve as a perimeter security/machine gun platoon during times of war. They give full meaning to the term "Marine Musicians." The Combat Center Band carries on the proud tradition of military music forged by the whistling fifes and rolling drums of the first Marine Musicians of 1775."
13 December 2008	Winter is arriving in the desert! This week-end forecast is for snow in the mountains, measured in feet, and rain on the desert floor measured in tenths of inches! In any event, what rain we get now will produce beautiful desert wild spring flowers in late February and early March. And the snow will be pretty when looking through the palm trees. This year we decorated for Christmas by installing rope lights on the deck and stringing little lights on the trees in back of the RV.
15 December 2008	For some time now, we have been trying to leave Charlie alone when we go out. So far, nothing we have tried seems to help and when we put him in his box he lets us know. Click HERE to see what I mean.
16 December 2008	Yesterday it rained all day here on the desert floor- .86" of rain, but above 4,000' it snowed. California route 62 to Yucca Valley, about ten miles from us, was closed off an on several times yesterday due to the snow and icy conditions. We went to Joshua Tree National Park. How were the geological features in the park formed? And on the way home, we drove up to Pioneertown where another winter wonderland awaited us.
18 December 2008	It rained all day yesterday, 1.61" here on the desert floor. More snow in the mountains too! Snow Video
28-29 December 2008	We went to visit Lou and Ann and had a wonderful dinner at the Mission Inn among all of its Christmas Lights. The next day we meet Paul and Leetta at the San Diego Wild Animal Park where we were among the thousands of visitors. We enjoyed seeing the wild animals, some of which we had not previously seen, and the parks last display of Christmas lights. Charlie enjoyed staying with his friends at Park-a-Pet-Lodge while we were away and was exhausted when we picked him up.
31 December 2008	We brought in the new year with friends from the park at our club house. Everyone had a good time! To see how we celebrated, please click HERE.
9 January 2009	Today we took a late afternoon drive to Joshua Tree National Park Click HERE for Video. The moon was almost full and very bright in the blue sky. Not wanting to be caught on the back roads after dark, we cut short our drive on the Geology Tour dirt road into the wilderness; we have to try this again when we have more time. Being in the park in the late afternoon does have its advantages though, we interrupted a coyote in pursuit of his jackrabbit evening meal. Patricia got some good shots of the coyote with the 400mm Nikon lens.
12 January 2009	Anza Borrego State Park was our destination for today's 200 mile day trip. We drove along the Salton Sea, through deserts, and up and down mountains. Borrego Springs is a remote desert community in a valley surrounded by mountains- beautiful!
20 January 2009	After a trip to the 29 Palms Marine Corps Exchange, we continued on another day trip. This time we drove through parts of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts on California routes 62 and 177. East of 29 Palms on route 62, there is an area, where at one time homesteading was encouraged. From the looks of the area, it never caught on. The sun was in the right position for our drive today; shadows cast upon the mountains, blue sky, and white clouds made for a picture perfect drive.
10 February 2009	We have had rain here in the desert for the past few days and snow in the surrounding mountains. Got up with the sun this morning and took some pictures of the snow on the mountains.
28 February-4 March 2009	We spent a few days on the beach in San Clemente with Paul and Leetta, where we enjoyed the beauty of the Pacific Ocean. Sunsets were spectacular, especially when we had dinner on the pier one night and again on, our last night of this side trip, high upon a cliff overlooking Dana Point Harbor and the Pacific Ocean. In addition to walking the beach, we also went to a street fair in San Clemente, plus visits to San Juan Capistrano, Newport Beach, Long Beach, and a whale watching trip. We briefly saw a Gray Whale. Being at sea and looking at the shore line was exciting. Truly a an enjoyable side trip.
2 April 2009	After storms the cloud formations are some times pretty spectacular here. We got a few trips into Joshua Tree National Park; flowers were out, but not as many as last season. Two Springs celebrated Easter several week early, because many people would be gone before April 12th. We had a big turn out for our Easter dinner at the Club House, complete with duck races and an Easter bonnet contest. Where has the time gone to? Seems like we just got here! Now it is time to head back to Maryland; we leave on the 6th with several stops along the way.
6-16 April 2009	Before dodging storms as we crossed the country, we dipped south to Ajo, Arizona for a visit to the Organ Pipe National Monument, an International Biosphere Reserve, in the Sonora Desert. Ajo is a one red-light sleepy town that has seen its prime. Once copper mining was king, but now it looks like selling Mexican Car Insurance is the big money maker. There is a neat little town square where we enjoyed a few meals sitting outside at the Oasis Cafe. Organ Pipe is close to the Mexican Boarder and the US Boarder Patrol was ever where. The drive through Organ Pipe was spectacular, even though it was on a twenty-two mile dirt road and took approximately three hours. At one time while I was in the Navy, I was Commanding Officer of the USS Papago ATF 160. Through Save the Children Federation, the crew sponsored a little girl from the Papago tribe. Lois was only nine when she visited the ship in 1970. Lois came from Sells, Arizona, the tribe's headquarters. With the chance of finding Lois on the reservation, after not seeing or hearing from her in thirty-nine years, we continued on our trip home by driving across the reservation's desert with a stop in Sells. By sheer luck, we were able to find Lois and her brother Mike. Both were very surprised to see us and we had a nice visit. Lois showed us several photographs that she had from her visit to the ship. Next, we met up with K and Don (from Two Springs)in Benson, Arizona. We had a nice visit and even had a little tail-gate party. We spent the Easter week-end with Kathy and Paul (RV friends from River Breeze in Ehrenberg, Arizona) in Big Spring, Texas. On Easter, we had our first Texas home cooked meal with Kathy's cousin Sandy and her family at their country home. Shortly after leaving Big Spring, we soon entered the "Green Zone and the Big Green Tunnel." Trees and fields were green and it looked as though the foliage was at least a month ahead of home in Maryland. Wild flowers in Texas and Arkansas were beautiful. Thus ends another Snowbird Adventure; can't wait for the next one!